5th∞

Something as crazy as falling in love with a stranger shouldn't happen to me. I had my walls up. I had guarded everything that was dear to me and was at risk of getting broken or hurt. But it ended up happening anyway. 

I can't say I was in love. It wasn't a summer love like everyone would say it was. It was more of a mere attraction. My heart wasn't beating like crazy, so I wasn't at that stage everyone falls into. I was simply there, merely thinking of him from time to time and smiling a little to myself when I imagine his smile again. 

Here lies the question: should I let all of these play along, or simply put a forced stop into it? I wasn't too sure what I should be doing with these feelings. I didn't want the risk of getting hurt once again. I've been there once, and I didn't want to take the same road again. 

You see, the thing about love is that the people you fall in love with... they're either different from what you expected them to be or exactly the same as to the last one. Either you'll get heartbroken again, or you'll find yourself caught up in a different and beautiful love story. 

The thing that troubled me now is the fact that I simply couldn't guess whether or not Mingyu was different from my last one or a completely different person. I wanted to risk and find out, but I was too afraid. 

My heart was a paper heart for a reason. And a person with a paper heart must take all measures to protect it since it was so fragile. There mustn't be a hesitation. 

But those walls were slowly breaking down and once it was big enough, his name passed through and made its way onto my heart. It wasn't a clear writing of his name, but a simple scribble. And when it came to scribbles, it will always be erased. Then, it'll either be permanently erased or temporarily erased so that it can be written clearly and prettily. 

I was afraid the latter would happen.

I shook my head and pushed the big fluffy pillow against my face. I shouldn't be thinking of thoughts regarding him, but that was what I found myself doing these days. It wasn't fun, but it was, at the same time. 

Why? I asked myself a ton of times. Why did it happen? I was careful, I was alerted. Then he came crashing into my life like a strong wave you didn't know was coming. All I knew was his name. Kim Mingyu. I didn't know who was his girlfriend. I didn't know if he had a crush. I didn't really know anything about him. 

I would, really, but that was risking everything again. It was dangerous enough his name is already on my paper heart. Why would I continue to risk things? 

Forget him, Yeoreum. By the end of this summer, you'll be in university and you won't have to see him. You'll be busy, you'll be living in a dorm. You won't coincidentally meet him on the streets when you walk or try to deal with the seasons. You'll be in your dorm room, studying and trying your best to get good grades. 

Think happy thoughts like these. I'll be fine until the end of summer. I just need to avoid him again. I'm so glad he didn't have my number. In fact, I was so glad we didn't exchange numbers at all. 

But, wait. We did. Indirectly—without warning. 

It was that day when I ordered chicken from Sarang Chicken. He had my phone number because I told them to call my number if they still couldn't find me. I had his number too, since I presumed he used his own personal phone to contact me. 

I just hope he didn't save my number. I didn't save his—I wasn't going to, in fact. I had to let go as early as now or that paper heart of mine will take the same, painful road twice. 

Speak of the devil. I just received a message from him. And just when I said I didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. 

yeoreum~~~

aww, i like your name! 

yeoreummmmmmm~~

yeoreum yeoreum yeoooooooo reummmmmm

i'm bored rn so can we meet up somewhere? 

My heart wasn't exactly beating heavily, like everyone described their hearts would. But it was more like a distinctive beat every once in a while. It wasn't frequent, but it was there. 

I didn't want to meet him. In fact, I shouldn't meet him but that was what I found myself doing in the end. 

Me: Let's meet at Time Square Korea then, if you're that persistent 

Mingyu: okay! ^^ 

I honestly didn't want to have to meet him again but because the story was already writing on its own, I had no other choice but go with the flow. Who knows? Maybe the story before was the start of a better story.

∞~∞~∞

I stood there in the entrance of Time Square and waited for Mingyu. Gee, I thought girls were usually the ones late when meeting up with someone. Well, you have to meet Mingyu first before making that judgement. 

Eleven minutes later and he still wasn't here. I had to move to a cooler place since I took the trouble to smell nice for him, but the summer heat was making me sweat and it was going to ruin the smell. 

Where the heck was he? 

I started playing with the long strands of my hair that was tied in a high ponytail. The weather was hot, as usual. It was summer and I continued to wonder when will this hot summer end?

I mostly avoided the people who were passing by where I stood. I didn't like making eye contact with anyone, especially if it's accidental. So I avoided it as much as I could. 

But there were times where I had to check if Mingyu was here or not, so I had to look up and scan the area. When I couldn't see Mingyu or had no clear sign he was here, I immediately looked back down. But a flash of a familiar face remained in my head and I immediately looked up once again. 

I just wanted to hide in a hole when I saw his face. At the same time, I wanted to punch the life out of him. My hands were tightening into a fist but I forced myself not to create a scene. Not when so many people were around. Not when I hated to be put in a spotlight where everyone could see me. 

He looked my way for a second then his eyes stopped. He looked as if he was examining who I was and when he finally recognized who I was, he had a smirk on his face as he approached me.

No, I screamed in my head as I turned my head away, pretending I didn't see him. But it was all too late now, since he was about four steps away from me. 

