The night was filled with laughter as I walked down the street staring at the boy next to me. His smiling face captivated me. Suddenly, he disappeared as if he was never there at all.

"No!" I screamed as I reached my hand out.

"Aeri!" "Ahn Aeri!"

Aeri's eyes flew open as she felt wet drops of tears fall down her cheek. She turned to the girl standing beside her bed.

"Miyoung..." Aeri whispered as tears flowed down her cheek.

"Did you dream about him again?" Miyoung sighed as she sat down beside Aeri patting the girl's head.

Aeri nodded her head as she sat up. Taking a tissue from her bedside, she wiped the tears off her face. 

This happened often. She would always fall asleep and find her dreaming the same dream every night. When she woke up, she was always in tears. It all started 5 years ago when she fell in love with one guy. She had met him through mutual friends and gradually, they soon became best friends.

[5 years ago]

"Aeri! Glad you could make it," Aeri's friend Jayoung said as she engulfed the girl in a hug. "Everybody else is already here."

"Thanks for inviting me," Aeri grinned. "It's my first time at a BBQ. You're house is huge!"

"Thanks, I'm going to go prepare the food, so just make yourself feel at home and get to know some people!" Jayoung said as walked away.

Aeri went to find Miyoung who was also there with her boyfriend, Joo Won. Aeri spotted them in a corner looking as lovable as ever and didn't want to disturb them. Not knowing what to do, Aeri took a spot on the sofa as she played a game on her phone.

"Aeri!" a girl came running to Aeri.

"Ahyoung!" Aeri grinned as she put her phone away.

"Hey Aeri," Ahyoung's boyfriend Joon Hee said.

"Hey Joon Hee, you're here too?" Aeri smiled at the boy.

"We're going to play a game, wanna join?" Ahyoung asked as she grabbed Aeri's hand and led her to the center of the living room.

Sitting in a circle were two other boys. Aeri took a seat next to Ahyoung and one of the boys. Joon Hee grabbed Monopoly out from one of the drawers and placed it in the middle.

"Monopoly?" Aeri scoffed. "We're playing Monopoly at a BBQ?"

"What's wrong with that?" Joon Hee pouted as he set up the board game.

"Nothing," Aeri chuckled. "I'll be the banker."

"Ah, by the way, this is Taejoon and Hojoon," Ahyoung introduced the other two boys playing. "They're brothers."

"Hi, I'm Aeri," Aeri bowed towards them before setting up the bank.

Before the 5 knew it, 3 hours had passed and the game was still going on. Joon Hee and Taejoon had already lost the game. Hojoon was on the verge of bankruptcy, but he wouldn't give in no matter what. Ahyoung simply laughed at the boy as she showed off all her monopoly dollars.

"Hojoon, give up already," Ahyoung cried out loud as she dropped the bank money on the floor.

"No way! I came this far," Hojoon protested.

Ahyoung couldn't help but laugh at the guy's cute gestures. It was fun seeing him work so hard on something so trivial.

"Ah, I need to use the bathroom," Hojoon said as he got up. "Aeri, play for me for a round."

"There's no point," Aeri shook her head as she took Hojoon's seat anyway.

When Hojoon came back from the bathroom, he found Aeri sitting there with a smile on her face and no money in her hands.

"Sorry," Aeri chuckled as she returned the seat to Hojoon.

"You lost?" Hojoon cried in despair and Aeri nodded.

"Finally! The game is over!" Joon Hee cried out loud.

"Sorry, but it was going to happen eventually," Aeri shrugged as she grabbed a hot dog and sat down on the sofa.

"Hey, that's my hot dog," Hojoon said as he took the seat next to Aeri.

Aeri looked at the hot dog before taking a huge bite out of it to tease the guy. Hojoon couldn't help but laugh at the girl.

That was the first day they met. They soon found out that they had classes next door to each other the day after and they would walk to every class together. It was weird to see one of them without the other. They were basically inseparable. Rumors were flying around school that the two were dating, but Aeri would always deny it. Aeri still hadn't realized yet at that point how much she liked the guy. It wasn't until he suddenly disappeared from her life one day that she realized... how much she loved him and how much she longed for him.