"Dahyun?" Mina thought to herself. They were a few meters from each other; Mina was standing at the door while Dahyun was sitting on that other side of the room. It was unfortunate that the two girls didn't manage to confirm each other's existence because right behind Mina was their professor, who was ready to enter the room and start the class.

 

And because of that, Mina wasn't able to sit somewhere close to Dahyun. 

 

The class started and the day proceeded like how it normally would—to others, that is. Dahyun keeps on stealing glances on this girl who has a silky long black hair with the perfect fringe sitting almost 5 seats away from her, who doesn't even move a single muscle to look behind her. Dahyun even tried to approach the said girl, but she fails everytime because the girl keeps on leaving in an instant the moment their professors dismisses the class.

 

With that cold action, Dahyun couldn't help but wonder why the girl was ignoring her. The hope that she felt inside has been slowly vanishing, she's starting to believe that she's been mistaking the girl from somebody else.

 

But that's not the case.

 

Since it's the first day of class, everybody introduces themselves in front of the whole class on every subject. Thanks to the hourly introduction, Dahyun was assured that she was indeed Mina.

 

The first time they introduced themselves, Mina was one of the students who introduced themselves first since she was sitting a little close to the front. Hearing that name from Mina herself gave her fragile heart a little pinch. She was confused with the fact that she was feeling pain everytime she hears that name when she should feel happy instead. Dahyun has a lot of questions, and she is begging for answers.

 

When it was Dahyun's turn to introduce herself in front of the class, she keeps on looking at Mina's direction to see any reaction coming from the latter. But there was nothing. The first time she introduced herself in front got her wondering again.

 

"Kim Dahyun" Dahyun said, stealing another glance on her childhood friend who was currently looking down on her desk while holding a pen with its cap on as she draw invisible circles on the surface.

 

The first time Dahyun said her name out loud in front of the class, and she got nothing. She was expecting that the latter would ring a bell with her name, but she literally showed zero reaction. It made Dahyun want to cry on the spot.

 

She tried to hold it in the whole day and shrug the fact that Mina doesn't recognize her; but everytime her guts tell her that Mina has forgotten about her completely, she sees this vision from a few hours ago when she swore she saw how Mina's face lit up when their eyes met each other's. She needs to talk to her.

 

The professor on the last subject has finally dismissed the class and the whole block called it a day. Everybody rushed out of the room with their friends, and Dahyun wanted to take this chance to finally approach her. She keep on telling herself that she should not let anything or anyone stop her this time...

 

 

...but yet again, she failed.

 

 

Mina disappeared in plain sight once she left the room with Dahyun trailing behind a group of classmates in between them.

 

It's their fault. Dahyun finally swallowed her pride and pain to approach her childhood friend—whom she waited for all these years, but her classmates got in her way. Literally.

 

With a heavy sigh, Dahyun accepted her defeat and decided to try again tomorrow.

 

~

 

The next day came, and Dahyun never felt so excited and nervous at the same time.

 

Dahyun prepared for the morning as fast as she could—she ate breakfast, took a bath, and change into her uniform as fast as lightning. Her mother even asked her why she was in a hurry, and all she said was she has to do something important at school.

 

She arrived at their classroom earlier than she has ever been in her whole life. There were a few students already inside, and she looked around for someone thought it was impossible for that person to come to school this early; so, she decided to wait.

 

On her way to her desk, she noticed a box placed on her chair. It was a medium-sized black box and it seems new. Her other classmates even about having a secret admirer on the second day of classes, she just rolled her eyes.

 

She placed the box on her desk and sat on her own chair. She was a little afraid of what the box contains, but she was still so obviously curious. She opened it, and she was shocked with the first thing that she saw.

 

On the lid was a neat hand writing. "From Mina." it said, all written in Korean. The contents of the box were envelopes—hundreds of them, or even more. She dug down deeper, and noticed that some of the envelopes has already faded, which only means that it has been a long time since it was placed inside the box. One envelope caught her attention—maybe because of the fact that it was the first envelope that she sees, or maybe because it seems like it was just recently placed inside the box.

 

She grabbed the blue envelope on top of the mountain of other envelopes, opened it, and read it quietly.

 

" 16 August 2021

 

Dear Dahyun,

 

Before I even explain myself, I just want to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I left 8 years ago without any warning or any explanation. I'm sorry I didn't get to say good bye properly or even hug you for the last time. Up until now, I have regretted that. You deserve explanations, and proper good bye. I didn't do so because I was scared. I did not want to hug you and cry hard on your shoulder. Since we were still young back then, I was afraid that I wouldn't find the right words to say that I have no choice but to go with what my parents wanted. I was scared that you might think that it was stupid of me to agree on going abroad without fighting for what I want. I know how you would act back then, because I know you best than anyone else has ever known you. And I'm sorry. I really didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave the country that I grew up in, and I really didn't want to leave the person that helped me on a lot of things. If it wasn't for you, my childhood would be boring and it will just be filled with me reading books for years. And I want to say thank you for that.

