Chapter 3

[7 years old]

Ara’s POV

Yesterday I did not see Doyoung at all at the playground. Maybe he was sick like last 2 weeks. Last 2 weeks, he had a fever and he apologized to me at the next day. Of course I wasn’t mad, even though he promised to accompany me every evening. But, what kind of person am I if I was mad to a sick person.

I decided to play by myself as I waited for him. I was playing at the slides after playing with the swing. I was bored, he has not come yet and I’ve been waiting for a half an hour, so I decided to join other children that were building a sand castle. “Hi!, may  I join you guys playing?”, I asked to the 2 kids in front of me. It seems that they are brother and sister. “Of course you may!”, the boy answered. They both flashed a bright smile at me. I smiled back at them.

“Eonni, do you usually play alone here?” the sister asked she was really cute and she looked very innocent. Of course, maybe she’s 2 years younger than me. But, when she asked that, it feels like something was wrong, something was going on and something wasn’t right, but I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like the usual things. My smile faded slowly. “Ummm….. actually, I usually play with my friend..........but, I don’t know where is he. Maybe he is sick”, I said as I forced a smile. Somehow, this bad feeling in my heart won’t go away. I started to think nonsense, but I erased that directly by helping them building the sand castle.

“By the way, Noona, what’s your name?”, asked the boy. “I’m Yoon Ara”, I answered him as I smiled at them, still helping them to make their sand castle neater. “I’m Kwon JaeA! And my brother’s name is Kwon Jaewon!” she said as she grinned she is a cheerful kid, maybe their house will be really empty and quiet if there is no her. I never seen them before, maybe I never realized them since Me and Doyoung usually always played at the slides and swings, not the sand castle corner. “JaeA-ah, I want to introduce my own name”, he said as he sulked cutely at his sister. His sister was giggling because of her brother’s action. They tried to make their sand castle looked better.

“If I may know, what’s your friend’s name noona?”, he asked as he tried to make our sand castle become neater by removing a bit of sand from each sides. “Ahh, his name is Kim Doyoung”, I answered his question. “Oh!! we had a neighbor named Kim Doyoung too! But, sadly he moved to Seoul as soon as we moved here. We didn’t have any time to know each other further”, he said as he tried to remember the event. His expression changes slowly, from happy to a bit sad. My feelings changed directly after hearing what he said. I thought today was just a dream. But it was not a dream.

It was time for me to sleep already. I laid at my comfy spring bed. I was thankful that Eomma did not realized my sadness. I tried my best not to cry. I tried to tell to myself that maybe that Doyoung is not my Doyoung. I tried my best to force a smile, as natural as I could make. I tried to forget all the bad things that has happened today. Even though I can’t exactly forget it. I tried to close my eyes and dream about all the good things that I might have. But I ended up dreaming about him. What is wrong with me? All things have their ending, and maybe it’s my ending. Maybe I should make a new chapter in my friendship life. Let’s turn a new page Ara!

But……………..

How could he left me………….

Without saying anything……………

Even a proper good bye………….

Why……

Is he scared to face me because we already made our promise…..

But I will understand all his problems…….

Is that the reason why that this last few weeks he did not come to the playground……

So I can get used to it…..

Playing at the playground, without him……

I wish we could meet again

Kim Doyoung…