YongShin with Ham Eun Jung as third party.

*****

From  text messages:

* Using white crayon on white paper is like loving someone who doesn't feel the same way. It marks, but always...invisible.

* There is a little truth in every, "It's only a joke."

   Curiosity in every, "It's nothing."

   There is meaning in every "I don't know."

   A bit of emotion in every, "It depends on you."

   Reason in every, "There is nothing, really," or "No, it's not true."

   And there is pain behind every, "It's all right."

****

"Oppa~~~~" Shin Hye held her classmate closer to her and gave him a hug. "How are you, Oppa?"

"Why are you calling me, Oppa?" Yong Hwa asked.

He was already annoyed because Shin Hye was like a wad of gum, and totally annoying. Shin Hye was clinging to his arms and following him around inside the classroom. They had been classmates since middle school, and even way back then, Shin Hye had been infatuated with Yong Hwa, calling him oppa, oppa, and being annoying like God Of Study's Na Hyun Jung.

"Yong, I can imagine how your married life would be," Jung Shin told him.

"Mwo???" Yong Hwa shot at him.

"Shin Hye would continue to pester you, Oppa, Oppa, kekekek," Min Hyuk teased them.

"Oppa and I will be together, so get used to it," Shin Hye shot at them.

"It's too early to be talking of marriage, you guys," Jong Hyun said.

"Why not? I can imagine my forever with Oppa, right, Yong-oppa?" Shin Hye asked.

"Aigoo..." Yong Hwa sighed.

*****

One lunch time, Shin Hye and the guys were eating when she placed some meat on to Yong Hwa's plate.

"I will practice being a good wife to you," she said.

"Yeah, and we are the kids," Min Hyuk said while eliciting a laugh from the Lee guys.

"Ya! I am being serious!" she shot at them.

"You are annoying," Yong Hwa pointed at her.

"Oppa, you hurt my feelings!" Shin Hye said with a pout.

Yong Hwa smiled. "It's just a joke."

Shin Hye smiled and continued to serve him with meat. But he was getting fed up. And his joke was half-true. The other guys kicked each other's shins while teasing the two over-saccharine couple with the one-sided love on Shin Hye's part.

****

One day, there were flying rumors that the leader of the Blue band was secretly pursuing the heart of the girl from the other class. Ham Eun Jung is your average girl, but she could be tough with words. Yong Hwa liked her even if she was older than him for a year. Eun Jung, Shin Hye, and the guys were all in third year in high school, but Eun Jung was already 20, while the rest were 19.

Shin Hye heard the rumors, so she bought some sweets to tempt Yong Hwa, then went to the music room to bug him again. Finally, after the guys' practice, she trapped Yong inside the music room and handed him chocolates.

"Tada!!!" she perkily said.

"Ige mwoya?" he asked.

"Oppa, is it true that you are dating someone?" she asked.

"It's not true," Yong Hwa lied. "Wae?"

"Ah, nothing," she lied.

He received the box of choco and placed it in his bag. She stuck to him again and went with him. Indeed, he did not tell her the truth that he was dating Eun Jung because he wanted to surprise everyone. And she did not tell him that she was curious.

"Oppa, you are the cutest boyfriend that there is," she said while pinching his cheeks.

"Ya! Cut that out!" Yong Hwa said.

He looked at his buddies, who were laughing among themselves. They could be annoying at times.

****

One day, Shin Hye was in the library when she saw Yong Hwa sweetly holding hands with Eun Jung.

"Oppa!" Shin Hye greeted as she came to them. "You are with?"

"Ham Eun Jung-imnida," Eun Jung introduced herself politely.

"Ah," she said. Then, to Yong, "Oppa, you are friends, right? I'm your girlfriend, right?"

Yong Hwa snapped at her.

"Since when did you become my girlfriend?" he asked.

By now, many students were hearing the encounter because it was lunch time, and there were many of them studying for the next classes. Shin Hye felt embarrassed and bit her lips, tears about to fall.

