Predebut Jongin would have definitely been my childhood crush. Inspired by my high school indiscretions.

High school loves are supposed to be great. It’s all done in the naivety of newly hormonal teenagers with one’s heart on their sleeve. Though this wasn’t always the case, Minah fell in the category of the teenager with her heart on her sleeve. So when she set sights on the highly attractive senior – Kim Jongin, she was quite certain it was love at first sight.

“Guys,” she began, as she made her way to the table her friends were sitting at “I need to tell you something.”

There was an instant hush as rounded eyes looked at her expectantly. Hyesu shifted a little, offering her a seat as Minah settled down and leaned forward in the most conspiratorial manner possible. Eunji leaned in too, almost automatically as Minah cleared .

“I might like someone.”

A collective gasp sounded as the rest of group leaned in on the conversation with eager faces. Bora rolled her eyes as the silence lasted and prodded Minah with a “Well? Who is it?”

There was a shy smile on Minah’s face as she looked down at the doodle covered desk “Kim Jongin. The senior? The one in 10 A?”

“Oh, the one who is either in the library or on the football field?” Eunji blinked as Minah vigorously nodded.

“Ah yes, I remember you chatting with him outside the dance studio, although I had no idea what you were doing there.” Hyesu leaned back out of the circle.

“I’ve seen him looking at you!” Bora giggled as Minah’s eyes widened.

“Really?!”

“I’m sure of it!” Bora declared as Minah hyperventilated, there was a buzz that arose from the table as the topic of Kim Jongin was discussed at length.

***

Kim Jongin was unaware of the little gazes in his direction every time he sat in the library, or the unabashed look of awe on Minah’s face every time she peeked into the dance studio to watch him practice.

Jongin was definitely taken aback by the shy smiles he got from her and how her voice suddenly got louder around him. But he didn’t think too much of it. She was an okay kid he supposed, joined in on their football games somewhat awkward on the field, but she looked like she enjoyed it. He’d seen her sit silently in the library, consuming book after book but when he asked her what she was doing, she would be rather awkward and occasionally shooing him off with “shouldn’t you be doing something else?”

She gifted him a box of handmade biscuits as a birthday gift, gazing at him adoringly as he (and the rest of his hooligan friends) devoured them. But very quickly said that they were practice for her Home Economics class (which they were) and he wasn’t anyone special.

But Jongin wasn’t the type to prod any further.

In Minah’s eye’s Jongin could do no wrong.

Jongin was smart – at least she deemed him to be so since he spent a lot of his time reading in the library. He was agile and graceful, on the football field and while dancing in the dance studio. He was confident, awkwardly so, but at the same time, he was shy. As much as Minah thought she was talking a lot to him, she didn’t say much and spent much of her time on conversations with him somewhere in her mind.

Her friends were as supportive as any teenage friends could be, wrapped up in their little world were an accidental glance translated into a romantic gaze and a simple ‘Hi’ was a declaration of love. Naïve as Minah was, she believed them too until of course she saw him hovering around Dambi, a trusted senior and friend from 10 B.

Everyone except Minah missed the subtle way Jongin reached over for Dambi’s hand curled their fingers together. Dambi’s quick smile wasn’t missed either as Minah felt her heart break (or so she thought). She took quick steps back to her classroom, heading to the table she had months ago.

“Guys,” she began, as she made her way to the table her friends were sitting at “I need to tell you something.”