Seventeen and I saw her amongst the screechy traffic and noisy chatters of school students who were grouped within their own unique cliques. It was an unusually windy day and I for some reason just had to leave for school slightly earlier then I often would.

She came running down the zebra crossing- her still partially wet hair breezing right behind her petite form. Her very beautiful petite form- for she had the milkiest white skin there ever was and the most beautiful pair of light brown doe eyes.

That girl was just stunning; she was sparkling under the dawn light of the sky.

It somehow seemed as if she was walking up to me. She made her way to the bus stop and stopped few feet’s away from me.

Five minutes and we both stood there without speaking, just like strangers would. And eventually Bus 29 came and she boarded it without turning back to look- to look at me.

Her uniform was red- white while mine was blue-white, different schools, different buses, and different routes.  I never thought I was ever going to meet that beautiful girl again.

***

Eighteen and we somehow managed to garner a smile at each other. For an entire year, we met at the bus stop every morning- five days a week; sharp at 7.15am, even though we took different buses- she always waited for me at the same spot whenever I was a little late.

She seemingly waited for me just to give me a sweet greeting smile, like she would every morning.  And as funny and ridiculous as it sounded, we never spoke a single work to each other. The only time I heard her sweet voice or she had ever heard mine was when we exchanged our hand phone numbers, few months back.

‘Im Yoona’ she said, an 11^th grader at east Methodist High she said. The rest of our relationship grew with the help of technology, WhatsApp to be specific.

She was a year younger than me, two heads shorter than me, played the piano and she loved to eat.  Slowly, step by step we got to know each as we got chattier by the night.

Months passed by and I was already reaching the end of my high school life and that’s when I asked her via our chat in WhatsApp.

“Would you like to go to my prom with me?” –it took me a whole week to come up with that sentence, that simple tiny sentence.

Exactly 12 minutes later, her answer came back. And it was far from what I was expecting; I had originally thought that she would think I was freak and delete my number from her phone and I could just go to prom with one of the girls that had asked me out.

“Alright~”, that was all she said; a short message but it brought me happiness like no other.

Few days from then, I met her at the same bus stop. Wearing a black dress shirt and a dark blue blazer coat over, I remembered waiting anxiously for her when she came walking down the same zebra crossing like an angel. Wearing a blue knee length dress; she even curled her hair a little, running a few steps while coming closer to me.

“Am I late? ~”

“Umm... No, an…anyway thanks for umm… coming?”  -Awkwardness filled the entire conversation- our first proper verbal conversation.

During prom we awkwardly did a waltz dance together and I for once lived the night of my own romantic drama.

We childishly yet vividly romantically ran under the pitter-patting rain, sharing the tiny space under the blue blazer coat I held over our heads; that did nothing to save us from the rain. We were drenched and slightly cold but nevertheless they were one of the few moments I would never forget.

Walking her back to the doorstep of her house, we didn’t speak- not even a word. The silence washed us both with over whelming sadness.

This might be the last time we would ever get to see each other. I would soon be driving around in my graduation present- my Honda civic that my parents had gotten me.

There wouldn’t be a need for me to be at the bus stop, there wouldn’t be much chance for me to meet this beautiful under-age girl.

And I thought that there was as far as we both could go; occasional message-pals that only spoke through the convenience of the phone.

***

Nineteen and I entered college; college life was awesome; only needing to wake up at nine before getting ready for classes. As predicted I only got to see that girl through Skype, well that was an improvement but it made no sense talking to a girl who’s living in the same state through two glass screens.

I somehow managed to convince her to meet me at the bus stop every Friday, after her school ended.  I remember crossing out the dates on the calendar, counting the number of days till Friday, over and over again even though I clearly knew that they weren’t going to change after counting them one extra time.  

We spent our Fridays together, talking about everything we could in a single day. We always carried Ice creams on each of our hand, hers were always vanilla-strawberry and mine was always the same chocolate-chip and there would be a comfortable distance between each other.

