"Here you go," Rose said and slid a cup of hot chocolate across the table. We were at some middle-class diner in the middle of town. Rose said he came here with friends one time and said the food was delicious.

I stared at the cup of hot chocolate sitting before me. It was begging me to drink it. So drink it already, Shye.

But I just stared at the dark creamy color of the hot beverage. I’m not going to drink it. Rose got it for me. What if he put something—like a drug—in it?!

Rose noticed my refusal and took the cup.

"Fine," he said. "If you don’t drink it, I will."

He placed his glossy lips on the cup and sipped the chocolate.

"Yummy," he said with a huge smile on his face.

My eye twitched. Jerk. You show off too much.

I sighed and crossed my arms. Then I drew my attention out the window where two kids were running around with their parents. Rose, still sipping my hot chocolate, stared out the window also. We didn’t speak for five minutes.

Then, a waitress approached our table.

"Would you like to order?" the young waitress asked, tapping her pen on the notebook in her hands. Rose smiled at her and replied.

"Give us five more minutes," he said. The waitress chewed on her gum loudly and shrugged.

"Okay," she said and walked away. Poor customer service, geez.

Rose slid a menu across the table.

"Pick out something," he said, not even bothering to look at me. I stared at him and focused on his face. Rose, not noticing my stare, flipped through the menu book. His hair was down and straight—he didn’t do anything fancy to it today. He wore a white baseball tee with black outlines. In a way, it was almost…boyish, something rare to Rose. But of course, to ruin his almost boyish look, he wore eyeliner and glittery lip gloss. Ugh.

He finally gazed up and caught me staring at him.

"What?" he asked, staring deeply into my eyes. He wasn’t wearing his contacts again. I could feel a sudden rush of emotions the moment our eyes met.

"Seriously," Rose said, flipping through his menu again, "if you don’t speak, I think I’m going to die! It’s too quiet."

I bit my lower lip. Should I speak? What’s the worse that can happen if I speak? Shye Lee, open your mouth to speak already! C’mon! You were arguing with him earlier—why can’t you speak now?

I picked up the menu and flipped through it. Nothing in it seemed to interest me—I wasn’t even that hungry! I couldn’t understand why I had went with Rose. I could’ve walked away! But here I am, having lunch with him. Just the two of us.

"I just want a chicken sandwich," I said and closed my menu. Rose looked up from his menu when I said this. For a moment, he just stared at me. Then, he smiled.

"Sounds cool," he replied and went back to reading the menu before him. As he was thinking of what he wanted, he stuck his tongue out at the end of his mouth.

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After lunch, I followed Rose. His hair was bouncing on his shoulders just like when he was happy. Again, he was singing to himself in Japanese. His singing was more to himself than anything. All of a sudden, he spun around.

"Let’s go to the park!" he suggested. For some odd reason, I didn’t object and followed him.

At the park, Rose threw pieces of bread at the ducks and geese while I sat on the bench watching him. I saw how happiness spread across his pale face when the ducks ate his bread. After he finished feeding the ducks, he sat on the bench next to me.

But he didn’t speak to me. He picked up his phone and dialed someone’s number.

"Hi, is Eun Jin there?" he said.

Eun Jin. I forgot about her.

"Eun Jin! Hey! Sorry, I can’t make it today," he said.

I felt every muscle in my body tense up. Seriously, what has Eun Jin done to you to make you despise her so much? Shye Lee, you are one jealous person!

"…Can we practice some other day, if possible?" Rose continued, focused in his conversation with Eun Jin.

What are you talking about? I am not jealous! What is there to be jealous of? So she’s a perky annoying girl…What is it that she has that I don’t? N-o-t-h-i-n-g!

"…My guitar, you know, the new one I bought?…Yeah, the one with the X-Japan sticker…It’s broken!"

I gulped. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I was the one who broke it when I kicked it the other day.

------

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"…We’ll have to reschedule," Rose went on saying to Eun Jin. "I’ll have to get it fixed. And my friend is borrowing my other guitar."

I could feel myself turn red. I hope you don’t know it was my fault!

