Chapter 14 Part 2 

Bom sighed tiredly as she closed the door to Seho's room and quietly walked down the hallway, passing by each door that just so happened to belong to a male individual student along the marble walkway until she got to the end where Mr. Kwon, one of the male dorm lookouts, was standing and keeping watch of any strange activity that might occur during his shift.

He smiled as soon as he recognized the young girl and said, "You done helping one of boys out for the day, huh?"

The 16-year old nodded her head, laughing softly as she said, "Yeah. Seho just needed my opinion on something." 

She learned that Mr. Kwon had worked here long enough to be knowledgable of the male students on this designated hall and who they hung out with, including Seho, Dongwook, and the rest of the guys but because half of their clique was girls, the boys had to ask for permission for any of us to come into their rooms along with a legitimate reason so that they could keep the dorm lookouts up to speed on what student would be showing up that didn't stay on that hall.

He nodded his head as well. "Ah okay. Well, have a good afternoon, Ms. Park."

"You too, Mr. Kwon." Bom replied nicely as she gave him once last smile before turning into the main hallway, her mind suddenly filling with thoughts on all of the assignments she needed to complete once she arrive at her dorm. The junior had been helping out her friends for almost 2 weeks now, not really being able to focus on her academics as much as she normally would, not that she was failing but she didn't want to fall behind when it was still the middle of the year. Add in the bit of fatigue that she had been having for the past few days, you could say that she was stretching herself a little bit thin but even with that being said, Bom still wouldn't turn away if a friend of hers was in need of assistance. Plus she just liked helping her friends because it made her happy to see them happy with the end result and it felt like she had accomplished something instead of making things worse like she use to do. 

For example, when she helped Chan-yeol finish writing his song before the due day, he was so happy that he almost squealed like a little girl. Then when he saw her at lunch after he presented the song to his music class, receiving a special grade for excellence as well as millions of praises from anyone who had the fortunate opportunity to hear it, he ran over to her, pulled her into a big bear hug from behind and told the group the good news.

While doing so, he endlessly showered her with compliments on her aid in the writing process, making her blush madly but her heart swell on the inside for actually doing something right for once. That's when Nana talked about how intelligent Bom was and how she finally understood algebra for the first time in her life, adding that Bom was the only she could thank for it. Soo-hyun didn't take her time joining in, gushing about what a great cook the doll faced girl was when she made some soup for Ga-yeon last week from scratch and how it was so delicious that she even made a bowl for her own self. The senior even said that the medicine Ga-yeon took didn't even work, claiming that the boxer in training only started to recover after eating Bom's soup and the thing that shocked Bom the most was that Ga-yeon agreed. 

So during the next week, this week to be exact, the black-haired girl had been helping the two sophomores, Minwoo and Kangjoon, with a class project that each of them were having a hard time with, the topic being science for the first and math for the latter, during the earlier part of the week and yesterday. Bom had to split time to help them both each day after school by working with Kangjoon for the first hour and work with Minwoo for the second hour for each day until each of them finally completed their projects and earned excellent markings on them just as Chan-yeol had.

Today she helped Seho but not with anything school related. Surprisingly, he wanted her thoughts on a few jokes that he came up with to impress Nana and make her like him a little more. Bom, who always thought that Seho was just naturally funny, was a little  hesitant at first but she decided to be honest with him in the end. Despite the jokes being really funny, the junior said that she felt like Nana would like him more if he would be his true self around her. After all, they've been friends for a long time and even though she didn't give Seho as much attention as he would like, she would probably notice if he was trying too hard to make her laugh. 

The doe-eyed girl was scared of what his reactions would be but to her surprise and relief, he actually agreed with her and felt like a fool for even making up those jokes but Bom told the chubby senior to keep them somewhere in his mind for emergency support, which actually made him laugh even though she wasn't trying to. He laughed so wholeheartedly that she ended up joining him in the process until she got ready to leave and retire back to her own dorm room.

But she'd never forget the moment when he looked at her and said, "You know Park Bom, I wasn't sure if you were ever going to find your place among us, being that we all have different types of personalities which has made it hard for a lot of people fit in with us...but you really proved me wrong and became a really great friend in the process." Then he added, "It's no wonder Dongwook likes you so much."

