next day
Jin An walked alone in the hallway. he had just returned from their basketball coach's room. he got scold by his coach because he didn't show up for the meeting after the game. but he is quite grateful because his fight with Eun So was not caught.
Jin An stopped for a moment and stood on the edge of the concrete fence on the top floor, he was on the 3rd floor. He looked down, many students were walking, running and playing ball in the school's center field. Jin An kept looking around and saw someone familiar. the cream bun girl seemed to be running in a hurry on the 2nd floor.
Jin An then ran to the second floor. he wants to chase that girl - Ga Eul. as soon as he reached the second floor, Jin An was confused where to look for her. on the second floor there are music, art, laboratory, and class 2 rooms. Jin An walked slowly while looking around. The girls that walking around looked at him whispering. Jin An only smiled briefly and continued walking. after a few minutes he still can't find Ga Eul. He even met Eun So. they just stared at each other intently. Jin An walked past Eun so and returned to his class.
when going to enter the class Jin An pulled by Hyuk.
"Let's play soccer in the field. Mr. Baek is off today," Hyuk said as he pulled Jin An's hand
"But I..." Jin An said
"Hey, let's take him" Hyuk called another friend to help him bring Jin An to the field.
Jin An plays soccer with his classmates, the girls watch them play happily, some of them keep giggling and scream in low voice. Hyuk, Jin An's friend is the most famous student in this school. He is handsome and clever, also from famous rich family. Hyuk and Jin An certainly make the game more interesting to watch.
When the game ends, Jin An looks like he's looking Ga Eul for a second. He ran after her to the back of the school. Jin An's friends followed him fast.
"Why did you run here?" asked Hyuk
"no, I just see someone I know" said Jin An
Then, they walked back to class, pass the back of the school. they joked and pushed each other. one of his friends pushed Jin An to the ground. they laughed and helped Jin An up. Jin An didn't notice that his cell phone had fallen.
A girl with a small body, long hair, and wearing a school uniform is surrounded by three girls who wear the same uniform. The girl stood scared among the other girls. She hugged a book tightly. the bullying girls pulled Ga Eul to a quiet back area of the school.
a girl with short hair - Na ri, then pushed her against the wall, making Ga Eul groan. another girl - Ju yeon, tried to pull a book from her arms. As if she wanted to risk her whole life, Ga Eul curled her body and hugged the book tighter in the middle of her body.
"damn" cursed Ju yeon
"Why are you so stubborn?" Ju yeon pulled Ga Eul's hair
And suddenly they heard the sound of a group of boys talking from a distance, walking toward the girls. Their voices get closer to them, making the bully girls afraid if caught in the middle of torturing other students.
"Let's go, this could be dangerous" Yun Jae ordered
"Our business is not finished" Ju yeon then kicked Ga Eul's head.
Ga Eul slowly felt an excruciating pain in her head. until finally, she faint, without anyone knowing her whereabouts.
The group of boys continued to walk past Ga Eul place, not noticing that there was a girl who had fainted there. in a class, Jin An is busy looking for something on his desk and bag. He even took out the entire contents of his bag on the table.
"What are you doing?" asked Hyuk
"My cell phone" he answered briefly while continuing to look at his bag.
"Just try calling on with my cell phone" Hyuk then lent him his cell phone.
Jin An immediately dials his phone number with a little impatient. the call is active but there is no sign that the cell phone is nearby. just as he was about to hang up the phone, someone answered.
after some time Ga Eul began to sober, and she slowly opened her eyes. She heard a low humming sound. She sat up slowly and looked for the source of the sound while holding back the pain in her head.
the voice came from a cellphone, the cellphone was located in the grass. looks like someone dropped it. Ga Eul picks up the cell phone and she immediately thinks this might be fate. On the cellphone screen was a photo wallpaper of Jin an and his mother.
a slightly trembling girl's voice heard
"Come to the lake park behind the school alone. If I see you coming with other people I will throw your cell phone into the lake" said Ga Eul
Jin An was silent for a moment and returned Hyuk's cell phone. He packed his things and ran fast.
"Hey, where are you going?" Hyuk shouted
He kept running fast so that his friend would not follow him. if he's not wrong it's that bun girl voice.
Finally, he arrived at the lake park near his school. he saw a girl sitting on a wooden bench at the edge of the lake. from a distance he could see a small back that was half covered by her long hair. he approached carefully.
