It was yet another chilled, frigid winter afternoon. A typical afternoon perfect for a nice cup of tea to warm up the body while being wrapped under layers and layers of blanket just to preserve the heat and keep it from escaping.

They started as strangers.

“Americano please.”

Sitting in the corner of the shop was a guy. Thick, coal black hair left long which reached just slightly past his dull ashy, brown eyes with his lips only in a straight line, motionless and never smiling.

“Anything else, sir?” 

He only shook his head in answer to the question before the woman returned back to the front counter to give the said order to the waitress at the till.

A few minutes later, his order was brought to him carefully placed on a tray as a brunette places it on his table, in front of him. Smile etched on her face with eyes arched merrily, she only bows slightly before noticing the aura radiating from the man in front of her.

With not a hint of hesitation, she took a seat opposite from him.

“Why do you seem so down, wallflower?”

Only looking up to take a supposed glimpse to the girl who spoke to him, he was left in wonderstruck from the view before him. Never having to set eyes to such a beauty like her, his heart started beating twice as fast against his ribcage making it unbearably hard for him to even look away.

Big, chocolate brown eyes which sparkled with glee which could outshine even the stars late at night, a long straight nose and perfectly thin plump lips curved in a grin, she was the definition of perfection. Cool, pale olive skin along with a slim and petite figure, dark and silky hazel brown hair tied up in a ponytail, he couldn’t help but only gape at her delicate and elegance poise.

“Am I talking to a wall now?” She only laughs lightly, her laughter music to his ears before she went on ahead introducing herself. “I’m Yuri, Kwon Yuri.”

It was his first time hearing such name and in all honesty, he likes it. Her voice and laughter brings warm to his whole body as if awakening a part of him. A part of him which he has kept locked all these years to keep from being hurt any further.

“M-Minho,” He stammered slightly unknown to why exactly he was introducing his self to the said stranger in front of him, knowing they’ll never meet again but something suddenly snapped inside of him upon the realisation that she was no stranger anymore, her name was Yuri, Kwon Yuri.

“Choi Minho.”

She was prominent and amicable,

Surrounded by people or better yet, her very own clique despite being Miss Popular and the so-called ‘It Girl’ of the town, Kwon Yuri was never what the others claims her to be, instead completely different than what people expected her to be like.

She never, not even once considered herself much of a beauty compared to the others and for her body, well, she works darn hard to get where she was right now. She was nowhere near perfect and in all honesty, she was consisted with only an endless list of flaws which others may not even realise or see.

She lives a normal, average life. A part time employee in an old coffee shop well-known in the small town she lives in, and a full time writer who is yet to unravel the novel which will become her biggest hit and help her to become famous just like the other authors she adores, like Nicholas Spark or John Green, even. She adores the way they write books, a story which teaches some sort of lesson in life that you can relate or follow onto, feel the emotions and just involve yourself in the book, bringing the story to life.

Just like some others, she’s a big daydreamer. She dreams big and crosses the barriers,  not caring if it’s totally  ludicrous, and just like all other girls, she only wants and strive for one thing. The perfect guy to have her happy ever after with and survive the hardships and obstacles that fate throws at them.

He was insensitive and suicidal,

Living a life which he never wanted, Choi Minho has always yearned for a normal life, a normal life which he can enjoy to the maximum level with no extent of having to worry about anything.

Growing up with parents who sadly passed away when he was young, he has always blamed his self for their deaths. If not for him, they wouldn’t be dead by now. If not for his own selfishness of wanting to get a toy he asked them to buy for him, they wouldn’t have gotten themselves involved in a car accident.

Being passed from family relatives to more relatives who never acknowledged him despite the fact that both his parent’s families were opposed to their relationship, hence why his parents they decided to run away together and from their love the outcome was him, the sole reason for their deaths.

He decided to go independent once he reached the legal age of being able to live by himself. He got a part time job and rented a small apartment and he couldn’t have been happier that he been able to do such a thing, however, when there’s happiness; sadness soon comes to follow it. He was happy for achieving his goals, but there was still the loneliness which filled him nonetheless.

He lives life, waking up every morning with no reason for his existence just like a lost soul with nothing worthy living for, but he still does anyway. With every seconds ticking hoping to just end the day, he continues living not because he wanted to but instead to find a reason to do so.

And somehow, they were able to work it out.

“Do you know that they say, all the best people in the world are the mad ones?” She asked, slowly stirring her mug of hot chocolate with a tea spoon while looking at him with eyes twinkling with anticipation to how he’ll react. A custard coloured knitted wool scarf was wrapped around her neck due to the cold and breezy weather outside, thanks to the late winter.

