Hover your cursor over the Hangul for an English translation.

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“널… 좋아해.”

Two little words, seemingly harmless, and yet capable of sending the world crashing down at your feet.

“Jongup-ah.” you begin softly, trying to swallow back the guilt rising up in your chest. The silt lingers bitterly on your tongue. 

You find it impossible to meet his eyes. It’s for the best. If you see his expression, you’re not sure you’ll have the strength to say the words that need to be said.

Sensing your hesitation, he grabs hold of your wrist and sends you crashing against his chest before you have a chance to speak. He’s holding onto you with a fierceness that hurts. He knows that as soon as he lets you go, it’ll all be over — this murky uncertainty that he had let himself see hope in.

You give him some time to just be, and he fills it by breathing lightly into your hair, memorizing the moment. After a while, you slide a hand up and position your palm flat against his chest. You’re beginning to ease him gently away when a sound at the door catches both of your attentions.

You turn your heads, eyes widening when you find Zelo in the doorframe, carrying an armful of ice cream bars.

“H-hyung.” he stutters, eyes going wide. He glances back and forth between the two of you, panic etching its way across his boyish features.

“Zelo, wait.” you call out in warning, stepping out of Jongup’s embrace and towards the door. But it’s too late. The younger boy ducks quickly out of the room and races down the hallway, disappearing out of sight in a flash.

You turn to Jongup, mouth fumbling uselessly with the words. There’s so much you need to say, and yet you can’t bring yourself to voice any of it. At least not now. Not when — You glance quickly down the empty hallway, fidgeting anxiously.

Jongup watches you with a grim expression. Eventually, he shoves his hands in his pockets and nods his head towards the door.

“It’s okay.” he mumbles, looking anywhere but at you. “Go.”

You hesitate a beat, but can’t resist the pull that edges you forward.

“I’m really sorry.” you finally choke out weakly as you back out of the room before taking off down the hallway at a run.

You run without thinking — simply let your feet take you by instinct down the well-traversed road. They slow to a stop of their own accord, and when you pause to study your surroundings, you find yourself in the small children’s park near the studio. A silhouette sits slumped on an abandoned swing set. Its back is to you, but the carnage of discarded ice cream wrappers on the ground are all the clues you need.

“Hey.” you say quietly as you approach, reaching out a hand and placing it on his shoulder. He shakes you off, avoiding your eyes with a childish stubbornness.

“Go away.” he grumbles, taking an enormous bite of ice cream as he fights to quiet his sniffling. Your features draw up instantly in concern.

“Please talk to me.” You take a seat on the swing next to him, rocking absently on your heels. “I’m your friend.”

Zelo flinches at the word ‘friend,’ but still refuses to look in your direction. He kicks absently at pebbles with the tip of sneakers, the silence broken only by the occasional crinkle of ice cream wrappers as he munches gloomily on the treat.

“What’s wrong?” you try again. He’s silent for a long time, before finally:

“Why does it have to be him?” he mumbles, almost too quiet to make out. Then, suddenly, he turns to face you, voice raising in desperation.

“Why that hyung?” he shouts, frustration building up in his eyes, then spilling over in a deluge of fresh tears. He swipes at them angrily with the sleeve of his hoodie, but they continue to fall. Any of the members would have been bad enough, but Jongup — his closest friend — was too much.

“If it’s him… if it’s that hyung, then I…” his words break off into silence and he hangs his head low, expelling a shaky sigh.

“Do you think I asked for this?” you retort, grimacing. “It kills me to even think about hurting him.”

“Why would you hurt him?” Zelo pats at his eyes with the ends of his sleeves. He takes in a few unsteady gulps of air, forcing himself to calm down. Tantrums are for children, and in front of you, he’s only ever wanted to be seen as a man.

“He’s not…” You grip the chains of the swing tightly, hoping to draw out some sort of courage from them. Your knuckles grow white under the pressure. 

“He’s not the one that I want.” you say, quiet, but firm.

What feels like a small eternity passes before Zelo lifts his head hesitantly, looking at your for the first time with wet eyes.

“Then would you consider me?” he says with a sudden courage that surprises you. “If you would just wait for me, _______, I promise I’ll grow up to become a man you respect.”

A soft smile blooms across your lips.

“No.” you say, shaking your head defiantly. “I’m not waiting.”

Zelo looks a bit taken aback, before his cheeks flame up in embarrassment. 

“아이씨, isn’t that too harsh?” he says, trying to hide his disappointment. “You could have at least pretended to think about it.”

“What I mean is,” you say, rocking sideways so your swing is positioned next to his. Your fingers curl around his chain, locking the two of you together. He glances over at you curiously, questions forming hot on his lips. You silence him by speaking first.

“You’re already that guy for me. And I don’t want to waste any more time.”

You lock eyes, and he stares back at you, transfixed as if in a dream. Gulping a breath to steady your nerves, you quickly lean in and press your lips against his.

Soft. All you can think about is how soft his lips are, and how they still taste like ice cream.

You pull away just as quickly as you had initiated it and give him a shy smile. He simply stares back at you, a dumb expression on his face as his cheeks begin to color once more. He raises a hand hesitantly to his lips, touching as if to confirm what he felt had been real.

Your name tumbles hesitantly from his soft, sweet lips. When he speaks, it’s a question.

“날… 좋아해?” he asks at last, almost afraid to hear the answer. Afraid to shatter the dream he’s living.

"Yeah." you say with a small giggle. "I like you."

Zelo envelops you in a fierce hug, pulling you up off your swing and into his lap. You laugh brightly as the tip of his nose buries against the nape of your neck.

“고마워!” 

He thanks you over and over again, earning more laughter. You respond by stealing one of his hands from around your waist and linking your fingers with his. You kiss the top of his knuckles sweetly, causing him to smile as widely as you’d ever seen before.

Two little words. Two perfect little words with the power to make everything right again.