“Here?” Jiyoon looks around, just in case she misses something. She sees nothing out of the ordinary, and turns back to face Daehyun.

Daehyun nods slightly, and continues chewing the takoyaki. He puts the now-empty box aside, wipes his hands and mouth while giving a smile. He nods again, as if the first one isn’t sufficient to prove his point. “Her heart…”

“Oh… Her heart…” She trails off, barely agreeing with Daehyun.

“Don’t take it the wrong way, in fact it’s just the cold reality for me. Whenever you’re around, I’ll always feel her presence. I don’t know whether that’s a blessing or a curse. I want to remember her, but at the same time I want to forget her. I want to live in the past, but at the same time I want to leave the past.”

“To you, the past is a memory and to me, the past is a lesson. Both of us wants to go back but at the same time we want to move forward.”

“Exactly. Took the words right out of my mouth.”

“Is it so wrong? Holding on to something that’s not there anymore?”

Daehyun chuckles. “If you ask me, it’s not. I’m afraid I’m also holding on to something that’s not there anymore; or rather, to someone. Four years truly proved that it’s hard to forget. You say that you forget, but in fact there’s still a small fraction or piece hiding somewhere. It’ll leave a mark, whether you like it or not.”

“And four years ago I would never have thought you’d be the kind of person to talk like this. Your attitude doesn’t change one bit but your words are more…”

“Matured?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Thankfully, that’s what I’m trying to be for the past four years. Looks like I succeeded,” he pumps his fist into the air. “At least I won’t be hearing things like ‘you’re childish’ anymore.” He picks up a stone and throws it skillfully, letting it bounce on the surface of the water before sinking.

“Well, you’re still childish in some aspects…”

This time, they laugh together. They laugh the day away, hoping they won’t have to worry about anything else anymore. Both of them want to put everything in the past, and this time, they really want to let the memories go. They want to break the chains that are holding them back and want to live without any regrets. It’s easier said than done, and surely there will always be something that holds them right where they are…

…

“Thank you for not kicking me out entirely,” Daehyun says, just as they arrive in front of Jiyoon’s apartment.

“Thank you for making everything clear to me,” Jiyoon replies.

“If both of us are thanking each other, who’s going to take them? Let’s just say both of us are going to start anew, this time without regrets or misunderstandings. Okay?” Daehyun puts out his pinky finger, “You need to promise me, and I don’t want to see you crying because you’re sad, ever again. I don’t mind tears of happiness, but tears of sadness are a no-no.”

Jiyoon seems hesitant to make a promise, but Daehyun’s smiling face makes her hard to resist. They hook their pinky fingers together, and brush their thumbs at the same time.

“You promised me, so you better not break it. I don’t like people who break their promises,” Daehyun says, half-jokingly. His face turns serious, “But I’m serious, I don’t want to see you sad. Oh and-“ he takes out his phone, dials Jiyoon’s number and hangs up. “That’s my number, by the way,” he winks swiftly, gives a quick wave and sets off.

Jiyoon takes out his phone, and sure enough there’s a missed call by a number she hasn’t saved. She smiles a bit, saves the number under the name ‘Jung Babo’ and enters her apartment.

…

The next morning, Daehyun wakes up, feeling somewhat lighter than the days before. It’s as if the weight of the memories he’s been carrying all along is gone. His body feels strangely refreshed, and he keeps humming all the way to the shower. If it’s even possible, he feels even more refreshed after stepping out of the shower, and gets dressed with more enthusiasm today.

“What has gotten into you today, Jung Daehyun?” he asks himself, looking at his own face in the mirror. “You’ve got nothing to lose, let’s face whatever comes at you today.” After giving himself a pep talk, he sets off towards his office, in a bright mood.

Even after four years, he decided to not live with his family. After all, he needs to be independent, but now, he has no questions on why his family did that. He visits his family often, and he’ll always see Jiwook at the office. So he thinks he’s not losing out on anything. He’s happy with the life he’s living now, well except for the fact that he doesn’t have Sooyoung by his side. He admits he’s getting a bit lonely, but he’s finding it hard to start over with someone new. It’s going to be hard trying to find someone like Sooyoung.

Just as his thoughts go away, he arrives at the massive building in which his workplace is located. He scans his ID, passes through the gate and stops in front of the lift. He waits for the lift to open for him, and after a while a few people start gathering around him, also waiting for the lift. A few female staffs smile shyly at him, and he replies back with a nod.

As soon as the lift opens, the people around him gesture for him to go in first, just because he’s the managing director. He politely refuses. Suddenly, he doesn’t feel like standing in a lift with a bunch of people who only treats him better because he’s the managing director and for the fact that he’s the president’s son.

“It’s okay, I just realized that I left something in my car. I need to go get it,” he says carefully, spitting out the words one by one as politely as he could, when in reality he’s just refraining himself from randomly punching people in the face.

He pretends to be scurrying off towards the entrance, and when he’s sure that all of them are already cramped in the lift, he sighs and turns back. Life’s hard when people treat you because of your position, instead of who you really are. He remembers that one time, he went to the office because he was so desperate and wanted to beg for his father to take him back home. Nobody even looked at him or acknowledged him. Just because at that time they didn’t know he was the president’s son. He was the ‘secret’ his family kept for years; nobody knew whom he was. Now, everything’s changed. Everywhere he walks in the office, people would at least look, smile, nod, or bow at him. He’s not sure what to think of it, and he’s not really comfortable with this kind of situation.

Only, he knows he’s not in the position to complain about anything. He’s still an employee, after all.

The rest of the day goes on. By the end of the day, he feels his eyes starting to get droopy. It’s past work hours, but he needs to finish the presentation by today. He almost forgot about it; thankfully his brother reminded him. He yawns and massages his neck as he forces his eyes to stay open. The glaring screen somehow causes his eyes to become more tired, and soon he’s forced to shut down his computer. He’s done for the day.

He gets up, tidies up his table, not forgetting to wipe off the stains from the drink he had earlier. After putting away his laptop and making sure everything is in place, he gets out of his office with his brief case.

The office is generally dark; all of the employees have already left. He notices that his brother is still in his office, most likely still on his computer. He knocks on the door, peeks in and sees his brother’s face scrunching while looking at the computer.

“Hyung, you need to stop working so hard; just go home.”

“Then what were you doing during the past hours? Stop talking about me and look at yourself. You need to go home and take care of yourself. You better take care of that face of yours, it’s your most important asset.”

“Hyung!”

“I was just joking; it’s okay. You can go home, I just need to wrap some things up. See you tomorrow.”

Seeing his brother not giving in, he shrugs and makes his way to his car. He dumps his bag to the passenger seat. He smiles as he remembers the time he bought the ring for Sooyoung, putting it carefully on the passenger seat.

“Kim Sooyoung, I miss you so much. Please wait for me.”

Before driving home, there’s one more thing he wants to do. He wants to visit Sooyoung, so he makes his way there. As soon as he arrives, just as he’s about to step into the building, though, the person he doesn’t expect to be there comes out.

Bang Yongguk.