Grade 4-7
After the day you helped Wonwoo, he started talking to you more. You shared a desk, so you didn't mind him being friendly through out our class. But after a while he stated following you around after school. Not in a creepy stalker way, or anything like that. He seemed more like a lost puppy.
Unfortunately you had been fooled by the puppy's cuteness, given it some love and attention, and now it wouldn't leave you alone.
It would be one thing if Wonwoo would just come out and say that he wanted to hang out together. It would be easier. You could just say yes or no, and move on.
But NoooOoOo. Instead, he'd just kinda look at you, like he was waiting for you to do something, or say something that would show you liked him in any way.
You kind of felt bad for the kid. He seemed nice enough, and he was cute, I guess. You just didn't see him like that. I mean, you were only 12, and had no big interest in boys at the time, other than to play video games with them. And Wonwoo didn't like video games. So you didn't like Wonwoo.
At first, when he showed signs of liking you, you ignored them. You didn't have experience with such things as love and like, and thought, maybe if I ignore it, it'll go away.
But after a while it became more and more obvious.
After the eventful bus ride of Gr.3, he would ask to join you in whatever you were doing, his self-invitations becoming more and more regular as time went on. Whether it was outside on the playground, or inside for during class. Even when you would play house with some of the other girls, he would join you.
Sometimes, he would be teased for hanging out with girls so much, but it never seemed to bother him. The kids who teased him were more interested in their own games to bother him for long, and he enjoyed our company, so to Wonwoo, everything was going well.
You, on the other hand, were becoming a little tired of him always tagging along wherever you went. It wasn't that he was particularly annoying, or that he wasn't fun to be around. It was the fact that he never stopped, never took a break from chasing after his friend.
As the years progressed, and you both matured, you grew to understood that Wonwoo had a major crush on you, and was to shy to confess his feelings.
You figured it out in Gr.6. Wonwoo had been bringing you a bagel and milk since Gr.4, at least once a week. It had started when he noticed you often forgot your lunch at home, and would show up to school empty handed. He would bring a bagel and a carton of milk, x2, and we'd eat them together at our shared desk during lunch.
Somewhere around Gr.6, you told him to stop bringing you food. As much as you appreciated the food and the company, accepting them felt wrong, like you were using him. You felt bad, but you just didn't like him in the same way that he obviously liked you.
He gave up for a while, planning to reboot his efforts once you started hanging out with him again, but that day never seemed to come.
The next year your grade was split into two classes due to the high number of students. You were put into separate classes, and he was at a loss for ideas on how to get you to be his friend again.
I was happy though, because it felt like I had done the right thing, distancing myself. I made new friends throughout the years, and didn't talk to Wonwoo for the rest of middle school.
But things weren't so good for Wonwoo. Always hanging out with you, he never tried to develop other relationships, so once you left him, he was on his own.
The boys thought he was weird, always playing with the girls, and the girls said he had cooties. Wonwoo didn't get it, he didn't have cooties, he just wanted to be friends.
