“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here?” I asked.

“I, I wanted to surprise you.” He smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

My smile dropped. “Oh. Well looks like I surprised you instead,” I said, attempting to joke.

“Yeah. You did.”

I cringed. Why was there this air of coldness? I thought the tension from when we last met had disappeared…Maybe I was talking with the wrong Henry in my emails? What had I done? He knew my email…

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. No, not at all,” Henry shook his head.

“Did you know I was here?”

There it was, the real smile. “I’m not stupid, Anlia. I can read. I got all of your emails.”

“Oh, good.” Relief rushed in.

He looked over his shoulder. “Look, can I talk to you later? About all this stuff.”

“Sure. You gotta give me the details though.”

He took my hand and shook it. “Done.” He pulled away and I stared at the piece of paper in my hand.

I shook my head. “I don’t understand why-“

“I’ll explain it then. Please, Anlia. I’m trying to protect you.” Henry looked at me with pleading eyes.

I nodded. “Okay.” I turned away and walked a few steps, but at the last moment turned to him. He was still watching me, with worried eyes.

I blinked back tears and walked away. I opened up the piece of paper in my hand.

8 o’clock PM. Tiananmen Square.

Before all the buses and subways were closed, I realized, as I refolded the scrap in my hands.

“Oh, hey, Anlia.” Min turned to me when I walked back. Now Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, and Sungmin had gather with Ryeowook.

“Hey.” I put a smile on my face.

“They invited for us to visit them back in Korea. Want to take them up on the offer?”

“Like we would refuse!” My smile grew and laughed as the Super Junior boys raised their hands for high-fives.

"Tell Key I miss him, okay?" Min said slowly in English.

"Okay!' They made an okay with their fingers as they smiled.

"We'll be leaving now. Bye!" I said in Chinese, and waved.

"Bye!" They replied in unison.

I quickly grabbed Min's arm.

"Ow! Stop dragging me!" She took her arm out of my grasp.

"Sorry. I just, couldn't get out of there fast enough."

"Yah! What's wrong with you? You were so excited when you got in, and now you're all over the dumps." She peered into my face. "Come on, this isn't the Anlia I know?"

I gave her a wary smile. "You didn't really know the Anlia in distress and in love at the same time." I sighed. "Neither did I."

"Well, Anlia in distress and in love, cheer up! So what's the deal with Henry?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "I thought things had...changed since we last met. That nothing was holding us back now. But it's still there. This time I don't know what it is."

"Okay." We kept walking away, from the screaming ELFs, in silence. She looked at me. "Just know...I'm always here for you."

I smiled. "Why else would you be my best friend?"

*

I heard somewhere, maybe Dream High?, that the person you love is the person you see in your most happiest moments. Sometimes, I think it's not just a person, but people. They can be the people you're in love with, or the people you love. (Yes, there is a difference.)

Anyhow, for any String out there, if you wanna help out with Henry's b-day present, one site you could go to is stringswithhenry.wordpress.com.You're going to have to email them to know the details, but it's not that hard, as long as you have a camera.

This chapter is dedicated to my best friend... I'm so sorry that I only knew you one year while you were still here, (okay fine 2 years but the first year doesn't count), thank you for always being there, even though you're so far away. The distance doesn't prevent you from being on my mind, and in my heart when I rejoice with happiness, because I know somewhere you're always rejoicing for me. When my mind is in distress, you're always the one who forgets her own distress to try to comfort with mine. Sometimes I wonder if I'm ever a good friend like that to you, but I suppose I should always keep worrying, since if I didn't, it probably would mean you weren't such a good friend to me. That being said, can you video chat this Saturday? Or Sunday? 

And readers, you all have a special place in my heart. ^_^