Nobody's POV:

"Lee Ki." Jieun breathed out.

'She remembers.' Kikwang thought and the corners of his lips lifted up, baring his pearly whites. As the name registered in Jieun's mind, her grip on the bag of drinks tightened as she stared at the guy in front of her.

It's been eight years since she's seen him. Eight years since she last heard of him. He looks different. His hair which used to be brown was now a shade of Bronze Red. His jaw was more defined, so was his arm muscles. However, one thing didn't change. His height. He was always a head shorter than other guys and still is.

Seeing him, all the past memories came rushing back as if the lock on those memories were broken.

FLASHBACK:

"Ah!" A girl with her hair tied into two plaids yelped as her foot slipped off the chair she was standing on. She was trying to reach a book on the upper shelf but she couldn't so she had to resort to standing on a chair.

She squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the impact that would soon befall on her but it never came. Instead she felt a pair of arms around her waist.

"Gwenchanayo?" A sooth velvet voice resounded in her ears as she peeked an eye open and was face to face with a handsome young boy. Staring into the eyes of the stranger, it felt as if time had stopped and it was just her and the boy. She blinked and blinked, thinking it was a dream when his lips moved once again. 

"Are you hurt?" The young boy asked. Shaking out of her trance she immediately collected herself and regained her balance before bowing her head, "A-aniyo. K-kamsahamnida." She spoke softly and tried to hide her burning cheeks while keeping her head low. She pushed up her glasses as it was sliding down the bridge of her nose. "I'll go now." She said as she quickly turned around and ran off.

Totally forgetting her book. 

The boy picked it up and smiled at the title. 'Hidden Beauty'. He chuckled before borrowing the book.

The next day:

"Look at that troll. Pfft She's so ugly and nerdy. Who would want to be friends with her?" A tall and pretty girl with long jet black hair scoffed, flipping her hair as she walked away.

The young Jieun sighed as she carried her tray of food out to the field as she found a nice shady spot and settled down. Picking up her sandwich, she smiled and was about to eat it when she heard a shout and looked up, and then 

BAM!!

The soccer ball hit, her square in the face. 'Ow'  Jieun winced as she sat back up. "Gwenchanayo?" A familar voice said as Jieun's head shot up. "Omo, you're bleeding!" The same young boy from yesterday said as he bent down and took out a hankerchief and handed it to her. 

"Oops. Seems like your face was already damaged before the ball hit you." Another boy behind snickered as he laughed heartily with his friends. Jieun bit her lips and swallowed the lump in as she quickly stood up and ran away before her tears could fall. 

"Hey! Wait!" The young boy called out but his calls were ignored. He turned around to face the remaining boys and scowled. "That was unneccesary. Look what you did! " He spat before chasing after her.

Jieun ran to her usual secret spot or as what she calls it, her 'Secret Getaway', it was the only place where she could hide from the rest of the school since nobody ever comes up here other than the rare visits from the cleaners. She huffed and slid down on the floor of the rooftop.

'Pabo, stop crying.' She chided herself and tucked in her legs before wrapping her arms around them and laid her head on her knees. 

Not long after, the door to the rooftop creaked open slowly as the boy peeked in and saw the young girl curled up. He hesitated but decided to man up and approached and upset girl.

Jieun heard the approaching footsteps,assuming it was just another janitor, she decided to stay in her position. But she was wrong.

"Hey." The boy said as Jieun's ears perked up like a little puppy but made no attempt to lift her head, not wanting the boy to see her horrendous tear-stained face, accompanied by the chunk of tissue which she stuck into her bloody nose.

Sniffing, Jieun spoke first. "What do you want? To pick on me like everyone else? What are you gonna call me? Ugly? Fat? Pathetic? Troll? Nerdy? Disgusting? I've heard them all, what's new?" She said coldly with her head still down, bracing herself for the upcoming embarrassment or insult.

"Mmm how about adorable? Have you heard that one?" The boy replied, all the while staring at Jieun. Jieun's eyes widened when she heard his words, surprised and shocked at the same time. No one has ever said that to her. She felt her heart skip a beat when he said that.

"What about cheerful? Or smart? Or pretty? Or-" Before the boy could continue, Jieun slapped her hand over the guy's mouth, too embarrassed and shy about his compliments. Her cheeks were cherry red and she was avoiding eye contact with him. The boy's eyes turned into crescent as he stuck his tongue out, slightly touching Jieun's hand that was clamped over his mouth as she let out a shriek.

"EW! GROSS!" Immediately removing her hand and wiping it on the boy's shirt as the boy laughed heartily. Embarrassed of her outburst, Jieun bit her lips and kept her head down.

"Here." The boy said as Jieun turned her head to see a book in the boy's hand. 'Isn't that the book I wanted to borrow?' She thought. 'Ah I must have dropped it and forgotten all about it after running away. Aish pabo aniya?' Jieun said and knocked her head with her fist. The boy chuckled at her silliness. "Kamsahamnida." Jieun thanked the boy as she reached for the book. 

