“You’ve grown a lot.”
 

She smirked back at me, “Thank you...oppa.”

I guffawed and shot her back a matching smirk. She was always playful but the girl in front of me no longer radiated the sweet innocence I remembered. Instead she resembled a femme fatale with a secret I was dying to find out. She was dare I say...seductive but at the same time sad.

“What’s so funny, Oppa?,” she asked as she quirked her head to the side. She smiled tightly.

Oppa. There was something different about her. Something off. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes like it usually did.

“The sweet naive innocent girl I remember seems to have been replaced with someone less innocent.”

She scoffed back at me, “That girl you remember is a long memory away.”

I didn’t miss the way she wrapped her arms around herself. There was an icy wall around her I didn’t notice until now. I looked at her carefully again.
 

“What oppa?”

There it was again. Oppa. She said it with a tinge of annoyance at the same time longing. Without thinking I asked, “Who hurt you?”

Her head whipped towards me with a look of disbelief. I stared stone faced back not breaking. It was a bold question. We haven’t talked in years honestly but I could read her. I could always read her. From the beginning to our time apart. She was good at hiding but I was better at reading her signs. I memorized them and kept them fresh in my mind.

“No one,” She shifted her eyes quickly before returning her gaze to me.

“Don’t lie to me Sooyoung.”

“I don’t owe you anything Sungjae.” She bitterly laughed back.

“You don’t but if you were so mad you have walked away by now.”

She pursed her lips while rocking back and forth on her heels. “When did you get so manly?”

“Don’t change the subject...”

“Nothing happened.”

“Who is it Sooyoung?” I pushed again. I could feel my blood pressure starting to rise. The idea of some idiot breaking her heart pissed me off. My temper was getting the best of me. I clenched my fist tightly waiting for her reply. “No one you would know. It’s in the past. I’ve grown up because of it.”

“Just tell me who it is Sooyoung. I will right this wrong.”

“It’s really none of your concern, Oppa”

I couldn’t argue that. It wasn’t my business. We were just...acquaintances if I had to be honest. I wanted to believe we had this stronger bond from our time together filming. Albeit it was mostly for show I knew we both felt something deep down. It was part acting and the other part of it partly wasn’t.

“You don’t have to call me Oppa anymore.”

“What if I miss it?” she trailed off as she changed her gaze from me to the cityscape in front of us. “What if I’ve always wanted to?”