—Year 2017— 

“You forgot to iron my shirt.” 

She glanced back from her workstation at the man standing behind the kitchen table. Her fingers froze onto the tomato she had been busy cutting into slices, and she pressed her lips together as she thought of a valid response that could get her out of trouble. 

Oh, who was she kidding? It was always going to result in an argument anyway. 

“Sorry. Just leave it on the couch and I’ll do it as soon as I’m done with this.” She murmured back her reply. It was soft and soothing, in hopes that it wouldn’t piss off her husband so early in the morning. Nowadays, it was either a black or white option. There was no in-between. On the good days, he woke up feeling happy and elated so that the house was as bright as the morning light, carrying with him the rays of sunshine that gave rest to her anxious heart, but when he was in a bad mood, then everything would go down the drain. Nothing would be okay, and it would always, always end up with an argument and with one of them stalking off to cool their heads. 

She really didn’t know on which foot to dance with him, and she hadn’t realized this fact until they had gotten married and had already settled into their newly-bought apartment. 

It wasn’t always like this. The butterflies and the happiness of tying the knot with the love of her life had rendered her stupid and careless. She hadn’t analyzed the situation, and she hadn’t taken into consideration what her family had to say about such a thing. Marriage, they had claimed, was a huge thing, a step forward that she may not be able to come back to. For them, once you were married, then you were done for the rest of your life. There was no escape, no sanctuary you could return to. Most of all, they doubted Suho’s love for her, and asked her if he was really being genuine about his feelings in the first place. 

“Tia, are you sure this is what you want?”

“There’s no rush to get married. Maybe you should get to know him some more.” Her father had suggested with a look of something a little bit more than concern clouding his eyes. Tia hadn’t understood what he’d meant then. The fact was that she loved him, and there was nothing he could do about it to change her mind. Why was he being so pessimistic about the whole thing? 

“This is my choice. I want to marry him, dad. I love him.”

She thought that these words would be ones that she’d carry to her grave with her, words that would lie within her heart for as long as she lived and would become a part of her soul, for it was true. She loved Suho with all her heart, sometimes a bit too much, sometimes wondering whether he actually loved her as much as she did. But that was the naive confusion on her part that she wanted to brush off, for since he had agreed to marry her, that meant something, right?

But she was vulnerable, and stupid back then.

She hadn’t realized the difference between love and just mere affection. 

She hadn't realized that there had been more to his actions; the fact that he wanted to get married as soon as possible, the fact that the wedding ceremony was rushed. Nothing made sense, until years later when the puzzle pieces actually fell into place. 

She was brought back to reality when Suho’s hand lightly brushed her side. He opened up the fridge that was right beside the counter, and she realized that he’d been talking to her. 

“Want some eggs?”

Huh, he was being overly nice today, she thought to herself as she hurriedly replied back for fear that his good mood would suddenly snap. “No, it’s fine.”

“Did you eat breakfast yet?” He peered over at her. 

She avoided his gaze at all costs and tried to reply in a neutral tone, when in truth, her stomach had been growling since she woke up earlier this morning, “Yeah. I’m going soon, anyway.”

“Alright.” 

It surprised her that he didn’t protest or push anything onto her, but maybe he wasn’t in the mood to play cat and mouse, and for that she was grateful. The suffocation was too much that she felt it press down onto her chest and contract the muscles in . She had to get out of here, if she wanted to breathe again. Her hands, one placed on the vegetable and the other handling the knife, both tightened with self-restraint as she tried to calm herself down. There was no reason to be stressed, no reason to be anxious, she told herself while breathing through deep, even breaths. He wouldn’t do anything today, he was in a good mood, everything was fine. 

Hurriedly, as if her whole body was on fire, Tia lost no time in finishing up her sandwich— Never mind that it was half done and that there was no meat in it— before shoving it all in her lunch bag and throwing on her coat, hurriedly slipping her shoes into her feet before escaping the house, figure tense as she hoped that he didn’t call her back inside. 

