*Onew's POV*

 

Things I remember the most about my middle school are the smell of boiled vegetables in the canteen, the noise of games and fights at the outdoor school field, and Luna Park. I still remember the first time I met her, simply because it was a precious experience for me.

 

That was my first day being the 2nd grader of middle school and I I got the different class from other SHINee members. SHINee itself was a group that I made with four other boys from 1-B, our previous class. Seems like teachers wanted us to be separated because we were always making a ruckus quite noisy when five of us gathered.

 

Okay, let's not talk about SHINee for now and back to the story. Because I wasn't in the same class as Jonghyun or Kibum or Minho or Taemin, that means I must go to the canteen and eat alone there. Poor me.

 

“Hello, do you mind if I sit here?”

 

I was about to bit my chicken when I heard a cheerful voice asking for permission. I lifted my head up and saw a medium-haired girl stood across my table, there was a sandwich and a carton of strawberry milk on the food tray that she brought.

 

“O-Of course I don’t mind, you can sit right there.” I nervously pointed the empty spot in front of me.

 

"Thanks! You really help a lot." The girl bowed a little and beamed, she put her tray on the table before she pulled her chair and sat. "As you can see, other tables have been occupied."

 

Both of us remained silent afterward. But without her knowing, my eyes scanned her appearance from head to toe while she was busy with her lunch. I didn't know whether it was her warm smile or her beautiful eyes or her black hair, but there's something about that girl that made my heart fluttered.

 

"You don't wear your nametag." I unconsciously mumbled because I wanted to know her name, but unfortunately she heard me.

 

"Oh yes, I forgot to bring it to school because I came late this morning. But I guess nametag is not that important, right?" She chuckled. "I haven't introduce myself, have I? My name is Park Sunyoung, but you can call me Luna. And you must be Onew, right? Lee Jinki."

 

"H-How do you know my name?" I gaped at Luna and my heart got pit-a-pat once again. "I think this is the first time we meet each other."

 

"Don't you realize that, unlike me, you wear your nametag?" said Luna while she pointed at my uniform and laughed.

 

I glanced at the front part of my dark blue coat and saw my own nametag, I awkwardly laughed while my face turned red in embarassment.

 

"But even though you don't have that thing, I still can recognize you as the unofficial leader of SHINee." Luna continued her words. "Your group is quite famous among the 1st grader last year, you know?"

 

Suddenly it felt so difficult for me to swallowed the meal after she said like that, so that means she already knew me since we were still the school's freshmen?

 

"I-I don't think SHINee is that famous. It's just an ordinary group full of idio- I mean, weird boys." I quickly changed my word so she wouldn't get a bad impression. "After all, I'm not the leader of SHINee."

 

"That's why I called you 'the unofficial leader', because I think you have that traits and personalities and attitudes which suits for the leader position.” Luna laughed again. “Anyway which class are you in? Sorry if I’m being rude for asking you all of a sudden.”

 

“It’s okay, you’re not rude at all.” I gave her my best eyesmile. “Mine is 2-A. How about you, Luna?”

 

“Whoa such a coincidence, my class is also 2-A!” Her eyes got bigger in disbelief. “That means we are going to be classmate from now on.”

 

Our conversation was getting friendlier and warmer when the school bell rang, the break was over already. Time always pass rapidly everytime we do something fun, right?

 

Luna wiped with napkin before she took her empty tray and stood up from the chair. “Sorry, but I think I should go now. I want to meet my friends first, so… see you at our class Jinki-ssi!”

 

I could only stare her back before she left the canteen and disappeared, and I blankly looked at the chair she just left. I still could smell her sweet scent.

 

‘Well, that means from now on I can meet her every day for a whole year right?’ That was my thought back then.

---

Luna used to sit at the front of the class, and she was perfect. She was the teacher's pet, and she always got the correct answers. She was top of the class and got A grades in all her subjects. Luna was good at everything. She used to sing well in assembly. She played the clarinet and never made mistakes. She was the captain of the hockey team. She ran around the playing field faster than anyone else and she didn't use to get tired or sweat like the rest of us. She was too good to be true.

 

I used to love her, secretly.

 

I used to smile at her, because I thought I already became her friend. I stood by doors and waited for her to pass. I wanted her to see me, but she never even looked. Was I invisible? Did she think she was too good for me? Did I hope and expect too much? That's what I thought at the time.

 

But now I know I was completely wrong.

 

Approximately ten years has passed since we graduated from middle school and I haven't met Luna nor contacted her since then. I was looking on the Internet a couple of weeks ago and I typed in Luna’s name, just out of interest. Eventually, I found her e-mail address and I wrote a message to her.

---

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

 

Hello, are you perhaps Park Sunyoung or Luna Park? I’m Lee Jinki, your classmate during the 2nd grade of middle school. Do you still remember me, maybe?

---

I didn’t get a reply immediately and I thought that was the end of the story. However, a couple of days later, Luna made contact. After exchanging a couple of e-mails, we decided to meet for coffee. I was really curious to know what she was like now, this girl of my childhood dreams.

 

But when we finally met, she looked completely different from how I remembered. I couldn’t believe that I used to fancy her.

 

We talked a little about what we had done since leaving school and our lives now. She’s already married and has two kids, she also has a part-time job in a supermarket. Then we started talking about school, and we laughed together over our memories of those days. I was enjoying the conversation.

 

“To tell you the truth, I used to admire you back then, Luna-ssi.”

 

Finally I confessed my old feeling to her. I’m not afraid at all because Luna was just a part from my old memories that I used to fancy and she already has a husband.

 

I thought she would laugh, but instead, she said something which completely changed the way I see my schooldays.

 

“I used to love you too, Jinki-ssi, but I didn’t say anything because I was too shy.”