The one that got away (re-writing)

Chapter 6

The Seoul Forest

I don't really know what happened but here I am sitting in one of the benches inside Seoul Forest. It's so quiet here. I am currently surrounded by trees and you can hear distant birds chirping. At the heart of a very busy Seoul, you wouldn't think that a place like this exists. This place use to have tons of people but as many attractions opens up, this forest started to have a decrease on it's visitors. I still prefer this place though. Its relaxing.

I've been here before. My noona and I used to play here when we were kids. My mom would bring us here while we wait for dad's shift to be over. Ah, those were the days.

Jiyong hyung mumbled 'wait here' or something close to those words and off he ran. When I asked him where he was going, he just looked back at me and smiled. What the hell was that?

My god maybe he was really going to feed me to the fish! That's totally possible right? He could just borrow some sort of knife and slice me into tiny bits or cubes. He can also just push me in the water and if the fishes turn out to be piranhas, they'll just bite onto me and eat me alive and...

"What are you thinking?" Jiyong hyung came out of nowhere. He was smiling like he really wants to know what's on my mind. Again, he freaking startled me.

"Hyung, you should really stop doing your appear-disappear act. I'm going to develop a heart failure because of you!" I said, rubbing my chest to calm my heart.

"I'm sorry, Seungri-ya." he apologized. While smiling. Smiling that God damn coy smile.

"You don't look sorry hyung..." I said, feigning sadness.

He was not fazed though. If possible, his smile just widened.

"You're cute when your mad. Here, eat this. This is my peace offering." he said as he handed me a bungeoppang ice cream. I blushed furiously at his comment. I looked away to hide my tomato face but he sat beside me.

"T-thank you..." I stuttered. What the fu-. I quickly stopped my thoughts. I really shouldn't be cursing at times like this. He thinks I'm cute when I'm mad. The heat rise on my face again. Should I start a fight now so he can further see how cute I can be? Should I ask him if he wants to date? He thinks I'm super cute! Does he want to kiss me or something? Hug? Cuddle? Or maybe...

There you go again Seungri. You really should have an appointment with a professional brain washer because you have a dirty diiirty mind.

Then there was silence. It wasn't awkward at all. We quietly enjoyed our ice cream and sometimes we asked random things like the subjects we are taking, our course and year etc. He scared the shit out of me when he frantically pranced around and shouted 'd-d-dragonfly!'. I had a good laugh there. He was practically begging me to kill the poor insect but of course I won't do that. I just send it away and he seems satisfied. Other than that, it was relatively quiet.

When we finished our ice cream, we took a stroll around the park. Jiyong hyung suddenly disappeared. Again. For the hundredth time. When he came back, he was holding two cups of something that looks like fish food.

"Hyung, why do you always leave me alone?" I blurted. Damn. I'm so bad at hiding my thoughts. I just kind of say it out loud at the spur of the moment. Jiyong hyung was flustered. He looked surprised.

"I-I... I didn't know you'd like to get deer food with me... Next time, I'll take you... Well there's really not much to do there though... You just have to insert the coin and wait for the food..."

Oh, so it was a deer food after all. He look sincere while he was saying all those things. I smiled. He was so pure.

"Its okay hyung. I was just kidding. Its just, your sudden disappearances worries me." and he blushed. Aww! He looks so cute! Like a cute fluffy strawberry mochi that you just wanna take a bite.

Now this is awkward. What the hell should I do? He was acting shy all of a sudden and is a bit fidgety.

Think Seungri. Think!

But before I could even think of something, Jiyong hyung handed me one of the two cups he was holding.

"Let's go feed some deer I guess..." he said. Now his smile is back.

I sighed on relief.

At least some of the awkwardness is gone. I just nodded and follow him.

On the way to the deer, we passed by a balloon vendor. He was selling all sorts of balloons. There were hammer, ball, sun and some animals. I stopped dead on my tracks when one particular balloon caught my attention.

"Hello. Would like to have one son?" the old man asked when he noticed that I was staring at the balloon. He has a wrinkly smile on his face.

I looked around to see if he was talking to a kid or someone else but only Jiyong hyung and I around so I asked, "Me?"

"Ne." he answered. He saw right through me. I know its childish but I really wanted that one specific balloon.

"Seungri, are you okay?" Jiyong hyung asked. He gives me a look that says, 'is this guy bothering you?'.

"Ne Jiyong hyung. He was just asking if I want to buy a balloon." I answered.

"Which one do you like then?"

"T-the panda, hyung..." I said. I felt embarrassed. Now I was acting like a shy girlfriend asking his boyfriend to buy her a balloon. Well technically, he is. A boy friend. That f*cking space makes such a big difference.

Jiyong hyung just smiled and asked the vendor to give him the panda balloon.

"How much is this balloon?" he asked.

"Aniya... Its free. Would you like to have one too?" the old man asked Jiyong.

"Oh... Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"Ne. I go here once a week to give free balloon to kids and kids at heart."

"Oh... I guess we're lucky to have spotted you in this huge park and give us this free balloon. Thank you." Jiyong hyung said.

"Your welcome. Let me give you this." the old man said as he handed Jiyong the balloon. I choked on my saliva and started laughing.

"You've got to be kidding me." Jiyong hyung said, shaking his head but he was smiling a bit.

"Ehh? Why? Don't you like this one son? I heard your name is Jiyong. Your name means dragon right? This balloon is a dragonfly... Its not a dragon but dragonfly still has a 'dragon'."

"Aniya... I like it. Its just that..."

"He loves it. He's just too shy to take it." I said and took the dragonfly balloon from the man and tied it on Jiyong hyung's left wrist. He did the same with me and tied my panda balloon on my right wrist.

"Goodbye, children. Enjoy the park." the old man said and waved goodbye. Jiyong hyung and I also waved.

We looked at each and laughed. Now we look like giant kids with balloons tied on our wrists. We continue to walk until we got to the deer feeding station.

There are so many deer! I heard that there's two or three varieties of deer here. We entered the gate of the compound and immediately, deers came to us. We were instructed to put small amount of feeds in our hand and just let the deer lick it off your palm. I squatted so that I'm with the same level as the deer but as soon as squatted down, a baby deer ate from my cup.

"Yah! You sneaky little one. Here, have some." I said as Jiyong hyung smiled at me. He poured more feed on my hand and the baby deer immediately lapped it all up. The gesture tickles my palm so I closed it but the baby deer just continued on licking my fist. I giggled and drop the remaining feed on the ground.

Jiyong hyung on the other hand was also kneeling down and petting an adult deer. It seems to like Jiyong hyung so much because he started to lick hyung's face.

We had a great time at the park. If I have a diary, I'll definitely write this one down in full detail but I don't have one so I'll just engrave this in my memory.