▬「:CHAPTER ⊹ F I F T E E N ▫ ▪

     ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ ██████████
        sugar and spice . day and night . white and black . sweet and sour . present and absent . hot and cold . shy and bold . love and hate 
              ⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯BITTER && SWEET⋯⋯

Yun Hee managed to get to the door before her brother when the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" Leo looked over from the couch.

"Hyuk and I were going for some pizza, I'll be back later!" She rushed her sentence while throwing on her jacket and running out the door. Leo sat there a little confused before he shrugged it off, he was watching a movie and wanted to finish it before his girlfriend came over for their own little date.

Yun Hee came outside quickly, surprising Ren.

"Quick! Let's get out of here!" She whispered while pushing him to leave. Confused he complied. Once the two were a block away from her house, Yun Hee took a moment to breathe.

"What happened?" Ren asked concerned.

"I lied to my brother, saying I was getting pizza with Hyuk... I never lie to my brother! I got scared, okay?" She frowned.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to get you in trouble, that wasn't my goal." He apologized, he felt bad.

"Yeah, well, you're worth it anyway." She said, hoping it'd cheer him up. It worked, his frown turning upside down.

"I'll be sure not to let you down, your time with me won't be for nothing... I promise." He took her hand into his, interlocking his fingers with hers.

"You better hope so..." she blushed. Sometimes it feels like we're dating... she thought back on all their close encounters. A part of her wished the thought was true and not just a feeling.

They walked hand in hand to the nearest pizza joint. She was thrilled he took her to her favorite place. It was a short meal and after they ate, they went for a walk in the park, a cliche thing but they both enjoyed it. A little while later they took a rest on one of the benches. Ren didn't bother letting go of her hand as they sat there, which made her nervous.

"Here, I'm sure you've been waiting for this all day, right?" She pulled out his Valentine’s Day present, homemade chocolates.

"Finally!" He smiled, taking it from her excited. "I was starting to think you weren't really going to give me anything." He then pouted.

"I gave you candy didn't I?!" She crossed her arms holding in a laugh at his cute behavior. This guy could be so childish sometimes, she swore.

"Speaking of candy..." he reached into his pocket, "here!" He handed her a similar box of heart shaped candies.

She smiled taking them. "Thank you, Happy Valentine’s Day, Ren."

"Happy Valentine’s Day, Yun Hee." He returned her smile, then watched her open the box and meet the same fate he did earlier.

 

I

Want

You

 

On every heart but....

 

I

Love

You

 

She looked over to him at a loss for words... but then she looked away from him, trying to process this in her mind. Before he could frown, he saw her reach into her pocket. She pulled out a small heart candy she had prepared, sort of knowing he’d do something like this, and handed it over to him with a nervous face...

 

I

Love

You

Too

 

He could literally feel his heart doing back flips and cartwheels. He honestly wasn't expecting a response like this, he was sure he was gonna get ignored again like last time he confessed his feelings. She must have seen this coming and came prepared...

 

She looked up at him, her face almost completely red from embarrassment. "So you did get my message..." he mumbled before leaning in towards her to capture her lips into a kiss. She seemed surprised at first before relaxing and kissed him back.

 

This is what I want... I want us... me and Ren.

 

Both looked at each other with smiles on their faces... what did this mean now?

"Don't stress about it... just let things fall into place." He tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.  She nodded, placing her hand over his. "Meanwhile," he retracted his hand to pull out another box of heartshaped candies. "Let's eat this one together?"

"You didn't rig this one, did you?" She narrowed her eyes. They both knew she meant replacing the messages so they all said the same thing. He shook his head with a laugh.

She pulled the first candy out.

 

Hug

Me

 

She smiled and held it up to him. He pulled her over and gave her a side hug. The hug was so much more to her knowing his feelings. "My turn!" He pulled one out.

 

Kiss

Me

 

He had an instant smile as he held it up to her. "Of course you had to pull that one out, right?" She was starting to get shy, leaning away. He pouted, giving a little aegyo. "Fine..." she quickly kissed him on the cheek.

"Not on the cheek!"

"It didn't say on the lips!"

"I thought it was obvious!"

"Whatever, I'm picking another now." She pouted, shaking one out of the box and held it up.

 

Love

Me

 

"I already do..." he smiled, her heart fluttered at his words. Then it was his turn.

 

Kiss

Me

 

"Again!? I think we're done here!" She put the candy away getting flustered.

"I don't need candy to kiss you!" He laughed. "I'm fully capable of doing it myself!"

"Takes two to tango and two to kiss, don't get ahead of yourself, now." She laughed at his comment.

"No worries, I can tango for the both of us, I'm just that great! I'll go as far as I have to!" He grinned.

"Stop!" Her red face was starting to make an appearance again.

"I'm not gonna stop."

