I never thought anything so life-changing could happen to an ordinary young man like myself. I still remember that day as clearly as if it was only yesterday. I have wished and wished for 10 years for that painful memory to fade away. But like any other memories, it never did.

     10 years, and still it is plastered on my mind.

      We agreed to meet at the Cheonggyecheon. I had my helmet on as I zoomed past the traffic, eager to see her after not doing so for weeks. When I saw her for the first time that night, I tried to suppress a smile. Even from the back she looked beautiful, and I wasn't very good at hiding emotions.

     "Min Kyoung-ah." I embraced her tiny figure that nicely wrapped around my arms, closing my eyes as I felt the warmth of her body.

     "Oppa! Go away!" She shouted abruptly, I opened my eyes and stepped back in shock. I was beginning to think she didn't want to see me when she added, "These drinks might spill, you know how clumsy I am!" She checked to see if anything's wrong with the paper cups I just realized were in her hands.

      I sighed with relief, making her raise an eyebrow at me. "Mwo?"

      "Ani. For a second there I thought you didn't want to see me." I pointed at the paper cups she was holding.  "Which one's coffee?" She looked at me in curiousity when she gestured to the one that had coffee in it. I picked it from her hands.

      "You silly. There's never a time that I don't wish I was with you." I drank the coffee and smiled foolishly at her when she suddenly pointed to my lips.

      "What is it?" I looked at her questioningly.

      "You have a bit of coffee right there." She smiled, rather mischievously "I would kiss you to clean it up, but I don't like coffee."

      "Can't you at least use a tissue?" I asked, "We need to keep this love alive, you know." She shrugged, drinking her hot chocolate quietly. I noticed traces of chocolate milk when the cup left her lips. I took hold of her wrist to keep her from escaping before kissing her lips. I can feel her wriggling to break free. I didn't let her, though—not until I was satisfied. I missed her so badly, I wanted to do this for a long time. I smirked at her when I let her go as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

      "Yah! I can taste the coffee!" She pouted as I laughed satisfyingly, circling an arm around her to pull her close. She tried to spit out the bitter taste it gave her tongue before trying to wash it down with her own beverage. Watching her being annoyed was probably one of the best scenes I could ever see in my life.

      "Well, for you, Min Kyoung. If you didn't hate coffee, you would've enjoyed it." I grinned, kissing her once more on the head. "You're creamy. And that adds flavor to my coffee. You know, I'm a happy guy." She looked at me and sighed deeply before lying her head on my shoulder. I knew her doing that meant she forgave me for any kind of antics I'd do just to see her mad, she'd sigh and lay her head on my shoulder like this.

     "I miss when you were just a shy dork. You wouldn't tease me so much then." She sighed. I just stared out the distance and took another sip of my coffee. The autumn wind didn't bother me too much as it did when I was in traffic because I was with her. And the sound of the running stream made the silence feel even more peaceful.

      A few seconds passed by when she suddenly broke the silence, "Oppa." She called. I turned to look at her and found her staring up the sky. "Do you think those men were angry at me?"

      "What men?"

      "Nothing, never mind." She turned to smile at me, quite possibly trying to assure me that nothing was wrong before looking away. I stared at her suspiciously. She had this habit of keeping secrets, even from me. But I always fail to make her tell me, the flicker of seriousness in her eyes when she denies to tell me would always succeed at keeping my mouth shut. However, even that does not stop me from wondering what she hides from me.

      "Min Kyoung, don't be like this. Tell me, what men?" I faced her and stared right into her eyes, even though I know what the outcome of this question will be like.

     "Aniyo. Don't worry about it, Seung Hyun." There, that flicker. She looked back at me with a smile that I believe tells more than what is supposed to. I stopped questioning her but my thoughts start to run around what she said. What men were she talking about?

     "So what do you want to do now, oppa?" She said playfully, looking down to kick a pebble that tumbled towards the stream.

     "I don't know, what do you want to do?" I asked.

     "This!" Before I realized I was being pushed, I heard a splash and was already soaking wet from the cold water. I heard a somewhat evil laugh from behind me and I turned to see that it was her. "That's for giving me a bitter coffee kiss!" She laughed cynically. I could only smirk as I planned on my next move.

     "Well, I ain't moving until you're wet!" I grunted, quickly grabbing her hands to pull her down towards the water.

     "Kyah!" She cried as she fell backwards, I catched her in my arms before any more harm was done to her. As cunning as I am, I would never let her get that wet and risk her being sick. She looked at me in shock. "You jerk! I almost had a heart attack!" She threw aimless punches at me. When she lost balance, she quickly held on to my neck in fear that she will really fall into the water. I could only laugh at her funny expressions. "I hate you."

     "Oh, but you don't." I grinned in victory. She crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue, looking away.

     In the midst of all that, I noticed something gleaming in the corner of my eyes. It was somewhere above me. I turned to that direction and saw a gun, reflecting the moon's light. The gun was pointed at us, and the person holding it was a shadowy figure, I couldn't tell what kind of clothing he was wearing but I noticed the familiar mask that hid his face from my sight. I didn't have the time to remember what kind of mask it was. My insticts told me to get out of the water and run as quickly as I can towards my motorcycle, carrying a flustered Min Kyoung in my arms, she held on to me tighter in shock of my sudden attempt to run away.

     I looked towards the man, he was running along above us. His gun was still pointing at us. Min Kyoung looked back and saw the same person, instantly knowing what was happening. But when she saw that person, a look of fear was in her eyes. "What? What is it, Min Kyoung?" I asked, breathing heavily.

     "Seung Hyun, it was the men..." She said. But before she could finish her words--bang!--a gunshot. Min Kyoung's head fell weakly backwards. I stared at her in horror as I noticed the hole in her forehead. I was speechless, I stopped running and tried to look for the man as tears began falling from my eyes. I spun around and shouted, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" I found him standing a level above me. The mask he was wearing looked straight into my eyes, mocking me with it's grin.

     "WHAT IS HER FAULT?!" I shouted. He did not answer,  "ANSWER ME, YOU -HOLE!!" I shouted more, and still he was silent. He simply got rid of the gun from my sight and walked away. "DAMN IT!"

     There was no use.

     I turned my attention back to Min Kyoung, bursting into tears. Her skin was beginning to pale. I brushed away her hair and saw her soulless round eyes. I set her down gently on the pavement, cradling her head on my arms. "Min Kyoung-ah..." My voice trembled, wishing her eyes would blink. "Min Kyoung-ah, wake up...." I cried even more, rocking her slowly. "Min Kyoung, , if only you told me about those men sooner..." I bit my lip and held her to my chest, kissing her head countless times and letting my tears pour. "You promised we will be married after college, you promised we will grow old together, you promised my kids are going to look like you." I looked straight into her eyes once more, "Don't leave me..." I kissed her, but this time I didn't stop. I wished in some way the kiss would bring her back to life, that it'll bring back the warmth in her body.

     But it didn't.

     Her skin grew paler and paler as the warmth that I used to feel when I embraced her melted away slowly. I wish I didn't know that it was pointless to try and revive her. I wish I was still trying to find help in hope that she would come back to life. I wish I didn't just wait for a miracle to happen.

     I just sat there, embracing her dead body.

     I didn't want to let go.

     Never.

     And before I knew it,

     ...her corpse lay lifelessly right before my eyes.