"Sorry, I'm the owner of the cellphone," he said quietly
the girl then turned her head, her face partially covered by her hair, as if she wanted to hide something from others. Ga Eul slowly moves her hand, giving Jin An the handphone. Jin An pays close attention to the girl's details. shaking hands, dirty uniform, the injuries in her knee, cracked glasses, and slightly matted hair.
Jin An accepted the cell phone, but at a young, curious age, the boy made a move Ga Eul didn't expect.
Jin knelt down and still held the girl's hand. He brushed the hair that covered half of her face. and he could see so clearly the red bruises that he could tell they were new slaps. Ga Eul pushed Jin An's hand away slowly, almost gently, but Jin An hold her hand and put his head at Ga Eul's lap for a second and looked up.
"Who did this to you?" Jin An asked
Jin An doesn't get an answer, the only answer he gets is Ga Eul's tears. Jin An wipe Ga Eul's tears.
"Alright, I won't ask anymore. but let me sit beside you today. as you do for me before" Jin An said
Jin An sat beside Ga Eul and spent a few hours with her looking at the calm lake. He can smell vanilla and peach fragrance from Ga Eul, she wears a unique shape of a ring on her left hand.
a time walk slowly, without realizing it, the gentle breeze and the calming view of the lake lulled him to sleep. Ga Eul put the Jin An's head on her shoulder so he could be more comfortable. Ga Eul touched the boy's hair a little. she had a love side with this boy all this time. but she never have the courage to confess, along with the bullying that she gets, she will have more problem if people know that she like a famous boy in this school.
Ga Eul has mixed feelings. She stood on the edge of the lake and moved slowly into the lake. She kept moving until the lake water was up to her knees. She then turned around and saw Jin An who was still sleeping from a distance. Her tears flowed and she moved out of the lake. the freezing water make her more trembling. she walk out from the lake. Ga Eul realizes this is a stupid thing. Ga Eul walks slowly towards Jin An and with trembling cold hands, she touched Jin An's face while whispering
"see you again my love" and kissed Jin An's forehead.
Jin An had a dream in his sleep, he saw the girl jump into the lake. he then woke up with a very fast heartbeat, and cold sweat pouring, he looked around, it was already dusk. He stood up and looked around, the girl- Ga Eul- was gone. he was running around looking for the girl. he didn't know what to shout because he didn't know the girl's name. he then returned to where they were sitting earlier. there he found a book. he then opened the book and flipped through the sheets of paper looking for a clue. the wind then blew the pages of the book quickly and dropped a photo also an envelopes. the Polaroid photo the girl took while the boy was asleep on her shoulder. only his face was clear, the girl's face was hidden by her hair. on the back of the photo, it says.
"I am very grateful today. The day I will remember for the rest of my life. The day I met you, was the last person I spent time with. I pray that in the future you will always be happy"
Jin An opened the envelope, there's pic of him that drawn by pencil and a ring. Jin An look at the ring. the ring is really small for his finger. he then untie his necklace that his mom gave and put Ga Eul ring on it as pendant and put again in his neck.
Jin An's heart was racing. did the dream come true, did the girl drown in the lake? Jin An try to enter the lake, but he stop as soon as his foot enter the water, the water is so freezing. he was frustrated, if he reports to the police station, there is no proof that the girl committed suicide in the lake. He could have been accused of making up stories and dragged into bad things. he ran home to his house and read the book page by page hoping to get some clues. but it seems impossible because the contents of the book are a collection of wise words. and various decorations such as scrapbooks. one things that he really regret is, until the last time he never knew that cream bun girl real name.
next day
Jin An woke up from his sleep. his mother kept calling his name while knocking on the door.
"Jin An, time to wake up," his mother said
he slowly sat down and took a deep breath. he looked around and saw a book on the table. He then realized, he immediately took his cell phone and checked the news. his heart was pounding. he was then relieved that there was no news regarding any suicides or bodies floating in the lake near his school. he sighed, maybe the cream bun girl had gone somewhere.
he is getting ready for school. he went downstairs where his family was already sitting preparing breakfast.
