It Was You All Along

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Part 19
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The next two weeks went by fast. Sung Hoon acted like the perfect boyfriend. He treated her nice and was always there by her side with flowers. Her parents like him a lot. Before Sung Hoon knew it, his dating charade with Kyung Hee was over and so was school. Her parents stayed until their graduation and then afterwards they took a plane back to the U.S. Then entire graduated class decided to go on a campout because it will be the last time they will see each other since everyone is going their separate way to college.

[The Camping Trip]

Everyone was sitting around the campfire and talking. Chun Ok had sat herself between Sung Hoon and Kyung Hee. Ji Won was watching Kyung Hee the whole time. Jae Duc was telling a scary story about a psycho killer in the woods.

"He goes around chopping of peoples' heads and he especially likes girls.
Heh heh…"

Jae Jin threw a stick at him. "That's a stupid story Duc-ee."

Ji Yong threw in more wood into the fire. "But I heard it's true though."

Su Won widened his eyes. "For real?"

Sung Hoon laughed. "Oh come on. It's a bunch of bull. Even if it is for real, he'll just be after the girls." He gave Kyung Hee a supposedly scary face but it turned out so goofy she ended up laughing. Chun Ok grabbed onto Sung Hoon though. "Sung Hoonee! I'm scared. Hold me."

Sung Hoon was taken by surprise. He tried to pry Chun Ok off of him but she held on tight. Kyung Hee glared at them both. 'That Casanova. Just because every time he smiles his eyes would light up and his hair is so soft he thinks he's-' Kyung Hee stopped herself. 'What am I thinking? It sounds like I want him or something.' She stood up. "Excuse me but I think I'll got for a walk." Then she left.

Ji Won stood up too. "I think I'll take a walk too."

That alarmed Sung Hoon. 'He is not going to take a walk with my Kyung Hee.' He ended up having to force Chun Ok off of him and ran where he saw Kyung Hee disappeared. Chun Ok was mad. "Kang Sung Hoon, you come back here!" Everyone at the campfire started giggling.

[Somewhere in the woods]

Kyung Hee looked all around her. 'It figures. Sung Hoon wouldn't come after me,' she thought sadly. 'I mean why would he?' Then she heard a voice. "Kyung Hee!" She smiled and turned around. It was only Ji Won. Her face fell. "Oh hi Ji Won."

He sat down on a rock next to her. "Aren't you going to come back to take Sung Hoon away from the Chun Ok girl?" She shook her head. "No…I guess they're mean to be together." Ji Won looked at her. "Kind of like you and me?" Kyung Hee scooted herself away as her eyes widened. "Uh, Ji Won. It's over between us." Ji Won grabbed her hands. "But you can give me a second chance!" She pulled her hands away. Then Ji Won asked her, "Remember what you told me what you wished for a long time ago?"

"What?"

"You said you wanted to find your first true love and be with him forever." Kyung Hee stood still. She did say that. Ji Won was her first love. But then she thought of Sung Hoon. Or is it Sung Hoon? "I don't know!" she yelled as she took off running. Ji Won smiled. 'She's coming back to me.'

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Part 20
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As Ji Won walked back to camp he heard a voice calling for Kyung Hee. He recognized Sung Hoon's voice. In the middle of the road Ji Won looked down. He saw a huge hole that was about ten feet deep. Ji Won gave an evil smile. He had a plan. He began to rustle the leaves near the hole.

Sung Hoon heard a noise. 'Is it Kyung Hee?' "Kyung Hee is that you?" No answer. "Come out come out wherever you are." The leaves continue to rustle. 'What if she's hurt and couldn't answer?' Sung Hoon started to walk towards the noise and ended up falling into the trap. It was so cold and dark in there. Sung Hoon began to panic.

"Help!"

Ji Won came out from where he was hiding. "Hey Sung Hoon. Looking for something?"

Sung Hoon looked up and saw Ji Won's face. "Damn you Eun Ji Won! Get me out!" Ji Won just smiled. "This all seems so familiar. You know, it took me a while but then I remembered. Didn't I do this to you before ten years ago?"

Sung Hoon started to tremble. Because of what Ji Won did to him, he had a fear of the dark and being trapped alone. But he wasn't going to show it. Sung Hoon glared at Ji Won. "So what? I don't give a damn. Just get me out!"

Ji Won laughed. "I guess history repeats itself when you mess with me or anything of mine. This time I mean Kyung Hee. She is my girlfriend and I want you out of the way. And I guess this solves my problem."

"Kyung Hee don't like you! She's with me."

"Oh really? Didn't seem like it when your ex held you like that. I guess you can't let your first love go and I think you know that I'm Kyung Hee's first. She'll come back to me."

