Yonghwa

“Seohyun, have you ever felt like the world stopped for a while, and that your world suddenly focused on only one thing even when it’s the first time you see it? That moment when your heart goes dugeun dugeun uncontrollably just because of one thing. That your brain goes haywire and can’t think of anything else except that thing?”

“Mmm, are you talking about goguma?” She said while munching her goguma.

“Mwo? No, no.” I chuckled. “I mean someone. Sorry I used the word ‘thing’. I mean someone. When your world suddenly focused on only one person whom you just met.”

Seohyun suddenly stopped chewing. I noticed her looking at the ground below her.

“S…Seohyunnie, what’s wrong? I…I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” I panicked.

She then turned to me with a really wide smile. I haven’t seen that big of her smile for a while.

“No, oppa. I was just trying to digest what you just said. If you weren’t talking about goguma, then no. I’ve never felt something like that. Well, you know how I think about boys. Ew, they’re gross.” She said jokingly.

“Hm, I guess you’re right. These things aren’t like you at all.” I laughed. “Hey, wait a minute. I’m a boy! Jasik!” I tried to poke her but she dodged while bursting into laughter.

“Hahaha, why did you bring this up anyway, oppa? I’ve never seen you like this. So mellow!” She stuck out her tongue.

“Jasik!” I tried to poke her again but failed once again. “It’s just that, what I just told you happened to me this morning.”

Again, Seohyun suddenly stopped what she was doing. She became quite all of a sudden. But in a second she was back to normal.

“Tell me more, oppa!” She suddenly looked excited.

“Ya, be patient! I’ll tell you.” I told her. “It was kind of like déjà vu. It happened like when we first met.”

I saw her eyes were beginning to glow in excitement as she sat there on the bench beside me calmly like a cute puppy waiting for her meal.

“When I entered the class this morning, teacher was introducing this new girl in front of the class. She has short dark brown hair. Her height isn’t tall but she looks really pretty, especially her calm eyes. When I first saw her, my heart raced uncontrollably. The world spun. My stomach felt weird. I think I….I….fell for her. And, uh…her name is Kim Taeyeon.”

When I mentioned the name, Seohyun’s expression changed for a second. Her smile faded for a split second before she came back to her excited expression. Was it a hint of disappointment that I saw? Or maybe it was just my imagination?

“Jinjja? Ya, oppa! I’m so happy for you!” She got up spontaneously while yelling in excitement.

“Hey, keep it down! I don’t want anyone to hear this!”

“Gwaenchanhayo, oppa. Trust me. I won’t tell anyone!” She crossed her heart.

“Thank you, Seohyunnie.” I thanked her. “Are you done? Let’s go home.”

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After dropping Seohyun at her apartment, I pedaled down to the nearest mini market to buy some things Mom had ordered. As I entered the store, I heard a familiar girl’s voice. I tried to look for the person but I couldn’t find her. After I paid for the things, I heard the voice again. It came from outside.

“Ya! Don’t kid around! That’s my ice cream!” the familiar voice said.

“Tell me about it now, or I’ll eat this in one gulp!” said the other.

I got outside and saw her, the owner of the familiar voice. It was Taeyeon.

“I won’t! Now give me back my ice cream!”

“It’s either you tell me now, or this ice cream you treasure so much is gone!” said her friend.

Taeyeon were chasing her friend who took her ice cream. They really looked like a couple of cute kindergarten kids running around in front of the mini market. After a while, Taeyeon noticed me standing in front of the door. When our eyes met, my whole body malfunctioned.

She approached me, leaving her friend with her ice cream. “Hi, you’re Yonghwa right? From class 3-3?”

“Oh, yes. Sorry I didn’t mean to stare at you there but I couldn’t help noticing you guys like a couple of kids fighting over a cone of ice cream. Looks a hell of a fun you’re having there.” I managed a laugh.

“Ah, well, my friend here is kind of an annoying neighborhood brat. Let me introduce her. Sunny!!” she yelled. “This is Sunny. She’s my childhood friend.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, Sunny-imnida. You must be Yonghwa that Taeyeon’s been telling me about,” Upon hearing that, Taeyeon kicked Sunny in the leg.

