Ren’s POV

We walked out of the building. I glance over at her. Sun Mi’s humming an unfamiliar tune. Her eyes look blankly ahead. I wonder what she’s thinking about…could it be Mun Hee? My fists tighten a bit at the thought…but I want to know how she feels about him…

“So how was your partner?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

She looks at me, blinking a few times as if just noticing me. “Hmm? I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Your partner, how did it go?”

“Oh! It went fine. Mun Hee is really nice and funny…”

“Oh really...” I turn my head so she doesn’t see my disappointment. She thinks he’s nice and funny…is that a sign she likes him? How do you even tell if a girl likes a guy? I’m so confused…

“Yeah…how about Yoon Ji?”  She says suddenly.

Her eyes turn towards me, hazel orbs cheerful yet focused on what I have to say. I think about it, Su Min waits patiently for my response. I didn’t actually pay much attention to Yoon Ji in class…I feel kind of bad now that I think about it.

“Umm…she’s nice. She’s smart I guess.” I scratch my head.

“Oh…..” She looks down, her eyes go blank again. “Do you like her….?”

I think about this.

“Sure I guess.” Su Min doesn’t say anything. “Like if she ever wanted to be friends I’d give it a try.” I don’t really think much about my answer. Her face lights up a bit at this response.

“That’s nice.” She smiles

“Yeah… so I noticed that you and Mun Hee were getting along pretty well.” I try to laugh but I’m really nervous on the inside.

“Yeah. He’s really cool. You should get to know him. You guys would be great friends. ” she suggests.

 I flinch. I don’t want to befriend Mun Hee… I wanted to find out what her answer would be if he asked her out. I don’t feel like asking her about this anymore. I’m kind of worried about the response I would get. She thinks he’s nice, funny, and cool…that’s not good. What if she does like him?

Before I realize it, we’re at the apartments.

“See you tomorrow Ren!” she waves

I wave back, “bye.”

I walk into the apartment. It’s quiet. I look around. Dad’s not here. Probably went to get alcohol again. Oh well, fine by me. I get something to eat and do my homework. I can’t focus…I keep thinking about Sun Mi and Mun Hee. It bothers me so much!

I slump onto my bed a pull a pillow over my head. When I look up I’m facing the picture of my mom on my bedside table. It was a taken a year before she passed away. She’s sitting in the park wearing a blue dress, both her hands are on her lap. A little boy with a red cap sat close beside her, playing with what looks like a toy car. Her dark hair was blown slightly towards the right. None the less, she looked beautiful and happy.

“Mom…what’s wrong with me?” I ask quietly. Her picture smiles back at me.

I woke up the next morning surprisingly excited. I got ready as fast I could and waited outside for Su Min. I hear a click of a door and see Su Min. My heart starts racing and I feel myself smile.

“Morning Su Min.” I say. She looks and smiles.

“Morning Ren!” I noticed her hair was up today. It was cute…I blushed at the thought.

“Ready to go?” she asks. I nod and we walk down.

It’s a typical day. The classes zoom by, the lunch is peaceful, and then science.

“Class, we’re going to get into groups again. This time, you have different partners… you are to compare your results from yesterday, understood?”

The class nods. I can’t help but look over at Su Min. She’s got her eyes shut and fingers crossed. I laugh. She looks at me.

“Ren, come one, you do it too! Maybe we’ll get each other!” I obey. She grins and squeezes her eyes shut again.

“Ren and…Mun Hee.” I feel my mouth drop. Really…of all people.  I get paired with the one that’s considering asking Su Min out? A voice in my head tsks me. I sigh, maybe I should try to be nicer…. Also, my having him as a partner is always better than Su Min having him, right?  

The teacher reads the last of the partners and gives the word for us to move. I hear something shuffle on the chair next to me. It’s Mun Hee.

“Hey Ren!”

“Hey.”