She wasn’t wearing her work clothes but instead a plain, faded blue jeans and white tank top under her thick layer of coat. Her brunette locks were up in a messy and scruffy bun with locks and strands of it falling on her face to frame it. He tried not to stare at her too much but he simply just couldn’t help it, there was this urge for him to do so which he couldn’t ignore, so instead, he only shrugs as if he was actually paying attention to what she was on about rather than complimenting her repeatedly in his head.

“Well, I’ve been reading this book called Alice in the Wonderland.  It just has so many lessons to be learnt from it,” She smiled genuinely and he swore his heart seem to have skipped a beat. Taking a sip from her cup of warm beverage, she went ahead and continued. “I just bought the DVD as well; maybe we can watch it some time, together?”

He blinks and she seems to have suddenly taken it into some kind of a conclusion and assumptions, becoming alerted all of the sudden and in a panic, trying to explain further for what her intention was.

“T-that is, if you are free of course, l-like as a friends watching together? Y-you can keep me company.”

He couldn’t help but only chuckle at her cuteness which brought her to a halt from all her stammering, only staring at him with her dark, brown eyes filled with nothing but curiosity and confusion to why the man before her was grinning all of the sudden when she had done nothing wrong, or nothing special at the very least.

“Sure.”

From that one word, he had never seen the corner of her lips curve upwards so much, almost as if reaching her ears which only made him feel a weird sensation in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t really explain except that it was something new, and hopefully, something good too.

But happy endings just weren’t for them,

It was one breezy evening, frigid almost with the sun about to set down and clouds painted in soft pastels colours blending together even with the set of colours contrasting with one another.

“What about ice cream?” She questioned, walking ahead of him happily but always turning back around to take glances over at him.

 He found it cute, adorable almost. Her actions, the way she talks, the way the corner of her lips curve upwards to form that pretty grin, the way her eyes seem to twinkle when they see each other and meet up. All of it was making him assume that she likes him but he never thought it was possible. No, it was just something ludicrous, impossible at the very most.

“Ice cream? Isn’t it too cold for one?” He asked in an almost hushed deep tone of his, snuggling closer into his scarf to try and keep as much warmth from escaping while watching the petite figure before him. She only halted to a stop before turning around and skipping towards him, linking her arms with his without any adieu while a small, playful grin was currently plastered across her angelic face.

“Minho,” She said his name extending the last syllables as if in a cute, whine and nagging voice of her while nudging him lightly, eyes set upon him. “It’s just an ice cream, please? If you want, we can just share one.”

He didn’t dare to look and take a glance at her because he knows he’ll just end up giving in to her request in the end especially once he sees her cute, plump lips pursed together in a small pout which she always do when it comes to trying to convince him.

After a few minutes of not being able to hold his self back, he only let out a sigh before nodding his head slightly giving up while she lets out a small squeak of happiness, hugging his arm tightly with both her arms. He has already gotten used to the physical contact with her due to the fact that Yuri always do it without even seeming to notice and well, he actually grow to like it because from those contacts made him feel of something, something warm and nice. It was something he has longed from all this time and he found it. He found her.

“What was it again that you wanted to tell me about?”

He looks over to her as he puts his arm over her shoulders seeing how she shivers slightly from the weather, pulling her closer to him to somehow warm her up in any way he can. She didn’t seem to mind instead, she seemed to like the close proximity. He didn’t miss to see how she smiled and it made him feel good about himself.

 “It’s nothing that important, I’ll tell you about it later.”

She spoke with a hint of solemn trailing in her voice and he caught it even though she didn’t seem to notice it herself. Looking down on the concrete ground, the chirpy mood she seems to have had earlier on already disappeared from an unknown reason.

It got him worried and curious at the same time, triggering the ‘what if’s’ game inside his head to the possibilities of what she was planning to tell him. Was it something good, something bad? It was killing him in the inside and he couldn’t bear to wait any longer so he insisted.

“If it’s nothing that important, why don’t you tell me about it now?”

Shaking her head, he only continued to insist her with his heart thumping against his ribcage like crazy before she halted into a stop causing for him to do so as well.

She went to take something out from her coat’s pocket before holding it out to him bowing her head slightly as if not wanting to look at him or want to see his reaction as he takes the envelope, opening it and reading the content, almost dropping it immediately upon seeing what it was.

“I’m getting married.”

They just had to meet in the right place and in the right time.

She sat on her very own chateau armchair while being made up, only looking at the mirror in front of her for her very own reflection. One was doing her hair while another was re-touching her make-up and working on their magic onto making her beautiful.

It was one busy day because today was the day when she was getting married to a man who she doesn’t even know of and only met once or twice. It wasn’t her choice, oh no it wasn’t. It was purely her parents’ choice and as their daughter, she must obey what they want because after all, they were the one who brought her into this world and this was the only way to re-pay them at least.

