“Meet Sunggyu Oppa My new boyfriend.”

It’s been 5 months since the day Howon’s heart broke into a million pieces. He was still hurt. The only source of happiness that he had was the fact that Eunji was happy. Howon sat in his room quietly staring out the window.

“Howon-ah?” His mother quietly knocked on the door.

“Oh, come in.” He replied lifelessly.

“I brought you some hot chocolate.” She smiled.

Her heart ached as she looked at her son. Seeing him like this almost brought her to tears. She knew that Howon loved that girl very much. In fact, Eunji was the only girl that he ever truly loved in his life.

“Thank you.” He replied in the same tone.

 Howon’s mother sighed as she left the room, gently shutting the door on her way out.

He slowly drank the hot beverage that his mother had brought in for him as he kept staring out the window. It was a cold Saturday morning and there was snow everywhere. He could see some kids walking along the sidewalk with their friends and some birds resting on the tree twigs. He could see Eunji’s house that was across the street.

Howon's thoughts were distracted when he noticed Eunji walking towards his house. His eyes widened as she walked up to their front door. He could hear the doorbell and his mother’s footsteps downstairs. He lay in his bed and pretended to be asleep.

“Howon Oppa?” He could hear Eunji calling out his name behind his door. Howon kept his eyes shut.

Eunji slowly opened the door and found Howon “asleep” on his bed.

“Aigoo, this kid.” She quietly walked over and sat in the chair by the window. Eunji started to sing soft and delicately, her voice was like an angel's touch. 

Howon kept his eyes shut as he listened to her soft, quiet singing. He couldn’t help but smile. Her voice was beautiful, just like her.

As she finished singing, Howon slowly opened his eyes and sat up on his bed. Everything was a bit blurry since he has kept his eyes closed for a long time. He could see Eunji sitting on the chair by the window.

“Oh, Eunji ah.” He tiredly smiled. “What are you doing here?”

Eunji laughed as she walked over to sit beside him on his bed. “To see you, pabo.”

Howon quietly laughed as he pretended he wasn’t hurt at all. “Well, I’m not planning on doing anything today.”

Eunji's eyes disappeared as she smiled. “We can just stay here, like when we were kids.” Howon often described her smile as contagious so of course he smiled back at her. Her smile was irresistable to him, he couldn't look away. At that moment Howon was wondering how someone could be so beautiful.

He snapped back into reality and quickly looked away before his heart would start to ache again. Eunji isn't with Howon, she's with Sunggyu.

“Like when we were kids, huh?” Howon walked over to his closet and picked up a large chest. 

Eunji chuckled and sat down on the floor as Howon placed the chest in front of her. Her eyes were full of happiness.

“I can’t believe you still have these old toys.” She laughed as she dug through the chest. “It’s been over 10 years!”

Howon sat down beside her and smiled as he picked up his old Power Rangers action figure from the chest. “Well, they hold wonderful memories.” The thought of Eunji and him together when they were kids made him smile. That girl who was sitting beside him, he has known her for as long as he can remember.

Silence filled the room once again.

“So, um, how’s Sunggyu Hyung?” Howon asked, keeping his eyes on the toy. He took quick glances at her.

“He’s fine, don’t worry.” Eunji smiled.

“I meant with you and him, together.” He added.

“Oh, we’re... we’re good.” She slowly shifted her gaze from the toy to Howon.

He nodded with a disappointed look on his face.

“Why do you ask?” She said curiously.

“Oh, just wondering. You know, you are my best friend.” Howon said as he got up and walked towards the chair by the window.

“Oh, okay then.” Eunji smiled, and continued playing with the toys. Howon joined her afterwards and they talked about random things until it started to get dark. Just like when they first met.

The weekend was over, and Howon was trying walk through the crowded hallways at school. Everyone tried to stay warm inside since it was winter.

As he was walking, a door opened and hit Howon right in the face. He fell to the floor in pain and clutched his forehead.

“I’m so sorry!” Howon saw a blurry hand infront of him. He immediately grabbed it and got up.

“Howon ah, you okay? Do we need to go to the nurse?” The person in front of him worriedly asked.

“No, I’m fine.” He slowly looked up and saw Sunggyu, looking at him. “Oh, hi Hyung.” He smiled.

“Howon ah, do you wanna grab some lunch with me?” Sunggyu smiled. He and Howon were close friends.

“Yeah, sure.” Howon chuckled.

They sat in the school cafeteria and slowly ate their lunch. There were students making a lot of noise, but there seemed to be an awkward silence between the two of them.

“So, how’s Eunji?” Howon asked, trying to start a conversation.

“Oh, uh, she’s good.” Sunggyu replied.

Howon laughed as he ate his sandwich. “No, I meant the both of you, together.”