"B...but, I am your... girlfriend," she said in a low voice.

Eun Jung got annoyed because the other girl was full of herself, but she did not use her tongue-lashings at Shin Hye.

"Dream on," Yong Hwa said. "You are an annoying girl who keeps following me around. I never had a girlfriend. You are not my girlfriend. Eun Jung-noona is my girlfriend now. Arasseo?"

"Ohhh!!!!"

"Mwo????"

"Jinjja?"

A wave of murmurs scattered around the room. Shin Hye felt she was betrayed when Yong Hwa told her the truth.

"That's right," Yong Hwa told her stiffly. "I could have told you this a long time ago... Wait, in fact I did, way back in first grade in high school. But you did not heed it. You chose to believe that I am your namchin."

"O...oppa!" Shin Hye called out in tears.

"What's the matter over here?" the librarian finally spoke up.

Shin Hye ran out of the library and hid her tears somewhere else. She was to embarrassed that her heart was rejected flat on her face.

The three other guys saw the encounter, and Jung Shin and Min Hyuk said that she deserved it.

"I pity Yong, and I pity Shin Hye too," Jong Hyun said. "What she is doing is writing on white paper with white crayon."

"Eh?" Jung Shin asked. "What does it mean?"

Jong Hyun told them that she was trying her best to make Yong Hwa look at her, but in vain. Writing in white crayon is writing in vain because the white color of the crayon is marked on white paper, but it is invisible.

"Or, should I say, Shin Hye's one-sided love is just like trying hard to perfect a long quiz which is not recorded," Jong Hyun said.

"Where did you learn that?" Min Hyuk asked.

"From text messages, of course," Jong Hyun said.

"Ah! Geurae!" Jung Shin said. "Tsk, those text messages, really..."

****

Shin Hye got in the classroom with puffy eyebags and red eyes, not minding the gossips that her classmates threw at her. They did not even like her because she was annoying and noisy when Yong Hwa is around. And of course, it would be a given that she did not annoy anyone with her noise because she was in great shame. All she did was concentrate on the lessons and even perfecting her science long exam that day.

Yong Hwa felt peace of mind, knowing that he finally got rid of her in his life.

****

Shin Hye went home, then went to the bar that night to drink. Good thing, it was a Friday, and she ordered bottle after bottle after bottle.

"Agasshi, you already drank 10 bottles of beer," the bartender admonished her. "Do you have a boyfriend whom we can call to assist you home?"

"Boyfriend? Ah, no, no, no!" she slurred. "I am single and su~~~~~per available, hick!"

She gave her wallet foolishly to the bartender. Good thing, he was honest, so he got money in her wallet exactly as the total amount for the ten bottles. Heck, she did not even buy something to eat!

"Agasshi?" the bartender called out.

For Shin Hye walked out of the bar, incoherent and with unstable gait.

****

Yong Hwa walked home after walking Eun Jung home. On his way, he saw a college student trying to molest a drunk woman in the dark corner. His male instincts told him to kick the man out, so he ran and boxed the student.

"What the heck are you doing, huh?" Yong Hwa demanded.

The student ran away fast, thinking that Yong Hwa was the woman's boyfriend. He looked at the woman, who was sitting in the corner, so he went to her and knelt in front of her.

"Agasshi, gwaenchanhseumnikka?" he asked.

"Y...." the woman asked. "Yong Hwa?"

He wondered why the woman knew him, so he took his phone and shone the light on her face.

"Sh... Shin Hye?????" he asked.

He had never seen Shin Hye with a damaged woman image. She was drunk, and she was incoherent. Much as he wanted to leave her alone because she annoyed him, but to him, she was still a girl who needed protection.

"Why are you drinking? And why are you drunk?" he demanded.

"I am 19.... Korean legal age...." she reasoned out.

"Tsh..." he hissed as he helped her to her feet.

