Minseok put an arm on the thick wood trunk of the tree nearby to catch his breath. He looked up slightly to see Kyungjin prancing ahead of him.

She wasn’t going fast but the path she took uphill and full of rocks and trees.

“Minseok!” she yelled from where she was perched on top of fallen log. She waved her hand excitedly and shouted, “Hurry up, ya slowpoke! I’m supposed to be the weak one here! Where exactly is your manliness?”

Minseok let a small sigh while looking solemnly at her. He took his time as he trudged up the slightly steep slope to where she was sitting. He plopped down next to her before throwing her a side glance. “Yes, aren’t you supposed to be the one who ran out of breath if you do arduous and strenuous activities? I’m starting to think that you aren’t truly sick and all of this is a façade.” But despite those words, he could see that the girl was truly exhausted even though she tried to hide it. On the way up, she occasionally had to stop and rest at short intervals of walking and had to lean on the trunks of the tree for support. She refused the help of Minseok when he offered it once, and he didn’t ask her again.

She glanced at him and gave a small smirk. She threw her head back and the back of her hand to her forehead in feigned anguish. “Oh my. I feel faint. Hold me,” she gasped dramatically. She giggled as she looked next to her. “That good enough for you?”

She blinked in confusion as the person she was expecting to see with unamused expression was no longer there. She peered around her, her head swiveling brokenly to catch a sight of him.

She finally found him walking ahead without even looking back. She snorted silently to herself while she scampered nimbly after him. She knew that it may seem that he wasn’t waiting for her while he was continuously walking ahead of her, but she could tell that it wasn’t his normal walking pace. That he purposely walking the slightest degree slower than what he was used to. That he was waiting for her to catch up. Not that he would admit that. And she was grateful for it.

She paused mid-step to stare at his back that was walking steadily ahead of her, a small sad smile adorned on her face as she did.

Minseok stopped and turned around, a frown embedded in his own face. He glanced at her in mild confusion and bland curiosity as why she had stopped so suddenly. “What are you doing?”

She blinked at him before she laughed and shook her head. “Nothing!” she sang as she skipped towards him.

Minseok watched her in lackluster interest before shrugging and continuing on.

“Oh!” Kyungjin exclaimed, propping her right foot onto a trunk following with her elbow on her knee. And with her other arm, put her hand over her eyes to shade them. Which she then pointed far into the distance a cluster of trees that seemed to lead into a darker. All in on fluid motion. “Hark! Methinks that our destination is only a further off into the distance!”

“Great. Can we please move on?” Minseok murmured as he observed her actions with disinterest.

She laughed before jumping off the log and trekking towards the said location.

It wasn’t long before they reached the dark green trees that loomed over them.

Kyungjin bit her lip in excitement, giving Minseok a side glance. “Shall we go?” However, she didn’t even wait for his response as she bounded in ahead of him.

Minseok gave a silent sigh before following her.

It was surprisingly dark when they entered the woods, with only the sunlight peeking though the canopies of the trees. It wasn’t impossible to see, but they had to tread lightly in fear of stumbling over a stray root of a tree or perhaps a small stone.

But it wasn’t long before they were greeted with an intense burst of light. A small space, only a few meters wide, where a clearing in the woods lay in front of them with a small stream flowing at one side into and through the woods. The trees around the clearing allowed it to seem isolated from the rest of the dark green trees.

Minseok observed the area with curious eyes. It wasn’t big; simply a small area where grass grew and several small purple wildflowers sprouted through some of the foliage. “This is a nice place,” he commented.

Kyungjin clasped her hands behind her back as she leaned forward taking a small skip as well. “Isn’t it?”

She ran towards the center of the clearing before plopping down, straightening her legs in front of her, and motioning Minseok to come over and sit as well as she patted the space next to her.

He walked over to her where a peaceful smile adorned her face as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze that wafted through, brushing through her hair in small waves.

