“Yookyung.”

“Hm?”

“Do you...” I hesitated. “...Do you know anything about Kim Myungsoo?”

            Yookyung grinned. “I sure do. Why? Are you interested in him?”

            “N-No,” I said. Then I grew shy again for some reason. “I was just...you know, curious about him. That’s all.”

            She gave me a “surreeeee” look before taking a sip of her water. “So Kim Myungsoo is...” Then she started giggling. “Sorry Naeun I just thought of Park Myungsoo okay anyways, continuing, he’s a senior. He’s like one of those really casual guys, yknow? Doesn’t care much for clothes. He dresses really simply outside of school. He actually doesn’t talk much, nor does he show any interest in girls. A lot of girls seem to like him though, considering he’s pretty handsome.”

            “Wait,” I said. “He is?”

            “Of course,” Yookyung said. “I checked him out once too, yknow. You haven’t noticed?”

            “Um. No.”

            “Guess you’re too into Lee Taemin then. Oh, speaking of Taemin, you know how he’s captain of the soccer team right?”

            “Yes, of course.”

            “Well Myungsoo is actually pretty good at soccer himself, probably even better than Taemin. Coach had actually wanted Myungsoo as captain but he had to refuse because he’d twisted his ankle during practice. It was pretty bad too, so he had to quit the team entirely.”

            Myungsoo was good at soccer?

            Then I remembered what he’d told me a couple of days ago:

            “Why do you even like him,” Myungsoo started to say, “he’s not even that cute and he at soccer.”

            “Who are you to judge who I like?” I asked him. “And he’s great at soccer. He’s captain.”

            “Yeah but that doesn’t mean he’s good,” Myungsoo replied.

            “Wow,” I said. “I would’ve never known.”

            “Yeah. He keeps a lot of things to himself. He’s also actually really, really smart. I think he’s ranked #2 in his grade? Right behind Taemin. The guy could give Taemin a run for his money if he actually tried,” Yookyung said.

            “So that’s why he always finishes his homework so fast...”

            “What?”

            “Nothing,” I said.

            “Oh and he also really loves photography. And I hear he acts, too. He’s certainly got the face for it,” Yookyung added. “Don’t you also like to act, Naeun?”

            “Yeah,” I said. “I do. I don’t have enough room in my schedule to join theatre, though.”

            “Well he’s not in theatre either, god knows why.” Yookyung took a bite of her cookie. “Anything else you want to know?”

            “That’s enough, thanks.” I flashed her a nonchalant smile and pretended to turn my attention back to my lunch, when all I was thinking about was how I’d been reading Myungsoo wrong all this time.

            “So Myungsoo, what are your hobbies?” asks my mother.

            Converse dude aka Kim Myungsoo slowly chews his steak and then finally says, “I like cars and girls. That’s basically it.”

            So it never was just cars and girls all this time, but more. He liked soccer, acting, photography. There was so much more to him than what met the eye, and for some reason I found that fascinating, intriguing.

            I took a peek at him from across the cafeteria. He was taking a nap, digging his head into his arms.

            Does he even eat lunch? I wondered.

            “Naeun.”

            I snapped out of it. Taemin was standing by my table, his backpack slung on both shoulders.

            “Oh,” I said. “Hey Taemin. What’s up?”

            “Can you stay after school today?” he asked. “Homecoming is coming up in two weeks and we need to start preparing.”

            “Yeah sure,” I said. “I’ll be happy to stay.”

            “Okay,” Taemin said with a satisfied nod. “See you then.”

            My student council meeting with Taemin and the others after school lasted for about an hour. By the time I was allowed to go home, I was pooped.

            As I walked past the front gate like how I always did, I wondered where Myungsoo was. He was nowhere in sight and I became curious about his whereabouts.

            When I got home, I was surprised to find a huge moving van on the curb. My mother’s car was also parked on the driveway.

            “Hey mom.” I closed the front door behind me. “What’s going on?”

            My mother approached from the kitchen. “Sanghyun and I have finally found a place! You and I can finally leave this small home for a much roomier one. It’s beautiful!”

