Youngjae went through every step carefully in his head. It was going to be really, really easy, he figured. He had already set up all the props that he needed. He just needed to get his co-actress, and that was the hardest part, he chuckled to himself.

            In his mind’s eye, he could see the set up perfectly. He had specifically rented the top balcony of a fancier restaurant, but not something that would make her feel intimidated. He took in a deep breath and thought about the note he would leave in her locker, telling her where to meet him. He would start off slow, tell her to meet him at the park first and then walk with her to the restaurant.

            Youngjae had prepared the flowers before giving them away. She had told him she didn’t like flowers as an offhand comment once. It was Valentine’s Day and people had gave her flowers. In annoyance, she had thrown one into every garbage can she had come across. “Ugh, I don’t understand why people give flowers. Buy me something substantial. I don’t want to take care of something that is so fleeting.”

            He had then. “Gosh, where’s your sense of anything romantic?”

            “I can be romantic, but you convince me how rotting organic matter, no matter how beautiful they looked while alive, could be considered romantic. Oh yeah, let me give you something that will die quickly as a symbol of my love to you. Really convincing.” She had responded dryly.

            “Touché. Fine, no flowers for you then.”

            He had also created a trail of her favorite sour candies leading from the door of the restaurant to the upper balcony. The best part of his masterpiece was the gigantic heart he had drawn with the multicolored candies. It had taken him all of his lunch break to perfect.

            The one free period he had with her, Youngjae approached her quietly and smiled hesitantly. She was doing her math homework, something she did when she didn’t want to be bothered.

            “Hey,” he plopped down next to her.

            She took out her headphones, a good sign. If she really wanted to be left alone, she would have outright ignored him. “What?”

            “Are you busy after school?”

            “Maybe,” but Youngjae could tell she was lying. She never used maybe if she meant anything.

            “Oookay,” he drew out the syllable. “Do you think maybe you could spare some time for your dear old friend?”

            “Depends on what said elderly friend wants to do.”

            “Hey, I’m only older by a few months, don’t go so far.”

            “You said old friend first.”

            “How can you be so mean to me? What if today was the last time you’ll see me and you ruined it by being so horrible to me? How would you feel?” But Youngjae was grinning. Talking to her always had this effect on him. She always made him smile with her quick wit and no-nonsense personality. “Alright, what if I said free food was involved?”

            “Then even if I didn’t have time, I believe I can definitely make time.”

            He pumped his fist. “Score! Whoever said the way to a guy’s heart was through his stomach clearly hadn’t met you.”

            “What if I’m a guy at heart?”

            Youngjae gave her a deadpan look. “Okay, not funny.”

            She laughed and stretched, placing her notebook on the grass next to her. “Yeah, where do you want to meet?”

            “The park. Right after school. I have tenth free so I’ll be hanging around. See you then?”

            He stood up and brushed himself off, lending a hand to help her get up. The bell was going to ring any minute. “Of course. How can I refuse free food?”

            And Youngjae silently checked off the final thing on his supply list: Date- Check.

            The moment his last class ended, he ran to his locker and grabbed his books. He was going to go home and change first. He had exactly ten minutes to get home, fifteen minutes to get ready and another ten to come back to meet her before class ended.

            At home, though, nothing seemed to go right. His mother had cleaned up his stuff and so he had to look for the clothes he had so carefully planned out. He searched for the bracelet, only finding it in one of the drawers he rarely used. When he was finished, he saw that of the fifteen minutes he had, he used nearly twenty-two.

            Youngjae wasn’t thinking. When he stepped off the curb, he only thought of the path he was going to run to cut across to the park. Class had definitely ended and if she spent some time at her locker, he had five minutes. It wasn’t until the loud beeping came that he realized it wasn’t his light.

            She was at the park, waiting. It wasn’t like Youngjae to be late. There was the sound of a siren speeding her way and she watched it go, curiously. It stopped somewhere near the park. Something must have happened to someone. She shrugged and took out her phone. No texts, no calls, nothing. Sighing, she sat on the bench and wondered where he could be. But she trusted that he would show up, and so she waited.

This is for last-sowon

This is such a busy week, I'm sorry.