❝ Ten Years Later.

I started to realise after how much that passed by, I am nothing without you; gyuji for dahyeon

It was year 2002. The final year of junior college before I embark on a further journey of education, towards university. I never would have expect that I would go this far, considering the fact that I detested studying when I was way back in primary school. Nevertheless, I was glad that it turned out this way, because I was able to meet him. The one that I thought I would not ever fall for and the one that would always stay in my heart even if he was somewhere far, far away. Kim Sunggyu, will you come back?

"Yah Jung Eunji!" 

Not again.

There were many reasons why I love coming to school but there is also this one reason that makes me sigh whenever I set my foot onto the school grounds. What was most unfortunate was the fact that I would always end up in the same class as him, no matter how many class shuffles are there. 

"What?" I answered, obviously annoyed by the fact that he is now settling down on the empty seat beside me.

Like, why in the world would he sit there when there are so many avaliable seats in the classroom? 

"Nothing," he chuckled and I secretly hoped that he would choke and die miserably afterwards.

No, I am not being cruel towards him but he would always get on my nerves for no reason. Maybe his hobby is to make me mad or maybe he  enjoys the fact that he is able to make me agitated. Either way, I hate him.

"Do you mind going back to where your seat is?"

"I do mind. As a matter of fact, this is where is my seat is. I requested for a seat change and so, seongsaenim arranged for me to sit here."

What the-

"But I n-"

"No buts. I can help you with anything. English, mathematics, science, geography, almost everything. I scored perfectly for the last examination anyway. So isn't that a good deal for you? You may even turn out to be the top three scorers for the next examination."

More like I would fail my examination with you sitting beside me all day long.

"I don't need your help, hamster," I muttered, rolling my eyes at him.

"What did you say?" 

Opps, he heard that?

"Nothing."

"Yah!!!"

Another reason why I enjoyed coming to school was because of the anonymous letters that I would receive in my locker everyday. It almost seemed like that person had memorised my timetable accordingly and placed it into my locker when I was having lessons. They were more than just letters for me, they were a form of encouragement, a form of motivation and the reason behind the smile that I would always put on whenever I report for lessons. 

At times, I do wish that I would be able to figure out who sent me these letters. Since the day I started receiving them, I recognized that familiar handwriting but I had no idea who it was. I remembered seeing that handwriting somewhere but I could not recall where I saw it from. I even assumed that he was someone of the same age as me, since he was able to relate how I was feeling each day and the subjects that I had difficulties in coping with. He would provide me with formulaes and give me reliable tips that I could heed to. He was someone that I started to grow dependent on as time flies.

"HS." Those were the only initials that gave me the hint of his identity.

He would always write it at the end of each and every letter and sometimes, add some emoticon stickers onto them to express how he was feeling that day. I thought it was cute. Not many boys would have kept such stickers and pasted them onto letters. They were no longer a trend after all, not for students of our age.

"What is that you are holding?" He asked when I settled down next to him in class that day.

I took a glimpse of him and hastily tucked the letter into my checkered bag. It was none of his business anyway, so I would not want to share too much about it with a person I dislike.

"Nothing, and it's none of your business." I answered, earning a snicker from him.

To be honest, I was starting to fall for him, that boy. HS. He confessed to me and told me about his inner feelings towards me. My heart was fluttering at that moment and I felt myself melting in the inside. That was also when I started to grow suspicious of someone, that person who may be 'HS'.

There was always this point of time when he would always excuse himself after break to go to the toilet, and on some occasions, he may even be late for lessons that were straight after break time. I thought it was just coincidence but when I saw that familiar slip of pink note papers in his bag, I knew it was him.

I was surprised. All this while, 'HS' was just sitting beside me.

From that day, my impression of him started changing. I knew his nasty actions towards me were not deliberate but 'excuses' for him to start a conversation with me. I did not put them to heart either but he began giving me the cold shoulder as the year was coming to an end. There were no longer letters from him that I would receive from my lockers, no more teasings or jokes and he even requested to sit at the very far end of the classroom, away from where I was sitting. 

