= Years Later =

"Ayy, Myungsoo! You're late! What took you so long this time?" Howon, Myungsoo's best friend, jumped up from his seat to give his buddy a welcoming hug.

"Business matters. Company stuff. What else is new?" Myungsoo took off his jacket and seated himself next to Howon. He then turned to the bartender who was polishing some glass cups before hanging them from the shelf overhead. "Give me what Howon got."

Howon perked up. "You sure?" the bartender questioned, surprised. "Howon drinks pretty—"

"I know. I'm feeling a little stressed after tonight. Let me let it out, okay?"

The bartender nodded in understanding, and came back with Myungsoo's drink.

"Don't blame me when you wake up with a major hangover in the morning." Howon smirked.

"Whatever, man. I can sleep in tomorrow anyway." Myungsoo took a sip of his drink.

"Sleep in? What construction company CEO sleeps in on a Monday?"

Myungsoo grabbed a napkin and elegantly wiped his lips after finishing his drink. "This one does. He also wants another drink."

❦

Myungsoo woke up the next day with a major headache, no surprise, as Howon predicted. He honestly didn't know what he was thinking the night before. There was no way he could sleep in on a Monday, ever. Not even if he wanted to.

Someone barged in through the door to Myungsoo's suite as Myungsoo sat up in bed. Myungsoo expected him. His secretary.

"Good morning, sir," Woohyun gleefully chanted, ready to start the day as written in Myungsoo's agenda.

"Hi, Woohyun," Myungsoo replied groggily. "I'm out of it today. Can I just sleep?"

Woohyun frowned at the response his boss gave. "No can do, sir. Your mother got upset this morning after she found out you came home drunk last night. Not only that, you also walked out on your blind date last night."

Myungsoo shrugged. "I'm not interested."

"But you're never interested! You're passing up so many good potential wives! Do you have any idea how envious I am of you?" Woohyun pulled on his hair in agony.

"Take them, then. I don't want them. I'm not interested." Myungsoo ran his hand through his hair and stretched his arms and legs when he came to realize he was still wearing his clothes from the night before. "Who brought me home last night?"

"Howon and a young lady did."

"A young lady?" Myungsoo didn't expect the latter part to be included in his secretary's response.

"Yes, a young lady. Well, she looked young, supposedly. One of the housekeepers said something about a dragonfly necklace, but I'm not sure," Woohyun explained. "Be ready to leave in one hour. Sir." Woohyun left Myungsoo's room and closed the door after him.

❦

After Myungsoo showered, he sat down at his desk and unlocked one of the desk drawers. He took out a wooden box and wiped the dust off the surface. Inside was a folded handwritten note, along with a dragonfly hairpin. Myungsoo had only read this note once over the last few years, when he opened it after returning to Korea years ago.

He unfolded the note for the first time in years. "Dear Myungsoo," he began to read. "How are you? When you read this, you should probably be back home by now... hopefully that's the case.

"Today was such an important day for me, because I did the best I could to make you happy. From the way you dress and the way you act, you seem like someone from a good background. Sheltered, naïve, and sometimes immature, but a good family nonetheless.

"I'm pretty sure that  you have everything you want in the world. And if you don't, I'm sure you have the means to get it. Even so, you seem so lonely to me. But it doesn't have to be way. It didn't seem that way today, right?"

Myungsoo stopped. "No. No it didn't." He continued reading.

"I really tried my best to make today as fun as possible for you. I want you to enjoy yourself. You're young, right? Take advantage of it. Don't be such a downer. I wish for all your days in the future to be better days than the ones you've already lived for the last eighteen years or so.

"I'm leaving a gift with this note. Two, actually. First, this is Myung-myung. Take care of him. He needs your love.  Shower him with oodles of it. Second, I'm leaving you this dragonfly pin. Take care of it. Treasure it. It's precious to me, so keep that in mind. Maybe it'll help you find me again if we were to ever meet again. Who knows?

"Finally, I wish you the best when you return to Korea. I genuinely wanted to show you a better day here in the Banks, here in the sands. Take care."