"Well, hello there, beautiful. Long time no see."

He dare speak to me. 

I snapped my head at his direction and asked, "Are you talking to me?"

He chuckled lightly. "Don't recognize me? Well, I recognize you, Lee Yeoreum. You're as beautiful as always."

"Don't call me by my name. I hate hearing it come out from your mouth." I glared at him. "Leave."

"Why?" He took a step closer to me. I was practically breathing into his shirt. He smirked and caressed the side of my hair. It was just how I remembered it. "Because you miss hearing it from me?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and screamed at his face, causing him to stumble back, startled. "Jung Jaehyun, I told you to leave!"

Jaehyun didn't, sadly. He only smirked in return. "Doesn't it feel nice to call my name after all these times?"

I felt like tears were attacking my eyes but I didn't want to cry in front of him. I didn't want to appear weak in front of him. "Are you happy? You broke three of our hearts. I wasn't just the victim. There were others. Who knows? You probably had more than just the three of us that time, too."

Jaehyun daringly took another step closer. "Yeah, but that was all in the past. If I had known you were this beautiful, I would have never let you leave my side."

My heart. The paper heart of mine. I could hear it being ripped apart. 

I glared at him. "I said, leave! Didn't hear me? Do you want me to repeat it louder this time? I will not hesitate to call the police and report you as a stalker, Jung Jaehyun."

Jaehyun scoffed and tucked his hand into his pocket, as if it wasn't such a big deal. "You wouldn't want to get your boyfriend in trouble, would you? Lee Yeoreum, I was wrong. I've only ever saw you. I was sorry for cheating on you with those girls. Will you come back to me?"

The nerves this guy actually had. 

Jaehyun took a step closer and then pulled me into a forced hug. 

I kept smacking his back and tried to hold back those tears. All those horrible memories came crashing back into my mind. His kiss with the other girl. The words we exchanged to each other when we were still dating. The foolish me who believed he meant everything he said to me. 

When Jaehyun let go, he gave me a smile. "Then... today's our first again, isn't it?"

I screamed at his face and slapped him. "You dirty low-life. How dare you put your hands on me! I trusted you. I loved you. And you ended up hurting me without protecting me. Now... now you try to win me back? Do you think I'm stupid? Do you take me as some fool that will go back to you if you just ask me to? I pity the next girl you'll play with."

"Stop lying, babe." Jaehyun took another step closer, caressing my head. "I know you'll only ever love me."

Just as Jaehyun was about to place his lips on me, a voice said, "Hands off her right now."

I turned around, wondering who that voice could belong to and found Mingyu stepping into the scene. At the sight of him, I couldn't help but feel relieved. 

Jaehyun scoffed and examined him from head to toe. "Who are you supposed to be? You should mind your own business, man."

Mingyu grabbed a hold of my wrist and pulled me closer to him. "Me? I'm her boyfriend, so don't touch my girl."

I only had my eyes on Mingyu. I have never been so surprised in my life. 

"Her boyfriend?" I could feel Jaehyun's eyes on me. "So, the reason you won't come back to me is because you already have a boyfriend?"

I snapped out of it and turned back to face Jaehyun and gave him a glare. "Who would want to go back to you? You're nothing but thrash and no one wants thrash."

Jaehyun chuckled. "You're wrong about that."

A pretty girl came by and Jaehyun threw his arm around her and gave her a smile. The girl said to him, "Jaehyun, shall we go?"

I scoffed. "I can't believe you."

Jaehyun gave her a peck on her lips and nodded. "Yeah, let's go." 

Giving me one last dirty look, he and the girl he was with disappeared into the crowd.

My paper heart... I wasn't sure if it was still beating at this very moment. 

"Yeoreum..."

"How much did you hear?" I didn't even bother to cast him a glance.

"Lee Yeoreum..."

"How much did you hear?" I repeated, impatient. 

Mingyu replied in a softer voice, "From the start until the very end... Yeoreum, I'm sorry."

I shook my head and looked down. "Don't be sorry. I was the one who was the idiot."

"Yeoreum. Look at me for a moment."

I did.

"Let's not go shopping today. I'll take you somewhere else."

"What?" I looked at him, confused. 

Mingyu grabbed a hold of my wrist and nodded his head in the other direction. "Come on." 

I didn't bother to hesitate or protest to his suggestions. I followed him, feeling like it was the right thing to do. Maybe if one horrible story happened, a new one—a better one—will appear. And though I may not be sure about a lot of things... 

I glanced up at Mingyu and was only able to see his back and slightly smiled. Maybe that new and better story was starting to write on its own, and I was glad the story that was writing involved Mingyu.

~Author's Notes~

Jaehyun what are you doing in the story—

Jaehyun: I go where I want to  *fabulous dazzling lights*

Author: omg what— leave boy 

Jaehyun: Fine, but I'm taking my delicious gimbap with you, just so you know 

Author: ;-; dammit 

*when authornim is lonely and she starts creating a conversation with herself and a character* 

Hope you're still enjoying the book :) 

xoxo

Byun Sang Kyung