Seohyun

31^st December finally came! The end of a memorable year and the beginning of a hopefully better year.

I got up from the bed and quickly took a shower. It was still early but I was just so excited about this day. I’ve planned to spend the whole day and night with Yonghwa oppa. Yes, my Yong~

I tried to text him but there was no reply. As much as I knew him, he would still be sleeping at this hour for it was a holiday. Never mind, I’d just wake him up myself.

I put on nice clothes and walked out of the apartment. I pedaled down the empty streets on my bicycle. I saw some elders that were exercising peacefully on the side of the road. They looked so happy as I greeted some of them warmly.

Then something caught my eye. There was an elderly couple sitting on a bench on the side of the road. They were chatting and laughing and enjoying themselves in this peaceful morning. They were holding hands all the time as they laughed and telling each other stories. They were the best of couple I’ve ever seen.

“I wish I can be like them with Yonghwa oppa,” I looked up to the sky and said my wish aloud.

When I arrived at oppa’s house, I met Mrs. Jung outside the house who was just checking the mailbox.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Mrs. Jung!”

“Ah, Seohyunnie?? A-annyeong!” She was startled to see me. “Wow, what are you doing this early? It’s holiday,”

“Hehe, I’m just overexcited for today. I bet Yonghwa’s still asleep, isn’t he?”

“Yes, you know him so well alright. Why can’t he be more like you and wake up early to help me with these chores. Aigoo…” She shook her head.

“Hehe, I can help you with those,” I offered.

“But I can’t let our guest do the chores,”

“Really, I’m fine with it. I live alone so I’m used to doing these chores by myself.” I picked up a newspaper and helped Mrs. Jung with the mails in the mailbox.

“Why. How sweet you are…” Mrs. Jung smiled and patted my head. “What kind of boyfriend is he to let such a nice girl like you do all these things? You know, if he’s giving you a hard time, talk to me. I’ll deal with him,”

“Hahaha, Aniyo…” I blushed. “That won’t be necessary, Mrs. Jung. Besides, he’s your son,”

“Yes. And you’re like a daughter to me. Come on, let’s get inside. It’s so chilly in the morning,”

Once inside, Mrs. Jung told me to just sit on the couch as she prepared a hot tea.

“Here,” She handed me the hot cup of tea.

“Gamsahamnida,” I blew the hot tea and took a sip. I sighed in relief.

“You just sit here. I’ll wake him up,”

“Umm, but, Mrs. Jung. Can I wake him up instead?”

Mrs. Jung smiled at me. Her smile was warm and lively. I understood how oppa got that warm smile.

“Aww, you are too sweet! Okay then, just tell him to take a shower before he comes down,” Still smiling, she went to the kitchen. “Youngsters nowadays…”

I finished the cup halfway and put it on the table. I went upstairs to oppa’s room. I tiptoed in front of his room because I didn’t want to wake him up before I went into his room. So I opened the door really carefully and went inside. He was still there lying on his bed. I walked over to the side of his bed and saw that the alarm clock was dead. Aigooo, typical Yonghwa. I chuckled.

I took a seat on the floor on the side of his bed. I watched his slow breathing and his closed eyes. Seeing his sleeping face made me go up above the clouds. It was just so adorable. I even screamed like those fangirls inside my head at the sight of him sleeping.

I lowered my head to his eye level. Slowly I moved my face closer to him. My heart was racing madly. I could feel blood rushing to my face. I moved to his ear and started to whisper.

“Yong~” I whispered softly. “Yong~ wake up~”

“Mmm…” He mumbled in his sleep.

“Yong~ wake up~” I went again.

“Mmm…five more minutes…” he mumbled again.

“Yong~ if you don’t wake up, Seohyun will leave you~”

“No…no…don’t go…” He suddenly seemed uneasy, still with his eyes closed. Was I going too far? Did I just give him a bad dream?

In a split second, Yonghwa’s eyes fully opened. Being so close to his face, I was taken aback. As his eyes found their way into mine, his uneasy face turned as bright as the sun that day.

