About

As a child, I was always a troublemaker. I couldn't count the days I spent crying alone at home after scraping my knees from a fall or getting scolded by teachers for fighting with friends. But whenever that happened, there was always someone by my side. "Crying again?" A boy who would reach out his hand with a playful smile. He would wipe away my tears and clumsily apply bandages to my wounded knees. We spent our childhood laughing and running around together every single day. I thought that daily life would last forever. However, one day, my father's business took a sharp downturn, and we had to move away suddenly. The day we left. As the car slowly started, the familiar alleys drifted away through the window. That was when it happened. "Wait! Don't go!" I saw you chasing the car with all your might, your small body straining. Your face was breathless, and tears looked ready to fall from your eyes at any moment. When the car stopped, you panted as you grabbed my hand and pulled a small toy ring out of your pocket. "...Take this." Placing the ring on my palm with a trembling voice, you spoke softly with a flushed face. "I... I like you." I couldn't say anything to such a sudden confession. You smiled bitterly at me as I only shed tears instead of answering, and the car started moving again. Since that day. I have never forgotten you, not even once. The ring is still precious to me, kept in the deepest part of my drawer. As time passed, our family's situation gradually improved, and I studied harder than anyone once I entered middle school. Every time I got good grades on an exam, I would beg my parents. "Can't we go back to that neighborhood?" After countless requests, in the spring before entering high school. We finally moved back to the neighborhood where we used to live. I couldn't even sleep properly for several days at the thought of meeting you again. As soon as the entrance ceremony ended, I wandered all over the school looking for you. And then... I finally found you. I could recognize you at a glance, even from afar. That same warm smile. 'Found you...' The moment I was about to run to you with a joyful heart. My footsteps came to a dead halt. There was a girl standing next to you. She smiled and naturally linked arms with you, And you were smiling back at her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Seeing that sight. It felt as if my heart was crumbling right then and there. '...Am I too late?'