He didn’t. 

A soft sigh made its way out of , and it seemed like her whole body gave in to the fresh morning air as she to the road to walk towards the bus station, feeling light-headed and free from shackles that had been holding her prisoner in her own house. 

Now that her thoughts had riveted towards the centre focus of that one mistake in her life, it wouldn’t let go of her. Memories of the past started flowing in like water would stream through the cracks, and she could do nothing to stop it. Maybe she didn’t want to, maybe she wanted to live in such a delusion if that was the only thing she could live for. 

Maybe she just wanted a reminder that once, things had been better, things had seemed as though everything would fall into place quite nicely, without the need to twist her life round and break all the puzzle pieces to stick them back on again. 

As she rounded the corner to walk towards the bus station, she caught sight of a familiar mop of pink-dyed hair flashing with vivacity amidst the boring hues of grey, dark blue and white. It was a splash of colour in a dull world, and a small smile of nostalgia danced across her lips. The young schoolboy on the side of the road looked so much like a familiar face that she hadn’t seen for god knows how long. He reminded her so much of someone that she’d lost through the years, someone that had held her heart within his two hands, someone that up to this day, was still as vivid in her mind, was still as alive in her imagination. 

The first time she saw the pink-haired boy was last year, during mid-term season when she had Suho had been rocking through their relationship like tectonic plates irritating their feelings at every step, every movement. She felt like she had been walking on broken shards of glass, cracked eggshells that seemed to shatter with each word she spoke. Her appearance had probably looked gaunt with fatigue and tiredness, the kind of tiredness that just doesn’t go away,  and that was when she first noticed him, the young schoolboy with that pink candy cotton hair. 

One would think of him as a delinquent, what with his hair and his untucked shirt that seemed to be soiled with something that looked like dirt. But it was such a familiar sight to see that at first, Tia thought it was Jimin. And then she remembered that Jimin was gone, never to return, never to be seen again. 

This was just a mere youngster that somehow looked like the exact replica of the particular individual that had left a huge, gaping hole where her heart was supposed to be. 

She had flickered her gaze away at the realization, tossed away any hope that the past was returning back to her with open arms. But when the crowd filed into the bus, there was no space left to sit, and Tia was ready to grasp onto a handle to balance herself on the moving vehicle, when a hand on her shoulder startled her out of her wits. 

“Ma’am,” She turned to see the vibrant pink, almost blinding her with the light that seemed to bounce off his locks. The young man was smiling at her with some kind of kindness, a look that mirrored his genuine intentions, and with a face that looked so much like Jimin that it had caused her breath to catch in . 

It took her a few seconds to realize that he had been motioning for the seat he’d taken initially. She glanced back at him, just to confirm whether it was really alright. He was still a student after all, it wouldn’t be fair to him either. But the young man nodded confidently before gesturing once more to the now-empty seat. 

From that day onwards, she’d always look out for the kid, not only because he had this uncanny resemblance with Jimin but also because he was gracious and very kind, and just unlike teenagers these days. It totally defied his physical presence, what with his hot-pink strands framing his face that screamed of a delinquent. 

But he wasn’t. He was a kind and sweet child. She bet that his mother was indeed proud of raising such an honourable son. 

The pink-haired boy was looking her way now, nodding in acknowledgement and sending her a timid smile of greeting. She smiled back before the bus rolled to a stop, and eventually lost sight of him as they all boarded the bus. 

Taking a seat at the front next to the window, she took this chance to let herself breathe, before looking out of the window wistfully. As she did so, memories of the past rolled within her like a videotape rewinding back in time, flickering through her eyes and bringing in a tide of emotions that had been buried since a long time ago. Tears eventually pricked at her eyes as she gazed back through the wobbly, distant image of her own reflection through the dirty window pane. 

Ten years. 

It had been ten years already. 

—Year 1997—

“Uh, excuse me?”

