love me // i.jb

01

A light snow was falling over the city of Goyang. Large clouds were covering the sky and the sun. Some shops were already advertising Christmas decorations even if it was only in a month.

Solmi, a young girl of 16 with jet black hair and deep chocolate brown eyes was sitting at a table in a cafe. She watched other people live their own busy lives while waiting for someone, an action that a lot of people did daily.

Her eyes suddenly stopped to gaze at a guy. He was waiting in line to order. His black hair brushed backward revealed large eyebrows. They made him look so serious but his eyes, his lips...

Solmi blushed on the inside, just thinking about it. The guy was Im Jaebum, her childhood friend and crush since first grade. Yes, she loved him but she could never bring herself to tell him.

She heard him order something and receive two coffees later. He walked over to her table with a smile. That smile...she loved it.

Jaebum sat down in front of her and handed over one coffee. She thanked him and took a quick sip.

"So after this? Where are we going?" He asked.

Indeed, Solmi had prepared the whole day with activities to start winter vacation.

"That's a surprise!" She said cutely.

"Ah c'mon, you can't do this to me." He chuckled, falling back into his chair.

"You'll see..." She teased and finished her coffee quickly.

The pair exited the coffee shop and walked through the busy streets of the city. While they walked, Jaebum suddenly grabbed her hand.

Solmi gasped in surprise but smiled under her red scarf. The heat of his hand seemed to warm her up in an instant. They walked over to a building which Jaebum recognized by a soft laugh.

"The aquarium?"

"Yup!"

She knew that Jaebum liked underwater animals and she knew that Goyang had a popular aquarium. Boom! Two birds and one stone!

---

After they had paid their entry, the pair began to walk around. Every exhibit was beautifully made and had small plates beside the glass to describe the species. They passed by multiple sea creatures. Every time, the pair would stop and watch the animals.

"Waaah, Jaebummie, look at this one!" She pointed at the sea turtle swimming among other species.

"It's so huge!" He laughed.

They continued to walk around until she found the clownfish exhibition.
While Solmi was reading the plate describing the fish, she could see Jaebum pacing away from the corner of her eye. She followed him from her position as he stopped in front of the jellyfish exhibition.

"Jae...bum?" She asked kind of loudly.

No answer. Maybe he hadn't heard her. Many heads turned to her with death stares as her face grew red. She felt embarrassed as she walked over. But the embarrassment was gone when she joined him and watched his expressions. It was obvious to say that Jaebum was amazed.

She couldn't help but smile as she looked at him. At that moment, Solmi wished it could stay like this forever. Just the two of them, enjoying each other's company.

I love you, she wanted to say as she grabbed his hand. She squeezed it lightly as they watched the jellyfish.

---

Later that day, Solmi was preparing a meal in the kitchen. She sang to herself as she cooked. In fact, the meal was almost ready to serve.

She took out two bowls and filled them up with crab stew. The red stew looked so delicious, Solmi's stomach was definitely trying to communicate with her by the sounds it made. She grabbed the bowls and made her way to the living room where she sat down at a tatami table.

"There you go!" She pushed one bowl over to Jaebum who was scrolling on his phone.

He looked up with a large smile and snapped a photo of the crab stew.

"You're such a good cook, Solmi."

"Ei, don't say that when you haven't taken one bite!"

"I just know that it's going to be good!" He said cutely imitating the girl's impression at aegyo from earlier this morning.

"Okay, okay." She felt her cheeks grow red, "just eat already."

Jaebum's impression at aegyo was even better than hers. He smirked at himself before taking a spoonful of crab stew. Their bowls were empty after a while and they were already doing something else.

---

It was now dark outside with only the lamp posts serving as a source of light. Inside the house, the lights were dimmed in the living room. A drama was playing on the tv that no one, in particular, seemed to be watching.

Jaebum was sitting on the floor with Solmi's head laid on his thighs. She was fast asleep while he played with her hair.

"I had fun today, Solmi. Thank you."

There was no reaction from the girl. Of course. She was sleeping.

"I love you, but you already knew that." He sighed. "Can we stay like this forever?"

Before he could continue talking to himself, Jaebum was interrupted by the front door opening.

"We're home!" A female voice called. Solmi's mother.

He instantly got up, being careful not to hurt Solmi and went to greet her parents. He knew that they didn't mind his presence, with him being Solmi's friend for so long.

"Hello Ms. Won, Mr. Won."

"Oh, Jaebum! Thank you for staying with Solmi, she can be such a sleepy head." Her mother giggled and her father agreed.

"Ah, it's no problem really."

The number of times that Solmi had fallen asleep with him around... He quickly got used to it. He also got used to carrying her to her room bridal style. Today wasn't different.

Her parents settled down in the kitchen while he grabbed Solmi and brought her upstairs.

"I swear, sometimes you do this on purpose." Jaebum huffed when he laid her on her bed.

He put the covers over her body and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Jaebum could swear that he had seen her smile at that moment.

"Goodnight, see you after winter break."

***

Wow, end of the first chapter! I hope you liked it and I hope you'll want to know more! Thank you for reading~!
If you wouldn't mind leave a review! It really helps!