Minseok took one last look around before sitting down with his knees hugging his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He didn’t say anything to her, but he could hear the heavy breathing next to him and see from the corner of his eye her chest heave in and out from the extra exertion she put in when she was walking.  

Neither of them spoke; Minseok, who was waiting for Kyungjin to speak first, and Kyungjin, who was gathering her thoughts.

She sighed and laid down flat on her back, reaching her right hand straight into the sky as if she was trying to grab the white clouds that were floating by. She glanced at Minseok and said, “Lie down too.”

Minseok gave her a look that could only mean, “What are you spouting now?” with a eyebrow slightly ached up by a miniscule and the same blank unamused firm line on his lips.

She laughed before bringing her arm down but not before swerving it so that it hit Minseok straight in the chest and bringing him down with it.

He let a small grunt, feeling his back hit the ground and settle down more comfortably as he lied on his back and looked at the blue sky as well. 

“Hmmm, where to start?” she finally murmured. “I suppose the best way is straight into it.”

Minseok watched her from his peripheral without turning his head. Kyungjin was looking straight into the sky as if she was looking through it and not exactly at it.

“I liked him.”

This time Minseok did turn his head to look at the girl next to him. “Sehun?” he questioned, even though he already knew the answer.

A brief smile glimmered on her face before settling on a wry one. “Yeah. I liked him a lot. But now that I think about it, it was more like an infatuated crush.” She grinned at him. “You know that feeling?”

He blinked at her. “What do you mean?”

She rotated her head back to its original position. “Sorta like an admiration that grew more into a like and you will forever think about that person even if you don’t like him anymore. You know how people say you can’t forget your first love? Like that. But I think Sehun was more of a first crush than a first love. You get what I’m saying?”

Minseok blinked at her once more. “No,” he replied simply.”

She chuckled. “I didn’t think you would.”

“Because I don’t seem like the person who would form relationships with other people?” he said as he repeated her heard thoughts.

“Are you offended?” she asked with a light smile.

He looked at her before staring at the sky along with her. “No because you’re right. I never had a first love. I never wanted one.” He paused before continuing. “But where are you going with this?”

She laughed, her voice floating along with the wind. “We are getting a bit off track, aren’t we? But like I said, I liked Sehun. And back then, it was a lot. Borderline love, I would say.”

“You loved him,” Minseok interrupted.

“No, I liked him. But I was infatuated with him that the past me thought it was love. I know better now. Now, shhh. I’m telling a story.”

Minseok shook his head and quieted down.

“Anyways, I think you know how Sehun and I were extremely close as children. And I admired him so much. He always reminded me of the sun, always bright and shining, and I simply wanted to follow him.”

She smiled softly, remembering the past. “He always had his heart set out on exploring, even as kids, about seeing the pyramids of Egypt, the Eiffel Tower, or the Statue of Liberty. I don’t know why, but the way he phrased it, talked about it, it just made me want to go with him. And this is before I even liked him.”

She glanced at him before grinning. “I suppose you should know how I was before. Sehun was probably described as an active child to you. But I was too. I was a wild child. We both were. I suppose it takes one to know one. We were both crazy kids who did crazy things. I didn’t even care what the consequences that occurred were because of what we did. I just loved the excitement. If you asked anyone how I was back then, they would probably give you a look of disgust and thanks the heavens that I am so much better now. You know how Kyungsoo’s pets were released? That was my idea. It must explain why Sehun and I got along so well.” She became silent after those words, leaving only the wind to rustle the leaves and grass to hear.

“And then?” Minseok prompted softly.

