How To Kiss A Boy//Kim Jun Kyu

27

[Day before start of term]

Enough time had passed that she believed it was time to come home. She had spent her high school career in the States and therapy, barely leaving any room for friends. Well, she did have two or three, but most of them were friends back from Korea. 

She sat on the naked bedroom floor, boxes surrounding her with large labels on the side of them. From downstairs, she could hear someone shuffle about and making dinner. She had came back a week after the other as to finish the last bit of her school as a senior.

Her phone was propped up against one of the stacks of boxes, a makeshift phone stand. Three other faces could be seen on her screen. One boy had long, brown hair that was split in the middle. He was sitting at a desk with papers strewn over it. He tapped his pen to a rhythm he had been thinking of all day, trying to think of something to make out of it. 

Another boy was sitting criss-crossed on hardware floor, mirrors surround the room walls. His black hair stuck to his forehead, his white shirt drenched in sweat as he gulped down his bottle of water. His face was slightly red as he looked into the camera, flashing a smile. 

In the last frame was a girl. She had honey colored hair and grey eyes, her skin a bit darker than theirs. She was playing with one of her paper cubes, flipping it around restlessly. 

"How's Korea, Iris?" the honey haired girl asked, eyes glued to the cube. 'Iris' sighed as she threw her body back to lay on the floor, tired of unpacking despite it being only thirty minutes. 

"Boring," 'Iris' replied. She could hear one of the boys chuckle from the other side of the line. 

"Hey, we can dance together again though," one offered hopefully. "Maybe this time you won't treat me like a disease?"

"God Ilhoon, you are a disease," 'Iris' groaned. "I was severely bullied because of you."

"I thought I was the one who gave you trauma," the other boy piped up. 'Iris' raised an eye brow despite none of them being able to see her. 

"I don't think that's something you should be proud of, Noa," the honey haired girl said for 'Iris'. 

"Thank you, Aph," 'Iris' chimed. 

"'Aph'-stop calling me that! It's 'Aphrodite', 'Aph' sounds fucking stupid," Aphrodite huffed. Ilhoon chuckled and shook his head. 

"I think it's cute," he said absentmindedly, oblivious to Aphrodite's flush. Of fucking course. 'Iris' rolled her eyes at this as she sat up, looking at the three. 

"I might stop calling you 'Aph' if you can say my name properly," 'Iris' proposed. The look on Aphrodite's face almost made her laugh, but she did her best to fight her smile as her friend took the offer seriously. 

"Einhai? Inhai? Einhyeah? Inheah?" As the bad pronunciations continued, 'Iris' smirked to herself. 

"You like the nickname, don't you?" 'Iris' teased, finally letting out a laugh as Aphrodite didn't respond, only screwing up the pronunciation again. "Inhye, Aph. It's said as 'Inhye'."

"Anyways, you should hurry and unpack Inhye," Noa told her. "Don't classes start tomorrow? And you're...what?"

"Fifteen percent done with unpacking?" Aphrodite offered, to which Noa nodded his head to. Inhye groaned again, glaring at the boxes in distaste. 

"I can swing by if you need help. I'm leaving the studio soon anyway. You should come by soon, it's newly renovated," Ilhoon offered. He was already out of the studio by the time he said this, walking along the busy roads. "You should go to sleep soon too, Aph. Don't you have classes tomorrow too?" 

Aphrodite shifted to look at the clock beside her before sighing. "Today, actually. It's 1 am right now. Yeah, I'mma hit the hay. Night y'all."

A chorus of 'goodnight's rang through their earbuds before Aphrodite hung up, leaving the three two do their own thing in silence. Inhye continued to unpack, pulling out her little trinket she had gotten from the States with Aphrodite as she listened to Noa's rhythmic tapping and the sound of the busy streets from Ilhoon. 

"I'm going to hang up, my phone is about to die. I'll swing by your place to help you unpack." Before they could even give him a response, Ilhoon had already hung up, leaving Noa and Inhye alone in the call. 

The two rarely ever spoke one on one with each other, always having either Ilhoon or Aphrodite to break the ice. The fact that they were even close was bewildering, but there was a single thread that kept them together. 

"I still see Insoo sometimes," Inhye quickly said, attempting to sound nonchalant. Noa, who was about to end the call, paused his movements. "He comes when something reminds me of him. Sort of triggers it. It got less, but I still see him."

"I see," Noa mumbled, trying to fill the silence. 

"How's therapy going for you? It's been helping me...a lot, actually." Inhye and Noa last touched on this topic a little after she left for the States, which was around three years ago, when she left Hanbyeol Academy. She heard Noa shuffle a bit before gulping loudly. 

"It's actually been going fine," he admitted. "We just talk about stuff and about healthy coping methods, nothing new. We would sometimes just sit and play board games or something to just relieve ourselves."

"That sounds nice." Before the conversation could progress any further, a soft knock came through Inhye's door. 

"Inhye? Dinner is ready," a soft, voice chimed. Inhye smiled at the familiarity of the woman's voice.

"Okay, coming!" Inhye sent Noa an apologetic smile, hoping it wouldn't look to tense as he smiled back and hung up. Just as she stood up to leave the room, she felt her phone vibrate in her hand. The notification shined brightly at her, her grin growing wider. "Her birthday is coming up, I should probably do something."