2004

From: Seunghyun

To: Eunyoung

Seoul U is so big – I’ve never seen a campus like this. How’s the start of school? I hope you will come visit me one day.

Seunghyun didn’t appear again after that fateful evening. Eunyoung had heard from the grapevine that the young man moved to Seoul the week after – she stopped looking out for him from the corner of her eye and was finally able to concentrate again on basketball.

God knows what had come over Seunghyun but the girl wasn’t going to mull over his eccentric behaviour. In her 15 years, Eunyoung had never thought of love – her best friends Jinri and Sunyoung collectively had enough crushes on boys to cover for her lack of interest in the opposite .

From: Seunghyun

To: Eunyoung

Congrats! Heard you made the boys basketball team. Really happy for you. Just be careful when they tackle you. I wouldn’t want to see you hurt.

Wasn’t Choi Seunghyun far away in Seoul? Then again, his dongsaeng Minhwan was in her year at school. But why would the brothers discuss Eunyoung anyway? Funny, she didn’t recall them to be close.

Although the coach and teacher-in-charge didn’t know whether Eunyoung could be an official team player and start for the inter-provincial games, this was still big news and everyone, not just guys, started taking notice of the normally low profile student. The family was a mixed bag of reactions, her father was naturally proud – she was the son he never had. The girl was more nervous about umma’s lack of enthusiasm although her older sister’s encouragement – Eunji was just amused by the whole situation - made up their mother’s ambivalence.

From Seunghyun

To: Eunyoung

Did you get the Seoul U tee that I sent? Please wear it and think of me.

She had never received anything that wasn’t a black eye or a jab in the ribs from a boy. In fact, nothing had ever come in the mail for Eunyoung before and her mother had looked at her suspiciously when handing over the parcel.

For a week, the T-shirt was crumpled up in a ball in a drawer. Out of sight and out of mind. Until one night when searching for clean pajamas, her hand pulled out the oversized Tee. Its super soft cotton material was the girl’s favourite. She ended up sleeping in it.

From Seunghyun

To: Eunyoung

Why won’t you reply any of my messages? Don’t leave me hanging. I’m not used to this.

Sitting in the noisy canteen with Jinri and Sunyoung jabbering on either side of her, Eunyoung stared at her handphone screen, thinking hard for the umpteen time whether she should reply Seunghyun’s texts. And if she should, what should she say?

Her friends didn’t know a thing about Seunghyun and all the messages he had sent. She