Your phone rings in my pocket. A text.

Hello, who is this?

It's from a number you don't recognize. A number that's not stored in your phone. You type you reply quickly.

Me: Shouldn't I be asking you that?

You don't expect a reply, they probably realized they were texting the wrong number.  But no, your phone rings again.

I don't know. I just know your number is in my phone but I don't remember who you are.

What? But you don't know this person. How do they know you? You remember that your phone number was fome all the way back in elementary school. You've had this phone number since you were little. You reply again.

Me: Fine. Prove it. What's my name?

The text comes faster this time. You don't know what to expect, but you raise the phone up to see the response. And there's your name on the screen.

Me: How. How do you have my number?

You're sitting in your room, exploring the endless boundaries of the internet with your laptop. You live alone in a small apartment in China, but your parents live in Korea. They had allowed you to live alone in this country because they trusted you with their lives. Plus, you had the brilliant power of persuasion. Your life here had been peaceful and nothing too out-of-the-ordinary had happened until this moment.

Your reply comes soon enough.

I don't know. I've had this phone since I was little. It's really old. I have a lot of old contacts.

Before you can even type anything back, you get another text.

I asked my parents. They said you're an old friend of mine. From a really long time ago.

Me: An old friend? Then, who are you?

Sehun. That's my name. 

Me: I don't remember anyone of my childhood friend's being named Sehun.

That's okay. Maybe you'll remember me one day.

Me: No wait, I'll try to remember. Where do you live now?

The text comes a little late in reply, but he replies with some city in Korea. Geography never really was your strong suit. You don't know who this is. You don't have any reason to continue the conversation. But you do.

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[4 MONTHS LATER]

Weeks and weeks of messaging back and forth. You tell him not to text you too much; it's taking a toll on your phone bill.  So he gives you his email instead. 

You check your inbox one day. A new reply already. You look at the number beside the email name. It says "(400)". 400 replies on one chain of emails. You're thankful that that wasn't on your phone bill instead.

The email is the usual. Asking you how you are, and how your day was, and then he tells you about his "work". Or rather, you don't know what his work is, but he tells you how tired he is after having been up all day. It's strange since he's the same age as you and you're just going into college. You're concerned, of course, it's been months since the very first text, the "reuniting" text--supposedly. You still have no memories of any of your childhood friends, let alone one named "Sehun".  He's already given up trying to make you remember anything from your past, but just says that you should meet him in reality.

In truth, you want to too.  Maybe you've felt lonely for too long. You know both Korean and Chinese, thanks to your parents and your decisions. But you've sttruggled to fit into the way of school life in China. You bet it's no better than in Korea, and you even ask him about it. He doesn't say much about it, just that his work requires him to spend a lot of time outside of school. 

Your finger hits the "reply" button.

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[8 MONTHS AFTER ORIGINAL TEXT]

Email after email, and countless texts too. You were almost tempted to keep them all.  But of course, the memory on your phone doesn't allow that (though your email was another story). 

One time, you try bringing it up with your best friend. But her immediate reaction is, "You don't know him in real life? Then why the hell do you talk to him? Don't you know that could be dangerous?!"

And you say I know, I know.

"Just stop talking to him. He's just some old creeper."

And you tell her that you will. But of course, you don't. Could he be? But then, how did he know your name from the very beginning? He seems so real.

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[1 YEAR LATER]

You were finally going to ask your parents. It'd be hard for them to hear it since you've been gone for more than two years now. But you had to. You wanted to. 

When did you start to love Sehun? A person you haven't met since you were in elementary school? You think back. Maybe it was when you had that really bad day.

That really bad day when you started crying. When you almost broke down. And Sehun had texted you, with the most perfect timing. It was like you two could communicate without talking. And the first thing he had asked was "Are you okay?" and "How are you?" And something made you tell him the total truth. The complete reason why you were feeling so down. Looking back, you can't even remember what the reason was. But he had taken sympathy. He had continued talking with you for hours into the night until you finally felt completely better. And the next time he talked to you, it wasn't awkward. He didn't treat you like you were mental, on the verge of breaking down. He treated you like an amazing best friend.

When was it? When did he start to be more of a best friend than your friends were to you?

You get your parents' permission. But now, you must wait.

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[2 YEARS LATER AT AN AIRPORT IN KOREA]

I'm here. You text him. He replies:

Why don't I send you a picture so you can recognize who I am?

A minute later, you get another text. It's a picture of a teenager, about the same age as you. It looks like a professional photographer took it. The person in the picture is extremely handsome. Just then, a friend calls you. You hear her voice, "You're really chasing after him, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am. And I'm here at the airport. Now I just have to find him." 

"What did you say his name was again?" 

"Sehun. He told me his name is Oh Sehun."

"OH SEHUN?"

"Yes, why?"

"You mean, the Oh Sehun? From EXO-K?"

"Wha--" But then you freeze. Someone is standing right in front of you. The man from the picture. He's tall. He's handsome. He's seemingly perfect. You hear him say "Annyeonghaseyo" with a slight lisp. 

There he is. Oh Sehun. You hang up the phone even though you hear your friend calling your name and saying "Are you still there? Hello?!" 

"It's nice to finally see you again.  It's been too long." He says with the most wonderful smile. You're still frozen in shock. He puts his arms around you slowly, and hugs you tight. You then close your eyes, and put your arms around him too. Then he whispers the exact words you've wanted to hear him say since you fell in love with him:

"I hope you never leave my side again."