~~Seoul, South Korea~~

The editor of SONAMU trudged into his apartment building, relieved that it was finally the weekend. Andrew sighed at the thought of going to Los Angeles… It had already been three days since he had told his uncle he would go. He stared at his phone and opened Cacao-talk!, looking at the message he had sent to his now ex-boyfriend. There was still no response from him. Locking his phone, he entered the elevator with another sigh.

Opening the door to his two-bedroom apartment, he set his bag down on the kitchen counter before walking to one of the closed doors on his left. 

Standing outside his door, Andrew let out a deep breath as he entered his bedroom staring at the large array of personal items and clothing he had accumulated over the years. When was he going to finish packing everything up? Hauling out his huge luggage from the spare closet, he opened the suitcase, getting ready to start shoving his clothes inside.

  Even though his transfer to the U.S. branch of SONAMU Publishing Company wouldn’t be completed until two weeks later, Andrew wanted to get a head start in preparing for it anyway. He was folding his shirts when a smile broke out on his face. Who would have thought that Caden would become a writer? 

Getting up from his seat on the wooden floor, Andrew dug out the keychain from his pocket. He smiled while sitting down on his bed and gazed down at the keychain he had picked up after Caden all those years ago. 

“…Hmm… I wonder how you’re doing… Are you still your happy self?” Andrew muttered to himself as he brought the keychain up towards the light on his ceiling. 

His heart fluttered as memories came flooding back to him of his very first encounter with Caden…

~~Eleven Years Ago, Fall 201x~~

It was the first day of classes and 18-year-old Andrew was already late! He had totally forgotten what day it was, as he had been too busy working at one of his summer jobs at the bakery in town. He dashed through the lush, green courtyard of the university, moving past a group of student tours. Andrew huffed and panted as he saw the auditorium in the distance, where all incoming freshmen were supposed to be at for orientation.

Without looking where he was going, Andrew accidentally ran into a tall, handsome Asian man with toned muscles and jet-black hair. He was an inch or two shorter than Andrew, who was around 6’0 (~183cm). Andrew’s eyes widened as he crashed into him, both toppling to the cement ground. He groaned as he struggled to untangle himself. 

“Ow… Dude, watch it!” a voice shouted in his ear as he shoved Andrew off of him.

“Oh, sorry… I was in a hurry and didn’t see where I was going. You all, right?” he asked, glancing at the young man next to him, while rubbing his scraped palm in pain.

“No, I’m not actually. Why can’t you— Are you hurt?!” he asked, grabbing Andrew’s hand abruptly.

“Huh? Uh...”

“Ha… Dammit!” he said, grabbing his backpack and taking out a first-aid kit. Andrew stared at the young man in disbelief, wondering why he had a first-aid kit on him in the first place.

The young college student carefully wiped Andrew’s palm with alcohol wipes, causing him to wince in pain and flinching away. With an annoyed sigh, he tugged on Andrew’s hand and brought it close to him as he applied an antiseptic ointment on the wound. Andrew hesitantly gazed at the man in front of him, smiling slightly.

He was really good-looking, with pale skin and long, luscious eyelashes, he looked like a real-life, Korean manhwa character. Andrew felt himself blush as he realized he had been checking out a total stranger. His heart thumped rapidly against his ribcage as his eyes travelled down to the young man’s hand.

“Can you stop staring? It’s awkward.” he scowled, putting away the ointment. 

“Er… Sorry. But… Why are you helping me? I’m the one who bumped into you.”

“Just in case you decide to be an ass and spread rumors about me hurting you, I have witnesses to back me up. Oh fu— I need to go. Be careful next time!” he yelled, waving his hand at Andrew, running off to the direction of the auditorium. 

In a daze, Andrew stared after the handsome student before glancing at his bandaged hand. He chuckled, making his way to the auditorium as well, a wide smile on his face and his heart skipping a beat in rhythm of his light footsteps…

~~~

  Andrew smirked and blushed at the memory while he clutched onto the keychain. Why was his first memory of Caden so… cringey? Like some stupid shoujo manga? He shook his head, a gleeful smile on his face as he stared at the keychain in his hands. Although their first meeting had been so clichéd, it was very special— well, special enough for the editor to vividly remember it after all those years…

Andrew groaned. He had no regrets except for... well, two things. One, Andrew had never gotten the chance to confess to Caden or even get close to the popular student. And two… Andrew picked up his phone again, checking to see if his “ex-boyfriend” had replied to his break-up text he had sent two days ago. There was still no reply. It had already been a week since he had last called and left a voicemail to his actor boyfriend, asking him to break up with him. Maybe he was busy? Or was he avoiding him? Andrew sighed, guilt panging in his heart.

Why had he even agreed to date this guy in the first place? Was he that deprived of love? Maybe it was his good looks that he had fallen for… But the mere thought of being in a relationship with someone he wasn’t drawn to had been too much to bear. 

“… Fuck, I should have just broken it off then… He doesn’t even like me either, so why is he so adamant about us dating? Ugh…”

Andrew tossed his phone beside him as he glanced back at the keychain. Was this even the right thing to do? In his excitement to see Caden again, Andrew had blurted out that he would leave for Los Angeles… 

However, doubt now clouded his mind. What would happen if he arrived in LA? Will Caden even recognize him? And would he even be able to recognize Caden? All these thoughts were making his heart thrum with fear and worry. Would his ex-boyfriend even understand his decision to end their relationship? Or did he even care? Andrew hoped that his ex’s lack of response was for the latter. 

Sighing, he laid down on his bed, resting his head on his pillow while staring up at his plain ceiling. Andrew only hoped that he wouldn’t regret his decision to go see his first love again. He didn’t want this second chance he had with Caden to go to waste. Closing his eyes, he curled up in a fetal position, wanting to rest for a bit before having to pack the rest of his things. 

“…There’s only fourteen more days to meet you again…”

**NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.**