How long has it been?

It wasn’t a vivid memory anymore, but it still lingered once in a while.

“Gary oppa… wow how long has it been?” her eyes lit up and opened her arms for an embrace. “How have you been?”

Gary chuckled and returned a hug for an old friend. “I am so good, how about you Ji hyo?”

Standing at the lobby of SBS building for an unexpected reunion wasn’t something both of them had saw it coming on a busy Wednesday afternoon. Gary was holding onto a child, and he smiled. “This is Ha O, my son.”

It wasn’t like she didn’t know. It wasn’t like anyone didn’t know. She instantly focused her gaze on that beautiful boy nibbling onto his fingers and bent down to reach his eye, “He looks exactly like you. He has your eyes.”

“Does he?” Gary laughed, “What are you doing here?”

Ji hyo almost choked. It felt too casual. “I just ended a meeting with my agent, what about you?” Ji Hyo replied.

“I’ve an interview with SBS along with my son,” Gary said and carried his son up, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

She could feel a small fire burning with her. Anger, or was it excitement? “Oppa, that should be my line,” Ji hyo said sarcastically.

He caught her sarcasm, and chuckled. “Okay my interview is going to be soon; I will get going now?” He accidentally mis-formed his words into a question.

She giggled, “why are you asking me for permission?”

Gary looked at the lady standing in front of him. Chancing upon her was the last thing he had expected when he accepted an interview with SBS. She seemed to have age a little. Just how long has it been?

Her smile is still the same, how her face would light up like a neon sign whenever she let out a laughter still remains. He felt a lump in his throat, unable to fully communicate with the former colleague of his.

“Oppa?” Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing much, I will get going now.” He smiled, signaling his son to wave as the both of them parted ways.

Gary turned his head slightly, capturing a glimpse of that lady as she exited the building. The sun seemed to shine a little brighter that day.

Ji hyo plopped herself on her bed, a heart full of fire and questions that was once desensitized started resurfacing. She tightened her fist and let out a soft grunt, not wanting to alert any of her family members.

How could he treat everything so casually? Had he forgotten about the fact that he completely disappeared from her life, appeared on the media and had the audacity to not even contact any of the members.

6 years of friendship, gone just like the wind. Had they done anything wrong to him? Was she not understanding enough? Were they not supportive enough towards the pursuit of his dreams?

She picked her phone up and stared at the message screen of her work group chat.

9012

She wanted to inform her colleagues that she had bump into their former member but pulled herself back at the fact that it would not be nice for their new member.

She wanted to vent her angers towards her colleagues who knew how much Gary meant to them. She wanted to understand why, she wanted answers. She wanted assurance from her colleagues that Gary, “has his reasons.”.

*Message from +82 xxx xxx xxxx*

Amidst the proliferation of her anger, questions and annoyance, her hands shook a little as she read the message from that particular unknown number.

It was 2 in the morning.

KG: Ji Hyo-ssi, this is Gary.

It was 2 in the morning and she received a message from Gary. Her head tilted, mouth slightly opened, shocked at the idea of how Gary had reached out to her after 3 years of disappearance.

KG: It’s 2 in the morning, I’m sorry.

She swore she could have almost cried, from happiness as well as anger.

KG: It was nice bumping into you today. You seemed tired, so I hope you will take care of yourself a little more.

How could he still have acted so casually?

SJH: Kang Gary, what do you mean by this?

She wanted to call him, to get the answers she had always been wondering ever since the news had broken. How long has it been?

Ji hyo waited impatiently by the Han River. The night was getting colder as autumn approaches. It was 3 on a Thursday morning. Han river seemed like a ghost town. The streetlights build so evenly apart from each other lit up the area so forlornly for some reason she could not comprehend.

A tap on her shoulder shook her out of her thoughts, as she watched the man, she was meeting took a seat beside her. His hands holding onto two cups of coffee. He silently handed her one cup. It was warming to her hands amidst the cold.

The two of them sat quietly for a couple of minutes, before she decided to break the silence, “Oppa, how have you been?”

“Good.” He replied nonchalantly. “What about you?”

She ignored his questions and proceeded with hers. “Why did you disappear?”

The air seemed a lot colder.

Gary let out a soft sigh and leaned himself back against the table. The Han river seemed so mesmerizing. “I just didn’t want the attention.”

He turned his body a little to face the former colleague of his. Her bare face shined a little brighter under the streetlights, as she stared so intensely, her eyes squinted a little, towards the Han River.

Why does she still look the same?

“Ji hyo ah,” sitting up a little, “I miss you,” he blurted out.

The lady beside him lowered her head, letting out a sigh. The coffee in their hands seemed to have gotten colder.

“Oppa, why do you have to just disappear from me?”

It wasn’t easy working with someone whom you had a crush on. It wasn’t easy when the world was supporting what they used to have. It wasn’t easy wanting to leave the show and it definitely wasn’t easy to tell her how he has wished they could have been.

Do all variety love lines have no fruition?

“Ji hyo, I miss you.”

Ji hyo was confused at his sudden choice of words, especially coming from a married man whom she had lost contact with for 3 years. It had been this long. She missed every single detail about the man in front of her. She missed his flirtatious attitude, his genuine heart, and how she knew he had allowed her to depend on him almost every single time.

“I took it for granted that you were going to stay, and that I will never lose you,” Ji hyo said, tears filling her eyes and she fought so hard not to let it fall. “I miss you too, oppa.”

She solemnly smiled, ”I guess I’m too late now.” She said, feeling a hand placed over hers.

She stayed there, allowing their hands to touch after 3 years had passed. “You know they say, when you lose something, that’s when you will know how you truly feel?”

Gary let out a soft chuckle. “How do you feel?”

She shrugged. “I don’t think it matters anymore now.”

She had aged a little, so had he. Her smile was still the same, and her hands still felt the same. He took in her answers and nodded. Sometimes there just aren’t any answers. Standing up and stretching a little, he let out a shout of relief towards Han River.

“Are you going to wake the entire Seoul up?” She joked, causing the two of them to laugh in unison.

Ji hyo stood up and followed what her oppa had done. She then looked at him and smiled, genuinely. “Gary oppa, be happy.”

“Maybe not this life Ji hyo,” Gary said. “But definitely, Monday will always be special.”

She nodded, smiling. “Monday will always be special.”