Everything suddenly becomes Jongin-centered for me.

     I’m trying to know more about him, following his SNS accounts, revisiting moments that I used to ignore when he’s around like the class trip, class photoshoot, and campus events. I want to know more about him.

     Maybe it’s not that I fell for him too quickly, but because I also need to know whether he’s a good person or not. Yeah, that’s my justification for all the internet lurking today.

     I plan to dig more by asking my other male classmates, but I’ll put that on hold for now. What’s the use if I can know it directly from Jongin himself?

     I’ve started picking clothes since the afternoon, and I feel weird already. I want to look especially good today. Wow, it’s been awhile since I’m trying to look good in front of someone.

     My phone rings. My heart jumps, thinking it might be Jongin, but I get grumpy at the display of my sister’s name.

     “Unni, unni. I think Sunwoo is playing push and pull with me. What should I do if he suddenly cancels our date? How angry should I be? On the scale of 1 until 10? If—“

     “Hayoung, honey.” I massage my forehead lightly. “Ask him the reasons first. It’s not push and pull if he actually has something else more urgent.”

     “He hasn’t replied my message on why he canceled it! And he doesn’t answer my calls. Unni, what should I do?!”

     “How long have you waited?”

     “Five minutes!”

     I sit on the edge of my bed, now massaging my nape. “Wait longer. Bye, I need to go.”

     “Wait, unni, where are you going?!”

     “Are you the only one who has dates?” I hang up. I can hear Hayoung’s gasp before I hung up earlier, and somehow it brings a satisfying feeling.

     Actually Jongin and I keep messaging each other since this morning, and we promise to meet at 9 PM at a movie theater near our university. It’s only evening, but I’ve lost count on how many times I randomly stomp the ground happily, thinking about this night. Ah, this is getting unhealthy.

     I receive a message from Jinhee, my best friend, who is having a vacation in Japan, asking me about the souvenirs I would like to have. She proceeds to ask me about my holiday plans, and I just said that nothing big is happening but I have a date for tonight. A call immediately comes.

     “Sooo who’s the guy? Jinhee sounds enthusiastic, and I only smile to my phone before answering.

     “You know the person.”

     “Wow, who is it? A classmate? A senior? Someone from our club?”

     “Yep, getting closer.”

     “Oh my God!” Jinhee shrieks. “Tell me all of it. All.”

     “I’m going to tell you all if tonight goes well.”

     “Okay, okay.” Jinhee proceeds to laugh like a freak. “Good luck, Hana!”

     I throw my phone to the bed and then myself. I feel pathetic. It has been quite awhile since I feel these butterflies in my stomach…

-

     Jongin waves to me when I enter the entrance of the theater, and I half-run to reach his spot. After buying the tickets, we still have an hour until the movie starts and we decide to go to the arcade.

     “The loser pays for the snacks, and has their forehead hit.” Jongin challenges.

     “On the day when I have my hair up?” I groan. Jongin laughs loudly.

     “Are you giving up already? Give it a go first.”

     I feel deflated but I accept his challenge anyway. We play a shooting game, and being a clumsy player I am, I lost, but surprisingly by only a small margin with him.

     “Okay, only the forehead hit then.” Jongin happily stands in front of me, his fingers are ready on my forehead. I know he held back on putting the energy, and I appreciate that. We laugh it off, and continue playing some more.

     The punishments now vary, and so far we’ve done smacking wrists (for both of us), low-kick (for Jongin), and greeting a total stranger (for me). We mostly spend the remaining time laughing, and Jongin repeatedly pointing at my red face after the stranger that I had to greet was staring at me with a weird look.

     “After the movie ends, we should go for another round.” Jongin beams happily. We buy popcorn and drinks, and go inside the auditorium. The movie is a light romantic comedy, and I can’t help to look at Jongin when he laughs, because his laugh is just… Contagious. I find myself laughing along with him, not because of the movie.

     We walk out from the movie theater sipping the remaining drinks on our cup, and Jongin drags me to the arcade again.

     “So what’s the punishment now?” I mutter. Jongin thinks for awhile, and decides.

     “Piggyback ride!”

     My mouth opens slightly, thinking surely that I’d be the one who needs to lift him. Well maybe I could do it, he’s skinny anyway. “Okay.”

     The unexpected happens—Jongin lost. And he strangely doesn’t look even a bit upset, he looks rather elated with this outcome. “I’ll do it outside. Come on!”

     The summer night breeze welcomes us as we step outside, and Jongin squats in front of me.

     “Wow—we can let this pass though, I’m too heavy for this.” I hesitate.

     “What are you talking about… Shush, just get on.” Jongin sounds excited. I carefully put my arms around his neck, and he stands up. He lifts me up quite easily. I shriek when he moves around to adjust my body behind him, and he laughs. “See, it’s fine.”

