I stared blankly at the descending sun in the distance. It’s going. It’s going. It’s gone. Like her. I smiled wistfully at the pastel sky.  What a beautiful arrangement on such an awful day! The tears were once again welling in my eyes. I thought I had ran out of tears the moment the funeral ended but I guess I still had some in me.

I was ready. I was ready for her to plop herself next to me with that stupid smile of hers and punch my shoulder playfully. I was ready for her teasing words and her sing-song voice as we sang a horrible rendition to ‘Royals’ to the sunset. I was ready for her to wrap an arm around my shoulder and say, “I’m the world’s biggest idiot and my best friend is the world’s second biggest idiot!” I would laugh and agree.

I was ready. Very ready. But I was running a solo race. I was ready for nothing in the end.

The body that sat next to me was not her but someone else, who held a special place in her heart as well. I scoffed and wiped my tears immediately. A sleeved arm stuck out in front of me and I glanced at him in question.

He gestured with his head and I hesitantly used it to clean my tears. When I was done, he pulled his arm back and sat next to me quietly. I turned back to the setting sun. The sky was now a deep purple-blue and the sun was disappearing behind the mountain. I watched in awe as I observed the last rays of light slip behind the mountain. The entire sky was a dark twilight blue and the temperature dropped a degree or two.

“Do you think she’s up there?” I found my voice again. I never spoke after the burying of her casket.

“She probably left with the sun.” Se Hun smiled and I shot him a questioning look.

He grinned as he stared back at me through his bangs. He’s been crying too. I can see his red eyes. So, she has had an impact on his life as well. Who am I kidding? Jung Soo Jung was born to make an impact on people’s lives.

“Just like how she was the light in our lives, the sun is the light in everyone’s lives as well. The sun takes her away for the remainder of the night. However, once the first rays of light touch the earth, she has returned to us.” He explained and I chuckled amusedly at his analogy. He is right. Soo Jung was the light in many people’s lives. Somehow, her smile made everything better.

“Did you know I was jealous of her?” I cracked a wry smile. “I’ve always wondered how in the world she can be so positive and b with energy every day. Even with her condition, she was bright and happy. How? Where can I get that kind of positivity? How can she look at the brighter side of things and feel alright with it? How can she forget that easily about the pain and the duller side of things?”

“I guess it’s because she never forgot.” I turned to Se Hun with an inquiring look and he laughed.

“I remember her telling me something about what you said. I asked her the same thing just a week before she left us. She said she doesn’t forget. She doesn’t forget about the pain. It’s hard to forget. But she believes that happiness rules out the pain. She lives with a philosophy that living in happiness is better than wallowing in pity. It’s confusing and complicated and I don’t understand it myself. Do you?” He nodded his head towards me.

I shrugged. “I never understood Jung Soo Jung for the entire time I knew her. I’ll never understand her even when she’s gone.” I laughed to myself, thinking about something Soo Jung said to me before she died. “She even declared to me that she wanted to be a chicken in her next life because she wanted to feel how a chicken felt.” I shook my head at her absurdity.

He chuckled along. “That is our Soo Jung for you.”

He turned quiet for a moment before pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper in his pocket. “I was just thinking about Soo Jung’s quirky antics. And I was wondering…”

I recognized the paper. I knew what it was and I was ready for the question he was about to ask me.

“Let’s finish Soo Jung’s bucket list for her in remembrance of her.”

Soo Jung’s bucket list. Right. How am I supposed to start with this?

Well, long story short, when Soo Jung realized she wasn’t going to live very long, she created this bucket list. The only interesting about the bucket list other than the insane activities she created was the fact that it followed after the alphabet.

So for example, in the bucket list, there are twenty six items to be completed. Each of them starts with a letter of the alphabet. Something like A for Act in a drama. Some of them are completed. The ones that are completed though are easy and possible. The ones not completed are outrageously impossible and insane.

The thing is: When Soo Jung created this bucket list, she expected to complete it or at least most of it with the person she loved the most after me. And that would be Oh Se Hun.

Where to begin with Oh Se Hun? Oh Se Hun. Oh Se Hun is the classic romance novel hero. He’s popular, good-looking, cool, kind, gentlemanly, funny, friendly, rich, athletic, and absolutely adorable. He’s the type of guy every girl dreams of. I’ve dreamt of a guy like that once when I was a young girl. But now, I had bigger aspirations in life and I didn’t pay much attention to my love life.

Anyway, Oh Se Hun is the popular kid in school whom everyone worships and adores. The cliché and classic hero in a romance novel. And then, yes, the quiet yet attractive wallflower of the school falls for him and he falls for her. And they live happily ever after.

