Song:  One Year Later by Jessica and Onew

Couple:  Daesung and Sooyoung

            Sooyoung fastened her seatbelt as the pilot announced through the intercom that the plane was going to land.  It was unbelievable.  She never thought that she would be doing this.  She wasn’t a very rich woman, and she had a simple job of a sculptor.  She had withdrawn all her money from her bank account and bought a ticket for Los Angeles.  She was going to travel across the globe for such an important reason.  Her breathing got heavy as she stared out the window.  She could not believe that it had been one year since she had seen him.  Memories flooded her mind as a hopeful smile emerged on her flawless face.  She carefully wrapped her knitted scarf around her neck as tears began to build up.

            The flight attendant approached her and tapped her on the shoulder carefully.

            “Ma’am, are you okay?” the flight attendant asked.

            Sooyoung nodded embarrassingly, “I’m fine.  I’m just really nervous.”

            Daesung turned off the television as the wide flat screen TV went blank.  Just like the television screen, his mind went blank.  He was dressed in a business suit. He had just gotten out of work and he had nothing to do.  He sighed as he thought about his career.  It was all too easy for him.  His eyes drifted towards the ceiling.  He was alone in his penthouse.  His family had sent him off to America to work and to get away from heartbreak.

            The word—love—was too much for him.  When he heard that word, he thought of her.  He thought of how cute she looked in her short hair.  He imagined her thin lips curving into a smile as her eyes formed the shape of a crescent moon.  He remembered how melodic her voice was when she was talking to him.  He reminisced of all the good memories that they had made together.

            He was still in love with her, but didn’t want to be.  Loving her just caused so much disaster in both of their lives.  Through her, he had experienced heartbreak.  He honestly thought of suicide because of her.  She became his life, and she didn’t want him in it.  He always blamed himself.  If he weren’t immature, he would have never caused their separation.  His eyes slowly closed as he remembered a distant memory.

            Daesung carefully held her hand as she laid on the hospital bed.  He thought that she was going to die, but she didn’t.  All odds were against her, but she pulled through.  He heard the door open frantically and saw two of her friends enter the hospital room.  He had paid for her bills.  He made sure to give her the best doctors in the best hospital.  Her room was the most private room in the hospital and it was the most comfortable one.

            The two ladies had looks of dissatisfaction glued onto their faces.  They immediately ran over to Sooyoung and watched her sleep on the hospital bed.

            “Daesung, how dare you?  You were so irresponsible!” the woman yelled.

            Daesung lowered his head and tears began to fall.  He knew that it was entirely his fault.  He carefully wiped his tears with his left hand as the two women continued to lecture him with hatred in their tone.  They weren’t normally like this.  They really did like him, but they were just so angry at what had happened.  Sooyoung was hospitalized because of him, so they blamed him for every single thing.

            “Tiffany…Hyoyeon, I’m sorry I didn’t take care of your cousin,” Daesung whispered quietly.

            “Sorry isn’t good enough!” Hyoyeon exclaimed, “What if she died?  Did you ever think of that?”

            He thought of it so many times.  If she died, he would have probably killed himself.  He couldn’t stand living in a world without her.  She became a necessity in his life.  It came to a point where he considered her over his own needs.

            “What exactly happened?” Tiffany irritatingly asked as she put her hands on her hips.

            “We were on a cliff near the ocean.  I usually go diving there, and I told her that I was going to dive.  I asked her to join me, but she was too afraid.  I started…to that she wasn’t brave enough to do it.  She grew pressured and she did it.  I waited for her to emerge from the water, but she didn’t.  I began to look for her and I found her underwater.  She was unconscious and she had almost drowned.  The doctors guessed that her head had hit a rock when she hit the water.  It’s all my fault,” Daesung sniffled.

            Daesung shook away the unwanted memories.  When she woke up, she didn’t even remember him.  She was diagnosed with amnesia.  The last thing that she remembered was when she was in love with another man.  Unfortunately for Daesung, she believed that she was still in love with the guy she had a crush on before Daesung had come into her life. 

            Daesung recalled the moments that he had tried to win her back.  She refused him every single time.  The last time that he had tried to win her back, she had told him that she would never love a guy like him.  Because he was heartbroken, he decided to move away and study far from her.  He could not believe that one whole year had passed.