A sad smile peeked through her lips. “And then I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. I don’t think you know, but I used to love running. So much that I was in track and field when I was in school. But then one day when I was training, I felt exhausted after only running a few laps, something that wasn’t normal for me. In the end, I had to lay down to rest before going to the locker room to change. And even when I went home, my body felt tired. It took almost two hours before I felt fine again, and my body didn’t feel like it was going to shut down. I thought it was just a phrase and ignored it. That maybe it was only that day that I was tired, that I wasn’t on my game.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself down and continued. “But a few weeks later, I was getting a headache and some blurred vision, and I was still feeling exhausted. So I went to see my doctor to see what was wrong. Dr. Soo, he was really worried about my pale appearance and the random bruises I had on my leg that I didn’t remember getting. So I took some few tests and my blood test results revealed that I had critically low blood levels and that I had to go back to get further testing done, specifically a bone marrow biopsy.  And when the results came back, I was officially diagnosed with aplastic anemia.”

She glanced at Minseok who was attentively listening. “Are you following me so far?”

He nodded once.

She nodded slowly as well before thinking and bursting into a fit of giggles. Minseok threw her a side glance in confusion. She sighed and waved herself to try and subside her laughter. “Sorry,” she started. “I just thought it was some kind of impossible coincidence that only happens in silly stories that Dr. Soo is actually a specialist in cases like mine. He’s actually was some big-shot in the big city but he wanted to have a more peaceful life so he moved back to his hometown. The freaking coincidence. Aren’t I lucky?” she muttered. “Anyways, I digress.”

 She reached her hands up into the air wiggling her fingers sporadically. “My case in the beginning wasn’t so severe. I was put on immunosuppressive therapy which uses medicines to keep the immune system from attacking the bone marrow stem cells, as well having a few blood transfusions. Fortunately, after a while it seemed to work. My blood counts were slowly but steadily increasing, and it seemed like I was getting better. And soon enough I was in remission. I think I’ve told you this before briefly.”

Minseok nodded.

She grinned. “Well, now that the informative part is over, let us delve into how it affected Sehun and me. Hmmm, Sehun was shocked to say the least when he first found out my condition. I mean, we both made plans to leave and travel together, and then this happens. Saying that he freaked out would be an understatement.”

Minseok was quiet before he spoke up. “He seemed to care for you a lot. Did…did he like you too?”

Kyungjin bit her lip in thought. “I’m not sure actually. Cause you’re right, there were times where I thought he reciprocated the same feelings as me. And by this time, I did like him a lot. But even I wasn’t sure. Sometimes I think he cared more his future than his present. He was more worried about our future than me. He always didn’t like it when things didn’t go as he planned.” She suddenly interrupted herself. “But that’s not to say that he wasn’t worried about me too!”

Minseok stared at her with mild curiosity. “Why do you defend him?”

She opened to speak but nothing came out. She closed it, paused, and cleared . “Because he’s still my friend. Because I’ve been his friend since childhood. And I know he’s not that horrible. Even though he acts like it.”

“And me. How it affected me.” She smiled to herself. “You know, before I got sick, I felt like I didn’t belong. That there was something more to this small town than this. And I was enamored with Sehun and his ideals, how they seemed so much more. There was something about him that I wanted to grab a hold of. And this wasn’t just me being love-stricken with him, I honestly just felt so more alive when I was with.”

The smile fell of her face and morphed into a saddened look. “But when I got sick, I realized that I never felt so much at home. That I took everything here for granted. My family who care so much about me. My friends, who even though some act like jerks, are actually good people who support me. I never knew that there were people who cared for me the way they do. And it took me getting sick just to see it.”

“So when Sehun found out that I was in remission, he asked me if I still wanted to travel with him. And I hesitated. If it was the me back then before I got sick, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. But in the end, I agreed. Because I was still set on going with Sehun for a while, maybe not around the world, but at least out to the city.”

She closed her eyes and continued. “So life went on, plans were made, and Sehun became more and more impatient to leave. I think he was simply tired of the life here, but frankly I started to like it more and more. It might have been because I gotten sick, but I took the time and effort to look at the world around me, and I honestly fell in love with it. And I slowly changed. I became less rambunctious, stopped doing crazy things, and appreciated everyone and everything a lot more.”

