Once upon a time, Kim Sung Gyu fell in love with a girl who believed in second chances. Her name was of the fall although she had the brilliance of warmest summers, although she stole his heart in a spring. She had an extraordinary amount of positive energy that could bloom million flowers; that could light up the entire sky. She was a girl who never believed in failure. One fall off the bicycle was a chance to dust her knees off and try to ride it again, one failed test was just a god given opportunity to study harder, work better, one rejected confession was to love harder, love better, follow wherever her heart’s calling happened to be. He’d seen her fall, only to climb back and smile and never accept defeat but try again. She’d seen him fall, only for her to not let him accept defeat himself. She had chosen to love him despite everything; warmly, intensely, beautifully. And for that, he loved her more.

When he finally kissed her, after so many years, he found himself being carried back in time. He remembered the humidity in the wind from that day, the sound of creaking swings and kids’s laughter, the dust on their skin and in his eyes. He remembered the feel of her hair running between his fingers and that sweet fruity scent of her skin. He remembered her soft gasp, the sound of her uneven breath, the delicate lashes of her eyes as she kept them closed the entire time. She wasn’t much different from back then tonight; the feel of her lips, the sound of her breath and her hair in his fingers felt exactly the same. Instead of the sweet fruity scent, her skin smelt more like himself, and most importantly, instead of remaining frozen in response, Gaeil sincerely reacted to him, kissing him back matching the same intensity as himself. Time seemed to have stopped for a while; the entire world around them nothing but a blur. It felt like forever before he finally pulled away. By then, their arrangement had shifted completely, and somehow they stood somewhere in between friends and lovers, that thin line slowly beginning to disperse. Gaeul gazed up at him, and he thought he saw his whole world within her eyes. She ran her hands up his chest, caressed his cheek gently with her knuckles and smiled.

Sung Gyu didn’t realise that he’d been holding his breath the entire time.

“That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” She asked him, her voice trembling slightly as the door remained open, allowing the cold air inside.

“You totally fooled me into this” He whispered in response.

Gaeul’s fingers danced lazily upon his neck, cold against his warm skin. “Did it work?”

“I guess it did”

“Hmm” Gaeul put her arms around his neck, and elevating herself on her toes, she peppered him with little butterfly kisses. 

“You’re cold” She muttered in between.

“That’s because you left the door open”

Gaeul just laughed in response as she continued to hold onto him. His arms naturally wrapped around her waist, holding her in place. Everything felt natural for him; the curve of her waist beneath his palms, the feel of her lips, the warmth of her skin. He couldn’t understand now why he’d feared this all just a few minutes ago. She was right, it was so easy. They just had to acknowledge what they felt as they’ve already been in this frame since they were thirteen. The transition, simply, was keeping one step ahead.

“Were you really going to leave just now?” He asked her when she moved away.

“Before you kissed me?”

His cheeks warmed up upon her bluntness, yet he nodded in response.

She laughed, shaking her head. “I’m a lot of things but not dumb, Sung Gyu”

Sung Gyu stared at her in return. “But-,”

“I knew you’d come around” She said. Her voice had become gentler, perhaps more sincere than before. When she gazed up at him, he felt that warmth, that comfort beckoning him, engulfing him in her embrace. Perhaps, there was a lot more to it than he imagined, in her feelings for him, in what this new arrangement had to offer. Perhaps it wasn’t something brief and delicate as he had always imagined. Perhaps it was a connection that would keep grounded and protected than ever before.

“Sung Gyu…” She moved towards him, closing the brief gap between them. She took his face in between her palms, and Sung Gyu found himself melting upon her touch. “I understand how you feel, and I don’t blame you…” She sighed, caressing his cheeks. “It’s been really hard, hasn’t it? You’ve gone through so much. I’m sorry...for not understanding you, for not seeing it clearly. But I also want to tell you how incredibly proud I am for how far you’ve come…”

“Gaeul…” He muttered, feeling a tight knot in his throat. She smiled at him the gentlest, moved in and brushed her lips past his own.

