June 10th, 2033

Houses turned into apartments, more buildings were built, streets and landmarks were changed—basically 20 years had given a lot of changes to the area. And yet strangely the library remained pretty much the same as Joonmyun could ever remember. The old building had undergone some minor renovations years ago, but in general it had not changed much and still looked more like a cathedral than a library.

It was Friday noon but the library looked unusually rather deserted. There were only a few people in the main hall and the smaller hall was completely empty. Joonmyun didn’t mind, though, he would always prefer solitude whenever he came there to reminisce his old days.

The moment he stepped into the small hall, he could feel his phone vibrating inside his pocket. Having a glimpse of who the caller might be, he promptly answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” a very familiar feminine voice greeted him—the voice that could always make him smile tenderly, anywhere and anytime. “Where are you?”

He could picture her pouty lips in his mind as she spoke. “You know what day it is. I’m at the library.”

Pause. “Will you be home by dinner time?”

Joonmyun glanced at his watch. “Of course I will. Don’t worry.”

“Okay. See you later, then. We will cook you something nice. Take care, okay?”

She was about to hang up before Joonmyun stopped her. “Sooyeon-ah.”

“Yes?”

“I love you. So much. You know that, right?”

“I know.” He could hear her smiling. “I love you too.”

***

July 20th, 2013

Heaving a long sigh, Joonmyun put his forehead on the table.

He was sitting by himself at the library, waiting for Joohyun. For the past weeks, he had been very busy studying and attending many trainings and seminars in preparation to be a teacher that he barely had time to meet her.

During the time in which they couldn’t meet each other, Joonmyun couldn’t help but missing her terribly. He missed talking to her, he missed hearing her voice and melodious laughter, he missed watching how her eyes sparkled brightly when she told him about the story she was currently reading or writing. In short, he just simply missed her presence near him.

His hand automatically reached the notebook on the table—the very same notebook she gave him on the night he passed the test—and flipped through its pages. It was the only thing that could soothe the loneliness he felt during the time he couldn’t see her in person for the past weeks. He had lost count of how many times he read the story written there or just stared at her neat handwriting, yet he’d never grown bored of doing it.

“The Mermaid’s Tears,” he read the title out loud.

It was a wonderful story. A tragic one, actually, but Joohyun wrote it so beautifully that Joonmyun even shed an emotional tear while reading it for the first time.

The story was about a mermaid who helplessly fell in love with the prince of a kingdom by the sea and yet she couldn’t reach him because they belonged to two different worlds. The mermaid then made a wish to a witch, asking for a help to enter the human world so that she could be with the prince. The witch granted her wish but not without something in exchange.

The witch asked for the mermaid’s heart.

The mermaid was aghast. The witch said that she could only lend the mermaid 300 days to be with the prince. On the 301st day, she would take the mermaid’s heart and the latter would disappear into foam in the ocean where she truly belonged.

Not knowing any other way to grant her, the mermaid finally agreed to the witch’s proposition. However, she asked for one last condition.

“If he truly loves me, please let him forget about my existence after I left him. Remove all the memories he has of me for it will only give him nothing but pain after my leaving. Let him continue his life in peace.”

The deal had been sealed and after a long, painful night, the mermaid awakened the next morning with a pair of legs in exchange of her tail. Right then and there she realized that her wish had been granted and also that her 300 days countdown had just started.

“You still haven’t finished reading it?” Suddenly a very familiar voice greeted Joonmyun and interrupted his reading.

He looked up to a smiling Joohyun who had just arrived and sat in front of him. Her smile was so blinding that he couldn’t help but wondering if she had been this pretty all along or she had grown more beautiful from the last time he saw her.

“Good afternoon, Princess.”

“Well, hello to you too, Kim Seonsaengnim. I see you are still reading the story I gave you a couple of weeks ago.”

“No, I’ve finished it on the same night you gave me this. I just love re-reading it.”

“Why? Is it that good?”

“It’s awful. I swear I’ve never been so emotionally affected by a fairy tale before. Yours was the first.”

Joohyun giggled shyly. “Well, if you put it that way, I’ll take that as a compliment. Thank you, Kim Seonsaengnim.”

“Aigoo, I’m not yet a teacher and yet you’ve called me seonsaengnim twice in the last five minutes.”

“You’re going to start teaching in a couple of weeks anyway.”

“And you have written your first book! I should be the one who calls you seonsaengnim,” he waved the notebook in front of her.

“Yah, this one can’t be counted!”

