Part III:

                “He’s coming to pick you up?” In Na--my friend--blurted, her eyes wide.

                “So dreamy~” Suzy cooed as she sipped her coffee with a look that said her head was in the clouds. “How did you find such a man?”

                “If you don’t fall for him soon, I think I’ll take him,” In Na laughed. Sighing, I silently sipped at my iced coffee and let the two go on. Begrudgingly, I agreed with them. He was a sweetheart and he genuinely cared about me. But did I really care about him? I mean, he definitely made the pain that my heart was wallowing in easier to bear.

                “Where are you two going once he picks you up?” Suzy inquired, finally out of the daze.

                “I haven’t decided yet.”

                “You? Haven’t decided?”

                “Go shopping! He would buy you anything you wanted! And then you guys can go to eat! Or you could just go to the movies,” In Na gushed with a smile on her face. It was her dream date, not mine.

                “You could go to the ocean.”

                “I was actually thinking of going to Namsan Tower. That is, if his best friend doesn’t tag along.” As of recent, Hyukjae didn’t go a single place without his best friend. It was as if they were the ones stuck in couple limbo.

                “Seriously? Why there?”

                “It’s romantic,” I stated, not daring to say the truth. No matter what I did, no matter how easy it was to bear the pain, I still missed him. The more time I spent with Hyukjae, it felt like the memories I actually did want to cherish were fading away. And the memories I made at Namsan Tower were a part of those memories.

                “Romantic?” both questioned, utter shock displayed across their faces. Realizing what had come out of my mouth, I choked on my drink.

                “It seems like it would be better if his friend didn’t tag along this time,” Suzy muttered with a smirk.

                “I-I didn’t mean that,” I stuttered as my dear friends laughed.

                “Didn’t mean what?” Hyukjae’s voice sounded behind me. Turning, I felt my cheeks flush at the sight of him walking our way.

                “I think Ji Eun’s planning something.” Suzy nudged me while trying her best to hold back the laughter.

                “Oh, is that so?” Hyukjae gasped, his eyes wide with shock.

Both my friends’ and his reactions made me feel slightly guilty. They made it seem like it was a big deal that I had slightly planned something. As if I didn’t plan things enough. I just didn’t understand why they had to be so shocked about it. Then again, had I really made the effort to show interest in him even as a friend? There had been times when I tried, yes, but he would either come up with the same thing or be so adamant about an idea he came up with that I had to quickly take a step back.

                “I kind of had something planned as well. So let’s go and maybe we can come up with something together,” he announced. Pressing my lips together, I gathered my things and got up. In Na smiled and told us goodbye in an overly sweet tone as she reached over and latched onto Suzy.

                “Don’t leave me alone with her!” my dear friend pleaded. In Na simply patted the younger one on the arm. “She’s going to make me listen to her boy problems for the hundredth time, or she’ll talk about her new drama, or make me spend time with her!”

                “Yah!” In Na snapped, offended. With that, she shoved herself away from Suzy. “There’s nothing wrong about spending time with me. If you think so, then there’s something wrong with you, miss princess. Look at Ji Eun-ah, she likes spending time with me more than you.”

                Annoyance flickered through Suzy’s eyes as she turned to face the older one. As they grew enveloped in their little fit, Hyukjae placed his hands on my shoulders and tried to maneuver me away. But now that it was time, I really didn’t want to leave.

                “You shouldn’t take me away before they actually say goodbye.”

                “They were arguing, so I thought it was the best chance to steal you away.” With that, his hands dropped from my shoulders and he led the way to his car.

                “What did you have planned?”

                “Nothing.”

                “Really?” He nodded with a goofy smile plastered on his face.

                “Donghae and I always do this. No plan is an awesome plan.”

                “But you said…”

                “I said it in order to make it seem like I always plan things to your wonderful friends.”

                Whenever we mentioned my friends, his eyes would grow dark. At first, I didn’t understand what it could possibly mean. It wasn’t until the third time it happened that I finally understood that it was because he didn’t trust them. But he never admitted such a fact. And he wouldn’t because of the possibility of hurting my feelings.

                Compared to him, Hyukjae was reserved. If he didn’t like it, he would blurt it out without caring about how I—or others—felt. If I gained weight, he’d tell me to stop eating because he was starving. If he didn’t like my family, he would tell me outright. If I looked ugly while crying, he’d say it in a blunt way. It was ridiculous and it hurt, but I grew to understand. Either way, it was one of the many reasons that led to our harsh fall out.