I did not take any action either. I just did not see why I should. Perhaps, he was starting to grow sick of me or maybe his feelings towards me were just infatuation and he was now trying to avoid me by all means.

It hurts. My heart hurts, like a thousand of knives had just pierced into it. Sometimes, I just wished that we could return to those old days when we would bicker all day and quarrel with each other over the most minor matters. I wished that he would continue teasing me for the way I speak and the heavy accent that I could not get rid of ever since I came to Seoul to pursue my studies.

Graduation day arrived but I was not as excited as how I expected myself to be. I attained good grades and I managed to get into a decent university, thanks to the tips that he had given to me in the past. At that moment, I only wanted to take a class photo with him inside, that was the least I could hope for. At least, the photo could be kept as a memory that would be deeply etched in my heart. 

Sadly, he was not in school that day and I was later informed that he had migrated to Japan.

Tears started b up my eyes uncontrollably and all I could do for the next few days, was to hug my knees and cry myself to sleep. I tried contacting him on the phone but to no avail. The number was no longer in use. 

I wondered, is this the end of us?

I was in my early twenties when I decided to become a teacher, a maths teacher to be exact. I even went back to where my previous college was to begin my career as a young teacher. You may ask, why have I chosen to teach at that college?

Well, there are two reasons why. It would be a lie if I said that I love the environment at the college and thus the reason behind my choice. The truth is, there were too many memories that I could not forget up till today. I could not get over him as much as I wanted to. His eyes, his nose, his lips and his voice, I have not forgotten a single thing about him and I would never want to.

A few weeks after I began teaching, a new teacher was announced to be joining the science department as a biology teacher. And all I wanted to do was give him a warm greeting and handshake before resuming to mark my students' work. There was a whole stack of them awaiting at my table.

"I heard that the new teacher's name is Kim Sunggyu. He graduated in Japan so he is able to speak Japanese," I overheard one of the conversations as I was marking one of my student's worksheet.

I froze. Could it be him? The one that I always wanted to meet again? It was just another person with the same name, isn't it? 

That night, I went home with a heavy heart. Hundreds of questions came bombarding my mind. I tried to shake those ridiculous thoughts off, those thoughts and hopes that he was the one. The one that I have been looking for. I missed him, so much so that it was starting to kill me inside. 

"Yah Jung Eunji!" That voice.

Was I hallucinating?

Have I been thinking so much of him that I began hearing his voice even when he was not here? I averted my gaze from my feet and saw a masculine figure a few metres away from me.

"Jung Eunji!"

Oh my god. I have even began to hallucinate that he's right in front of me now. Just move on, Eunji. I can do this. With heavy foot steps, I trudged forward, ignoring the figure that was now standing rooted to the ground. 

"Ouch!" I whimpered, rubbing my head as I bumped against the figure.

"Yah, are you blind? Can't you see me?" He scowled teasingly, waving his hands at my face.

I widened my eyes. This was not a hallucination, this was real, isn't it? I slapped myself on the cheek hardly and soon after that, I felt a stinging pain.

"Are you mad now? Why are you sl-"

"Sunggyu? Kim Sunggyu?" I interrupted, his eyes softening upon hearing my voice.

I reached out to touch his cheeks with both of my hands and my heart thumped violently against my ribcage. Is he really Kim Sunggyu? The Kim Sunggyu that I always yearned for, the Kim Sunggyu that I had been waiting for the last 10 years? His hair was now a bright red and he was dressed in a checkered top and ripped jeans. Yet, he radiated the same, old aura that I always missed.

He pulled me into his embrace tightly and I could feel his body warmth. The  sweet scent of him entered my nostrils and sent the side of my lips tugging.

"I miss you." He said softly, beside my ear.

Yes, he was the Kim Sunggyu that I loved.

❝ author's notes

Another update! I am trying to update a one-shot a day, provided I am able to get my creative juices squeezed out. Well, I hoped this was fluffy enough for you, I did not elaborate further as the plot was pretty much understood and I hoped it was to your liking. I thought that this one-shot was not really well-written though T_T I tried to write this in a new perspective, under the character's point of view. It was also written in a form of a "diary-entry". Oh and the shop will be open again soon! Look forward to it~