There was a person whom Hae In missed the most. A face she could not forget. A smile that often appeared in her dreams. A laughter so contagious that the thought of it never failed to brighten her mood.

The absence of this face, this smile or this laughter had rendered her life meaningless for the last four years, but now that she was about to meet that precious person again, she finally felt alive.

She watched from afar as Yu Gyeom talked to a fanboy who gifted him a crown made of green leaves and white daisies. The fan, as well as the crowd, screamed excitedly after he placed it on top of his head. Hae In, however, looked on silently as she bit the inside of her cheek out of apprehension. She was too engrossed in her thoughts to react to the situation around her. Or, perhaps she was too nervous. She had not met her former classmate since they had gone their separate ways to pursue their objectives after graduating from high school, which left her to wonder if he would recognize her or if he had forgotten all about their past.

She often thought back to their friendship, the moments they had spent together, or the tears they had shed on the day of their graduation at the time of bidding farewell before moving on with their lives. He had devoted himself to his career and became a popular idol, whilst she had majored in Arts at a reputable university outside of Seoul before recently coming back to the capital after securing a job at Daelim Museum.

The fan-sign event was a unique chance for her to meet her former classmate and friend, Kim Yu Gyeom. That was why she felt her heart pound in her chest as she walked closer to the middle of the stage where GOT7 members were sitting. Other fans were happily interacting with their favorite idols, whereas Hae In was torn between excitement and nervousness as she hoped that Yu Gyeom would be able to recognize her despite the long years that they had spent apart. Her anxiety became more vivid when his face contorted in confusion after their eyes met briefly, in fact she could not tell whether his reaction was a good or bad sign.

The line moved quite fast and, soon enough, she was standing in front of JB whom she was unable to concentrate on because of Yu Gyeom's insisting gaze. She allowed herself a deep breath as soon as he withdrew his eyes from her to look at the fan who was standing in front of him. In this moment, she became aware of her surroundings, and realized with horror that she had been holding onto the album tighly instead of handing it to JB. She blushed under the latter's curious stare. Unfortunately, she did not have time to excuse her odd conduct as the line moved again, forcing her to take a step forward towards Jin Young. She did not repeat her mistake this time but placed the album on the table almost automatically, until another trouble arose when she ignored the singer's question upon feeling observed. She discreetly glanced sideways at Yu Gyeom whose eyes were fixed on her again. He looked away when she looked at him, and their game ended only when they were face-to-face. She greeted him awkwardly, but he titled his head to the side while watching her closely instead of responding. It was only after a moment that he broke the silence:

"Hae In ? Oh Hae In ? Is that you ?"

She nodded, her lips curving into a bright smile as her heart missed a beat at the realization that he had effectively recognized her. Another beat was missed when he stood up to walk to the other side of the table where she was standing. She, amongst other fans, was surprised by his sudden action. The jealous exclamations of the crowd became louder when he placed his hands on her shoulders while leaning down to reach her height.

"Right! It's you!" he said with a smile, "it's been so long!"

"I wasn't sure you'd recognize me."

"You haven't changed a bit!"

"But you have." she pointed to his clothes and accessories as if to indicate that he looked different from his teenage self.

"Yeah, right." he admitted in a laugh.

They considered each other for a moment, then Yu Gyeom pulled her in a warm hug before she slided her arms around his back, holding him tight and close. The display of their intimacy caused another round of screams from the audience. But Hae In could not hear them for she lost herself in the embrace that did not last longer than a few seconds. The sensation of his body warmth, as well as the fact that he had welcomed her so kindly, deeply satisfied her. She smiled with pure bliss even as he went back to his chair, sitting down to sign her album before she walked away to let another fan approach him. As her reluctant steps led her out of the stage, she decided that her decision to attend the event truly was a great chance since it had allowed her to find out that he held onto their memories too.

