“Hyung!! Ppalli va! It’s late already” JungShin said. “Yea…..I’m coming!” I said, as I put on my shoes and grabbed the car keys. Yes, we were going on that small trip. We decided to go to a small place in the countryside with clean,fresh air and a small stream. We were going to stay there in one of the halmoni’s places J They were generous to offer us a place to stay and also offered to give us food. We had to pick up SeungYeon and Ji Hyun from Ji Hyun’s place, Shin Hye from her place and then go. I was really excited because I would be getting a lot of time to spend with SeungYeonie. The others were waiting downstairs already. “Shin Hye-ah! Eonje wasso?” I asked, surprised to see her there. “You said you’d pick me up at 7. It’s 8 now. “ she said. “Hehe.Mian.” I said. “Ga ja!” We started, me driving. MinHyuk was sitting in the passenger seat, while JungShin,YongHwa Hyung and ShinHye sat behind. SeungYeon and Ji Hyun would have to take the last two seats. When we reached Ji Hyun’s house, they were already waiting outside. SeungYeon gave me a wide smile, while Ji Hyun-ie waved. They kept their luggage with them instead of keeping it at the top with our luggage. “Keep your luggage up. Come on! I’ll help you.” Jung Shin said. “Aniya! It’s okay. We’ll just keep it with us.” Ji Hyun said. “eeyy..chincha!” Jung Shin said. Everybody said their greetings and we started to move again. This was the first time Shin Hye and Seung Yeon were seeing each other. “Anneyonghaseyo.” Shin Hye said. “Ne. Anneyonghaseyo.Bangawoyo.” SeungYeon said. “Jeodo bangawoyo.” Shin Hye said. “Please talk comfortably.” “Ne. Eonnineun neomu Yeppoyo!” Seung Yeon said. Shin Hye just laughed. “Keure? Gomawoyo! Not prettier than you, though!” Shin hye said. “Au.Maja!” I said, interrupting their conversation. “Yaaaa!” Shin Hye said, hitting me. Everybody started laughing. We always did this, teasing each other for most things. After driving for some time, we found a rest stop. We wanted to eat something and then leave again. “Chincha baegopa!” Ji Hyun said. “Yea. Let’s go get something fast.” Shin Hye said. “You guys go ahead and order. I’ll park the car and join you.” I said. After everybody got down, I went and parked the car. I saw that Seung Yeon was waiting for me at the spot where I had dropped them off. “Seung Yeon-ah. Why didn’t you go in with them?” I asked,running towards her. “I was waiting for you.” She said. My heart fluttered. “Ga-ja!” I said, and we walked to where everybody was. “Are you happy that you came with your OPPA?” Ji Hyun asked. “Eyyy.” Seung Yeon said. She and I went and ordered coffee and muffins for ourselves. “Oppa..” she said,in an uncertain tone. “Hmmm?” I said,weird thoughts cropping up my head. “Bogoshipposeo.” She said. I froze and looked at her but she wouldn’t meet my eyes. Instead, she walked really fast to where everybody was. Did she really say she missed me? Out loud? I must be delusional. “JongHyun-ah. Are you going to stand there for the entire day?” Yong Hwa Hyung asked. I came back to reality and joined the others. I looked at Seung Yeon-ie but she wouldn’t look at me. But I could see her cheeks turning pink. I smiled to myself. “Hyung, why are you smiling to yourself?” Jung Shin asked. “Keunyang. I’m just happy to be with all of you.” I said. “Look at how he can’t even lie. Why would your face turn red if you were happy to be with US?” he teased. “Ahh..shut up.” I said.

