Seunghyun absolutely loved half days. There weren’t a whole lot of them, so he treasured them whenever they came along. He could go home, relax, and not have to deal with his mom’s nagging voice for a few hours.

He and Gwen began the walk home. It was getting colder, and Seunghyun was seriously considering driving to school. In past years, he hadn’t, because he liked the cold, and it really wasn’t that far of a walk, so it seemed like a waste of gas, but now that he had Gwen walking with him, driving didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

He looked over at her. He could tell she was shivering and was as wrapped up in her coat as much as she could have been. Seunghyun knew that, being from Chicago, she was used to cold days, but something seemed off. Again, he amazed himself with his insight into her body language. It was as though she was talking to him without words.

“You okay?” he asked, pulling her closer to him, as though he only thought she was cold.

There was a short period of silence before she answered. Seunghyun counted the number of steps they took before she answered. Four.

“Is there anything you wanted to do before going home?” Gwen finally asked quietly, the wind blowing her hair out of her face, revealing that she was paler than usual.

“Um, no, not really,” Seunghyun answered. He watched her shoulders fall. “Was there something you needed to do back at school?” Seunghyun asked, half turning back to the building.

“No,” Gwen answered. “I was just wondering….”

Seunghyun watched her walk for a second. Seeing that something was really wrong with her mood, he made a quick decision and asked, “Have you been shopping since you got to Seoul?”

Gwen shook her head.

Seunghyun suddenly jumped in front of her to make her stop walking, making her smile a little. She reminded him of an excited child, the way he bounced into her path. “Let’s go, then!” he said. She hadn’t seen this side of him. In the past few days, Seunghyun had been acting differently. Instead of stoic, he was hyper. Though Gwen knew that he was totally out of his comfort zone, but she liked watching him try.

Seunghyun started walking again, with renewed purpose, to his house. He didn’t care that two minutes ago, he was looking forward to flopping on the couch, TV remote in hand. This seemed so much more interesting.

“Uh, where are we going exactly?” Gwen asked, walking quickly to keep up with the happy Seunghyun.

 “To get my car,” Seunghyun answered simply. “You don’t think I’d make you walk all the way there, did you?”

“You have a car? Why have we been walking to school everyday, then?” Gwen asked quietly, watching Seunghyun practically skip towards his house. She had never seen him like this, but she liked it. Giggling, she followed him.

-           -           -           -

Even though it was the middle of the day, traffic was bad as Seunghyun drove Gwen to his favorite shopping spot.

 Taking advantage of the fact that he had Gwen trapped in the car, Seunghyun started asking questions. “So, why didn’t you want to go home? Any particular reason, or you just don’t feel like it today?”

Gwen played with her hands uncomfortably. She knew he was just trying to be friendly, but he had started out with the one topic she didn’t want to explore. Feeling like she had to answer though, she said, “Some days, home is just not a good place to be.”

“So, what brought your family to Seoul?” he asked first.

“Business,” Gwen answered.

“How old is your brother?”

“Twenty one,” Gwen said. “Though sometimes I forget he’s older than me.” She smiled lightly, thinking of her brother.

“Why?” Seunghyun asked, laughing a little, making sure to keep the conversation.

Gwen shifted a little, trying to find the right words. “He was so happy, all the time. All he wanted to do was make people laugh. And he could. No matter what someone was feeling, he could make them smile as soon as he walked in the room.” Gwen suddenly realized she was talking a lot about herself, so she decided to turn the questions on him. “What do you plan on doing after graduation?”

Seunghyun sighed. “Going straight to work for my dad, and go to university in America.”

“Oh, yeah?” Gwen said excitedly. “What university?”

“I don’t know,” Seunghyun answered, turning the corner. “Somewhere close to Chicago though, since my dad is either here or there.”

“Northwestern is a good school,” Gwen said. “My brother goes there, and he said he loves it.”

“Oh, really?” Seunghyun said thoughtfully.

“And what’s with the athletic bag you’ve been toting around recently?” Gwen asked, nodding to the backseat, where their schoolbags and Seunghyun’s gym bag.

“I’m on the basketball team,” Seunghyun answered. “You should come to a game.”

When there wasn’t a reply, Seunghyun looked at Gwen, who was looking at him, an amused expression on her face.

“What?” he asked.

Suddenly, she started laughing really hard.

“What?!” Seunghyun demanded, laughing himself at his companion.

“I’m sorry,” Gwen said, still laughing. “But I do NOT see you playing basketball! Why did you choose THAT sport?!”

Seunghyun started laughing outright. “My dad told me it was popular in America! Are you telling me it’s not?!”

Gwen couldn’t speak, she was laughing too hard. Seunghyun seemed too pretty to play any sport, let alone basketball. She shook her head. “It’s not that popular,” she said, once she could breathe properly again. “We have professional teams, but it’s certainly not as popular as, say, baseball or American football.”

“I’m going to kill my dad,” Seunghyun said, laughing, making Gwen laugh even louder.

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