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"This is exhausting," Minji groaned, setting her head onto the table in front of her and Heeseung as they continued on with their History Project.
"But imagine how good it will feel to be done with this," Heeseung smiled back, hoping to get Minji in a better mood.
"Imagine how good it would feel to stop." She mumbled, closing her eyes with a sigh before sitting up straight.
"Do you want to stop?" Heeseung tilted his head, trying to gauge whether Minji was really too tired to continue, or just bored.
"Yes... but you want to finish, so let's finish." She responded.
"I want to finish so I can finish later." He shrugged, trying to compromise. "You're tired and bored and so am I... so I'll just finish this part another day, and we can continue working next weekend."
"Are you sure--"
"Yeah," Heeseung eagerly nodded. "Wanna... grab lunch? I'll pay. There's this ramyeon place down the street--"
"Yes," Minji nodded before he could finish, after hearing ramyeon instantly realizing how hungry she was.
"Okay," Heeseung chuckled, packing up his things before they both began the walk down the street.
"I want to tell you something," Heeseung began, startling Minji. "I want to be honest and tell you why I was so mean to you. When I was younger, before I lived with my aunt and uncle, my parents were raising me. They raised me until I was about 17, which was a few years ago."
"I know when you were 17," Minji nodded in agreement.
"And... they weren't... the nicest to me. In short, they said the same type of stuff that I said to you... how I looked stupid doing something, or I wasn't smart enough, or that no one actually liked me... and I thought that they said those things because they wanted me to get better since they loved me, but I saw how Aera treated you and I realized that saying those things isn't love or affection, it's the opposite... so I didn't say them because I hated you, I said them... because I liked you and I didn't know how to show it."
After Heeseung had finished, Minji was left unable to speak. The guy that she had been in love with since 5th grade... had liked her too? But now he didn't? Minji was so utterly surprised by everything that Heeseung had said, that she didn't even realize she was staring, clearly making Heeseung uncomfortable.
"Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have--"
"You liked me?" She asked in a confused tone, earning a nod from Heeseung. "Do you... still..."
"Um... well... I... yeah," Heeseung chuckled, turning away from embarrassment.
"Are you serious?" Minji questioned again.
"Of course I am." He nodded back, looking into her eyes as they walked into the ramyeon shop.
"I like you too. I have since we met, which was why everything you said hurt me 10 times more," Minji explained, not breaking eye contact.
"I'm sorry." He responded. "I really am. If I could go back and fix it, I would. I'd change everything; from how we met to every school dance. I would have gotten you Christmas presents and birthday gifts... and asked you to be my valentine every year... but I can't go back and change them, so I'm trying to make it up to you now."
"You're doing great so far," Minji smiled.
"What can I get for you?" The waiter asked.
"Beef ramyeon, please." The two chorused, slowly turning and giving each other a smile.
"Do you know what's coming up in a few days?" Heeseung smiled, tilting his head at Minji.
"No, what?" She shook her head, pretending to be clueless.
"Valentine's day." He pointed out with a smile. "Will you be my valentine?"
"Only if it's a secret. I can't look like a cousin hopper, so don't tell anyone, okay?" Minji turned to Heeseung, who just nodded with a smile.
"I won't, I promise."
"Good," Minji replied. "You better plan something amazing and make keeping this a secret worth it."
"Trust me, just spending the day with me would make it worth it." He teased, earning a scoff from Minji.
"Spending a day with you has drained my battery faster than I would with anyone else today." She replied with a smirk.
"It's because I'm so much fun."
"Or so much work."
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