After school that day, I found Byunghun waiting for me outside of my classroom again. “It’s not a good habit to keep ditching class every day.” Byunghun smiled and said, “It’s for a good reason.”

We walked out of the school gates and I asked him, “What do you want to do today?” Byunghun asked, “Is there anything you want to do?” I just shrugged and said, “I’m not good with decisions.” Byunghun chuckled and said, “Good thing I thought of something. Let’s go.” He nodded towards his right and began walking as I followed him. I turned around and saw Yoonmi staring at us from the gates. I just ignored it and turned my attention back to Byunghun.

We arrived at the street ice rink and I sighed. “I can’t ice skate for my life…” Byunghun looked at me and smiled. “That’s the fun part.” We paid for our skates and walked through the gates to the benches to put our skates on. “Have you skated before?” Byunghun nodded and said, “It’s really fun.” I just sighed as we both got up, wearing our skates.

Byunghun went on the ice with no trouble while I hesitated at first. I stumbled on the ice and half walked, half skated towards Byunghun. I caught onto his arm, making him laugh. He brought me over to the railings on the side as he tried to teach me how to skate. I almost fell multiple times but thanks to the railings and Byunghun, I didn’t fall…yet. After going around the rink a couple times, I got the hang of skating so Byunghun told me to let go of the railing. I didn’t want to though since I would have a bigger chance of falling. Byunghun came in front of me and grabbed both my hands. “I’ve got you, don’t worry.” With that said, Byunghun skated backwards as I followed him.

Eventually, I just held onto only one of Byunghun’s hands as I skated through. “You didn’t fall yet!” I smiled at Byunghun. “Don’t jinx it…” When Byunghun started to let go of my hand, I held on tighter. “No!” Byunghun laughed and said, “You’ll be fine!” Then he let go of my hand, leaving me alone. He slowly skated away from me so I started to skate towards him. He stopped skating so that I could reach him but I couldn’t control my skates as I went faster. Byunghun noticed this so he stepped in front me. I basically ran into him, holding onto his waist. “You went a little too fast there…” I looked up at Byunghun and frowned. I pulled away from him and I grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave me again…” Byunghun smiled and said, “Okay.”

While we were skating, Byunghun twined his fingers with mine, making the both of us smile. I had always passed by ice rinks like these and saw couples holding hands and I always wished for that to happen to me. My wish came true today.

Without even realizing it, Byunghun had let go of my hand and I was skating on my own. I turned to look for Byunghun but I couldn’t find him. Where did he go? I stopped skating and tried to search for him within the crowd from where I was standing. Before I could examine the whole rink, Byunghun skated up to me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist. He laid his chin on my shoulder and asked, “Looking for me?” I slightly jumped and said, “You scared me…” Byunghun chuckled as he pulled me away from the railing. He took apart his arms and relocated them around my shoulders and neck. Like that, we skated all the way to the exit.

While we walked out of the ice rink, Byunghun’s phone started to ring. “Hello? Yeah… Uh, right now?” Byunghun looked down at me as I stared at him. “No it’s okay, maybe next time.” Then he hung up. I bit my lip and asked, “Was that one of your friends?” Byunghun looked at me and said, “Oh, don’t worry about it.” I sighed and said, “I don’t want you to constantly ditch your friends because of me…” Byunghun smiled and said, “It’s okay.” I frowned, “You should hang out with them today. I’ll just go home right now!” I turned around but Byunghun grabbed my arm. “No… just… just come with me then.”

Byunghun brought me to a billiards store. Inside, there were a lot of groups of guys and among them, I found his group of friends. “Hyung! I thought you weren’t coming.” Byunghun smirked and said, “Change of plans.” His friends all looked at me and said, “So you guys brought the date over here, I see.” I looked at them and noticed that each of them had a lit cigarette in between their fingers, even Changjo. Byunghun and I walked up to the pool table they were at and his friend slid the pack of cigarettes to Byunghun. He stared at it for a while and slid it back. “Nah, it’s okay.” His friend asked, “You sure?” Byunghun nodded before looking at me with a sad smile. “Sorry…” I just put on a small smile.

We stood by the table and watched his friends play pool. Byunghun and I were holding hands under the table while he occasionally nudged me and played with my fingers. I paid most of my attention to the pool table but I noticed that Byunghun was looking at me most of the time. Every time I would look up at him, he would just smile at me.

The store began to smell like smoke when most of the people in there began smoking. I coughed a couple times but I tried not to because I didn’t want Byunghun to worry but I failed. Byunghun whispered in my ear, “Come on, let’s go.” He pulled me out as he said bye to his friends.

“Sorry I brought you here.” He told me as we left the building. I just shook my head. Sorrow was the last thing I wanted him to feel.

