Jongin was exhausted after the day’s events - the long car ride, the ‘family time’ - and he was more than ready to sleep. Jiyoon, on the other hand, was always up at least an hour after him. For some reason, every time he saw her now, his chest would tighten and he’d lose his ability to talk. He refused to come to terms with what that meant, especially since she was leaving almost right after the trip.

The two sat in their shared bedroom, Jiyoon was sitting at the opposite end of his bed as he began to doze off against his headboard. She woke him up when she began to talk.

“Why are you so tired?” She complained. “We just got here.”

“Because we did a lot today,” he replied, “and I’m bored.” He shrugged, his eyes still closed. The TV in the background was the only light, the curtains were drawn but even if they were open, no moon would be there to see.

Eventually she convinced him to watch a movie with her. She sat next to him slightly leaning against him. He liked how she always smelled of flowers and some kind of fruit that he couldn’t put his finger on at the moment. His arm was kind of around her, hanging limply on her other side but definitely around her body.

About halfway through the movie, he was somehow still awake. He looked next to him and saw that the one who’d wanted to stay up in the first place was fast asleep against his shoulder. He chuckled quietly, shaking his head.

“Park Jiyoon, you’re a real pain in my .” He moved the covers back, gently laying her down against his pillows as he decided it wouldn’t be weird for her to sleep next to him. She had before, after all, the two always were either right next to each other or cuddling. It was something that best friends did, he convinced himself of that.

He attempted to ignore the pounding of his heart as he settled next to her. He wrapped his arms around her almost protectively and pulled her body next to his. As if it were instinct, she curled into his chest and shuffled a bit before being still.

He was tired, he wouldn’t deny that, but just looking at her while she slept made him feel some weird emotion that he’d never really experienced much with anyone else. Maybe he could ask his sister about it. However, the last thing he wanted was for someone to tell Jiyoon.

With a sigh, he kissed the top of her head and began to fall asleep.

Jongin always woke up before Jiyoon, so it was no shock to Jongin that Jiyoon was still curled against him. It was almost as if she hadn’t moved at all throughout the night. Jongin carefully untangled himself from her and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and pat down his hair.

He walked into the kitchen to find his mother there, cooking breakfast. She made him a cup of coffee, which he took gratefully and began to drink, not minding that he almost burned his tongue. He was still tired, his eyes drooping even as he sat at the counter.

“So, Jongin,” his mother began, “what’s going on with you and Jiyoon?”

“What?” He nearly squeaked out. “Nothing, mom, she’s my best friend.”

“I know that you two are best friends, and we let you keep sharing a room because of that, but if we have anything to worry about, that has to change -”

“I’m not into Jiyoon like that, okay? Where are you even getting this from?” He ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Jongin, I just went into your room earlier. I was going to ask what you wanted for breakfast but I didn’t want to disturb either of you. I’ve never seen you be so close to someone.” His mom shrugged, returning her attention back to cooking.

“That’s because she’s my best friend, best friends are typically close.” He said sarcastically, and his mother sighed.

“I just wish something would happen before she leaves.” His mother’s words almost surprised him. She continued, “I mean, you two can’t see it, I’m sure, but Miyoung and I both see that it’s been more than friendship for at least a year now. That’s why you haven’t gotten a girlfriend.” That’s when Jungah walked into the kitchen.

“We talking about Jongin’s undying love for Jiyoon?” The smile was wide on her face and Jongin just rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, I don’t -” Everyone fell quiet when Jiyoon walked into the room. Jongin almost laughed at how tired she looked when she sat next to him.

His mother handed her a cup of coffee, which she took gratefully and she didn’t seem to mind the scalding liquid either. She hadn’t appeared to have heard any of their conversation, and Jongin was grateful for that. He didn’t want her to think anything like that.

Jiyoon and Jongin got assigned to go pick some things up from the store. Jiyoon insisted on driving because she enjoyed it so much, but Jongin was glad to let her. They pulled into the store and got the things they needed.

It was unlike her to be so quiet around him. He wanted to ask if he did something wrong, but he couldn’t even begin to process what words to say. He didn’t like being on the receiving end of her cold shoulder.

Maybe she had heard their conversation. Did she think he was in love with her?

Well, maybe his sister wasn’t far off at this point. He was like a lost puppy, following her around and always making sure she was with him. They’d been inseparable since they were children.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, unable to think of anything.

“Jongin, what are you doing?” She asked him. “Are you ignoring me?”

“What?” He asked, frowning at her.

“I can’t reach this.” She sighed, pointing up to the top shelf. “Help.” He walked by her and reached the box on the top shelf, pulling it down and putting it in the little basket she carried on her arm.

He moved to walk down the aisle to find something else when he heard her sigh.

