“So, you guys are really in that phase, huh?” Boa concludes the story Jiwon told, sipping her favorite latte afterwards. “You really want to be with him?” she asks Jiwon forwardly.

Jiwon raises her shoulders, the answer Boa doesn’t like very much. Boa sighs and shakes her head in the matter of her frustration of Jiwon’s uncertain feelings. “I don’t know about it.”

“You tell me you want to find your first love. Well, you found him, in different appearance than before. So, what are you waiting for?” Jiwon doesn’t answer her. Actually, she doesn’t know if she wants to be with Haneul or the past Haneul. “Very clearly to me that he wants you, he wants to date you,” Boa gives her opinion. “I think you guys haven’t solved all yet, clearly.”

Jiwon looks at her and confused, we did solve things. But Boa is not very sure with that.

“Well, are you sure he just planned matchmaking to make you know he’s your childhood friend? Nothing more than that?” Boa attacks. Jiwon is still silent, she doesn’t have any proper and right answer. “Why did he kiss you? Part of the acts?”

“Wait… you saw we were kissing?” Jiwon widens her eyes, shocked. “When?”

“Under the cherry blossom tree, of course,” Boa said it lightly. Jiwon shakes her head. That plan, hiding but as she thinks now Haneul wants them to see it, a prove of dating. She sighs. “If all of it is an act, then why did I see him so immersed in it?”

“Maybe he’s just a professional, so an act should be taken as real,” Jiwon comments randomly.

“That’s the problem!” Boa snaps her finger. “Why did he have to do it all out? Since you’re guys are rivals, he didn’t have to do it!” Boa tries for Jiwon to think the same as her, to accept her deduction. “C’mon, you know what I mean!” she is impatience seeing Jiwon is confused and doesn’t easily believe on what she said. She massages her head and takes a breather to calm her impatience heart. “Okay, I don’t care about it.”

What should I know more from him? His explanation is enough. What’s more? Jiwon becomes confused herself because she thinks all of it is finished properly. But Boa doesn’t think like that.

Then, a call comes for Jiwon. She looks at it and Haneul calls for her. She picks it up and Boa looks to her, eavesdropping the conversation. “Yeah, right now?” Jiwon says and Boa senses that he wants to meet Jiwon right now. “Okay, bye,” she hangs up and looks to Boa. “I have to go.”

“I knew it,” Boa’s prediction on this is never wrong.

“Why do you suddenly bring me here?” Jiwon asks him. They are in the national library, it’s not the first time she goes here but she rarely goes here so… she doesn’t think Haneul like this place. It’s comfy, though.

Haneul is browsing for books and Jiwon is just tagging him along while seeing the collection. Interesting. For minutes later, Jiwon is captivated by this place. “Shall we sit?” Haneul asks her after he found his book. Jiwon now is too interested in searching books. Five minutes later, she finds hers.

“Okay,” she answers and follows him to seat. There are less people and so tranquil, really can make a peace of mind here.

“I just found this place interesting,” he said and both of them fell easily in the books they read. They stay like that for half an hour until Haneul stretches his hands and drinks. His brain needs to rest. Then, he sees her, easily concentrating on the thing she does. Interesting. He lays his head while looking at her.

She notices she’s being looked at and closed her book. “Okay. We can borrow this right?” she says without looking to him.

“Yeah,” he answers in the same position he is at.

Actually, Jiwon has been thinking after Boa gave her that talk. What she would ask, what she should ask and what he will answer. Come to think of it, she remembers the day that he said he already found his first love and wanted to make her recognize him. That day when they were hanging out on the park, without Jiwon knew about his first love at all. And that day, they kissed. After that for days, she found out about his past and he gave her CD, told her that she was the one who reminded him of the cherry blossom. So… the conclusion is… am I his first love?

“Haneul-a,” Jiwon calls him and looks in his eyes.

“Yeah?” he sits straight. Sensing something important she wants to say.

“Since we already agreed on being honest with each other,” there she goes. Haneul is suddenly nervous of what she’s going to ask. The girl is nervous as well whether his answers will be like. “Can I ask you question? And will you answer it honestly?” she starts. Haneul slowly nods his head with his heart beat disturbs him. Jiwon checks the situation around them and there are just one to two people. She prepares herself and heaves a long breath. “Okay,” she is ready. Haneul is looking to him gently, ready to listen to all of her concerns. “Well, you said that you met your first love and she reminded you of cherry blossom,” Haneul knows where this goes. “Why don’t you chase her? Why did you keep on doing your matchmaking plan?”

Jiwon is looking to him deeply. She is ready to listen whatever answers or reasons he has. But she doesn’t know if she is ready to be hurt too. He, then, rolls his eyes here and there, tries to find a words to be explained. “Well… I said that you remind me of that cherry blossom, right?” Haneul asks her back. She nods. Those words were still very clear in her ear right now. “So, your conclusion is?” Jiwon is a bit surprised when he said he wants to hear her conclusion. She is not ready for it. “Even if we are agreed to be honest with each other, I think we can’t leave the fact that we are both so nervous to do it,” from his explanation, she realizes that he is nervous too. At least, they feel the same thing.

“Well…” Jiwon hesitates a bit to talk again. Haneul is waiting for her answer. “My conclusion is that I am your… first love?” she’s doubting it. Haneul smiles because she finds out but at the same time his heart beats faster than before.

“You’re right,” he says and she’s more nervous too. She’s adverting her gaze to the book, doesn’t know how to look at him. “Is that all you want to ask?” Jiwon slowly nods her head. She doesn’t sure either if it’s all she wants to hear. “Jiwon-a,” now it’s his turn. She’s carefully turning to look at him. His gazes toward her is so deep and serious.

“What?” she says, almost in trembling voice.

“That bald child is me,” he states the fact and she is confused, but she nods her head first. Where the topic is he going? “Come closer,” he slowly takes her hand and pulls her closer. In surprised, she doesn’t reject or deny him, she comes closer to him. Now they are face to face. He’s looking at her eyes and she’s looking the same. “What do you see?” he asks. This kind of question makes her really confused of the answer. What if the words out on is a disaster?

“I see you,” she starts to answer. “I see Kang Haneul.”

“What about my image in the past?” he is so curious at this. He’s afraid that she still thinks the past so much and hard to let go of it.

Jiwon shakes her head. Haneul is a bit relieved by it. “No, Haneul-a,” she says. “You’re changing in your appearance and that doesn’t matter to me,” she explains. “I’m glad anyway that you have those eyes.”

“What kind of eyes?”

“The eyes that I’ve missed for years,” she says it trembling and nervously, she can feel the heat in her cheek and he feels the same. She sits straight suddenly, gets trapped in the warm tingling sensation on her face and in her heart. He sits back too.

“Let’s go from here and talk elsewhere,” he says and takes both of their book, puts it back to its proper shelf. He holds her hands on the way to the shelf until his car. This feeling that she never feels before for years now back again with the same person in front of her. Somehow it feels nostalgic on how that bald child used to hold her hand running when playing hide and seek with the rest children. Somehow it’s warmer than before.

As he drives, Jiwon still doesn’t know where they are going because Haneul doesn’t seem to have a destination at all. “Where are you going?” she finally asks after she is frustrated by endless driving.

“Nowhere, just drive while talk,” he answers. She realizes that both of them haven’t started a talk yet, continuing their current conversation. But she senses, as he drives, the road is the same road she took when she w