She sighed, opening her eyes again. “But Sehun seemed to be looking straight into the future that he couldn’t see anything around him. But even I think that there was something holding him back.”

“You?” Minseok provided.

Kyungjin let out a sad breathless laugh. “He never said it, but I think he actually did like me, more than he realized, more than he would he allow himself to.”

She sighed. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go with him. I’ve decided even before I relapsed. And I told him that.” She then shook her head. “I’ve never seen Sehun so angry. You seen how he is. Laid-back, carefree, doesn’t seem to care about anything except himself.” She paused and glanced at Minseok with a light smirk. “Kinda like you.”

Minseok shot her a glare.

“I’m kidding. You two are different, yet similar in an odd way. But,” she continued, “He yelled at me. Called me a traitor. That I didn’t care about him.”

“You didn’t tell him that you were sick?” Minseok questioned.

Kyungjin shrugged. “I didn’t know I was sick again. I just knew I couldn’t leave. I felt like I found my place.” A warm smile lit up her face. “I just knew I wanted to stay here.”

Her expression turned solemn. “Sehun wouldn’t really talk to me after that. I still remember that as he walking away from our small argument, I yelled after him that he had to promise me that he would at least say good-bye to me. Because despite of everything, we were still best friends. I still remember that he stopped walking, took one last look me with a wistful smile, and nodded.”

Minseok frowned slightly. “But he didn’t.”

She shook her head sadly. “He was preparing to leave, and I was preparing to stay. So in the end, he became extremely busy to get everything straightened out and ready.”

She paused before resuming, a soft waver to her voice. “I heard that he was leaving. Without anybody knowing. Without telling anybody. But Jongin told me what Sehun was planning, so I rushed towards his house. Nonstop. I didn’t care that my body was telling me to stop. I didn’t care that I was gradually loosing breath. I didn’t care if he still hated me. All that matter was seeing him before he left. All I wanted to see him one last time before he disappeared. Was that so hard to ask?”

She covered her eyes with the length of her arm. “And then I out. I overexerted myself to the point of collapsing and fainting. When I woke up, I was already in the hospital and Sehun was gone. I heard from other people that they had told him what happened to me and told him to at least see me even though I wasn’t conscious before he left. But he refused and left soon after. Dr. Soo did some tests on me and I found out that I relapsed. My blood disorder came back. I have aplastic anemia again, and this time it was severe. The worst part of it all was that I ripped my favorite jeans.” Her voice made it seem like she tried to make light of the situation, but the slight tremble of her voice was still there.

With her eyes still covered, she let out a sigh. “So, for some reason I kept my hope that Sehun would for some reason write to me and explain why he broke his promise. But all he did was send me packages and postcards from all the places he traveled. And all he ever wrote was how the weather was. Never anything about what happened. A part of me wanted him to never come back. Another part of me wanted him to come back so I could punch him in the stomach. And another part of me just wanted to ask him why and forgive him no matter what he said. But now that he is back…I don’t know what to do.”

She let a large heaving sigh. “And that’s the end of the story.”

She didn’t move after nor say anything else, but little gasps escaped from . Minseok propped himself up to get a better look at Kyungjin. “Are you crying?” he asked.

“No,” she replied with a hiccup. “My eyes just sweat a lot.”

He straightened up and sat up with his legs stretched forward. “That is…interesting.”

Kyungjin let a coarse laugh before sitting up as well. She looked at him with red eyes. “Well?”

Minseok glanced at her, looked at the sky that was becoming darker, and remembered certain words that a certain someone told him just earlier.

Kyungjin didn’t know what to expect when she asked Minseok for his opinion. But she definitely did not expect this. Before she knew what was happening, she felt warm arms around her shoulders and smelt the clean scent of shampoo.

She let out a stark laugh before she asked in a teasing way, “Kim Minseok. Are you hugging me?”

