I was about six years old when I had first met my best friend. It was a warm sunny Monday. I was sitting in class alone next to the window. I didn’t have many friends. All my classmates thought I was weird. No one dared to talk to me. Except for one girl that always used to speak to everyone, and would sometimes get told off for talking too much. Her name was Jung Eunji. Her smile never left her face. I wish I was just like her. I wish I had the courage to talk to other people.

 

 

“Students, settle down. We have a new student today.” Mrs Bae said loudly as she walked in.

 

A boy with milky white skin and black hair walked in slowly and gave everyone a smile.

 

“Hello everyone, I’m Nam Woohyun and I’m 7 years old.”  His eyes disappeared as he gave everyone another big smile, showing his missing front tooth.

 

“Woohyun, you can go and sit beside Miss Park Chorong over there.” Mrs Bae pointed at me as I gave Woohyun a smile.  Hopefully, he’s different. Maybe he’ll want to be my friend.

 

Woohyun looked at me as he pulled his hand out. “Hi, I’m Woohyun.”

I smiled as I took his hand and shook it. “Park Chorong.”

“That’s a pretty name!” He smiled as he let go of my hand.

 I didn’t know what to say since I was just young. I just smiled back.

“So, Chorong, how old are you?” He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“I’m six years old.” I said quietly.

“Oh, I’m older than you!” Woohyun laughed.

“Really?” I said as my face lit up. “Can I call you Oppa? I’ve always wanted a big brother.”

“Of course you can, Chorongie!” He said in a childish tone. ‘I’d love to be your Oppa.”

“Thanks, Woohyun Oppa. I finally have a friend.” I smiled.

Woohyun’s smile disappeared as he looked me in the eyes. “What do you mean? You don’t have any friends?”

“No...” I sighed. “They think I act and look weird.”

“Don’t listen to them, Chorongie!” Woohyun said as he grabbed his crayons. “They don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

I smiled as I started colouring in the picture we had been given. Woohyun did the same a few seconds after looking at me.

“You’re pretty.” He murmured quietly, but loud enough for me to hear.

I blushed as I looked out the window. “So this is how it feels to have a true friend?” I thought to myself. “It feels good.”

 

Woohyun and I had been best friends since that very moment. We spent all of our time together. Every morning, we’d walk to school together. Everyone afternoon, we’d walk home together. All went by so fast, and before we even noticed, we were both already in middle school.

 

I waited by the front gate patiently. “Where is he?” I sighed to myself. “He said to meet me out here right after school.”

A few minutes later, I felt two warm hands covering my eyes.

“Guess who?” A voice cooed behind me.

“Woohyun Oppa!” I turned around before hugging him tightly.

“Ch-chorongie, I can’t breathe.” Woohyun choked out.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I laughed nervously. “Habit.”

“It’s okay.” He smiled as he looked at me. “Sorry I was late, I had to sweep the class after school.”

I laughed softly as we continued walking along the sidewalk. It was only when we were halfway home the weather turned so hot I could hardly breathe. I felt myself sweating and noticed my skin getting pale. My tongue was so dry I couldn’t even speak. The sun was blurring my vision, making me extremely dizzy. I seriously hate hot weather.

“So, Chorongie, did you finish the history assignme-” Woohyun got interrupted by the sight of my pale face.

“Yah, Chorongie, are you okay?” He stepped and faced me as he held my shoulders.

I felt like I was about to die under the scorching heat. I wanted to reply back to Woohyun but the words wouldn’t slip out of my dry throat.

“Chorongie, please talk. You’re scaring me.” Woohyun had a worried look on his face.

I tried to make the words come out, but my throat was too dry. I felt the sun melt my brain which gave me a major headache as I got even dizzier. That’s it. Everything went so blurry, I out in Woohyun’s arms.

 

“Chorongie!” Woohyun cried out. He threw me on his back as he started running really fast.

He ran and ran. I could hear him breathing heavily.

“Ahjussi!” He called out. “Chorongie needs some water right now!”

“Oh! Arasso!” The man replied as I heard the fridge door being shut.

Woohyun laid me down on the cold floor. He put the cold bottle of water on my head before pouring a little into my mouth.

As soon as my mouth was moist enough for me to speak, I woke up.

“Ch-chorongie?” He stuttered as he was worried to death.

“Hi Woohyun Oppa...” I laughed softly, looking at his face.

Woohyun leaned back as he put his hand on his heart. “Oh, thank God.” He sighed in relief.

I chuckled as I sat up. “Where are we?”

Woohyun looked at me as he smiled. “We’re at my uncle’s convenience store.”

“Oh.”

“Yah, Chorongie, does your head still hurt?” He asked as he scratched the back of his head.

“A little... wae?” I tilted my head to the side.

“Do you wanna go get some ice cream?” He continued. “It’s right across the street, and it’ll keep you cool on the way home.”

“Arasso.” I smiled as I grabbed his hand and stood up.

“Ahjussi, we’re going now! Thanks for the water!” Woohyun called out to his Uncle.

“Ne!” His Uncle called out from the back of the store.

As soon as we got our ice cream cones, we started to walk home.

