“You, who had left, is not by my side. In my remaining memories, I shout out to you.”

- Jang Woo Hyuk.

The wind howled loudly in the background and darkness painted the sky as thunder boomed all around him. He kept on running despite the harsh wind blowing against his face; he was running towards her but the more he ran, the further away they were from each other.

There she was, standing at the edge of the cliff with her face turned to him and he could finally see her face. He knew from that look of her told him she had been crying; those heavily swollen eyes looking back at him portrayed a deep grief and sorrow, as if she had been suffering for a long time.

He ran again with all his might, but yet he still couldn’t reach her and he was getting desperate when she moved closer to the cliff’s edge. He tried screaming out to her but all that came out was only air and nothing more. The weather was getting furious; thunder cracked even more loudly in the sky and he was fighting to move against the strong wind.

Miraculously, he was only a couple of feet away from where Hyosung was standing after much effort. He fell to the ground as he felt his lungs would explode any moments soon and looked up to her. They locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity without a word being uttered, and he felt his heart wrenched when another tear spilled from her beautiful eyes down to her cheeks. Hyosung stepped closer to him and bent down to give him a brief kiss on his forehead before stepping back from him slowly and once again she was at the edge of the cliff.

Kikwang tried to reach her but failed, as if there was an invincible force pulling him away from her. A sorrow smile spread across her face before she mouthed him goodbye ... and she let herself fall backwards off the cliff.

“NO!”

Kikwang shot up from the bed, gasping hard for air and he was drenched in sweat. He put his face into his hands and tried to calm himself down as he could feel his heart was about to pop out from his chest for beating so hard against it. It was the same dream, again.

It wasn’t until the first week of the tour ended he started dreaming of her. Every single night when he started to drift into sleep, the same dream would keep on replaying and it intrigued him. It was not like he never dreamt of her before, but this dream scared him. It was as if it’s a sign of something was going to happen, but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

Hyosung ...

The hot summer afternoon was too much to bear for him, so Jong Hoon asked Hyosung to stop by the park to have a short break before proceeding to the market. The boys including him have shamelessly requested her to cook for them since none of them knew how to, and Hyosung was more than happy to do so. It feels like I have a big family, he remembered her said.

It had been almost a month since she and Daehyun first moved to Japan, and Jong Hoon had never felt attached to any other girl in his twenty-two years of life than he was to Hyosung right then. They spent practically most of the summer holiday together; they took Hyosung and Daehyun for sight-seeing all over Shibuya, introducing her to the Japanese culture so that she’d familiarized with it, grocery shopping and just practically everything. He knew he was falling for her but the fast pace of his growing affection puzzled him as he wasn’t one who fall for any girl that easily, even s were fazed by it.

There’s something special about her, Hongki said to him one night and he agreed. She was such a pure angel (if he can exaggerate), he wondered why would anyone possibly had the heart to hurt her. It wasn’t like every day you meet a girl who’d risk everything just for the sake of protecting and giving her dear brother happiness, and pushed her own away – her brother was her life.

“This park is really gorgeous. I should take Dae Hyun more often here, he’ll love it.” Hyosung said as she took a seat beside him, the fast melting vanilla ice-cream and looked around. Sitting under the big oak tree at Yoyogi Park, this was their second ice-cream in five minutes.

“It is. We used to practice here for hours before we have our own studio. The atmosphere really helps with the mood you know.” He answered and gobbled down the cone in one bite. Just then a couple walked past by, hands in hands, whispering and giggling like high school children. “Ah, summer love is in the air. It’s nice to be in love, don’t you think?” Oh .

He slowly turned his head and peeked at her. Just as he feared, she went rigid and he just wished the ground would swallow him up that moment. “I-I’m sorry.” He stumbled on his words.

“No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault. Uhm, I think we should get going now if we want to make it for dinner. Let’s go!” Hyosung stood up and offered him a helping hand with a smile on her face even though he knew his question pricked her.

They walked in awkward silence through the street of Shibuya and it was driving him crazy knowing that it was his fault. Nice going, genius. He needed to do something and fast, and the light bulb went on. He smiled widely at the thought, and made his move.

“Let’s go!” Jong Hoon instantly grabbed her hand and pulled a surprised Hyosung to run with him along the street. They passed through many confusing streets of Shibuya before finally arriving at their destination. Jong Hoon covered her eyes with his hands and led her with his voice to where she should walk, and he could feel his excitement built within. I hope this’ll make up to it, he thought happily.