“Am I dead? Am I in heaven?”

“What? That’s silly!”

“But…I’m very sure that I’m looking into the most beautiful angel’s eyes.”

“Aish! Can’t you be cheesier?” I slapped his arm.

As cheesy as he could be, I couldn’t help but blush every time I heard those cheesy words. It made me feel that the sight of me made him happy.

“Come on! Wake up already! Your mom said to take a shower first before going down,”

I went to the door after giving him a few pats. As I just reached for the door knob, I felt something warm on my back and then a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me. Omo!

“I just woke up to the most beautiful view I could ever wish for and you expect me to just let you off like that? At least give me a good morning hug,” Yonghwa oppa said.

“Ya! You’re not getting anything until you take a shower!” I shrugged off his arms.

“Oh yeah? How are you going to mak—“

I silenced him with a hug. I braced myself and put my arms around him and buried my face on his chest. I could hear the fast beating of his heart. It was just like mine. In a second, I let go of him and looked into his startled eyes.

“There, I did it. Good morning, Yong~” I blushed at my own words. “Now go take a shower!”

His face lit up and the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. He stayed that way as he turned back towards the bathroom without saying anything. I couldn’t help but smile too as I watched him going into the bathroom. I could hear him shouting in happiness from inside the bathroom. Aigo…

I went back downstairs and helped Mrs. Jung prepare for breakfast. Not long after, Yonghwa oppa came down already dressed nicely.

“Mom, is it okay if Seohyun and I spend the New Year’s Eve in Seoul?” Yonghwa asked out of nowhere.

“S-Seoul?...” I stuttered in disbelief.

He turned to me and winked before turning back to his mother.

“Seoul? You sure? Well, I think that’s okay. You guys deserve to have fun,” Mrs. Jung agreed warmly. “That means I can go to the Kim’s New Year’s Eve invitation and too bad you’re not going,”

“Haha, that’s okay. Just send my regards to the Kims, Mom. I just want to have this moment with Hyun~”

“Haha you guys are adorable. Just make sure you take good care of her, Yonghwa-ya. If anything happens to her, you’ll have to deal with me!”

“Aigo, Mom…who is your child?” Oppa rolled his eyes while Mrs. Jung just laughed at him.

As the mother and son were talking, I just stood there contemplating about what oppa said. We’re going to Seoul. Home, I thought.

“Hyun? Hyun…”

I felt a gentle shake and snapped out of my thoughts.

“Hyun? You’re spacing out there. What is it?”

“Nothing, Yong,” I gave him a sweet smile. “I was only thinking that we’re really going to Seoul.”

“Yes, Hyun. Seoul. Your hometown.”

His words sounded really sweet and warm. Although somehow the word ‘hometown’ sounded a little distant, the way he said it made it feel like it was just a heartbeat away. I smiled at the thought and almost shed a tear.

“Come on, Hyun. Let’s have breakfast and catch a bus to the station. It’s going to be a long trip there.”

“Ne, Yong~” I smiled to him and followed along.

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We took the train to Seoul at 10:45 a.m. It took around 6 hours to get to Seoul by train.

“Hey, I brought you this.” I took out a pair of eye masks. One of them had a beak like a duck and the other one was keroro.

“Woah, jinjja gwiyeopta. When did you buy this?” He looked amazed by the duck shaped eye mask.

“I only bought them a couple of days ago. I saw them in an accessories shop and just thought that I had to buy them.”

“Hahaha, it’s cute. But it’s cuter when you don’t put them on while you’re sleeping,” He teased.

“Aish, Yong~ being cheesy again.”

“I don’t care being cheesy, you always blush at my cheesiness,” he stuck his tongue out. “Merong~”

“Ya! Choding!” I slapped his arm hard and burst to laugh.

“Ouch! That one hurts!” He rubbed his arm.

“Huh? Was I too harsh? I—I’m sorry!” I saw him in pain and tried to ease the pain on his arm.

