Taemin: Age 15, Eunsook: Age 18, Taesun: Age 19 (away at college)

Eunsook and Taemin lie on futons set up on the floor of her living room on a dark still summer night. Her parents allowed Taemin to sleep over, even though they were becoming increasingly hesitant of letting Eunsook and Taemin maintain their sleepover tradition given their ages. But it was the last summer before Eunsook would be moving away to go to college, so they made an exception for old times’ sake.

Taemin moves forward, trying to lie next to her on her futon.

"Taem, no, we can't.” Eunsook places her hand on his shoulder to stop him. “You're not a little kid anymore. It's not appropriate."

"I'm so cold, Noona. I just want to cuddle. I'll bring my own blanket."

"Okay… fine." She caves easily and moves to the edge of her futon. "But we really have to stop."

"Of course, just this once." Taemin scoots over.

I'll just find a new excuse the next time.

They face each other on the futon, their heads close together as they speak heart-to-heart.

"Please be mine." He whispers a few minutes in.

"Taem..." She shakes her head.

"It would be simpler that way." Taemin turns onto his back, looking at the ceiling.

"What do you mean, Taeminnie?"

Eunsook gets up, a concerned look on her face, her s sway with movement. Taemin sits up too, looking at her chest, which had grown another cup size over the summer. He reaches out, cupping her in his hand through her bra, his thumb touching the soft flesh spilling out of the top, his fingertips touching her ribcage. He had seen Taesun fondle his girlfriend like this when Taemin had gone to look for them when Taesun was home visiting from college.

"Lee Taemin!" Eunsook says in shock, slapping his hand away.

"Please don't go away to college, Noona." He looks up at her sadly.

So, this is what this is about. Eunsook thinks.

"Taem, I have to. You'll go too one day and you'll forget all about your Noona when you're chasing after other girls." She says with a playful smile.

"I don't think I will." He says.

Eunsook shakes her head confidently before she continues. "You just think you love me, but that's because we're together all the time.” She explains. “It'll be so different when you're in college and you meet other girls who are more age appropriate. I just know it." She smiles reassuringly.

"No.” Taemin shakes his head, his voice insistent. “I don't want other girls. I want you. I always will, I promise." He says, his voice getting heavy with emotion.

"Taemin, you're too young. How about we have this conversation again when you're older?"

"No! You're going to start dating someone right away, I know it. You're mine."

"Not like that, Taemin!” Eunsook says firmly, a frown on her face. “Is it fair for me to wait for you to grow up? What if you grow up and you realize your Noona is too old and I’m really not as pretty as you think and—" She doesn’t mention the fact that even with Taemin's growth spurt this past summer that made him just as tall as her, he was still underweight for his height, while she was most definitely not.

"—You're perfect, Noona. I can take care of you, I promise. Please, Sookie Noona, I love you." Taemin meets her eyes and a tear falls down his face.

"Taem... I love you very much." Eunsook sighs. She lies back down, tugging him to do the same.

They continue to look at each other without speaking, just staring at each other before they both fall asleep.

Before dawn, Eunsook wakes up alone, the sky outside already beginning to get lighter. She looks over at Taemin and sighs deeply, pulling his blanket up over his chest and brushing his hair away from his face, her fingers lingering as she does so. She gets up and moves to the vacant futon, so no one will be the wiser and falls back asleep for the few hours before they’re woken up by her parents for breakfast.

A few weeks later, Eunsook takes a picture in front of her house with both families before her parents drive her to college for move-in day. She wraps her arms around both of her parents, smiling broadly. Taemin smiles too in the photo, but his smile is less sure, his eyes glancing over at her.

“Eunsook goes to college”

So a bit more/a lot more angst in this one: Taemin’s misguided attempt to “woo” her by imitating Taesun, his feelings not being taken seriously by Eunsook, Eunsook’s insecurity about her weight, and the pressure she feels as a girl/the older of the two to be responsible/prevent potential misunderstandings by others.

I really tried to research the actual ages Korean students start college, but then I got all confused trying to calculate Korean age and International age with what I had already established their age difference to be, so I gave up. I used typical college starting age in the US. Sorry :(