"I’m really sorry, Eun Jin! I don’t know how it broke! My drums and everything are messed up too. Something must’ve fell on them when I was gone."

Eun Jin, Eun Jin! Stop saying her name already!

"Forgive me?"

You’re so funny, Rose No! You’re always asking for forgiveness!

I couldn’t stand hearing Rose ask Eun Jin for forgiveness, so I got up and walked away without saying a word. A moment later, I heard Rose coming after me.

"Hey!" he shouted after me. "Shye! You dropped something!"

I stopped walking and turned around. There in Rose’s hand was the letter my "blind date" had written. I blushed at the sight of it. And to think, I liked the person who wrote it. This is too odd!

I walked up to Rose and tried to snatch the letter from his hand. Obviously, he recognized it as the letter he had written.

"Give it!" I shouted, trying to take it from Rose’s hand. But Rose was poking fun at me. Every time I would go after it, he would hold it up higher so I couldn’t reach it. It really didn’t help that he was so tall.

"Rose No!" I shouted, jumping up and down, trying to snatch the letter. He continued playing around with me. I had had enough.

"Keep it," I said and stormed off.

"Shye!" He shouted after me. I ran a little bit, but Rose caught up quickly and grabbed my arm.

"Hey!" he said. We faced each other now. "You knew it was me who wrote it, didn’t you?"

I studied his face. It looked like he was filled with hope.

Just then, I grabbed the letter from his hands and stuffed it in my messenger bag. "No," I replied, giving him an evil look for teasing me earlier. "I accidentally spilled water on it and couldn’t read your name. Seriously, if I had known it was you, I wouldn’t have attended."

The hope on Rose’s face quickly faded. I turned around and walked away.

"I’m going home," I said, and didn’t hear him walk after me.

I looked at the group of familiar faces chatting before me. Everyone was going to the spa—Max, Jenny, Eun Jin, Rose, and Hero. Hero had bought tickets for everyone else. It was Max’s brilliant idea for everyone to go as couples. The couples were: Max and Jenny (of course), Rose and Eun Jin, and Hero and I. I didn’t protest, but I almost wished Eun Jin got sick or something. I didn’t want to hear her or see her at all. But I guess I had to suffer seeing her for a whole weekend.

Hero rented an expensive stretch Hummer limo. After all, Pine Tree Spa was a couple of hours away. After doing a quick head count, Hero instructed everyone to get into the hummer. I entered last and watched as the ‘couples’ went in.

"This is going to be so much fun," Hero whispered into my ear. He motioned for me to get in, like a gentleman, and followed after me. Within a moment, the hummer started down the street and we were off to Pine Tree Spa.

When we arrived, it was night time. No one was in the spa but us six—Hero’s father had made sure the whole place was reserved just for us. Of course, it was originally for the No family, but it was still nice to attend a place without strangers.

A nice dinner was already set up by some workers at the spa. When we entered, our mouths dropped in awe at the site of a beautiful dinner. There were candles, roses, and delicious food sitting before us.

"What are we waiting for?!" Max said, throwing his luggage aside. "Let’s eat!"

We all laughed, and sat down. The ‘couples’ sat to each other. We just left our luggages to the side, and some workers picked them up and took them away. At that very moment, I felt like a queen.

Our dinner contained of steak, shrimp, lobster, and all that luxurious, expensive food normal people like me could never afford.

"I have a feeling this weekend is going to be fun," Hero said, cutting his steak with an expensive knife and fork. "We’re all friends here. I hope you all have fun too!"

I glanced at Eun Jin. She was smiling at Rose, who was trying to cut his steak also.

"It’ll be fun if I can cut this steak!" Rose said, stabbing the piece of meat with his fork. Eun Jin, sitting next to him, leaned over to help him.

"Let me help you!" she said, cutting his steak for him. "Here." She poked the piece of steak with her fork and held it out for him to eat it.

Why am I shaking right now? Stop shaking!

Rose paused before eating. He glanced at me for a brief second. He was almost hesitant about it. Then, he forced a smile and accepted Eun Jin’s offer.

