Kate

                I was on my way back to the cabin after having dinner at the hall. I got a little bit exhausted going to the lake this morning but it was all worth it and I really enjoyed the company of Aiden, Max and Vince except for that moody Prince. He was really so bipolar. One minute he’s so nice and sweet and the next he becomes grumpy and mean. I still couldn’t get him.

                When I passed by the teacher’s cabin, Ms. Gil saw me so I greeted her. Then, she asked me, “Kate-ssi, why are you walking around like this? Are your legs okay now?”

                “Ah…ne seonsaeng-nim. I’m feeling better now,” I said to her.

                She nodded her head and smiled at me. “You wanna go to the campfire then?”

                “Campfire?” I repeated.

                “Ne. I think they’re already starting. Kaja!” she said as we both headed to the large field near the first station.

                When we reached there, there were already a bunch of students all seated forming a circle near the bonfire. A hand suddenly touched mine which got me startled. When I looked down, I saw Vince grinning at me. “Sit here Kate,” he offered.

                I bent down and took a seat on the log between Max and Vince. I noticed Aiden and the Prince were missing so I asked them. “Where are they?”

                “Aiden tried to convince Marcus to come. You know that guy, he doesn’t want things like this,” Max answered.

                “What are we gonna do here anyway?” I asked.

                Vince and Max shrugged.

                Suddenly, Mr. Jung and Ms. Gil went at the center and explained to us our activity for that evening. “Good evening everyone! I hope you’re all having a good time here in Japan,” Mr. Jung started.

                “So as some of you may have noticed, we have paper lanterns here that we’re going to light up later and release in the sky,” Ms. Gil said.

                Vince and I looked at each other. “Sounds fun,” he said. I nodded.

                “What I want you to do right now is to write two notes. First is a sorry note and second is a thank you note. After that, you have to give the thank you note to that person and the sorry note will be released in the air,” Ms. Gil explained. “Arasso?”

                “Ne,” we all answered.

                Mr. Jung distributed pieces of paper where we can write our notes. I actually have no idea whom I will write to. I was thinking of writing a sorry note to Jessica but I honestly don’t know what I did wrong. I sighed. I started to scribble a note. After the sorry note, my mind went blank as to whom I will to the thank you note.

                Suddenly, I heard Vince say, “Oh Aiden’s coming. I guess Marcus didn’t really wanna come.”

                I looked up and saw Aiden coming towards us. When he reached us, he said, “He‘s such a pain. What are you guys doing?”

                “We have to write a thank you note and a sorry note,” I answered him.

                His face suddenly looked surprised after seeing me. “Omo Kate-ssi! I… didn’t know you’re here.”

                “Now you know, so why don’t you get a paper form Mr. Jung now,” Vince ordered him.

                “Ara…” Aiden said, standing up.

                Then, I suddenly thought of someone whom I was supposed to be grateful for. But I was doubtful because he might not acknowledge it. I shook my head. I decided to write the note for him still. Max looked at me. “Whom are you writing to?”

                I covered my paper. “I… still don’t have in mind.”

                He smirked. “Jincha? I saw you writing a very long note just a while ago.”

                “That was nothing,” I said.

                Aiden came back and started to write as well. After everyone was done, Ms. Gil ordered us to give the sorry notes to the receivers. I dragged my feet to find where Jessica was. There were students scattered around so it was a bit hard to find her. Then, I finally saw her sitting beside Tiffany. I anxiously walked towards them. They quickly noticed me, exchanging looks with each other. As soon as I reached her, I handed her the note and left without a word.

                While walking back to my seat, Aiden reached my hand and handed me a note. I looked at him with a hint of confusion. Why would he give me a sorry note?

                “Mianhe,” he mumbled, leaving me with a stunned look.

                I slowly unfolded the paper and read the note, “Kate-ssi, sorry if I wasn’t able to save you before even though I promised that I would come earlier. I swear that I’ll be a better friend whom you can lean on J.”

