Hyejeong wakes up late for her math lecture, cringing at the sunlight on her skin and the morning breeze coming through the window and she doesn't understand how Seolhyun could possibly get out of bed so early. It hurts, she thinks, upon realizing that the sun rays dancing around her fingertips no longer give her the same excitement as before. Hurts, because then all that consumes her mind is sunny walks along the beach or standing on the sidelines during b-boy competitions screaming her lungs out until she barely has a voice anymore.

 

Im Jaebum, the bane of her existence, the love of her life, the one she let walk away, the boy who broke her heart. She fell for his bright smile, the one that shows his pearly white teeth, and she liked it because back then, back in their high school days, he really hadn't smiled that much. He had been less outgoing, easily impatient, suppressed anger boiling under his skin at any point in time. But she had loved him, loved all his rough edges and loved him when he would yell at the sky simply because he didn't know what else to do. She had loved him when he wanted to push her away, saying he didn't deserve any of this, had loved him by encouraging him to vent all that frustration into his dancing - just let it flow through your veins, turn the anger into something beautiful, prove the world wrong and show them that you are something, someone who's worth it.

 

(because he was worth it, to her. she hopes that she had been at least half of that to him.)

 

But now she can only flinch when his name is brought up in a conversation, or when she passes by a basketball court and all of sudden she remembers how lame he looked while throwing a basket, or when she listens to their favorite song when it comes up on shuffle but she doesn't have the heart to delete it from her iPod because she's afraid that all the memories will disappear into thin air too, and she's not quite sure if she's ready for that.

 

Im Jaebum, the boy who left her a few months before high school graduation, only to have them attend the same university. The world is cruel, sometimes. He wanted to be a film major. He wanted to capture stories and reveal his heart through the lens of a camera. She wonders what stories he would tell because most of her good ones, she now realizes, have to do with him. Like the time when he showed up on her doorstep right before midnight because it was her birthday, and he had attempted to serenade her but only ended up in a fit of giggles because he hadn't practiced that much. But she had loved it anyway because his singing voice sent shivers down her spine and he had written the song himself. And most of all, because the smile on his face was especially bright that night, brighter than the moon and the stars shining in the midnight sky.

 

He had always said that he would bare his heart for all to see while expressing himself through film. He had always said that dancing was his passion and singing was his hobby but movie-making was his dream. He probably doesn't know, then, that even after the distance between their two hands, previously almost always intertwined until they couldn't tell which fingers were whose - even after that distance has long since widened, that she still cares. That she still roots for him on the sidelines, that she wants to see his name someday in the ending credits when she goes to the movie theater. Because even if their own love has faded, there's something magnificent about the human heart, how on some days it still beats for that one person who had meant everything back then.

 

So she drags herself out of bed, tells herself that she can afford to miss a math lecture every once in a while, and gets dressed. She almost doesn't want to get up but then she reminds herself that if she misses this chance, she'll regret it forever.

 

She walks in to the darkened auditorium. It's the film department's student showcase. She takes a seat in the back row, all alone, but her pulse is racing and her breath gets caught in the back of when she sees the first film short appear on the big screen.

 

Written and produced by Im Jaebum, it reads in skinny letters in the beginning. Sunshine streaming through the trees, sky exploding with the warmth of pinks and purples and oranges, an empty school campus - it's their old school, she realizes, unable to tear her eyes away. There's a boy walking down the sidewalk, jacket hood up, hands shoved in his pockets. And then - then it's his voice, narrating.

 

 

 

 

The film is reaching its completion and she doesn't deny that she's curious - curious to know what he really thinks. Of her, of them. And maybe himself, too. She listens on.

 

"...but sometimes, even when you lay something to rest, it doesn't disappear completely. it wakes up, and it fights. it fights even when you don't want to. it's because somehow your heart just knows, and it's a struggle between your mind and your heart. and then somewhere along the way, you want to try again. because what you had, what we had, is something worth fighting for. and so you fight, fight your hardest, and you hope for the best..."

 

She's shaken to her core because she had always known he had a way with words, his mind always tinkering with how to string phrases together just right to make her heart beat even more. But she had never known he was this good. Then again, she had never known that she would still be loving him two years after the fact. She never would have seen it coming.

 

 

The image fades and as the ending credits play, she suddenly remembers that she's in a crowded auditorium and decides that it's not the right time to cry. So she sits through the rest of the student films while wiping in vain at her cheeks, dabbing her eyes with the tissues she keeps in her bag. The end of the showing is finally here, and as she gets up to leave, a voice interrupts her thoughts.

 

"Hey." She turns around, and it's Jaebum. He sounds breathless, as if he had rushed over. "I didn't expect to see you here."

 

Hyejeong swallows. She looks into his eyes and she knows that he actually knew all along, that she'd be here, despite what he says. She sees the hint of desperation in his eyes, that hopeful gaze that she used to always drown in. She doesn't know what to say.

 

"Hey." She settles for that, for now.

 

He's biting his lip and avoiding her eyes, something he often did when he couldn't piece together his thoughts.

 

"That was beautiful though," Hyejeong says. Yes, it was beautiful beyond words.

 

He glances up at her with newly-found strength and determination. "But you..." he falters for a moment, but his gaze bores into her. "But you are even more beautiful." He cracks a shy smile then, and it's like she's fallen for him all over again, so bright that it's almost blinding.

 

She laughs because the whole situation is ridiculous, because Im Jaebum would be the one who would try to get a girl back by writing and producing an entire short film about their story. "I think," she begins. "I think you're a genius for...putting all of this together." She pauses. "But I think most of all..."

 

"Hmm?" he murmurs, and he's stepping closer now, magnetic.

 

"I think..." she shivers because it's been so long. "I want to try..."

 

In her circle of vision, it's just the two of them and she feels his arms wrap around her securely. He's looking into her eyes intensely.

 

"Good," he breathes, before leaning in closer - closer until their lips touch and all their memories cascade back, but now she doesn't have to live on past memories any longer. Because they're creating new ones, and their story is unfinished, and she kind of wishes they had both realized it long ago but it's better late than never.

 

And besides, she wouldn't have had it any other way.

 

Im Jaebum, the bane of her existence, the love of her life, the one she let walk away, the boy who came back and stole her heart once again.

 

(or maybe he just had it all along.)

 

 

 

 

 

---

a/n: because we all know how much jaebum is passionate about film making and i just couldn't let this little idea escape me... and yay for my first fic about jb/hyejeong! anyways, they had so much potential on "the romantic and idol season 1" since they were both the youngest on the show but were never paired up for dates. sigh. what could have been. (believe it or not, i wrote most of this while waiting in the car while my youngest sister was having her swim lesson AHAHA pro use of time) thanks for reading! comments are appreciated :)