The night went by faster than they had thought and when Hwayoung looked at her phone the next time it already showed 5 am. Of course she was a bit tired but she wanted to spend the last few hours with the boys.
"Do you remember what we always did on our last day?", Jibeom asked a bit hesitant, not sure if she'd like the idea, but Hwayoung immediately nodded. Without answering his question she jumped up and came back a few moments later.
In her hands were sparklers.
"Should we go outside and watch the stars?", she asked into the room and everyone agreed. They took some blankets and sat down on the terrace. Then Hwayoung gave everyone a sparkler and they watched them burn down slowly.
"A shooting star!", Youngtaek yelled and pointed at the night sky. Soon everyone watched the stars and more and more shooting stars appeared.
"What did you wish for?", Jibeom asked curious and smiled at Hwayoung. The only light came from the sparklers lighting only half of her face.
"I can't tell you. It wouldn't become true, then."
Hwayoung turned to Jibeom. This time she didn't back away when she noticed how close their faces were. She was about to say something but then the sky got brighter, reminding her of the coming goodbye. Hwayoung tried not to let her sadness show but Jibeom read her like an open book.
"I guess this is our last sunrise for a long time.", Hwayoung said instead, not building up enough courage to tell him about her feelings and couldn't hide the sad tone in her voice. Once again Jibeom didn't look at the sunrise, even though he loved it as much as Hwayoung did, instead his eyes were fixed on Hwayoung. Softly he intertwined his fingers with hers.
"Promise me it isn't our last one together."
A smile grew on Hwayoung's lips, causing Jibeom's heart to jump a beat. "Promise."
"Did you wish for something?", Jangjun whispered into Siyeon's eyes as he gave her a back hug. Comfortable Siyeon leaned back on his chest and noticed he was taller than she had thought at first.
"Why should I?", she asked. "I already have everything I wished for."
At this a smile appeared on Jangjun's face and he softly placed a kiss on Siyeon's hair while rocking back and forth.
"I'm not sure if I should be jealous or glad I don't have something cheesy like this.", Donghyun whispered at the sight of the two lovebirds. Bomin laughed at that.
"I'm sure there'll be a time you'll be in their place."
"Maybe. But I hope it takes a bit longer, though."
"You're just jealous, you don't have someone to kiss.", Jangjun teased and sat down next to them. Siyeon already wanted to sit down next to him but Jangjun smoothly pulled her on his lap and put his arms around her while his head rested on her shoulder. Even though she'd study in Seoul soon, they'd still be apart for a while and Jangjun just wanted to remember everything about her.
Together the group sat there on the terrace, just watching the sun rise on their last day together.
"Have a safe trip back to Seoul.", Hwayoung said as she helped the boys get their luggage into the cars. Daeyeol turned to her, clearly holding back a yawn.
"It probably wasn't the best idea to stay awake the whole night."
"But you'll text us, okay?"
"Yes, Mom.", Youngtaek said at Hwayoung's tone making her playfully slap his shoulder. But then she pulled him into a hug as well.
"I'm going to miss you."
"But you'll come to our first concert, right?", Seungmin asked curious as he hugged Hwayoung one last time.
"I'll be waiting for you in the front row, screaming my lungs out."
The boys laughed at that and Hwayoung hugged them all again. Siyeon would soon move to Seoul so she had more opportunities to meet them but due to their busy schedule it would be hard to manage.
"Here, take this.", Jibeom suddenly said to Hwayoung and put a bracelet into her hand. The bracelet itself was simple but Hwayoung only looked at the small sun hanging there. Jibeom pulled up his sweater and revealed the same bracelet, just with a moon.
"Stop, you're making me cry.", Hwayoung whispered and hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. He wasn't even gone but she already missed him. Jibeom carefully put the bracelet on her wrist.
"I bought it already a week ago and I hoped you'd like it."
"Like it? I love it!", Hwayoung replied and couldn't stop staring at it. Then something else came into her vision. A letter. Confused she took it. "What is it?"
"You'll see. Open it when we're gone, okay?", Jibeom asked suddenly seeming very nervous. Still confused but more curious now, Hwayoung nodded.
Meanwhile Siyeon was saying goodbye to the others as well. To be honest, she wasn't that much of a hugger but now she didn't want to let go.
"Behave, okay?", Siyeon said as she let go of Joochan who rolled his eyes at her.
"I'm an angel."
"Didn't know you were suddenly a liar.", Donghyun said at this and hugged Siyeon as well. Then behind them someone cleared their throat and Siyeon turned around just to be embraced in a bone crashing hug.
"Let's text often, okay?", Jangjun asked almost nervously and Siyeon immediately nodded. It would take about two weeks for her to finally move to Seoul but even this short period of time was too much. It was crazy how much one person could affect their live.
"I'll annoy you with my spam, promise.", Siyeon replied as they separated.