“Oh, we’re... we’re good, too.”

Howon looked at him, and he felt like something wasn’t going right. He could’ve sworn that Eunji said the exact same thing. He wondered if there was something wrong that was happening with them.

“Hyung?” Howon asked, worried.

“Hmm?” Sunggyu replied.

“Is there... is there something wrong?”

Sunggyu stayed silent for a few seconds. “I can’t lie to you. You’re like my little brother.”

Howon kept quiet as Sunggyu continued.

“Eunji and I... I don’t think we’re for each other.” He said, quietly. “I mean, I really do like her, a lot, in fact.”

Howon was still silent.

“But I don’t think I’m actually in love with her.” Sunggyu said as he looked at Howon. “And I don’t think she’s in love with me, either. She deserves someone better.”

“How could you not love each other? You lasted for 5 months.” Howon quietly replied. He was quite shocked.

“Well, Howon ah, some of us take some time to realise that.” Sunggyu explained. “When we first started, we “thought” we loved each other. But as time passed, our feelings for each other started to fade away.”

Howon was just shocked.

“True love never fades away, Howon ah.”

“How are you planning to end this with her?” Howon asked, nervously.

“The same way I told you.” Sunggyu sighed. “I know that Eunji is very understanding.”

“Just don’t hurt her, okay?” Howon looked at his Hyung.

“I swear.” Sunggyu smiled. “I also know another thing, too.”

“What’s that?” Howon asked as he raised an eyebrow.

The bell rang and the students ran to their classes. Howon and Sunggyu packed up before heading out.

“I know that you love her.” Sunggyu couldn’t stop smiling. He bid Howon goodbye and ran off to class.

Howon was left dumbfounded. He felt a small smile tugging at the ends of his lips as he ran to his next class.

Two weeks had passed since then, and Howon was in his room as usual. It was an icy cold Saturday morning. It hasn’t been getting warmer at all. In fact, it’s been getting a lot colder. He was lying on his bed using his laptop. He was almost finished with a book report for school.

“Howon Oppa?” Eunji called his name as she knocked on his bedroom door.

“Come in.” He sat up and quickly fixed his shirt and hair.

As Eunji walked in, she had a sad look on her face.

“Eunji ah, are you okay?” Howon asked while he stared at her face.

She said nothing as she quickly walked towards Howon and hugged him. His heart started to beat really fast as soon as they touched. He slowly hugged her back. Howon was really surprised, he didn’t know what to do.

“What happened?” Howon asked as he lifted her head up with his hand.

Eunji slowly looked him in the eyes, her arms still wrapped around his neck. “Sunggyu Oppa and I, we’re over.”

Howon knew that this was going to happen, but he didn’t know when. Eunji didn’t cry or anything, she was just glum.

“...Did you really love him?” Howon asked hesitantly.

“To be honest, no.” Eunji sighed. “We weren’t for each other.”

Howon remembered when Sunggyu said the exact same thing. “But why did you accept him in the first place?”

Eunji laughed softly. “We thought we liked each other at first. But later on, our feelings started to fade.”

Howon remembered when Sunggyu said that, too.

Eunji looked at Howon's sharp brown eyes and smiled.

“True love never fades, it’s always there, Oppa. You can never stop loving someone. If you do, you never loved them in the first place. You just thought you did.”

Howon remembered the first time when he first met Eunji, and how he started to like her. He began to love her. 13 years ago, he began to love her and he never stopped. Howon still loves Eunji.

“That’s true.” Howon replied, smiling. “You can never stop loving someone.”

Eunji laughed and hugged Howon once more. “Hey, Oppa. I’m going to go home. I need some sleep.”

“Go ahead.” He smiled as he let go of the hug. “You sure you’re okay, though?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Eunji chuckled. Her eyes turned into crescents as formed the most beautiful smile. Her laugh was music to Howon’s ears. To him, she was beautiful. She was perfect.

Before Eunji walked out the door, she gently kissed Howon’s cheek. “Thank you, for everything.”

Howon’s heart started to beat uncontrollably. There was no way he couldn’t stop smiling either. His eyes sparkled as he watched her walk out and shut the door behind her. He lay back down on his bed and felt his cheek as he stared at the ceiling.

“I love you, Eunji.” Howon whispered. “I always have, and I always will.”

Listen (Copy in new tab) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVIrBw3e18

Howon laid in his bed for countless hours. It was snowing outside, he finished off his report, and he played a few games on his console. Usually, he would go over to Eunji’s house, but he knew that she needed some rest. Also because it was now 1:00 am.  

He tried to fall asleep, but he just couldn’t. He couldn't stop thinking about that beautiful girl that was a huge part of his life. As he lay there, he suddenly heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was his mother who usually comes in and checks if he’s still awake,

“Come in.”

