Spring

They meet in the spring, when cherry blossoms cover the street path, when the sun glosses over their skin with its warmth, when it feels like they could be in a Disney movie with birds chirping, butterflies fluttering their wings and there’s a fanfare that announces her arrival.

It’s been a few good years since she’s last been to the amusement park, actually, had Lizzy not guilt tripped her into feeling so utterly and completely bad about the reason as to why she was grounded, was because Ara did a terrible job at minding the door and letting her parents walk in- wait…

“You’re such a terrible friend Park Sooyoung” Ara says

“I heard that…” Lizzy turns around at the mentioning of her full name

“I said it out loud didn’t I?”

“You know who you’d get along well with?” Lizzy narrows her eyes and searches through the sea of people for that one face she had been waiting for. “Myungsoo-yah!” she says in her loudest voice, screaming across to the tall boy who looks like he wants nothing to do with her.

Ara observes his face, the dimples on his cheeks when he smiles, she deducts that he looks like a member of a boy band, with his hair looking like dollops of cream, his pants being a bit too tight for comfort and his jacket looks a bit expensive.

“Ara, this is my friend Myungsoo”

She extends her hand for a shake, just as he goes for a hug, it’s an awkward dance that leaves her hand fisted into the bottom of his shirt.

“I think you two will make great friends…”

“You hate her to do you?” Ara grins and Myungsoo laughs, both stifling their laugh when Lizzy turns her head back, eyes narrowed trying to bore holes into their heads.

“Nice to meet you Ara”

Summer

It’s summer love with all of its clichés. Long lazy summer days spent together, listening to his favourite playlist, and the one he made for her. Days spent at the beach, frolicking around in the water, playfully splashing each other with water, and throwing piles of wet sand at each other. Sharing milkshakes and ice-cream cones, and afternoon walks with the summer breeze brushing against their cheeks.

He kisses her for the first time in the summer, when dusk was beginning to settle in, when the warm orange glow of the sunset brushes over them like paint, colouring her a darker shade which hides her cheeks that were glowing red.

He kisses her passionately, and lifts her off her feet, white dress flowing in the wind as he places her down again. Brushing away the loose strands of hair on her face, they both continue their casual stroll down the path to her house, his hand fitting comfortably in the spaces between hers.

“Yoo Ara!” she hears the unmistakeable sound of Lizzy’s voice calling her from her driveway “Myungsoo – you…” she’s left without words.

They break away quickly, and Ara runs ahead, “What are you doing here?” she pulls Lizzy away hastily, not allowing the other girl to ask any more questions. Except once Park Sooyoung has set her mind on something, she doesn’t really let it go until she’s satisfied.

“Are you two dating?” she grins, flashing her entire set of pearly whites “You two are dating, aren’t you?” she teases, pokes and jabs Ara until the other girl forfeits.

“He was just walking me home…” she lies

“He’s been walking you home a lot…” Lizzy glances over her shoulder, watching as Myungsoo pretends to examine the loose thread on his shirt.

They don’t really ever announce their relationship, it’s something that just becomes glaringly obvious to those around them. The way they hold hands, or the way he steals glances of her, sometimes when they hug, and when they kiss each other.

“You two are dating, aren’t you!” this time it comes out of Lizzy’s lips like a statement more than question.

“Yeah” they reply in unison.

Autumn

Autumn comes and Myungsoo doesn’t feel the cold yet because she keeps him warm with her hand knitted sweaters, scarves and mittens. There’s a few holes, some inconsistencies and overall terrible designs, but Myungsoo knows it’s the thought that counts.

They’re in the living room, surrounded by a blanket forte, wrapped up in each other’s arms, snuggled up close to the heater. The TV in the background is left on mute because they don’t want to wake up their friends sleeping upstairs. They’ve spent the last two hours staring at the shadows casted on the blankets and talking.

She talks about her family, her mother and how she’s a beautiful lady (he can imagine) that loves to cook and that she’s travelled to so many places, she could make every country’s signature dish. She talks about how her father is a business man, and how she’s learnt to never grow too attached to places she’ll have to leave eventually. She talks about life in Taiwan, and the friends she made and how they’ve lost touch over the last few years and how she’s never spent spring in the same place two years in a row in a while.

 “I think…” he says slowly, bringing her hand to his lips “I like you…” he says.

Ara props up her head, and turns to her side, he makes out her doe eyes staring at him, unsure about the silence that is rapidly filling the air around them.

“Thank you” she kisses his forehead

There's a wave of doubt that floods his mind, that rocks his heart and makes him feel vulnerable.

He doesn't like this feeling.

Winter

When winter comes and the season changes, so do their hearts. They are simply young and too naïve to understand what it’s like to be in love. It’s not all about picnics on spring days filled with dancing in fields of daisies, or summer days spent at the carnival, ice cream off each other’s lips – even autumn is more forgiving with cuddles and cups of hot chocolates and marshmallows

Winter is treacherous they learn this the hard way.

It’s something they’ve been contemplating for days, alone in the corners of their minds. Myungsoo decides that he doesn’t love her as much as he should, that he could never really be the reason she’d stay in Seoul. So Myungsoo decides that it’s best for them (him) to cut it off whilst there’s no real attachment.

Ara figures that when it comes to Myungsoo everything is calculated, how much time he spends with her, how much he spends on her, every gesture is calculated even possibly how much he loves her is given a percentage. It’s a flaw she finds, and like Pandora’s box, one after another things begins to pile up. She begins finding that she spends more time convincing herself how much she loves each and every part of him that it should.

He doesn’t tell her though, that when she said yes (Yes, I think we’re better off apart too), he feels a tight pain in his chest, in between his ribcage. He realises later that it was his heart breaking.

They break up, it’s bittersweet, no harsh words or angry voices, just a mutual agreement.

Just like that they fall out of touch and out of love.