A twenty-year old Tia tore her attention away from the window and the ongoing flow of traffic that she’d been admiring for the past twenty minutes ever since she boarded the bus, and blinked at the stranger standing before her. His voice came as a distorted sound, and she pulled out one of her earbuds before saying, “Sorry, what did you say?”

The young man gestured towards the empty seat next to her. The aisle seat, “May I sit here?”

“Oh,” She hurriedly removed her bag as embarrassment flushed through her entire body, her blood boiling with heat that crawled up her neck, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to take up that space.”

“No worries.” He replied and plopped down with a satisfied sigh. It was then that her brown orbs landed on the hot-pink hair that he sported, eyes raking through the scarlet locks that shone and seemed to sparkle in the afternoon sunlight. What nice hair, she thought to herself before turning her attention back to the windowpane, I wish I could be as daring and dye my hair all sorts of colours, like he did. 

But Tia wasn't a rule breaker. She followed them as they were set out. She was a good kid, that was how her parents had programmed her. 

And habits were hard to break in the first place. 

She wanted to say something about it, she wanted nothing more than to blurt out how much she admired his audacity to paint his hair with such a daring color. It was as if he’d known that the tint would go well with his skin and features, and from his stance, she could definitely feel the confidence ooze from him. Not the type of confidence that made you want to cringe, not a confidence that seemed to only serve it’s purpose of boosting one’s ego.

 No, it was a different kind of confidence. 

As the days rolled by, she kept her seat by the window and somehow he always managed to end up next to her. Although they didn’t engage into any conversation — partly because Tia was being insociable and preferred listening to her music rather than make small talk— it was a comfortable kind of silence that enabled her to do whatever she liked. She found it surprising how fast she’d gotten used to his presence, but then brushed it off as something that could be normal, specially when it was a stranger that you only encountered on the bus. 

Buses were weird this way. Actually, all public transports were the same. It was strange how you could sit yourself down next to someone that had nothing to do with you, and yet in such a short span of time, anything could happen.

In such a short span of time, you could get a glimpse of their real self when they’re the most vulnerable. In those rare times where they’d be alone, you could really see the essence of their being, just as they were and not through the facade they put on for people. 

Human beings were simple and complicated to decipher at the same time. 

It was a week after they started their routine of sitting next to each other — she doubted whether he even knew that he was sitting next to the same girl in the first place— that she finally got the courage to tear her gaze away from the passing row of houses to focus her attention on the said individual sitting next to her like he had no care in the world. 

She opened to say something, just anything about that hair of his— because she really admired his courage and determination to stand out— when her phone, which was teetering on the edge of her lap, toppled over to the floor. 

, she thought to herself in dismay as she bent down to retrieve it. A hand appeared in front of her though, and it took her a few seconds to realize that it was indeed, the mysterious boy with pink locks that had gotten it first. 

“Thank you.” She said, almost shyly as he gave it back to her. The boy nodded before giving her a half-smile. She wanted to melt away in a puddle of embarrassment, heat crawling up her cheeks at an undeniable speed so that it felt traces of scarlet blossom over her face. How could she be so stupid! She cried inwardly to herself as she hurriedly turned back towards the window to save some of her pride. 

“Hedley, huh?”

Blinking, Tia turned back to the young man. He had definitely talked to her, with his eyes intense on her face and with a lingering half-smile dancing across his lips.

She cleared and stuttered, “You like Hedley?”

“I thought I was the only one left with good music taste.” He chuckled, “I love Hedley.”

“What’s your favourite song?” She asked, in hopes that their interest in the same artist would open up conversation for them.

And soon enough, it did. They started talking about everything and nothing. She discovered that the pink-haired your man went by the name of Park Jimin, and she couldn’t deny that it suited him, like names usually did with people. They started off with Hedley, before broadening into other subjects such as school and friends and life in general. He was a pretty chatty guy in real life, and for that Tia was grateful as she was more on the quieter side, nodding and giving the right responses at the right time. But although she was intimidated and very self-conscious of what he thought of her, it was somewhat easy to break through her timidity. With Jimin, she found a comfortable aura that made words slip through as smoothly as flowing water. It wasn't forced, it wasn’t a mask she was putting on, she was actually enjoying conversation with him, something that she rarely felt during conversations. 

