Daesung and I are two peas in a pod again. Like old times. Though honestly, I feel a closer connection, but it could just be the fact that we’re both adults now. We’re both full fledged college students. People poke fun at our closeness sometimes. They always smile at us and talk about how in love we are, when we’re not. He’s my best friend. They tell me I act like I’m more than a friend when I ruffle or fix his hair, or when I wipe his mouth when he eats messy. I guess I can understand it to a point. But even when the whole university has heard me say that I’m not, nor ever will be in love with Daesung, no one listens.

Everyone acts like a boy and a girl can’t be just best friends. That’s all we are. That’s all we will be. That’s all we’ve ever been. Well... maybe. Because I remembered a problem that arose one night when Daesung knocked on my door. Honestly, I wished I hadn’t opened the door at all. But I couldn’t shut down my best friend. Besides, his new blonde hair made him even harder to resist. It added to his innocence and his charm. He was the most adorable thing on the planet. At least to me he was.

Daesung’s knock on the door had interrupted my train of thought as I wrote in my diary. I got up and answered it to find a sad smile at my eye level. “What’s wrong Daesung?” I asked. He walked in and crossed his arms, making the pout even harder to resist. “You were supposed to meet me at the gym over an hour ago Sahee,” he said, his lower lip quivering. I smiled and put a comforting hand on his broad shoulder, “I’m sorry, Dae. I forgot. I’ve got a lot on my mind.” “You’re forgetting a lot of stuff lately,” he said with a scoff. I wrinkled my nose and glared at him, “Like what?” He looked at his feet, “Everything, you even forgot about me for a while.”

When I shook my head, his face took on an expression of disgust, “You’re too busy thinking about Minho to even think about anything else around you!” I was shocked that he actually rose his voice at me, but that didn’t stop me from yelling right back, “Shut up! Why would you even bring him up?!” “Because! He told you everything would be alright, didn’t he?” he asked. I stayed silent. “But it’s not alright. Is it?” he went on. “Why can’t you just let it go and move on Sahee? Why can’t you just forget about him?” That had been the last straw for me. “Get out!” I screamed and when he didn’t budge I pressed on, “How could you ask me to forget the love of my life?!”

That’s what got him.

Daesung had the same look in his eye that I did the day Minho left. Our hearts were both shattered, Mine and Daesung’s. I could feel all of those feelings rush to me again and I just fell to my knees and I began to weep as Daesung, my best friend, walked out the door with a cold reply. “Thank you,” he muttered before leaving my dorm.

A week passed and he didn’t speak to me. I couldn’t even get within a hundred feet of him and even his friends avoided me. I remember a girl coming up to me exactly a week after my conversation with Daesung. She had been yelling so loud that I swear the whole school could have heard her. “You broke Daesung’s heart! He deserves so much better than you, stupid witch!” she had yelled. I remembered how I asked myself how I could have possibly broken my best friend’s heart when we had never been together before. I could also remember the pang in my chest when she called me a witch. Oddly enough, it hurt more than any other word I had been called before.

In that same day, Daesung finally approached me. He wouldn’t even look at me at first. “I have something I need to tell you, Sahee,” he said. I wasn’t patient enough for this. “Spit it out before the whole school starts to hate me!” I practically spat. He put his hand into the rather nice jacket he had been wearing and pulled out a box. He got on one knee and opened it to reveal the most beautiful engagement ring I had ever seen in my life. He looked into my eyes right then and his face looked more serious than I had ever seen before. “Sahee, will you marry me?” he asked.

By now the entire university was staring at us, even the people in class were crowded by the windows and staring straight at the scene. At first I thought it was a joke, “Daesung, stop messing around! I told you to stop using that joke!” “I’m dead serious,” he said firmly and stayed put on one knee. “Daesung, seriously. Knock it off. This isn’t funny,” I said and he shook his head. “It’s not meant to be funny Sahee,” he said, “I’m serious. I want you to marry me.”

I pulled him up by the arm and he glared at me. “We need to talk. My dorm. NOW,” I snarled between clenched teeth. At that moment in time, I had completely forgotten about that promise I had made him in grade school. I hadn’t realized that even at that age someone could be so serious. I walked, holding his hand firmly, dragging Daesung in the direction of my dorm.

When we got into the large building, we took the elevator to the third floor, where my dorm was. Before we even reached the second floor, Daesung pressed the emergency stop button. “What are you doing Daesung?!” I yelled, afraid that we’d get in trouble. But then I realized, the alarm didn’t go off like it should. “Sahee, I want you to answer me,” Daesung said, inching his way over to me. His blonde hair fell over one eye and then, at that moment, I had to fight a smile. He was so adorable. I shook my head, “I ca-” I was cut off by his lips pressing onto mine . I clenched my fist and I hit him furiously on the chest multiple times before giving in.

Daesung wasn’t going to budge, and I couldn’t deny the soft lips that fit perfectly on mine. “Marry me,” he mumbled into the kiss. I finally got the chance to break the kiss and I looked away. “I can’t, Daesung,” I said, almost in a whisper. He gently turned my head to face him, “Then why did you kiss me back Sahee?” I knew he’d feel it when I returned the kiss. So why did I do it? It was my first kiss, and it was meant for the one person I loved the most.