'Dongwook likes me? No way!' Bom thought to herself but before she could say anything, Seho changed the subject and she said her goodbyes, leaving shortly afterwards with his last statement playing in her head continuously. 

The junior smiled softly and just laughed it off before pushing it all the way back in her mind, not wanting to get her hopes up about the handsome senior. Just because Seho assumed that Dongwook liked her didn't mean that he really felt that way. She knew they were best friends but Seho could have meant that friendship wise, not romantically. 

'Yeah, that's what he meant.' Bom concluded in her head as she unlocked the door to her room, so wrapped up her in thoughts that she didn't hear Nana shouting her name until she had took her first step in her room. 

"Bom unnie!" Nana yelled as she stopped at her door, causing Bom to step back out of her room with a curious look on her face. 

"Hey." Bom said as she turned towards Nana and smiled happily.

Nana pouted cutely as she said, "I called your name 3 times, unnie. I thought you were ignoring me."

Bom's eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. "I promise I wasn't! I was just-"

"I'm kidding, unnie. No one ignores me." Nana joked before they both started laughing. "Anyways, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a bit if you aren't too busy."

The junior looked back at her book bag, full of books and assignments that she had to complete before glancing back at Nana. "Actually-"

"We can talk in your room if you have some homework to do." Nana suggested nicely as she walked in the older girl's room and made herself comfortable on her soft and comfy bed.

'I guess that could work.' The brown doe-eyed girl nodded her head and closed the door behind her as she walked in the room and brought her bag towards her desk. "Okay."

"Your room is so pretty, unnie. I wish mine looked like yours." Nana commented as she cuddled with Poong-Poongie while taking in Bom's private sanctuary, which was covered in the light and soft colors of green and pink and white. 

Bom smiled softly, murmuring a gracious "Thank you," as she pulled out all the things she needed out of her book bag and placed them on top of her desk. "It's nothing compared to Soo-hyun's though."

"Oh yeah! Hers is pretty as well. Since its her senior year, she has special permission to let anyone she wants to move in once she graduates but unfortunately, her sister asked before me." Nana told her with a small frown on her face.

"What grade is her sister in?" Bom asked curiously.

"The 8th grade." Nana said bitterly, causing her unnie to laugh.

Once the black-haired girl stopped laughing, she said, "How about I let you have my room when I graduate?" 

Nana eyes widened with happiness as she clapped her hands together. "Really, Bom unnie? You'll do that for me?"

"Of course. I only have one more year left anyway."

The brown-haired girl smiled excitedly before jumping off the bed and hugging the older girl tightly. "Thank you unnie! You're the best!"

Bom blushed lightly before hugging her back. "You're welcome." When she pulled back, she asked, "So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

The freshman sighed softly as she turned around and sat on the edge of the bed. "It's about Dongwook Oppa..."

"Dongwook Oppa?" Bom repeated curiously. 

Nana nodded her head and smiled softly as her face showed that she was trying to recall a memory from a long time ago. "I remember when I first heard one of my friends talk about Dongwook oppa...I was in the 5th grade. I didn't know who he was back or what he looked like then but I knew that he was way older than us and that he was pretty popular from the things that everyone said... It wasn't until I had gotten into middle school that I finally saw him for the first time."

"When I saw him in that office that day, I thought he was the most handsomest guy that I had ever laid eyes on with the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. It wasn't until he turned around and smiled at me that I developed a crush on him. I remember rushing to my class after that and telling my friends and ever since then; we tried to learn everything we could about him. Then, we would sneak over to the high school after classes and watched them play basketball. He was the best player on the team, the smartest in his year, and the friendliest. It was no wonder all the girls liked him. Dongwook was the most perfect boy ever."

"It was during my 7 grade year that he started dating a girl named Wu Sunny. She was in the same grade he was in and she was the most popular girl in the whole school at the time. Almost like a queenka, if you ask me. Anyways, I also noticed that she was really mean and during that time my friends assumed that he liked the mean type so they started being mean to anyone that they didn't like. I was the only one who didn't participate because I had overheard him talking about how nice Sunny was to Soo-hyun unnie and Seho Oppa in the library and that's when I realized that she had him completely fooled."

I tried to reason with my friends but they assumed he was just saying those things to keep his friends off his back about her. I realized then that if Dongwook really did like mean girls then he wasn't the perfect guy that I thought he was and I tried to find some new friends but everyone in my year all assumed that I was just as mean as the other girls because I was pretty. That was probably the worst year I've ever had..."

