The Ninth Letter From Nayeon

June 23, 1995

Dear Dahyun,

That’s very sweet of you. Jimin loves to draw, actually. That and singing. My friend would invite us over to her aunt’s house just to see Jimin. She turned 3 last April. It was a cute celebration, and they gave me cake. And funny enough, the icing was blue. It’s her favorite color.

Do you like children? I love them. I used to work at a daycare when I was still a student. It was one of the things I did while trying to earn more than my allowance. I miss it, honestly.

You’re probably the first person to ever say they like the color white. Because it’s just white. There’s nothing else there. But maybe you see the beauty in such a simple thing, don’t you? You seem like the type to do so. And if you do, I admire that.

Also, maybe we can make that a thing. That white goes with baby blue. Thematically, it’ll look like it’s for babies, but I don’t think I mind at all. At least I’m learning more about you.

You’re cute. How many calendars do you have? But if you forget my birthday then I don’t know what your excuse is. I don’t expect a gift, but I do expect a birthday greeting in some way. I’ll look forward to it.

Excuse me if this sounds rude. But I wasn’t expecting you to be single. You’re so sweet. Anyone would have loved to have a caring girlfriend like you. But have you ever liked a boy before? Like even a little crush? Nothing? Now I’m curious. Because you have some idea of my relationship, I swear it isn’t like that all the time. I’ve met a couple of guys and girls, and they were fun to be with. Some were excellent lovers. But anything deep was just too risky. I don’t know how to explain it.

But don’t think I’m a loose, promiscuous woman. I still have my dignity. My last partner just took it from me because… I guess I believed in a lot of things he said, and he made me the biggest fool. I was never like this.

Sorry if that sounded too depressing. But you did ask how I was. And sometimes I still think of him. Wonder why it ended like that. Why was it easy for him to just betray my trust and leave? I have a lot of questions in my head, and I might run out of paper if I ask all of it.

I used to go out on walks with my dog, Bruce. But he’s been feeling sick and he’s inevitably getting old. So we just stay at home. But he stays by my side when I watch tv too. Or when I cook, or when my best friend, Momo comes over to cook instead. She loves him. She also has her own dog and we have puppy dates.

He’s not technically my dog, actually. A friend from high school had to rehome him because of family problems and the new house she was in didn’t allow dogs, so she asked me for help and I happily obliged. It’s been six years since he came into my life. I really love him.

You mentioned your friend Tzuyu. What’s she like? I’m curious.

Do you like this side of me now? I hope you do. I love learning more about you and I’m starting to enjoy telling you about myself as well.

Take care, Dahyun.

Yours Sincerely,
Nayeon