After hours and hours walking around and enrolling at Kyung Hee University, we have finally reached home. I don't know what's more tiring, traveling from Sacramento to Seoul or walking around in the heat of South Korea. 

I collapsed at the couch, and placed a cold towel on my face. Just when I was about to fall asleep, a very annoying but lovable voice suddenly came out of nowhere. I don't know how the hell did he get there so quietly without me even noticing, but what can I do I'm best friends with the guy.

"Hey! Yo! Touch man!" Heechul screamed in excitement with his 'Engrish' skills.

"What?" I said back in english, confused. I didn't even bothered removing the towel from my face, but I felt him grabbing my hand as if forcing me to high-five with him. 

"That means high-five in english right? My Hayley just got back from America, might as well test my english skills on her." He hasn't let go of my hand, still forcing the high-five that he wants. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to formally introduce a very close friend of mine, Kim Heechul. As you can see, he can be very annoying, but this guy has a heart of gold. That is why out of all the members, he is the one closest to me. Back then when I first moved to their dorms, say when I was 15 years old, the members had a hard time getting along with me. I was very hard headed back then. You think I'm bad now, I was way worse back then. But then this certain Kim Heechul reached out his hand to me and was very understanding with me. Because of him, I was able to become close with the other members especially Donghae, Hangeng and Kibum. He was also there for me when I experienced the 'greatest' heartbreak of my life. Ohhh, good times. And we didn't really lost contact even after I left for Sacramento. Whoever girl gets this guy's heart will be a very very lucky girl. Now you're caught up. 

I removed the towel from my face to make sure he sees me raising my eyebrow at him, still continued to talk back in english. "Seriously? Okay Mr. Kim Heechul, how do you feel now that I came back to South Korea?" 

This time, he gave a long pause before answering back. Kind of like thinking what he should say. 

"Pass." Was all he said. Aigoo this guy. "Anyway, want to go somewhere to catch up? Drinking sounds so good right now since you just came back. We need to celebrate! You've improved your alcohol tolerance over the years, right?"

"Ohhh okay sure. Just as long as you're paying. And yes, I think I've improved over time." As if I have no choice but to say yes to him since he sounds so excited. 

"Alright, let's go!" He pumped his fist and grabbed me by the hand, dragging me out of the dorms. 

"Yah, Kyu! I'm going out with Heechul. I'll just text you later." I shouted so this brother of mine would hear me. Speaking of, that guy suddenly disappeared. Hmm, maybe spending time with Alex. 

It took us probably 5-10 minutes to get to that street bar. You know, the ones in kdramas where they stay in those plastic tents with those chair that have no backrest. Heechul then offered me a seat before he sat. 

"Aren't you gonna get noticed here?" I asked as I looked around. I've noticed that he wasn't well disguised for such ocassion. Unlike how my brother was when we went to the mall. 

"Nah." He replied, as he shook his hand to negate the question. "Not a lot of people go here, but the food here is tastes good and well paired with soju. It's like a hidden gem." 

Then a waiter took our orders. He ordered a bucket of soju, -hmm, looks like we'll drink 3 bottles each. More or less- tteukboki, and spicy stir fried squid. Oh man, he still remembers the type of food I like eating. I do miss eating those. I tried recreating those in Sacramento, but alas, cooking is not really for me. 

"How do you still remember my favorite korean dishes?" I smiled, resting my chin on my palms as we waited for our orders. 

"How can I not forget? Those were the last dishes you requested before you left." He slowly nodded as he tried to recall that memory. 

"Oh right." I nodded back, laughing a little. "Those were pretty dark times." 

"Yeah. How are you right now, Hayley?" He adjusted his position so he would be comfortable. It's gonna be a looong night folks. 

"I'm doing quite well, actually. Feeling better, unlike before I left here. It feels so good to be back, honestly." 

"Really? That's good to hear. Been kissing a lot of guys lately? I saw how you kissed Sungmin last night. My goodness, did you learn that in Sacramento? I didn't teach you to be that way, woman!" Suddenly, he flicked my forehead lightly. 

