Youngmin’s POV

 

I wished I hadn't left Yoomi in the room.  I wished I had stayed and told her everything.  I regreted not telling her I loved her.  Maybe if she knew how I felt... but how could she not know?  When we first met, I thought she liked me, but I blew it somehow.  

 

I tried to convince myself that I was going to the mall to get some air, to think.  But what I knew I was doing was getting away from Yoomi because I knew that's what she wanted.  I craned my head back to stare at the clouds.  What did I do that made her so resistant towards me?  I put my earbuds in and turned the volume up on my iPod.  Thinking about Yoomi was like a sweet poison- I loved thinking about her, but every time I thought about her, my heart hurt.

 

I thought back to the first time we met.  The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew I was in love.  The way she talked with her friends, the way she protested when we found out we had to share rooms, the way she smiled when she saw the hotel... I was so excited when I found out we were sharing a room, but I don't think we hit it off well in the beginning... 

 

“Can you, like, walk faster?”

 

“Why should I?”

 

“OMG!”

 

“AH!  WHAT’S THAT FOR?”

 

“For walking like an old, fat turtle,”

 

“Now walk fast or…”

 

“Fine, gosh!  Women are so weird, so annoying...”

 

“QUIT IT!”

 

I smiled weakly. "She hits hard..." I rubbed my arm as if she had hit me and turned my iPod on shuffle. 'Bubble Pop' blasted in my ears.  It reminded me of summer and pools... and I was taken back to our first real conversation...

 

“So... what are you doing?"

 

“Eating.  Duh.” 

 

“Give me a piece!"

 

“Eh… here.”

 

“Yoomi, you’re not wet..."

 

“Aish, don’t touch me!”

 

“What the...?  I was just asking, why you’re not wet...”

 

“None of your business.”

 

“It isn’t fun if you don’t get wet!  Come on, let’s jump in the pool!”

 

“YA. STOP. NO. I DON’T WANT TO.”

 

I couldn't help but smile.  She had munched her pretzel like a little kid.  Not only was she adorable, she was so pretty.  I knew it wasn't necessary to touch her hair to know it wasn't wet, but I couldn't stop myself.  Every time I touched her, even for a quick second, I felt a wave from my chest spread throughout my body.  Heck, even looking at her I got that feeling.  I didn't know how to explain it, but I knew it was love.  But that day I was introduced to her prideful side, her insecure side... I felt closer to her. 

 

I came back to earth and looked at my iPod.  It had switched to 'I Remember' by Bang Yong Guk.  I kept walking slowly, robotically.  People behind me got frustrated and passed me.  I didn't even care.  I just kept walking.      

 

“Hey wassup Youngmin?  I pushed Yoomi, she fell and acted as if she can’t swim.”

 

“Help!  Help!”

 

“Aish, hyung, you really messed up this time”

 

“Ya!  Ya, what are you doing?  Why are you helping her?”

 

“Yoomi, you okay?  Yoomi!  Ya!  Answer me!”

 

Thank God... Oh thank God...

 

“Hyung, meet me in your room and call the others over, but tell the girls to go to my room and take care of Yoomi.”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Yoomi, I’ll carry you to the room.”

 

“Ya, it’s okay, let me down, how many times do I have to tell you?  Don’t touch me!  You have a serious problem with that direction!” 

 

I realized my vision was blurring.  "Aish!"  Hot tears trickled down my face.  "Aish!" The memory of her almost being taken away from me... I had nightmares for days after her drowning scare.  I dreamed I hadn't made it in time.  I dreamed that everything I did couldn't save her.  I would wake up in a cold sweat and make sure she was sleeping beside me.  Maybe on the edge of her side of the bed, farthest away from me, but still there.  A life without Yoomi... how would I manage?  I only had one more week to make it up to her... If only I knew what I did... I got tired of listening to 'I Remember', it was making me depressed.  I pressed skip.  'Severely' by F.T. Island came on.   

 

“No, stop rolling around, you’re giving me a headache...”

 

“Fine, I’ll stop... But I’m bored...”

 

“Then I can do this!”

 

“Ya!  Stop!  STOP!”

 

“She did give me a headache,” I mumbled.  My favorite part was when I accidentally fell on her.  Truthfully, I was happy I had incredibly poor balance at that moment.  Our noses were barely touching, after the initial shock, her eyes softened... It was the first time I had the chance to really examine her face.  It was all perfect to me, the way her brown eyes shone with excitement, her long black eyelashes curled upward, her nose gently sloped in the center, her lips were just barely parted in surprise, her cheeks slightly pink from laughing, the cute little dimple by her eye... but I was overwhelmed by suddenly seeing her face closely, that before I could tell her how perfect she was or lean in to kiss her, everyone came in.  I wish I could just go back to that moment where neither of us said a word... 