Looking at her very own reflection in front of her, she couldn’t even recognise herself anymore. Kwon Yuri, the biggest talk of the town ever since it was announced that she and the hottest bachelor were getting married. She despised it, not because it’s even out as the headlines of some magazines but because who she was going to be wedded to be was someone she doesn’t even love but that wasn’t what her parents were thinking but instead, the money.

She insisted and insisted to her parents at first that she doesn’t want to marry that man that it came to the point that they threatened to even throw her out of the family, so in the end, she was forced to agree upon it and that’s how it got her to the situation she was currently in now.

A faint knock echo through the room she was currently occupying before the door slowly swung open and a maiden came in, walking towards her before handing her a plain white envelope. It wasn’t addressed to anyone so she only looks at the maiden confusion written all over her face, tilting her head slightly to the side.

“A man dropped by asking to pass this letter to you, he didn’t say anything other than that.”

Only one name came across her mind all of the sudden from the words of the woman beside her: Choi Minho.

With slightly quivering hands, she opens the envelop to take the letter, un-folding it with every seconds passing seeming to kill her slowly in the inside from the beating on her chest doubling its normal pace, tripling even.

 Reading the content word by word, she couldn’t help but shoot up from her seat causing the women around her who were doing her dress and makeup to stop in surprise and look at her.

 “It’s over, tell my parents there won’t be any wedding taking place today.”

And with those words spoken, she runs. Runs out of the room and from the venue letting no one try and prevent her from doing so while holding her dress up to stop from tripping and slowing her down.

It was pouring. Pouring hard as if the angels themselves were crying above showing how she felt while holding the slightly crumbled paper on her hand, tears spilling from her eyes. It wasn’t obvious though, not when she was soaking wet running under the cold, endless droplets of water on the almost empty street attempting to catch her future. Everything was just going so fast around her; she couldn’t make out a thing inside except that she needs to get to the cafe shop and fast.

Too preoccupied with only the thought of getting to the said place, she didn’t notice the vehicle speeding up until it hit her leaving her lying on the hard, concrete ground senseless but still holding onto the paper dirtied by droplets of blood and soaked by the rain as the fragile, unconscious figure was pooled by blood.

To the dearest Kwon Yuri,

Congratulations you’re getting married and I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend such a special day. I’m wishing you and your soon-to-be husband all the best for today and the future ahead of you.

Thank you for all these times when you kept me company and hung out with this guy who is best described as the most boring person in the world.

I’m thankful for having met you in the cafe and regret nothing. I remember it as if it was just yesterday when you came to bring me my order of Americano and even sat just opposite from me with all smile on the face and calling me a ‘wallflower’. It’s funny because you’re actually the very first person to approach me and ask me what’s wrong when no one ever does.

You hung around with me even if I was such a typical guy and didn’t just left me despite the fact that I don’t talk a lot nor make much conversation just like the others, and I like it being completely honest here.

Every day, I wake up wondering and always asking myself ‘What is life?’, dragging my feet to continue on living and surviving without any meaning to why I should still continue on, when I have nothing and no one…that is until I met you.

You’re the light which gave me a reason to live, the energy which helped me to carry on waking up every morning to anticipate the day ahead. You’re the one who showed me meaning to this simple boring life of mine and I thank you for that.

During the time you’ll be saying ‘I do’ would probably the time when I leave this place already. I decided to move out of this small town, surprise? Well, don’t be. I want to start fresh and new and considering that if I stay here further, I might not be able to move on knowing the fact that you’re wedded to another man other than myself and you have a life with him.

So here’s a goodbye.

Before I board my ride, I’ll be dropping off at the cafe first though, I’m hoping to see you there for the last time but I know that’s something completely ridiculous because you’ll probably be walking down the aisle, so it’s all right. I’ll wait though, for you. With all hopes that you’ll come there and together we could run away from this place and start a life?

I sometimes think that you might like me or you may have feelings for me but it’s something impossible and can never be true because you’re like the light and I’m the darkness, you’re up above in a place unreachable whereas I’m down in the bottom, but even if I’m down the bottom, I still have the rights to like someone like you, right? Because I do. I like you Kwon Yuri, more than you can ever imagine because when I’m with you, I feel so complete like I’m at the top of the world, crazy, right? But then again, like you said before, the best people in the world are the mad ones and I think I may be one of the mad ones in this world we live in. Mad for you.

Anyway, I guess this is farewell? Thank you for introducing me to a completely new feeling called ‘Love’. I was never able to grasp what it truly was until now and I thank you for that.

I love you and goodbye.

May you have a great wedding and I wish you the very best.

-Choi Minho.

I was never able to say I love you back.