Final

Battling against the overwhelmed dizziness, Jieun forced her eyes opened before quickly closed them back as the pain suddenly hit her head again. A low groan escaped her lips and she didn't even know how deep her eyebrows furrowed already. And in that instant moment—she awarded those hangover as the worst one that she ever experienced for sure.

"Sunhwa?" she driedly muttered, trying to reduce the pain by lightly massaging her temple. "Sunhwa?"

She frowned, wondering why did those girl ignore her calling which forcing her to open her eyes half-heartedly. She looked to the right side of the bed and found that Sunhwa wasn't there with her. Thinking that she might have awake earlier, Jieun got up from the bed and leant against the headboard to take another short rest until her eyes caught something wrong was happening around.

The plain white wall, wooden colour floor, mostly white and black coloured furniture—It wasn't Sunhwa's room.

It was a familiar one but she wasn't brave enough to believe it.

Slowly, she got down from the bed and hesitantly walked towards the door, still wondering whether it was a dream or not until she opened the door and saw that guy was standing behind the stove, preparing something with a pan meanwhile she could only standing there—stunned, wasn't able to make a sound.

She couldn't believe the person that she missed the most was currently standing metres away from her, doing something that he used to do whenever they got a little spare times before. It was like a dream and if it really was, she would prefer to never waking up instead.

She would prefer to stay in a dream like this forever.

She felt a sudden heat on her cheeks upon he found her standing on the treshold, boring her eyes into her until she felt the need to look away or she would end up paralyzed instead. She never felt this way before. And the truth that it happened towards Junhong made her wondering what kind of surprise that life may offered to her next time.

"How's your headache?" he asked, after a while.

Jieun looked at him back, full of hesitancy but when she saw him smiling at her like what he always did—a half part of her heart was becoming softened a little. It was indeed his special "talent" though, to always bring warmth to people around him.

"It's getting better," she muttered, still had not getting over the nervousness yet.

"Come here. I've prepared egg rolled for you," he said while smoothly moving the egg into plates, later making his way into the dining room first.

Jieun pursed her lips into a line to swallow back every urges to make a stupid grin, and immediately walked into the dining room regardless the endless aching inside her head.

She sat in front of him, staring at all the foods that had been prepared there before she realized that all of them was her favorite—egg rolled, cream soup, and hot chocolate—and she believed it wasn't just a coincidence. He must prepared this alone for her.

"You don't like it?" he worriedly asked.

She looked at him in the eye, right into his pupils. "How can I end up here?"

His tensed face slowly broke into a smile after getting thrown those question, and Jieun began wondering what was so funny about that.

"Your friend—Sunhwa? She used your phone to call for a taxi last night but it looks like she pressed the wrong number," he explained, stuffing the egg into his mouth. "She called me two in the morning."

Jieun really wanted to facepalm herself so bad after hearing the truth. She thought he was looking for her or Sunhwa was indeed preparing all of this surprise for her but it actually wasn't that way. It was an accident—an embarassing accident, she had to admit.

"You drank a lot," he chuckled, obviously wanting to . "And you talked a lot of random things as well."

Jieun glared at him, totally freaked out. "Wh-what?"

"Nevermind. I don't understand what did you say too. It's mostly groans and mumbles,", he faked a serious expression, trying to convince her about that.

Jieun shook her head, already being as red as tomato. "I didn't drink that much. It's because I haven't drink for a long time so I can't really handle it."

Junhong pursed his lips, holding back the smile that was waiting to come out. "I can't believe it too. You've promised to stop drinking before."

Jieun was literally squealing inside her head. She didn't know how to explain to that guy anymore.

"I-They asked me to join them and because I stayed in Sunhwa's apartment and she wasn't going home yet, I had no other options but to go with her," she blabbered, blurting out everything that she had on her head. "It wasn't that I'm desperate enough to go for a drink."

Junhong smirked, noticing the redness on her cheeks which he found really cute instead. "Should I believe you?"

Jieun's mouth hanging opened, getting ready to throw another excuses but she eventually sealed them back anyway. She knew it was just useless. He had already see everything with his own eyes and there's no way she could cover it up again.

