I let my device ring until it was silent. Then it rang again, this time emulating a different ring tone for only telephone talking. I sighed slowly and pressed the button.

“Ryeowook!” Kyuhyun’s voice was slightly hard to hear. “Hey, I’m just checking on you.”

I didn’t respond.

“Are you okay?”

I wondered if my thoughts could be heard through the device. Just great. My face was washed over in grey sadness. Even my internal voice was dead.

“Yeah, you sound great. Like a boy who just found out his favorite TV show was cancelled.”

Well, at least you can hear my thoughts.

“Is the woman with you?”

No.

“Where is she?”

I don’t know.

“What do you mean?”

I screwed up.

Kyuhyun’s low groan vibrated through the static. “You can’t be serious right now. What did you do!?”

I tried to show her how much I cared about her. But she ran away.

Sudden, loud laughter exploded in the device. “Ryeowook! Did you try to kiss her or recite a romantic poem or something!?”

My face turned completely indigent. No! I only met her yesterday! I don’t want to come across like a stalker!

“I think that ship has sailed, my friend.” Kyuhyun finished laughing and then sighed. “So you don’t know where she is right now?”

No. I glanced toward the dense bunch of trees to my side. She just disappeared in a forest.

“A forest? You mean there are still trees in 2015?”

Yeah.

“Wow. That’s interesting. Are the leaves green like we were told in college?”

Kyuhyun, could you please take my situation seriously!? I rubbed my face. The second half of my second day is coming up and I’ve already screwed up! Can’t you help me?

“Hey, you’re Romeo, not me. All I did was call to make sure you were okay. Oh, is all the pain gone from your body? The jetlag?”

Yes. I answered scowling. If you don’t have anything else that could help me right now, I’m going to hang up.

“Jeez, where did that attitude come from? Don’t forget I was the one kind enough to get you to 2015 in the most illegal and taboo way. You’re welcome.”

I sighed through my nose. Goodbye Kyuhyun.

“Wait, there’s one more thing!”

What?

“Good luck~” The device’s light turned off along with the static. I shook my head and stuffed the device back into my pocket.

That guy, I swear…

“Hey.”

I jumped a little and turned to my side. It was Jill.

“I’m sorry for leaving you like that.” She shifted her feet a little, not looking at me. “That was really rude and not how I normally act.”

I quickly shook my head. Whatever, you’re here now and you’re talking to me. That’s what matters.

“I told you about a guy I dated for five weeks. Well, it didn’t end well.” She slowly sank onto the bench.

I sat down beside her.

“It started off great. We were like best friends. But we rushed into the romance too fast. Back then, I was…” She glanced at me. “More conservative than I am now and didn’t want to give up my…you know.”

I nodded.

 “I wanted my first time to be special. With someone who truly loves and respects me. I actually contemplated waiting until marriage to lose…you know.” She shrugged and glanced at me.

My face remained blank. Wow.

“Anyway, I told him up front that I didn’t want to do anything involving . He said he was okay about it, but later I found out that wasn’t true. After about 5 weeks, he called me and told me he wanted to end our romantic relationship.” She squirmed a little. “I was crushed. And the worse thing is he expected us to go right back to being friends just like that. It was tense between us for a week, and then he started demanding why I wasn’t answering his messages. Now… he messages me a lot, but I don’t want to answer him. He’s…said some very hurtful things to me.” She stared ahead with a very grim look on her face. “Things I really want to forget.”

My body fibers started to scream at me to hug her again, but experience kept me still in my seat. All I did was nod. I’m so sorry Jill. Whatever this guy told you isn’t true and he’s an . If he tries to call you again, I’m going to track him down and beat him up.

She sighed deeply. “You know what? I think I’m just gonna go home. I’m not in the mood for shopping anymore.”

My eyes widened.

“You can still shop, but I’m gonna go home.”

She slowly stood up.

I looked toward the little shopping houses in the small town and spotted a sign that said, “Chocolate”. I made her look at me and I motioned at her to stay where she was.

“What is it?” She sounded tired.

I continuously motioned at her to stay in her spot with an adamant look on my face.  

“Okay, okay.” Now she sounded annoyed. “I’ll wait here.”

I quickly rushed into the town square toward the Chocolate shop, dodging a couple of people looking at me with surprised and slightly annoyed faces.

She looked at me surprised. “What’s this?”

Um, chocolate? I held a medium-sized bar out to her. Chocolate always makes you feel better. Take it.

“How did you…buy it with your own money?”

Money? What’s that?

She slowly looked behind me. The shop owner I waved to was looking around the square furiously until his gaze stopped on me.

“Hey you!”

I cocked my head at him. Why did he look so mad?

“Give that back, you thief!”

Confusion remained on my face. Thief?

“Did you just walk in and take that without paying?” Jill almost sounded like she was laughing.

I turned to her. What’s “paying”?

The owner marched up to me and held out his hand. “Give that back right now and I won’t call the police!”

I backed away from him. This is for Jill. She’s not feeling good. I kept the bar securely in my grasp.

“U-um, this is just a misunderstanding sir.” Jill quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag. “How much is it?”

The owner glanced at Jill. “One dollar, fifty cents.”

She shoved a bunch of long, thin, green papers into his hand. “Here you go, keep the change.” She pushed me toward the exit of the town square.  “What were you thinking!?” Jill hissed quietly. “You could have gotten in a lot of trouble!”

I was still very confused about what just happened, but I was sure glad her hands were on my upper back as she pushed me back toward her house.

Wait, no! She wanted to shop! I dug my shoes into the ground, causing her to bump into me.

“Come on, let’s get back to my home before that man calls the police!”

I shook my head and pointed at the other shops in the town square.

“I don’t want to shop right now.”

I remembered the chocolate bar was in my hands. I turned around and held it out to her. Take it.

She stood still for a moment, then slowly took the bar out of my hand. “Thanks…” she muttered.

I grinned contently. Now let’s shop. I pulled on her wrist.

“I told you I don’t want to shop.” She gave me another annoyed look.

I continued to pull on her wrist until she gave in and followed behind me. “Fine, just one store.”