I don't relate to you~
"Ning, order anything you want. This is my friend's restaurant", Jisung said to her.
Her hands reached the menu, eyes traveled to the contents and immediately closed it. "Spaghetti."
"Huh? Only?", the Korean asked.
"Yeah I don't really have an appetite."
"Hi Chenle. Hi Jisung", a waiter came and greeted the customers.
"Yangyang! Hi!", the two boys said in unison.
Yangyang's eyes went to the only girl and he immediately recognized her. "You? Ningning, right?"
"You know her?", the Chinese male asked.
"Yeah. She came with her friend the other day... but she left without eating."
"Huh? Why Ning?"
"Oh Ji, nothing. Just something urgent came up." She ended the topic.
"Okay. So, what's your order?" The older boy took out his notepad and a pen.
While waiting for their food, the girl heard some murmurs which took her attention.
"You saw the chef of this restaurant?", an older girl asked her friend.
"No, I came here for the first time today."
"Last week was my little brother's birthday so, we came here to celebrate. The chef himself brought the cake. He is so good-looking that I couldn't help but stare at him."
"Really?"
Ningning took a sip of her water and eyed at the girls. 'Are they talking about-'
"Oh look it's him!"
The dirty blonde-haired girl snapped her head at the direction when a voice entered her ears.
"Boys!"
"Renjun!"
The chef in a black attire smiled at the youngers when his vision shifted to the familiar eyes. Again their eyes met but the female was the first to break the eye contact.
"You..."
"She is Ning Yizhuo, a friend from college. We call her Ningning. And this is Huang Renjun, our school friend and the chef as well as the owner of this restaurant", Chenle introduced the two.
"Guys!!! The counter is clear now. Come and order your coffees", Johnny from the other side shouted.
"Renjun, we are coming in a bit. Ning, what would you like?"
"Anything is fine." With her reply, they skipped to the coffee counter leaving their two friends alone.
Although the restro-cafe was noisy because of the crowd inside, an awkward silence prevailed between them. No one spoke anything until the older boy took a seat opposite to her. His hands clasped together on the table, eyes finally focused on her. "Why did you run away like that the other day?", he asked in a low voice.
No answer came from her.
"Okay. I guess I know the answer. Well umm... how are you?"
She looked up and faced him. "Fine. It seems like you finally fulfilled your dream of becoming a chef. Congrats!"
"Thanks. What about you? What are you majoring in?"
"Art and Design."
Renjun's eyes sparked up as his lips curled up. "So do you still wanna be a cartoonist?"
She shyly nodded.
"Woah~ Great Yizhuo."
"Thanks."
"I never thought you will be in Seoul. I think it's our fate that we met again in a different country like this."
She just nodded.
"So... got any boyfriend?", he hesitantly asked.
That question made her a little surprise because that meant he was curious. "Not yet", she precisely replied.
"Good." After the word rolled out of his tongue, he panicked. "I mean- it's good because that means you are focusing on your career, right?"
"Uhh yeah."
Renjun's throat dried up as he licked his lips while the girl was just fiddling with fingers under the table.
"Yizhuo, do you think we still have a chance?"
"What do you mean?", she questioned although she knew what exactly he meant.
"Us. Everything happened in the past and I regret for leaving you. I may sound stupid. I dated many other girls but believe me I never stopped thinking about you, Yizhuo." A frown appeared on his face.
The female felt something dropped inside her stomach when he said her real name as her heart started beating in a fast rate. "There's no use in talking about this."
"Why? I may sound desperate but I am. Can't we forget the past and start anew?"
Her brows knitted together because she never thought that Renjun would want to get together with her again. "Past is the one which decides the present. And yeah everything happened in the past. So, why bring it up again?"
"I was a kid back then-"
"Right! We were kids. And whatever we had that time doesn't mean anything now. First love never works out. It was just an infatuation. We should forget about that. You were right that we were still young and our relationship wasn't anything serious. So, let's drop the topic here."
"But can't you give me another chance?"
"There was nothing between us so why would I give you another chance?"
"Okay fine. Give me one chance then."
"Renjun, why are you acting like this?"
"Because I missed you. Give me three months. We are adults now. Many thing changed about us so, let's get to know each other more, have some hangouts. Hmm?"
"Renjun I-"
"Oh seems like you two have gotten along well", the youngest boy said, taking a seat and sipping on his coffee.
Chenle put the two coffees on the table and sat beside the female when Yangyang came with the food.
"Oh guys! We should hangout someday. We four", the black-haired Chinese suggested. "Oh Yangyang, would you like to come too?"
"Me? Sure. I would love to", he said as he flashed his gummy smile.
2012.
"Huang!!!"
"Ning!!!"
A twelve-year-old Renjun and a ten-year-old Ningning ran to each other after jumping out of their cars with happy smiles. Every summer vacation, some parents would send their children to a summer camp in a forest. They would be looked after by an organization where the kids would do some fun activities and get close to nature. Children of different age group came there and just like that two children's parents always sent them to this summer camp and they had been friends for two years now.
After spending this year's summer camp for a week and exploring in the woods, a group of young people circled around a spinning bottle in a cozy room.
"Oh Yizhuo! It's your turn. Truth or Dare?", a thirteen-year-old asked when the bottle pointed at the younger.
"Truth."