Wrong!

In this story, Prince Charming, who is Oh Se Hun, didn’t exactly know or like Jung Soo Jung at all. He had never met Soo Jung in his life until that one day when she was diagnosed with cancer. That one day, she had mustered up all her courage to approach him and ask him out. When he was about to decline, she pulled out her wild card: Her days were numbered.

With his conscience being pricked and the kind fellow in him unwilling to deny, Oh Se Hun accepted her confession without any consideration to his feelings. And this is where the bucket list comes in. Soo Jung, being the ecstatic and bubbly idiot she is, dragged Oh Se Hun everywhere and anywhere to complete her list.

I was only introduced to Oh Se Hun as her boyfriend a week after he accepted her because she was too busy, trying to complete everything on her list before her time ran out. I didn’t mind. The guy seemed nice enough and god, secretly inside, I thought he was cute. But he was my best friend’s man and I’m not that kind of person. I didn’t suspect much about him. Oh Se Hun gradually became a part of two-person friend group –we didn’t mingle much- and the three of us stuck together until her last days.

One day though, one day, Soo Jung was lying in bed and I was peeling fruits for her. She smiled at me and I grew suspicious of her immediately. Being Soo Jung’s sister and best friend for many years now, I knew that smile. It was a smile that told me that Soo Jung was hiding something from me.

“Alright, what are you hiding?” I smirked knowingly and Soo Jung sighed wryly. “I really can’t keep anything from you right?” I shook my head. “I’ll never let you go until you tell me.”

She giggled. “Alright, but don’t do the thing you always do.” I stared at her weirdly. “What thing-”

“Se Hun likes you, Na Ri-ah.” She smiled softly at me and my eyes grew wide. I placed the knife and the fruit down on the plate and scoffed incredulously at her. “Soo Jung, stop joking around. Se Hun’s totally in love with you. He likes you not me.”

“You’re doing it.” I raised my eyebrow at her questioningly. “Doing what?”

She titled her head from side to side as she sang out, “Denying!” My jaw dropped. “I’m not in denial. I know he doesn’t like me.” I smirked smugly and picked up the knife and the fruit again.

“Oh, really? How do you know?”

“I know because he accepted you when you asked him out.”

“But I forced him to go out with me. He’s only my boyfriend out of pity.”

I froze. I hadn’t known how Soo Jung asked him out. I actually thought it was because Se Hun liked her. I turned to her with worried eyes.

“And you’re alright with it?”

She nodded like a child. “Yup!” She chirped.

I recovered from my shock quickly and bit my lip uncertainly. “Feelings grow over time?”

“Exactly!” She grinned and I looked at her all weird.

“What are you on?”

“A little bit of morphine.” She answered back, gesturing to the morphine supply on the side. I rolled my eyes.

“No, seriously, though, what do you mean by ‘exactly’?” I deadpanned and the lopsided grin fell from her lips.

“Do you remember the bucket list I created?” Her voice grew quiet all of a sudden and I nodded solemnly.

“If I die early before the list is finished, you must promise me to finish it with him, Na Ri-ah.”

I stiffened at her statement. No, she won’t die. She can’t. The surgery. The doctor said it would be successful. The chance of her dying during the surgery is lesser than the success rate. It’s not possible. With these positive thoughts, I laughed off her statement absentmindedly.

“Sure, I promise.” I should make her happy for today at least. All I know is that I’ll never fulfill the promise because she won’t die. She can’t.

But that day, I made a promise to her. And when Se Hun showed me the paper, I had no choice but to say, yes. I couldn’t say no. Not after I made a promise to her.

D

 “Well, are we going to do it or not?” Se Hun huffed as we stood in front of the fountains. We were at a park on a Saturday afternoon. Families were everywhere. Children ran around, playing with their siblings or their friends. Couples rode couple bikes together or had romantic picnics on the green grass. Some men and women dressed in exercise attire jogged around the park or rode bikes. And there was the homeless guy, who slept on a bench.

When I agreed to this, I did not expect normal goals to be accomplished. Take this for example. Dancing in a fountain in broad daylight in front of everybody without music. Soo Jung had ambitious dreams.

I sighed and lifted my chin proudly. “For Soo Jung!” I declared and ran into the fountain without a battle plan.

Immediately, I was splashed and drenched by water shooting upwards from the ground. I ran around, flailing my arms around. I attempted popping and locking but I absolutely failed, of course. I did the water sprinkler –oh, how fitting- and a bunch of classic and old dance moves. I was soaked to the bone but I didn’t care. This was for Soo Jung.

