It started with a simple smile. A quiet, but sincere apology. A 45 degree bow, then she sat down. Sung Hee was not looking for love, but she may have opened her eyes when she took a seat next to Eun Kwang on the bus that day. He could only smile back at her. His heart may not have been ready for another leap at love, but it seemed like it was standing at the edge.

They were silent next to each other. Both were biting back smiles. Both were stealing glances at the other next to them. It was cold outside, but next to each other, they were warm. The snow was falling. It squeezed their hearts even more.

“Are you listening to NELL?”

They say that people who listen to the same music as you are from the same world you come from.

“Yeah,” said Eun Kwang, turning his head slightly, but he didn’t want to show his whole face. He had one earphone in, and how Sung Hee was able to hear from her spot was a mystery to him. The volume was at the lowest. Maybe that made him almost deaf. “Do you listen to them?” His bottom lip may or may not have been bleeding because of his nervousness.

With pale lips pressed together, Sung Hee smiled and nodded her head. She slipped her phone out and went straight to the music. Artists…N…NELL…She held it up for him to see. “Every song.”

The rest of the bus ride was spent debating on which of their favourite songs was better (but it ended up with them realizing both were just as good as the other), talking about the band members, the instruments they play, and the other artists they listened to. A little piece of their hearts was given to the other that day as they bonded over this music talk. It would take a while until every other piece would be exchanged, but even more time to assemble all of them.

The bus arrived at the station, and now, they were about to part ways…at least, they thought they were going to.

“Oh, you’re taking this subway?” Eun Kwang asked. For some reason, he was too afraid to call her by her name. Maybe, he didn’t want to sound too friendly, but he was more than willing to say it.

“You’re a stalker.”

“Wha–why am I stalker?” A few moments after, the blond realized that he had been following her that whole time. “Oh, I just happened to be walking behind you!” he tried to defend himself.

“Stalker!” Sung Hee whistled as a lopsided grin formed on her face. She swung her bag around and walked in a straight line, her spirits lifted. Then, she suddenly turned around which made Eun Kwang skid to a stop. “I’m just kidding.” It was the smile on her face that surprised Eun Kwang.

Eun Kwang did the same and grinned. Neither of their smiles disappeared after that. For the rest of the time they spent together.

It became a Friday and Saturday thing. They met at the same bus stop, took the same bus to the station, and took the same subway line. It was comforting. To have someone they knew in a crowd full of strangers. The exchanging of numbers and other contact information was awkward, but they got over it. These days were filled with laughter over making fun of the other, revealing small secrets, more bonding over music, and falling in love. The pieces were given. Once every day, a small piece, a big piece, a humungous piece, a miniscule piece.

“Do you want me to take you home?” Eun Kwang suggested one night with a casual tone as he held the subway pole with one hand, and the other stuffed in his pocket. He was staring at the ceiling, rocking back and forth on his feet.

Sung Hee looked up. She was sitting in the seat Eun Kwang found for her once they stepped onto their subway. A radiant smile appeared on her face, and Eun Kwang laid his eyes on her. The brightest, but warmest thing he had felt (next to the sun, of course). “Is that okay?” Her quiet voice melted his heart.

Eun Kwang chuckled, “I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t okay.”

It was quiet the rest of the ride. That day, there seemed to be a more-than-usual amount of people taking the subway. Eun Kwang made sure he didn’t get pulled away by the crowd and away from Sung Hee. Eventually, she began to play with the rings on his fingers of the hand barely taking up space in his pocket (at which Eun Kwang thought was an attempt to hold his hand).

“These are pretty,” Sung Hee mumbled, fascinated by the interesting shapes and colours of his rings. Eun Kwang pulled his hand out for her to continue looking at. He felt a bit self-conscious, but learned to get over it. Her fingers traced the back of his hand then began to play with his fingers. His eyes met hers, and suddenly, no one else in the world mattered.

“Would you buy me a ring if I asked you to, Eun Kwang?”

“Hm, probably.” Eun Kwang laughed. “That kind of sounds like a proposal.”

“Maybe it is…” Sung Hee’s voice was inaudible to him.

The subway approached the station Sung Hee always got off at. Eun Kwang trailed after her, their fingers brushing each other’s.

“Can you walk me home from now on?”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Eun Kwang’s hand found its way to Sung Hee’s, and finally, their fingers intertwined. The cold metal of his rings pressed against Sung Hee’s warm hand. It took everything he had not to pull her into his arms. The many nights he had waited for this. The pieces they had already given each other. This was the start of the assembling of the pieces. Their hearts belonged with the other, and those last pieces passed through the warmth along their hands.

“Are you cold?”

“No.”

“Why are your hands cold then?”

“Because I have a warm heart.”

Sung Hee lent her scarf to Eun Kwang and wrapped it around his neck. He didn’t protest. He didn’t say anything. He kissed her forehead as she pat the scarf down. She looked up at him and smiled. “Thanks.”

