It was a rainy night. Bomi tugged her yellow minion doll tightly to her chest, while gliding from one side of the bed to another. She looked at her roommate, Eunji, and she was already fast asleep on her bed, occasionally releasing some snores. She must be really tired. Eunji had been preparing herself for a theatre performance for the past two weeks and unlike Bomi, Eunji was known as the talented singer of Cube Art Academy. She was a social butterfly too. Sometimes, Bomi even wondered to herself, how on earth would someone as talented as Eunji wanted to be friends with a gorilla girl like her.

She let out a small sigh, only to be heard by herself and the loneliness of the night. She pulled the minion doll, closely to her face and gently it with her right hand. Then, Bomi found herself smiling. She was thinking of her first love.

Flashback

An empty hallway filled with nothing but the sound of flowing tears. Somewhere at the corner of the long hallway, Bomi found herself hiding, curving herself into a ball with tears running down on her cheeks. She was sobbing. Alone.

“Hey? Are you okay?” A soft, gentle and yet manly voice broke the sound of silence. She stopped her sobbing and wiped away her tears. She cleared , trying to say something in return, but no words came out.

“Can I seat here?” The person asked politely. With no words in return, Bomi only nodded her head, in agreement, and not looking at the person. Her eyes were still red and she refused to let anyone see her crying like that.

“Here.” He said simply, while handed out a squared piece of white handkerchief to Bomi. At first, she was hesitating on whether to accept the offer or not, but considering her runny nose, she thought that she may be needed it, so she accepted it.

“Thanks.” Bomi said in return. Not thinking much, she blew her stuffed nose on the handkerchief rather loudly, only to realize that the piece of clothing did not belong to her. The guy chuckled and from the corner of Bomi’s eyes, Bomi could see that he was smiling.

“I saw your performance just now. And the gorilla thing – I think it’s cute.”

“I don’t think I ever seen a gorilla’s imitation as cute and as funny as that.” He continued again.

Bomi tried to match her eyes with the guy. Their eyes met for a second, but Bomi quickly shifted her eyes to elsewhere. She could feel her cheeks slightly reddened hearing the guy’s remarks. Bomi had no idea who he was, but he was kind – and sweet – and courteous. And ever since that day, her thoughts never leave the guy.

The guy’s name was Choi Minhwan. He was a year older, senior who majored in the sound and music course. He was rather famous – and a lot of students known him as the drummer of a local band called Tree Island. He performed with his band at various local clubs and he was famous for his good looks too. Just like every other girls, Bomi found herself head over heels for the senior as her crush on him developed strongly from time to time.  

They had come across multiple times at the hallway, occasionally sat in the same row with a few tables away at the college’s café, and they would see each other a few times in the library – but despite how many times they had encountered each other, Bomi had never had the guts to initiate a conversation with the senior. She was well aware that talking to the senior in public might cause such a ruckus, and she didn’t want that to happen – not after the whole gorilla-humiliation-thingy.

But one fine, coincidental day, Bomi found her luck. She was walking along the hallway when she saw a familiar figure right at the end of the hallway. It was Choi Minhwan. He was walking slowly, with both of his hands holding a box, filled with stuffs. Gathering her confidence, Bomi fasten her steps, as she walked towards the senior, wanted to say hi.

“Choi Minhwan-sunbae!”

Minhwan turned his head around. His lips curved into a smile as he saw Bomi, who was already smiling from ear to ear, making her way towards him in a fast pace.

“Ouh, Bomi-ah. What are you doing here at this hour?” He asked with a slight confusion.

“I… I fell asleep in the library…” she lied, not wanting him to know that she had other reasons. He giggled a little hearing Bomi’s answer.

“Aigooo you’re too cute,” he mumbled with a smile. That one remark caused her heart to thump loudly, so loud that she felt that even the senior might be able to hear it.

“But… why are you here?” Bomi asked, shifting the topic. “And this box?” she asked again.

“Ahh, well I’m leaving soon.”

“H-huh?” Her eyes widen in disbelief. “B-but… why?”

“My band is going on tour and I have to follow them. They need me to be there, so I have to leave the academy for quite a while.”

Her heart sank. Of all the things that she wanted to hear, this was the least in her wishlist. For a quick second, her mind strayed away.

“Bomi-ah? You okay?” he asked while waving his right hand a few times in front of her face, bringing the girl back to reality.

“Umm, I’m fine.” There was a slight disappointment in Bomi’s tone, although she tried her best to hide it. She was aware that Minhwan was staring at her, but she couldn’t match her eyes with his, as he would have found out that the news had saddened her.

“Shall I walk you back to your dorm?” He asked, breaking the sudden awkward silence between them.

“That would be great.” She replied, simply with a disheartened smile.

That night was the last night the two had. They walked together along the pathway, accompanied by the beautiful stars in the sky with the silent, tugging sound of the night. The pair didn’t have much to say, though deep inside, Bomi was fighting with her own feelings, desperately wanting to tell Minhwan – that she did not want him to leave – and that she liked him. But all that was kept inside, until their very last steps.

“So, I guess this is it." Minhwan said, facing himself towards Bomi who was staring down on the pavement. She was still quiet, not able to say anything. 

"Bomi-ah, promise me you’ll take a good care of yourself?” He said again while offering a pinky promise towards the girl.

“I promise-.” She croaked. She was certain that in any time sooner, she would break down in tears.

As their pinky fingers intertwined, Minhwan gently patted Bomi’s head with the palm of his right hand.

“Goodbye and good night.” That was the last words he gave to her.

Flashback ended

Bomi smiled widely, hugging the minion doll still, tightly close to her chest. As she closed her eyes, she found herself in the dreamland with the sounds of bird chirping.

There’s no love like the first.

A/N: Oh my~ It's taking me too long to update. I am finally free from my previous hectic schedule! Yeaayyy :D Hope this update is not disappointing and let me say thank you to readers and subscribers who are willing to read this so-so story~