“Don’t you miss me, girlfriend?”

Hyesun rubbed her eyes before opening them. She blinked her eyes for a few times before she finally could let out her voice, “Why are you here?”

The male’s smirk didn’t fade from his face, “Am I somehow forbidden to be here? I believe this is a public place where I can come here whenever I want?”

“That’s not what I mean— I mean, I don’t know how to say this but it’s just unexpected to see you here,” Hyesun explained.

“Same here. I didn’t expect to see you here laughing alone and talking to yourself. Are you sure you’re not a loner?” he jokingly asked.

Hyesun made a surprised face, “Are you seriously asking me that, L.Joe?” she nearly squeaked at him.

It made the male a.k.a L.Joe laughed, “Don’t get too surprised if you’re not one. You’re acting as if you’re—”

“I’m not!” the girl quickly cut him off mid-sentence as she quickly walked inside the park.

“Not so fast, girl!” L.Joe immediately ran after Hyesun. Once he had caught up to her, he walked closer to her, “Hi there.”

“Are you trying to hit on me now?” she joked as she side-eyed him. But then she realised it’ll be good for her if he really wants to hit on her.

“Do you want me to?” he played along.

“Just to remind you, I’m not that easy,” she wriggled her index finger at him.

L.Joe put an amused expression on his face, “Just to remind you, I can easily get girls to be fawning over me.”

Hyesun gave him an ‘oh-really’ face, “Sorry to ruin your imagination, but I’m definitely not one of those girls.”

L.Joe lightly chuckled as he put his hands in his pockets, “Seriously, why are we having such conversation?”

“I don’t even know, how about if you tell me?” both of them then walked on the arched suspension bridge.

A deep silence accompanied the teens as they walked on the bridge. The girl was too excited seeing the lotus lilies around her even though the flowers weren’t in their best states; since full bloom lotus could be seen around July to August every year. The boy was blankly staring at the flowers before turning his attention to the girl. Hyesun’s expression amused him way than the flowers that he couldn’t help to divert his attention from her.

“Why are you in Jeonju?” Hyesun suddenly asked as her eyes went to L.Joe.

The male who was looking at her at the entire moment froze when her eyes met his. He couldn’t even catch up with her question. Damn. Don’t tell me I get caught looking. “What?”

Hyesun chuckled seeing his blank expression, “Why are you here— I mean in Jeonju? What business do you have?” she repeated her question earlier; not noticing the relief looks the lad had.

Just when I thought she’s going to ask me why am I staring at her. I swear Lee Byunghun, you’re thinking too much! Clearing his throat, he tried to answer her without embarrassing himself, “I’m here to visit my auntie. She lives in Deokjin-dong, somewhere near here,” he halted for a second, “I believe you’re from here then? I mean—Jeonju. Which neighbourhood anyway?”

“I’m also from Deokjin-dong! What a coincidence! What’s your auntie’s name? Who knows if I might know her!” Hyesun cheerfully said in a high tone.

L.Joe formed a small smile to see her enthusiasm, “My auntie’s house is quite far from the others. I’m not sure if you know her. Her name is Lee Boja.”

The name clicked in her mind but she couldn’t remember it. Just then, a bulb lit up in her mind as she snapped her fingers, “Ah that pretty auntie! I know her, but I’m not that close with her. Back then when I was in elementary school, she always gave me candies and sweets whenever she saw me passing by her house,” she giggled; the exact same way when she would receive candies years ago from L.Joe’s aunt.

“I’m not surprised though, my auntie loves candies a lot. I swear she has loads in her house,” L.Joe rolled his eyes when he remembered about the candies and sweets his aunt kept. He tried to advise her to stop buying too much candy, but she just refused to listen.

“Really? No wonder she kept giving me a handful. The candies she gave me tasted amazing and seriously it didn’t taste like the usual candies. I wish I can still have it,” she sighed as old memory rushed into her mind.

“Just go to her house if you want it so bad,” he simply told her.

Hyesun’s expression turned into a frown, “It’s not that easy considering what happened in the past.”

It got L.Joe curious and interested to know, “What exactly happened?”

Her frown deepened, “Well...”

∞

It was a bright Saturday morning as the sun shone right on little Hyesun’s face. She happily walked on the road as she made way to her candy auntie’s house which was located at the end of the Deokjin-dong neighbourhood. The other day before, candy auntie had promised to give her loads of candies and chocolates if she would come by Saturday.

