It’s been a year, a whole year since they had to part. A whole year of pain. A whole year with no contact.

The sun was creeping through the big windows while you were in your math class, trying to keep your eyes open and fixed on your teacher, fighting the urge to sleep due another sleepless night. The teacher has been talking about trigonometry for 1h, and you weren’t able to pay attention on even one word that came out of his mouth.

You sighed heavily as one of your hands unconsciously trailed itself to your neck, slightly grabbing the gold necklace you were using. The delicate gold necklace had a format of a musical note. You caressed it and smiled to yourself. For some reason, it instantly reminded you of your first day in Korea.

~Past – First Day in Korea~

Your plane had arrived at the exactly estimated time, so you didn’t have any reasons to be angry or mad. Your whole body was filled with excitement since you’ve been waiting for this day since you got the news that you could study in Korea, though you would need to leave America behind. But you didn’t have any problems with that. It has always been your dream to live in Korea, and now you finally had the chance.

You were on your way to the university since you would be staying on the dorms, but you stopped when you head a groan coming from an alley. Your head brutally turned to the side, looking for the owner of the painful noise.  Your eyes landed on two boys at the end of the alley. As you came unconsciously came closer, you noticed a tan skinned boy on the floor, blood drops falling from his face. Your jaw dropped, along with your belongings.

Your fists clenched as your blood started to boil inside your veins; you just hated seeing people getting hurt, especially when they are in disadvantage.

Your foots started moving without any warning, and when you noticed, you were already in front of the hurt boy, putting your body between him and the other two boys.

“What the- When did you get here?” You eyed the boy who just asked the question and smirked.

“Oh, besides being an idiot for hitting someone, you are also lazy enough not to notice someone coming? I thought you were smarter than that tough boy.” Your cynical tone seemed to get the boy angry since he raised one fist and tried to punch you. But what he didn’t know, is that you had taken some fighting lessons in America, and it turned out that you became something like a professional in it.

You dodged from his punch and took hold of his fist, turning him around and holding his arm on his back, pulling it harder so he could feel the real pain. Painful groans escaped from his mouth. You giggled to the fact that a grown boy like him couldn’t even defeat a girl.

As you noticed his friend coming closer, you released him from your grip and slightly pushed him forward with your hands, soon hitting him on his back with your feet, causing him to fall on top of his friend, both hitting their heads on the ground. You placed your hands on your hips and came closer to them.

“So, would you leave now?” You smiled innocently as they looked at you with scared and surprised faces before quickly getting up and running away. You kept your eyes on them until they completely disappeared from your sight. A sigh left your mouth as you finally looked at the boy sitting on the ground.

He had a smooth tan skin, strong features and a black-brown straight hair. He was handsome, you couldn’t deny, but it wasn’t time to think about things like that. The boy had blood on his nose, mouth and a deep cut up on his right eyebrow.

You crouched beside him, trying to make eye contact, but he kept looking to the ground while trying to wipe away the blood.

“Yah, we should get you cleaned before you get an infection. Come on.” Without waiting for an answer you quickly got up, bringing him by his fist and dragging him with you. He was in no position to protest, so he just went along.

After a while walking, you finally found a park and dragged the boy there with you. You sat him on a random bench by putting your hands on his shoulders and forcing him down. He groaned to the touch and you quickly took your hands away.

“I’m sorry.” You said while sitting by his side and taking some wipes out of your purse.

The boy wouldn’t look at you, so you inched closer and held his face by his chin, making him look straight into your eyes. You then gently wiped the blood off of his face with the wipes you now had in hands. He groaned again in pain, but there was nothing you could do, you needed to clean him. When your reached the cut up on his eyebrow, you didn’t touch it, you only cleaned around it carefully. He was now biting hips plump lips to suppress another painful noise.

After you finished and tossed the bloody wipes on the trash, you smiled to yourself while looking at him and letting his chin free from your hand. He looked much better without blood on his face. Even more handsome than he looked before.

“So, will you tell me your name? And why were you there?” You rested your chin on your hands and your elbow on your bag that was on your lap while staring at him. He had already turned him face to its original position, only eying your by the corner of his eyes when he heard your voice.

“Ka-“ He stopped for a moment before cleaning his throat. “JongIn.” He sighed and then ruffled his own hair while taking a deep breath. “They were just jealous of me, that’s why.” His head turned slowly, those black-brown and deep eyes now staring at you. “But … I seriously didn’t need your help.”

You tensed. Did he just say that he didn’t need your help? Is he serious? Is this douchebag serious?