"Thank you," he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Eun Jin smiled even more.

Breathe! Count to ten! 1, 2, 3, 4…

I caught Max staring at me. His mouth was stuffed with food. When I looked at him, he shot me a look that said, "You’re jealous, aren’t you?"

I lowered my eyes and poked my steak. I didn’t feel like eating right now. Eun Jin disgusted me with her cutesy act. I knew she liked Rose—I could see it all over her. She was always smiling and flirting with him. Ugh. I’m more annoyed by her than…Alissa!

Hero nudged me. "Are you alright?"

His beautiful brown eyes tried to cheer me up. Obviously, he noticed something was wrong with me. I shook it off with a fake smile.

"I’m okay," I lied.

Hero smiled and touched my cheek with the back of his right hand. His slight touch seemed to calm me immediately.

"Be happy, dear Shye," he said and went back to eating his dinner. I blushed at his touch, and turned back to poking my food. When I looked up, I saw Rose looking at me with those feminine blue eyes of his. He had seen Hero touch my cheek. The moment our eyes met, he lowered his eyes and poked his food also.

After dinner, we went to our rooms. The rooms were huge: one room could fit us all! But Hero only requested two rooms: one for the girls and one for the guys. The guys’ room was across the hall from the girls’ room.

"This is so pretty!" Jenny said, touching the fake leaves decorated on the walls for a tropical look. "It’s like Hawaii—indoors! Isn’t it, Max?"

This girl sounds so stupid.

Max, who was standing besides me, smiled. "Yup!"

From the look on his face, I knew he was completely in love with Jenny. I’m so happy for him, even if his girlfriend sounds so stupid!

"This looks just like the dream I had the other night!" Eun Jin said from behind me. "Remember, Rose? I told you the other night. The one with all the crazy monsters and stuff?"

"Ne…" I heard Rose say quietly. "C’mon, Max. Let’s go put our stuff up."

Max kissed Jenny on the cheek then followed Rose across the hall into their room.

Inside our room were three separate twin-sized beds. Jenny took the one on the far left while Eun Jin took the one in the middle. I took the one furthest from the door.

"This place, like, smells like fruits," Jenny said like a Valley Girl. She was sniffing a basket of potpourri. "Awesome!"

Oh my gosh. We have a Korean Valley Girl. It’s like Clueless all over again. Seriously, how does Max like her so much? Ah, maybe I’m just a hater.

"The beds are so comfy!" Eun Jin said, her body spread across her bed. "Try it, Shye unnie!"

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: Unnie is a term used by Korean girls when they refer to an older female friend/relative who is like an older sister.)

I am not your unnie. All I know about you is that you sing to rock music and that you hang around Rose a lot. That is all. I am not your unnie, so don’t call me that.

But of course, as usual, I faked a smile.

"Oh," I said, sitting on my bed.

"We are going to have so much fun!" Eun Jin said, hugging a pillow. "We can stay up all night and talk about boys!"

Or not.

"Yes…" I said, even throwing in a fake laugh. "Sounds fun."

Eun Jin smiled at me and sang to herself.

"I need your love…" she sang.

After putting our stuff up, Max discovered a hot tub and told everyone to change into their swimsuits. Everyone darted towards the hot tub. I didn’t realize Rose stayed behind until I left my room to go get a drink.

When I left my room, I saw that Rose had just left his room also. His blonde hair was wet—he had probably just showered. He was in a white teeshirt and blue shorts. Maybe he’s turning into a boy now. Ha-ha. You’re funny, Shye!

Our eyes met briefly, but then he walked away.

For a moment, I wanted to call out his name and tell him to wait for me, but I stopped myself.

Why am I going after him? I don’t want him!

I waited until he disappeared around the corner before walking. I entered the small bar in the lounge. Quiet classical music played in the background.

But when I reached the bar, I saw Rose hunched over, drinking a glass of pineapple soda. I almost turned around, but I decided that thirst was more important than staying away from Rose.