“I-I’m sorry, Dae. You’re my best friend. I just can’t,” I choked out before I could feel the tears biting back at my eyes. They stung the corners of my eyes and were screaming to be let go. “Please don’t cry Sahee,” he whispered as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against mine. I couldn’t control myself. I broke down and the tears were finally free, running down my cheeks like liquid diamonds. I hadn’t seen it all these years.

Daesung wrapped his arms around me and i buried my face in his neck as I cried uncontrollably. I felt as if I hadn’t cried in all of my life. I felt the huge push and pull of confusion on my heart. I didn’t know what to do anymore. Daesung was right here, my best friend and he loved me enough to propose in front of everyone we always knew. He had courage. But Minho had caught my heart almost thirteen years ago. He had everything, while I wished I had something.

“I need time,” I whispered into Daesung’s neck and he smiled. “That’s good enough for me Sahee. I’ll spend my whole life waiting for you. Like I’ve been waiting for you the day we were born.” “You’ll really wait that long?” I asked, shocked by his statement. He nodded with a smile, “I’ll go to the ends of the Earth for you. As long as you promise to think about how you feel and not move on without telling me, I’ll spend my whole life trying to make you love me. I’ll protect you for the rest of my life. I really do love you Sahee.”

I’d never realized that Daesung never thought of me as a sister, or a best friend, or anything other than a soul-mate. He believed we were born to be together, but I’m not sure that I wanted to believe that just yet. Then I remembered a day we spent together when Minho still lived in Seattle. Daesung had begged me for a whole week before I agreed to go with him. He wanted it to be just me and him for one whole day, no Minho, no one else. I didn’t question it, because I knew I neglected him. But that day... I didn’t think about Minho for a single second.

--

“Wake up, Sahee,” Daesung whispered, shaking my shoulder. I almost fell out of my bed when I realized Daesung had gotten in my room. “What the hell?” I yelled, “How did you get into my room?” Daesung had blushed furiously. Then he replied with a sweet smile, “Your mom let me in.” I grimaced and then laughed it off, it was alright. It’s not like it was really anything new. We would always fall asleep together as kids, not anything weird. We just slept. And I smiled at that memory.

He left me alone the rest of the morning to get ready and when I walked down in just a simple sun dress and flip-flops, his eyes just lit up. “You’re beautiful, Sahee,” he said, making my mother giggle, and myself blush. I grabbed his arm and scrunched up my nose, “Let’s go, Dae. And quit embarrassing me.”

I promised him that every second of the day belonged to him and we could do whatever he wanted. The first thing he chose was getting breakfast at my favorite restaurant. He bought me pancakes covered in fruits and whipped cream. At one point, he dipped his finger in the whipped cream and smeared it along my nose. “Meanie,” I said, wiping it off on his shoulder. “Yah! This is my nicest coat Sahee!” he yelled playfully. “I’ll buy you a new one, Dae,” I said, hoping I really didn’t have to.

After the amazing breakfast and my thousand thanks to Daesung, we went to the park. It was always empty on Sundays. That’s why he chose it. I remember refusing to go on the swing just because I was wearing a dress and Daesung insisted that we wouldn’t look. He even tied his extra sweater around my waist, yet I watched him, since he was still a teenage boy. He couldn’t see my eyes locked on him, but he didn’t look even once in the direction of my flowing dress. It had made me smile. I was so modest for nothing. Daesung always kept his promises.

Then he told me he wanted to go into the forest with me and get lost. And boy did we get lost. Actually, I got lost because eventually Daesung was no longer by my side and I began to panic. When it was starting to get dark I was on the verge of tears, wondering where my best friend had went. I thought of his smile and how bright it was, how happy he always seemed to be. He was always so sweet and he’d treat me like a princess. Then he came out from behind a tree, "I'm so sorry Sahee," he apologized. I just leapt up into his arms and didn't say a words. His embrace made me feel completely safe.

--

Remembering that made me really think, and Daesung’s arms around me made me even more sure of the next thought. I loved him then, I love him now. But I’m not ready for this. A new realization like this makes someone so tired. I looked up at him and smiled, “Daesung?” “Hm?” he replied. I smiled and closed my eyes, burying my face back into his neck, “That was my first kiss.” Then I heard him chuckle a bit, “Mine too.” Then I felt so special, that he gave me his first kiss. I was so overwhelmed. “I’m tired, Dae,” I said, finally pulling away from his embrace. He smiled and nodded, “Yeah. I’ll let you sleep.” As he began to walk to the door, I grabbed his wrist, “Stay the night, please?” He nodded and smiled. “I’ll sleep on the couch then. No protesting,” he said firmly.

I felt so happy, confused, upset; all at once. I hadn’t thought of Minho since that moment that the velvet box caught my eye. My best friend just told me that he loved me more than anything and he wanted to spend his life with me. I just couldn’t help but think about what Minho might think about it if I told him. After all, we haven’t talked since my freshman year in college began a few months ago. Maybe I should talk to him. I don’t know. But right now; Daesung is here, just for me. So I won’t think about Minho. And I’m happy.

Word Count: 2,285

I hope you guys like it! Sorry, I was away for a few days, and then when I got home today, the file I had saved the chapter in had become corrupted and I could not repair or retrieve the file, so I re-wrote it. I include a word count with every chapter because I'm trying to maintain at least 2,000+ words in each chapter. If you prefer more, please tell me in a comment below! leave me pretty little comments. I love each and every one of my readers and subbies ♥