Kang Seulgi knew from the moment that she had kissed Park Jimin that she would never be the girl who would capture his heart. She could sense it from the way his eyes had fluttered shut too late and how his lips moved against hers. She knew it from the way he’d speak fondly of certain events and how his eyes would be preoccupied with the memory of someone else when they would go out together. She knew it from they way he would smile a certain way whenever he thought about that girl. She knew it from the way he would hold her at night and how he would slip his fingers through hers.

And yet, she also knew, throughout all those moments, that he was the boy who captured her heart, regardless of the fact that she would end up with her heartbroken after everything. Every moment with him hurt her because she knew that he was still in love with the memory of another and yet she stayed with him anyway because every moment was just as wonderful and beautiful as it was painful.

Frankly speaking, she was intoxicated with his every being.

And she was very, very much in love with a boy who was in love with a ghost.

In all honesty and to her defense, it wasn’t hard to fall in love with Park Jimin. He was undeniably charming with his slight lisp and his bright smile. He was funny yet easy to tease. He was very caring, gentle, and polite wherever he went. Everything about him was so easy to love.

They had met through a mutual friend who worked at the dance studio that they both frequented upon (albeit at different times). From the moment she had met him, she couldn’t deny the effect he had on her. He was so beautiful and wonderful to look at that until today, her heart ached looking at him. Mostly, it ached because it knew that he could never be hers no matter what she did.

All her friends had tried to dispel her fears when she confided in them. Impossible, they thought. He looked as invested and attached to her as she was to him. He was so gentle and kind to her. But she knew, she could feel the real truth. She was a replacement of a certain someone and she knew she would never be able to fill in the space that that person had left behind in Park Jimin’s heart.

What drove her crazy was how she stayed despite it all, despite all her fears and suspicions, despite all the pain and sadness she kept to herself. She knew he loved someone else and yet she still loved him and stayed with him all the same. It was simply because she figured that if she would never be able to capture his heart, she should enjoy and spend every minute that she could with him before he figured the truth out for himself.

It was maddening, the endless cycle of different emotions that played out every single day but she lived quietly through it until one day when she couldn’t take it all.

It was the day her best friend, Wendy, was brought to the hospital because of a freak accident. That day had been a tiring one for Seulgi. She was in the dance studio all the day, working on a dance routine that she couldn’t seem to master. She had been scolded at by her dance coach for not working hard enough at trying to get the right moves. She then had spent the rest of her day dancing and practicing vigorously again and again yet she still couldn’t perfect the dance the way her coach wanted her to. She was already at her wits ends when she received a phone call saying that her best friend had been in an accident and that she was currently in a critical condition.

A person could only deal with so much.

So she did what any other person would do.

She completely broke down.

She collapsed on the floor, mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. Her chest felt like bursting. Her head spun. The world seemed to disappear. Her eyes filled with tears.

At that moment, Jimin came into the room to greet his girlfriend after a long day of practice. He was instead greeted by the sight of a crying and tearful girl. He rushed to her side and quickly brought her to the corner of the room where she wouldn’t be seen by anyone who passed by.

If she was in her right state of mind, she would have thanked him but she was too busy consumed by all her emotions and the fact that her best friend could die at any moment.

As soon as she stable, he stood up and started to move. Seulgi quickly grabbed his hand to stop him.

“I’m not asking you to love me,” she told him, “since I know that some else already belongs in your heart. But would you please just stay with me? I’m afraid of what might happen if I’m left all alone.”

Taken aback by her words, he quickly sat down beside her and made her lean against him as he held her in his arms.

“I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”