A few months ago.

                “Annyeonghaseyo. Kang Min Hyuk imnida.” I introduced myself in front of the class while bowing 90^o to my entire class mates.

                It was my first day at my new school so I was feeling a little bit nervous. I roamed my gaze around the room, scanning the faces of my soon-to-be friends. Apparently, this class has more boys than girls. But thanks to my fortune, all the girls in this class were pretty, especially the one who was sitting at the front, right by the window.

                She had straight long brunette hair that fell perfectly to her back. Her skin was pearly white. She was looking at me, just like the other students in here. But her gaze looked different. Her eyes were so mesmerizing, I could not even look at her back in the eye.

                “Min Hyuk-ssi has just moved from Seoul. I hope you can have a good time studying here.” Said Park-sonsaengnim, the homeroom teacher, to his class. “Now, you can sit over there, right behind Joo Hyun-ssi.”

                I realized he was pointing to a seat behind her. Now I know her name.

                “Ne.” I bowed to him. Nobody knew how hard my heart was beating as I walked closer to her. She kept looking at me like with a smile on her face. And as I took my seat, she turned around and introduced herself.

                “Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Seo Joo Hyun. But most people just call me Seohyun. Nice to meet you.”

                “Ne, nice to meet you too.” I smiled back, “Your satoori is a little off. Aren’t you from Busan?”

                “I was born in Seoul, actually. But I grew up here.”

                “Ah, so we have the same hometown!”

                “I see.. I’m so glad I can find a friend from my old hometown.” Her smile grew wider, making her eye disappeared. She looked so cute like that, “Ah, Min Hyuk-ah, since we’re the same age, I think we can talk comfortably to each other, can’t we?”

                “Of course! I was thinking about the same thing just now.”

                “So, chingoo?”

                “Chingoo.” I nodded. I did not realize that that was the start of everything.

*

                Day by day, I fell more for this girl. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because her lively spirit and her bold expression towards almost everything around her. She was so comfortable with herself, therefore, she made me feel very comfortable around her. That was why I like being with Seohyun.

                First, I thought it was just a good feeling towards a new friend. But the more I spent time with, the more confusing it gets.

                I was not sure about what I felt until I saw her walking home with a senior at school. He was not taller than I was. He had this ‘bad boy’ expression on his face, though I had to admit that he looked okay.

                They were obviously close because both of them were laughing and joking the whole time. I did not know about him but as I looked at her, I know that she looked at him differently. It was not the same with the way she looked at me the other day in class. It was warmer. I wondered who that guy is.

                And little by little, jealousy started to creep in.

*

                A few days after that, I saw her paying for her lunch by herself. That senior was nowhere to be seen, so I decided to approach her. I have prepared two boxes of banana milk, one for me, and one for her.

                “Seohyun, annyeong! Here.. I brought you banana milk.” I offered her a box. At first, she looked at me with a confuse expression, maybe she was surprised with my sudden appearance.

                “Milk is good for your health.” I smiled.

                “Thank you.” She smiled back as she received the milk.

                “Do you want to go back to class? We can walk together.”

                “No, actually I want to go to the basketball hall. But you can go ahead. I’ll see you in class.”

                “I didn’t know you play basketball.” Truthfully, I did think that she fit the image of an athlete at all.

                “Oh, I don’t play. I’m meeting Yong Hwa there.”

                Yong Hwa? Was it the senior I saw her walking home with the other day?

                “Your boyfriend?” I asked carefully. I did not want to offend her or made her feel uncomfortable with my need to ask.

                She laughed hard at my question. I was confused, did I ask the wrong question?

                “Why did you laugh? Did I say something funny?” I looked at her and blinked my eyes a few times.

                “No..” She said after catching her breath, “It was just weird picturing Yong as my boyfriend.”

                Yong? Is it a nickname she gave him?

                “So he’s not?” I asked again. This time, even though I still felt a little bit uneasy, I managed to have a little smile on my face. I tried to hold it but the happiness in me just burst out like fireworks. If she didn’t have a boyfriend, then I had a chance to make it work with her.

                Kang Min Hyuk, fighting!

                “Nope. He’s my best friend.” She nodded to emphasize her statement that nothing more was going on between her and that Yong Hwa guy. “By the way, I should go. Thank you for the milk.”

                Then I waved her goodbye, “See you in class.”

*

                When I saw her name blinking on the screen of my cellphone, I was caught off guard. It was Sunday and I never thought that she would call me out of the blue like this. I hesitated for a while. Should I pick up the phone? What would I say to her? What if I said something embarrassing?

                The phone kept ringing until I decided to take a leap and picked it up.

                “Yoboseyeo?”

                “Min Hyuk-ah, annyeong! It’s Seo Hyun.”

                “Ne.. What’s up?” I asked her. What’s up? Are you in the nineties or something?!

                “What are you doing today?” She asked me bluntly. Did she want to ask me out?

                “Hm..” I looked at my drum set at the corner of my bedroom. I was supposed to have private lesson on playing drums with my Dad this afternoon. Until this morning, I was very excited to have a drum lesson. But after hearing Seo Hyun’s question, suddenly I was not so eager anymore, “Nothing. Wae?”

                “Good!” I can almost see her smiling through the phone, although it was impossible. But she sounded so cheerful. I could not help but smiling too. “Yong and I are going to have lunch at Haeundae. You should come with us. We’ll show you the greatness of Busan.”

                Did I hear her mentioned his name again? How close were they, exactly? I was curious. I wanted to know more about him. I needed to dip my toe in the water if I wanted to know how cold the lake is, right? You see, I did not think of that Yong Hwa guy as a competition. Yet. But as a guy, I had to check out my perimeter. And that guy was lurking around the perimeter I just set around Seo Hyun.

                “Okay. Where should I meet you?”

                “Let’s meet at Haeundae Metro Station in one hour. Is that okay?”

                “Okay. I’ll see you in one hour.”

*

                Unlike what I imagined, Haeundae beach on a Sunday was surprisingly not packed with people. I thought it would be full of human beings getting their sun shower. But I was wrong.

                Haeundae on a Sunday was actually really nice. We ate at a sashimi place by the beach. I had never eaten sashimi as delicious as this one. The whole time we eat, I only let out a satisfactory sound. All kinds of seafood were available on the table. I must be embarrassing myself.

                “Ya, you never eat sashimi before?” Yong Hwa asked me. We introduced ourselves earlier. Now I know that he was in third year and had been best friend with Seo Hyun since forever. He was actually a decent guy. I was wrong about the ‘bad boy’ ambience from him. He was not a bad boy, but more like a childish 17-year-old. He kept playing with Seo Hyun. He acted really weird towards Seo Hyun, especially when I was around. He kept standing between me and Seo Hyun. Whenever we talked about something that Yong Hwa would now know, like about our class, he would immediately changed the topic and talked about something else.

                I knew from experience what kind of act was that. It was jealousy.

                “Of course I have. But this one is the most delicious sashimi that I have ever had.” I explained with mouth full of food.

                “You’re in Busan. Great sashimi is a sure thing.” He said with pride.

                “So are the girls.” I added, intended to flirt with Seo Hyun. I could not look at her eyes, but I could never forget the look on Yong Hwa’s face as I said that statement. I knew that in his head, he was also checking his perimeter. Just like what I was doing.

                Right at that moment, I was sure that he, too, had feelings for Seo Hyun.

*

*God Put A Smile Upon Your Face is a song performed by Coldplay