The New Student

An Alternative Ending

[This chapter replaces the previous one]

I was flipping out of course, after hearing that Hansol had gone missing. I called him 56 times, my attention to my textbooks wandering. The 57th time, he finally responded.

"Hello?" I felt like I could cry hearing his voice again.

"Hansol? It's me Mari!"

"Mari?" There was a slight pause. "My phone was dead, sorry. I didn't get your previous calls."

"Why are you missing, you idiot!" I started to cry, relieved that he at least picked up.

"Are you crying?"

I wiped away my tears and calmed my voice before answering. "No." There was a sudden knock at my door. "Hang on, I'll be right back." I walked to my door and peered through the peephole to see a man dressed in a black cap and a black turtleneck sweater...that I knew, oh, so well, possibly because I had kept it for half a year. I yanked open the door, face to face with Hansol Ji. 

"You were right back," he said, smiling.

My mouth was hanging open, and I found myself lost for words. I was currently dressed in baggy pajamas, with no makeup, and my stringy hair tied up in a messy bun. 

"Can I come in?" he asked, peering inside. 

"H-hansol Ji!" I managed to spit out the two words.

"Yes?"

"What are you doing here?" I regained power over my stupefied mind and managed to form a sentence. 

"What do you mean? I wanted to see you."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I could ever live without you. I barely managed to pass the first semester and now I have to take medicated sleeping pills and anti-depressants."

 He wasn't lying. It was true, I could tell by the dark shadows under his eyes and his pale pallor. And that was all because of me.

"How could you let this happen to yourself?" I whispered, staring into him, until I heard footsteps in the nearby hallway. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him into my room and quietly shut the door. 

"Mari, don't you get it already? I love you."

I stared into his large eyes, contemplating what I should say. "How are you going to get back to Stanford? Do you have a return ticket?"

"I do, and my plane leaves in three hours."

"This late?"

He nodded. "Are you going to make me leave?" 

I didn't want to, but I knew that I had to. "Hansol, listen to me. You have to stop letting your heart get in the way of your future-" I paused. The poor boy looked so pitiful and desperate that I had nothing else to say.

"Hansol." I started another sentence. "I'm going to make you leave." I paused, rethinking about the next part of my sentence. "But before you leave, I'll give you a question to answer. I will only take the answer to the question after we both graduate college and acquire our bachelor's degree. Promise me that you'll answer after four years and not now. Promise!" 

We entwined our pinkies together, promising. I led him to the door, but before saying my final question, I hugged him tightly. "My final question." We looked at each other before I asked,"Hansol Ji, will you marry me?" Then I closed the door on his shocked face before he could say anything.

~~~~~Four Years Later~~~~~~

I returned home after our graduation party. I was met with excitement from my parents and little Andrew. For the first time, I sat down at the dining table and enjoyed a drink with my parents. How glad I was to have my degree in business over! It had been a wild four years. The morning after my return to San Francisco, I walked outside to my car to go grocery shopping at a sudden request by my mother. 

I did not recognize my car. Red roses decorated it and behind a bouquet of white roses stood a man, wearing the same black turtleneck sweater from four years ago. He approached me, his face healthier and more handsome than I had ever seen. His eyes shone with happiness as he stooped down to kiss me before whispering:

"Yes."