I heard a familiar laugh next to me and I half-opened my eyes –the water was in my face- to find Oh Se Hun doing some weird dance with the best expression ever. I cracked up laughing and imitated his dance moves. He waved his hands in the air like an octopus and hollered crazily. I squealed of laughter when he advanced towards me. He grabbed my hand and twirled me around. I did the same to him. We spun around on our tippy toes like ballerinas. We linked our arms together and spun around in a circle in a crazy gigue.

We probably looked like fools. Scratch that, we were fools. I can’t believe I’m even doing this. But…it’s fun in a sense. Other than being utterly humiliated in public and laughed at for being crazy idiots, I realized why Soo Jung created so many insane things to do. They made people laugh. They made people happy. And in turn, I was happy. I was happy for making others feel happy.

We stopped dancing crazily and spun around, finally taking notice of our surroundings. I laughed in shock at the scene before me. Our mindless dancing must have infected the people around us because we found several families, joggers, couples, children, and even the homeless guy dancing in the fountains with us.

There was no music. There were no flashing lights. There were no professional dancers here. Just pure craziness and happiness.

I turned to Se Hun, who was also stunned by the scene in front of us. His hair clung to his face and his blue shirt stuck to his skin. My hair was flying in my face and my red sundress ruined by the water. We grinned at each other and giggled like crazy.

Se Hun suddenly grasped my hands and spun around, sending us twirling around in a circle. I squealed and laughed giddily at the speed. I heard his boyish laughter and I stared into his crescent eyes stunned.

Were his eyes always that pretty or did I notice this just now?

Dance in a fountain – Complete! With something new?

H

Soo Jung is not serious, is she?

I am so tempted to travel over to the other side just to ask her this.

Wait, Se Hun’s in charge of the list…

“Hold on a minute, why did you pick the craziest thing on the list?!” I whispered heatedly as I shot a glare at him.

“It’s actually the second craziest thing might I add.” He whispered back sheepishly.

Right, you might be wondering why we’re whispering. So, long story short, apparently Se Hun has some connections with this guy, who knows this guy, who knows this guy, who is this guy’s cousin, who is this guy’s best friend, who is this guy’s brother, who is this guy’s drinking buddy, who managed to sneak us into one of the production sets of a popular TV drama.

As of currently, we are hiding behind a rack of clothes. Did I mention we were sneaked in? About that…no one knows we’re here!

“Whatever, but did your friend have to sneak us into this drama? I actually watch and love this drama!” I growled quietly at him. I was not a happy person right now. Try hiding behind a rack of sweaty and dusty clothes for three hours.

“He’s not my friend per say. My friend, who knew this guy, who knew this guy, who is this guy’s cousin-” I clapped my hand over his mouth. “I get the point! My point is: How much longer do we have to stay here?!”

“Well, when the scene-”

“I just met you though…”

“And that’s our cue!”

“Wait, what-”

I was dragged out from behind the clothes rack by the likes of Se Hun and we were immediately into an ongoing scene of a drama. I stared at the camera with wide eyes while the actors stared back at us bewildered. I could see the director narrow his eyes at us and the producer’s face go completely red.

“Yah,” Se Hun called for me and I turned to him with a flustered expression. He had an amused mask on his face. Was he acting?

“That guy, over there,” He nodded his head at the main actor, who stared at him like he had two heads. “He’s trying to figure out his feelings with this girl.” He cocked his head sideways in thought as he approached me.

“Three months ago though, he met another girl.” My eyes widened as he stood right in front of me with a pondering gaze. “Her name is Kim Na Ri.” Wait, me? I thought incredulously.

“And he wanted to ask her a question.” He smirked, leaning down closer. My eyes grew wide as the distance between us closed. He stopped just a hair away from my lips though. His eyes softened and all of a sudden, I felt his sincerity.

“Do I like you?”

Hijack a drama – Complete! With a confession?

B

After the whole drama stunt, we were kicked out of the studio by security guards. I officially concluded that Se Hun was just acting. The sincerity in his eyes when he asked me if he liked me was just good acting. When the episode came out though, we were in it…somewhat.

“Wow, they actually stole my lines.” Se Hun shook his head in disappointment. I rolled my eyes and began to assemble whatever ingredients I needed for cupcakes. I loved baking. Soo Jung loved treats. I could bake. She couldn’t. She must have been watching ‘King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu’ again.

“They weren’t your lines per say.” I disagreed.

“Hey, those were original lines!” He argued like a child. I laughed. “Alright, alright, they were original. However, you don’t own them at all. And the drama didn’t copy your lines actually. They just stole the last few parts to it.” I reasoned and he huffed in frustration. “They just changed the scene to a movie theater in America, that’s all.”

