- Five -

5 years ago

He found her sitting on her favourite spot; underneath the huge oak tree behind their school field, leaning against the trunk comfortably and completely engrossed in her reading.

Taking advantage of her complete lack of interest towards her surrounding, he crept up slowly behind her, as quiet as he could be.

The sudden tap on her shoulder caused her to whirl around in surprise – eyes widened and mouth gaping open. As soon as she locked eyes with him though, she heaved a huge sigh of relief and hit him on the arm with the hard-cover book.

“I could’ve died,” she grumbled but he was quick to cover with his hand. She shot him an incredulous look, to which he simply sighed and whispered, “Don’t say that” before removing his hand.

Chorong studied his face closely. “It was your fault though.”

“I’m sorry.” There was a brief pause, before he lifted his eyes again to look at her and smiled. “Were you waiting for me?”

“Huh,” she grunting sound and rolled her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

He pouted. “So you weren’t?”

She couldn’t  - at least not with that look he was giving her. It made her weak in the knees. “Yes. Yes, I was waiting for you. Can we go now?”

Luhan grinned and pinched her cheek lightly between his fingers.

“Ow!” she winced, swatting his hand away. He was about to say something else, when they heard Jongin, one of Luhan’s teammates, calling for him from across the field.

“I’ve got to run,” he told her, almost wistfully as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “The team needs me.” Chorong snorted. He laughed. “I’ll see you after the game?”

“Only if you score a few for me.”

“I will.” He leaned in for a quick peck on the cheek. “But if it gets too late, head home first, okay?”

She only nodded, and within seconds, he was already running towards his friends, leaving Chorong behind by herself.

At the very last second, Luhan turned around and threw her a heart.

She could only laugh.

: :

Present

“You believe him.” Joonmyun stated, not questioned. “That guy.” Pause. “Luhan.”

She remained silent.

“Chorong,” he spoke again, raising his voice slightly. “Do you – “

“I don’t know!” she burst out, unable to hold it in any longer. “I don’t know okay, Joonmyun. I don’t know if I should believe him – I don’t know what to believe in.”

He kept his gaze fixed on the ground and played around with the stick in his hand. “Well, I think you should,” he replied after a moment.

“I don’t think – “

“He knows all these stuff about you,” Joonmyun cut in. “Where you came from, which school you went to, your friends, your family, your favourite things – “

“Stop...”

“How close you guys were – “

“I said stop, Joonmyun,” Chorong snapped, breathing out heavily. “I don’t want to hear anything else.”

He regarded her cautiously. He tried to read her eyes, if she meant what she said. What was she feeling at that moment? What was going through her mind? What did she feel when that Luhan guy told her he’s been searching for her everywhere for the past year?

What exactly did she feel for him?

“I think you should give him a chance to explain things,” he finally said, averting his gaze away. “It seems like he has a lot to say to you.”

“I don’t want to,” Chorong said firmly as she started to stand up. “You want to know why?”

He didn’t, but still he asked, “Why?”

“For whatever reason, he left. And that’s enough for me not to want him back – for me not to remember anything about him.”

: :