10:11 PM

we went to the gas station just across the street from the dollar general that we got our snacks from and i decided that i didn’t want to stick around cordele any longer. i never really did like that place very much, but it was kinda nice to pay the town i grew up in a visit, you know?

now we’re back on the highway with nothing but our headlights illuminating the road in front of us. cheap iced coffee in hand, i sing along to cruise by florida georgia line loudly with wonwoo. hearing him sing like this, i get the feeling that he could be a relatively good singer if he stopped trying to copy their accent so much. then again, it’s kind of cute how he tries to mimic it. it’s really obvious when you hear wonwoo talk that he wasn’t born in the south like most people in our school, he has an unmistakable northern accent. he was actually one of the first people i had met that wasn’t originally from georgia.

i remember one day while visiting my uncle for his birthday, my aunt and i had run up to the store to pick out a cake for him and i saw wonwoo there. this couldn’t have been too long since he had moved here, we were probably in about seventh grade, and my aunt had dropped her wallet when she was putting it back in her purse after paying. wonwoo saw it and instantly ran after us to give it back with everything still in it. i always thought that was a really good reflection of his character; rather than seeing a wallet on the ground and keeping the money in it or just letting the owner walk away without it, he made sure to give it back right away.

when we moved in and i saw him sitting outside on his front porch, just playing on his cellphone and minding his own business, i recognized him and remembered that day. i wanted to go talk to him but, being the wimp that i am, i just kept bringing boxes in the house from the moving truck. i couldn’t avoid him, though. i probably should have expected him to be the type to offer a new neighbor help with boxes, but i was still very surprised when i brought a box into my room and saw him setting one down.

he wiped sweat from his brow then saw me and smiled a little, “oh, hi. you’re jihoon, right?”

i almost couldn’t reply because of how shocked i was that puberty had hit him -- or at least his voice -- so hard.

“um, uh, yeah, hi,” i said awkwardly as i looked over the box i was holding.

he stepped forward, took the box from me and set it on top of the box he brought in.

“i’m wonwoo,” he held his hand out for a handshake, “i live a couple houses down from you.”

i shook his hand, “nice to meet you.”

he smiled and his small eyes got smaller, crinkling a bit at the corners, “are you starting middle school this coming up school year? my little brother goes to the one by us.”

half of me wanted to slap him for thinking i was a sixth grader, another half of me wanted to just take a mental picture of his smile.

“actually, i’m starting my freshman year in high school,” i said instead.

now i wanted to take a mental picture of the shocked look on his face.

“oh. sorry, you’re just so small i thought--” he chuckled lightly, “well, i start my freshman year this year, too. maybe we’ll be friends,” he started walking past me toward the door, “come on, let’s get more boxes.”

whenever i look back to my freshman year and the amount of chances i had to talk to him and actually be his friend, i want to punch myself. we had almost every class together, his parents invited my family over multiple times, he tried to talk to me a few times too, but every time i would just freeze. we’re seniors now, we graduate in 7 months, and i’m only now taking a chance with him. finally, my last year in high school, i realize why it was always so hard to talk to him.

i have a crush on my tall, deep voiced, goofy, gentlemanlike, very-not-female neighbor, wonwoo.

right now, watching him drive way over the speed limit with one hand on the wheel and one hand holding an energy drink, singing at the top of his lungs with the worst fake accent i have ever heard in my entire life, i like him even more than i did before.

a/n: i didn't reread this chapter at all so i'm sorry for any mistakes!!