“Okay, in count of three then I’ll let go of my hands.” Jong Hoon slowly took his hands off her eyes and wait in anticipation for her reaction. She gasped in amazement when she saw what was before her; boys and girls alike dressed in a variety of styles, from anime-like to cyber-punk to gothic. The streets were crowded with humans from all walks of life, food vendors, game arcades, live bands along the street and the colourful building surrounding - it excites Hyosung, he could sensed it from her delightful expression.

“Wow!” She squealed in excitement and he was surprised at how she turned into a kid as soon as they started exploring the street. First, she made a beeline for the cotton candy and bought another bag of it for Dae Hyun. He was amazed when Hyosung took his challenge to eat the live octopus, and was flabbergasted when she managed to finish it in mere ten minutes. This girl is full of surprises! Then Jong Hoon took her to the street arcade area where they played practically every game that was there, scoring a big stuffed Pikachu at the claw crane.

Jong Hoon watched the pleasure in Hyosung’s face. She was genuinely happy, he could tell – it wasn’t that often for him to see a girl get really excited over small things. His life to this point contained jaded woman who stayed cool and unruffled at all times, and it bored the life out of him. Hyosung brought different excitement; she was just purely bubbly and happy-go-lucky, despite the love trouble she was facing, and wasn’t ashamed to make a fool out of herself in public. Dancing randomly at the sound of a guitar proved his theory.

They rushed back to the grocery market after realizing it was almost time for dinner, the boys had called even to know about their whereabouts and complained about getting hungry. Hyosung’s charm was unlimited; she even managed to capture the heart of those people at the market they constantly shop. They gushed to him on how adorable and beautiful his girlfriend was when she wasn’t looking, and he didn’t even bother to correct them. Girlfriend ey? His silly grin appeared again.

“Today was really fun!” She walked backwards and faced him, her steps bouncy as she held on to their groceries, smiling from ear to ear and he could feel butterflies in his stomach. “Thank you so much, Jong Hoon.”

“What are friends for, right?” He wasn’t even sure he considered her as friends now, seeing how every little cute things she did put a silly grin on his face.

“You know, you remind me of this little boy whom I used to know when I was little. He was always saving me.” She smiled again although her tone was sad and he waited for her to continue. “I wonder where he is right now.”

“Really? How am I ... always saving you?” He tilted his head, cutting her short.

“Well, you’re the only one who has seen this side of me actually. I don’t really cry to strangers, but I opened up to you. It freaked me out at first though. You’re always there when I need a shoulder to cry on, and you’ll be the one to lift my mood up again.” She smiled at him, her eyes crinkling and then she giggled. “That boy, he was my shupa-man.”

Jong Hoon stop dead on the spot, his stomach suddenly twisted into a tight knot at the mention of the word. It hit too close to home, and he could feel himself trembling, he almost let go of the grocery bags in his hands.

“Are you okay?” Hyosung stopped in her track to and looked at him, worried displayed on her face.

“Shupa-man ...?” His voice fell to a whisper. There was only one girl who’d ever call him that, only one. He gulped before continuing, “C-Can you tell me more about this boy?” Hyosung continued to stare at him in confusion, but nodded.

“Well it’s been more than ten years since I last saw him so I can vaguely remember how he looks like though except ... that tiny crescent-like scar on his forehead. He kept bragging to me how it made him stronger and all, as annoyed as I was with that, he was indeed strong. I was the cause for that scar actually.” She met his eyes, clear longing portrayed through it and he could see her blushing. She giggled again. “Don’t tell anyone, but I believe he was my first crush! I always wonder where he is now, but I know we aren’t that far apart. He kept telling me to look up the sky if I misses him, because he’ll be doing the same thing too as we’re under the same sky. Corny, don’t you think?”

“I want to be the sky because then I will instantly know where you are. If there was someone hurting you, I could fly there and beat him up. I could protect you. Just call up my name, and I’ll be right there.” Hyosung looked up the reddish-orange sky, her eyes started to brim with tears. “He said that once to me just before the accident occurred, and I never saw him again after that ... even when I called out his name. He never came. I was too gullible, I guess, for believing in him.” Her voice strained.

Jong Hoon didn’t think he could move a muscle after hearing what she said as he was completely frozen to the spot, every being of him. He could only stare at her as she continued on telling him stories that was obviously too familiar to him. Shupa-man was him, and this girl standing in front of him ... was her.

Hyosung was the girl he had been missing for the past ten years.

His precious lost princess.

Lee Kikwang stared out the circular window of the plane, and saw a familiar sight of Incheon Airport. Home, finally. It had been three weeks since he left Korea, and he was dying to meet her. He needed to make up for everything he had done and he must. He had been thinking a lot ever since he last saw her – the deep sorrow emotion he saw in her eyes back in the airport have been haunting him for weeks and it awaken something deep inside.

