Unlonely

The Separation

Ri Jeong Hyeok was her puppy love. Seri remembered the few times that they would meet at Uncle Man Bok's events. She would be happy when she would find out that the party would not be limited to relatives because that meant Jeong Hyeok's family would be in attendance.

Unfortunately, it was not often that they had these events but when it did, Seri was sure to be found at Jeong Hyeok's side.

When they were not seeing each other, she would usually play with her dolls, most of whom inevitably fell in love with Jeong Hyeok the doll or Little Hyeoky.

However, as the years went by, they saw each other less and less. Either her parents no longer brought them to parties or Man Bok threw less events as his wife got sick.

The next time they saw each other was when Jeong Hyeok moved to the high school she was attending. His first day in school made the student body talk about the new student who was walking the halls, trying to find his way in the unfamiliar atmosphere. He was hard to miss. Even at that age, he was already taller than a lot the boys who attended and his good looks were hard to miss.

The fact that he was aloof made the girls want to get to know him more.

During one lunch break, as she was checking out the bulletin boards for school event announcements, he saw her and called out, "Yoon Seri!"

Turning, she gave him a shy smile, "Hey there."

"I didn't know you went to this school," he said. "How have you been?"

"Good. Good. You?"

"Okay I guess. I'm still getting used to the environment," he admitted.

Before she could reply, a group of her friends arrived. "Seri!" Looking at Jeong Hyeok from head to foot, they gave him a mean stare."Why are you talking to HIM?!"

"He's a friend," Seri replied.

Jeong Hyeok shifted his weight from one foot to another as the other girls continued to appraise him with their gaze. "Let's go." Seri was then pulled away by the group leaving Jeong Hyeok standing there awkwardly.

"You need to choose your 'friends' carefully. Let's stick with better kinds of boys in this school, alright?" He overheard one of the girls say.

Seri looked back but said nothing and allowed herself to be pulled away from him.

They didn't exchange any significant conversations in school after that.

Recently orphaned, this rejection hurt him but he tried not to dwell on it. He had other things to focus on. He immersed himself in his studies and the games that he enjoyed playing. Thankfully, Man Bok supported his need to escape into the game consoles once in awhile.

"You're going to be alright," Man Bok assured. "I hear that Seri attends the same school. Have you seen her around?"

Jeong Hyeok nodded but said nothing more.

When he was alone in his room, he stared at the two photographs of hers -- one he took from afar when he was helping out the school newspaper chronicle various activities, and the other he found at the bulletin board for an announcement for her acting group. 

He still admired her but at that time he was determined to keep it under wraps. They moved in different circles and he accepted that. He did not wish for her to be the butt of jokes just because of their friendship so he was determined to keep his distance.

Keeping the photos in a special box of memories, he put aside thoughts of Seri and locked them up for good. 

Or so he thought.