I used to carry her multicolor -small leaf plants printed cotton school bag on my right shoulder and her thick biology book on my left hand as I matched by speed with hers and just walked together wherever our legs directed us to.

We occasionally took short bus rides and ate at small ramyun shops. We didn’t question our relationship since it was comfortable enough to be at such an unspeakable relationship.

But that day soon came by, September 2^nd; it was judgment day for me. I practiced my line over and over again in front of the mirror before giving her all I could.

“Yoona-ya~”

She- who was wrapped up in all the fuzzy shawls looked back at me and gave me a beautiful eye smile.

“Okay…” I remembered forgetting whatever I wanted to say but my mouth just opened to confess my feelings to her.

“This is going to be really childish, but I think I like you….I love you. I know that you might think that this is just infatuation, but I…I…just don’t think that we can’t love just because we’re young.”

I had no idea what came into me but words kept spilling out of my already revealed heart. She didn’t speak; she didn’t move heck-she didn’t even blink.

“I…I…Can you hold onto me before it’s too late, before I grow older?”  

The very next second my world stopped, she- that girl I loved perked up and her pink lips landed on mine so softly and so quickly.  

I didn’t have any time to react as I stood there like a statue trying to figure out of what just happened. I still can’t believe that I was that naive at that age.

Anyway that was my very first kiss and the most- well one of the most, beautiful moments of my life. And that kiss embarked our journey as a couple a really young couple. –we were at the age that people preferably thought that Love wasn’t possible.

And I thought that we would last together forever, that we could walk together forever hand in hand without any problems to face.

***

Twenty came in like a wrecking ball; we were a really happy couple, sure we had occasional quarrels but we always ended up together by the end of the day. Things were sailing fine till one day; something just had to go wrong between the both of us – and to be honest up till now, I don’t know what truly went wrong.

My lover graduated from high school soon enough and enrolled into the same college as mine- and that was when the problems started.

“Who was that guy?!”

Just a friend she said, a friend that seemingly appreciated her more than I ever would she said.

“I can’t stay with a guy who doesn’t appreciate me! And don’t you have some many other girls waiting for you! Don’t you dare think that I don’t know what you’ve been up to behind my back!”

I honestly had no idea of what she was saying, I would never cheat on her; but for some reason I just had to fight back. A man’s ego was deadly and I didn’t know the effects of it till the second I lost my significant other half.

“Yoona, you have no idea what you’re talking about right now!”

“I think we need a break oppa~” – her demeanor calmed for the slightest, but the tears In her slight red eyes told me that this time she was serious.

I remembered looking back at her in fury, I remembered forgetting about how much she really meant to me and I remembered the amount of pain I endured after saying those few words.

“Fine, if that’s what you want. Let’s break up!”

Everything was normal for the first few days, I was actually slightly happy upon our break up. Those days made me believe that all these years’ movies and dramas had been over exaggerating the grief of break ups.

I didn’t feel a thing; life was still good without her- but that only lasted for the first five days. Waking up on the morning of the sixth day I felt that as if an important piece of me had suddenly went missing.

In a few days’ time, I became an overly sensitive man who anti-socialized himself from his group of friends.  I spent days in loneliness- at the pavements that we once walked together.

I was hoping to find someone else who was just like her; but it was clear that she was tattooed deep into my heart. I couldn’t forget her~

Those were the days I realized, the only reason I was dying out of pain was because my body, mind and heart knew that; ‘if it’s not her. I can’t go on’- there wasn’t going to be another person who I can love as much as I loved her.

I remembered checking my phone over and over again, hoping that she would have left me a call but the call never came. I only ended up feeling more grief as I saw the wallpaper of my iPhone; we looked so in love and happy in those pictures.

I remembered the way she walked pass me, just like strangers would. We tried our best to avoid each other as much as we could since it was painful to look at her smiling at another guy.

And I thought that we were over- over for good. 

***

Twenty-one and my life took a 360 degree turn, I experienced lots of first times. It was the first time I heard my dad cry, the first time I made my mom cry, the first time I understood the true meaning of love- the first time I saw the break of death.