After we ate our snacks, we hit the road again. This time YongHwa Hyung sat in the passenger seat, Seung Yeon, Shin Hye and Ji Hyun behind our seats, and Jung Shin and MinHyuk in the last seats. “How far is the place from here?” Ji Hyun asked. “We’ll reach there in an hour.” I said, as I adjusted the vanity mirror. Now I could see Seung Yeon-ie properly. Our eyes met in the mirror for a milli second. “Jong Hyun-ah…you have to start driving if you want to be there in an hour.” Shin Hye said. Ahhh! Why did they have to break this moment? “Ganda Ganda!” I said, as I started driving. We reached there in an hour, like I had promised. “Waah. We reached on time.” Ji Hyunie said. “All because of the person who drove.” I said, complimenting myself. “Shut up!” she said. We took our luggage from the car and had to walk a small distance before we found the country side houses.

“Uri halmoni mannagoshipda!” Shin Hye said. “Nado” Everybody else said. The area gave us a very nostalgic feeling. It reminded us of our visits to our grandmother’s place during vacation. We talked to the hosts of the houses we were staying in for the night. The hosts gave us a warm welcome and served us all kinds of dishes. The boys were staying in one house and the girls in the next house.We took a short nap and then headed towards the stream with a few things. The sun was slowly setting, and the sky was coloured orange. “Waah, so pretty!” Ji Hyun said. We all agreed. We played a little with the pebbles lying near the stream by throwing them into the water and splashing water on each other.

The sun had set completely now, it was dark now but the sky was clear. The moon shone brightly and the stars twinkled. I was so glad we picked this place, away from the city. We managed to light a bonfire and sat around it. It was pretty cold today, so the bonfire provided us a lot of warmth. Still, we had brought our blankets. “So what are we going to do now?” Jung Shin asked. “Every bonfire should start with a horror story.” Ji Hyun said. “Andhwaeee!” SeungYeon said. “Yea let’s do that” the others said. “Andhwaee!Hajima!” SeungYeonie said. I was not sitting right beside Seungyeonie. She was sitting inbetween Shin Hye and Ji Hyun. And I was sitting right across Seung Yeon. I looked at SeungYeonie. She looked very terrified at the idea of having to hear a horror story. Was she very scared of them? “But it won’t be fun with the bonfire. There should be complete darkness.” I said. “OPPAA!” SeungYeonie screamed. I wasn’t expecting that. “You’re right! Why don’t we put out the bonfire and light it again after the story is over?” Jung Shin asked. “No no! Don’t put out the fire. Pleaseee!” SeungYeonie said. She looked as if she was about to cry. “Okay, let’s hear the story like this. No need to put out the fire.” I said. “No, No Then it won’t be fun!” The others said. “Then I’ll go near the stream and come back after you finish.” Seung Yeonie said. “NOOO WAY! YOU’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!” Ji Hyun said. “JAebaaalll!” Seung Yeonie said. “NO. You have to listen to it. Why are you so scared?” Ji Hyunie asked. “You know that I don’t like it. Then why?” Seung Yeon-ie said. “when else will we get a chance like this?” Ji Hyun asked. Due to everybody’s votes we had to put out the fire. I gestured to Ji Hyunie to switch places. She agreed. She was the one who was telling the story so Seungyeon-ie might lose her mind if