If you asked 20-year-old Jieun what was the most painful memory she had, she would immediately go back to when she was 14 years old. 

The year where her best friend left her. 
 

His name was Lee Minhyung and she loved him as much as there were stars in the sky.
 

They met when they were 10 years old, having been seated next to each other on the first day.

Minhyung was a target of bullying by their classmates due to how small he was. His small size made him easier to be picked on and he was good at keeping his mouth shut. It took a while for Jieun to realise that he was being bullied until she saw a group of boys pull him towards the playground and empty his bag. 

She wondered why did she suddenly run up to them and latched herself onto the back of one of the bullies. She wasn't even close friends with Minhyung, they only talked to each other once or twice a day. However, for whatever reason, the look in Minhyung's eyes when he saw her made her boil with anger. 

That was the first time did Jieun get into a fight and the first time she established her friendship with Minhyung.

She got into more fights as she protected Minhyung, she made it known that Minhyung was not to be messed with. And if anyone dared to go through that line, her fist would be more than happy to meet them.

"You shouldn't really get into fights because of me, Jieun," Minhyung spoke up one day as they sat down on the swings. Jieun pushed the swing, watching how high his feet would reach. 

"I don't get into fights because of you," she lied, "They're just really annoying. Someone needs to teach them a lesson."

"You've been to the detention like a lot of times," he said again as the swing was pushed even harder.

"And you waited for me by the door," she replied back, "Even the teachers keep thinking you should avoid me."

"I wish I was brave like you, Jieun," he stops the swing to look her in the eyes, "I wish I could protect you like how you protect me."

Jieun just sighs, sitting down on the swing next to him, "Maybe one day... I'll wait for that day to come by. I'll wait until you get brave enough to finally protect yourself. Until then, I'm your knight in shining armour."

Minhyung chuckles and starts to slowly swing back and forth, "Thanks for sticking by my side, Jieun."

"Always and forever, Minhyung."

 

"S-she's le-leaving and I-I do-don't think she's c-coming back."

"I'm n-not strong en-enough for this, Min..."

Minhyung frantically heads to Jieun's house, having his driver wake up in the middle of the night to accompany him. He didn’t care how late it was or how he was going to get an earful from his parents later on – none of those mattered at that moment. His only worry was getting to Jieun on time and making sure she had someone by her side to cry on.

He finally arrives at her house after guiding the driver on directions despite the driver knowing where the house was located. From their rich neighbourhood it turned to a more run-down part of the area, Minhyung had been here plenty of times to pick up Jieun on certain occasions. So, as the car pulls over, Minhyung jumps out of the car and runs at full speed towards her house.

There Jieun was – sitting down in front, hugging her knees as he saw visible tears streaming down her face. There’s a crumpled note in her hands and he could easily tell she was shaking by how the paper shook. He takes a deep breath and sits down beside her, not saying a word at first.

“She left us,” Jieun starts out, her voice raspy from all the crying and possible yelling. “She really left us…” She rests her head on Minhyung’s shoulder, “It hurts – it hurts so much, Min.” She starts crying again and Minhyung places his arm on her back, patting it in a slow rhythm.

He continues to do so as she lets out more cries, all of them sounded heartbreaking to his ears and he fought to prevent him from crying as well. He knew Jieun’s family situation – he remembers the times when she would call him over to pick her up because no one would be at home and she didn’t like being alone. He had seen her father a couple of times but her mother was a rare chance, Minhyung had only seen her once in all the years they’ve been friends. Her mother wasn't really acting as a mother should, that was what he remembered Jieun telling her when he asked why her mother wasn't around that much - he didn't ask any more questions on her mother after that.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with you, Jieun," he had said after what seemed like forever as he noticed her crying lessened and she wasn't shaking as much as before. "If you think your mother left because of you then you're wrong. She's wrong too. The person you are right now is perfect just the way it is. She didn't leave because of you so stop blaming yourself over her decisions."

Jieun scoots herself closer to feel Minhyung's warmth, "...Thanks for coming over even though it's so late."

"If you were miles away, I would still come to you," he looks over at her and gives her a tiny smile, "I won't ever leave you, Jieun. I'll stay by your side through your thick and thins - I'll be with you every step of the way."

His words brought her a wave of comfort and she cherished that moment in her heart. They had each other and together, they would face all the obstacles that life would throw at them. As they long they had each other, they would be fine.

"Promise you'll never leave me."

"Only if you promise to stay with me until forever."
 

It wasn't until they were 14 years old did they learn the meaning of heartbreak.

It was the day Minhyung left to the US. His parents had gotten a better job offer there and decided to move. The decision had been hard on the family as they had to leave their family and close friends but perhaps the ones truly hurt by this decision was Minhyung and Jieun's friendship.

By now, the two had nearly spent nearly every waking hour together. The two were known to stick by each other like glue and had each other's backs for everything. Jieun attended all of Mark's basketball competitions while Mark would attend all of her plays. They sat next to each other in the classes they shared and would be seen walking one another to classes that they didn't share. It didn't mean they didn't have any other friends, they shared a mutual circle of friends but everyone knew that what Jieun and Minhyung had was special. They weren't lovers but understood each other in ways no one else did. Another reason why both of them remained single during their school years together. No one dared to come in between their friendship plus nearly the whole school (and teachers alike) had shipped them together. 