     His bare neck is warm, and I spent quite some time staring at it for no reason. I can feel his bones, but overall his body is blazing heat despite the cold weather. I’m currently resisting the urge to rest my head on his shoulder…

     “Jongin, it’s enough, let me down.” I start to worry. Jongin slightly shakes his head.

     “I’ll stop when we reach the outer gate.”

     I sigh, but then laugh afterwards. “It’s getting too comfortable for me, I might not want to go down if this keeps up.”

     I can see Jongin smiling. “It’s okay.”

     We arrive at the gate, and he carefully lets me go down to the ground. We continue walking, and as we talk on the side of the road without a sidewalk, he pulls my body aside when a car passes, and switches positions with me. Is it weird if my heart fluttered when he did this?

     Our footsteps lead us to the convenience store where we met yesterday. We bought drinks and sit on the exact same seats we sat previously.

     “What should we do tomorrow?” Jongin asks. And… It starts. I’m very sure that I instantly blush when he asks that. Why does the prospect of meeting him again make me like this? I’m really afraid if my face turns red right now. The bright light from the convenience store might make this very obvious.

     “Um… I don’t know.” I answer.

     “It’s summer, people are gone, and it’s like we’re the only ones left in this town.” Jongin desperately smiles as he stretches his hands behind his head. “What should we possibly do…”

     Everywhere with you would be nice, I think to myself. But is it too early…

     “Should we go somewhere far?” Jongin puts both of his hands on the table, his eyes sparkle with expectation.

     What—did he read my mind?!

     “Where should we go? Jeju would be super crowded now… Incheon is too close. The East Sea? Do you have somewhere in mind?”

     I go blank in the head. “Uh…” I hear Busker Busker’s Yeosu Night Sea starting to play in the store inside, and I expressionlessly blurt out the word. “Yeosu?”

     “Oh!” Jongin’s lips form the most adorable ‘o’ ever. “That’s great, actually. We can reach it by train! If we manage to get the early morning ticket, we can arrive before the night.” he takes out his phone and start typing. “Let’s see the ticketing right now…”

     “What—you’re serious?” I look at him in disbelief. “We’re really going?”

     “Yeah.” Jongin nods.

     “The two of us?”

     “Yeah.”

     Jongin says it like it’s nothing, but I have my back pressed on the chair.

     “Why? You don’t want to?”

     I straighten my back. “No—I mean, no problem.”

     “Then it’s decided.” Jongin smiles, and he continues checking the internet. “Hm, the site hasn’t updated the schedule… Maybe I’ll try again in the morning.”

     “When are we going?”

     “As soon as possible, of course. Preferably before the weekend, in case it gets too crowded to go there.” Jongin puts back his phone into his pocket.

     I’m still looking at him, and the music from the store somehow gets louder in my ear.

I want to walk here with you

I want to walk along this sea with you

     The soulful, forlorn song somehow sounds thrilling on my ears. Yeah, I want to be there with him.

     I let out a laugh, and Jongin looks surprised. “What? What’s wrong, Hana?”

     “No, I’m just excited. Yeosu sounds good.”

     Jongin smiles widely, and raises his hand. “Vacation!”

     I high-five him, and we make cheers with our canned drinks. It’s 2 AM right now, and we seem to own this street for ourselves.

-

     4 AM, and Jongin is walking me home again. I’m walking on the outer side of the sidewalk again, and Jongin grabs my wrist to pull me away when a vehicle passes.

     “It’s the second time tonight, Lee Hana.” he sounds stern, as he instructs me to walk on the other side of him. “Do I need to tape you permanently on this side?”

     “Hmmm.” I respond slowly. “Sorry.”

     Jongin bursts out into laughter. “It’s so hard to keep you safe even at an empty street like this, what if I lose you in Yeosu later?”

     I laugh too, and purposely stay intact with his body as I walk. “It’s not like you’re going to leave me there and return to Seoul alone if that happens.”

     Jongin nods repetitively. “Impossible.”

     We arrive in front of my apartment, and it feels even harder tonight to part with him. “So… I’ll wait to hear from you.”

     “Sure! I’ll book the tickets. Prepare to pack.” Jongin smiles. “See you.”

     I wave, and he waves back. My heart deflates as his smile disappears when he turns back and starts leaving.

     “Jongin!” I call out. Jongin turns around again, looking slightly surprised. “Thank you.”

     He smiles. "Thank you."

     He really leaves now, and completely out of my sight now. I walk slowly to the elevator and my door, and I can’t help singing slowly that Beast song while smiling.

     “Byeori bitnaneun areumdaun bam-iya-iya…”