Several months had passed by since he had first arrived and he had situated himself nicely in town. He still kept to himself, so even in the small town where everyone knew everyone else, there were still a few who have yet to meet him. His mother, on the other hand, the social butterfly that she was, was always in and out of the house. Not that Minseok minded.

One could even say that it was because Kyungjin that people had gotten to know him better. It was because of her that the other townspeople were able to see the mysterious boy who everyone’s heard of but never seen.

He had become some sort of a legend over the past months, thanks to some people like Jongdae and his chain of fellow friends. As well as people who had met Minseok briefly who worked in commerce industry such as Kris and Kyungsoo who answered the burning questions other people had of him.

But the answers they gave were vague due to the fact that they only met Minseok briefly and could only obtain so much of his personality from the time they spent with him. And they both gave similar answers. Distant, uninterested, and in all, not the most sociable person out there. But all of them gave the same conclusion, he might be the most charming person out there, but they all secretly agreed that it seemed that he had soft spot for Kyungjin. Not that they would say that out loud, but Minseok knew, or rather he heard.

He was at first a little peeved at that thought. The idea that he actually treated Kyungjin somewhat differently than others, that he actually put some feelings into their relationship that one might call friendship. That he actually was trying to know her better without him knowing that he wanted it before. But in the end, he accepted it. Because as much as he might deny it, he knew that it was true. He already admitted to himself that he was slightly interested in her. There were some more amiable feelings toward Kyungjin. But he wouldn’t say a lot.

She was simply Lee Kyungjin and that was all she was.

A person who he simply wanted to know better. But only a tiny bit.

When he arrived, she was sitting up in bed with a small box positioned in front of her. She didn’t even look at Minseok when he walked in, only continuously gazing at the box.

As he drew closer, he realized that the box was actually a mail package with an invoice stuck on the box. He sat down and waited for her to speak.

“Oh Sehun.”

Minseok looked up at her while her gaze was still attached to the box.

“He finally sent me something. After what, two years since he last got in contact?” She looked at him and Minseok got up and left the room. He came back with a few minutes later with scissors. He handed them to her and the phrase, “Are you absurd?” was written all over her face.

“Did you forget that I’m sick? I don’t have enough blood cells in my body and that included platelets. If I cut myself, I won’t be able to heal myself,” she snorted playfully.

Minseok looked down at the scissors in his hand and then back up at Kyungjin. “If you can cut yourself with these scissors, you must be more accident-prone than I thought.” He put his palm out. “Hand me the box.”

Kyungjin delicately passed over the box which Minseok set down on his lap after he sat down. She peered over to look as Minseok cut through the tape covering the top. He then slowly opened the box and handed it back to Kyungjin without looking at what’s inside.

She first picked up a piece of paper which looked like a letter. She glanced at Minseok and put the paper aside. Instead, she rummaged through the box and pulled out pieces of jewelry. In the palm of her hand lay a few rings with various colored stones embedded in them, a silver charm bracelet, and a simple necklace with a small emerald tear-drop.

She tried on the rings first, but they were all too big for her fingers, even for her thumb. They slid off easily, unable to stay put. She smiled sadly. “Huh, I used to be this size.”

Even the bracelet was too big for her wrist, for with the tilt of her hand, the bracelet would completely fall off.

Minseok knew what these small details meant. He was sure that her best friend wouldn’t forget what size rings she wore or pick a bracelet that was obviously too big. It meant that over those years that her best friend had left, Kyungjin had gotten skinner, losing weight from her illness.

Kyungjin sighed and finally put on the necklace. It hung perfectly against her upper chest and collarbones, and she touched it lightly. She lifted the emerald slightly and grinned softly. “Well, at least he remembers that my favorite color is green.” She unclasped the necklace and collected all the jewelry into the palm of her hand. Looking around, she was about the set them on the table next to her but paused momentarily.

Minseok followed her gaze to the table, wondering why she stopped so suddenly. On the table she was about to reach over to were already several items situated on it.  Items that he recognized fairly well. A heart-shaped stone, two pieces of origami, one badly made and one well made, and a bag of cookies.

He looked up at Kyungjin who stared at the table before turning the other way and putting the jewelry back in the box. She rummaged through the box, seeing if there was anything else in the box. When she came up empty, she half-laughed, staring emptily at the box. “That kid,” she scoffed, shaking her head.

She then turned to look at the letter next to her that she set aside which she then picked up and opened it.

An expressionless gaze was focused on her face as she silently read through the single page; a moment that didn’t even last a minute for the letter was only a few sentences long.

Her expression ranged from disbelief to sorrow to anger and finally settled on exasperation. “What was I expecting?” she muttered to herself.

Minseok watched throughout the whole process of her actions. She hardly noticed him, as if he wasn’t sitting next to her.

