I’m so happy right now, I feel like I could cry, but I don’t, because that would just be weird.

The microphone man acknowledges us, and then happily waves us over. We greet him, and then he starts to ask us a few questions, where we first give him our names, and with Gunwoo by my side, I don’t feel as nervous as I had thought I would.

“You two look rather young,” observes the host. “What grade are you both in?”

“We’re in our second last year of high school,” Gunwoo politely replies.

The crowd exchange whispers of excitement, and that’s when I notice how we’re the youngest couple on stage.

“Ah, I see. Is that how the two of you met?” he prompts. “May I ask how long you have been dating for?”

Whoa, one question at a time please!

“We actually met through mutual friend, and have been together for a year,” answers Gunwoo, rather smoothly.

He swings our connected hands for a bit, which makes the host chuckle. “Aigoo, look at these two!” he happily says, while gesturing towards us. “You can tell that he deeply cares for her, and with how quiet she is, it’s obvious that she is completely smitten by him!”

I can feel my cheeks warming up at his comment, as Gunwoo laughs. The crowd gushes for a bit, until he finally leaves us alone, to go and talk to the next couple.

Phew, I’m so glad that’s over, because it was slightly embarrassing.

When the mini talks are finished, a thin, long, chocolate dipped biscuit is handed to each couple. The man gives us a smile and wishes us good luck, just before offering the box to the next couple.

Gunwoo inserts the non-chocolate side into his lips, and then leans forward, so I can put my own lips onto the chocolate end. He does it so casually, it makes me wonder how that’s possible, because I’m so nervous (but giddy) right now.

“And you may now start!” announces the host.

Gunwoo’s eyes give me a reassuring crease, as we start to slowly nibble down the biscuit. I’m still wondering if I should actually play the game, or just ‘pretend’ to bite too much, so that we ‘accidentally’ kiss.

But thinking of the word ‘kiss’ somehow reminds me of Seyong, and I suddenly feel annoyed.

Oh great, now I’m forever going to be awkward with that word, thanks to that stupid monkey-eared boy.

Gunwoo is drawing closer and closer to me as I am to him, and my heart is beating so fast, I could probably fall into a cardiac arrest. Maybe I should just stick to playing the game or— no, I’m going to kiss him.

Yes.

Okay, I’ve made up my mind, I’m going to—

“Ouch!”

A sudden prickling sensation can be felt on my cheek out of nowhere, and the surprise causes me and Gunwoo to gasp, which causes us to drop our pepero stick. It lands next to another peppero stick, and I narrow my eyes at it.

Where did you come from, and why are you here?!

I look back into the audience, but almost everyone has a box in their hands, and is nibbling on a stick of their own, making it hard for me to pinpoint exactly where it had come from.

Gunwoo seems to have read my thoughts; “Where did that come from?”

I shrug with a sigh, “No idea.”

The game soon ends, and everyone gets their pepero stick measured. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t take my chance to go on with my accidental-kiss plan, and have no idea when I’ll ever get another chance again. Ugh, stupid pepero thrower, if I ever find out who you are, you’re going to wish you had never had that thought cross your mind!

When I turn to look at Gunwoo, my eyes widen at the two giant pepero boxes in his arms.

“We came third!” he brightly says.

I smile at him, not expecting to win anything. Actually, just being his partner is enough. I gladly accept the biscuit box, and feel even happier to see that these weren’t just chocolate flavoured, but they were also sprinkled with pieces of almond.

“Come on, let’s head back to the others,” says Gunwoo.

As soon as we meet up everyone else, they comment on our prizes. Chaejin wants to eat them, but I hold the biscuits protectively, which make him pout.

“What was first prize?” questions Junkyu.

“A Pikachu limited edition, Nintendo 3DS,” I reply. “We were doing well, until some idiot threw their pepero stick at me.”

Upon saying this, my ears manage to catch sound of Seyong’s laugh, and it makes me lift a suspicious eyebrow at him.

“You!” I hiss, “It was you, huh?!”

Seyong stops his chuckling and blinks at me, “What did I do?”

I flatten my eyes at him, obviously not amused. “Don’t play dumb with me,” I say. “I know it was you who threw that strawberry pepero at me.”

“What?” A smug smile then forms on his face, “My favourite pepero flavour is chocolate.”

Huh?

“I don’t ever eat the strawberry ones.”

I am genuinely surprised. “Wait, what?”

Seyong nods, “I was laughing, because the image of you being pegged by a pepero stick is funny.”

Oh geez, so typical of him to be laughing at my misfortune.

Eyebrows knit together, I then press my lips together into a tight line. I don’t know what else to say to this weird discovery, except continue to suspiciously stare him down. Seyong blinks twice, and then shows me a cheesy grin, just before walking over to Chaejin.

