A tall boy sat in the unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in a hotel somewhere in Beijing. The city was adorn in lights, loud noises from the motor bikes and cars below, but none of that seemed to have mattered. He laid down on the comfortable bed, another day of endless schedules, and he couldn’t help but frown. A year was almost at its end, snow has yet fallen from the skies, even as the clouds seemed to have turned grey in color. Though, he could have mistaken that for the smog that casted over them.

 

            He glanced at the package he had received from their manager, a present that was meant to be given on his birthday from Sehun. He remembered the message that was given to him, the note that it was a present from Mi Young, and the grin that he had disappeared.

 

            The package was left on the side, the male sat on the bed unsure whether to open it or leave it alone. With a deep sigh, he took the brown box in his hands, and briskly prying the box open. Inside the package was a photo album, covered with cute, memorable cartoon characters. He smiled to see a beautifully, hand-drawn Pucca and Garu picture around the border of the album. Yet, the words “Eyes, closing and opening again, afraid this is only a dream” had drawn him closer to opening the book.

 

            Slowly opening the cover, he came to see the beautiful photo of a teenage boy, almost at his adult years, standing in the corner of the dance studio staring intently to a grinning female, possibly a year or two younger than the boy. The girl sat near the edge of the photo, not noticing the male behind her, laughing effortlessly at the unknown. He wasn’t sure why she was laughing, but to him it didn’t matter. At the bottom of the photo, a message written in the beautiful calligraphy he had remembered, “I stand before you honestly, wishing for your attention.”

 

~~~

 

            A group of twelve boys scattered across the studio, all of them recovering from the hours of practice and choreography that was given to them. Towels scattered across their bags, removing all the sweat that each male had on their bodies. The youngest of the male sat near the door, anxiously waiting for someone.

 

            “Sehun!” A voice shouted from the open studio door. The female effortlessly walked in, holding numerous of bags, wafting the smell of food to the hungry males in front of her. “Sorry I’m late, you guys must have been really hungry. The food is warm, no seafood for Luhan, and I got double the servings for Tao, and of course everything is fit for your diet.”

 

            A choir of thanks were shouted before most of the boys had grabbed for their labeled package. The tallest of the group stood there, unsure of what to do, intently looking at the female distributing the food to the hungry beasts.

 

            “Kevin, aren’t you going to eat?” The girl retorted, noticing the male’s strange behavior.

 

            He had nodded. Briskly taking the package from the girl’s hands, he walked away silently. The girl had only smiled at the male, before attending to her brother’s needs. She laughed at how the boys were breathing in their food. She glanced at her younger brother, noticing the pieces of rice all over his face. “Even if you’re hungry, you shouldn’t waste all that food.” The girl teased, wiping away the small pieces of rice.

 

            “Okay,” The boy grinned cutely to his older sister.

 

~~~

 

            Another page turned, memories seemed to have effortlessly entered his mind, and the frown that he had changed where he couldn’t help but plaster a small smile as he glanced down. Another page turned, his eyes not wavering from each photo, but stopped. In the photo, the girl sat, her eyes looking at the foggy window, her hands covered in a warm pair of mittens. One finger was outstretched, as if finishing a small message, as she smiled down at the message she wrote. Unfortunately, the photo could barely see the message that she wrote, but the male knew in his heart what had wrote as he glanced down at the note underneath.

 

            With a small smile on his face, he whispered, “As long as you’re with me.”

 

~~~

 

            The couple had walked out from the cold, winter day. The girl’s cheeks were rosy, as she tucked her head closely to the large, foreign scarf. The boy, with his arm wrapped around the girl’s shoulders, guided her towards a nearby building as his cheeks and neck finally feeling the cold that had once been shielded.

 

            “In here,” The boy retorted, pushing the door open into a warm cafe. “You grab a seat and get yourself warm, I’ll order something sweet for you to drink.”

 

            The boy, in his black smog of hair, placed in a low ponytail, walked towards the cashier, ordering the usual vanilla frappuccino and a green tea latte. He took the tray of cups and glanced at the surface of the latte, marveled at how it was decorated to look like a heart. 

 

            “What are you doing?” The boy retorted, glancing at the female who seemed to have set up her camera on the table, taking a number of timed shots as she wrote and finished the message.

 

            “I was bored.” The girl muttered.

 

            The male couldn’t help but chuckle at the girl’s innocence. His eyes turning towards the message that she had written. The chuckle disappeared and a giant smile replaced it.

 

            “Is it for me?”

 

            “Who else would it be for?” The girl teased as she looked at the message again, “As long as you’re with me, heaven is anytime, anywhere.”

 