"Ah-ah." The boy said as he wagged his finger in front of her as he pulled the book back before Jieun could get it. "First, you have to call me Oppa." The boy smirked as Jieun gaped at him. "Bwo? O-oppa? But I don't even know you!" She argued.

"I'm Kikwang. Lee Kikwang." The boy smiled and offered his hand. Jieun eyes his hand before a small smile spread on her lips as she took his hand in hers. "I'm Jieun. Choi Jieun."

From then on, the both became the best of friends. Kikwang was like Jieun's knight in shining armour, always there to protect her from harm, especially from bullies. Jieun came up with Kikwang's nickname, a name only she called him; Lee Ki. Thats also when Kikwang came up with a nickname, or to Jieun, an endearment; Eunnie.

During those years with Kikwang, Jieun unknowingly developed a crush on him, but he didn't know that because she didn't want their friendship to be broken. 

On the very day that Jieun decided to pluck up her courage and confess to him, he just disappeared without a goodbye. 

Nothing.

Gone like that without any reason.

He even changed his phone number and cut off all contact with Jieun. He even deleted all his SNS accounts.

Jieun thought that maybe he got tired of being friends with the ugly nerd, or maybe this was his way of rejection even before she could confess to him.

Without Kikwang around her, she became the target of bullying again. She felt her whole world crumble down, and she was back to square one, life before meeting Lee Kikwang.

After that, she made up her mind to forget him, everything. She forced herself to erase him out of her memory and life.

-End of Flashback-

Bringing herself out of the trance, she immediately shut her eyes and turned around, not wanting to see his face any longer and walked away from him. 

"Hey wait! Eunnie-ah!" He called out, momentarily stopping Jieun from walking as he used her old nickname. The name that always gave her butterflies in the pit of her stomach. The name that would always bring out a smile from her. The name she used to love, so so much.

But that was in the past, a past that she had forced out of her memories in order to forget him.

Her first love.

"Don't call me that. You don't deserve to call me that. Not ever since you decide to walk out of my life, leaving me behind. Alone." She said coldly with her back towards him. The tears that she kept in all these years for him threatening to spill out in a split second. 

Kikwang was shocked at her cold tone. He had never heard her voice this cold before. The old Jieun wouldn't talk to him in this tone. That was what made Kikwang realise how much his departure from her had hurt her.

"Mian. I-I can explain. Please Jieun." Kikwang begged as he reached out to grab her wrist. The contact made Jieun shiver. His hand was so warm compared to the cold rainy weather. Jieun swallowed the lump in and pulled her hand out of his grip before walking away without turning back.

'Aish.' Kikwang hissed and ruffled his head in frustration. He stared at the direction which Jieun had walked off. 'Pabo aniya? You're letting her walk home, all alone, at night?' He questioned himself the obvious and quickly put his hoodie on before running after her to at least make sure she returned home safely.

He followed behind Jieun quietly at a distance, wanting to give her some space. Jieun wasn't an obvlious idiot, she knew she was being followed by him by decided to let it pass. She didn't want to have to talk or see him, thus she just continued on the path home.

"Yeobosayo? Oh Chanyeol-ah? Ne, I'm almost home soon. Deh, I'm still alive and talking to you aren't I? Arasso. See ya." Jieun answered the call from Chanyeol who wanted to make sure she was safe.

'Chanyeol? Who's that? Chingu? Namja Chingu??' Questions filled Kikwang's mind when he listened in on Jieun's phone conversation. They had reached Jieun's house as she stopped right in front of the door.

Jieun hesitated, 'Should I say something? Should I just go in?' She contemplated.

Kikwang looked at Jieun's back as she cleared before saying. "Stop following me. Go home."

With that, Jieun turned the door knob and went in before closing the door behind her.

Even though her words were little and she was being cold, her saying them meant that at least she still cared, be it alittle bit. It was good enough for Kikwang. At least she bothered to say something to him before going in, she couldn have just went in without saying anything but she didn't.

A small smile crept up his face as he glanced once more at Jieun's house.

'I will make it up to you Jieun. I promise.'

"I missed you Eunnie-ah."

HELLOOOO my readerssssss! I know I took forever :3 Forgive me, I was being a lazy pig since exams were finally over and I just wanted to laze around on my bed all day,everyday HAHAH but of course I had work as well. Guess what my results are finally out and I'm currently deciding on my future courses but I'm stuck cause I have no idea what course I should go for T.T

Communications and Media Management or Retail Management? If only the school I wanted to go had a music course. sighhhh~

HELPPPPP XP I cant decide and the submittion date is like 1 day away ajbslkdkjdkkmks

Anyways, thanks for being patient with me, really appreciate it. This is belated but

HAVE A GREAT YEAR AHEAD AND I LOVE YOU ALWAYS!!! <3