“Wildlife Conservation?” Jimin echoed while scratching the back of his head in wonderment, “Wow, that’s insane. I’d never think of such a thing.”

“And what's your major?” Tia asked. 

“Visual Arts, more specifically in the digital side.”

She had a knack for guessing people’s talents, and her judgment of him being an artist hadn’t been wrong, “I knew it,” She replied with a snigger, “You couldn’t be any less than that.” 

“What does that mean?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” She hurriedly said when confusion swept across his face. Gesturing towards his hair, she continued, “I mean, you give off an artsy student vibe. I wouldn’t have been satisfied if you told me you were an Accounting major or something.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover, they say.” Jimin teased with a bashful grin. 

“But in reality, that’s all that people do.” She argued, her expression mirroring his through their playful banter. 

Jimin lifted his hands up in an act of surrender, “Guilty as charged. I do judge books by their cover.”

And her good hunch about Jimin had definitely been a good judgment. Not long after that, they started hanging out on a regular basis even though they both went to different universities. They managed to find some time in-between their busy schedules, and Tia thought she’d never been happier to meet someone that understood her in ways that she didn’t even understand herself. It was something else, something that made her glow from the inside and she found herself smiling more frequently, smiling for nothing and smiling at everything. Her chest felt light and her head was filled with positive thoughts. To be honest, Tia had had phases of sadness, the kind that didn’t just go away when you told it to. It was a kind of sadness that clung to her skin like a scent she couldn’t shrug off, and although she hadn’t told her parents about such emotional issues, there certainly was a problem, she’d been sure about that. 

But she was so scared of actually admitting to herself out loud that she needed help, and maybe along the way, she was in denial as well. There was no mistaking her rebellious human streak at trying to lie to herself, saying that everything would surely get better with time. 

But it hadn’t, until now. 

Ever since she met JImin, she felt like a huge weight had lifted off her chest. 

“Are you ever sad?” She asked him one day, as the lounged in a coffee shop, tucked away in a quiet corner with coffee mugs in hand. Jimin looked up from his sketchbook with confusion drawing his eyebrows together, “Of course I am. That’s not a question to ask. Everyone’s sad once in a while.”

“Not that kind of sad.” She fiddled with the pages of her biology textbook and was unable to meet his gaze albeit the fact that she felt his brown orbs pierce through her with an intensity that made her somewhat uncomfortable, “Like, the kind of sadness you can’t explain.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Jimin shifting his body into a more comfortable position. Her fingers suddenly found a huge interest in the dog-eared page of her book that she accidentally imprinted due to her impatience to leave her class early. She hadn’t realized that her palms had turned sweaty, and out of reflex she closed them into tight fists.

“I guess so. But then again, it’s just temporary. I try not to think about that.”

“But it eats at you, from the inside. You can’t really ignore something that’s right there within you.” She said all this while avoiding his gaze, fiddling with her pencil case now, not really sure how he was going to take this sudden turn of conversation. They’d never really talked about stuff like this, it had always been playful banter and teasing and mocking. Tia hadn’t been sure at first, whether she could trust him enough to spill her actual, real feelings, the things that she kept from people due to the fear of them avoiding her because of that. 

But the way this conversation was going, she feared that it might just be the ending factor of their friendship. 

“Hey,” A sudden weight caused the couch to press down, and she looked up in surprise to see the said young man sitting beside her with a look of concern and worry in his brown pupils. 

And then, he murmured three words. The three words that not even her parents had dared ask her these past few weeks when she felt at her lowest, three words that opened up the gates of emotions within her soul. 

Three words. 

“Are you okay?”