“If you want to heal this, kiss me here!” He tapped his cheek with his finger.

“Ya! You’re so choding!” I pouted and looked away. I pretended to be upset and blew air through my nose.

“Hahaha, I can’t believe you fell for that, Hyun~ that must means that Hyunnie really cares about me,”

When I was about to get upset for real, he did funny things that made me laugh in a second. I knew that I couldn’t get upset with him for long. Aigo, this choding.

“Hoam~” I yawned.

“Sleepy? I think we should just get some sleep. It’s still 4 hours away.”

“Yeah, I think I’m a little bit tired. Okay, let’s put on these masks for real,” We put on the masks I brought earlier and dozed off while leaning on one another.

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We spent the day happily next to each other. The day in Seoul had so far been really nice. We bought and shared street foods, bought some couple accessories, enjoyed the sunset view by the Han River. We even bought a pair of 2,000 KRW silver couple rings. I bet the silver would come off with only a slight rinse, but that didn’t matter because it was special, as special as that day. For the whole day, I didn’t let go of his arm. I wanted to show the world that we were together.

By the time we walked around a housing complex, the sky was already dark. We wanted to see the fireworks so we were looking for a high place on the hills to get a nice view and I knew the way around. Before we reached our destination, my feet stopped in front of a white, two-story house.

“It’s…it’s been a while…”

“Is this…your old house, Hyun?”

I nodded. “I was raised under that roof, yet now it feels really long. I miss it.”

“If you want, we can ask the current owner to show us around the house. I bet he won’t mind as you are the former owner.”

“No, Yong~ it’s okay. It’s enough for me to feel the nostalgia from here.” I smiled to him. “Let’s just go to the hills,”

“Haha, arasseo. Come,” he held out his hand and took mine.

Once we got to the hills, the countdown almost started. The hill was filled with couples our age not wanting to miss this beautiful chance to see the fireworks.

We took a seat at the most comfy spot that had the best view. Not long after that, the countdown began. People started cheering and counted from 10. We followed the crowd as the countdown was closing its end.

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

The crowd cheered louder. People were shouting ‘Happy New Year’ to everybody. We looked at each other and smiled widely.

“Happy New Year, Yong~”

“Happy New Year, Hyun~”

We looked up to see the majestic fireworks show. It was incredibly beautiful. It was indeed a special day.

But…

I had planned something special I haven’t conducted yet. I braced myself for I was about to do something so daring. I took a glance towards oppa, who was still immersed by the amazing fireworks in the sky. I leaned closer to him and reached up to the side of his face. I aimed at the target and move my face closer. Slowly, as my lips were closing their way on their own, I closed my eyes.

“Hyun~ those fireworks are rea—“

Touch down. I could hear him went silent after I landed a kiss on his cheek. But then I felt something weird. I didn’t remember his cheek being a little moist.

I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was oppa’s two widened eyes. Those eyes were so big as if they’d just been traumatized by a great shock. And then I realized something. He was facing this way towards me, so his cheek would be on the other side. Then I saw where my lips were touching. I blushed really hard and broke the kiss immediately.

“OHMYGOD!! I KISSED HIM ON THE LIPS!!! HOW COULD THIS BE??? IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HIS CHEEK!!!” my head was going nuts and my heart was beating crazily fast.

“H—Hyun…”

I refused to turn to him. I was extremely embarrassed. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life. But as I calmed down, I thought about it. Why was I embarrassed? We were together, so it was normal. As I came to think of it, I didn’t really regret it. I didn’t regret it at all, in fact. It was my first kiss and I was glad it landed on Yonghwa oppa’s lips.

I braced myself and turned towards him. He still looked shocked but his eyes were gleaming with amazement and admiration.

He then leaned closer towards me and I knew what he was going to do. This time, I didn’t hold myself back and gladly accepted his gesture.

“Jung Yonghwa, saranghae…” I closed my eyes as I felt his lips pressing against mine.