Eunberry

The snow was falling down hiding footprints of people who were trying to find a shelter in this cold weather. What did they expect? It´s winter after all. Maybe I´ll seem a bit childish to you, but I think, that snow belongs to the atmosphere. Lots and lots of snow, so the streets and lamps are covered and look like a well-done wedding cake. Not just childish, even impractical, I have to get somehow home after this. And by "this" I mean my date. I´m waiting for my companion at this beautiful snow covered square. Apparently, she lives somewhere nearby.

I met my girl on the internet. I know, mom always says it´s dangerous and definitely not healthy, but I´m just sure, Eunberry is my destined one. From what I got to know about her, she is very kind, easy-going, witty, sometimes a bit shy but all in all absolutely lovely. We have even similar hobbies, which is strange since she is a girl. But why shouldn´t she like soccer and driving around in a car? The best is, she likes dancing. I can´t wait to go to a club with her, we will steal the dance floor, yeah. And just like that I let my fantasy go wild since I´m such a cliché guy, or a romantic if you prefer that term.

But of course, what I am the most curious about is her appearance. Unlike me she hasn´t told me how does she look like nor has sent me her photo. All I could get out of her was, that she likes changing her hairstyle and that she looks "like a monkey", that´s what she said and I´m going to argue, because Eunberry is surely the most beautiful woman out there.

I was getting really anxious and insanely nervous. What if I screw up? What if she doesn´t like me? What if she saw me and just left? I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn´t notice a person approaching. Maybe if I did, I would have some time to run away. But I didn´t and that ended all my stupid "what ifs".

"Uh, hello," deep and shaky voice suddenly woke me up from my silly rambling.

"Hi? Do we know each other?" I said still unsuspecting.

"Uh, well kind of. I´m Lee Hyukjae." I couldn´t understand who this stranger was but somehow I got a bad feeling about him. "Lee Donghae, can I help you?"

"How should I put this," the guy continued to study his boots while probably thinking of a way to solve this great mystery, while I couldn´t think of anything else but my… "Eunberry!" A loud shout, a word vomit maybe, resonated through the square. It caught few people by surprise including me.

"What did you just say?" I should have probably listened to what this strange guy has been saying.

"M-my nickname is Eunberry, Donghae…" The last word was just a whisper, but it sounded like a great mockery to my ears. Was this all only a big joke? Or is this my punishment for not listening to my mom? I wanted to shout at him and even beat him up. How can he play with people´s feelings like that?! But as I was to execute my plan to scold this jerk, I made a big mistake to look into his eyes. Innocent, honest, scared, teary. Yeah, this is probably Eunberry.

Sigh, "Hyukjae, right?" He nodded and chewed his bottom lip. "What is this all about? A prank or some kind of a game or are you really interested in a guy? If you are then there are different sites, you know." I tried to sound as calm as possible.

Hyukjae finally let go of his lip, which was by now bloody red. "I-I didn´t mean any harm, trust me. I just wanted to chat with you as a friend, I mean it, but you turned out to be more than compatible with me. I felt really comfortable talking to you and didn´t even realize, that you are straight and not like me. It was too late already when I did realize and I didn´t know how to break it to you, and maybe I didn´t want to break it to you in the first place. I´m sorry, Donghae, I really am. But I am not going to back away now. I´m not telling you to like me, all I want is one evening. We don´t even have to call it a date, it´s just hanging around with a... friend? How about it?" The look in his eyes changed. Courage, hope and a hint of playfulness. Yeah, this too is the Eunberry I know.

"Okay", I found myself answering. He wasn´t mean and while he was talking, in hope to get away from that strong gaze, I took my time to study his other features. White skin (almost as the snow cumulating on his hat), pointy nose (no, not as much as a fox), manly eyebrows (the only thing that looked a bit mean on this cute guy) and plump lips (now red and swollen from his never-ending attempts to eat up his own bottom lip). No, I wasn´t admitting he could pass as a girl. I didn´t change my preferences, but we could be friends, right? And who was I to destroy someone else´s efforts. "But it´s not a date," I emphasized.

"Thanks, it means a lot to me, you know." Hyukjae smiled and I saw it for the first time that evening, a smile occupying half of Hyukjae´s face. From ear to ear, up to the nose. And it wasn´t ugly.

Hyukjae immediately started talking again all shyness out of the window. I let him decide on the whole programme but he let me pick a place for dinner. If tonight doesn´t turn out well, I´ll at least get to eat tacos.

If you ask me today, how was the evening. I don´t know. It went so fast, so I don´t remember half of the things we did or talked about.

We went skating and Hyukjae fell like a hundred times. He could skate well, but he always ended up on the ground because of something like a dropped glove or tying shoelaces. His clumsiness continued through the whole date and it was kinda cute. When we went to drink hot chocolate, he spilled the whole thing on his hat, laid on the table. I made him put it there, because I was curious about his hairstyle. Hyukjae had rusty and long hair but black and cut on sides. It looked cool, I must visit my hairdresser soon too. We also went to a mall and ate dinner. Hyukjae is such a picky eater, and I wasn´t even surprised. When he took off his coat I immediately understood what he meant by monkey features. He didn´t get mad when I reminded him of that.

The whole evening, I felt exactly the same as talking to him on the internet. He wasn´t pretending, just being himself. I was worried, he would try to seduce me or something, blame my overthinking mind. We were talking casually about our family, friends, jobs and interests, true not any girl likes soccer and driving. He does. I can tell he is a kind and warm person. Yeah, this is... Hyukjae.

We ended up on that square again. I believe we both had a nice evening and I felt warm inside. The snow was still falling and wetting Hyukjae´s hair as we stood there, not knowing what to say. Sometimes during the evening If we stopped talking, the silence would be strangely calm and comfortable. Now it was just plain awkward.

"Well, I had fun tonight. Thanks, Hyukjae. I should be going now, it´s late. Be careful on your way." I broke the silence and smiled.

"Mm, you too, Donghae." Hyukjae gave me his last half-the-face smile. I couldn´t see his eyes under all those wrinkles. Then he turned around, put his hands into pockets and started walking away in the direction he first came.

Tonight turned up better than I had expected. I wasn´t rejected, had fun and my Eunberry was as adorable as I imagined him to be. Now I can go and sleep with calm heart. Good I didn´t take his number or I would be fretting whether to call or not by now. I should also delete my account on that site and look for a girl myself. Hyukjae lives nearby so I don´t have to worry, if he came home safely. It´s still snowing and he doesn´t have a hat. Why did I ask him to put it down… How would I look for a girl? Maybe I could ask Hyukjae.

Suddenly I realized. Not just that all my thoughts ended up with Hyukjae, but I was still standing frozen on that damn square. What the hell am I doing here? My legs started moving in the direction opposite to where I live. Hyukjae went this way, right? He left minutes ago, I can catch up to him. I was sure, I was not in love and I was still straight. But does it matter? I don´t really know. Who is this Lee Hyukjae? My imaginary girlfriend, my real best friend, my arch nemesis.

I saw him a few feet from me. His back was slouched and I was wondering if he has been attempting to fit himself into his pockets. I ran to him and called his name. When he turned around, I saw tears in his eyes. Well, I should have expected that. Hyukjae looked at me surprised and I don´t blame him for that. So I stopped huffing and puffing and caught my breath.

"Hey Hyuk, give me your number."

-The End-