"Then during my 8th grade year, Ga-yeon transferred to our school on a scholarship but because we were still in middle school, which means that we still stay with our parents, they had to give her an extra room with the high schoolers, which means that she had more of a chance to bump into Dongwook oppa than the rest of us. Plus, he was appointed by Dr. Lee to show her around the school so needless to say, all of the girls were jealous, including Sunny, and they didn't want to be friends with her. When I saw her sitting at lunch by herself, I decided to sit with her, much to my ex-best friends dislike, and we became really good friends."

"But one day after school, Ga-yeon and I were working on an assignment in her dorm room and she left to go use the restroom. After about 15 minutes, I got worried so I left her room and went looking for her. When I finally found her, she was locked in one of the bathroom stalls, covered from head to toe in red paint and crying her eyes out." Nana said, making Bom gasp in shock. 

'Why would someone do something so cruel to Ga-yeon? She didn't deserve that.'

"When I saw her like that, I felt so angry inside. It didn't take long for me to figure out that Sunny did it but I had to make sure I was right. Ga-yeon promised to tell me only if I promised not to confront her about it. So I kept my promise by not confronting Sunny. Instead, I confronted Dongwook Oppa."

Bom gasped silently as she unnoticeably moved to the edge of her seat. "What did he say?"

"At first he didn't believe me but then Sunny walked in and he questioned her in front of me and his friends. That's when I learned that Sunny wasn't just mean; she was a good liar too! And because Ga-yeon wasn't there with me, I couldn't prove that Sunny did it until Soo-hyun pointed out the red paint stain on her purse. That's the first time I had ever seen Dongwook oppa look so angry and I suddenly got scared, not for me but for Sunny. He broke up with her right there on the spot, leaving her on the floor crying and I instantly felt bad for her. I almost apologized but Soo-hyun grabbed my hand and told me that she had it coming and that I should just leave her alone."

"Dongwook and Sunny's breakup was heard all over the school after that and I told Ga-yeon everything that happened but it still didn't help much because the girls that I used to hang out with started bullying Ga-yeon because they felt like she was the reason their queenka and kingka broke up. Finally, I caught them following her to her dorm while trying to bully her one day after school and told them to back off but it wasn't until Dongwook happened to see what was going on did they stop. He looked even more angry then and he threaten to report them to the principal and the school board if they didn't leave us alone. They were so shocked yet so scared that one of them cried and they all ran off. "

"But I'll never forget when he apologized to Ga-yeon for what Sunny did to her and apologized to me for not believing me at first when I told him. He confessed that she had him blind from the start and that he felt like the stupidest guy in the world. He was so sweet about it too when he promised that he wouldn't let anyone bother us anymore as long as he was a student at the school and so far he has kept that promise and has become a great friend in the process. I don't know where we'd be with Dongwook Oppa."

Bom smiled softly and she glanced at the floor in thought. "He really is a great guy. Even more great now that you've told me all of that."

Nana laughed softly to herself as she said, "Yet you're probably wondering why I told you all of that."

Bom suddenly looked up at her and shook her head. "No! I thought it was great and I'm glad that you told me... I've always wondered how all of you became friends and now I know a portion of it."

"Maybe, but you still don't know why I decided to tell you all of this."

The 16-year old shrugged causally before giving Nana a half smile. "I-I guess not..."

"Dongwook and Sunny dated for 2 whole years but ever since they broke up, Oppa hasn't dated ever since..."

"Well, what does that have to do with me?" Bom asked curiously, though in her mind she could see where this conversation was going. 

The 14-year old sighed as she got up from the bed and grabbed Bom's hand softly as she bent down in front of her. "Dongwook Oppa has never showed any remote interest in none of the girls at this school except you. Unnie, he likes you a lot and I just want you to see that."

"But that's the thing, Nana. I can't see how he would be interested in me...I'm nothing special." Bom said lowly as she closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.

Then she felt Nana grab her hands and pulled them away to unveil her beautiful face as she held them closely like she did before. "Well then, you're the only one who thinks that because everyone else thinks you're heaven sent, including me." She said genuinely before adding, "You're sweet, you're friendly, you're smart, you're caring, not to mention you're beautiful. Why wouldn't he like you? You're practically perfect."

