1) He likes that Jungwoo puts up with him.

“I want to punish you, tell me how.”

“I’m not going to tell you how to punish me.”

“Look at it this way, I’m giving you a say!”

“You can.. take away my starcraft?”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“You can take away my Legend of Zelda.”

“I don’t know how to do that either. Could I just take away your internet?”

“You don’t know how to take away Legend of Zelda, but you know how to take away the internet.”

“I don’t really know how it works. Just be with me.”

“Just yank my gameboy away, but – I like being with you so okay.”

“Thank you.”

2) He likes that Jungwoo is kind even when he says he’s not.

 “For valentine’s day, let’s go to the orphanage and make chocolates for the kids there.”

“Oh. Yes. Yes, I’d like that.”

“I think maybe we can get little trinkets for the girls, too. Just to make them feel like they aren’t alone on Valentine’s.”

“You’re amazing.”

“Not really. I just think they deserve it.”

“Yes, love. They do.”

3) He likes that Jungwoo always has the sun’s entirety glaring off the bridge of his nose.

“Is shine even good for your complexion?”

“Why’s that matter?”

“What if I start breaking out in acne?”

“You won’t.”

“And if I do?”

“We’ll fix it!”

“We can prevent it now, though!”

“Unnecessary. I like your shiny nose. It’s like, my seventieth favorite thing about you.”

4) He likes that Jungwoo keeps lists.

“Why do you keep lists?”

“I don’t know, lists are pretty neat.”

“I guess you’re pretty neat.”

“I guess you’re pretty neat, too.”

“Still too lazy for a list.”

“I’ll take care of the lists, you just be lazy.”

“Okay!”

5) He likes that Jungwoo is, like, forever five years old.

“Go fix yourself dinner.”

“I don’t know what to fix.”

“You’re a grownup, figure it out!”

“I’m five. I want chicken nuggets. Feed me.”

“I guess that’s okay, too. Dinner for a five year old is a lot easier than dinner for a grownup.”

“And mac and cheese!”

“With asparagus.”

“No.”

6) He likes that Jungwoo collects plastic toys [and that Jungwoo doesn’t like calling them toys].

“My shelves are just of my action figures.”

“You put… books into boxes and action figures… on shelves.”

“You don’t like carrots.”

“That is not a valid comeback.”

“I know, but it’s all I have!”

“Hehe, I think the two should be allowed to coexist. Maybe.”

“Carrots and books?”

“Books and toys.”

“Oh. Hey! They are not Toys, they are Action Figures.”

“Dolls, then.”

“Action figures!”

“Right.”

7) He likes that Jungwoo keeps the future in mind.

“I like blue curtains, let’s get blue curtains.”

“All right. Blue curtains.”

“I like it when you humor me.”

“I like it when you say let’s.”

“Oh, and when we move out of the school and get our own apartment – let’s get a big bed. I like big beds.”

“Yes, love. Let’s get a big bed.”

8) He likes that Jungwoo is well-rounded.

“It’s really cool that you can do both science and the arts. I always used to think you can only have one and the chemistry thing you do is really awesome. I wish I could find it that easy.”

“It’s not so bad. I mean, everything seems hard when you read about it, but when you do it, it’s not so hard. Like math.”

“Math is harder for some reason.”

“You just hate math.”

“Shut up.”

9) He likes that Jungwoo remembers where his roots are.

“Why do you like legos so much, anyway?”

“I’ll tell you a story about legos. You see, there’s this thing –”

“Called patterned underwear?”

“Yes, but. When I was younger and didn’t have a home yet, the orphanage I was raised in lived very well off donations from generous people. Stuff like school supplies and clothes for the kids, oh! And sometimes even bigger things like amusement park tickets for the older kids to go out together. You know, I was always so grateful when people would donate things that weren’t clothes or worn out books because then it was like, “wow! I can actually use this!” Then again, I was a child so clothes were boring. I’d go if I could.”

“Of course.”

“Anyway, you know those, like, really big blocks that weren’t really legitimate legos, but the adults said they were the same thing anyway despite the fact that they only came in one size and were meant for babies? We got a big tub of those one day and I was so, so, so, so excited because the colors were pretty and it was really shiny and the tub looked like it hadn’t been opened yet.  So, like, I opened the tub first and my best friend then – his name was Hyunshik – decided to join me and I remember we played all day with them. Though, they didn’t really make much. Just towers. But we pretended they were swords after we were done pretending that they were towers so it wasn’t that bad. I don’t know, it was just a silly thing where I was convinced these were the only kind of legos out there in the world, but that was okay because people are nice and I’d rather have those stupid big blocks than no big blocks.

Then one day, Hyunshik told me that there were these cooler little brick things that could all these cool buildings and everything and I was like “no way. You lie.” But he wasn’t lying and how desperately I wanted those cool little brick things that could make houses and buildings and came with little people that didn’t have proper hands, but were cool anyway. Around Christmas season that year, I had asked the mother who was taking care of us that time to put it on the list of things we would like to have for Christmas. Of course, we never got them and I’m pretty sure it’s because she never put it on the list because of those darn stupid big blocks that were “legos” but weren’t really legos.

And then I told Hyunshik that we’ll have legos one day and that we can build really cool swords out of them because surely, if they were able to make houses and buildings and everything, then swords shouldn’t be a problem, right?

I don’t even know where he is now. I was adopted first and we lost contact about five-six months after that. I’m sure he’s building lego stuff, though. If not then I’ll be mad at him. But generally, yeah. I think that’s why I like legos so much. It’s kind of silly.”

“Please don’t stop talking, I love you.”

10) He likes Jungwoo because Jungwoo is the best Jungwoo [oh, and that he’s very handsome.]

“You know how many lines of symmetry are in a circle?”

“Infinite.”

“That’s how much I love you and I guess your face is one of my most favorite things ever.”

“You just like my nose.”