For multiple reasons, I have decided to discontinue this story, and because I promised someone I would, have written up a summary of how this story would have progressed.

The short version: Through persistence, Kris opens up to Ri Ah that the two eventually start dating just before Chan Yeol is about to finally confess to Ri Ah. Kris asks her to come to Canada with him for the summer. The two mutually breakup at the end when they realize the long distance won't work. At the beginning of their final year of college, Ri Ah confesses straightforward to Chan Yeol that she likes him. The two date and at the end of the year, Chan Yeol proposes. They get married in the summer before Ri Ah is set to leave for medical school in England for four years, thinking that she and Chan Yeol will have to spend it apart. However, Chan Yeol surprises her by showing up there and explaining that he got a job in England so they can be together while she goes to school, and as the saying goes, "they live happily ever after".

If that was enough closure for you, then you can skip down to the final author's note at the bottom. If you want a more detailed summary, read on.

Semester 5

Year 3 marks the breaking/weakening of relationships between Chan Yeol, Ri Ah, and their friends. During Semester 5, as Chan Yeol spends more time with his Film Club members and Sae Wa, and Ri Ah manages to make a breakthrough with Kris and spends more time with him as his mentor, the rift between Chan Yeol and Ri Ah grows. Chan Yeol thinks the time Ri Ah spends with Kris is solely for mentorship purposes and so never sees Kris as a rival, but Ri Ah does grow jealous of Sae Wa and all the time she spends with Chan Yeol that she starts feeling like they're no longer as close as they used to be, especially when she gets rejected many times by Chan Yeol to hang out with her because he's made prior plans with Sae Wa and his Film Club. The biggest blow for her is when she gets stood up for his birthday because he's celebrating with the club and loses track of time.

Regarding Kris, I had a whole backstory for him planned which explains his character and why by Western standards, he's 2 years older than his peers (he's 23 turning 24 in his senior year of college whereas most in his year are 21 turning 22). He was born to a Chinese-Canadian father and Chinese mother (his father is full Chinese but resided in Canada and married Kris's mother through family/friend connections). He was raised by his mother in China while his father spent the majority of his time in Canada, where he's a businessman (his mother preferred to remain in China even after marriage). At a young age, Kris became severely ill and had to miss a year of school, making him a year older when he finally returned. Kris's sickness sparked his parents to make a complete move to Canada so his father could be there for him more. However because of his English, Kris is held back a year, which then makes him two years older than his peers. Growing up in Canada, Kris is bullied by his classmates because of his race, age, and English skills. His mother also dies of an illness when he's in high school. As a result of the bullying and his mother’s death, Kris becomes introverted and develops trust issues with people, which is why he comes off as aloof and rude when Ri Ah first meets him.

Fed up with Kris's evasion of her and all the study abroad activities, Ri Ah finally asks him why he's studying abroad when he doesn't bother with the cultural aspect of the experience. He explains that he wants to work in the same company as his father, and since they're working on expansion into Korea, he hopes that his time abroad and ability to speak Korean will give him an edge in acquiring a position. Ri Ah counters that while he's dedicated, the best way for him to create good business relations is to also develop good personal relations, which can only come by knowing about that person's culture. This convinces Kris to at least go with the motions of their mentor/mentee relationship and do the activities required of them.

But as Kris spends more time with Ri Ah, learning about Korean places, food, and culture, he opens up and shows a more caring and soft side from his usual stiff and intimidating one, which Ri Ah slowly becomes attracted to (she still likes Chan Yeol too but tries to suppress those feelings on the grounds that she believes she and Chan Yeol can't ever be more than friends). Likewise, Kris also falls for Ri Ah, who is close to his ideal type (someone like his late mother: kind, filial, can cook, and able to take care of him).

At the same time, Chan Yeol becomes more involved with the film department and joins Film Club as well, which is how he finds himself spending more time with Sae Wa (the club's president). Sae Wa makes it pretty obvious that she's interested in him (though Chan Yeol part fails to and part pretends not to notice so as to evade any awkward confrontation). She eventually does confess to Chan Yeol that she likes him, and though he says he only sees her as a friend and that he has someone he likes, Sae Wa doesn't completely give up. She tells him that she'll continue to like him until she's over him or he has a change of heart and decides to accept her. She also urges Chan Yeol to confess to his crush, just as she's done, explaining that there are only two outcomes: his feelings are either accepted or rejected. If it's the latter, then at least he can start to get over her and move on from his one-sided love.

