To Seung Ho-oppa

     Goodnight then oppa.  Enjoy your family time at the mountains.  Take care.

Sohyun put down her phone at her side table and stared at her ceiling.  A single tear started trickling down her face.  Since the group dinner, she and Seung Ho continued their daily chats but she had found them a bit more strained and stilted.  There seems to be an elephant in the room when they chatted and both were cautiously skirting around it.  She worried that soon, they would stop the chats and she was at a loss on what she needed to do to maintain it.  Now, he was going away to the mountains with his family as part of his birthday celebration, and would be out of contacts for five days.  It would be easy for the chats to drop off from thereon.

For the next five days, she put all her focus on her schedule and revisions for her exams.  She preferred the days when she had schedules so she can focus on them.  Fortunately, several CFs and photographs from her recent photoshoots were ready for review with the PD.  She spent hours with the  teams to review them and they were pleasantly surprised.  She was happy that the final outcomes were beautiful and she shared some of those pictures on her Instagram.  The various companies also posted them on their various social medias and they were received positively by her fans.  The photos and CFs were showing different sides of her and she especially love those that showed a more mature look and ready to face the world. But those photos and CFs were unlikely be seen by Seung Ho-oppa. He did not have SNS and currently without internet connectivity.

Each night, she re-read some of their old messages, smiling at the jokes they shared.  Seung Ho-oppa could be such a dork at times. She really missed him, her nights are getting restless without the chats. Several times a day, she caught herself staring at the date on her phone, willing the days to pass by quickly.  Just a message, one message from him that assured her that everything was alright.  She feared that he might decide to stop contacting her.

Seung Ho had been having a hard time since the said dinner.  He kept thinking of Sohyun and his feelings for her.  Before, he thought that just friendship over the chats would suffice, but seeing her at the dinner and especially when their fingers touched, he realized he wanted something more. He wanted to hold her hands and hold her in his arms. His heart wanted to pursue her but his head told him to behave responsibly and think of Sohyun.

Seung Ho kept reminding himself that the timing is off.  Sohyun was underage and any relationship will create huge scandals in their industry that it would affect her career.  She was also preparing for her entrance exams. He had decided that he would keep the relationship casual with her as it was before the dinner, keeping it just over text messages.  However, he realized that unconsciously their chats were not as warm or friendly as before.  However, he got frustrated after they ended their chats each night so much so that Seung Ho was glad that the family trip was coming up.  He needed a break from this unsettling feeling and away from Sohyun and to reset his feelings. He entered MS when he could not stand the entertainment life.  Now he hated it for coming between him and Sohyun.

Being in the mountain with his family was good for him.  He enjoyed his mom’s cooking, going hiking with his dad and sister and just spending time with them.  He loved his family a lot.

On the fourth morning in the mountain, Seung Ho was up very early.  He had a restless night and barely managed to get some sleep.  He decided to go for a walk before breakfast.  He wrote a short note for his family and left their camping site.  He climbed up the mountain and sat on a ledge that had a beautiful view of the valley below.  As it was very early in the morning, there were still fog low in the valley.  He watched as the fog