Like every day before, Byunghun walked me home today. I guess it was different today since we were holding hands and smiling most of the time. When we reached my house, I turned to him and smiled. “I had fun today…” He smiled and ruffled my hair. “I guess I won’t see you tomorrow since it’s a weekend.” My smile slightly faded and said, “I forgot…” Byunghun chuckled and said, “If you miss me that much, then just text me.” I giggled and said, “I guess that means I won’t text you.” Byunghun’s face dropped and he said, “Wow…” I just continued to laugh which brought back the smile on his face. “Well good night, Sungah-yah…” he said as he let go of my hand. But before he could go, I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Thanks for today.” I told him and I let go. I felt myself blushing as I saw him smiling down at me. “B—bye!” I said before I ran into my house.

That night, I went under my covers and quietly squealed to myself for a good 10 minutes before falling asleep.

-----

The next morning, my mom made me run errands after lunch. My mom gave me about $40 and she told me I could keep the rest. After running all the errands, I had a couple dollars left over so I went to the nearby convenience store to buy chocolate.

When I went up to the cashier to buy the chocolate, I saw the face I’ve been trying to avoid: Chunji. “Oh, hey Sungah!” I smiled a little and said, “Hi…” He took off his working vest and said, “Is this all?” I nodded as I gave him the money. “You know, I’m getting off work right now. I could help you carry those bags home.” I blinked and said, “No, it’s okay. They’re not heavy.” Chunji tilted as he handed me my coins. “It looks heavy…” I quickly took my chocolate and change and said, “It’s okay, thanks though.” Then I left the convenience store.

Unfortunately for me, Chunji came and grabbed some of my bags, walking by my side. I sighed, why was he being so persistent? “How come you don’t come to the library anymore?” I answered, “I just have other plans and when I do go, I just sit somewhere else.” Chunji looked at me and asked, “Why do you sit somewhere else?” I shrugged, “I like that spot since it’s quieter.” Chunji chuckled and said, “Sungah… I never liked, I don’t like, and I will never like Yoonmi.” I sighed and looked down. “Why not?” Chunji replied, “I can’t look at her as more than a dongseng.”

Chunji asked me more questions so that there wouldn’t be any awkward silences but his questions made the atmosphere more awkward. When I got home, I took the bags from Chunji and said, “Thank you.” I turned around to go inside but Chunji stopped me and said, “Hey uh…” I turned to him and blinked. “Are you busy tomorrow?” I bit my lip and asked, “Why?” He scratched the back of his head and said, “I was wondering if you could possibly… go on a date with me?” I sighed and said, “I’m sorry…” Then I turned back to my house again but Chunji asked, “What don’t you like about me?” I stopped for a bit and walked into my house, ignoring him.

-----

That night, my parents were in the living room watching TV while I was in my room reading. My phone started to vibrate next to me and I saw that Byunghun was calling me. I smiled and picked up, “Hello?” Byunghun chuckled and said, “Hey, guess what I’m doing right now.” I put my book down and asked, “What are you doing?”

I heard scratches on my window and my eyes widened. I opened my curtains and saw Byunghun sitting on the tree branch outside my window. “How did you…” Byunghun hung up the phone and said, “Your tree was easy to climb… surprisingly.” I turned around to my door to make sure it was closed before I turned to him. “How’d you know this was my room?” Byunghun smiled and said, “I waited until one of the rooms turned its lights on yesterday. When I saw lights turn on from this window, I took my chances.” I smiled and said, “My parents are downstairs, what if they saw you climbing the tree?” Byunghun chuckled and said, “Another risk I took.”

I opened my window more and reached my hand out to him. “Come inside.” Byunghun took my hand and started to come inside. Once he was inside, he whispered, “Do I have to whisper?” I giggled and shook my head. “No, they can’t hear me from downstairs.”

He observed my room and sat down on my bed. I sat down on my chair and faced him. Then that same silence returned. I looked out my window feeling like all of this was a dream. “Sungah-yah.” I looked at Byunghun and I heard a shutter go off from his phone. “What, did you take a picture of me?” Byunghun smiled at the picture and nodded. “No, I wasn’t even ready.” I went over to him and tried to grab his phone but he leaned back. I stood in front of him and frowned. He chuckled and brought two fingers to my mouth. He gently pushed the ends of my lips up to form a smile and then he started to laugh.

He patted the spot next to him on the bed and said, “Sit here.” I didn’t move. “If you sit here, then I’ll erase the picture of you.” With that said, I went and sat next to him. Byunghun showed me the picture of me and proved to me that he erased it. Then he put his arm on my shoulder and brought me closer to him. Then he brought his phone up to take a picture of us. He stared at the picture and smiled. When I saw the picture, I smiled too. It was our first picture together.