                I smiled after reading it. I reached my seat and found Aiden looking at me. “Aiden, you don’t have to feel sorry,” I told him.

                “I really just want to say sorry Kate,” he said.

                I just smiled at him. So did he. After that, Mr. Jung instructed us to tie the notes we received to the paper lanterns and prepare to let them fly up in the night sky. He counted to three as we sent the lanterns up which created a really beautiful scenery. “Ah! It’s really pretty,” I said, still looking up.

                “Ne,” I heard Aiden mumbled beside me.

                “Too bad Marcus wasn’t able to see this,” Vince said.

                Yeah, that’s a pity! Well, it’s his fault anyway. Why couldn’t he just be like his friends and live like a normal person? I sighed. Maybe it is difficult living his life. I guess I wouldn’t really know. I felt the other note that I was holding on my left hand. It was the thank you note that I wrote for him. I turned to Aiden and excused myself from the bonfire.

                I walked away leaving the others. I marched my way to the cabin of the Prince which was not too far away from the area. The only light that I could see were the lamp posts on each cabin that I passed by. It was really scary walking alone here which made me remember the time when I was climbing Mt. Fuji’s peak alone.

                When I reached their cabin, I knocked on the door. There was no response. Maybe he’s already asleep. Or maybe he went out or something. I decided to just walk back to the camp site. But then, as I turned around, my head got hit by someone else’s face.

Marcus

                After watching them send the paper lanterns up in the air, I decided to go back again in our cabin. As I stepped forward, I suddenly noticed someone walking from a distance. I looked closer and recognized that it was Kate. I sneakily followed her wondering where she would go at this hour. I slowly walked behind her making sure that she wouldn’t notice me.

                Then, she stopped at our cabin. Why would she go here? She knocked on the door. I decided to

sneak behind her and startle her. When she turned around, I jumped behind her which made my face hit her head. “Aaahh!” she cried.

                I touched her head. “Kate-ssi, mianhe,” I said, helping her stand up.

                “Marcus-ssi, what’s your problem?” she yelled.

                “Aish! You’re the one that’s not being careful,” I said.

                “What??” she said, still grimacing on the pain she caught. “You’re the one who scared me and still you’re blaming me?”

                I frowned. “Aish! Aniyo. I was just joking. What are you doing here anyway? Why aren’t you in the camp site?”

                “I…” she paused, looking anxious.

                “What?” I asked again.

                She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to me. “I… I’ll go back now,” she said, attempting to end our conversation faster.

                I unfolded it and read the note: “Marcus-ssi, thank you for saving me. I will not stop thanking you even if you said that I should thank Aiden instead. I hope you’ll stop being grumpy ‘cause I know you’re a nice person. J”

                After reading, I looked up and saw Kate already walking back. “Chagamman,” I shouted which made her stop.

                I ran towards her. She looked surprised and anxious at the same time. “W…waeyo?” she asked.

                I took a deep breath. “Uh… t-thank you,” I said. “For this,” I showed her the note she gave me.

                She nodded. “Goodnight!” she said, turning her back.

                I stopped her holding her left arm. “Kate-ssi.”

                She faced me again. “What?”

                “W…well, tomorrow we’ll go back in the city. And there’s this gallery that I know where all the paintings are inspired with cherry blossoms. I was just thinking… maybe you’d like to see them?” I said almost stuttering.

                She smiled. “Really? Yeah, of course. I’d love that.”

                I nodded. “Tomorrow then!”

∞∞∞

Kate

                The next day, we set off to go back to the city of Tokyo. We checked in at the hotel where we stayed during our first days there. Unfortunately, I was still stuck with my roommates who were now trying to avoid me after Aiden and Marcus told them off.

