The air was full of enthusiastic chatter as my friends and I exited the convenience store, gripping our purchases and sliding into the large rectangular picnic bench not too far away.  We were celebrating the end of the first week of school, which was already proving to be torturous. 

                As I stabbed a straw into the top of my strawberry milk, my best friend leaned in.

                “So, have you set your eyes on anyone yet?” she asked, her eyes glittering.  I nearly choked on my drink.

                “Have you?” I asked incredulously.

                “Hmm, I kind of like Seungcheol.  He’s really attractive.”

                I rolled my eyes.  “Is that seriously all you like about him?”

                She giggled and elbowed me.  “Well, it’s only been a week!  I’ve barely talked to him.  We’re going by appearance alone here.” 

                Some of the other girls chimed in with their preference of the boys in our grade and I sipped my milk thoughtfully.

                Suddenly, a hush fell over my group.  I looked over my shoulder.  A group of boys from our school were leaving the store and searching for a place to sit.  All the other tables were taken up, but half our area was still empty.

                My friend mustered up the courage to call out to them.  “Hey!  We’ve got room over here!”

                The girls tried to contain their squeals as the guys smiled and made their way over. 

                “Thanks,” said one of the boys to my friend, taking the seat directly across from me.  We made eye contact and he smiled.  I recognized him as Jisoo, the transfer student. 

                Other than that brief moment, it was extremely awkward.  The boys were focused on their food and the girls were too busy whispering about the boys to talk to them. 

                I chewed on my straw and all the milk out of the little plastic container until it made a really loud noise.  My friends stared at me with wide-eyes as if it was a capital offense to be so noisy around members of the opposite gender.  I set the carton down on the table and folded my hands in my lap. 

                “Are you done with that?” asked Jisoo, pointing to my trash.

                “Huh?  Um, yeah,” I said absentmindedly.  He nodded and scooped it up.  He collected the discarded wrappers from the rest of the table and got up to go throw it all away before I could even stand to help him. 

                My friend nudged me and raised her eyebrows excitedly.  “What a gentleman!”  She knew I had a thing for those types of people.  I let a small smile escape and then reached into my plastic bag to pull out a pack of chocolates I had bought with my milk.

                “Why are you taking those out?” my friend reprimanded.  “They’re going to think that you’ll eat that whole thing by yourself.”

                “So let them think that,” I replied, popping the chocolate in my mouth with a self-satisfied smirk and leaning forward on the table. 

                Jisoo returned to his seat and looked around, probably searching for more things to tidy up.  He fixed his eyes to my area and seemed to visibly swallow.  I followed his gaze and gasped internally, drawing back from the table and straightening my clothes protectively.  What a !  And to think I actually appreciated him—

                “Those are my favorite,” he said.

                “What?”

                He gestured to the chocolate in front of me that I had been leaning over.

                “The Twix.”

                I paused for a moment and then burst out laughing. 

                Jisoo gave me a confused look.  “Did I say something wrong?”

                I shook my head, waving my laughter away.  “Do you want some?”

                His face lit up and I handed him a piece.  He ate and then smiled as if remembering something funny.

                “You know, I once wrote a song about chocolate.”

                And that was the beginning of a very sweet relationship.