Anyeong! Double update or what? I worked very hard on this chapter, and I still find that it's lacking! I don't know what I'm missing... if someone could tell me, that would be great *sobs* I love you all, and your support is amazing! Please continue it, and I will do great things for you all! Comments and Subbies are soooooooo appreciated c; Enjoy! With love, your author, HelloBaby123

YOUNGMIN’S POV

I watched her being so happy and free, unlike her collected self with Hye, and contentment surged through me. I have never felt so unburdened. I saw her pick up a little girl’s dropped ice cream, drop it in the trash, cleaned the girl up, and race into the store to buy her a new one. I just stood by and watched, marveling over how generous and kind _________ was. I didn’t know too many girls, but who would completely ignore their friend in order to help out someone else?

It was bittersweet.

For a second it seemed like she had left him. For a second anyway. After the little girls’ tears were dried and she had a new ice cream cone, only then did ___________ remember that I existed. “OMO! Mianhae Youngmin oppa. Here, let me buy you an ice cream!” she dragged me inside the store. It seems like all she does is drag me around. Not that I minded. Actually, if she could drag me around for the rest of my life, I would be so happy. In the store, she shrieked about all the different flavors, pointing at a green one, then a blue one. I listened attentively. Any other girl shrieking like that, I would have found it completely annoying. But when ____________ did it… it was sort of cute. Just a little bit.

Not that I think she’s cute or anything.

I realized I was zoning out when _______ tugged on my ear. “Yah, oppa, listen to me. Which one do you want?” I turned my gaze toward her and poked a random flavor. “Cookies and cream? Okay, cone or cup?” I pointed at the cone and she laughed. “Okay. One cookies and cream in a cone, and an ice cream sundae in one of those tall glass things with a mini-waffle on top and tons of hot fudge!” she described with relish. I could tell that the young man was overwhelmed by her cuteness, and I felt a pang of anger file through me. So I pulled her to a table to wait for our food.

She slid into one of the booths. “Don’t you think this store is so pretty? I could sit here for ages and admire the wallpaper…” her voice trailed off as she stared, dreamily, into the carved glass windows. The young man came with our food, a cone in one hand, and a towering sundae in the other. __________ snapped out of her reverie and gaped at the sundae. “Er, waiter-shii! I think you gave me a large… I only paid for a small…”

“It’s on the house.” He winked at her brazenly like I wasn’t even there. I could have punched the guy, but the happy look on her face was enough to stop me.

“Kamsamnida!” she dug in. I realized that if she was happy, nothing else could put me in a bad mood. So I may as well enjoy it. I took a bite of my cone, but seeing her eat was enough to make me feel full. Was this how parents felt, watching their children eat? I wanted her to eat well.

“Oppa, try this.” She poked my lips with a spoon. A new one, so it wouldn’t be an indirect kiss. I shook my head no. She shook hers too. “Try it! It’s delicious!” she poked me again, so I opened my mouth and accepted. It was delicious, that look on her face. “Yummy, huh?” she took one for herself, with the same spoon. INDIRECT KISS! I felt all the friend zoned bros behind me, giving me high fives and patting my back.

“Youngmin? Are you okay?” she blinked up at me, spoon still in . My face must have looked really funny. I shut my mouth and relaxed my face. She giggled at me. Now what? “Oppa, your ice cream is melting.” Crap! It was dripping all over my hand and __________seemed to think it was hilarious, and couldn’t stop laughing. “Youngmin, you’re so silly!” she commented, shoving napkins at me as I struggled to clean up. “Thank you.”

I looked up, slightly ashamed for being a klutzy person and overwhelmed with the thanks. What did she have to thank me for, anyway? I sent over a quizzical look. She noted it and explained. “I haven’t been so happy in a long time. Hye oppa is…” her voice trailed off. “He’s the one I love, but sometimes, the people you love bring you nothing but sadness. I was so happy when Oppa asked me to be his girlfriend; I didn’t consider what it meant to our friendship. When we became a couple, our friendship was cut off. We treated each other like lovers’ instead of friends, and I think that was our biggest mistake.”

I fleetingly thought back to the saying in the lovers’ scrapbook. The best relationships are when you can be lovers and best friends at the same time. I grabbed a napkin, still refusing to write in the pricey however beautiful notebook. “How did you guys even become friends? I know this might sound a little nosy… and rude, but he’s sort of a jerk. I can’t imagine any girl wanting to be friends with him.”

She considered it for a second. Then she took my hand, leaving a bill on the table. “I can’t tell you here. We have to go someplace else. The warmth of her hand filled my insides, and smoothly I opened the door for her while telepathically sending her a message. “Where are we going?” To my surprise, she understood perfectly.

“Let’s go to the Han River.”