About five minutes later, we were walking side by side into the entrance to the closest parks near the dog cafe. We weren't looking at each other and I was feeling even more nervous than before. There weren't other people around to hear us but I was more anxious about talking to him directly without any interruptions.

We continued to talk and say nothing for another few minutes as we walked past the peaceful, dark green trees. I could see the sun setting slowly in the distance and the air was getting cooler as a result.

Finally I slowly to a stop and sighed a little. "Okay this should be far enough."

He stopped too. "Okay."

I glanced at him. "Um...you want to sit?" I motioned to the side, not even sure if there was a bench nearby.

He glanced in the direction I was pointing and looked at me funny. "On the grass?"

I immediately felt ashamed and embarrassed. "W-why not?" I cleared my throat a little.

He silently agreed and we moved toward the grass and sat down. It was slightly cold and wet. My embarrassment only rose higher.

"We can move if you want." I said very quietly.

He shook his head. "It's okay."

"No really, we can move. The grass is a little wet."

"I like it. Its refreshing." He shrugged a little.

I glanced at him. "Alright..."

"So what was the private thing that happened between us?" He asked.

I let out a breath. "It's...a little embarrassing."

He watched me, waiting for me to say more.

I looked away from him. "We...um..." I sighed a little, clearly uncomfortable.

"Did we...do something...intimate?" He asked very quietly.

I didn't want to look at his face. "...something like that."

There was a long pause.

"I...felt things whenever we met...things I don't usually feel around other guys. I felt...comfortable around you to tell you anything and you wouldn't look down on me like a freak." I kept my gaze locked on the ground.

"...what did you tell me?" He asked.

I was silent for a long time before slowly raising my head. "I said...I told you about my feelings...and then...that's when you ran away...and disappeared." I looked back down again, afraid of him seeing my sudden wet eyes.

There was another long pause. I didn't dare to look at him.

"...oh my god." He finally muttered.

I let out a huffed sigh. "Yeah. That's all."

"...Youngwoon."

I raised my eyes but not my head. I looked at him out of my peripheral vision.

"...did you tell me you loved me?" I couldn't see his expression well but his voice was almost like a whisper.

My head dropped again as my face clashed with warmth. "I-I didn't say that word...but you still seemed to understand."

"I see." He responded.

We were quiet again. I never felt more terrified in my life and I didn't like these constant pauses. I felt like my body was going to explode.

"...that is big news to accept." He said.

I nodded. "I know. If you want to leave now, you can."

"Why?"

I glanced at him. "Aren't you afraid of me now? I kind of did something sinful..."

He stared at me a moment before shaking his head. "I'm not scared. It's surprising to me...but I'm not scared."

My head rose a little. "Really?"

He nodded. "I'm not judging you."

"But you said my words are hard to accept."

"Yeah they are, but I don't think you're a bad person."

One of my eyebrows rose. "Why are you so calm right now?"

"I should be angry?"

"You're just so...accepting of my behavior."

He was silent for a moment. "...like I said before.  It feels familiar talking to you."

I didn't respond.

"...what did I say?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"When you said...what you said, what did I say?"

My eyes became even wetter as I turned my head to the side. "You didn't say anything. Just ran away."

"And then disappeared?"

My throat suddenly felt tight and all I could do was nod.

"Oh my god..." He sounded very upset. "Now I understand why you were so mad at me before..."

I still couldn't talk well so I just stayed quiet, staring at the trees around us, trying to clear my mind.

"...I know this doesn't mean much now, but I really am sorry. I don't know why I would do something like that but I don't think it's part of my personality to just run away." He said quietly.

I didn't respond.

"...would you like an answer now?" He asked.

I slowly looked at him. "What kind of answer?"

"An answer to your statement."

I looked at him funny. "You have one?"

"Kind of. It might not be a straightforward answer, but I can at least respond to your confession."

I flushed again. "I never said I confessed anything."

"Oh." He lowered his head a little. "Well I can give you some feedback. If you want."

I was silent for a moment, then sighed a little. "Alright."

He was silent for a moment, then turned to face me. “What you said is surprising to me…but honestly it’s really brave of you to say. You seem like the kind of person to have trouble expressing your feelings well…so because you were able to tell me like you did must have been a big step for you.”

My eyes narrowed a little. “I thought you were going to respond to my statement.”

“I am responding to it!” He exclaimed. I saw his face flush a little.

“I mean…” I sighed. “I thought you were going to say you accepted them and felt the same way.”

“H-how can I…I don’t really know who you are.” His shoulders shrank a little.

“You’ve been acting pretty normal around me, like we used to be.”

“Okay, just because I feel comfortable around you doesn’t mean I’m ready to run away with you.”

“I’m not asking you to!” I raised my voice a little. “I just want to know if you accept my words or not! I just want a clear answer!”

His mouth hung open for several seconds. “I…I need more time.”

My shoulders lowered and I leaned back, looking off to the side.

“Is that not good enough of an answer?” He asked with a small hint of annoyance in his voice.

“…it’s fine.” I answered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” I looked at him. “It’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”

He continued to stare at me in silent while I looked away. It was then that I noticed that the sun was nearly gone from the sky and the area had gotten really dark. The nearest park light was a short distance away from us.

“…now what do we do?” He asked.

I looked back at him. “Are you still hungry?”

He nodded a little.

“Then let’s go get dinner.” I stood up and stretched a little. Somehow my mind and body felt a little lighter.

He stood up too. “Are you sure you’re alright with my answer?”

I looked at him as we moved back toward the park path. “Yeah, I’m fine. Really. Your answer sounds a million times better than nothing.”

“…alright.” He smiled softly and nodded.

I nodded too as we walked down the path back toward the city. “What do you want to eat?”

“Whatever you want.” He motioned to me.

“How about chicken and beer?”

“Sounds good.” He chuckled.