"Jongin!" Miss Kwon's voice broke the golden silence. She barged into the door, "Why are you in Busan? Your parents are worried sick!"

My mouth dropped slightly. Jongin, who was previously turned to Miss Kwon, looked over his shoulder and gazed into my eyes with a slightly haughty expression. He blinked and turned back to his aunt, the apathetic facade returning to his face.

"What is she talking about?" I asked, slowly. Jongin gave me one more glance before rushing out the door.

Miss Kwon leaned against the door frame, holding her hand to her temples. "Do you know why he's here, Hana?"

"Was he not supposed to come?" I inquired. I still wasn't processing what was happening. Jongin was supposed to come every year wasn't he? Why were his parents worried?

"He was only supposed to come for the first two years," she responded, irritated.

"I thought that he was coming every year."

"Yes, but his new father decided to change his mind. He thought that Jongin needed some... discipline at home," Miss Kwon paused as her eyebrows furrowed. She sighed, "Apparently his parents were looking for him. Baekhyun told me that someone named Jongin was over at your house so of course, I rushed over here. He's so troublesome. I don't even understand why he insists on coming back. Busan can't do anything for him."

I let the words process as I looked outside to where Jongin was talking into his phone in a loud, turbulent voice. He was probably talking to a maid or someone for blowing his cover and telling his parents that he wasn't at home. But I felt immediately guilty. I automatically thought that Jongin was forced to Busan every year. Now I knew that he wasn't coming because he had to come, but because he wanted to come.

Miss Kwon was right. Busan couldn't do anything for him. But I was here.

It sounded a little selfish, but I was pretty sure that he was coming because he promised me so. And I just yelled at Jongin for being a good boyfriend and being jealous of Baekhyun. I guess he had every right.

"I'm surprised his parents even bothered," Miss Kwon thought out loud. I snapped my head up.

"That new father of his is no good," she continued, "Just like all the rest of them." Miss Kwon grunted before she left without another word and walked over to where Jongin was yapping on the phone, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jongin and I were miles apart most of the year, but that was sometihng that couldn't be helped. Even if Jongn was never physically there, he did at least take the time to read my letters, even if he couldn't reply. And I was never there for hin. No matter if my problems seem worse than his, problems are problems. They all hurt the same way in the same place- the heart.

I sat on my couch for a couple of short hours, pondering life. Pondering Jongin and our relationship. I thought that those three hours or so would be enough for Jongin to calm down after the argument. Besides, after the new information that Miss Kwon informed me of, I had new things to think about.

I found Jongin sitting on the edge of the dock, plainly staring out onto the orange and red horizon.

"Hey," I said, coming up to sit beside him.

Jongin didn't move or say a word.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "I was immature and selfish and every single problem we have seems to end up being my fault."

Again, there was no word from Jongin. But this time, he leaned his head on my shoulder and took a deep breath.

"You know," he mumbled, "I quit smoking?"

My eyes widened and a small grew on my face, "You quit?"

I felt Jongin's head nod on my shoulder. "For you," he chuckled, "and as you now know, thanks to my aunt, I'm not supposed to be here."

"Yeah, I figured."

"But I came," Jongin said, a little bitter.

"You did."

"I did that for you, too. I don't think that I ever did so many things for one person before," Jongin laughed, his deep, mature voice causing vibrations on my shoulder. I stated to play with his deep brown hair, just as he did whenever my head was on his shoulder.

"Thank you," I told him, "I don't know if you're happy, but there aren't any words to epress how grateful I am that you're here."

Jongin nodded. There was a comfortable silence as the cool, summer wind blew around us. The weather still didn't brighten up, but today's weather brought back nostalgia with every blow of the wind and cloud that floated the wide sky.

"Did you do all of the stuff that you said you'd do with your dad?" I asked.

"What stuff," Jongin replied. He seemed to exhausted to even raise the pitch of his voice at the end of the sentence.

