PENIEL'S POV

I saw her approach me and I couldn't help but smile. This girl right here, has been one of the reasons why I never failed to wear a genuine smile on my face despite the hardships I have experienced here in Chicago. Yeah, my life here was not a bed of roses. No matter how time has changed and people started opening their minds, racial discrimination still exists. And I'm not an exception. She, too. Because our race wasn't the same as the residents here, we'd hear some whispers behind our backs that were intentionally audible, and experience being looked at with the kind of stare that pierces through our soul. When we were children, this wasn't a situation we could just easily ignore but still, we tried our best to.

But as we grew up, those kind of things started to die down and people started to treat us just like any other normal person. Sometimes she'd joke, "Well, that must be because you've grown up as a beautiful young man that they thought it'd be a waste to treat you as an outcast." I smiled as I remembered those times. The times when she became a ray of sunshine to a gloomy day.

"Could you stop smiling? You look like a fool," she said as she walked past me.

"Hey, I waited for you so don't leave me here," I said as I caught up with her.

"Don't talk to me. They might think I'm talking to a crazy person and assume that I'm crazy too," she said, still not looking at me. But I know she's smiling.

"Well, even if you don't talk to me, they'll still assume that you're crazy so it won't make a difference," I said as I walked behind her and laughed.

She suddenly stopped walking. Not expecting this, I bumped into her which caused her to lose her balance. Out of reflex, I held on to her so she wouldn't fall. When she was stable enough did we realize our position. My arms were around her waist. I felt my cheeks burning all of a sudden and my heart started to beat fast. I was about to let her go abruptly when she started laughing.

"Oh my gosh, that was fun," she said while laughing.

I slowly let go of her. I saw her turning red because of laughing so hard. "See, I told you so. You really are crazy," I said as I started to laugh with her.

"What do you expect me to do? Cry on the floor?" she said, straightening up as we started to walk again.

"Yes," I said laughing again.

"Whatever Donggeun," she said, smiling.

Yeah. She called me that. And she, aside from my family, was the only one I allowed to call me that name. Yes, she is that special.

"Are we heading to the bus stop now?" I asked.

"Of course. Where else would we go?" she said.

"Well, I'm feeling hungry. Can we grab some snacks first?" I asked.

"There are lots of it at home. Your mom and my mom just went to the grocery yesterday, right?"

"Well, I want.. some pastries! A.. a cake," I stuttered.

"Oh. Do you want one? My dad brought home some yesterday."

"For Pete's sake. Just eat out with me!" I finally said in exasperation.

"Oh. Was that what you meant? Sorry," she sheepishly smiled. "Your treat?"

"Should I even answer that question?" I sarcastically asked.

"Yaaaaay!" she squealed in delight. "I want a blueberry cheesecake!"

 

 

 

 

 

Her lips quivered in delight as the waiter carrying her blueberry cheesecake approached and served her all-time favorite.

"Hey, hey," I whispered.

"Whaaat?" she said, not removing her eyes from the food.

"Hey!" I called again.

"What?!" she said, now looking at me.

"Can you please stop acting like this is the first time you'll eat that," I said, stifling my laugh up.

"But it is my first time. Eating this piece," she smiled like a child and looked at her slice of cake again. "It's too beautiful to eat, Donggeun," she said as her eyes sparkled. "He- HEY! That's mine!" she complained as I took the cake from her.

"Close your eyes," I said.

"What, you're gonna kiss me? Choose a more romantic place, Donggeun," she chuckled.

Having heard what she said, my heart was suddenly pounding as my eyes were drawn to her thin, smooth lips as if it had magnet. "Just close your eyes, okay?" I finally was able to say.

She looked at me in the eyes and smiled beautifully. "Alright, alright," she said and finally closed her eyes.

I couldn't help but stare at how serene her face looked like. I can't believe I didn't notice this after being with her almost everyday of the past 10 years.

"Peniel Shin, are you playing with- What are you staring at?" she asked suddenly being self-conscious, tugging her stray hair behind her ear.

"No- nothing," I said. "And who told you to open your eyes? Close it!" I said.

Luckily, she complied immediately so I didn't have to argue with her any further. I sliced a small piece of her cake. "Open your mouth," I said.

"Why- Okay," she said and opened it.

I fed her the small bit I sliced. She closed slowly as her eyes opened. She looked at me straight in the eye. After swallowing the small slice, she shifted her seat near me and looked at me in the eyes again and gave me that knowing look.

"Look, Donggeun. We grew up together. Every single gesture, I know what it means. So go on and tell me what you're dying to say," she said.