"Oh you are no fun. You should have taken dare. Wait let me ask you a question. Hmm! Who is your crush?", the girl asked a typical question that their age group kids normally ask. She blinked her curious eyes.
A pink hue painted her cheeks as she couldn't hold back her smile. Her eyes shifted from her lap to a boy with a snuggletooth. She timidly answered, "Renjun."
The friends were shocked to hear her answer. She was bold to say the truth. "Confess! Confess! Confess!", they began to chant.
The young girl faced the shocked boy. "I like you, Renjun." She flashed a sweet smile.
"Reply back! Reply back! Reply back!"
Surprisingly, his own lips curled up too. "I like you too."
Howls escaped form the friends' mouths as they cheered for the two.
Ningning stood under the open sky, watching the moon and the stars when a person stood beside her. She looked at the newcomer and grinned.
"For you." Renjun handed her a beautiful wild flower.
"Thanks. So,.... what are we now? I mean I confessed, you confessed. So, what now?"
He turned his body towards her as she did the same. "You wanna know what we are now?"
"Hmm." She nodded.
Renjun beamed and lowered his head, giving her soft plump lips a quick peck. Heat rushed to her cheeks as her eyes widened. "So, now you know what we are, right?"
The next day, they separated on their own way amd went back home.
Next year.
It was again the night before they would go back home after the one week summer camp. Ningning and Renjun kept contact through texting and videocalling. The girl was especially happy now that they finally met after a whole year. But who knew her butterflies in her stomach would soon turn into tears because of the same guy.
"I'm sorry, Yizhuo. I can't continue our relationship."
The girl's excitement of coming to meet the boy separately at the night time, vanished and a confused expression appeared on her face. "What? But why?"
"I don't feel the same anymore. Maybe because we didn't see each for a year and the feelings are not same anymore. We are still kids. We don't know anything about love so, I think this is stupid. I'm sorry. Moreover, I'm shifting to South Korea now and won't come here from next year. So, we can never meet again."
She was too stunned to speak. "Okay", she said as less as possible because if she talked anymore, a sob could come out of her lips. Her head was down, trying her best not to cry when the older boy just left her.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
"Yayyy!!! Merry go round!!!", a happy little Eunseo exclaimed, seeing the carousel.
Eunseo's drawing teacher decided to bring the students for an excursion to the amusement park.
"You like those?", Jaemin asked from beside.
"Yeah. It's my favourite!"
The boy chuckled and both of them hopped on their horses. Soon, the ride started and they stared going up and down slowly. Jaemin's eyes remain fixated on the girl. She was smiling brighter than the sun above. Seeing her, Jaemin couldn't stop his own smile. He knew he could do anything to put a smile on her face.
A whole day passed and the sun was about to set in. The kids were already tired after so much fun they had. Some boys including Jaemin went to the bathroom after asking the teacher's permission. On the other hand, some girls requested Sir to buy icecream and he gladly agreed.
"Hey chipmunk!", a boy, a little older called Jaemin.
As soon as he turned around after zipping his pant, a punch landed on his face. His glasses now on the floor, broken. Jaemin grabbed his red cheek and his lips trembled too. Three more boys surrounded him and unfortunately no one else was there in the bathroom.
"What are you doing?", the eleven-year old managed to say.
"You pissed me of", that boy said in a harsh tone.
"W-why?"
"I don't know. You look like a good target. A weak kid. Rich kids like you should feel some pain too."
"That doesn't make sense. You punched me for no reason?!"
"Hey chipmunk, just shut up! Just look at you. You look like a nerd with those glasses. Eww. Boys, let's show him what we can do." And with that another punch was landed on his left cheek as he felt on the floor. The other boys began to kick him hard.
The four boys returned to their group when the teacher asked, "Where is Jaemin?"
They shrugged their shoulders and said, "We don't know. We haven't seen him."
The man gasped. "Oh my God! Jaemin! Did he get lost or what?"
Eunseo noticed a small smile on one of the four boys' faces. "Sir, please come with me."
They went to the gents toilet. The teacher came out and said, "No, he isn't here."
The young girl tapped her chin with one finger, thinking when her eyes went to a door beside. She walked closer and opened the door which was locked from outside. There he was- sitting on the floor in a small janitors' room being a crying mess. She ran to him, pulling him into a hug after noticing his wounds. His sobs became louder and louder as the girl caressed his hair. "It's okay, Jaemin. I'm here. No need to be scared now."
She helped her that day and from then he found comfort in her. She became a light in his dark, lonely life. She was a firefly taking him out of that dark amd scary forest. He thought his life changed after meeting her. He started becoming more social, more talkative, less shy. She became a big turning point in his life. Her voice, her smile, her face, just her- everything was mesmerizing to him. He would always look forward to the Saturdays because that day, he could spend time with her. Day by day, Eunseo and Jaemin grew closer. But that little boy couldn't see her as a friend anymore. He was falling for her- harder as days went by. He was experiencing the thing called first love- one of the purest thing at that age. But he didn't know that purest thing could leave a scar in his life someday.
••°••°••°••°••°••°••°••°••
Eunseo was about to go to sleep after singing a lullaby to Rowoon when a ping sound was heard from her phone. It was a message from an unknown number which made her eyebrows furrowed.
Unknown
Hey shawty!
Did a lot of shopping today. Feels good 😊
Any questions you wanna ask me?
Fav NCT 127 song?
Thank you~