“ JAPAN?!” she shouted in a mix of happiness and excitement while hugging him.

                “ Yeah!” he smiled and hugged her back.

                “ This is great! When are you going?” she pulled back a little to see his face.

                “ Oh, uhm… My parents said that since it’s a very expensive exchange program, they started paying it now, so I’m going only next year”

                “ Well, that’s the good part! You have more time to get to her!” she winked and let go completely of the hug, then sat on the sidewalk in front of her house, being followed by him.

                “ Aaah, Lala... I don’t know. What if it works, then I’ll have to leave her later?”

                “ Shush, Hoya!” she said putting her index finger in front of her lips.

                “ Hoya, Hoya, Hoya! Where did you get this nickname from? Howon! Lee Howon is my name!” he said, faking a bit of madness.

                “ I know you love this name, don’t pretend. Now give me your hand phone, I want to see what you two have been texting” she put her hand up, waiting of the phone.

                “ What? No! I’m not letting you read our texts!” he instinctively put his hand inside his pocket to prevent her from stealing it.

                “ Hoya!” she looked at him more intensively, trying to intimidate him.

                “ Lala!” he whined.

                “ Ok, fine. Then don’t. But when you ask for my help again, I’ll remember of saying no” she got up and turned around to enter home.

                “ Hey, don’t come with this psychological thing you do! I know you’re crazy to know about these conversations!”

                “ No, I’m not. And I’m not interested in helping you anymore. Good afternoon, Lee Howon” she entered and closed the door.

                “ No! Nononononono! Lala! Here! It’s here, take it! Help me, please!” he pleaded.

                She quickly opened the door and took the phone from his hands, rushing to sit back on the sidewalk and read all the conversation.

                “Aiiish, Hoya! I can’t believe you said th--”

                “Hey, Howon!” a guy in a bike stopped in front of them, making both look up.

                “Oh, Jooyoung hyung!” Howon got up and greeted him.

                “Can you come with me for a second?” he said and looked to the girl like asking for permission and Howon did the same.

                “Go, go!” she waved her hand “I’ll finish reading this first.”

                “But I need my hand phone!”

                “No, I’ll keep it. You can come over to pick it up later. If someone calls, I’m pretty sure everyone knows we’re friends. Go!” she waved her hands again.

                “Come on, it’s only a few seconds. I just need your help, you can come back after” Jooyoung said.

                “Ok, ok. Annyeong!”

                “Ye, ye!” Lala got up, not looking away from the screen, and entered home, closing the door.

                “Aiish, this girl” Howon messed his own hair and turned to follow Jooyoung.

                “Oh, Howon-ah, are you two dating?”

                “Uh? Lala and I?” his eyes widened in surprise “No, of course not! She’s my friend. Best friend, I mean, we’ve been friends since, I don’t know, six years ago? Something like this.”

                “She’s beautiful, you know…” Jooyoung said a bit lower.

                “What?” he laughed “No, she’s not! Look at her!”

                “Howon, are you seriously telling me she’s not pretty?”

                “But she’s not!” he said in disbelief “Her hair is always a mess, when it’s not tied up in a weird way, her clothes never match, she doesn’t care about her appearance at all, not wearing any kind of eyeliner or lip gloss, even when we go out, and her body is nothing beyond the usual. Hyung, are you blind or something?”

                “Ayy! I’m not blind! She’s-- Ah, forget it!”

                “Ayy, really…” he looked one more time to his hyung and decided to let the subject die “Tell me now, why did you ask me to come?”

 

                This is how it was; Lala and Howon were best friends for six years now. She used to help him with girls all the time, and she enjoyed it so much because he would always get the girl, her advices were good, but his awesome looks were the high point, and seeing a smile on his face after all the work was a thing she loved the most, despite almost all girls ended up cheating on him or breaking up with him. But this was going to change; Howon was going to Japan. Not that they would quit being friends or stop talking and even have deep conversations, but it would surely decrease. A lot.

 

                The day Howon was going to travel had come; Lala went to the airport with him and his family. He was happy, of course, he really wanted and had been waiting for that, but his heart dropped a little each time he looked at her face. One year without that face would be a lot of time. She was bright and hyper, as always, despite holding her tears so well that even Howon couldn’t notice.

                “You better be online a lot, and answer my texts” she said while slapping his arm.

                “Aaah! What was that for?” he asked, rubbing the area.

                “Nothing, I’m just gonna miss hurting you” she smiled.

