AJ and Luna: Age 17/16

(AJ’s POV)

“AJ oppa…!” a high pitched voice shrieked from across the room.

I lifted my head from my desk, startled. “Oh, it’s you Luna. What’s up?” I greeted.

Luna and I met when we started high school. I was a year older than she was but we were in the same class. I’d only known her for a short while before we went on break.

She ran over and took the empty seat beside me. “Oppa! I missed you during the break. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, well, for the most part,” I answered thinking about the incident at the beach just a week ago.

“What did you do? Why didn’t you call me?” she asked.

“Oh, sorry. I spent the entire vacation with my best friends,” I answered politely, although I wasn’t really in the mood to talk. And honestly, I had forgotten about it.

She leaned in closer and poked me on the cheek. “What’s wrong oppa? Why the gloomy face?”

Although I felt a little annoyed, her cheerful disposition was infectious and I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t want to talk to her about my problem so I just changed the subject. “So what did you do?”

She got really excited. “My family and I went to LA! It was amazing! I had so much fun!” she boasted.

“If you weren’t around, why did you ask me to call you?”

“Eeiii… I just wanted to see if you really would. But you didn’t,” she pouted.

“So… you went to LA? You know that’s my hometown? I’m kind of jealous you got to go. I really miss it,” I confessed.

“Really? I didn’t know that. Oh my gosh, that’s so cool. LA is so big and there are so many things to do. You must have had a lot of fun there.”

“I did… but… I like it here too. Jjung and Ssul always make things interesting,” I grinned just thinking about all our times together.

“Who’s Jjung and Ssul?”

“My best friends… the ones I mentioned earlier…”

She frowned. “Why haven’t I met them? They’re not imaginary are they?” she giggled.

I wanted to tell her to leave me alone. Why is she always hanging around me? And why does she always have so many questions?

I sighed. I’d barely known this girl but somehow she’s formed an attachment to me. It’s obvious she kind of has a crush on me. She’s never hid it and she’s not shy about it either. I had to admit, she’s pretty cute but I don’t really feel anything for her. Even though she could be a little annoying sometimes but she was so adorable I didn’t have the heart to be mean to her.

“They’re in a grade below. You’ll meet them next year,” I explained.

“So you’re planning on introducing me to them next year?” she asked with a bright smile.

Oh, no! Did I really just say that? Is she going to be stuck on me for the entire year? I just shrugged.

Fortunately, the bell rang just in time. Class started and Luna went back to her seat.

I couldn’t pay attention to the lesson at all that day. I kept staring out the window wondering what the other two were up to. School just started again but I already missed them despite having spent the entire summer together.

I wondered how Ssul was doing after nearly drowning. When she told me the story of how her fear of water started, I felt really guilty that I pushed her into going to the beach. After all, if I hadn’t then she wouldn’t have gotten into that situation in the first place. It was lucky that Jjung got there in time to save her, although… I wished it was me.

I never thought I would like Ssul that way. It was a strange feeling because she was always just like a sister to me… that was until my 16^th birthday party. When she walked in wearing that dress, my heart skipped a beat. Ever since, I’d been trying to figure out what to do about these feelings. In a way, I felt as though I was betraying my best friend. I was pretty sure Ssul likes Jjung, and I thought Jjung liked her back despite his denial. I wished they would just get together already so I didn’t have to think about this whole situation. But it wasn’t my place to interfere. I’d already been trying, little by little, to make them realize their feelings for each other but either those two were extremely stubborn headed or they’ were just plain stupid. Honestly, it was probably the second.

It was a wonder to me how Jjung could be so blind to the fact that Ssul had a crush on him. It was so obvious. The way she looked at him. The way she smiled at him. The way she always found some little way of touching him. It was clear as day. Jjung was a little more difficult to figure out though. He tended to keep his feelings hidden but I could tell that he really cared about Ssul. Whenever she was in trouble, he would come to the rescue. There was no way he only liked her like a sister.

I was still unsure about how they both felt until the day at the hospital. After the doctor asked me to call Jjung’s parents, I made the call immediately. It really only took a few minutes but when I got back to the room, I saw Ssul crying for Jjung. I had repeatedly told her to get some rest but she insisted on waiting by his bedside until he woke up. When he carried her back to her bed, I felt a pang of jealousy which I quickly push aside. I had no right to be jealous. They were my best friends and they liked each other. I wanted them to be happy. I pretended not to have seen anything but it was really killing me on the inside. Even after I entered the room, Ssul didn’t let go of Jjung’s hand. She must have been really scared and worried. That was why I made the excuse of getting her tea… I just wanted to leave them alone. I didn’t actually leave though. I was secretly watching from outside. Ssul seemed so at peace as Jjung her hair. My heart was in a lot of pain but at the same time, I was resolved to help those two realize their feelings for each other…

The day went by pretty quickly considering I couldn’t think about anything else. I still had to come up with a plan for those two.

“AJ oppa!”

I let out a heavy sigh and spun around to find Luna running after me. I already knew it was her that was calling me, it was unmistakable.

“Hey Luna…” I greeted.

“Oppa, you’re heading this way right?”

“Yes… why?”

“I’m going this way too. Let’s go together!” she circled her arm around mine and dragged me along.

If only I wasn’t such a nice guy…

“Oppa, are you hungry?” she asked as we walked.

“Not really but I haven’t actually eaten anything…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence when she pulled me into a bakery nearby.

“Oppa, what do you want? I’ll buy it for you,” she offered.

“I’m really not…”

“You need to eat something, oppa! You’re so skinny,” she cut me off yet again.

She picked out a few pastries and ordered two lattes. I knew that if I tried to object, she would just continue doing whatever she wanted anyway so I just went along with it. I couldn’t let her pay though so I paid instead.

We sat down and I ate a piece of pastry and sipped on my latte. She continued to talk about stuff she was interested in but I wasn’t really paying attention. I wasn’t trying to be rude or anything, it was just that my mind was preoccupied.

“Luna, I think we should really get going. It’s getting quite late,” I told her.

“Okay oppa. But wait before we go, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?” I asked absentmindedly.

“You want to go watch a movie with me next Saturday? I really want to watch a movie but I have no one to go with,” she asked.

“I don’t know…”

“Please oppa, please!” she pleaded with aegyo.

I wanted to reject her but I just couldn’t. It would be too pitiful so I said okay.

As we walked out, I thought we would be heading in the same direction. However, she stopped short and waved goodbye to me.

“Aren’t you going this way too?” I questioned, feeling puzzled.

“I lied,” she replied as she flashed me one of her big smiles. “Actually I’m heading that way. I just wanted to walk with you. Bye, oppa! I’ll see you tomorrow.” And then she skipped off in the opposite direction.

I just shook my head and went on my way.