“Jongin, is this about last night?” She asked. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, okay?”

“Jiyoon, I’m not mad.” He turned around and raised his eyebrow at her. “I don’t have a reason to be mad. It’s not like you haven’t slept in my bed before.”

“But it’s different now.” She told him.

“How is it different?” He tilted his head to the side and he could’ve sworn he saw her tense up a bit.

“It’s not.” She cleared , looking away from him. “What else do we need?”

Jongin didn’t get much else out of Jiyoon. They finished what they had to and went back to the house. Something was different about Jiyoon, and he couldn’t even begin to tell why.

The day dragged on for Jongin. He didn’t know what he was going to do when she was off to college somewhere far away. He probably wouldn’t even be able to call her. He’d finally had enough when the sun had set and she was making sure she was around as many people as possible.

He grabbed her arm and without many words, he dragged her outside. Her eyes were wide as she looked into Jongin’s.

“What the hell are you doing?” She asked.

“I could ask the same thing.” He held onto her wrist.

“I’m spending time with my family.” She replied, attempting to jerk her arm away from Jongin. “You’re not the only one I have to leave, Jongin.”

“What is going on with you?” He was frustrated, he could tell something was off and he wanted to know. “You’ve been acting weird all day. Did sleeping in my bed make you that uncomfortable?”

“No, that’s not it.” She sighed, removing her wrist from his grasp and running it through her hair. She turned away from him. “I don’t want you to freak out.”

“Jiyoon, I just want -”

“I’m in love with you.” Her eyes met his and his heart stopped beating in his chest. He stared at her in shock for a second, never expecting those words to come out of .

“You’re what?” He breathed out, finally understanding why his heart was pounding so hard in his chest whenever he was with Jiyoon. He loved her.

“Jongin, I…” she trailed off, before a smile began to form on her lips. “Jongin, I’m kidding. Calm down.” She started to laugh and he was still, he was completely unsure of what to say.

“You’re kidding.” He sighed, grabbing onto the railing of the porch and looking out towards the yard. He grabbed one of the decorative pillows off of the porch swing and threw it at her. “Don’t joke about that kind of stuff.”

“Your face,” she giggled, “you were so worried. What happened to wanting to make children?” She nudged his arm.

“Platonically make children, Jiyoon, there’s a difference.” His heart was racing, but not because she scared him. It was almost like he enjoyed the rush he got when she told him.

“Still making children.” She . She walked over to the porch swing and sat down, waiting for Jongin to sit next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him.

“You reacted horribly to that.” She chuckled.

“What was I supposed to do?” He asked her. “That was the last thing I expected you to tell me.”

“Would it really be that bad if I was in love with you?” She asked him, uncharacteristically quiet. He frowned for a second, would it be bad?

“No,” he replied after a moment of thought, “nothing would be bad with you.”

He felt like he could barely breathe.

After a while of just sitting there, Jiyoon went inside to see her family and Jongin’s sister, Jungah, joined him outside. She sat next to him and Jongin sighed.

“Jungah, can I ask you a question?” He asked, still looking out at the scenery in front of him - a yard enclosed by too many trees.

“Of course,” his sister replied to him.

“How do you know if you’re in love?” He couldn’t see it but his sister began smiling next to him.

“Do you think you’re in love with someone?” She raised her eyebrow at him.

“I don’t know what this is.” He chuckled quietly, shaking his head and folding his hands in his lap.

“Okay, so tell me how it feels when you see or think about this person.” She knew exactly who he was talking about, but neither would ever say it out loud, not when she was so close.

“Her eyes are really shiny,” he was already smiling, “and she makes me laugh. She’s really funny, Jungah, you would love her. Her hair is always soft and she smells like flowers. Not the fakes ones, the real ones that smell really good. Her skin is really soft and her laugh - ugh, she’s like an angel.” He was too lost in his thought or he would’ve seen the smile on his sister’s face.

“And what do you think of when you see her?” At her question, he sighed, furrowing his eyebrows.

“It probably sounds really dumb.” He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. “You’ll just make fun of me.”

“No, Jongin, I won’t.” Jungah told him. “I’m really interested.”

“Fine,” he sighed, “what I think of…” he paused, “I think that she’s the only one that could ever be right for me. She’s the only one that has been right for me, I guess. Everyone else just seems so…bland, but she’s everything, Jungah, and I want to hold her close and hear her laugh and look into her eyes and tell her how much I love her.” He realized how much he’d said and he cleared his throat awkwardly, turning his head away from his sister and running his fingers through his hair.

“My little brother’s all grown up.” Jungah pouted. “Stop doing that.” She smacked his arm gently and he laughed.

“I really love her, Jungah.” He didn’t even have to tell her who he was talking about. Jungah knew, she’d known for a long time.

Jiyoon.