“To the bride to be! Cheers!”

Nana and her friends happily tossed the champagne glass and laughed. It was one of her friends’ bachelorette night, she’s going to marry on the next day. Right after she came back from the office, she immediately joined the party at the hotel. It was kind of reunion as she could spotted several of her close friends from high school and university.

Yoojin, the bride to be, sat next to her while snapped several pictures with Nana. The others were just busy chat here and there, remembering the old time. Time surely flied really fast; she remembered that all of them were just a clueless girl who sometimes skipped the school time to go to the mall but now most of them were married or engaged. One of them even got a baby already. Nana sometimes awed with the fact that everyone is getting married but her.

“So Nana” Jungah called her, one of Yoojin’s cousin. “I heard that you’re having a boyfriend now… A serious one?” she asked, giving a bright smile.

Nana smiled back as response. To be honest, she’s happy and proud to tell everyone that she’s in a relationship currently. “Yes, Unnie. I’m having a boyfriend now”

“Really? Who is he? How old is he?”

“Is he handsome?”

Nana let out a smile again; Kris was seriously a hot topic everywhere even though they had been together for more than 5 months already.

“Oh I know! Nana’s boyfriend is my husband former client!” Jooyeon shouted, making everyone getting curious about Kris.

“Really? How is he?”

Jooyeon answered happily. “According to my husband, Kris is a nice and gentle guy. A type of guy that you wanted to be with… It’s said that he’s been a solo for the past 3 years, you’re so lucky Nana!”

Nana couldn’t do anything but smiling. She chuckled when everyone said that he’s perfect. Truth was, Kris was not perfect; but she’s happy that he’s perfecting the imperfection.

“Why you rarely take him stroll around the city?” Jungah asked.

“Oh… He’s not living here, Unnie. He’s living in LA” she answered, getting a surprised face as respond. Everyone was looking at her.

“LA? That was quite far… But does he often come here?”

Nana shook her head. “He’s busy with his work. We’re working in the same company, Unnie… And the work load was so heavy, so… it’s kind of hard for him to come here…”

Jungah gasped a bit. “Really? I never knew that you’re having a long distance relationship… So, you’re the one who come to LA often?”

Nana shook her head again. “We haven’t met again…”

“Oh, I see…”

Nana sipped her drink, trying to ignore the burdened feeling. This was the thing she dislikes when they’re having a sudden reunion; everyone busy commenting on other’s life. Well, Nana knew that Jungah wasn’t mean to judge her, but still…she felt that people think that she committed a sin for having an LDR.

“How do you communicate daily with your boyfriend?” Yoojin asked her.

“Text, Skype, email, chat, you named it and we’ve done it” she calmly replied. “Is having an LDR really that bad?”

Yoojin smirked to her. “Just ignore them. You’re the one who’s having the relationship; others might just jealous with you and keep telling that it’s something wrong. There’s nothing wrong with that”

“But I guess it’s true that it was clearly tiring. People around me keep telling me to end this relationship, because we’re not going anywhere and may be won’t go somewhere” Nana sipped her drink again, lazily looking around.

Yoojin nudged her elbow to Nana’s arm. “You’re having a fight with him?”

Nana shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe? Not really though… I’m just feeling a bit anxious…”

“You know, in every relationship, trust and communication is the basic thing. I think, as long as both of you keep that points, you both will be okay… Once you distrust each other and stop communicating, you can tell that the relationship end already”

Nana smiled proudly to Yoojin, hugging her. “You’re really ready to be a bride, Yoojin” she said, getting her cheeks pinched by Yoojin.

“Now throw the grumpy face and let’s enjoy the party!” Yoojin said as she stood up and pulled Nana to the dance floor. She sighed, but following Yoojin. There’s no point to questioned Kris love for her. He loves her very much, and so does she.

 

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Beep! Beep! Beep!