“You have survived, no matter how difficult it has been. I can’t even imagine myself…” She trailed off, pressed her lips together and shook her head. “...I think...I think what I’m trying to tell you is that you don’t have to do this alone anymore. You don’t have to battle it alone. You will do it with me. You lost Spring’s song? Fine, let’s write another. You’ve lost all hope? It’s okay...let's find hope again...together…”

She sobbed loudly, her eyes gleaming like stars, “Do you understand what I mean?”

Sung Gyu nodded, unable to find a word in response. Perhaps he’d been wrong the entire time. Accepting the truth wouldn’t have hurt them. Accepting the truth probably wouldn’t result in them drifting apart. Sung Gyu was still unconvinced for the most part, still terrified beyond words. But one thing was slowly starting to get clearer; that he was somehow willing to give it a chance.

It was her who moved in first when they kissed again. She was gentle, so soft; a kiss that felt so much as a promise to him. It was the kind of a kiss that gave him hope, the kind of a kiss which spoke in multitudes, everything that she couldn’t possibly put into words. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her fingers entangled in his hair, breathing him in. He held her closer, feeling every inch of her being as they melded into each other; it felt as if they'd been puzzle pieces, aimlessly floating about until tonight when they finally fell in place.

He managed to finally close the front door as it let too  much cold air inside and held her trapped against it and himself. Their intimate moment had naturally intensified, and he was beginning to see her in a different light. Soon, he was acutely aware of the taste of her lips, her fingers leaving a warm trail across his skin. He breathed in his own cologne off her which he found to be strangely attractive. When he kissed her again, it was stronger and bolder than ever before. He hadn’t even realised it that he’d lifted her off her feet.

“That was…” She muttered breathlessly as he moved away. She ran her fingers down the side of his face, down his neck, lingered on his collar a little longer. Sung Gyu tested their boundaries at that moment, moved closer and kissed her long on her neck. 

Soon, they were shifting themselves to his beat old sofa, picking up from right where they stopped. They kissed, they hugged, they held each other; they felt each other's skin boldly, unhesitantly, completely aware of the direction they were heading. At some point Gaeul had him trapped underneath her, kissing him slowly, her lips tracing his skin. He closed his eyes, reveled in her touch as his own desire raised in multitudes.

She pulled away from him, all of a sudden, as his hands fell away from her waist beneath her clothes .

“What?” he gasped. He realised that they haven’t spoken a word all the while, and suddenly he doubted if this was the point where they stopped.

Yet Gaeul didn’t fail to surprise him again. She, without a word, reached for her phone that was lying on the coffee table behind, and he stared at her, confused, as her face lightened up by its screen. 

“Eleven fifty eight” She mumbled to herself and tossed the phone back to where it was.

“Huh?” 

Gaeul took his face in both her hands and smiled before kissing him again. “Happy Birthday, Kim Sung Gyu” She whispered then, his lips in sync with hers. “And congratulations; you’re getting laid tonight”

Before he could even say anything in response, Gaeul moved back, her feet still trapping him underneath, reached for the hem of her sweater and pulled it over her head.

And that was the moment, he realised, as their night indefinitely took a completely unexpected turn that their arrangement had altered its shape forever. 

It was somewhere past five in the morning when the sun began to rise. Days were longer in the spring, and the sun stayed out for too long. The start of the day was always dull, with the sky remaining a shade of lavender as the rest of the world took time to stir alive. Outside, through the parted curtains, Sung Gyu could see the uninvited tenant cat walking along the short wall, stretching its limbs. It had rained again; the cool air still smelled like damp earth and cherry blossoms. If it was any other day, Sung Gyu would have turned over, thrown his quilt over his head and gone back to sleep. But today, everything was different. Today, Sung Gyu had the love of his life snuggly lying in his arms.

He had laid awake for a while, watching the sun rise, watching as the dusk turned into dawn. The whole time, his mind hadn’t been in peace. He found himself thinking about so many things. He thought of himself, he thought of her, he thought of themselves, of how things have changed, of where they were now. He thought of the Spring’s Song, of sand castles, of his lost dream that he was certain he would never live again. He thought of what he had become now, and what direction his life would take him. Things were going to be different from this point, he knew. Thinking back to the events of the previous night, Sung Gyu eventually came to accept that things weren’t exactly how he thought them to be. The world didn’t despise him, and Spring’s Song hadn’t been only his all along. His life hadn’t stopped at any point, and most importantly, he was ready, more than ever, to love Kim Gaeul, with every single breath he had.