It was normal enough, to break down into soft, muted tears when she heard those words fall from Jimin’s mouth. She felt ashamed to cry in front of him, specially since they barely knew each other, specially since he had his own issues to deal with. She didn’t want to be an added burden on his own shoulders, but instead of acting all awkward and shifting away from her like her friends had been doing whenever she talked to them about the never-ending sadness swirling within her lungs, his arms came around her in a comforting hug, palm softly tapping her back in an up and down motion, just like the full of the waves whenever they would rock against the cliff.

That made her cry even more, and her initially silent tears developed into a full-blown crying session. Tia had never felt this way before. She was partly disgusted with her weakness, wondering how in the world had she let her guard down so fast. It was incredible how Jimin had managed to slip himself through the cracks of her heart. And it was then that it hit her. He was the ocean encompassing her body and lulling her with the warmth of his own limbs, the soft pacifying thudding of his heart. She bit her lip in self-restraint, but it seemed as though Jimin knew exactly what she was thinking, for he bent down to murmur comforting words in her ears. 

“It’s okay, Tia. Just let it out.”

 

“How are you feeling?”

It was the next day, and Tia had felt so embarrassed that she barely got a wink of sleep. She had not looked forward to her interaction with Jimin on the bus, and apprehension had grown within her like vines of a tree wrapping around her lungs and constricting the air in . 

She’d barely eaten any breakfast, and that had caused her mother’s primary concern for her eldest daughter. I’m fine, she had replied without putting any effort in her tone. Although the last thing she desired was for her mother to worry about her condition, she couldn’t find the energy within her own self to actually act upon her words, and guilt had settled in the pit of her stomach at her blatant lie that was as see-through as transparent paper. 

“I’m okay.” She hurriedly answered. A bit too quickly, she realized when Jimin’s expression only darkened with concern. She plopped down on the seat next to him, her window seat. Always the window seat. It calmed her down somewhat, to have something else to look at rather than the boy with the hot-pink hair that looked like he had more to say than just voice out his worries.

“Don’t lie to me, Tia.”

She avoided his gaze, “I’m perfectly fine, Jimin.”

“Are we friends?” He suddenly blurted out loud. She blinked at him for a few seconds, wondering why he was questioning their relationship in the first place. Horror started to spread through her veins as she thought that maybe he didn’t want to have anything to do with her anymore. 

With a moment of hesitation, she replied a soft, “Yes.”

“Then,” He placed a hand onto her shoulder, a physical contact that had Tia jump in reflex. She wasn’t used to such casual interactions, specially when it concerned boys. Having Jimin touch her so casually made butterflies flutter across her stomach and her blood to boil with a warmth that could’t well be explained into words. But he was gazing at her like he’d never done before, with brown irises boring intensely through her own orbs, as though he was trying his hardest to understand the spinning wheels of her brain, as though he understood that there was more to what she had to show and what she had to say. 

He saw her, as the raw human being she was. 

“Friends shouldn’t lie to each other.” He murmured, “If we’re friends, I’d expect you to tell me when something’s wrong.”

Tia lowered her eyes to the ground in part shame, and partly because the way Jimin was looking at her didn’t reassure her in the slightest. It made her light-headed, almost dizzy, even. “I don’t want to burden you” the words fell from like soft, broken records, “You must have enough on your plate as it is.”

“Hey, you’re not burdening me.”

“But I’m always telling you my problems. It’s always about me.”

“And sometimes, you just need someone to listen. You need to let go of all the things you’ve been keeping so tightly inside of you.” He shook his head and she swore that there was a glimpse of a soft smile across his lips, “And nothing’s a burden. If it hurts, then it’s important to you, as simple as that.”

From this day onwards, Tia felt their bond growing stronger, into a relationship that encompassed much more than strangers sitting next to each other on the bus. She looked forward to the days where she’d catch sight of the pink-haired young man, and would be slightly dismayed of his absence whenever he had a day off. His schedule wasn’t as packed as hers, and thus there were some days where she found herself riding the bus alone, wishing that a certain individual was there to keep her company. In the midst of it all, she hadn’t realized the growing feelings that started blossoming through her just like spring would erupt into life. 