“So, did you finish the history assignment?” Woohyun asked while he his ice cream.

“Yup, I did.” I replied. “It wasn’t hard at all.”

“Hmph.” Woohyun pouted. “Miss Smartypants Chorong. I haven’t even finished my yet.”

“Smartypants, huh?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “At least I’m not a...”

“A what?” Woohyun asked, looking at me suspiciously.

I giggled before replying. “PABO!” As soon as I said that, I ran off, laughing really hard.

“A what!? Oh, you better come back here!” Woohyun yelled as he chased after me.

I looked back to see him so close to me. Oh, crap. I forgot he was a runner.

Woohyun grabbed by the waist and pulled me into his embrace.

“What did you say?” Woohyun chuckled as he held me tighter.

“Pabo Oppa!” I laughed trying to get his arms around my stomach.

“Say sorry! Or i’ll push your ice cream up your nose!” He took my hand with the ice cream cone and slowly began pushing it towards my nose.

“No! Arasso! I’m sorry!” I laughed as he loosened his grip around my waist.

“Well, we’re at your house now.” Woohyun pointed behind me.

“Oh.” I was having so much fun that I haven’t even noticed that I had reached my own house.

“Goodbye, Woohyun Oppa!” I said as I pulled him into a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Aniya, there’s no such thing as goodbyes.” Woohyun said as he smiled. “It’s see you later.”

“Arasso, see you later Woohyun Oppa!” I waved at him before going through the door.

 

Remember what I said about time going so fast when I’m with Woohyun? Well, it happened again. Through our years in middle school and high school, I started to develop feelings for him. I didn’t think you could fall for your best friend, but I was wrong. I fell for Nam Woohyun. Why? Because he had a good personality, always smiled, and was always there for me.... and also because he was super good looking. Anyway, time went by so fast. It was already our senior year. The year of graduation, and the year of the prom.

 

“Yah, Chorongie!” Woohyun came up to me as he put an arm around my shoulder.

“Oppa, stop it...” I blushed. “People are looking.”

“Aish.” He pouted before putting his arm down.

“You know Prom’s coming up in a week...” Woohyun reminded.

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. “Why?”

Woohyun laughed nervously as his voice cracked. I raised an eyebrow at him. I was definitely sure that he was way past the voice cracking stage.

“What’s up with your laugh?” I asked, still raising one eye brow at him.

“Oh... sorry. I laugh like that when I’m nervous.”  Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck.

“Eh? You? Nervous? Nam Woohyun? Nervous!?” I said as I raised both eyebrows.  

“And!? I actually have an excuse to be nervous!” Woohyun shouted back, not realising how loud he was.

Suddenly the whole hallway went quiet. Everyone had their eyes on Woohyun.

“Oh... no.” Woohyun mumbled as he gritted his teeth. He absolutely loathed being watched by a lot of people.

“Might as well tell me why you’re nervous.” I said as I patted his shoulder.

Woohyun let out a sigh as he pulled out two tickets to the school prom.

“Park Chorong. As my best friend, will you be my date to prom?” He said as he bit his lower lip.

At first, I was shocked. My eyes widened as my mouth dropped. When Woohyun chuckled, while still holding the tickets I snapped back to reality. My O shaped mouth turned into the biggest grin I have shown in my entire life. My big widened eyes turned into crescents.

“So... will you go to prom with me or not?” He smiled.

“Pabo-yah! Of course I’ll go to prom with you!” I said as I pulled him into a big hug.

“Awwwwwwww!” I heard everyone talking about Woohyun and I.

“Uhm, Oppa?” I said in a voice muffled by his shoulder.

“Hm?” He replied, still holding me tight.

“People are watching us.” I whispered as I took a glance at the people smiling at us.

“Let’s run to the park on 3. Don’t look back.” He said in a voice so quiet that only I could hear him.

“1.... 2....” He took a deep breath before saying “3.”

He took my hand and we both ran to the park by my house. It took 2 minutes, but I was extremely exhausted. I don’t think I have ever ran so fast ever in my life.

“Tired already, Chorongie?”He asked as he lay down next to me on the dark green grass by the playground.

“Psh. No.” I playfully hit is arm.

There was a moment of silence for a while, but it wasn’t awkward at all. I actually enjoyed this silence. It was like it was only the two of us. Me, and Woohyun. No one else in the whole wide world.

 

That’s how I always felt with Woohyun. He was everything I could ever ask for. Right now, it all felt perfect. As perfect as it could ever be.

 

Today was the day of the prom. I was very excited, but extremely nervous. What if, I didn’t look as good as the other girls, and Woohyun would rather go and dance with them? I can’t even dance. What if he asks me to dance with him of the dance floor? A lot of things could go wrong.

 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Before I answered it, I made sure I looked perfect. When I was finally done, I slowly opened the door.

“Hey Chorongie!” Woohyun happily greeted me before giving me a hug.

“Wow. You look amazing!”  He said as he looked at my face.

“Thanks, my Mom helped me pick out the dress.” I smiled.

“I wasn’t talking about the dress.” He said as he gave me a boyish smile.