            Sooyoung briskly walked through the streets of Los Angeles with a map in her hand.  She had talked to Daesung’s parents and she managed to convince them to give her his address.  They agreed to keep her visit a secret.  She looked at the map while looking for the building that his penthouse was in.

            “Aish, this stupid rich boy,” Sooyoung cursed under her breath, “Why can’t he live in a normal house?  Why is his house so hard to find?”

            Sooyoung glanced at her wristwatch to see that it was getting late.  She grew a bit nervous.  The sun was going to set soon and she really didn’t want to be out late at night.  She didn’t want to be out when it was so dangerous.  She decided to visit a café and get a quick drink.  While she enjoyed her drink, she planned to look over the map and ask any foreigners for help if she needed it.

            She walked up to the cashier and looked over at the menu.  The cashier smiled at her and asked her what she would like to order.

            “Can I have iced coffee?  The big one?” Sooyoung asked in English.

            She knew basic English, but her English was very limited.  When she was angry or nervous, her English was pretty much scrambled.  When her order was ready, she paid for it and made her way towards a table.  Her eyes grew wide as she felt her drink spill in her hands.  Her whole body was about to be knocked down.

            “You stupid little twit!” the woman screamed.

            Sooyoung’s eyes grew wide to be at the wrath of an American woman.  She seemed to be a high-class woman.  She was wearing a black pencil skirt with a sleeveless white blouse.  Her heels were killer and her hair was in a tight bun.  Sooyoung had accidentally bumped into her and spilled her drink all over the tall woman.  Sooyoung began to bow over and over again as she grabbed a napkin and tried to dab the stains on the woman’s shirt.

            “What the hell are you doing?” the woman snapped as she pushed Sooyoung, “You’re so incompetent!  You’re so stupid!  Keep your hands off me you stupid Chinese woman!”

            Everyone’s eyes were on Sooyoung and the woman.  Sooyoung blushed heavily as she tried to hide her face.

            “Miss…I’m…I’m very…so sorry,” Sooyoung sputtered in broken English.

            The woman fired, “You’re so stupid!  Do you even know how to speak in good English?  Just get out of my face!”

            Sooyoung froze as she heard a familiar voice.  She didn’t dare to turn her head to look.  She just continued to listen to that voice. 

            “Shut up, Nina,” the voice called out, “Do you know how to respect?”

            “Sir, the woman purposely spilled her coffee on me!” Nina defended herself.

            Sooyoung felt herself exhale as her chest heaved.  His voice sounded exactly the same.  The voice that sang her to sleep when she had nightmares still existed.  Her heartbeat multiplied by two as she anxiously her lips.

            “If I do promote you when I’m president of the company, how will I know that you’ll treat our foreign investors with respect and dignity?  This woman is clearly Asian, but that does not make her Chinese.  Did you know that I had dated her for three whole years?” Daesung asked.

            Nina’s let out a gasp as slapped her own forehead.

            “,” she muttered, “There goes my promotion.”

            “Miss Nina, please go home and contemplate on your actions.  When you go to work tomorrow, I want an explanation to why you acted the way you did.  You also should come up with an argument to why I should keep you in the company,” Daesung suggested.

            “Yes, sir,” Nina said as she hurriedly walked out of the café.

            Sooyoung finally looked at him when Nina left.  Her heart began to flutter.  Her stomach felt twisted, as her breathing grew heavy.  She had missed him so much.  She finally smiled as Daesung looked at her.  Everyone in the café was leaving, and Daesung guessed that it was because the bus across the street was going to pick up passengers soon.  As everyone left the café, Sooyoung gave him a faint smile.

            Daesung didn’t know a single thing that had happened to her.  He had not heard a word from her for one whole year.  It was one year of hell for him, but he felt that if he stayed in Korea, he would have felt worse.

            “Daesung…how has your one year away from Korea been?” Sooyoung asked.

            Daesung felt himself melting at her presence.  He didn’t think it was possible, but she had grown to become more beautiful.  She seemed glowing.  Her hair had grown longer, but she was still as gorgeous as ever.

            “It’s been…good,” he lied.

            Sooyoung nodded as he joined her in a nearby table.  A worker had brought Sooyoung a new cup of iced coffee as she bowed to him.

            “How are you and that guy?” Daesung choked.

