chapter four; {bittersweet}

Korea was as Miyoung had remembered it, the only changes slight and unnoticable. Yet somehow, it just wasn't the same. Miyoung couldn't place it, until she realized it was her that had changed.

"Isn't it good to be back, honey?" her mother asked her, obviously happy to be back in Korea. Miyoung was staring out the window, not listening. Her mother sighed. *I hope this will be good for her.*

But, in all reality, Miyoung was miserable. Months passed. She couldn't forget him. Pooh Bear. Just the two words made her heart ache and yearn. Miyoung wanted to keep contact with Yixing, but he didn't have a computer at home. And her mom wouldn't let her make a call to China. So how was she supposed to talk to him? She couldn't.

"Honey, move on. There are other boys in the world other than Zhang Yixing!" her mother insisted after six months of moping.

"Yes, but there's only one Zhang Yixing!" she shot back. "Only one. Only one I'll ever love. And he's in China!"

Really, she had tried to smile. For Yixing. She knew he'd hate it if he saw her sad, if he saw her yelling at her mother on accident. So, for Yixing's sake, she decided she'd try to smile and be happy. Although...she wouldn't truly be happy until she was with her Pooh Bear again. Piglet was lonely without him.

Yixing wasn't much better. He was better at hiding his emotions, so he didn't mope around. But late at night, he'd stare at the drawing of Pooh Bear and Piglet Miyoung had drawn for him. 

"Meixing," he whispered one night as he stared a photo from the musical. It was of their kiss--his mother had caught the moment, and Yixing had taken the photo away, saying he was going to throw it away. But he kept it. Of course he kept it. Gently, he ran his fingertips over their figures leaning into each other in the sweet kiss.

A single tear slipped down his cheek. "I miss you. Are you doing well in Korea? Not missing me too much?" He sighed softly. "Just wait. We'll find each other again. I swear we will." He closed his eyes, the darkness of sleep taking over.

* * * * *

Of course, Miyoung couldn't be lonely forever. A year had passed before she actually started talking to another human being that wasn't captured in a picture frame.

There was a student at her school named Kris, a Chinese boy older than her by two years. They had been looking for someone to teach him Korean as a tutor, and Miyoung volunteered, deciding she needed to socialize again.

Kris was the intense type, his face fixed in a scary, near-glare. At first it frightened Miyoung, since she was more gentle. But after both of them warmed up to each other, she found Kris was actually quite soft and kind-hearted. Not to mention dashingly handsome, even if Yixing was the only one in Miyoung's heart.

But, that was the bloom of Miyoung and Kris's friendship. He called her Meixing too, after she told him it was her Chinese name. And even as his Korean improved, he refused to speak anything but Mandarin to her. Along with being quite good-looking, he was also very protective, which Miyoung appreciated. It wasn't that Miyoung was picked on a lot, but he kept her from doing stupid things, or from walking into dramatic or dangerous situations.

"Mei," Kris called as he tugged on a lock of her hair. "You're zoning out. Come back to Earth, why don't you?"

"Oh." She blinked, quickly stuffing the picture of her and Yixing smiling backstage of their musical. "Sorry. I was thinking..."

"About what?" He tilted his head, staring at her with his usual deep gaze. "You know you can tell me anything, Meixing."

"I know that," she said quietly, biting her lower lip. Miyoung swallowed as she played with the corner of the sheet of paper containing her homework. "I'm sorry."

"Why on earth are you sorry?" Kris playfully hit the side of her head, though it was gentle. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. It's fine. I'm not going to pressure you."

Slowly, Miyoung's gaze shifted to Kris's face. The kindness she saw in his eyes reminded her of Yixing. Unable to help herself, she wrapped her arms around Kris tightly. In a way, she felt as if she were almost betraying Yixing. But everyone needed hugs, and since Yixing wasn't here for her to hug, she'd hug Kris. She didn't mean to use Kris as a replacement. Kris was her best friend, though not as close to her as Yixing was. They were two different people. But right now, she needed to hug Kris for all the heartache she was going through for missing her Pooh Bear.

He sighed softly, his long, strong arms wrapping around her. One was at the small of her back, the other moving up to gently pet her hair, his fingers tangling in the waves. "It's okay," he whispered. "Shh. It's okay, Mei. Everything's okay." At the calming, sweet words, she sniffled, tears threatening to spill. Kris only hugged her tighter. *What always weighs so heavily on your mind, my poor, lost bunny?*

* * * * *

"Mei~" Kris whined over the phone. Miyoung sighed; if Kris was whining, he was trying to be cute. And if Kris was trying to be cute, he wanted something from her.

"What, FanFan ge?" she asked, using a nickname she'd gotten from his Chinese name YiFan.

"I want you to meet someone," he requested, voice still containing the whiny tone. He failed at aegyo. Really, the only reason he was cute was because he was so manly and scary that when he tried to be cute, he was freaking adorable. It was the cuteness a deadly predator like a bear or a lion contained. Beautiful, lethal, and cute all at once. Miyoung was beginning to think that if Kris had been an animal in a past life, he'd been a lion or something like that.

"Who?" she sighed, annoyed.

"A few friends. They're going to be exchange students for this next school year. Their host family introduced me to them, since they're my neighbors. Please? One of them doesn't have very good Korean, so you need to help them."

"Why can't you help them?"

"Because my Korean too," he snorted. "No thanks to a certain someone~"

Miyoung scoffed. "I taught you perfectly well. You're the one that refuses to speak anything but Mandarin to the one person who can help you with Korean the most." She rolled her eyes, but softened. Miyoung could never be sassy and annoyed for long. "Fine," she murmured. "Where are you?" Kris told her the address, and she left after telling her mom where she was headed.

When she met Kris at a cafe, he was sitting with two boys, both almost inhumanly handsome. For a moment, Miyoung distantly wondered why it was that every Chinese boy she met had to be so good-looking. She must've saved a country in her past life, and been a loyal wife.

Kris beamed widely as soon as he saw her, waving her over. "Meixing~" he said in a sing-song voice. "These are the two I was telling you about. This is Luhan..." He motioned to an almost feminine-looking boy with wide eyes, a small nose, and soft blond hair. "And this is Tao." The other boy was scarier-looking, almost in the same quality as Kris's scary. He had dark eyes that gave you a mysterious vibe, along with dark hair. However, the entire dark aura disappeared when his lips curved into a happy smile, his hand coming up to give Miyoung a friendly wave.

"Nice to meet you," she murmured softly, bowing her head. She was always shy meeting new people. "I'm Miyoung, but you can use my Chinese name if you like. Meixing."

"I'm Luhan, as Kris told you," Luhan introduced with a boyish grin, using Korean. His pronunciation was nearly perfect, the only accident remaining in his voice making his speech sound quite cute and endearing.

"I'm Tao," the darker one said, still smiling. He used Korean as well, and Miyoung quickly realized this was the one who had bad Korean.

"You can use Mandarin," she assured them both. "Though if you'd like to practice Korean, I'm more than willing to help." Miyoung nodded. "I helped this one after all." She jabbed her thumb at Kris, who pouted playfully.

And just like that, she was thrown into a friendship with two more people. Though no one would ever compare to her Yixing, she could at least make others smile, especially when it was hard for her.

She would just have to wait. Miyoung sighed softly. *Don't worry, Yixing. We'll meet again someday. We're bound by the Red String of Fate after all.*