                “What is Donghae doing here?” I asked as Hyukjae opened the passenger door me. In the back seat sat Hyukjae’s best friend. The one I had a feeling would be around to accompany us. After hearing my question, the man’s face twisted into a slight pout.

                “Hello Donghae, nice to see you too Donghae,” he grumbled as I slipped inside. Hyukjae gave an awkward laugh and simply shut me into the car. Afterwards, he jogged around to the driver’s side and got in.

                “Well?” I inquired.

                “He wanted to hang out for a little while longer.” Of course.

                “And give him moral support!” the man in the backseat beamed.

                “Moral support for what?”

                “Donghae!” Hyukjae hissed, shooting a look at his friend.

                “Support for what?” I repeated.

                “Oh, nothing,” Hyukjae dismissed with a smile.

                “He wanted to go to Namsan Tower, but he’s afraid of heights. So, I’m here to hold his hand if holding yours doesn’t work.”

                “Donghae!”

                “It’s really cold for Namsan Tower, isn’t it?” I asked.

                “But they still have all those decorations from Valentine’s day up!”

                “Alright, let’s go,” I sighed. Smiling victoriously, Hyukjae started the car and headed on towards our destination. The entire way, the pair talked about what the two had done all day. Neither of them paid attention to me for even one second.

                “You know when Siwon did that thing?”

                “At that place?”

                “Yeah!”

                “That was the BEST!” Donghae laughed.

                Heaving a sigh, I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew was a gentle hand shaking me awake. Groggily, I blinked at the one who belonged to the hand. Once my gaze fixated on Hyukjae’s sharp eyes, I jumped. Not expecting my sudden movement, the man didn’t move in time to avoid our heads colliding. Grimacing from the shooting pain, I looked at my friend to see how bad the damage was. He, too, was wincing as he rubbed the sore spot on the side of his head.

                “Are you okay?”

                “Hm?” I voiced, gingerly touching my forehead.

When I pulled my hand away, all I could see was how the man’s dark brown hair fell across his forehead in utter perfection. The way he set his chiseled jaw made it so that I wanted to run my fingers along it, to know what it felt like. And for some reason, I continued to stare and admire his every feature. He was handsome, he was hot, he was perfect, and he was waiting for my reply.

                “Oh, I-I’m fine.” A moment passed before a sigh passed his beautiful lips.

                “I don’t think so,” he whispered and leaned forward. My breath caught as I warily stared up at him. He let out another sigh and before I knew it his long fingers reached up, brushed the hair away from my forehead, and held it there. After a moment passed, his eyes closed and he leaned closer until his lips softly brushed against the spot that still ached.

                At such an action, I froze. There was no rush of heat that fought to flood my cheeks. There was no raging flutter within my heart that threatened to make me faint. And there was no biting urge to greedily demand for more. There was nothing and it was…nice.

                “Ji Eun-ah,” my friend whispered, making me focus once more. “I have been wanting to tell you something…I—”

That instant, hands pounded on the window and forced my heart to burst to life as it threatened to pound right out of my chest. Grasping at it, I peered out into the darkness and saw Donghae’s ridiculous face smiling back at me. Shocked, I fell backward until my head collided with Hyukjae’s cheek.

                “I-I just wanted to see as well,” he whispered. Rubbing my head, I apologized and quickly reached over to open the door. I felt bad for hurting him twice in a row. But I didn’t know how to make up for such actions. So I simply got out and waited for him to get out as well.

                Once out, Hyukjae marched over to Donghae in frustration. Quietly, the two conversed for quite a while. And they continued to talk without making a move to head towards the tower. About ten minutes passed until I huffed out and headed in the tower’s direction by myself. All I could do as I walked was wonder if he would bring one of his friends, let alone leave me alone. And then I remembered that Hyukjae and I were just friends. But friends of the opposite gender didn’t go to Namsan Tower in the middle of the night.

                While trying not to think about this further, I stopped in front of a coffee machine and got myself an Americano. The first time I tried it I thought that it was bitter and that it didn’t suit my tastes, but I was slowly growing accustomed to it. It was one of those things I kept going to even after he was gone.

                Taking a deep breath, I took a sip of the hot liquid and scanned the crowd. Everyone that passed was in pairs. Arms were linked while some were even wearing matching clothes. It might have been cliché, but it was hurtful to see all of those happy faces that were filled to the brim with love. As I watched, I yearned to be wrapped up in that same feeling. To feel what I had lost. But it wouldn’t happen. All I could do was remember what it was like.