"One orange juice please," I said to the bartender. He smiled and turned around and got me a cup of orange juice. The nice thing was the pink umbrella that came with the drink. I sipped my orange juice without acknowledging Rose’s presence.

A woman entered the bar and told the bartender he had a call. He excused himself and left the bar. Then, I glanced over at Rose, who was staring ahead of him, deep in his thoughts. He held his glass of pineapple soda to his lips while thinking.

I finished my glass of orange juice and got up to leave when Rose grabbed my arm. His eyes were still focused ahead of him. The glass of pineapple soda held up to his lips was empty now. He set the glass down then his eyes shifted towards me.

"My grandmother said she apologizes for making you go on that blind date," he said to me. His brown eyes studied my face. I noticed how he didn’t wear any makeup, not even chapstick!

I didn’t say anything and broke from his grip. His hand slid down my arm and our fingers touched briefly.

------

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I didn’t realize that I was standing there until I heard Hero call out my name.

"Shye!" Hero said. He was standing in the bar doorway. I looked up and finally came back into reality. I walked towards Hero and away from Rose, who had went back to staring ahead of him.

"Where have you been? I wanted to show you something," Hero said when I reached him. Then, he noticed Rose sitting hunched over at the bar. "Hey Min Woo! Didn’t see you there!"

Rose didn’t say anything but waved.

"C’mon," Hero said, focusing on me now. He looked deep into my eyes. "Don’t just stand there!"

I smiled and followed him.

"Wow!" I said when I had reached our destination. In front of me was a huge window—the wall had been taken out and they replaced it with a glass window. From here, I could see distant lights from the small country town. Pine Tree Spa was located on a mountain overlooking a small country town. And when I gazed up at the black sky, I could see a school of stars smiling back at me.

"I know you love stars," Hero said, sitting down next to me. Behind us was a nice pool. We were alone in this nice place. The lights were off and the only light came from the stars. "Every time I see stars, I just want to show you."

My heart was racing wildly. Sitting next to me was Hero, who looked as beautiful as ever. His hair was also wet. He was shirtless and had on red shorts. His body was perfectly built—not too many muscles. He dabbed his face with a towel.

"Thank you…" was all I could say. I was breathless at the beautiful sight of the stars, not to mention Hero.

Just then, Hero rested his head on my shoulder. The moment his head touched my shoulder, I could feel my heart racing. I grew unquestionably hot.

"Have I ever told you that I loved you, Shye?" Hero said out of the blue.

I. Almost. Died.

Hero sat up and looked deeply into my eyes.

"You are such a great friend," he said, his eyes glittering from the starlight. His baby face was completely serious. The word friend stabbed my heart, though. "I love you for that, Shye."

I smiled. "Why are you getting so touchy?" I punched him slightly. Hero let out a laugh.

"I like to make you happy," he said, brushing away a stray hair that fell over his eyes.

I didn’t respond and just smiled at him. For a moment, we looked into each other’s eyes. Then, he rested his head on my shoulder again.

"If you close your eyes, and open them again," Hero said, closing his eyes. "the stars look more beautiful."

I closed my eyes. If only every moment could be like this, Jae Joong. I would be the happiest girl if life were always this way.

"Open them," Hero said softly, almost in a romantic way.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. And when I opened them, the stars did look more beautiful. I could almost cry from the angelic stars smiling at me. The stars gave me hope; hope that someday I would fall in love and he would love me back.

"Isn’t it beautiful?" Hero said, still resting on my shoulder.

"It is…" I could barely speak. I’m so in love with you! Just claim me as yours and everything will be better!

"Let’s close our eyes again!" Hero said.

Again, I closed my eyes. When I reopened them, I not only saw the stars, but a reflection in the window of a dark figure. The figure was by the doorway of the pool, far away from us. I stared at the reflection in the window for a moment. The person watched us for a moment, lower his/her head, and opened the door to leave. Immediately, I turned around and searched for the mysterious person, but he/she had already left.

Hero gazed up at me.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, placing his arm down to support himself. He almost fell over because he was leaning on me for support. I shook my head.

"Nothing," I said, turning back around.

* * *