[March 2005]

‘Oppa! Hyungsikkie Oppa!’

Her yell could be heard from miles away, he thought as her bicycle screeched into a stop not far from where he was. Hyungsik couldn’t help from sighing when she ran towards him and sat on the bench under the shady tree beside him. But today, she brought along company.

‘Isn’t he cute? Guess what his name is.’ She asked excitedly, snuggling the white canine close into her chest. The boy closed his book and straightened his posture, staring at her.

‘Where did you get this?’

‘I found it. He’s running away from me at first but I managed to catch it. Guess his name, Oppa…’ She whined but the little puppy didn’t move. It’s as if it liked being in her arms.

‘Hey… Your voice… You catch a cold?!’ Didn’t bothered answering her question, the tall boy quickly put his palm around the girl’s forehead but she swiftly avoided his touch.

‘You should’ve stayed home, Kang Soyu…’

‘I’m fine. Besides, Andy here will make my cold go away in no time.’ She assured, pulling up a smile.

‘Andy?’ He tried to take the puppy but it barked when his hands touched its body.

‘He’s not familiar with you yet. Isn’t he the cutest thing ever?’

‘Yah, wait a sec… This’s not a ‘he’.. It’s a ‘she’. And you named it Andy… I know how much you love Shinhwa and Andy but this’s a ‘she’ –‘

‘Yeah, yeah. You and your scientific theory. I don’t care. This’s Andy and that’s that.’ She quickly cut his words and took the puppy back from his arms. She then, got up from the bench and walked back to her bicycle. Putting the dog into her basket, she managed to turn to him and spoke;

‘Oh, Oppa! I almost forgot. Umma, she asked me to tell you about the feast tonight. It’s to celebrate my father’s promotion. Everyone close is invited, so you better come to Hong’s restaurant! Bring along the book you promised to lend me too. Miss Hwang’s going to collect the book report the day after tomorrow. Don’t forget that!’ She said lengthily and took off with her bike.

[July 2011]

It was the second time that night. He didn’t know why he’s always thought of her. That book on ancient wars, he didn’t bring it to that feast a few years ago and imagine how angry that girl was. Well, it’s in his hands now and he came across that book in his shelves while he’s looking for something to read. 

Maybe that’s what made him thought of her again. Hyungsik casually flipped through the pages of the thick book and closed it back, without any reason and let out a soft sigh.

Feeling so restless, he put it back into his shelves and decided to head back to his office. His mind, he knew something’s not right. After he dropped his body onto his chair, the restive lad started to stack the scattered papers and letters on his desk, wanting to keep himself busy until then, he abruptly stopped.

There’s this one letter that suddenly caught his sharp eyes.

~~~~~

Her body was shaking when his soft lips touched hers but to Jihyun, she couldn’t feel anything. It lasted for a moment but then, he suddenly pulled away and sighed.

‘What am I going to do with you… Why can’t you just speak?’ His breaths hit her face but she still didn’t dare to open her eyes. She could feel fingers running around her face and hair but she just stayed still and swallowed hard. Her mother’s words rang through her ears all the time, ‘never hurt your in-laws and your husband especially.’

Pushing him away would mean hurting him and she wouldn’