good guy

"Hey Jessica, we still on for tonight?"

"Oh yeah! Sure! Let's go now!"

"Alright!"

Jonghyun watched as the girl of his dreams entwined hands with another man. His hand clenched tightly onto the bouquet of daisies and white lilies. He had picked them specifically for her. And she didn't even want them.

He snapped out his stupor and walked off towards the direction of the park.

She wasn't waiting for anyone in particular. Her boyfriend had just broken up with her and left her stranded on a park bench. She could feel the stinging stares of the girls nearby. ("What just happened?" "Oh my God, she just got dumped." "Park Gyuri—dumped? Ha! That's hilarious!") She sighed and hugged herself awkwardly.

If only she was invisible. If only.

Gyuri sat on the bench for half an hour more until the pesky girls finally left. She took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She stopped at one name, Eunhyukkie-oppa.

The name was like a slap in the face. She couldn't even bear uttering that word in her mind. It was too painful.

And with one quick click of a button, she deleted the number from her phone. From history. From her life.

And suddenly, the longing to call him came. She couldn't, though. She deleted his number; and even if she had memorized it backwards and frontwards, she couldn't bring herself to dial the seven digits into her phone.

Gyuri pouted and watched an upcoming pedestrian make his way to the bench. He had a small garland of flowers clutched in his palm. His head was hung low, and his strides were slow and clumsy. She stared as he plopped down onto the bench and dangled the flowers between his knees.

"Hey," she spoke in a quiet voice, "are you okay?"

It was a long pause before the boy finally spoke, "No. Not really."

He looked up at her and saw that she was watching him carefully. He continued, "The girl that I've loved ever since I was 12 doesn't know I exist. I mean, we talk and stuff, but... she always takes me as a little kid."

Gyuri nodded, "I know how that feels. The guy I was with used to always pinch my cheeks and tease me by buying these ridiculously frilly dresses. It was infuriating sometimes."

"Was? What happened?"

"It just wasn't—" she stopped and ran a hand through her unkempt hair, "I don't know. We broke up."

"I'm sorry," the boy lifted up the flowers to his face and grinned before handing them over to Gyuri, "If it makes you feel better, here are some flowers. Girls like flowers, right?"

She smiled, taking the flowers into her hands, "Thanks."

"I'm..." he extended his hand out to her and flashed his pearly whites, "Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun of the '90 line."

Gyuri couldn't help chuckling before taking his hand and shaking it lightly, "Hello, Kim Jonghyun. I'm Park Gyuri of the '88 line."

"Oh! You're my nuna* then, huh?" Jonghyun pointed at her with wide eyes.

"It seems like that."

"Huh."

"What's wrong?"

"The girl I was talking about—she was just a year younger than you."

Gyuri fiddled with the daisies and smirked, "So, she was your nuna, too, eh?"

She took her eyes off of the flowers when he didn't respond. Jonghyun looked as if he was about to cry.

"Jonghyun—"

"She was only one year younger than you, only one year older than me... and I was still a kid to her."

Gyuri stayed silent and turned her gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry."

She picked at the flowers idly, "Me being here... it's not helping you get over her, is it?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that."

She laughed, "You're such a polite guy—Kim Jonghyun."

The two rejects glanced up at each other, their eyes locking together for a moment. Then, electricity. Gyuri could feel the spark between them, just like meeting an old friend. Her eyes softened, the corners of her mouth curved up, "You know..."

She stood up and swung her bag over her shoulder, she could still feel his eyes on her. "I don't know who this 'girl' you're talking about is, but..."

She looked back at him and smiled, "She certainly is missing out on a lot. You really are daebak**. Maybe, I'm just over exaggerating, but I've only known you for five minutes and I can already tell—you're a good guy, Jonghyun. You probably don't think so, but whoever you end up with, she'll be a far better girl than the one you've been crushing on for years."

It was Jonghyun's turn to chuckle, "You have a way with words, nuna. You ever plan on being a poet? Or maybe a public speaker?"

Gyuri playfully punched his shoulder, "Very funny. Here, let's head over to a store and buy some ice cream. My treat. You've had a hard day, after all."

"I'd like that, nuna," he nodded, his voice serene and sincere, "I'd like that very much."

Footnotes:

*nuna: older sister; term is only used by males; informal
**daebak: the best; big hit