As a matter of fact, I was also surprised hearing that. Was it true? Taeyeon had been talking about me?

“Uh…uh…sorry. Just like I said, she’s an annoying brat, isn’t she?” She managed an awkward smile. “Anyway, Yonghwa-ssi, what are you doing here? You’re still wearing the school uniform. You haven’t gone home?”

“Well I went to the park near the school before I set off. And on the way my mom told me to buy some things before I get home so that’s why I’m here now. Hehe. How about you?”

“Sunny and I were just taking a walk outside and bought some ice cream in the mini market. We always like to take a walk around the neighborhood back in Jeonju,”

“Yonghwa-ssi, want some ice cream?” Sunny offered me Taeyeon’s ice cream but Taeyeon snatched it within split seconds.

“Ya! That’s mine!” Taeyeon looked really annoyed by Sunny. “Sorry, Yonghwa-ssi, not that I want to share the ice cream, but….b….b…” she was at loss of words. “But we gotta get home now.” She urged Sunny to go.

“Eonni! I’m not going anywhere until you tell me!” Sunny insisted and refused to follow Taeyeon.

“Okay, I’ll tell you! But not now, okay? Let’s go!”

Sunny, still refusing, ran towards the side of the mini market. I didn’t understand what was going on between them but I just stood there watching them.

“YA! SUNNY!” Taeyeon had gotten really annoyed as she followed Sunny to the side of the mini market. They ran until they were out of my sight. I was a bit worried so I decided to follow them, slowly. Just as I started following them, Sunny came back running and laughing, followed by Taeyeon. Her clothes were wet, must have been because of some prank Sunny put on her. As they were running around chasing one another, Sunny nudged some steel rods that were resting on the wall. They fell down….over Taeyeon.

I ran towards her. Before she could scream, I was already next to her. I put her inside my arms, faced my back on the steel rods, preventing the force from directly hitting her. I lost my balance as the steel rods hit me. My knees gave up, but I kept her inside my arms.

Our eyes were locked for quite a while. It was that feeling all over again, like when we first met. The world felt like it stopped spinning. Time stopped. It felt like we were the only ones in the world. My heart raced like it was about to burst. My whole body was shut down, forgetting all the pain from getting hit by the steel rods. I was totally mesmerized by her eyes. Those gentle eyes must have been capable of putting a spell on me. They were as calm and gentle as the morning waves. They were as black and beautiful as the night sky. Dugeun dugeun. I noticed her cheeks were quite red. Hm? Did she somehow get hit? Was she injured? Or….could it be that she was embarrassed? Then I realized that my arms were still holding her tight. I immediately let her go and helped her up. I turned to Sunny who was speechless with her hands closing her opened mouth in shock. Then it got awkward, until Sunny sobbed.

“I…I…I’m really sorry!” She began to cry. “I…I’m sorry…”

Surprisingly, Taeyeon wasn’t angry. She approached Sunny who was sobbing so hard and put her arms around her. She whispered.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m okay, I’m not hurt. Next time, don’t do anything reckless like this again, ‘kay. Come on, don’t cry so hard, you’ll hurt your eyes.” She hugged Sunny tighter.

She then turned to me, still hugging the sobbing Sunny. “Yonghwa-ssi, I’m sorry. And thank you very much. If it wasn’t for you, I would have…” She paused. “Um, if there is anything I could do for you…”

“Anieyo. It’s okay, what matters most is that you’re not hurt.” I said. Then I felt something from my left shoulder. When I touched it, it felt horrible I groaned in pain.

“Your shoulder! I think you dislocated your shoulder,” she came to me while still holding Sunny’s hand. “Come with us to my house, it’s not far from here. My mom is a doctor, she’ll tend to it.”

I nodded in agreement.

As we were about to depart, with Sunny still haven’t recovered from her sobbing, Taeyeon came to me one more time. She thanked me again.

“Yonghwa, thank you once again.” She smiled before giving me a small hug.

Dugeun dugeun.