He observed her, her thoughts as vague as ever, but he managed to pick out some things. Thoughts like she was expecting something, but not this. He believed he heard something about Oh Sehun coming out of the box, but he thought was ridiculous seeing how small the box was. And thoughts of her contemplating on whether on crumpling the letter or simply leaving it aside.

He blinked at her as she continued to stare blankly at the box, as if she waited enough, something else would appear.

He was curious, that he would admit. Seeing how such a package and letter could bring down her mood so easily that he was curious on how this friend of her managed such a thing. Something he never had such an effect on her. Even on days with his chilliest of moods, she still managed to keep a smile on her face.

But this, this was different. It was obvious that this Sehun boy had a completely different effect on her. That the mention of his name could change her mood completely. And unfortunately for Minseok, that made him all the more curious.

He had a small itch to find out who Oh Sehun was and what he meant to Kyungjin.

But Minseok wasn’t going to ask. No, he felt like it wasn’t his place. And even if it meant that that itch was going to be on the back of his mind, he wasn’t going to ask.

“A long time ago, I used to be crazy.”

Minseok looked up at the sound of Kyungjin’s words, a bit startled for he thought for a moment that she was the one who could read minds. She was staring absently in front of her as if she was seeing her past unfold in front of her.

“Aren’t you crazy now?” Minseok mumbled silently.

Kyungjin whipped her head towards him, glaring at him lightly. “I’m telling you a story right now. Quiet, you.” She returned to her previous expression of distantness in her eyes.

“Where was I? Right, I was crazy. Not mad crazy, but annoyingly crazy.”

“I told you that I’ve been sick for nine years, right?” she asked, but then shook her head. “Actually, that’s not right. I found out that I had aplastic anemia nine years ago, but it wasn’t until five years ago that I actually got this sick where I had to actually be hospitalized,” she explained with a wave of her hands. “I was still pretty ok for four years that I was able to stay at home but had to go to regular hospital checkups.”

“You told me that before,” he reminded.

“Right, it was a brief reminder if you forgotten. Mmm, where was I going with this?” she mused, her chin. “Oh! Yes, Oh Sehun.” She glanced at Minseok for a split second before turning her attention back to the front again. “Sehun was my childhood friend; we did everything together. Though some of the things we did weren’t, oh, how do I say it, appreciated by the rest of the people in town.”

“You mean setting the animals loose in Kyungsoo’s pet shop?” Minseok asked.

She laughed. “That’s one of them! Once we went to the tallest building in town and climbed to the very top, and we dropped water balloons on passing strangers. Good times, good times.”

“You sounded like a troublemaker,” Minseok noted.

She chuckled, “Well, I did make a few people dislike me very much in the past. It was pretty fun when you’re a little kid. Even during high school and even though I was diagnosed, Sehun and I caused some trouble. Nothing too big, mind you, but enough for the people we pranked to run after screaming our names.”

“But the main point is that I was. It wasn’t until I had to be hospitalized and reality sort of hit that I realized that I couldn’t do such things anymore. I can’t run without getting tired, I can’t climb up and over walls because I don’t have the strength anymore, and I can’t do anything without getting bruises even if it’s a scrape against the table.” She looked at Minseok who was giving her a long and narrowed stare. “What?”

“I find that surprising seeing how active you are,” he explained.

She blinked at him with wide eyes and burst out in laugher. “I could see how you would think that, but trust me, I’m more fragile than you think,” she said in between small laughs.

“So,” Minseok started off.

“So, what?” asked Kyungjin with a small raise of her eyebrow. “Ah, right, my story. So, after realizing how weak I really was, I’ve stopped my antics and become more of a verbal fighter. You know, the sarcastic jokes and all. And I’ve also stopped hanging out with Sehun. I simply couldn’t, not with his active body.”

“Sehun, how do I explain him? We were pretty active children, Sehun even more. Even though we were best friends, I was mostly the one who followed him around. Sort of like a leader and a follower? But the thing was that Sehun was the type of person who couldn’t sit still. He was the one who would always run ahead and leave everyone behind. So as you can see, some people don’t too kindly to his tricks. Much more than mine. He always liked adventuring around, and when I wasn’t able to, he would come and tell me all about it. So you would expect that someone like him couldn’t stay in a place for too long. After he graduated high school, he left town. Didn’t tell anybody, just got up and left.”

She stared down at her hands. “I mean, I knew he wanted to leave, but the fact that he left without telling me,” she mumbled, clenching her hands into fists. “I don’t know, it kind of hurts.”

“But he contacts you often, right?” Minseok observed, looking pointedly at the package on her lap.

She scowled. “Sure, if you call often an erratic pattern that I can never predict. And he always sent some trinkets and a letter that never says anything except for pleasantries.” She picked up the letter and waved it in front of him. “Like this. All he said was the weather’s nice wherever he’s at and I shouldn’t catch a cold. It’s the goddamn summer. How am I going to catch a cold?”

