I believe that I'm already in love with him. I came to that conclusion the second that I sat next to him by the dining table and continued with the assignment. It was then where he laughed at the jokes that I said, the way he listened attentively to the stories that I told and constant teasers that he gave made me realise that I had feelings that were way more than a simple crush.
To be honest, the whole time that I sat beside him, I wasn't listening to a word he said because I was too occupied with observing the way he was when he was in his natural element. The way his adam's apple bopped whenever he drank water, how he listened attentively whenever I told an embarrassing story or the way he ran his fingers through his hair when he was thinking, made me swoon and feel an increase of temperature.
I never wanted the night with Myeol to end as the relationship that we had at the moment we were alone together was about to change the second we enter school grounds. He was more normal for the time being and had many jokes to tell for a person who enjoyed his peace. It was hard to get him out of his shell, I had to continuously ask odd questions and make corny jokes that would hopefully receive some response from him, which it gladly did.
"He's so good looking," the voice of Christine's whispered into my ear and took me out of my train of thought. I looked towards the person she pointed her pen towards with a slight bite to her lips to see that it was the new boy that just joined the class a few days ago, Cameron.
Cameron, was one of the boys that every girl was obsessed within currently because he was new. Students lack of knowledge of who he was created a mystery which many girls wanted to solve. I do admit that he was a fairly attractive guy who had curly hair that covered his forehead, caramel skin and a height that everybody dreamt their partners had. If I wasn't on a quest after Myeol, I would've been just like the rest of the girls and tried to imagine freak scenarios whilst looking at him with love struck eyes.
"I heard he has a girlfriend in Free State which sucks," she said as she rolled her hair with her index finger, "but I don't think they are together at the moment because of distance but I need to clarify from some people." Christine was a lost cause. Although she didn't lurk around marked territory, she always made sure that she surrounded herself with the person she liked the most and waited patiently until they were out of their current relationship so that she could be the next girl. It always worked for her since she was a beautiful girl but had gotten some insults from ex's and their friends but she never cared.
"I have to go to an outing right now so I'll see you later," I greeted Christine and walked out of the classroom. I walked through the corridors with a prep to my step because of my added hours with Myeol. I walked towards the familiar part of the parkinglot smiling when I saw the familiar car with Myeol sitting on the hood of it. Today he didn't sport a cigarette in between his lips but was talking to a friend who blew large smoke clouds into his face which caused Myeol to punch him on his arm.
"Hi," I said cheerfully to the tall man who had a similar appearance to Myeol. He wore a large grey hoodie that the hood was covering his face, only revealing his thin lips that were curved into a dazed smile. He nodded at me and moved to a larger group by the car beside Myeols where more students smoked. It was a wonder how the principle hadn't found this group and gave them a severe punishment.
"I don't think I'm ready to eat this burger of yours," I commented after a few minutes of driving through the town.
"It's going to be fine, don't worry about it."
We finally reached the restuarant, "Screw The Diet," which was situated a few shops down a gym. A perfect location in my point of view. "This is owned by a family friend and has the best burgers in town," he said as he yawned and looked at the bright shop on the first floor of the 3 floor building that was filled with other restuarants.
When we entered the shop we were immediately greeted by the old man that sat behind the counter. "Myeol," he called out and called him over to the counter where he was dealing with a customer who was ordering their meal. When he finally stepped away from the cash register so that he could hug Myeol, I finally saw who the man was.
Hs was a man who as approximately in his early 60s with completely grey hair to prove my theory. Long hair that reached his ear framed his face in such a way that he seemed much younger than he obviously was. He wore grey slacks with a white vest that clutched his petite frame and a holiday shirt that hung on his body like a jacket.
After their long hugs and short greetings, he led us towards a booth that was near the large glass window that overlooked the roads that were filled with cars. I sat in my seat and looked around at the small shop that had the most calming scenery. Small paintings of oceans covered the walls of the shop, little flowers were placed in all corners and 5 booths sat at the window of the restuarant. It wasn't that popular, I could see from the lack of people sitting in the booths or standing in the queue to order their food.
"I already ordered for us but if you want something extra then go for it," he said as he slid in the seat on the opposite of me. That was the last thing he said before we both fell in silence that we didn't want to break. He focused on the small flowers that were placed as our centerpiece and I focused on how the waitresses of the shop moved robotically around the restuarant.
After 5 minutes there were 2 plates of large burgers infront of me. One that was beef and the other chicken, mine was obviously the latter. Myeol watched me intently as I lifted the burger to my mouth and took a large bite so that I could have enough flavour to judge with.
It was something else. Although it looked delicious and probably tasted good, I was not once moved by the flavours. It tasted better than the burgers that I've tried before but it wouldn't be something that I would order ever again. "I still don't like burgers," I said triumphant as I sipped my appeltiser.
I looked at the school children passing by the store, talking inanimately to each other, some laughing at jokes that were said to each other and thought of the thing that I would ask Myeol to do. "There's this roller skating place that's openening soon. You should definitely come."