 

I decided not to keep in touch with you because yet again, I was scared. I was afraid that when I see your face on my phone screen or even hear your voice through the telephone will make me want to fly back in an instant. I was scared of missing you. On top of that, I didn't want to disappoint my parents.

 

But it was hard not to miss you. Even if I'm on a different country that has a different time zone and environment, I keep on getting reminded by you. Riding a bike gives me a painful feeling because I keep on remembering my first time riding one with you assisting me to keep my balance. It was very hard.

 

Despite all that and the fact that I am a coward and a pitiful girl who can't even make a single move on reaching out to you, I decided to write letters for you—hoping that one day, I would give all this to you when I see you again. I did not write everyday because I have nothing else to say aside from “I miss you” and “I hope you're okay back there”. But I did write everytime I get reminded of you, hence the number of envelopes on this box. This letter that you're reading is written on the day that I saw you for the first time in eight years.

 

I'm sorry that I couldn't approach you or if it seemed like I was ignoring you—I really was ignoring you, to be honest. It because after all those years, I thought I finally had the courage to face you again. But the guilt of leaving you behind in all of a sudden just comes out of nowhere, and I hate myself for that. Well...who would've thought that I'd see you here? I am really glad.

 

You deserve an explanation for everything, and I'm sorry it took this long for you to get answers for all the questions that you had in mind.

 

I decided to leave this box on your seat and ditch the whole day because I feel to embarrassed to even face you.

 

I missed you so much, my Dahyunnie. See you again tomorrow...or the next day. Who knows if I can get rid of this guilt that I'm feeling inside.

 

I'm not asking for forgiveness, I am just hoping that you would still remember me after all these years.

 

If you do, I would be waiting.

 

–Your childhood best friend,

Mina."

 

 

Dahyun didn't even notice that there were tears continuously falling from her eyes until she finished reading the letter. She looked at the box one more time after wiping the tears off her eyes, and she remembered the last line on Mina's letter.

 

"If you do, I would be waiting".

 

"Waiting? Where?" She wondered, then an idea suddenly popped up on her mind.

 

Dahyun returned the letter on the box, picked up her bag and rushed out of the room quickly. Her classmates were calling out for her, asking her where she is heading since classes are about to start in any minute—but Dahyun didn't give a single damn.

 

All she can think about is that Mina is waiting for her, and there's only one place where she could possibly be.

 

She ran out of school, rode a taxi back to her place, and she's now standing on their street. It was quiet—almost as if it was an abandoned place. Though it was not, it was only because it was a school day and everybody was away for school.

 

Instead of going back to their own house, Dahyun headed towards the other streets with heavy footsteps. She was nervous because she never went to this said street the day Mina left, and everything was new to her sight–yet so familiar.

 

She walked towards this house that belongs to Mina—back then, that is. The exterior is completely different from back then, it was obviously renovated throughout the years. She was a little afraid that the house might not be owned by Mina's family anymore and the fact that they might've moved somewhere else scared her. But there's no turning back now.

 

The hopes of seeing Mina again on this very spot is encouraging her. Hearing Mina say her name again gave her so much more motivation so knock on the door and search for her childhood friend.

 

So she did.

 

Dahyun pressed the doorbell on the side of the gate; and a few moments later, the gate opened.

 

It felt like Dahyun was suddenly a part of a movie when everything moved slower than they should. To Dahyun's eyes (and imagination) the gate opened rather slowly, and the person opening it was revealed slowly as well.

 

Her heart stopped when she recognizes the face. It was Mina. It's really her.

 

Their eyes instantly locked on to each other when the gate has finally moved out of their way. Dahyun wanted to speak, but she couldn't find the right words to say.

 

"Dahyun" Mina said, and Dahyun was finally brought back to reality.

 

A tear suddenly fell from her eye. Her voice was so soft and calming. The way Mina said Dahyun's name was like music to her ears. 

 

She recognizes her. On top of that, she remembers her. And here they are right now; in front of each other after eight years of being separated from one another.

 

One snap, and Dahyun's bag and the box that she was holding has dropped to the ground for she charged infront of her to hug the person that she missed the most.

 

They hugged tightly, and they were crying on each other's embrace.

 

"Please don't leave again" Dahyun whispered weakly.

 

Mina smiled under her tears with her eyes closed as she moved her hand up and down Dahyun's back. "I won't. I promise."