“For what?” She looked puzzled.

“For accepting me.”

Sung Hee laughed. “I should be thanking you,” she mumbled, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. It was the first time she initiated a kiss in her life, even if it was just a soft kiss, not even on the lips.

That night, they learned more about each other. Sung Hee learned just how great of a singer Eun Kwang was (walking through an alleyway at night scared Sung Hee, but she could only laugh and smile if Eun Kwang was belting out the lyrics of a NELL song right beside her). She found out that he was such a dork (as if she didn’t know that already). Eun Kwang had gotten to know that Sung Hee was a very bubbly person. She laughed at almost everything he said and did, but that could’ve been because of her newly found happiness because of Eun Kwang. Her spirits were high. Her love for his rings was also a surprise to him.

“Here, take one,” Eun Kwang smiled, sliding one of the rings off of his finger. He pulled her hand up and examined her fingers. The blond planted a gentle kiss on the back of her hand before placing a ring onto one of her fingers.

“Aw, Eun Kwang, this is so nice.” Sung Hee was ready to burst into tears. “Th-thank you.”

This was the start of another routine that would continue on for a couple more years. The Friday and Saturday nights spent taking the bus and subway together turned into a routine of every night. Waiting for each other at the bus stop, keeping each other company in the night through fuzzy phone calls, slipping rings onto the other’s fingers. Slowly, but surely, they were assembling the pieces of each other heart’s. This piece goes with that piece.

They were a young couple, but they knew the prices they had to pay with this feeling of love. They didn’t complain about anything though. The two took everything on with a headstrong attitude. Although there were times they couldn’t trust each other, moments of doubt in the other, they always found the comfort in each other. Those were the moments they were taking apart the pieces they had put together…but they always cleaned up their mess.

“Do you…think that…maybe one day…instead of all these other rings you’ve gotten me…maybe, you could get me…a real ring?”

Sung Hee was more nervous than she had ever been in her whole life. Somehow, she felt that she was the one proposing to Eun Kwang.

“Maybe…” the elder’s voice trailed off as he touched one of the rings he had gotten her. “I promise, Sung Hee. I’ll get one for you.”

It had been their two year anniversary. It was snowing that night, and they didn’t want to go out anywhere else besides Eun Kwang’s apartment. It was warmer that way.

Sung Hee pressed her cold toes against Eun Kwang’s leg. He shrieked in response, and she laughed. They were on his couch, huddled together under a thick blanket. Sung Hee’s head lay on his chest as he played with the strands of her hair. Eun Kwang could never understand how two people could love each other without any complications, but he was slowly starting to believe it because of Sung Hee.

“I love you.”

That surprised Sung Hee.

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“H-hey, what’s with you?” Sung Hee giggled with a shaky voce, looking up at the one who had her heart. His blond hair, beautiful face, and hypnotizing voice. His eagerness to see her, his dedication, his gentle touches. She loved everything about him.

“You don’t love me?”

“I love you, Eun Kwang.”

Eun Kwang began to sing. It was Sung Hee’s favourite song by NELL. His voice resonated through the cold apartment, filling it with warmth. her hair, he continued to sing, thinking of Sung Hee and everything she meant to him. It was an unexplainable feeling. To have someone love you as much as you love them. “I love you, Sung Hee,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. Sleep was only a time machine to them. It would bring them closer to the days they would be together even more.

That was only what they thought.

Their love for each other was real. They found true happiness with each other, but somewhere along the way, the pieces of one another’s hearts they put together were coming apart. All the seams that held each part together were coming undone. How would they put it all back together when they had nothing else left to use?

“Here’s your ring back, Eun Kwang.”

“Why are you giving it back to me?”

“Because I’d feel bad if I kept it.” It just reminded Sung Hee of the promise he never kept. “A real ring.”

“Just keep it. Just think of it as the real ring I promised you.”

“But…okay, I’ll keep it.” It was just another thing. A piece of Eun Kwang that Sung Hee didn’t want to keep. She didn’t want materialistic things to remember Eun Kwang by. She didn’t want to remember Eun Kwang. She wanted to be with him forever, so she could never forget him. A real ring, he promised.

It hurt Eun Kwang just as much as it did Sung Hee. Why do people fall in love if they’ll just fall out of it? He wouldn’t let his feelings of disappointment and sadness get the best of him, so instead, he didn’t say anything and continued on.

“I love you, Sung Hee.” Watching her walk away definitely gave him the courage to say that.

“Eun Kwang…” Sung Hee said softly, turning her head around. With tears in her eyes and a sad smile playing on her lips, she replied. “I love you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” What surprised Eun Kwang was that his voice wasn’t cracking. “I should be sorry, too.”

“Then, let’s forgive each other.”

“Okay.”

