The leaves began to fall off the trees and the wind was picking up. It was finally fall and the weather was becoming cooler. For the past weeks, I spent a lot of my time after school with Zelo, whether it was getting ice cream or just walking around the park. I had learned that he had an older brother and lived with both parents. He lived in the United States for about a year before coming back to Korea as a transfer student at my school. He was still popular but after many girls had noticed how often I was around him, they backed off but it wasn’t like I was in a relationship with him. There was one thing I couldn’t deny though and it was that my heart was slowly becoming attached to Zelo.

                “Noona! Noona! Noona!” Zelo called out while running into my classroom. School hadn’t started yet and he still had time to come see me. Everyone who was in the classroom turned their heads to see him crash into some desks. He brushed his pants off and pulled out the empty seat beside me. Ji Hae, who was sitting in the desk in front of me, had her head slightly turned, trying to eavesdrop but I leaned forward and flicked her ear.

                “Ow!” Ji Hae squeaked but she turned back and continued to read her book.

                I asked the young boy, “Yah, Zelo, don’t you ever get tired of calling me “noona” all the time?” I placed the magazine I was reading onto my desk and focused my attention on my dongsaeng. “Oh!” I yelped. “Your hair is straight!” Zelo nodded his head but this time, his hair didn’t bounce like it usually did. His blonde hair was straight against his head but it didn't make him look any older or any younger. Still, my eyes widened at the unfamiliar appearance of Zelo.

                “Yeah, noona! I wanted you to see my hair straight! You’ve never seen it like this before, right?” Zelo delightfully spoke. I shook my head, a smile forming on my face.

                I squealed, “You look so cute!” I pinched his cheeks as Zelo scrunched his nose up. I could hear my heart beating in my ear. The way Zelo looked made my heart squeeze.

                “Noona! I’m not a little boy!” Zelo whined with an adorable pout on his face.

                I laughed, “No! It looks good though, Zelo! It’s definitely the opposite of how I usually see you.”

                “Noona, since you said I look the opposite of I usually look, you should also act the opposite way you usually are!” Zelo suggested with a big smile on his face.

                I replied, “Uh, sure. What should I do?” I scratched the back of my head as Zelo stared into my eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat. My hands were starting to sweat. Zelo tilted his head but never let go of the stare he had on me.

                “You should…call me oppa!”

                “Oppa?” I yelled in shock. The others in the classroom whipped their heads around to look at me. I looked around the room and met eyes with someone. It happened to be Young Jae who wasn’t even in my class. Oh, he must be seeing his friends. The expressions on my face fell as Young Jae turned his head to continue talking with his friends.

                “Noona?”

                “Huh?”

                “Are you alright?”

                “Oh, yeah, everything’s fine,” I answered Zelo reassuringly.

                “Then, are you going to call me oppa?”

                I laughed at his question. “Really, Zelo? You want me to call you oppa?”

                “C’mon, noona!” Zelo whined, shaking my arm. I rolled my eyes at his childishness. He continued to look at me with a pout on his face. I could feel my heart melting but then I remembered that Young Jae was in the room, possible watching. I let out a sigh. “Fine, I won’t call you noona for the day and you can call me oppa!”

                “Ah, okay!” I smiled. Good, Zelo won’t call me noona for today. I didn’t hate being called noona by Zelo. It just reminded me that I was older than him and I didn’t want to think that way. “Oppa, where are we going after school?” I asked him loudly. Somewhere inside me hoped that Young Jae was listening to our conversation.

                “Do you want to go the mall?” Zelo questioned. “There’s an album I’ve been trying to look for so noo-, I mean, you can help me!” he added.

                “Alright, oppa! Are you just going to swing by after school is over?” I asked with a loud voice. From my peripheral vision, I could see Young Jae stealing glances at the two of us.  There was a part of me that was satisfied while a greater part felt bad.

                A cheeky smile appeared on Zelo’s face as he said, “Yeah, just wait here for me.”

                “Okay then, oppa!” Zelo began to snicker. “Oppa, what is it?” I tilted my head, wondering what was so funny.

                “You’re having a lot of fun calling me oppa, aren’t you?” Zelo chuckled.

                I sighed, “Well, it’s not every day I can address you as someone older when you’re nowhere near my age or even your own age!” I began to laugh at Zelo, making him stick out his bottom lip. He stuck his tongue out at me and pulled his cheek down so that I could see the whites of his eyes, making me laugh harder. As I was giggling, I turned my head and caught Young Jae staring. He turned his head away quickly, acting as if nothing just happened. My laughter died down as I turned my head back to Zelo. Zelo was turning his head back to me as if he was also looking at something. “What is it?”

                Zelo looked down at the ground, shaking his head. “Nothing,” he muttered. “I’m going to go back now.” Before I could say anything else, Zelo got up from his seat and dashed out the door. “Zelo! W-wait!” I yelled after him but when I got out of my seat, the bell rang. Ah, geez.

*****

                “Zelo?” I said his name. He was walking next to me with his head hanging low. He held the album he was looking for in his hand and we were about to get some ice cream. “Is there something wrong? You’ve been quiet this whole time.” Zelo shook his head, still staring at the ground. “Are you sure?” He nodded his head. “100%?” Again, he nodded his head. I watched him continue to trudge next to me. He looked like he was going to fall forward anytime soon. He let out a loud sigh. My heart was sinking as I stared at Zelo drag his feet.  I feel bad even though it may not be my fault. Wait, what would I have done to upset him? “You know what will make you feel better, Zelo?” His head didn’t budge. “Ice cream!” He looked up from the ground and continued to walk forward with his chin held higher. I laughed at his actions. I wanted to pinch his cheeks again but I didn’t want to bug him anymore. We got our ice cream, like always, and Zelo seemed to be in a better mood after that. Ice cream will always fix that boy up. I smiled as I watched him take a of his ice cream happily. What could have been bugging him though? 

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Hey! I'm back with a pretty short chapter but that's alright! So, what could be bugging Zelo? Stay tuned to find out! And look, you can call Zelo "oppa" for once if you're older! LOL. Oh, please check out my new story including the greasy Nam Woohyun :3 Please comment and subscribe if you haven't already! Thank you to all the subscribers so far! You guys are absolutely amazing people! Make sure to comment if you're subscribed but haven't! I don't bite :D Anyway, yeah, thanks for reading!