Nana patiently waiting for the call to be answered. She had been calling Kris like for hundred times but he’s not answering. Right before Nana about to give up the call, he’s answering it.

“Hello?” a hoarse voice heard; which Nana knew was Kris. 

“Kris?”

“Yeah?” he replied. He cleared his throat several times before talking again, but too bad, his voice was still sounded hoarse. “Hey, good night there…”

“Are you still sleeping? Do you want me to hang up for now?” Nana felt bad calling him at the wrong time; she didn’t want him to be awakened just because of her call.

“Hmm… No, not really. It’s just…” he paused for a while. “Where are you now?”

“Just back from the office…” she said, playing with the tip of her skirt. She laid on the couch as she talked to him. “What time did you went for sleep?”

“Mmm… Maybe 1 in the morning? Not really remember…”

“Sleep again, then…” Nana weakly said. She felt missing him badly, but their situation not allowed her to be with him.  

“I want to talk with you though…” he said, making her smiled slightly. “It’s been a while not listening to your hmm…” he mumbled, paused his words. “…sound”  

“Let’s talk again later when you’re fully awake, ok?” she said, hesitantly ending the call. Truth is, even though he’s not talking, she’d like to hear his breathing. For her, it’s ultimately luxurious, especially when she’s tired like now.

“Hmm.. Okay…” he agreed. “Nana?” he called again.

“Yes?”

“I love you” he said before ending the phone call.

She smiled to her phone. “I love you too, Kris”

And by that, she ended the phone call. Nana looked at her phone screen; it was Kris face when he’s sleeping on her car, the first time he came here. He looked like a little boy when he’s sleeping. She touched the screen slowly, tracing his face. Oh how she missed him and wished that he’s here with her. But that’s only her wished; Kris was miles away from her.

For the first time, Nana felt really missing him to the point that she burst into tears. She loves him so much that it hurts not to get to seeing him.  Even just to listen to his voice already made her happy; but she craved more than just his voice. She needed to see him, talked to him, felt his presence. She wanted him. But somehow, that seemed to be too much for her to ask. She took the pillow and cried as she landed her head on it, thinking how hard it was to have a relationship like this. Nana has no idea on how long could she stand on this situation.

 

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Nana woke up with her eyes half opened; she’s still feeling dizzy after she came back from work yesterday. The work load was kind of high lately and she rarely had time to catch up with anything, not even with her dear boyfriend. Her mom reminded her to get relax and take a day off, especially during summer that about to come. She was still in the amidst of thinking whether to go out for summer or get her works done first and skipped summer.

She yawned pretty big. Nana moved her body a bit under the blanket and looked over her phone. There were 4 messages from her co-worker (she refused to look at it because, hello… it’s Saturday!) and 2 messages from her parents (her mom was in Tokyo for an outing with her former high school friends, while her father, who accompanied her mom, informed her that the beauty salon she likes in Tokyo was planning to have a branch in Seoul). And that was all that. She sighed, she missed one more person to text her.

Nana rubbed her eyes softly, still feeling dizzy. She remembered she had to catch up with several things related with her work, which made her crazy. There’s a new organization restructuration and she’s being promoted to a higher position, but it took more responsibility and work load, which she hates lately. And although Monday still came in another two days, she couldn’t stop worrying. That’s why she chose to book for a spa and salon to relieve her stress.

After a delirious 4 hours in the beauty salon, Nana finally went out and get ready to have some dinner along with her friends. But before she went out again to the restaurant, she came back to her apartment to change her attire. Nana remembered that she hasn’t got any replied from Kris ever since she informed him in the morning that she went to the salon. She checked on her phone, and nothing came.

She looked at the clock and counted the time in LA; it’s supposed to be around 11 PM in LA now. Knowing that Kris was not an early sleeper, Nana texted him asking if it’s possible for her to call him, but until she has to left for the dinner Kris still didn’t reply. Nana thought that maybe Kris was already sleep or just got tired as he lately said that he’s been busy with tons of work. She ignored the thought that he’s been abandoning her for the past 2 weeks, just because both of them were busy and separated miles away.