Sung Hoon sat down on the cold ground. Kyung Hee did say that before. 'Is she going to go back to him?' As he was thinking, Ji Won had left already. Sung Hoon looked up. "Hey!" His worst nightmare had came back and this time Kyung Hee was not there to save him. He was stuck here all alone in the dark. "Kyung Hee…where are you?"

After a while Kyung Hee headed back to camp. She took out her flashlight to shine her way back on the main path.

[Down in the pit]

Sung Hoon looked up and saw a beam of light. He stood up. "Help!"

Kyung Hee looked around. 'Was someone calling for help?' "Hello? Is someone out there?"

"HELP!"

Kyung Hee ran to where the voice came from. She saw Sung Hoon jumping up and down in a hole. "Sung Hoon! What are you doing down there?"

"I fell in. Help me out!"

"Okay." She placed her flashlight on the ground. Then she reached over and tried to pull Sung Hoon up but he was too heavy for her. "I can't"

"What do you mean you can't? Use those puny muscles you have!"

"You're too heavy! Let me go back to camp for help."

"Hell no! What if you leave me here?"

"What? I'm not like that!"

"How do I know?"

"Sung Hoon. Let go!"

"No!"

Sung Hoon ended up pulling Kyung Hee into the pit with him. She landed on top of him. She got up and started yelling at him. "You selfish jerk! Now we're both stuck down here!" Sung Hoon backed up against the wall. Then he started yelling. "Damn! Not again! Why me? Why does it have to be so dark?" Kyung Hee looked at him. "You're afraid of the dark?"

"Yeah! You got a problem?"

Kyung Hee looked at him surprised. "No." She started to look at the real Kang Sung Hoon for the first time in a long time. The smart-aleck tough guy was gone. And there he was. The innocent and vulnerable Sung Hoon she first fell in love with when she was eight. But she still hasn't realized it yet….

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Part 21
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Sung Hoon started to gasp for air. That scared Kyung Hee. "Sung Hoon….are you okay?" He shook his head. Then suddenly, he leaned over and hugged her hard. He buried his face into her neck and didn't let go. Kyung Hee stood still. She didn't know what to do. "Sung Hoon…are you okay?" Still no answer.

She continued to hold him as he shivered in her arms. She ran her fingers through his hair and whispered in his ear like he was a little child that needed comforting. Sung Hoon began to breathe easier and calmed down. Then he realized he was holding onto Kyung Hee a little too hard. He let go, his face blushing. "Uh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to."

"It's okay."

Sung Hoon gazed at Kyung Hee from the light that the moon shone on her. Her eyes were closed. She was like a sleeping angel. She looked like it too with her raven hair flowing down her back, her little white dress, and she was so naturally beautiful that she didn't need make-up. Sung Hoon began to lean forward to kiss her but then suddenly she opened her eyes. He pulled back instantly, his cheeks turning red. 'Crap! Did she know what I was about to do?'

Kyung Hee patted him on the shoulder. "Hey Sung Hoon…"

"What?"

"Look. There's a full moon out tonight."

Sung Hoon looked up at the sky. The moon was full and bright. Then he looked over at Kyung Hee, who was smiling. Then she asked him, "Do you remember when we were ten, we saw the moon's reflection on the lake? You told me the moon was a ball so I would go in and get it."

Sung Hoon smiled when he reminisced about his childhood past. It had been a happy one ever since he met Kyung Hee. "Yeah. You went into the lake and started to get the moon ball. And you kept asking me why the ball would disappear everytime you came near it. You were so stupid!" He started laughing. Kyung Hee gave him a look. That made him stop laughing. But then she gave him a little smile to show that she wasn't mad and it made him feel better.

"Yeah because of your dumb lies I almost ended up drowning."

"Yeah…I had to jump in and save you. I was so worried."

Kyung Hee looked at him. "Were you?"

Sung Hoon faced her. He was gazing directly into her eyes. He always thought the best part about Kyung Hee were her eyes. They were big, innocent, and honest. Every time he looks back, he always remember them as the first thing he saw when he met her. "Yeah kinda. I mean if you ended up drowning then I have no one else to pick on."

Kyung Hee looked down and smiled. She knew what Sung Hoon really meant though. They continued talking about their past and before they knew it, they both fell asleep on each other's shoulders.

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Part 22
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It was morning when Ji Won woke up. He went over to Kyung Hee's tent but she wasn't there. He patted Chun Ok on the shoulder. "Hey Chun Ok. Do you know where Kyung Hee is?" Chun Ok rolled her eyes. "That girl hasn't been back all night and neither was Sung Hoon. She must haveù"

Ji Won left before she could finish talking. "Ahh!" she screamed because no one ever listened to her.

Ji Won called the others so they can help look for Kyung Hee but he had the feeling she was with Sung Hoon. He took them to the place where Sung Hoon had fell. Sure enough, there they both were. Kyung Hee was leaning against Sung Hoon asleep. Ji Won was mad. "Hey!" The yell woke up Sung Hoon and Kyung Hee up. They glanced up to see what it was.

