Warning: This is kind of long!

Chanyeol drives us to the edge of a river where we can see the entire silhouette of the city stretched out over the rippling water. Even the moon joins in on the fun and casts pale blue slivers over the rocking waters. The windows are down, and I can feel the air swooping into his car. The music’s low volume fades into a background hum.

“I’m so full,” Chanyeol says and comfortably leans into his chair. He hooks his arm over the door. “Do you need to get back by a certain time?”

“Not really,” I reply. “It’s Saturday tomorrow.”

“True.”

It’s almost nine o’ clock. It’s too early to go home. “Chanyeol?”

“Yeah?”

“What was it like?”

“What was what like?”

Before I hesitate, I continue, “Dating someone.”

“Nothing compared to what I hope it will be with you,” He responds. “Why are you asking?”

“I was just curious.” I shouldn’t have asked. This is our first date together. I shouldn’t cause taboo by bringing up an ex-girlfriend.

“I told you, didn’t I? That I don’t like her anymore?”

“Yeah.”

“She haunted me, Junah.” He sounds distant. “She was everywhere. She was at that empty table in the cafeteria. She was the girl at Winter Ball who never turned around. She was the extra drink I accidentally ordered when I went out. She was in my mind. And I thought Seya changed that. I really did. But I knew that wasn’t true when I saw Seya with that guy. Because when I watched her run to him, I didn’t see Seya at all. I saw my ex-girlfriend. That was the second time she broke me, and she didn’t even know it.” A puff of cold wind tickles his neck. He shudders and closes the windows. “I didn’t put my entire heart into Seya. I liked my ex-girlfriend. Back then, I still saw her. But now, I see only you.”

“Was she your first girlfriend?”

“Yeah. First times are always exciting, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best times. You’re the best, in case you didn’t know that.”

To avoid impending embarrassment, I ask, “What are you planning to do this summer?”

“This summer? Oh, yeah. Does that mean I won’t see you?”

“I guess so. I’m going home for the summer.”

“That’s too bad,” he replies. “We should Skype. But anyway, I’m planning to find a job on campus, and if I can’t find one, I might take summer classes instead and get some credit hours out of the way.”

“What classes?”

“Well, I talked to my advisor about adding a minor, so I’ll probably take the classes I need for it.”

“So you’re going to minor in something?”

“Yup. Psychology. I like analyzing the mind.”

I smile. Once a cupid, always a cupid.

“But don’t worry,” he adds, “I won’t be pairing people up in the summer. I’m retired.”

“You’re too young to be retired.”

“I outgrew that job. I’m a grown up now, don’t you know?”

“Are you kidding me?” I laugh. “You’re a kid in an adult’s body.”

“All right, all right,” he concedes. “People can figure out their own love life. It’s cheating to ask me.”

“What of your reputation as the successful match maker?”

“Hidden in the minds of the few students who know my match making past.”

I snort. “Okay.”

“Do you want to go back and walk around campus?” He asks. “It’s really nice out.”

“Sure,” I agree, and he starts the car and drives us back.

Chanyeol parks the car in front of his dorm, and then we walk the entire border of the campus about three times. Neither of us wants to wrap up the conversation and say goodnight, so every few minutes our subject changes. We don’t run out of things to talk about – I don’t think we’ll ever run out – but every night has to end, and eventually, our tired feet lead us home. Chanyeol says goodnight and hugs me. I feel like I’m floating when I reach my room. I have to quietly get ready because Bora is already asleep. Once I’m in my pajamas, I go to bed.

-----

I wake up early next Saturday, which is weird since I make it my goal to wake up late. It’s because I’m still hung over from the excitement of last night, and my body knows I can’t stay inert. I open my eyes right when Bora is heading out.

“Bora!”

“Hey!” She spins around. “I have to go, but tell me about your date after I see Nam, okay?”

“Yeah. Let me know how it goes,” I yell. She waves and closes the door. I close my eyes, and the memory of the elevator and Chanyeol’s hands wrapped around my own make me want to scream in happiness. Even walking around campus, something of which I am not too fond, was fun. I’d do it again if he asked me to.

Too lazy to eat in the cafeteria, I open my box of PopTarts and pull out one of the silver packages. I eat it in my bed while reviewing a study guide for finals, and then I take a shower. Once being inside a room becomes suffocating, I gather my books into my backpack and find a place outside where I can study.

As usual, I set up my study area on the steps behind my dorm. Whenever I’m outside, I can’t study right away because I just love looking at the view. The way the top of these stairs make the earth feel so conquerable never ceases to amaze me. I doodle the scenery on the back of my math notebook. As I draw the stairs, the door behind me opens. I look and unintentionally scare Suho, who had not been expecting to see anyone.

“What the heck,” he gasps. He sits down beside me and steadies his breathing pattern. “Junah. You aren’t supposed to be scary.”

“I didn’t even do anything.”

“I know. That’s why it’s scary.” He reties his shoelaces, which seem to have gotten loose. He glances at the textbook on my lap. “Are you studying?”

“Reviewing for finals.”

“I’m doing that, too,” he says. That’s when I see that he’s wearing a backpack. “I just got back from meeting somebody.”

“Same person from the mall?”

“Huh?”

I poke his arm with my pencil. “You were meeting someone at the mall when I last saw you. Remember?”

“Oh yeah,” he recalls. “Wow. You’re right, actually, it was her.”

“Her?”

He hides his pink cheeks by pretending to scratch his neck. “Just somebody.”

“A love interest?”

He teases me with a frown. “Is this a catching up or an interrogation?”

“I can’t help being curious,” I laugh. “Do you like her?”

He shakes his head. “It’s for somebody else. I’m only passing information along. ‘Twenty seconds of insane bravery.’ People know you need courage to do something big. Some people just need to be reminded.”

“What about me?” I ask, sincerely inquisitive. “Why did you remind me?”

He watches the wind flip the pages on my notebook. I lay an arm over the book so that he isn’t distracted.

“Suho,” I urge.

“Because I hated Chanyeol.”

My pencil falls and rolls over two steps before it stops. “What?”

“I guess hate is too strong of a word. I disliked him. A lot.”

“But why?”

“He didn’t know me,” Suho escapes my question. “He didn’t do anything wrong. I was being inflexible and needed somewhere to put my anger, so I put it on him. But then something worse happened to him, so I wanted to help him. I helped him because nobody was there to help me. That’s why I reminded you, Junah. Because he needed you.”

I wish Suho would speak clearly to me. Why does no one ever say what they really want to say? “What does that mean?”

“Have you heard of the saying ‘it takes two to quarrel’?”

“Yeah. My mom said it to me all the time whenever I didn’t listen to her.”

Suho nods. “Same here. Well, it also takes two to make a thing go right. Have you heard that one, too?”

“Sure.”

“You’re the reason eve