She hadn’t realized it at first, had even tried denying it. Jimin was a good friend and she didn’t want this to change, didn’t want to lose such a precious friend in exchange for the honesty of her own emotions. She’d reel them in if that was the case, but swore to herself that this was a secret she’d drag with her to her own grave. 

But she had no idea that this secret of hers would soon cause a riptide of events to flood through, unnoticed until the last minute, when it was too late. 

—Year 1999— 

“I’m transferring.”

The words didn’t register in her mind at first. Her first reaction was to chuckle and say, “Yeah right.” 

Jimin wasn’t, though. In fact, his expression was the complete opposite of hers. “I”m not joking.”

“Wait, what?” She straightened her body into a sitting position on his couch, looking at the curve of his back that was bent, busy working on an art assignment that he should’ve started weeks ago, if not for the sudden artist block that had taken a hold of his mind in the last couple of weeks, “What are you saying, so suddenly?” if this was one of his attempts to scare her and make her spill one of her most intimate thoughts like he usually did whenever he was in the mood to delve into her mind— he swore that it was solely for the purpose of inspiration, but Tia knew that he just wanted to know what was running through her mind on a daily basis— then she wasn’t going to get swayed by such dumb techniques. 

But Jimin didn't move from his seat, it was as if he’d been anchored to his chair. Even his arms had stopped in motion, his arms and back tensed from god knows what.

Confusion swept through Tia’s mind. 

“Jimin?” Her voice was shaky, almost unlike her usual self, and she hated that. She felt weak and vulnerable, felt as though she had just walked on a cracked piece of glass. 

Slowly, almost painfully, she watched his chair swivel around. The boy couldn’t seem to meet her eyes like he usually did. Part of her wished that his face would crack into the normal adorable eye-smile of his, before stating that it was in fact, one of his sick jokes. 

But there was nothing more focused and serious than Jimin’s eyes, dark and glittering with an intensity of emotion that caused Tia’s breath to catch, for fear that what he’d say next would cause her world to crumble to pieces. 

“I’m transferring schools.”

It felt like a stab in the heart.

She choked out her question: “Why?”

“I… have a girlfriend.” 

Tia couldn’t believe her ears. “W-what?”

“I have a girlfriend. We were high school sweethearts. Long distance isn’t really working out for us.” Those gentle brown orbs that once gave her the support she needed, were now nothing but an opaque glass of brown that Tia couldn’t seem to get through no matter how much emotion she pushed into her own orbs, willing him to explain more about the matter. Where had this come from? She hadn’t seen this coming, not this. The reason didn’t make sense. For all she knew, Jimin had never shown any real interest in girls, not when Tia was involved. 

And plus, him moving away due to a girl was kind of a shallow reason. He wasn’t that kind of guy, Tia was sure of that. 

“Are you trying to scare me? Because it’s not funny.” She said, half-chuckling in nervousness in hopes that it could lighten the atmosphere. 

“Tia.”

His voice. It was unlike whatever she’d heard before. 

And from that tone itself, she understood that everything the young man had said was the bare truth of words spilling out of his mouth. 

“I didn’t know you were taken.” She laughed it off as though she was embarrassed, when in fact her heart strings were being pulled apart, one by one, “Y-You never told me about her. What’s her name? What does she look like?—“

He turned away from her and she felt this gap open up wide between them, a distance being formed, “You never asked.”

“Right, haha” her hand impulsively reached for the back of her neck to scratch the skin, an attempt to look somewhat normal when her emotions were in fact, a raging mess ricocheting across her brain, “Where are you moving to?” 

He told her it was about six hours from home, in a rural area near the countryside. A foreign pain kept on stabbing her chest, opening up her heartstrings with wider as the words dropped onto her like bombs exploding one after another so that each blow would leave her reeling with a sting. The main question floating through her mind was: why would he move away when he was already placed in one of the biggest colleges that gave him everything he needed already?
Why was he throwing away something that he worked so hard for?
Did he love her that much?

