* TININING..... TININING.....TININING*

Urgh! >.<Annoying alarm clock! I don't want to wake up yet. Can anyone shut the alarm clock up?! It's Saturday! No friggin' class!

* TININING...TININING *

Ohhh...Alright! Alright! I'll wake up!!

I searched for the alarm clock with my eyes still heavily closed. Got ya! Then, I rolled over my bed lazily.

Aish! It was such a nice dream! And the friggin' alarm clock ruined it!

I slowly opened my eyes only to be blinded by a bright light. I close my eyes again. Where does that light come from? Again, I opened one of my eyes to check. The light came from my partly opened curtain.

What time is it already, anyway? The sun's already up. I turned to my alarm clock.

O_O !! 10:00 AM?????

That explains the sun.

I lazily stood up and opened the curtains widely. I could already see a lot of people passing by through my window. I saw two children playing happily. I suddenly remember my dream.

We were both playing and laughing, just like we always do together. It was such a nice dream. It had been too long since I dreamt of a happy memory. It was always him leaving, and I always woke up panting.

Then, my eyes averted from the children to the happy couple. Sigh. Maybe...just maybe, if he hadn't left, that would be the two of us. Walking happily, hand in hand. I always dream of being together with him forever. I shrugged. Guess I've been too dependent on him.

Remembering the past suddenly brought back the pain I felt at that time when I realized being with him forever had turned into a dream I could no longer reach.

We were just done playing and planned to meet up again tomorrow. Same time, same place. We always meet under the maple tree where we first met, where he saw me being bullied by other kids. The maple tree was at the very end of the subdivision. It serves as the border between the park and the subdivision, but the park was still a part of our subdivision. It was just five houses away from ours. We always meet there at exactly 9:00 AM and go home around 6:00-7:00 PM. I was always scolded by my evil aunt coz I wasn't always home, but I didn't care. Being with him was all that mattered.

We have just parted, but I already miss him. >.< Ah! It's okay! I'll see him again tomorrow anyway. ^_^

I hurriedly ran off to our house. My evil aunt welcomed me with scolding, but I was so happy being with him that I ignored her and went straight to my bedroom. I slept directly, hoping the time would fly fast and it would be morning soon.

I woke up at 8:00. It was raining hard, but the rain won't stop us from meeting each other again. ^__^

I hurriedly bathed, changed my clothes, ate a little breakfast, and ran off to our meeting place. It was raining so I brought an umbrella with me. I was 30 minutes early, so I waited for him on the bench under the maple tree.

Then my wristwatch turned to 9:00. I giggled. Finally! He'll be here any minute now. ^__^

9:15. He's late. He was always on time. Oh well, it's raining. He'll be here soon. ^_^

9:30. Maybe he woke up late coz it's cold. He'll arrive soon. ^ ^

9:45. He'll be here any minute.

10:00. ..........................................

I started to feel uneasy.

I suddenly remember when he asked me what I'd do if he left.

The umbrella fell from my hand.

Without a second thought, I ran to their house, not caring about the heavy rain pouring down on me. Their house was easy to find. It was different from the rest. It was way bigger and prettier than the other houses on the block. But I haven't really been inside. He prefers staying outdoors. Whenever I asked him why, he would just find a way to move on to another topic, so I decided not to ask.

A lot of thoughts were running inside my head now. Deep inside, I already had this strange feeling that he was gonna leave since the day that he asked me that stupid question. But I never knew it was this early.

But still....he promised he wouldn't leave. He won't leave me. He promised.

I was thinking a lot of things that I hadn't noticed a car was running straight into me when I crossed the intersection. I was frozen in my place.

Am I gonna die? I haven't even seen him yet!

But the car halted before it could even reach me. It took me several seconds to remember why I was here and started to run again. I was already so wet. Water dripping from my head, down. I heard the car door open, but I didn't have time to look back and receive the scolding of whoever the passengers of that car were. But I heard none. Then I heard the car door close again.

I was panting really hard when I arrived at their house. I loudly knocked at the door, hoping somebody would open it. Yet, something inside me knows no one would. But still, I knock and knock. I ran around their house and peeked through their window. Not a single soul. And....and the furniture were covered with white cloth. I gasped.

NO! This can't be. Stop thinking! I'm just overreacting! Maybe they're just on a vacation. They'll come back. They will.

I tried so hard to erase the unbearable thoughts that kept on appearing in my head. Why didn't he tell me he was leaving? I shook my head as I sat at their doorstep.

He can't leave me. He won't leave me! He promised. I trust him.

But as raindrops poured through my face, along came the tears that began rushing down my cheeks. The rain was still pouring hard, but I waited and waited.

7:00 PM. They still haven't come back. Maybe they'll come back tomorrow. So, I decided to go home and just come back again tomorrow.

Early in the morning, when I woke up, I ran back to their house. Empty. Still, I waited. My stomach's growling, but I don't care. I'll just wait for him here.

Then, the sun was replaced by the moon.

I came back. And the day after that. And the day after. I always return and wait, hoping he'll appear right in my eyes. I lost count of how many days, weeks, or months I did that. But still, I haven't got tired of waiting. Still, I waited.

