It was the third time. The third time they’ve seen each other in a year. Never once have they had a conversation.

They would see each other every day for the next five days.

The two of them looked from afar. The two of them admired each other.

Jongup’s friends and Dahee’s friends encouraged them to speak to one another. “No way,” would be their answer.

Monday was when pen-pal letters started. Jongup received a letter:

I don’t think we’ve ever met before. But, I hope to get to know you more. Also, sorry if I don’t write much to you. I hope you have a good week. Tell me about yourself.

And Jongup would write back. Then his pen-pal would do the same.

So you like dancing, too? That’s really awesome! We should dance some time together. And hey, why were you “HAHAHA”ing me? :( I don’t remember.

-Jongup

The letters continued. The length of the letters growing as each time came.

Jongup and Dahee were placed in the same group. And even so, they didn’t speak a word to each other. They met eyes once and Jongup stared into her glass-like eyes as she did to his chocolate eyes. He could remember everything else slow down; in that moment it was just the two of them.

Wednesday had come along and it was concert night. Jongup sat in front with a couple of his friends waiting for the night to start. It was then that there was a huge commotion. He turned to see what was going on and he spied his two friends. He scanned the rest of the row and saw her; Dahee. She was laughing with them. Jongup wondered what they were speaking about.

As the night came to an end and Jongup walked to his cabin, his friends that made the commotion said, “I know who your pen-pal is now.”

“Don’t tell me,” Jongup replied, “I don’t want to know who it is.” But Jongup already knew who it was. He figured it out before his friends.

He sat on his bunk writing into his notebook how the day went when his friends came into the room. “Hey, so um, what do you think of Dahee? Do you like her?” asked Youngjae.

“Uhh, I don’t think I like her. But, I think she's cute.”

“Then, why don’t you talk to her. I mean, nothing’s going to happen if you don’t say anything,” his friends tried to encourage, “I know you’re quiet and reserved, but people are going to misunderstand you.” Jongup nodded in return. Maybe, he thought, but speaking to others he wasn’t comfortable with was just, well, not comfortable.

“You need to say, ‘Yes’, okay? No matter what, ‘Yes’ is what you say,” Daehyun told him before they left.

Jongup sighed, “Maybe,” is what he told them. “Maybe…” He didn’t need them to tell him that they were talking about saying, “Yes” to whatever Dahee was going to ask.

It was Thursday afternoon and Jongup was jamming on the guitar with a few friends. Dahee walked passed but then decided to join them. Jongup was aware of her presence and became somewhat stiff. He stayed quiet the rest of the time until a bee started to chase him. His friends laughed and tried to chase the bee away as he ran. The bee wouldn’t stop following him. “The bee must really like you, Jongup.” He didn’t need to see to know who said it. She had said it; Dahee. Jongup had run away from the area, hoping that the bee would no longer chase him. “I’m leaving,” Dahee said after, “The bee is scary.”

Jongup sat on his bunk as his best friend, Junhong, came in, “Hey, did you know Dahee asked Junmyun to go to the dance with her?”

“No,” he replied back.

“Are you upset?”

“No, why would I be upset?” Jongup asked, “It’s not like Dahee and I have something going on.” But in truth, Jongup was a little upset. Even so, he kept telling himself, “Why should you be upset? You don’t own her. You’ve never even spoken to her. There’s no need to be upset, so why are you?”

That night was the dance, and Jongup just wasn’t feeling it. He ate with his random date, tried talking but that just didn’t work, went outside for some fresh air, and then headed back to his cabin as he waited for the rest of the cabin mates. He then washed up, and tried to go to bed.

He had a rough time trying to sleep that night. Everything was on his mind but nothing at all either.

Jongup awoke to the sound of his cabin mates’ alarm. He checked to see what the time was, five freaking o’clock. He didn't need to get up that early to prepare for the day. He should’ve been sleeping in until at least seven o’clock. But he couldn't go back to sleep. "Ugh," he groaned as he got up.

As the day passed he tried not to think of Dahee. But that wouldn't last long when his friends Yongguk and Himchan invited Dahee to sit with them at lunch. "," Jongup cursed quietly. Throughout the entire time he didn't even have the guts to look at her. Silence was the only thing passed around the table.

After lunch was over all his friends came over to him. "Dude," said Daehyun, "You guys had an entire hour to talk but you did nothing! What the heck?!"

"What a fail, Jongup," Youngjae remarked.

"You know, nothing'll ever start if you guys don't even talk to each other," stated Himchan.

"Yeah," Jongup sighed, "I know."

"At least say 'hi' next time," encouraged Yongguk. They walked away as Junhong put his arm around Jongup, "It's alright, hyung. There are other chances for you two to talk."

Later on that day while Jongup was chit-chatting with his friends, Dahee came up to them, "Which one of you is Jongup?"

"Me?" Jongup replied as the others exploded in a laugh.

"I'm your pen-pal!"

"I KNEW IT!" Jongup yelled aloud surprising himself and the two laughed along.

"That was some horrible acting," Daehyun commented.