“Whatever you say, Princess,” he grinned smugly. And that was when he realized there was something unusual about her that day. “Hey, you look a bit pale. Are you feeling unwell?”

She put her hands on her cheeks. “Really? Maybe I’m just a bit tired. As I told you on the phone last week, I’m currently helping my father and cousin working on a project in his company. I didn’t do much anyway, but my schedule for the past week was quite packed.”

“How packed, exactly? Did you get enough sleep?”

“Yes, don’t worry too much,” Joohyun smiled. “Anyway, please tell me more about what you’ve been doing for the past weeks. You seemed to be busier than me but I hope you had fun.”

Joonmyun then had no choice but to comply with her request. Even so, he could still feel a slight, tiny pinch of discomfort in his heart. It was quite insignificant, though, and it didn’t bother him that much thus he decided to ignore it.

At least for now.

***

August 16th, 2013

Being a teacher turned out to be more tiring than Joonmyun thought. True, he enjoyed his new job as history teacher in one of the famous high school in Seoul very much and he had grown quite close with his students for the past two weeks. But since he was still in the adaptation phase to his new job, he didn’t have much time to do things which weren’t related to his work and meeting Joohyun was one of them.

That was why when the school activities ended earlier than usual, the first thing that he did was texting Joohyun. “Princess, I’m free this evening. Want to have dinner together? I know a very nice restaurant. Please reply soon, okay?”

She didn’t immediately reply to his text. In fact, she didn’t reply at all for the next 30 minutes. Joonmyun sent the message again and she still didn’t reply. He then decided to give her a call.

On his first try, she didn’t pick up. He tried again, and she was still not picking up. He was close to giving up when he still couldn’t reach her for the third time. That was when he finally heard someone picking up the call.

“Hello?”

Joonmyun frowned. Her voice sounded weak and not as lively as ever. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Kim Seonsaengnim, hey.” He could hear the rustling sound of the bed and she sounded more excited, though still weak. “Why are you calling at this time? Aren’t you supposed to be teaching?”

“The school ended earlier today, so I’m free tonight, I’ve texted you.”

“You did? Oh, I haven’t read it, sorry. I—just woke up.”

“Are you feeling unwell?” he asked worriedly.

She chuckled. “I’m okay, Joonmyun, don’t worry. I’m just—a bit tired, that’s all.”

Joonmyun frowned. He remembered Joohyun had told him once that she joined a writing workshop lately but that shouldn’t be too tiring, right? “How was the writing workshop, by the way?”

“It was great!” she excitedly told him. “The lecturer was so awesome and he even invited me to join another writing workshop next month. I really can’t wait! And I’ve started to write another story. Don’t worry, you will be the first to read it.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Joonmyun smiled. “Well, I’m glad you had fun. But please don’t tire yourself.”

“Don’t worry, I will be fine,” she chuckled. “By the way, why are you calling?”

“I was going to ask you out for dinner, but maybe next time. You sound like you really need rest right now.”

He unconsciously hoped that Joohyun would say something like “Of course not! I’m totally fine, I was just sleepy. Give me 30 minutes and let’s meet at the usual spot. Don’t be late, Kim Joonmyun!” only to prove that she was indeed fine.

But to his disappointment, she said, “Yes, you’re right, maybe next time. I promise.”

Short pause. “Joohyun?”

“Yes, Joonmyun?”

“Are you really okay?”

Another short pause. “Yes. I will be okay. Don’t worry.”

Joonmyun heaved a long sigh. “Fine, I trust you. Just … rest as much as you can, okay?”

He heard her giggling softly from the other line. “I understand. See you soon, Joonmyun.”

Joonmyun still stared at his phone screen blankly even after they had ended their phone conversation. Again, the uncomfortable, uneasy feeling enveloped his heart.

***

August 31st, 2013

“Yah, walk slowly!”

“I am walking slowly.”

“Walk slower, then. I don’t want you to fall.”

Joohyun giggled. “Joonmyun, you’re holding my hand. How can I fall?”

“But still—” Joonmyun insisted, eyes focusing on her steps.

It was already late night and Joonmyun was walking Joohyun home after having dinner at Joonmyun’s uncle’s restaurant. They were walking on the sidewalk—Joohyun was on top of the low wall along the road while Joonmyun walking steadily beside her, holding her hand to help her keeping her balance.

Ever since Joonmyun had officially become a teacher, his family had been planning to make some sort of a banquet to celebrate it. And they even asked Joonmyun to invite Joohyun as well since they only knew her from Joonmyun’s stories hence all of them were more than eager to meet her in person.

