Embracing The Memories | COMPLETED | KOREAN STAND ALONE #1 ✒

PROLOGUE: The Beginning (시작)

Note: The Korean in this novel is not that accurate since I only used phrases given on my workbook and some are from Naver translator. I am still learning Korean and I'm probably going to revise this once I am finally good in Korean. Please do bear with me if it the statements are incorrect. Though, I am open for comments or feedbacks for me to make the Korean ones okay to read. 감사!

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My foosteps shuffled and echoed throughout the halls, eyes gazing wide at me as I ran up the stairs of the university.

I couldn't care less if my hair was tied into a messy bun, my books almost falling as I held them close to my chest, those weird stares I got when I had tried to push them to have my way through and go up to the 3rd floor.

No, I wasn't late at that time. To be honest, I was searching for some people.

Many missed calls and texts were the ones that made me realize how important they were.

And it all came to me right at that very morning. I kept on denying that they were the ones to complete the missing puzzle pieces in my heart.

That they were the ones who's going to help me right through every situations I couldn't face alone.

Damn it, Eysee. Why didn't you even try to answer at least one of them?

"서냏현! (Seo Naehyun!)" I called out at the hallways, my voice loudly catching the attention of everyone there. They were all looking at me, confused and some were raising their eyebrows as I panted.

"그는 어디에 있습니까? (Where is he?)" Approaching my other classmates, I saw them shrug and pointed at the other rooms.

"죄송합니다. 저희는 잘 모릅니다. 다른 방도 한번 써보세요. (Sorry, we don't know. Try the other rooms.)" I hung my head low, nodding as I knew that there was no way that I could find Naehyun if no one had actually seen him.

Thanking my classmates, I ran once again to look and tip-toe to the other classrooms --- looking at the windows and even trying to know if they would hang out there.

Naehyun, he was the energetic one among them. His name was the first one I thought of asking since I knew that everyone could easily know where he was.

Since he would always take trips to the other rooms to chit chat or even walk around the school to relax, almost everyone at the university knew his daily routine.

But this time, it was different.

Silence engulfed the corridors as I huffed, putting my hands on my waist as I stopped. There was no way that I could find that guy.

He's probably trying to go to places I haven't even went to before. If he would even be here, I'd probably hear his laugh echoing throughout the school.

What if I tried asking about Heejun Oh?

I guess that could work!

As I finally went back to my classroom, I poked the girl in front of me. Her headset was intact so I had to tap on her shoulder for her to notice me.

And once she did, I smiled. "언니, 희준이가 어디 있는지 아세요? (Eonnie, do you know where Heejun is?)"

"Maybe he's in the library? I heard that he sometimes go there to read," she told me in English as I just gave her a nod.

I guess Heejun would be there since classes weren't starting yet.

Putting my bag on my chair, I told her that I would be back after I find him. It was still early so I know that I could still have at least an hour to search for them.

The girl then gave me a nod as I rushed back out, feeling the wind blowing through my hair as I squeezed myself from the students slowly walking by on the corridors.

Finally arriving in front of the library, I pushed it open --- noticing that there weren't much people there except for three girls and the librarian.

Clearing my throat a little bit, I walked towards the table and asked the group of girls there.

"Excuse me? Did Heejun borrow any books today?" There was no point of speaking Korean this time since the girls that were there were some of Heejun's admirers and two of them were American.

Expecting the two to answer, the Korean girl smiled and shook her head --- she was the one who answered back.

"Sorry, he hasn't been here yet. We actually thought that he would be here too so we're still waiting for him."

"Oh, okay. I'll try to look on other places then." As I turned my back to leave, I then heard one of them calling me back.

But instead of actually telling me another location, she just asked me a favor.

"Make sure to come back and tell us if you find him, okay? He borrowed a book here and I wanted to ask if I could read it too," the girl with brown hair glanced at me as I looked back and nodded.

Smiling, I replied, "Sure. I'll make sure to tell you."

Two down, three to go.

Facepalming, I knew that the three would be the ones who were hardest to find.

Yoonwoo. Gunyeo. Jihun.

These three were actually secretive when it comes to going around the school. But, all I know is that all of them --- all of us --- meet up in the music room at lunch break.

The only problem is that we rarely go there in the morning.

Jihun would sometimes complain that we shouldn't be there at times like that since he wanted to at least relax inside his classroom where the air conditioning was.

Looking at my phone, there was still 30 minutes to try. And so, I did. There was no way that I'd let them just vanish like that.

I know that the university was big but there might be times that I'd bump into one of them. At least I tried, right?

I made my way back to the 2nd floor --- where the music room was at.

There were a lot of students inside their classrooms at this point so I know that no one would go there unless it's music class.

Plus, the place where they would always hang out was the rooftop; fresh air and clear view of the buildings in Seoul.

My hands trembled as I faced the door to the music room.

What if they weren't here?

What if they left already?

What if they forgot about me?

Sliding the door open, my worst fears have been confirmed. There were no chairs except for one that stood still next to the window. Piano, guitars, and drums lay untouched inside as I took a step to look at it.

Heejun would probably play the piano.

Jihun and Naehyun on the mic.

Yoonwoo on the drums.

Gunyeo on the guitar.

And I would be the one to record everything. We were happy at that time. But, I couldn't say the same thing now. It felt dull all of the sudden. The aura of the room had gotten cold since they weren't there.

An empty room full of memories.

That was all it was now.

They weren't there at all. And I don't know why.