Kevin and I spend the rest of the afternoon fully basking in our true nerdy selves. We watched reruns of Jeopardy and yelled out the answers before the contestants. We re-watched the last episodes of 8 different animes, cackling along with the characters. And just for fun, I did Kevin’s makeup… blindfolded.

                It was what we used to do on a daily basis back in middle school. So why does my chest feel so skittery and jumpy? I feel so happy, but I don’t know why. In the middle of me and Kevin’s rendition of the Quadratic Equation song (he sounded like a true pop star while singing it), I randomly stop and stare at Kevin. He’s wearing a pillowcase on his head and waving his arms around wildly while singing. He looks absolutely adorable. Kevin realizes that I stopped singing, so he turns to face me. When he notices the half-baked expression on my face, he smiles at me.

                Holy. Krisus. He. Is. So. Cute. My mind feels like sludge. I grin widely at him, and then smack him with my pillow, trying to hide my blushing face. “Hey, Kevin?” I ask him.

                “Hn?”

                “How does it feel like having saesang fans?”

                Kevin freezes then looks at me with a disgusted expression on his face. “Ew. It’s disgusting and creepy. Like, some girls send me period blood and stuff. And once in a while some crazy fan finds our headquarters or practice room, and she goes nuts. And I get letters every day from girls proclaiming their love to me, and pictures of-,”

                “Oh my god, shut up,” I say, my face burning. For some reason, people confessing their love to Kevin makes me feel strange. “I never thought that Kevin Woo would have die-hard fangirls.”

                “Well, we’ve both changed from the dorky middle-schoolers that we used to be.” Kevin sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “Do you want something to eat?”

                Half an hour later, after we’ve finished our burgers and fries and chocolate milkshakes from room service, I start explaining how school was like while he was in Seoul. How the people who had previously ostracized me and called me a loser were now trying to kiss up to me and be my friend. While I’m talking, I look over at Kevin. He’s stony-faced and isn’t saying anything.

                “Kevin? Um, is there something wrong?” I ask him.

                “No,” he replies. “It’s just that the same thing happened to me. I was just…reflecting.” I awkwardly pat him on the back. “Uh…sorry?” Kevin rolls his eyes and shakes me off.

                “Does your leg feel better now?” he asks.

                “If you want to go, you can go.” I tell him.

                Kevin laughs. “I was just going to ask you if you wanted to go down to the beach.”

                “Oh.” I gingerly test out my weight on my foot, only to be met with electric shocks of pain racing up my ankle. “Um, no. Kevin, if you want to go down to the beach, go on ahead. I’ll be fine.” 

                “Okay,” Kevin says, and walks out the door. I stare at him as he leaves. When he shuts the door, I let out a huge sigh. My chest feels tight and I feel really sad. I thought that Kevin would stay with me. It would’ve been so nice… I sigh again and turn on the TV, rubbing my aching foot.

                Suddenly, the door to my room flies open, and there’s Kevin. He’s holding something in his hands. “Kev- oh my god!”

                The moron just dumped a pile of beach sand in my lap.

                “What was that for?!” I screech.

                “Calm yourself,” Kevin replies calmly. “Don’t you want a lasting memory of the beach?”               

                “You loser! How is this a lasting memory? You just wanted to dump sand on me!” I grab the water bottle that’s next to my bed and send it flying at him, splashing him with water. We start fighting when suddenly we hear a bang on our door.

                “UAL ACTIVITY IS PROHIBITED ON SCHOOL TRIPS! CUT IT OUT!”

                Kevin and I stand there, shocked. We turn to look at each other…

                And then burst out laughing again.