"I want to be in love..." I say suddenly, looking down at my knees. 

   My best friend, Minji, looks at me weirdly, crossing her legs and smirking. She's already finished her lunch, and now she was chewing on her bubble gum harshly, making a lot of noise, being her usual self.
   "Now why would you want a stupid thing like that?" she asks, a hint of smugness in her tone. "You really want to be like all of those annoying girls that fall all over guys and piss me off?"

   I roll my eyes at her.
   "You're one to talk," I argue. "You already have a boyfriend."

   "Yeah, and he hates those annoying girls that fall all over guys as well, so that makes us perfect together," she says, twirling  a whorl of her wavy hair around a long slim finger. "Why do you want to fall in love anyway?" 

   I look away from her and pretend as if I'm concentrating really hard on picking the last few grains of rice off of my tray with my chopsticks. 
   "Because..." I say softly, "I see all of those girls walking around with their boyfriends, and..." I pause. "When they look at each other, their expressions....It's as if they're so trapped inside of their own world - their own little personal bubble - that no one else can enter but themselves. And I've never really understood that." I look up at her nervously. 
"...I want to."

   Minji rolls her eyes and scoffs. 
   "Yeah, like me and Yonghwa look at each other like that," she says sarcastically. 

   "You do," I whisper, but she's already focused her attention on shooting her gumwrapper into the garbage can. 

   She closes one eye and squints, angling her arm in a way that she can't miss her target. I watch, bored, as she flings the rolled up candy wrapper and - 

   Watch as it ends up hitting the guy passing by, straight in the face. 

   "Damn!" Minji hisses, and stands up. "You better throw that away!" she yells at the guy. "It would have gone in if you hadn't blocked it!" 

   The boy is No Minwoo. 
   He's been in my class for quite some time already, and he's known for being particularly quiet. He's always keeping his head down and his hair over his eyes, and he never talks at all. I feel a little sorry for him; Minji likes to yell a lot for little reasons, and her targets always leave a little teary eyed. For some reason, I get tired of her yelling at him while he cowers, and shake her shoulder. 

   "Ya," I say, annoyed. "Leave him alone now. He already threw it away. You don't need to be so harsh on him." 

   Minji shoots me an insulted look, scowls, and then starts to yell at me. 
   Rolling my eyes, I see out of the corner of my eyes that Minwoo is still looking over at us. I give him an encouraging nod towards his desk and smile. 
   "I'll take care of this," I mouth at him. 

   A pink blush floods throughout his cheeks and he nods once at me, then trains his eyes to the ground and heads for his seat. 
   I don't know if that was just my random hallucinations, but No Minwoo kind of looked... cute. 

----------

   "Hey~I left my homework at my locker," I tell Minji. "I have to go get it - it might take a while since my locker's far off, so you can leave first."

   She shrugs and nods. "Whatever," she says, and slings her bag over her shoulder. "See you tomorrow." 

   I smile and nod, and then watch as she turns around and heads out through the doors. When I'm sure that she's gone, I slump down against the wall and cross my arms. Today, after lunch, Minji had teased me so much about what I'd said about wanting to be in love. She'd even introduced me to some creepy guy with tattoos on his arm. 
I sigh. 
   I'd denied it after a while of her teasing, and told her that I didn't really want to be in love, but the truth is, that's not true at all. I really want to be in love... 
   Making a fist in my hand and clenching my teeth, I look up at the end of the hallway. 

   "The next boy I see that comes around the corner," I tell myself, "I will fall in love with him." 

   I have to brush off the first few people, because a few were girls and another one was a 50 year old teacher with wrinkly skin on his face that sagged down to his neck. 
   About to give up, I adjust my bag and turn around to leave when I feel someone tap me on the shoulder. 

   I turn around to see that the person who had tapped on my shoulder was No Minwoo, the shy boy in my class. 
   He has his hoodie up and his head down, like he's forever looking at his shoes. In his hands is a small strawberry keychain. He clears his throat softly, and raises it up to me. 

