Chapter 20: Cherry Blossoms

-

“I haven’t been there in a long time… so why not?” Hae Young smiled.

Daehyun grinned too, but his eyes were noticeably sad; reminiscing some nearly forgotten memories that were almost insignificant to him at some point of time.

But upon seeing Hae Young’s confused expression, he forced all of his facial muscles to seem more like what Hae Young’s was before.

“Yeah…” he looked away, tired of smiling, tired of pretending that everything was all right.

“It’s definitely been a while for me too.”

-

When the two finally reached their destination and got off the bus, Daehyun walked in front of Hae Young, leading the way.

As Hae Young sped up to his pace, she asked “So… why Yeouido?”

Daehyun stopped and turned around to face her, a small smile gracing his lips.

“The cherry blossoms,” he pointed out. “That’s why.”

Hae Young looked around.

The tiny flowers of different shades seemed like decorations, beautifying the streets of Yeouido even more along with many other paintings placed in front of every cherry blossom tree.

“Hae.”

“Hmm?”

Daehyun walked towards her and took her wrist in his hands gently.

“Follow me.”

-

She was visibly pink in the face, as Daehyun’s sudden actions had caused it to be.

However, Hae Young sensed something… not quite right with Daehyun. His eyes reflected no happiness; his smiles seemed fake.

“Why are you so… different today? And there must be another reason as to why you brought me here.”

He shrugged, and then continued to sip their shared cup of hot chocolate.

“This is pretty good. We should come here more often, Hae.”

Her cheeks got a shade darker despite the exceptionally cold weather after hearing the shortened version of her name, pronounced in a way as though it were an alternate form of the pet name ‘Honey’.

“Don’t try to avoid my—“

With the turn of his head, his dark eyes made contact with hers for an abrupt moment, only to turn away once more.

He breathed out slowly, rubbing his hands together.

With Hae Young’s expectant eyes latched onto his emotionless ones, he began.

-

“The doctor said that he only had a month, and the first week or so, I always spent time with him and my aunt’s family by his hospital bed. I…I thought we were able to come here for one last time before he left—the last spring flower festival we should have shared, but I was too young to understand that he wasn’t even able to get up; that’s how sick he was.”

Hae Young softened, noticing Daehyun’s slightly blurry eyes. He looked up, trying to hold his tears in.

“Dae, I’m so—“

“I was on my way to the hospital, eager to spend more time with him but… I got a call from my aunt—“, he stopped abruptly, choking a little.

Hae Young patted his back cautiously with worried eyes

“Daehyun, it’s alright; you don’t need to continue. I shouldn’t be digging up your past—“

“She said we lost him,” he breathed, cutting Hae Young off once more, but she understood.

I know how it feels. I’ve been through the same thing.

Instinctively, she embraced him. Soon, Daehyun wrapped his arms around her too.

Both of them stayed like that for a while, unable to suppress their feelings any longer, expressing their emotions through their tears.

-

Of course, each story had a bright side, and so did Daehyun’s.

“I come to Yeouido, regardless of whether the cherry blossoms are in bloom or not, whenever something significant happens. And since Mr. Kim confirmed that Jae Hwa’s left already—and very suddenly, I might add—it’s pretty memorable. I hope you didn’t really think that I actually enjoyed his presence.”

Wait. He didn’t?

“A fabulous diva, such as me, would never want to hurt a non-diva by revealing the cold, hard truth that he disikes him. Judging by his actions, he is certaintly not on the same level as me,” Daehyun airily stated.

Hae Young sighed. At least he was back to his ‘normal’ state.

“Let’s go, it’s already 6.28 p.m.” she got up, handbag already in hand.

Daehyun took the cup of hot chocolate (that had already cooled down by then) and stood up.

The two walked on ahead silently, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere when Daehyun handed the drink over to Hae Young and turned her around.

Fairy lights that were hung on the many trees in the area all lit up, bringing smiles to everyone who beheld the beautiful sight before them.

“Whoa…” was all that Hae Young could let out, that one simple expression describing how she felt.

Daehyun scratched the back of his neck in a slightly shy manner.

“Cherry blossoms don’t last long, but I hope our relationship will turn out something along the lines of that.”

“What do you mean?” Hae Young asked, clearly confused.

“I mean it in a good way—for the state we currently are in now to quickly turn into something much more beautiful than it already is.”