tuesday morning at 6 am. min woo woke up with those cute, puffy eyes and messed up hair.

he looks in front of the mirror, then walks over to the kitchen to grab an ice bag to suppress the puffiness in his eyes. he felt a spell of dizziness for at least 5 minutes and laid down the couch to take a breather. "how can i go there without her noticing that i like her?", he starts puzzling himself. he then continues with his daily routine. bath, toothbrush, and fixing his hair. unlike any other day, he starts smiling to himself while looking in the mirror right after he finished fixing his hair up. "will she notice how much more i smile because of her?", he whispers while smiling by himself even more.

he was all ready and set, thinking of a way he could see her again, even from a distance. as he passes by the sink, he sees an empty bottle of green tea. a light bulb was in his head, and he thought of his perfect excuse. "i got it! thank you!", he kissed the bottle of green tea and set off with a happy child's smile on his face.

the doors of that store lit his eyes up. he entered, but to his dismay, shi yeon was not there. that left traces of sadness in him. "do i miss her that much already? this is only a crush isn't it?", he mumbled. he was kicking tiny pebbles on the way to school. then, the twins, jo young min and jo kwang min, his friends, see him. "hey? why the long face min woo ya?", young min asks. "me? a long face? nah, it's nothing.", min woo answers with an indifferent expression written all over him. "don't lie to us, i hate lies. it's too obvious you have a problem about something...is it because of a girl?", kwang min interferes. "haha, what the? min woo having problems with a girl? no chance, bro. it's not min woo if he's fussing over a girl.", kwang min responds to his twin.

they put their arms on min woo's shoulders and try to cheer him up. "where's that jolly expression, dude?", says youngmin. "yeah? what really happened? you're obviously different today.", kwangmin follows. min woo, after looking down from his brief sadness, starts to wear his usual, comfortable smile. "that's the spirit, dude. lighten up a little.", the twins encourage min woo.

min woo's usually good at english, but in this particular day, he's not in concentration. he's the teacher's pet for his smarts and enthusiasm. girls' knees turn weak with the sight of his bright smile. today, he looks drab and secluded. although a lot of people around him love and support him, there was something missing. "i'm sad. why? because of her? impossible. i guess i'm just stressed out. yeah, that's why."

another long, lonely walk homeward. he ignores that store, but soon sees a familiar face among the crowd. they were buying fruits at the side of the road adjacent to the store. it's her, no mistake about it. stricken with curiosity, he walks over to where he thought she saw her. he looks closely to see but turns out it wasn't her after all.

"why's my mind going haywire? there must be something wrong with me.", he mutters as he was kicking the tiny pebbles on the street once again. just then, he bumped into someone. "oh, i'm sorry. i wasn't looking.", apologetically says min woo. "no worries.", the person replies. but upon hearing her voice he slowly looks up and saw her, this time it really is her. she was wearing that infectious smile like last time. min woo's aura became lively again.

"i remember you. aren't you dong hyeon's next-door neighbor? the kid who choked on his breakfast yesterday?", shi yeon opens up.

"yeah, nice to see you again. shi yeon is it?", min woo blushes as he talks.

"uh-huh, and you are min woo, am i right? since your hyeong and i are friends, why don't we be friends, too?", she answers.

"s-s-sure.", min woo agrees and they shook hands once more.

she pinched min woo's cheeks and says, "you're so cute. no wonder dong hyeon tells me a lot about you. well then, gotta go. see you again next time." she waves goodbye and winks at the cute boy.

"i wonder what hyeong's been telling her about me.", with a questioned look he asks himself.

min woo's p.o.v:

she remembers me, she really does. now we're friends like she said. she even pinched my cheeks and told me i was cute. but i forgot to ask her something. i still wonder how old she really is. whenever i'm about to ask her that question, her presence makes it too hard for me to say out those words. i don't even know if i should call her noona or just shi yeon. why am i confusing myself? she's for hyeong anyway, no way will she like me back. besides, i don't have an inkling when she works at the store. she probably sees me only as a little brother.

shi yeon's p.o.v:

well, he's certainly a cute high school kid. too bad i'm already 24. if i were his age, i would've befriended him right away the moment i saw him and hung out with him everytime since then. he seems very nice, though. the kind of person who can light up one's day. i bet girls in his school want to get next to him. he's such a sweet and polite kid. i'd like to have him for a little brother. :)

*sorry for the short update. i promise to keep working on this even more. :3