“I told her that I wanted to pursue my dreams, but I’d have to give up spending time with her. She was also pursuing her own dreams, so we couldn’t spend time together like we do. I guess she just wanted more out of a relationship. I just wasn’t good enough for her.” What he was saying was sad, but I felt happy that he was sharing things with me. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me get over them.” He finished.

I gave him a hug. “Thank you for telling me this.” I released him and took a deep breath. “I was in the same boat as you, though it was slightly different. I lost someone very important to me.” He looked at me with sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry. Did he…pass away?” he asked. I’m not even sure on how to properly answer that. “He’s kind of just…gone.”

We both sat there in sorrow. I remembered what Yori told me. “Someone once told me that ‘you don’t need to forget about him, but you can move on.’ I like to think that he taught me a lot of things, but wasn’t really my soulmate in the end. Even though it was very painful to get through, that pain teaches you things that you’ll never forget. The pain was just the first step to reaching happiness.”

He thought about what I said and smiled. “I never really thought about it that way.” He then turned his attention onto me and gave me a hug. “Right now I don’t know what I feel, but I promise I’ll come back after a year. I’ll think about everything and organise my feelings while I’m there. I really don’t know what we are, but I know we are important to each other.” He released me from his embrace. “You don’t have to wait for me, but can promise me that you’ll meet me at that park in a year?”

I got up and went into my room. He followed me in with a confused look. I grabbed the shark plushie I gave the other Minhyuk and gave it to him. “It was a gift for that important person, but he never got to keep it.” He looked shocked about how much that shark means. “I-I can’t keep this.” He handed me the plushie back. I shook my head at him. “No, it’s my way of moving on.”

He smiled at the plushie, but he noticed something behind me. He reached over and grabbed my seal plushie. “I’ll take this then. It reminds me of you.” My eyes widened. They said the exact same thing.

“You keep the shark and I’ll keep the seal. I’ll return it to you in a year, and you’ll give me the shark in return.” He remarked. I smiled and nodded. “Let’s do that.”

And just like that a year past. I finished my program at college and graduated, and my mind was full of Minhyuk. He said he wasn’t allowed to text or call anyone since they weren’t supposed to have any distractions, but he did so anyway. He always asked how I was and sent me pictures of himself, which always brightened up my day. I always thought about what he said, that he doesn’t know what we are and for us to meet up again.

I did a lot of thinking this past year, and I realised that the other Minhyuk was kind of a pathway for me to meet the actual one. Even if it was meant for Yori to be happy, I was the one that got that chance. I’ll never forget what he gave me, but I want to experience more with Minhyuk now.

I went to the park as promised and waited for him. He was running late, but I stayed. Even though 4 hours past, I still waited. I ended up dozing off, up until I felt my forehead being poked. I woke up to a seal, staring at me right at my face.

“Slept well?” He asked sarcastically. “Running late well?” I sarcastically said back. He laughed at my remark. “That was terrible.” I nodded. “Yeah it was…” We both laughed at my terrible comeback. “Sorry I’m late. There was a huge delay with the buses.” He then sat down beside me and gave me my seal back. “I kept my promise.” I nodded at him and took out the shark plushie. “Yeah you did.” I gave him the plushie and he smiled at it.

“How was the intensive year of training?” I asked him. He smiled at himself. “I think it went well. I learned a lot.” He shifted his attention onto me. “About dancing and myself.” I nodded and followed up by saying, “I learned a lot about myself too; a lot about us.” He then continuously looked into my eyes, while his face slowly turned red. “I thought that I should try something, something that would make everything clear between us.”

He slowly moved his face towards mine and connected our lips together. He cupped my cheek and deepened the kiss. I immediately gave in and kissed passionately back. He pulled back after a few seconds and smiled. “I guess that’s our answer.” I smiled back.

He grabbed my hand and got up. “I’ll treat you to ramen.” I smiled again and became cheeky. “You owe me a year’s worth of ramen.” He chuckled and asked me, “You didn’t have ramen for a whole year?” I pouted at him. “Well it was either having it every day or not having it at all for a year. That ramen is special.” He laughed at what I said. “That was so cheesy.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Then I want cheese in my ramen.” We both continued to laugh at one another for the whole night.

I took him back to my place, since he left his apartment before training. He collapsed onto my bed and patted the spot beside him seductively. I laughed at him and whacked him before sitting beside him. He pulled me down with him and smiled. “I’m going to look for a job as a dancer somewhere, and I’ll try to get one around here.” I poked his cheek. “Get a job you really want. I don’t mind waiting. It makes the time we spend together more special.” He smiled at me. “I’ll try to meet halfway then, because I don’t want to be separated for too long.” He brought me into a hug. “What are you going to do?” I snuggled into him and wrapped my arms around him. “I only really wanted to be happy. Job-wise I’ll just get a job that I find interesting around here.” He gave me a small peck on the forehead. “I promise to make you happy then.” I smiled and looked up at him, only to find that he fell asleep. I guess he was really tired. I caressed his head and pulled a blanket over top of us. I looked back up at him. “Thank you for everything…Minhyuk.”