Tia’s head hurt. She didn’t want to think about this. 

So she asked him, “What about your college? Your scholarship?”

“I got a better deal.” He avoided her gaze as he talked, and she didn’t fail to see the way his eyes flickered towards everything but her, fidgety and flighty, unable to focus on one thing. They hadn’t been friends for long, but one glimpse of the unsureness he gave away told her everything she needed to know. 

She wasn’t sure what part of his statement was the lie, but no matter what he was lying about, she was pretty sure that it had nothing to do with this pretend girlfriend of his. It wasn’t just because she was in love with him —heck, if he had someone else, she’d let him go if that was just to see him happy— but Jimin was not rash, and he was not stupid enough to throw everything away for love, otherwise, he would’ve already done. 

If he thought that she’d be tricked by something so shallow, then he had another thing coming for him. 

But she decided against confronting the young man about it, instead wanting to evaluate things with her own eyes. 

“When?” She asked.

“At the end of the month, if the paperwork goes well.”

She nodded, “Well, I hope everything turns out for the best.”

It took her more than just self-resistance not to hug him when she bade the boy goodbye at the front door, looking out at the cold pitter-patter of the rain pelting down on the streets from the dark grey sky, as though the heavens were mourning along with her. She didn’t know what was worse; the fact that he was really moving away to a place that was practically unreachable, or the fact that he didn’t have the heart to tell her what was really going on in his life. It hurt her more to know that he didn’t trust her enough to say out loud what was really going on, and he’d be a fool to think that she’d fall for his stupid lies when the girl knew him much better.

He underestimated her. 

It was a quick, ‘see you soon’ goodbye when she dropped by his flat the day before he was going. It was indeed weird to see his flat, once clad in everything that made Jimin — clothes ruthlessly tossed to one side of the room in a pile, the couch scattered with numerous pillows because just like he liked it, endless art magazines in piles next to the tv and of course, his painting supplies spread across every inch of his flat so that it was impossible for one to enter and not think of him as something other than an artist— was now bare and blank, stripped from the life that was once living there. It felt strange to see the walls and the empty space that looked so void and lifeless, and Tia decided that she disliked it. She’d rather much have Jimin’s messiness, although the amount of time she spent always trying to clean everything up was not something she enjoyed.

She thought she’d never see him again. Jimin was not attuned to technology, and it was always hard to get a hand on him when he wasn’t in close proximity. As much as Tia wanted to hold on to what was left of their friendship, it was almost as though the change of scenery had changed his mind. He barely texted her back, sometimes with short, curt words that ended the conversation right then and there. 

After some time, she just gave up. There was no use running after someone that barely acknowledged her existence anymore, and she was tired of trying when he barely gave back as much as she did. There had been so much turmoil, so much frustration and anger towards the pink-haired boy whom she thought would’ve at least made a little effort on his side, only to be slapped by the reality, right in the face. 

There was no denying it. Jimin had left like a dream had dissipated into the thin air, and there was nothing to remind her of him, not even a picture. 

But through the midst of it all, she couldn’t help but still hope that he’d come back and remember her, and this wouldn’t have been the case if he hadn’t lied to her. 

The fact that she’d caught him in his own little game made it harder to let go of the young man she claimed as a friend, one that may hold a little more of a piece of her heart in his hands. 

But she couldn’t wait for someone that wasn’t willing to be honest with her in the first place, so days turned into months, and months turned into years. 

But never did she forget the boy with the hot-pink hair. 

How did everyone find the first chapter? :P 
Like it? Hate it? 
I know it's slow, and it's definitely not a cutesy story so there's not gonna be any fluff or anything. But I hope you guys still like it, I think that it's something very relatable, and everyone can feel what the protagonist feels in some way or another. Anyway, with that, I'll see you guys in the next chappie! 
Thank you for reading and for your unconditional support! 
love you!

-nutmeggu.