Memories of the past year played back, when everything started to fall apart for the both of them – it was mainly because of his doing. B2ST shot to fame in a matter of months, much to everyone’s surprise and they’ve been in great demand ever since their debut. Spending more and more time in the limelight, he got carried away living in the life of an overnight superstar. He was suddenly showered with everything he had dream of; money, fame, popularity, everything.

He was too immersed in the new life that he had pushed her away from his life when he promised her he wouldn’t. He spent less time with her and Dae Hyun, and went to live his celebrity life instead. He had stop caring whatever was happening in her life as he was too caught up with his. How many times had he seen the hurt in her eyes whenever they bickered, and she would always be the one to apologize even it wasn’t her fault but his ego was too high to ask for apology himself. How many dates had he dodged and broke, to spent time with his celebrity friends instead. I was such a jackass, his throat tightened at the thought.

After dodging fans at the airport, they straightaway drove to Hyosung’s apartment. It was her birthday yesterday, but seeing that they were not around, Kikwang made a plan for them to throw a surprise for her today. He dialled her number, and once again was answered by the operator saying the number didn’t exist. Strange. Her scooter wasn’t at the parking bay either.

“Hyung, noona’s house is on the fifth floor right? Her house number is two-seven-two, right?” Dongwoon called out to him just after he exited the elevator, a box of cake in his hand. “Yeah, why?” he asked. Haven’t they been here number of times already, why would he ask such question? He walked over to where they stood, and he froze.

FOR RENT.

CALL xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx FOR INQUIRY.

Kikwang was dumbfounded. What ...? They knocked on the door countless of times, it was still the same. No one answered. His heart started to beat irregularly as he looked at the number of the door over and over again, and back to his fellow members who had the same puzzled expression as him.

“Hyosung. Hyosung-ah! It’s me Kikwang. Are you sleeping? Hyosung-ah!” he cried out her name with an increased urgency, knocking and pressing the bell at the same time. Please open the door. Please please please. “Hyosung-ah!”

“YAH! Are you trying to break down the door? Cut it out! There’s no one there!” A loud voice suddenly boomed not far from them, which turned out to be Mrs Na, Hyosung’s grumpy neighbour. “You better quite down before I call the cops. Goodness, young people these days.” She continued on to mumble before slamming her door shut. No one is here? What is she talking about?

He suddenly remembered that he had an extra key to her house and with shaking fingers, he fumbled with it as he slid the key in and opened the door. Click. There before them, was a huge empty space. Vacant and hollow, except for a few pieces of shredded old newspapers lying on the floor. His legs almost gave out at the sight, but he managed to walk inside. None of them spoke a word; everyone was too shocked to the bone with this discovery.

They explored the small apartment, and found no belonging of Hyosung in the house. Doojoon left them to ask around, while the rest just sit on the floor of the dark house lit by a faint light from outside. It must’ve been left long enough for it to collect much dust like this, with cobwebs on the ceiling as well.

“Hyung, look what I found.” Dongwoon hand over Kikwang to what seem as a dusty envelope and it tugged his heart when he saw her hand writing on it. He was too shocked to have the will to read, so he just held it. Doojoon came back not long after with a dejected look on his face as he eyed Kikwang. “Mrs Na told me this house had been vacant for three weeks. Apparently Hyosung moved out, and her where-about is unknown as she didn’t tell anyone here. I’m sorry, Kikwang.”

“Moved out ...” Kikwang said in disbelief but barely a whisper when it finally dawned on him. Hyosung is gone. She is gone. She is not here. She is gone. The thought ran through his head in circles, he suddenly felt as if his world was crashing apart just when he was planning to make amend with her.

She left him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Firstly, I apologize for breaking my promise again. I should've update it on Tuesday, I know, and I have no excuses for it except of me having writer's block. Yes, it big time. Hence, the explanation why this update isn't that great. I can tell. I am reaaaally sorry! :(

Secondly, thank you for all the comments and subscriptions! I just can't thank you guys enough, because you guys mean so much to me! Yes, you guys are one of my major inspiration to keep on working with my story. It makes me feel loved when I'm suffering from fever. Thanks! *big bear hug.

@pockyisawesome

- OH MY GOD. How did you manage to sneak peek into my brain? *runs away. LOL. Joking. But, you nailed it! Geez, and I thought I am full of mystery. You proved me wrong. Here, a flower for you. *offers. Hehe.