CHAPTER 1: GOODBYE

Ray sighed and closed his eyes before looking at the sky again. The news of Rose moving away wasn't one he could accept just like that—although he acted as if he doesn't care about the news in front of his friends, it was obvious that he, like his other friends were sad and shocked by the news.

An hour passed, he didn't move from his spot as he continued to stare at the sky—constantly looking at their beautifully decorated backyard. His treehouse remained strong even after 8 years despite being almost covered by moss. Ray was too far from reality now that he didn't even realize Rose who took a place beside him.

“Hey...” Rose's soft voice pulled Ray back to reality as he finally looked at her—an obvious blush was visible on Ray's cheeks. Of course, being around her doesn't make Ray as nervous as it used to but the fact that he was caught spacing out made him embarrassed. “Rosie... Why are you here? Don't you have packing to do?” he asked and Rose immediately pouted.

“You want me to leave already?” she asked and puffed her cheeks. Ray became dumbfounded as he shook his head in panic.

“N-no! That's not what I mean!” He exclaimed.

Rose giggled and bumped her shoulder against Ray's gently before answering, “I know silly. I'm just joking,” Ray let out a sigh of relief and looked at their backyard again.

“So... five days left...” Ray said sadly while swaying his legs back and forth. Rose sighed, showing that she wasn't happy about the fact that she's moving away as well—if possible, she would love to live alone and not coming with her parents to their new home but she was too young and she's a girl—even though she only live a few houses away from Ray.

“Yeah...To be honest, I don't want to move either because that would mean... I have to make new friends,” Rose stated.

A smile appeared on Ray's face as an idea of revenge came into his mind. “Is that the only thing you could think of?” he asked.

“You're joking right?” Rose asked back with a poker face and they were quiet for a few seconds—a dog could be heard barking from a distance.

“Yeah... you're right.” Ray gave up and looked away from Rose. It was worth a try. Ray thought but he knew that only Rose can say something like that and make it look real.

“But for the sake of your question, I will answer it; no. there's a lot of reasons as to why I'm against the decision like I don't want to be separated from you...” there was a pause before she continued. “...and the others of course.”

A dog continued to bark from a distance as Ray and Rose were sitting in silence after that. “Hey Rose... I know it's kind of too late now but... I just want you to know that...” Ray started scratching his nape while looking away from Rose.

“That you like me?” Rose asked with a smile.

“Yes. I like you—wait, you know?” The shyness inside Ray immediately disappeared as he look at her with wide eyes.

Rose shrugged and leaned against Ray, “as calm as you might be, you're still obvious around me.”

“So... What about you? Do you like me?”

“I thought I made it obvious when I told you not to date Lena last year?” Rose looked at the boy with furrowed brows.

“I thought you did that because you don't like her?” the boy stated and Rose couldn't help but to roll her eyes at Ray's oblivious answer.

“I did that because I'm jealous silly! and yes, I like you too and the feeling is mutual,” she groaned and looked away the moment she realized that she just confessed to her crush.

Ray ended up laughing at Rose and when at first, the girl was asking him to stop, she eventually gave up and laughed as well after calling him silly.

Five days after that night where they confessed to each other, the time to finally bid their goodbye has arrived. While Younghwan and the other friends were gathered in front of Rose's house to say goodbye, Ray was nowhere to be found.

“Where's Ray? I thought we agreed on meeting here today,” Joy whined and looked at her friends—Jinwoo was sitting on the pavement meanwhile Younghwan was talking to Rose's parents.

“Well... Rose, we're going to be late for our flight. You should say goodbye to your friends now,” Mr Park said as he looked at his watch. Rose sighed and reluctantly agreed and he looked at her friends. Friends she had made ever since she was a kid and it was truly unfortunate to say goodbye to them.

“Guys...” the others stopped whatever they were doing and looked at Rose as she took a deep breath. ”I guess... this is when we will have to say goodbye and it's sad, really. To leave you all—I honestly wish we could grow up together and live together but...” she started tearing up mid-speech. “...I guess we can't do that now that I'm moving away... but if God let us reunite again, then I believe we will be together forever. Please tell Ray this when you guys meet him; I like you and will always remember you. Don't forget me.”

Joy started to cry when she saw Rose cried. “Goodbye... friends,” Rose finished her farewell speech as she wiped her tears. She was about to enter the car when Ray shouted from a distance, “wait!”

Everyone's attention were on him as he continued to run towards Rose—immediately hugging her when he reached her. “I'm sorry I'm late!” he said, hugging Rose tighter.

Rose hugged back and started to cry again. There weren't much to be said between them—they knew by heart that they mean a lot for each other and that they don't want either of them to forget. “See you again... Rose...” Ray sobbed and broke the hug.

Rose nodded and waved at her before entering the car.

Her father started to drive away as Rose continued to cry while hugging her bag. She finally remembered something as she opened her bag and took out an MP3 Player out of it. It was given to her by Ray the day before.

“Listen to them when you miss me...”

Rose plugged her earphone in and played an audio. The audio started with a static before Ray's voice came.

“1,2,3... Test... aahhh... *clears throat* okay so... hey Rosie! If you're playing this audio, then that mean you missed me already, right? If you already play this audio before you even get to the airport, then you must've missed me so much, right? Well... anyway... I just want you to know that I uh... missed you too—every minute, every second, every moment. When you feel down, don't give up, okay? Continue to move forward and be strong. i know it would be hard to make new friends but you have to try. If by chance... you met someone more handsome than I am, if you started having feelings for them then... don't worry and go for it. I will support you 100% percent because your happiness means my happiness. Just don't be a player and continue being who you are, okay? But if you were unable to move on from me then know that I'm always here, waiting for you. Everyday. Make sure to take care of yourself, stay safe. Don't hang out with people that are bad influence to you... Phew... I don't know what else to say but... send me an email when you arrived, okay? I'll reply to them all. Keep in touch. Also, I put something else inside the box together with the MP3 Player. Put it on and keep it until we meet again, okay? So... Lastly... I want you to always remember us here because we certainly will remember you. I guess that's all I want to say to you because I've told you everything else a few days ago... Goodbye... I... *Ray's mom voice from a distance* alright mom! I have to go now-”

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