Suddenly she leaned over and pecked him on the lips, leaving him lost for a second it was so unexpected.

"Aw, you look so cute." She smiled.

"Hey, that's my line!" He frowned, but then smiled, not able to keep a straight face.

"Well it’s mine now."

"Give it back!"

"Come and get it!" She stuck her tongue out at him before jumping up and backing away.

He sat his chocolates down and went after her, it wasn't long until she let him catch her. "Don't just let me win!"

“Okay, do over!” She tried to get out of his hold be he only held on tighter.

“Nevermind, I’m glad I won now.” He kissed her on the cheek before placing his cheek against hers, hugging her even tighter.

“Y-You’re… squishing me!” She mumbled.

“Squish me back!” He chuckled.

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to.” She sighed. “I have noodle arms.”

“Aw, I love noodles.”

“Don’t eat me!” She squeaked.

They just laughed before deciding to sit on the bench for little while, holding hands while Yun Hee leaned on him. She started to remember earlier when he hugged her at school.

 

"I have something to give you at the end of the night..."

 

"Ren?" She asked. She wanted to know if those candies were what he was giving her tonight.

"Hmm?" He looked down at her.

"You said you had something to give me at the end of the night... was that perhaps those candies?"

"No."

"Then what was it?"

He turned to her, taking her small delicate hand into his, placing it on his chest over his beating heart.

"I wanted to give you my love... my heart..."

---

Shortly after returning home from her sudden Valentines date with Ren, she found her parents had gone on their own date as well as her older brother. "Maybe I should have stayed with Ren a little longer?" She frowned, feeling lonely in the empty house.

She was hungry, but didn't really feel like cooking, so she opted to walk over to the convenience store to get some snacks even if that wasn't the best choice, she just didn't care right now. Her mind was stuck with thoughts of Ren.

 

"I wanted to give you my love... my heart..."

 

His words played back over and over in her head and she didn't fail to blush every time. It was the first time anyone has said something so romantic to her. Yes she found that corny line romantic. It was coming from Ren, he could have said something completely stupid and you'd still smile because he said it to you, don't deny it, you know it's true!

She sighed contently before entering the store and grabbed a bag of chips plus a drink, paid for the items then started to head back. Halfway down the block, she heard a bottle hit the ground and hit a pile of other bottles. She paused to see who it was. "Aron?" She asked walking over to him. He was sitting on the curb of the street drinking juice... apple juice.

"Oh, it's you. How'd your date with Ren go?" He asked casually.

"What?" She froze. How did he know!?

"I'm friends with the guy, naturally I know these things." He laughed.

"What are you doing out here... drinking apple juice?" She got closer to take a seat.

"What does it look like? I'm drowning my sorrows with the closest thing that looks like beer..." he sighed.

"Why? What happened?" She sat down, concerned now before noticing his black eye. “Whoa, what happened to your eye? Are you okay?”

"Tell me how your date went first."

"It went fine." She said quickly hoping he’d answer her, she was quite worried.

"He confessed right?"

"Uh?"

"You reject him?"

"... no."

"Well yay for him! Both twins love him!" He said it bitterly.

"Now what happened? Why are you upset? Does it have anything to do with that black eye?"

"I got rejected."

"By who?"

"Wow, even I thought you'd know who it was. Too busy thinking about the blonde, huh?" He clicked his tongue before taking another drink.

"You know, you don't have to speak to me like that. I'm willing to sit down and listen to you, but fine, if you wanna be rude and pretend to get drunk off of apple juice... so be it. Just make sure you call a cab home." She stood up, ready to leave.

"Wait! I'm sorry, please don't go." He stopped her by her wrist. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Want me to guess or you gonna tell me?" She sat back down.

"It was Em." He sighed.

"And she rejected you..."

"Why don't you sound even a little surprised?" He frowned at her expectant attitude.

"We'll it's Em, the girl who obsesses over Ren. I guess it just went without saying that she'd reject anyone unless it was Ren."

"Funny how before, you in a sense, rejected Ren who rejects Em who rejects me.... why is it so easy for you? I bet you haven't been rejected once in your life..."

"I have.. I know how it feels. I understand you completely." She replied, looking down at her bag of chips. "It hurts... I know."

"Really?" He seemed surprised. "Does that mean you've dated before?"

"... Well,” She started. “I have, but I don’t want to talk about that… and for the rejection…” she paused for a moment, “the situation was sort of messed up but... I confessed to the guy I liked and he rejected me for my friend."

"Wow... I feel your pain."

"I'm sorry she rejected you..."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault."

"You gonna be okay being friends with her?"

"Who ever said I was giving up?" He smiled. "Getting rejected was hard, but I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna keep fighting till I win her over."

"You sound like Em." She smiled a little. "I'll be cheering for you, then! Fighting."

