It was around two in the morning when Hyewon snapped awake, thinking she’s already late for school. Feeling thirsty and annoyed, she forced herself to walk out of her room to get some water. A silhouette of a person sitting on the couch in the dark almost made her jump in horror. She quickly the lamp and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Sehun.

“What the hell, Sehun?” Hyewon said in exasperation. “You scared me.”

Sehun looked dumbfounded, blinking his eyes a few times because of the sudden blinding light. “Why are you here? You should be sleeping.”

“I should be the one asking that to you.”

There’s something odd about Sehun. He usually wore that bright and cheerful expression on his face, but now Hyewon couldn’t find anything lively from him. And that’s rare. His face was serious, no hint of playfulness.

“I can’t sleep,” Sehun said. “Want to go for a walk?”

Hyewon pointed to the clock on the wall. “It’s two in the morning, Sehun.”

Sehun stood up and grabbed her wrist, dragging her with him, ignoring her protest. “Just go with me.”

Though Hyewon didn’t agree with his idea, she didn’t resist. She had the feeling that something was bothering him and she was worried.

The cool breeze blew Hyewon’s hair as she went out of the building, making her shiver slightly although she was wearing a thin coat over her pajamas. Sehun was walking in front of her, his steps quick and steady. Creepily, he who usually couldn’t stop himself from talking didn’t say anything. He didn’t even tell her where he was taking her to and she somehow knew that he wouldn’t answer even if she asked.

The park near the apartment came into sight. Hyewon’s memories from her childhood came rushing back to her. Especially the swing, it exceptionally brought a smile to her face.

Sehun said, “We used to compete who can swing the highest.”

He was now standing next to her, staring at the swing with fondness. Glancing at her, he jerked his head towards the swing as he walked and sat on one of the seats. She joined him and took the other seat.

Grinning, he kicked the ground and started to swing. “Just like old times.”

Hyewon repeated, her smile widening, “Just like old times.”

The two of them were swinging in silence, the cold wind blowing in their faces. Hyewon remembered how the two of them had frequently come to hang out here after dinner, talking about simple things such as how boring the school was and ending up with the stupid swinging competition.

Sehun had always been the one winning while Hyewon had never once put effort in it. She wasn’t sure whether it’s because she hadn’t cared about winning or she’d wanted to see that pleasing grin on Sehun’s face every time he won. But it’d been the time when she’d been madly in love with him, so she suspected it was the latter.

Hyewon scanned her surroundings and even if it was dark with only a dim street light shining on them, she could make out the seesaw, the slide and the roundabout at the park. They were still there in their usual place, exactly like she remembered. Everything was still the same, aside from the boy next to her, who was somewhat unlike the usual him.

“You asked me why I came here, right?” Sehun suddenly asked, eyes focusing on the half-moon that was illuminating the night sky.

Hyewon averted her gaze from Sehun and also stared at the moon. “So, you finally want to talk about it?”

“Actually, there’s another reason why I came here besides the one I told you.”

Hyewon recalled Sehun’s answer when she’d asked him before. Why? Of course because I want to see you, he’d told her.

She rolled her eyes. Obviously, she knew that wasn’t the reason. He’d only been joking like always.

“What is it?” she prompted him to continue.

Sehun started his story-telling with a sigh. “I got Hansung High’s invitation to join their volleyball team very long ago, when I was in my first year of middle school. That time, I was so happy and made up my mind that I would certainly go to Hansung High.”

Hyewon remembered that Sehun had just abruptly transferred two weeks ago when the school year had started in April – which was around two months ago. She guessed that he had been pondering about entering the school for a while, delaying his transfer. “Then what made you hesitate?”

“My middle school’s team,” Sehun grimly said and he didn’t usually sound grim. “They said they want us to be a team again in high school. And what did I do? I betrayed them. I’m worse than trash.”

 Hyewon frowned. She hated seeing Sehun being so down like that. He was always bubbly and cheerful. It’s not like him at all to insult himself.