“You know, it didn’t look like you could take care of yourself at that very moment. And you still have the guts to say you didn’t need my help? At least thank me for cleaning you, or else you could’ve got an infection and died.” You crossed your arms while staring at him and raising an eyebrow.

He sighed again. “I could’ve beaten both of them if I wanted to okay, I just couldn’t … and, thank you. But I really should get going right now.”  He got up from his seat, only to be pulled back down by you.

“No no, you’re not going anywhere. You’re hurt, and even if you’re being all ‘I’m too proud to accept someone’s help’, I’m not the kind of person who leaves someone who is hurt alone.” You annoyingly smiled at him on purpose while he finally stopped struggling and sat normally. He tried to cross his arms but an immediate groan of pain escaped from his mouth. Just then you remembered his shoulders were also hurting, and there were probably bruises all over them.

You looked around, trying to identify where exactly you were to try taking him to somewhere more comfortable, but signs where nowhere to be seen.

 You sighed and rubbed the back of your neck, frustration filling your body.

“You’re not from here, are you? I wonder how come you can speak Korean so well.”  The sudden voice coming from your side caused you to jump a little, but you soon calmed down.

“No I’m not. I used to live in America, and that’s actually my first day here. And I took classes there in order to come here, that’s how my Korean is so good.” You turned your head to him and smiled. “So, could you tell me where you live so I can take you home safely?”

“What a nice way to start your life here.” He giggled a bit, covering his mouth with his hand in an attempt to hide it before getting up. “I live on my university’s dorm. You can just call a cab to take me there.” There he goes again, being stubborn.

“Yeah, great way to start my life here. Thanks to you douche.” You rolled your eyes and got up too, stepping closer to him, grabbing his first and wrapping his arm around your shoulder while sliding your other hand to his waist and slightly squeezing it, trying to keep him on his feet correctly.

“Wha-what do you think you’re doing?” He tried to release himself from your grip, only to receive a squeeze on the waist from him, causing him to clench his teeth and death glare at you.

“Would you stop being so stubborn, hm, JongIn right? Yeah, just stop. I’m trying to help you, so just shut up and cooperate with me, arasso? Geez, you look like a little kid right now you know.” He turned his head to the other side, but you couldn’t help to notice a pout making its way to his lips. A giggle suddenly left your mouth and he turned his head back at you.

“And who are you to call me a kid, stranger?” He was trying to hide his pout, and it was a failed attempt to be honest.

“Yah, the stranger here has a name. I’m ____, though I can’t say it’s actually a pleasure to me-“ You were brutally stopped by JongIn’s finger in front of your face.

“Na na, I never said I was interested in knowing your name.” His face was just like a kid’s face when they think they rule the world. It was actually kind of funny. But anyway, he was definitely a stubborn kid.

You sighed and let your head slightly fall down to the front, quickly straightening it after taking a deep breath. “Whatever. Just guide me to your university so I can drop you there.”

“Hm, okay. It’s the Seoul National University. It isn’t far, so let’s go. The faster we walk, the faster I can get rid of you.” He started walking, dragging you with him while part of his weight fell on you, looking for support.

‘Did this bastard just say he wants to get rid of me? Oh, I’m so going to kick his-‘ Your thoughts were interrupted when you realized what he had just said. You stopped, causing him to almost fall due the brutal stop.

“AIGOO, what it  your problem?”  He rubbed his shoulder lightly while pouting.

“Wait. Did you just say Seoul National University?” You stared up at him since he was taller then you. He raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly, afraid of why you were so surprised by his statement.

You sighed. “Seems like you won’t be getting rid of me so soon JongIn, because that’s where I’m going to study.” He gasped while quickly releasing himself from your grip and almost falling on his . Luckily you were fast enough to hold his fist and bring him back to the position you two were before.

“Idiot. Do you want to get even more hurt?” You ‘tsked’ at him while he pouted, again.

“I don’t think I can take it. Staring at your face every single day? Andwe.” As soon as he finished his phrase, you harshly squeezed his waist, causing him to let a strange noise out coming from his throat.

“I said shut up kid. That university is huge. You might not even see me there, so come on. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can part.” He groaned, but didn’t give up.

“But what if we have classes together? I mean, I don’t want to have to bear your ‘I’m too smart for you’ side. No no, I can’t give up on my peace.” And he kept on complaining like a little kid until you two reached the university.

As soon as you two entered the gates, you let go of him, only holding now his fist since you remembered you wanted to ask him something. Something you had let go at the time he mentioned it.