By Sae Wa's advice, Chan Yeol decides he will finally tell Ri Ah how he feels and plans out his confession which he plans to do during the first snow of the year. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen while the semester is still in session, so Ri Ah leaves for Ansan while Chan Yeol goes on an MT ("membership training" or work-related vacation) with the Film Club members for winter break. He promises to himself he'll do it when she returns from break. What he doesn't know is that Ri Ah has extended an invite to Kris to spend winter break with her when she finds out that he'll be spending it alone because he won't be going back to Canada, which Kris accepts.

Also going on during Semester 5: D.O. and Hye Ri experience problems in their relationship when he spends more time working and preparing for his restaurant opening. However, he and his business partner get scammed when choosing their location (which Hye Ri had a bad feeling about when D.O. showed her the place and explained the details of the contract for the place) so that they lose the money they invested into the place and therefore have a setback in their restaurant opening. The stress causes D.O. to lash out at Hye Ri in his anger, using words along the lines of "I don't need you". Hye Ri breaks up with him, returning the Mickey/Minnie mouse “I Need You” ring he'd given her on their one year anniversary. Though D.O. regrets his words later, he doesn't try to make up with her.

Baek Hyun and Su Ho are busy with their career paths (Baek Hyun is in his second year of medical school and Su Ho is in his third year of law school) and as a result don't spend much time with their friends. Kang San is also tied up with trying to juggle high school, his girlfriend, and training to become an idol and eventually breaks up with his girlfriend when he has to choose between her or training.

In Ansan during winter break, Ri Ah shows Kris the seaside life of Korea in a manner mirroring the ones with Doo Joon [Chapter 33] and Chan Yeol [Chapter 44]. But because of Kris's aloof nature, his fear of street food, and dislike of the outdoors, he's not as liked as Chan Yeol and Doo Joon were by the town folk. Nevertheless, Ri Ah is touched that by his standards, Kris has improved a lot in terms of meeting people and is going out of his comfort zone for her.

On New Year's Eve, Kris and Ri Ah are outside where Ri Ah comments that it didn't snow that year and tells him of the first snow kiss tradition that "someone" once told her. Kris tells her that in North America, they have a New Year's kiss tradition where kissing someone on the of midnight means you won't be lonely in the new year. So as the New Year rolls in, Kris kisses Ri Ah and asks her out. Semester 5 ends with the two officially becoming girlfriend and boyfriend.

Semester 6

At the beginning of Semester 6, Chan Yeol is ready to tell Ri Ah how he feels about her when she returns, but is met with the shocking news that she and Kris are dating. The revelation is like a lightning bolt strike to him, unexpected since he had never thought there to be any romantic feelings between the two and painful because he's missed his chance at confessing. Nevertheless, he pretends to be supportive of her new relationship and while the two have already been drifting apart since the year started, Chan Yeol purposefully spends less time with Ri Ah so as not to be reminded of the heartache he's feeling. Chan Yeol takes up an offer by Sae Wa to work together for a film project and while he still doesn't see Sae Was as anything more than a friend, he does appreciate her for being there to distract him from Ri Ah.

As Kris and Ri Ah date, Kris continues to learn about Korean culture, such as Valentine's Day being opposite of what it is in North America and White Day being the Valentine's Day he's used to. On one date during the spring, Ri Ah, who has been wearing heels more often to better match his height, breaks a heel and waits as Kris brings her replacement shoes. While purchasing flats for her, the clerk at the store reminds him of the superstition that giving your girlfriend shoes is bad luck because she'll run away from you. So when Kris gives Ri Ah the shoes, he asks for a dollar to ward off that possibility.

As the semester’s end fast approaches, Kris gives Ri Ah an early birthday gift: a plane ticket to Canada to spend the summer with him where she can also take summer classes. He realizes that their long distance relationship will be difficult, but wants to make an effort if she's willing and gives her time to think about it.

Ri Ah is torn on what to do. Though she likes Kris, she's not sure if the two will be able to get through a long distance relationship, particularly since it's not guaranteed that Kris will be given a position in the Korea expansion for the company his father works at, and even if he is, there are still no concrete plans for when it would happen, meaning Ri Ah doesn't know how long the two would have to be apart. She recalls her promise to Chan Yeol from the end of Year 2 not to leave the country again after her study abroad in England, and though it doesn't address the question of whether she wants to continue seeing Kris if they have to deal with thousands of miles of separation for an indefinite amount of time apart, it does at least solve the immediate question of whether she'll be going to Canada or not.