 

'It Has To Be You' by Yesung broke my daydream.  I cursed and I was taken back to today.  

 

“Youngmin, why are crying?”

 

“Oh nothing, nothing... just something flew in my eyes, you know?” 

 

"Why are you here?"

 

"I live here too you know... Uhm, I need some fresh air, wanna go to the mall with me?”

 

“Uhm, no!  I don’t want to go with you!” 

 

My throat tightened and I shook my head.  I tore my earbuds out and stuffed my iPod in my pocket.  Obviously music wasn't helping me.  I had walked right up to the mall anyway.  I wandered aimlessly in the mall for hours, entering random stores, browsing through clothes, perfumes, CDs, movies, food courts.  I went up and down escalators and elevators, feeling like I wasn't fully there.  I checked my iPod and saw it was the evening.  I decided to go back to the hotel.  Maybe Yoomi was out with a friend.  As I was leaving the mall, I passed by a bubble tea kiosk. 

 

"I don’t want ice cream, can you put down bubble tea?"  

 

“Bubble tea for who?” 

 

“Yoomi!  She loves bubble tea!  When she's in a bad mood, all you have to do is buy her bubble tea and she’ll be okay.” 

 

“Yoomi, I bought you something...”

 

“OMG!  Give me give me!”

 

“Thank you!”

 

“She loves stuffed animals...”

 

I stopped walking.  The person behind me ran into me and yelled something, but I didn't listen.  A smile grew on my face. That’s right!  She loves bubble tea and stuffed animals!”  I turned around and made my way over to the kiosk.  A woman was making up a bubble tea behind the counter. 

 

She turned around when she heard me come over. “Hi, how may I help you?” 

 

I looked at the menu above the woman's head. “Can I have..” There were so many choices, I didn't know which one to get. “I don’t know which flavor she likes...” I looked at the floor in concentration.  I got an idea. "You know what, can I just get one of each?" I asked as I pulled out my wallet.     

 

The woman looked surprised. “One of each?”  I smiled and nodded.

 

She raised her eyebrow and totaled it up on her calculator. “Okay… that will be $30” 

 

I handed her the money. "How long will it take to make all of it?” I asked.

 

“Around 20-30 minutes,” she said pulling out the cups. 

 

“I have to go somewhere first, but I'll come back, is that okay?”

 

She nodded and I sprinted over to a nearby stuffed animal kiosk. 

 

“There’s so many... I don't want to get her another penguin... A bear's kind of too unoriginal..." I blocked the view of other customers. 

 

A little girl pulled on my jacket. “Excuse me!” 

 

“Sorry, but I'm right here,” I informed her.  Her face crumpled and she ran back to I assume her parent.  

 

I wanted to get them all, but I knew that'd be too much to carry.  I laid my eyes on tiger and instantly knew she'd love it.

 

The little girl's mom walked up to the counter beside me and glared at me.  "Could I have that tiger?" she asked the salesman. 

 

"Yes ma'am, that'll be $10-"

 

"I'll give you $30," I interrupted.  I handed him the cash.  He looked surprised, but gave me the tiger.  The girl started crying and I ran back to the bubble tea kiosk before her mom could kill me with her laser eyes.  

 

When I got there, the woman had set all my bubble teas on one side of the counter.  "Do you want these in cup holders?" she asked.  

 

"Uh... yes please," I said. 

 

She loaded four cups in each cardboard cup holder.  She pushed three of them toward me. "What are all these for hun?" She nodded at the bubble teas and the tiger. 

 

“I made my..." I didn't know what exactly to call her. "I made my crush mad... I mean I didn’t do anything wrong, but all of a sudden she's been cold to me.” 

 

“And you want to make it up to her?” I nodded. 

 

Jaemi walked in the room with me and set the bubble teas on the table. She smiled at me. "Good luck," she whispered.  She walked away. 

 

I looked around for Yoomi.  I heard the bathroom door open and she stepped out wearing her big pink Hello Kitty non-lens glasses.  "Oh, Youngmin," she said surprised.  She looked at the table.   

 

I smiled. "I bought these for you, but I didn’t know which flavor you like so I got them all and I also got you this!” I said quickly.

 

She opened to say something, but shut it.  She walked over to the table and looked at all the teas, then picked up the tiger.  She carefully hugged it and slowly smiled.

 

“I hope that made up for what I did wrong...” I watched her smile fade away.  She set the tiger down. 

 

I panicked.  I picked out one of the bubble teas at random and held it out to her. “Will you accept my apology?”

 

She walked closer to me, but stood at a distance.  Her eyes traveled from the tiger to the bubble teas on the table, to the one in my hand,  to my eyes. “Youngmin...”

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this chapter is sooo sad! me and the co-author had a hardtine writing this. we both were like "WHYYYY SOOOO SADDDDD?". poor Youngmin right? 3