“So, I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah. It’s late... Go inside now.”

“Alright. Bye!”

“Wait!” Jonghyun stops her. She turns around, still holding the door open with her hand. When Jonghyun’s eyes meet her’s, he becomes nervous, his ears reddening.
“I, uh....” Jonghyun casts his eyes downward, feeling his heart pound in his ears. She raises her eyebrows, curiously waiting for what he is going to say. The phone inside starts to ring and she takes a quick glance inside. 

“You know... uh, nevermind!” Jonghyun chuckles nervously, speaking fast. “Uh, g-- goodnight!” he stutters, flustered.

Before she could reply, Jonghyun has already started to quickly walk back. 

 

 

Jonghyun inwardly curses at himself for being too nervous to confess to her. He plops face first onto his bed after changing into his pajamas, careful not to wake Roo up who is sleeping on his bed.

“`I like you.’ What’s so hard about that?!” he mutters to himself. He practiced saying that over and over for the past couple of days in the mirror, but when he tries to confess to her, he gets nervous and it makes him frustrated. “Great. She probably thinks I’m an idiot now,” he mutters to himself, turning so he is lying on his back. He sighs as he looks out the window. A silver, haunting full moon is hanging high in the night sky. He has always found the moon interesting. The moon makes him feel at peace, yet alone. Jonghyun sits up and stares at his phone, wondering if he should text her. He sighs, deciding not to. He doesn’t want to wake her up if she is already asleep.  

“This is gonna be another long night...” he thinks, gazing at the moon.

 

 

“That was a really fun festival,” Taemin says, throwing his ice cream cone into the garbage.

“Well, we’re going this way,” Jinki says. “Bye!” 

They all say their goodbyes before walking their separate ways home. Jonghyun puts his hands in his pockets and looks over at her. “So...” he begins, trying to break the awkward silence. “Did you have fun today?” 

She nods. “Yeah,” she grins, looking ahead. “Did you?”

“Yeah...”

Jonghyun looks down at her hand. He moves closer to her until they are inches away from each other and he reaches for her hand. 

“I’m sorry but which way do we go?” she asks, turning to him. “I know you come to this area often, so...”

Jonghyun quickly recoils, moving a bit further away from her, his ears slightly turning red. “Uh... what? I didn’t... I didn’t hear what you said.” he quickly says, clearing his throat, a bit flustered. He wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans.

“Do you know where to go?” she repeats. 

Jonghyun was so absorbed into his thoughts that he wasn’t aware of where he was going. They stopped at a dead end. Jonghyun lets out a sheepish chuckle. “Oops.. I guess we have to turn around.” 

She laughs lightheartedly, which startled Jonghyun. “Okay!” 

Jonghyun’s heart flutters at her laugh and he turns around, starting to walk back. He bites his lip, trying to fight back a wide smile. They are close to home and Jonghyun doesn’t want to say goodbye to her, not yet. He looks at her, trying to think of a way to stall time so he could be with her longer. He looks at the street ahead of him. He decides to purposely take the wrong way. 

“This doesn’t look right.” she tells him after they have walked around the area two times.

“Huh?” he tries to hide his grin. 

“Are you sure we are going the right way?" she asks him for the fourth time since they started walking. "It seems like we’ve been circling around...” she says, feeling a bit skeptical.

“Oh! Sorry!” he grins sheepishly. 

She spots a bench nearby and sits down on it. “I think we are lost.” she sighs. “How could you forget the way home when you’ve been here so many times?”

Jonghyun sits down next to her. “Sorry.. I think I’m starting to be forgetful..”

She shakes her head, amused. She looks up and sighs, admiring the peaceful quiet that only comes at night, not even one car passes by. They both look up at the moon, its pale light brightening up the dark sky surrounded by a million little stars.

“Wow. It’s beautiful.” she comments, gazing at the sky with wonder. 

Jonghyun smiles a bit, glancing at her. “Yeah... it is..”

He stares at her, admiring her pretty eyes, her cheeks, her lips... 

“Why can’t I have you?” he thinks, his eyes fixated on her face.

She turns to look at him and Jonghyun’s eyes widen for a nanosecond, his heart skipping a beat as he quickly looks away, his ears turning red. “I... I think we should get up now. It-- It’s getting late.” he stammers nervously, standing up. 

 

 

They start to walk again and this time, Jonghyun chooses the right path to get home. He takes a deep breath, inching closer to her. He brushes his hand against her’s before finally taking her small hand into his. Her hand feels so soft and warm and Jonghyun’s heart starts to beat fast. She looks up at him, surprised. She smiles shyly, blushing as she awkwardly moves closer to him, their shoulders almost touching. Jonghyun smiles, blushing. They reach her house and he sighs inwardly as he reluctantly lets go of her hand. She walks to her front door and opens it. She turns around. “Goodnight.” 

“Don’t go,” he wants to say, but instead he waves at her. “Goodnight.” he grins softly. She starts to close the door but Jonghyun stops her. 

“W-- wait! Can I tell you something?” he asks, suddenly gaining confidence.

She looks at him, an amused grin tugging at her lips. “What is it, Jonghyun?”

Jonghyun rubs his nape, a bit hesitant. “Look, I... Don’t laugh but...” he trails off, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“...But?”

Jonghyun takes a deep breath. It’s now or never. “I... I like you. I’m.. I’m sorry, you probably think I’m an idiot and I probably am, but if you don--” he quickly rambles on, his cheeks flushing.

“Whoa, Jonghyun... slow down..” she interrupts, barely comprehending what he’s saying.  “Wait.. what was the first thing you said?” she asks shyly. 

“Don’t.. laugh?” he answers, his voice becoming high pitched at the end. He clears his throat, his ears turning red from embarrassment. 

She shakes her head. “No... you.. you said that you...” she trails off, too embarrassed to finish.

“I like you..” he says slowly, averting his gaze down to the ground. 

She smiles widely, her cheeks reddening. “R-- really?”

“Yeah.. But it’s okay if you don’t like me back. I--” he continues to speak fast.

She puts her finger on Jonghyun’s lips to stop him from talking. “I like you too.” she smiles. 

“Really?” Jonghyun asks, beaming at her. He feels instantly relieved. “Wow, so... uh... wow...”

She giggles, “Friday night? We could go to a theme park.” 

Jonghyun nods, the widest smile on his face. “Yeah. Friday sounds great. Uhm... I think I should.. I should let you go now.” he chuckles bashfully, giving her a small wave. 

She smiles at him. “Yeah. Uh, goodnight.” 

Jonghyun stands there, his eyes darting around until he gathers up courage and quickly leans in to kiss her on the cheek. “Goodnight!” he smiles bashfully before leaving her porch.