"I'm not as perfect as you think, trust me."

Nana waved her statement off as she smiled and asked, "What about you? You like him too, right?"

Bom bit her lip softly as she looked away from Nana's curious gaze in nervousness. After a while, she looked back at Nana and nodded her head, a faint blush on her face. "Yeah... So what happens now?"

"Confessing." Nana said simply with an ecstatic look in her brown eyes.

"Hey Bommie, what do you think you're doing?" Bom heard Dongwook say as he jogged up next to her, taking her half empty lunch tray out of her hands before she could say anything.

She stuttered a little as she glanced up at his smirking face before looking down in slight embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry Oppa. I'm still getting used to you all taking my tray for me."

"It's okay." He said with a small chuckle as he dropped the tray in the trash bin before continuing to walk alongside her as they walked towards the entrance of the cafeteria. "I actually wanted to ask you something..." He said in a slightly nervous tone as he stopped by the double doors and turned to look at her, causing her to do the same.

"O-okay." She said as she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked up at his cocoa brown eyes, trying to appear calm on the outside while scolding herself in the inside for stuttering so much. She wondered if it was because they haven't been able to talk to each other as much this week. Both of them were so busy, especially him being an assistant coach of the middle school, being a basketball player as well, and being involved in other student activities. In fact, only time she got will to see him was during lunch and he was only there half the time due to him assisting the people in the main office. 'Yes, a busy guy indeed...'

The male senior took a deep breath before asking, "I was wondering if you'd...like to take a walk in the park with me after school?"

Bom felt herself scream on the inside as she looked at him with a surprised facial expression. "You wanna go for a walk...with me?" 

He laughed a little as he nodded his head, his cheeks turning a slight pink color as he started babbling, "Yeah, I mean, we really haven't had much time to talk to one another this week and-"

"Okay." Bom blurted before blushing madly, causing her to cover her cheeks with her hands.

"Really? You'll go?" Dongwook questioned in surprise before a soft smile graced his face as he stared down at the beautiful girl in front of him, his heart beating with pure happiness.

Bom nodded her head, a soft smile of her own as she slowly removed one her hands and tucked her hair behind her ear on the other side while looking down shyly. "Yeah. I'll go."

"Okay then. How about we meet up at the entrance of the school at 3:30?" He suggested.

Bom nodded her head. "Okay."

"Great. I'll see you later, Bommie." Dongwook told her, still smiling as he walked away with the boys.

"See you later." She told him softly before she turned around and meet Nana, Soo-hyun, and Ga-yeon' s excited faces in front of her. Nana had already informed the girls on Bom's feelings for Dongwook since they already knew that he had taken interest in the junior so they were dying to know what the couple were talking about.

"What were you guys talking about, unnie?" Nana asked curiously with a hopeful smile because the two's face expressions, she was hoping he had asked her on a date.

"He asked me if I wanted to take a walk with him in the park-"

Before she couldn't even finish the last word, the three girls screamed in excitement, well at least Nana and Soo-hyun did. Ga-yeon just gasped in surprise before smiling at Bom happily. "Really? Oppa finally asked you on a date?"

"Well, he didn't really say it was-"

"What time does the date start?" Soo-hyun asked curiously.

"3:30 but I don't think it's a-" Bom tried to say until Nana interrupted.

"Okay. As soon as classes are over, we all need to head straight to Bom's room and help her get ready. Arasso?"

"Okay." The female senior and other female freshman replied in unison before they all grabbed Bom's hand and started asking for details on how he asked her out as they walked to their classes.

"Oppa." A soft yet melodic voice called as he felt a tap on his shoulder, instantly waking Dongwook from his thoughts and causing him to turn around the meet the girl that had been running through his mind and consuming his thoughts ever since she agreed to walk with him in the park. 

His eyes widened as he took in her attire, which consisted of a white V-back cotton dress that's skirt flared a little and had princess pleats towards the bottom. Adorning the dress was a denim blue jacket and wedge sandals that had a jazz red calf strap and buckle at the beginning and a navy blue patent strap at the end, adding length to her long and Barbie like legs. Then his eyes wondered to her beautiful eyes that batted at him shyly with black mascara coating her long eye lashes, then her raven black hair that was pulled up in a curly ponytail so that her ruby stud earrings could be seen, and last but certainly not least, her full and glossy lips that also had a red tint to it. 