An accident they said, a really low chance of survival they said. I was sent into a dark hole for 9 long days- Those nine days of coma somehow taught me my life lessons.

Possibilities of becoming brain dead, paralyzed waist-down, blind, deaf, a vegetable or even dying were high- but she came back for me. She took my place beside my parents and consoled them as a daughter should.  

The entire nine-days she held my cold hands into hers- it was funny how her hands then were somehow warmer, they have always been the colder ones between us.

“I’m not losing my hope on you, so you better wake up”- she never failed to nag at me every time she came to visit the hibernating me.

On the morning of the ninth day, I woke up realizing how un-predictable life could actually be. One second I was riding my car across the bus stop we first met and the next second I was being crushed under a lorry.

When I thought that my parents just loved me, I learned that they unconditionally loved me as much as they loved live- since they said I their only son were their lives, I was the proof of their love.

And the moment I thought that she had forgotten me, she came running back to me; forcing me to come back to life.

Well she taught me the real meaning of love and was the one and true reason I decided to live on, without giving up. Just like that six months passed and I recovered becoming the young healthy lad I originally was.

Things turned for the better as she agreed to move in with me into my new apartment- ‘and that’s your birthday present from me’ she shamelessly said.

And I could only hope that our happiness would last forever.

***

Twenty-two and I got to see the world in a whole new prospective; we travelled together around the world- in name of attending business meets.

Japan....India…Turkey…New York….London…Switzerland…Thailand…New Zealand…Paris and even up to Peru, we were rarely seen in Korea to be honest as our feet’s never touched the ground.

I remembered getting lost with her in India, fighting our way out of the mini jungle; we ended up at the side of the abandoned highway. We walked and walked for miles- actually halfway the journey I was forced into piggybacking her to the nearby station. But at the end of the day we did get to see the magnificent Taj Mahal – a symbol of true love they said.

Playing at the snowy white park; under the night starry night sky of Switzerland. Going on the merry go round, childishly taking pictures of each other and getting sick from eating fish and chips in London.

Shopping till the soles of our shoes and the sides of my debit card wore out, temporally dying our hairs into baby pink and mint blue in New York.

Splashing in the waterfall and eating spicy food at Thailand. Feeding the goats and horses; playing with helium balloons, serenading each other in the barn at night and climbing up the roof of shaky tiles just to watch the beautiful sunset of New Zealand.

Celebrating her 21^st birthday alone- at the middle of gorge Takachiho in Japan; under the bright light of the full moon.

Spending time with those precious beautiful children in the orphanage in Peru, Well you name it- we did it all, one by one, step by step. We learned to give, share and love with our whole heart.

And I thought that that we had so much more to learn from the world and each other as life went on.

***

Twenty-three, was a year I remembered sleeping on the couch for countless nights. That was either because she chased me out of the room after a small squabble or I ran out of the room, away from her at the middle of the night when my ‘manhood’ suddenly decides to pay me a visit- yes I do get upon seeing her sometimes revealing and y sleeping form. And being the gentleman I am; I didn’t want to touch her like that till the day we got married.

But most of the time, we ended up sleeping on the couch together after spending hours talking or complaining about our long boring day at work and classes -I had somehow taken over my father’s company while she decided on studying on, since she didn’t want to work.

Picking her up from her classes every odd day of the week, eating out every Friday nights, spending quality the entire day together every Saturday and making up stupid couple rules that we broke countless of times, that was how time was spent.

I remembered how I kept falling in love with her- for doing crazy things. Baking me burnt cookies, biting me- who was innocently and quietly having my nap, trying to put on make-up on my face, dancing to girl group songs while doing the dishes- wearing one of my t-shirts as a full outfit  and secretly video-taping my random dance moves; that she later used to threaten me with.

“I’m going to upload this video on YouTube if you’re not going to get me some pizza now!”- She often said while tauntingly shook her hand phone on her hand.