She smiled when she finally arrived in front of her candy auntie’s house. The house was one of the biggest houses in Deokjin-dong neighbourhood and how she sometimes wished her parents had a big house like that. Nonetheless, her mother had taught her to always be grateful to what they had. Little Hyesun then excitedly pressed the bell at the front door. She waited for almost a minute but the door wasn’t opening. She tried pressing again for the second time and still, no one came out. Impatience got her as she pressed the bell non-stop.

Before her fingers could get worn out from pressing the bell, a frowning face of a boy greeted her eyes. For a second, she was completely mesmerized by the boy’s appearance. If and only if boys in my school are this charming, I swear to god I won’t pick a fight with them. But before she could develop a crush on him, her imagination was crashed.

“What the hell do you want, beggar kid?” the boy rudely asked.

Hyesun’s big eyes rounded at the language used by the boy in front of her, “What did you say? I’m no beggar!”

“Then why are you here? Just by looking at your clothes, I know you’re here to ask for money,” he cockily said as he smirked.

A smirk that despised her a lot, “Just for your information, I come here because candy auntie promised me to give me loads of candies! I wasn’t the one who asked for it, she wanted to give me herself!” she defended herself.

“You’re not getting any of it, beggar kid. Ask for your parents to buy candies for you! Wait, do your parents even have money seeing how you’re begging like this. What a shameful—”

Not being able to contain her already limited patience, her fist flew right on the boy’s mouth. Her hard punch made the boy fall on the floor as he was holding onto his mouth in pain but the angry Hyesun wouldn’t care less, “You deserve that, rude boy! Just because you’re rich, it doesn’t mean you can easily degrade other person who’s not as rich as you!” she yelled at him as her fists were tightened. She told herself not to cry no matter what happened. She wanted to prove to everyone that not all girls were weak.

“Stupid girl! Who do you think you are to punch me?! Ah, I broke my tooth!” despite being in pain, the boy still shrieked at her.

“Oh my God, what happened to you, Byungie?!” a voice and fast footsteps were heard from behind.

“Auntie, this idiot punched me!” the boy who was suddenly crying whined at his aunt.

Hyesun knew she was in trouble for getting caught punching another kid. Before she left, she spat another word to the boy, “Rather than whining over your broken tooth, go find your missing heart,” with that, she spun around and started to walk home as the little girl tried hard not to let her threatening tears fall.

∞

Hyesun chuckled when she finally finished telling her story to L.Joe. She looked at L.Joe to see how he would be reacting only to see the male expressionlessly staring at the ground, “Hey! Were you listening or not?”

L.Joe’s eyes slightly rounded, “Huh? S-Sorry, I got distracted. But I did listen to your story,” he said; hiding his nervous expression.

“What a jerk, isn’t he? Never once I regretted the punch I gave him. He totally deserved that,” Hyesun huffed as she recalled the incident.

L.Joe stole a glance at the girl; whose expression showed dissatisfaction. Should I spill it to her? I don’t want to make her look dumb. Damn, why did I have to be such a jerk back then. “Umm can I confess something?”

The girl gave a look; gesturing him to continue, “What is it?”

“That boy... the one that you punched—that was me,” he proclaimed as he waited for the girl’s reaction. Hopefully she won’t punch me again.

Hyesun’s mind went into complete blank after hearing that from L.Joe. She wasn’t sure what and how to respond. Should she punch him? Should she just laugh it off? Should she throw him into the pond?

Realising he wasn’t getting any response from Hyesun, L.Joe softly uttered her name, “Hyesun?”

He succeeded on getting her to look at him, “That was you?” was the only thing she could say.

L.Joe nodded his head; not sure how to answer her properly. Afraid if she might burst out there, he quickly added an apology, “Look, I’m totally sorry for what I’ve said. I know nothing can change the fact that it was me who said such nasty things but you see, I admit that when I was a kid, I was really childish, idiotic, heartless and the list goes on. I deeply apologise if what I said back then hurt you. Believe me, it wasn’t my intention. I just have some trust issue,” he muttered the last line with a sigh.

After hearing that, a soft smile came onto Hyesun’s face, “It’s okay. It was all in the past anyway. We all made mistakes, especially when we were still kids. Besides, I’ve forgotten it long ago but sometimes, it just came to me,” she chuckled.

“Are you serious? You’re not going to punch me or else?” L.Joe asked.

It made Hyesun slapped his arm, “Do you want me to?” she asked as she showed him her fist.

The two teens laughed heartedly at that as they finally reached the end of the suspension bridge. Before the one of them could say anything, a loud booming voice was heard from afar.

“Jeon Hyesun!!”

Didn't I tell ya it's someone from her past? (; Umm and now another person aye?