   "H-Hyomi," he stammers. "You...dropped this today. The chain broke, so I stayed back and fixed it. I wanted to give it to you tomorrow, but you're here now, so...uh.." His voice drops and he just stands there for a while, not saying anything. 

   I smile, startled by his sudden appearance, and take the keychain. 
   "Minwoo," I say, and he suddenly looks up. 

   A blush flares across his face and he drops his head down again. 

   "Wait," I protest. "Please...can you look up at me?" I ask him. 

   Slowly, he raises his head and looks at me. With the sunlight streaming in through the windows, illuminating his hair and eyes, he looks really nice. Almost like one of those pop stars I always see on TV. (A/N: Ironic, right? >:3)

   I grin at him and bow slightly. 
   "Gomawo, Minwoo-ah!" I say. "That was really thoughful of you, to stay behind after school and fix my keychain. Gomawo." 

   He blushes again, and probably out of habit, he ducks his head down and rubs his neck nervously. 
   "Ah...it's no problem. Gomawo....you helped me with your friend today. I was...scared." 

   He looks a little embarrassed over the fact that he's telling me this, but I just smile and shake my head. 
   "Ah, don't worry about her, she's just cranky," I say. "Well, I should be getting home now. Gomawo again, Minwoo-ah! I'll see you tomorrow!" 
   Before I leave, I turn around again and grin. "And another thing," I say. "Your eyes - they're really nice. You shouldn't leave your hair over them."

   As I wave goodbye and walk through the doors, I catch sight of him smiling at me and waving as well. 
   That...was the very first time that I had seen him smile. It's really nice.... 

   
   As I walk home, I realize something. 
   "The next boy I see that comes around the corner, I will fall in love with him." 
   
Then does that mean....
                    That I should fall in love with No Minwoo?!?!

   I shake my head free of any of those thoughts and laugh quietly to myself. Bothering Minwoo like that...he'll probably think that I'm just tiresome. I'd just said that since I was angry at Minji for being so mean to me today. There's no reason for me to fall in love with him, anyway...
   The truth is, that I'd never really known him that much before today. 

----------

   "Today, we're going to be switching seats around," Seon Saeng-nim says, drawing out the new seating plans on the board. "Everyone, pick a number from the basket and the desk where your number is on the board is where you will be sitting until the next semester." 

   "Ani!" Minji suddenly yells from the back of the room. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and makes an angry face at the teacher. "I wil forever be sitting here!!" 

   The teacher rolls her eyes as the class snickers. 

   "Minji, let go of Hyomi and pick a number already." 

   Minji scowls and lets go of me, then sulkily goes up to the front and picks a number. As the basket heads towards me, I select a random folded paper from the top of the pile and open it up. 
   I'm number 16. 
   Looking up at the board, I see that number 9 is supposed to be sitting next to me. 

   "Hyomiiiiii," Minji groans, looking at my paper from behind my shoulder. She flashes me her number - she's Number 27 - and pouts. "I'm all the say at the other side of classssss. Switch with someone so we can sit closer." 

   I laugh slightly, let her argue with me a little longer and then make my way over to my seat. It's near a window, which is perfect for me. I like the sunshine. Looking over at the empty desk beside me, I wonder who's going to sit next to me. 
   Just as I'm thinking that, someone beside me stammers,

   "Ah...Annyeonghaseyo, Hyomi-sshi." 

   Looking over at the person next to me, I realize that No Minwoo is my new seat neighbour. Surprisingly, he has his head up, and his hair is brushed out of his eyes. The sunshine is shining down over him, and as he gives me a hesitant smile, I realize that he looks really attractive today. 
   I surprise myself by blushing.
   Covering my cheeks with my hands, I look away from him, embarrassed. 

   Minwoo seems a little nervous because of this. 
   "Mianhae," he says. "Did I do something wrong?"

   I look up at him, startled, and shake my head. 
   "Ani, gwenchana. I was just happy that you were the one to sit beside me, Minwoo ah." 

   His cheeks turn a slight pink and he smiles. 
   "Neh. I was happy too." 