Before she's told Kris of her decision, Chan Yeol runs into Ri Ah at the swings one night on his way home from the bus stop. Despite living together, they've barely seen each other much since the beginning of the semester and while it's a little awkward for them, both try to act like they used to. They talk about what each other's been up to and Ri Ah reveals to him that Kris has asked her to come to Canada for the summer, but she's going to reject him to keep her promise to Chan Yeol. Chan Yeol misunderstands this as her wanting to go but being held back by him. He also realizes how serious Ri Ah and Kris’s relationship must be if she's willing to travel halfway across the world for him, which only dampens his spirits more. Chan Yeol deletes the promise she made on video from his phone and tells her it's like it never happened so she's free to go.

Ri Ah is actually hurt by how easily he is able to forget the promise that was difficult for her to make at the time (even foregoing going to medical school in London for him), but doesn't show it. To unintentionally add salt to her wound, Chan Yeol also tells her that it doesn't seem fair to hold her back from leaving the country when he himself is going to Europe in the summer to attend a summer festival/camp program there with Sae Wa. This is the first time Ri Ah is hearing about it and it only further highlights how distant the two have grown if he waited till now to reveal it and how it seems like she's been replaced by Sae Wa.

Ri Ah brings up the girl Chan Yeol liked from freshman year and asks what happened with her. He reluctantly replies that he's given up on her since she seems to be happy with someone else. He refuses to reveal her identity when Ri Ah asks, but does admit that while he didn't regret liking her, he did regret not telling her how he felt before missing his chance because now he'll always be wondering "what if". This makes Ri Ah think about her feelings for Chan Yeol and how a part of her will always wonder "what if", though most of it is put to rest by convincing herself that she most likely would have been rejected due to this mystery girl that remains very special to Chan Yeol (unaware that it's actually her he's referring to).

After her talk with Chan Yeol, Ri Ah decides she's going to try the long distance relationship with Kris and go to Canada with him for the summer so that she at least doesn't regret not trying.

Meanwhile, Hye Ri still has feelings for D.O., but when he doesn't contact her after their fight and break up, she decides to try and move on from him and goes on blind dates set up by friends. Ri Ah is aware of Hye Ri's true feelings, and also finds out that D.O. feels the same when she helps him one day with the seafood portion of the menu for the restaurant (since Ri Ah is from the seaside and is more familiar with the different sea foods) and he continues to indirectly ask about Hye Ri (plans for the restaurant continue when the scammer is tracked down and D.O. and his partner get their money back). Near the end of the semester, D.O. and his partner open up their Chinese-Korean fusion restaurant and Hye Ri shows up at the opening with Ri Ah, which is when Ri Ah gets the two back together.

Kang San hears that despite training for less than a year, his hard work was enough that he'll be debuting in a group set to come out in the fall of the next school year. Su Ho begins to intern at Chan Yeol's father's law firm where he meets a fellow intern and a romance blooms between the two. Baek Hyun works especially hard in his second year of medical school and receives the highest scores in his class which gets him the best positions for internships in his third year, but as a result does not have much time for his friends or any romance.

At the end of the school year, just before Ri Ah leaves for Canada with Kris and Chan Yeol leaves with Sae Wa for Europe, Chan Yeol gives Ri Ah an early birthday present: a puppy dog charm. He explains that it represents how even though both have been busy the past year, he'll always remain her "puppy" and be there for her if ever she needs him and that he hopes he can count on her when he needs her too. In a way it represents Chan Yeol finally accepting that he and Ri Ah will only ever be friends and though he wants more, he's happy that at least he has her in his life. The gift makes Ri Ah recall her birthday wish from the previous year and how in the end, it had come true (that she would always be needed by Chan Yeol).

Throughout her time in Canada, Ri Ah continues to think about Chan Yeol and his parting words. Kris has had an inkling of Ri Ah's possible feelings for Chan Yeol the whole time, but ignores it on the hopes that they eventually fade over time. But as the summer progresses, Kris notices that while Ri Ah puts on a happy front, it's not sincere. As a last resort, he asks Ri Ah if she would consider medical school in Canada since it looks like plans for the company breaking into the Korean market will take a few years. From her hesitation, Kris realizes that things between them probably won't work. He returns the dollar bill she used to pay for the shoes he bought her and tells her that it’s okay for her to "run away" if she wants and points out that while Ri Ah likes him, it's obvious she doesn't love him and for their relationship to work there needs to be love. While the breakup is painful for both Kris and Ri Ah, they still part on good terms with each other. The semester ends with Ri Ah returning to Korea near the end of summer.

