Age 16

“Park Young In!  Park Young In!  Young In!”

Young In spins on her heels, hearing her name being called multiple times by a person she can’t recognize by ear. The owner of the voice sprints up to her, flicking his light-brown hair out of his eyes.

“Young In, it’s me.  Remember me?”

She finds herself face to face with a boy who stands just a head taller than her. 

“Do you remember me?” he asks again.  “I’m Jongin’s friend.  You know my name, right?  Your necklace is really nice.”

Young In grips the straps of her backpack and furrows her brow inquisitively.  She studies the lines of his dyed-hair and trimmed eyebrows.  He’s pale from his forehead to his chin, where his smirking lips reside.  He’s tall, and the pant cuff of his perfectly ironed uniform reaches just above his ankles.

There's something about him that Young In feels like she knows, even though she can't recall ever talking to him face to face.  He reminds of her of someone.

“Oh Sehun?” she says, turning the ring of her silver necklace around in her fingers.

“Aha, you do remember me!”

She shakes her head.  “No, I was just reading your nametag.”

Sehun looks down at his jacket where the contours of his name, sewn into the fabric, stares back at him in reverse.

“Dang it.  It happened again,” he sighs.  “Wait, don’t go.”

Young In purses her lips as she turns back to face him.

“I have something to ask you.  Can I?”

She gazes at the seriousness in his eyes.  He blinks nervously and averts his gaze as he his lips, an imperative habit of his.  When he doesn’t say anything else, Young In is worried that it’s something severe.

“Is there something wrong?” she probes slowly, uncertain.  “Is it…oh my god, what did he do?”

Sehun looks surprised at the sudden escalation in her voice.  “Who did what?”

“Jongin! Kim Jongin! He got into trouble didn’t he?  And the day before school—”

“No.” Sehun interjects.  “Is that how it is?”

"What do you mean?”

He scoffs and sticks his hands into his pocket, kicking at the asphalt.  “If it’s not Jongin, it’s you.  When I ask him something, he always manages to talk about you.  And now that I’m about to ask you to be my date to the dance, you talk about him.  You know what? Forget it.”

Young In stares at him for a long time, unsure of how to respond.

“Forget it.”

Sehun kicks the ground again, swearing quietly when the gravel scuffs the polish of his shoe.  He stares at the silver necklace around her neck before stomping away.

__

“Jongin, I’m a horrible person.”

“I know.”

"I’m being serious.  If you were me, you would hate me.”

“That’s true,” Jongin sighs.  “I probably would.”

“You're more comforting day by day,” Young In says as she glares at him, all the while knowing that he doesn’t actually mean it.

“You sound like you need help,” Jongin continues.  “I’m feeling pretty considerate.  You can tell me.”

"Are you going to the school dance tomorrow night?”

Jongin snorts.  Young In blinks slowly. They stare at each other for a few seconds until he begins to laugh, clutching his stomach. 

“You worry about the most amusing things,” he says between breathless chuckles.  “Is that a habit of yours?”

“Don’t waste your breath,” Young In says, slapping his arm.  “That wasn’t even what I meant to ask.”

“Well then what do you want to ask?” Jongin grouses, rubbing his arm where Young In had hit him and wiping the tears from his eyes. 

Young In swallows and wonders if bringing this up will be a good idea.  If Jongin finds out about this and spreads the news, things will get out of hand, and she's afraid she'll have to turn down more than one person.

“If I tell you, you have to promise not to laugh.”

“Okay,” he sighs.

“And you have to say yes when I ask you to help me.”

“I have to?”

“I won’t hurt you.  Don’t worry,” Young In jokes. 

"Okay, then tell me."

Jongin turns back to his homework as Young In dashes away.  He hears her eager footsteps bounding up the stairs, and then back down again, before plopping down beside him, breathing as if she’s just run the mile. 

“Here,” she pants placing a box on the table.  “This is what I wanted to tell you.”  She opens the box slowly but Jongin already knows what’s inside.

“How many have you used?” he asks.

“This will be the first one," Young In replies as she removes one candle, the shortest one.  “My first wish.  You'll make sure it comes true, right?”

Jongin nods, prepared despite his strangely tacky predicament.  “What do you want--I mean, what is your wish?”

He watches as she lights the candle using a match from at matchbook sitting on the coffee table.  The flame flickers and glints in her eyes.  She stares at the candle as if praying that whatever she is thinking of will work, and then hands it to him.  

“What am I supposed to do with it?” Jongin whispers, as if speaking any louder would break the spell that hung in the room. 

“My wish…is for you to make sure I don’t break Sehun’s heart.”

"What?"

She blows out the candle quickly before Jongin can say another word.  "Wish granted."

14:58 pm