Joonmyun was hesitant at first, knowing how too excited his family could be. But the dinner turned out to be a very enjoyable event. His grandparents were very fond of Joohyun, especially his grandmother, and so did his uncle and aunt. His cousins, Jongdae and Jongin, also adored her very much to the extent it was quite annoying for Joonmyun.

But on top of everything, Joonmyun was beyond grateful that Joohyun seemed really enjoyed the evening. True, she was surprised when he asked her to come to the dinner with him—“But it’s a family event! I’m just going to interfere!”—and she was so nervous on their way to the restaurant—“Is my dress okay? Do I look decent? How does my hair look?”—but it took only less than half an hour for her to mingle and chat comfortably with his family. And the night went pretty well afterwards.

“You have a very, very nice family,” Joohyun smiled. “I had a great time chatting with your grandparents and aunt. Oh, and your cousins were such sweethearts! They really are nice boys.”

“What sweethearts? Those noisy brats—they are always like that to pretty girls,” Joonmyun snorted. “But yeah, they are actually good kids, even when they can be such a pain in the most of the times.”

“You seem really close to them,” Joohyun giggled. “And your uncle has a very lovely restaurant. Not to mention the meals were very delicious! Did your uncle and aunt really cook all of them?”

“Of course, but also with some minor help from Jongdae and Jongin,” replied Joonmyun. “Minseok samchon went to the same cooking academy with Yoojung sungmo. They fell in love, got married, and then built the restaurant together. So you can say that the restaurant is the fruit of their dreams.”

“Really? Wow, that’s really admirable!” she beamed. “Being able to live your dreams with the one you love, I really envy your uncle and aunt.”

“I’m sure you’ll also be able to experience it yourself later,” he smiled at her. “By the way, are you really fine now? I was actually hesitant to ask you out or not since I was afraid you still needed some rest—”

“No, I’m totally fine now!” Joohyun quickly said. She lightly jumped down from the wall and walked backwards in front of him. “See? I’m okay. And I’m glad you brought me there, I had a very nice time with your family. Really!”

“Hahaha, I get it. Now walk properly, little girl, or you’ll trip yourself for real this time.”

Joohyun laughed and playfully hit his arm. “Yes, Kim Seonsaengnim.”

They stopped talking for a while afterwards and continued walking under the dim light of the street lamps. According to Joohyun, her house shouldn’t be far away from the street where they were at that time and yet they had not reached it yet.

“Joohyun?”

“Hmmm?”

“What happened to you weeks ago?” Joonmyun tried to make his question sounded as casual as he could. “I was worried, you know. Did you catch a cold or flu or something?”

Joohyun didn’t answer. Joonmyun glanced at her and she looked as if she didn’t hear his question just now.

Is the question too personal? Maybe she doesn’t want to answer it—

“Joonmyun-ah.”

“Yes?” he was slightly startled.

Joohyun looked at him, her lips forming a smile. “Are you in a hurry?”

“No. Why?”

“Can we sit there for a while?” she pointed to a pair of swings that was located in a park not far from where they stood. “I used to play there as a kid with my cousin and now I feel like playing again. Please?”

“But it’s quite late already. Don’t you need to be home soon?”

“Please?” She gave him her best puppy look and of course everything would go just as she wished it. He feigned a defeated look and laughed afterwards as he saw her cheering in joy before running to the swings. Her face looked so bright like a little girl and he really wouldn’t mind staring at it for a long time.

“You look like a child,” he blurted out a few moments later when both of them were already sitting on the swings. Joohyun was swinging happily while Joonmyun only watched her from the side.

“Thank you,” Joohyun stuck out her tongue. “Why don’t you try swinging a bit, Kim Seonsaengnim? It’s fun, I promise!”

“Thanks, but I prefer watching you instead, even when it makes me feel much older.”

“How so?”

“I feel like a father who oversees his daughter.”

“You’re no fun.” Joohyun laughed and kept swinging merrily—until she abruptly stopped. “Hey, Joonmyun?”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you want to hear a story?”

Joonmyun shifted his sitting position so he could see her face better, feeling excited. But his smile slightly faded when he saw her expression. It wasn’t the usual bright expression she would always wear whenever she told him stories. She was still smiling, of course, but for some reasons the smile looked rather … grim.

But before Joonmyun could ask anything, she was already starting her story.

