PART III. FANNING THE FLAME

PROLOGUE

HIS POV:

            I always thought I’ll never get a second chance at love. I honestly thought it’ll take me a lifetime to forget her. I’ve resigned myself to the idea that perhaps, I’m just not lucky enough to experience the kind of love that my friends have. I thought that I’m one of those who bear the title of “forever alone.”

            However, life threw me a curveball…and that curveball is none other than love. I guess I now understand that this is true: that love not looked for is love that shall be found. I think that second love is more important than the first love. That is because when you got heartbroken for the first time and felt you could never fall in love again, the second person revived the shattered pieces and made it whole again.

            The thing is, I’m still a pabo. I was too caught up in the unexpectedness of its arrival that I nearly lost her. I almost let her slip away.  How could I have not known that it was her I’ve been waiting for all along? Why did it take me so much time to figure things out? How could I have been so insensitive and hurt her because of my indecisiveness? You see, my heart already knew the answer. It’s just my mind that took so long to catch up.

HER POV:

            They say that the best kind of relationships begin unexpectedly. That's why you don't look for love – it comes to you just at the right time – the time you never thought it would have.

            You see, I have never experienced falling in love. I get into relationships just to go with the flow and what not. I dated to cover up the fact that deep down, I’m scared. I’m afraid of rejection. I have abandonment issues. I told myself that I’ll never fall in love just so I could spare my heart from all the pain that comes along with it. But you know what? Life and love doesn’t work that way, because if it did, then no one would ever experience getting their heart broken.

I guess I know now why they call it falling in love. How do I explain it? Hmm..let’s see. No one wants to fall, literally speaking. Falling entails that you’d lose balance, let go of the control you have left, and then you’d be hurt. You don’t exactly choose where to fall..you just land there against your wishes. If people were given the choice, wouldn’t they pick falling on a soft mattress over the cold asphalt sidewalk? Who wants to get bruises, scratches, and boo boos? No one. Same thing with love. You don’t really choose who to fall for. Your heart decides for you.

That’s what happened to me. I fell in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time. I never really thought about him that way. I was just playing the part of a good best friend…but somewhere along the role playing period, I started to fall. It’s the little things about him that added up to the entirety of this feeling. Later on, I realized that the feeling was none other than love itself.

HIS & HER POV:

            True love doesn’t happen right away; it’s an ever-growing process. It develops after you’ve gone through many ups and downs, when you’ve suffered together, cried together, laughed together…When two souls, that have shed their loneliness, embrace and melt into one; from out of loneliness, love is born.

Our story has begun…the hope that has sprung from the least likely of situations has finally reached our hearts and minds. This is a story of what happens next after the “once upon a time.” This is the story of how two people finally realized that all along, they were each other’s “maybe.” In short, this is OUR story…

CHAPTER 3 12 STEPS TO GET TO A GUY’S HEART

HER POV:

            After that rooftop scene, things started to feel awkward between us. I don’t even know why I’m avoiding him. It’s been almost a week since that happened.

            “Taeyeon-ah, can you please throw the trash? I’m still busy cooking our breakfast. Please?”  Tiffany called out from the kitchen.

            “Ok. Which one? All of it?”

            “Yes please.”

            I emptied the trash bins and headed out to the fire exit (where the building’s garbage disposal area is located). I just got up and I think a part of my brain is still in lalaland because the next thing I knew, I bumped into someone headed the same way. The result of which, isn’t pretty. I grumbled as I stood up and tried to pick up the trash that scattered. I better do this fast before anyone from the maintenance team does their early morning inspection and scold me. The other person to blame for this mess is doing the same thing.

            I was finally done swooping things back into the bag but as soon as I got up, I bumped my head into the other person again. This person has a thick skull! Like, literally! I was massaging the side of my head but I couldn’t prevent myself from venting out my frustration.

            “YAH! So early in the morning and you have to bother people with your clumsiness! If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t spend the next 10 minutes picking up tdjmsadjasdkasdasdlsa….”

            If you’re wondering why I began to mumble incoherent words, that is, because, the other person finally lifted his head as he started to apologize. I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I was too focused checking him out. The messy just got out of bed hair, those sinewy arms…that muscles…omg! Why does he have to wear a sleeveless shirt right now?! His pale complexion…and then…those dimples! I felt blood rush to my cheeks. I’ve seen him countless times in this get up but how come today seemed different? He kept waving his hand right in front of my face but for some unknown reasons, I just stood there. Frozen.

HIS POV:

            She’s been avoiding me since that night. How long has it been? 6 days? 7? Did I go too far when I said that? About us being each other’s “maybe”? I don’t know why I said it but as soon as the words came out from my mouth, it didn’t feel wrong. It’s like the most natural thing in the world and the realization of that right now astounds me.

