“Just shut up!”

I was furious at him. What did he take me for, a fool? I had heard him on the phone. He was making fun of me and my feelings for him. I knew I shouldn’t have spilled my heart out to a narcissistic jerk like him. I could remember perfectly the part I tuned into.

“Yeah, I suppose it was silly. Why would I ever go out with him? I can’t even believe he had asked me out. . It was embarrassing for me, didn’t he realize that? If anyone else had found out, it would be the end of my reputation. .”

At that point I couldn’t bring myself to listen in anymore. I felt hopeless and stupid, just the fact that he felt that way about me asking him out. What’s worse was, I thought he had returned my feelings. He never showed any resentment towards me, so what was with the sudden hostility? Was I really that horrible of a person?

No. He was. I hated him. I hated him for telling me he’d think about my offer and then talking behind my back to whoever was on the phone with him. I hated him for playing with my emotions. I hated him for being so damn gorgeous. I hated myself for falling for him. . .

He looked at me, confused at my sudden outrage. “Mir, what’s gotten into you? I was trying to tell you tha—“

I cut him off. “That I was an ugly, stupid, embarrassment to you?! That your reputation would be ruined if you went out with me?! You’re a , Joon! I never want to see you again!” I didn’t mean it, but it felt like I did. I could feel the tears starting to stream down my cheeks, but I didn’t want him to know how much he had hurt me. So without thinking, I turned and ran as fast as I could. I didn’t know where I was going, I just wanted to get away from the man who had broken my heart.

I’m not sure what his reaction was; I never looked back at him. All I knew was he was running after me, shouting my name, along with things like “That’s not it!”, “What’s gotten into you?!”, and “Please stop and talk to me!” I didn’t respond.

I ran out of our dorm, taking off down the street. It was just my luck that it happened to be pouring; I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of rain striking the pavement and roaring thunder. That included Joon, who might have been shouting his true feelings to me and begging me to stop.

I kept running. I was beginning to lose my breath, but I didn’t want that to stop me. I could tell Joon was getting closer, considering his pleads were more audible than before. I wondered if he was tired yet as well, or if he was in better shape than me.

I didn’t know if I was still crying. By this time I was soaked head to toe, and I could barely get enough breath to keep running. I began to feel light headed, and I knew I needed to take a rest. But taking a rest meant confronting Joon.

Oh well. I couldn’t keep running.

I stopped in a familiar park. Sometimes on the rare days we had off, the whole band would come here and hang out. It was only a couple blocks away from our dorm.

Joon was still behind me. He stopped about ten feet away under the band’s favorite tree, though I wasn’t sure what kind it was. I just knew it was beautiful when it bloomed up until the last leaf fell from the tree in autumn. Funny thing was, the storm had knocked most of its leaves off. Only one lone leaf remained dangling at the very top.

I heard him shout. “Mir! Please. . Why are you running?! I never thought any of those things! Why would you think that?!” His voice sounded utterly pathetic and confused, but I didn’t care. I still hated him, or at least I thought so.

“I heard you on the phone! You said it was an embarrassment for you that I asked you out, and I could have ruined your reputation!” I clenched my fist, ready to fight what he had to say.

He stood there for a moment, as if recalling the event. His gaze changed back into a soft, pleading look. “Mir, you’ve got it all wrong! I was talking abou—“

Poor Joon was cut off again, but this time not by me. It all happened so fast, but it felt like an eternity.

First, all I saw was a flash of lightning. It wasn’t until I heard the cracking of the branch that I realized what was happening.

“Joon. . !”

I don’t think he knew how to react. He looked up to see what had happened, but the branch fell quickly. The branch at the very top of the tree, the one most susceptible of being hit by lightning.

I was stunned; my body felt numb. What was I supposed to do? I saw him lying on the ground, the large branch crushing his suddenly tiny body. I heard the thunder following the lightning; I noticed the very last leaf fall from that branch.

A couple of seconds later, my brain kicked back into gear. I could feel my body again. I ran over to him, gasping for air. I realized I hadn’t taken a breath since that flash of lightning.

“Joon!” I shouted, grabbing the large branch and trying my very best to pull it off him. It was too heavy however, and I could barely manage to get it to budge. The helpless feeling took effect, and I knew I couldn’t do anything else for him. I began to sob until I heard his pained voice.

“Mir. . .”

I looked over at him immediately, my eyes open wide. He was still alive? I scuttled over to him, wishing that damn branch wasn’t there so I could hold him in my arms, and wishing I hadn’t left my cell phone at home.  

Though I looked positively pathetic, he found it in him to smile, if only slightly. Perhaps he was amused by how pitiful I looked? I heard him speak.

“You’re so stupid. . .”

Now it was my turn to be confused. I swallowed, even though my throat was dry. “What. . ?”

He smiled more. “I wasn’t talking about you. . I was talking to an old friend. . I told him about you asking me out. . We started remembering high school. . “ He paused, wincing from the pain. I could tell the branch had broken a couple of ribs, and I figured they in turn punctured his lungs. He continued anyway. “I was talking about this one time. . Someone asked me out in high school. . Not you. .” He let out a very small laugh while wincing again. “I was. . Gonna tell you that I’d go out with you. . .”

My heart really felt like it was breaking now. What an idiot I had been, if I had just taken the chance to listen to his part of the story. . .

“I. . I. .” I wasn’t sure how to respond. It was my fault for all of this; if I hadn’t been so stubborn before, Joon wouldn’t be lying under a tree branch. A frown spread across my face, and I couldn’t hold back the sob storm anymore. I crossed my arms in front of me and bent over, beginning to cry into his chest. I felt him put his arm on my back.

“Mir. . You said you thought you loved me. . When you asked me out. .”

I nodded once, lifting up my head a little bit. “I-I do. . ! I really d. . d. .” I couldn’t spit the word out without beginning to sob. He smiled at me again.

“I. .” His voice was growing faint, along with the glimmer in his eyes. “I love you too. .”

It felt like I was dying along with him. Oh God, please. . No. . Don’t let me lose him. . .

My prayer went unanswered. The smile faded from his lips; his eyes slowly closed. I began to shake.

“No! J-Joon!” I screamed, sobbing even more if it was possible. “Don’t die! You. . You ! How could you say you loved me and then die?! I really do hate you, Lee Joon!” I didn’t mean that either. I looked at the last leaf that had fallen from our favorite tree. “You. . You’re so stupid, Mir. .” I mumbled to myself, quoting my first true love.