“—Sandeul.” He smiled at me even though it was hard to make out his exact face due to the darkness around us.

I wanted to laugh at his silly nickname, but I knew it would hurt too much. “Why Sandeul?”

“I made it up myself.” He smiled even brighter this time and his face seemed to glow, but it was only a car passing us and lighting up his face.

“Okay, Sandeul, what about your real name?” I asked wanting to know it since apparently he knew my own even though I don’t recall telling him.

He put a finger to his lips but he seemed to frown slightly. “It’s a secret for now.” His eyes seemed to be more focused on the road but I really didn’t care as long as he supported me and kept me warm. The snow on the ground was starting to really soak through my clothes causing me to shiver more often and making the pain worse.

“Am I going to live through this?” Maybe it was the mind of a second grader speaking for me, but I really felt like I was dying at this moment.

“Of course!” He rose his voice slightly but not enough to hurt my ears. He seemed confident that people were going to come and rescue me, but really my eyes felt heavier and heavier as the minutes passed. “Why were you out here anyways?”

I recalled the morning that had just happened and the argument I got into with my own parents. I was so happy to be across the country in L.A. but in my kid mind I really wanted to go to one place which happened to be Disney land, but they didn’t take me. I got mad.

“I wanted to be away from everyone.” I summed it up not wanting to get into the details of yelling at my parents and hiding from them so that I could run away. I came across this park, I remember that.

“But you wanted to play with me.” I felt another tear land on my face and that made me remember that he was there at the park and I played with him all day.

“Of course, you made me happy again.” I smiled but really could not do much more. He cheered me up when I was mad at my parents and made me happy to be here again. I remember that I introduced myself to him but he never said his own name back. I wonder why he was here.

“Really? You made me happy too.” His smile seemed saddened and not real. “I was mad at my parents too.”

“Why?” I didn’t have enough strength to speak anymore. The world was getting a little more hazy as we continued to talk. He was probably trying to hold a conversation to keep me from wanting to close my eyes.

“They told me while I was here that they’re planning on moving here because I know enough English.” He responded and now looking at him I could tell he didn’t look American and even spoke with an accent.

“Where are you from?”

“South Korea, you?”

“Florida.” I replied and glanced away from him in shame since he had more of a reason to be mad than me. I should just go back and apologize to my parents for being so stubborn.

Then suddenly lights surrounded us and engulfed us in colors of red and blue. People started coming out of the cars and rushing towards us.

Sandeul looked hesitant for a little bit leaned down and whispered, “My name is Lee Jung Hwan; but please next time you see me call me by Sandeul.”

“May! Please wake up! Oh please don’t do this to me again!” Sandeul shouted loudly but when I opened my eyes it was only loud because he was right beside me.

Sandeul. He was the boy I met back in California. But why did I not remember him until now?

“Sandeul?” I reached up to touch his cheek in happiness that the boy I fell in love with was the boy who stayed by my side when I was hurt.

“Sandeul?” An echo occurred and I completely froze. Where was I? I looked away from Sandeul’s relieved face and looked at my parents who were standing by the door.

“Mhm!” Sandeul turned to face my parents as well. “My real name is Jung Hwan, but I prefer to be called Sandeul by friends.”

I gulped a bit too loudly and couldn’t even say another word before my father walked over to Sandeul and roughly grabbed his hand. I wanted to tell him to stop but my voice got caught in my throat. “Well Sandeul, our daughter is completely fine so I suggest you leave.” He lifted Sandeul up from his spot on my bed and led him to the door where my mom stood aside and let him through.

She looked at me after my dad left and the look in her eyes just showed that she was not very happy at all. I was finally making friends in my life, I was finally finding love in my life but the love I found happened to be the imaginary friend I’ve had since second grade.

Since after the incident that happened in the winter of the second grade year.

She didn’t say anything though until my father came back empty handed and the only thought that ran through my mind was if Sandeul was okay and if he didn’t hate my family after this.

