“Goodnight, Hyomin-ah. Sweet dreams.”

Hyomin stared down at the message with a small grin on her face. It has been years since anyone barged in her closed heart. 

It was not as if Yoochun confessed. He just wanted to be a friend whom she can rely on whenever things gone wrong and she had an urge to speak it out to someone. 

And these days, Yoochun had been the one keeping her from brooding too much on her unhappy marriage issues. Since she did not have the heart to get a divorce, putting the thoughts and sadness behind her would probably the next best thing to do. It will probably make her happier than before.

Jaejoong’s sudden movement snapped Hyomin out of her thoughts. She stared at the sleeping figure beside her with a frown. Turning over, she placed her mobile phone back on her bedside table. She lowered herself down and snuck underneath her blanket, snoozing her night away.

Somehow, tonight seemed like a good night to her. She could actually forget about everything and just head to bed without a single tear.

Unbeknownst to her, Jaejoong was listening to her movement even though he looked like he had dozed off hours ago. He turned around and watched the sleeping figure beside him.

Did she actually smiled just now?’

He thought quietly as his heart felt a little heavy.

With mixed thoughts flowing in his mind like a lullaby, he slowly drifted off to sleep just like any other day.

Except, there was a sting in his chest – an unexplainable feeling.

-

Jaejoong stared at the empty green paper blankly. He lifted up his pen and was about to write when he dropped it with a frown. It was the fifth time he tried writing but nothing came out unlike the usual times.

‘To my dearest- ‘

With a frown, he crumpled the paper in frustration and swiftly threw it into the waste paper bin right opposite his writing desk.

The thoughts of Hyomin slowly turning back into her usual self kept running around in his mind. It was not like he totally hated her to be happy. He wanted so much for her to be happy but he cannot bring himself to tell her anything. Not even the three words that she has longed to hear.

He was just curious if she had found someone whom she set eyes upon. Or has she found the man of her dreams already but she just kept it a mum with no intentions of divorcing.

His heart started to feel heavy. He threw everything back into his drawer and walked out of his study room with a sigh.

-

Yoochun sat at the designated restaurant, keeping a watch out of Hyomin since they had agreed to have dinner together tonight. Staring down at his watch, he smiled and went back to spotting for her presence.

‘Two more minutes and she will be here’, he thought gleefully. 

And he was right. Two minutes later, she did arrive at the restaurant with a grin on her face.

“Am I late or are you early?”

She took a seat right in front of him and gave him a cheerful smile. It was the smile that he has always loved ever since he knew her from school. But somehow, the smile has disappeared over the years.

He knew very well what was the cause behind that. It was something he could not comment on. She chose the way to lead her life while he can only support her by being the one who could cheer her up whenever she needed help.

‘Yoochun ah, aren’t you supposed to stop having feelings for her?’

He questioned himself while he shook his head lightly and smiled back at her. 

“I was early today.”

He was indeed having feelings for her. His feelings for her started way back in University when they first met. He had always seen her around in campus because they were in the same faculty. They were not this close back then. 

They were just merely classmates back then. Classmates whom would only greet each other in school whenever they crossed paths or, taking a short coffee break together if they happened to be in the cafeteria together.

That was how far their friendships were.

Somehow, their simple friendship turned out to be a single-sided love. And Yoochun started to fall head over heels for her. 

It was not as if he did not try to confess but he did it at the wrong place and wrong time. 

He found her by the corridor along the lecture halls. He was so ready to go up and confess to her with a stalk of her favourite flower – Red Tulips. But fate did not allow him to do so. 

Jaejoong was leaning against the wall outside the lecture hall, waiting patiently for her lecture to end. And when she saw him, her moody face brightened up like a kid who had just gotten a lollipop. Jaejoong gave her a peck on her cheek and his heart shattered into pieces. 

Not to say, he was surprised to find her dating the infamous quiet boy in the campus. Nobody had ever heard him speaking more than he needed. All he had said were just merely a few sentences.

To find him initiating a kiss, he found it so surprising that he could not believe his eyes. It was then he knew he could not stand a chance. Not a bit of it.

“Yoochun ah.”

Her voice broke his little thoughts of the past. Yoochun looked up at her with a small grin on his face. 

Never in his life would he have dreamt of this day to have dinner alone with her after graduating from University. He was so thankful to have found her that night.