                “Is that a tough way to say that you’re going to miss me?” he asked and laughed, Lala rolled her eyes.

                “Of course not. Why would I miss you? I’m finally free from the trouble of helping you with you-know-what” she said in a code way so his parents wouldn’t discover “But thinking about it now, I’m kinda worried… You’ll stay single for a year since you can’t get a girl by yourself”

                “Yah! What are you talking? I can get a girl by myself!”

                “Oh yeah, right Hoya” she laughed.

                “Howon!”

                “Hoya, Hoya, Hoya, Hoya, Hoya, Hoya, Hoya, Hoya! I bet you’re going to miss this, Hoya!”

                “Shut up!” he hugged her neck with one arm, his hand covering .

                “Howon! You’re going to hurt her! Release her!” his mother shouted from a few steps away, worried.

                “She’s a die hard, omma, don’t worry!” he let his hand go of but kept his arm resting around her shoulders.

                “Pshh, let go!” she tried to push him, unsuccessfully.

                They kept walking, until they saw the big plate indicating flights, times and gates. Seeing the word ‘Japan’ made Lala’s smile fail a little, but it passed unnoticeable to everyone, even Howon. He waited for his parents to reach where he was with Lala, and then hugged them.

                “I want you to be extra careful, right?”

                “Yes, omma.”

                “I won’t bother you anymore, I told you everything already” she tightened the hug, and when let go, she cupped his face in her hands and looked in his eyes for a while, then got back to the hug.

                “It’s ok, omma. I promise I’ll call you every day.”

                “You don’t need to do it, just keep us updated and it’ll be fine” his father said, then hugged both of them for some seconds “Let go, jagi, he will be late.”

                “Alright, alright” she smiled then let go of him with teary eyes.

                Wanting to avoid her tears, Howon turned to Lala.

                “Pshh, you idiot. I’m sure you won’t survive with all your stupidity” she laughed slightly.

                “Lala...” he called, what made her stop laughing and stare him, then he pulled her into a tight hug “I’ll miss you.”

                It took her a little time to understand what was happening, and then she hugged him back just as tight.

                “I’ll miss you too, Howon-ah.”

 

                Mr. Lee was driving, his wife, Howon’s mother, was on the seat by his side, and Lala was on the backseat, going home back from the airport. Mr. Lee looked up, through the rearview mirror, and saw the girl looking out the window, still wearing sunglasses, clearly with a sad heart that was already missing her friend. He poked Mrs. Lee’s leg and discreetly indicated her to take a look, so she did. The woman let out a sigh.

                “Lala-ah” she called softly.

                “Ye, omma” the girl answered immediately.

                “One year is going to pass flying, you’ll see.”

                The girl widened her eyes a bit, surprised that they noticed she was upset, then sighed heavily. She thought she was hiding her feelings so well, but was wrong.

                “I hope so, omma.”

 

                The girl entered her house and forced her legs to drag her into the kitchen, where her mother was. She pulled a chair, what made the older woman turnaround from the sink and look at her while she was sitting down. She took off her sunglasses and placed them on the table in front of her, expressionless. Her mother was looking carefully at her, as if trying to read any trace of emotion. Suddenly tears started to form on her eyes, and in no time, they started running down her face. The woman quickly dried her hands on her apron and took a sit beside the girl, who was now sobbing uncontrollably.

                “Shhh… It’s ok, it’s ok” she hugged her and was gently patting her back.

                “On-one year… It’s just too much to be without him” she said between sobs and tears, her head rested on her mother’s shoulder.

                “It’s not, dear, you’ll see, he’ll be back before you notice” she her hair.

 

 

                Days started to pass by, then weeks, and finally months. Howon and Lala were always texting each other, once in a while spending all the night talking online, about twice he appeared with a girl and politely introduced her to Lala. She was happy he was being able to live well in Japan, and better, they could handle the distance so well that they friendship was the same, if much, it got even stronger.

                “I gotta go now, Hoya…”

                “Aaah, no! Stay a little more, please!”

                “I can’t! I have class tomorrow, and you too!” she laughed.

                “I know, but I want to talk to you!”

                “Yesterday we didn’t even sleep, because we spent the night talking, and you still want to talk more today?” she laughed more.

                “Yes” he smiled widely “I would spent all my nights talking to you if I could”

                “Yah! Don’t say stupid things! You really mean you got this flight to Japan, so you could talk to me all nights and then spend all days sleeping and not enjoying?” it was his time to laugh now.

