until you forget (1/2)

It is October 20, 2010 and she stares out at the crowd in front of the ice cream truck. It’s a warm afternoon despite the chill of autumn, or perhaps it is only because she can feel him beside her, staring longingly at the ice cream truck.

“Do you want some?” she asks and Woohyun laughs at her whole-heartedly, his eyes turning into upward crescent shapes as he does so. He shakes his head and declines her gently, musing to himself how he’d get fat if he ate those sweet treats, but encouraging her all the same to buy some for herself. She counters by using his excuse.

They fall into a comfortable silence before Woohyun talks about his day. She listens intently, as she always does, but her mind drifts away and her eyes go blank. It’s hard listening to the same story over and over again.

He calls her name softly, and she regrets looking at him. Woohyun is staring at her with those eyes, those hauntingly beautiful eyes that convey a thousand different emotions all at once.“I love you.” He suddenly says, and it takes her off guard but her response is almost automatic as she says the three words back to him. As he always does, Woohyun smiles gratefully at her, but there is something different this time and she can’t tell what it is exactly.

“I love you.” He repeats and she gets the feeling that he’s willing her not to say anything else. So she waits, and listens, and his next words crush her heart into a million pieces all over again. “So please don’t come back here anymore.”

She pauses, and waits for him to laugh.

She blinks, and waits for him to tell her he’s joking.

There’s a strangled noise in the back of her throat and she’s not sure if it came from her at all but she knows that once again Woohyun is making her cry.

“…no.” is her firm response. “I won’t.” she says, louder this time.

“Don’t be a kid.” Woohyun calls her name, and from the tone of his voice, she can tell that this isn’t any easier to him as it is to her. “You’ll only be hurt if you come back here again. Especially on this day.” He leans closer to her and the heat he gives off has her turning to look at him, only to find Woohyun only inches away from her. Inches, only centimeters away practically, yet still not touching.

His eyes are begging her. It seems he has run out of things to convince her with.

She has always been a stubborn girl.

She can feel her chest constrict and her heart ache. He’s pushing her back again. It isn’t the first time he has done so, but it is the first time he has done so on this day.