"Why don't you ever wear shoes?" I asked her when I returned home and I found her waving at me from her bedroom window.

"What?? I can't hear you!" She yelled. Enough to disturb the neighbours. I signalled her to stop immediately and she laughed at me which made me chuckle too.

She pointed her finger down and I realised that she was telling me to meet her at their front door. I made my way over and just in time, she opened the door, carrying some sort of tin box.

"What's that?" I asked, looking at the tin box.

"My deepest, darkest secret." She grinned and then sat on the steps in front of their door. Y/N patted the space beside her and opened her box, revealing "I'll only share my stash today. Limited offer."

Curious me fell for it. So now we are both sitting on the steps like two little kids. She opened the box and inside were small bills and coins. She grinned at me and said, "This is my life savings. I want to spend it all today."

I laughed. "Are you for real? That's not gonna get you very far."

She suddenly stood up and took my hand. "But it will get us to the nearest arcade. I have enough coins to last the whole night."

"Come on, get up!" She yanked on my arm, pulling me up with so much effort. "You're so heavy!"

"I know. I'm like almost twice your weight." I replied as I stood up, towering over her smaller figure. "And taller too."

We didn't make it to the arcade at all even though we planned to spend her life savings there. She got distracted with something else and now we're back at our backyard with a whole pack of mini chocolates, unwrapping one wrapper at a time. We sat on the grass. She was barefooted with her legs on top of the other while both her hands are propped behind her back.

"How long do you think summer will last?" She asked out of the blue.

"Hm, dunno. Three months?" I replied, playing along with her randomness.

"It's a shame that it's too short." She said in a sad voice and gazed up at sky. The chocolate in her mouth is melting, leaving a trace of sweetness before it disappears completely.

"Don't you just love it?"

I looked at her. She was still looking up. "The sky?"

She nodded. "It's always the same."

I imitated her and tilted my head back to face the sky. "I guess?"

The white clouds moved ever so slowly as we sat together eating chocolates. Our afternoon passed by like that. One summer afternoon, a gentle breeze, the smell of grass, white clouds on a blue canvas and red chocolate wrappers.

My back that was flat on the grass never felt so comfortable while I was being lulled to sleep by a gentle breeze. I had my eyes close but I could see the sunlight behind my eyelids. The trees sang in harmony as their branches orchestrated a dance, I was falling under their spell.

"Hey."

A shadow loomed over me.

"Is it the wicked witch of the west?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed.

"No, it's Dorothy." She replied in her sing song voice.

"Dorothy wears shoes." I said and smiled at my own comeback. I opened my eyes to check how she would react to my witty answer but she wasn't there.

Then I saw her running back from her house. I sat up and notice that she brought a pen and a stationery set complete with the envelope and the scented letter paper. She was sitting beside me in an instant, the cap of the pen between her teeth while she writes on the paper. It took her a few minutes to finish but every second of it her eyes gleamed in excitement. Every stroke of her pen etched a little memory on a piece of paper.

"There." She exclaimed, putting a tiny little period at the end then began folding it. "You write too."

"About what?" I looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Anything!" She exclaimed and frantically looked around her. She took the red chocolate wrapped and straightened it out. "You can write here."

I took it from her and stared at it. "I don't even know what to write."

She rolled her eyes. "Just write anything that comes to your mind. Your phone number, wifi password, the answer to your security question. I don't care. Just write something."

"This sounds stupid but okay." I just shrugged it off and did as she said. I turned my back to her and took the pen. "I won't write the answer to my security question tho. Nice try."

I don't know why but the moment I took the pen in my hand, the letter all came together as if they were waiting in a line. The chords to the song that I was listening to last night and the lyrics I sing over and over inside my head.

You're always there so don't overthink.

🌼

House for sale.

I stared at it for a couple more minutes, adding to the past hour I've wasted standing aimlessly front of her house. My mind traveled back to that one summer day. Back then, it never even slipped my mind that it was a possibility but now that I think about it, there were so much she was telling me without even saying it. Reminiscing over it after seven years. It all made sense like a puzzle coming together. She made sense.

All the things she said made sense. How could I not know? How could I have known?

The whole house looked the same except it was dark. The lights in her room is not on and will probably never be on again like it used to be that summer I met her. I don't know what it is but I always looked forward to seeing her bedroom lights on. I guess I just wanted someone to be there for me that summer.

That summer was the lowest I've been. I sometimes think about what would've happened if she and I didn't meet. Would I have opened the door to my closet?

I guess I would.

In a way, she saved my life. The girl who always forget to wear shoes. I smiled at the thought. I walked back to my backyard and tried to locate the exact place. The place where we sat down on that summer day. I kept looking and looking and looking until I remembered something she said or was it something she did.

Poppies?

Poppies. She planted red poppies where we buried it.

I swiftly turned around and looked for red poppies. The backyard needed some weeding out as it has been left like this for years. The overgrown made it harder for me too look for it. I started pulling out the weeds by myself. I don't even know why I'm doing this. I don't understand  myself at all.

After a good twenty minutes of arm workout and squatting, I saw a glimmer of red from my peripheral vision. Under a big piece of driftwood was a bed of poppies.

"Sorry." I muttered before I start digging my small shovel under the bed of flowers. I kept digging and digging. Getting more impatient with every second.

Finally. I feel something on the soil. The familiar transparent plastic egg peeked out. Without wasting time, I opened it and took her scented letter and began unfolding it, hoping I could get answers or a closure or even just a bit of her.

If you're reading this,
maybe you're already an adult
or a two hour older Jungkook who cheated on our agreement

I hope it's not the latter.

If you're reading this, I might not be the same.
Even so, I'm happy.

This summer is the best summer of my life.
And even I forget everything else and everyone else,

I will not forget this.

I promise.