she sat next to her. I noticed her trying to look for her earphones but Shin Hye stopped her. “Andhwae! You have to listen to the story!” she said. Seung Yeon sighed. “Gwenchana. Nega ijanha. Ni yeope.” I told her. “Geuraedo. Wanjeon Shiro” She said. Ji Hyunie started telling the story. “Once upon a time, a person was travelling in a lonely road…” After a while, it got pretty scary, even for me, who loves watching horror movies. I felt SeungYeon tightly holding on to my arm while looking at the ground. Suddenly,Ji Hyunie screamed to give an effect to the part in the story and because of that, SeungYeonie screamed off. Her screams were scarier to be honest! Tears were starting to form in her eyes. “Seung Yeon-ah it’s okay! It’s just a story!” I said, patting her back. “ahh, I can’t do this!” She said, and got up and started walking. “Ahhhhhh” Ji-Hyunie screamed again, wantedly. I saw SeungYeonie close her eyes and scream. “Ji-Hyun-ah!” I said, before getting up and running to SeungYeon. “SeungYeon-ah! Come back! It’s just a story. If you keep listening, you will not find anything scary in that!” I said, hoping she would listen to me. I made her look at me. She was really scared. I could see that. She was sweating, and shaking a little. “Oppa, you guys listen to the story, I can’t. Sorry!” She said, shaking her head. “Seung Yeon-ah. Stay. Who knows what you might find on the way back?” Ji Hyunie said, before I could say anything. I glared at her. Seung Yeonie stomped her foot and acted like a little child. “Let’s go back. Don’t worry. I’m here, aren’t I?” I said, making her look at me again. “Stop the romance and come here!” the boys said. I saw Seung Yeon almost smiling. “Yes, yes, smile wider. Smile !! Smile!” I said, poking her cheeks and ruffling her hair. “ayy! Oppa!” She said, whacking my hand off her hair and smiling. “Now,that’s my girl!” I said , and we went back and sat with everyone else. “You can continue the story. I’ll just listen to music” Seung Yeon said, putting her earbuds in. Everyone agreed because they saw how she was scared. Ji Hyun continued with the story and In between I kept stealing glances at Seung Yeonie. After the story was over, we lit the bonfire again. Seung Yeon sighed with relief. We ate some snacks and decided to head back because all of us were tired. We wanted to play some games but fatigue took over. We started walking, and after a while, I noticed that SeungYeon was walking with her arm linked in mine. I also noticed the others walked faster, and were ahead of us. I didn’t know whether they did that wantedly or not. I didn’t mind anyway. But I was quite surprised at Seung Yeonie’s gesture and looked at our linked arms. She seemed to notice at the same time, and let go immediately. “Oh! Sorry oppa! I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know why…how..” she started ,when I cut her off. “Hey, gwenchana! Good Friends usually do this,don’t they?” I asked, and noticed a change in her expression. “Yea..uhuh…good friends.” She mumbled. “What?” I asked. “Nothing. Nothing.” She said. Her reaction changed to a sad one for a second before she smiled again. “Let’s go. We need some sleep.” She said. I was actually happy at her reaction because she didn’t want to hear ‘good friends’ from me. We finally reached the place we were staying at. “Good night oppa!” she said, and went in. “Good night!” I said, as I watched her go in and smiled to myself.