"Thanks, Yun Hee... for sitting down and talking with me. I really needed it."

"No problem. That's what friends are for." She patted him on the shoulder.

"So... did he kiss you?" He winked. Em wasn't around, they were safe... he knew Ren really liked Yun Hee and was going to keep quiet about this to everyone.

"I don't see how that's any of your business..." she blushed, hiding her face with her scarf.

"No need to say it, your face tells me the answer." He grinned.

"I'm going home!" She stood up. "Be sure to clean this up before you leave... I'll see you at school!" She avoided looking at him the entire time, hiding her blushing face. He just laughed before waving her goodbye.

---

“... I did the right thing, right? Heck, I even managed to lighten the mood afterwards. My words were good and just the ones he needed to hear. I mean, sure I rejected him and he would’ve wanted a whole ‘I like you too, let’s get married’ response... but I don’t like him like that. So what I said was good, right?”

The dog barked in response.

 

“Why are you disagreeing with me?! What’s wrong with still giving him a chance that he might win me over? I mean, I know how it feels to get rejected... so flat out saying he had no chance is just horrible! And-”

 

“... What are you doing?”

 

Em turned away from the stray, black dog she was speaking with. She knew that voice... but for once, she really wished he wasn’t here.

 

Ren was frowning at her, eyebrows creased in worry.

 

“I was just talking to a good friend of mine,” she said before standing up. The dog barked again before leaving her. “His name’s Aron the second.”

 

“... What happened to Aron the first?”

 

She looked up at the night sky. “... He’s a star in the sky now.”

 

“Don’t go killing him off!” Ren said, a bit amused.

 

Em smiled and glanced back at him, “What are you doing out at this hour?”

“Dinner,” he merely said. “I could ask the same for you.”

“I needed some company,” she said, glancing down at the empty spot where her friend used to be. She then turned to him again. They stilled for a few seconds before she sighed. “… You didn’t open my chocolate, did you?” she muttered.

He didn’t. Ren also glanced at the suddenly interesting wall beside them. She had probably placed something in it… something he’d most likely comment on should they meet again – but he didn’t. “… I had planned to, really-“

 

“Yeah, right,” she said, sarcasm dripping down her voice. “You didn’t appreciate it at all! I worked so hard to make it…” She bit her lip and looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. “I get that you don’t like me as much as I like you, but to disregard my feelings so easily-!”

 

“That’s not it!” he quickly interrupted. The only chocolate he had eaten today were the ones Yun Hee had given him – all the other sweets he received had been forgotten, even Em’s. “I promise to open it later-“

 

“You promised that earlier, didn’t you? I see you’re the kind that can’t keep his word!” She said, still not looking at him.

 

“I’m sorry, really!”

 

“Then make it up to me!”

“Alright!”

There was a second of silence. Ren’s eyes widened in shock at the realization.

Em finally looked up at him, a grin on her face. “That was so easy! You’re so cute~!” she said, clasping her hands together.

“You…!” he exclaimed in exasperation. Seeing her unbelievably happy face, he sighed and nodded. “What do you want?”

Em looked around them… eyes falling on an Eastern-styled lamp in the window of a store. She turned back to Ren and held up three fingers. “Three wishes!”

 

“You’ve gone and made me a genie now?”

 

“Yup!” She said with a grin. “Now then… what to wish for first…?”

 

Ren crossed her arms and waited.

 

Em opened , but then quickly shut it. She hesitated.

 

“… Em?”

 

“Treat me to wherever you were going to eat!” she finally said, going to his side. He frowned at her behavior, but complied with her request anyway.

 

As they entered a ramen stall and gave their orders, Ren finally spoke up. “Don’t you think three’s too much?”

 

She scoffed and fiddled around with the condiments on their table. “You didn’t even look at my chocolates! How could you-?!”

 

“Okay, okay! I get it…” he said, shaking his head.

 

Em took hold of her chopsticks and pointed at him. “You’re happy.”

 

Ren raised an eyebrow. “What?”

 

“You’re really happy tonight. You’re giving in to my selfish demands without much of a fight…” She tilted her head and smiled at him. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad it happened.”

 

The moment with Yun Hee only an hour ago came to mind. Ren didn’t answer and instead focused on the table between them. How ironic… saying she was happy for such a reason.

 

Em was twirling around the chopsticks in her hand, a small smile of happiness on her face.

 

Ren stared at her, feelings getting mixed when he saw how blatantly happy she was at just eating with him. She was his friend. Their friendship wasn’t exactly normal, but it was there. She was his friend – so it was fine that he was eating dinner with her tonight. Friends could eat together… But…

 

Feeling his gaze on her, she looked up at him. She brightened up at the attention she was getting. “Eh? Are you finally falling for me now?”

