♪ falling in love with a friend

“Noona,” Minwoo called out in a hushed tone as soon as Aejin entered the room. She had a towel in one hand which she was using at the time to dry out her soaked hair.

“Hm?” She hummed out, not really paying attention to him as she dug through their bag in search for some socks to keep her feet nice and toasty through the night.

“I really like it here.” He narrated happily.

“I like it too.” She agreed effortlessly as she walked over to the bed, sat down and slipped into some gloves made for the feet.

“So why don’t we just stay here for infinity and beyond?” He pondered, using one of his favorite cartoon quotes. And at his curious question, Aejin froze right on the spot, not certain what she was supposed to say. Soon, she stopped drying her hair and just stared at the wooden floor with a blank expression. “Noona?” Minwoo said again because he wanted to regain her focus.

“It’s late,” she stated as she got up. “You should be going to bed now, young man.”

“But noona,” he whined with his shoulders swaying side to side. “You never answered my question.”

“If you don’t sleep now, Minwoo, tomorrow you’ll be waking up looking like a panda.” She warned playfully as she tucked him securely under the covers.

“Tch,” the child blew a rebellious raspberry. “I don’t care. Youngie says she loves pandas anyways.”

“Did I say panda?” Aejin blinked and then tapped her chin. “I meant zombie. You’ll wake up resembling a zombie and I’m sure everyone will run away from you because they’d be really scared, including Miyoung.”

“Zombies aren’t real, dumb-dumb.” Minwoo snorted as he knocked on Aejin’s forehead.

“Hey,” she pouted. “Yes they are. You just haven’t seen any yet.”

“Liar, liar pants on fire.” He chanted out.

“Nuhuh.” Aejin argued back with her hands placed on her hips.

“Noona, you’re silly.” Minwoo giggled.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” She smiled.

“Samchon told me something.” He answered while as his lips tugged into a cheeky grin. With Suho suddenly thrown into the conversation, Aejin did a poor job in concealing her own peaked interests. Unknowingly, her eyes sparkled as she sat next to Minwoo. He could easily tell what she was after but he wasn’t going to spill the beans, especially not after she attempted to frighten him with the whole zombie ruse. “I guess it’s too bad I have to go to sleep though. Well then good night, noona.” He mused. He turned the other way and tried his hardest not to burst out into a laughing maniac.

Aejin’s jaw had literally dropped as she scrunched her brows at his back. “Choi Minwoo,” she spoke sternly.

“Sorry, he’s sleeping.” Minwoo chirped as he snuggled deeper into the blanket which enveloped him.

“Hmph, it’s not like I care. I’ll just have to tell Miyoung how mean you are to me then.” She declared, peering over his shoulder to catch his response. And to her expectations, she witnessed worry and anxiety scattered all across his face (not that a child his age could experience that much of either of those things). Next, he frantically shot up from bed and shifted her way.

“You can’t do that!” He exclaimed.

“Says who?” Aejin smirked teasingly.

“Nooooooona.” Minwoo droned. “This is not fair.”

“What?” She shrugged innocently at him. “It’s not like I did anything wrong.”

“But I can’t tell you what Suho samchon said.” He confessed with his head hung low.

“And why not?” Aejin probed.

“Because,” Minwoo exhaled. “It’s a secret between us men.” He made a fist and thumped his chest. “And I made a promise to him that I wouldn’t say anything to you.”

Aejin her teeth but a smile still blossomed on her face. “Arasso, arasso. I understand. If you made a promise, you have to keep it.”

Realizing she wasn’t going to pester him on the matter made Minwoo very jubilant as he nodded his head eagerly. “That’s right!” He seconded.

“Now how about I tell you a bedtime story before you go to sleep?” She bargained, slipping into the covers as well. She then wrapped an arm around Minwoo while he rested his head against her chest.

“Don’t forget the dragon,” he reminded.

“I won’t.” She assured as she pulled the blanket up to his shoulders. “Once upon a time,” she began, allowing her imaginations to take the reigns. “There was a little boy who was left behind by his family. He was so scared and lonely, always wondering why nobody bothered to stick by his side. He didn’t understand why he was abandoned so abruptly and was sad a lot of the times. So with nothing left to do, he wandered through the woods by himself in search for a new place to call home with no one to rely on until he met a nice girl by a river. She was much older than him, but not old enough to be his grandma or anything. She, too, had no one to depend on but herself and when she found him weeping to himself, she took him to her house and gave him some soup.”

“Noona,” Minwoo whispered drowsily. “The noona in the story sounds just like you.”

Aejin glanced down at him to discover his eyelids were already drooping. “Is that a bad thing?”

He cuddled with her and shook his head. “Ani. I like the noona in the story but you’re much better because you make me macaroni and cheese.”

“Aigoo,” she chortled as she his hair, knowing very well how much faster he fell asleep whenever she did that. “Anyways, after the two of them met, they became very close. It was like they were actually brother and sister. They never left each other’s side and leaned on one another for support and comfort. But then one day, when the girl was out gathering wood, a mean old, fire-breathing dragon jumped down before her. She was so terrified and all she could think about was that little boy. She figured the dragon wanted somebody to have for supper and chose to sacrif—”

Aejin came to a halt when she heard the familiar light snoring belonging to Minwoo. “You always fall asleep before I even finish.” She chuckled quietly. Cautiously, she climbed out of the bed and wrapped Minwoo up to keep him warm. After, she pressed a kiss against his temple and pulled back. “I love you.”

Minwoo shifted slightly before he murmured back, “I love you too.”

“You should become a professional storyteller. I’ve never seen a child fall asleep so fast bef