THE PAST, THE PRESENT, & THE FUTURE, txt ✓

08. A Reunion, Pt. 3

"Yeah, it's me!" Kai said with more enthusiasm than she expected, lifting her spirits further. "It's good to see you, noona."

"You, too! Did you get my letter?"

"Of course I did," he grinned. "That was quite the confession, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," she glanced at Nayoung, who took the cue.

"I'll be waiting at the end of the hallway," she said, "talking to Sunghoon to pass the time. Just walk over whenever you feel like it."

"Wait, Nayoung. Are you mad at me now?"

"No," she admitted. "Just a little frustrated. We had a whole plan, didn't we?"

"I promise I'll join you soon," Nari put a hand on her shoulder. "I just need to meet one more person after this, and then we can spend the rest of the time we have doing what you want. Deal?"

"Deal," Nayoung agreed, with a believable enough smile.

When she walked away, Nari turned to Kai and resisted the urge to throw her arms around him. She wasn't sure if she had the right to do that anymore. "I missed you," she said fiercely, trying to get used to the fact that at nearly nineteen, the boy towered over her. Some part of her wondered if Taehyun was that tall, too.

"I missed you too, noona," he said. "I don't think I ever missed someone this much."

"You're not mad at me?" she couldn't help asking. That was she was really afraid of, with all the boys. What if they were still mad at her, even though years has passed? What if they didn't want to give her a chance anymore?

"I was never mad," Kai said seriously, "just really...sad. I think I understood your decisions, in a way."

"What, the stupid reasons I specified in my letter?"

"No, just...you know, noona," he said with a serious expression, "when you care about someone a lot, it's not difficult to notice when they're feeling down, and you felt down a lot. I knew you had something going on even if you never told me, and now that I know some of it, I'm still not mad. Especially now that I know."

"What about Lea?" Nari asked uncertainly. "Is she still angry at me?"

"Not so much, now that she saw your letter."

"She what?" Nari squeaked, horrified. "That was only supposed to be for you!"

"It's not my fault! She was cleaning out my bag for me so that my mom could throw it into the laundry and she found it and read it!"

"What did she say about it?" Nari demanded, an icy feeling like cold water being dumped on her spreading across her body.

"Only that she feels bad for you," he admitted. "Bahiyyih and Mom don't know anything about it. I actually hid it after that, tucked between my bed frame and mattress. I don't think anyone else should see it."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she said sincerely. "Can you tell Lea for me that I would like to reconnect with her? I do miss her, and, well, I think it's time I apologize to her, too."

"Of course. Just one more question."

"Fire away."

"Did you send a letter to someone else, too?"

"Actually, yes," she tilted her head at him. "Five in total, including you. Why?"

"Because my classmate also got a letter, and he was crying," Kai said.

Nari froze. "What's his name?" she demanded, feeling her breathing become more erratic. Kai blinked, confused. "Kai, tell me, please. I need to know, he might be the one I sent it to, I sent yours together, I knew you two were here, I gave it to the front office staff and asked for it to be sent—"