He did not know where she lives because he never bothered to know in the first place. They had been together for years, but he did not even try to know things about her. As he helped her to his parents' house, she was mumbling and vomiting along the way. Yong Hwa felt embarrassed to see her like this, not when the ajummas, the ajeosshis, the halmeonis and the harabeojis in the neighborhood were looking at them.

"Why don't you bring her to her house?" an ajumma asked.

"I don't know where she lives," he said.

"But she is your classmate, right?" a halmeoni asked.

"Ne, but I really don't know where she lives."

He brought her in the house and into his room. His parents were away for months, leaving him to fend for himself. He fended for her as she kept on vomitting.

"You are irresponsible," he told her.

"Am I??" she asked, then hiccuped. "I think I should celebrate when I topped the science exam today. La, la, la...~~~~"

He started to worry when she vomitted. She might get dehydrated.

"How many bottles did you consume?" he asked. "It's disgusting for a girl to get drunk."

"Ten bottles," she boasted.

"Mwo?" he asked.

Then, he got a t-shirt from his cabinet and gave it to her.

"Change into these," he said.

"Do you have a skirt?" she asked. "My skinny jeans are starting to get itchy."

"Ya, do you think I am a girl?" he asked.

"Give me a skirt!" she demanded.

All he had were just shorts, so he lent her one.

"Ya, I'll...I'll turn around," he said.

Shin Hye took off her clothes and changed into the ones which he gave her. But she sloppily wore the t-shirt that some parts of the hem were tucked into the shorts. He turned around just in time to see her with his clothes on. He helped her arrange her clothes.

He piled up his pillows so in case she'd lie down, she'd not lie down flat.

"Aigoo. You better tone down on your drinking, arasseo?" he told her. "I was embarrassed when my neighbors saw you with me."

"Ah... then, I am an annoying bunch, am I not?" she slurred.

She told him that she was happy that she topped the exam, even if she had told him that already. She blabbled on and on, and soon, he was disturbed regarding her revelations.

"Just... just sleep now," he told her coldly.

Shin Hye cupped , and he helped her to the restroom to vomit again. Then, he gave her water so she could gargle. Her breath had the alcohol stench in it, as well as the acidic portions of your stomach. It was so disgusting. Anyhow, he helped her get to bed so that she could rest.

He was disturbed of what she said, so he went to the living room to watch some K-dramas in his laptop. He watched episode 10 of "God Of Study," unknowingly. He watched as Hwang Baek Hyun called Na Hyun Jung to talk to him that night.

Baek Hyun and Hyun Jung settled by the stairs, and they were talking. He found her strange, so he asked if she was angry at him.

"You... you don't like my fancy of you," she said.

"It's not that I don't like... It's just...it is a burden," Baek Hyun said.

Those lines pricked Yong Hwa's ears. It was just like Shin Hye had told him an hour ago.

"I am so strange," Hyun Jung went on. "I am a burden to people, especially to people who are important to me."

Was she really a burden to me, Yong asked himself. Indeed, he found her a burden, but he never found out why she was like that. Was Shin Hye just like Hyun Jung? Deprived of parental love?

Hyun Jung got up and ascended the stairs, without seeing her best friend Hong Chan Doo, eavesdropping.

"Ya, Na Hyun Jung!" Baek Hyun called out.

Hyun Jung turned to him and looked at him with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry for even liking you," Hyun Jung said before walking away.

Yong Hwa shuddered at Hyun Jung's revelation, the same way Shin Hye's revelation that night disturbed him. Yong Hwa felt sorry for Hyun Jung because she apologized to Baek Hyun for liking him--on her birthday. And Yong Hwa remembered that earlier that day, he embarrassed Shin Hye to the utmost in the library.

Could it be the reason why she got drunk?

"Omo... Shin Hye-ya... I... I'm sorry..." he thought, unknowingly letting tears fall down.

If he had not been there, Shin Hye could have been by that college student.

"And I..." he thought in tears.