            “Hyung! Can you please throw the trash? Minhyuk and I are busy preparing our food and Yonghwa hyung hasn’t come home from his schedule yet.” I heard Jungshin call out from the kitchen. I didn’t say a word as I got up from the couch and started emptying the trash bins.

            “Thank you hyung! Love you!” the two of them said with their usage of their aegyo. Their fans may find that cute, but I don’t. I never will.

            “Knock it off you two.” I shook my head and chuckled as I made my way to the fire exit.

I was too preoccupied with my thoughts. Why is she avoiding me? When is the right time to speak to her? Is she mad? How do I approach her without it being awkward? These questions plagued me and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. In the end, I collided with a fellow neighbor and the trash just splattered everywhere. I gritted my teeth in annoyance as I started to clean the mess. The other person responsible for this is doing the same. The minute I was done, I tried to straighten up, only to bump my head into the other person again. I was going to say something but then I heard her speak up.

“YAH! So early in the morning and you have to bother people with your clumsiness! If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t spend the next 10 minutes picking up tdjmsadjasdkasdasdlsa….”

That voice. I looked up to see if my suspicions were true. You know that moment when you see someone as if it was the first time you met, with that weird “glow” or aura surrounding her? I mean.. how do I explain this? Her half-awake state. That cute hoodie. Her eyes. Even if she’s mad, why do I find this sight cute?! Get a hold of yourself Lee Jonghyun! She’s Kim Taeyeon! Your best friend!

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I wasn’t paying attention. It’s my fault..i…I’m sorry.. taenggoo? Taeyeon-ah? Hello? Are you there? Hey? Yah! Kim Taeyeon! Say something!”

She snapped back to reality and pushed me aside. She threw the bags she was carrying into its proper disposal areas and dashed out of the place. I hurriedly did the same and tried to catch up to her.

“HEY!”

“Let me go!” she tried to get away from me but I held (or back hugged) her tighter.

“Not until you tell me what’s going on!” I am starting to feel lightheaded from the way my heart races because of our close proximity. Stay focused, Lee Jonghyun otherwise she’d go and might ignore you for another week!

“Nothing!”

“Then why are you avoiding me?! Did I do something wrong? Tell me!”

“No. Yes. No. I don’t know! AISH!”

She stopped struggling. She lowered her head and hid her face in her hoodie. Cute.

“Taeyeon-ah…”

“Go away!”

“Don’t do this to me please? Stop avoiding me. I can’t stand this silent treatment. I’m sorry if I did or say anything to offend you. Can you please talk to me? Don’t leave me hanging….I….I missed you.”

“Really?” the way she asked me like a curious five year old sent my heart on another race. What’s going on?!

“Y..ye…yes.”

“I missed you too.” she said, almost in a whisper. My heart soared once more. I don’t understand.

“Then can you please stop avoiding me now?”

“Ok. But I have to go back now before Fany sees us out here and have these crazy ideas in her head again. We’ll talk later. Just text me or call or whatever. Bye!”

That’s all that it took for the awkward phase to end.

HIS POV:

            “What now?” she asked me. We’ve been staring at each other for the past 15 minutes. We were at this favorite café of ours.

            “Look, Lee Jong. Let’s just get this over with. I promised to try and fall in love. So, what’s the first step?” she asked as if it’s the most boring thing in the world.

            “It doesn’t work that way, Taenggoo. There aren’t any “steps” or definite “procedures” to falling in love. It’s not called “falling” if you planned for it. You think, that if I had the choice, I would’ve fallen for someone who’d never love me back?” I explained.

            “Ok then, how about this. How did you move on? Let’s just apply that step and reverse it or something. Isn’t the opposite of moving on, falling in love? Just tell me what you did to get over Im Yoona and then I’ll use that pattern, switch it up, and tada! Presto! I’m in love!”

            I felt my frustration building up. Steps?! Pattern?! Does she think this is something as simple as that?!

            “I’m waiting here…” she said as she sipped her drink and tapped her foot.

            “It’s not that easy.” I sighed.

            “Well, then I’m outta here! Bye!” she got up so quickly and went out the door.

            “Yah! KIM TAEYEON!”

            I immediately gulped down what was left of my coffee and ran after her. I finally caught up with her after a 5 minute chase. We sat down on a park bench.

            “So…are you going to tell me?”

            “Tell you what?”

            “How you got over your unrequited feels?” Why is she so persistent on that topic? Aish. This girl.

            “Taeyeon-ah, I don’t really know how.” I honestly told her.

            “But you didn’t just wake up one day and poof! All the feelings are gone! You must’ve done little steps here and there until you finally reached the point of letting go. Just tell me what those steps are and like I said, I’ll try my best to fulfill that stupid promise I made back then. Look, if it’s that hard for you why don’t we write it down as you recall everything?” she took out a pen and a notebook.

            “You don’t need to write anything down. You were there for me, every step of