She watched the bustling cities of Seoul continue their daily lives. It became a hobby of hers, as well as her picking up her love for photography again. But due to these activities, she felt more lively now than she had ever been before.

~

To: Grandpa

I  guess, I really should’ve wrote you back, huh? Now it’s too late, but you won’t be mad. Right?

I miss you so much. You don’t know how much I do. I can’t even think about how much Grandma or Mom might be missing you, but I’m sure in there with them. I know, not even hope. I know, you’re in a better place right now, but I hope you’re having the time of your life. You deserved rest, Grandpa. You really did.

Your words really meant a lot to me. I never really had the courage before. But the words you stated last, are the most encouraging words I could ever receive from you.

Stay strong.

Fighting! Love you and miss you.

From: So-hyun

~

She laid the letter onto the grave, along with the flowers she had personally bought from the local floral shop.

Miss you Grandpa.

So-hyun stood back up, turning around towards the waiting figures in the car. The rain continued to patter against her umbrella, and as cold as the rain could ever get. It wouldn’t be the same as how cold So-hyun had felt inside.

Turning towards the grave one final time, she smiled at it knowing where Grandpa was right now, and finally ran towards the car, her boots splattering the mud everywhere.

~

She spent most of her days at the parks, reconsidering the approaches to her life that she made or could’ve made. After the first month of school had ended, everything seemed to have spiraled out of her own control. Though some things she was glad for, some other things she wasn’t the most fond for. Decisions she made she regretted, though some she didn’t. It just varied from topic to topic.

What if Dongwoon never ‘joked’ around with me?

What if I told my parents about this?

Things could’ve happened differently.

“Ah, So-hyun.” The warm voice greeted her, causing the girl to jump in panic. It was none other than the only one who she could least expect right now.

The blonde-male grinned slightly in his school uniform, shivering from the cold weathers. She was wearing a trench coat, but he had worn nothing but the school cardigan and his khakis.

Her face remained emotionless, “Hi.” She said.

“Hi.” He replied delicately.

His grin dissipated as he saw the girl’s poker face remain static for a few seconds. All she could do was manage to stare at him while he stared back, hoping to not make eye contact with her. It was awkward as always.

I should’ve just walked home. He thought to himself, regretting his own courage to walk up to her. Seeing the familiar girl at the bench, he couldn’t help himself but to run up to her. Ironically, now he was more scared of her.

As if she could read his thoughts, she soon quickly asked, “Want to sit?”

Wait, what did I just ask?

She didn’t ponder too much on the question before it was blurted out of bluntly.

“Uh, do you know who you’re talking to?” Dongwoon asked guiltily, his expression becoming sullen.

So-hyun closed her eyes, taking another deep breath before replying to the waiting figure behind the bench, “Dongwoon right? Son Dongwoon.”

He meekly said, “Yeah.”

“Yeah. You can come sit down if you want.” So-hyun offered, scooting to the side so the male wouldn’t feel pressured into the little space she had at first.

He didn’t reply but she knew he had sat down after a huge weight had been weighed down onto the bench, making it compatible for the available space. His cologne scent had become familiar to her, especially after the rooftop incident, but she still inhaled it with no hesitation everytime. Memorizing the smell, she immediately plastered it to him every time she smelt something familiar to it. There wasn’t much close to it though.

She was still confused on how his relation to her was, but she became more open to the boy. Somehow, So-hyun felt that Dongwoon had changed from a cruel, heartless man to more of a calm, yet protective boy. He was suffering from the same symptoms of So-hyun, but she didn’t care to even think about it. She was too focused on her own story. No one could blame her though, she was being pushed into the deep pits of Earth, that most people experience at this time-span. It wasn’t an all dandy situation.

“Don’t say I’m sorry.” So-hyun plainly said. She was used to this since everytime she saw him, all she could see was a pain-stricken face with the first words of an apology already forming on his mouth.

“Arasso…” He said grimly, his eyes worn out. Dongwoon still continued to worry about the choices he made during the night times when everyone was asleep, despite his decent conditions with So-hyun at the moment.

“So why are you out here so late?” So-hyun asked after he had remained quiet. She continued to watch the stars rise within the horizons while the sun began to set slowly.