                “No, I don’t mean this. It’s just… I miss you so much, Lala”

                “Psh, yeah… Partying all weekends, you really miss me, Hoya” she said sarcastically.

                “Well, girls here do look better than you though…” he teased.

                “YAH!” she shouted, what made him pull off his ear buds “Just so you know, there are a lot of guys flirting with me now! Maybe they thought you were my boyfriend and now that you’re gone…” she laughed uncontrollably now.

                “Haha, very funny. I just don’t see why people would think we were dating. I mean, just look at us. I’m all handsome here and you’re all weird” he couldn’t stop teasing.

                “AAARGH! Be on your knees now and thank God you’re away from me, ‘cause if you were somewhere near I would hit you to death, Hoya!” she shouted angrily, what just made him laugh full heartedly.

                After some minutes, it became silent again, until Howon started starring at her image on his screen, approaching his face a little. She started to feel a bit weird.

                “What is it you’re looking?” she mumbled.

                “Come nearer” he said.

                “What? Why?” she got surprised.

                “Just come!” he said and she did as told.

                He kept starring at her for some more time, opened his mouth to say something, but shut it with no sound, then opened again.

                “Did—” he started but stopped midway “Did you dye your hair? It’s a bit dark, I can’t say if you did or it’s the lights, I… Did you?” he finally asked and her cheeks started a bit shade of pink

                “I… did. But, uhm, it was omma who told me to.” she said a lot lower than when she was angry at him “But hey! We’re in this conversation for hours and you only noticed this now?” she laughed.

                “I… Yeah” he leaned back on his chair while rubbing his neck “Sorry.”

                “Psh, see? That’s why girls end up dumping you” she laughed really loud this time.

                “Yah! Go to sleep, you have class tomorrow. Good night” he said, pretending to type something, and this just made her laugh more.

                “Ay~ Alright, let’s sleep. Good night, Hoya”

                That night, it took Hoya a long more to reach cloud nine.

 

                "What time is it again?" Mrs. Lee asked to her husband.

                "Calm down, woman!" he laughed while both of them waited for Howon to appear.

                "Oh, there he is" she shouted with a clearly happy and relieved tone "Howon-ah!"

                The boy was carrying a bag and was taping something on his hand phone, he looked up to the sound of his name on his mother's voice, looking for it among the people. He opened a smile when saw her waving with his father standing by her side. Howon walked faster until reached them both.

                "Hi, mom" he hugged her tightly.

                "Hi, dear" she hugged him, then pulled back to look at his face.

                "I'm the same!" he said and made the three of them laugh, then turned to Mr. Lee and gave him a quick hug "Hi, dad"

                "Hi, son"

                "Oh, she doesn't know it, right?" he asked.

                "No, she's completely clueless, don't worry. Let's grab your suitcases and go home"

                "Oh, home~ I miss it so much"

 

                It was after lunch when Howon had already settled most of his stuff and decided it was time to surprise his best friend. He felt some weird sensation in his stomach at the thought of seeing her, having her so near him again, but ignored it and kept walking towards her house. When he arrived there, he rang the doorbell. Not a long after, Lala’s mom answered it. As soon as the door was open, he could hear loud music coming from the back of the house.

                “Omo! Howon! Y-you’re here already!” she exclaimed and hugged him “Wait a second, I’m calling Lala, she’ll be s--"

                “No, no, omma! Please, I want to make a surprise” he said and smiled.

                “Ah, I see… She’ll be so so so happy, dear~” she smiled back and opened more the door for him to enter “She’s at the pool, you can hear the music” she laughed slightly and started guiding him to the swimming pool at the back of the house.

                The nearer they were getting, the louder the music was, and at some point he could even hear her singing along passionately. The woman opened the glass door and motioned him to go ahead, he  bowed to her and she got back to the kitchen. Howon took a few silent steps and stared at her, lying down at the edge of the swimming pool, wearing a purple pair of bikinis and black sunglasses, her wavy hair spread on the floor and her voice matching perfectly with the singer’s. He felt that weird sensation again, but this time it was stronger and came along with petrification. After so much effort to push back all these feelings, he regained his mind and walked as silently as possible near her, then sat down right beside her on the floor, surprised she wasn’t noticing him and thought she had her eyes closed. He smiled so widely, then poked her hip. She just turned her head to her side, then quickly sat down and took the sunglasses off her face.