   During the entire class, I can feel my heart beating like crazy. Why is it that I'm so aware of him now? It doesn't make sense. Is it because he's not keeping his eyes on the ground so much? Or maybe it's because his hair's out of his eyes... 
   Seon Saeng-nim's lecture takes forever. As I look over at Minji, I'm not surprised to see that she's sleeping. Amused, I look around at the class, and write on a piece of paper on my notebook and flash it to Minwoo. 


          Five people sleeping. And counting.

   Minwoo raises his eyebrows and smiles. My heartbeat races a little at that, but then he's writing something down on his notebook and before I know it, he's showing it to me. 
   It's a crudely drawn picture of Seong Saeng-nim and a drawing of a boy sleeping on the ground by his feet.        
   Underneath it are the words, 

          Make that almost 6. The person at his feet is me. 

   I have to bite down on my sleeve to keep from laughing out loud. 
   Then I take his notebook and draw another person on the ground beside him. 

          No, 7. That's me beside you. 

   Minwoo snickers a little, and jots something down next to the drawing of me. 

          No, that's not you. That looks like a potato. 

   I scowl at him. 

          It does NOT look like a potato. 

          Yes it does. 

          Well your drawing looks like an alien. 

          At least it doesn't look like a potato.

          SHUT UP ABOUT POTATOES ALREADYYYY!!! D:<

   And then we're laughing together, and even though our classmates are giving us weird looks, we're still laughing, and we only stop until the teacher flashes us a look that can kill. 
   I look over at Minji, almost certain to see an annoyed look on her face, but instead she's smiling and shaking her head. 

----------

   The semester goes by pretty much like the first, and I find myself acting more comfortable with Minwoo. When we talk together, I notice that he never ducks his head down anymore, and that he doesn't stammer or let his voice waver. It's nice; to know that he can act this way around me. 

   One day, as I'm walking in the hall, Minwoo catches up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder.  I feel my body tingle from happiness and my lips immediately curve into a smile as I look over at him. 

   "Hey," I say to him. "What's up?" 

   He's about to answer when a girl comes up to us and tugs on Minwoo's sleeve. 
   For some reason, I move away from Minwoo, his hand falling from my shoulder. I feel guilty about that. I mean, what was wrong about Minwoo's hand on my shoulder, anyways?
    This girl is really pretty, it's obvious, and she has a cute blush on her face as she looks at Minwoo. 

   "Ah, mianhae, but could I ask you a question? Alone?" she asks. 

   Minwoo's eyebrows curve together in confusion and he looks over at me, a little nervously. I bite my lip, but then before I can show any hint of sadness, I nod at Minwoo and grin. 

   "Well, what are you waiting for?" I ask him, smiling. "Go ahead. I'll catch you later." 

   He gives me a hesitant look, but then too soon, he's heading away, following the direction of the girl. 
   I stand there a moment, rooted in the spot. And I know that I can't just stay here. Even though it's wrong, I have to go and see what that girl wants to say to Minwoo. 
   As I rush to where they'd gone, I think about all the gossip that had been going on about Minwoo lately. About how cute he's gotten. The girls were always wondering why they hadn't seen it before, and how they should approach him sometime. I never thought that a girl actually would. 

   When I hear the girl's voice, I halt and hide behind the wall, my heart racing a million beats per second. 

   "Um...I've been noticing you a lot lately," I hear her say. "And I think you're really nice. Can you - Will you go out with me please?" 

   There's a moment of silence, and suddenly I'm scared that they might be able to hear my heartbeat. A sharp pang crosses over my chest, and then I feel the pressure of someone's hand over mine, and I look over at - surprisingly - Minji, who has a finger over , shushing me, like she wants to know how Minwoo would answer.
   That makes two of us. 
   Unable to contain myself, I lean over and peek out from behind the wall to see - 

   Minwoo look over and make eye contact with me. 

   "Hyomi?" he says, and then the girl is looking at me as well, and I suddenly feel like a butterfly with it's wings pinned to the ground. 

   And then I snap out of my reverie and come out from behind the wall, a smile plastered on my face, random words spilling out of my mouth. 

