Taemin’s P.O.V:

We finished eating. After paying the bills, we walked out the restaurant. “So, what do we do now?” I asked. “Head back home?” Aerri asked, dejected. “I don’t wanna go home. It’s boring if we go home just like that.” I replied. “True.” she agreed. “How about we buy ice creams and then go to a park nearby?” I asked. “Then we can take a bus back home. What say?” I added. “Cool.” Aerri replied.

We walked to the nearest convenience store and bought ice creams and headed to the park. We sat on the swings and I handed her, her ice cream. I threw the waste in the trash can and went back to the swings. I sat down on one of the swings, next to Aerri. She began to swing her legs back and forth. The swing began moving. “I love swings.” She spoke. “Me too.” I added.

Aerri’s attention drifted somewhere far off. A sad smile spread on her face. “Is something wrong?” I asked, concerned. Aerri chose to remain silent. “You can tell me, you know. I will always listen to whatever you have to say. Tell me. I want to know.” I said, holding her hand. She smiled a little. She looked up at the sky.

“When I was young, I didn’t have any friends. So I’d always go and sit on the park benches just to spend my time. One day, I met a guy, Young Jae. He was walking his dog and he saw me sitting on the park bench. I was minding my own business. But he was a really meddlesome guy. He came to me and dragged me up to my feet saying that a little twerp like me shouldn’t be sitting alone. I found it ridiculous.” She smiled fondly, thinking of her memories.

This Young Jae guy… whoever he is… he must be someone really special to her. I know I shouldn’t be, but I am kind of starting to hate this guy already… Really!? What’s up with you, Lee Taemin? How can you hate someone you never even met?

She continued. “He dragged me to the swings and started talking about random topics and also how this was a big bad world, and so, if a little kid like me were to sit alone on park benches, random strangers would drag me out somewhere. It was really funny when he said it, when he himself dragged me off like that. I knew him since then.” She smiled fondly again.

A part of me didn’t want to hear what Aerri had to say about this Young Jae guy. But a part of me that wanted to know her better restricted me from telling her to stop talking about him. I listened as she began speaking.

“He was my first friend.”                                        

“We would hang out together a lot. I’d stay over at his place, and he’d stay over at mine. We had lots of fun. Things and matters that I couldn’t share with anyone; I shared it with him. And he’d always listen. He’d always be there when I whined or threw a tantrum or messed up.”

Somewhere, deep inside my heart, I felt pain. It felt like someone squeezed my heart. I hated this feeling. She told that she never really liked a guy. Then why did she speak fondly of him? I wanted to know. I wanted to ask. But I didn’t have the courage to.

“In short, the nicest person I know on the face of earth – Young Jae. It’s a title that fits him. Kind, generous, helpful, considerate, hard working, determined, happy-go-lucky, adventurous, passionate – I fall short on words to explain the kind of guy he was. He was, is and will always be the best.”

Funny. She had to think so much to describe me in a word. But with him, the words just fall short, huh?

I felt uneasy. Or perhaps, I was just lying to myself. I was angry… thoroughly angry. My idea of the perfect date… What seemed to me like the perfect date was ruined – thoroughly. In my head, I was screaming out loud, throwing a tantrum, perhaps even killed an imaginary Young Jae quite a couple of times. Yes, it seemed crazy. Yes, if Aerri were to know what was going on in my mind she’d hate me. But it wasn’t something that could be helped. A man in love… that’s what I was in front of her right now. How else could I not feel frustrated? It was only obvious.

Aerri paused looking at her ice cream stick. On the inside, I heard myself scoff. I let go of her hand and looked at her silently. She looked at me for a while with a blank expression. I took her ice cream stick from her hand, and tossed it in the nearest trash can.

“He must be a really nice guy if you speak so fondly of him…” I commented. Although I didn’t want it to, my tone came out harsher, colder and sarcastic. At once I regretted it. I looked at Aerri. She hadn’t paid attention to the tone of my voice.