Sunggyu P.O.V

          There comes a time in a relationship when someone will ‘drop the L-word bomb,’ as they say, and in our five-month relationship, it was Woohyun who did the duty. “I love you,” he said. “I love you, too,” I answered back. The words fell like paint out of my mouth. They unnatural and tasted funny: so easy to say, and yet they were like a tough steak and I was a vegetarian.

        It was my senior year in high school. I was eager to break out of the silly little life I had awkwardly outgrown, and Woohyun was the sailor who could rescue me from my desert island of high-school kookiness. He did, I suppose, but it was more than that. He was like no one I had ever met. He treated me like I was the only person in the world. If Cameron Diaz walked by, he wouldn’t turn his head. I was all he needed and all he wanted. Everyone else was out to focus in his eyes while I was crystal clear. No one had ever loved me the way Woohyun had. No one else could convince me that, even after a wisdom-tooth operation, I was beautiful, and that I had a ‘lovely’ voice as I belted out Guns and Roses’ ‘Sweet Child of Mine.’

        When Woohyun first told me that he loved me, I froze. We were lying side-by-side under the stars on the sand of Moonlight Beach when it happened. I had been told ‘I love you’ before, but Woohyun was the first person who of out-of-body experiences, but had never really understood how they could happen. At that moment, though, I could actually see myself stiffen and visualize my words tumbling out of my mouth. He smiled at me, and we kissed.

       That moment stayed with me for weeks; in fact, it’s still with me in the archives of my memory. We exchanges ‘I love yous’  like baseball cards. And within a couple of weeks, ‘I love you’ became our universal language. ‘I love you’ meant hello, good bye, I’m sorry, I’m happy, kiss me and thanks for lunch. Those three little words, those eight little letters, could sum up just about anything. I said them without thinking or feeling.

       I forgot that there was actually supposed to be meaning behind them. And then one day I realized that, even though I loved Woohyun and knew that I could fall in love with him, I was not ‘in love’ with him, not yet. I had to tell him. I had to stop the hollow words that became the bookends to our verbal communication.

NO ONE P.O.V

Sunggyu and Woohyun sat in the silence of their truck for what seemed like hours.

        “I love you,” Woohyun said.

        Silence.

        “Babe? I love you.” His voice rose, and his eyes became question marks. The sound of silence filled the interior and slowly rose like smoke out the window.

        “Listen, Hyunnie,” Sunggyu said. “Don’t say that. Please. I’m not ready. I can’t say it back right now. I mean, I love you, I do, but I’m not in love with you. Please give me time. I want to mean it, I want to mean it with my whole heart, and right now…I don’t. I’m sorry.” Sunggyu looked at him, into those glass eyes, waiting them to break.

          Woohyun smiled softly and nodded.

          “Okay,” he said. “You’re right. I know how I feel. I am in love with you, Gyu, but you need to find out for yourself. You need to tell me  without me saying it first.” He reached over and kissed Sunggyu on the forehead.

          “No more hollow ‘I love you’,” he said. “No more reciprocation. This isn’t ‘monkey see, monkey do’!”

          Sunggyu agreed, thanking him for understanding, and they went on, acting more and saying less.

          ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

          Three weeks later, they were at the movies when it happened. Suddenly, with great force, Sunggyu heart was flattened against his chest like wallpaper. He looked over at Woohyun and he (Sunggyu) knew. He was the most beautiful thing Sunggyu had ever seen. He was glowing. All those times Woohyun had looked at Sunggyu as if he was the world, and now Sunggyu sat overcome by his presence and the tingles that filled Sunggyu body. He (Woohyun) was alive, the enigma of all that was heartfelt, and at that moment Sunggyu was in love with Woohyun.

          Sunggyu lifted his chin and slowly moved his lips against Woohyun ear.

          “I love you,” he said, and this time his words were soft like cotton. He could feel his heart echo as the words fell out into the darkness.

          Woohyun turned, slowly, and with a tear in his eye answered back.

          “I love you too, Gyu,” he said, kissing Sunggyu.

                                                                                      (810 words)

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여로분, 사랑해 <3 <3

감사함니다 >_<