You walk to your old high school. You had been here when the school year started to drop off your younger sister, but other than that, you haven't been here in a while.

You fidget with your outfit. Today wasn't a date. It was just a get-together. A reunion. An informal meet-up.

And yet, you still wore a light blue billowy, long-sleeved blouse with black skinny jeans and white tennis shoes. You're anxious to see JongDae. Had he gotten taller? Well, in general, he wasn't that tall anyways.

You are listening to the Chinese version of "Baby Don't Cry" with your orange earbuds. You can depict JongDae's voice out easily. There was another strong voice too, but you hadn't had time to look it up.

You were upset to find that the version that JongDae sang in was in Chinese, but glad that you had taken up a class on basic Chinese in middle school.

You go and wait by the school door, standing by the sign. He'll definitely see you here.

You worry about him seeing you. What if you had dressed up too much? What if he saw you differently compared to back in 2011?

You check your phone for the time. It's 2:03. You see a few people around, but not JongDae in particular. He would have to get here soon if they didn't want to get caught by the high schoolers. That girl from last night seemed pretty possesive of 'Chen'. Other girls could be similar, or worse.

Your lips break into a smile at the thought of you having to run with JongDae from fangirls. It's too ridiculous.

A man walks past you, but then backtracks awkwardly in front of you. "Why are you smiling? Is it at me?" he asks.

You look at the man. He's not very tall and he's wearing a scarf over his face so you can only see his sparkling eyes.

He seems cute, but is it JongDae...You clear your throat and bow your head slightly. You reply, "Aniyo, I was just thinking of something. Chwesunghamnida."

The man's eyes crinkle and you can tell he's smiling. "Gwenchanayo. You're very pretty. Are you waiting for someone?"

You're a little confused at this stranger randomly complimenting you, but oh well.

"Ne, I'm waiting for a friend."

"Boyfriend?" he asks as he takes a step closer to you with his arms crossed. His neck is inclined towards you and he's about your height. Should you get rid of this weirdo?

The words tumble out. "Ne. My boyfriend should be here soon."

The man looks past you, eyes still crinkled. You turn your head and see another man standing near you. He's in a jacket and jeans with a scarf over his mouth.

What is it with scarves? Then the second man says, "Annyeong ___."

You recognize the voice immeidately. "JongDae!" you say surprisedly.

The second man isn't leaving, is he okay? "How have you been ___?" JongDae asks.

You turn awkwardly to the unknown man, who is still listening in on your conversation. It's an awkward group of three for you.

"Do you know him?" you ask JongDae.

JongDae lowers his scarf so his face is fully seen and he says, "I think you scared her Baekhyun."

Baekhyun?

The other man, apparently Baekhyun, shrugs. "Mian. Wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. So I take it you two aren't dating?"

"Aish! Jincha!!" you say to JongDae. "Is this a joke on me?"

JongDae smiles as you gently slap his shoulder. "Daebak," you say to him.

You look at Baekhyun and say, "Did this guy," you point to JongDae, "put you up to talking with me?"

Baekhyun nods and you say, "Alright. I get it now. He likes to make jokes a lot because he thinks he's funny. Let me formally introduce myself."

You bow while saying, "Annyeonghasaeyo, ____-imnida."

Baekhyun smiles and bows as well, "Annyeonghasaeyo, Byun Baekhyun-imnida."

Then JongDae bows and says, "Annyeonghasaeyo Kim JongDae-imnida."

You and Baekhyun turn to him and smile. You shake your head at him. JongDae looks up at you and smiles. "Ready to go?"

"Eodi?" you ask.

"I've got some ideas. You can go now, Baekhyun."

"Arasseo. Have fun! Nice to finally meet you, ___-ah. You're cooler than I thought you'd be!"

"Umm, kamsahamnida. Take care." you say

Then Baekhyun runs off into a black van down the road. JongDae takes the lead on walking towards the city and you walk beside him. "He must be pretty funny if he wants to pull pranks with you, JongDae," you say.

JongDae laughs. "Yeah, Baekhyun's pretty silly. He's our age you know."

"Oh, he's a friend then."

"Yeah, when you're the same age with someone in a group, you feel closer to them."

You observe JongDae. He seems more mature now. You notice that he's a lot thinner and his jawline is more prominent. Your heart gives the slightest tremor, but you ask, "How's the idol life, Chen?"

"Hajima, don't call me that," he says with a sincere smile. "I'm not used to having you call me that. Can't you just call me JongDae? We seem more real if you call me like you used to."

You smile. JongDae hadn't changed. He had always been a simple guy and you're glad that the glamorous K-Pop world hadn't changed that.

"Arasseo. I like JongDae better too. So can you tell me?"

"Only if you tell me about your life afterwards."

"Arasseo," you say.

JongDae leans forward, "Yaksok?". He hold out a pinky finger.

You look into his kind eyes and entertwine your pinky with his. "Yaksok," you repeat.

You two walk away from the school grounds and into the city. Jongdae then tells you about his trainee days and how he was one of the last members to join the new group at SM. You ask about the other trainees and he tells you about future boy groups and girl groups that were created earlier this year.

He explains how his group, EXO, has twelve members and how they sing Mandarin and Korean songs. He explains his busy schedules and you ask why he has today off.

"Last week was our last promotion for our song so we are all on break today. Well, for a few hours at least"

"I see. I feel pretty special since you chose to spend the day with me," you smile teasingly.

JongDae nods and agrees, "Yeah, you are."

You don't understand what that means, but you smile anyways and keep walking. You missed having JongDae in your life.

JongDae wipes his mouth and says, "And to prove how special you are, shall I list some facts about my long-time best friend ___?"

"Go for it," you challenge.

"You don't like to eat a lot of foreign foods because you prefer Korean food over everything, except for kimchi because you're weird like that," he smiles at you and you bite your lips, "Your birthday is March 24th and you are the year after me but in the same grade. You live in an apartment complex with your eomma, appa, and sister. Your favorite color is emerald green and your favorite season is winter.

"You liked a boy in tenth grade and asked me for advice since when we were in eighth grade, I asked you for dating advice. In October of seventh grade, your parakeet died and we had a funeral for it. Just the two of us."

When he's done, you look at him in wonder. After all these years, he still remembers you "You remembered so much about me, JongDae..." when you say his name, it sounds different. It's as if he's proven that he is the same old him, but...somehow with more meaning.

"You try, I bet you can't do what I did."

"Challenge!" you retort back.

"Hana, dul-"

"Wae! Why are you counting?"

"Hana, dul, set!"

"Aish! Your name is Kim JongDae, your birthday is September 21. Your favorite color is blue, you don't like spicy food, you have two pet dogs, you love your mom, and you live in a house three blocks away from mine."

"I think I won," JongDae says.

"It wasn't even a contest!" you protest.

"Winner buys fish cakes," he says with a smirk.

"You won then," you say immediately as you raise your hands up in mercy.

JongDae laughs as he doubles over. It sounds like music to your ears. You laugh with him too and then the two of you walk to the fresh snack stand side by side.