“Jaehee-ah, do you remember that little boy that you used to play with when you were younger? Park Jimin?”

Jaehee looks up from her phone at her mom, who has a cryptic little smile on her lips. “Yeah, I remember him. That kid who moved away six years ago, right? Why’d you ask?”

“Because he’s coming back to Busan next week, and his family is planning to visit ours.”

Jaehee drops her phone onto her couch and stares wide-eyed at her mother.

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. They’re moving into the street just next to ours, about a ten-minute walk from here.”

“Why would they come back?” Jaehee asks, still in disbelief.

“I’m not sure. I guess we can find out next week when they come over for dinner.”

Jaehee has mixed feelings about this sudden reunion. She hasn’t seen Park Jimin in six years; she wonders how much he has changed.

Five years ago

“Yah, wait for me!”

Jaehee laughs mockingly as she zooms past Jimin, cycling at top speed. “Slowpoke!” she yells.

When she turns around she can see him huffing and panting heavily, beads of perspiration rolling down his forehead onto his collar, his cheeks puffy and red with all the effort. She grins to herself as she begins to pedal even harder, leaving him far behind her.

Boys aren’t necessarily stronger, faster or fitter; Jaehee understood that very well through her ‘friendship’ with Jimin. She always beat him in races, be it running, cycling or swimming; she always beat him in arm wrestling, something that she takes a lot of pride in.

Jimin, being a little on the plump side with a round face, chubby cheeks and thick round spectacles, is always struggling to keep up with Jaehee’s naturally athletic build and talent. She is even taller than him by a few inches, something that irks him to no end, especially since he’s a few months older than her.

But what annoys him the most is how she never fails to rub his failures in his face; his lack of speed, agility, strength, fitness, and a thousand other incompetencies. And the way she laughs at him constantly makes him want to give her a good smack on her head, which he would gladly have done if she weren’t a girl.

He swears that he will become better than her one day, and make her eat her words.

Present

“Jaehee, hurry up and get dressed! The Parks will be here in a hour!”

Jaehee rolls around on her bed, exasperated. “Exactly, mom. An hour. It only takes five minutes to put on clothes.”

“Aish, don’t you want to doll yourself up a little bit today?”

“For what?”

“For Jimin! You know, I heard he’s quite the looker these days.”

At this, Jaehee bursts out laughing till tears begin to form at the corners of her eyes. Park Jimin, a looker? The world must be coming to an end. Jaehee is absolutely sure that even puberty wouldn’t be able to save him, no matter that she hasn’t seen him for six years. The kids in their elementary school used to call him names for being short, fat and ugly, and though she felt bad for agreeing with them, she couldn’t help it because it was the truth.

“A person can change a lot in six years, Jaehee. Trust me on this and get dressed nicely, you’ll thank me later. You know what, I’ll pick something out for you.”

Her mom rummages through her closet and picks out a white flowy dress that stops just above her knees.

“No way, mom! That’s way too formal. We’re not going to a restaurant, for god’s sake,” argued Jaehee who was planning to wear just a graphic tee and skinny jeans.

After battling it out for fifteen minutes, they reach a compromise: A black shirt with a white tennis skirt. Jaehee still doesn’t understand what’s the big deal about her outfit; it’s just a reunion dinner with someone she hasn’t met for five years.

She finally gets dressed and waits for the arrival of the long-awaited Park Jimin. When the doorbell rings she begins to feel unexpectedly nervous; she remains in her bedroom and fidgets with the hem of her skirt.

Moving closer to the door, she begins to hear the sound of people chatting animatedly; probably her mom welcoming the guests. She stays put in her room,well aware that her mother will probably come to get her anyway.

After a few minutes, she stares at the closed door in reluctance. She really doesn’t want to leave the safety of her room; reunions are always awkward, and there’ll be the first glance-over to be exchanged to see how she has changed. She doesn’t like that feeling of being scrutinised like some specimen.

