"Where are you going?" I asked, watching as Hyukjae was undecided whether to do or undo the topmost button of his shirt in front of the mirror.

"To the movies." There. He had finally decided that maybe leaving the last button undone was too confident and cocky. He ruffled his hair and sprayed some perfume.

The smell hit me strongly. I winced. "Are there any good films? I'll take Jihyuk out," I said, turning the television off and sitting upright on the couch. Two days of not seeing her felt like a lifetime.

Hyukjae snorted. "Try inviting her out right now." And I reached for the phone beside me.

It rang. Two. Three times. "Hello?" Finally, she picked up.

"Jihyuk." She should have known by now that I was bad at greetings. "Do you want to watch a movie with me?"

There was shuffling on the other line, probably her getting up from the bed. "No."

She said it so easily like it did not offend me. And it did. There was a certain kind of sadness to be felt when she would prefer something else than be with me. "Why not?" I asked softly. I could understand. Somehow. From a few feet away, I could hear Hyukjae laugh.

"Because you have quite of a character when watching movies. And I hate it," she said.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay. Go back to sleep."

And we hung up. "Well, she's too honest," I said and sighed.

He bent down and put his shoes on. "Even if you ask me, I don't want to watch movies with you either," Hyukjae said.

"You're my best friend. You're supposed to comfort me."

"But it's true!" he protested. "I mean, I could have tolerated it if you just asked questions or whispered comments or whatever. But dude. Do you even know the reason why she doesn't want to watch with you?"

I shook my head. He took a deep breath before starting. "When you two watched Titanic, Jihyuk was too engrossed and you were too busy explaining to her how hypothermia works and how Rose could have shared the wooden panel with Jack and they both could have survived. You told her the formula for computing buoyancy. You added that if Rose truly loved Jack, she would have just died with him. When you watched My Sassy Girl, Jihyuk found it cute and sweet that Kyunwoo took care of the girl when she was drunk, and you explained to her that according to studies, men are naturally gifted with a higher alcohol tolerance than women. When you watched More Than Blue, Jihyuk was crying all throughout while you were so angry at Cream for thinking that K's pain medication was vitamins. You totally miss the point in everything and maybe she doesn't mind. But I don't know how long you can be so unromantic."

It took me an entire minute to absorb everything he has said. "That. Is. Not. True." I smacked my own forehead.

Hyukjae laughed, fixing his hair one last time in front of the mirror. "Whatever you say, Donghae," he said before walking out the door.

Still in the phase of denial, I called Jihyuk again. "Do you think I'm insensitive?" I asked.

Instead of responding with a simple yes or no – like I had expected her to – she just laughed. "You're cute."

"Tell me."

"Well...sometimes you're too doctor-y about some stuff. I'm afraid one day you'll tell me 'Jihyuk, I love you so much that I experience premature artrial complexes whenever I see you' or 'You make my pituitary gland signal to my adrenal gland to release adrenaline in my bloodstream whenever I hear you voice' and instead of feeling happy, I would just feel confused and lost and dumb," she said.

I laughed. "I totally understand everything." Sometimes even I don't know what I'm talking about.

"Yeah, you're weird like that."

"Will you still want to watch a movie with this weirdo anyway?" I tried again.

She was silent for a while. After a few seconds, she said, "I'd love to." And then it sounded like she was getting ready on the other line. Would she wear the same outfit: an oversized shirt with folded sleeves and skinny jeans? Maybe she only had ten shirts and ten pairs of jeans – together with five long sleeved polos and five skirts for when she was teaching – in her closet. I could just imagine it. Every morning, Jihyuk walks to her wardrobe, yanks the doors open, and thinks deeply. What should I wear today? It's a Saturday. Oh, I know! A shirt and a pair of jeans. Tomorrow, to be different, I'd wear...hmm...a shirt and a pair of jeans! Maybe I should buy her something.

"I'll be at your house in fifteen," I said.

"Okay."

"..."

"..."

"Oh, and Jihyuk?"

"Yeah?"

I gulped. On my seventh birthday, I remembered waking up early and getting in the car together with the whole family. It was a long trip, and only when I was fully awake did I realize that we were in an amusement park. There was this ride that spins really fast and I enjoyed it so much I rode for multiple times, consecutively. I remembered thinking that I was flying and everything was spinning and churning inside me. Everytime I got off, I felt like puking but then I was laughing. Too happy to even be nauseous. That's how it felt right now.

"Hearing your voice makes me want to throw up."

She laughed. "I'll take it as a compliment."

***

Today I turn 16 ^^ short update!! Too busy in school O u O Drama coming up in the next chapters~!