I spun, my body tensed, ready to either run or bow, I wasn't sure which.
It was Park Jun-seo.
He was standing under the warm glow of the neighborhood streetlamp. He'd changed out of his uniform and was wearing a simple black hoodie and dark jeans. Even in casual clothes, with a fresh, angry-red cut on his bottom lip, he was so perfectly, casually handsome that he seemed to glow. It was like he was a movie star and the street was his personal lighting set.
I seriously wanted to squint; the guy was just... shiny.
"San-ssi?" he asked, his voice calm, but his eyes were sharp. "What are you doing out here?"
I was so busted. I felt like a five-year-old caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"I, uh..." I stammered, holding up my gloved hands as evidence. "I couldn't sleep. Jet lag. So I... I went out for a workout. On the bars." I pointed vaguely back toward the park, deciding to omit the 1-on-1 with Myung-Dae entirely.
Jun-seo's gaze followed my gesture, then came back to me.
"Does Eomeonim Lee know you're... 'training'?" I awkwardly turned my head away, rubbing the back of my neck.
"No."
He let out a short, tired sigh.
"Right. Well..."
"What about you?" I countered, trying to shift the spotlight. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was walking Ha-neul home," he said simply. I looked past him. Sure enough, about twenty meters down the road, I could see the gate to my new house, and Ha-neul was standing there, watching us, her arms crossed.
"You two were... walking?" I asked.
"Yeah, we went out with friends."
The pieces clicked. The "childhood friends". The late-night walk.
"Ah," I said, a wave of realization hitting me. "Are... are you two dating?" Jun-seo just stared at me for a second, his head tilted, as if he was trying to translate the word "dating" from a foreign language. Then he looked at Ha-neul, looked back at me, and burst out laughing. It was a real, genuine laugh, not his polite "president" one.
"What? Me? And Ha-neul?" he choked out. "No. God, no. We're practically siblings. Our parents would love it, which is exactly why it will never, ever happen. She's... she's just Ha-neul."
"Oh," I said, feeling stupid.
"Why?" His laugh faded, but his eyes were still amused. He was teasing me. "Are you interested in her?"
"No," I said, maybe a little too quickly. The bluntness of my own answer surprised him.
"No?"
"She's... not my type," I said with a shrug, my honesty overriding my politeness. "Blonde girls... not really for me." Jun-seo looked genuinely surprised, then intrigued.
"Oh? You have a type, then, 'Mountain'?" I thought for a second. The images from the day flashed in my head.
"I guess. Black hair. Fox-like eyes... an icy kind of girl. But a really good voice."
Jun-seo's smile became a knowing, almost pitying, smirk.
"Like Yoo Chae-rin?" I felt my face heat up, but I just shrugged again.
"Hm. Looks like it. But there's no way I have a chance there. She hates my guts. Besides," I added, gesturing back toward the park where I'd just been a creep. "She's already dating. I just saw her."
"Dating?" Jun-seo looked confused. "How did you know?"
"I just saw her. With her boyfriend. At the park. He looks older, maybe a university student?" Jun-seo's confusion cleared, and he let out another, shorter laugh.
"What? 'Old'? You mean Han Min-gyu?"
"I guess? The tall guy, looks like a model?"
"He just looks older," Jun-seo said, shaking his head. "He's in the Visual Arts wing with her. He's a first year, San-ssi. He's sixteen. He's younger than you." I was floored.
"Younger?"
After a second I added:
"But... how do you know how old I am?" Jun-seo tapped the side of his head.
"It's on the official student list."
He checked his watch.
"You should probably go home, San-ssi. Before Eomeonim Lee wakes up and finds both her daughter and her new exchange student are missing."
"Right. Yeah." I started walking, and he fell into step beside me for the last few feet. I stopped at my gate, where Ha-neul was still waiting, tapping her foot. "Good night, Jun-seo-ssi. And... thanks."
"Good night, San," he said, giving me a final, tired nod. "See you tomorrow." I turned and followed Ha-neul through the gate.
This day had lasted a thousand years.