The night was a bit chilly when Bom got out of the house. She saw Ji Yong waiting for her near their gate. He was still wearing his school uniform. He was holding a small object wrapped in pink paper. When Ji Yong saw her, he tried to hide it behind his back.

"Park Bom-ah, are you feeling okay now?" he asked.

"Ne, I'm sorry for worrying you..." Bom said.

"Don't be sorry about it!" They started to walk together slowly. He noticed Bom rubbing her hands together. "Aigo, wearing clothes like that again." He said while he took of his school blazer and draped it on Bom's shoulders. Bom didn't protest and blushed. Ji Yong took out the gift he was hiding behind his back. "Here's something for you, by the way."

"Mwo? For me?" Bom looked at the gift in his hand.

"Aish, it's like you don't want it.." Ji Yong and held it away from her.

"Aniyo, I want~~" Bom pouted as she reached for it but he kept it away from her. "Aigoo, I just want to know why you brought a present."

"My late birthday present for you.." Ji Yong blushed and slowly handed the present to Bom. "Sorry, I didn't get the chance to give it to you last time."

"Oh...you didn't have to give me a present." she said as she got the present from Ji Yong with a smile. "But, gomawo Ji Yong-ah.. This means a lot to me." Bom started opening but he stopped her.

"O, open it when you get home. Not now, I'll feel embarassed." Ji Yong said and covered his face with his two hands.

"Aishh, arasseo." Bom said and stuck her tongue at him. She cleared and glanced at Ji Yong. Their eyes me and Bom quickly looked away. But Ji Yong was still staring at her.

"Yah, Park Bom-ah..." He said in an almost whisper.

"N-ne?" Bom felt a shiver ran down her spine. She looked at him again with her blushing face. She suddenly heard a faint growl from her stomach. Bom's eyes widened. "Aigo, I haven't had dinner yet. Did Ji Yong hear it?"

"Ahaha, my lady is hungry." Ji Yong flashed a cute smile at her. "Come on, let's find something to eat." Bom hit him in his shoulder playfully.

"Eh, I'm not your lady!"

"Yet." Ji Yong thought and smiled to himself. They silently walked towards downtown which wasn't too far away from Bom's street. When they reached the market, the smell of different kinds of street food enticed their senses - ddoekbokki, sundae, corn, fish cakes and other foods that made their mouths drool. Bom's stomach let out another growl. She smiled in embarrassment.

"Aishh, I'm hungry too." Ji Yong exclaimed when they went near the food stalls. He pointed to an empty bench under a tree. "Oh, why don't you wait there, Bom-ah. I'll buy your food. What do you want?"

"Corn." Bom answered with a smile.

"Corn for dinner? Are you addicted to it or something?" He . Bom frowned in reply and walked towards the bench. Ji Yong chuckled and looked at the foods available. "Corn~ how can she be full with just corn?" he thought as he paid for their dinner.

Ji Yong was walking towards the bench when he saw two older looking guys talking to Bom. Bom had a scared expression on your face. Ji Yong quickened his pace.

"Miss~ are you all alone? Let's hang out together and go karaoke, okay?" the taller guy said. Ji Yong put his hand over the guy's shoulder.

"Ahjussi~ is there a problem with my girlfriend?" Ji Yong said with a cocky smile. The two guys backed away as if they weren't doing anything. "Tchh, what a bunch of cowards." Ji Yong said and sat down beside Bom.

"Yah, why did you say I'm your girlfriend.." Bom mumbled.

"O, would you rather be hit on by those two guys?" he asked and handed Bom a stick of corndog.

"Aniyo..that's not what I meant." she replied and felt her face flustered. "O, what's this? Where's my corn?"

"You eat corn all the time~ let's eat corndog instead." Ji Yong smiled to the pouting Bom. "And besides, it still has 'corn' in it, right?"

"Aigoo, it's not the same." Bom said. She took a small bite from her corndog. She was so hungry that she didn't care if it was corn or not. "Oh, this is yummy."

"Told ya~"

"Hmm.. Ji Yong-ah..."

"Hmm?" Ji Yong, who just finished his corndog, looked at Bom.