She was sound asleep in his arms, her skin warm upon his own, their feet tangled together, her hair spread out behind her and his fingers gently threading through them, deep in thought. 

“Sung Gyu…?” Gaeul’s voice called him out huskily at some point, and he glanced down with a smile.

“Hm?”

“Aren’t you sleeping?”

He sighed. “I’m thinking…”

She appeared mildly interested as she narrowed her eyes at him. “About?”

Sung Gyu hesitated for a moment, staring up at the mismatched patterns on his roof. “I think I want to give it a try”

“A try?” She blinked. “At what?”

“Us” He told her, turned to his side and cradled her in his arms. “I want to give us a try”

Gaeul, for a moment, appeared confused. “Haven’t we already?”

He looked down at her hand which had s up to lay on his chest and he smiled. “Well, I guess we have”

“Come here, you’re being ridiculous” She mumbled sleepily, moved closer and snuggled further into his chest. Her hand patted gently on his arm, gradually drifting away. “Sleep...sleep now”

That morning for the first time in years, Sung Gyu saw Gaeul in broad daylight for real. He saw the light tan on her skin, the little scars, edges and contours, the tiny imperfections that he had never seen on her before. Her hair wasn’t just black as he’d seen earlier.  It glowed a little in crimson towards the end. Her lashes were long, curled delicately upon the apples of her cheeks. Even as she slept, not a smile on her lips, a little depression had formed above her cheeks. For the first time in years, Kim Sung Gyu was seeing the love of his life in broad daylight, and he couldn’t possibly love her more.

“Is this how you look when you sleep?” Sung Gyu found himself muttering, mostly to himself, as he ran his hand through her hair, but she responded by looking at him, opening just one eye. “So pretty” He told her without hesitating once. 

Gaeul opened both her eyes, stared at him for the longest time, and then, without even a warning she burst out in laughter, burying her face in his chest.

When he gazed down at her, what Sunggyu came to realize was that Gaeul was the exact embodiment of the spring. She was cherry petals in the spring, delicate and beautiful, she was their scent in the breeze. She was raindrops and dew on edges of leaves; she was of beauty and new beginnings, she was the start of something beautiful, and despite being named after the wrong season, Spring’s Songs couldn’t have been more befitting for her.

“You know what?” So Sunggyu started as her laughter morphed into quietness.

“Hm?” She sleepily lifted her head.

“It isn’t mine. Spring’s song, I mean”

“It isn’t?” Gaeul returned, appearing surprised. 

“It isn’t” Sunggyu nodded, running his hand through her hair. 

“But why?” She pushed on, widening her eyes. Seeing her expression, Sung Gyu imagined that she was convinced of something along the line of plagiarism. He couldn’t help the smile forming on his lips.

“Because Gaeul, it’s yours. I wrote it for you” He told her before she could foster her wrong idea.

“For me?” She echoed incredulously. 

“For you”

“But why?”

Sunggyu smiled and lied back, contemplating the reason himself. “I don’t know, I just did” He laughed, turned to face her and rubbed his nose against hers. She was cold despite having been under the sheets for long. “You really ask too many questions”

Gaeul scoffed and mockingly pushed him away from her. “What the hell, I honestly thought you were taking credit for someone’s work here”

Sung Gyu burst out in laughter. “I thought you would”

Silence ensued for a moment afterwards, and outside he could hear the mingle of the city; people were finally stepping out of their warm cocoons, heading to work, to school; behind their sombre faces hiding so many dreams. Just like himself, there were many musicians residing in this street. There was a pair of brothers who were usually seen traversing the road, taking the steps up to their apartment with guitars hung on their backs. Somewhere to the east of their block was a girl who always sang her lungs out from the balcony or the rooftop, which was often heard on lazy weekend evenings. Sung Gyu, felt comfortable in their presence, as he too belonged in that world. That morning, as Gaeul lied warmly in his embrace, he listened to the sound of his world coming alive, his hand drawing odd patterns on her back.

