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Her dream was cut short by the vibrating phone somewhere near her elbow.  She fell asleep while reading the book that her professor assigned to them.  She had read it already even her professor’s assignment but she had to read again in case she had missed some details. 

It was Jessica, her best friend since kindergarten.  “Hello.”

“He’s back!” Jessica yelled at the other side of the phone.  “Yuri, he’s back!”

Wait.  Back?  Who’s back?  She froze.  He’s back.

How many years has it been? Two years.  It felt like forever.  Maybe because she has been waiting for him to come home. 

“So?” she asked wanting to make her friend realize that she is not as crazy for him as she was back then.  She’s twenty now and she earned herself some respect when he was away.

“Oh.  Well, I thought you’d be thrilled since you know…”  She could hear the disappointment in her voice.  Jessica dreamed of having her as a sister and the thought of her ending up with her cousin, suited well with it.  “Anyway, they’re a throwing a party tonight, a welcome party.  Aunt Rin wanted you to come.  And of course, I wanted to see you there later.  I know you won’t disappoint us.  Bye!”

She stared at her phone and blinked.  He’s back.

She stood up and went to her closet immediately and went through her clothes.  She bought a nice dress last week and it would be perfect for tonight.  She took out some dress feeling the excitement build up as she picked out more. 

“He won’t like you.” 

It rang in her head.  She dreamed about it.  The night she was going to confess to him.  Her shoulders fell and let the floral dress in her hands fall off.  What’s the use of dressing up when he clearly didn’t even think of her that much?

A lone painting at the corner of her room caught her eye.  She made it.  She thought of giving it to him when he was still in the army.  It was a painting of a woman waiting in a balcony.  The wind was blowing and she looked cold yet she was still waiting.  Waiting with a hopeful smile in her face.

Just like her.

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“Yuri!”  She turned to see Jessica waving at her.  She was glad that Jessica was the one who saw her first in the party.  The Jung’s yard was filled with people; some of them, she knew since she had been the family’s friend through Jessica.

“I see you really went here to welcome home our hero.”  Jessica whispered as she kissed her.

“I’ve made it months ago,” she said and tried to hide the painting behind her. Jessica laughed.

“I meant your dress.  Come on and say hi to Aunt Rin.”  She led her further inside the house.  She actually wore nothing special.  It was a black dress that she wore for their sorority’s acquaintance party.  It was nothing special except that it fits her like a second skin.

She was welcomed by the Jungs with hugs and kisses.  The Jungs have big and close-knit family.  She exchanged some pleasantries with Jessica’s father, aunts and uncles.  There were so many of them and she knew all of them like she really belonged to the family.

“Go and say hi to him.  He’s outside talking to Junsu,” Jessica’s Aunt Rin said.  She half pushed Yuri to the door saying that she should look for him.

She went outside with her painting in hand.  The dim light was not helping her as she had to pass by unwanted acquaintances.  Then she saw him.  He was near the pool with a drink in hand talking animatedly to some girl.  The girl was dressed in a metallic dress and was laughing enthusiastically at whatever he was saying.  Of course, he was never really without a girl.  He spotted Junsu somewhere huddled with Jaejoong, Changmin and Yoochun.  They were probably bullying the dolphin again.  She turned to take her leave.  She was just going to give the painting the next time they see each other.

“Yuri!”  Everybody loves yelling her name.

She turned again and saw him waving at her, a big bright smile plastered on his face.  She could see the girl he was talking to a while ago and she was not very pleased.  She didn’t care because he was walking straight to her.  His arms are outstretched as if waiting for her to come running into them.  She was just rooted on her spot.

He hugged her.  It was very tight that she couldn’t almost breathe but she was not bothered by it.  “Kwon Yuri, I missed you.” 

It was a moment that she will never ever forget.  Along with the night he broke her heart.  How many times did she imagine this?  She never knew how it was to have his arms wrapped around her or him talking to her in such an intimate tone.  But she does now.  It was heart-warming and something she never imagined.

“Yunho oppa.”  It was all that she had managed to say.

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He was looking at the painting she brought with a very pleased expression.  Apparently she was the first one to give him a painting.  He couldn’t stop looking at it.

“Tell me the story of the girl.”   She looked at him.  He seemed genuinely interested with the painting.

“She is waiting.  No matter hard it is for to her to wait, even her happiness is not guaranteed, she is still waiting.  She is ready to endure her loneliness because it would surely come.” 

“So that’s how you waited for me?” Yunho asked still staring at the painting as if he was trying to figure it out.  She couldn’t tell if he was just joking or what.  He turned to her, smiling foolishly.  “I said, that’s how you waited for me?”

She was standing near the third year classrooms alone.  She was waiting for someone.  She was waiting for Jung Yunho.  She wanted to tell him that she liked him more than a brother or a cousin before he graduate.  She was willing to risk this chance.  It’s the only time that she has the courage to do it so.

The third year students flocked out of their rooms and it was hard to see where Yunho was with the tall guys walking.  She waited and waited until the students thinned out.  Then she saw Jaejoong.  He was one of Yunho’s best friends and they know each other so he stopped to talk to her.  He liked Jaejoong because he was always approachable despite the attention he was attracting all the time.

When Jaejoong went ahead, that was when she saw Yunho walking towards her with a serious face.  He seemed really angry or something.   She took a risk.

“Oppa, I need to tell you something.”  He was willing to listen but she guessed it was just a bad timing and she didn’t know where to start.  “You see I like this oppa…”