1999 in Seoul, South Korea

Sam and Janice, both infants and both of their parents were best friends. As they grew older they became closer and due to them being close to one another, they shared the same interest in many things. Due to being around boys most of her life, Janice has been bullied by girls that felt hatred and jealousy toward her. Sam, on the other hand, does not know about this and thinks that she is not very social. The beginning of primary school was when Sam had to leave to America for a business trip that his dad was assigned for, of course he did not tell Janice, he just could not bring himself to tell her such news. It was a tuesday afternoon, Sam was leaving in a few hours and he still has not told Janice they are leaving, he does not want to. He does not want to tell her because he is scared and he also does not want to say farewell to her as well. Sam has always liked Janice but would always coward out seeing how she said she had somebody she liked before. Sam was on is way to the airport, the only thing on his mind was her and he felt nothing but guilt as he thought of what she would look like when she found out they left. Janice had just came back from the grocery store with her brother and she was on her way to Sam’s house, her brother knew that Sam was not there so he tried to stall her and ask her to help him with ridiculous favors. She knew something was odd and glance towards her brother, “Mark” she said in a small voice. Mark knew she what she was going to say so he ignored her which only caused her to grow angry at him. “MARK” she said in a loud voice, she was beyond angry and she could not contain her anger anymore, she was furious that he was making her do this. She had never raised her voice to anyone before, she was always known to be a quiet girl but he knew he had crossed many lines and he had to tell her. “Janice, Sam is not here. He’s on the plane going to america. I’m sorry i tried to stall you and i’ve crossed many lines but Jan i really am sorry”. All Janice could do was stare at her brother in utter disbelief and she felt many emotions, sadness, anger and broken. She grew too attached to him that she had no other friends besides him and now that he is gone, there is nobody she can lean on to cry, to share her feelings with and to just talk to. No matter how many times she tries to call him, it goes to voicemail or the phone is turned off.

4 years later

Janice is now in her second year of high school with her friends Hani and Liv. She knew Hani in her last year of primary school and Liv her first year of high school. Janice has changed from being the quiet and innocent girl to now a girl who skips school, goes to parties and her grades are as low as her taste in “friends”. She is known for her mature figure and face but has not ever dated in her life. She has been bullied multiple times by Hani and Liv but she brushes it off and tells herself they meant it as a joke. Sam, who just came back from america, is about to change that. He is now enrolled in the same school as her and was put into the same class as her too. As the everybody greets the teacher, he waits patiently outside the class and a few minutes late is told to enter and introduce himself. As soon as he enters the room, he spots Janice and the smile immediately falls off his face as he examines her appearance. She is so different from the last time he saw her, her hair that was once brown is now black, her face that was once chubby is now mature and graceful but the one thing that stuck out the most was how her attitude was, she looked quiet but had a face that told you not to come near. He saw her “friends” and saw how they looked like bad people and knew that God told him to help her out. After his introduction he was seated right next to Janice and he felt her stare on him so he looked toward her only to have her stare back at him. She had studied his face and felt familiar to his face but ignored the feeling as she thought it was her mind playing games again. The bell rang signaling students that all classes were over and they could go home, Sam had other plans though. Instead of going back to his old house, which his parents and him were moving back into, he went over to Janice’s brother, Mark’s house to greet him. As he waited patiently for Mark to arrive at the front door, he spotted a familiar figure entering the front gate and he felt his heartbeat increase and heat rise to his face, he still likes her even after years of not seeing her. She walks in while looking at her phone and slowly walks up to the front door, she does not recognise another presence until her eyes meet a pair of shoes and she scans the boy from shoes to his face and grows shocked, “Why- why are you here? Did you need something?”. Sam looks at her in disbelief, “You really don’t remember me huh? I wasn’t gone that long” he spoke with a sad tone. As she was about to answer him the door had opened and now all focus was on the door, “Hey guys, didn’t know you were here haha. Come on in” Mark said in both a shock and happy tone. Sam waits for Janice to go in then follows behind her, he turns to close the door and finds Janice looking at him suspiciously and she goes to the living room. As he goes to the living room, he is pulled back by Mark and felt himself being squeezed into a hug, “Bro it’s been awhile. How have you been doing?” Mark says so loudly that he nearly made Sam go deaf. As the day starts to fall and the night starts to rise, both students grow hungry as they smell dinner cooking, “Hey, how do you know my brother? I’ve never seen you around.” Janice says with attitude, he gets shocked for the tenth time that day and he couldn’t blame her as he had in fact grew out of his baby face and now had a much more mature face. His hair that was once black was now brown and wavy, his teeth that had braces around them were now nice and even, his face that chubby was now structured and his short and chubby figure was now a tall and fit figure, so of course he wouldn’t look the same as he did when he was younger but he sure did look similar. “I’m Sam, nice to meet you. I knew your brother ever since i was little and-” he was cut off by Janice standing up, “You mean to tell me that you’re the Sam that left to america and didn’t want to say goodbye? The boy i trusted? The only person that i thought wouldn’t leave me? Yet got on that stupid plane and left to america? Ha get out of my face. Pa! I’m going” Sam sat there shocked, he knew that he was stupid to leave her and he couldn’t be mad at her for anything because he was to blame, he was the one who said that he wouldn’t leave her yet he did and all he wanted to do was apologize but knew that would only make it worse. Mark, who stood there the whole time was just sad to have to see that situation go from good to bad, he knew his sister didn’t mean what she said but only took her anger that she held in for the past years on him and actually is happy that he was here and she knew that she was happy too. When he was about to speak up, Sam had rushed out of the house and all that was heard was the sound of his feet gliding against the concrete and Mark cursing as he had now burned the food. Sam ran and tried to catch up to her but he heard sudden weeping from a figure on a bench nearby, as he came closer to the silhouette he recognised them and rushed to them, gently draping his coat over her. He begins to speak, explaining why he left and why he didn’t say bye to her. As soon as he finished, all the hate and anger she felt towards him were all gone into the rain, she felt guilty and she felt like she knew she was in the wrong position to say anything so all she could say was sorry, sorry that she didn’t let him speak, sorry that she just blamed him and sorry for childishness. Sam enlightened the mood with jokes and told her not to hang out with her “friends” anymore and she didn’t hesitate to agree with him as he was the only friend she needed. As the years went by, they were now finishing up their last year of high school and were graduating in a few hours, thanks to Sam being her tutor she had picked up her grades and was now in high honors with him and changed in the best possible way. They stand there, feeling happy and feeling free, they are now together and know they can fully trust each other, all they really needed was just reassurance and trust to get through that big obstacle. Their parents are proud of both of them and Janice couldn’t pay him back for the many blessings he did in her life.