~~~

           

            The boy continued to glance over the photo, his eyes glancing over at the beautiful shot of the female, the sunset shining behind her, radiating the girl’s natural beauty. He couldn’t help but smile. It didn’t take long before he turned to the last page. His heart sank at the last page; the last photo shown was beautiful, but painful. A sunset sat behind the couple, their figures almost in the shadows, but he could naturally see the outline of the male and female’s faces. The male’s arms wrapped around the female’s slender waist as their lips intertwined in a sweet kiss.

 

~~~

 

            The two stood there, the edge of the boarding area of the airport. Most of the members had their passports ready, tickets in hand, while the couple stood there with a small grin on their faces. The girl stood there, her eyes more focused on the floor than the male in front of her.

 

            “We’ll see each other again, in a couple of months.” He mumbled, his hand cupping her chin for him to finally glance into her chestnut brown eyes. He couldn’t help but frown when he noticed the tears about to brim from her eyes.

 

            “I’m happy you debut, but I’m upset that you have to head off to China so soon.” She whispered, upset at the farewell that was soon to come.

 

            “I’ll call, and Skype you whenever I can.” The male mumbled back at her.

 

            “Come back safely, okay Kris.” The girl retorted a small smile on her face, tears now falling from her eyes.

 

            The boy frown, his lips perched on her cheeks, kissing away the tears that fell. “Don’t call me that. I’m Kevin to you, remember.” He retorted a small smile plastered on his face.

 

            “Kris, lets go!” His manager shouted, as an announcement signaled at the plane’s arrival. The other members waved at the girl, silently wishing that she had followed with them, but walked away with their manager to leave the couple alone for their final good byes.

 

            “I’ll watch your videos on Youtube.” She mumbled.

 

            “You better.” With that, the boy gently placed his lips against hers. With a small smile plastered on the couples’ face, the boy picked up his suitcase and backpack that she had given him years ago, and walked towards the entrance. Turning back to wave back at her, as she found herself waving back.

 

            “I’ll miss you.” He mumbled as he began to walk his way out of security and towards another line to board.

 

~~~

 

            The male couldn’t seem to cry, in his mindset, he didn’t want to cry. He had already cried so much at her funeral and weeks after. The day of her death, he could remember how he had wanted to run off set, run towards the airport, and grab the first plane to Seoul so he could meet the girl on her dying breath. It had hurt him, to hear from Sehun that a taxi had crashed into hers, to know anti-fans had taken away her life so easily. He could remember the news that echoed from the television screen, watching video clips of the girl’s car being tossed away to the side, the shots of her being whisked away by the ambulance, and the final picture of her smiling face in the corner of the screen.

 

~~~

 

            Kris stood, in the middle of the abandoned lanes, wearing the black suit that he had worn days ago during the formal ceremony. He had not changed since then, memories of her still flooding in his mind, as he always found him returning to this place. He stood there. Not moving for hours. Unsure what to do. Finally, his hand began to reach for the object inside his coat pocket, where he took out a small frame.

 

            He had remembered the photo well, a memory of celebrating the girl becoming an adult, as well as their release date for their first CD: MAMA. He set the photo on her memorial plate, beside the black and white photo of the smiling girl, as he glanced at the two photos together solemnly.  

 

            The final photo that she had took, a photo he had stolen from one of her precious books, sat beside her. Slowly, he left the two photos, promising he would come for every anniversary. With that he began to leave, but stopped to turn around, taking one last look at the final photo. A photo of the girl, winking at the camera, one hand holding it while the other showing her blowing a kiss, beside her were the two males each claiming one of her cheeks.

 

            With much effort, he turned around. Promising himself to not turn around as he began to whistle the song he came to love.

 

~~~

 

            He looked down at the last message on the final photo of the couple, his heart aching to see her final words given to him. Gently touching the message, afraid of it being smeared or erased, he mumbled the last words, “Right now my eternity is you, eternally in love.”