You stopped for a second, looked back at him, and returned a wave.

Then you cupped your hands around your mouth and shouted, "I still owe you!"

Feeling happy that you said what you wanted, you energetically ran all the way home.

---

 

It has been about two weeks since the incident with Kevin.

You have spent that time pondering over ways to repay him.

'Maybe I should go and visit later...' You thought to yourself.

'He probably doesn't have company over much since his house is in the forest,' You began to drift away in your thoughts. 

 

"Miss Park..." A voiced called out from a distance.

"Miss Park..." The voice repeated except it seemed to have gotten louder.

"Miss Park!" You heard an angry Mr. Choi yell as he slapped a yard stick on your desk.

Snapping out of your daze you bowed your head to Mr. Choi and apologized.

 

The class went on for another thirty minutes until the bell rang.

As everyone was piling out of the classroom and into the crowded hallways, you were still gathering up your school supplies.

"Miss Park," Mr. Choi called from behind his desk.

You glanced over at him and he gestured you to come over to him.

 

You slung your backpack over your right shoulder and walked over to Mr. Choi's desk.

"How have you been these couple of days?" He questioned as soon as you stopped at his desk.

"Fine," You replied, "Nothing out of the ordinary. Why?"

"I just thought that something might be going on since you usually don't zone out in my class," He answered.

 

You smiled and said, "Ah, no. It's nothing really. Thanks for your concern though," You bowed your head once again to your teacher.

As you were about to walk out of the class, an idea came to you.

You spun around quickly, "Hey Mr. Choi... do you maybe... know of something a traditional type of person would like to eat?"

 

Mr. Choi looked up from the papers he was grading and flashed you a puzzling look.

"Hmm.. maybe beebimbap*... but since it's summer... perhaps samgyetang*. Why do you want to know?" Mr. Choi asked you curiously.

"I was planning on cooking something for my parents since they're coming this weekend," You lied.

Your teacher complimented you on your kindness before you left to put your materials in your locker.

 

As you neared your locker, you spied your bestfriend Jonghyun leaning against the line of lockers.

He was waiting for you.

When he saw you making your way over he smiled cutely and waved at you.

You did the same.

 

Now before I tell you this story, let me inform you about your relationship with Jonghyun.

You and Jonghyun have been friends since preschool.

Actually, you two hated each other until you were both put in the time out corner for misbehaving.

Ever since then you two have been closer than ever!

 

Not physically, of course.

Although Jonghyun has confessed his feelings for you, somehow you're just not feeling it with him.

He hasn't given up on you yet though.

Yes, he is one persistent little fella.

 

 

Who would've thought that he would still like you after you rejected him back in the seventh grade!

Probably no one, with the exception of maybe one or two people.

Even now when you guys are freshmen in college, he refuses to give you up.

Anyways, I'm getting off track.

 

So as I was saying...

Wait where did I leave off?

Oh, right, lockers, got'cha.

Okay so you arrived your locker at last.

 

"Hey Mimi," Jonghyun said in a teasy voice when you stopped in front of him.

"Move it, Jongball," You said as you shoved him aside so you could have access to your locker.

Jonghyun laughed, "You're the same as always," He paused, "But that's okay because that's why I like you!" He exclaimed with some big cheesy grin on his face. 

You giggled as you shut your locker, "What are you? An actor in a drama?" You pushed his shoulder playfully.

 

 

"I hope not..." Jonghyun said with a pout.

"Hey! Why the sad face?" You asked him as you mimicked his pout look.

He sighed and said, "Because the guy who chases after the main character always ends up alone..." He said in a kind of sad tone.

You patted him on the back and gave him a small smile, "Don't worry about Jongball. I don't like anybody right now, so you still have a chance to be the main male character." You said trying to comfort him.

 

He gave you a sad smile, "Don't tell me that. You'll just get my hopes up and then I'll really never get over you."

"Right," You said, "Sorry Jongball."

The bell rang once again which signaled that the ten minute break was over.

You didn't have anymore classes for that day, but Jonghyun had soccer practice.

 

So you two went your separate ways.

You decided to go into town to buy ingredients to make samgyetang.

You stopped at the local grocery market and bought chicken, fresh ginger roots, garlic, chestnuts, red dates, and spring onions. 

When you got home you laid out the ingredients on your kitchen counter.

 

About an hour and a half later your dish was completed. 

Satisfied with the taste and look, you packed it up and set off for Kevin's house. 

You stood at the bus stop until the green city bus came.

You sat in a seat in the back of the bus.

 

When the bus pulled closer and closer to the forest, you grew more anxious.

Finally when the bus arrived at your destination, you thanked the driver then hopped off.

You began walking along the path that was already made for people who came to site see.

After a little bit of walking you strolled off the path and into the forest in search for Kevin's home.

 

But you got lost.

'This is so like me,' You thought to yourself annoyed.

You took left turns, right turns, you even made u-turns. 

You eventually gave up and leaned against a tree.

 

'How did I get here...' You wondered.

You stamped your feet and huffed for a bit, but after doing that a bunch of times you concluded that it was obviously not helping.

Just when you had the slightest idea of how to get back to town, you felt something crawl down your shoulder. 

