Familiar (Jungkook x Halla)

2 | Where Are You? -J

I got up from the burnt bench, then headed towards the playground. I stood on the rocks staring at the slide in front of me. It's yellow tint color was still somewhat there as I bent down to look at the engravings on the side of it. Most of them were ruined partly by the melting of the plastic, but I could still see the one engraving that I came for. I brushed my index finger over the indent while trying to remember that time.

***
"Yah! Minyoung, I found you!" I quickly ran to tag her after finding her hidden behind one of the cherry blossom trees.

"You can't catch me Kookie! I'm too fast for you!" she yelled back at me.

I was running out of energy so I slowed down and went to take a quick break on the swings. I guess she knew because she suddenly hid underneath the slide, thinking that I couldn't see her. I saw my opportunity and slowly crept on her from behind.

"GOT YOU!" I said as I grabbed her shoulders. She responded with a high pitch scream that made me laugh and fall to the ground.

"Not funny." She pouted and crossed her arms.

"Is too, I won!" I yelled with my hands raised.

She admitted her defeat then looked at me seriously.

"Kookie Oppa, do you think I'll do fine tomorrow?" I looked at her with wide eyes.

She was referring to her piano recital. Back in Busan, a judge from one of her competitions was extremely impressed by her performance especially since she knew so much at such a young age. Because of that, she was invited to play in Seoul at a concert that I never heard of.

"Of course you'll do fine Minyoung-ah! You're amazing! You'll do perfectly fine." I tried reassuring her, but I could still see the worry in her eyes.

"Hey, look at this." I got up from under the slide and grabbed one of the white rocks from the ground. I started writing on the side of the slide trying really hard to make an indent as I wrote. I stepped back feeling pleased with it as she looked at what I wrote.

Minyoung Hwaiting!
                
♡ Kookie Oppa

"As long as that stays there you'll do great tomorrow."

"Thank you," she said hugging me, then we both went back to playing tag.

***

I kept standing there staring at it reminiscing on the times I had with my bestfriend. I really did miss her.

After she left to America I was in ruins. Minyoung had told me that her mom wanted to go to America, so they were going to be there for a week. Honestly, at the time I didn't want to hold her back, because I knew how much she loved her mom, and since our families were close, my mom had explained the condition Mrs. Choi was in. Minyoung and I haven't been separated for so long before her trip which, was why I was so reluctant to let her go. But she had promised me that she would call me everyday, but she never called once. Since then, promises no longer have any meaning to me.

The only call I ever received was when Mr. Choi called my house saying that Ms. Choi died on the play ride there. He informed us that they were going to spend more time there which made me more hurt. I felt bad getting mad at Minyoung when she didn't call me, and I couldn't imagine what she was going through. After that, we no longer received any calls from them and lost complete contact.

I shoved my right hand into my pocket and took out my key chain. On it I kept the ring that Minyoung had given me. I never wore it, because it was so painful to see everyday, but as long as I had it with me, I had some hope.

I really did miss her. Before leaving to America, she told me to follow my dream of being a singer, which is what I did. Two years after she left, I finally had the courage to audition to be an idol. She was right when she said I'd make it in on the first try.

Some part of me auditioned because I felt like there was some sort of hope in getting to meet her again, because of her love for music like me.

But another part of me was terrified. Terrified by the fact that, what if she wasn't alive? What if the reason she never called back was because something terrible happened to her.

For ten years this was all that haunted me. At times I was given some hope that she was still alive and well, but then my worries would dominate and crush that hope.

All I want is the chance to meet her again, and know that she is having a great life. Is that too much to ask?

I looked from my keychain up to the sky that had now turned dark and sparkly.

"Minyoung-ah, where are you?"