~*~*~*~*~*~

                “Ji Eun!” a man’s voice called out. The exact voice that belonged to the one I was waiting for.

                Pressing my lips together in annoyance, I turned around. After two hours of waiting, he was finally coming now? My friends constantly told me to stop seeing him, that he was a bad influence, yet I couldn’t. He made me feel in such a way I never knew was possible. For nights on end, I was stuck spending time thinking about him instead of sleeping. I daydreamed of the time I would see him next. Even if I closed my eyes, the picture of him was so vivid it seemed real. And I would curse his name for doing this to me. I hated being like this, but I loved it at the same time. Maybe I loved him too? Shrugging off the thought, I allowed the man to wrap his arms around me.

                “I’m sorry for being late,” he whispered into my hair. Closing my eyes, I put my arms around him and clutched onto him just as tight. For some odd reason, it was right there where my heart felt most at home. It was as if the last puzzle piece fell right into place.

                Throughout the entire embrace, the heat swamped us in sweat. It was only a matter of seconds before perspiration streaked down the sides of our faces. It was then that I realized that we had been standing like this for quite some time. Awkwardly, and reluctantly, I broke away.

                “Let’s go up,” I insisted and walked away, my cheeks flushing dangerously. Not giving my heart a chance to calm down, the man s his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. “It’s too hot,” I grunted, trying to pull away.

                “So?” His grip instantly tightened in order to lean closer and place a kiss on my cheek. At the time, all I could think of was that I was extremely grateful for the cloud of darkness that surrounded us. If there wasn’t, I probably would have skipped out on this kind of outing.

                “There’s so many people,” I whispered, seeing how some were looking our way. We were probably the only couple walking so close to each other.

                “Just focus on me,” he instructed. I snorted in return, keeping my eyes on the crowd of people around us.

                “You’re not all that attractive.”

                “Neither are you.”

                “Gee. Thanks.”

                “Anytime,” he laughed and reached up to pat me on the head as we made our way to the top of the tower where all of the locks were located. It never ceased to amaze me how many people—each with a different lock—would visit this place.

                Peering up at the man at my side, I noticed how he too was gazing at the hordes of locks that surrounded us. While he was distracted, I tried my best to direct him over to them. But he stopped and wouldn’t budge. When the pointless struggle lasted longer than I would have liked, I pulled away and began to head in the direction.

                “Let’s eat first, I’m hungry,” the man pleaded and caught me by the arm.

                “You’re always hungry,” I sniffed and freed myself once more from his grasp.

Not letting the man have another chance to catch onto me, I walked along the thousands of locks, stopping to read a few here and there. All the while, I was secretly trying to find a place to put my own lock. Right as I found a spot, relief flooded through me and I opened my purse to rummage through it. Yet what I was searching for wasn’t there.

                Frantically, I pulled things out, but it was to no avail. The lock wasn’t there and I was merely dropping things in order to find it. Dread seeped through my every pore. I found a spot, we finally came to this place after ages of convincing, and I didn’t have the lock I prepared. Pouting, I crouched down to pick up what I had dropped to put it back into its rightful place. There was no time to leave and get a new one. Not only that, but the message wouldn’t be as precious. Tearing up, I blinked and turned away from the spot I had claimed.

                “Are you going to put a lock on?” Changmin’s voice questioned beside me.

                “Why should I?” If only he knew.

                “Because we should put one on to represent our first night together.”

                “But we’re not—” I was immediately silenced by a kiss. “Toge—” another kiss “—ther…are we?” The man simply smiled and backed away. Knowing where this was going, I glanced at the couples around us before stepping towards him. At once, he took off into the crowd. “Changmin!” I yelled, instantly forgetting about the open spot for the lock.

                Without a second thought, I rushed after him. It seemed like the worries of the judgment of the crowd seemed to drop away as we dodged around them for what seemed like hours. At one point, I lost Changmin. It seemed like no matter where I looked he wasn’t there. That is, until a couple walked away and I found him crouched in front of the locks, clicking a pink set onto the wire.

                He straightened and turned around. When he spotted me, he smiled and held out a black marker. Quietly, I took it and waited for him to step out of the way. Crouching before the two locks, I felt my breath leave my body. Written in marker on one of the locks were the words “Will you go out with me?”. Speechless, I glanced up at the man. However, his back was facing me, so I couldn’t see what was written on his face. Biting my lip, I turned back to the locks and wrote my reply.

                “It’s done,” I softly said, my cheeks flushing. When I straightened, the man turned around to face me.

