Call My Name

C51: Departing

She pecked my lips and she sat beside me. Then she hugged my right arm and rested her head on my shoulder.

"I won't see you always, though. You will be busy with your career, and I'm still stuck here." She stated, her lips turning into a pout.

"It's fine, we will see each other after your classes and my work." I stole a kiss from her lips making her smile.

"Where are you planning to work, Lili?" She asked and started playing with my hands.

"Dispatch." I answered, earning a chuckle from her.

"Ohh, so you're planning to spy on and follow some K-pop idols or actors." She looked at me, then suddenly flicked my ear. 

"Yah, what's that for?" I rubbed my ear.

"I don't like that. Just work in an office as an editor or something that doesn't involve following and invading people's privacy. I don't want you to follow other people other than me, because that will make you busy almost 24/7 since you need to catch them dating." 

"I'm just joking, Nini. Newspaper Korea had already offered me a job; all they needed was for me to graduate."

"Lili being a journalist sounds cool. I'm going to buy all the newspapers that you ever wrote for. "

"What are you going to do with that?"

"I'm going to hide it as a memory, then I'm going to distribute the other newspapers to my dad's employees." 

Instead of responding, I wrapped my arms around her shoulder and hugged her tightly.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked.

I buried my face in the crook of her neck and shook my head.

"This is the best year in my life. I met all of you and I had so much fun." I mumbled against her neck.

"I don't know what you saw in Jisoo, Seulgi, and Jeongyeon that made you friends with them. Tzuyu and Cubby are still understandable but those three crackheads." She replied as she stroked my hair.

"They are great friends, even though they are hard to handle. You can tell them everything you are keeping inside and they will help you feel fine. I love being friends with them and with the whole team. " 

"Am I included in that?" I nodded.

I pulled away from the hug and said, "Of course you are included, especially since it's hard to make friends with you. Before we became friends, I experienced a lot of hardships. You made my nose bleed, left a black eye in my face, and purple bruises on my body because you pinched it, and I even got hospitalized. " 

"I want to ask you something, Lili."

"Go, ask me."

"Why did you comfort me the day when you saw me on the rooftop? Also, why did you comfort me when I ran to you in the hospital and you brought me to the mall to accompany you to watch movies and eat? "

"To be honest, I don't have a specific reason for that. You caught me on the rooftop when I was supposed to quietly go away, but you called me and suddenly hugged me. That time, I asked myself what happened to you and who made you cry like that. I even saw you yell angrily at your phone on the public basketball court." I put a strand of her hair behind her ear and continued.

"For at least a short time, I brought you to the mall because I wanted you to forget about what you experienced there. Ever since I saw you crying, I wanted to know why and I wanted to help you get through it. I felt like I needed to protect someone as precious as you. While I'm trying my best to protect you, I just can't help but fall in love, especially when I see different sides of yours. "