I blushed at the comment. “Aish. Greaseball Oppa.” I said as a playfully hit his shoulder.

“Let’s go Princess!” Woohyun opened the car door for me, as if I were royalty.

“Shut up, greaseball!” I chuckled as he did the same before getting into the car.

 

 

The night was long, filled with many good memories with my friends, Eunji, Bomi, Naeun, Yookyung, Namjoo, Hayoung, and  of course, Woohyun. But this memory I’m about to share with you, was my most favourite one. It made it the best day of my life.

 

Woohyun was walking back to me after talking with his friends, infinite. I smiled to him as he got closer. He smiled back, of course. He reached his hand out to me.

.”Chorongie, do you want to get some fresh air? It’s kind of hot in here.”

“Sure.” I grabbed his hand and stood up as we walked off outside.

We could hear the music from outside, and it was a slow song.

 

“Um... Chorongie? Do you want to dance with me?” He rubbed the back of his neck before reaching his hand.

I laughed nervously. “But, I can’t really dance.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s a slow song.” He pouted.

“Alright then.” I took his hand and got up. His hands rested on my hips as my arms were around his neck.

Woohyun let out a heavy sigh as he began to speak.

“Chorongie... I have something to tell you.” He spoke as he stared straight into my eyes.

“What is it?” I said as I gave him a confused look.

“I... I love you.” Woohyun said, still looking straight into my eyes.

I chuckled softly. “I love you too, Oppa.”

“No, Chorongie. I think I’ve fallen for you.”

I stopped dancing as I looked at his face. “S-since when?”

“I can’t remember really.” He laughed.

“You really love me?” I asked just to make sure.

“Of course I do, Pabo.” Woohyun chuckled. “Now... will you accept me as your boyfriend?”

I pinched my arms several times. Nope. Definitely not a dream.

I noticed him leaning his head forward, his eyes focused on my lips.

I leaned in as well, slightly faster though. As soon as my lips connected with his, I felt a wave go through my body, that felt like electricity.

I pulled away, but my forehead still leaned against his.

I gave him a small smile, “Does that answer your question?”

 

 

That was the most magical night in my whole entire life. My best friend, has now become my boyfriend. Everything seemed so perfect here, huh? It’s like if I stopped the story here, you’d assume that Woohyun and I lived happily ever after. Well, if you thought of that, you’d be wrong. Later that year, the most terrible thing happened to me, my heart fell into a million pieces. I felt like it was all my fault.

 

Every senior had already graduated and was now on end of year vacation. I was always with Woohyun of course. He’d always come over and visit, and sometimes we’d go out on dates together. But this one particular day. I had to just call him over. I just had to make him come over and bake with me.

“Woohyun Oppa!” I smiled through the phone call.

“Hi Chorongie!” He replied with a happy tone.

“Do you want to come over and bake with me today?” I asked while getting our baking equipment ready.

“Yeah, sure! We have to make chocolate cake, though. Arasso?” He chuckled on the other end of the line.

“Arasso. See you soon Oppa! I love you!”

“Bye bye! I love you too!” He said right before the line went flat.

It was exactly 12 minutes later when I received another phone call from Woohyun.

“Hello, Oppa?” I sat down playing around with the wooden spoon on the table.

“ WOOHYUN! ACCIDENT! CONVENIENCE STORE!” A voice yelled out before hanging up.

“What!? Hello!?” I yelled through the phone. “Yah!!!”

I quickly slipped my shoes on before jogging to the Convenience store just down the road. The closer I got to it, the louder I hear a man crying. I went around the corner and saw a crushed car, and Woohyun’s Uncle helplessly crying for help as he held a body covered with blood close to his chest. As soon as I noticed who the person who he was holding, I was in shock. I started bawling at the sight. I ran to Woohyun’s body on the ground as I rested his head on my hands. I was crying really hard. Screaming, in fact.

“Woohyun Oppa! Woohyun Oppa!” I cried as I slapped his cheeks.

Woohyun slowly opened his eyes and lifted his hand out to touch my face.

“Chorongie...” He choked out. “It hurts...”

My tears fell on his cheeks as he gave me a weak smile.

“Please smile... You look pretty when you smile.”

I couldn’t. There was no way I could smile right now.

“Woohyun Oppa!” I screamed. “Please don’t leave me!”

“This isn’t goodbye...” Woohyun whispered. “More like a... see you later.”

I still kept crying and crying. I felt like I have cried almost 2 buckets of tears.

“See you later... Chorongie.. I love you.” Woohyun gave out his last breath before he closed his eyes.

“No.” I shook him hard. “No!! Oppa!”

“Wake up! Please no!” My tears soaked his face.

The police dragged me away from Woohyun’s body, as it lay still on the ground.

 

I haven’t seen the man who I spent my entire childhood with for about 5 years. Nam Woohyun, my best friend, my first friend, my boyfriend, and now, guardian angel. Everyday, I think about him, and how he’s doing up there. I miss him so much.

But therefore, I’d like to let him know, that this is NOT a goodbye. More like a see you later.

 

 

So,

See you later, Nam Woohyun.