If I hadn't known better, I would think she's asking for a confession from me. I sighed before I finally told her what I really wanted to say. "I passed the auditions."

"You did?? JYPE's?"

I nodded.

"That's great, Donggeun! Let's celebrate! Oh. We are celebrating already, aren't we?" she smiled. "Or are we not? Your face tells me otherwise," she said. "You're not happy about this, are you?"

"I- Of course I am. It was what I've been wanting after all."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I'll have to go to Korea," I sighed.

"Oh.. But isn't that great? You'll get to see your parents' hometown already!" she said.

But I just stared at her.

"When are you leaving?" she finally asked as her tone now showed that she wasn't too happy about it either.

"I've got 3 days," I said.

"3 days?! Then you should've told me earlier!"

"Look, I didn't mean- I'm sorry."

She sighed again. "It's okay. Well.. Let's just talk about this later, okay? My blueberry baby is waiting for me," she said as she put back the bright smile she always wore. As always, a beautiful ray of sunshine.

We talked and talked as we ate what we ordered, slowly forgetting about the fact that after 3 days, we won't be able to do these kinds of things anymore.

 

...............................................................................................

 

"So where are we going?" she asked as I opened the car's door for her.

After she went in, I went back to the driver's seat and started to drive. It was 3 in the afternoon. We planned to spend the last 2 days I had in Chicago doing whatever we wanted. "NFL," I answered.

"I don't remember any games today," she said.

"There's none to remember."

"Then what are doing there?"

"Well.. Do you remember when we were watching a football game last year?"

 

It was breaktime and there were cheerleaders throwing each other in the air and building this human pyramid.

"Donggeun," she called.

"Yes?" I responded.

"Have you ever wondered what it was like to have a picnic in the middle of that field while those brawny men kill each other for the ball?" she asked in a serious tone.

"You're crazy."

 

"Oh no. Don't tell me..?"

"Yep," I answered grinning.

"Are you crazy?" she said in disbelief.

"Call me whatever you like. We're going to have a picnic there," I said still smiling.

"You're bluffing," she said. "You hate picnics. You even make alibis just so you could not go to your family's picnic last week," she said crossing her arms and returning to her comfortable position again.

"If you don't believe me, then look at the back seat," I said.

She did and opened in surprise. "You're really going to do this?" she asked again.

"We are," I said. "But I regret to tell you that there won't be football players killing each other for a ball while we're having it. I'm sorry for an unfulfilled fantasy," I chuckled.

"Oh no. That totally works for me. Whew," she said in relief.

After some more minutes of driving, we finally arrived at the football stadium.

"Hey, are we even allowed to do this?" she whispered as she walked closely beside me.

"Maybe," I chuckled.

"Maybe?!" she almost shouted.

"Hey, you're too noisy," I said as I covered . She tried to get my hands off but I decided that this was better. I laughed silently as she tried screaming playfully.  "You really won't shut up, will you?" I said between my laughs.

She shook her head and kept on screaming while my hand still covered . Which meant her efforts all pointless. I laughed.

We finally reached the middle of the field. I finally let go of her. She abruptly turned back and faced me. And punched me.

"Ow!

"That's what you get," she said. She put down the basket and spread the cloth afterwards. Good thing the afternoon sun was starting to set, we didn't have to suffer its heat.

I laid down as soon as the cloth was spread. She excitedly opened the basket. "PENIEL SHIN! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"What?" I asked as I sat down.

"Just one bag of Cheetos? On a picnic? Really?"

"Why? What was I supposed to bring?" I asked.

She just scoffed. "Ugh, what did I expect from this man-child?" she sighed as she took the bag of Cheetos.

"Man-child? Don't eat it then," I said as I took the junk food from her.

"What are you doing? Give it back!" she demanded.

"No," I smirked. "You want it? Then come and get it."

"Don't push me to my limit, Peniel Shin," she hissed. "You don't know how hungry I am right now."

"Oh really?" I smirked even more. This shall be fun. I opened the bag and took a piece in my mouth.

"YOU!" she yelled and stood up to get me.

Luckily, I was fast enough to get on my feet and run for my life.

"Get back here!" she yelled as she chased after me. My stomach started to hurt because of laughing.

I looked back while putting another piece in my mouth again, teasing her. She ran even faster. I kept on running while making sure the Cheetos won't spill. I was planning on teasing her again but when looked back she was on the ground. "I-is there a problem?" I shouted as I slowly walked towards her. But before I was completely beside her, I stopped. "Aye, you girls love to use the same old trick over and over again. You actually think I'd fall for that sprain act?" I laughed.

