#14: first day

Within the blink of an eye, summer is passing by and almost gone. People are right when they say the happiest times feel like they’re flying by and now that autumn’s nearing, some sort of bittersweet melancholy settles in. Jongin is sitting on his bed, back in Seoul, and Sehee is sitting next to him, her warm body leaning into his, head resting on his shoulder. They are watching a movie on his laptop. Well, Sehee is watching, Jongin is just thinking.

Their summer vacation has been great. They have spent almost a month there, and every day was filled with beach games, sunshine, ice cream and laughter. Soojung has been tagging along with her friends, all of them nice and friendly girls, and although Jongin should have felt out of place among so many girls, he had been comfortable instead. Sehee and Soojung both have included him in their conversation, steering away from topics that Jongin could not talk about much, such as make-up brands, fashion, or girl’s clothing.

Soojung has been especially nice to him, always volunteering to help him with whatever task he has been asked to do. At first it had felt weird, but Sehee has been smiling at him, encouraging him to go on, so Jongin did. And talking to Soojung while working side by side had been nice actually, though he’s still wished that Sehee was there next to him instead.

Soojung is similar to Sehee in many ways, he has noticed. She is tall, though not as tall as Sehee, but she is equally pretty and nice. Her smile makes her look cute, too, but it doesn’t make Jongin’s heart clench painfully in his chest because it is just too cute. Soojung could never be what Sehee is to him, and she could never be someone he would date, for all he knows, he will only be able to go out with a girl he really, really loves. He doesn’t want to have another Jinri in his life, a sweet girl whose feelings he would hurt, simply, because he could never give her everything she deserved; Sehee has always been his first priority and she will forever be and no one could ever change that.

He is aware that Soojung likes him. She tries to be subtle about it, but Jongin catches her looking at him a lot. She laughs at his jokes, too, even if it’s not funny (but then again, Sehee laughs about unfunny things a lot, too, simply because her humor is odd and the smallest things can make her laugh), and she seems to like talking to him. It’s not just simple small talk, but some of the conversations sound like those he would have with Sehee - school, movies, plans for the future. They’ve discussed the later a lot actually.

The biggest difference between Soojung and Sehee would be their dreams. Sehee doesn’t have any real dream. Her reply is simple when asked what she wants to do or be in the future: happy. Soojung, on the other hand, has clear goals and dreams. She is more realistic than Sehee and more determined, too. In a way, it is very admirable, mostly, because Jongin feels like he can’t compete with her. He doesn’t have any real future plans either, except for staying close with Sehee forever and ever.

“I’m sleepy,” Sehee says and yawns. Jongin startles at her voice, waking from his thoughts, and when he peeks at her, he can see Sehee’s eyes closed. They are so close, yet Jongin does not dare to lean in the few inches that separate their faces. Sehee has a boyfriend, he reminds himself. He is is just Sehee’s best friend and protector. He swallows.

“It’s quite late anways,” he mumbles back in reply. “Tomorrow’s the first day of high school. We should go sleep now.”

Sehee hums softly and sits up. They’re both in pajamas already, both have showered and brushed their teeth just before they started the cartoon movie, one that both had been dying to watch but with how drowsy Sehee seems to be, he wonders how much she has actually watched. Probably not more than he did.

The Oh’s are back from the US already, but despite that, Sehee has been over at Jongin’s house for the rest of the vacation, which is almost another full week of Jongin and Sehee hanging out together, and for today, the last Sunday before their high school life starts, Sehee has insisted on sleeping over at his place. And Jongin just couldn’t say no. Sehee has insisted, although it must look weird for the two of them to go to school together the next morning, but then again, there has never been a time they didn’t go together. They lived close by after all. And if Sehee actuallywants to spend time wit