Myungsoo folded the note back up and reached into the drawer again, pulling out a lilac-coloured bunny plush. He straightened its ears and fixed the red bow around its neck. "Myung-myung, do you think I'll meet her again?"

Myung-myung stayed put in Myungsoo's hand, still, lifeless, and gave no response for Myungsoo.

"Damn it. I still never got her name," Myungsoo sighed.

❦

Myungsoo sat in the passenger's seat as Woohyun drove.

"Where are we going?" Myungsoo asked Woohyun. "My schedule for today was empty when I checked it yesterday. My mom isn't that cruel to add something to it last-minute."

Woohyun whistled a little and sang along to the song playing on the radio.

"Woohyun."

"Yes?"

"Are you up to something?"

"Uhh. No, of course not." Woohyun turned his head away yet kept his eyes on the road, trying to avoid eye contact with Myungsoo. Not long after, Woohyun pulled the car over. 

"Why are we at the river?" Myungsoo looked out the window and looked around a bit when something caught his eye. He quickly unfastened his seatbelt and leapt out of the car, running towards the familiar figure sitting on the riverbank.

❦

You sat on the riverbank, wearing a mid-length skirt, instead of your usual pants. You were slightly nervous to see him again. You wondered if he'd even gotten the message. It had been many years since you last saw him. You wondered if he even remembered you.

If he showed up today, he was going to find out the truth after all these years. 

You had recently visited home, not your own place, but your parents' home, the one Myungsoo stayed at for a few days. You wandered into in the guestroom, and found your rabbit plush sitting on the bed. Next to it was a slightly larger, white rabbit doll, identical to the lilac-coloured one you had bought when you visited the shop with Myungsoo and Yeol.

Out of curiosity, you grabbed Myungsoo's rabbit, and ped the back, digging through the cotton to find it. After a few minutes of weaving your fingers through the cotton, you finally pulled out a small paper heart.

I fell for you when
I met you in the sand.

❦

"Is it really you?" You turned your head and gasped at the familiar voice. You stood up, trembling a bit as he walked closer.

"It is."

Myungsoo stopped walking when he was less than a meter away from you. He looked you up and down, and couldn't believe his eyes. When his eyes found your lower body, his eyes immediately made contact with yours. "Y-y-your... your legs. What happened to them? When did—"

"I've always had them."

"Always? What are you talking ab—"

"My legs. They were already gone when you met me. They were gone before you met me. They didn't come back after you left." You sighed. "I didn't think you'd accept me, so I tried my best to keep my distance from you while keeping you company."

"Wait.. what?"

"Didn't you wonder why I didn't get as tired as you did when we climbed the dunes? Why I always wore pants? You weren't crazy. I guess I'm not either." You sighed again.

"Why would I treat you any differently because of your body? So what if you have prosthetics—that's beside the point. Why are you here?"

Your hand dug into your purse to find it. You pulled it out, and read it aloud. "I fell for you when I met you in the sand. I flew here shortly after finding this in my mom's house. I was going to find you, I guess, but I didn't expect to find you this soon. Really now, getting drunk the night I just happened to be at the same bar? Unbelievable."

"So it was you last night!" Myungsoo exclaimed.

You nodded. "Who else? I told you to remember the dragonfly pin, did I not? I asked your friend to let me meet with you, even if it's just once." You sat down on the ground again and motioned for Myungsoo to sit down next to you. "Your suit's not going to get dirty, you know."

Myungsoo sat down next to you. You two watched the river flow and the kids playing near it on the other side.

You turned towards him and were about to say something to him when he suddenly wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into an embrace.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" he cried.

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"But still—" Myungsoo didn't finish his likely-lame excuse, because you had locked your lips with his. You pulled away after a moment.

"I'm guessing you never read the message inside Myung-myung."

"Uh... about that.."

"Forget it. What have you been doing with your life!"

❦

I fell for some boy
I met in the sand.

posted 15072011

The ending seems so rushed, sorry. ): After the contest is over, I might rewrite the ending to how I originally planned it... time constraint. ^^; Hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading! :3