The sound of the waves of the sea woke me up. I was in the Haeundae beach, the place that I missed the most now. Contrary to what it has been today, it was empty. It was serene.

The sun’s rays were directed to me as I stood up. I took the time to look around the beach. I saw two kids gathered near the sea. I walked closer and shouted, “Hey!” They were not responding or looking at me. I jogged as my feet touched the white sand.

As I neared them, I was surprised on what I saw. It was me and Sulli. “That’s not a sand castle!” the young Sulli said. I remembered this scene and I let out a short laugh.

They stopped for a while. It seemed that they were disturbed by my laugh. They looked at me with squinted eyes. They put their hand on top of their eyebrows to block the sun’s rays. “Who are you, sir?” my young self asked.

“I-I’m the old you,” I said as I sat in front of them.

“The old me?” my young self asked in bewilderment. He looked at Sulli and they both laughed. “I think you’re joking, sir.”

“No, I’m not joking,” I insisted. “We both look like a lot.”

“Then, why are you here, sir?” the young Sulli asked.

Then it made me wonder why I’m here. Am I dead? “To be honest, I don’t really know. What I remember was a car crash into mine.”

“Really?” they said in surprise.

“Sir, I think you need to wake up,” my young self said.

“Yes, sir. Many people are waiting for you there, including the older me, perhaps,” young Sulli said.

“I wanted to, but I don’t know how,” I said. I remembered Sulli. Could she be worrying now about me? I never got to meet her in the restaurant. My parents, did they know about this? I don’t want them to come all the way to Seoul for me. I don’t want them to worry about me.

“I think I could help you,” the young Sulli said.

“Really?” I asked enthusiastically like a kid.

“Yep! Just make this look like a castle,” she said as she pointed out the sand formed in an upside-down pail.

I thought it was ridiculous, but I’d do anything just to wake up. I suddenly remembered what happened after their argument. I looked to my right and saw the small yellow flag. I grinned as I grabbed it. I hid it from them and smiled at them. “What did you find?” my young self asked.

I placed the flag on top of the sand castle. They both clapped in amazement. “Wow!” they said. Suddenly, I heard a man walking behind me. I looked back and it was appa.

“Appa,” I muttered.

“Minho,” he said as he looked at me. “Let’s go back to reality, arasseo?” I nodded in agreement. He smiled and shouted, “Let me take a picture of you three.” He brought out an old film camera and counted. “Hana, dul, set.”

The camera flashed and my vision turned white. At that moment, I gained control over my body once again.

Continue? 3, 2, 1.

Sulli’s body froze in shock as she heard Minho calling her name. She couldn’t believe it was happening at that time. “Minho…” she muttered as she tried to walk closer towards him. Slowly, but surely. Her legs were shaking as her eyes started to water.

She grinned slowly. She couldn’t hide the joy that she’s feeling. She neared his bed, with Minho staring at her while smiling. She held his hand and stared at him for seconds. “Is… this… real?” she asked.

“Yes,” Minho said as he shortly laughed. He winced in pain as he realized that he had fractured bones all over his body.

“Are you okay, Minho?” Sulli asked as she pushed the nurse call button to alert the nurses about Minho’s unexpected consciousness.

“Ne, ne,” he said as he tried to smile despite the pain he was suffering.

Sulli didn’t know what to do. She wanted to hug him but she couldn’t. A tear fell from her eye and smiled. She held his hand once again, but this time, it was tighter. “Minho… thank you.”

He grinned and said, “Thank you, too.”

“Saranghae,” Sulli said.

“Saranghae.”

~

In the mid of December, only a month after her comeback, a rumor spread out all over Korea about Sulli having an affair with Minho. The rumor started when some people in the hospital notice how she constantly visit a patient, who they assume was Minho.

In the eyes of the crowd, Minho was still in a relationship with Krystal, and Sulli was the third-party. The rumor grew bigger with speculations that Krystal broke up with Minho because of Sulli. In days, fans of Sulli who ship her with Taemin got mad at her. They said that Sulli was a for doing that.

Because of this, SM Entertainment was alarmed and so were Taemin and Krystal. A day after, SM Entertainment, together with Taemin and Krystal released a statement regarding the issue.

“In September, Minho and I broke up,” Krystal said while the press was in front of her. “But, it was never about Sulli. It was too late when I realized that I was the one who was wrong. Our relationship was not working and I never realized that. I kept clinging onto him, even though it was becoming a one-sided love.”

“To Sulli’s fans that support her with me,” Taemin said. “Please, don’t bash her and call her names. With what you’re doing, I’m being hurt, also. Sulli has her own personal life and if she loves someone, I can’t do anything about it.”

