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"my name's taehyung! what's yours?" the boy beamed, his dark locks bouncing with every step he took besides me. i think he knew i had to go home, but he still kept following me.
after walking for a while, he spoke again.
"your name, will you tell me it please?"
but i couldn't give,
because in the moment, it was like i didn't have a tongue.
"you won't tell me?" he pressed, and i began feeling sorry for him.
he then got quiet, but i felt his gaze.
"do you not like it?" he asks.
"do you hate it?" he continued.
"i don't have one." i confessed, my lidded eyes meeting his bright ones. insults and ill-mannerisms were all i've ever known. his expression then grew shocked.
he probably thought it was weird, meeting someone who didn't have a name.
"hmm."
he then took my hand into his, admiring it while rubbing little circles into it, with eyebrows scrunched in thought. rubbing my palm, as if it were some cat, and looked up to me with a wide smile.
he's too close
he's warm
what is he doing
it's hard to breathe
he smells good
he's close he's close he's close
"i got it!" he suddenly gasped.
"yoona. i'll call you yoona!"
snapping our of my stupor, i shot him a puzzled look at the name, and looked down at our hands. my heart leapt out my chest.
"you like it huh? i bet you do, it's perfect!" he chuckled, while swinging our hands gently.
what? i remember thinking, and the confusion was practically spelt on my face.
"well yoona, now we're friends. you can't run off like you did before!" he chuckled.
"so this," he held up our intertwined hands, lacing his fingers into mine, "is what friends do."
friends? was it his words or touch that made me feel stirred me this much?
i fell silent, nervous to this foreign behavior. he held my hand with a gentleness i've never known, treating me a way no one's ever did before.
"why are you being so nice to me?" i blurted out, unable to stop the words from spilling out.
he stopped, beating a blank expression before another smile colored his face.
"why wouldn't i be nice to you, yoona?" he said giving me a crescent eye smile.
his response was the first answer i've received,
to the same question i've been asking all my life.
this was strange.
when we finally neared mother's house, i decided to wave goodbye.
"not goodbye, but see you later! i'll look for you in town tomorrow, so you'd better be there!" he grinned, giving me the apples that he wrapped into a handkerchief. it was then that his face grew closer to mine.
"and you'd better give this back when i see you there!"
and after he waved off, even minutes past him leaving, my heart continued pounding relentlessly. hand clutching the white lion-print handkerchief and pulling those red apples closer, i glanced into the glass pane on the house.
cheeks painted an almost sickly red and eyes lidded, this was an expression i never seen before.
