It was a beautiful, sunny morning. The sound of a nearby creek, the birds chirping away, and the sizzle of an omelet cooking fit together in harmony. Unfortunately, the bright light entering through the window didn’t please L.Joe. After what happened last night, he returned to his own room, but couldn’t get a wink of sleep. His eyes were puffy and his brown hair was in all kind of directions. He sat up, reflecting on what happened last night. It was the most shocking thing he’s ever experienced. Though he’s glad he was able to pull through it, he was slightly disappointed by hearing she wanted his ice cream.

Nayeong, Jun, and him were walking up the hill, in the mouth of the forest. There were a number of trees already. And bugs. Lots of them. From dragonflies to beetles. But, that’s what they came for anyways.

L.Joe looked to the front at his brother Jun, and Nayeong.

“Noona, you’re so cool.” Jun said, squatting and turning over every leaf. His other hand held a bug cage, which was filled with sticks and leaves, and a couple of beetles.

“Oh, really?” Nayeong said lifting a corner of . She took off her baseball cap and used it to fan herself. Today, her hair was tied up in a loose ponytail.

“Yeah,” he said turning around, grinning, “you’re not scared of anything. Not even bugs! All the girls in my school are scared of them.”

L.Joe smiled. Really, there was nothing Nayeong couldn’t do that a boy could. When they were little, it was always her that brought him into dangerous things; running past their neighbor’s killer dog, jumping over sewers with their bikes, playing with a badger’s newborn cubs, etc.

“Hehe.. there is one bug I’m scared of though..” Nayeong replied, tapping her own bug cage.

“Hmm..” Jun said, furrowing his eyebrows, but kept turning over leaves, “dragonflies?”

“Nope.” Nayeong replied, shaking her head.

“What about centipedes?”

“Nope”

“Bees?”

“Haha.. Only if they sting me.”

“Hmm…” Jun thought. He turned over a leaf and found a big black caterpillar. He picked it up.

“Then what about this?” he said putting it in her hand.

Nayeong’s eyes widened, the hair on the back of her neck stood up at the same time and she let out a scream, surprising both Jun and L.Joe. No bug scared her more than a caterpillar. It’s soft and hairy body, and the tickly feeling that brushes against her skin disgusted her like hell.

 She stood up and shook her hand frantically, getting the poor caterpillar thrown a couple of feet away. But as she took one foot back, she tripped over a rock.

By reflex, L.Joe stood jumped behind to catch her from falling. He succeeded. Nayeong managed to land safely, though a bit dumbfounded. But instead, L.Joe lost his balance and fell. It was a hill side so Nayeong and Jun watched in horror as he rolled down the hill. He would have fallen all the way down if he hadn’t hit his head on a tree.

When they came home, Mrs. Lee panicked and started questioning him what happened. The only word L.Joe said was “I tripped” leaving Nayeong feeling guilty.

---

Nayeong and L.Joe were sitting in the porch. It was a cool and quiet night. The rest of the family had gone to sleep. Just the two were awake, enjoying the night scenery. Then Nayeong broke the silence.

“Hey,” she said, tapping L.Joe’s shoulder, “look at that.”

L.Joe looked in the direction her finger was pointing. In the dark, there was a dim light glowing, floating around in the air; a firefly, just one. He smiled.

Nayeong laughed lightly.

“Remember our first summer together? We saw a bunch of fireflies.” She said.

L.Joe nodded. He remembered everything. One night, Nayeong came over to his house and dragged him out to the pond a couple of meters from her backyard. There they saw hundreds of fireflies, of all colours. He remembered how amazed he was.

“And then you got hurt trying to get a firefly for me..” Nayeong continued. Her voice grew quieter.

He remembered that too. Nayeong had asked him to get her a blue firefly, which flew too high for him to catch it. He climbed a rotten log, but it collapsed from his weight and he got hurt badly. That day, Nayeong cried even more than him from how guilty she felt. Ever since, he noticed she’d never asked him to do any favours.

Nayeong looked at him in the eye. Her face was a mixture of feelings; feelings that he can’t figure out except guilt. She lifted her left hand and caressed the bruised side of his face.

“I’m sorry.” She said in a hoarse but soft voice.

That did it.

L.Joe couldn’t control his feelings anymore. The soft touch of her hand, the perfect atmosphere; the dim glow from inside the house, the chirping of the crickets, and that single firefly floating around made him crack.

He held her left hand then tightened the grip as he moved his face closer to hers.

“Don’t be.” He whispered, as he looked straight at her. Before Nayeong realized the look in his eyes, it was too late. Within a second, he moved closer, closed his eyes and brushed his lips against hers. He expected her to be surprised. But he didn’t care. Knowing that she worried this much about him was enough. What he didn’t expect is that she would pull away. When she did, he felt stabbed from the look on her face. Her eyes contained a mixture of astonishment, fear, and bewilderedness. This woke him up.

“Sorry about that,” he said as he pulled away, cutting eye contact. He stood up and left quickly, leaving Nayeong confused and astounded.