Jaehee walks to the door and places her hand on the door handle. I’ll have to do it anyway, she tells herself as she gathers up her courage. It’s no big deal-

Suddenly, someone knocks on the door. Jaehee opens the door immediately and finds herself face to face with a tall, undoubtedly good-looking boy with an incredibly muscular build. His brown hair is messed up just the right amount, and falls over his piercing eyes, shielding Jaehee from his sharp gaze, but only a little bit.

“Uh, who are you?” Jaehee asks confusedly.

“It’s me, Jimin,” the boy speaks in a deep voice.

No. Goddamn. Way.

The boy in front of her is taller by a few good inches; the top of her head reaches up to only his chin. The Park Jimin she knows (or used to know) was a whole lot shorter than her, and she’d constantly for it.

And those muscles. He’s wearing a sleeveless muscle tee that leaves his arms delightfully bare, allowing Minchae to see the smooth, hard curve of his muscles. His previously flabby arms have made a disappearance, it seems.

As she looks up at his face again, she realizes that his cheeks have become hollower, his features sharper and more defined; he’s lost all his baby fat and he’s no longer chubby anymore. And he’s lost the glasses too. His eyes, though considerably slit-like, are so much ier without those glasses.

Most shocking of all, he has a jawline. Park Jimin, a jawline.

Puberty didn’t just hit him; it hit him like a freaking truck.

This has got to be the glow-up of the century.

“Jaehee?” Jimin suddenly says, his voice low.

Since when did his voice get so low? Jaehee remembers that his voice used to be annoyingly pitchy and nasally, and definitely wouldn’t be classified as pleasant.

Suddenly she realizes that she’s been staring at him for way too long; she coughs awkwardly, averting her gaze towards the ground.

“You’ve changed.” Jimin says, raising an eyebrow.

“You too," Jaehee responds, still refusing to look at him.

“Kids! Hurry up, the food’s getting cold!” Jaehee’s mom calls out, her voice ringing through the hallway.

Jaehee and Jimin walk quickly turn away from each other and walk down the hallway, Jaehee trailing reluctantly behind Jimin. She still can’t believe his transformation. Maybe he got plastic surgery in Seoul. Yeah, that seems more likely than just puberty.

Puberty doesn’t work wonders just like that.

Puberty doesn’t make you this hot.

Puberty certainly doesn’t turn you into a freaking god- oh god, Jaehee, stop.

After pushing her inappropriate thoughts away to the back of her brain and greeting Jimin’s parents, Jaehee takes the seat at the far end of the table while Jimin sits directly opposite her. She draws in a long breath. It looks like it’s going to be a long dinner.

“How lovely,” Jaehee’s mom coos, “our kids get to meet after such a long time! I bet they didn't expect to see each other again.”

“Yes, I bet you missed each other, didn’t you, kids? You guys were absolutely inseparable back then,” Jimin’s mom gushes.

“I remember Jaehee crying for several hours straight when she found out Jimin was moving-,”

“Mom,” Jaehee says in a warning tone, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. If only she could crawl under the dining table and disappear.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing each other very often from now on,” Jimin’s dad pipes up, “because Jimin is going to be attending your school, Jaehee!”

At this, Jaehee chokes on her rice. She coughs several times, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Jimin sees this and slides his glass of water over to her.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t used it yet,” he says.

Jaehee accepts it gratefully and sips the water, the coughs subsiding gradually.

“I didn't expect such a huge reaction from you, Jaehee! Looks like you’re really happy about this arrangement,” her dad says, chuckling.

“Uh… yeah… right.”

“Jimin will be starting school next week. Jaehee, I hope you’ll take good care of him okay? My Jiminnie is always shy when it comes to new environments.”

“Sure, Mrs Park,” Jaehee says, hoping that nobody detects the sense of reluctance in her voice.

Thankfully, the rest of the dinner passes by with just the adults talking, leaving Jaehee and Jimin quiet. Occasionally, she would sneak a few peeks at Jimin, observing the quiet, graceful way in which he ate, which was completely unlike him in the past. He used to gobble down all his food and ask for seconds within seconds.

Still awed by his transformation, she doesn’t realize that sometimes, Jimin would stare intently at her too. But he’d look away before she could catch him.

This doesn’t go unnoticed by the adults. After dinner, Mrs P