Your eyes grew larger and you flailed around and screamed like a maniac.

 

Due to your flailing, you ended up dropping the samgyetang you packed for Kevin, but you were too busy to notice.

"Bug, bug get it off!" You yelled, "Somebody get this bug off of me-"

Just then you felt a hand brush over mouth, causing you to shut your trap.

You felt someones body behind you.

 

"Shh... don't yell like that. You're disturbing nature," You heard a familiar voice inform you. 

They kept their hand on your mourh while the other lightly picked up the bug on your shoulder.

When the task was done, they let go of you.

You gasped for air because you were holding your breathe the whole time since you were so terrified. 

 

You turned around to see who that person was. 

It turns out it was Kevin!

You let out a sigh of relief and said, "Oh gosh Kevin you startled me!"

He merely shifted his attention to you for a second before returning it the the lady bug crawling in his finger. 

 

Kevin lifted his finger a little higher and the lady bug flew off. 

He dusted his hands on his shimui* and looked at you with a serious face.

"S-sorry for being noisy," You apologized to Kevin.

Kevin smiled and said, "It's alright. Just don't cause too much of a ruckus in such a tranquil place."

 

You nodded embarrassed becaused you freaked out over a lady bug.

"So what brings you into the forest today?" Kevin asked.

"I actually came to see you, Kevin," You answered, "I came to deliver some samgye-" 

And that's when you finally realized that you dropped it on the ground.

 

You pouted over it, but Kevin comforted you. 

When you were finally over the loss of your dish, Kevin escorted you to the forest's path for visitors.

"Thank you. I seem to only cause trouble for you," You thanked him.

"Like I said the first time we met, 'Do not thank me for I was only trying to help a beautiful woman out.'"

 

"Right. So now I guess I owe you two favors since this one backfired and you saved me from a lady bug." You said thinking it over.

Kevin gently smiled and placed his hand on your shoulder, "Please. You don't have to go through the trouble of paying me back. I honestly don't mind," He said trying to convince you.

"No," You said standing your ground, "That is something that I, Park Miyun, cannot allow. I swear on my life I will repay you. I promise you, Kevin."

 

Kevin sighed and gave you a weary smile, "Alright, fine. I have a favor to ask of you then, if you choose to accept it."

You nodded eagerly wanting to pay back your debt to Kevin. 

"Okay so first I need to ask you this," He began, "Have you told anyone about me?" He asked.

You thought about it for a minute the shook your head no, "Now that I think about it I haven't talked about you to anyone before."

 

"Good. What I ask of you is to keep me a secret. Please do not tell anyone about me," Kevin said with a serious expression on his face again. 

"Huh? Why?" You asked.

"Because people can't know about me," He replied in a hushed tone.

"But why can't people know about you? Did you do some illegal? Are you running away from the cops? Or maybe you're-" You began to babble but you were cut off with a lips that quickly pecked against yours. 

You froze up on the spot. 

 

"Sorry but you wouldn't let me talk," He hastily apologized, "Anyways, do me that favor. And um... that kiss can count as the other one you owe me. Oh! And that kiss also seals the favor. You must keep me a secret or else something bad will happen," Kevin summed everything up for you in a hurry. 

"Anyways I gotta run. I'm probably in big trouble now," He finished his conversation with you and took off.

You still stood there frozen trying to take in what just happened.

 'He kissed me... Kevin kissed me!?'

 

Your mind went wild.

It took you a few long moments before you began to walk to the bus stop to catch the bus home.

The bus came and you boarded it taking a seat in the back again. 

And even so there was a lot of things that happened just about an hour ago, the only thing that you kept thinking about was Kevin saying he was in big trouble.

 

'He said that he's probably in big trouble...' You began to get lost in your thoughts again.

'I wonder why... did he do something wrong?'

Your mind just couldn't shake the thought.

'Why...'

---

*

beebimbap - beebimbap is another popular rice based traditional Korean food. Korean consume this dish in Lunar Calendar New Year as their tradition. beebimbap literally means "mixed rice" which consists of plain rice topped with minced meat,vegetables, egg, and gochujang. Normally the gochujang will be served separately to control the spiciness of the dish.

samgyetang - samgyetang or chicken ginseng soup called in english, it is a soup based dish. Traditionally, it is served during the summer because its nutrients which can enhance our healthy during a hot summer in which we can be easily lost energy through excessive sweating. Oringianlly this samgyetang is a soup from the island of Cheju, and the most special thing is ginseng root is cooked and eaten like a vegetable with the chicken. The samgyetang is cooked in a stone pot and served while still boilling. It is considered to be a summer dish in restaurants and homes.The dried red dates gives a contrasting sweetness to the chicken, rice and ginseng. Usually, the whole chicken is boiled with Korean ginseng, dried red dates, garlic, ginger and glutinous rice. Ginseng, or “insam” as it is also called in Korea, brings a slightly bitter taste. Its properties are said to be strengthening and bring about rejuvenation to our body.

shimui -These clothes were worn by scholars during their free time. The name came from the feeling that people had when looking at the clothes. "Shim" means to ponder or contemplate. Similar to hakch'angui, shimui represents a more passive state than actively studying.