“So… You look well,” Junhyung winced after he spoke. You look well? What the hell was he saying?

“Thanks,” Eun Mi said, shifting nervously where she sat. “Junhyung, not to sound rude, but…” She hesitated, and he looked at her with an expectant look. “How… How did you know I would be here?” She asked him, speaking softly.

“Hyunseung told me,” he said. Eun Mi immediately tensed up, and Junhyung looked at her face. Her eyes were wide with shock and disappointment; he was pretty sure that was the face he made when he first found out Hyunseung loved her. It was the face one made when they could feel the invisible knife being lodged in their back. “Don’t be mad at him,” Junhyung told her, “I made him tell me.”

“How did you…?” She wasn’t able to finish her question; she didn’t know how.

“I spoke to Yun Hee, and she told me some things that… opened my eyes, so to speak,” he sat up and leaned back, watching her. “I never treated you like you deserved,” he said, his voice starting to grow heavy with emotion. “I loved you, but I never acted like it in a way that made it obvious to the outside world,” he hung his head in shame. “Eun Mi… I’m sorry,” he looked up at her and met her shocked eyes. “I’m so, so sorry…” Eun Mi didn’t know what to do or say. She hesitantly lifted her hand and placed it on his back.

“I didn’t exactly tell you my feelings,” she said.

“You know that I wouldn’t have listened,” Junhyung shook his head and slowly met her eyes. “I had to lose you to realize that I was the luckiest man in the world, and that I ruined everything.” Eun Mi slowly smiled at him and leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder.

“It’s fine,” she told him, taking one of his hands in both of hers.

“Eun Mi?” He whispered.

“Hm?”

“Can I hold you?” He asked her, his voice thick from fighting back tears. Eun Mi looked up into his eyes and smiled slowly, scooting closer to him so that their sides were touching and wrapping her arms around his midsection. She rested her face in the crook of his neck and closed her eyes, her lips still curved in a small, calm smile. Junhyung squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. He rested his face on top of her head and reveled in the smell of her hair. He felt…

He felt complete. With her in his arms, the emptiness that he had been overwhelmed by for the past few months melted away as if it had never been there. Junhyung could feel a surge of happiness through him and felt a few tears fall from his eyes. Eun Mi felt him shaking and looked up, surprised to see him clearly holding back tears.

“Junhyung…” She whispered softly. This was a shock to her, and probably a shock to him. Of the two of them, Junhyung was the one being emotional. Eun Mi had been the one struggling with her feelings for Junhyung up until she left, and for the months that they had been apart, she was sure that if she saw him she would break down, but…

She felt calm. She had been aching and longing for him, and now… here he was. “Junhyung…” She cooed, moving her hands so that she could wipe away his tears.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice breaking. Eun Mi could feel her heart swelling and smiled, sitting up enough to kiss the tears that were still falling.

“It’s in the past,” she told him.

“I kept telling myself that I wouldn’t ask you to take me back, because I know that I don’t deserve you. But I…” He drifted off and looked into her eyes. “Eun Mi, now that I’m holding you again, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let go.” She smiled and wiped away his tears.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Junhyung,” she said.

“When I spoke to Yun Hee,” he began to tell her, and Eun Mi’s smile turned to a look of curiosity. “She told me that I don’t deserve you, and she’s right. She told me that I didn’t miss you, and that I only missed being in love,” he shook his head and closed his eyes. “She was wrong,” he whispered. “It was you I missed,” he lifted his hand and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. “Your smile, your eyes, and the way that you always care…” he drifted off and slowly kissed her forehead. “I miss you sitting beside me with a book in your hands,” he sighed. “I miss walking into the dorm at night and seeing you in the living room, waiting for me,” his chin trembled and he closed his eyes. “I miss having someone love me for me; off-stage, without the flashy clothes and makeup…” Eun Mi listened to him intently and smiled, reaching up to caress his cheek.

“I miss you holding me at night,” she told him. “I miss your smile and how you were always happy to see me…” Her smile fell and she dropped her hand to his shoulder. “Those final weeks were painful for me…”

“They’ll never happen again,” he told her, putting one of his hands on top of hers. “I want us to start over. I want to take a page out of Hyunseung’s book and be the kind of boyfriend who loves you for everything that you are and treats you with the love and respect you deserve,” he hesitated, looking down for a second. When he lifted his gaze again, he stare deep into Eun Mi’s eyes, “But I want to the decision to be yours. Shin Eun Mi… Will you give me another chance?” Eun Mi stared at him in shock. She was speechless, but after a moment she took a deep breath.

“Smile for me,” she said.

“What?” He frowned and looked at her with confusion on his face.

“Smile for me,” she said. “If you smile for me, and I see the Junhyung that I fell in love with years ago, then I’ll remember that day, and I’m sure I’ll fall in love with you all over again,” she smiled at him; a bright, genuine smile that lit up Junhyung’s world.

He could feel it bubbling up inside him, that overwhelming joy at the prospect of being with her again, and he could feel his lips turning upward in a grin that he hadn’t felt was real in a long time.

“Now kiss me,” she said, leaning close to him, “and it’ll be like our first date.” Without hesitating, he lowered his lips to meet hers in a sweet, innocent kiss. They lingered there for a moment, slowly breaking apart, and Junhyung found himself staring deeply into her eyes.

“So, I get another chance?” He asked her, reaching up to caress her cheek.

“We live in separate gu now, so it’s going to take some work,” she said, still smiling.

“You’re worth it.”

“Then I guess you get another chance.”