Forgive and Forget

            Ryeowook was sitting by himself in the back of the classroom, head bent down, working on some homework right before the bell rang to start class.  I snuck in right at the last moment and sat down next to him, so he wouldn’t have time to move away.  He noticed someone slip into the seat beside him—usually no one did—and suddenly looked over with wide eyes.  When he realized it was me, he pressed his lips together and angrily turned away. 

            “What the hell are you doing?”

            “I’m still trying to apologize.”

            “By pissing me off?” he whispered as the teacher walked into the room and began to speak.

            “No,” I said, digging into my bag and pulling out a small box wrapped in yellow paper, with a big orange bow on top.  “I bought you a present.”

            He eyed it wearily.  “You can’t buy forgiveness.”

            I leaned closer so he could hear me.  “Your brother suggested I try.  Open it.”

            Ryeowook quickly leaned away from me and opened the box, pulling out the tissues and digging out the plush giraffe I’d bought him.  For the briefest moment, I swear that I saw the corners of his mouth lift before he pressed his lips together again. 

            “I suggest you just leave me alone.  That will earn you forgiveness much faster.  Only my brother gets away with buying me stupid trinkets in order to gain my affection, but that’s because he’s blood and I have to forgive him.  I don’t have to forgive you at all,” he claimed, looking the giraffe over.

            I glanced at the teacher up front, who began to write on the blackboard with the white chalk.  Then I looked over at the yellow and brown giraffe again, admiring its bright colors.  “Why do you like giraffes so much?” I wondered out loud in a soft whisper.

            Ryeowook glanced over at me.  “I like how tall and elegant they look,” he said, tilting his head to the side as he looked over at the plush animal.  “But now that I’ve seen them in color, I also think they’re bright and cheerful looking.”

            “I’m tall and elegant,” I said, pointing to myself. 

            “You’re tall, but you’re hardly elegant.”

            “You’ve never seen me dressed up,” I pointed out.

            “I don’t care to.”

            I pressed my hands to my heart, as if he’d just wounded me.  Ryeowook rolled his eyes and began to take notes.  I couldn’t concentrate on taking notes and thankfully, I’m good at math, so I don’t need to.  I can just look over the textbook later and figure out what she covered.  Instead, I found my eyes wandering over to Ryeowook.  Now that I could see in color, I noticed what a perfect complexion he had.  He was a little tan, which made me look downright pale in comparison.  His eyes shined in the sunlight and his long, dark lashes formed little crescents above his high cheekbones whenever he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to rest.  His dark brown bangs fell into his face as he leaned over to take notes and I was half tempted to reach over and brush them away from his coffee colored eyes. 

            Finally, I couldn’t stop myself from touching him and I poked him in his side.  He nearly jumped out of his chair, startled.  Then he narrowed his eyes at me.  “Still touching me without permission, I see.”

            “No one says you can’t touch back,” I pointed out. 

            “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he said, scooting his chair away from me. 

            I scooted closer and poked him under the arm with my finger.  Ryeowook squirmed and had to bite his lip to keep from making noise.  Then he smacked me in the arm and I began to snicker, unable to hide my amusement.  I reached over to poke him again, but this time, he grabbed my hand to stop me.  And there we were, holding hands suddenly. 

            Ryeowook’s cheeks turned pink, as realizatio