He continued watching as Baek Hyun tried to save Hyun Jung at the club, and getting beaten up instead. He also watched when, at the hospital, Baek Hyun convinced her to get up so that all of them 5 chosen students can take the long exams. Even if she had the flu, she went with him.

"Baek Hyun-ah is admirable," Yong Hwa thought. "He carried Hyun Jung from the hospital to the school without a thought for himself... and yet, I... I got embarrassed when I carried Shin Hye from the alley to here..."

He turned off the laptop after feeling bad. Then, he got back to his room and saw Shin Hye sleeping soundly on his bed. She was still drunk, but now, she's sober.

"Mianhae... Shin Hye-ya..."

He lay on the cold hard floor for the night, watching over her.

****

The next day, Shin Hye woke up with a major headache. Bad hangover.

"Apa...." she cringed.

Then, she realized that she was in Yong Hwa's bedroom. For being annoying, of course, she knew every corner of the house, especially his room.

And Yong Hwa got out of the bathroom.

"Huh?" she asked. "Why am I here?"

"You mean you don't remember?" he asked her coldly.

"Huh?" she asked in confusion, trying to search her brain. "Did I do or say something stupid last night?"

"Molla," he said.

There was a reason for saying that. He wanted her to reveal on a clear mind what she just said in her drunkenness.

"If I said something last night, forget it," she said with a slight laugh. "I did not mean anything with it."

Yong Hwa saw the sadness in her eyes. Indeed, she could not remember the things she said or did, but he knew that with wine, there is truth. And those words with which he heard was really disturbing.

"Why am I in your clothes?" she asked.

"I don't want you to be vomiting over your clothes, never mind if you have to vomit on mine," he said. "Just take a bath."

Shin Hye bit her lips in confusion. And yet, she avoided his gaze on her, knowing that he had embarrassed her yesterday. Oh, too unfortunate. After being sober, you will still remember your problem after all.

"I will cook breakfast," he said. "Just... just come down and get it."

"Eung," she said.

"Do you want me to cook rice? Coz I don't eat rice in the morning," he said.

"It... it depends on you," she said lowly.

She was willing to resign her fate to him. Yong sighed because he could not elicit a concrete answer from her.

"All right, I will cook rice," he sighed.

Shin Hye walked in the restroom like a zombie with a splitting headache. She took a bath for more than an hour when she would be spending less than an hour.

"Of all people, why Yong Hwa?" she thought. "I must be very unlucky last night..."

After bathing, she grabbed his checkered shirt and wore it along with her skinnies. Then, she got down and darted to the door.

"Ya, are you not gonna eat?" Yong Hwa asked.

Then, he noticed she wore his checkered button down shirt without permission.

"Ah...ani...gw...gwaenchanha..." she said.

He stepped forward and coaxed her to eat.

"I... I am not hungry..."

"But you drank 10 bottles of beer and vomited nothing but beer," Yong Hwa told her. "You have to eat."

"Really, it's all right," she said.

She did not want him to care and told him that she was all right, because she did not want him to know the hurt that she was feeling. She did not know that he already knew the truth.

"Come on," he said as he held her hand and dragged her to the kitchen.

Shin Hye absent-mindedly followed him and sat across him.

"Jal meokgetseumnida," she said before slowly eating her food.

Yong Hwa could see that she avoided, by all means, eye contact. He could not make her look at him again.

****

Flashback:

"Aigoo. You better tone down on your drinking, arasseo?" he told her. "I was embarrassed when my neighbors saw you with me."

"Ah... then, I am an annoying bunch, am I not?" she slurred.

She told him that she was happy that she topped the exam, even if she had told him that already.

"Get hold of yourself," he told her angrily as she was swinging her arms. "And tone down your voice."

She blabbled on and on.

"Am I no longer allowed to be happy?" she asked. "Ah...the beer is so good, I could drown 100 more bottles if I want to."

"Wae?"