Nana already aware with the probability that she and Kris might encounter a condition where both can’t even talk to each other normally; like what a couple would do. Even on the day he officially asked her to be his girlfriend, the first thing she thought was about the distance that separated them, but she refused to think more about it and just let things flow. Turned out, it didn’t happen like she wished.

Their first fight happened when Nana suddenly couldn’t be contacted due to the bad signal when she’s having a meeting in Taiwan, and when she called him again, Kris left his phone on the car and that made her thought that he’s angry with her. The next time they talked on skype, both were arguing trying to blame each other. But after 10 times of “you’re ignoring me” accusation, they made up and stopped talking about the problem. They still fight or argue sometimes, but it’s only lasted for minutes. That’s why Nana decided to tolerate more on this matter; she’s sure that this too shall pass.

 

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From: Miss Im

Good morning, boyfriend! Have a nice day.

 

From: Miss Im

I’m going to the salon today. Finally weekend is coming!

What are you doing today? I miss you! :*

 

From: Miss Im

Kris what are you doing?

 

From: Miss Im

Haven’t heard anything from you. Are you okay?

 

From: Miss Im

Kris, can I call you?

 

From: Miss Im

If you ever remembered that you have a girlfriend in the other side of the continent which is waiting to hear about you, please call. Or just reply this text. Or just forget her.  

 

Kris looked at his phone and got his eyes grew bigger as he read the last text. He had been trapped in such a circumstance where his works couldn’t tolerate any mistake. Everyone in the office was being busy and crazy about the project that’s running this year. Even Lay and Chen, who appeared to be silly and playful, looked furious lately; not to mention Tao the youngest project planner, who had been scolded several times by his supervisor due to some mistakes he made during the project. But now, everything’s over. The project went well, and the level of the work load was gradually reduced to normal.

Kris realized that he had been ignoring his dearest girlfriend for the past weeks. It’s just, when he’s working, he didn’t like to get distracted and preferred to get his job done first rather than having a pause on finishing it. And he knew he did wrong to Nana.

Well yeah, she’s not his first girlfriend and he experienced the lovey dovey feeling also on his previous relationship but Nana brought a different feeling on him. Instead being all worked up with the job, he felt like he had a place to tell his day and to rant to. She might be sometimes fall asleep as he talked with her, but that’s still amused him. Yes, he admitted that he’s a workaholic and the past weeks he’s being a jerk who ignored her, but now that he’s free from the big project, the first thing he wanted was her.

Kris looked at the time and found that it might be proper to call her now, although it’s now 4 in the morning in LA. He smiled at their picture that was taken when he first visited her in Seoul 8 months ago, on his phone wallpaper. He missed her so much that if it possible, he could ditch anything and went straight to Seoul to meet her. Yeah, but you can’t always get everything you want.

 

To: Miss Im

Hello, Love. Can I call you now?

 

Kris waited for minutes and he finally got a replied. He chuckled at the text he received. Nana replied his text, but it was only with a dot. He knew that the next phone call won’t be an easy task. He waited for a while before she finally took the call.

“Hello” he said sweetly, but all he got was a cold answer.

“Yes”

“Are you still angry? Hmm?” he asked her, changing his sleeping position to sitting. He didn’t hear her saying anything.

“Listen, I’m sorry if I was being a jerk lately. I admitted that I did wrong and I accepted if you won’t tolerate it because I put you as the second after my work. But seriously, I’m sorry and I want to make it up with you…”

It’s silence for a while. He could hear she’s sighed, before she took a breath and talked to him. “I’m not angry because you put me aside from your work, Kris. We both are busy but couldn’t you at least reply my text? I will accept it even if you just say that you’re busy or couldn’t take any phone call or text. I’m fine with that but…” she paused for a while, a bit hesitate to continue.

