^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

Hey, how are you today?

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

Minju started folding paper cranes at first it was color red that contains her first letter a month before their Senior Year ends.

At first, it was only little notes saying greetings and bidding goodbyes but every fold of paper cranes is full of her effort and love. It was little things that make her feelings known—so little that it was barely there. She wrote letters every day but it was never sent nor read.

She was satisfied just writing them—quite contented, she told herself every single day without a fail.

Every day, she lied.

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

Hey, did you know that I always think about you?

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

This time she folded a light blue paper crane before she sleep reminds her of Yujin’s favourite color , she is still not used to folding so her paper crane is a bit asymmetrical, it may not be perfect but it is the thought that counts right? always wondered what is such a sporty girl is doing today. Maybe, she is out terrorizing people or teasing others, knowing her. Maybe, she was working her bones trying to be stronger than the previous days. Maybe, she was reading his favourite novel once more.

She wonders, really.

But they were only musings written upon a piece of paper—musings that she was afraid to let her know. Because it was not her place to think about her anymore nor was it Yujin’s place to be thought of.

They have no right with each other anymore, not since they both ended their bond.

And so, Kim Minju wrote upon secretive parcel about her sentiments and thoughts, willing them to disappear as did her ink.

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

I still think it was meant to be but that was just a broken heart talking.

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

She never really gotten over the fact that it was over. Who would? It was a romance that waltzes in and waltzes out as soon as the music was over. It was too fast even if it lasted for two years, it ended too soon.

Too soon. Too soon. Too soon.

Too soon, she never liked those words, too soon is too early for her.

Writing in secrecy was not enough anymore. Minju wanted Yujin to know.

But she was too afraid. Too scared to let the younger girl knows her feeling. Too frightened to be seen in such a vulnerably pathetic state. She was too afraid to know that she still loves the girl but the letter does not love her anymore.

She finished folding the green that means still waiting for things to blossom, paper crane with tears in her eyes and put it in her drawer along with the red and blue ones.

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

Hey, Yujin-ah, do you still think about me? About us? Or am I just something long buried in the past?

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

Yena told her in the middle of summer that Yujin is going to Japan for college. She ruffled her hair and slid down the chair and barked a loud laugh.

"As if I don't already know." Because every single detail from her head to her very bones, she had memorized them already; carved within her heart and delicately placed between the pages of her mind.

Within those two years that made her the happiest girl, the two of them laid their very soul to each other. It was a surprise that they were only a history now when they both had thought that they'll someday marry each other.

And so, her little hand quivered as tears run down her cheeks; she went home after the school hours and locked herself in her room and cried her heart out to the little piece of paper she kept in her drawer.

She folder now a black little one without a wing on the other side, agonizing that she can’t live without Yujin, she’s like a bird with a half wings.

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

You're really leaving, aren't you? Is it a sign that you do not love me anymore? Am I being too clingy, too desperate for a younger girl who does not have any right to hold you back? Hey, Yujin-ah, why did we break up?

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

In their college years, she took a risk and dropped a 3 pink paper cranes with a 1-4-3 in it’s head to the floor where Yena could see them clearly.

She saw her picked the letter and curiously opened them. She saw how her eyes widen before looking for her. She saw how she place it in her bag.

She saw how weeks passed them by and still no reply.

Yena approached her and give Yujin's address.  She took it with no grace but kept it with on-going rejection in her being, she knows Yujin would not reply to her calling anymore.

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

How desperate do you think I am? Maybe, you view me as an obsessive weakling. Maybe, you see me as a freak who was so hung up over the past. Maybe, you see me as your once upon a time.

Because I saw myself as a desperate woman who cannot get over someone so great. Hey, Yujin-ah, why do you have to be so out of reach and so out of my league again?

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

The letter Yena sent was never followed by another for quite a long time.

But she still wrote letters every day as if it will result to a miracle that would take all her pain away. She wrote letters as if it was all she had, as if it was something that keeps her alive, as if it was a form of comfort that builds bridges towards what was so faded and forgotten now.

She wrote letters as if she was talking to one Ahn Yujin..

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

Hey, Yujin-ah, how are you? Are you okay? Are you fine there? Have you fallen with somebody else already?

I'm sorry I wasn't good enough. I know I should stop writing because I never expect some form of reply but I should tell you something, you need to know this; did you know I can't stop from pouring myself unto this stupid paper?

You know why? Because I still love you.

^^^^^^-------^^^^^^^^^

It was Saturday and it was the 14th of February two years into college. It was also two years since they had broken up. It was also two years since she started writing. It was also two years since she can't move on. This time she folded 20 paper cranes with rainbow colors. She can fold a lot faster now she gets different blank square sheet of colored papers, folded each in half into a rectangle, fold the top of the paper down until the top edge aligns with the bottom edge of the paper and then crease, fold it in half the other way, fold vertically from left to right , and last crease then unfold. That’s what she’s doing and reciting in herself for the nth time just to forget the pain.

Two years was a long time but everything seems to be a long time for her every time the clock makes a tick. And she still wrote a letter and by then, all those cranes litter every crevices of her room.

Stack high and hidden from everyone's prying eyes, the letters suffocated her with all the memories and emotions she had etched upon every words engraved into every parcel.

 <