"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out."

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

CHAPTER 5

 Siwon, who is busy reading a book at the concrete stairs in front of the school library, heard a very familiar voice calling his name. He looked up.

He saw Eunhyuk coming down from the upper part of the ladder. “What now?” he asked.

“I forgot my calculator, I have an exam later.”

Siwon handed down his calculator. “Here. Be sure to return it before sundown”

“Yeah, I know. You wouldn’t be able to sleep without this.” Eunhyuk raised the calculator. “You wouldn’t be able to rest unless you solve some of those unbelievable problems.” He shook his head.

Siwon chuckled. It wasn’t school works that made him sleep late this past few days, it was something else or rather, someone else. He’s been thinking about that girl for days now, she just pops out into his head, wondering what had happened to her before, wondering what her name is. “huh, all I can say is..”

“‘Whatever man’ yup, I know, that’s all you can say.” Eunhyuk snorted. He unconsciously looked past Siwon, and saw a girl approaching.

“Oh, Captain Siwonnie, may I remind you, some Fangirl is coming towards you.”

Siwon raised his brows. “What are you talking about?” Eunhyuk pouted his lips towards the direction of the girl. Siwon instinctively turned around and saw the girl his friend has been talking about. But she was no fangirl. She was the girl he has been thinking about quite recently. Upon seeing her, his body just straightened on its own. What the heck? He chuckled.

She was slowly walking towards them. He stared, eyes fixed at her. Upon reaching them, she stood before Siwon and stared at his face, as if studying him.

He studied her too. She is a beauty. He thought. But her eyes, is as black and as cold as ever. It’s as if emotions were drained out of her. It is disconcerting.

She broke her stare and took something out from her bag. It was the umbrella he lent her before. He had forgotten about it.

“Here” she spoke.

He stared at her again. So that is her voice. Without realizing it, he took the umbrella and at the same time glanced at her name plate.

Im Yoona. He finally discovered her name.Yoona.

The girl immediately turned around and walked away after he took the umbrella. She was at the bottom of the concrete stairs when Siwon spoke. “Thank you Im Yoona-shhi”

She stopped abruptly. How did he...? And then she glanced at her name plate. She continued her walk without looking back.

Meanwhile, Siwon was still staring at her. A tap on his shoulder made him quit his gaze and looked at Eunhyuk. He was shaking his head. He looked closely at Siwon’s face and expression.

“So I’m right. Someone had finally caught your attention.” When Siwon did not respond, he continued.

“You’re screwed man.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Its lunchtime and everyone is eager to satisfy their hunger, except Yoona.

It is one of those days, when eating is not a necessity for her. She wanted to go someplace quiet. She walked towards a large board posted in a corner of the floor’s corridor. It was the school’s map. She looked at it and found what she was searching for. This school has a backyard.

She went out and found the place. A large tree is situated at the center of the backyard, and no one is around. She sat under the shade of the tree and closed her eyes, only to open them again when she saw her oppa’s face. She breathed out.

“You deserve to be happy you know”

 Someone spoke from behind her. She automatically looked around, and saw a pair of legs. She then looked up further to see the person’s face. It was the boy who lent her the umbrella.

She thought that his statement was for her, but she was wrong. He was casually sitting beneath the shade of the tree, held a cat near his face, and talked to it. “mr. Cat, you deserve to be happy. I know Mistress wants you to be happy too.”

As if sensing her presence, the boy looked around and spotted her. He smiled, revealing white, perfect set of teeth. “Oh, Yoona-shhi”

A bit embarrassed, Yoona immediately looked away.

The boy moved around and sat about a foot away from yoona. She looked at him coldly. As if by staring at him he will just move away. But alas, he seemed not to mind the cold stare.

He glanced at her, eyes smiling. “I’m choi Siwon, and this is Mr. Cat., I call him that because I don’t know his real name.” She did not respond, and continued to stare at the cat. The cat stared at her back.

The boy continued to speak. She didn’t want to listen, yet she was. There is something about the boy’s air that made her listen to him.

“And his wife’s name is Mistress. Why I called her mistress is a long story. Anyway, she’s gone.” The cat turned its gaze to the boy, as if it understands what the boy is saying.

The boy touched the cat’s nose. “I often am here, when I wanted to be alone. I met the pair of them here, they are visitors, you see. They do not live on school grounds, but they come here frequently. I always see them together, meowing with each other. But one day, something happened that made Mr. Cat so lonely.” He looked solemnly at Yoona.

“They were exploring the school grounds on a sunny morning. They crossed the road which leads to the parking lot, when suddenly; a car lost its control and nearly hit the lot’s pillar. Mistress was hit by the car’s tires, since she was nearest. Mr. Cat was saved. I tried to help Mistress but it was too late. Since then, Mr. Cat had lost his sole companion.”  He rubbed his right cheek to the cats’ cheek.

“It was two years ago, but still, Mr. Cat always comes by the spot of the accident. He still can’t let go of Mistress Memories. Yoona-shhi, Mr. Cat deserves to be happy right? Even after such loss?” the boy siwon asked her.

Silence fell through them.

Then Yoona suddenly stood up, and looked at Siwon intensely.

“Letting go is never easy” and with that, she walked away.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Siwon lay in his bed, remembering the events that took place earlier. He didn’t expect Yoona to be there, in the backyard.

She was as cold as ever. But at least she didn’t run past him this time. She listened to Mr. Cats’ story even when she isn’t comfortable talking with him, or more likely, listening to him, since she wasn’t speaking.

She was piercing arrows at him when he moved towards her, but he didn’t mind it. He was even half aware that he was actually telling the story of Mr. Cat. It just flowed out from his mouth.

But what stunned him was her statement when he asked that question.

“Letting go is never easy.”  She looked at him quite intensely, whatever pain she felt at that moment mirrored in her eyes.

What made her say that? He asked himself.

He moved in his bed. Upon seeing his laptop, an idea hit him. He got out of his bed and went to his laptop. He typed in Yoona’s full name in the search engine and clicked the search button.

Articles with the same name popped out, but they were not closely related to Yoona. He looked more until a single article caught his attention. He clicked it open.

“14 year old girl won the national championships” was the title of the article. The article was about a girl winning the national tournament for running. He scanned the article until he reached the bottom, and found a picture of a girl smiling brightly, holding a large, gold trophy.

It was Yoona, about two years ago.

He gazed at the picture intently.

What happened to Yoona-shhi that made this bright smile vanish?