"So that I can forgot the pain and shame of my heart," she said in tears as she pounded her chest. "Here, the pain is veee~~~~ry painful... apa, apa..."

She was laughing at first, but now, she was crying.

"I cannot hide all I want...and I will just drink to my heart's content," she said. "Ah, I know now. I am annoying. I do not deserve pity. I do not deserve love. Oh yeah, I can live without love. I can just, *hick* go out there and do what I have to do and be happy with myself. I do not deserve love, arasseo?"

"Ah..that...that... is not true..." he told her.

"And why is that not true?" she asked. "Of all people, you broke my heart, you humiliated me in front of the crowd. And how can I save my face again? *hick* The better if I can just drown myself in beer and forget about my hurts, lalalala~~~."

She was singing that annoying song again as she waved her arms, but she almost fell off the bed, so Yong Hwa had to grab her.

"Get off," she slurred. "I do not deserve your help... I am not worthy of love, geuchyo?"

"Shin Hye-ya..." he said.

"Ah... this messy life, I will just do what I can to forget you, ne... I will forget you... And thanks to the beer, I will forget you..."

He looked as she shed more tears.

"But what are you doing?" she asked. "You are imprisoning me here...to this, I don't know..."

He did not have the heart to tell her that she almost got molested. Then, she started singing to CN Blue's "I Will Forget You."

"Shin Hye, stop," he said.

"Ah... why make me stop?" she taunted him. "I just want to let out my hurt feelings, arasseo?"

He looked as she wiped her tears.

"Congratulations to you and Eun Jung-ah, you can finally get rid of me," she said.

"No, it's not like that, I..." he lied, because what she said was true.

"Ah, I will no longer care if both of you will be the campus couple," she said. "And I will be okay being alone. I will no longer hang out with you and the guys."

"Just... just sleep now," he told her coldly.

It was evident that he was very disturbed. Shin Hye cupped , and he helped her to the restroom to vomit again. Then, he gave her water so she could gargle. Her breath had the alcohol stench in it, as well as the acidic portions of your stomach. It was so disgusting. Anyhow, he helped her get to bed so that she could rest.

"Good night world, good ni~~~~ght, aching heart," she slurred on.

Then, she dropped on the pillow and fell asleep. He could see that she was letting go. Could she remember the things she say once she's awake?

He was greatly disturbed, because all she said were true.

End of flashback.

****

After breakfast, she thanked him for accomodating her to his house.

"I do not deserve this," she said. "Eun Jung-eonni might find out...and..."

"And what?" he asked.

"I am no longer welcome here," she said.

He was unable to utter a thing as she stepped out of the door.

****

Shin Hye never cared if Yong Hwa and Eun Jung became the hottest couple in class and in the whole campus, and she suddenly got so withdrawn that her classmates got happy that she was no longer noisy.

Only Jong Hyun was concerned.

"This is not good," he told Jung Shin and Min Hyuk. "Do you think she will enjoy looking at her yearbook a few years from now?"

"Ya, are you in love with her?" Min Hyuk accused him.

"In love? Of course not, coconut," Jong Hyun said. "I just want everybody to remember having a good high school life for the years to come. You think Shin Hye will want to remember hers now that everyone alienated her?"

"You have a point," Jung Shin said. "I started to feel sorry for her too."

"I think we are just being hard on her without even knowing why she is like that," Min Hyuk said. "We are judging her based on how she is acting in front of us."

Jung Shin and Min Hyuk just had a change of heart after remembering on the text messages that Jong Hyun had shared. Their friend was really introspective and could be mature than all of them inside the classroom, like Jong Hyun was Judge Bao in his past life. Besides, they heard from Yong Hwa himself that Shin Hye got drunk and told him many things which unnerved him. At first, Jung Shin was turned off, but he tried putting himself in her shoes. As usual, Jong Hyun tried to put himself in her shoes. Min Hyuk tried to analyze why she was acting that way.

