So after that, things were pretty calm between us for a while. We never really expanded on our “golden couple” coversation.

Let’s move forward to the summer time.

“Jonghyuuun-oopppaaaa! Can you open this?” some random bimbo in a bikini whined, holding up a bottle of cream soda.

“Sure thing. What did you say your name was?” he asked before quickly uncapping the lid. I rolled my eyes and plopped my self down in the sand, hoping that she’d shut up within the next 10 minutes. Jonghyun attracted a lot of attention from girls these days, and as much as I wanted to care less, I didn’t like it. After about what felt like forever, I got really tired of hearing them talk and just wanted to get out of there. I stood up and brushed the sand from my knees and .

“I’m going to get something to drink,” I said and walked away. I didn’t even bother to check if they heard me; they probably didn’t though. I went to the nearest vending machine and aggressively jabbed at the buttons. I was annoyed by the dropping sensation in my chest that wouldn’t go away.

“Um…you ok?” a voice said behind me. I turned around to see a familiar face. His messy light brown hair was swept to the side and he was wearing shorts and a white t-shirt.

“Onew-sunbae?”

“Eunjung-ah!” he said with a grin. Onew and I had rarely talked before this. He was Taemin’s older brother and was a year older than me. He would often visit us in dance club and sometimes we got some help from him in math. But other than that, we hadn’t really talked to each other before.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked,

“Mmm, not much. Just going for a walk. Wanna come?” I took a quick peek over Onew’s shoulder. Jonghyun and that other girl were still talking. They hadn’t even sat down.

“Sure,” I smiled. Hey, it’s not like Jonghyun even realized I was gone. So Onew got his drink and we started walking. At first it was awkwardly quiet, but then he broke the silence.

“So what’s got you all upset?” he asked.

“Who said anything about being upset?” I replied before taking a swig of soda.

“C’mon, I saw the way you jabbed at that poor vending machine. What’s wrong?” It was silent for a second before I answered.

“Some men can just be so inconsiderate sometimes,” I said before chugging half the soda down.

“I take it you were here with Jonghyun?”

“I was until some random chick came along and started the chatting marathon of the century,” I replied.

“So you’re jealous?” he chuckled.

“Psssh, no no no. Don’t get me wrong. Jonghyun can date who ever the hell he wants, but it’s inconsiderate to make your friend a third wheel.”

“I see,” Onew said, patting me on the shoulder. I sighed. The sun was blazing down on us. I had lost track of how far we walked, but we stopped to get some Korean bbq and continued walking…or at least we started to. Onew was about to take a bite when suddenly he fell over.

“Aish, what’d you trip on?” I asked, inspecting the smooth sand.

“I’m, uh..kinda really clumsy. My friends call it ‘Onew condition’” he laughed as I tried helping him up. When he stood up, his shirt was covered in barbeque sauce and sand.

“Aish, let’s go get you a new shirt,” I said.

“Aw, you don’t like my shirt? I thought it was an improvement,” he joked, “Come here, let me give you a hug,” he said with open arms and his dirtied shirt. I squealed and laughed as I backed away, trying to avoid his bbq hug. He smiled at me.

The closest clothing store was this small shack, appropriately called the ‘Shirt Shack’.

“Should I get this one?” Onew asked. I turned around to see him holding up a neon pink fishnet shirt. I gave him a ‘WTF’ look and he grinned. We both burst out laughing. I dared him to try it on and surprisingly, he did. I wonder how I hadn’t died then from laughing.

“Let’s take a photo,” I suggested, still a little giggly.

“Ani! It’s embarrassing!” he said.

“Please? I don’t want to forget this,” I chuckled. He crossed his arms and grumpily agreed. I took out my phone and took a picture of us together. Onew gave me his number so I could send it to him. All joking aside, Onew bought a green polo shirt and we left. He offered to walk me home and I obliged.

“Thanks for hanging out with me today,” I told him when we got to my front door.

“No problem. Glad I could cheer you up,” he said, giving me a winning eye-smile. I cocked my head to the side, having forgotten that I was upset in the first place. He patted me on the head and left. As I walked in, I dug around in my purse for my phone. I had left it on silent all day. Before I closed the door,  I looked back outside and decided to start walking to the park. When I got there, I plopped down next to a tree and watched the sun start to go down. Then I heard my phone beeping; I had a text message. Actually I had a lot of them along with several missed calls.

Jonghyun: Where are you?

Jonghyun: Where’d you go?

Jonghyun: Why aren’t you answering me?

Jonghyun: Eunjung-ah! Pick up your phone!

Jonghyun:  Yah! Ahn Eunjung, if you don’t answer your phone, I’ll never forgive you!

I was debating whether or not I should ignore him as punishment. But, eeehh, I was in a good mood.

Me: I’m at the park

A few seconds later, my phone beeped again.

Jonghyun: Stay right there