wishes | lee yubin

two.

[10 years ago]

the sun was already going down on the horizon as the last spring rays painted the sky in orange. the clouds named alpenglow formed a breathtaking view from the window and a gaggle of geese travelled in the middle of this beautiful scenery.

there i was. in the middle of nowhere waiting for a special someone to come along. holding a piece of chocolate and a coke as an excuse to give her something. i knew she adored chocolate more than anything in this world so i had stopped on my way here in a supermarket and had chosen the one i had thought she'd like.

the road was already empty, no cars to see and no people to meet. this place felt so lonely out of sudden.

as soon as i saw her leaving her house, a smile appeared on my face. i wanted to run and hold her but i just waited for her to come, watching every step she took that made its track my way.

"hi," she greeted me when she was close enough to speak.

"hi."

a wider smile was seen on both of our lips. and that was the moment i lend her the things i bought for her.

"here," i said. "hope you like white chocolate because this one is amazing."

"thanks," she looked at me with happiness. "but you didn't have to."

i took her hand as a best friend would do and led her to the bus stop. we had all night to go anywhere we wanted, yet it was always the same place we visited.

the town's theatre was half the way from the bus stop than our school and we ended up there watching our friends' rehearsals before performing. it was a blessing to see their long prepared scenarios while eating and discussing the appearance.

"yubin-ah, would you rather be the prince or princess?"

"definitely the prince," she answered without thinking.

"and why?"

"because i could save you from the dragon."

"but this is about sleeping beauty," i pointed out. "where is the dragon?"

"oh-"

we looked at each other and burst into laughter. just like any other day, she didn't check what's written in the programme, it was only me who was actually curious about acting.

"would you kiss me if you were the prince?" i asked her.

"if it was written in the script, i guess i'd had to."

"we could try that," i suggested. "it's not like something forbidden, right?"

"you mean to try the play?"

"yes, i'd like to try acting and it's a great idea to give it a try, isn't it? what do you think?"

"well, why not, let's try it," she nodded.

"okay, shall we start?"

"now?" yubin looked around to see an empty auditorium. "isn't it embarrassing?"

"no, why would be? everybody are focused only on their part, they don't even know we exist."

it took me few more seconds to convince her but it was a success. as expected, nobody didn't notice what we were doing the next half of the rehearsal.

i didn't know why i had suggested this, maybe i was too much into being an actress or just too much into yubin. at least it was one of these two things that made me excited when we got our new roles. we stayed in the corner preparing the worlds biggest performance and i was the happiest. because of the fact i could do something like this with my best friend, i was really into my role i stopped thinking about the world around me.

"you should come closer when you're talking to me."

"yes but it's hard to talk loud then."

i was sitting on the chair near the exit and yubin was supposed to wake me up. finally, the important scene was here.

i could say it was nerve wrecking because she was confident when she pretended she was someone else and gosh, she was really good at acting.

i closed my eyes and waiting for the long awaited speech. and a kiss.

"why is she still sleeping? lord, is there something more i can do? will she stay like this forever? maybe i lost the last hope that kept me believing. what can i do?"

a minute of silence...

and then a soft lips were pressed on mine. was i supposed to feel so much happiness at once like i did? it was like doing a big mistake that won't be erased easily.

"what do you two think you're doing?" someone from the stage questioned. "does it look like a place for a girls' date or what?"

yubin took a step back and i opened my eyes. she smiled at me and turned around to find the source of laughter that exploded shortly after the boy's speech.

"so what?" she said. "i bet this girl would be an amazing actress, better than every single one of you. if you don't shut up, we'll be the ones laughing next time."

i was looking up at her with an uncertain expression. she seemed calm but as i know, her mind was a big chaos, i was afraid she would do something she'll regret after, so i stood up and took her hand.

"they're not worth it, really," i whispered and led her to the exit. "boys. they think an innocent kiss actually means we're dating, how childish."

"is it wrong that friends just kissed because of acting?" she stopped on her way through the long hall. "i mean, will they understand?"

"they just like to make fun of us," i shrugged. "i bet they will forget what happened the next minute we're out of this building."

"i guess you're right."

"see, there's nothing to worry about."

we walked down the street to our bus stop and i caught myself thinking about what had happened earlier, the short innocent kiss and how it felt wrong and natural at the same time. this made me think about lee yubin in a different way. a friend with kissable lips.