With the first week of class finally over, the weekend was just around the corner and it left Cheolyong with a question burning at the tip of his tongue. As he was packing up his backpack, he glanced up at Lina, who was busy with her bag, before looking back down.‘It’s now or never…’

“Lina… What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Hmm, going to the market with Grandma, why?”

“O-oh, hmm… I was kind of hoping that we could maybe spend the day together? You know, like we could… hang out.”

“And where would we go?” She smiled at him, curious to see how far he thought about it since they both knew there wasn’t really much that could be done around here for entertainment.

“Well, we could maybe take the bus and go to Gwangju city?”

She looked back at him, surprised by his proposition but couldn’t help but let out a smile as she nodded her head. “I’ll see what I can do, but yea, I’d love too.”

“Good, good... That’s great!”

She chuckled at the silliness he was showing her as she finished packing up. “Ready to go?”

“Mhmm.”

Walking out of school grounds, Cheolyong tagged along with Lina as they made their way back to her grandfather’s shop. As they were getting closer, they stopped in their tracks as they knew the trouble they could cause if they were ever caught by either him or the boy’s father and they didn’t want that.

“How am I going to know if you’re free tomorrow?”

“I’ll talk with my grandma tonight... Hopefully she’ll say yes.”

“I hope so.” He looked at her with a smile appearing at the corner of his lips, leaving her to do the same before glancing behind her and turning back to him. “I should go… Thanks for coming with me.”

“Anytime.”

They parted ways with Lina walking in one direction while Cheolyong went in the opposite, both of them glancing at each other one last time before going back to their roads.

With the day finally coming to an end, Lina was about to get some sleep when she saw her grandmother at her door with a soft knock coming through.

“Lina? May we talk for a moment?”

“Of course.”

Taking a seat at the edge of the bed, Mrs. Choi took her granddaughter’s hand in between hers as she softly her skin before looking back up at her. “I noticed throughout the evening that you wanted to ask something… Is everything okay?”

“Actually… I do have sort of a favor to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Is it okay if I go out tomorrow? This hmm… friend of mine wants us to spend the day in Gwangju-”

“Is this friend someone your grandfather dislikes?”

Looking in her grandmother’s eyes, Lina couldn’t see anything but simple curiosity with a caring sentiment; she looked down as she took a deep breath and gazed back up at the old lady.

“Y-yes…”

A faint smile appeared on the woman’s lips as she reached out to caress Lina’s cheek.

“Is that boy special, sweetheart?”

“Very… He’s the only one that treats me right.”

“Then I guess you can go tomorrow and don’t worry about your grandfather, I’ll take care of him, alright?”

“Thank you grandma.”

“Anything for you darling.” Lina wrapped her arms around Mrs. Choi and hugged her tightly as the woman responded back to her gesture, her back gently. With a kiss on the cheek, they pulled away with Lina looking down at her grandmother’s lap while the older woman was taking something out of the pocket of her apron.

“Here’s some money for tomorrow… It’s not much though-”

“Grandma, you don’t have too, I got money saved up from helping you at the market.”

“And you should leave it that way, okay? Don’t worry about anything else. I just want you to have a good time tomorrow; you deserve it.”

The small stash of money was placed next to Lina while she was still looking at her grandmother, finding herself to be on the verge of crying. She knew that they had it hard and it broke her heart to see both of her grandparents work all day long to earn just enough so they could be able to live comfortably.

She could feel guilt running its course through her veins as she tightly held onto her grandmother’s hand, holding in her tears the best she could.

Mrs. Choi noticed and looked surprised; she cupped Lina’s cheeks so she could properly look at her as she wiped the tears that were able to fall; placing a comforting kiss on her forehead, she pulled away as she showed the young teenager a smile that would let her know that everything was okay.

“Why are you crying?”

“You and grandpa have done so much for me… I feel like I’m disappointing you guys, especially grandpa because of… him.”

“Oh sweetheart, don’t think like this. Don’t ever think that you’re disappointing us, in fact, we are very proud of you.”

“Proud? Of what? I haven’t done anything.”

“That’s not what we think. Maybe its that special boy that did something, but you’ve changed Lina, in a good way of course and we’re very happy and proud to see that you haven’t given up... Your parents would also be very proud of you.”

“I miss them so much…”

“I know, I miss them too.”

Another heartfelt hug between the two ladies, Lina slowly broke down with silent tears as she rested her head on Mrs. Choi shoulder. “You should get some sleep darling, you have a big day tomorrow~”

The amused tone to lighten up the mood made Lina smile as she stifled a giggle out of her lips. She pulled herself away and hastily wiped her tears before looking back at her grandmother as she let out a breath to calm herself down.

