Mira gazed up at the sky above her with tears glimmering in her eyes. She had never known that Joowon had suffered so much. She didn’t know that he felt that way. Tears then flowed down her cheeks, she couldn’t help it. She felt so guilty right now and she regretted how she had always thought of Joowon as someone selfish the past few years. She regretted hating him.

“I’m sorry.” She kept on repeating these same words over and over again, but the guilt still wouldn't go away. 

She felt terrible. She wanted to call him and tell him how sorry she was and how she wanted to comfort him, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Maybe, it was the guilt. She was also embarrassed at the fact that she hadn’t realised all the things that Joowon had to face when she was younger. She hadn’t noticed how her parents had paid more attention to her. She hadn’t realised that Joowon was forgotten. Even if she apologised to him, she knew he would still think the same of her and she hated that. She knew that their sibling relationship would never improve so she couldn’t help, but only cry. She hadn't cried in years so it wasn't surprising how she didn't even know how to stop her tears from falling.

Get yourself together Kang Mira! She mentally slapped herself, trying to pull herself together. 

Taking a deep breath, she decided to leave the park. It was getting dark and the only thing she wanted to do was to get home and simply cry herself to sleep. She was about to walk out the park gates when she bumped into someone on the way. She hadn’t even realised that she had bowed at the person in apology, however her eyes widened when she saw the person’s face.

The scarlet blood that splattered his skin had stained his torn clothes and his eyes were wild and alert, but despite his disheveled appearance, he still managed to look handsome. However, Mira could tell that he didn’t look fine at all.

“Are you ok?” She asked with panic written all over her face. She was worried and anxious about how to help him. “W-what happened?” Her voice cracked in the end.

Jongin lightly chuckled. “I’m okay,” he replied, trying to stand up straight but miserably failed, landing into Mira’s arms.

“I don’t think so, we need to go to a hospital,” Mira reasoned while she gently placed one of his arm around her neck and held onto his other hand, trying to get him to stand up straight.

Jongin couldn’t help, but smile even though he was in pain. It was her that was helping him now. “Honestly it’s not a big deal, just get me some bandages and pills,” he stated. “My wallet is in my right pocket, can you go buy-“

Within minutes, Jongin was seated on a bench and Mira disappeared off to somewhere. 

Did she just ditch me? He decided to follow his gut instinct this time and waited, hoping that Mira would come back soon and to his relief he was right. She was running toward him while carrying things in her hands.

She quickly handed him a water bottle and some pills to reduce the pain he was feeling. 

Jongin politely thanked her and quickly swallowed down the pills and he did feel a bit better afterward. 

“Alright. Just hold still now,” Jongin heard Mira mumble as she opened up the first aid kit. “This might sting a bit,” she warned beforehand. Jongin watched as Mira gently and carefully cleaned the cut on his left hand, trying not to hurt him even further. It was touching how she blew air toward his cut as she wanted him not to feel more pain. She then immediately applied a gauze pad to the cut. “I’m going to wrap the bandage tight enough to apply pressure to your wound. Tell me if it feels too tight so I can check the blood circulation and loosen it up a bit,” she explained.

“Don’t tell me you want to be a doctor in the future,” he joked, but Mira simply stared back at him.

“I’m going to enroll into a medical school after I graduate,” she titled her head, almost sounding unsure at her own statement by the look she was getting from Jongin. 

Jongin was speechless. He was once again talking to someone who knew what they wanted in the future. It seemed as if it was only Jongin that had no idea what he wanted to truly be. “I see.” He murmured, feeling disappointed at himself. 

“Did you get into another fight?” Mira asked, changing the topic. 

Jongin waved his hands, trying to wave the question away when suddenly his stomach grumbled. Aish, this happens at the worst time. His cheeks instantly warmed up and he prayed that it wouldn’t reach the surface. He embarrassingly ducked his head, letting out a couple of curses.

Mira had tried really hard to hold her laughter in, but she couldn’t anymore. She found the situation absolutely hilarious. She let out a chuckle; kind of like a snort and then quickly bit her lips to stop herself. It was surprising how she felt earlier, but right now she was happy. She looked at Jongin who looked shocked as ever.

Did she just laugh? Jongin couldn’t help, but stare at her in daze. Not ever did he imagine that Kang Mira would laugh in front of him.

Mira furrowed her eyebrows and waved her arms, trying to get his attention. “I’ll buy you dinner since I owe you.” She simply stated and walked out the park.

She remembered. A smile started appearing on his face, he felt like he was the happiest boy in the world.

Without wasting any more time, he rushed after her.

---

“You sure eat a lot for a girl,” Jongin stated, earning him a glare from Mira while she busily slurped down her udon noodles. “You were supposed to buy me dinner, but you’re eating everything,” he added with a smirk.

