A few months had passed. You were sitting on the floor at the table in front of the television. You were doing your assignments while listening to the news.

*In other entertainment news, Xing Entertainment has announced the addition of rapper, Yong Junhyung, to their already popular group, Xing.*

Your head snapped up immediately and you stopped writing. So it’s true. He really is going to debut. Oppa, I miss you and I wonder how you’re doing. I guess you must be happy that you’re dreams are coming true. You shook you head to dispel your thoughts before continuing with your assignment. You really didn’t want to end up falling back into a self-pity mode again.

You had originally thought that you would hear of Junhyung more often after his debut. But that didn’t happen. If you didn’t make an effort to search for him on the internet, you wouldn’t know anything about him at all. Then again, why would you hear about him? Your lives were so different that there was no overlap at all. He was living his dream, getting more popular each day, while you were just a normal university student. You were still busy juggling school and working part-time at the café. Even though the expenses were significantly lower now that you lived by yourself, you still had to save up for your future. You were almost certain that you wanted to further your studies plus, you wanted to be able to take care of your mom. Some days, you even wished that she was here in Seoul with you.

Today just happened to be such a day. A year had come around and it was your birthday again. Your mom had called you early in the morning and wished you. Soojin had also wished you the moment she met up with you and even bought you dinner at a nice family restaurant.

“Unni, are you sure this is ok? Let’s just have a simple meal somewhere else.” You suggested.

“Ani. It’s my best friend’s birthday! How can we not celebrate? We’re having samgyupsal and it’s my treat. Don’t worry, ------ah,  I wouldn’t offer if I could afford it.” She ruffled your hair.

You stuck out your tongue at her and fixed your hair. “Thank you, unni.” You added after you were done straightening your hair.

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m just really glad that you’re at least trying to live your life now. I can see that you’re beginning to find your own happiness.” You didn’t like talking about this but the smile she offered was so sincere that you couldn’t help but smile back.

“It hasn’t been easy but you’ve been there for me whenever I needed you to. I’m lucky to have you as a friend, unni.”

The ahjumma came over with your order and side dishes and broke the heavy atmosphere. “Ok, enough of the mushy talk. Let’s eat!” Soojin rubbed her hands together, eyeing the food, while you nodded enthusiastically.

At the end of the day though, you found yourself buried under the covers, staring intensely at the phone held in your hands. It was as if you were hoping that if you stared at your phone long enough, Junhyung would call. Midnight came and there was still no call. Oppa, did you really forget me? What about your promise? Were they all lies? You threw your phone somewhere and curled up into a ball. You wished your mom was here. You could really do with a hug right now.