"I don't know," she muttered, letting out a small sigh in the end of her answer.

Junhong tilted his head, pretending to think for a moment before slowly saying, "I think I can forgive you if you do a favor to me."

Jieun raised her eyebrows, wasn't expecting him to act that way at all. It just wasn't his style.

"What favor?" she asked, completely filled with doubts.

While he was only smiling at her—deep and gentle right into her eyes.

Until she felt her heart was ready to bloom.

"Stay here with me forever."

"You look really pretty!" Hana squealed, trying her best to didn't make a loud noises as she made her way towards her friend in white.

Jieun smiled, feeling her cheeks heated up a little to get such compliment from that girl. "Their make-up skill is indeed amazing."

Hana made a face at her. "Make-up is not a surgery you dumb."

Jieun chuckled and immediately turned around upon hearing the door was being opened again, and found Sunhwa was coming inside the room with such awkward pose.

"Oh, you're here!" Sunhwa pointed at Hana.

"Of course! I was the one that encounter them!" Hana proudly stated, even though it wasn't completely right.

Jieun blinked her eyes, confused. "Do you guys know each other?"

The two exchanged look for a moment, like trying to figure out how could she didn't know about the matter until Hana broke it out first.

"Yes. I looked for her in her working place to ask about you before," she explained, being followed by agree nodding from Sunhwa. "Do you remember? When I suddenly come to her apartment and helped you to find that octopus?"

Jieun narrowed her eyes to hear the nickname.

"Well, I mean Bang Yongguk," she corrected, half-heartedly.

"But it's such a fortunate that you can finally end up with Junhong. You know, I have no idea about this Bang Yongguk guy and only watched you with Junhong for more than three years so honestly, I was so disappointed when you decided to chase after Bang Yongguk instead," Sunhwa shrugged, running her slender fingers through the detailed of the dress. "This is really pretty."

"I'm really thankful for both of you," Jieun sighed, looking at her only two friends with teary eyes. "I have caused you a lot of troubles."

"Hey, don't cry. Your eyeliner will ruined," Hana told her, just an effort to melt down the tense.

"We become friends for a reason so don't be too timid," Sunhwa reassured, patting lightly on her back.

Jieun nodded, didn't know how to put her thoughts into words—and how to say a better thankful more than just through lips.

She was really thankful for them. And she hoped God will deliver her unsaid feelings to them.

How to know he was the one, or to distinguish between past and present?

Actually, Jieun wasn't really sure about the answer as well.

She misread the things for several times, she did mistakes and she hurted so many people around her.

She wasn't a perfect and mature person like what people usually said.

She left and cried, she stayed and died—there's just a lot of reasons for her to look back and regretting about everything though.

What would happen if I were keep holding on just a little longer?

How my life would be like if I told him about my true feelings?

What should I do if eventually made a wrong decision instead?

She had a lot of doubts, worries and fearness inside that she couldn't really tell to someone.

She had a lot of regrets that she willing to forget but didn't know how at first.

She had a lot of things to be said but she didn't have enough courage to make the first step somehow.

And she had a lot of questions that were still being left unanswered as well.

But as she walked through the aisle that day—slowly passing by so many people that she knew one by one, she realized something that she had never knew before.

People come and go in our life.

There's some who will left and a few that would stay.

When someone has decided to walk away from our life, should we turned back the time and pulled them back into our life again?

She guessed no.

They will leave, not exactly because they want to but because they have to.

They just had to go, regardless how many times we asked them not to.

Those matter more are the few who still choose to stay, even if they had a chance to slip away and even after being hurted for many times—the few who are still staying by our side, regardless we asked them or not.

And she finally found the one between those fews—whose standing there with a smile on his face, looking at her with a gaze that made she feels like the prettiest woman on this earth.

The one that was wearing those black dress shoes, which she gave him as a present months ago.

And she couldn't help but to laugh after seeing it.

They didn't need a beautiful past or memorable present to be remembered afterall.

Because they will always have each other not for every days, months or years—but forever.

And they will keep counting forward, until the end of their lifetime.

The End.