For a moment, Eun Kwang misinterpreted her words. He thought that she meant to just give in to their feelings, but when Sung Hee smiled one last time and turned around for good he knew that it wasn’t that.

Sung Hee returned all the contents of Eun Kwang’s heart to him. Eun Kwang gave back every piece of her heart to her. But they had nothing to put their own hearts back together.

The two had stopped counting the days they hadn’t seen each other. Had two years passed? Three? Four? Not on the bus, nor the subway. They always had hope that someday they would bump into each other again like they did that first time. Eun Kwang would be listening to music, and Sung Hee would pull him away from his thoughts. They would laugh and smile and sing together again.

“Platform C is now departing. Please step away from the doors.”

Sung Hee had taken her old bus and subway route just for the fun of it on the day of what would’ve been one of their anniversaries. It was snowing outside just like the first time, and a ghostly tune of Eun Kwang’s voice played in her head. She took a deep breath in of the hot air and blinked. Tears in her eyes made it hard to see.

Quickly, Sung Hee closed her eyes and pulled out her phone. She put her earphones into her ears and pressed a button on her phone. With that one action, she was listening to her favourite band, but not her favourite voice. One thing she remembered Eun Kwang by as much as she didn’t like it.

Sung Hee could not deny it anymore. All those pieces of her heart were scattered everywhere, and she didn’t want anyone else to fix it except Eun Kwang. Eun Kwang, Eun Kwang, all I remember is you. All I know is you.

The people stepping out of the subway and the people coming on. How many times had Sung Hee hoped that one of them was Eun Kwang?

Her eyes were still closed as the music continued to play and the people passed by her.

“Are you listening to NELL?”

They opened.

Standing next to her was Eun Kwang, now a redhead.

“Y-yes,” Sung Hee answered. Her nerves were tingling, and her head was spinning. The tears couldn’t stay in place anymore.

Eun Kwang laughed, but the feeling of nervousness was unending. “There’s an open seat right here.” How many times has Eun Kwang imagined for this to happen?

Sung Hee quickly shuffled to the seat in front of him and sat down. She didn’t want to look up, or else she wouldn’t be able to handle it…but she did anyway. Eun Kwang hadn’t changed. She knew it. Even if he did have another hair colour, she knew that it would feel the same as it did when it was almost as pale as the falling snow.

Eun Kwang continued to hold onto the pole. He was grabbing onto to it so tight that his knuckles were turning white. He kept looking at Sung Hee who would manage to look away in those moments. But don’t look away. I haven’t seen your face in a long time. He could hear her music, and he remembered the first time they met. The music playing through her earphones were very loud (so maybe that made her deaf).

Eun Kwang would sing along to the music. Not loudly, but loud enough for Sung Hee to hear one last time. She quickly wiped away her tears, but what was the use in that?

“Sung Hee, I think this is your stop, right?” Eun Kwang waved his hand in front of her, and she noticed that he had no rings on his fingers except one. It wasn’t a ring she was familiar with. It was gold and had a diamond in the middle. He wore it on his left hand. His ring finger.

“Y-yeah.”

“A real ring.”

“Bye, Sung Hee.”

“…station. Please stay clear of the doors…”

“Bye, Eun Kwang.”

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Eun Kwang took a breath. The courage he had to say this had built up inside him. “Happy anniversary, Sung Hee.” The only reason why he took that subway that day was because there was something in him that knew she would be there.

Sung Hee stopped. She turned around with red cheeks and a sad look on her face, but she smiled. “H-happy anniversary, Eun Kwang.”

The only happiness they had ever wanted was with each other. Why did it turn out this way?”

Sung Hee took everything she had to make herself turn around and walk out of the subway. Once she was out, she faced the passing train once again. Eun Kwang met her eyes, and he smiled. She cried. She knew it would be that last time they would ever see each other.

There would be more times when they would possibly find themselves on the same bus, or the same subway, but it wouldn’t ever truly be the same.

How many times has Eun Kwang believed that Sung Hee would come back for him? How many times has Sung Hee realized that Eun Kwang would never be there again for her? How many times would they ride the same bus and not know?

The pieces that the two gave back, did they ever truly return to their rightful owner? Or did Eun Kwang’s stay with Sung Hee, and Sung Hee’s with Eun Kwang?

Eun Kwang forever kept hers, and Sung Hee forever kept his.

A/N: Wow, I can't believe I managed to finish this in, like, three days, haha. Gah, okay, I don't think I moved your hearts with my writing, but I cried as I was writing this. I don't know, just imagining something like this happen to me makes me wanna cry. Anyway, this was for a contest ^^ And...yeah, good luck to me, haha. But I hope you liked this story, please comment...on anything about it :3 Have a wonderful day/night! Thank you! 

P.S. I know you were waiting for a better fanfic with Eun Kwang, but I promise you that I'll probably have a nice Eun Kwang that's longer in store for you *nods* yup. So, look forward to that, LOL. Just my BTOB feels :')