"This afternoon... during the showcase... what you said on stage." Bom blushed and looked away.

"Oh, that... D-don't mind what I said.." he stammered as he tried to find the right words to say.

"So, you were just joking?"

"Aniyo..." he gulped as he looked straight at Bom's eyes. "I wasn't joking."

"Then what?" Bom said in an almost whisper.

Ji Yong adjusted himself to a more comfortable position and sighed. His heart was pounding so hard that he was afraid that Bom might hear it. He took a deep breath before talking.

"How about this..." he started to say as he looked away at a distance. "What if I'll be gone for a long time, probably be busy with a lot of stuff and I'll no longer have the free time like I used to have. But what if, I also want to keep being like this with you. I don't want to lose you over to someone else."

Bom watched as Ji Yong's voice trailed off. Her corndog on her hand was long forgotten. She wasn't feeling hungry anymore. The feeling was replaced by the pounding of her heart and the warmth of her cheeks. "Is this a confession?" she thought as she kicked an imaginary pebble on the ground. Her eyes shifted back and forth to her hands and to Ji Yong's eyes. There were times that their eyes would met but only for a split second. Bom was too shy to keep an eye contact with him.

"Aishh, what am I saying.." Ji Yong continued after another deep breath. "It's just, I might be gone for a long time and I want you all for myself. This is probably a bit selfish of me, but Park Bom-ah.." Ji Yong looked directly to her eyes again. Bom fought the feeling of wanting to look away.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Bom's eyes widened in shock and her jaw almost dropped. She tried to say something but she was at a loss for words. Her thoughts were lost in Ji Yong's eyes who was still looking at her. She opened to speak but she was cut off by a blushing Ji Yong.

"You don't have to answer right now, Bom-ah." he said and looked away. "But, I hope you think about it."

Bom slowly nodded. She couldn't think of something to reply and felt dry. "Aigo." she said to herself. She felt herself sweating and she wasn't sure if it was from Ji Yong's jacket or from the situation they were in.

"I should probably walk you home now... It's getting late." Ji Yong said and glanced at his wrist watch. The crowd from the market thinned out and some of the stalls were closing.

"Ne," Bom finally said with a shaky voice.

The walk home was a bit awkward and silent. Neither of them talked. Their hands brushed several times, but no one made a move to hold the other's hand.

"Should I talk to her?" Ji Yong asked himself as he glanced at Bom.

"What do I say to him?"  Bom kept repeating to herself. She stole a quick glance at his direction and found him looking at her. 

"Ahh.." they both said at the same time.

"Well, we're here." Ji Yong said as they reached the front of Bom's house.

"Ne, gomawo Ji Yong-ah, for tonight." Bom said and shyly smiled.

"Thank you too for spending time with me." Ji Yong replied. "Kuromnika, see you at school then?"

Bom nodded. They stood there for a while without saying anything. The spring breeze gently passed by. The trees gently swayed and waved. From afar a dog howled. But neither of them took notice.

"I have to go now." Ji Yong finally said.

"Y-yeah.. take care." Bom said as her face flushed.

With a wave of his hand, Ji Yong started to walk the opposite direction. "AIshh, why did things got so awkward all of a sudden? If I didn't confess tonight, it wouldn't be like this." he thought to himself.

~~

Back in Bom's room, she slowly took off the blazer she borrowed from Ji Yong. "Omo, I forgot to return this." she thought.Bom remembered the present in her pocket and took it out. She unwrapped it carefuly and found a small USB flash drive.

"Oh, what's this?" Bom plugged the flash drive to her laptop. It contained 2 music files, 'Lies' and 'We Belong Together.' She played 'We Belong Together.'

'O, this was recorded during the showcase.. Which means, Ji Yong just did this now?" Bom thought to herself. As the song played, she buried her face to her hands. "Aigo, my heart's pounding so fast... Ji Yong just asked me to be his girlfriend..."

Bom got up to get her mobile phone and dialed Dara's number. As she listened to the shrill ring on her phone she thought, "I don't think I can sleep tonight."

~~

update: Jan 31 2013 : ugh, I don't know what went wrong with aff but I just found out now that some parts of this chapter and the next were missing -.- good thing, I updated it now