   "That's great!" I say, even though I'm thinking the exact opposite. "It's a great opportunity for you Minwoo!" 

   Minwoo looks stricken, like he can't believe what I'm saying. 

   "You should go out with her! In fact, how about you go on a date today?" What the hell am I saying?! "Tomorrow's weekend, so you don't have to go home early, right?" No. No. No. No. No. 

   The girl is nodding her head enthusiastically, and her face is beaming. 

   "Neh!" she squeals, then she faces Minwoo. "I'll meet you at the front doors after school, okay?" she says, then she hops off happily, leaving Minwoo, Minji and I alone. 

   "Hyomi..." Minwoo suddenly says, his voice hoarse. "Do you really want me to do that...?" 

   I give him a grin though I feel like bursting into tears. 
   No. I don't want that. I want you to stay with me. 
   
   "Of course," I say, smiling. 

----------

   As I get ready to go home, I  hear something tinkle to the ground beside me. Looking at the floor, I see that it's the strawberry keychain Minwoo had fixed for me that day so long ago. It had broken again. 
   Just looking at it, the chain in ruins, causes me to allow the tears to spill down my face. 
   I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and I hug Minji back, happy for her support. 

   "You know, you're an idiot," she says softly. "Why would you do something like that if you knew how much it would hurt you?" 

   My sobs catch in my throat until it sounds like I'm hiccuping repeatedly. 

   "I - I don't know," I stammer. 

   Minji looks at me and brushes my hair behind my ear. 
   "Don't you love him?" she asks. 

   I stiffen. 
   Me, love Minwoo? 
   I had never really thought about it before. I just knew that whenever he was near, I felt like I was flying, and the sound of his laugh was like the most wonderful music in the world. And then the image of his face with the sunlight streaming through his hair rose up in my memory and I realize. 
   I'm in love with Minwoo. 
   And I had just let him go. 

   My silence is what probably makes Minji speak up again. 

   "Do you remember that day a while ago when you were saying how you wanted to be in love with someone, because when you looked at other couples you thought that they looked as if they were in their own little world, and that no one else could touch them? I had never really understood what you said."
   She pauses for a second, and continues. 
   "And then I saw the way you and Minwoo acted together, and that's when I understood." 

----------

   I slump back on the wall and stare at the corner of the hallway. 
   My eyes are probably all red and puffy, and I know that I must look terrible, but it doesn't really matter to me. 

   The next boy, I think to myself. The next boy I see that comes around the corner....I will fall in love with him. 

   I hear the soft footfall of someone making their way through the hallway, and I know that this is it, that no matter who shows up at the end of the hall, I will make myself fall in love with him. 

   A familiar slender outline rushes his way out from behind the corner, and whips his head around, as if he's looking for something. And then his familiar eyes, touched with sunlight, make contact with mine, and a look of relief crosses over his face, and he makes his way over to me and pulls me into his arms. 

   "Minwoo," I breath out, winding my arms around him as well. "Why aren't you with that girl from today - " 

   "Don't ask me that," he orders, and his angry tone surprises me. He's never spoken to me like that. Shy, nervous little adorable Minwoo doesn't get angry like this.  "Don't you know?" he demands. "Don't you know that it can't be with just anyone? That it has to be with you?"

   He grips me tighter in his arms, to the point where I can't even breathe, but that doesn't matter. Nothing else matters but Minwoo. 

   "When you said that to me today, that I should go ahead and date that girl, did you even stop and think for one second about how much you were hurting me?!" He buries his face into the crook of my neck. "Saranghae," he whispers into my ear, with a fierceness I'd never heard in him before. "Saranghaeyo, Hyomi." 

   I let the tears brim over and fall down my cheeks. 

   "Me too," I say. "I love you too. So much." 

   And as our lips connect and my arms hold him even closer to me, we enter into our own world. 

_____________________________________________________________________________


I'm done! 
I hope you liked the first one-shot that I'd ever done in my life!! 
Since this was Minwoo's one-shot, I wanted it to be special, and I hope that it was~
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I really want to know what people think of this story.. >_<