"We never even tried to find out how she is at home," Jong Hyun thought.

As for Shin Hye, the music room where the guys practice was her consolation even if she knew Yong Hwa stayed there. She would hang out at lunch and play the piano for the whole duration, even without eating. It was all right with her because the guys practiced in the afternoon.

One lunch time, Shin Hye was playing to Alexia's "Happy" and singing in a merry tune when Yong Hwa watched her silently. Jong Hyun told him it was the place where she often stayed away from the world.

"Just make sure Eun Jung-noona will not find out of this," he told Yong Hwa.

Shin Hye was singing happily, but he knew she was just faking it. It was difficult to be happy when you know you are hurting inside.

****

All of them graduated high school without patching up, and the three guys were the only secret souls who were kind enough to her. She topped her CSAT so she could get into an excellent music school.

****

After the the graduation ceremony, Eun Jung dragged Shin Hye to a quiet place. The elder girl was not willing to get dirty with all the eggs and flour party that their hoobaes were throwing for them at the gate.

"Maybe you will be happy now," Eun Jung lashed out.

"Wae?" Shin Hye asked.

"Because Yong and I broke up," Eun Jung said. "And that is because of you!"

"I don't care about your business anymore," Shin Hye said. "I'm going."

Eun Jung was not able to utter anything. It was so unlike Miss to be unable to come with a comeback. Shin Hye really did not care anymore because she was so done with crying over her broken heart.

****

That night, Shin Hye was about to close the gate of her pad. As usual, her rich parents went out gambling without even giving a thought that their daughter had graduated high school.

"Same old, same old," she thought sadly.

"Ya, Shin Hye," Min Hyuk called out.

He and the guys came over and brought in food. It was already nine at night, but Shin Hye had not eaten anything because she was busy getting ready to file her college application. She let them in, and the four of them celebrated their graduation.

"I just have one advice," Jong Hyun said. "Just find other colored papers whom you can write with your white crayon."

Shin Hye frowned at him and asked what he meant.

"It means, meet other people," he went on. "You might find love along the way. Just take your time... maybe Mr. Right will come when we will all be making money."

And that was one advice that kept Shin Hye going.

****

Six years later.

The four guys went their separate ways. Jong Hyun became a businessman, while Jung Shin became an actor. Min Hyuk pursued further studies to be a doctor. Yong Hwa became a singer-songwriter/composer/producer who was garnering awards, one after the other.

One day, his manager came and told him that he would be co-producing a song for Jang Geun Suk.

"Well, I will take the challenge," Yong Hwa said. "Co-producing, you say? So, I will produce the song with Geun Suk-ssi?"

"Animnida," the manager said. "You will be working with H."

Yong Hwa had often heard about H. H is a renowned songwriter/composer/producer who often made songs which are full of soul, giving listeners heartwarming feelings.

"I should like to meet her," Yong Hwa said. "When can I meet her?"

"Tomorrow," the manager said. "Boss said that he had arranged a meeting with you both tomorrow to brainstorm on the collaboration. Aish, it would also be better if you sing it with him..."

"Funny, Hyung," Yong Hwa said. "It will seem awkward that me and Geun Suk-hyung will be singing a love song together."

The manager only smirked. Then, he told him to get ready for tomorrow.

****

The next day, Yong Hwa went to the conference room where the CEO and H were. He came in, bowed politely, and greeted them. When he was beckoned to sit down, H flipped her hair.

"Sh...Shin Hye?" Yong Hwa asked H, very confused.

But Shin Hye showed a stoic face, like she was preparing herself to meet him again.

"Oh, so you know her personally?" the CEO asked with a merry laugh. "She is indeed Park Shin Hye."

"Ah... Eotteohke jinaesyeosseoyo?" Yong Hwa asked her.

"Jal jinaesseoyo," she said professionally.

"It is a coincidence that you know each other by name, ahahaha," the boss said.

"She's... she's my classmate way back in middle school," Yong Hwa revealed.

