5 years ago…

“Riiiinnnnngggggg!!!!!!”

The school bell rang and all the students came running out of school, eager to play or eat lunch at home. Well, that's just how most primary school children were. However, one girl was different from the rest. 

Not taking care of her friends, she rode her bicycle as fast as she could to her house. Her reason was not lunch or games, though. Once she reached her house, she went straight to the telephone and pressed the sequence of numbers that was far too familiar to her. The seconds of waiting for the person on the other side to pick up was like hours to her.

“Hello” a woman voice answered the call.

“Hello. May I speak to Chanyeol, please?” she asked in the most polite way that she could, knowing that it was his mother.

“Oh, of course. I’ll tell him. Please wait for a while. This is Yejin, right?”

“Yes, it’s me” Yejin answered while smiling even though she knew Chanyeol’s mother wouldn’t be able to see that.

Not long after that…

“Hey, Yejin!” Chanyeol’s voice can be heard on the phone and Yejin can picture him smiling ear to ear now being the happy virus that he was.

“Hey! Happy birthday to you! I wish you all the best and I wish we can meet again soon.” Yejin started off excitedly but ended her short speech trailing off.

Chanyeol was so happy that Yejin, her old friend called on his birthday. No one else called him that day. Besides, it’s been awhile since they last met, it was when his family was moving out few months ago. He missed her too, but his pride prevented him from telling her that. All that he said was “Thank you for the wish. I can assure you that we’re going to meet easily in a while. My mom promised that our family will move back when I’m attending junior high. We can meet easily in school then.” He just wanted to give some hope to that friend of his.

2 years later...

"Hi" that was all they could say to each other after 2 years of not seeing each other. No other words were exchanged. No more phone calls to each other. The two-lettered word said at that time was the first and the last word that they said to each other even months after that. That was certainly not something that Yejin expected. 

Chanyeol's birthday came again. The time did not wait for them to patch things up between them. All Yejin could do was posting the birthday wish on Chanyeol's Facebook wall,  just like everyone else. 

"Happy birthday, yeol :) Wish you all the best." that's how she typed it. 

"Thank you for the wish :)" that's how Chanyeol commented on Yejin's post. That's exactly how he commented on all other posts on his wall. 

Yejin felt like they were no longer friends. It hurt her that the friendship that they built for years just end like this, without any justification. Moreover, she never had the chance to tell Chanyeol one truth. He was her first love.

This year...

"Ah, that time of year has come again" Yejin thought as she saw her desk calendar. 

There's no point calling Chanyeol on his birthday, he's practically a stranger now. There's no point posting the wish on his Facebook page, he has been inactive on Facebook for quite a while. 

Yejin took out a piece of paper and start writing. 

Hi Chanyeol :) 

It's been a while since the last time we talked. I missed those times, you know. Talking in class and getting punished by the teacher when we were still in primary school. Talking on phone for hours while watching our favourite show on TV when you were still away. I wish we could talk again like that in the future. 

Anyways, I just want to say this to you. You know? We might be best friends one year, pretty good friends the next year, don't talk that often the next year, and don't want to talk at all the year after that. So, I just want to say, even if I never talk to you again in my life, you are still my friend and you make a difference in my life. I look up to you and respect you. 

So yeah, that's pretty much what I want to tell you.

Oh! This is the most important part.

Happy birthday, my first love :)

-Yejin

After that, she put the letter in a box and went to the park near her primary school. She buried the box under the tree where Chanyeol and her first talk to each other, the tree where the whole story really started. With the buried letter, she buried her feelings for Chanyeol as well, ending the story between them. 

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Yay, I finally finished the story :) 

Please comment and feel free to correct me or tell me your opinions so that I can improve on the story.

Thank you :)