Your First Love.

one.

Soojin's POV

It was a slightly chilly Sunday afternoon in February and as usual, I was spending my weekend with my childhood best friend, Kim Jaesung. After a fun-filled day yesterday, he'd insisted on taking me out for lunch and even paying for it, which despite him 'winning' our five-minute debate about it earlier, I was still ready and willing to argue my case for by the time the bill came. No doubt at this point in our friendship, he knew how stubborn I could be.

A gentle breeze blew past as Jaesung and I walked side by side through the town, making our way towards our favourite cafe which sat nestled between some old family-run stores on the corner of the street. I pulled my jacket tighter around me in response and just about caught a glimpse of Jaesung looking at me with an unreadable expression before he quickly glanced away. I wondered if he'd noticed me look back at him, even though he'd never been shy about holding eye contact with me before; regardless, he seemed nervous.

The chill in the air caused us to pick up the pace slightly, as we were both desperate to enjoy some warmth after what was a decently long walk in temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius. As we approached the entrance, Jae slipped in ahead of me and held the door open, motioning for me to come inside which I politely thanked him for. The owner of the cafe — Min Soo-Ah — smiled from behind the front counter once she saw us; half of our free time from studying was spent here, so we'd become very familiar with each other.

I followed Jae through the cafe to the other end, carefully weaving in and out of the other customers until we reached a table by the window. Before I even had a chance to sit down, he'd pulled one of the chairs out and was once again looking at me, awaiting my next move. I was unsure why he was being so nice to me — not that he wasn't nice to me, to begin with, he was just being overly nice, to the point I was becoming suspicious. My main concerns were that he either had some very bad news or he was going to confess some kind of feelings for me, though upon thinking about it, I found both of those ideas ridiculous. I suppose I should just enjoy being treated so kindly, for once.

"Thanks," I said quietly, eyes glued to Jae as he lowered himself into the seat opposite me. There was a moment of silence, during which I cleared my throat and considered what to say next. "I appreciate you inviting me to lunch today, but I..."

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Min Soo-Ah making her way over to us, which caused me to trail off and roll my lips together. "Good afternoon! It's good to see you both. How are you kids doing today?"

"Good afternoon, Soo-Ah. It's good to see you, too." Jaesung and I bowed slightly in our seats, and his eyes met mine for a second before he continued. "We're alright, thank you. How are you? How's business?"

"Oh, I'm doing fine. We've been busier than usual, what with it being the holidays and all." Her eyes widened as though a thought had suddenly popped into her mind. "That reminds me! Are you two looking forward to your first day of High School? Not long to go now, hm?"

I managed somewhat of a smile, tucking my hair behind my ears as an excuse to break eye contact. There was no denying I was scared at the thought of not only moving into a new school but also beginning some of the most important years of my life. How well I handled these years, both academically and socially, would have a huge impact on my future; I felt the pressure I'd felt my entire life to succeed now more than ever. Ultimately, my biggest fear was disappointing my mom... she'd done her best to take care of me ever since my dad passed four years ago — even if she did let the stress get to her at times — and I felt I owed her in some way. After having to raise me on her own, and through such difficult years as some of her friends had phrased it, I hoped being able to brag that her only child had gone on to become a doctor, a teacher, or even a lawyer would make it all worth it.

There was an extended period of silence which caused me to look up from the table, seeing Jae scratching the back of his neck and seemingly being unsure how to answer such a question. I didn't know how to convincingly say I was looking forward to it, and the way he looked at me suggested that, for whatever reason, he felt the same way. Jae wasn't insanely popular by any means, but unlike me, he had his own group of friends and so I was confused as to why he seemed so uncertain. It only added to the belief I had that he was hiding something from me.

A moment later, Jae cleared his throat. "Yeah... yeah, we are." I nodded along as he spoke, and Soo-Ah glanced between the two of us. "It's going to be full of new experiences."

"That's the spirit!" Soo-Ah exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear whilst sliding a notepad from the front pocket of her apron. "Now, enough of me talking... what can I get you?"

"It's always a pleasure talking to you, Soo-Ah," I said through a soft chuckle. "Jjajangmyeon for me, please... and a strawberry latte."

She scribbled down my order, then looked up at Jae expectantly. "And for you?"

"Tuna bibimbap and a dalgona milk tea, please." He paused, but opened his mouth to speak again a second later. "Oh, and a portion of kimchi to share."

"Sounds good..." Soo-Ah trailed off, sliding her pencil through the loops of her notepad once she finished writing. "I'll be back in a flash."

"Thank you." I watched Soo-Ah walk away and head behind the counter once again before turning my attention back to the boy opposite me. "So, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

I could hear the nerves in his voice, despite his casual demeanour. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. You've been acting weird for days now. You're being overly nice to me, you've been really on edge and jittery, you struggle to keep eye contact, you—"

"Are you really complaining because I'm being nice to you?"

"Don't change the subject!" Though Jae opened his mouth to argue, he quickly pressed his lips together again. "I said overly nice, and I gave you other reasons, as well."

"You're overthinking things, Jinnie. That's all."

I paused, considering just for a moment that what he said was true. "But we've been friends for ten years. I know you, and this... this isn't normal."

"So, you're a Kang Jaesung expert, hm?" I narrowed my eyes at him and jutted my bottom lip out which caused his smirk to fade, though his attention was soon drawn to my left as Soo-Ah approached our table with two glasses in hand; one tall containing a red and creamy pink liquid, and the other slightly smaller and rounded, filled to the brim with a beige beverage and ice cubes. "Thank you, Soo-Ah."

"Thank you." The drinks were placed in front of us on the table, and as I pulled my glass closer and swirled the straw around, I saw Jae quickly take a sip of his tea as though his throat was dry. "...how is it?"

"Hm?" He quickly swallowed, taking a minute to realise what I meant. "Oh! It's nice, really nice... do you want some?"

I shrugged, eyeing the drink for a moment before he carefully handed it to me across the table. A little hesitantly, I took it, feeling the condensation seep into my skin and chill my hands as I wrapped them around the glass. I swirled the drink around then took a sip, and I couldn't help letting out a soft sigh of satisfaction; it was smooth and creamy, with a gentle sweetness that was reminiscent of the toffee candies my father used to give me when I was younger. It made me think of simpler times.

As I lowered the glass and handed it back to Jae, his lips twitched up into a smile and he let out a laugh. "What?" I asked, confused by what he was suddenly finding so amusing. He continued to chuckle to himself for a moment before motioning to his mouth, which made me realise the foam-swirled top had left its mark on my upper lip. "Oh... I see." I began laughing a little myself as I grabbed a napkin from the table to clean myself up; I hadn't had dalgona milk tea in so long that I'd forgotten how frothy it could be. "It is really good, though!"

As I licked my lips to ensure my mouth was clean, I placed Jae's drink back on the table and relaxed into my chair, now feeling a little more at ease. Regardless of what he'd said, I still believed Jae had been acting strangely for the last few weeks and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on... still, he remained adamant he was fine and with the end of our holidays quickly approaching, I wanted to focus on enjoying every moment as much as possible.