            Daesung couldn’t even say his name.  He was the man that Sooyoung had loved when she had woken up from the hospital bed.  He had despised him because he took Sooyoung back when he knew how much Daesung loved Sooyoung.  He hated him because he didn’t mind that Daesung was going through so much pain.

            “We were engaged after you left, but I broke up with him,” Sooyoung confessed, “I don’t love him.”

            “Oh,” Daesung muttered.

            Sooyoung gave a grin as she made direct eye contact with Daesung.  It still amazed her that he was so gentle with her while he acted like a cold businessman to others.  She was hoping that the soft spot that he had for her in his heart had not disappeared.

            “If I tell you what I did during the one year that you had left, will you give me a detailed description of what you did?  I want to know everything that you did!” Sooyoung offered.

            He didn’t even get to reply.  Before he could nod, Sooyoung began to talk about her year.

            “When you left, I recovered fairly quickly.  The bump on my head is gone now!  I got engaged, but I broke it off with him because it didn’t feel right when we were together.  After I broke it off with him, I went back to sculpting.  I entered five competitions, and I won first place in four of them!  I was even featured on two magazines and they’re offering me my own exhibition next summer.  Then I went to Philippines because the president over there saw my work and requested that I sculpt a clay statue of him and his wife.  I gained recognition after that and I was offered another job in Japan.  I sculpted a bust for a famous actor there.  After that, Tiffany got married, and I became her maid of honor.  So what have you been doing this past year?  What was the most important thing that you did?” Sooyoung asked.

            Daesung was happy for her.  He was glad that she had accomplished her dream of being a well-known sculptor. She was so talented, and he knew that she was going to make it big.  Daesung gave a small smile as he thought of what he did this past year.

            He planned on opening up to her.  He didn’t care if he was going to be rejected.  She had rejected him many times in his life, and he didn’t feel that one more would hurt him.  He decided to be courageous for once.

            “The most important thing that I did during the course of the year was…think of you,” Daesung mumbled.

            Sooyoung stopped drinking her coffee as she opened .  She tried to speak, but she couldn’t.  It was as if he had left her speechless.

            “I know you’ll never love me because of the accident.  You don’t remember a single thing about me.  I’m just a stranger to you.  I’m just glad that I bumped into you.  You probably have a job offer in LA, and I’m glad that I had the chance to see you again.  You really don’t have to love me back.  I don’t want to hold you back, so continue on with your dreams.  Just forget me,” Daesung told her, “I just wanted to tell you that you’ll always have my heart.  No matter how many years pass, you’ll be the only woman I’ll love.”

            Sooyoung looked down at her lap for the longest time.  It felt like an eternity for Daesung.  He figured that she didn’t know how to react to his sudden confession.  It was time for him to leave.  He didn’t want to confuse her anymore.

            “I’ll just leave now.  It was great seeing you again, Sooyoung,” Daesung stated.

            Daesung got up and made his way towards the door.  His exit would be the most painful leave he would experience yet.  He figured that if she didn’t love him, then he shouldn’t force her.  He thought she was perfectly happy with how her life had gone.  She was absolutely fine without him.

            “Daesung ah, I forgot to tell you one more thing that I did during the course of the one year that had passed,” Sooyoung called out.

            Daesung paused as he listened to her.  He was expecting her to tell him that she had met someone new.  She probably had a new handsome boyfriend that made her smile and laugh just like how he used to.

            “Last week, I drove to the ocean and I saw a cliff.  I was alone.  There was no one in sight.  I took off my dress and jumped off the cliff and into the waters.  I dived!” Sooyoung smiled.

            “That’s good,” Daesung uttered..

            It was a good thing that she had overcome her fear of heights.  It was a good thing that she didn’t hurt herself like the last time she attempted to jump from the cliff.

            “Did I mention that I regained my memory the moment I hit the water?” Sooyoung grinned, “I didn’t come here for a job offer.  I came here to retrieve the man that I love.”

            Daesung felt his knees shaking as he heard that she had regained her memory.  All the memories that they made together were not a waste.  Daesung fell to his knees as he began to cry tears of joy.  He couldn’t express how blessed he felt.  The woman that he loved remembered him.  She finally remembered him.

 Sooyoung walked to him and went down on both knees to get on his level.  She gently cupped his cheeks as she gave a heartening smile.

            “Why are you crying?  I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll be by your side forever,” Sooyoung promised.