[CONTENTID1]25.[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]California, 2014[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

And my love for you is like sand,

It’s slipping out of my hands

And neither I can hold on, nor can I let it go.

-Tanya Vatsa (@theboyshenevernoticed)-

[/CONTENTID3]

[CONTENTID4]

It takes a lot of courage for Baekhyun to fly alone to this foreign country. It is really scary because he only speaks limited English and the risk of getting caught by the fans or paparazzi are high. But he just can’t stay like this anymore. He needs to see Jihye. He just misses her like crazy and it’s enough to make him build up his courage to come to her. Jihye hasn’t contacted him for more than five months and the more he waits, the more he becomes a mess. But at least Jihye also hasn’t contacted Sehun or Jongin or anyone else ever since she left. So he can assume that she doesn’t specifically avoid him. 

When he tells the boys that he’ll go to California, everyone scolds him; especially Joonmyeon. Sehun doesn’t say a word and leaves. Even if this is a stupid decision, he feels like he’ll regret it more if he lets her drift away from him like this. It never crosses his mind that she’ll disappear like that.

Now that he plops himself on the fluffy hotel bed, he realizes how all these trips of finding his princess are purely because of his fear of losing her forever. “Baekhyun you idiot.” He mumbles to himself. His mind keeps racing with the scenario of their meeting. How will it be? Will she welcome him with her beautiful smile and warm hug or will she get angry at him?

Hundreds of the possibilities run through his mind as he finally drifts off to the dreamland.

***

*Bold Text is a conversation in English

“Yo princess! Whacha doing there honey?” 

“Err… I’m eating?”

One thing she hates the most in her new college is this red-haired boy who always seems to be everywhere she goes and calls her with so many pet names. Takahashi Ryuto or Allen is a boy with the same major as her and has been intent on clinging to her. Allen is a super strange boy. He has this strong interest in the world of makeup and hair styling. The reason why he chooses her as his college best friend is solely because he loves her hair. It’s smooth, silky and healthy, he said.

So after he said that, she just has that strong urge to dye her hair only to make him go away. So the next day, Jihye goes to college with her hair bleached white and the look of horror in Allen's face will forever be engraved in her mind. Well, she feels bad actually. In the end, Jihye quite enjoys Allen's bright company. It helps her forget all the bad things. 

“Say sweetie, I heard from Louis and Maggie that there’s this cute Asian boy who is asking around for you. One of your friends or lover maybe?” 

The piece of information she receives from Allen makes her heart almost stop. Cute Asian boy? It’s not Baekhyun, isn’t it? “Sweetheart? Are you okay?” What if it’s Baekhyun? Jihye quickly stands up from her seat and runs out from the cafeteria. She runs to the entrance of her faculty and looks around for him wildly. She doesn’t even know where he is; fool of her not to ask Allen.

Then she notices a boy with a familiar black jacket who is sitting on one of the benches. Her breath hitch. She really wants to run to him, hug him tight and never let go. But her legs just won’t move and her hands trembled. What is he doing here? What if he gets caught? Is it okay for her to just run to him? 

Jihye is contemplating to just run away and pretend that she doesn’t see him but at that moment, Baekhyun looks up and their eyes meet. His lips parted in surprise and his eyes blinked in confusion. Baekhyun stands from the bench and slowly walks towards her. “Ji-Jihye?” 

“Jihye Darling! You forgot your bag!” 

Jihye froze on the spot as she heard Allen call her in his usual way. She notices how Baekhyun's face looks at her and Allen with horror clearly painted on his face. “Oh, he’s your acquaintance?” Allen who now stands beside her asks innocently. Now she remembers why she hates this boy in the first place. “You and your wonderful timing Ryuu.” Jihye hisses to this clueless redhead. She forcefully takes her bag from Allen’s hand then grabs Baekhyun’s wrist and pulls him away to somewhere less crowded. 

He must surely misunderstand the whole situation. And she needs to pull him away right that instant before he makes a commotion. Jihye stops when they arrive in a park behind the library. Usually there are so many people in this area but because it's class time, almost no one occupies the park. 

“Ji-ah I-”

“What are you doing here?”

Baekhyun froze at her question. Jihye can see how he opens his lips only to close it again. To be honest, she misses him so much. But she is just mad at him because he is so reckless. How can he just come here like this? He just makes it harder to let go.

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