 

But she liked him – so much more than he did her. That wasn’t supposed to happen between friends.

 

… He had to tell her. Her not knowing about his new relationship with Yun Hee was wrong. She needed to know… it was the least he could do for the girl he was going to end up rejecting again.

 

“... Why do you like me?” Ren suddenly asked, hoping the conversation would turn to where he wanted it to go.

 

Their noodles arrived right as he said that. She split up her chopsticks before turning to him with a grin. “Because you’re my type. I really like pretty faces,” she said before stirring her noodles.

 

“That’s it...?” he said, also turning to his food.

 

“... and because you’re really nice.”

 

“... What?” Ren asked, quickly looking back at her. If there was one thing he was to others, but hardly to Em, it was nice. She was always at the end of his worst moods and sharp tongue - how could she consider that nice?

 

“I... You weren’t my first crush,” she said with a laugh. “Back in middle school, I treated the boys I liked the same way... But then they get mad at me.”

 

“I get mad at you, too.”

 

“No, you don’t,” she said, smiling at him in appreciation. “They either ignore me completely or blatantly say to my face to off and leave them alone. But you don’t. You let me like you… Thank you.”

 

“Don’t thank me…” he said before meeting her eyes again. “... So you’d stop liking me if I got mad at you?”

 

She glanced at him, pure hurt clearly shown on her face. “You wouldn’t do that…” she muttered, voice soft and hesitant.

 

Ren quickly looked away. “No… I wouldn’t.” He couldn’t. The look he gave her was too sad, as if she was preparing for the worst.

 

“My second wish,” she suddenly said to change the topic. He was glad she took the initiative to… but then there was that pause again.

 

“Why are you hesitating again?” he asked.

 

She didn’t answer his question. “I want your beef,” she said, pointing at the meat in his ramen.

 

“… Glutton,” he said with a chuckle, placing the food into her own bowl.

 

Em laughed. “I just appreciate food! A growing girl needs her nutrients!”

 

“You aren’t growing though.”

 

“I am!” she quickly said in defense.

 

“Wider?”

 

She glanced at him, aghast, “You think I’m fat?”

 

He didn’t bother to hide his laugh.

 

“Answer me!”

 

“I’m joking. You’re perfectly fine,” he said, putting a slice of egg also into her bowl.

 

Em didn’t notice his kind gesture. There was a huge grin on her face and she was staring right at him. “Perfectly fine…” she echoed. “That… That was the first time you’ve ever complimented me.”

 

Ren’s eyes widened at her words.

 

“This is good, right? That means you’re finally starting to like me, right?” she said, a huge grin on her face.

 

Wrong.

 

He didn’t like how she was smiling so happily at something she shouldn’t be happy about. “I confessed to you last year,” she began, “And you rejected me... But I’m trying… really hard… you know that... so, have my chances increased?” She turned to him with an expectant smile.

 

No.

 

Not in the slightest. He liked her sister. Em had leveled up to friend, but that was as far as it went. He didn’t mind her company… but anything more than a friend was completely out of his mind.

 

She looked so happy right now. She was enjoying his company… She was expecting a good answer.

 

… But he couldn’t just lie to her.

 

“No,” he honestly said. Em’s smile fell. “They haven’t.”

 

It felt like she had been slapped in the face.

 

“I… I can’t return your feelings,” Ren said in a soft voice, facing his friend. “I… I like someone else.”

 

Em’s eyes widened at that. Her chest suddenly tightened and she found it hard to breathe. “Someone… else?” she muttered almost inaudibly.

 

Ren could only nod. He couldn’t say Yun Hee’s name, there’s no telling what Em would end up doing.

 

“… Oh,” she merely said after a long pause. She had been rejected by him before, but this… this was the first time he had ever used that ‘liking someone else’ as an answer.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said.

 

“I’m used to it,” she said with a sigh. “That …” Her eyes suddenly brightened up and she smiled to him. “My third wish…”

 

He waited for her again.

 

… And there was that hesitation again.

 

After a few seconds, she suddenly said, “Don’t waste food, so finish up my noodles for me? Only a little’s left.” Em stood up and gave him a small wave. Ren just nodded in dismissal and watched her leave the stall.

 

Em closed the door behind her and began walking home… Her walk had turned into a brisk one… then into a jog… Now, she was practically running.

 

Those wishes she had asked for… they were all meaningless… they were all said because she couldn’t say the wish she desperately wanted for Ren to grant.

 

 

The only wish I wanted… this whole time… from the very beginning…

 

 

Feeling something wet on her cheeks, she wiped the water away. She cursed her luck. It was raining - even the weather was against her!

 

 

… was to be liked by you…

But the sky was clear.

▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇

◞* ✄ — END CHAPTER ⋮F I F T E E N