Gaeul’s hand was on his chest, playing with his fingers, drifting in and out of sleep.

“This ring” She said, her fingers tracing the chrome band on his own. “I can’t believe you’re still wearing it”

“And I can’t believe that you’re not” He replied, glancing down at her. 

She was quiet for a moment, her eyes closed, perhaps, lost in her own thoughts. Her hand tightened around his own, and Gaeul let out a heavy sigh.

“I put it away” she said, and when he glanced at her as something heavy settled in his heart, he saw her gazing up at the roof above. “It’s...it’s been a while” There was a small, regretful chuckle before she finally turned to him. “There weren’t many reasons, really...it’s just…”

Sung Gyu remained quiet, allowing her to continue. “Well…” She sighed again, looked up at him and gave him a sad little smile. “For some reason, it gave me hope...about so many things. And these hopes sometimes felt...superficial, you know. There was this time we were apart? Back then, I remember, I had so many thoughts about you. You filled my mind. And the ring just gave them meaning and somewhat unrealistic expectations…”

Sung gyu’s hand was caressing her arm, slowly, lovingly. She turned her head, towards him and he kissed her gently on her head. They were slowly easing into it, talking about things that they never wanted to talk about.

“Unrealistic expectations about what?” Sung Gyu finally asked her.

“About us” She replied. “I know it sounds quite silly...given that we’re here now. But there was a point where I thought that we would never meet again. That we’d finally give up on what we were doing…”

Sung Gyu felt a heavy weight in his heart, for he had felt the same for very long . As time passed and their lives changed, their parting appeared almost inevitable. Their paths have diverted by then, as they both became completely different people, pursuing completely different dreams. As supportive as they tried to be for one another, it was evident that their individual interests were different, that there was hardly anything that connected them to each other except for their friendship and the need to have it going. Sung Gyu, even then, was still deeply in love with her, despite their contradictory lives. He used to live in a bigger apartment, riding off his new found popularity, a completely different life. There had been times, he wouldn’t deny, that Gaeul did feel incredibly far away. He’d felt like she no longer belonged there. There just wasn’t a spot big enough to fit her in, in this new life he had. Sung Gyu hated that he probably had her, back then for his convenience, despite loving her, as a comfort to run to. But it did increasingly change when all he had to depend on was her.

And he was glad, beyond words, that he had held onto that tiny string of hope, not once letting their relationship go for that whole time.

“Would you have given up?” Sung Gyu asked her, more of an afterthought to his own train of contemplations.

Gaeul took a while to mull over her response. “I might have…” She sighed. “...if it got too difficult. I don’t remember much from that time, except that that time was really hard for me, and you just felt so far away. But I still had these strange thoughts of the day when we’d finally meet in person, how the meeting would be, what we would tell each other...then I’d feel that they’d never happen…”

“Unrealistic expectations” He muttered and kissed her on her shoulder.

“Hmm”

“But it did happen,” Sung Gyu said, now slightly moving away. “Was it anything like what you imagined?”

Her eyes, once again, seemed to lighten up. “I thought you’d see me at the airport” She mused gleefully. “Waiting with a bunch of roses and a board that said my name...but then you’d mistake me for somebody else, and you’d sweep them off their feet and kiss them, all the while I watched you from the sidelines, you embarrassing yourself”

Sung Gyu realised that he’d been mentally picturing the entire scenario in his mind.

“No” he laughed. “But that would have been fun”

“Which part?”

“Kissing a random girl part”

She pouted and smacked him on his chest.

“But really…” She continued after a while, her hand mindlessly caressing him. “What if we did drift apart somehow? What if we became strangers? Not be there for each other again? That’s what scared me the most. I don’t know what changed and how we found each other again, but I’m-,”

“Hey” Sung Gyu interrupted her, stopping her in her thoughts. His hand reached for hers that laid on his chest and he tangled their fingers together, like a quiet little promise. “Gaeul...things happen, people change...even right now everything is uncertain; but we’re here tonight, isn’t it?”