“He was real?” Was the first question that my father asked me. I nodded my head slightly but really my head hurting and I didn’t want to move it that much. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

They looked hurt that I didn’t tell them an important part to Sandeul’s existence, but they wouldn’t have believed me. “Why didn’t you tell me about the incident that happened in L.A. back in second grade?” I countered and immediately frowned. They had to have known about it since I came out fine and they had to have picked me up.

My mom looked slightly alarmed so instead my father questioned, “You remember?” He looked like a mix between relief and shock.

The one memory that I had locked in my mind was the one memory that I should hold dearest in my heart—and yet they didn’t even tell me about it. I could have attempted to learn about the lost memory if I had knowledge that I had lost it in the first place.

Instead I was stuck in therapy for years after they realized this imaginary friend that was called Sandeul did not want to leave.

“Yeah now I do no thanks to you!” I yelled filled with anger and the first thing I could think to do was storm away from my room and get past my parents.

There was only one person to turn to at this point and I knew he was walking away at this very moment. I broke out into a run after I left the house and despite the cold weather and my lack of a jacket I still wanted to reach him before he disappeared.

He was walking at a slow pace and stopped when he heard my running and turned around, a frown was evident on his features but slowly turned into a look of shock at seeing me.

“Sandeul!” I shouted out and only slowly down so that I wouldn’t knock him over in a huge hug.

“Are you okay? Are your parents mad at me? What happened?” He questioned immediately but his smile could not stop from spreading across his face when I looked into his eyes with a smile of my own.

“I love you.” I simply said mostly because of how much I was out of breath. I wanted to say so much more but for now I just wanted him to know that. I wanted him to know the feelings I’ve had for him for so many years ever since the day we met.

“I—“ His smile grew even more and he hugged me as tightly as he could. “—love you too.”

After that he finally noticed my lack of jacket and immediately pulled his off to give to me. I smiled at him and accepted it and sat on the bench closest to where we were.

“Now why did you suddenly run after me?” He asked again after I had some time to rest and regain my strength. I couldn’t help but smile at him and touch his hand lightly at first but then grabbing it and holding it tightly.

“I remembered something really important that happened in my life.” I explained but he still seemed confused. I wonder if he remembers that day or if maybe he forgot about it over time.

“The reason you got the nickname Sandeul.” I spoke again after a minute of silence. “The reason why you seemed to have known me even though we had ‘just met’ at the beginning of the school year.”

His eyes seemed to widen at this and he turned to face me completely. “You’re her!” He shouted and suddenly he had a burst of energy and stood up in his excitement. “You were the girl I met when I went to L.A.!” It looked like he was ready to run a marathon with how much energy he had and it made me want to jump up and join him.

“I’m so sorry that I forgot about the whole thing.” I frowned instantly and he froze in his place and immediately brought me into a hug.

“No, that’s fine because what’s important is that we’ve met again. I wanted to get famous for her, for the girl that seemed so sad that day. I was the reason for her accident but I couldn’t do anything about it. Now that I’ve met you again I can finally make it up to you.” Sandeul whispered in my ear causing me to remember the beginning parts of my memory.

He was the reason why I fell from that playground equipment, but that didn’t matter now because it wasn’t just his fault it was the playground’s fault for being so old. It was snowy and very slippery but he still dared me to slide across the playset and go down the slide. I did as he told but the equipment broke under my weight and caused me to tumble down harshly on the snowy ground. He called for help but it took a while to get there, but he still stayed with me the whole time.

“I don’t blame you; Sandeul I love you too much for me to ever hate you.” I just recalled all of the amazing memories I had with the imaginary friend I thought up as to be him. He was always by my side even if it was just my imagination the whole time. He existed and he is here right now and that’s all that mattered to me.

“Oh May I’ve been waiting so long for you to say that.” He whispered once more and hugged me tighter. It sounded like he was crying but I didn’t want to check because I felt like crying too. After so long we finally got to meet officially even if we’ve known each other for a few months now.

But that only brought back the cold reality of Sandeul leaving this year, in only a few months, to a different country and never coming back.

“I want to learn Korean.” I breathed out on impulse, but really I knew I meant exactly what I said. If I couldn’t bear to part with him again then there was only one solution.

