Before we knew it, the season had already turned to early summer.
The photo club was preparing for the last exhibition of the semester.
"This week's theme is."
The senior wrote it large on the whiteboard.
'The dearest person.'
The club room buzzed.
"Family?"
"A lover?"
"Can it be a friend too?"
The senior smiled and nodded.
"Anyone."
"As long as it's the person dearest to you."
-
When we came outside with our cameras,
Dohoon followed behind.
"Decided who to shoot?"
"...Not yet."
"And you?"
Without saying anything, Dohoon lifted his camera.
And then.
Click.
"...What."
"I took it."
"...Suddenly?"
"Yeah."
It was such a natural expression.
I let out a snort of laughter.
"Without even asking?"
"You did it all the time."
"..."
He was right.
Even in middle school.
Even in high school.
Dohoon always took pictures of me without saying a word.
Back then, I hated that so much.
Now.
Even the sound of the shutter made me smile for no reason.
-
The exhibition prep finished faster than I expected.
Printing the pieces.
Choosing the frames.
Even hanging them on the wall.
At last, there was only time left to look over each other's photos.
I stopped in front of Dohoon's photos.
In the photos,
there was me, smiling.
A middle schooler in a uniform.
A high schooler dozing in the study room.
A college student standing under cherry blossoms.
In chronological order.
All of them.
It was me.
A short sentence was written beneath the photo.
The person I've looked at the longest.
My throat tightened.
When I turned around,
Dohoon was standing there.
"Dohoon."
"Yeah."
"Is it okay to exhibit this?"
Dohoon smiled quietly.
"If it's not okay, I'll take it down."
"..."
"But."
"..."
"I wanted to say it at least once."
Yeoju couldn't say anything.
Dohoon slowly went on.
"Back in middle school."
"When we first ended up in the same class."
"..."
"From then on, my goal was to go to the same university as you."
"..."
"I wanted to be in the same major too."
"..."
"I wanted to stay by your side."
Yeoju bit her lip.
Dohoon smiled with a calm expression.
"But."
"..."
"In the end."
"Because of my selfishness."
"I think I made you take a different path."
"..."
"For years."
"...I was sorry."
-
"Dohoon."
This time, I cut him off.
"...Yeah."
"I'll say one thing too."
One step.
I moved closer to Dohoon.
"I."
"..."
"Really hated you."
Dohoon gave a bitter smile.
"...Yeah."
"But."
"..."
"The more I thought about it."
"..."
"It wasn't that I hated you."
"..."
"I was scared."
"..."
"When I looked at you."
"..."
"I felt like I was lacking."
My eyes grew hot.
"So."
"..."
"I ran away."
"..."
"Sorry."
This time, Dohoon shook his head.
"We said we'd stop apologizing."
"..."
We both laughed.
For the first time in a long while.
Without hiding anything.
-
A long silence.
The wind blew gently.
Dohoon carefully opened his mouth.
"...Yeoju."
"...Yeah."
"This time."
"..."
"You won't run away, right?"
Yeoju smiled and nodded.
"...Yeah."
"I won't run away."
Dohoon let out one breath.
And then.
He said the words he'd been holding in his heart for so long.
"...I like you."
"..."
"Since middle school."
"..."
"All this time."
Yeoju couldn't even cry
or laugh.
She just.
Took one more step closer.
"...Me too."
"..."
"I still like you."
It was a short sentence.
But.
By the time she could say those few words.
Almost ten years had passed.
-
Dohoon carefully held out his hand.
"...Can I hold it?"
Yeoju let out a snort of laughter.
"Why are you asking that?"
The moment their hands met.
Dohoon said very softly,
"...I'm glad."
"...What for?"
"This time."
"..."
"That we can go together."
-
On the way home,
the two of them walked side by side like before.
No.
It was a little different from before.
They were holding hands.
I suddenly looked up at Dohoon.
It was strange.
For my whole life,
Kim Dohoon had been my first love.
And.
my first complex.
But.
Now I know.
It wasn't just me.
For Dohoon too,
his first love was me,
and I was his first complex too.
We liked each other so much,
we were so aware of each other,
that even though we were the closest people to each other,
we still came back around from the farthest distance.
Still.
I'm glad.
In the end,
we came back to each other's side.
- The End -
(There is an extra story!)
