Tears filled the little girl's eyes as she listened to her best friend's words. "You're such a crybaby," the little boy, Jeno, huffed. This made Anna cry harder. "Don't cry, Anna," he added softly. "We'll meet again soon," he promised.
She looked up at him, "when?"
"When we're older," he grinned at her, his eyes forming crescents. "We'll be friends forever."
"Okay," she sniffed.
Lee Jeno was going to move to Seoul that day. It is a very difficult thing for a kid to lose their best friend, but Anna held onto Jeno's promise of meeting again. She stood by him as his father loaded the cab with luggage. "We'd better get moving," he said to his family. Anna hugged her best friend tightly, wanting nothing more than to hold on.
"Goodbye, Seojin," she waved at Jeno's two-year-old brother, who waved back before taking wobbly steps towards his mother. Anna watched the cab go until it was out of sight, then crossed the street to her own house.
~
"Mom, I can go by myself," Anna said for the nth time that morning.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" her mother asked.
"Yes, I'm sure! Gotta go, I'm already late on my first day!" Anna said, running out of the house before her mother could change her mind. She took the bus, which would take ten minutes to reach school. Anna's mother had lost her job a few months back, but luckily she had found a new one in Seoul in a well-known company. The pay was better than her old job, so the two had to move to Seoul, where today was Anna's first day of high school.
The new school was huge, to say the least. She had already gotten her schedule via email, according to which she had biology as her first period. Considering the size of the school, it was a mystery how she reached the right classroom, that too on time. She settled herself in the middle row, aware of some students turning around to sneak glances at 'the new kid.'
Class started a while later. Thankfully the teacher didn't ask her to introduce herself, he simply told the class how Anna would be joining them and started with the attendance. Anna zoned out through the names until a very familiar one caught her attention, "Lee Jeno."
"Here." Anna turned around to look at the owner of the voice and saw a black-haired male staring back at her. Anna felt a tingle go all over her body. The boy before her eyes had changed so much in the past ten years, but it was an easy thing to recognize your ex-best friend. Anna turned back, facing the teacher. There was only one thing she could think of; did he remember her?
During lunchtime, she saw Jeno sitting alone at a table. Maybe this was not the Lee Jeno she knew in the past. Her ex-best friend was always cheerful and smiled with his eyes but this one here looked too intimidating. She went to him anyway.
"Hi," she greeted him. He looked at her darkly, then looked back at his food. "There is something I want to confirm," she said without feeling discouraged and took a seat with him. To her surprise, she saw his hand pause for a millisecond.
"What?" He said sharply, looking at her.
"I think we knew each other before. Do you remember me? I'm Anna."
"No." He said flatly. "I don't remember any Anna." It should've hurt, but for some reason, it didn't. Maybe because she knew he was lying. The same eyes, the same mole below his eye; it was the boy she knew a decade ago.
"Alright," she said cheerfully. "You can know me now. I've already told you my name. I shifted to Seoul with my mother a few days ago and I'll be staying here, I guess."
"You seem too thick to take a hint so I'll bluntly put it out for you," he said with a glare. "I don't want to be your friend," he said slowly, as if she wouldn't understand if he didn't.
"Yet," she grinned at him and started eating her lunch. Jeno just rolled his eyes and completely ignored Anna for the rest of the break.
Whichever class they had together, Anna sat next to Jeno. And when he turned to glare at her, she'd just shrug and act innocent. A whole month had gone by like that. "What's the matter with you?" Jeno asked exasperatedly.
"What do you mean?" Anna asked. Jeno had been sitting in an empty classroom, then Anna had joined him.
"Why are you following me everywhere?"
"No, I'm not. I'm looking for my-"
"When will you leave me alone?"
Anna crossed her arms and pouted, "when you stop acting like you don't know me." Before Jeno could say anything else she continued, "stop pretending. You weren't like this before, what happened to you?" It was clear that Jeno wasn't going to answer. "At least tell me how Seojin is." That seemed like the wrong thing to say. She saw Jeno clench his fists so tight that his knuckles turned white, he was visibly shaking with... anger?
"Jeno?" She said softly.
"Go. Away." He said, trying very hard not to shout. That was the first time she had been intimidated by him; his teeth were clenched so hard that she thought they were going to break.
"Oh, there it is," she picked up her book from the teacher's desk and left the classroom quickly.
The next day she thought of following Jeno to his house. She didn't want to risk him finding out, but getting her lost friend back was important. Heck, helping him through whatever problem he was going through was important. Anna did it very stealthily. Jeno went inside his house without realizing that he was being followed. Anna saw a car parked outside the house, this meant both or one of his parents were home, right?
She went up to the door and ringed the doorbell. Praying for anyone other than Jeno to open the door. But her prayers weren't answered. "You?" He asked, shocked. "The hell are y-"
"Who's there?" Came a feminine voice from inside.
"It's me!" Anna said loudly before Jeno could do anything. His mother came to the door to see who had come.
She squinted at Anna's figure, as if trying to remember where she'd seen her before, "Anna?"
Anna grinned widely, "long time no see, Mrs. Lee."
"Oh, good to see you, sweetie. You've gotten even prettier." Anna giggled at the older woman's remarks. "Jeno, why aren't you bringing her inside?" Jeno looked too stunned to speak. "Come on in."
Anna pushed past Jeno and went inside the house. She had always loved Jeno's house as a kid. From the vibrant paint on the walls to his furry little cats. She also loved playing with Seojin when she was there. But this house couldn't be more different than his old one. The walls were white and devoid of any ornaments, no purring cats and most of all; the silence was too loud. It seemed like the house's design had changed like Jeno.
Anna spent the evening having lunch with mother and son. "Thank you for the tea, I'll be going now," Anna beamed at the older woman.
"Come back any time, Anna." She then turned towards Jeno, "walk her home." Anna didn't reject the offer, just to see what he'd do. Wordless, he walked to the door and Anna followed him. She waved to his mother and walked outside.
The two walked in silence for a while when Anna spoke up, "you do realize you've been caught, right?"
"I don't see how this changes anything. You're just somebody that I used to know." Anna had had it with his attitude.
"What's your problem?! Why don't you just tell me why you're avoiding me like a plague and I'll stop bothering you!"
"You don't see it. We used to be friends, we're just strangers now."
"What about your promise?" She asked quietly.
"What promise?" He asked, irritated.
"You said that we'll be friends forever." Tears had formed in her eyes.
"I lied," he said simply, without a trace of emotion. Anna turned away from him and ran.
The Han river looked beautiful at sunset. She wondered why she had never come here. Right, she was too preoccupied with Jeno. Her phone had rung several times while she was here, but she only checked the caller ID, which was her mother and didn't pick up. Anna looked up at the orange and purple sky, the sun had just gone below the river when she received a text message. It was from her mother, telling her to come home and asking her whereabouts.
With a frustrated sigh, Anna stood up. She just wanted to be left alone, but she had to go home.
Anna entered her house and announced her arrival. "Anna?" Her mother came out of the living room. "Oh God, I had been so worried. Where had you been?"
"Just walking around," she said, trying to sound casual.
"Alright, then," her mother said uncertainly.
Anna made her way to her room and locked herself in. There, she pondered over what she had to do tomorrow. The decision was obvious, she'd have to find out what was wrong with Jeno, without him knowing.
xxx
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