In the darkness, he stepped on the damp floor of the thick forest towards her.

As he got closer, the path was getting brighter, being shined upon by the streams of bright moonlight.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful! Can I just pluck this flower?”

He missed her cheery voice, along with her lively presence around him. In fact, all that he thought about during the day and dreamed about during the night since that day was her. Now that she was standing in front of his own eyes, he could not waste a moment but to approach her – and perhaps, to embrace her.

However, upon looking at her closer, he realized that something was wrong.

Those dazzling eyes were not there; instead the pair of eyes that he looked at were blank – was it him or those eyes looked glassy, as if droplets of tear might be shed from those eyes at any time now?

The pouty lips that would always carve a wide loving smile every time she set her eyes upon him was replaced with a chapped, tight-lipped pout, reflecting the hardships that the girl might have gone through before.

The radiant-looking face of Myeongwol that can be compared poetically to a full moon – which is her namesake – was not healthily radiant. All that he saw now was a pale, dull and almost-sick face. All of these made her look nothing like lively; in fact she looked not like herself to be honest.

Where have the happy-go-lucky, vibrant girl named Myeongwol gone to?

His heart felt a tug of mixed emotions; a feeling of longing for her presence by his side was one of it, but also the sadness upon looking the present Myeongwol which was completely different than the Myeongwol he had known.

Nevertheless, he could not help but to admire her – despite everything that he noticed earlier – as her face was showered by the bright light of the full moon. As he admired her from far, he recalled a Persian proverb that he stumbled upon while reading the novel Myeongwol gave to him.

“The loveliest faces are to be seen by moonlight, when one sees half with the eye and half with the fancy”

Perhaps he did like her for a short time. No, he did not like her. It was something else, foreign and alien.

He loved her back then, and now he still did.

When he looked up, he saw that Myeongwol was getting closer to the river, as if she was trying to drown herself.

Without wasting any second, Baekhyun ran up to her and pulled her off the mighty river.