I knew I was going to regret that day when I agreed to help Jaejoong. But I had no choice. He meant so much to me that I was willing to sacrifice for him.

            Like what he had planned, I became friends with Min Rin.

            Min Rin is a very nice girl. The two of us easily became close without any difficulty. In fact she was so nice that there were times that I felt very guilty. Because I knew I had other motives in being friends with her.

            But because I really loved Jaejoong, I just decided to become numb and deaf to the things that my mind was telling me.

            Days passed by quickly . . . . I didn’t even realized.

I was finally able to introduce Jaejoong to Min Rin. Their first meeting was quite ordinary, but I could easily sense the special connection that they instantly shared.

And as I stared at my best friend and Min Rin while they shook hands with each other . . . I already knew that I was going to be the one left behind . . . crying.

But I didn’t care. All I cared about was his happiness . . . Jaejoong’s happiness.

----------

One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Four . . .

Sadly I gave my watch a quick glance again. Jaejoong was already late . . . too late.

I had been waiting patiently on our favorite spot in the park.

It’s been four hours. . . .

It was hopeless, I know. He wasn’t going to come. He was probably with Min Rin . . . somewhere . . . having fun.

He had forgotten about me . . . again. Anyway it wasn’t the first time. He had actually started forgetting about me ever since his relationship with Min Rin became serious.

At first, I tried to ignore the pain. I knew I was the one who brought the pain onto myself. I had no one else to blame but myself.

He had forgotten about our plan for that day. . . He had forgotten about . . . my birthday.

I stared at the sky. Somehow the sky had suddenly turned gray.

“Is it going to rain?” I wondered as I unconsciously raised my hand and opened my palm.

As soon as I raised my hand, a drop quickly fell.

A single drop of rain was quickly followed by another drop . . . and another.

“It’s raining . . . will he still come? Maybe I should wait a little while longer. I know he’s just late,” I said to myself while trying to hand on to the last bit of hope I had.

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One . . . Two . . . Three . . .

Another three hours went by without even a single trace of him.

Someone who had passed by, had already asked me if I was fine. The old woman was very concerned about me. I was already shivering, but I still waited like a fool . . . a total fool.

It was already evening and I was still in the park . . . wet and shivering. Tears were already streaming from my eyes.

This was the first time he had forgotten my birthday. This was the first time he made me wait for so long. This was the first time that I was actually crying on my special day.

I cried with so much anger and anguish. I don’t know whether I should be angry or not. I knew I was no longer the girl that his world revolved around on. Min Rin was his love and I . . . I was only his friend.

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One . . . Two . . .

Another two hours passed, Jaejoong was happily humming to a tune while he entered their home.

“Jae, I see you’re very happy. So how was Lena? What gift did you get her? I hope you gave her something special, since this will be the last time the two of you will be spending her birthday together,” Jaejoong’s mother said softly.

Jaejoong stared at his mother with confusion in his eyes. “Gift? Why?” he asked out loud.

His mother stared back at him with shock. “Don’t tell me that you forget Lena’s birthday? Where did you go? ”

Jaejoong felt a rock had suddenly hit him in the head. He had totally forgotten about Lena’s birthday. Guilt quickly registered on his face. “I was with Min Rin,” he answered with a low voice.

“You better apologize to her, young man. She’s leaving in a few days. I don’t want any kind of misunderstanding between the two of you before she leaves,” his mother said with a warning.

Jaejoong’s mother worriedly looked outside of the window. “Lena said that the two of you planned to meet up in the park. I wonder how long she waited. Poor girl. Imagine being stood up . . . on your exact birthday. Oh, it rained a few hours ago. I hope she had already left by that time. You . . . Kim Jaejoong, go and apologize. Just because you already have a girlfriend, doesn’t mean that you can treat your best friend like that. Go . . . and make up with her,” the old woman said as she gently pushed his son out of their house again.

“Mother,” Jaejoong uttered.

“Go,” the old woman uttered with a cold tone.

Jaejoong slowly went out of the house again. Then he started to think. He then shook his head as if to erase the thought that entered his mind.

“It’s late, she’s not that dumb to wait for me for so long. I bet she’s already home and cursing at me,” he uttered to himself.

He quickly went to Lena’s house. Along the way, he tried to think of a perfect excuse and a perfect way to calm down Lena’s anger.

------------------

 “She’s not here, Jaejoong. I thought she was with you. She told us that she was going to spend the whole day with you,” Lena’s mother said with concern.

Jaejoong’s heart quickly started to pound very hard. Somehow he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

He didn’t even know what happened next. Somehow everything became a blur after talking to Lena’s mother. The one thing that was clear was that he was already running towards the park.

Lena was still in the park. . . . waiting for him.

One . . .

Jaejoong went straight to their favorite spot. . . . the playground. But she wasn’t there. He then started to look around. Maybe she was still waiting somewhere.

While searching for Lena, a figure caught his eye. In the dark part of the park, someone was lying on the ground. He quickly went to the spot to see who it was.

And horror immediately registered on Jaejoong’s face after seeing Lena. She was lying unconsciously on the ground with her clothes torn and scattered everywhere.

“Lena, Lena,” Jaejoong cried out as he held her in his arms.

Blood was profusely rushing out of a large wound on Lena’s head. Jaejoong didn’t know what to do.

“Someone . . . help! Someone please help us!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “HELP!” he screamed as tears flowed out of his eyes.

-------------

That was six years ago . . . . .

After that night, Jaejoong never saw Lena again. Her parents decided to leave Korea immediately and they never heard from them again.

It was something that had been haunting Jaejoong’s memory and conscience for the passed six years.

He had spent almost everyday wondering what happened to Lena, where she was, how she was doing, if she had forgotten what happened that night, if she had forgotten about him, and if she had forgiven him.

He knew it was his fault. . . .

If only he hadn’t forgotten about her. . . If only he had been with her . . . If only he had taken good care of her . . . Maybe things would have turned out differently.