"What's with the long face?" asked his brother
"Nothing" he answered simply
"Mom I'm leaving," he said
"Eat first, there is still time," said his mother
"Later, I have something to do" he then walked away
"Hmm, how strange, does that kid have a girlfriend?" his brother was surprised
"Is that true?" her mother wondered
Jin An got on the bus while listening to music through his earphones. Jin An is a student who is quite famous in his school. he is the captain of the basketball team. he is so reliable that he can become a captain at a young age, it's rare for 1st graders to become captains unless he's great. he was instantly recognized for his skills and good looks. although he does not stand out in terms of academics, he is a good student and has quite good grades. he's tall, has beautiful eyes, a sharp nose, and wide lips that make him look handsome and make girls adore him.
Jin An also famous around boys cause of his friendly and warm personality, he looks like a perfect boy that will never hurt others. but as a person Jin An just the same as other people, he has flawless too. but he keeps telling himself that he could do better at some rate he seems to put pressure on himself. when he's alone he will feel so much bitter taste in himself, he feels that he didn't do his best daily.
he never bothered with other people's business or had a romantic feelings with others. but this girl caught his attention, almost like a curiosity but he can't confirm is he also had a crush love feeling.
Jin An walked to his class, put down his bag, and rushed to the library.
"Can you show me where I can see the names and photos of this year's 1st-year students?" he asked the librarian
"Walk down aisle number 6 and look into the "students" section, you will find a book with a brown leather cover" he replied
"Thank you," Jin An said
he walked in the indicated direction and easily found the book.
he turned the book over carefully and searched in detail. he hoped to find some clue. he was so engrossed in the book that he didn't notice the bell had already rung. while busy turning the book, some girls entered the library. he saw the girls from the aisle where he was sitting turning a book.
the girls walked into aisle number 5 right next to Jin An. They then whispered to each other.
"why are we here?" asked a girl with short hair
"quiet, don't make noise. only here we can talk. not many people come here" said the curly-haired girl
"That girl suddenly disappeared. This is bad. Even though we were just playing with her," said the short-haired girl
"What are you kidding, we have bullied her for several months. And yesterday she wanted to submit a report regarding the bullying that we did to the principal's office," said the curly-haired girl.
the other girl, with straight hair, hasn't said a word since earlier and just listened to the conversation. then their conversation suddenly stopped. Jin An felt a sense of threat as if the girls were going to catch him. The second-period bell rang, distracting them a bit.
"Let's go to class, we can get punished if we miss Mr. Choi's lesson"
Jin An sighed. in a way he was relieved. Jin An take a closer look yo student book again. finally He found her, her name is Cho Ga Eul. Jin An run to administrative office to ask about her absence. Jin An walk with weak leg. administrative office just confirmed that Ga Eul already transferred to another school this morning. Jin An ask where she transferred, but it's a secret.
Jin An returned to class, he stay in the class without paying any attention to his lesson. his mind is wandering. after bel ring, he immediately took the girl's journal, and confirmed something. he came out of his class again carrying the journal and stepped into the basketball club's locker room. He opened the locker and took out a pile of letters he had kept. the average content of a love letter that he never replied to. but among the many letters, 4 letters are very unique and have something in common. the letter did not contain any writing, but in the form of objects, there were polaroid photos, dried flowers that were fragrant and tiny, and sunflower seed.
Jin An just realized that the letters had something in common, there was a small picture or symbol in the corner of the envelope. which he then compared with the pictures in the journal. and sure enough, it was the same image and meant that the girl who sent the letter and the owner of this book were the same person, also she's the one that he meet and spend time with yesterday. the letter is very unique like a puzzle. he would usually find the letter every 1st day of the month, in a place the girl had hidden according to the hint in the previous letter.
Jin An sat down on the club bench and sighed, finally all the puzzled solve. the girl he bought bread last time, the girl who sent her a riddle letter, the girl who spent time with him at basketball court, and the girl who he meet at the lake is the same girl, Cho Ga Eul. Jin An look at polaroid photo that taken before Ga Eul leave him. He put inside the journal. Jin An open his locker to put Ga Eul journal. Jin An lock his locker and walk to live his life as usual while keep Ga Eul ring at his necklace.
Ga Eul left and was never seen again at school. the bullies received disciplinary punishment a month later after Ga Eul anonymously submitted a report and evidence of the bullying. as he spend his day, without Jin An noticing time passed so fast when in grade 3 he received an offer to become a trainee for an agency to prepare for debut as an idol. slowly the memory of Ga Eul was buried in his memory. until some bad luck that makes his life upside down comes. but like fate, they might meet someday again.