10 years ago
 
Ji Hoon is sitting alone on the back lawn of the campus, under the tree where he used to sit with Iseul. He plans to ask Iseul to come along with him to an architectural exhibition. He actually always goes to that kind of display alone, but since getting to know her, he always hopes to be able to spend all of the time with her. 
 
He didn't know why, but he felt so comfortable being by the side of the Ity girl, and his heart felt so warm. He had never felt such a connection with anyone before, and Iseul was the only girl who could make his heart feel confused as well as happy at the same time. 
 
He is actually a shy guy who can't talk comfortably and easily with any girl, but with Iseul he will nag a lot, even though he never tells the girl how she has been able to make his heart keep beating so fast every time he stays with her. 
 
"Iseul-ah, there is an architectural exhibition tomorrow; do you want to come with me?" Ji Hoon told himself, pretending that Iseul was with him.
 
"Ah, anniya!" said Ji Hoon, rubbing his hair.
 
"Iseul-ah, come accompany me to see the exhibition tomorrow; it must be very fun to go together with you," said Ji Hoon again, trying to find another sentence that was more suitable.
 
"Ah, that's too cheesy; what if she feels awkward with my sentence selection?" Ji Hoon said it again, feeling confused with himself.
 
"Yak Iseul-ah! I have plans to see the architectural exhibition tomorrow. Would you like to join me? ah! "Forget it, why is it so hard to ask her to go together?" In the end, Ji Hoon gave up.
 
          "oppa! "What are you doing?" said Iseul, who suddenly appeared and patted Ji Hoon on the shoulder.
 
"Ah..em..oh hi Iseul-ah!" The man said he was really nervous.
 
"Hi, oppa!" replied the girl cheerfully.
 
Iseul then leans against the tree and enjoys the fresh air while Ji Hoon sits awkwardly, trying to say whatever he can to ask Iseul to go with him.
 
"What is it, oppa?" ask Iseul to see the ticket that Ji Hoon is holding—tomorrow's exhibition ticket.
 
           "ah ige? This is an architectural exhibition ticket that I visit every year. "I want to go there tomorrow," explained Ji Hoon, showing his ticket to Iseul.
 
           "you have two tickets for yourself?"The girl was confused.
 
            "Ah really? "I got two?" asks Ji Hoon again, pretending not to know.
 
"Yes, one, two..." Iseul said while counting the number of tickets in Ji Hoon's hand. 
 
"Well, I must have bought it wrong, how is this, huh? "Would you like to go with me instead?" Ji Hoon asked, then pretended to be relaxed.
 
"Oppa," Iseul said with a suspicious look.
 
             "w..wae?" Ji Hoon was nervous to see Iseul staring intently at his face.
 
"Are you really going to ask me out on a date?" Iseul asked him later.
 
             "dating? A...anniya! "How could that be?" Ji Hoon felt very embarrassed and confused.
 
               "hahaha... oppa, what's wrong with your reaction? I'm just kidding; I know that you just think of me as a sister, don't you? "I know that." Iseul said in the end.
 
                 "sister? Ah yes! "You're like my own sister!" Ji Hoon said firmly: He feels relieved that Iseul gave him a reason to avoid his original intentions and hide his nerves, but he doesn't know that Iseul actually felt devastated when he confirmed it that way.
 
Actually, she just wants Ji Hoon to tell her that she is more than just his sister or friend; she hopes he will tell her that she is someone special to him. She felt hurt about it, but she kept pretending that she was okay and kept smiling.
 
             "okay then. "I'll go with you," Iseul said in the end. Ji Hoon couldn't hide his smile when he listened to it. Finally, the girl was willing to go with him, and she already felt excited by just imagining it.
 
              The next day, Ji Hoon and Iseul go together to the exhibition. The two secretly felt happy spending the time together like that. Although they are quite close to each other, it is the first time they go out together, and they can feel that they are becoming even closer. 
 
While they were busy observing the display, Ji Hoon secretly took a photo of Iseul with his phone. He smiled at himself for looking at the picture; the girl was indeed very beautiful. After feeling tired of looking around at the displays, they then decided to go to the nearest cafe and take some rest for a while.
 
          "oppa, changkaman.. "I want to go to the toilet," said Iseul, standing up from her chair and going to the toilet. Ji Hoon just smiled and nodded, giving her permission to leave.
 
"Drt..drt..drt....." suddenly Ji Hoon felt a long vibration on the table.
 