"Unnie, are you awake now? It's already past 10. You should get up and eat your breakfast." I heard JiHyun's voice behind the door.

That snapped me back from the past. I could still feel the unexplainable pain in my chest, but slowly, it was easing up. Once again, she saved me from this pain, just like before.

I was sobbing my heart out at their door. I was sitting at their doorstep. My arms crossed around my knees tightly. My head beneath it. My back and shoulders were moving up and down because of the sobbing. Only the sobbing and moans were all I could hear since the time I arrived here.

Then I heard an unfamiliar sound. I tried to stop from sobbing to listen to it better but failed. I could hear the sound coming closer and closer. I tried to make out what that sound is.

A FOOTSTEP!

He's back! I snapped my head up front, but it wasn't him I'd seen. It was a figure of a little girl. Her eyes are already a shade of red. She was sobbing as hard as me. She was already hiccuping because of too much crying. The sight in front of me broke my already shattered heart into smaller pieces. I extended my hand to touch her cheek. It was wet from tears.

"JiHyun..." I whispered, unable to make out for words.

"Unnie..y-you haven't been..hik..home lately. And if yo-you're home..hik..you wouldn't e-eat. You would just r-r-ran off to your room an-and stay there...I'm wo-worried..." she stuttered.

She was having a hard time breathing and talking. Has she cried that much because of me? "Have I worried you that much?" was all I could say.

She nodded. Her shoulders were unstable. It keeps on jumping up and down. I clenched my hand into a fist. I was selfish. I totally forgot I have a little sister depending on me. She has no more parents. All she had was me, her older sister. But what was I doing?

"U-u-unnie...come back home and eat. I-if you w-want, we'll come b-back here together a-after you finished eating. Y-you have to e-eat."

She worries about me so much that she came running here.

"I...I'm sorry." I muttered. I snatched her little body and pulled her towards me. I squeezed her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry. We'll go home now."

"We could g-go back here a-after you eat."

A decision then came to my mind.

"No...w-we're not coming back here...ever again." I paused and bit my lower lip to prevent the tears from falling again. But when I tried to speak, my voice was shaking. "We haven't s-spent much time t-together. So, I'll just stay with you in our house and p-play with you. You want that, right?" I cupped her small face with both hands. She nodded. I hugged her again.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry for making you worry. I have been selfish. Don't worry. From now on, I swear I will never make you worry anymore. I will spend the rest of my life with you. For you alone." I whispered, just enough for her to not hear.

We went back home together. Hand in hand. I turned to their house again. This will be the last time I'm ever gonna see that house.

And that's how I became like this. There's no denying the fact that he had contributed a lot of things to my life. If he hadn't left me, I probably would still be the same stupid girl who depends on other people and an unworthy unnie to her little sister. He taught me to not cry. He taught me to be strong. He taught me to always smile. He taught me to trust nobody except for yourself. He undoubtedly deserves my sincere gratitude. Because of what he had done, I have been living perfectly fine now. A hurt-free life.

But still, the fact that he left me and caused me too much pain will never, ever, ever be forgotten.

"Unnie?" oh! She still hasn't left yet?

"Yeah. JiHyun, I'll be downstairs in a minute."

"Okay." I heard footsteps. She might have left. I fixed myself and made my way to the dining room.

(DINING ROOM)

"JiHyunnie, how's school?" I asked JiHyun while we were eating breakfast.

"Eh? Oh! It was wonderful. I really had fun. My classmates were all so kind." she suddenly frowned.

"Is something wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"Nothing. Really. I was just thinking about my fri...classmate. Something happened to him yesterday. I wonder if he's fine now. I haven't seen him since the incident. His friend said he went home to rest." her head and voice down.

"You look worried about your...classmate?" I emphasized the word 'classmate'.

She snapped her head up. "Ahh...Yeah! Classmate." she nodded and forced a smile. I shrugged.

"Speaking of an incident. You wouldn't believe what happened to me yesterday." I gawked.

"Wa-why? What happened to you? Were you hurt? Why didn't you call me?" she stood up and started nagging. I made a face.

"Ya! Calm down. Nothing happened to me, okay." I waved a hand in the air and gestured for her to sit. "In fact, I was the savior." I grinned.

I told her about the whole saving-a-drowning-dude thing. She had her mouth open the entire time I was talking. When I finished, her eyes twinkled.

"A drowning dude, you say?? Is he hurt? What happened to him after...." her words trailed off. She probably realized she was talking too much.

"Why do you look so worried?" I furrowed.

"No-nothing! I was too carried away by your story." she laughed in such an odd way.

"By any chance, are you that boy's friend?" I tried to ask casually.

I'm pretty sure she's hiding something from me.

"F-friend?" she looked at me with confused, shocked eyes. I just raise my eyebrow. "No! He's not! Friend? You told me to never have friends, right? Friends would just cause us pain in the end. So how can I have friends? You must be kidding me." she rolled her eyes and laughed a little.

Her eyes kept on moving, but they never landed on mine. She's avoiding eye contact. She's lying about something.

"Great! I'm glad you haven't forgotten about that. You know I'll get mad if you do." I smiled sweetly and resumed eating my food.

I took a deep breath. Hmmm..I wonder what she's hiding from me.