“Yah, JongIn, why didn’t you react to those two idiots if you said you could’ve beaten them? Why couldn’t you?” He looked down to your hand that was firmly wrapped around his fist and sighed, slowly releasing himself.

“That’s none of your business.” He was pretty serious, and it was kind of scary.

He bowed and turned around, raising a hand on the air to you. “Thank you ____, I hope we never see each other again neh? ~” His tone annoyed you, but within a few seconds, he disappeared in the middle of the crowd, still limping a little.

You sighed heavily and grabbed your things. “What a great way to start my life in Korea.”

You shook your head, trying to make the thought go away and started walking towards the big building in front of you.

~End of Flashback~

You felt something hitting the top of your head, a little too hard. As you opened your eyes, you found your teacher with a ruler on his hand, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently.

“Well well Mrs.____, daydreaming during class, AGAIN.” He crossed his arms, not taking his eyes off of your for even a second. “Why don’t you tell us what was you dream about? It must have been amazing, maybe better than my math class right?” His ironic tone was getting into your nerves, but he was your teacher, so you couldn’t just kick his .

“I’m sorry Mr.Lim, it wasn’t important. It won’t happened again.” You bowed with your head as he kept staring at you.

“I truly hope it to be the last time. You don’t want to get detention right?” He ~ly~ smiled at you while going back to the front of the class and continuing to explain whatever he was talking about.

You looked around and realized that people were staring at you, and giggling. You sighed. Nothing out of normal right? Just your daily routine repeating itself.

The sun then hit your face, causing you to let out a quiet groan. You really hated it, the hot weather. Korea’s cold weather suited you much more, but then again … you couldn’t stuck yourself on this thought. We weren’t there anymore. You were in America, ing America. Home- no, not ing sweet home.

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of classes for the day. You grabbed your stuff and made your way to the dorms. As soon as you got there, you dropped everything on the floor and threw yourself on bed. Oh, comfy comfy bed, all you needed after another y day.

When you were about to close your eyes and enter dreamland, you realized something unusual in your room. You then sat up on your bed and stared at your desk. There was a big bouquet of flowers proudly sitting there, and for some strange reason, they were your favorite flowers, white Orchids.

You got up from the bed and walked towards it, now being able to see the small envelope hide in between the orchids. You carefully picked it up, trying not to mess the flowers. You inched closer to the flowers, holding one of them with your hand and smelling it. Light and refreshing fragrance. Why didn’t you bought those to let in your dorm before? You couldn’t actually remember, so you just dropped the thought while going back to bed and opening the envelope.

There was something written on the paper your got off of the envelope, and though the writing wasn’t that good, you were able to read it.

‘Roof, 8pm. Don’t be late. –Can you guess who I am?’

You stared at the paper. “Really anonymous? Really? I think shooting someone in the dark is easier than guessing who you are just by your ugly writing.” You giggled to yourself and looked at your watch. 6pm. You still had time.

After one and a half hours you were already ready to go, but you still had to wait half an hour more so you could go. It’s not like you were dying of excitement -no, you weren’t that kind of girl- but you were certainly curious about who the hell in the world would ask you to meet them. You were the quiet and smart pretty girl after all, no one ever really noticed you.

You spent the left half hour just laying on your bed while reading a random book your English teacher had asked the class to read for next week. You couldn’t understand how in the world he thought a story about such as ‘50 Shades of Grey’ could ever be useful during class. Wasn’t it supposed to be prohibited?

All your thoughts flew away as you looked at your watch. 7:55. You should get going, and that’s exactly what you did. You were always punctual after all.

After 3 minutes or so, you reached the rooftop’s door and placed your hand on the doorknob, hesitating a bit before opening the door. The cold air hit your exposed skin, meaning you face since you were wearing skinny jeans and a heavy ‘fluffy’ coat with a warm shirt underneath it.

You took a few steps forward, immediately taking notice of a round table place a few meters away from you, candles place in the middle of it along with white orchids and fancy plates placed on each side of the table. There were two chairs there too.

You looked to your sides, but found no one. Just then, long and warm arms wrapped themselves around your waist, causing you to quickly hold one of them and turn it around so now you were pressing the person’s arm against their back to she couldn’t move.

“YAH YAH, it hurts.” You instantly let go of the person’s arm after hearing his voice. You took a few steps backwards, now taking full sight of the person’s back. It was a boy, and you knew that back better than anyone else.

He turned around to face you while rubbing his arm, a bright smile dancing on his lips. “Good to know you haven’t changed at all ____.” He started walking towards you slowly while you stared at him in disbelief. “What? Don’t I get a hug? You know, it was hand to even find you. America is freaking huge.” He giggled as his smiled grew wider.