            “Wow mom,” I said. “You’ve really outdone yourself on this. When are we expected to move in?”

            “By the end of the week. So get ready to pack your things. Sanghyun and Myungsoo have already moved in, of course,” my mother replied.

            “I see,” I said in response.

            My mother gave me the address and I headed upstairs to start packing.

            So I’ll be living with Myungsoo, I thought to myself. Me and him in the same house. Sharing bathrooms, eating dinner together every single night, going off to school together every single morning...and the thoughts went on and on.

            The next day at school, I was hoping to run into Myungsoo so that I could talk to him about how our living arrangements would completely not work out but that I’d make the sole effort to cooperate with him because I loved my mother. Or something along those lines.

            But I didn’t see him nor did I run into him all day. I even tried looking for him at lunch but his usual spot was empty.

            That girl was there though, sitting at his table. She seemed to be looking for him also. I began to wonder who she was but then remembered that it was none of my business.

            During passing period I spotted one of his friends getting books out from his locker. Lee Sungyeol was the name, I think.

            “Hi,” I said. “Um you don’t know me but I uh…” I thought of an excuse. “Do you know where your friend Kim Myungsoo is? I need to ask him some stuff for student council.”

            “He’s at home,” Sungyeol replied. “He’s sick.”

            My eyes widened. “Sick?”

            “Yeah. Has the flu or something, I guess. Practically slept through all of school yesterday.”

            “Oh,” I said. “Um, thanks.”

            “No problem.”

            I was plagued with guilt. Because I knew he was probably sick because of that rainy day at the park, where he’d given me his jacket.

            After school I decided to stop by the new house, to see how Myungsoo was. It was practically my fault that he was sick, after all. Even though he was an annoying nuisance I still had a conscience. My mother was right about the new house though. It was beautiful. And much bigger.

            I knocked on the door. Mr. Kim answered it with his usual happy, jolly face.

            “Hey Mr. Kim,” I said.

            “Naeun! What a surprise! Come to see the new house? It’s spectacular,” Mr. Kim said.

            “Yeah, and um…” I bit my lip. “Is Myungsoo okay? He wasn’t at school.”

            I stepped inside and Mr. Kim closed the door behind him. “He is pretty sick but he took some medicine earlier,” Mr. Kim explained. “My ex-wife used to take care of these type of problems around the house, make the soup and stuff. I was going to go out and buy him some right now.”

            “I’ll make him some soup,” I offered. “Homemade is the best, after all. I know an awesome recipe that my mom always uses on me.”

            “You’d do that?”

            “Of course,” I said.

            Mr. Kim beamed. “I really appreciate that, Naeun. And I’m sure Myungsoo will too. Ever since the divorce he’s been a little distant. Hopefully as his new stepsister you can open his heart up a bit.”

            “I’ll try my best,” I said, although I wasn’t sure if I’d actually meant it at the time. It’d just seemed like the right thing to say.

            I headed upstairs and slowly opened the door to Myungsoo’s room. He was sleeping, the covers pulled up to his neck.

“A lot of girls seem to like him though, considering he is pretty handsome.”

            “Wait,” I said. “He is?”

            “Of course,” Yookyung said. “I checked him out once too, yknow. You haven’t noticed?”

            I stood beside his bed, taking a good look at his face.

            He is pretty cute, I thought. And handsome. Without knowing, I was smiling.

            Wait. I stopped myself. What are you thinking Naeun?! He’s going to be your future stepbrother!

            “Staring at me?”

            I snapped out of it. Myungsoo’s eyes were open now, clear and brown. He was also smirking. I looked away, embarrassed.

            “N-No.”

            He sat up, his back resting on the headboard. “What brings you to my room?”

            I looked around. His room wasn’t much so far. A lot of unpacking still needed to be done but I liked the light blue walls.

            “I just heard you were sick,” I said. “And I, you know, felt guilty.”

            Myungsoo laughed. “Guilty because of what?”

            “Because,” I pressed, “because I had the jacket and you didn’t.”

            “Oh c’mon Naeun,” Myungsoo said, “I gave you the jacket in the first place. It was insisted.”