He turned his head and found Iseul's phone was vibrating; the girl had gotten a phone call. Ji Hoon could see the caller's name on the phone's screen. He could see the name on her phone written as "Kang Gary oppa," and there was also an emoticon smile at the end of the contact's name.
   
Ji Hoon turned his gaze the other way, trying to ignore the call. He felt disrespectful if he had to pick up the call for someone else, but somehow he felt very curious about who called Iseul by that name. In the end, Ji Hoon decides to answer the phone.
 
"Yo Song Iseul, my beautiful girlfriend... where are you?" "I missed you," said a man over the phone. He is Kang Gary. 
 
Gary and Iseul are used to calling each other girlfriends and boyfriends because their friends always tell them that they look like a couple, so Gary and Iseul decide to call each other like that as a joke.
 
Ji Hoon is surprised when he listens to the man's voice, especially when he calls Iseul his girlfriend. He never thought that Iseul was in a relationship with anyone, and somehow his heart felt like it was being torn apart for knowing that.
 
"Eh, Iseul is in the restroom now," said Ji Hoon, trying to control his voice as calmly as possible.
 
             "eoh? "Who is this?" Gary was surprised to learn that a man had answered a call on Iseul's cell phone.
 
"I am... her friend..." Ji Hoon is not sure how to answer the question.
 
            "jinjayo? Then, please tell Iseul that Gary oppa is looking for her; I haven't seen her since yesterday, and I miss her so much. Ah! Actually, you don't have to do that; I'll call her again later, let alone since we'll meet tomorrow at college. Okay then. "Thank you, chinggu-ssi," said Gary, ending the phone call.
 
After receiving a phone call, Ji Hoon is left to blank in his position; he freezes in his chair. Somehow he felt like there was a heavy and large object holding his chest; he felt like his heart had broken into pieces. He then sees Iseul walking towards him, and he immediately puts the girl's phone back on the table.
 
           "oppa, gwenchana?"Iseul asked when she discovered the change in Ji Hoon's facial expression.
 
"You're done, right?" Can I leave you now? "I have other business," Ji Hoon said coldly to Iseul. 
 
He didn't actually have any business he needed to do; he was just lying because he wanted to leave as soon as possible. He couldn't bear to see Iseul anymore today, because every time he saw her face, he felt his heart was suffering a lot.
 
          "n-ne..."Iseul said she was confused. Iseul looked surprised by his attitude, which turned cold all of a sudden.
 
Since that day, Ji Hoon has kept trying to avoid Iseul; he actually doesn't understand why he did such a thing either. But every time he sees Iseul, he keeps remembering that she is someone else's girlfriend, and that fact really gives him a very deep and deep pain.
 
One day, Ji Hoon accidentally sees Iseul with a guy in her class. They look so close and are joking together. That person is Kang Gary, Iseul Sunbae. Gary would be so relaxed, stroking Iseul's hair while Iseul giggled and gently hit Gary's arm. Seeing that Iseul seemed very happy with the other man made Ji Hoon's heart freeze. 
 
He feels like he really means nothing to Iseul; whether he wants to admit it or not, he is very jealous of Gary, and he really hates that feeling. After seeing Iseul with Gary, Ji Hoon decides to leave because he can't stand seeing Iseul with another man. There was so much suffering for him.
 
"Oppa, are you avoiding me?" ask Iseul to Ji Hoon. The girl suddenly appears out of nowhere and approaches Ji Hoon, who is walking alone in the alley.
 
"I'm not the kind of person who avoids others just because of a small problem," said Ji Hoon coldly while keeping walking, making Iseul lag behind and try to keep chasing after him. 
 
Ji Hoon cursed himself for saying such a thing to Iseul because, in fact, he had actually done that. He had actually avoided Iseul because of a minor problem: he felt jealous whenever he thought about Iseul and Gary.
 
          "then why? "Did I do something wrong?" Iseul asked confusedly.
 
              "it would be nice if you could respect people by hearing them" Ji Hoon said it expressionlessly, leaving a big puzzle in Iseul's mind.
 
"It would be nice if you could hear my heart beating for you... Ji Hoon added it to his heart.
 
                "What do you mean? "Who should I listen to?" Iseul asked confusedly. Ji Hoon was silent for a while and continued walking.
 
            "nothing... "Just get out of my sight; I don't want to see you," said Ji Hoon, speaking coldly and quickening his pace.
 
"Oppa, you are really annoying!" Iseul shouted to make Ji Hoon stop his steps and turn around to look at her. 
 