                “Oh my… Hoya!” she screamed as loud as her lungs could handle and jumped on him with her arms around his neck “You’re here, you’re… I can’t believe this! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back already? I thought you were coming only two months from now, I missed you so much, I-I…” she stopped talking as soon as she felt her eyes starting to burn and a knot in . He was laughing loud, then he noticed her lack of words, pulled back to look at her face and saw her watery eyes.

                “Are you going to cry?” he asked still laughing then hugged her back, tighter this time “I’m here! I’m back, Lala”

                “I know, I just missed you so much” she said between sobs “You have no idea. I… really missed you”

                “Me too… I missed your stupidity” he said and laughed.

                “Oh, you have all the ability to change the mood. Thank you” she laughed.

                “I’m just kidding. I really missed you too. A lot, Lala”

                “Of course you did, I know that” she said and started letting go, but he held her tighter.

                “Please, don’t. I really missed you” he whispered in her ear, what was exactly like music for the dancing butterflies inside of her.

                She couldn’t handle a wider smile.

                They spent all day together, as expected. He talked about everything he saw, everyone he talked to, even though they would talk a lot when he was still in Japan, and she told him what she had done during the past year. Night came, they ordered pizza and kept chatting until it was very late and Howon’s mom called him back. Very reluctantly she said goodbye. Even though she knew he’d always be around now, he was back and they could be together whenever they wanted, she didn’t want to let him go. After locking the door, she let a long yawn escape and dragged herself to her room.

                The next day was Monday, they went to school and every free second they had, they spent glued to each other. He taught her a lot of Japanese words and sentences, and he kept mocking her accent every time she tried to say something. After classes, he walked her home, like he always did, then went to his own house.

 

                Howon left the bathroom in a pair of grey pants and some old t-shirt as a pajama, rubbing a towel on his head, trying to dry his hair and not get the pillow wet, then threw the towel randomly on a chair.

                “Aiish, it’s getting hot” he mumbled and went to open the windows around his room, one across the bed and another right above it, then turned the lights off and jumped on the bed, getting ready to sleep. But some overthinking wouldn’t let him do that. He remembered her. How she looked like the day they saw each other again, her beautiful figure lying on the floor near the pool, her body was the same, but it changed. He couldn’t explain or even figure out how, but it was like it was. He replayed her features; her wavy long hair, her smile, her shining eyes, everything.

                He let his mind travel wild and free while his eyes were looking without any attention to the window across his bed. It was only when he heard a light chuckle that he noticed she was right there, sitting on the edge of the window. He knew that she needed him at that moment and it was something very important. Only twice she did that. One time was when she heard her parents talking about moving to another house, the other was then her puppy ran away, she came in tears and he comforted her, but judging by her smile, he could tell it wasn’t sad or tragic. But he wasn’t even carrying about it. All he cared about was how beautiful she looked there, the moon light coming from the window above his head and making her face perfectly visible, and how the frame of his window looked like the frame of a painting, one of those that make people dazed of such perfectness. He knew what she was there for.

                She started moving to land on the floor inside his bedroom, that’s when he came back to his senses and lit up the lamp beside his bed.

                “Don’t!” he said when she started approaching him.

                “You look handsome in the dark, you know that?” she ignored him and kept walking.

                “Lala, really, don’t come. I’m serious, I--” he sat on the bed and was cut by her.

                “I have to do something, Hoya”

                “You shouldn’t be here, it’s late, we don’t know what can happen. Stop!” he said the last word a bit louder, she finally stopped and he sighed in relief.

                “I have to tell you something” she said and started walking to the lamp beside him, then turned it off.

                He immediately turned the light on again and kept his hand there while she sat on the bed, in front of him.

                “Hoya…” she started

                “You shouldn’t to this. I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know what can happen. You… You’re so beautiful tonight, I don’t think I can’t stop looking at you, but what if we regret it later? I don’t want our friendship to be over just because I messed everything up, I love you so much to be without you” he instantly held the air inside when noticed what he had said.

               She smiled wide and leaned to him, sliding her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug full of feelings.

                “Turn the lights off~” she whispered.

                He did as told, and slowly dragged his arm to hug her, one hand her head. He took all her hair, pushed it aside, making room for his hand to go on her neck and pulled a bit out of the hug. He looked deeply inside her eyes and she did the same.

                “I love you too” she whispered again.

                He smiled. His eyes took their way to her lips and back to her eyes. He approached their faces until their lips touched in a soft and meaningful kiss.