                “For a while, I thought something was wrong with me,” he started. I furrowed my brows, not understanding. “Your face was always there when I closed my eyes; your name has always been on my tongue, and when I see you my heart pounds like no other. I started to act in a way I never believed was possible. I seriously thought I was going insane, and maybe I am. But like I’ve said before, I love you. I don’t know how you feel, and I simply don’t care if you don’t feel the same. I just want to call you mine.” My stomach twisted at his words. Quietly, I stepped away from the locks so that he could see my answer. “You do want to be together?” he gasped, his eyes glued to the locks. Our locks. Upon hearing those words, my heart couldn’t take it anymore. I never knew that it could overflow with such strong feelings. And because of those feelings, I threw my arms around him and pressed my lips against him.

                “Well…you’re not attractive, you just stated that you don’t care about my feelings, and you’re insane. I must be insane as well for accepting you, but lately you’ve become my whole world. I would be insane for letting you go as well,” I confessed once we broke for air. Chuckling, the man wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me off of the ground. The rest of our night was spent focusing on just each other, not caring about anyone else or their thoughts.

~*~*~*~*~*~

                Eyes glued to the familiar pair of locks, tears threatened to slip. But I didn’t allow them to. Not in this place. Not now. Instead, I stuck my hand into my coat pocket and pulled out a lock. It was the one I had forgotten in the past with the original message on one side. On the other was a new message I had written. Although I had many times in the past to place the lock there, I never did pick it up again. It wasn’t until today when I decided I should put it where it belonged.

                Closing my eyes, I counted to ten to try and collect myself before I reached forward and locked it in place. It was a new addition to our old memories, and I secretly hoped that at one point he would see it. I secretly hoped that he too would come to visit our locks in order to remember the happiness we once shared. But if he didn’t, that was fine as well. I couldn’t expect him to feel the way I still did.

                Swiping my thumb across the words that said “I still love you”, I took a second before straightening back up. Hyukjae and Donghae were still nowhere to be seen. The crowd of people was growing and I was feeling lonelier than ever. I just wanted to leave as quickly as I possibly could. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I wove through the crowd to find my way back down.

                “Ji Eun!” I heard Hyukjae’s voice call out the moment I reached the elevator.

Turning around, I linked eyes with someone who looked like him. He had a different hairstyle and he was definitely skinner, but he still looked like him. My blood ran cold. Was it really him? Right once I finally got the courage to step forward, Hyukjae jumped into my line of sight. Taken aback, I reluctantly looked up at him.

                “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

                “Where’s Donghae?” I questioned, silently cursing the fact that he ruined the chance to confront the stranger.

                “Does that matter right now? You disappeared for the longest time, and I find you only to have you ask where my friend is? Does that make sense?” he snapped. But I wasn’t paying much attention. Instead, I snuck a quick glance back in the direction where I last saw the man. However, he wasn’t there anymore. With a frown, I scanned the crowd of people but I still couldn’t find him. “Ji Eun,” my friend tried. “Ji Eun! Look at me!” my friend pleaded, his voice becoming earnest.

                “I can’t right now, I—”

                “Ji Eun, I love you!” the man blurted. Freezing, I turned my attention back to him. Ever since he confessed that one night, he always made his feelings for me obvious. Yet this time it seemed like he was desperate for something. Something more. “I know that you need more time, but I don’t know how much longer I can wait. I’ve been trying so hard, but I’m feeling worn out. So, if it was possible, could you possibly accept my heart? I don’t need yours in return. I just…need to know if you would be willing to be my girlfriend.”

                The sad yet hopeful glint in his eyes twisted at my heart. Could I really become his girlfriend when I felt nothing? All I truly felt was an attraction to his looks and that my heart was at peace when I was around him. He always seemed to say just the right things to put me at ease. Instead of chasing images of the past, maybe it would be best for me to take his offer and try to move on.

                “Alright.”

                “What?”

                “I said yes, Hyukjae, I’ll be your girlfriend.” In an instant, his eyes lit up and his arms flew around me in a crushing hold.

                “Thank you, Ji Eun-ah!” he whispered in my ear and I forced a smile on my lips.

                No matter how good of an opportunity this would be for me, I couldn’t help but feel a twist of betrayal in my heart. He was a friend to me, nothing more. But maybe things would change, maybe. Closing my eyes, I tried my best to block out the pain and focus on the good. I was moving on.

A/N: Hopefully everyone is enjoying this so far. If I could have comments, that would be a plus~ But if not, that's okay. At least I have a feeling that I have some readers who enjoy this~