But the atmosphere was so gloomy that the CEO laughed uncertainly and called upon his secretary to prepare coffee for all of them. The secretary did as told. While waiting for coffee, the three of them were discussing about the collaboration.

"I'm cool with it," she said bluntly.

"And you?" Won-sajangnim asked him.

"Ah, geuraeyo, geuraeyo, I will do it," he said with uneasiness.

After the discussion over coffee, Shin Hye declared that she'd go ahead. Yong Hwa stood up and invited her for lunch, in front of the CEO.

"I have a lunch date," she said.

"Geureomyeon, let's just meet after lunch," he said while getting my phone. "Would you mind giving me your phone number?"

Shin Hye told him that she had not changed numbers since high school. Yong Hwa told her that he changed numbers because his previous one was stolen. So, she grudgingly gave hers. When she went out, the CEO looked at Yong and felt sorry for him.

"By the looks of it, you and H had a history together," Won-sajangnim said.

"Ne. A very sad one," Yong Hwa said.

The CEO said it was not his business to meddle with love affairs, so he told Yong Hwa to eat lunch and get to work with her afterwards.

"Ne."

****

After lunch, the two of them met again in the studio, where they continued work. Unlike the awkwardly sad Shin Hye who refused eye contact with him after he humiliated her, she was rather snobbish and tend to act like she did not care. Indeed, she had moved on, while he was pining for her after his breakup with Eun Jung.

He had no courage to tell her his feelings after graduation because he felt guilty, and he was not ready to face her. Anyhow, the hours stretched, but she was not willing to eat, so he bought food for the two of them.

"I don't eat chocolate cream pie," she said.

"You... you used to love chocolates, and even annoyed me by giving me some."

"That was before. Everything has changed," she said as she pushed her share of the pie. "You can eat it if you want."

"Ya, do you know it is an insult to reject food?" he finally lashed out at her. "You should know better."

Shin Hye grabbed the pie and gobbled it up. Somehow, it gave him a bit of satisfaction that she even ate the food that he had bought.

After work, he offered to take her home.

"I have a car," she bluntly said.

"No, you don't," he said.

She looked at him and asked how dare he talked to her like that.

"Do not deny it," he told her slyly. "I had some friends investigate about you this lunch time, and they said that famous composer H does not own a car at all."

"I won't be polite," she sullenly told him. "I don't know why I have to accept the offer."

"Yes, you have to!" he finally told her, his impatience at her iness at the boiling point. "You know what? I do not even know what to do so you will forgive me. I tried searching for you after high school graduation so that I can ask for forgiveness. You know why? Coz I am guilty."

"I don't know why you should even be guilty," she told him. "You humiliated me at the library that day. And afterwards, I no longer care what happened between you and Eun Jung."

"I should be guilty because you told me many things that night when you got drunk," he said.

"I told you to forget it. And I do not even know if I said something sensible or stupid," she argued.

"Yes, you were saying stupid things, but that night haunted me forever," he said.

And he told her what she told him that night. She blushed at the revelation, being humiliated by him again.

"Because of that, I tried to put myself in your place even if I cannot understand you," he said. "I never knew why you said that you are not worthy of love, but I did my best to be careful around you. Starting that night."

"Well, I do not remember saying those things..."

"Because you were drunk!"

And he even revealed that she almost got molested by a college student. It was when she got shocked that she had her hand covering . And he had tears in his eyes.

"I do not know what will happen had I not been there," he said. "After that night, I started looking after you. And even when I was with Eun Jung, I kept looking after you behind your back."

"Only Jong Hyun and the guys were kind to me when everyone else hated me," Shin Hye said. "I meet every so often with the three, and I am grateful to have friends like them. They were the only good memories I had of high school."

Tears started to fall from his eyes.

"Mianhada...mianhada..." he said. "I'm sorry for breaking your heart that day... I was just so angry and fed up... Mianhaeyo..."

