❥ Chapter Two

            And there was silence all around her as she settled down in the soft grass, pulling her knees up to her chest.

            The sun just began to set, creating glowing orange gradient among the darkening sky.

            She finally sighed in relief, trying to exorcize the stress from her body, the pain that caused tension to thrive within her. And her emotionless mask gave way to eyes that reflected a torturous grief barely anyone could understand, and a frown that seemed to permanently replace any smile she had before.

            Her fleeting mind wandered to her memories of a time that seemed like it was years and years ago.

            But only two years have passed.

            She remembered when they first met in third grade, and he crashed into her while running away from someone he’d pissed off. Already, at eight years old, he was wreaking havoc to the student body.

            While the two of them were sprawled apart in the hallway, the other boy had nearly caught up to him. And he would have, if his foot didn’t make contact with one of her papers, causing him to slip and fall onto his back.

            The boy who had crashed into her smiled and quickly dragged her away from the scene to avoid the oncoming attack from the other boy.

            As soon as they were hidden inside a classroom, he thanked her, introducing himself as Akio. She hesitantly said her name was Mitsuki, still confused by the strange boy in front of her.

            For an entire school year, they never spoke again. But he would always smile and wave when he saw her, and eventually, she began to return those actions.

            When they were in fourth grade, they ended up being in the same class, and he immediately chose to sit next to her, despite the teacher having placed his name card on a desk on the other side of the classroom. He begged and pleaded until she gave in, allowing him to sit next to the surprised girl.

            Throughout that year, he would pester her, distract her, and constantly try to get her to play with him in the playground. But she preferred staying inside, reading a new book her father had given her. So he took up reading to see what was so good about it to her. And he ended up accompanying her for the rest of the year, not once wondering why she didn’t want to play with the other kids or have any other friends.

            Fifth grade turned to sixth, which turned to seventh, eighth, and so on. Each year, though they may not have been in the same class, they continued to read together, accompany each other, and occasionally, Akio would manage to pull Mitsuki outside to play on the jungle gym or talk to others.

            The reading may have calmed him down ever so slightly, but he was still the persistently hyper, happy boy who loved to socialize, and cause trouble to or prank upperclassmen, teachers, or the occasional, way-too-serious student.

            Mitsuki would sit on the sidelines, amused by the way he went about things. She would smile and laugh when a prank was deserved, or roll her eyes and give Akio the silent treatment if he went too far. He would eventually have to apologize to the victim before Mitsuki would start talking to him again.

            High school finally came, and the first year passed by smoothly. The two of them had ended up in the same classes, and there would barely be a moment when you wouldn’t see them together.

            Though still unsocial, Mitsuki would be persuaded a couple times a month to go and sit with other people during lunch with Akio, and attempt to become friends with them. It was awkward at first, but he kept dragging her from crowded lunch table to crowded lunch table, until almost every student in at least their freshman class knew her name and that she was Akio’s best friend.

            But two years later, during their junior year, Akio had begun to distance himself from her, without any reason or hints as to why. Mitsuki could feel the evident gap next to her, and the smiles that were almost always caused by Akio were gone, replaced by expressions of confusion and a descending sadness.

            He would still sit next to her in class and pass notes while the teacher wasn’t looking, and he would still greet her in the mornings.  Even when he said good morning, though, he wouldn’t look her directly in the eyes. But break times and lunch were when Akio would try to avoid her. Any times when lengthy conversations could occur, he would join a group of guys and go outside into the field to play short games of football, or simply escape the classroom to have lunch outdoors. 

            She felt empty, and guilty, as if she had done something wrong. 

            But only a few months passed in that fashion before her surprising temper flared and she grabbed her best friend's arm during a lunch break and dragged him into a short, empty hallway.

            Folding her arms, she glared at him and demanded for the reason as to why he was avoiding her. Mitsuki said it didn’t matter if he continued to, but he had to give her a reason. It was only then when she realized how tall he was compared to her, how much they had changed since they were in third grade, how much time had passed.