“Do you mean that?” He questioned and I nodded into his chest.

“After college I’ll go to you, okay?” I looked up at him and smiled sweetly. If he was willing to wait until after I graduate then I’ll go to him.

He wanted to bounce in his spot but he held his ground and instead brought his head down and kissed me right on the lips for the second time this day. He felt so sweet and loving; so welcoming and caring. I couldn’t get enough of his lips but I had to stop to catch my breath and in that time he said, “I’ll wait forever for you.”

I knew I had to deal with my parents and the consequences that followed this, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be with Lee Jung Hwan, a South Korean who grew up in America and wanted to debut in Korea. I wanted to support him in his band and I wanted to be with him forever even through all of the troubles it was bound to bring.

“What can I do in Korea as a job though?” I asked out loud and finally Sandeul released me so that he could think about the possibilities for me in a whole new country. He knew I was not a citizen like he was and he knew I could not follow down his path.

“Be a teacher.” He smiled when he came up with the answer and it clicked in my head that that was a job I could definitely do. I hadn’t thought of my future job yet so it wasn’t like I was going away from a dream, but rather starting a whole new one.

“I can teach English there?” I wanted to make sure that was what he meant and when he nodded I smiled. Of course he had to have learned English somewhere in his teachings in Korea so maybe that was how he knew about this program I could do.

All I had to do was learn the language through Sandeul and college and become fluent. Once I’ve done that and start working in Korea I’ll be able to be at the same level as Sandeul without any worry. Nothing could go wrong with this since we both obviously love each other.

The night was getting darker and darker as we continued to talk and finally he brought up my family and how they were probably worried for me. He offered to take me back and before I could decline he was already walking back to my house while holding my hand.

“Hey I have to be responsible for my girlfriend, right?” He made sure to draw out girlfriend and smile at me. I smiled back and hoped for the best.

It didn’t take long to reach my house again and by the looks of the lights still on even though it was past eleven showed that they were waiting up for me.

When I opened the front door my father immediately stood up from his spot on the couch and my mom stayed down with Ashton sleeping in her arms. This showed that he couldn’t shout too much due to the baby.

“Mom, dad first I want to say I’m really sorry for not telling you anything and I’m sorry for running off without telling you anything.” I spoke first to break the silence. I shut the door completely with Sandeul standing beside me for moral support. He squeezed my hand slightly to show that nothing was going to go wrong.

“You’ve known this boy since August and it wasn’t until now that you’ve decided to tell us that this boy was based off of your imaginary friend since childhood?” He wanted to shout so badly but he kept his calm and I respected him for that. He was an amazing father and while they might not have told me about this memory I was still not going to hate him for it.

“Imaginary friend?” Sandeul repeated and I squeezed his hand to signal for him to not speak and that I’d explain more of it later.

“You guys have put me through so much because of him and I know it was wrong to not make any friends in school, but if you had told me about this lost memory of mine then I would have realized that he was based off of the boy who saved me, or did you forget about that?” I snapped back but tried to keep my calm as well. This needed to be talked through so that things could be settled.

The realization clicked in Sandeul’s mind after that and he turned to me this time. “So I was based off your imaginary friend because that was how much you cared about me?”

I nodded to him and looked back at my parents. “I love him. I’ve loved him for longer than I can even remember so don’t ruin this for me.” I sighed and squeezed Sandeul’s hand.

It took a while but finally my dad nodded as well as my mom. “We understand.” Maybe they could tell that I was being serious, and maybe they could tell Sandeul was serious too.

But of course they didn’t know about Sandeul leaving for South Korea at the end of the school year…

I’ll wait to tell them that at a later point.

And maybe tell them that I’ll be following him in a few years even later after that.

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Hope you liked it! Whoa I actually really liked how this came out and its finally getting into the ending except it still won't happen for another like 6-7 chapters maybe more but I'm so happy to finally get the main plot points out~ =D! I knew it was obvious but hey I didn't make it obvious to them so I had to explain everything~ =D I'll try to update more since I'm out of school but whoa my friends have barely given me a day off lol