I hurriedly pushed myself away from Kibum and opened the door. Outside stood a tall handsome man, smiling from ear-to-ear as if he knew us.

Well, I didn’t know who he was, but apparently Kibum did. A smile broke out on his face and he seemed to be radiating light. “Alexander hyung! Long time no see~”

I froze. I did know him. He was in the same elementary school as me and Kibum.

He was my first love.

Students went around the class, looking for a partner to pair up with to complete the project the teacher had assigned. Everyone seemed to have someone to pair with.

Everyone except me.

I decided to sit down in my seat and hope that the teacher wouldn’t notice me. Just then, someone tapped on my shoulder.

“Would you like to be my partner for the project?”

I looked up and faced a boy with dark curly hair. A large smile was plastered on his face. Without meaning to, I smiled back at him. “O…Okay.”

Nobody, not even the teachers, had smiled at me like that before. I had fallen for his smile, I had fallen for him.

However, I graduated from elementary school and got separated from him. Soon, he became a distant memory buried at the back of my mind.

But now, he became a distant memory that was dug up from the back of my mind. Did he remember me? Did I still like him? These questions tugged at the back of my mind.

Alexander laughed and replied, “I told you to call me Xander! And yup long time no see haha.”

“How did you find me?”

“Oh, there was a car accident last night was on the news. I looked at the image they printed in the newspaper and thought that the car was extremely similar to your car, so I decided to come around and check if you were okay. I didn’t expect to find a house here though.” He frowned slightly, which was cute.

Kibum led Xander in. “Well, it’s not our house, we’re just staying here for the time being.”

Suddenly, as if only just noticing my presence, Xander turned around, facing me. “Annyeonghaseyo! Alexander imnida~ You can call me Xander though. I’m Kibum’s elementary school friend who followed him all the way to college~”

My heart skipped a beat. Before I could introduce myself, Xander started exploring the house by himself, dragging Kibum along.

The rest of the day passed slowly. Xander and Kibum spent the time chatting and catching up with each other while I just sat there watching them.

Just then, Xander turned to me. “I know why you look so familiar now. You’re the girl Kibum liked in elementary school!”

I placed my hands on my cheeks, feeling myself blush already. Did I really look so similar to my younger self? “Y-yeah…”

Kibum immediately whacked the back of Xander’s head and pulled him out of the room, leaving me alone in the room, confusion written all over my blushing face.

Xander stayed the whole day, sticking with Kibum as Kibum went about his business. I just sat around and watched TV.

Around evening, the 7 men returned from wherever they had went, bringing home dinner with them. Surprised by the extra company, Kevin called the pizza delivery service and we ended up eating pizza plus the food they had bought back for dinner.

After dinner, when everyone was doing their own business and I was alone in my room, there was a soft knock on my room door. “It’s me, Kibum.”

“Come in.” I smoothed out my shirt as Kibum entered my room, closing the door silently behind him.

He sat down on the corner of my bed while I sat at the other corner. For awhile, neither of us said anything. We sat in a comfortable silence.

That was the thing about us. We could just sit in the room with each other, staying silent, yet it was a silence both of us didn’t mind.

I felt the mattress shift under the weight of someone’s movements. I turned and faced Kibum, who had moved from his place at the end of the bed. He was sitting so close to me, our shoulders were brushing.

“You… like Xander, don’t you?”

My eyes grew wide after hearing what Kibum said. “It’s not like that… I don’t-”

“Don’t lie to me.” He placed a finger on my lips, shushing me. “The way you look at him… in the past and now, they’re the same.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just bit my bottom lip.

Kibum studied my face. Not daring to look him in the eye, I tried changing the subject. “Dinner was nice wasn’t it?”

He grabbed my face between his hands and made me stare him straight in the eyes. “Look at me, don’t avoid me. Do you like him or not?”

I gulped as I stared into his brown eyes. I could see the hurt he had in his eyes. The girl he loves likes his best friend. What was he to do? All he did was hide the pain.

And me? Did I still like Xander? I wasn’t sure. And if I did like him, then what? What could I do?

I just wriggled out of Kibum’s grasp, avoiding not only his gaze but his question too. “Go entertain Xander or something… he’s probably bored.”

Without a word, Kibum stood up and silently made his way out of my room, leaving behind a broken, confused and tired me.

The next morning, I woke up and was surprised to find out that the 7 men had their day off. We were going to the beach together! Excitedly, I packed some of my stuff, and we set off.

The day at the beach passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time to head home.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car appeared and came charging full speed towards Xander. Without thinking, I lunged forward, pushing Xander away from the path of the speeding car.

I was too late.

Just in time for Xander, but too late for me. The car rammed into me. I rolled over the top of the car and came crashing down behind it.

I could feel a wet sticky substance forming around me. Was I bleeding? It was hard to breathe too, as if every breathe I took contained minimal oxygen in it. My arms and legs hurt, and one part of my head felt weird. Part of my ribs felt broken.

The edges of my vision became blurry. All around me, I heard voices. People panicking, calling an ambulance. I stared into the empty night sky.

“Hang in there okay? Don’t close your eyes! Can you hear me?”

Kibum? Where was Xander? Was he okay? I guess I still liked him after all, even to the extent of throwing myself in front of a car. Ridiculous wasn’t it? It was like… like it was all part of a drama.

I could feel it. Something pulling me deeper towards the darkness, towards unconsciousness. I resisted its pull for awhile, but then I grew weaker and weaker.

The darkness consumed me.