✓LOVER BOY | hwang hyunjin

48. Conifer Kisses

It was a late summer night. The buzz of the city seemed to have evaporated away. All that settled was the bonfire, and a group of friends seated midst the town's forest.

"Dude, he really asked me to jump." Jeongin was bringing up an old high school tale. His friends all were laughing, faces red. "This is not funny!" He protested, but ended up joining them in the contagious fit.

Soji wiped a tear. "So, did you end up in the trash or what?"

"No." Jeongin paused. "I actually missed the pit, and fell on the edge, shoulder first. The doctors were surprised that I didn't break enough bones."

Hyunjin's eyes were dazzling. He sighed. "I on the other hand..."

Yeseul pushed him, disbelief on her face. "You actually jumped too? After seeing the fate of your friend?"

"You don't understand the friend code, do you?" Hyunjin tapped his finger on his girlfriend's forehead. "You die, I die."

"Got me blushing and shit." Jeongin grinned, poking at the hot marshmallow on the stick.

Jinho joined in. "Yeseul, you once told me something similar, no?"

Yeseul's eyes grew wider. Her cheeks now slowly turning pink from the memory. "No?" Her statement came out an octave higher.

Jeongin clapped his hands in realisation. "Yes! How can I forget?" Everyone's eyes settled on him, awaiting a new story.

"Basically, me and Yeseul were planning on visiting Hyunjin. But she chickened out midway, so we turned around. What do we expect? Out of nowhere, this guy, he pops up." He points towards Hyunjin, who was very much enjoying this. He took glances of Yeseul who had her head down in embarrassment. "Yeseul panics. She tells me to run. We both are now running, eyes blinded. We reach this blind spot, and we are sure we lost him. But then we see his coconut head around the wall, and we scramble over the wall, and fall into the ground." Jeongin sighs, looking around. "Guess whose house we just ended up in? Hyunjin's." The marshmallow goes in his mouth, and the laughter breaks again.

"Love, you never told me about this." Hyunjin whispered softly to Yeseul. She jerked her face up, eyes meeting his. The distance so close, she could dive in for a kiss. Hyunjin picked up on her shaking eyes. His mouth turned in a smile. "You're unbelievable."

"I just existed." Yeseul tried defending herself.

"You guys have very healthy legs for someone who takes part in hardcore parkour." Soji chimed in. "I'm jealous." The whole forest falls silent. She almost spits out her coffee. "Geez, guys. Relax. It was a joke."

"Soji, you said the same joke three time in a span of ten minutes." Jinho noisily sipped on his scalding beverage. "Step it up."

A gasp, an escaped laugh, and a betrayed look on Soji's face.

"Kinda weird how much changed in one year." Jeongin sighed, looking up at the night sky. "I still feel like a high school student."

"I'm glad I met you all along this journey." Yeseul smiled, looking around at the group.

"Me too." Hyunjin didn't look away from her. She felt his eyes on her. It was silly, but he still made her feel shy.

"I need to breathe some air." Yeseul suddenly got up, brushing at the pine needles on her sweater.

The group nodded. "Don't go too far away." Jinho waved at her.

"Yeah, don't be a dinner to a skinwalker either." Jeongin chuckled with malice. Yeseul almost shuddered.

"I hate you." She turned around, walking into the darkness.

The trees were haphazard, so Jinho had marked them with white paint. This helped her to know which path led to grandma's cabin, and the one that led to their bonfire spot.

Yeseul pushed her hands deep in her pockets, sighing. Her hand held onto the pocket knife Hyunjin had gifted her. She took it out, feeling the carved flowers on its metal body. She stared at it intently, feeling bittersweet inside. There wasn't any use in feeling low. Yeseul was a chest of secrets, and tonight she had to let one out. Shaking off her thoughts for now, she took in a deep breath. The air smelled like terpene from the pines. Yeseul also picked up the smell of brown sugar from her sweater. She had baked a batch of cookies earlier.

"I wish this moment didn't end." Her eyes drifted off to the small light from the fire. The sounds of her friends reached her, making her smile.

There was a sound of a twig breaking in a distance that she ignored. Her eyes were back on the knife. There was a brown button on it, that she hadn't noticed before. She pushed it, the light from the knife making her jump. "Well that was embarrassing." She turned the torch up, her soul almost leaving her. "Holy shit!"

A blinded Hyunjin stood in front of her. "Turn that off." His hands pushed it down. "What the hell were you thinking?" He chuckled at the fright on Yeseul's face. "You okay?"

"You scared the wits out of me." The girl finally stabled her breathing. "Imagine if I stabbed you." She put the pocket knife up.

"What a heavenly way to die." His boyish smile would be the death of her. Yeseul couldn't believe she felt butterflies just at the sight of him and his stupid face.

"Keep the Smiths out of this."

"What's on your mind?" Hyunjin stepped closer, brushing back a strand of her hair. "You seem so disconnected."

Yeseul forced a smile. "It's nothing."

"What should I do to ease your worries?" Yeseul softly gasped when Hyunjin put his hands in her back pockets, pulling her closer. His hands now rested on her back, eyes refusing to leave her dazed one's.

"You're doing so much already."

"I want to do more." He pressed a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "What's on your mind?"

This was her moment. She breathed in. "You know when I told you about applying for Cornell?" She caught a small shift on Hyunjin's face.

"Yes."

"I got accepted." Yeseul's voice was barely audible.

"No way." Hyunjin was beaming. He pulled her in a hug. "I'm so proud of you!" The radiance of his joy made Yeseul feel queasy. Yeseul was rained by kisses all over her face. "Why aren't you happy? This is great news, Sul."

"I'm happy, but I'm nervous. Moving abroad, leaving behind all this. It's making me so tense. I feel homesick already." Yeseul put her arms around Hyunjin. "I'll miss all this so much. I'll miss you..."

Hyunjin felt some part of his heart resonate with her feelings. But he buried it inside. "It's not like you won't ever be back. And I'll visit you soon. I promise." Yeseul looked up, feeling calm when she found his face. "And do you think you would be able to focus on studies if I was beside you at Cornell?"

Yeseul let out a merry laugh. "Maybe not."

"Exactly." Hyunjin pressed his lips on hers. "I'll have to spoil you enough so you don't miss me too much."

Yeseul felt warmth on her face. She pulled him down by his collar into a kiss. Their lips encased each other in perfection. She sighed, feeling delirious from how Hyunjin felt. They pulled away.

"God," Hyunjin breathed out. "You're fun to kiss."

Yeseul blushed, making Hyunjin feel lightheaded. He slipped his hand in hers. "Let's live in the now. We can think about the rest later, okay?"

Yeseul nodded. "Okay."

"Okay."

Yeseul bid home goodbye three weeks later. She was a girl brimming with dreams and grief. This is where almost everything changed.