She looked back to him once she reached the stairs. She waved in his direction whilst he motioned towards the album in her hands and, for the first time since it had been signed, she looked at it only to find that a phone number was scribbled below Yu Gyeom's signature. The sight of which caused her to smile like a child who had just received a wonderful gift. She kept smiling as she made her way to the sitting area where she settled for the front row in order to have the best view. In that way, she was able to admire her old friend during the rest of the event that ended with a live performance of the group's latest hit song.

The crowd of fans started leaving the room once the artists exited the stage after having expressed their final thanks, but Hae In was unable to move from her spot. She did not expect Yu Gyeom to show up in front of her, certainly not when theirs had already been a dream-like reunion, but she could not bring herself to leave the place. And as fate would have it, she was still sitting in the empty room when she heard a man calling for Yu Gyeom as the latter ran from backstage to where she was. He sat beside her while a man, whom she assumed to be his manager, watched them from afar. Despite the fact that they could only exchange a brief conversation, due to GOT7's tight schedule, Yu Gyeom wanted to express his happiness at meeting her again, he also insisted that she often call him on the phone in order to resume their friendship where they had left it off. He was still talking when the manager walked closer to tap on his shoulder. And so he nodded to the older man before turning back to Hae In to ruffle her hair while asking her, again, to call him.

. . .

I missed you a lot.

Yu Gyeom's smile widened as he read the message again and again. His attention was too fixed on it for him to pay attention to GOT7 members who were busy with a photoshoot session, therefore he also failed to notice that BamBam had gotten dangerously close to him, and only noted the other's presence after his phone was snatched from his hands. His whines of complaint were ignored by a curious BamBam who excitedly read through the thread of texts.

Yu Gyeom pleaded him to stop but he continued swiping up and down the screen, until he took notice of the ID: "who's 'Beautiful Hae In' ?"

"A friend of mine."

BamBam clicked on the icon of the Kakaotalk profile to see the photograph properly, and nodded in approval: "a beautiful friend, indeed. How do you know her ?"

"We were in the same class in high school."

"High school... Hae In..." he mumbled while rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Hae In... isn't she-"

Yu Gyeom answered the uncomplete question with a shy smile: "yeah, it's her."

"What are you gonna do ?"

"What do you mean ?"

"Well, aren't you gonna charm her now that you met again ?"

"No, no." he said as he waved his hands in the air, "it was a long time ago. Life's changed for me now, and for her too. I'm happy I can contact her again, but I... don't have feelings for her anymore... I mean, we were young, right ? It doesn't matter anymore."

"Alright. But then why'd you save her number as 'Beautiful Hae In' ?"

Too shy to answer the question, Yu Gyeom snatched his phone back from his friend's hand and walked away towards the center of the room where the members were called for a group photograph.

He was able to avoid BamBam's teasing words and acts throughout the long minutes of the photoshoot. But he was harrassed again as soon as their duties were over, which made him feel annoyed, until the moment an interesting piece of information was mentioned: apparently, the Daelim Museum was not far from the place where they were currently shooting, hence it was possible for him to pay Hae In a visit at her workplace now that the morning schedule was completed. Thus, he thanked his friend with a sudden hug before running towards the manager to get an approval, and immediately headed outside.

A few minutes later, he was standing in the entrance of the museum that was not yet open to the public, welcomed by two female employees who did not do much to conceal their concern regarding his presence. Perhaps they were intimated by his outfit as his mask and cap made it difficult for them to recognize him.

He bowed politely, took off his accessories, and asked about Hae In. As expected, the employees squealed in happiness after realizing that he was an idol, and wasted no time in asking him to pose for photographs before telling him the way to the room where Hae In was working.

He leaned against the doorframe to look at her quietly whilst she studied the design of the exhibition hall. It was only after she hanged a painting on the white wall that he approached her. He called her name, and when she turned around to see him, he was met with an expression of surprise and delight.

"How come you're here ?"

"I had a photoshoot nearby so I thought I'd stop by."

