Three years ago, my father suddenly made an announcement that my family would move to South Korea. He said he got a promotion in the company he worked for, but the promotion required him to move to South Korea. I still remember that my brother and sister disagree with father. It was to be expected, since they were already a university students. Me, on the other hand, didn’t have any choice but to follow my father’s decision. So, the three members of our family came here, to South Korea.

I couldn’t speak Korean back then. Even now, I admit that I’m not really good at it. My parents decided to let me study in Japanese school, so I wouldn’t get any problem to follow the lesson.

One day, my family was invited to the house of my father’s superior for a party. My father was told to bring me since his superior is also having a daughter around my age, hoping that the two of us could be friend. I was reluctant at first, since I didn’t think I’d be able to talk with her because of the language barrier.

She was standing there, between her parents to greet our family in their residence. For the first time, I learned about her name, “Kim Chaewon”. Although her attire was somewhat androgynous that day, everyone could tell that she was stunningly beautiful, fitted with a word “princess” nicely. Her face was really small, something that was considered as a beauty in my home country. She got a slender and tall figure, a feature that would make every girl envy her.

As she greeted me, I could hear her angelic voice, contrast with the outfit she wore that day. Maybe that time, I was struck by her beauty. That very moment I decided that I wanted to be closer to her... to be her friend, or even something beyond that.

During the party, Chaewon stayed with me all the time as our parents went somewhere. Maybe because of the language barrier, she didn’t talk much to me. Still, she really stayed with me, occasionally offering me with some dishes or drinks. Our first meeting was awkward, but nevertheless, it made me happy.

The second time we met was during company’s family gathering. At that time, my Korean was already getting better, so I thought that I could engage in a conversation with her more.

She’d kindly fix and responded to my broken Korean. But somehow, I noticed that she wasn’t really someone that talk much. I also noticed that she was confused when she called my name. Instead of “Hitomi”, she would call me “Hitoma”. I don’t even think that there’s any Japanese with that name.

So I told her to call me “Hiichan” instead, a nickname from my friends back in Japan that I like very much. As she called me that with her beautiful voice, I thought my heart skipped a beat that time.

Every time we met each other, I thought we were getting closer. At first, she would just show me the stoic expression of her, but as time goes by, she started to smile often. Her cousin, Kang Hyewon, even for smiling too much.

At that time, I thought I was someone special in Chaewon’s eyes. Hyewon once said that Chaewon didn’t have many friends and she was grateful that I could be friend with Chaewon. Maybe I wasn’t aware about my own feeling that time, but I did feel that I was attracted to her. I thought that it’d be great if I could be the source of her smiling face, the source of her happiness.

Our last encounter was during a small party held in her house, commemorating her high school graduation. That time, it was also announced that she’d start living alone, to make her more independent. This means it’d be harder for us to meet with each other, since she’d likely not joining any event her family or the company had organized. She would also be busy as a university student.

I couldn’t hide my sadness that time, and it seemed that she noticed it too. I remember that she told me that she’d make some time for me. But, words are just a words. She tried to fulfill her promise, but I was busy in my third year of high school. I studied a lot so I could enter a prestigious university here, making me unable to spare a time to meet her. Months passed, and our contact with each other became less frequent, before being cut completely right before Christmas.

Then I became a university student, in one of the best university in South Korea. I was surprised that I met Yabuki Nako, someone who was also from the Japanese school. We’re belong in the same department, what a coincidence! We became close in no time, maybe because both of us are Japanese.

And today, almost one year since my last contact with Chaewon, Yabuki would introduce me to her Korean friends. She told me to come to the Department of Humanities’ cafeteria. As an outsider, I didn’t know where the cafeteria was, so I was lost.

Then, I heard a familiar voice calling for my nickname from behind. As I turned back, I saw the one that I really missed all this time. It was her, Kim Chaewon, approaching me.

I told her that I was lost during my way to the cafeteria. She offered herself to accompany me to the cafeteria, something that I think she’d certainly do. During our way to the cafeteria, she apologized for not being able to fulfill her promise. I also apologized at her, since I knew that the fault was in me.

I quickly noticed Yabuki when both of us arrived at the cafeteria. She was with her two friends, the people she’d introduce to me. When we arrived at their table, Chaewon called one of Yabuki’s friend. The girl Chaewon called was gorgeous. Her beauty was on a whole different level, even could be compared with those models and actress appeared on the television. The girl looked embarrassed when Chaewon called her. I wonder, what kind of relation the two of them had. Chaewon quickly left us as her phone rang.

Yabuki asked me about my relation to her. She seemed to know Chaewon as well, but she showed her uneasiness towards the latter. I was sure her negative thought about Chaewon must be caused by a misunderstanding. So I told her, that Chaewon might be awkward, but nevertheless a nice person.

The two Koreans who were sitting in front of me are Jo Yuri and Kim Minjoo. Kim Minjoo was the one seemed to be Chaewon’s acquaintance. From the way she speaks, I know that she must be someone shy.

We were talking about our basic information such as hobby and favorite things, when Minjoo’s phone rang. She quickly opened her phone. After that, she grabbed her bag and prepare herself to go somewhere. Yuri asked where was she going, but Minjoo just answered it that Chaewon had called her.

Yuri let out a chuckle, amused about something. A sentence escaped from , saying them as a newly-wed couple. I blinked my eyes, unsure about what she had said.

Then, Yabuki said it to me,

“They’re dating.”

That very moment, I could feel my heart was crumbling down into pieces.

-

A/N: This conclude the second chapter. The first two chapters are revolving around Chaewon. Nako’s resentment and Hitomi’s feeling towards Kim Chaewon... I wonder what will bloom between the two girls that are holding an entire different feeling towards one person?

*Edit*

Also back in "Everything", there was a sentence, "it's been a while since the last time Chaewon felt this happy."
Guess who was the one that made her happy before Minjoo? :P