They say that if you catch a falling cherry blossom petal, your love will come true.
"So cute. Min Yoon-ah."
The sudden, abrupt words halted my thought process. My brain had clearly been commanded to remain calm, but my body wouldn't obey. I stayed like that for a long time, staring straight at Park Jimin.
It felt like I'd been hit in the head. The back of my head didn't ache, but it felt like a blow. I couldn't hear or see anything. In that situation, the only thing I could see clearly was Park Jimin. His voice, his smile, everything.
He definitely smiled at me. Afterwards, as I stood there, seemingly unconscious, he moved his hand back and forth before my eyes. I blinked, tilted my head, and then smiled again. This time, it wasn't an unconscious smile; he was looking straight at me.
I shouldn't have been so happy.
"What did you just say?"
"Let's eat. I said let's eat together."
As we stared at each other, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. The students rushed back to their classrooms and prepared for class as if nothing had happened. We were no different. We prepared for class with aplomb, mingling with the other kids and attending class as usual.
Just then, lunchtime approached. Every student in the class cautiously stuck one foot out of their desks a minute before the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Perhaps they were planning to rush straight to the cafeteria.
As expected, the kids all rushed out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang. Two minutes passed, and I leisurely went to the bathroom to wash my hands. I shook my hands dry, then pulled out some toilet paper and wiped the moisture off my hands, intending to head to the cafeteria instead of the cafeteria. It was definitely that.
"..."
"..."
I never imagined that right after I came out of the bathroom, I would make eye contact with Park Jimin.
Perhaps Park Jimin hadn't been in Korea long, so he didn't realize how serious Korean students were about their school lunches. And he thought, well, maybe most Korean students come here just to eat lunch. I'm one of them.
Park Jimin's expression, perhaps shocked by the sight of the children leaving at the same time, was quite shocking. Well, it makes sense, since everyone in the same uniform was running toward the classroom door as if they'd found prey.
At the end of the quiet silence, I thought I couldn't stay like this any longer, so I spoke.
"Rice. Let's eat together."
"..."
"Sorry. The food at our school doesn't taste very good."
I went into the cafeteria and got my food. Ah. The cafeteria food today was really bad. Did I come here for nothing? I sighed. And sure enough, there was really nothing to eat. Codfish stew, bean rice, seasoned eggplant, braised lotus root. I clutched my pounding head.
Looking ahead, I realized Park Jimin must have been thinking the same thing I was. I could see his chopsticks moving more slowly.
I instantly grabbed Park Jimin's hand. "Let's eat something other than the cafeteria food." Park Jimin seemed surprised. "I guess it was because I was holding his hand." I explained how to dispose of leftover food and left the cafeteria.
"This is a store. Actually, I eat lunch here."
"...It's amazing."
Yeah, that's probably true. Our school cafeteria is located in a separate building, not the main building. It looks like a small supermarket. That means it's quite large for a school cafeteria.
I went into the store and grabbed a banana milk and a melon bun. Park Jimin hesitated for a moment, then grabbed a jelly. Just one jelly? You don't really like drinks, do you? Oh, right.
"Is this place like a cafe where you can order drinks?"
"...!!"
I showed the menu to Park Jimin. Park Jimin seemed to be thinking for a moment, then was startled by the owner's sudden words. He then crept back to me and spoke to me.
"I don't know what you're saying. I want an Americano, but..."
"little?"
"I'm...scared."
Okay. Honestly, it was kind of cute. A kid from abroad, and the same age as me, being so scared by a single order. Isn't this no different from a five-year-old running an errand for the first time?
I patted Park Jimin, who was taller than me, on the back. Then I asked him if he needed anything else. He seemed very embarrassed, saying he wanted something cold, not hot. "They say there's no such thing as cold Americano in foreign countries," he said. "You really don't know."
I asked Park Jimin to stay for a moment, then walked over to the counter to pay. Then I started taking Park Jimin's order.
"Please give me an iced Americano."
"That? I've been making it since that student came earlier."
"Huh?? Was that what I ordered??"
"Yeah. You're pretty good at it."
To be honest, I'm a little shocked. Why did you lie? I thought we were getting a little closer, but that wasn't the case. With all sorts of thoughts running through my head, I went to Park Jimin. But, he wasn't there. Did he not understand what I said?
"Hey. Why did you lie earlier? Why didn't you go first?"
"hmm..."
Today was a light opening ceremony, so after a brief closing ceremony, I walked across the playground toward the school gate. I asked him everything I had been curious about, but he avoided eye contact.
I grabbed his face and made him look at me. But Park Jimin, whose eyes I'd always expected to be troubled, looked relaxed enough to fluster me. In fact, I was the one who was flustered.
Park Jimin held my hand and walked confidently. Then, he stopped in front of a car and spoke.
"I thought you were going to tell me to go first. Sorry."
"and."
He opened the car door and got inside. Then he opened the window,
"I wanted to look cute. From you, that is."
It's completely guilty to say something like this while laughing like this.