You looked up.

Jaeho, holding his cellphone in his hand, looked back at you, sitting on top of Sihyung who was coughing below your legs. 

Hearing the commotion, Dokyun, Kyungil, and Yijeong came running towards you. 

"What is what?" He said again. Closing his cellphone and returning it to his pocket. 

Without warning, your eyes became blurry with tears. Against your will, waterfalls raged down your cheeks with no remorse. You couldn't control it. Your buried your crying face in Sihyung's back, who was still under you from your tackle. Your tears turned into wails as you cried for a reason unknown even to you. 

Jaeho wasted no time running to you. He sat on the ground beside Sihyung and pulled you close to him, taking your weight off of Sihyung and into his lap. Wanting to shield your obvious tears from him, you hid your face in his shoulder. He pat and rubbed your back and let you let it all out without a word.

"_______, why are you cry-" Yijeong began to say, followed by a blunt noise and a cough. You guessed that Kyungil punch his stomach to shut him up. It was silent around you-- all except for your crying. 

Somehow this reminded you of the best day of your life. 

You back was still against the door. Finally the tears had let up. You wiped your eyes with the sleeve of your jacket. 

Jacket.

Wait no. It was Jaeho's jacket. He must be freezing going back to his house after walking you home. You had to get it back to him. It'd been what? Ten minutes? Twenty? He couldn't have gotten far. You rid your face from any salty residue and flung to door open to catch him before he got too far in the cold without his favorite black jacket. 

You sprinted out the door and began down the dirt road until you heard a yell.

"________!" A male's voice called out your name. Frightened, you turned around.

It was Jaeho. You heart was put at ease. 

You smiled to hide the fact that you were crying as you walked towards him. He too was walking in your direction. You spoke first. "You forgot your jacket, and I didn't want to trouble you even further by letting you walk home in the cold. Plus, I know that this is your favorite jacket." You said as you held it out to him. He took the jacket from your hands and put if back around you. He took your hand and walked you back to your house. The two of you sat on your doorstep. 

"You know what I kept thinking about today?" He asked you. He was still holding your hand. His was shaking. It was really that cold. 

"Graduation?" You answered. You knew that wasn't the right answer, but you just couldn't manage to think when he was holding your hand like this. 

"No... well yeah, but, no... I." He struggled with his words-- something you had never seen him do.

"The future. Myself. The town. School. Friends. Family...you." 

"Me?" You gasped. 

"Wait. Listen." He interrupted. "I kept thinking about what I want to do and where I want to go. My parents want me to go to Seoul. That's been the plan all along. Go to Seoul, become a doctor, make money, you know. It always sounded like the best plan, but recently, I can't decide. That plan is rational, that plan is safe, but is it the right plan? I don't know anymore. I grew up here. I know here. Do I belong here?" 

His grip on your hand got tight. You wanted so much to answer his questions. To hold him close and tell him that he does belong here, that this is exactly where he belongs, but you figured it'd be best to let him figure it out for himself. 

"That's exactly what it was all these years. A plan. But now... now it's real. I'm out of high school, I'm turning 18 soon. It's all going to happen and I don't know if I'm ready. I'm not ready to leave this place, to leave my parents, my friends. I'm not ready to leave you."

He stood up, pulling you up with him. He pulled you into a tight embrace. 

"________, I love you."

Your world stopped at this moment. Was this a dream? This could not be real. You must've fallen asleep while your were crying. Yes. In front of the door. This could not be real. Your mind shifted to Jaeho who was still shaking. Shivering in your arms. 

"I love you. I've always wanted to tell you that, since... since I can't even remember anymore. I wanted to tell you, and at the park seemed like the perfect place, but I couldn't get the guts to do it. I've been sitting out here for half and hour trying to gather the courage... and when I saw you, you gave it to me. Under this moonlight. On this day. I wanted to tell you that I love you." 

He started to sniffle, you could tell he was holding back tears. 

He cleared his throat, clearing his head, and thus his tears. He backed up to see your face and ruffled your hair. 

Yes, it reminded you of the best day of your life. 

Although you cried a lot that day-- the most in your life, it was the best day of your life because you had found out that the one you loved, loved you back. 

Jaeho's hand moved from your back to your head. He ruffled your hair just like he always did. And with that, your tears ceased. You dried your right eye with your hand before looking at Jaeho's face. He gazed at you with loving eyes and wiped the remaining tears from your left eye. "I missed you." He said.

Again you lunged yourself forward, this time onto Jaeho. You wrapped your arms around his neck and laid on top of him laughing. He brought his arms around your waist. "I missed you too!"

The two of you stayed like that for a couple of minutes until you were interuppted by Yijeong. 

"I missed him too. Hop off, noona! It's my turn." 

You stood up and dusted the dirt off yourself. Jaeho did the same. Then the four came dashing towards him for a group hug. You joined from the outside. 

"We missed you, bro!" They yelled.

"Hey, ________. Why don't you react that way when you see the rest of us?" Kyungil asked.

"Because I see you all more often than him. Kyungil, you still come home every night, Sihyung, you come home almost every other weekend, Yijeong, we go to the same school, and Dokyun, I get to see you on TV on that Loen trainee reality show. Jaeho hardly ever comes home." 

You all laughed together like old times.