With their statements, the people became enlightened on what happened, and Sulli’s image was back to normal. Sulli and Minho heard of this and they invited them to Minho’s room in the hospital. “W-W-We’re sorry,” they said as they bowed to us. Sulli was shocked that she stood and made them go back to their proper position.

“You don’t need to do that,” Sulli said.

“We heard what you two said, and we’re both thankful for that,” Minho said.

“We thought that it would be the only way that we could repay our mistakes to you two,” Krystal said. “I’m sorry if I made that plan. I really didn’t know what to do at that time and I was so desperate. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too, if I had hurt you too much before. I never intended to,” Minho said.

“It’s okay. I’ve realized that I lacked things and that you love Sulli so much,” she said as she smiled.

“Krystal,” Sulli said as she smiled and opened her arms.

Krystal’s eyes watered as she hugged Sulli. “Ssul! I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Krystal. I’ve missed you, too! I want to hear what happened to you after I left Busan!” Sulli said enthusiastically as she released her hug.

“When you left, things changed. It became quite sad for me,” she said.

“You want to go out for lunch and talk about it?” Sulli asked.

“Sure! Let’s go to my bakery and café!” she said.

“Oh, you have one? Wow!” she said in amazement. She faced Minho and Minho nodded. “We’ll just buy you two your lunch after,” she said and they both nodded.

They left the room in excitement, leaving Minho and Taemin. “Taemin, could you call Director Kangta tomorrow?”

“Why?” he asked.

“I want to discuss things with you two,” he said as he smiled.

March 29, 2014, Saturday

It was two months after Sulli had her most-awaited comeback. Her comeback song was entitled “Takeoff,” an electronic dance song that’s mixed with pop that contains a catchy chorus. It made a buzz all over Korea for its uniqueness. The critics praised it for its musicality, originality and its catchiness.

This day was Sulli’s second concert in Korea and at the same time, her birthday. The tickets were sold out in less than a minute, breaking records in the industry.

It was 6PM when the concert started. She first performed her debut song, “Chu,” that became an instant hit. She then performed her following songs, like “Danger,” “Electric Shock,” and “Jet,” along with her other ballad songs.

In the middle of the concert, she had her short talk to the fans. “Thank you for coming to my concert, Sullians! I was really overwhelmed by the response you made. So, now, I’ll perform my recent song, ‘Takeoff,’” she said. The audience applauded and cheered as they waved their pearl light periwinkle light sticks. Sulli moved back as she posed along with the dancers.

“3, 2, 1,” the director said as he pushed the button to play the music. The instrumental played, but Sulli was shocked that it was not the instrumental for Takeoff. She looked at her dancers and the dancers looked at each other in confusion. But, the song sounded familiar. The instruments were just changed, but she could recall it.

Now let’s take off, let’s fly to Neverland

Even if time is not on our sides, it’s OK

There’s only one life to live so before it’s too late

Hold my hand

Cause it’s going down tonight

Into the awesome future, let’s ride

Close your eyes and count (3, 2, 1)

Shall we fly?

Taemin and Key went into the stage singing Minho’s song. The fans shouted as the song resounded the hall.

Hey, love! Let’s run away!

Let’s go even if we don’t have a destination

If only you’re by my side

I can go anywhere in the world, whenever – alright

Hey, love! Let’s run away!

Never let go of this hand

With a sweet imagination

Into the awesome world where there are free dreams.

She looked at the audience and she was surprised that they all raised the same sign. The sign said “MINHO LOVES SULLI.” She stepped back as she covered in shock. Taemin and Key went closer to her and held both of her hands. “What is happening?” she asked Taemin.

“Just wait,” he said and he continued singing.

After seconds, two men joined in singing it. It was Jonghyun and Jinki, Minho’s friends since middle school. They all smiled as their voices blended each other. Sulli was still confused on what’s happening around her.

Minho went in the center of the stage and the fans roared louder. He sang along with the four and looked at Sulli. “What’s happening? I thought you’re still at the hospital,” she asked.

All of them stopped singing as the instrumental kept playing and the fans kept shouting. Minho grabbed something from his pocket. Sulli became more surprised while still confused.

“Ssul,” he said on the microphone. “I want the whole world to know how I love you.” Sulli nodded as she smiled. “I also want the whole world to know this.”

He knelt in front of her and opened the ring box containing a diamond ring. Sulli looked around and she noticed that everyone’s looking at them. She looked at Minho and he was smiling at her.

“Choi Jinri, will you marry me?”