I went to the room and tried sleeping but I couldn’t get any sleep. So I thought of just watching the stars for a while. When I stepped out, and rubbed my eyes, I saw my favourite person sitting on the tank already. “Seung Yeon-ah? An Ja?” I asked. “Eung. Jaami anwa” she said. I went and sat beside her. When she saw me approaching, she adjusted the blanket on which she was sitting on so that I could sit on it too. “I wasn’t feeling sleepy so I just thought I’d watch the stars for a while. They looked so pretty when we were near the stream.” She said. “Yea, that’s why I came out too.” “Sit!” she said, patting the space next to her. I sat next to her, a little too close. I expected her to move but she didn’t. “Oppa, jankaman! I’ll be right back!” She said,and got up. “Where are you going?” I asked, worried if she would leave immediately. “Oppa. I’ll come back! Don’t worry.” She said, as if reading my mind. After 5 minutes,she came out with two cups of hot chocolate. “How did you make this here?” I asked. “Bimir…” she said. “Yahh…” I said, playfully. We drank our hot chocolate in silence, listening to the crickets. After drinking my hot chocolate, I lay down on the blanket. Seung Yeonie looked at me. “Come on!” I said, spreading my arm out so that she could rest her head on it like a pillow. “Oppa! Andhwae..it will hurt after sometime.” She said. “Gwenchana. Just lie down.” I said. She hesitated for a moment before lying down. I felt her cold,silky hair touch my skin. I could feel that she wasn’t resting her head fully out of concern. “Eyy your neck will hurt. Rest your head properly.” I said, and she did. I smiled. “Oppa….Gomawo!” she said. “For what?This?” I asked. “Ani….just….thanks for coming into my life.” She said. “Yaa….wae geurae? Why are you becoming serious?” I asked. She just shook her head. “Geungyang marhagoshiposeo haesso.” The mood turned turned from a serious to a jolly one in no time. We watched the twinkling stars, trying to figure out shapes and laughed a lot. I looked at her from the corner of my eye. She got more and more beautiful every time I saw her. She raised her hand and made a half-heart kind of shape focusing on one of the stars and closed one of her eyes to focus clearly. “Yebbuda!” she said. I wanted to play with her so I completed her heart shape and started focusing too. “Yes. Pretty. Nauchoreom.” I said. She turned to look at me but I didn’t turn. She just laughed at my comment. “Your sense of humour…really!”  She was going to put her hand down, when I locked my fingers with hers,catching her off guard “Oppa!” she said, but I could feel her cheeks heating up because she was looking at me and she rested her cheek on my arm. “Wae?” I asked. “Oppa…what are you doing?” she asked, in a very soft voice. “Molla…” I said, still not letting go of her hand and holding it tighter. “Hmmm?” she asked. I finally looked at her, and in her eyes, I could see nervousness and curiosity. “Are you nervous?” I asked. “Ani….why will I be?” she said. “Then why can I feel your heart beat so fast?” I asked. She was already turning red. “SeungYeon-ah…What do you think we are?” I asked. “Frie…” she started. “Don’t say friends. Both of us know we’re more than that.” I said. She didn’t say anything. I just couldn’t control my feelings anymore. I had to tell her. “I like you.” I said. “Ofcourse you do..I like you too. Because we’re really good frie..” she said and before she could say the word ‘friends’, I stopped her. “I’ve been going crazy. The first time I saw you at the café, I kept thinking about how to find you. Then somehow like destiny, we met again and talked everyday. I want to see you all the time, talk to you, eat with you, hug you. Yes, I got jealous when you talked to your childhood friend and I get jealous whenever I see you with other guys. I want to hold your hand, spend all day with you. I don’t ever want to lose you. Ever.” I said, and suddenly I felt 10 times lighter. “I know it’s too early…but I think….I think I’m….I’m falling in love with you.” I said, trying so hard to get the words out of my mouth. A part of me was relieved that I finally confessed but the other part was scared at how she would react. She got up suddenly and my heart beat faster. I was anxious. I got up too, to see her face, now red like a tomato. “Seung Yeon-ah! Say some…”I started, but she surprised me by hugging me. “Oppa.Nado…I too like you a lot. Even though I didn’t show, I too couldn’t forget you after seeing you at the café. I thought I’d never see you again.” She said. I hugged her tighter. “ThankGod. I thought you were going to reject me.” I said. “I would be a fool to reject someone like you.” She said. We broke the hug and looked at each other. I held her hand again, and she rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. We lost track of time. The sky was turning a light shade of orange. The sun was about to rise in sometime. We decided to go and sleep for sometime. “See you very soon.” We told each other. Last night was one of my happiest days. I was looking forward to spending time with Seung Yeonie….my girlfriend.

Meanings:

Ppali va- Come fast

Ga ja-let’s go

Eonjae wasso?- When did you come?

Bangawoyo- Nice to meet you.

Jaudo- Me too(formal)

Keure? – Is that so?

Ganda- I’m going.

Uri halmoni mannagoshipda-  I want to meet my grandmom.

Andhwaee! Hajima!- Noo.don’t do it.

Gwenchana. Nega ijanha. Ni yeope- It’s okay. I’m here right. Next to you

Wanjon shireo-. I hate it too much.

Jaami anwa- I’m not sleepy.

Naucheoreom- Like you.

Note:

Helloooo! I'm soooooo sorry for the long wait. I really haven't had the time to update. I'll try to update the next one asap! Keep reading! :) And please comment. Your comments mean a lot! :D