“How about we go grab a coffee and talk? It’s been a while since we met.” Wooyoung suggested to Dara, who was no longer hiding her face from his dark eyes. Dara smiled cheerfully and nodded; she hadn’t been this happy ever since the hospital incident three weeks ago.

            “Bom, you wouldn’t mind bringing Twaeji home, would you?” Dara asked Bom, clasping her hands tightly together and giving Bom her signature pouting face. Bom sighed and agreed, thinking that this guy she had just met would be able to bring back her dongsaeng’s previous, much happier personality. She began walking back to their apartment accompanied by Twaeji, who occasionally nudged his head against the side of her legs once in a while. When Bom was no longer in sight, Dara grabbed a hold of Wooyoung’s left arm, hugging it tightly towards her body as she twitched her head up, as if telling him to start walking. She kept her head brushed against the side of his strong arm as they walked together to a local coffee shop silently. Neither of them made an effort to break the silence, but Dara enjoyed his company just the same.

FLASHBACK

            Fifteen years ago, Wooyoung was the only friend Dara had, and the only person she learned to really depend on for anything. They were young of course, and at such a young age it would be wrong for Dara to prioritize Wooyoung over her parents, but she felt safer in Wooyoung’s arms than she did in her own house. Her parents were busy people who worked from the crack of dawn until sunset and never followed through with promises that they made to her. She lost track of how many times they promised they would take her to the park to play soccer but had something come up last minute so until Wooyoung walked into her life, there was only disappointment and neglect. Her parents were not the ones who taught her to love or care. It seemed that their very existence in Dara’s life was to supply basic needs for her survival. Wooyoung was the one who showed her what caring for another person meant, and what love was. When they were young, he was her protector and friend; the most important person. Their separation was devastating for her, when Wooyoung had to follow his family and move out of the country. They met for one last time during the winter in their favourite place—a place that they believed only they knew about; the big evergreen tree. The day he walked out of her life forever was chilly accompanied by light snow and rough winds. Dara had no idea that he would be leaving her, and she arrived before him, standing under the evergreen tree in her bright red, puffy jacket and pink scarf crossing her arms across her body to reduce heat loss. She waited minute after minute patiently, knowing that Wooyoung would not let her down. She kicked away some snow underneath her feet with her matching boots and scrunched down, and then rolled into a ball. Occasionally she would poke her head up for any footprints in the snow, but the heat from her small body was kept secured in her ball position. She began humming to herself a familiar melody that she would always hear on the radio. It was a fun song to her, because it really expressed how she felt towards small situations in her life. She began rocking back and forth in her seat as her humming grew louder, and eventually she attempted to sing the lyrics.

♪ I don’t care, I’ll stop caring about what you’re doing wherever you are
From now on I really don’t care, I’ll get out of the way
From now on don’t come to me and cry, and cling on
cause I don’t care e e e e e e
cause I don’t care e e e e e e ♪

Her voice was soft and sweet, and getting her mind off the cold with singing really helped her. The only lyrics she knew of that song was the chorus, so she sang it again and again and again until suddenly, in the middle of her fifth repetition, a hand popped up from behind her and pulled her jacket’s hood down to cover her entire face. She panicked and screamed, pushing her hood completely off her head and turned around to face whoever was the culprit.

            “Wooyoung oppa!” Dara cheered as soon as she saw his mischievous face smiling back at her like the dork that he was. He lent a hand and pulled her up into a standing position, helping her brush off the snow that stuck to her warm pants like glue. Dara had no idea why they were meeting today, but meeting in this very location was what they did often. They saw each other nearly every day, ever since the first day they met so ever since Wooyoung came along, Dara never felt lonely. She shot him a dorky smile and joked,

            “You took so long to get here that I thought you got eaten by a snow yeti!” The whole city was blanketed with fresh, white snow, and the layers only grew taller with every hour. The great snow yeti was a popular myth among kids in their school, and was rumored to roam around this area, particularly looking for young children to snatch away from their parents. Wooyoung was smart, and knew that the myth was only a made-up folklore from adults who didn’t want their children roaming around on their own in the cold, so both he and Dara knew that the snow yeti did not exist.

            “How can the snow yeti eat me? I am the snow yeti!” Wooyoung claimed as he raised his arms up high, forming claws by bending his fingers. Dara faked a scream for help and ran to the other side of the evergreen’s tree trunk for cover. He walked sideways like a crab, tracking her footsteps as he made loud grunts to scare her. Dara poked her head past the side of the trunk to see where Wooyoung was, but he wasn’t there anymore.

            “Where did he go…?” Dara mumbled to herself worriedly when suddenly, warm arms clamped around her small body.

            “Tag; you’re it.” Wooyoung laughed, still keeping his arms wrapped around Dara. She laughed along with him and breathed,

            “We weren’t playing tag!” She turned her body 180 degrees and hugged Wooyoung tight, placing her right hand above her left against Wooyoung’s back. She snuggled her head into his chest and closed her eyes, as if she were absorbing his body heat.

            “No more pretending to be a monster.” Dara ordered him in a quiet whisper, just loud enough to be heard over the passing winds. Wooyoung sighed in defeat and agreed,

            “That won’t be hard.” Dara retreat her arms and moved her head back to stare Wooyoung in the eyes. She had made the request for him to stop scaring her multiple times, but never once had he agreed until now. Something was weird, but she didn’t know what.

            “Does this mean you’re not going to scare me anymore?” Dara questioned, raising one eyebrow. Wooyoung dug his hands protected by fuzzy green gloves into the thickening snow as he stared at the ground that they sat on. He couldn’t make eye contact with her; it would be too difficult.