But she didn't answer. She just kept on massaging her ankle. "Hey.. Hey.. Are you okay?" I asked worriedly now.

"Do I look like I'm okay?" she said as her facial expression told me she wasn't acting at all.

I rushed towards her and helped her stand. "Can you walk?" I asked.

"I'll try," she said. She was able to walk but we were going too slow. I looked at where our things were and it seemed like a mile away. I got frustrated already so I just swept her off her feet and carried her, princess-style.

"He- hey, Donggeun. Donggeun, what are you doing?" she asked, shock evident in her tone.

"Expediting the process. If I don't do this, we might consume the two days we have walking towards that spot."

Her eyes looked down and she fell awkwardly silent. Then I immediately realized why. "Goodness. I didn't know you were this heavy," I said, trying to ease up the awkwardness.

"I'm not heavy!" she pouted.

"You would never know. Only I and your legs that carry your weight would understand," I laughed.

"Put me down! Put me down!"

I just laughed. She rolled her eyes and started laughing with me too. I put her down slowly. "Does it still hurt?" I asked.

"Yeah. But not as much anymore," she said massaging her ankle.

"Why didn't you call me when this happened?" I said as I put her hands away and massaged her hurt ankle.

"I did. But you were busy munching your stupid Cheetos," she hissed.

I chuckled. "Okay, I'm sorry. I was just really messing up with you," I chuckled again.

"You don't have to tell me that," she said as she glared at me.

I laughed again. "I'm really sorry," I smiled. "Let me make it up to you. I actually brought food. I'll just get it in the car."

"What? You have food? And I had to suffer this much for that Cheetos?!"

"I know, I'm sorry," I apologized. "Wait here, okay?"

 

I closed the trunk of my car after I got everything I needed. I sighed for the last time and walked back to the field. While I was walking back to the field, she had her back turned from me and she was looking at something. I looked at what took her attention. It was the sunset. I smiled as I could imagine her all googly-eyed with this sight. I continued walking slowly towards her until I was just behind her.

 

 

YOUR POV

I roamed my eyes around the stadium. This was the first time I was going to see it in this point of view and it looked overwhelming. Then it stopped at a certain spot. That was where something silly happened. I chuckled at the memory.

The whole stadium was roaring as the Chicago Bears scored. But it didn't drown the thumping sound of my heart. It was beating like hell. I figured out I that I could no longer hold all of this in. I needed to tell him. Now.

"Donggeun?" I shouted so he could hear me since the stadium was still noisy as ever.

"Why?" he shouted back.

"I have something to say."

"What?"

"I said I had something to say!" I shouted.

"Oh. What is it?"

I took a deep breath. "I like you!"

"What?" I heard him ask.

What the heck. He's making this hard for me. "I said I like you!" I said.

But as I said it, everybody, including him, shouted and cheered for the team louder. I sure have a rotten luck today.

When the howling already stopped, I asked him, "Did.. Did you hear what I say?"

We sat down again. "Oh, yes. I like Coke too," he said as he slurped some.

"What? Oh. That's good.." I sighed. From that moment, I was a sign. That these feelings are better kept untold.

I thought I'd be able to get rid of those feelings once I tell myself I had that I had to let go. But being near him everyday was definitely not helping. I still liked him. Actually, the feelings grew stronger after that moment. I just couldn't help it. This guy whom you'd stereotype as the rough rebel guy who thinks that curses is his national language. But he was the exact opposite. He was in fact a very gentle guy who would rather scratch his car than hurt my feelings. With his guitar, he looked so cool everybody could call him a famous rock star. But without it, he was this warm guy who has this warm cute smile. He might look like an offensive school bully who'd punch you in the face just because he liked to but he was just this playful boy whose biggest insult he can give to a person is laugh like a boy at your silly mistakes. In a good way. And this was the guy.. who'd be leaving the day after tomorrow.

I looked at the sun and saw it finally setting. Can I just pretend that this setting sun was a shooting star and make a desperate wish? Can he tell me that he likes me too? "Because I really really really like him. I really do."

"I do, too."

[DO PLAY THE SONG.]

 

[A/N] LOL. I just pretended the whole chapter was a K-drama episode and the ending song was the song I posted. You know, when an episode ends and music enters and their would be frames of the actresses involved in the last episode. Hahahaha! Okay, I'm not making any sense.

To the readers of my unfinished fanfics, I'm sorry if I started this without finishing the others first. I just can't stop myself from writing this. Peniel is too irresistible. :3 But this shall be a short one so it won't really affect the other fics. ^^

I'd appreciate it if you let me know what you think about this. Thanks! :)