It has already been a few days since MinJi arrived in Korea. And all these days passed while settling the house, the school and her parents. They practically called every day to check that everything was alright, and that MinJi was fine on her on. Finally, MinJi could take a rest before school officially starts.

“Hmm, there are still 2 days before school starts, what shall I do?” MinJi thought to herself.

She then looked to her left and picked up the diary that belonged to Byunghun and her.

“Alright, this shall be it,” she smiled to herself and started preparing.

She changed and left her house without wasting any time. She walked to the bus stop that was nearest to her apartment, and the bus came just in time. She boarded it and sat down. She took out the diary, and flipped to the page where Byunghun had drawn the route to his house from the bus stop. She looked at it and smiled to herself. Byunghun had always known that she wasn’t good in directions. Every road looked the same to her. Therefore, he drew the map for her.

After what seemed like ages, she finally alighted from the bus. She turned around and faced the opposite direction. Her face lighted up. This place did not change much, and of course, she was glad. She held her hopes higher than usual, and started following the route. After 15 minutes of walking, she stopped. She looked up, and almost teared at what she saw. It was a drawing of her and him. A drawing that both of them had drawn at the wall beside the walkway when they were 8. She stopped her tears from falling down, and began walking down the pathway.

“It’s near.. Byunghun, I’m back,” she thought to herself.

There she was, standing in front of his house. All she hopes is that he’s still staying there, perfect and fine. Now, she’s so happy that it doesn’t matter if he recognized her or not. She just wanted to see him after so long.

“Ding-dong, ding-dong-dong-dong-dong” went the doorbell.

“Ohh.. The bell sound is different..” she mumbled to herself. She felt her heart died a little inside.

The door opened, and all she saw was an unfamiliar woman standing in front of her.

“A-annyeong. I’m MinJi. By any chance, i-is Mr. and Mrs. Lee in?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Lee? Oh, the previous owner? I’m afraid not. They sold this house to us 6 years ago because they were migrating to Australia. They sold this apartment to us at a very low rate though,” she said while laughing.

“Oh. I see. Thanks anyway,” MinJi smiled and bowed before leaving.

“Migrated to Australia? Byunghun-ah, are you in Australia now? Have you really forgotten about me? You promised that you’d stay in Korea until I returned though..” Endless thoughts filled her mind.

She went around the neighborhood before heading home. The tree that they planted was still growing strong, the symbol that they carved on the trunk was still visible, and the playground they used to play at when they were young was still there. She then sat on the swing at the playground while reminiscing about the past.

“Byunghun-ah, do you still remember? You used to push me while I was on the swing because I didn’t know how to make it swing myself. And while pushing, you kept on saying that I was fat and you had a hard time. After pushing me, you’d then swing yourself and we’d compete on who could swing the highest. You’d always let me win, and then we’d stop to watch the sunset.”

She looked up, and she saw it. The view from here was still as beautiful as it was back then.

“Woah.. Byunghun-ah! Look, look at th-“ she turned to her left while speaking and stopped upon realizing that he wasn’t there.

“Ah, Min-Ji babo-ya.” She scolded herself as a tear rolled down her cheeks.

Little did she know, from afar, there was someone looking at her, watching her actions, and listening to her words. 

-

The next day, MinJi decided to just go to the nearby shopping mall to get some groceries and to shop a little, in preparation for school the next day. She got her uniform and books ready the week before, so she did not have to worry about those. Just a school bag and a few stationaries will do.

She got everything she needed and skipped home happily, thinking that she’d be able to meet new friends tomorrow at school. MinJi wasn’t afraid of meeting new people. In fact, she loved it. That may be the reason why she was so popular at school.

She had dinner and went home to unpack everything into its place. She then went into her bedroom to pack her school bag. She sat at her study table and went through all the textbooks that she will be using in the future. After doing all those, she kept everything into her school bag and started doing some simple stretches. While doing, her eyes landed on the diary. She then picked it up and started reading what they wrote in it.

“Date: 13.05.1998

MinJi’s entry
Byunghun laughed at me and I hate him a lot. >:(

Byunghun’s entry
ㅋㅋㅋ MinJi, don’t be angry! I love you :D”

She laughed along as she read through the entries while recalling the moments. After reading through the last entry, she realized that there were many empty pages left. Then she decided.

“From now on, I’ll fill this book up to the last page, till I find you. Byunghun-ah..”