inseparable︱𝐉𝐉𝐊

❥ 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡

꧁‿︵‿︵♥‿︵‿︵꧂

JJ - 9

As a nine-year-old boy, my life revolved around school, friends, and video games. Little did I know that my first crush would alter everything. Her name was Minji, and she was in my class. She had the prettiest smile and the nicest laugh. Every time she spoke to me, I felt like my stomach was doing flips. It was a strange feeling, one I wasn't used to, and I didn't quite know how to handle it.

I first noticed her during recess. She was always surrounded by her girlfriends, and I would watch her from a distance, pretending to be interested in whatever my own friends were doing. That was when she caught me looking at her and smiled. My face turned red, and I quickly looked away.

At home, things weren't much better. I couldn't stop thinking about her, even when I was supposed to be doing my homework. It wasn't long before Jieun noticed something was up. She always seemed to know when I was bothered about something.

"Jungkook, what's wrong with you?" she asked one evening as we sat in the living room, playing LEGO Star Wars.

"Nothing."

"You're getting killed every five seconds!"

"I'm not in the mood to play..."

Jieun frowned. "Stop acting weird," she insisted. "Come on, tell me."

I sighed, knowing she wouldn't let it go. "Fine. There's this girl in my class that—"

Jieun's eyes lit up almost immediately. "Ohhhh, a girl! Do you like her?"

I felt my face heat up and lowered my console down. Revealing this secret to Jieun was a big deal for me. We'd always had our sibling spats, and I usually tried to keep my personal feelings to myself. But lately, something had changed between us. Although we had our arguments, we were slowly growing closer.

Opening up about Minji felt like a test of our closeness. I was nervous, not just because I was admitting to having a crush, but because I was letting her into a part of my world that I usually kept hidden from her. Her genuine curiosity made it easier, though. I felt like maybe I didn't have to go through everything alone.

"Maybe. Her name is Minji."

"Minji? That's a pretty name," she said, smiling. "Is she cute? Do you talk to her?"

"Sometimes," I admitted. "It's hard when I get nervous. And yeah... she's very cute."

Jieun giggled and just jumped on me to tickle my sides. "You have a crush on her!"

"Shh! Don't say it so loud!" I hissed between laughter, glancing around even though we were the only ones in the room.

The next day at school, I tried to act normal, but I couldn't help stealing glances at Minji during class. She was sitting with her friends, her hair tied up in pigtails, and she looked so happy. I wondered what it would be like to make her laugh like that.

During recess, I was hanging out with Taehyung and Hoseok, my two best friends. We were talking about our favorite video games when my sister ran up to us, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Guess what, guys?" she announced loudly. "Jungkook has a crush on a girl!"

I felt my stomach drop. "Jieun!"

Both of them turned to me, their eyes wide. "Really?" Taehyung asked, his mouth hanging open. "Who is it?"

"Yeah, who?!" Hoseok echoed, his mouth full of pudding.

I glared at Jieun, but she just shrugged, looking pleased with herself—she was such a tattletale. I sighed, knowing there was no use denying it now. "It's Minji. And you guys better not make fun of me."

Taehyung and Hoseok exchanged looks before bursting into laughter and singing together. "Jungkook has a girlfriend!"

"She's not my girlfriend!" I protested, feeling my face burn with embarrassment.

"Not yet," Hoseok said with a wink. "But maybe soon!"

"Shut up..."

For the next few days, my friends took every opportunity to tease me about Minji. They'd make kissing noises when she walked by or call out her name just to see me blush. It was annoying, really. Jieun joined in too, always with that mischievous grin of hers that I hated.

One afternoon, we were all at the park. Jieun was sitting on a swing, drawing in her sketchbook, her new obsession, while Taehyung was riding his bike, and Hoseok was running around trying to catch up. I was sitting on the other swing, watching Minji play dolls with her friends.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Jieun said, looking up from her sketchbook.

"I can't," I said, shaking my head. "What would I even say?"

"Just be yourself, what else?" she said. "You're a great guy, Kookie. She'll like you."

"Yeah, and if she doesn't, we'll beat her up," Taehyung joked, skidding to a stop on his bike in front of us.

"Real helpful, Tae," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Come on, buddy! You can do it," Hoseok said, panting as he finally reached us.

I took a deep breath, pondering over my options. Maybe they were right. I should just go for it. And that's exactly what I decided when I stood up and started walking towards her.

As I got closer, Minji looked up and saw me. She smiled, and I felt my nerves melt away by sight of it. "Hi, Jungkook," she said cheerfully.

"Hey," I said, swallowing a lump. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," she said, getting up from the floor and brushing the dirt off to walk over to me.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither of us knowing what to say. Finally, I blurted out, "I like you... Minji."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and I held my breath, waiting for her reaction— or rejection. Then she smiled again. "I like you too."

I felt a tremendous relief come through me after hearing those words. "Really?"

"Really," she said, giggling. "Wanna play on the slides?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," I said, grinning from ear to ear and glancing over at my friends as I took her hand. They were all watching, big smiles on their faces, giving me a thumbs up.

From that day on, Minji and I spent more time together. We played on the slides, talked during recess, and even did homework together. It was a new feeling, having a crush and knowing that she liked me back.