past, present, and future | hwang hyunjin

f o r t y - f i v e

c h a p t e r   f o r t y - f i v e

The noodles were a lost cause. Well, at least until Minho, one of Hyunjin's groupmates, who happened to be visiting another groupmate Jisung came around and decided to help fix our noodles. 

Surprise, surprise! It actually worked. He was an actual cooking prodigy, that Minho dude.

"You wanna grab the chopsticks?" Hyunjin asked as he started bring the bowls of different noodle types to the table.

"Yeah, of course," I agreed, heading over to where I had seen the utensils. I opened the drawer, and was satisfied with what I had seen. "Here they are."

I reached for a pair of chopsticks. But my hands only closed around them when my head jolted up, and started blurring out. I could not even comprehend what was happening before I was sucked away once again.

"What do you mean, no way? You haven't even given me a chance yet," Hyunjin smiles at me, leaning across the table."Listen now because I'm going to be stating everything loud and clear. No lies, just the truth. So you see. I've been admiring you since the first day I met you in that hallway. Actually, even way before that. You might not have liked me at first, I know for a fact, but I also know that you had only seen one side of my personality. I had only seen one side of yours as well. As I got to know you better, even through that, um, incident, your true personality shined through a lot more and you slowly felt so much more relaxed and comforted. I wanted to show you my kind and caring side as well as my bolder side. Because, Areum, I really like you. A lot. Not just in a friendship way, but in, well, the other way as well."

I just blink a couple of times, trying to process what he has just said. I take a slow breath in, which turns into a shaky breath out.

So he likes me back?

I must have said that out loud because he immediately perks up and looks at me. "What do you mean?" His gaze is intense and piercing, and the urge to just shout what I want to say is strong.

"Hyunjin," I take another deep breath. I really hope I won't regret this.

"I like you too."

Gasping for air, I immediately jerk back upright. "Oh my god."

It happened again. The same feeling, the same experience. It must've been another memory. Hyunjin was already by my side, hugging me tightly. "Are you okay?"

I didn't answer. I was still mesmerized by how my mind could recall these things based on certain things I touched. I finally snapped out of it after a moment, faintly mumbling, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Hyunjin still looked very concerned for my wellbeing but didn't pry any further. "That was so weird," he commented. "Your head just jerked back and forward, there were only a few seconds in between. And your eyes were all glazed over and dark too."

I sighed. I didn't want to worry him further by telling him I had memory flashbacks, so I didn't bring it up again.

We cleaned up the counter together. There were a few burnt noodles that even Minho couldn't revive, and I threw those ones away with a disgusted look on my face. I was probably being dramatic, but that was just me and my very questionable personality.

After we cleaned up, I found Hyunjin standing behind me. He was staring again, but when I asked him, this time it was for a different reason.

"Do you perhaps want to... stay the night?" He hesitated, as if unsure whether the question was appropriate.