Strawberry Wine

two

Chae Young would be lying if she said that she did not notice his slim wiry arms and the way his sweaty t-shirt clung to his lean, firm frame. Sometimes, when he stood very close to her, she'd catch a whiff of his sweat that would leave a tingly trail in her stomach. He made her think of the boys she had left behind- Chan Soo who had asked her out in seventh grade (she had been terrified and avoided him for months) and Jeong wan who she had had a crush on (he had shown signs of interest too but ended up dating a girl from another school). Jungkook was different not just because he was effortlessly attractive, but because he sometimes appeared older than his age when he talked about the ongoing civil war or religion or "capitalism", yet sometimes younger when he'd look up at her through the fringes of his hair or when he laughed unguardedly, throwing his head back. Chan Soo was a model student but Chae Young had found his bookishness suffocating as opposed to Jungkook's ease. Jeong Wan might have been one of the best-looking boys in Yeongnam but she remembered how all he talked of was soccer and him. Besides, she thought, as she watched Jungkook at work on his grandfather's bicycle, carelessly pushing hair away from his eyes with greased hands, Jeong Wan was always too conscious of himself. He'd never bothered to get to know her before she was quietly dropped for a prettier, more popular girl from another school. In contrast, she noticed how Jungkook would ask her about her favorite movies or music. But most importantly, she noticed that he actually took interest when she told him about how she and her father listened to The Smiths together and how she had read Wuthering Heights at least five times.

'Why Wuthering Heights?" he had asked.

"Because nothing is at it should be. Everyone's just wild there. And rebellious."

"Sounds interesting. I've never read it before."

Chae Young knew her mother had a copy of it in the room and grinned conspiratorially. "Oh you must. I will make you read it."

A warm, drowsy afternoon saw Chae Young sitting on the front porch peeling potatoes for dinner while Jungkook lay sprawled beside her, flipping through the yellowed pages of Wuthering Heights as flies buzzed over the bowl of the watermelon rinds they had just eaten.

"I can't take it anymore!" he exclaimed, slamming the novel down and sitting up. "Why are they all so annoying! Everyone's a psycho in here!"

Chae Young laughed. "That's why it's good."

He watched her laugh delightedly over the basin of potatoes, noting the way her eyes curved into crescents.

"This book doesn't suit you," he told her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're so soft and so...I don't know...innocent and gentle. And this book," he looked down at it, flipping through the pages, "it's so evil and cruel... and full of adultery... and that kind of, I don't know, passion." He trailed off self consciously. He felt her eyes on him and he knew he had said a bit more about her than he had intended to. He didn't look up until she spoke.

"Maybe that's why I like it. Because it makes me relish something I could never do in actuality."

"Really? Adultery? Wow, I didn't pin you down as that type."

Chae Young laughed again, and he liked that he could make her laugh.

"It kinda reminds me of a movie," he said at length. "There's this Hollywood movie called The Girl on a Motorcycle. Have you seen it?"

Chae Young shook her head no. "I have not seen many foreign movies. Just the popular ones like The Princess Bride and Grease."