"But we're not open yet."

"It doesn't matter as long as I give out a few smiles." he said with a grin.

"Right! Kim Yu Gyeom only has to smile!" she replied, amused. "That's one of the perks of being an idol."

The sound of her soft laughter soothed his thumping heart. He took a step forward to stand beside her and, from there, he had a better view on the art pieces that she had been organizing. As his gaze trailed along the different works, she told him of some details of the role of women during the Joseon Dynasty since that was the theme of the next exhibition. Yu Gyeom could not hide his smile while listening to her explanations because it reminded him of the long hours that they had spent together studying. He liked that her passion for history and visual arts had not changed, although he had never been sensible to these subjects as his main interests had always been dance and entertainments. These differences had only served to bring them closer since they had helped each other during their studies, enabling them to graduate from Hamlim Arts High School with honors, until the circumstances of their higher education had forced them to lose contact.

But Hae In had not changed much, and Yu Gyeom found himself wondering in what other ways she was similar to the high school girl he had known and liked.

"Do you still paint ?" he asked, looking at her from his peripheral vision as he feigned to contemplate a painting.

"Oh... you remember ?"

"Of course I do! I still have the dandelion painting you gifted me on my birthday."

She guffawed, in amusement or embarrassment, and argued that the painting she had made for him lacked in many ways. But he could not agree, for the simple reason that it was one of the objects dearest to his heart. But when he expressed his disagreement, she was too shy to hear any more of his compliments and quickly changed the topic of their conversation: "do you still drink iced chocolate ?"

The question amused him, essentially because he liked reminiscing the small details of their common past. His lips curved into a smile as he answered: "I do." Then, it was his turn to ask a question: "do you still obsess over Jay Park ?"

She chose to answer with a wink and a knowing smile.

"What about GOT7 ?" he asked.

"I've been a fan since your debut."

"We were students at that time."

She hummed and nodded.

"Why didn't you keep in touch after graduation ?"

"I was... busy?" she said, hesitantly. "I wasn't sure I could contact you because, well, I moved away from Seoul. You were busy with your career. And it's quite complicated for us to keep in touch if you're a popular idol, isn't it ?"

"No, it isn't. Idols can have friends."

"Then you could've contacted me first."

The truthfulness of the answer caught him off guard. Even though it was true that she had not checked up on him in the course of the past four years, it was also true that he had made no efforts to contact her. In other words, they had both been negligent so there was no one else to blame but themselves.

He caught her hand and grabbed her pinky finger with his own to make a promise: "I'll make sure you'll be a part of my life from now on."

"I'd like that."

She smiled beautifully, causing his heart to race again. It was almost unbelievable that she had the same effects on him after all this time. His mind wandered back to BamBam's words for a second, leading him to ponder the possibility of harboring feelings for Hae In in spite of the life events that had disrupted their friendship, but he put his thoughts aside at the realization that he did not know in what ways her life had changed. It seemed highly probable that such a beautiful woman had already met her soul mate. And as he could not gather up the courage to ask her if she was in a relationship, they settled in a comfortable silence that was cut short by the appearance of his band mates.

In an instant, the hall was filled with loud voices and laughters of the young men who walked towards Hae In decidedly, with the intention of making Yu Gyeom feel uncomfortable. Each of them initiated a handshake and introduced themselves, then Jackson added: "I'm very happy to meet Yu Gyeomie's first love."

From the look on Hae In's face, Yu Gyeom could tell that she was taken aback by the statement. He hit his friend's shoulder while asking him not to make such jokes in a desperate attempt to protect his secret, but Bam Bam's intervention was not of help: "you're the one who said you loved her back in high school, was it a joke ?"

Hae In blushed in embarrassment while trying to keep her gaze off him, until she heard his blunt response: "fine. I had a crush on Hae In." He looked into her eyes while adding in a softer, sadder, voice: "but that was in the past, wasn't it ?"