All in all, she looked absolutely incredible, so amazing that Dongwook had to blink a few times to make sure that this wasn't a dream and that him and Bom were actually going for a walk in the school park. "Woah. You look...amazing." He finally said when he noticed that she began to get nervous. "I wish I had of changed but I didn't want to be late, especially when I'm the one who asked you out."

"N-no! It's okay. I think you always look great." Bom quickly said before mentally face palming herself. 'Well it is the truth...'

Dongwook smirked teasingly as he said, "Oh, really?" The girl looked down and blushed a little, which caused him to laugh. "I'm just teasing you, Bommie... You ready to go?"

"Sure." She answered before becoming a little surprised when she felt his hand quickly grab hers as he started walking down the steps and she immediately followed. Her surprise soon faded away as he began to ask her about her day at school, which was followed by her asking him the same thing, and soon it turned into them conversing about anything that came to mind while leading the junior to love how warm and soft his hand felt against hers and come to with the desire of never wanting to let it go.

Then she thought about what the discussion that Nana shared with her yesterday and how if she gathered up the courage to tell Dongwook her feelings with the hope that he really liked her as much as Nana said then she would get to hold his hand almost all the time. It was a thought that scared the day lights out of her yet she still wanted to make happen. 

'But how?'

"You know...I really missed talking to you, Bommie." Dongwook said after a while.

She turned to him with curiosity in her eyes. "Really?" 

He nodded his head. "Yeah. I mean, I was just so use to being the one who talked to you the most out of all of us. But then, everyone started asking you for help and you became busy so I didn't want to waste any of the time you had to yourself."

"You wouldn't have wasted my time, Oppa." Bom said to him before taking a breath and confessing, "Actually, I missed talking to you too." 

"Really?"

The junior nodded her head. "Mhmm."

Dongwook chuckled a little bit before saying, "I wish I would have known that... It was just really hard catching you when you weren't with anyone...especially to ask you out..."

Her brown eyes widened in surprise as she said, "Ask me out?"

"Yeah. I've been trying to ask you for almost 2 weeks now..." He said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"2 weeks?" She repeated in shock.

He nodded his head again as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I know it's silly but..." He left off as he suddenly stopped and turned towards Bom before holding her other hand with his free hand. "Every time I tried to ask you, someone always came up and I would start to get nervous... I was scared that you'd say no."

"You were scared that I'd say no?" She asked softly as she looked up at him shock written all over her face.

Dongwook nodded his head again. "Yeah... After first relationship ended, I sorta took a break from dating because I wasn't sure if I'd ever meet someone whose personality was genuinely kind and caring. My ex girlfriend had me completely fooled into thinking that she was just that and therefore placed doubt in my heart of any girl that I knew or met other than my friends... But when I met you and I noticed how you tried to keep me from helping you with your boxes...the feeling was different... And when you smiled at me...it was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen in my entire life."

Bom gasped silently and looked away when she felt her eyes water a little bit at what the senior was telling her because in all her life, she had never heard anyone say that about her in that much sincerity and honesty. She could just tell that he meant every word that he said and it made her heart beat triple time. And the shocking part was that he wasn't even done.

"Then, when I saw you again at lunch on your first day here, you wouldn't believe how happy I was and how much I wanted to see you again so that I could hang out with you and get to know you better. Every time I was with you, you proved to me just how special you were because you're always putting others ahead of yourself... I was just so captured  by your kindness and beauty that...I couldn't even see the feelings that I have for you."

"You...have feelings for me?" She asked him shyly as she looked down at the ground beneath their feet and started to blush madly while the little girl inside her started hooraying for joy. She just couldn't believe it. 'Dongwook actually likes me!'

He chuckled silently at how shyly she was behaving and stepped closer to her as he said, "Yeah, I do. You have true beauty, Bom. Not just on the outside by on the inside as well. That's not something that many people come across everyday... Sometimes, I don't think you realize just how beautiful you are...but no matter how much you try to deny it, you'll still be an angel in my eyes." Suddenly he raised his hand and lifted the girl's chin up until her sparkling chocolate colored eyes met his warm cocoa one and said, "And I want to spend the rest of my days here showing you that."

And that's when he finally kissed her.