dear jaehyun ii

"for a, what?!"

"do you need me to send you there?"

"appa, don't worry. i'll be fine. you need to like, chill out you know. i'll be careful this time. i promise," i joked while bringing up my pinky finger.

"rightt, stay away from danger. call me if anything happens," father replied as wrapped his pinky onto mine. i gave father a final hug before setting out to meet jaehyun.

the weather was beyond lovely. the birds chirped harmoniously along with the rustling, falling leaves. the streets were bustling with car honks, but it was bearable. i made my way to meet jaehyun at the café across my former highschool.

"oh, you're early!" jaehyun was at the café entrance, and it took me by surprise.

"of course, i skipped the final class," he whispered.

shocked beyond words, i punched his arm. "i'm not sure how you were like back then, but skipping classes are too much mister. it's your senior year. let me remind -"

"this jiwoo is naggy and so much talkative now. i like that," jaehyun interjected with a smile showing his sunken dimples.

"oh. uh, i'm sorry. i didn't mean to -"

"it's fine. i'll explain everything. come on, let's go inside," jaehyun ushered me into the vintage café.

"so, why did you bring me here?" i asked the nineteen year old curiously.

"for a date, duh," he responded candidly.

"for a.. what?!" i choked on my americano after hearing his reply.

"i was just kidding," he answered while taking some serviette to clean the minor spill on the table while laughing.

"it's. not. funny," i pouted.

"i'm sorryyyyyy. i didn't mean to," jaehyun's somewhat aegyo mode turned on and replied in a child-like way.

"pftt, i'm not falling for that. jung jiwoo doesn't get swayed easily. now, straight to the point. why did you call me here?" i placed my americano down and looked at him in the eye.

"alright so, i know that you lost your memories after the accident. right?"

"tell me about it, man. i've lost almost everything," i scoffed.

"i'm here to help you," jaehyun's determination overwhelmed the conversation.

"help, how?" i asked.

"in every single way i can. starting now. this was the place where we hung out after school, but not all the time though. we usually study here all the way till' late at night if the library was packed. you always enjoyed the ambience of it, and the view beyond the clear glass panel," jaehyun explained the memories he had of me in a soothing and comforting voice.

"what was i like in the past? are you close enough to say anything?" i blurted out.

"ahh, that. you didn't have many friends back then. you were always on your own in class and during breaks. you liked being alone, i would say. until, i came! believe it or not, i turned your life upside down and that's when you actually had human interaction," he smirked from the thought of apparently turning my life upside down.

"was i that pathetic then? what happened though? was i ugly? or was i just pure dumb?" i laughed.

"NO. you weren't pathetic. you're clearly not the ugliest in school. but for sure, you were the top student back then. i wasn't sure what happened. i was a transfer student, and i became your seat partner," jaehyun answered.

"transfer student??"

"yup, i entered in semester two,"

"ah, i see"

"are you done with your coffee? let's go now. i have other places to show you," jaehyun held onto my wrist and left the café together.

he began showing me the places that we always spend our time together, parks, libraries, gardens. you name it, he took me a tour everywhere.

lastly, jaehyun brought us to a beach nearby to watch the sunset. he came along escorted with two ice cream cones.

"coconut ice cream!" jaehyun shoved it onto my palms.

"oh thank you. how did you know it was my favourite?" i asked curiously.

"tsk, i told you. i know you well, very well," he nodded with affirmation.

we remain silent watching the sunset. it was mesmerising that none of us spoke a word. minutes turn to hours, we then left the beach.

"thank you for today, jaehyun. i enjoyed myself a lot. it's been awhile," i looked up and smiled.

"i hope it'll regain one or two of your memories. i'm always a call away, you know that right?" jaehyun placed his hands on my shoulder, making my heart race a little.

i didn't respond, but broke a grin to enjoy the moment for a little before he broke the silence. "i'll send you home," he said.

"you know where i stay?" i asked as i felt flabbergasted.

"uh yeah. we were that close," jaehyun chuckled.

wait, were we a ..? wait no. impossible. we couldn't have been. screw it. i'm asking him.

"jaehyun. uhh.."

"yes?"

"were we a thing in a past? as in like, did we have something s..special?" i stumbled upon my words hesitantly.