Semester 7

Ri Ah decides against becoming a mentor again and so Year 4 starts like Year 2 with Ri Ah travelling from Ansan to Seoul by bus a couple days before school is supposed to start and being picked up by Chan Yeol's parents (Chan Yeol has a meeting at school during that time). After the traditional lunch with his parents at the noodle shop, she again goes for a walk and ends up at the swings where Chan Yeol finds her. They catch up on their summer and Ri Ah tells him that she broke up with Kris but that it was mutual.

Ri Ah then says she has something serious to tell him. She brings up how Chan Yeol had said he regretted not telling the girl he liked of his feelings before it was too late and on those grounds, she admits her feelings for Chan Yeol, not expecting much, but still wanting to let him know so that she doesn’t regret not ever telling him. He's shocked by the confession that he doesn't answer her, which Ri Ah takes as a rejection, but when words escape Chan Yeol, his actions speak louder, and he kisses her to show that he returns the feelings. The two start dating.

Insert A LOT OF FLUFF. Seriously, I had so much fluff planned for when the two finally got together that I expected to cut a lot out when I finally got to this point so as not to overdo it. But anyways, this is when they realize how both have liked each other for so long but had missed on each other's cues and were afraid to tell the other outright. They promise to be more honest with each other.

As of Year 4, Chan Yeol, Ri Ah, and Hye Ri are in their final year of college, Su Ho in his fourth year of law school, Baek Hyun in his third year of medical school, and D.O. has graduated college and currently runs a restaurant. However, things are better for the six and the gang reunites more often in this year with Su Ho's new girlfriend joining the group and Baek Hyun finding his match in a lawyer colleague of hers who's able to knock him off his high pedestal with her witty tongue. Kang San also debuts with an idol group as the main dancer. (And Sae Wa has graduated but appears from time to time, contributing to Ri Ah’s jealousy even though she and Chan Yeol are now dating, which Chan Yeol enjoys seeing.)

This is also the year when Ri Ah has to apply for medical school, and she's chosen multiple schools around Seoul and a few in other cities as backup. However, England is still the first choice in her heart, but since she and Chan Yeol have gotten together, she’s given up on it knowing that her chances are low and that on the off chance she did get accepted, she wouldn’t go anyways because she doesn't want to risk her relationship with Chan Yeol. Chan Yeol finds out about this and secretly sends an application to her school of choice in England anyways.

The two spend winter break together, half in Seoul and half in Ansan (where Chan Yeol is well-received as Ri Ah's new boyfriend by the townsfolk). The semester ends with the two spending their first New Years together (each had previously spent it in their own homes, apart from each other).

Semester 8

Insert more fluff for Chan Yeol and Ri Ah’s first Valentine's Day and White Day as a couple.

During the spring, Ri Ah starts finding out about the medical schools she's been accepted to. Her first choice in Korea is Seoul University (the college she currently attends and the medical school Baek Hyun goes to), which she is wait-listed for, but has been accepted into her second and third choices which are both in Seoul and thus wouldn't affect her relationship with Chan Yeol.

Before Ri Ah decides on her second choice school, she receives her acceptance letter to the England school which she hadn't applied to herself, but which Chan Yeol confesses to sending in an application for her, explaining that he didn't want to be the reason she didn't go for her dream school. He convinces her to take the spot for the England school.

As graduation approaches for Chan Yeol, Ri Ah, and Hye Ri, Ri Ah becomes more aware of the end result of her relationship with Chan Yeol. The two haven't spoken of it yet, but she already knows that while she doesn't want to break up with Chan Yeol, she also doesn't want to ask him to wait four years for her. On the night before graduation, she goes to the swings by herself to reminisce of her four years in college and how time seemed to fly, still remembering the first day she arrived in Seoul like it was yesterday. She realizes how much everyone has changed and matured over the time and how she'll have to leave everyone in a few months’ time when she leaves for England.

Chan Yeol finds her at the swings and when Ri Ah tells him of her worries about their future as a couple, proposes to her then and there as his promise that he will to commit to her despite the distance and the time apart. He explains that he had an elaborate proposal planned on her birthday, but that if there was one thing he learned in his four years with her, it's that sometimes it's better to forget about plans and just go for it. And though it seems Chan Yeol's proposal is out of the blue, he realizes that the swings have proven to be a special place that holds a lot of memories for the two, especially since it marks the place where they began (dating) and now it marks the place where they will continue (engagement).

