“My parents are fine with me dating,” you murmured to Jinsik. Your words made him freeze just as he enfolded your smaller hands in his.

“Hm?” he had an expression of puzzlement infixed to his face and the sight made you giggle.

When you repeated yourself, you added the action of threading your fingers with his.

He continued to look down at your clasped hands in his version of disbelief. You let him take his time to process the good news but to your confusion, he frowned thereby making you mirror the same expression.

Now, you had almost no idea what to expect but you did consider this good news for the both of you so his reaction was a surprise. He caught on to your feelings because he quickly plastered a smile but even you could tell it was forced. Your strong grip on his hand loosened in the downturn of your feelings and he compensated by securing your hand in his. But there was a small part in you that wanted to completely withdraw not only your hand from his but also yourself from the current situation because there was a squirming feeling that was making its presence known.

“Sorry Taeri.” He smiled brightly at you and swung your hands to add to the effect as he led you to the familiar location at the secluded side of the school he first took you to. “I just can’t believe the good news.”

You blinked at his recovery. “Oh.”

He looked around the two of you and you directed your gaze to the ground as you let him tug you along behind him. You were now feeling dismayed at both yourself and him. You had honestly expected him to be a bit more elated and it was this expectation that had you upset with yourself. But was it wrong to have these expectations? A side of you said no, it wasn’t wrong. Because you had just come off of a high after such a good weekend especially since Hwami and Yoora had both gotten the approval from your parents. And to tell Jinsik that you were allowed to continue seeing him would be just the way to send you over the moon.

But now, here you were, firmly planted on the ground as he smiled almost warily down at you. The two of you were now isolated from everyone else and when he pulled you into a tight hug, you couldn’t shake off your disapproval of what was currently happening.

“Jinsik?” your voice was a little muffled as he had buried his face into your neck and the position of his lips made you shiver when he breathed directly there.

“Hm?” you felt his response more than you heard him and you knew your face was a flaming torch but that feeling of giddiness that usually caught you in a storm with each advancement in your relationship with him was absent. Instead, in its place was an uncomfortable clench in your gut. That feeling was enough for you to push him away.

He had clearly not been expecting it because he stumbled backward and would have fallen over had he not caught his balance so quickly.

You gazed at him wide eyed as he straightened himself out. There was no hiding his surprise and disgruntlement. “What was that Taeri?”

“I-I’m sor-.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. “What’s wrong? You’re acting weird.”

“What?”

He continued to look away. “You’ve been acting weird for the past week now.”

“I have?” You didn’t know what was happening right now and it made your mind all the cluttered but you did your best to recall a time when you had been acting as he said you were.

“Yeah.” And he still wasn’t looking at you.

“How so?” you finally asked when your mind couldn’t come up with anything.

“You haven’t been talking to other guys, have you?”

“What?” You wrapped your arms around yourself and the movement finally caught his interest as he finally caught your gaze and held it.

“I heard you’ve been talking to other guys.”

“Other guys?” You knew there was no hiding your utter confusion about what he was saying. First, he says you’re weird and then he jumps to questioning you about others?

“Yeah. A few of my friends told me so. That you’ve been passing notes with a guy in one of your classes and that another asked you out.”

He was almost glaring at you and you were doing your best to collect yourself enough to reply to him. And his accusations. “Well, I do talk to other boys but-.”

“And they asked you out?”

You frowned. “Yes. And I turned them down.”

“Really? Because there is a guy that’s been saying you two are together and have been together for the last two weeks.”

“Of course not.” Your voice trembled a little and he heard it because he looked away. You took a breath in to continue but you couldn’t control the slight quiver in your voice. “I’ve only been seeing you.”

You thought back to how happily you told your father goodbye, knowing this boy had been waiting for you just out of your father’s sight. The anticipation had been building since your discussion with your mother and it finally crested when you proved to yourself and whatever doubts or fears you had still been harboring about this new exploration with him. Because there he had been, waiting for you with a gentle smile. That image was now lurking in that same place in your mind that housed those doubts with a new light illuminating them with the current predicament almost mocking your feelings.

You resumed your gazing at the cold hard ground as you took a step back. Due to your timid personality, this sudden confrontation was taking a toll on you and your emotions. A tear escaped your eye as you recalled once again how happy you had woken up knowing you would be seeing not only Hwami and Yoora but also Jinsik.

“I’m going to go to my locker,” you whispered. You were about to repeat yourself, feeling that he must not have heard you because you could barely put in the effort to say anything louder.

But he cleared his throat. “Fine.”

You chanced a glance at him and he was staring off to the side. That sight made you freeze as you had just taken another step away. He looked so closed off and frozen. An internal battle soon consumed you because you didn’t want to leave this… whatever this was the way it currently was. But you wanted to escape this scary situation. Your thoughts flitted back and forth and that prevented you from moving any further.

Finally, one side won when you stood there a minute more. “I like you Jinsik…oppa.” Your hand clenched within your sleeves as you got the words out. “I don’t know exactly what you heard but I feel this way only with you.” Your resolve was effectively waning as your ended your words in a whisper.

Now that you said what was on your mind, your thoughts immediately went to where you could find your friends. You needed them to tell you that you were okay because you were lost. And hurt.

Determined to find them as soon as you left, you were about to leave when Jinsik surprised you by when his voice rang loud in the silence that followed your confession. “I,” but he stopped when he just said that. You waited for him to say something more but he didn’t. Not for a while. Finally, he walked up to you but you couldn’t raise your head to face him so you only saw his sneakers stop a meter away. “I like you too, Taeri. A lot.”

“Oh.”

You felt the need to apologize and you were about to do just that but he beat you to it. “I’m sorry.”

When you gathered the will to look at him fully, your lip trembled and his eyes were warm once more. “I’m sorry too.”

He scoffed, “No. You,” he took a deep breath, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I should have told you about those boys first. Hwami and Yoora had told me to tell you too.” You admitted, feeling ashamed for not following their advice. They had warned you to tell him quickly before he found out from someone else. You felt foolish for not taking such a warning seriously with the results staring at you in the face but now you knew better. Your chin dropped down and so did a few more tears. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“Come on, Taeri.” He was now standing right in front o