            “But still,” I said. “I feel bad. How are you feeling?”

            “I don’t know,” Myungsoo said. “Feel my forehead.”

            “Feel your forehead?”

            “Yeah. That’s what people usually do when people have fevers?”

            “O-Oh yeah.” Well do I feel stupid. “Of course.”

            I put my hand on Myungsoo’s forehead.

            “Oh gosh. It’s blazing hot.”

            All he did was shrug.

            “I told your dad that I was going to make you some soup,” I said. “So I’ll go make it right now.”

            Myungsoo nodded slowly, his eyes on me the entire time. “I’ll be waiting, then.”

            I scurried downstairs to the kitchen and looked in the fridge. I chopped up the veggies, heated up the broth, and added in the spices.

            Satisfied with how it tasted, I scooped some into a bowl and brought it up to Myungsoo. He was sleeping when I came in, but immediately woke up due to the smell of the soup.

            “Hey,” I said, setting the tray on his bed. “It’s ready.”

            Myungsoo sat up again, pulling the covers off a bit. I grabbed a chair and sat next to him. He tentatively spooned some soup.

            “I didn’t put poison in it or anything,” I stated.

            He peered over at me. “Just making sure, you know.” Then he smiled as he took a taste.

            “How is it?” I asked nervously.

            He took some time to taste it, then slowly nodded. “It’s good. Amazing, actually.” Then he ate some more. “I haven’t had homemade soup in a long time.”

            “I’m glad you like it,” I said. “That’s just about the only thing I know how to cook well though. I at everything else.”

            “Seriously? I thought you were good at just about everything.”

            “Oh c’mon,” I said. “Nobody’s perfect.”

            Myungsoo chewed on a piece of carrot. “But you are. Perfect, that is.”

            He called me perfect. He thinks I’m perfect. Oh my gosh.

            “Yah, you okay?”

            I snapped out of it. “Y-Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Fine.”

            Myungsoo kept his eyes on me for a little bit longer before going back to his soup. I couldn’t help but notice how nice his eyes were.

            After Myungsoo finished his soup I went back downstairs to wash the bowl and put the tray away. He was fast asleep when I got back.

            I grabbed my backpack and made a move to leave when I suddenly saw something on Myungsoo’s desk: The Great Gatsby.

            He’s reading it, I thought. He’s actually reading it. And I knew that deep down inside my heart, I was hoping that he was reading it because of me.

            The following Friday, Myungsoo was back at school, as healthy as ever. We greeted each other during passing period and I was happy to know that we were becoming somewhat friends.

            Lunch was strange, though. I noticed that people kept looking at me and taking glances. I thought that I had food on my face or something from my sloppy joe burger but that wasn’t it.

            Then Lee Taemin walked into the cafeteria, and everyone seemed to hush each other. His friends behind him were carrying some sort of a banner and he seemed to be looking for someone. Then he met eyes with me. He walked over.

            Oh my gosh. He’s not going to do what I think he’s going to do, is he?

            “Son Naeun,” he said when he reached me. He pulled a bouquet of roses from behind him, pink and in full bloom. “Will you go to homecoming with me?” His friends behind him spread out to reveal a huge banner that read: SON NAEUN. HOMECOMING?

            “U-Um…” I so didn’t expect this. “Yes.”

            Everyone in the cafeteria began to cheer and Taemin gave me a hug. I felt absolutely nothing from it though. But wasn’t this what you’d always wanted, Naeun? Then why aren’t you feeling as happy as you should?

            I looked at where Myungsoo was sitting and sure enough, he was staring right back at me. The pale girl with the long black hair was sitting next to him again and tapped his shoulder, which broke our thread of eye contact.

            Later that day, I opened my locker to find a single red rose sitting on top of my books. And for some reason, that single red rose made me a million times happier than the dozen of pink roses that Taemin had given.

            Could it be? I wondered. Then I stopped myself.

            What are you doing? my brain asked. You like Taemin. You always have.

            But perhaps, my heart then refuted, not anymore.

A/N: Please comment and subscribe! <3