She could almost hear the gears in his mind rolling to come up with an appropriate answer. Which he gave with a blunt, “Yes.”

Her laughter filled the air. “Since when do you give hugs?”

“Never,” was his reply. “But someone told me that hugs were the best way to comfort someone. They apparently never fail.”

She wrapped her arms around the other’s shoulders as well, settling into the hug. “Well, that person is certainly correct.” The grin on her face could not be wiped off. “And who exactly told you this infinite wisdom?”

Minseok muttered the name under his breath with a slight distaste.

Kyungjin smiled at the thought of the person and made a reminder to thank a certain book-loving, glasses-wearing boy.

Minseok pulled out of the hug, not looking directly into Kyungjin’s eyes. “What I think is that you’re scared.”

“Excuse me?” she asked with surprise.

“You wanted my opinion, so you’re going to get it. You’re scared of what will happen. There was a reason why Sehun came back, and you’re scared to know why. Of whether it’s because of you or because of something else. It’s obvious that you care for Sehun and that you’re angry and disheartened of how he simply left you without saying good-bye, but let me ask you. Do you still like him romantically?”

Kyungjin stared at Minseok, observing him, before shaking her head. “No, not anymore.”

“Do you still care for him?”

She nodded. “Yeah, yeah I do.”

“He does too.”

Kyungjin looked at him in shock, her forehead furrowed.

Minseok, who was gazing in front himself, nodded. “Although I don’t know to what extent, he sincerely worries for you. And whether he feels sorry for what he did is something I don’t know and something for you to find out. You need to talk to Sehun. Not like today. Ask him what you want to know. Ask him why he came back. Ask him why he didn’t say good-bye. There is no point in beating around the bush. And if Sehun won’t initiate it, you do it instead.”

He finally lifted his head up and looked at Kyungjin. “You’re afraid of getting hurt again, but you have to remember the reason why you stayed. You said it yourself. There are people here who care for you in ways you didn’t know. And they still will. You have the support of people who outweigh the positives more than the negatives.”

Minseok stood up, brushing he pants of dirt and grass. “Well, that’s my suggestion. It’s up to you if you want to follow it. And I won’t go with you to see Sehun, but I will wait for you when you do.” He put out his hand to help the girl up.

Kyungjin’s gaze followed Minseok as he stood up and trailed down to his outstretched hand. She stared at it with long thought.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when she heard, “Are you going to get up or not? I’m going to leave you here if you’re not.”

She grinned, grabbing onto this hand and pulling herself up. “I’m going! I’m going! Chill down!”

Minseok gave her his signature look of unamusement mixed with blandness and shook his head.

They walked away from the clearing when Kyungjin looked down and grinned. Minseok still had his hand around Kyungjin’s and had not let go.

“Since when were you all touchy-feeling?” she teased.

Minseok abruptly stopped walking and looked at her before shifting his gaze to their hands. “I didn’t even notice,” he replied, “But if you don’t like it…” He let go her hand and continued walking.

“No, no! I never said anything like that!” she exclaimed as she jumped two steps to catch up with Minseok. She grabbed his hand and grinned up at him. “Just on the way down. So I don’t trip or fall, you know.”

He threw her a side look before shrugging.

And Kyungjin was glad that she was walking a little behind him.

Because even though Minseok could hear thoughts, he didn’t have eyes at the back of his head.

Because on the whole way down, she had the largest grin she ever had in ages.

A/N: First of all, an apology. Sorry for being MIA for the longest time. I finally had the time to sit down and write this out. But I think it came out  better than I expected, and I hope that you guys like it too.

I mean, come on, even the book-loving, glasses-wearing boy supports them.

So thanks for continually supporting and liking this story. You all are wonderful! Like ice cream, cause you know, ice cream is delicious and wonderful and yummy. Unless you can’t eat ice cream. Then it’s not so wonderful… yeah.

Thanks for reading and sticking with this story!