The door opened and Eunji walked in. Her face was pale, and she was shaking from the freezing outdoors.

“Hey! You’re freezing.” Howon quickly got up and hugged her tight with a blanket.

“What were you thinking? It’s snowing out there.” Howon said worriedly as he kept hugging her.

“Oppa... can I please stay for the night?” Eunji asked, her voice shaking.

“Of course.” Howon was so worried. He was about to let go of the hug, but Eunji didn’t let him.

“Please, let’s stay like this for a while?” Eunji was still shaking. “You’re so warm.” She snuggled into Howon’s warm chest as he wrapped his arms around her.   

His heart started to beat really fast, it almost matched Eunji’s shaking.

“You stay here, I’ll go to the kitchen and make you something warm to drink, okay?” He held her shoulders.

Eunji nodded as she kept the blanket tightly wrapped around her.

Howon ran to the kitchen and started to boil the water before he quickly got the mug and chocolate powder ready. As soon as the hot chocolate was done, he quickly walked back until he saw Eunji walking down the stairs.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, his voice full of concern.

Eunji walked towards him as she held her arms out. “Please.. you’re so warm.”

Howon walked up to Eunji and wrapped his arms around her without hesitation. Eunji quickly moved in close and buried herself in his chest. He literally felt like he was hugging ice. She was freezing.

“Why did you come here now? You know it gets colder at night.” Howon held her close. “What if you get sick?”

Eunji smiled at his over protectiveness. “I’m sorry, Oppa.”

“It’s okay.” Howon sighed. “Just don’t do that, okay? I care about you. I don’t want you getting sick.”

Howon loosened the hug to look at her face. “Okay?”

Eunji blushed. “Okay.”

“Grab that drink and let’s go upstairs. It’s warmer there.”

They both sat on Howon’s bed as Eunji kept drinking her hot beverage.

“So, why did you come here, anyway?” Howon asked, curiously.

“I wanted to see you, pabo.” Eunji softly laughed.

“That’s it?” Howon replied. “You should’ve waited until morning, that way you wouldn’t get sick.”

Eunji laughed as she put her drink aside. Silence filled the room once again as Eunji slowly looked at Howon. 

“Actually... I needed to tell you something.”

“Oh, what is it?”

Eunji slowly moved in closer to Howon so their shoulders were touching. She was silent for a few long seconds, and she breathed deeply.

“I never really loved Sunggyu Oppa, because I’ve always loved someone else...”

Howon’s eyes widened as his heart beat like crazy. 

“That person is you, Howon Oppa.” Eunji said as her eyes started to water. “I’ve loved you since we first met. You’re the only one I ever loved.”

Howon silently wiped Eunji’s tears with his thumb.

“I haven’t told you because I was never brave enough to. I’m sorry.” 

Howon carefully moved in front of her so that they were face to face, and grabbed her hand. He hung his head low and stared at Eunji's hand that he was holding. “Since we first met 13 years ago, I could not stop thinking about you.” He said nervously. “I didn’t know what that feeling was called back then, but everytime you’re here with me, it feels like time stops. Everything in the world pauses except for you and I. Other than your voice, I can only hear my heart beating so fast, that I get worried you could hear it.”

He took Eunji’s hand and continued. “For the last 6 months, I’ve been in pain because you were with Sunggyu Hyung. I was about to tell you I loved you on Valentine’s Day but I was too late. But I didn’t say anything because you were happy. That’s all that matters to me.”

“I just want you to know, that I’ve loved you, Eunji. Since the beginning. I still do, just as much. You're the reason I smile, why I'm happy, why I breathe, and why I live. To others, you may seem small, or nothing, but to me...” Howon looked up and gently caressed her face. 

"You're beautiful." 

He slowly leaned forward and softly captured Eunji’s lips with his own. From that moment when their lips connected, Howon felt as if time had stopped completely. He could only hear the sound of their gentle breathing and his heartbeat. She kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Howon wrapped his arms around her waist before he kissed her one last time as he pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. They both smiled at each other as Eunji kissed his cheek. 

“I’m what I thought I never would be.” He whispered ever so quietly as he stared at her lips.

“And what’s that?” She smiled.

"You are all mine.” He chuckled as he kissed her nose. "Forever."

Eunji couldn’t help but smile. She was finally with the person she loved for 13 years.

“Do you feel that?” Eunji smiled, and kissed his lips softly once again.

“Feel what?” Howon slowly opened his eyes and looked into her beautiful eyes.

"The feeling of happiness."

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GAAAAHHH OMG I'M SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG. I hope this was worth the wait, thank you all for waiting! :) Omg again I'm so sorry for being soooo late. 

BUT THE STORY ISN'T OVER YET. THERE'S A LITTLE MORE TO COME!