She tightened her grasp on the swing chains and stopped swinging, stomping both her feet on the playground sand below her. “Hey, Sehun. You’re being a big idiot right now. Stop thinking that it’s your fault. Nothing is wrong with wanting to enter a better volleyball team to improve your skills. It’s true it’s unavoidable that they will feel betrayed at first. But once they think about you and your future, I’m sure that feeling will be gone. If they’re your friends, they should have supported you and respected your decision.”

Sehun also stopped swinging and shook his head weakly. “No. They did support me. It’s just that I could sense their disappointment and it’s killing me.”

“See? They supported you. Then there’s no problem, isn’t it? It’s just your guilt haunting you. Do you think they will despise you because of it?” Hyewon looked at him. “If you’re their friend, then you shouldn’t think that lowly of them. Am I wrong?”

Sehun didn’t answer, letting the silence enveloped them. Hyewon also stopped talking. The quietness wasn’t particularly awkward. It’s actually peaceful and comfortable. It’s like before when she’d been sobbing her heart out because she’d been missing her parents who’d rarely been home. He’d been waiting her patiently until she’d stopped crying.

Just like old times.

Except the fact that Sehun had changed. Hyewon realized something was different about him. It’s not because of his appearance – his incredibly tall height, his sharp jawline and chiseled features. But it’s because he had grown up.

He was no longer a kid that only knew how to crack a joke and all the time. He was now a young man who knew how to be serious and think about his future.

Slowly, Sehun’s usual smile was back on his face as he was deep in thought. He must have been thinking about his former teammates and missing their time together.

Sehun burst out laughing out of sudden, piercing the silence with his loud voice. Hyewon gaped at him as if he was going insane. Although she was well aware that they must have been the only ones in the park at this hour, she automatically looked around in panic, worried that he might bother someone else.

Being friends with him for years, she knew that he’s always loud and attracted people’s attention. It didn’t stop her from being embarrassed every time people looked at them, though.

“Okay!” Sehun exclaimed, raising his both hands up in the air. “I lost. I never knew talking to you could make me feel much better. I’m glad that I finally decided to do it.”

“I’m hurt.” Hyewon pouted, pretending to be angry. Though she couldn’t help but chuckle the next second. “I realize that we’ve never had a heart-to-heart talk. What made you suddenly decided to talk to me?”

“The day after tomorrow is the first round of the tournament. My teammates will kill me if I skip more practices. So, I’m moving to my dorm tomorrow. We won’t be meeting each other that often again. I’ll be missing you a lot and I know you will, too. Don’t worry, I’ll visit you as frequently as possible.” Sehun got a kick in the shin for this. “Because it’ll be rather hard to see you from now on, I thought this is the right time to tell you.”

“About your middle school friends?”

“No. About my other reason for coming here.”

Hyewon widened her eyes. “You have other reason?”

A strong breeze suddenly swept past them, messing up their hair. She hugged herself and shivered due to the coldness. Cherry blossom petals started falling around them from the cherry blossom tree near the swing. She reached out her hand to catch one of the petals, admiring its beauty.

“You love the color of cherry blossom,” Sehun stated. “That’s one of the reasons why you entered Hana High. Because of the uniform’s color.”

Hyewon nodded, acknowledging his statement. “Correct. You remember. I’m not sure about my reasons for entering Hana High, though. But that might be correct as well.”

“Of course. I remember everything about you.” Sehun paused, hesitating before he continued, “Including that time when you confessed to me.”

A flush of embarrassment rose to Hyewon’s cheeks. “You can forget about that one. It’s in the past. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Sehun ignored her and went on, “And I remember how stupid I was to let you go.”

Hyewon felt her stomach churning wildly. “Huh?”

“Do you remember when I said I came here because I want to see you?” He gave her a weak smile. It wasn’t his usual mischievous smile, but it was more genuine and his eyes were full of adoration as he looked at her. “I wasn’t joking. That really is my other reason.”

Tomorrow was June 3rd, the first day of the Inter-High Preliminaries tournament and Jungkook had been feeling tremendously giddy all the time. It’d only been two months since he’d joined a volleyball team and tomor