We compare our answers and finish early. I look around the room for Su Min, she’s two groups away from us. Her partner is Eun Ji, the volleyball captain. She’s a pretty girl with short brown hair.  The two look like they’re getting along from the way they’re giggling. Su Min looks in my direction. She waves. I wave back. Eun Ji looks between us amusingly.  She giggles and whispers something to Su Min. Su Min blushes and looks down.

“Ahh, I see you’re looking at Su Min.” observes Mun Hee. I turn back to him.

“N..no…just zoning out…” I try to deny it. He doesn’t buy it and smirks at my attempt.

“Dude, you like her don’t you…” I don’t say anything and look down, trying to cover my burning cheeks with my hand.

“Haha! You do!” he pats me on the back. I look at him shocked. What’s he doing?

“I see you guys hanging out a lot. Are you going to ask her out sometime?” he smiles excitedly.

I’m so confused…wasn’t he thinking of asking her out? Why’s he encouraging me to make a move?

“I thought you liked her?” I blurt out. I couldn’t help it. The question was killing me.

He looks at me weird. “No, never. No offense, I mean, I think she’s cute and all…but I have someone else.”

Weird. Yoon Ji told me he was considering asking Su Min out. Why would she tell me that if he already had a girlfriend? Maybe she just heard wrong…? Yeah…that’s probably it  

Mun Hee nods his head towards Eun Ji.

“That’s my girl.” He says. He tilts his head and looks at her tenderly.

Eun Ji looks back at us. She smirks at Mun Hee’s expression.

“Pfffttt, nice face…..” she laughs. She shakes her head and turns away.

Mun Hee gasps. He leans over and fake cries into my shoulder. “Sh-she laughed at my affection. H-how horrible…”

I can’t help but laugh. He gets up and grins.

“Aha, yeahh…we’re weird… but back to your question. Nah, I would never ask her out.” He says.

His words take a lot of relief off of my chest. I feel guilty about ever thinking negative thoughts about him. Su Min is right… he is really nice and funny. I’m glad I got him as a partner.

Su Min’s POV

My partner is Eun Ji. She’s really sweet and pretty. We worked for a while, chatting the whole time. She’s so funny and talkative. I found out that she was the girlfriend of Mun Hee. I had no idea. It makes sense though. Both of them are so nice, funny, and athletic. They make a great match.

 I take a look at Ren. He’s with Mun Hee, I’m glad. Mun Hee is really easy to talk to. I hope they can be friends. Ren looks back at me. My hearts starts beating wildly. I wave. He waves back. Eun Ji looks at me smugly.

“Hmmm…is that your boyfriend?” I immediately start blushing and look down. Ren…my boyfriend…?

I shake my head. She giggles.

“Do you like him?” I blush even more and hide my face behind my hands.

“So you do?” She peels back my hands. I’m exposed. Not knowing what to do I shrug my shoulders. She gives me a look.

“What? You don’t know? How could you not know?” she crosses her arms and leans back.

“I…I just don’t know. I’ve never liked anyone before.” I say. “How do you even know if you like someone?” I look up at her, she’s smiling.

“Well…there are a lot of things… I knew I liked Mun Hee when  my face would get hot every time he was near. Oh, and also when you start feeling really protective over him…or when your heart races when you see him, etc… all the cheesy stuff they have in romance books.” She giggles and looks over at Mun Hee. I follow her gaze.

He’s giving her this bizarre but really sweet puppy face. She smirks.

“Pfffttt, nice face…..” she laughed.

Mun Hee gasped and immediately started fake crying into Ren’s shoulder. Ren started laughing…it makes me feel warm and fuzzy seeing him so happy….for a while all I can do is sit there and look at him.

I feel something poking me and jolt back into reality.  Eun Ji is looking at me with an amused expression.

“And you, my dear, most definitely like him.”

My face is bright red and I hide into my arms. I peek out and glance at Ren. His blonde hair, his gentle eyes, his cute smile…. I feel my heart thudding softly against my chest. The thought of any girl taking him away from me makes me tense….

So this is what it feels like to like someone. I feel a smile rise to my lips…

“I like Ren…” I say aloud.