“Once upon a time, there was … this little princess, living in a very beautiful castle on top of a hill with her father. Her mother had died when the princess was still very young. Even so, she hardly ever felt lonely because her father and all the people around her always showered with nothing but love and affection.

But then one day the princess fell ill. She was so ill that her father had to bring her to see a healer who lived in a mountain far, far away. And after a couple of days, the princess finally opened her eyes again.”

Her father was so relieved that he shed a tear when he saw his daughter finally awakened from her long sleep.

“Oh, my daughter, I thought I have lost you,” he hugged her tightly.

“Father, what happened to me?”

Her father didn’t immediately answer. And her question yet to be answered neither the next day nor the days after. When she got better and they had returned to the castle, then her father put her petite figure on his lap and began to explain to her.

“Listen carefully, my dear,” he gently caressed his daughter’s head, “you are different.”

“How am I different?”

The adult male fell silent for seconds, carefully arranging the next words he was going to say to his daughter.

“Princess, you have a … heart of glass.”

There was a pause following after. Joonmyun carefully observed Joohyun’s expression. A small smile tugged on her lips, her eyes looked glazed and unfocused. She looked calm but Joonmyun knew that she was actually troubled.

“The heart of glass?” he gently urged her to continue her story.

She sighed and went on. “Unlike the other children, the princess had a very fragile heart which was made of glass. Some people believed it was a curse while others thought it was just a bad luck for the princess. She had to be careful for the rest of her life in order not to hurt herself and her heart. In short, she considered closer to death than everyone else.”

A chilling sensation started creeping Joonmyun’s body from the inside as understanding began to form in his head.

“However, the princess made it until she grew up. Not without struggles and hardships, of course, but she was still alive and healthy enough to celebrate her 17th birthday with the people she loved the most.”

Another pause followed after was much longer than the previous one that Joonmyun had to ask, “What happened next?”

“Nothing,” Joohyun finally turned her head to look at him, smiling. “I don’t know—I mean I haven’t written the continuation yet, hahaha, sorry for suddenly telling you this story. It’s kind of random, I know. And—hey! It’s already late, maybe we better get going now.”

She stood up and was about to walk away when Joonmyun gently caught her am. “Wait.”

The girl turned around and without letting go of his hold on her arm, Joonmyun walked closer to her. They were now standing facing each other and Joonmyun moved his fingers to hold Joohyun’s hands. “Princess?”

“Kim Seonsaengnim?” she stared at him, half amused, half puzzled.

“I love you.”

Joonmyun could feel his heart pounded hard in his chest and he didn’t care if Joohyun could also feel it from their entwined hands. In fact, he didn’t care of anything else anymore. Now that he finally realized how he truly felt about her, he needed her to know about it.

Even more so after he learned about her condition.

“Joonmyun—” she was lost for words.

“I know this is too sudden,” Joonmyun laughed nervously. “And I don’t care if this feeling isn’t reciprocated so I hope our relationship—or your attitude towards me won’t change after this. I won’t be able to bear it so please—please don’t change or put a distance between us.”

“Joonmyun, you don’t understand.”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t,” tears started to fill her eyes. “My heart—I have a heart defect—”

Her words were cut off as Joonmyun suddenly pulled her into a hug. “You don’t even have to explain that you are actually the princess with the heart of glass,” he whispered. “And even if your heart is literally made of glass, I don’t care. It will only make me want to protect it, protect you more.”

She sniffed into his shoulder. “If you’re saying all of this because of pity—”

“That’s a cruel accusation.” Joonmyun pulled back from the hug to stare at her teary eyes, frowning in disagreement. He then cupped her cheeks and whispered, “I love you, Seo Joohyun, I really do. I thought—I thought I’ve always loved you only as a sister, as a best friend. How wrong I was. I also thought it was just a pure adoration, until I realized that I want nothing but building my dreams and living it with you, and—”

“I love you,” Joohyun interrupted, hugging him tightly. “Oh, Joonmyun, I love you too.”

As if bewitched by her declaration of love, his whole body felt relaxed in a second. He couldn’t do anything other than hugging her back and planting kisses on her head. Everything felt like a dream yet at the same time it felt too real to become one.

So he did the first thing that came into his mind to prove further that this was all real and not just happening in his wildest imagination.

He kissed her lips.

And when Seo Joohyun kissed him back, Kim Joonmyun wasn’t only convinced that it wasn’t a mere dream. He was also convinced that he was probably holding his whole world in his arms, that he already had everything he could ever wish for, and that everything would be just fine from now on.

Or so he thought.