As the day passed, Jongup went to sit by Dahee at the benches. But, soon after, she left to sit by someone else.

Now, Jongup didn't know why she left. But he felt upset by it and didn't know why.

The night had passed and morning soon came. The morning that notified everyone that the week was over, the morning of "goodbyes" and "until-next-times". Jongup and Dahee said their goodbyes to one another.

When Jongup got home, his friends rushed over to him bombarding him with questions about Dahee.

"She likes you, you know that right?" asked Himchan.

"Oh," was the only thing Jongup could say in return.

"Dude, you need to make the first move and start talking to her," suggested Daehyun.

"But," Jongup stuttered, "I don't know what to say."

"Just write down a hey or what's up," Yongguk advised.

"No, guys," Jongup rejected. "If I message her right away that'll be weird."

"Why would it be weird?" his friends asked in unison.

"I just don't know. I don't...I don't want to."

"Look here Jongup," Youngjae said, "You both are so alike. She can't even talk to other guys and you can't talk to girls. If both of you are shy and you both like each other how will things start to go up if one of you doesn't start?"

"I don't know," he replied, "I guess we're just parallel lines."

A month went by until Jongup finally got the courage to message Dahee.

Jongup: Hey, how's it going pen-pal?

, he thought to himself as he re-read it, I just friend zoned her...or myself.

Dahee: Hey pen-pal. It's going well. How about you?

Jongup: It's good to hear that you're doing well.

        Did you enjoy camp?

Dahee: Yeah, I did. Did you?

Jongup: Oh yeah, I did too.

The next few times they messaged one another was very simple. Small talk about school and dance but not much else. Jongup's friends asked him, "You guys aren't going anywhere and you guys have been talking for almost two months."

"Yeah," replied Jongup.

"So, it's like a straight line, no up hills?" asked Yongguk.

"Not really."

"Hey!" shouted Junhong, "Maybe you guys could play a game to get to know each other...like 20 questions or something."

And Jongup took that suggestion.

Jongup: So uh, you wanna play a game?

Dahee: Sure.

Jongup: You know the game 20 questions, right?

Dahee: Oh, that game?

Jongup: Yeah...usually you have to go in depth but we don't have to.

Dahee: Whatever you want.

Jongup: Okay, so I'll start then?

Dahee: Yeah, you first.

And as the weeks went by and the months went by, they finally finished the game. During that period of time, they each learned a little something about the both of them.

Jongup: So, I just recounted and we've both reached our 20th question.

For months, Jongup waited for her reply. He knew that she saw his message, but just didn't know why she didn't reply back. He was disappointed and upset. But at what? At who? Her? Him? Or maybe everything in general and he had no idea why every time he saw her photos appear in his newsfeed he'd get this warm feeling but his heart would sink a little more each time.

More months passed and he just couldn't stop thinking about her. Every time he did his heart would flutter and he'd blush at every mention of her. And he hated this feeling because he didn't know what it was. Did he like her? What was that even? The feeling of liking someone? The feeling of having someone like you?

Or maybe he thought he liked her because his friends kept insisting that she liked him. He didn't know. What was real? What wasn't?

Again, they saw each other.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," was the only thing he could say.

And that was it. That was the end of their conversation. No goodbyes this time. And Jongup hated himself when he came to the realization that he did like Dahee. His heart trembled when he saw her, his face would become red when he thought of her, his mouth would quietly form a smile whenever she appeared on his newsfeed. He really did like her, but he used up all his courage already. He tried all he could already and guess what, she didn't reply. Jongup came to the realization that if she wasn't going to try, then there's no need for him to try either.

But there was one thing he couldn't get over, why did he like Dahee? For the last four meetings they've had, the things they could only say to each other was "hi" and "goodbye." Why did he fall for someone so easily like this?

Like a fool he fell for her and like a fool he'd get over her.

Day by day he started to believe that he was over her, but he realized this lie was just a sentence to make him feel better. Except, he really did need to stop feeling like this. Because it hurt for some reason. The feeling of liking her, the feeling of knowing she didn't reply back, the feeling of just thinking of her; it hurt.

So he went back to thinking what he first named them to be: parallel lines. Because in all honesty, he thought to himself, that really was what they were. Two lines so similar that stood next to each other. Forever ongoing side by side, but never touching.

This was the only way he'd get over her, like a fool, grasping the fact that they were too much like parallel lines to be one.

The final message that would never get to her, he wrote:

Parallel lines. That’s what we are.

Always beside each other, being so similar.

But never meeting, never touching.

The two of us, we are only but parallel lines.

BLEHHHHH, lol. I don't have much to say about this because it's honestly a little personal and that's why it lacked A LOT of description. It's not my best fic. It's kind of all over the place and if you don't quite understand a few things, it's okay because it's meant to be like that. x_x I hope it was somewhat realistic.

Also, Junmyun is not portrayed by EXO's Suho.

Really listen to the song I put up there by Roy Kim because it really captured how I was feeling during the time. Especially this line, "You're just a passing by encounter."

But anyways, thanks so much for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed it (even if it might have a been a bit boring). <3 Until whenever~