Jieun was kept in the dark about Minhyung's move until one of their mutual friends slipped it out by accident. The anger that went through her body was like nothing they had ever seen - it was the first fight anyone had seen the two get into. Jieun did most of the yelling but Minhyung didn't keep quiet either since the stress of keeping the move a secret and the fact that he was leaving his best friend burdened on him. For the first few days, they didn't speak to each other at all when the news first came out. Jieun needed time to accept reality while Minhyung was busy settling things before the big day.

Their silence was broken when Jieun came by to his house after school one day with tears streaming down her face. She gushed out apologies as she hugged him, saying how sorry she was for lashing out at him and how sorry she was for all the horrible things she had said out of anger. 

"I'm s-so sor-sorry, I'm so so-sorry,"

she repeated over and over as Minhyung tried to assure her that things were good between them. 

On the last week before Minhyung left, Jieun spent the week at his house - helping him clear up his things which proved to be a joyful memory in future years. She went over his childhood albums, his awkward stages of obsessions with certain cartoons and his weird fashion style phase. They had never laughed so hard before and doubted they ever would again. Minhyung found his last days at Korea to be best days he ever had because he was with Jieun and Jieun was with him. They were with each other and that was all they needed to bring them comfort. 

The day he left, he took a bit of Jieun's heart with him. She never had the guts to tell him the truth, the truth about her feelings for him. She thought it would only cause them more pain if her real feelings were known. Minhyung was leaving anyway and she didn't want to burden him with more emotional baggage. So, she put on her best smile and she watched him place the last of his bags into the trunk of his car. The air was awkward now - they didn't know what they should say, fearing that one word would cause them to melt into tears all over again.

"I never wanted to leave you."

He gives her a smile and sighs, his eyes looking down to his shoes and flicking back to stare at her eyes. He could see them filling up with tears and how hard she tried to prevent them from spilling. The boy puts his arms around her, hugging her for one last time. He hopes that she can't see how badly he wants to cry right now - it would only make her worry even more. They just stand there for a few minutes, no words exchanging as they try to implant this memory into their minds forever. 

"I'll write to you every chance I get," he whispers, trying to calm himself down from hiccuping his words out. "I'll come back one day, Jieun. I promise."

He gets on to his tiptoes and gives a quick kiss on her forehead, "Wait for me, okay? I'll come back for you."

Jieun doesn't utter a word, her mind couldn't seem to form proper sentences in her head. The reality of Minhyung really leaving made her frozen and unresponsive. It's not until Minhyung break away from the hug does she finally snap back to her senses and puts her arms around him. 

"I'll wait for you, I promise! Don't make me wait too long, alright?"

Minhyung smiles at her words and nods his head. The car honking breaks their moment and they hold each other's hand for one last time before Minhyung is forced to let go. His heads keeps turning back to look at Jieun as he walks into the car and he waves goodbye at her from the window until the car is out of sight. 

"I'll wait for you. Even if it takes 100 years, I'd still wait for you."

 

"You're still writing to that childhood friend of yours?" Lucas teases Jieun as he watches her tuck away the letter into her bag. "Who even writes letters anymore these days? There's the Internet for a reason, Eun!"

Jieun gives him a shove as she fixes her short hair, Lucas always got on her nerves but he was a cool person to hang out with. "I don't know, we just never really thought about it plus," she takes her drink back from Lucas, "It's special. It feels... much more real."

Lucas snorts but it's followed by a groan when Jieun pulls his ear. 

"Both of you have been swapping letters for the past 6 years and I still can't believe that you haven't told him that you're head over heels in love with him and that you still think he's going to come back here! He could be dating someone or worse, married." 

"He's our age, Lucas."

"Early marriage is the norm now. He could have like 5 kids and you wouldn't even know about it."

"He can barely take care of himself back then, I doubt he could take of kids younger than him," Jieun looks at her watch and her eyes widened. "Shoot, Lucas! We're running late - we need to run!" She grabs Lucas's arm and pulls him as they start to run towards their class, realising they only had 10 minutes left before it started.  Her head turns for a second to catch a glimpse of Lucas's face before she catches herself a little too late - she had literally crashed into another person.  She groans as she feels the pain on her from landing on the ground. The first thing she does is quickly standing up and heading towards the person she had collided into. Words of apology start to gush out as she makes sure whoever it was was fine. 

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright? I should have been more careful," she helps the person stand up, patting away some dried leaves that stuck to their clothings. "Ah, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have ran-"

Her eyes finally flicker to look at the person and she stops talking. Time seemed to slow down; the sound of traffic was muted out, Lucas's voice seemed to be fading and she swore she could see the air move. Her focus diverted to the person in front of her - she knew those eyes anywhere in the world. The pounding of her heart seemed to be louder to the point she thought everyone could hear how hard it was beating, even the gushing of her blood seemed to ring her in her ear. Was she really insane now? Were her eyes playing tricks on her? 

She was about to open when the opposite person spoke first, the words startling her even more.

"Holy , Jieun? Is that you?"