Waves

The night was quiet but so full of life like it was buzzing with energy… but restful, peaceful energy. And that perhaps rubbed off on us as we walked side by side on this dark pathway.

When we had our ice cream, the two of us ate it quietly, savoring the sweetness, the coldness, and each other’s presence like never before, whispering as though the world should not hear what we were discussing. It was magical, the joy that brimmed within me as I watched him enjoy his cold dessert. 

However, what broke my heart the most was that once the ice cream was gone, he looked so incredibly down as though he regrets that the day was already over. In fact, he confessed that he did not want to go home making my heart just… go crazy.

So parking at the neighbor’s park, the two of us sat there for some time, talked about the night, the stars and everything, and now since it was late and Minseok’s being calling, he was walking me home.

Today might have possibly been one of my favorite days which would obviously be imprinted on my memory for a long, long time.

With his jacket on me, he looked refreshingly youthful in the white tee that he had been wearing underneath his jacket.

Peace and serenity.

I smiled as I watched him walk in front of me, one hand inside his jean’s pocket, the other holding my bag, walking backward while facing me. He was just a step away from me and his eyes never leave mine as though telling me that he’s here, that if I wanted, I could just close the gap by taking one extra smaller step.

He kept on talking as though he had all the things in the world to tell me and I too listened attentively as he talked about everything and nothing. I could never get tired of hearing him.

I worried that he may fall down as he refused to walk normally.

“You can just tell me if there’s something.” He tells me with a smile blinding enough to make me nod like a silly person.

But it was honestly poetic, the here and now.

Here we are, under the night sky with only the street light illuminating our path. Here we are, with each other, just a step apart…

Here we are! Here we are... I wanted to tell the universe. Here we are, against all odds… although really… we only had just like three accidents it felt as though to get here, we’ve been through a lot more than just that.

It was far too early to tell I was in love with him but the way he made me burst into laughter and the way he would look like he wanted to squish me whenever I laughed out loud, I believe this just might be my first ever love. And honestly, nothing felt wrong with that. It was almost as though I loved him before I even met him.

He pouts when we turn to the last corner, making me really wish the day never came to an end.

“I’m sorry that you have to walk all the way back to get your car,” I tell him regretfully as we traded our things, me taking my bag and he taking his jacket.

He shakes his head at that and smiles at me. “That’s nothing. It really is nothing.” He trails off as if meaning a lot more than just those words.

“I’ve had the most wonderful day,” I tell him as my face warms up. “Thanks for making my first date so… beautiful.”

He tilts his head to the side and smiles even bigger than before, much like an action you do when you see a cute puppy or something. Why would he even look at me like that? I wanna dig a hole and stay there.

Clutching the bouquet of wildflowers even closer to me, I wish I could squeal at how adorable he is despite being almost 6 years older than me.

“Thank you too,” He replies, “for coming with me. It was most wonderful.”

He sighs at that and looks up to our house. “Well… it’s dark. It’ll be a sin for me to keep you all to myself. Up you go and get a goodnight rest.”

I look at where he is looking and sighs as well. “Yeah.”

We spend more time just being in each other’s proximity not wanting to go or be the first one to leave.

“Go on,” He tells me with a bright smile, his cheeks balling up beautifully. “I’ll leave after I see you get in.”

I bit my lips at that wishing it would be more than this. I don’t know what I was looking for but I know I wanted more.

He twists his body a little at that and comes closer to me making me involuntarily hold my breath.

“Good night,” He says softly as he patted my head, his smiles so, so soft. My heart raced as I feel his hand upon my head and it began thundering as he lowers his hand to softly caress my cheek with the back of his hand. “I hope I see you again soon.”

“Mmmh…” I simply mumbled afraid of my own voice betraying me right now. “See you.”

That night after chasing out Minseok three times, I went to sleep dreaming of the most wonderful sky, full of stars and someone holding my hands firmly as if afraid of letting go. I’ve never felt more at peace than this.

* * *

“He’s 26. He has a mom but he never mentioned anything about his dad so I assume he doesn’t have one. Um… He’s currently doing his Ph.D. at our university and he’s also an assistant teacher. I think he’s aiming to be a professor or something although we never really got to that part.”

“He’s the ultimate definition of nerd, isn’t he?” Minseok mutters quietly as Jongdae nods. The three of us were huddled up in our backyard with our heads together as though discussing things of national security.

“Maybe?”

“What about your suspicions of him being your favorite poet? BBH, was it?” Jongdae asks as I took a bite of my sandwich. It was lunchtime and we were out at the yard in a picnic spread sort of way.

“Yes! You guys should know BBH uploaded a poem that suggests that he met someone yesterday night just an hour after I got home. People are all commenting saying he’s probably in love.” I say pausing on eating. “He even used a smiley on the post! Like… doesn’t that say something? Besides he used the same smiley to wish me goodnight!”

“Suspicious…” Minseok mutters looking like an old detective. “Have you ever picked up that topic before and did he evade it and change the topic or something?”

“I mean we did not exactly get to that on yesterday’s date,” I say with my mouthful. “But when we first talked I did bring up BBH and he sort of avoided giving any views on it rather he seemed mo