"Everything you said that you'd do. Go camping, buy that one yacht and go to that one island somewhere..."

Jongin lifted his head from my shoulder. He stared at me before looking down to start peeling off the old gray paint from the splintering dock, "It never happened."

All was quiet.

"I'm-" I started.

"No, it's okay," Jongin quickly interrupted, "I had a feeling that he was just rying to get me to accept him so he could stay with my mom without anything getting in the way. It's just my fault for being so vulnerable." He shook his head to himself before staring out into the sunset.

"How'd you get here, Jongin?"

He let out a little chuckle, "It took one week."

"One whole week?" My voice cracked.

"Yeah, transferring from trains to buses to subways. It'd only take about a couple of hours but I had never ridden public transportation, so..." Jongin admitted with a hint of embarassment, "I ended up hitchiking and I lost some money on the way so I had to steal fruit from this open market."

My mouth dropped, "Oh God, Jongin. You could've at least told me that you were coming so I could've accompained you down here or something!"

"I wanted to surprise you, though," he gleamed. "And also, eemo would've found out and told my parents. Talking about them, I'm surpirsed that they even cared that I left."

"Don't say that-"

"No, I'm serious," he scowled, "They don't even know me. They're too obsessed with themselves."

"Hey," I grabbed for Jongin's hand and squeezed it, "I'm here, aren't I?" I knew I was lacking. I wasn't the best girlfriend ever but I was confident that I could love him with all my heart.

"And the reason I'm alive is because you're not dead," he muttered back. Jongin gave me a soft smile and leaned over to plant a kiss on my cheek.

That night was the county lights festival that took place every five years. It was basically just a gathering of a couple hundred people and a bunch of food that no one outside of Busan has ever heard of before. The festival was pretty casual, but it was well known in the area. The best part of the lights festival was that at midnight, everyone brought their own sky lanterns and released them into the dark sky.

It just so happened that this year, the festival landed on a day that Jongin was in Busan.

Jongin wore dark jeans paired with a tucked in button shirt while I wore a flowy white dress. It felt nice that we were going out formally for a change.

"Woah," Jongin looked around in awe at the scenery of the festival. It took place on a cliff overlooking the sea and started as soon as the sun set, allowing yellow drops of moonlight to pentrate through the black shadows of the bushy trees. I had to admit that every time the festival took place, it was beautifully decorated. White lights adorned the trees and pastel lanterns hung from wires. The serene white table cloth added to the natural landscape of the whole forest.

I took Jongin's hand and led him to a table with my classmates.

"Who?" One of the girls asked, motioning to Jongin.

"Boyfriend?" Someone else piped in.

Jongin grinned, grabbing my hand and squeezing it, smiling his glistening smile down at me.

I nodded happily, "Yes."

"Aw," All of the girls cooed, "You chose a good one."

"I know," I laughed. It was about 10 PM when the eating died down and the dancing started in the middle of the expanse. I always loved the festival, but Jongin just made it even better.

There was a screech of the mike before the voice of the main event organizer quieted the festival guests. "We will now start the father-daughter dance," the man announced. I oculdn't help my smile from fading a little as I watched little girls to grown women walking out with their fathers. I wasn't sure if it was just me being insecure, but I felt like I was the only female that wasn't dancing with her dad. Almost everyone knew the situation that my family was in, but it still disappointed me that I wasn't able to take part.

Life has a sick way of reminding you that you have problems.

There was a tap on my shoulder. I smiled, expecting for it to be Jongin. But when I turned around, it was Baekhyun.

"Let's dance, Hana," he reached his hand out, smiling his dazzling smile. I looked around to see that Jongin was nowhere to be found. Up until just a second ago, he was right next to me. Maybe he had wandered off?

"You alright?" Baekhyun asked, his eyebrows furrowing cutely.

"What?" I turned back to Baekyun who looked clearly confused. We were silent for a second before we both erupted in laughter at each other before he leaned down and just grabbed my hand.