“At least the actors were good and Park Shin Hye’s pretty.” He muttered sulkily and I shook my head amusedly. “What’s that? Park Shin Hye’s pretty?”

He turned to me with a smirk. “Why? You jealous?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. In fact, I think that Lee Min Ho is freaking gorgeous and Park Shin Hye extremely adorable. They look good together. However, I will forever ship Park Shin Hye and Jang Geun Suk. OTP!” I hooted playfully.

He shot me a weird look. “You are weird.”

I pouted, offended by his words. “Hey, let a fan girl dream, alright?!” I snapped and he backed away with raised arms.

I started mixing the batter after adding all the ingredients I needed. “What’cha making?” Se Hun sidled up next to me and eyed the batter curiously.

I smiled smugly. “My famous batch of chocolate chip cupcakes.” I answered back cheekily. His eyes brightened and his mouth watered. “Can I help?” He beamed like a kid and I nodded absentmindedly.

Very soon, under my direction and tutelage –yes, I’m that good- Se Hun and I were done with the batch. I placed the tray into the oven with excited eyes. I closed the oven door and set the timer. Se Hun stared at the batch in the oven with an expectant expression and hungry eyes. He really had a sweet tooth.

I shook my head, preparing to clean up. I was placing the tools in the sink when I felt something swipe across my cheek. I instinctively moved away but it was too late. I swiped my hand across my cheek and saw white specks of flour on my palm. I narrowed my eyes at the flour-dipped finger belonging to a certain mischievous and currently-in-trouble Oh Se Hun.

“Oh, it’s on.” I spun around and dipped a finger into the chocolate icing I made. He knew what I was about to do but I was faster. I immediately poked his cheek with the chocolate icing and giggled at what a mess he looked.

He grabbed more flour and splashed it on me. I shrieked at him and grabbed the flour as well to throw at him. He laughed as he continued his attacks on me. I covered my eyes and my face from his attacks. I speedily swiped another chocolate icing-dipped finger at his other cheek. Now, he had two brown dots on both sides of his cheek. I giggled crazily at his appearance. He was covered in flour and chocolate icing.

“You’re gonna get it now!” He declared playfully, his fingers wriggling towards me with a cheeky smile. I squealed as he tickled my sides and I ran around the kitchen counter, trying to get away from him. He chased me around the kitchen while threatening to tickle me. I shrieked when he was close to getting me and laughed when he managed to tickle me a bit.

“You can’t catch me!”

“Oh, yeah?!”

“Yeah!”

“Watch out!”

“What?”

“I got you!”

“No!” I squealed as he wrapped his flour covered arms around me. I struggled to escape his grasp but he was too strong for me. He carried me over to the bowl of chocolate icing and trapped me in his arms as he decorated my face with chocolate icing. I giggled, giving up on escaping from him and he relaxed his grip once he knew I wouldn’t be running anytime soon.

“There you go. Introducing my masterpiece!” He shoved me towards a mirror and I gazed at my reflection in shock. He had given me a moustache and two moles in awkward spots on my face with the chocolate icing. My body was covered in flour and I looked like a human cloud. Literally.

“Se Hun!” I screamed in annoyance and he cracked up at my explosion. I whacked him on the chest and stomped into the kitchen, sighing at the mess we made. He followed behind me like a puppy. “Oh, come on, you can’t be that mad at me.”

I ignored him and fetched a mop and a pail from the closet. He pouted and sat on a chair, watching me as I cleaned the kitchen. “I was kidding around. You did the same to me.” He reasoned and I shrugged.

“I’m not mad at you.” I answered back carelessly. I really wasn’t mad at him. I was a bit annoyed but I wasn’t mad.

But I guess he took my answer the wrong way.

“If you’re that mad at me, I’ll let you know truthfully that you look quite appetizing right now.” He grinned boyishly and I deadpanned at him. “You seriously did not make that pun.” He laughed like a hyena and I groaned indignantly.

God, he’s such a kid. “You’re such a kid.” I murmured. His laughter died down and I turned to him curiously. He had a soft smile on his face that made my heart flip and do weird things. I froze and he blinked at me innocently, resting his cheek on his palm.

“No, seriously, you look beautiful. You always do.”

The oven beeped and the timer went off. I hurriedly pulled out the batch of cupcakes and set them on a clean part of the counter. I stopped the timer and warned him not to touch the cupcakes yet. I continued cleaning the kitchen as if the statement didn’t affect me at all but it actually did.

If I were to compare my heart to an object, I would call it a time bomb. With that statement, my heart exploded into pieces in time with the oven and the timer.

Weird…there should be medication for this, right?

Bake fight! – Complete! With a doctor’s appointment?