“But there’s a return address, right? You didn’t try to contact him?” Minseok asked with a curious tilt of his head.

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t think I’ve tried that before? But he’s constantly moving, so even with the address I have, it’s probably wrong. I’ve gotten many letters sent back to me. Honestly, I think he’s simply sending me things out of courtesy or maybe even pity.”

“But you still hope,” Minseok revealed.

She looked at him and smiled softly. “Yeah, I do. I hope that Sehun will one day send me a goddamn real letter. I hope that one day he’ll finally realize that my size is not as big as he thinks it is.” She smiled sadly at him. “And I hope that one day I’ll get to see him again.”

 Minseok narrowed his eyes at her as he heard the words that came after those that were spoken. “Before I die. If I die.”

“He must be quite the person if Kyungsoo hates him more than you do. And he must be the ‘punk’ your cousin was talking about,” Minseok said instead, choosing the direct the conversation elsewhere.

Kyungjin face brightened up at the memory. “Sehun was a crazy kid, but it made everything more fun. He flooded his house as a kid because he wanted to see if he could make his bathroom something like a tank. And he almost burned down his house because he set his cat’s tail on fire; poor cat. Kyungsoo hates him because he was the one who planned the release of all the animals in the store. He also stole and hid most of the animal food. Jongdae hates him because every chance Sehun had, he would scare him to death.” She stopped and tapped a finger to her chin. “And because I think Sehun fed him his disastrous cooking and he almost died from it. Figuratively speaking, of course. I think he passed out though.”

She saw the look that Minseok was giving her. “Hey!” she cried out, pointing her finger at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t there for half of them.” With her finger still pointed at Minseok, she quieted down and cocked her head at him, a sudden thought popped in her mind. She grinned at him. “You’re trying to make me feel better, aren’t you?”

He stared expressionlessly at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No, no. You can’t fool me. I was feeling a bit down before, and you noticed it. So you brought up that whole thing about everyone hating on Sehun because you know I find it hilarious.”

Minseok gave her a slightly confused look. “I think you’re thinking too much into…”

She waved him off, shaking her head. “I knew you weren’t a bad person!” she interrupted him. “Acting all shy. No need. I will willingly accept all the love you give me.”

“No, I assure you, I truly think you’re wrong there.” Minseok tried to clarify grimly.

“Oh, you’re so cute when you’re acting all bashful and all,” Kyungjin grinned.

Minseok glared at her darkly. “And I guarantee you that I’m not.”

She smirked at him while Minseok narrowed his eyes at her, but softened them only the slightest. He knew that Kyungjin was to some extent forcing her happiness, though the words she spoke were all true. And through her pretended cheerfulness, Minseok couldn’t help but to feel some pain. A small dull pain than reverberated from his heart to the rest of his body. A pain that would most likely stay and linger whether he liked it or not. A pain that he would realize would never go away.

“Gah! All this talk is making me hungry!” Kyungjin groaned, pushing the box aside. She threw the covers aside, jumped out of bed, and slipped on her slippers, all in one smooth move. She grabbed Minseok by the arm and struggled to pull him up; however, obviously being the stronger one between the two, he would not budge even after a few pulls. She grunted as she put her hands on her thighs, looking breathlessly at the immovable boy in front of her. He was clearly giving her a look that he wanted to know exactly where and what she wanted to do.

She straightened up and put her hands on her hips, adding a roll of her eyes while at it. She glanced at him and smirked. “I’ve never introduced you to the hospital food, have I? You simply must try it; it’s quite delicious.”

Minseok calmly sat in the chair and replied, “You’re lying.”

“And how would you know that?” she asked with a scoff.

He tapped his temple. “I know what you’re really thinking, remember?”

The smirk fell off her face as she mused over that thought. “Ah, that’s right.” A grin finally formed on her face as she once again tried to pull Minseok up. “Well, no matter. I still want to introduce what misery tastes like.”

Minseok finally relented and pulled himself up causing Kyungjin to stumble a little back. Not flustered from her mishap, she tugged Minseok by the arm and out the door, closing the door behind her rather roughly.

The impact of the door closing caused a small gust of wind to form and flow through the room. It passed over the bed and through a piece of paper that was already precariously hanging from the side of the bed. And with that one single touch of the wind, it fluttered off the bed and slid under the table next to it.

And if one actually picked it up and looked, that person would see written clearly on the back of the paper a sentence that read, “P.S. I’m coming back.”

A/N: And the moral of this chapter is to always read papers front and back. And what’s with that cliché ending? Shame on me. And I also don’t promote setting cats on fire.

I wanted to put this chapter out earlier, but I never knew I would get so busy. Seeing friends and family takes a lot out of you. But hopefully this chapter satisfied you? Hopefully?

Thanks for reading!