She was the girl living to the house next to ours. Born in the same year, our parents were fond of bringing us together. They even wanted us to end up marrying each other, but of course, it was a joke between them. A joke that I wish had been real.

I was a fragile child who always stayed at home, deprived of all the exhausting activities outside. However, I never minded being trapped in the four corners of our house, as long as her roars of laughter would fill it. I don’t mind not being with other children, as long as she was playing with me.

Being with each other every day, I almost memorized every single detail of her. Her facial features, her eye-smile, her soft voice, her loud laugh, and her mole in her wrist- I know it all. However, there is always something in Suzy that I would never understand. That is the oddest part of her which kept insisting that she was reincarnated.

“I’m telling you! I lived in the past and I had the same name!” Suzy blurted out when we were five year olds.

“And I’m telling you too, that that’s absurd! Unless you are cloned!” I answered.

“Ehhh,” Suzy replied. “I’ll prove it to you.. I..”

Since we were kids, Suzy kept telling me of the “past life” she had. She said that she was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in but a person has stayed by her side throughout the years. She always told me that in the last days of her life, she had an amazing adventure with an angel.

Somehow, I hated that part of her because her eyes had a certain sparkle as she told those stories. The same sparkle I know I have when I look at her.

I was diagnosed with asthma when I was five but Suzy stayed with me even if the rest of the world walked away. Every day, she would visit me in my house and she even went to the same school with me. Practically speaking, we were stuck with each other like glue. She even promised to take care of me, like a certain Myungsoo took care of her in her past life.

“That would mean spending the rest of your life with me,” I told her.

“I don’t mind,” Suzy replied. “Well, I already survived twelve years of it. Didn’t I?”

I faked a scoff while she chuckled, turning her eyes into crescent slits. We were walking home, side by side, simply enjoying every moment spent together. She often told me to savor every second that passes by because you won’t know when your precious time in Earth would end.

We grew up together and I saw how Suzy changed. Her hair grew long and straight, swaying in sync with every motion she makes. Her eyelashes became longer and every facial feature of hers became more pronounced as much as her glowing skin. I hated to see her grow up like that because she started to garner the attention of every male in our campus.

“I’m sorry,” she always told every guy that would confess to her. “But I’m already in love with someone.”

The males would throw dagger looks at me while the females giggled. Everyone thought that we were a couple but I refused to admit, that I was not the one she was talking about in the confessions. She was talking about that angel in her dreams and I would often call her delusional for falling in love with someone she doesn’t even know if existing or not.

“I’m telling you, he’s real!” Suzy said as she slapped my arm.

“Yah!” I complained. “You don’t even have any proof.”

“I’ll sleep!” Suzy pointed a finger at me. “And I’ll gather some evidence so that I could prove to you that I am a reincarnation!”

“Eiii,” I replied. “You always sleep instead of studying. You should keep an eye on your failing marks!”

“Y-Yah,” Suzy stuttered and blushed. “It’s not as if we’re going to a science university. I thought we’re going into a music school.”

“But still,” I said. “There’s an entrance exam and you have to pass that.”

“I’ll survive,” Suzy smiled and linked her arm with mine. “Because the school’s top one is my best friend.”

I tried to shrug her off me