As a way to get him back, I also flicked his forehead. "Wow, as if you also don't kiss random people. I learnt that from you, sunbae." I added a mocking tone at the 'sunbae' part. "Plus, I just did that so Kyuhyun would stop bothering me. He kept on insisting that I'm incapable of finding a man." 

Heechul laughed as he shook his head in disagreement. "If only the maknae knew how capable Hayley is of finding that. Then why did you kiss Sungmin out of all the people there?" 

"Because he was the closest one there."

"Oh excuse me, I was closest to you. We just finished our hug then. Took you at least five steps to get to him. Again, excuse me." 

"Well, I was thinking that time that Kyuhyun would be more bothered if I did that to Sungmin since there is this 'KyuMin' thing. If I did it with you, he'll just think 'Ahh, they're just very close friends. Shows how Hayley is comfortable with Heechul Hyung.' Get the point?" 

It took him a while to absorb the thought, but he finally did. "Ohhh" with his lips turning into this o shape as he nodded again. "So you don't like Sungminnie?"

"I don't think so." Was all I was able to say. " Honestly, I wasn't able to find a new guy after he-who-shall-not-be-named."

Our orders were finally served on the table. Heechul opened me a bottle of soju, poured it in a shot glass, then offered me to drink it. I took the glass from him, and drank all of it in one shot. My nose kind of wrinkled a little as I felt the heat of it. 

"That guy broke your heart that much, huh?" He asked as he drank his part of soju. 

"Well, he did get my heart broken, but the reason that I didn't date anyone back then was because I wanted to focus on my studies and swimming career first and I also wanted to build myself back up again. You know, so when I come back to Korea, I wouldn't be that weak and helpless kid who was so broken that time anymore." 

Things got quiet for a while. It was a little awkward to be honest. We we're eating the dishes and drinking our soju quietly until Heechul decides to speak up. "You do remember our agreement back then, right?" 

It took me a minute to remember that agreement we did. "Yeah, I do." 

"It's still ongoing okay? No matter what happens."

I smiled gently at him as I held his hand. "I'm not 25 years old yet, but of course." 

~o~o~o~o~o~o

Flashback

It was a very sad day. As if the day wasn't sad enough, it looked like there was a rain that was going to come. I was sitting on a swing in a playground all alone. My head was aching from the crying that I have been doing. Curse that guy. To think I trusted him so much, and I even thought that he was sincere with his feelings for me. He broke up with me yesterday, then when I was about to fight for our relationship today, I saw him making out with another girl. And to top it all off, my parents are forcing me to move to America tomorrow. I didn't know that they were secretly making those arrangements. Of course, I have no choice but to follow them. What can I do? I'm just a 15-year-old. I'm not that old enough to make those big decisions. 

Out of nowhere, someone offers me a handkerchief. "Yah, Hayley Cho. Wipe that tears of you're face. You look ugly when you cry." I looked up to see who it was with my swollen eyes. It was Heechul. 

I just quietly took the handkerchief from him and wiped my face before I speak to him. Okay, focus Hayley. We have to pull off that we're okay. "I'm o-okay..." cracked my voice. Ughhh. Nice focus. 

"You know, it's okay to cry once in a while. It refreshes the heart. Keep that bottled in, and you'll die early." He said as he sat by the swing next to me. "I'm so sorry, Hayley. I didn't know what got into him."

"No. Seriously, I'm okay. I'm just being overwhelmed by the things happening right now. I just saw the person I love kissing another girl and I'm moving to America tomorrow. How screwed up can this world be?" Tears continued to stream down my face. "How stupid was I to think that I was worthy enough for him? I'm just me. There's nothing special about me. Who would even want me?"

"Who would want you? Come on, Hayley. Yes, you're stubborn, hard-headed, annoying, and pretty much get into everybody's nerves, but deep within that cold heart of yours, there's a kindhearted and loving girl inside. I know because I've seen it. I've been with it for the passed months, so don't let one guy make you feel any less. Any guy who will be able to open and accept that heart of yours will be the luckiest guy in the world. Also, don't worry about America. It will be a good opportunity for you to prove to everyone that you can do it. Prove to your parents that you can be independent, so in the near future, you'll be able to make big decisions for yourself." He my back to comfort me, those words meant a lot. It took a while before I was able to talk back to him, but the tears gradually stopped, thank goodness. I've never cried so much in my life, except for when Kyuhyun got into that car accident.

