The morning sun rose confidently up the sky, shining brightly onto earth and acting as the nature’s alarm clock to wake people up. It was a fine morning, and Ji Kyung woke up when the warmth in the room was getting too much to handle. She stretched her arms lazily and yawned, before she unlatched her eyes. She became aware that she was lying on the old bed, and Myungsoo’s face was just inches apart from hers. Her cheeks were tinted pink as she stared intently at his facial features for some time. Birds were singing merrily in the background, and a warm feeling bloomed all over her body. She reached her fingers delicately to touch his face, but a familiar ringtone soon interrupted her actions. She wasted no time and let her hand crawl to her phone on the bed table. When she answered it, the other line voiced in an urgent voice.

“Ji Kyung, where are you?” It was her mother.

The girl sat up almost immediately, looking at the time as she began to panic because she was late for the prayers.

“A-ah, almost ready, meet you there, umma! Bye!”

The anxious girl pulled the blankets off her legs and got off the bed hurriedly, then went to grab the bottle of water, gulping down a big mouth to drench her morning thirst. After that, she took hold of a spare towel in her bag and looked back at the bed. Myungsoo was still sound asleep, so she decided to leave him there to his deep slumber as she goes into the toilet for a quick wash up. Minutes later, the girl brushed her hair messily with her bare hands while exiting the toilet, only to see Myungsoo still snoring in bed. She went over to shake him awake, and when he finally opened his half asleep eyes, she informed,

“Myungsoo, I’ll be out for a while, you can head back first.”

He nodded blankly, then realising the situation and took hold of her wrist before she could leave.

“No, I’m going with you.” Myungsoo insisted.

The anxious one hesitated, her gaze automatically averted elsewhere in a guilty manner. He must have predicted where she was trying to go, because he softened the grip on her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Chill, I'll be quiet."

She nodded in defeat and heaved a light sigh.

---

The couple arrived shortly at a cemetery and they saw Ji Kyung’s parents along with his parents. Both of them greeted the elders politely and Myungsoo stayed quiet as he promised, a neutral expression portrayed on his face.

“Ji Kyung, mind introducing...” Byunghun's mother interrupted, giving Myungsoo an inquisitive look.

“Annyeonghaseyo, my name is Kim Myungsoo.” Myungsoo replied, bowing to her. Ji Kyung smiled, somehow awkwardly.

“Don't get me wrong, dear, it's good that you moved on, I'm sure Byunghun will be happy for you.”

His mother nodded politely at Myungsoo and grinned, then turned to her mother and started having their own conversation. Ji Kyung’s lips rose up into a beautiful curve, holding Myungsoo's hand tighter than usual. They prayed for Byunghun, and she couldn't help but shed a few tears at the sight of his name on the tombstone.

---

Two Years Ago

That fateful day, she was waiting for Byunghun to buy her hot sausages from across the road. It was the winter season, the weather was freezing so she rubbed her hands together, hoping to get some warmth to warm up her icy hands. The night market was not very crowded that night, and Ji Kyung assumed it was due to the weather. As the cold wind brushes past, she hugged herself firmly, tapping her foot and glanced around the quiet street. The girl’s gaze stopped when it reached a rather suspicious looking guy looking at her direction and walking slowly towards her. The timid girl’s heart began to race, and she looked at Byunghun still across the road anxiously. She was about to call for help when she noticed the guy closing the distance between the both of them, but was interrupted by a loud cry of her name opposite the road. Ji Kyung desperately scooted backwards, keeping her eyes shut to prepare for the worst.

"Byunghun... Byunghun..." She chanted his name under her short breaths repeatedly, chills travelled down the girl’s spine and she was nailed to the ground in no time. Time seemed to stop along with her halted footsteps. She failed to register the sounds of her surroundings, so Byunghun's voice could no longer be heard. Drown in panic, Ji Kyung had ultimately blocked all her senses.

By the time she took courage to open up her eyes, everything had already ended, it was too late to do anything more. Tears gushed out as the timid girl witnessed Byunghun falling onto the floor, and blurrily, she could see the mysterious man fleeing the scene. Ji Kyung immediately felt lost, confused and terrified, looking at the fallen Byunghun,

In a pool of blood.

"Byunghun... Byunghun..."

---

“Don’t put any guilt onto yourself.”

Still crying and haunted by that horrible incident, the weak girl was then brought back to the present time when she felt someone patting her shoulder. Ji Kyung rubbed her tears and sniffled, before looking at that ‘someone’, realising in a second that it was Byunghun’s father.

"It's never your fault things happened. And nevertheless, it's all in the past now. From now on, you should live your own life and seek for a whole new happiness. Byunghun will be proud to see you walk out from the trauma and be happy again." He smiled warmly at the end of his sentence, now patting the young girl’s head as gently as he could.

“You're right...” The girl squeezed a smile back at him and nodded weakly.

Standing a few steps away, Myungsoo witnessed Mr. Lee comforting the crying Ji Kyung and overheard their conversation. He couldn’t help but scoffed and rolled his eyes at the statement, side-eyeing Byunghun who was then standing beside him.

“Mr. Lee, but Byunghun is definitely not happy at all. He’s just here casually haunting the hell out of me.” He murmured under his breath in a dissatisfied manner.

Hahaha... I’m sure you Enjoyed my presence...

The latter replied sarcastically and mockingly. When Myungsoo turned to his side, Byunghun was no longer there, but had appeared beside his girlfriend. The pitiful soul’s hand landed on Ji Kyung’s shoulder casually, and his eyes were sending love gazes to her. Myungsoo’s eyes turned green and he went over to pull Ji Kyung closer to his side, annoyance evident on his face. The girl got startled by his sudden actions, but she didn’t raise any question and rested her head onto his body to seek comfort. That was when Myungsoo stuck his tongue out at Byunghun and a smirk planted itself on his face

Childish.

Byunghun played with his fingers nonchalantly.

Cheap.

This time, he smirked back at Myungsoo.

Jealous?

The guy laughed once more when Myungsoo shot him another dangerous glare, but he faded away slowly with his disgusting laughter still lingering around.

“Who’s childish and cheap now...” Myungsoo mumbled in an effort to defend himself.

“Myung?”

Ji Kyung heard Myungsoo mumbling something by himself. She raised an eyebrow at him curiously when she addressed his name. Her boyfriend stuttered in his response, assuring her that it was no big deal. In the corner of her eyes, she could see his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. She giggled when they were on the way out of the cemetery. The couple bid goodbye to the elders and left the place.

The day became gloomy for Ji Kyung and Myungsoo caught her tearing a few times throughout the day in the most unexpected times. “She must have remembered that terrible incident again.” The thought constantly crossed his mind when he attempted to cheer her up, only to receive a courtesy smile from his girl every time. Ji Kyung was also caught spacing out sometimes through the next few days, leaving Myungsoo in a state of despair because he had no effective ways to lift her mood up. He wanted to give up trying at one point, but seeing the bitter look on his beloved’s face, he wished that he was the one suffering in her position. He ended up trying even harder to be there for her grieving and hoped that bright days will return soon.

Because he finally realizes, at the end of the day, it's her happiness that matters the most to him now.