You were froze in your place, still not believing he was there. “Jo-JongIn-ah.” Those were the only words you were able to speak before closing the gap between you two and hugging him. You head buried itself on his neck, your hands trailing themselves through his body and wrapping your arms around him. He did the same and caressed your hair lovingly. He was warm, like he has always been … but he still complained. He hasn’t changed too, not even a bit.

The thought brought a smile to your lips as you kissed his neck gently, letting your hot breath hit it while you tried hard to contain your tears.

“Kid. Idiot. Bastard. Douche. How do you dare appearing here out of nowhere? Who let you? You should’ve warned me you know.” You hit his chest slightly with one of your hands, only to be stopped by him holding your fist. He then parted the hug a bit, only enough to make you two look into each other’s eyes.

“I let myself come here. Do you really think I would let you go just like that? Damn, where the hell would I find another tough girl to protect me and put me back on tracks? I don’t think I would ever be able to find someone that fits with me if not you.” He smiled again, making you slowly melt inside just like it has always made. “Who is being stubborn now, uhn? Just accept it. Pabo.”

You couldn’t complain. He was there. Hasn’t it been painful without him? So why the hell in the world were you hesitating now? Maybe you were afraid of having to part again? And shouldn’t you be angry that he only showed up after a whole year? Well, nothing mattered at the moment, so you just shoved the thoughts away.

“Aigoo, such a kid. Annoying as usual.” You let out a short laugh as he brought you towards the table and sat you on one of the chairs. He brought the dinner, a fancy lobster with rice and some accompaniments.

The dinner was peaceful, you two catching up, telling how your lives have been.

Apparently JongIn got into a prestigious dance company and is training to debut in a group within a few months. The rest of the talking was just about normal stuff and nothing really important, but you two shared everything anyway.

When you finished, he rested his elbows on the table and places his chin on his hands while staring at you.

“Neh, ____, would you go back to Korea with me?” For some reason, you thought he was just kidding around as usual, but as you locked eyes with him, you realized his eyes were more serious than the usual, and so was expression. You forced a little smile to your lips.

“You know it is hard JonhIn-ah. I don’t have a place to stay, neither I finished college yet. And I also have my parents here.” One of his hands slowly crossed the table and grabbed yours, caressing it with his thumb.

“What if I asked you to marry me? You could stay with me at my apartment, and we could come to visit your parents whenever you felt like it.” You gulped hard. Did he just say … marry him? You weren’t sure if your heart was even beating anymore, but you could certainly feel the blood running roughly through your veins and turning your cheeks hot and pink.

“What? Ma-marry you? Yah, quit joking around.” You hit his arm playfully, but he just kept staring with his serious expression at you. He then sighed and got up from his seat, walking to your side and getting down of his knee.

“Ya-yah, JongIn, get up. You’ll get all dirty.” He ignored you and looked down to the floor before taking a deep breath and staring back at you. His hand slid itself to his pocket and he took a small black box out of it.

“I’ve been saving money for a year now, only to be able to buy this. So you better accept it. Or else I’ll have to toss it away.” He slowly opened the small box, reveling a ring with small pieces of diamond  around it. The brightness was stunning, and your eyes seemed to be totally drowne into it. “So ____, would you marry me and come back to Korea with me to spend the rest of our lives together?”

You had no reaction as your feelings started to mix and you felt a million butterflies in your stomach. You tried to speak, but the words just wouldn’t come out, so you kept staring at the right and then at JongIn, and then back to the ring, and then back to the right, and it kept on until he cleaned his throat, snapping you out of your trance.

“I’m so going to kill you JongIn.” You got up from your seat and kneeled down in front of him, staring at his confused face. “ You cupped his face with both hands and brought his face closer, letting your foreheads rest against each other. “If you think that I would even deny this, you have some serious problems.” He was about to say something, but you cut him off by pressing your lips against his. It didn’t take even a second for him to return the kiss and let your lips move together. It fitted perfectly, just like you remembered it did, and it always will.

He parted the kiss when both of you ran out of air and he smiled, brighter than ever. He then took the ring and carefully placed on your finger, holding your hand and kissing it before letting go and hugging you tightly.

“I love you.” He whispered in your ear, sending a wave of shock through your spine and making you get goosebumps.

“Ew, cheesy.” You giggled as he death glared at you, raising an questionable eyebrow. “Aish, arasso.” You kissed his whole face several times as you said between the kisses. “I love you too, pabo.”