“You’re not even smiling.” I told him. He scoffed, “Yes I am.” I pointed at his face in the picture and said, “I don’t see how that’s smiling.” I pointed at my face in the picture and said, “That’s smiling.” Byunghun laughed and said, “I guess I just smile differently.” I looked at him and said, “But I’ve seen you smile, a lot of times.” Byunghun looked at me, smiling. “You’re smiling right now…”

For a couple of seconds, we just stared at each other. Our faces were just inches away from each other. I felt my heartbeat race and I felt my face start to burn up so I looked away and blinked a couple times. Byunghun chuckled before he said, “I should go before my mom finds out I snuck out.” I nodded as we both stood up.

I helped Byunghun go out my window onto the tree branch. “Be careful and don’t get caught by my parents.” Byunghun turned to me and nodded. We kind of just stayed there, looking at each other. Byunghun said, “I’ll see you on Monday?” I nodded and smiled.

Suddenly Byunghun brought his face closer to me, leaning in. I closed my eyes and slightly pulled my face back, not knowing what to do. Byunghun let out a small laugh so I opened my eyes. He leaned in closer and softly kissed me on the cheek. “Good night.” Then he carefully went down the tree as I watched him. When I saw him leave my yard, I closed my window and curtains. The small tingling feeling on my cheek from his kiss made me smile.

-----

I was late to school on Monday, again. Thankfully, I made it on time before they closed the gates. Unfortunately for me, I left my textbook at home and wore a thin jacket that I just grabbed in my closet. When I walked into class, I prayed that we wouldn’t need our textbook.

“Aren’t you cold?” Changjo asked me. I shivered and said, “Yeah… I grabbed the wrong jacket before I ran out of my house.” Changjo asked, “I can give you my jacket in my locker.” Right then, the bell rang and I smiled. “I guess you can’t now… Thanks though.”

The first thing our teacher told us was to take out our textbook. I groaned. Changjo pulled out his textbook and said, “You forgot to bring that too?” I nodded. Changjo pushed his textbook onto my desk and said, “Just use mine.” I shook my head and pushed his book back onto his desk. “No it’s okay! I can lose a couple points for one book check.” Changjo rolled his eyes as he pushed the book back onto mine. “Who doesn’t have their textbooks?” The teacher asked and Changjo raised his hand. I sighed and said, “You don’t have to…” Changjo smiled and said, “It’s the least I could do for Byunghun hyung’s girlfriend.” I looked down at the textbook and said, “I’m not his girlfriend.” Changjo chuckled and said, “Okay, whatever.”

When recess started, I walked out to my locker to get some stuff really quick. When I walked back into my classroom, I saw a jacket on my table with a note on it. Changjo told me you didn’t wear a jacket today. Wear this. – Byunghun. I looked at the jacket and then noticed everyone staring at me. I looked down and put the jacket to the side.

One of my classmates walked up to me and asked, “Is Byunghun your boyfriend?” I looked up at him. My first reaction was to shake my head and say, “No…” He furrowed his eyebrows and said, “Why is he always here? And why are you guys always together? People saw you two hanging out yesterday.” But before he could question me more, Changjo walked in and everyone went back to their own business.

During lunch, I got up to go to Byunghun’s classroom but he walked inside and sat down next to me. Once again, everyone in the classroom stared at us. I saw Yoonmi enter the classroom but once she saw Byunghun, she sighed and walked back out. I wanted to talk to her about Chunji but it was obvious she didn’t want to be around me when Byunghun was with me.

Byunghun asked, “How come you’re not wearing the jacket I gave you?” I looked up at all my classmates who were paying attention to us. “It got hot in the classroom.” Byunghun noticed how I kept looking at my classmates so he looked up at them. I looked at him and said, “Hey, let’s just go to your classroom.” I got up and grabbed his jacket. Then I walked out of the classroom and Byunghun followed behind me.

When we went around the corner where there weren’t many students walking around, Byunghun grabbed my arm and turned me around. I just looked up at him. “Are you okay?” He asked me and all I did was nod. He let out a sigh and looked down at the floor. “You’re embarrassed to be seen with me.” My eyes widened and I shook my head. “No, what are you talking about?” Byunghun looked into my eyes and I saw pain in them. “Because I’m the school delinquent that all the smart kids look down on and you don’t want people to know about our relationship.” I asked him, “Why would you think that?” Byunghun looked back down and said, “Because I would ruin your reputation.”

I took his hand into mine and said, “I don’t care about my reputation. I don’t like how everyone stares because they’re so nosy. I just hate attention. It’s not you… I don’t know, it’s going to take some time for me to adjust to all that.”

A small smiled formed on Byunghun’s face. “I like your classroom because no one cares about me… well except your friends but yeah.” I told him. Byunghun pinched my cheek and said, “Fine then, let’s go to my classroom.”

While we walked to his classroom, he took his jacket and wrapped it over me. I smiled while Byunghun twined his fingers with mine when we went inside his classroom.