“We are” She smiled.

“And that’s what matters” Sung Gyu replied, pulling her closer to him. He kissed her temple, closed his eyes as her gentle warmth enclosed him. He wished he could hold her like this forever, as long their lives last. He didn’t know how long that would be, or how long it was until she had to leave, until they parted ways again. But he did know that he still had tonight, this moment, to kiss her, hold her, love her. And Sung gyu couldn’t possibly ask for more.

“You can find the ring again” Sung Gyu told her after a while as their silence lasted for too long. “They’re probably not unrealistic expectations anymore”

“It’s in Canada” Gaeul muttered, her voice muffled against him.

He sighed heavily, closing his eyes as the morning sun landed point blank upon him. 

“Never mind, doesn’t matter…”

“We can get a new pair” She suggested helpfully.

“It isn’t the same”

There was silence.

“I can wear it when I get back”

Sung Gyu slowly pulled away. “Would you?”

“I will...and I will come back for you too, so the rings can reunite like we would”

Sung Gyu scoffed in response. “That’s stupid”

“But you love me” Gaeul muttered, her voice doused with sleep.

“You’re right” Sung Gyu agreed, smiling to himself. “I do”

They drifted back into sleep that morning, and for the first time in a while, he had a dream. He dreamed of himself, of Gaeul, of how their fateful meeting after nineteen years should have been. Of himself carrying flowers and kissing a girl; but only, the girl was still her. Likewise, Sung Gyu and Gaeul had three more nights together at a stretch. Gaeul checked out from her hotel in Gangnam and moved into his stuffy old apartment for the time being. While they stayed together, Sung Gyu taught her how to make his infamous abalone ramyun and how to put some decent bibimbap together. He took her for spicy jampyeong and proved himself wrong when he too ultimately had tears in his eyes. They travelled around in Seoul during the day, walked the busy streets hand in hand, telling tales and laughing and at times sharing an odd little kiss when nobody was watching. One night, they visited the infamous roses in Dongdaemun, another they put up a love lock in Namsan tower which he thought was silly and superfluous. That night, they returned home and had bear bombs on the rooftop until it started to drizzle again; it was raining so hard by the time they got down, and they were laughing and holding hands. He looked at her, held her face, saw stars in her eyes and thought; this is life. He then kissed her, tenderly, lovingly under the cloudburst and tasted rain on her lips.

They made love afterwards, and he sang that he loved her in her ears later on. They sat together among the covers, holding each other and watched the rain  flooding Sung Gyu’s muddy little garden as they talked about life. They woke up with a bad cold the next day, but that was fine. Because for the first time ever, he found Gaeul cooking in the kitchen, burning eggs and spilling coffee and everything; and something more.

He had just exited the shower, his hair still damp and nose a little runny, a towel resting on his shoulders when he heard his phone ringing incessantly on his nightstand. He had to remove a few articles of cloth to find it under the mess, and when he did, it was a number that he couldn’t recognise.

He didn’t get many calls these days; except for his distraught mother, Gaeul or a few other friends. He allowed the phone to ring for a few minutes, allowed it to die down and was duly surprised when it started ringing again, displaying the same number. If it was once, it could have been a mistake. But seeing that it was ringing once more-,

Sung Gyu picked up the call, held it to his ear and held his breath.

A heavy weight laid on his shoulders, and was lifted and soon he felt weightless like he was about to fly again. His hand gripped the phone tightly in his hand, trying to absorb the words into his mind. It didn’t sound real, not at all. But strangely, it actually was.

“This is from Space Bohemian, we’re an entertainment agency” The deep yet pleasant voice spoke from the other end. Sung Gyu’s hand started to tremble; from surprise or excitement, he couldn’t tell.

“Is this Kim Sung Gyu we’re speaking to?”

“It-it is me” Sung Gyu stammered in response.

“Well…” The voice from the other end started, and as Sung Gyu listened quietly, his feet almost giving away underneath, they told him about the most outrageous, the most unbelievable tale that he had ever heard. 

They say that life was like a series of moments strung together like a bead of strings. It wouldn’t be complete with one less of a bead, they say. The beads would complete the string; likewise, moments, good or bad, were what made life, life.