"Come on. I'll be your man for a couple minutes," Baekhyun winked. I smiled uneasily. I loved Baekhyun, but not like I loved Jongin. Baekhyun was like a brother to me- not a lover.

"You're so tense, it's adorable," he let out a heartly laugh once we were on the dance floor. I smiled back and looked over his shoulder, but there was no Jongin in sight. I felt disheartened. Despite my negativity, the dance wasn't awkward at all. Baekhyun and I laughed and joked the whole time.

"Hana, you know I like you, right?"

I stiffened. My hand in his suddenly felt so wrong.

"I have a boyfriend."

"I know, but he's not really your boyfriend, is he?" Baekhyun blinked down at me with his pure eyes. Even those malicious words sounded so sweet from his lips.

I frowned. Jongin was totally my boyfriend in every possible way I could think of, "Okay I don't know what yo-"

"Hey," a voice grunted. I turned around to see Jongin with an eyebrow raised, looking as handsome as ever. Who was I kidding, I loved him with all my heart. I smiled widely and Jongin took my hand.

"I hope you don't mind that I take my girlfriend back now," Jongin spat. Baekhyun looked at me with sad eyes as I parted my hand from his. But not a word came out of his mouth as he watched us walk away.

"Way to leave me," Jongin huffed.

"What? I looked around for you and you disappeared!" I insisted. He chuckled.

"Did I save you in time from Baekhyun?"

"Eh. You were a little late but it's better than you not saving me at all," I joked. Jongin was still pulling my hand as we walked straight through the rest of the festival and left it behind us.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Jongin didn't reply, but held onto my hand tighter as we walked through the dark forest. After about a few more minutes, we arrived back at the docks in front of my house.

"Why are we here?"

"Because I like it here. It's my favorite place that you showed me in the whole town," Jongin replied with a small smile, "And as much as I liked that festival, I want to be with just  you." We sat down on the edge of the dock and let our feet dangle above the cold water. It was dark and quiet around us because everyone had gone to the festival. It left the two of us alone in serene silence.

"I can't believe we're going to college soon," he sighed, "The past years went by so fast."

"They did," I replied with a smile. I looked at Jongin, remembering the first time I had ever seen him. I thought he was the most gorgeous thing that walked the earth- and I still thought that.

"I'm officially going to Seoul University," Jongin grinned, "And you are too, right?"

He looked at me hopefully, but I just stared down at my fidgeting hands, "I told you that I can't." Jongin frowned.

"Why not?"

"It's just too far away. Too expensive... I have other things to worry about," I replied, "I wish I could, but I can't."

"You can, pretty," Jongin ran his thumb across my cheek, "You can do everything that you want as long as you try."

I laughed, "Thanks."

"No, I'm serious," he gave me a look, "I'll help you write your application."

With all my heart, I wanted to go to Seoul. But I had to take care of my father, even though he was never home; and expenses would always be a problem.

"How great would it be if we lived together?" Jongin grinned.

"It'd be amazing," I agreed. Jongin kissed me on the cheek, "I'll make it work."

I nodded. Maybe I needed to start doing things for myself and not others. While I was thinking, I picked up a rock by my side and tossed it around in my hand before flicking it, making it skip on the water.

"How'd you do that?" Jongin grabbed a rock also, but when he tossed his, it sunk into the water with a big plop. I laughed in response, and gave him a flatter rock.

"You have to toss it on the side," I taught him as I picked up a rock for myself and demonstrated. Jongin watched before he tried to mimick my actions. But his rock sunk into the water again.

"I'll get it one day," Jongin promised, "And I'll be able to toss rocks better than you."

"Sure," I laughed.

"Woah..." Jongin murmured suddenly, pointing to the sky. I looked up to see the sky lanterns floating up all at once, lighting up the dark sky with bright, white lights. I layed my head down on Jongin's lap, watching the lanterns fill up the black.

Jongin's calm breathing soothed me as he hummed me to sleep.

These were the moments that remained in my memories forever.