The two get married in Ri Ah's hometown with a beach wedding theme. D.O. also proposes to Hye Ri at the wedding by working with Ri Ah on his proposal. Ri Ah hides his engagement ring in her bouquet which she purposefully throws to Hye Ri so that she has to become the next to marry.

The time for Ri Ah to leave for England arrives. In a scene similar to the one when she first left for study abroad, but with the roles reversed, it's Ri Ah who's more reluctant to leave than Chan Yeol is to let her leave, and she finds his calmness about it slightly off-putting since he doesn't seem sad that they're spending their honeymoon phase of marriage apart.

In England, Ri Ah gets settled into her apartment and starts medical school, but whenever she isn't in school or studying, Chan Yeol is always on her mind. The two call each other as much as they can, but with the time difference between Korea and England, it's hard to find a time when both are available.

One day, a few weeks in, when Ri Ah gets out later than usual from her class, she visits the pond near her school to watch the sunset. She receives a call from Chan Yeol who describes to her of the sunset he's watching, which Ri Ah realizes is impossible since it's already dark in Korea. This is when Chan Yeol surprises Ri Ah by revealing that he's in England, where he's received the film-related job that he's been trying to get ever since finding out that Ri Ah would be going to school there so that they wouldn't have to be apart.

In the end, Chan Yeol does in fact remain Ri Ah's figurative "puppy" in the sense that he's loyal in his love for her and willing to follow her to the end. However, over their four years of college together, Chan Yeol’s relationship with Ri Ah does not stay the same. It progressed from friendship to a love that the two eventually achieve despite all the hurdles that come with liking your best friend.

As of this moment, this was generally how I had planned for this story to progress and end minus some details, story arcs, and characters which I didn't think were necessary to include for you to understand what would have happened. Of course if I had continued, some of this probably would have changed since I noticed some parts of the story had deviated from what I originally planned when I actually arrived at those parts. I also had a lot of these scenes already written out, but unfortunately they will never see the light of day. However the major thing is that despite all the heartache I made Chan Yeol go through in the chapters I had so far, I did have a happy ending for him planned by the end, which was supposed to have felt more satisfying since he had to go through so much struggle for it.

Final Author's Note

Let me start off by saying thank you to everyone who showed interest in this story, especially to those who have been with me since practically the beginning. And now I'd like to sincerely apologize to everyone who kept up with this story and built up any kind of expectations, however little they might have been, for discontinuing this story. I hate disappointing people and if I could go back in time and prevent myself from starting this story just so that I wouldn't end up where I am now, giving up, I would. And while I've tried to force myself to keep writing for this story, I've had thoughts of dropping it floating around in the back of my mind for more than a year now, and it recently occurred to me that if I've been contemplating it for so long, it's probably a sign that I should finally act on it. There’s no use dragging it out with scarce updates that are fueled more by pressure and stress than actual enjoyment in writing.

I think my biggest problem with this was that I tried to bite off more than I could chew that it left me very annoyed with myself and the story. The general premise is actually very simple and unoriginal: two best friends who've liked each other for years but for whatever reason fail to confess. However, instead of starting with the boy and girl already being friends and one or both liking each other, I wanted to try and build their friendship and the romance from the beginning because I personally haven't come across it often (particularly outside of adventure and fantasy stories and in the realm of the real world). I now understand why that's the case. It is absolutely FRUSTRATING to read about and even more so to write about. Of course another problem was probably my execution of it and had a better writer than me attempted this, they would have done a better job.

I may continue to write chapters on my own if ever I'm in the mood or I'm feeling nostalgic, but I don't think I'll be posting them here. There's no point since you already know what happens. However, if I do actually complete the story, I will probably put it up. But that's a very big and very improbable if so it's a safe bet that that won't be happening. Anyways I hope that I provided you with enough closure with this summary and should you have any questions about what was supposed to happen (since I realize the summary may have sounded choppy and confusing), feel free to ask in the comments, or if you prefer, by personal message. I'll try to answer the best I can to give you the closure you need.

Again, THANK YOU and SORRY.

February 22, 2014, 5:12 PM

~//~

Disappointed that you didn't get to see some romance between Ri Ah and Chan Yeol before the story got discontinued? You can check out a one shot of the ending for My Puppy Park Chan Yeol I wrote called Miles.

10 January 2017, 22:30 EDT