When Sung Gyu sang one song that had changed his life that night, he hadn’t expected yet another whirlwind. The first time, Spring’s song had swept him off his feet, put him on the top of the world, let him for once live his dream. It became his lifeline, the reason and meaning behind his whole being. He thought that one song defined him, made him the person that he had become. When Sung Gyu lost it, naturally, his entire life fell apart. It was like a glass structure, built upon a foundation that he’d thought was steady, only until it was pulled out from right beneath his feet. The glass structure had collapsed, destroying him, trapping him underneath. Yet not once, did he think that it would come to rescue him again.

Sung Gyu walked out of his bedroom, his phone in his hand, feeling like a different person altogether. He felt like he was born again, floating two feet off the ground. His house seemed awfully bright, cherry blossoms a tad more pinker than he remembered. Even the champagne fur of the cat that never paid rent appeared strangely breathtaking. Sung Gyu had opened his eyes to a new life.

And amidst of it all was Gaeul, wasting the remainder of the grocery he had, an ethereal being that made the impossible possible in his life.

“Gaeul” And so he called her.

“Hm?” She turned around. She was in yet another one of his hoodies, only the hoodie, and she had a spatula in one hand. The whole kitchen smelled like burnt egg, but that didn’t even matter.

“Is everything okay?” She asked him, taking a step forward, concerned. “You look a little pale”

“No,” he simply replied.

“No?” She reiterated worriedly.

He lifted his phone in the air. “I...I just got a call from somebody…”

“And?” She prodded on.

“It’s an entertainment agency,” he continued.

Gaeul was speechless for a moment. She could only call his name.

“And they wanted me to sign with them”

“What?”

He couldn’t blame the surprise in her voice. He couldn’t believe it himself. He recalled the story that he’d been told, what had led them to this moment where they actually wanted to sign him in; without auditions, without demos and training and everything that entailed. 

“They want me to sign with them, Gaeul...an exclusive contract, right away” His voice was breaking and there were tears in his eyes.

“But...how? Did you send a demo?”

Sung Gyu shook his head.

“Then?”

He took a step forward, picked up his phone and loaded the video that he’d been sent. Sung Gyu himself didn’t know that it existed, but it did. It was a recording from the day he last sang Spring’s Song on his birthday with the indie band with a ridiculous name and Gaeul tunelessly dancing along. He could vividly remember that night; it hadn’t been long since then. Strange how life could change in a matter of minutes. Many days before that night, he wouldn’t have met Gaeul again, they wouldn’t have done this together, they wouldn’t have loved. But now…

“Oh….” Gaeul raised her hands as if she could hold the virtual moment in her hands. “Oh my god...Sung Gyu…” She lifted her head and stared at him for a second. Then much to his surprise, she let out an excited little scream and ran right into his arms.

“Oh god, oh my god, I’m so happy”

Sung Gyu gathered her into his arms and swept her right off her feet. She was a gentle weight, her eyes shining, her words incoherent as she exclaimed her excitement. He twirled her around, and she was laughing, her arms were around him, and for once, he was on the top of the world again.

“I can’t believe it” She said breathlessly as he set her on the ground again. “Did they really want to sign you because of that? Because of the video?”

“Beats me” He sighed, putting his hands on his hips. He recalled the conversation that they had which sounded nothing but ridiculous and surreal. He had heard many stories of idols who were scouted in unlikely circumstances. But he was not a new and upcoming singer. He was a washed up idol, someone who had failed a first attempt and discarded. How could a measly street performance of someone like himself catch the attention of an entire agency.

“There are nearly million views, Sung Gyu” Gaeul told him. He didn’t even realise that she’d snatched the phone from his hands. The quiet house was filled with the audio of him singing, the band playing and the flamboyant cheers of the crowd. It was titled; ‘Kim Sung Gyu takes the stage again, one last time’

It was the truth. When he terminated the contract, he didn’t even have a farewell performance. He had signed off the papers, taken one last glance at the room he’d practiced in, written songs in, recorded in, had his endless supply of instant coffee on long, sleepless nights. He had said goodbye to them quietly, reminisced how he’d never see them again. But now, that all seemed so far away. He had folded an all new chapter in life.