"Promise me that we'll always keep in touch, okay?" I finally muttered out. No more cracking of my voice this time. Thanks Kim Heechul for the comfort.

"Of course, but on one condition. We have to make this agreement." 

I became very curious. "What would that be?"

"When you turn 25 years old, and we're still both single. Let's make this agreement that you'll be my girlfriend if ever that happens. And when you become my girlfriend, best believe that I'm going to marry you sometime soon like when you turn 27."

"What made you say that?" I scoffed, not believing what I'm hearing.

"Just promise me. And by the time you're 25, I'll already be in my 30s. The great Kim Heechul would be needing a wife by that time. Alright?" He held out his pinky finger to seal the deal. 

Well come to think of it, it does sound like a good agreement. I mean, it's Kim Heechul we're talking about and I doubt that he'll still be single by that time. I also held out my pinky finger and intertwined it with his. "Okay, fair enough. We have an agreement." 

“Pinky promise, hope to die, swallow a thousand needles if you lie. Finger’s cut!” both of us chanted in unison. 

As we detangled our pinkies, Heechul smiled from ear to ear. "Alright! Enough of being sad. Let's be merry tonight, who would want to leave South Korea sad. What would you like to eat?"

"Tteokboki and Spicy stir fried squid, but you're paying since you've made those terms and conditions!" I've been craving those for a while now, so why not request? 

"Eh? Well excuse me, I'm not the one that needs cheering up. Fine fine, I'll pay, but you have to treat me next time when you come back." He replied as he stood up and swung his arm around me. Before I knew it, the rain that was about to start, didn't push through. Hmm, maybe things will start to get better from now on. I mean, the universe does owe me for making me this sad. 

Yes, we're going to end this day happy. Tomorrow, I'll be leaving all my sad memories here and start anew. 

End of Flashback

~o~o~o~o~o~o

"Helloooo." Heechul waved his hand across my face. Oh, I was daydreaming again. "We've only had 1 bottle and you're drunk already? I thought you have better alcohol tolerance than this!" 

"I'm not drunk! If I was then I'd be telling random truths. I was just reminded of something." I laughed as I swatted his hand away from my face. 

He raised his eyebrow, tilting his head. "What were you reminded of?" 

"That I was supposed to pay for this. Before I left you told me that you'd treat me to tteokboki and squid as long as I treat you back when I come back from America."

"Nahh. Consider this my treat. You treat me next time, when you have money. It looks like you've spent all your money on that plane ticket." 

I smiled nervously at him, dang I think he saw me looking at my wallet before me and Kyuhyun went to the mall. "Thanks, Chullie."

Well, nothing much happened after that. Just your normal catching up, and before we realized it we already drank 6 bottles each. Since we ordered a second bucket of soju because we got so caught up in our stories. He told me about the things that happened after I left, like adding Henry and Zhou Mi to the group, Hangeng leaving the group and Kibum taking a hiatus, the time when my brother did his revenge on my ex-boyfriend, how Sorry Sorry became a success, how Kyuhyun and Alex became a thing, how Alex survived living as a guy in the dorms, and many more stories. I'm pretty much caught up by now, thanks to this Cinderella. Tonight was a good night, and we got a little drunk. No we didn't do anything irresponsible after that, thank you very much. We were pretty much wasted to do anything else. I'm sorry Kyuhyun. Hehe.

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Took me 7 years to finally make an update. Hahahaha. I'm very sorry, but I hope there are still some of my readers left. And to the new ones, hello! I hope many people still love super junior just like back then. I'm pretty much not caught up in the kpop industry nowadays so it was just recently that I thought of making an update on this story. There are a lot of comebacks this year, and I hope that this story would also be a comeback. I'll try my best to update more since I just graduated from college and have no job. I hope. 

Anyways, subscribe and comment! I still love it when I get those from time to time. :) 

Have a nice day or night, wherever you're from!