"If I did something wrong that made you mad at me, then tell me!" Don't act cold all of a sudden like this, avoiding me for no reason whatsoever, pretending not to recognize me, and never telling me what really happened! said Iseul has reached the limit of her patience.
 
"I've told you so many times, but you never listen to me!" said Ji Hoon.
 
         "I told you for so many times in my silence that I really suffer Iseul-ah, I feel in pain seeing you with that man; why didn't you tell me that you already have a boyfriend? Why didn't you tell me that? If you tell me from the beginning that you already have a boyfriend, then I will take care of my heart more carefully so as not to fall in love with you. I will prevent this feeling of falling in love with you. "I have secretly told you that I love you; I keep telling you that I love you every time I look into your eyes, but you never listen to my heart," said Ji Hoon in his heart. His heart seemed to want to explode immediately when he thought about all of those things.
 
"When... when did you do that?" All you did was just shut up and keep avoiding me. When did you ever try to tell me what happened? What's the matter? "I really can't understand you, oppa!" Iseul shouted in frustration. 
 
Ji Hoon was silent for a while and looked at her with an unreadable expression. He realizes that all of that time he only talked to himself and never told Iseul directly, and he can't blame the girl for not being able to recognize his feelings.
 
"Mian... did I ever ask you to understand me?" Ji Hoon asked expressionlessly in a flat tone.
 
His pride won't let him tell Iseul the truth about the deep feelings he has for the girl. His pride won't let him tell someone else's girlfriend that he loves her.
 
"Even though you never asked me to understand you, but... I want to understand you, because... we're friends, right?" said Iseul, hesitantly staring into his cold eyes.
 
         "friend? Really?"Ji Hoon's grin
 
"Well, I think you've misunderstood me then; I never said that we are friends; we are just strangers who accidentally know each other; we have never been friends," Ji Hoon said viciously. 
 
Ji Hoon didn't know how he could say such a thing to Iseul, but he had already said it. His heart felt so cold and frozen after he said the phrase to the girl standing in front of him, thinking that he might have hurt the girl, making Ji Hoon hate himself.
 
"So... that's why you always pretend that you don't recognize me when you're with your friends?" ignore me like we never knew each other? So... that's your reason? because you see me as a stranger? Just knowing? So what about all the time we spent together for such a long time? You are a very cruel uncle! You never even gave me a chance to find out what's wrong with you, but you treated me like a mindless stranger! "You are a bad person who has no feelings at all!" yelled Iseul, feeling very angry. She just wanted to leave immediately and stop their quarrel by leaving the man alone. She doesn't want to be with him now.
 
"mwo? "What did you say about me?" ask Ji Hoon to pull Iseul's hand, but the girl instead threw his hand violently. 
 
"Don't touch me, you asshole." Napeun namja!"Iseul said with sharp eyes.
 
           "why are you saying all those things about me? Do you know me well? Do you know how I feel? Why do you judge me all you wish? Aish jinjaa!!"yelled Ji Hoon, throwing his hand into the air.
 
               Without another word, Ji Hoon turns around and leaves Iseul alone.  When Ji Hoon had walked far enough, he slowed his pace and turned around. He could see Iseul's back, which was already far in front of him. He sighed deeply and then leaned against the wall. He stroked his hair in frustration and then looked at the empty hallway; Iseul was no longer seen. He rubbed his face in frustration and looked at the empty hallway with a sad face; he couldn't see Iseul anymore.
 
              The next day, Ji Hoon can't find Iseul anywhere. He wants to meet her and apologizes to Iseul for the thing that happened yesterday, but even after he looks for her everywhere, he still can't find Iseul. He then decided to call her, but he realized that his phone was dead; he had forgotten to charge it before. 
 
            The man could only turn on his phone in the evening. Immediately when he turned on his phone, he received a message from Iseul for him. His little eyes widened as he read the message. The girl had sent him a message three hours ago. He quickly called Iseul's number, but her number was already inactive.
 
Without thinking anymore, Ji Hoon then ran quickly and stopped the taxi that was passing there. He goes to the airport immediately, and he runs inside to look for Iseul. He ran around the airport, but of course he couldn't find her anywhere; he was already too late.
 
"Haaassh!" screamed Ji Hoon, irritably kicking the wall in front of him.
 
Some people looked at him with confused faces. Ji Hoon then leaned against the wall with his right hand as a support and placed his forehead on his hand. He looked at the floor sadly.
 
"You're such a fool, Ji Hoon-ah, Paboya...." Ji Hoon muttered to himself.