"yo, gina! gina!"
"what?" gina snaps, glaring at hwanwoong, who was peeping at her from the doorway of her dorm room. good thing she didn't have any roommates—they'll immediately assume that both of them were dating.
hwanwoong feigned a look of hurt. "you're not glad to see me?"
"of course i am, nerd," gina rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. "the reason why you're here is what worries me."
hwanwoong's evil grin returned to his face. "ah, i think you'd actually like the reason why i'm here today. come on," he stepped into the room and grabbed gina's wrist, leading her out into the corridor.
"where are we going?" gina asked, rather nervous.
hwanwoong didn't answer, just continued to drag gina across the grounds and out of the campus. gina gulps nervously. it was dark outside, only a few street-lamps, car lights, and stars to light up the gloomy place. he's not kidnapping me, is he?
"here," hwanwoong dragged gina in front of the park—the same one keonhee brought her to, the same one where gina accidentally confessed and keonhee ran away. the memory brought a blush to gina's cheeks.
hwanwoong observed gina's expression carefully. "are you scared?"
"who— what— me?" gina stutters, looking at her friend with wide eyes. "n-no."
"you're stammering," hwanwoong smirks. "i'm not kidnapping you, you know."
"then why are you bringing me to this shady place?" gina demands.
"shady place?" hwanwoong repeated with disbelief. "dude, you went to this 'shady place' with your crush two days ago. how come you trust keonhee but not me?" hwanwoong sniffed and pretended to wipe a tear. "you knew me longer."
gina rolled her eyes and nudged him playfully. "fine fine. what did you bring me here for?"
hwanwoong smiles. "see that archway?" he pointed to the wooden brown archway covered in vines adorning colorful flowers. "follow that stone gray path until you reach the end. then you'll see."
gina raised her eyebrow at hwanwoong suspiciously, but rushed down the path quickly. it was dark, but the dim light coming from the moon allowed her to still be able to see the stone path in front of her. she continued to stare at the stone below her feet until she bumped into something solid. her nose ached as she teetered, losing her balance. a hand shot out and grabbed her shoulders, saving her from hitting her head on the hard ground. she looked up and opened her mouth to thank them, but the words stuck themselves in her throat.
"keonhee?"
the said boy smiled shyly. "h-hi."
for a few seconds, they just stood in that position, keonhee's arms protectively around gina. keonhee cleared his throat, but didn't let go of his hands on her shoulders.
"g-gina...i...i want to apologize for running away from you that night."
gina smiled, trying not to feel disappointed. "no worries, keonhee. i think anyone would've ran away from what i said..."
her words trailed into silence—another awkward silence. keonhee gulped and scratched the back of his head.
"y-yeah, about that... i um, did some thinking, and...uh, i-i came to the conclusion...that...i maybe...h-have... acrushonyou."
keonhee said the last words so fast gina couldn't decipher them.
"sorry?" she asks, confused.
keonhee squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment. "i... h-have a crush... on you, gina."
gina's jaw dropped and stayed that way.
keonhee opened his left eye a little, and sighed when he saw gina's face. "i-i'm sorry. i'm just so awkward... maybe i shouldn't have said anything...should've kept it to myself..." he began mumbling.
gina blinked out of her shock. did keonhee just... confess to me?
keonhee gulps. "i-i'm sorry. forget i said anything, gina." slowly releasing his grip from the girl's arms, he mumbles, "i can't do this, i can't do this—"
gina lifted her left hand and rested it on keonhee's right cheek. the gesture shocked him, and he turned to gina with wide eyes.
"i like you too," gina smiles widely. "thanks for telling me that."
keonhee groans with relief. "okay... i was worried that i was going to make this even more awkward...um... what now? a-are we like...dating or something... now that we c-confessed—?"
gina tiptoed and kissed keonhee on the lips, startling the boy. but he didn't pull away, he kissed her back and sank even deeper into her embrace. both of them held each other like that for a while, with the moonlight shining down on them as their only witness.
gina pulled away, out of breath. "well... do you want to date me?"
keonhee beams. "yes. will you be my girlfriend, gina?"
gina nods, vigorously, smiling. "yes."
as they walked out of the park to meet hwanwoong, keonhee taps gina's shoulder. "hey gina?"
she turned to him with a questioning look on her face. "yeah?"
"i... i want to say thank you. for liking me... even when i'm so darn awkward all the time."
gina chuckles and leaned against keonhee's arm. "your awkwardness is just a small part of you, keonhee. you are so much more than that."
keonhee smiles fondly, and wrapped his arms around gina's shoulder as they passed under the vine-covered archway.
끝.
