There's a boy that I treasure more than life itself. He is my reason to go to sleep at night so that I can wake up to greet his smiling face. He is the one I can trust the most and tell everything to. He is the clown that makes me laugh on a daily basis. He is the one who never leaves my side. He gives me confidence. He is my strength. He is my best friend. He is Park Jimin.
Jimin is a chubby cheeked kid I met when I had my 10th birthday party. I had recently moved from Gwangju to Busan prior to the event, so I only had a few sort-of-friends. Therefore, I invited the whole school's playground to come celebrate my 10th birthday at my house. When the big day finally arrived, nobody showed up. Not even those sort-of-friends showed their faces. I no longer wanted to celebrate because I was too disappointed, but then my spirits lifted when a boy from the park showed up at my door, three hours late, bowing at a ninety degree angle saying, "Annyeonghaseyo, Jeoneun Park Jimin-imnida!" (Hello, my name is Park Jimin) Ever since that day, we have been inseparable.
I smiled at the memory and knocked on his door. I heard his mother shouting his name through the door and the sound of him stomping down the stairs to open the door. I greeted his smile with one of my own.
"Bye mom," he yelled.
"Bye Park-yang," I echoed.
I grabbed his hand when we arrived at school so that I wouldn't lose him since he's so short. He never seems to mind. I'll admit that I am clingy and almost always latch onto him in public, but this stirs up drama. Many of the students will stare and whisper as we walk passed them. Most of the female students, though, are all over us anyways. I get confessions from them every day and Jimin gets even more! He accepted one once, but she soon broke up with him because I was always with him.
The school day was long and lame even though we sat next to each other. School is important, so we didn't goof off. Nobody did, really.
* * *
"Man," Jimin said as he sat at my desk, "did you catch everything Seunghyun Seonsaeng-nim said today?"
"Yeah, you can copy my notes," I replied and handed him my Fine Arts notebook.
"Thank you Hoseokie hyung!" he exclaimed in a sing-songy voice, wrapping his arms around my neck. Then he sat down and got to work. I sat on the floor behind him and also studied.
This is how an average day goes for us. We go to school together and walk home from school together. We study together, eat together, and sleep together. We spend every night together, except Sunday nights, and every week we alternate homes. Our parents used to find this weird, but it became normal over time. The Parks are almost like my second family.
"Jimin, it's already midnight, we should sleep," I said without even looking up from my practice book. No answer. "Jimin," I said louder. He still remained silent, so I looked over at him. He was already asleep. Aish! I put my books in my school bag and picked up his things as well. Then, I lifted my best friend from the chair and carried him to the other side of my room where my queen-sized bed was.
After I sat him up on the bed, I tried to coax the boy awake so that he could change clothes. I had no luck. He was out. I sighed and untied his maroon, silky tie and folded it. Then I unbuttoned his white shirt from the collar to the hem slowly, careful not to wake him, then slid it off his shoulders and tossed it in the dirty clothes pile. I paused for a moment to admire his sculpted body. My body is nice, too, but not as nice as Jimin's. I'm almost jealous. Almost.
Next, I undid the button of his dark grey dress pants and pulled the zipper down. Jimin stirred in his sleep and squirmed around a little. I froze. Please don't wake up. He just looks so peaceful. I held my breath as I tugged his pants off and reuniting it with his dress shirt. I should put pyjama pants on him, but I really don't want to wake his precious little self. Instead, I tucked him under the covers with nothing but his boxers.
I stripped myself and threw on some sleep pants. I was putting our ties in the drawer when I heard him call out to me.
"Hyung," Jimin whined in a sleepy tone, "Hoseokie.. hyung..." His voice trailed off and was replaced by snores. Well then, that was weird. I shrugged it off and climbed in bed with him.
"Good night, Jimin," I whispered. Jimin snored.
The next night, he did it again. He said my name in his sleep, which woke me up at 2:30. This time, it came out more as a whine, though. I hope he's alright...
The night after that, he was moving around a lot in his sleep, which woke me up. It was 2:30, so I stared at the ceiling and "counted sheep" until I felt the heat of his body on my side. His head snuggled into my chest and his arm slung across my torso, gripping my shirt on the other side. He had his legs wrapped around one of mine.
I stayed still, not sure as to what I was supposed to do. His snores stopped abruptly when he held his breath. All of the muscles in Jimin's body tensed up, causing him to stretch my shirt. His anaconda-like legs constricted around mine. I'm worried.
"Hy-hyung," Jimin squeaked, followed by a moan. His body relaxed again. What the Hell was that all about? With Jimin still clinging onto me like a monkey, I began counting sheep again.