I was still fixing my clothes when suddenly, I received a text message: “Kate I’ll just wait for you at the lobby after lunch. –Marcus” I jumped from my seat. I almost forgot about that. It felt so unreal how he asked me to go to the gallery with him last night. I thought he just said just to make me feel better or something after what I wrote on my thank you note. But now he even texted me, which made me think again of how he got my number.

I looked at the time and it was already 1 pm. I haven’t eaten lunch yet. What if he was already at the lobby? Surely he’ll get mad if I don’t get there in time. I quickly finished folding my clothes and prepared for something decent to wear. I guess I didn’t have to prepare much since it’s just him. I picked out a plain shirt and jeans and a thick sweater.

As I was about to step out of the room, the door opened and I saw Jessica coming in. We looked at each other for a while before I decided to head towards the door. I was startled when she suddenly spoke. “Kate-ssi, mianhe.”

I turned around to face her. “Jessica, not now.”

She moved towards me and held my arm. “I… didn’t mean to do any of this. I still want to be your friend.”

“Friend? Do you even know what that means?” I said, leaving her in the room.

I walked down the hall with tears on my face. I didn’t want to say nasty things about her or her friends. But she made me do it. I was so close to believing her but everything was all a lie. I thought we could be best of friends but that was just a show. I dragged my feet until I reached the ground floor. I wiped my tears away just in case anyone would see me. It would be so embarrassing.

When I reached the lobby, I quickly noticed Marcus sitting on the couch. He looked like he’s been waiting for a long time now. He stood up and approached me. “Ya! How come you’re late? I specifically told you…” he paused, looking at me. “Chagamman. Kwaenchana? Are you crying? Aish! Hajima (Don’t)! I’m not really mad. You know that I have a very short patience.”

I forced a smile. “Marcus-ssi, I’m not crying.”

“Then what do you call that?”

I wiped my face with a handkerchief. “It’s really nothing. Kaja!”

He fell silent as he led the way out of the hotel. I followed him as we walked the streets of Tokyo. I was still recalling the scene earlier with Jessica. I really felt bad answering her like that. But, she was the one who forced me to do that. I shook my head and took a few deep breaths.

“You’re still not telling me what happened?” Marcus asked who was walking next to me.

I looked at him. His eyes were focused on the street. Maybe I should tell him. Or maybe I shouldn’t. I decided to open up to him just this once. “Jessica apologized to me,” I started.

He turned to me and stopped walking. I did the same. “And you believed her?” he asked.

I bowed my head. “I… didn’t want to believe her,”

“But you’re starting to believe her again, aren’t you?”

“Marcus, I don’t want to talk about this now,” I said, walking again. But then, his hand stopped me.

“Kate-ssi, you’ll still gonna have to face her whether you like it or not. You have no choice. It’s either you accept her apology or avoid her forever,” he said in a serious tone.

I covered my face with my hands.

“Ya! Hajima! Don’t break down here,” I heard him say.

Then, he grabbed me again in the arm and pulled me. He was dragging me in the sidewalk with people looking at us. We arrived at a building which was probably the gallery already. The guard at the entrance greeted us. We both entered the gallery. I noticed that there were no other people inside besides us.

I released my arm from his grip. “Marcus-ssi, let go now.”

When he did, he said, “I hoped this will make you feel better.”

I looked around. It was really daebak. This gallery was much more detailed when it comes to cherry blossoms. And it was very spacious. Every corner was a work-of-art from famous painters and artists. I almost got drowned after seeing just the first room. As the attendant guided us to another room, I mumbled to Marcus, “Thank you.”

He turned to me. “I’m doing this because I need you to have ideas for the exhibit. Nothing more.”

I nodded. He always tried to cover up his good deeds into something unpleasant which was really lame. Whatever he says, I still believe that he has a good heart.

∞∞∞

A/N: Hello lovely readers! It’s so overwhelming reading all your wonderful comments. Welcome to the new readers :) I hope you keep reading this until the end. You all are inspiring me so please keep on supporting! Fighting!

ThanKYU all so much!

-theLEXical-