The boys said goodbye one last time to the Lee's as well and then stepped into the cars while Siyeon and Hwayoung sat down on the terrace. They watched as both cars drove away into the woods and the boys waved to them as long as possible. Never in their lives had the girls a hard time like this to say goodbye and somehow all of this felt like a dream now.
When they were gone, the two best friends looked at each other.
"It's going to get awfully quiet now.", Siyeon said but then her gaze fell onto the paper in Hwayoung's hands. "He wrote you a letter?"
"I'm too scared to open it.", Hwayoung admitted and turned the letter around in her hands.
"Do it. He gave you a bracelet. He woke up extra early just to be with you. He had only eyes for you. Do I have to list more to convince you that this is a love letter?", Siyeon explained and pointed at the paper. Then she stood up. "Take your time. If you read it and want someone to talk, come to me, okay?"
Hwayoung nodded and heard her friend close the door. She didn't know Jibeom had spend the whole day yesterday to write this letter. He didn't have the courage to tell her in person. With shaking fingers she opened it and when her eyes fell on the handwriting, she smiled.
Hwayoung,
every time I see the sun rise, I have to think of you. To be honest it doesn't even have to be the sun rise to make me think of you. When I saw you in the kitchen the first day I couldn't believe it. All these years I tried to forget you, the way I hurt you, but the moment I saw you I knew I could never forget the girl who always made me laugh when I'm sad.
You made me the happiest when you confessed to me, years ago. I didn't tell you then but I did love you, even as a young boy. I was scared and naive and dumb. I didn't realize how much I hurt you then. I was scared to admit it, but all these years I couldn't stop loving you.
Fate gave me a second chance to meet you again, and I'm not going to waste it. The past few weeks I thought our friendship was enough but deep inside I always knew it. I wasn't able to tell you, but I fell in love with you even more.
Hwayoung, it's okay if you don't love me anymore, and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't. I hurt you in many ways, but I hope you can forgive me. And maybe one day, you'll be able to love me again.
We'll look at the sunrise together again. I promise it.
Love, Jibeom.
"Kim Jibeom, you are an idiot.", Sungyoon scolded as soon as they were on the highway. Of course he had noticed Jibeom gave Hwayoung a letter.
"I couldn't tell her in person.", Jibeom admitted quietly. He didn't know what Hwayoung felt and was scared of her reaction. Of course he knew it wasn't the best, considering he was basically a coward, but he didn't want to leave her like that.
Sungyoon on the other hand wasn't having it. Not caring about the cars behind him, he hit the brakes and drove the car to the side, making the other boys in the car yell. He turned to Jibeom, his finger pointed at him.
"What do you think she'll do? You're gone and there's no way she'll confess per text.", he said angrily. Next to him Jangjun turned around as well.
"Do you think it's easy to confess?", he asked remembering how Siyeon confessed to him. "Life has given you this chance to meet her again but if you don't take it, I swear I will personally throw you off a cliff."
"And here we are, making plans about kidnapping again.", Donghyun said and turned off his phone. He sat next to Jibeom and was so annoyed by his friend's nervousness, he hit him. Meanwhile Bomin tried to give him courage.
"She already fell in love with you once, so why not again?"
Then Jibeom's eyes suddenly widened and he started flapping his hands, accidently hitting Donghyun and Bomin in their faces.
"Turn around! Please! I have to tell her!"
"Finally this boy got some braincells."
"Probably only one."
"Shut up! Start the car again, Hyung!"
Hwayoung hadn't realized she sat there for about half an hour, just staring at the letter in her hands, reading it again and again. She couldn't believe it. He loved her. He always did. She wasn't sure what to do next.
Should she text him? Call him? Slap him?
The latter was impossible, since he wasn't there but still Hwayoung considered it, even for just a moment.
Her emotions were on a roller coaster and as she noticed how cold she was, Hwayoung stood up to go inside again. Before she could reach the door, a car honked far away making her turn around. Of course she immediately recognized the van of the boys.
"Did they forget something?", she whispered to herself and quickly wiped away the tears on her face, hoping they wouldn't see them. The car was going faster than allowed and when the van stopped at the entrance to the parking lot, Hwayoung walked towards it, confused.
Then the door opened and Jibeom jumped out of the middle seat almost getting tangled in his seat belt and not caring about Bomin who he had slapped in the face. Again.
When he stood there, just a few metres away from Hwayoung, time stopped for both of them. Suddenly Hwayoung realized why he must have come back and started running towards him.
Jibeom was frozen for a second but as soon as Bomin hit the back of his head he ran towards Hwayoung as well. The two met at the middle of the parking lot and Hwayoung jumped into his open arms, tears streaming down her face.
"You came back.", she whispered and embraced his face with her hands. Jibeom was only able to nod before Hwayoung suddenly came closer to him.
Overwhelmed by her emotions, she put her lips on his'. Nothing in the world seemed to matter anymore. They didn't feel the cold surrounding them, nor did they hear the cheers from the boys.
After all these years they finally did it. They overcame their fears and realized they needed each other. They realized they loved each other. Finally.
Now the sun had completely risen.