“How...how was it possible?” Sung Gyu asked, more from himself. “I mean, it’s-it wasn’t even a great performance-,”

“Miracle” Gaeul said, interrupting him. He was standing against the kitchen cabinet, and so she stepped forward and trapped him between the cabinet and herself. “But they don’t exist” She smiled.

Sung Gyu opened his mouth to respond, but she beat him to it. “It’s because the song was a legacy, Sung Gyu. People loved it, the world loved it. And you made it, so the world loved you…”

She put her hands around him and laid her head on his chest, leaving him speechless. 

“You’re talented, You worked so hard, although you never had the right opportunities. You have it now, so seize it, Sung Gyu. You’d find yourself again”

Sung Gyu didn’t even realise that there was moisture in his eyes. “Gaeullie…”

“What are you going to do now?” She lifted her head and asked him.

“What else?” He said, caressing her head with a smile. “I guess I’m going to sing again”

It was strange how one’s life could change in a matter of days. A week ago, he wouldn’t have even imagined standing in front of a building where he’d sing again, hopes and dreams clutched in his hands. A week ago, he wouldn’t have imagined he’d find love again, but there he was, the love of his life on the other end of the phone call, hundreds of miles away. 

Gaeul could only stay a week in Seoul due to work responsibilities, which she had to return to after the brief yet blissful time they spent together. They would speak on the phone everyday, still, and she would often video call him and unlike most last time they would have a stronger and much longer conversation, exploring into their lives. Sung Gyu sometimes feared if it would end up the way he thought it would, if they would start to fade away. He’d heard many tales about long distance relationships, how those worked and how they seemed to dissolve like snow in the rain. Having been friends for long, and now as lovers, losing Gaeul would be Sung Gyu’s biggest weakness. He could lose a job, he could lose even a song, he had told her. But he wouldn’t survive for the life of him if he were to lose her.

Gaeul of course laughed it off, saying that it was unlikely that she’d find another him anywhere else in the world, and he sure hoped it would stay that way.

“Before you go in” Gaeul started, from the other end of the phone. “Does the place look shady?”

He narrowed his eyes against the sun as he scrutinized the structure before him. It wasn’t a huge building, but it was located in a nice, much quieter part in Hongdae so it had to be good. “And it looks like it does give enough shade,” Sung Gyu told her.

“Not that, silly” She laughed, the sound reminding him of wedding chimes. “Are there like, people around? How do they look?”

There weren’t many people around, save for those walking the street and the security. He told her that.

“But shouldn’t there be like, fans and stuff?”

“You watch too many dramas” He laughed in response. “Relax...it isn’t an idol entertainment agency. They do mostly people like me...just singers”

“So no crazy rabid fangirls trying to punch holes in your tyre for having a girlfriend?” 

He turned away from the building and laughed. “No, I'm pretty sure there would be nobody trying to kill you” he looked across the road, just in case. There was nobody except for the people visiting a cafe nearby and tourists at odd occasions. None that looked like people who’d punch holes in a tyre. Then he added, as an afterthought. “Nobody would try to kill someone who’s currently in a forest”

Gaeul laughed in response. She was an environmentalist, so for her latest research she had to be in a forest in Guatemala, analysing the behavioral patterns of certain plants during a particular season or something along the line. He didn’t know that plants had behavior too, and often liked to loudly entertain his mental image of her dressed nerdy like a teacher and asking plants to behave well. Although she did get mad at him for saying that, she tried to explain to him her scope of work the best she could. His favorite part of it, however, was when she spoke in this stern voice with scientific terms which he found extremely attractive. He would miss her so much at that point; miss kissing her, holding her and loving her.

But there was always, always the promise from her to return to him again. 