“Just out and about, getting fresh air. It’s getting busy at the dorms.” Dongwoon explained. With their comeback coming so soon, they all began to take their jobs seriously as dance rehearsals, photo shoots, and interviews began to plummet into their schedules quickly.  These few past weeks were the only weeks of break he would receive, which explained why he would go to school while the other members stayed back at the dorms like Kikwang and Yoseob.

How does it get busy at the dorms? So-hyun asked herself.

Realizing the questions she had based on her expression, he said the few words that the other members hadn’t warned him about, “You know, since our comeback is coming up?”

“What?” She said, puzzled and tired.

Dongwoon was oblivious to the fact that So-hyun was oblivious.

“You know, comeback? For BEAST?” He explained even further though all it did was continue to confuse the girl.

“BEAST?” She asked, “What are you talking about?”

His eyebrows furrowed up in suspicion.

How does she not know who BEAST is?

“Beast…the k-pop group?” He said slowly, hoping that the pace of his words would help her understand more.

It didn’t.

“What?” So-hyun was in deep confusion. The only words she could comprehend at this point were K-pop, comeback, and some beast. She couldn’t puzzle them together.

What the heck?

“Do you not know..?” He asked, his expression becoming worried. So-hyun shook her head slowly, but was surprised. Was she supposed to know about this beast thing? Maybe it’s a trend at school?

Dongwoon’s expression hardened up before he turned in all directions to make sure no one was around to hear.

“It’s a long story, kinda, are you sure you want to know?” He asked in concern. So-hyun nodded her head, now becoming intriguing from this ‘trend’.

“Aigoo, okay.” He said, nodding in support of telling her the story. She must’ve not known, but he didn’t judge. She was from United States for the majority of her lifetime after all. Plus, he had done too much judging and it was his turn to explain now, after all he had done to her.

“Well, uh..” Dongwoon stuttered, his hands reaching behind his head to scratch it. She rose her eyebrows in suspicion.

“Spit it out, jeez.” She said in frustrations after the male had continued to stall the explanation several times.

“Yah, I’m trying!” He shouted back, lowering his voice immediately after he realized how loud he had said that. He pulled up the scarf that was wrapped around his head tightly. Hopefully no one would catch him in his disguise out here. It would be worse since he was with a girl this time.

So-hyun assumed nothing else of the scarf but just as a fashion trend. She didn’t really know much about the fashion here in South Korea since all she could see people wear most of the times were those ugly maroon and navy blue school uniforms. Still looking at the scarf with her eyebrows scrunched up, her thoughts were quickly ruined by a loud screech.

“I HEARD DONGWOON’S VOICE!” A girl’s voice had shrieked from the pavement near the bench. It remained a few feet away but Dongwoon’s heart stopped beating for a second. He quickly grabbed onto So-hyun’s hand, causing unknown sensations to erupt throughout her.

Why is someone freaking out about Dongwoon’s voice? So-hyun questioned, before she was pulled into a jog towards the forest that had a forbidden sign located from the vicinity of it.

“YAH!” So-hyun managed to scream out before her voice was muffled from his hands covering it.

“Mmm, mm!” She continued to yell, before realizing no words would come out of . His hand remained gripped onto as he raised his other hand to his mouth, warning both of them to remain quiet.

She could understand why now.

So-hyun heard the yells and shrieks from girls from far away. They sounded vicious.

“WHERE IS HE?!”

“WHERE’D YOU HEAR IT?!”

“DONGWOONIE!!!!”

Why were they so concerned about him though? So-hyun didn’t recognize any of the girl’s looks nor voices from school. Then again, the school was a four-graded school.

Turning back to Dongwoon, her eyes met with his pleading ones, which had begged her to not spoil their covers in hiding. Her cold hands had met up with his hand that had remained on , and she threw it off in a disgusting manner.

“Jeez.” She muttered quietly, still confused on what was going on.

~

After minutes had gone by, So-hyun could finally no longer hear the yelling and screaming of the girls who she assumed to be his friends.

Obsessive friends if you ask me. She suspiciously thought.

Peeking his head out of the forest entrance, Dongwoon sighed loudly, showing his relief.

“Sorry, they’re…my fans.” Dongwoon admitted, putting a short pause between the words.

So-hyun glared her eyes angrily now, “I want an explanation.”

“I know.”

~