———————————————

Eventually, time passes by, meaning that we need to go home. Since Yura and Sojin live nearby each other, they left together. Minah, Insoo, and Junkyu exited in another direction, while Chaejin had ended up dragging Seyong towards a game shop, to show him some game that he had been contemplating on buying. They ask me and Gunwoo if we wanted to come along, but I tell them that I’m feeling pooped.

And the best thing about wanting to go home, is how Gunwoo decided to accompany me on my walk.

“Thanks for walking with me,” I say, feeling extremely grateful.

“Any time,” he replies.

During our walk, we share what we had bought, and my eyebrow arches up, when he tells me how he had just a couple of t-shirts. Because the baby blue bag that is in his right hand, doesn’t look like it only contain “a couple of tees”, but I end up shrugging it off. The two of us then end up laughing at the pepero competition, with how the other competitors were trying to eat it as hastily as they could. He playfully comments on how my eyes went cross-eyed at one point, and I pouted with tinted cheeks. My stomach practically exploded when he said that it was “cute” through his laughter, making me squirm even more.

But in a good way.

And before I know it, we’re at the front of my door, and I inwardly sigh.

Why does time always go so fast when I’m with him?

“Get home safely, oppa,” I say. “And thanks again.”

He smiles, “It’s alright, and like I said, you’re welcome any time.” Gunwoo then holds up the bag that I had been staring down, during our walk; “By the way, this is for you.”

I blink at it, and because it takes me a few extra seconds to register in my head that he has bought something for me, my lack of response makes him move the bag a little closer to me. Now in my hands, Gunwoo encourages me to open it, and I do. He patiently watches me, as I pull out the gift, and once I know what it is, my face lights up.

It’s a bouquet of roses, made out of teddy bears.

And then I realise that it’s the same one that I had pointed out to Minah when we were in the cute plushie store, and my heart swells with warmth.

“I— w-wait, what?” I manage to stutter out.

“You looked so upset about not winning the 3DS, and I felt bad,” he says, with a small frown. “So I thought this might make you feel better about our loss.”

I continue to stare at him, feeling completely blank of words.

Oh, he’s so silly, I wasn’t upset about winning, I was upset about not being to accidentally kiss you!

But obviously, I know I can’t say that, so I tell him how I tend to look a little ‘upset’ when I’m thinking, which is probably a horrible decision, as I end up rambling.

I then mentally slap myself, and then apologies to him, which makes him chuckle.

“You’re so silly,” he comments, with an amused shake of his head. “But I hope you like the gift.”

I eagerly nod, “I love it; you really didn’t have to buy it, but thank you!”

Something else inside the bag catches my attention, so I pull it out. It’s a strawberry pepero box, and what Gunwoo says about it, makes me tilt my head in confusion.

“Hmm, I was supposed to give that to Seyong,” he says. “But it’s okay, it’s yours now.”

“Doesn’t Seyong like chocolate?” I ask.

Gunwoo shakes his head, “No, his favourite are strawberries. He says that the chocolate ones taste odd.”

Wait, what?

I’m so confused; Seyong says that he hates strawberry, and loves chocolate?

But then Gunwoo is telling me that he inhales the strawberry ones, and wouldn’t go near a chocolate pepero with a twenty meter pole.

And because Gunwoo would never lie to me, then...

Naaaah, no way.

It can’t be, because Seyong’s has horrible aim. It’s terrible. It’s terrible, like that time when I was talking to Gunwoo, who unfortunately got hit by a basketball, by him. And then there was that other time when I was trying to take a photo with Zico, but was interrupted, when a plastic cup was hurled at my head.

So it can’t be him, because he even said so himself.

But then again, when is he not lying to me...?

“Oh,” is all that comes out of my mouth.

“Anyway, I’ll see you at school,” says Gunwoo.

He then gives me a small wave, as I say my bye to him. Once he’s out if sight, I turn around, and then head inside the house. I holler out to umma, to inform her of my presence, and she gives me her welcoming response from the kitchen. Heading into my room, I then let out an excited squeal, as I set the teddy bouquet onto my bed.

Each Rilakkuma head makes me smile my silly grin, as I eventually plop myself down next to it. My eyes then travel over to the strawberry pepero box, so I reach out for it. I don’t know what to think of this anymore, it’s confusing. But the thing that confuses me most is why I feel like I have to know. Why should I care if Seyong threw the pepero stick at me or not?

Pfft, because he ruined my accidental-kiss plan.

But then again…why would he want to do that?

“Because his lifetime goal is to be a constant nuisance to me,” I mutter, to myself.

Opening the box, I tear open the packet, and then pop a pepero into my mouth.

I know dinner is being prepared downstairs, and that I’ll get scolded for ruining my appetite, but there are just too many thoughts in my head right now.

But more importantly, when should I eat the giant peperos?