“Just shut up and eat,” she hissed and took a bite of the fried chicken. 

Jongin propped up his chin with his hand while his elbow supported his whole hand and simply watched her eat. He liked her company for some reason, there was just something about her that intrigued him. He was interested in her, he wanted to know more about her.

Mira nearly choked on her noddle when she saw Jongin staring at her. His eyes were sensuous and radiant like pure diamond which captured every nerve in Mira’s mind. She quickly patted her chest and drank her glass of water. “Are you going to eat or what?” She asked while wrinkling her nose which Jongin found adorably cute.

“Watching you makes me full,” he replied with a smile. Mira didn’t know why, but she couldn’t look away from him. “Thank you for earlier,” he stated while he pointed to his left hand which was nicely bandaged. Mira suddenly felt her cheeks warming up so she quickly drank water again. “And I’m sorry,” he added all of a sudden, ruining the mood. She titled her head, confused. “I’m sorry for what happened at school, I didn’t mean-“

“Just eat, or else I’m going shove some food down your throat.” She wanted to sound threatening, but failed as Jongin chuckled. She didn’t want to talk about it. Right now, she wanted to enjoy the moment and forget about everything else.

Maybe, Jongin wasn’t that bad at all. She suddenly didn’t mind his company.

Is something wrong with me? 

Why was she suddenly growing fond of him? 

They were barely strangers, but here they were having dinner together as if they were close friends.

She was also surprised at how she had helped him back in the park. She had ran so quickly to the pharmacist to get the things for Jongin. 

Why did she even do that? 

Was she really worried for him?

“Thanks.” He said once again and then finally started eating his meal which brought a smile on Mira’s face. 

For now, she wanted to continue spending time with him.

---

It was Sunday which meant Jongin had to attend another one of his dad's business meeting. 

Wasn’t the weekend supposed to be a break? 

A break away from school and work? 

Everyone... well most people would be spending their time with their loved ones and simply forget about work and school. 

However, it was different for Jongin. He couldn’t get any breaks, he didn’t even have time for any of that. Jongin hated all the meetings he had to attend as he would always have to follow along with his dad just like a lost little kid and act like someone else, but today he really just wasn’t in the mood for it. He stopped around the corner and took a quick glance in the corridor, hoping to see his dad distracted. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his dad talking to one of his business partners. 

This is my chance. He ducked his head while he quickly walked through the corridor, avoiding glances from people. 

He hoped none of them would notice him. He just had to get to the end of the corridor, take the elevator to the ground floor and then he could ditch this boring, uninteresting place. Luckily, no one seemed to notice his presence, no one noticed Jongin leaving to go to the elevator and he was glad. Just when he thought his great escape plan was about to turn out well, the elevator door opened, revealing his mum linking arms with some... random girl. He quickly looked away, hoping that his mum hadn't caught a glimpse of him. 

“Jongin!” Mrs. Kim smiled at the sight of her son. 

Great, just when I thought I was about to get away from all of this. Jongin sighed as he took a step back from his mum. 

“This is the perfect timing,” she literally squealed. Jongin obviously knew that his mum had some absurd thought running in her mind right now, and he didn’t want to hear the news she was going to announce. Mrs. Kim ignored her son’s blank look and politely faced the girl who was standing next to her with a smile on her face. “Jongin, this is Park Sohee, you remember her don’t you?” She gave the girl a smile and beamed over at Jongin, but sighed when she saw his reaction.

He was uninterested obviously, but in reality he wanted to scream in annoyance. 

, she's back! 

The Park family owned the largest hotel in Korea and it was one of the top hotels. They also owned many hotels in another countries which were very well known as well. Jongin remembered Sohee, but he really didn't want to see her now. The Kim and the Park were business partners and they had known each other for a while now. Apparently, Jongin's dad was best friends with Mr. Park back in their high school days, but none of this mattered to Jongin. 

“No,” Jongin replied after a while with a blank look on his face. 

Sohee’s smile soon got replaced with a frown. She then worriedly looked over at Mrs. Kim for help who awkwardly cleared .

Mrs. Kim let out a forced laugh and patted Jongin's shoulder. “Of course, I can’t blame you. Hasn’t it been a while since you last saw her?” She tried to refresh her son’s memory, but Jongin gave her a bored look. He just wanted to leave this place and roam around the Capital. “She did leave to study abroad in America, remember Jongin?” She literally hissed now.  

What was the big deal? 

Yes, Jongin remembered. 

He knew who Sohee was, but it wasn’t as if they were best friends or anything.

The Park family was not only business partner of his dad's, but they were also close friends with his family, but Jongin was never interested in them. He would only politely bow at them when they came over at his place for dinner and when they came over for a chat. Jongin and his family would also often go over to the Park’s resident to celebrate some special events together. Whenever the two families were busy talking and having a good time, Jongin would be stuck with Sohee who had a special liking toward him. 

