Han Jinah stood at the familiar steps of her old town. It was funny how time could go by so fast. For her that was a time to grow, a time to learn, a time to live, and a time to reflect.

Now she was back to face her demons and embrace her angels. Some say if she left she would never return, and if anyone asked her she would have said the same.

So it was kind of ironic that she was standing on these familiar dust tracks that trace back her entire life. And in it was the one man who changed everything. He was her savior, her best friend, her guardian angel. Byun Baekhyun, her high school crush, her unrequited love.

There was a time when she needed him as much as he needed her.  There was a time when they would drop the entire world for each other. Then the world shifted, and just like that the rest of the universe came knocking in. She had to learn to live without him, because she had to, because she had to let him go.

Jinah smiled softly, not regretting her decision to leave. She thought silently, that if there was any medicine that could cure her from herself then it would be him, the man she let go the day she left. He was her love medicine.

She couldn’t help but reflect back on all the things that have changed in these crazy, crazy seven years. Yes, it had been seven years since that dreamer of a girl packed her bags and jumped on a train traveling towards her future.

Han Jinah had experienced so many great things since she left. She explored and traveled the world. She made new friends. She saw the other side of the rainbow. She met boys. She flirted, and laughed and fell in love. She got her heartbroken and like how she always did, she got back up. And she continued, stumbling here and there, easing through the curves at a slow pace, leaping and skipping into the unknown.

So here she was today standing at the familiar steps of her past. She stopped to breathe in the familiar air. It was true that she had become someone who was stronger, smarter, and fiercer.

She couldn’t help but reflect back on her life. She couldn’t help but stand there and remember the high school version of herself. She had been a promise to herself seven years ago. No matter where she went or what she did she would always remember who she was. She would remember that fighter, that dreamer, that spirit of a girl who wished for freedom and happiness.

Standing here she hoped that she made that girl proud.

Today she could stand here and tell the younger version of herself that yes, things do get better, life would never be easy, but that was okay because nothing ever came easily. You would have work endless nights, suffer unbearable hardships, and let go of people you can’t live without. At the end of the day what you are is what you earned. Know that everything you have, everything you are, is what you earned.

That alone was worth knowing.

She straightened the dress she was wearing. It was a simple strapless sapphire blue dress which bellowed out to her mid-thigh. Her short hair fell freely only reaching the top of her shoulders with a crystal hair pin pulling back her bangs.

Jinah has always had long hair until her college roommate suggested she went for a shorter hair-do. The second she saw the cute bob cut that nicely highlighted her high cheek bones Jinah was sold. Since then she’s never outgrown her hair again.

One can say her hyperactive, bubbly college roommate was one of the most beneficial people in her life. She would always be thankful to the great Choi Sooyoung for making her step out of her shell whether it was teaching Jinah how to let her hair fall back and just laugh for a while or showing her how a good party could loosen up her day.

It was amazing how Sooyoung lived with little to no fears and Jinah began to experience living like that too. Living with no fears.

It was funny to her because she could still remember the fear rushing through her when she stood on the steps of her college campus as a freshman.

She still vividly remembered the phone call she got from Kahi. She expected the older woman to be angry and upset, but no, Kahi never was. Kahi just kindly asked her how she was settling in. There was no questions about why she never said goodbye.

Luhan on the other hand called her on the second night she arrived demanding for an apology because she just got up and left without a word. She remembered how he spent a good fifteen minutes shouting at her over the phone, the next ten minutes freaking out, and then he finally asked her if her doom was nice and if her roommate was cute.

However, the idiot still used her sudden departure as an excuse every time they had their random arguments. It worked like a charm for Luhan.

Baekhyun was a different story. After her first conversation with Luhan he had text her. He told her something that even to this day shocked her. She was shock because she was in disbelief. Of all the ways he could react and of all the things he could say she never expected him to say what he said.

I understand.

Two simple words that said it all. He understood. He understood that if she didn’t leave then she would never find the courage to leave. If Jinah stood in front of all of them, of all the people who loved her to death and she loved them just as much she would never ever find the strength to leave them.

They all knew leaving was the best thing for her….Even if they didn’t want her to go.

Baekhyun understood this and she was thankful for that.

Still, living without Baekhyun was pure torture. It felt like drowning six feet under and struggling to scream and shout and swim and float but in the end she just sunk and she had to put every single inch of strength she had into surviving.

She grew up with him, she loves him, she couldn’t stand on her own without his helping hand and being without him was horrible.

As she began to walk down the familiar street she laughed inwardly because somehow in the midst of everything that was going on, in the midst of the new circumstances and new challenges she managed to live without him.

Yes she stayed in contact with him and Luhan and Kahi. They had their occasional phone calls here and there and would face chat once in a while but there was never anything more than that.

They had this invisible unspoken agreement that none of them dare step across and they had kept for the last seven years.

Now it was time to put that agreement behind them because she was back. She was feeling terrified and nervous and excited and happy and sad and all these combustion of emotions swirling inside her that were on the blink of exploding.

She stepped towards the wedding chapel. She stopped in her tracks and fixed on a pretty, pretty smile. She took a deep breath before she pulled the door open and stepped inside.

You see there was a reason why she was back. Today someone who she loves all so dearly was getting married.

She had to come back someday, and guess someday was today. Today was a breezy summer day which reminded her all too much of the day seven years ago when she left. Today the sky was bright blue and Jinah could feel the joy in the air and taste the happiness in her lips.

She stepped into a long corridor where some of the guests were waiting, not ready to take their seats yet. Jinah was early so she presumed that it was okay to be delay for a short while.

Her eyes glanced at the guests. She was trying to look for a familiar face. Surely there were quite a few people who had heard of Han Jinah. Han Jinah was the teenage girl whose mother was accused of murder. She left for college and since then she’s been rumored to having traveled the world and living out her fullest.

Jinah saw a few classmates of hers through the corner of her eyes but none of them were who she was really looking for. Truthfully there were only three people who she wanted to really see. So the second her eyes caught sight of the familiar dark hair her insides exploded with butterflies.

Luckily for her he caught sight of her as well because she saw a smile lit onto his face, a smile she thought used to only become to her. Like a magnetic force pulling the two together she found herself making her way across the corridor towards him.

Before she knew it she was standing in front of her best friend. “Hey Jinah.”

She smiled because it felt so good to hear his voice close up. This wasn’t a phone call, he was actually standing in front of her and it felt so nice. “I missed you Baekhyun.” She blurted out. Her comment caused a gleeful smile to lift up on his face.

Before she could comprehend what she was doing she had thrown herself at him and flung her arms around him. Baekhyun was taken aback for a quick second before he hugged her back. In this moment regardless of how either of them felt or the situation they were in or what had changed over the years, Jinah felt content knowing that things change, people change, life change, but sometimes if you’re lucky, a small piece of home stays and remains. This was them, the idiotic naive boy and his stupid best friend who loved him to death. They remain.