“I love you grandma, thank you for everything.”

“I love you too sweetheart~”

The outfit ready, the money in her small bag and her knitted light green hat over her hair, Lina was patiently waiting with Cheolyong at the bus station that would bring them into the city. It was already early in the morning when he sneaked his way to her place after seeing both her grandparents leave the house, giving him the chance to pick her up.

Happy to see that she could join him, it left him with more excitement for the rest of the day as he could barely hide the grin that was plastered across his face, leaving her to smile at that.

With the bus arriving, they climbed inside with Cheolyong leading Lina to the back of the vehicle where he let her sit next to the window before taking his place next to her. From his pocket, he took out his mp3 player as he handed out one earphone to her, leaving him to have the other one before deciding to let her choose the music.

Once it was set, she closed her eyes as she leaned her head backwards to rest against the seat while Cheolyong glanced at the window before diverting his eyes towards her. He gently pulled her head towards his shoulder and once he placed his hand back on his lap, he felt her take his hand in his making him look down as she intertwined their fingers before he leaned his cheek on top of her head.

He could feel the uncontrollable pace of his beating heart as it was strongly hitting him against his chest making the pounding resonate through the rest of his body. It set some kind of warmth that crept up through his veins whenever he would think about her and it automatically left a smile to appear across his lips.

He never thought that he would be crushing on his best friend because of how their relationship resembled more of a big brother taking care of his younger sister but as strange as it was sounding, that one day made him see her under a new light; she wasn’t a shy little girl anymore, she became a young woman that he found attractive and beautiful.

And from how she was being so comfortable with him from the small peck on his cheek to holding his hand, he was hoping that she would feel the same way about him like he did for her.

It only took a couple of hours but they were finally here. They got out of the bus with Cheolyong leading the way with a surprised Lina as she curiously looked around, in complete awe at her surroundings. The boy noticed and quickly took her hand in his as he dragged her inside the biggest mall of the city.

“I’ll make sure you’ll have your fun! 200% positive!”

From one shop to the other and from one game at the arcades to the other, the hours went by until the afternoon sun was up with the two still walking around the mall.

During that time, Lina tried to spend as less as possible; she still felt guilty for taking away the money her grandmother earned for her own personal gain and she tried to keep it as intact as she could. Cheolyong noticed her resistance on spending her money by avoiding to buy things that he knew she liked but couldn’t afford.

He could feel his heart ache by seeing her like this and that was why he started to pay for her; she strongly refused by telling him that it wasn’t right and that he shouldn’t be spending his money on her but he saw otherwise.

“Don’t worry, I sold a cow!”

“Huh?”

“I have money Lina and I want to be able to buy you stuff-”

“Cheolyong-ah, I don’t want you too, okay? I’m fine.”

“I don’t believe you. I know how you were inside that shop, you wanted that scarf, didn’t you?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on~ I know you do; I saw the way you looked at it and it suits you really well. Let me give it to you as a gift, please?”

Not even giving her the time to answer he left her standing as he ran towards the direction of where the store was, leaving her to call out his name in shock, confused at his actions. Soon enough, he came back holding a bag with the logo of the shop on it and handed it to her; hesitant, she took it into her own hands and opened it only to see the scarf she had been eyeing.

She lifted her head back up to look at him, finding herself without words to say; she felt the itch in her nose that told her she was about to cry and quickly spun around with her back facing him. He walked around and stood in front of her noticing the shimmer in her eyes.

“Thank you…”

He approached her while he opened his arms to hug her as she did the same, wrapping her arms around his neck. She gave him a small kiss on his cheek making him hold onto her even tighter before slowly pulling away.

“Come, the day isn’t even over yet; we have a lot to do~”

The afternoon was already reaching its end when Cheolyong and Lina were peacefully walking around until Lina spotted a photo booth not to far from where they were; she quickly dragged Cheolyong the opposite way from where they were going as she was trying to hurry up and caught his attention.

Catching up on what she wanted, he let out that same sly smile that left her confused until, in the next second, she found herself lifted up in his arms with a surprised squeal as she held onto him with her arms around his neck, a set of giggles coming out of her as she felt him quicken his pace.

“Okay, we’re here; put me down!”

“Nah-ah~”

“Cheolyong-ah! Please~”

Not listening to her, he only shook his head with the grin still across his face as he walked inside the booth and took a seat with Lina sitting on his lap. She swiftly slid back, leaving her legs to rest across his lap with her bum on the seat by his side; she playfully ruffled his hair trying to show her annoyance but he only laughed, which made her shake her head, a sign of giving up.