            Only then did she realize that, not only could their physical appearance change, but their perspectives of each other, their mindsets, could change.

            Had he gotten bored of her and was now unwilling to be associated with her at all?

            The glare fell from her face, and she could feel tears of realization surface, running from her eyes.

            His hand darted forward, and he closed the distance between them. “Sweetheart, don’t cry,” he whispered, brushing the tears from her face. He chuckled and said, “You’ll ruin the makeup that you insist on putting on every day.”

            Mitsuki pushed his hand away. “Don’t say that when you’re the one making me cry.”

            His mouth opened slightly in surprise when she took several steps away from him.

            “Why are you doing this to me? Aren’t we supposed to be best friends?” she mumbled, wiping away her own tears.

            “I’m doing this so I won’t hurt us… But I guess I failed, right?”

            She didn’t reply and only stared at the ground, waiting for an explanation.

            “I didn’t… I wasn’t trying to… I couldn't...” Akio sighed in frustration, and with every ounce of courage he could muster, confessed, “I avoided you because I like you and I didn’t want us... to lose our friendship.”

            He held his breath, and nervously (uncharacteristically) waited.

            Mitsuki shook her head, almost laughed, and walked forward to hug him.

            They transitioned from friends, to best friends, to a couple, who’s love had been envied by many around them.

            In their relationship, they had experienced what true love was, with no misconceptions. And to them, it had been the most beautiful and breathtaking period of their lives: when they were together and in love.

            But before they could continue as happily as they had been, a year afterwards was when the darkness had completely fallen and encompassed Mitsuki.

            It was a day that she refuses to remember clearly, for fear of breaking down in random moments of tears and sobs.

            No great detail is needed to explain the sheer simplicity of what had happened that day. It was such a coincidental moment, a case of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

            A bullet had pierced his heart, which was panicking in the moment of emergency, and immediately stopped beating once it was run through.

            She had been told it was a drive by shooting, something that rarely happened, but had on a winter day, when she was at home, sick.

            Three were wounded; one was dead.

            The small chances of it being Akio only fueled her anger, grief, and desolation.

            Everything around her had tumbled and crashed, like a tsunami wave that was destroying everything in its path. Just like how the bullet stole his life and cut up his heart, her own heart was torn to pieces that day, until it was left in a tattered, helpless heap of red.

            So she sat there, on that silent hill where she had so many picnics with Akio, spent so many hours just sitting there, reading, cloud gazing or star watching, from the time they were children, till the last year of high school. A photo of him sat beside her, taken only a few days before the incident.

            She clenched her jaws together as a tear slipped from her left eye, and her fingers wound themselves into fists.

           Her phone rang, disrupting the silence, and her hands clumsily searched through her bag to grab her phone. Quickly flipping it open, she didn't bother to answer, only waiting for the caller to speak.

           "Mitsuki, are you ready to come down from the hill? Your plane ride back to Korea is in an hour."

           She looked back out at the scenery that she had missed for so long while she was in Korea. This was the hill that held so many of her memories with her love. And now, she had to return to her university back in Seoul, to leave the nostalgic place. 

           "I'll be there in a minute," she muttered, hanging up. Picking up the picture and her bag, she stood up to slowly walk away from her past, turning back to look only once.

            Two years ago, on this exact day, she was robbed of her best friend and lover.

            Two years ago, she was convinced that love, though beautiful, was one of the most painful experiences to have. Her heart was demolished, and her happiness was obliterated.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! So I know I promised a longer chapter (which I guess this is a little longer), but I decided last minute to also include a back story for Mitsuki :) Hope you guys like the update ^.^ I'm updating in class, and my class is almost over so I have to make this a quick author's note (lol it really isn't... XD) So, please comment, subscribe, and/or upvote, and I'll see you guys in my next update! Thanks for reading~

~DespisedSecret

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