Sung Hoon stood up. "Hey you guys, help us out!" Jae Duc started laughing as he pulled Sung Hoon up. "Ooo...Sung Hoonee...what were you and Miss Kyung Hee doing down there all night?"

Everyone else except Ji Won laughed. "Shut up Duc-ee" said Sung Hoon. Then he leaned over to help Kyung Hee up. "Let's go home," Sung Hoon said to the others.

It was evening by the time Sung Hoon got home. He was exhausted so he took a shower and headed straight for bed. He looked over at Kyung Hee's room, who was exactly across from his. Her lights were out so she must be asleep. Sung Hoon sat down on his desk and began writing in his journal. He had kept one ever since he was ten and he wrote in it whenever something came up. When he finished his entry, he turned off his lights and went to sleep too.

It was eleven at night when Sung Hoon woke up. It was dark out but he couldn't sleep anymore so headed downstairs to look for something to eat. His mom was in the kitchen.

"Hi mommy."

"Hi Sung Hoonee." She walked over to kiss him on the forehead. "How was camping?"

"It was fun."

He sat down at the table with his mom. She touched his hair and let out a sigh. "What's wrong mommy?" He began eating his noodles.

"Nothing son. It's just that you're all grown up and going to be off to college soon."

"Don't worry mommy. It's only a couple of hours from here. I'll be back to visit you and dad often."

His mom smiled. "I know. Can you believe it? You and Kyung Hee know each other for ten years now and in just two more days it will be the last time you'll ever see each other." Sung Hoon choked on his food.

"What?"

"Oh didn't you know? Kyung Hee came over an hour ago and made those noodles for us. She told me she's leaving for the U.S. with her boyfriend in just 2 more days."

"Boyfriend?!"

"Yes. A boy from your class. I think his name is Ji Won."

Sung Hoon stopped eating. 'So Kyung Hee is going to go back to Ji Won.' His mom looked at his unfinished food. "Something wrong dear?" Sung Hoon shook his head. "No mommy. I'm full. I think I'll go to my room."

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Part 23
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Sung Hoon leaned over his bedroom window. He saw Kyung Hee changing her clothes. Just then she glanced over and saw Sung Hoon watching her. She threw a shirt at him. "What do you think you're doing you Peeping Tom?" He blocked her shirt. "Can you come over?" Kyung Hee looked at him. 'He looks so sad.' She nodded. "Okay."

Sung Hoon pulled her across from her house and into his room. She sat down and started to look around. She never had been in Sung Hoon's room before but he was always in hers. "Well what do you want to talk about?" Sung Hoon looked at her with sad eyes. "Umm...is it true you're going to the U.S. in two days?"

"Oh you heard about it already?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why do you care anyways?"

Sung Hoon got mad. "Why do you always assume that if there's something involving you that I don't care?" Sung Hoon started to front her as she backed up into a corner. She was shocked. She never saw Sung Hoon this mad before. "Because you never seemed to care before." Sung Hoon grabbed her wrists and held them up. "Well you know what? I DO care." He began to let her go. "It's just that you don't care about me enough to realize it." He sat down on his bed.

Kyung Hee sat down next to him. "Sung Hoon...what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Please tell me." Sung Hoon looked at Kyung Hee. His mind kept telling him that this will be the last time he will ever see her. 'It's now or never.' Sung Hoon took a deep breath and told her exactly how he felt.

"I love you."

Kyung Hee stood up in shock. "What?!"

Sung Hoon stood up with her. "I love you." Kyung Hee couldn't believe her ears. "Wait...do you know what you're saying?" He nodded his head. "Yes and I do mean it. I love you So Kyung Hee." She moved away from him.

"Do you know what you're saying? I'm going to leave Korea in just two more days with Ji Won.
I'm planning to be with him forever."

Sung Hoon nodded his head sadly. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Kyung Hee sighed in relief. "It's okay." But then it hit Sung Hoon. "NO!" Kyung Hee looked at him surprised. "What do you mean 'No'"? He looked at her directly. "Why should I be sorry for saying that I love you? It's the truth!"

Kyung Hee backed up again and then she began to cry. Sung Hoon tried to move near her to comfort her but she pushed him away. "No! After all this time you say that you love me?" He looked at her sadly.

Kyung Hee looked at him through her tears. "I'm sorry Sung Hoon. I want to be with the one I love."

Sung Hoon looked at her back. "But do you really love him?" She paused. She thought about it and couldn't find the answer herself. So she didn't answer and looked away. Sung Hoon thought that was the answer. "It's okay because if I do truly love you then all I can wish for is for you to be happy." He leaned over to hold her shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye."