Tears started to fall from her eyes too.

"I thought that I had moved on when you pushed me away," she said. "There was no longer the wound but the scar. And because of that scar, I cannot forget everything... You made me stronger by breaking my heart."

Yong Hwa held her arms, but she pushed him away.

"Shin Hye-ya... Please write on my blue paper..." he said.

"Shirheo... I threw my white crayon away...." she said stiffly. "I will never forgive you for killing me that day. Because of you, I had no more face to show everybody. I just went to school to study, never mind if people were bullying me. Never mind if our classmates made me do all the harsh experiments. I went to school even if everyday felt like Hell after that day. Only the teachers were kind to me. Even the hoobaes were kind to me...."

But Yong Hwa pulled her closer for a hug. No matter how much she struggled, he wrapped her tightly.

"Shin Hye-ya... all these years, I had been looking for you so that we can talk. And now that I found you, I will not let you go... Please write on my blue paper. I had been so blue after your revelation... And since then, even when I'm with Eun Jung, all I had in my mind was you."

Shin Hye pounded on his chest, so he released his grip. Shin Hye slapped him hard right and left, punched him, kicked him. But no matter how much she hurt him physically, she could not be satisfied. The emotional hurt she received from him were more than all the slaps she could give him.

And she sat down and cried.

"Every night, I cried, waiting for the day that I will not see all of my classmates," she said. "So wanting to get out of my screwed life. And I was glad to get into college."

Yong Hwa wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her hard.

"You can kill me if you want, slap me till you want.... I deserve your anger..."

It hurt her indeed, and she felt her heart had been broken when she was rejected. She had given all of her heart to him, and when he threw it away, she had no more love. That is why she's stuck up right now.

"Shin Hye....I'll be with you tonight..." he whispered.

Shin Hye cried and cried her eyes out. He released his hug and got up, then arranged all files for their work tomorrow. He helped her get up, and he led her to his car.

"Just stay at my house tonight..." he said.

"Shirheo...." she said, her voice breaking up.

"I insist," he whispered.

She was not able to do anything because he carried her bridal style, even though she protested. He brought her to his car and locked the door.

"You go with me," he said. "I want to be with you..."

"And I don't want to be with you..." she sobbed.

He drived his car to his parents' house, and as usual, his parents were not there. She could not do anything because it was already night. He brought her to his room and let her lie on his bed.

****

After doing his night rituals, he lay beside her, but she was lying on her side, her back facing him. He held her shoulder and began kissing it, then he pulled her into a hug.

"Don't think that I will be molesting you," he said.

"This is kidnapping," she said. "I will sue you tomorrow."

"Go ahead," he said, unshaken.

Yong Hwa shed his tears on her back, and she felt his hand trembling around her. Her heart was stirred and she could not deny that even if the scar had remained, it was still there.

Though she tried to keep her eyes closed, she was still pining for her Yong Hwa-oppa. She held his hand and squeezed it tight.

"I still love you, Yong Hwa..." she whispered.

He must have heard it.

"Mworagu?" he asked.

She turned around and looked into his eyes, tears falling down.

"I still love you. Even if you were with Eun Jung-ah, I could not keep myself from clutching my chest at the hurt, that is why I tried not to look at you because looking at you hurts me," she said.

He pulled her closer and kissed her on her forehead.

"Jong Hyun once told me to write on colorful paper so the mark of my white crayon can be seen.... I just hid my white crayon while waiting for Mr. Right... and he came in time..."

Yong Hwa's heart trembled at her revelation. He was so happy that she was still in love with him.

"Saranghae, Shin Hye..." he confessed.

And he held her face and kissed her tenderly, letting her feel the love that had kept him going. She kissed him back to let him feel the love that she thought had died.

After the kiss, he hugged her closer to her and sheltered her in his arms. For that night, it was just the two of them...

 

~~~~END~~~~

( A super short one-shot, featuring CN Blue)

 

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