Minwoo, Donghyun, Jeongmin, and Hyunseong walked back from the park, their damp clothes sticking to their sweaty bodies.  Minwoo held a basketball, passing it from hand to hand as they strolled.  They laughed and joked, pushing one another here and there for a snip comment.  Honestly, Minwoo couldn’t say exactly what they were talking about, but he was having fun and he was happy.  Too bad the twins weren’t there as well, but they were with their girlfriends on this lovely day, taking advantage of the perfect weather. 

The boys hadn’t been paying attention to the conversations of others passing by them, but gradually, their comments pierced Minwoo’s skull as he realized they all had the same topic of conversation.

“That one girl was so mean!  How could she be so horrid to her little brother?”

“…So glad that girl showed up.  The poor boy!   His sister was really cruel for yelling…”

“Really convenient that other girl had a camera to make that boy feel better like that.”

“Did you see that?  That girl was so nice!  I wish more  young people were like her.”

Minwoo’s ears perked up, listening vaguely to these conversations. 

What happened?

As they continued down the crowded sidewalk, a figure came into view.  A girl kneeled on the ground, seeming to be wiping something up with some napkins.  Used tissues lay crumpled on the ground next to her.  People watched what she was doing, but no one stopped to help, content with just watching and giving her room to work.  Annoyance coursed through him, wondering why these people couldn’t stop to help her.  Not wanting to have this girl clean up the mess all by herself, he rushed to her side.  Crouching down, he picked up a napkin and started wiping up the mess of spilt ice cream.

“Let me help you,” he offered, although he had already begun.  He didn’t look at the girl, just on their hands as they rid the sidewalk of the sticky melted liquid and squished waffle cone.  Her hands hesitated for a bit before resuming their work.

“Thank you,” she responded, amusement lacing her words.

The voice sounded familiar and Minwoo looked up.  Surprise flashed across his features as he met eyes with the girl.

“Kwangmi? ”

“The one and only,” she replied.

He was at a loss for words, his mind coming up blank.  He said the first thing that came to his mind.  “I didn’t know it was you.”

She giggled.  “Apparently.”

He looked down to cover his blush, continuing to clean.

“Hey Minwoo!  Why’d you just run off so sudden- Oh, Kwangmi!” Jeongmin’s surprise revealed that the maknae hadn’t been to only one not to notice the identity of the girl.

“Yes, it’s me,” she said as she added her used napkin to the pile of rubbish.  Minwoo finished wiping the cement and helped her pick up the trash and throw it in the waste basket.

“What happened here?” asked Donghyun.

Kwangmi shrugged.  “A little boy dropped his ice cream.  I just cleaned it up.  I hate it when people just leave stuff like that on the ground.”

The snippets of conversation Minwoo had heard before snapped together.  “Oh!  I heard that as we were coming.  Something about a picture…” He tried to remember exactly what had happened.

“Oh, right,” Kwangmi added.  “I took a picture of him and the ice cream for my assignment.”

“How did you do that?” Minwoo asked, wondering how she had positioned him.

“I had him take off his shoes and shot a picture of his bare feet with the ice cream on the ground.  It’s actually really cute.  I’ll show it to you once I develop it,” Kwangmi answered.

“I’m sure it will look awesome, knowing your photography skills,” Minwoo complimented.

She nodded.  “I hope so.  Developing it will be the tricky part.  Anything could go wrong during that process.”

“Excuse me,” Jeongmin interrupted, not wanting to be left out of the conversation, “but what exactly are you two talking about?”

Looking sheepishly at each other, Kwangmi briefly related her photography assignment and her and Minwoo’s outing the other day.  Throughout her explanation, Jeongmin’s smile increased until it was a smug grin.

“So that’s what you two did for your date,” Hyunseong nodded in understanding.

“It wasn’t a date!” Minwoo exclaimed.  He Jeongmin.  “What have you been telling everyone?”

Jeongmin’s eyes widened in mock surprise, feigning innocence.  “Why, I have no idea as to what you are talking about.  I merely relayed my observations.  They came to their own conclusions.”

“Observations?” Kwangmi piped up.  “Is your experiment still ongoing?”  Minwoo gave her a confused stare.  “Did he not tell you about that?”

“No, he didn’t,” Minwoo said, returning his gaze to Jeongmin expectantly.

The latter cleared his throat awkwardly.  “Well, this has been fun!  Good seeing you again, Kwangmi.  I best be off!  Hyunseong, come with me.”  Jeongmin grabbed the other by the arm and dragged him away.

“Jeongmin, get back her right now!” Minwoo called, chasing after the fleeing duo.

Kwangmi giggled at the sight.  “Are they always like this?”

Donghyun sighed.  “Unfortunately, yes.  It was good seeing you, Kwangmi, but I best make sure those two don’t kill each other.  Hyunseong can only handle so much.  See you later.”

“Bye!” she returned as he followed the others.  “My, my, I really do need to hang out with those guys more.  Summer will be much more fun if I do.”

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry about this pathetic and late, late update. Life has been so crazy! Now that summer is finally here, maybe I can actually get some updating done. Thank you all for staying with me! It really is appreciated.