            “I’m moving.” Wooyoung explained the reason for their meeting today in just two words, but Dara felt her heart crack in half, and imagined it fall onto thick cement and shatter into a million irretrievable pieces.

            “To which neighborhood?” Dara asked, hoping with all her heart that at least he would stay in the same city so they could still meet. Wooyoung sighed to himself and answered,

            “I’m moving to Japan with my family.” Dara’s eyes shot wide open and she tried to hide her alarming gasp with both her hands. Wooyoung was leaving her so soon? Tears trickled down her soft, red cheeks as her wide eyes stared at Wooyoung who refused to make eye contact. She began sniffling, and felt unsure of how she should react. Wooyoung knew how alone she would be without him, but he had no choice. If he could stay, he would choose to in a heartbeat, just to be next to Dara every day, but he couldn’t live without his parents.

            “Wooyoung oppa… I’ll miss you…” Dara cried with her shaky voice, face covered with fresh and salty tears. Upon impulse she her arms around his body and sobbed onto his jacket, making a dark patch of tears where his chest was. Her face was buried away from his view, and he patted her comfortingly on the back.

            “I have to go now, Dara.” Wooyoung’s voice was shaky with his own warm tears as he spoke. Dara’s body did not move an inch after he spoke.

            “You’ll come back, won’t you?” Dara’s voice pleaded for a yes.

            “One day when I’m older, I’ll definitely come back to see you.” His right hand wiped off his tears as he tried to suppress his sadness. His crying would only make it harder for Dara to depart from him.

            “Promise?” Dara asked, rising up her pinky for a pinky promise. Wooyoung smiled weakly and intertwined his pinky with hers. After doing so, he gently moved Dara off him and stood up. She stayed sitting on the ground with her face still drenched in tears.

            “Good bye, Dara.” Wooyoung said, and he turned his back towards her and began walking away. The light snow from earlier became heavier, and fog thickened making nothing visible past thirty meters. When Wooyoing could no longer be seen, Dara stood up leaning against the strong trunk of the evergreen and shouted as loud as her vocal chords would allow,

            “Saranghaeyo, Wooyoung oppa… Saranghaeyo yeongwonhi!” Her crying had subsided, but a single tear managed to flow down her face from her left tear duct. From thirty meters away, Wooyoung heard Dara’s voice clearly.

            “Saranghae, Dara…” He whispered quietly to himself, and then sprinted his way out of the twisting path of trees, unable to hold in his miserable tears any longer.

How long would it be until she would see him again? She knew she had to head home soon. Wooyoung’s thick footprints guided her past the maze of trees in the fog, and she matched every step with his, stepping into his larger footprint that was already fresh in the snow. His strides were lengthier than hers, and there were sections of the path where he had been jogging. Dara arrived home shortly after emerging from the twisted trees that guarded their signature evergreen. She lifelessly entered her room and tumbled onto her bed, not bothering to remove her jacket and scarf. How was she supposed to live now? Was she supposed to revert back to how she was before Wooyoung came along, living alone in the dark with feelings of disapproval and spite? Wooyoung was the one who gave her life and was the light source that illuminated the darkness surrounding her heart. He was the one who never neglected her when her parents did, and played with her when she was feeling bored. He left her so suddenl; she didn’t know what to do.

END FLASHBACK

She removed her grip on his arms and took a seat across from him around a circular table in the café. Dara bought hot chocolate while Wooyoung bought French Vanilla. Not a word was spoken until Dara decided to break the silence, realizing that Wooyoung would not.

            “You were the one that carried me from the evergreen tree, weren’t you?” Dara asked, reflecting back to three weeks ago when she collapsed in the heavy snowstorm. She remembered clearly the size of the footprints she saw in the snow; the footprints of her savior, before slipping into unconsciousness.

            “Of course it was. No one knows about that evergreen tree but us; remember?” Wooyoung confirmed her earlier assumption, and her heart leapt at his response. Her happy mood shifted from gleeful to disappointment when she remembered something and asked,

            “It’s been three weeks since that incident. Why didn’t you try to find me since then?” Dara nervously stirred the marshmallows around in her hot beverage, avoiding eye contact. What if it was true that he never intended to see her again? Wooyoung choked slightly on his French vanilla when Dara asked and coughed abruptly before answering,

            “I didn’t think you’d remember me anyways. After I saw that you regained consciousness in the hospital I left. What if you already had a boyfriend or a fiancée? I wasn’t sure if my appearance would bring you happiness or just be a burden, so I didn’t look for you.” Dara laughed sarcastically at his response,

            “Let me tell you a secret. I never liked anyone else but you.” Dara’s smile was wide when she spoke.

            “You’re very loyal.” Wooyoung stated, smiling back at her.

            “What about you? You’ve liked other girls, right?” Dara was almost certain that the answer would be yes, and she wasn’t sure why she asked it because it would only hurt her. He was always popular among everyone. Other boys envied him, and girls loved him. It was because he was extremely smart for his age and obviously handsome. When they were in grade two, he was given the opportunity to skip a grade but refused to because he wanted to stay with Dara. All the girls in their class used to bother Dara out of jealousy, but she didn’t care because she would have Wooyoung to protect her.

            “Yes, I have.” He answered confidently, sipping his French Vanilla casually. Dara’s smile faded, and she nodded at his response. What was she supposed to say to that? He received a text message that instant and stood up from his seat.

            “Sorry Dara; I’ll have to leave right now.” He swung on his jacket and began heading for the door.

            “Is it a girl?” Dara pried, referring to the text message that she watched him read and reply with a bright smile. Wooyoung hesitated at the door before nodding, and then headed out without looking back. Dara slouched on her chair. Her sweet, warm hot chocolate suddenly tasted like bitter, cold tea in a matter of seconds. He was seeing another girl?