At that moment too, she didn’t forget to remind him, promise him, yet again. “Fine but when I’m back, if some creepy fangirl try to murder me for holding your hand in instagram photos, I’ll take it that you lied to me”

Sung Gyu laughed again, turned to the building, looked up and buried his hand in his pocket. “Gaeullie, I think I better go on now”

He had his meeting with the director at eleven in the morning, and it was already ten minutes before the time. The CEO of the company was not just one but a group of people, a band called NELL whom he’d listened to when he was much younger and loved very much too. As they themselves started off as an indie band, they’ve told him that they found it easier to give him his second journey, which they promised would last much longer. He had high hopes on them and for some reason, a very positive outlook too.

Gaeul would have loved to hear that.

“Okay, prep time, darling,” Gaeul said, interrupting his train of thoughts. “How do you feel?”

“Good” he nodded.

“Are you nervous? Do you feel-do you feel like, jitters?”

“Jitters?” he echoed. “No”

“Okay” Gaeul breathed. “And then what about-,”

It was evident that Gaeul was freaking out as much as he was. It must be difficult for her, being in a different time zone, a different place, not being able to see him in person. So he gently called her name.

“Gaeullie, listen, i am going to be fine, okay?”

This time, her voice sounded very small when she replied. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely” He smiled. “In fact, I feel excited, I feel like this is actually going to work out”

“I...I like that. That thought” She replied rather tenderly.

“And I like you,” He replied.

“Geese don't be like that” She laughed, yet certainly touched by his gesture. He didn’t say it in person a lot. He wasn’t much of an affectionate person himself. And for that same reason, Gaeul seemed to treasure it so much whenever he said that, in a very special way.

“Now go on in” She said at the end, sounding excited. “And, if you had to give them an original, what would it be?”

“Closer,” He said.

“Closer?” She echoed in response. “Is that a piece I’ve heard before?” 

Sung gyu had sung her many different originals so far, but this particular song held a very special place in his heart.

“Yes…” He smiled, recalling that first day. “You know, on my birthday, and you made me sing and you said-,”

Gaeul hated being reminded of that day, especially as she felt embarrassed by everything that happened. But SUng Gyu would always treasure that moment, for it was a moment of epiphany for him, a moment of truth, the moment his life started again.

“That’s what you ended up calling it?”

“Yup.” He nodded again. “Why, don’t you like it?”

“I like it” She replied softly. “I like it a lot”

When he thought of it now, it would be the song that would hold them together while Spring’s Song would be their start. It was funny how their lives were mostly defined by his songs, which gave so much more meaning to them. Whenever he would sing ‘Closer’ from that point on, Sung Gyu would naturally think of her. He would think of how much he earned for her to be close to him; not only by heart but by person too. He’d think of how much he missed her and how much he wanted to kiss her and hold her again. 

Sung Gyu didn’t think, as he finally stepped into the building that day, that he would make another ‘Spring’s song’ again. He wouldn’t want a piece that would rise like wildfire for once, only for it to begin to lose value and disperse. He wanted to make music for soul, music that people could sing and listen to for a very, very long time. Perhaps. He would make a song for the brilliance of summer, or the autumn in his life. He wouldn’t know how long it would last, or how much they would be loved. But for once, Sung Gyu wanted to hope and dream again, make this new chapter in his life simply more worthwhile.

And as always, he wanted to do it all along with her.

Words couldn’t describe how much Gaeul meant to him. They say that you would meet one person in life who’d change your life forever. Who’d give it purpose and meaning, a reason to continue on being alive. Gaeul was that for him. She defined him, she gave him life. Sung Gyu had feared, much earlier, that if they were ever to be together, they’d naturally drift apart. It was bound to happen; this he knew too. But he also knew that they didn’t have to let it happen as well. 

Relationships were this fragile little things. Broken once, their shape would be lost forever. But with time, patience and commitment, by understanding that they weren’t supposed to be perfect, this wasn’t supposed to be perfect, they could make it stronger, keep the shape intact. Sung Gyu didn’t know what their future was going to be, or what it held in store for them. But what he did know at that point, however, was that he was going to protect them, he was going to hold onto them forever, no matter what vile turn that life would take. 

There was nobody else that he’d rather be. Nobody else he’d rather be with. The one who gave his life meaning and second chances was her. The one who gave life to Spring’s Song was her. And now, close to her, to her heart, to their love was the only place he’d rather be.