It was really as bad as she feared. Yunho’s presence in the house, in addition to her impossible and hopeless feeling for Jiyong the gay, had made her so tense and distraught that she marveled how come she hadn’t snapped in two. It was hard to believe that it was only two weeks ago that she had been ready to throw caution to the wind when it had seemed like two years to her.

When she had stepped out from that closet, prodded and tired by Suzy’s persistent pursuit and the guilt that had been gnawing on her conscience all this time, she had decided to reveal the truth about herself, to bring to light who she was and where she came from. She had predicted what Jiyong’s reaction to her confession would be, though, so she wouldn’t be even remotely surprised if he started to sputter and yell at her in his anger, and then banish her from his life for deceiving him. But there’s also a chance that he would be kind, that he would understand her reason or sympathize with her predicament, and let her stay for the remaining three months. One thing was certain: whatever his reaction was going to be, her heart was bound to be broken either way. It was only the matter of how and when. She could practically feel the devastation and heartbreak started to settle in even from just thinking about it. But right at that moment, she had been too disheartened to try to come up with a better way to make heartbreak easier to bear. A broken heart was still a broken heart after all. Just let it break and heal, and then she could move on, she had thought dispiritedly. Even if she were to be thrown out, at least she could put an end to her own hopeless feeling earlier, she thought to comfort herself.

And so, she had marched to the living room, all the while readying herself to pick up the pieces of her heart and her life after Jiyong’s done with her, when suddenly heaven turned it all around. She didn’t know whether she should curse or thank it for giving her another moment of respite the minute she had entered the living room, for the sight of Yunho there had shattered her plan completely. Gone was her resolve, and gone was her composure. His presence there had staggered her so much that she was lucky she had been able to voice out the words that she had uttered, because all she could think about at that time was the first and last time she had seen him.

It was in the summer ten years ago, when he had just finished high school. He had stayed in her house for a month before his freshman year at university started. And she was only fifteen at that time, she reminisced. During her confinement after the kidnapping incident, she had become a shy, awkward and gangly girl. When her father had brought him home and introduced him as the boy he had been talking about, the boy he had picked up from the street and made his own, she had been totally awed by him. At eighteen, Yunho had seemed so mature in her eyes. His boyish and handsome features had mesmerized her, and his eyes had seemed to be able to read into her mind whenever he looked at her. But it was when he had crouched in front of her and gently lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles that she had tasted that first feminine flutter in her stomach. Which, of course, had caused her to be more tongue-tied and flustered than ever when he had tried to talk to her. But despite her gawkiness and single-word answers, he had continued to befriend her and coax her from her shell. Inevitably, gradually, under his patience and charm, she started to open up and became somewhat like her old self again. And he had been her first crush, she thought and smiled fondly at the memory.

She still remembered the night before he left for school. That night, after the subdued dinner was over, she had immediately run to her room, as she couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving the next day. But before she could reach her room, he had grabbed her hand and asked her tenderly to go for a stroll in the garden with him. And there, in the shadow of the apple tree, beneath the moonlight and twinkling starts, he had confessed his feeling for her and kissed her. Her first kiss had tasted so soft, so sweet, before the awkwardness settled in. But then his smile bloomed, and when his dimples winked at her, when the warmth of his eyes pierced her soul, the awkwardness had immediately melted away. They had ended up spending the night there, under the tree, talking and laughing. And right before he had boarded the plane, they had promised each other that they would stay together, that they would stay in contact with each other and meet whenever time permitted.

But a promise was only that: a promise.

She didn’t know who and what had started it or when it had started, but gradually they grew apart. The phone calls started to become less and less often as they had become busier and busier with papers and exams. And school breaks had been filled with part-time jobs and vacations instead of each other. By the time summer had come again, her crush for him had died an early death. And as years had gone by, her first crush had become a sweet yet distant memory to her. Sure, sometimes she would imagine the time when she would see him again. They would be delighted to see each other again, of course, and when they started to talk about the past, they would laugh their youth silliness off. And then, they would become the closest of friends. And she would have the big brother and best friend she had never had.

But even in her most far-fetched imagination, she had never thought they would meet again under such circumstances. And instead of