One Day At A Time [ATEEZ]

Twenty-Two

2020, August

"I like you," I finally blurt out the words.

"What?" San looks at me with this blank expression that makes me regret everything.

Oh, no... I barely manage to gulp my saliva. It doesn't look good, not at all... I should get out of here before it gets late. I let out an awkward chuckle as I look away, "what am I saying? I guess I'm still drunk. I'm just gonna go back to sleep. Good night," I wave without looking at him and head toward the veranda door.

"Wait, where are you going?" San grabs my arm and stops me. "You can't just leave after saying that."

But if I stay, you're going to reject me and it's going to hurt...

"You said that you like me, right? You really did say that, right?"

"Yea," I nod, still not looking at him. "Look, if you're going to reject me, just make it quick so that I can go back to sleep."

"Who said I'm going to reject you?"

"Wait, what?" I turn my head toward him, not believing what he just said. "You're not?"

"No," he shakes his head. "Why would I reject you when I like you as well?"

"Huh?" I begin to frown, wondering if I'm hearing things. "You... You what?"

"Just like what you just said... I like you as well," he says while showing that smile which makes my heartbeat increase rapidly. "I actually... I was actually going to confess to you while we were here. When you said that you wanted to see the sea during night time, I thought that would be the best time to confess but I ended up chickening out," he looks down, chuckling. "Then I told myself that I would confess my feelings no matter what tonight. But then... you said that there's someone you like... that really shot a bullet to my heart. That's why I couldn't sleep and I'm here instead of my bed."

"And it didn't occur to you that you might be that person?"

"No, I honestly had no idea," he grins. "To be honest, I still can't believe that you said you like me... Are you sure you're not drunk?"

"I might've been but what you said made me sober up," I run my head through my head. Alright, let's summarize what happened just now... I finally confessed my feelings to San and just when I was about to run away and hide, he says he likes me as well? Is this for real? But how? Since when?

"Yena? Is everything alright? You seem a little--"

"Since when?"

"What?"

I look at him, "since when did you like me?"

"Uh, I'm not sure," he starts rubbing his left hand against his right arm, "last year of high school, I think."

"What?"

"Maybe it was earlier but I realized that I had feelings for you during our last year."

"You've liked me since then but you didn't say anything..." I mutter under my breath. Then I remember something, "if you've liked me since then, then how come you dated Sujin?"

"I--I had my reasons!" San's face grows red. "You--You looked at me as if I was just a friend! So I dated her just so that I could get over you... Besides, it's been two years since I didn't date anyone! Do you know why we broke up?"

"You told me that three months into the relationship, you realized that your personalities didn't go well with each other," I say, remembering the cute and polite girl that San dated for nearly four months. She was really sweet and, even though it hurt, I honestly thought she and San made a good match.