“I’m tired with this…”

Kris was turn into silence. Before his crazy mind kept telling him to confess to her and ask her to be his girlfriend, Kris was being cautious with this. The long distance relationship was never goes well, especially with the time difference and their distance. It took a lot of effort and was tiring, but he refused to give up too easily. Not when he’s being totally in love with Nana.

“Have you had any plan for summer?” he asked her dearly, while checking on his iPad.

“Hmm? No, not yet… Kris, aren’t you listening what I’m saying earlier?”

“I heard you, that’s why we need to make up for this” he replied, focusing on the screen. “Have you eaten?”

Nana frowned as she heard his answer. Was he out of his mind? She was ranting about how tired she was about this relationship, yet he asked her for her summer holiday and whether she has eaten or not. “Aren’t you supposed to sleep this time?” she asked him.

“Thinking of you, I can’t sleep” he replied, a bit mumbling. “Nana?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you check your email?”

Nana took her iPad and check on her email. She saw his name on the inbox. What is it now? She clicked on his name and let out a gasp, making Kris smiled to his phone.

“Gotcha…” he said playfully.

“Kris. Are you kidding me?” she replied with a serious tone.

“Can’t you see your name on it?” he said, still smiling. He could imagine how her shock face would be; it must have been really cute and interesting to see.

“Kris…” she called him again.

“Yes?”

“This is too much. This is just…” she hung up her words. “Just Skype, it will do. You don’t have to go this far” she said, still looking at her email in awe. Her boyfriend was surely a surprise maker.

“I took that as a yes, Darling. The first two week of summer, you’re taken by me, okay?”

 

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Summer was such a perfect gateway for everyone who’s having tons of work from the very first time of the year and needed a refreshment before continue their business. And Nana was one of those people who need a gateway. She successfully ensured Jaejoong that she will only take 2 weeks leave, before starting the work again. He granted her wish, while putting a hope that she will work harder when she’s done with her holiday.

Nana took her luggage along with her, looking around at the arrival gate. She welcomed the morning sun that greeted her exposed leg and arm. She walked in her short summer dress and sandals, feeling light. She looked around once again and found him there, waving at her. A month ago when she had a fight with Kris, he came up with a surprise: a ticket to LA. She refused at first but then now that she’s in here, all she wanted was him.

Kris was looked a bit thinner than the last time she saw him, but his handsome face stayed. He greeted her with his bright smile. She noticed that he’s really looking good on his v-neck white t-shirt along with checkered shirt and jeans. He got his hair pulled to one side, revealing his forehead. Once he got closer to her, he pulled her for a hug.

“How’s your flight?” he asked her as he took over her luggage.

“It’s fine, I get enough rest. You look thinner… Are you okay?” she caressed his cheeks. He nodded, smiling.

“I should keep you here” he said, responding to her.

“Hmm? Why?”

“It felt nice, to have someone watching you… Can’t you just stay forever here?” he said in such a dearly tone.

“I’ve just landed and you already wanted me to stay here?” she playfully replied to him. He just rolled his eyes, smiling back to her.

He walked with her hand in hand, making sure that she’s safe and close with him. He couldn’t stop looking at her as the last time she saw him was on skype 2 weeks ago. And that’s long for him.

“I miss you” she mumbled as she leaned to his shoulder, resting her head there. The flight she took was quite long and she felt really tired when she landed.

“You have no idea how I miss you…” he replied as he glanced at her.

“Lie. You don’t remember me” Nana said as she kicked his legs.

“Do you want to start a fight already? You’ve just saw me, Darling” he , smirking.

“Stop with the sweet talk” she replied, pretending that she hates it while she likes it so much. They mostly always bicker at each other, that’s how they relay their feeling to each other. Kris smiled and pulled her closer to him.

“Are you ready for your summer holiday?”

I only wanted to stay with you though.

 

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LDR is hard.