We often went out with our parents- all four of them and admired their undying love the couple(s) had. Years of marriage and they still loved each other like youngsters would.

However as predicted twenties, didn’t bring along any maturity for the both us. We frequently fought as if we won’t see each other again, but at such times something called Love- that is unbreakable like tangled threads came in and all the hatred just washed away. Fighting, crying and then eventually hugging with a sweet kiss on the cheek and that was how days went on.

And I believed that as we fix our mistakes and learn about each other’s feelings while sharing and learning countless emotions- there will be a time when only happiness remains.

***

Twenty-four, I can’t believe I’m already about half of fifty. Looking down at the girl who was lying on my lap, watching ‘love from another star’- I just can’t believe that it has been almost seven years and she was still with me. This girl named Im Yoona who I crazily love and made me wanting to love her more than the skies would allow.

Today September 2^nd was another judgment day-I practiced my lines over and over again in front of the mirror making sure they would be perfect when I deliver them.

Rushing her into getting ready, I somehow got her to leave the house with me without making her suspicious- using the weather as an excuse.

It was late fall as we walked down the walkway which was littered with beautiful orange leafs, her right arm hooked onto my lower left arm as we ate the ice creams on our hands; hers was the usual vanilla-strawberry while mine was the same chocolate-chip. – This felt so familiar.

We walked down this exact pathway as High school students with an ice cream. Nothing changed, except for maybe the distance between each other; the distance has definitely reduced.

“Where are we going?”

“To the bus stop…”

“Our bus stop?” It’s funny how we took authority over the government-built bus stop and named it as ‘our’ bus stop.

At the bus stop, we turned back into the high-school students that we once were. She playfully started acting chic- acting like she didn’t see me. That 16 year old high school girl, that didn’t bother to look at me- a really handsome and cool looking 17 year old boy.

Time has already starting to tick by and I am already 24 years of age. Millions of things just flew past my mind and I before I knew it, I was already on one of my knee.

Everyone was looking at me in awe- they were probably thinking of why I was proposing in a bus-stop.

“Im Yoona, I know this might be the most un-romantic place for proposal. But I just wanted to say that you are truly the reason I live and I love you as much as the sky. So will you please hold onto me before it’s too late, before I grow too old?”

Sheepishly I looked away from her bright face- feeling really shy; this was getting a little embarrassing now since the spectators looked more excited than the proposed. My hands still pointing up at her with a really sparkly diamond ring on my hands- yes, I lost the ring-box. 

“How do you know that this is not just infatuation?”

“Well we’re too old to actually not be in love. So can I officially call you ‘the one’ my only one?” – We were all over with the years when people thought that love was impossible.

We wouldn’t last they said, this was just puppy love they said but look at what we were now doing at the very same bus stop.  

Yoona just smiled at me and simply nodded her head; she wasn’t portraying anything similar of how the female lead in dramas reacted upon getting proposed to.

She wasn’t crying she wasn’t jumping in joy; she wasn’t gasping and covering in utter shock. All she did was calling me up for a big hug, right at the spot.

Well that’s Im Yoona; she was the weird girl I loved. I was about to give her a hug when all of the sudden she pulled the collar of my shirt and you know what happened next.

Everything and everybody beside us vanished into nothing. There she stood tip-toeing on her tiny toes and gave me the kiss- telling me her answer to my question.

Breaking the kiss, I took her cold hands into mine and slid the diamond ring onto her ring finger.

“Well so was that a yes?” – I already knew the answer but being the man I was, I wanted to hear it from her.

“Choi Minho, I don’t get why you’re asking this stupid question; when I’ve always been your other half”

‘Do not believe in fate’ they said ’Fate was only for losers’ they said, but somehow fate has its way into making people come down her way.

Never in million years did I imagine getting engaged to the beautiful high school girl-who took my breath away. The girl I thought I would never see again after that windy day.

Up till this, was my life story all the way from 17 to 24.

And now all I- Choi Minho, know is that I am in love with this girl named Im Yoona and that’s all that counts.  

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