Jongin thought that it was just some stupid crush at first and that it would go away eventually. They were 13 years old back then for god sake, but oh-how he was wrong. As time passed by, Sohee started to develop feelings for Jongin more and more. She would tell her friends that he was her boyfriend and how they were going to get married to each other in the future. Jongin tried to simply just ignore her annoying self and hoped that she would one day get over him, but there was still no changes seen. Even when she turned 16, she continued to cling onto him which annoyed the heck out of Jongin. When he heard that she was going to study abroad in America, he was beyond happy. He felt as if a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders, he could rest in peace now. He didn’t have to hear her annoying squeals whenever she saw him, he was literally free from her grasp... literally.

It had been two years since he last saw her and he really wasn't that glad to have her back. 

“It’s alright Mrs. Kim,” Sohee finally spoke, giving her an assuring smile.

Jongin blinked a bit taken back. She seemed calm about the whole situation. He had thought that Sohee would jump all over him and squeal in happiness at the sight of him but she seemed to be so cool about it.

Has she finally gotten over him? 

He mentally smiled in happiness. She had finally matured over the two years.

“I’m sorry Sohee, you know Jongin is terrible when it comes to remembering things,” Mrs. Kim quickly made up an excuse to which Sohee nodded to.

“Can I leave now?” Jongin interrupted the two of them as he impatiently tapped his foot. 

Mrs. Kim mouthed, "behave" to her son and pushed him toward Sohee. He turned around to look at his mum in confusion. 

What was she thinking now?

“Take Sohee with you, it’s been a while since she last roamed around the Capital.” She stated and winked over at Sohee who giggled. She then turned her back on them and left to join the meeting.

Ok, Jongin was glad that he didn’t have to attend the meeting, but now he had go around the Capital with Sohee. He ran his fingers through his hair in annoyance. He just wanted to spend the day alone. 

“Look, I just want to-“

Before he could even finish his sentence, Sohee pushed him into the elevator and got in as well. After the elevator door automatically closed, Sohee wrapped her arms around Jongin and pecked his right cheek. 

“I missed you so much!” She exclaimed as her grip around him grew tighter.

Jongin sighed at his wrong assumption. Nope, she was still the same. She hasn’t changed at all. Jongin quickly pushed her away before she had the chance to kiss his other cheek. “Calm those hormones of yours!” He hissed as he wiped his cheek.

Sohee innocently pouted. “Do you know how lonely I felt living in America for two years without seeing you?” She asked, trying to sound cute. Jongin gave her an uninterested look, but she didn’t get the message. “I thought I was going to die not being able to see your handsome face,” she answered her own question. Jongin just rolled his eyes and waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor. “Aren’t you happy to see me?” She genuinely asked with a sad look, but Jongin didn’t care. “You know, some boys wanted to go out with me back in America, but I told them that my boyfriend was loyally waiting for me in Korea,” she said with a smile.

"Well done," he sarcastically commented. 

He really wanted to laugh out loud. This girl seriously needed to get over the fact that he didn’t like her. It wasn't that he hated her, he just wasn’t interested in her... at all. Plus, she was 18 -years old for god sake, but she still acted like a child. 

Couldn’t she at least act her age?

“Haven’t I gotten prettier?” She asked, trying to get Jongin’s attention. “Some people even said I’ve become ier,” she added with a smile as if she had achieved a great accomplishment. 

It was true though, Sohee was one of those girls who stood out from the rest of the crowd. 

She was attractive.

Jongin didn’t want to admit it, but she had gotten ier. He could see that her body had matured over the years as well. Her being in a short black dress, Jongin could clearly see that. He quickly averted his eyes from her and then hopped out of the elevator when they finally reached the ground floor.

“Let's go on a date!” Sohee squealed as she linked arms with him. 

Jongin hated physical contact, he really wasn’t fond of it and here Sohee was all over him. He got out of her grasp and flicked her forehead. “I don’t have time for this, just go home.” He simply stated.

Sohee pouted. “But-“ 

Before she could even protest, Jongin turned his back on her and exited the building. He didn’t even glance back at her once. She wasn’t even worth it, she was a waste of his time. 

Sohee sighed in disappointment. 

She was hurt.

Yes, she did know that she annoyed Jongin at times, but she at least thought that she would be welcomed with open arms since they had known each other for so long now. It was as if they weren't even close friends. It seemed like Jongin hadn’t changed one bit and she hated that, but she was not going to give up on him just yet. 

She still had feelings for Jongin. 

She still loved him and she was still going to chase after him because she believed that Jongin was her soul mate.

Smiling in determination, Sohee quickly ran out the building to catch up with Jongin.