Kyung Hee looked at him as he walked away. "Sung Hoon...wait."

He felt hope go through him. "Yes?"

"Is it okay if I take something of yours as a memory?"

That flicker of hope instantly died. He bowed his head down. "Go ahead. Take anything you want." Then he left his room and Kyung Hee left too. Sung Hoon didn't know it but his journal was gone.

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Part 24
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Final

"Boarding Flight Number 637! All passengers please come aboard at this time."

Kyung Hee looked out the window of her airplane seat, looking at Korea for the last time. Ji Won sat down next to her. He held her hand and gave her a little smile. "Don't worry sweetie. It'll be okay just as long as we're together." Kyung Hee gave him a weak smile and nodded. Ji Won looked at her carefully.

"You sure are pretty today. Remember back then when you were so much like a guy?
I mean I couldn't believe that I had dated you back then."

Kyung Hee was taken aback. 'Does look always have to matter?' she thought. She sighed and didn't listen to Ji Won as he continued talking. She pulled out of her handbag the book she took from Sung Hoon. She didn't know exactly what it was except that it had Sung Hoon's name on it.

She opened it up. 'Oh my gosh! I took his journal!' She closed the book instantly. Her curiosity got the best of her. She opened it up. The book was held in place by something. She took it out and saw the it was a little bundle strand of hair tied together by an ivory ribbon. She realized it was her hair and the ribbon was the same one Sung Hoon took from her when he pulled on her pigtails.

Tears fell down her face as she held onto her hair. 'Sung Hoon...you had loved me so long ago?' She began reading his entries.

October 20

Too close. I can't believe it. It had all happened so fast that I didn't have time to think. I would have lost Kyung Hee if I hadn't seen that fan falling. If it did fall and kill Kyung Hee...what would become of me? She'll be gone forever, leaving me in this cruel and lonely world. You would have thought that I would have told her that I loved her right then because I came so close to losing her. But I didn't. When I pushed her out of the way in time, I also chopped off her beautiful long hair. I know it was her prized possession. I said something really stupid and now she hates me forever. Why must I always hurt the one I love the most?

Kyung Hee paused in shock. After all these years, she had blamed Sung Hoon for cutting off her hair when all he did was risk his own life to save hers. More tears slipped down her face as she continued reading.

February 14

Ha Ha! Hey, today I was teasing Kyung Hee in the cafeteria again. She was so mad. She hated it when I called her Macho Man. Is it my fault she looks so much like a guy? Hmm...but underneath all that she was the still same So Kyung Hee that I love. It's so hard telling her how I feel cuz every time we talk, we end up arguing or dissing each other about something. It's Valentine's Day today and I don't even have the guts to give her the dozen roses I have right here. I hope she's not out with some other guy though...

Kyung Hee let out a little laugh. It figured Sung Hoon would write something like that. She flipped the book all the way to the last entry.

July 7

I love camping. Yesterday I was out camping with everyone and the most important of all, Kyung Hee. That stupid jerk Ji Won made me fall into a pit but like always, Kyung Hee was there for me. I don't know what to do without her. We talked about our past together and of course, she reminded me of how I tortured her. Underneath the moonlight, she looked so pretty. I began to realize that my childhood happiness was all because of her. She didn't laugh at me when she found out my fear. And you know what? Since Kyung Hee was down in that dark hole with me I'm not afraid of the dark anymore. But I'm still afraid to admit to Kyung Hee that I love her. What if she rejects me? All I know is that I can't live without her....

Kyung Hee shut the journal. She began to do some thinking of her own. She looked over at Ji Won, who was sleeping. Then she realized it. All her tears and happiness were all because of Sung Hoon. He was the only one who was able to make her laugh or cry. She knew right then she couldn't leave.

"Flight 637 is prepared for take-off."

Sung Hoon watched the plane for Flight 637 take off. He walked away form the fence when the plane was no longer seen. Tears fell down his cheeks as he started to head home. 'It's over.' Sung Hoon got into his car. He leaned against his seat and sighed. 'If we were meant to be together, then Kyung Hee will show up right now.'

"Kang Sung Hoon!"

Sung Hoon sat up instantly. He recognized that voice. "Kyung Hee? Can't be!" He looked up and saw her running towards him. He was so happy he couldn't speak. He got out of his car right away and ran towards her. She ended up in his arms. He spun her around. He gently placed her down and said, "I don't get it! Your plane left already! I mean how?"

Kyung Hee smiled. "I got off the plane before it took off. Ji Won wasn't exactly happy about it but it's okay." Sung Hoon looked at her shyly. "But I thought you want to spend the rest of your life with someone you fell in love with first?" Kyung Hee gazed into the face of the person she knew she wanted to see every day. She leaned over to kiss him. Then she whispered,

"It was you all along."

~*:: The End ::*~