We walked to his room in silence. I thought that it would’ve been much safer if we talked in his room instead.

Once we were there, he asked, “Do you enjoy it?”

His expression was dark.

“Enjoy what?” I was clueless.

“Kissing him.”

My heart ached. In that moment, I saw how heart-broken he was, how much pain he felt. He had tears in his eyes.

I ignored the question.

“You said you wanted to talk.”

Jaehyo took my hands in his. He was about to say something. Instead, he let go of my hands and pretended that nothing happened. I was disappointed.

“Your landlord came to visit your apartment while you were gone. I asked her about the tunnel and she told me to meet her with you once you got back. I think we should go.”

I then remembered the dream I had on the ferry.

“Kaja,” I told him.

***

Mrs. Law, my landlord, served Jaehyo and me milk and cookies.

“So, the both of you are living in the rooms connected by the tunnel?” Mrs. Law smiled as she put an old shoe bow gently down on the table.

Jaehyo and I nodded in unison.

She glanced at us with kind eyes.

“Have you kids been getting weird dreams lately?”

“Yes,” Jaehyo and I said in unison again, then turned to look at each other.

Mrs. Law chuckled.

“Well, I’m going to tell you a true story. It’s up to the both of you whether you want to believe it or not.”

We nodded.

“The tunnel that links both your rooms was actually made during the war period years ago. It was meant to lead to a safe room underground.”

“But there’s no safe room there. Only a tunnel,” voiced Jaehyo.

“Oh, there’s a safe room in there. I’ll show it to you later,” Mrs. Law smiled happily.

“Then, what happened?” I needed to know more.

“The tunnel was made by two families that built the houses you live in. Unfortunately, all of them were brought to labor camps and never returned so, the tunnel was forgotten. No one knew about it except for those two families. One day, two new families moved in. They had a daughter and son your age. Anna and Eugene,” she gestured to Jaehyo and me. “During that time, your room,” she pointed to Jaehyo, “wasn’t a bedroom. It was just a basement. As the months passed, Anna and Eugene fell in love. Eugene’s and Anna’s parents didn’t like each other and forbid their children from being in love with each other. As a result, Anna and Eugene were forbidden from seeing each other ever again. However, one day, Anna found a door at the back of her closet. It wasn’t very obvious but she still knew. She found the tunnel and walked through it till she reached the basement in the next apartment. Luckily, Eugene was in the basement at that time. He was grabbing wine from the wine cooler. And because of the tunnel, Anna and Eugene were reunited.”

“So, they lived happily ever after?” I asked, amazed at the story of the lovebirds.

“Anna and Eugene always met each other in the tunnel, be it to cuddle with each other or slip out for dates. On Independence Day that year, Anna and Eugene slipped out again but were in the end, caught by their parents. Eventually, both families moved out and never let their children see each other again. They were star-crossed lovers.”

Jaehyo and I looked at each other.

“So, why have we been getting weird dreams about them?” I asked.

“Their love story ended in that house. So, their love spirit lives on. Their story lives on.”

I felt sad suddenly. What did it mean for Jaehyo and me? I guess we’re star-crossed lovers too since I ended up with Min Hyuk.

“Okay, thank you so much for your help, Mrs. Law,” I smiled at her.

“No problem, dear child,” she patted my hand.

Mrs. Law showed us pictures of the star-crossed lovers and told us the exact location of the safe room before we left.

We got home as fast as we could because it was getting dark.

***

“Yobaseyo?”

“Yobeo, where are you? Let’s have dinner together,” Min Hyuk asked cheerily.

“I can’t now. I’m busy. Let’s do it tomorrow, okay?”

“Neh,” he said then hung up. I could hear his sadness through the phone. I haven’t been very nice to him today.

“You could go if you want to. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I’m not forcing you and you clearly have better things to do,” Jaehyo said sadly.

“No, I wanna do this. I don’t like leaving things undone.”

We walked to the exact spot told to us under the stairs on my side of the tunnel. I never noticed it but there it was; a door that didn’t look likes a door. It looked like it was part of the floor. The only thing that made it stand out was that there was a small hole, big enough for 2 fingers and the line around it.

Jaehyo pulled it upwards, to reveal a short ladder. We climbed down it and reached the bottom quickly. We touched the walls to search for a switch and found it. Suddenly, the whole safe room was lit up. It was a cozy room with pillows, a first aid kid and other necessasities.  

I was amazed. “Wow, we could turn this place into an entertainment room or something.”

“We can’t stay here for long since the room has no windows, meaning no oxygen.”

“Oh right,” I laughed.

“Do you think we’ll be like that? Star-crossed lovers?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry but I just have to say this.” He turned to face me. “Ever since I met you on the plane months ago, I felt something for you. I just didn’t know what it was then. I tried to protect you and stayed by your side. I hoped that you’d see that I was interested in you and that I wanted a chance. But when you started to show interest for Min Hyuk, I thought that maybe, it was time for me to move on and so I found Regina. I felt so insanely jealous and it was crazy. I tried my best to be into her but I couldn’t. She saw it too and we went our separate ways. When you came back with Min Hyuk from your date and announced that you guys were together, it broke my heart to pieces. It honestly did. And until now, it still hurts,” he said, his voice shaky as he touched his chest. “I didn’t know what it was then but I do now. I love you, Sonia.”

There he goes again, being a bad boy, making me cry.

“I’m sorry but it’s too late,” I told him. “I waited for you. I honestly thought that you’d say something first but you ended up breaking my heart too when you were with Regina. When that happened, I thought that maybe he wasn’t interested in me in the first place. I thought you were trying to lead me on and I blamed myself for believing you. Min Hyuk came to me then and comforted me whenever you made me cry and it showed that he cared. And when he made the first move on our date, I said yes. I didn’t mean to hurt you in any way but you should have said something at first.”

“And I didn’t mean to hurt you with Regina. I just felt defeated.”

Jaehyo approached me and wiped my tears with his shirt. “Friends?”

“Friends,” I said, taking his hand and shaking it.