----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Woohyun and Laura were best friends…until six months ago. Six months ago, Woohyun wronged Laura, or at least that’s how Laura felt in the situation. Six months ago she bravely confessed her feelings to Woohyun, only to have him not say a word about them. He didn’t respond to her confession, but he didn’t necessarily reject, he just didn’t say anything at that moment. Now, Woohyun found himself thinking deeply about what he wanted in life while he roamed through the street not knowing what to do after his latest failed relationship and when he noticed it, he was in front of Laura’s house.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Woohyun walked through the streets. He wasn’t drunk, he wasn’t even drinking. He was simply walking. He and his girlfriend had just broken up, but somehow he didn’t feel sad about it. Was he relieved? Anyone would say that Woohyun was surprisingly calm for going through a breakup a girl that he thought he was head over heels for.

            It was a mutual breakup, though, nothing too emotional and attaching. Woohyun and his girlfriend both figured that their time was up and it was time for them to move on to one another, so why he was thinking about the situation, he would never know.

            Looking at his watch, Woohyun noticed that it was already one thirty in the morning. He didn’t know who would be up at the time and he didn’t know why he was even walking around at that time. That’s when he noticed his surroundings and all of the memories came back to him. He was in Laura’s neighborhood. Laura. How long was it since he last talked to her? It seemed like forever to him…forever too long.

            Despite wanting to see her again, Woohyun knew that he couldn’t, there was no way that she would ever want to see him again, she made that clear when she avoided him in the hallway. Now, their once best friend relationship had denigrated to nothing.  They didn’t even say hello to each other in the hallway, it had gotten that bad.

            “What am I doing here?” Woohyun muttered as he looked up at Laura’s house. He remembered all of the days that they used to spend there together just hanging out and doing nothing, it was the good life. At least Woohyun realized it was the good life after Laura stopped talking to him.

            Every Saturday he used to go and watch movies and goof off with Laura, but nowadays he would end up being at home and doing nothing, sometimes he would hang out with his now ex-girlfriend, but somehow he didn’t find it enjoyable, was it because of Laura? He had started dating her after Laura walked out of his life. Was she simply a replacement for Laura’s absence? He didn’t know, he had no answers for any question that he came up with.

            Woohyun found himself staring up at Laura’s bedroom window, in which the light was on, surprisingly. Staring at the phone in his hand he wondered if he should call Laura, but he doubted that she would answer him. He called and attempted to talk to her for weeks after she started ignoring him, but it got him nowhere. He didn’t know why he thought that it would take him anywhere now, but thinking that he had nothing else to lose, Woohyun called Laura’s phone.

            It rang a couple of times, the phone and right when Woohyun thought that it would end up going to voicemail, he heard the voice that he hadn’t heard on so long. Hearing her voice only brought more pain to Woohyun, pain that he didn’t necessarily understand. “Why did you call?” Laura asked in a monotone voice. She knew that it was Woohyun because she had caller ID. Why she never deleted his number from her phone was a mystery.

            “I…I don’t know,” Woohyun said. It was all he could think of in the situation. “I’m…I’m standing outside of your window right now.”

            “Why?” she asked. She was curious as to why he was doing that, but she didn’t particularly want to see him. Whenever Laura would think about Woohyun, she had an indescribable pain in her chest. She knew that it was hurt and the feeling of being wronged because Woohyun never gave her an answer. She figured that she probably did Woohyun wrong by not speaking to him again after that, but Laura figured that if Woohyun felt the same way then he wouldn’t have hesitated and just said something right then and there instead of not saying anything.

            “How am I supposed to know?” Woohyun asked. He didn’t know why he was there, that’s where his feet took him. “Can you…can you come outside?”

            “Why would you want me to come outside?” Laura asked moving to her window to confirm whether or not Woohyun was outside of her window, and there he was, staring right back up at her. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your girlfriend?”

            “We broke up,” he said with no hesitation. “We broke up and yet I find myself outside of your house, why?”

            “I’m asking the same thing.”

            “But why? Why is it that when I broke up with her I felt nothing inside? I didn’t feel pain or sadness that we were breaking apart, but relief, like everything just became brighter, why?”

            “Why are you asking all of me these questions?” Laura asked. She saw no reason for Woohyun to be there, she thought she made it very clear six months ago that she didn’t want to see him anymore. It hurt her too much to see him knowing that there was no possible way for them to ever be together. If she couldn’t be with him she’d rather want to not know him at all.

            “I want to see you,” Woohyun said as he stared at Laura in the window. “I want to see you, to be near you.”

            “And what is that supposed to mean?” Laura asked not believing a word she said. She knew of Woohyun’s reputation and how he would say greasy things to everyone. She wondered just how much longer she would have to deal with him saying those things.

            “It means that I want you,” Woohyun said sighing. “It means that I want you.”

            “You…want me?” Laura asked. “What do you mean by that?”

            “I like you, Laura, don’t you know?” Woohyun said practically screaming at the top of his lungs so she could even hear through her window.

            “Are you crazy? Do you want to wake up my parents and the neighborhood? Stop yelling,” Laura complained.

            “Then come downstairs and see me face to face,” Woohyun reasoned, “or else I’m going to do it again.”

            To prevent the neighborhood being woken up by Woohyun, Laura had no choice but to go downstairs and to meet Woohyun outside. Hanging up the phone and slipping on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, Laura made her way out the front door over to Woohyun who was leaning up against the fence.

            “I’m outside, now what?” Laura asked as she shoved her hands into her pockets. “Why did you want to see me?”

            “Because I like you,” Woohyun simply said. He now realized it. He realized why he wasn’t happy after Laura had walked out of his life and why he wasn’t happy about his breakup. It was all because of his feelings for Laura, his feelings for Laura that were hidden in his stupidness and thoughts. He never said anything to Laura about responding to her feelings, but the moment that Laura had confessed, he felt confused. He felt like he needed more thinking time, but in the end Laura had left before he even thought about his true feelings.

            “No you don’t,” Laura said shaking her head as she turned to go back into the house. “I don’t know why I even came out here.”

            In one swift motion, Woohyun ran up behind Laura and hugged her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close, resting his chin on her shoulder as he whispered into her ear. “I’m serious, I like you, Laura. I love you. I didn’t answer before because I felt like I needed more time, but you walked out of my life before I could even do anything. I felt like I was lost without you, everyday felt entirely different without your presence by my side and I finally realized it, I like you more than a friend and I want to be more than friends.” Woohyun spun Laura around so that she faced him. “Can you accept it?”

            “Accept what?” Laura asked although she knew perfectly well what he wanted. She was on the verge of tears, but she didn’t want to show her weak side, not at a moment like that. The words that she had always wanted Woohyun to say he was saying, right in front of her.

            “My heart,” Woohyun said immediately letting go of Laura and busting out into a heart move causing Laura to smile at him. “I take that as a yes?”

            “It will always be a yes Nam Woohyun,” Laura said as she went up and hugged him.