“Why do you keep lifting me up, huh?”

“So I can sweep you off your feet~”

Double meaning or not, she just lightly shook her head in amusement at his answer as he looked at her, turning that goofy grin into a soft smile. He was too focused looking at Lina while she was preparing the machines with the pennies that were in her hand, the next thing he knew, he found his lips right against hers the moment the first flash was out, which left them both stunned at the sudden gesture.

Though it was fast, it still left his cheeks to suddenly heat up at the contact making him pull away while looking back in front of the camera with a second flash coming out. He was left in a daze until he heard him name being called with a hand waved in front of his face; he turned back around to see an amused Lina happily smiling at him.

Looking at her lips stretch so genuinely made him do the same; it was always his favorite trait.

“You want to try again with the pictures?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, and this time be prepared mister~”

She went in to place the money back into the machine leaving Cheolyong to think of a first pose that would make her laugh and as she settled back to sit next to him, she turned to look at him and burst into laughter at the sight of his goofiest expression yet.

The first picture was taken and yet, she couldn’t calm down, which led him to laugh too until the second picture was taken. He went on to puff his cheeks out as he tried his famous ‘puppy eyes’ while staring at the camera leaving Lina to jump in as she placed a quick peck on his cheek the moment the third flash went out; the last one was left with him looking back at her, surprised as he ruffled her hair, leaving her to giggle as she tightly shut her eyes close while tensing up her shoulders upwards.

Once they were done, he helped her out and waited until the pictures were ready; picking out the two sets, he handed it out the second as he kept the first. “We could split the pictures since they are four of them.”

“It’s okay. Keep this one and I’ll keep those.”

“You’re sure?”

“Mhmm, of course.” He smiled reassuringly as he placed his set inside his pants pocket, leaving her to place hers inside her purse.

“Now some ice cream!” He took her hand in his and led her to the ice cream shop that was just a few feet away. The walk was quiet as both of them were keeping themselves from talking even though she had that burning question at the tip of her tongue while he was just hoping that she wasn’t going to mention the sudden kiss they just shared a few minutes earlier.

Once they were inside, he led her towards a table at the back of the shop before going towards the counter and ordering their flavors. As he came back, she patted her seat next to him as she slid to the side of the red leathery couch while he placed her ice cream cup in front of hers before sitting down.

Taking in the first spoon from her chocolate dessert, she closed her eyes as she let the taste melt on her tongue, enjoying the small shivers that went down her spine. Breathing out in delight, she backed away against the bench as she turned to look at her friend. “I haven’t eaten ice cream in such a long time, I almost forgot how good it tasted!”

“Really? When was the last time?”

“Mhmm, actually… before I moved here…” The smile she had suddenly disappeared, which made the atmosphere around them tense. Noticing the glimpse of sadness in her eyes, he leaned backwards and softly placed his hands above hers, catching her attention. From the rumors he heard this summer, he knew that something went bad in her past, which led her to be where she was today.

He didn’t want to ruin the perfect day they had with that one slip up so to turn things around, he took a small spoon from his one ice cream cup and lazily tapped it on the tip of her nose, startling her.

She wiggled her nose as she tried to look down at the stain he left and he chuckled at his sight; she returned the gesture and laughed the moment he expressed his surprise. He did it once again but she saw it coming making her grab onto his wrist to turn the spoon around making it land on his cheek.

He whined at the turn around, leaving her to laugh even louder but muffled the sound with her hands covering . Seeing her eyes sparkle the way they were at the moment left him with a shot of warmth to seep through his heart; he suddenly pinched her cheek before leaving out a light laugh of his own and turned back to take another spoon of his ice cream to eat.

Once they calmed down, she leaned back towards the table and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her and let a small smile stretch at the corner of his lips before going back to finish up his ice cream and as they were finishing up, they finally decided that it was time to catch the bus to go back home.

They paid for their tickets and went to sit at the same spot from this morning, repeating the same process; Lina decided to wear the scarf he bought her as she placed it around her neck before resting her head back on his shoulder. This time, he gently took a hold of her hand as he interlaced their fingers together and let the music play in their little peaceful bubble where they soon fell asleep.

A/N: With the next chapter coming up, we'll already be halfway through the story and I promise you the next one with be the last flashback, which means that we'll finally be able to jump back into the present and see what happens from there~ :3

Lots of love, xo 

P.S - Now we know for which date he sold that cow~ ;)