The Prodigy Series

"I thought you weren't coming for a moment," Ji-Hun said as I approached the bench he was sitting on with steady strides. The bench was was just before the path that led down to the lake's shore. Ji-Hun was wearing jean shorts and a plain white t-shirt.

I smiled when I got in front of him before sitting beside him on the metal bench.

"So, what should we do?" I asked, looking behind the bench and towards the lake and it's surrounding area. There were three people fishing, and someone reading a book on a mat spread a little distance away from the lake's shore.

"We could just walk about and talk, and maybe get something to eat," Ji-Hun offered with a shrug. "What I really want us to do is hang out by ourselves. We could talk too. You know, get to know each other more."

I nodded at that, a smile forming on my lips as he reached out to touch my fingers with his. We say there, listening to the calm water and fishing rods being cast before Ji-Hun decided it was high time we got up.

"Let's just walk about the lake, we can watch the fish from the edge of the shore," he said as he fumbled with the collar of his polo shirt. I got up too, following him down the path that led to the lake.

When we got closer I could see the people fishing from before clearly. It was an old man and two teenage boys. The person reading on the mat was a girl who was most likely in her tween years - probably eleven. The man seemed to be teaching the boys how to fish, seeing as one of them kept tangling the rod's string. It can be pretty obvious that he didn't know what he was doing.

"Look," Ji-Hun said, making me turn my attention away from the small group. We'd already walked all the way to the other side. I let my eyes wander to what Ji-Hun was pointing at. I frowned, throwing him a disgusted look when I saw what he was talking about. Why in the world was he showing me a frog with translucent skin?

"What is wrong with you?!" I complained, giving Ji-Hun a small shove as we continued to walk. He laughed it off, reaching out to ruffle my hair before running up ahead of me.

"I'm not running after you," I muttered, folding my hands as I watched him look at me in anticipation from a distance.

"How old are you, five?" I asked, watching his grinning face through my glasses. The sun was reflecting on them and annoying me - the one and only reason I wear contacts often.

I watched Ji-Hun with a curious gaze as he bent over.

What is he doing? I asked myself, raising a brow when he stood up. I watched his grin widen before my eyes became big in shock as I watched a pebble fly through the air towards me. I let out an Inhuman sound before running away from the edge of the lake. I turned afterward, watching the pebble dive into the water with grace.

"I wasn't even aiming it at you!" Ji-Hun laughed from the other side as I tried to calm myself.

"You were trying to get me to run," I said in fury as I marched to the end towards him.

"And you did," Ji-Hun laughed. I rolled my eyes at him, using a hand to rearrange my hair that he'd playfully ruffled a few minutes back.

"You're annoying," I complained as I got to stand by his side. He didn't pay my comment any attention, so I followed his gaze to the shallow end of the lake. Small fish and tadpoles were swimming about the shallow edge.

"Do you think that they'll eat crackers?" he asked out of the blue. I turned to him, shrugging before looking back down at the fishes in the lake.

"Come on, let's get some snacks. We can get a pack of crackers to try and feed them," Ji-Hun said, taking a hold of my hand before pulling we away from the edge and towards the path with him.

The eyes of the man that was fishing seemed to linger on us as we walked away. I couldn't quite hear what he muttered under his breath, but it couldn't be anything good judging from his tone and the uncomfortable body language of his sons.

We headed to the nearby supermarket and got two juice boxes and three packs of biscuits before we headed back to the lake. I watched Ji-Hun throw bits of biscuits into the water as I munched on a piece from my pack.

"They're eating it," he said in a happy tone as he spread crunched crumbs into the water. I smiled at him. I had never thought that Ji-Hun was a nature person. His excitement over fish was hilarious. He reminded me of Candice in that aspect, sort of. Candice was always stopping to pet strays, and once in a while, she would sneak a bird with a broken wing into her room to treat it.

"Do you want to sit down?" Ji-Hun asked, making me come out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, sure," I answered as Ji-Hun dusted his crumb filled hands into the water. I watched as the fish rushed for them, creating a noise by bumping into each other and splashing water.

We headed back to the metal bench we had sat on before we'd headed down to the lake. I felt my face warm up when Ji-Hun sat close to me even though there was enough space for him to sit a good distance away.

We ate in silence until Ji-Hun turned to ask me a question.

"Hey, you said I couldn't come to your house because of your cousin the last time. Do you feel like talking about that now?" he asked. I bit my bottom lip, thinking to my cousin. I'd met him in the living room when I'd gotten home from Ji-Hun's place, but I hadn't talked to him because I headed to my room right away and I didn't come out until the next day when he'd flown out of state.

"He left the next day like I said he would. I didn't talk to him when he was around. He was with his mothers and my parents for most of the day," I mumbled, fidgetting with the bright yellow biscuit wrapper on my l.a.p.

Ji-Hun nodded at my words, breaking a piece of biscuit before tossing it into his mouth. He swallowed after chewing, before looking at me with concerned eyes. "So, you intentionally avoided him? Why?"

I shrugged, not willing to talk about how badly I got along with both my nuclear and extended family. "I don't know. I'm not just in the mood to talk right now."

Ji-Hun nodded, not asking me about my cousin anymore. I let my gaze move to the sky. It was painted a deep yellow due to the sun setting in the distance.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Ji-Hun said. I turned to him to find him squinting at the sky as a light smirk played on his lips. I nodded at what he said, before settling to bask in the silence.

A few minutes later we saw the man and the three kids from before walk past us. The tween was still reading her book while walking, while the two boys were holding on to their fishing rods as their father walked behind them with a small cooler in hand.

"It's getting late," I mumbled as I watched them walk away. I swung my legs, turning to look at Ji-Hun when I realized it was going to be Easter break after out tests.

"Are you traveling to see family during the break?" I asked, watching Ji-Hun with an expectant gaze.

"No," he mumbled, letting out a sigh. "My parents don't have a leave, so we can't go."

"Oh," I muttered as the conversation died down.

"So how are your preparations for the test going?" Ji-Hun asked all of a sudden. I could feel my c.h.e.s.t tighten at the question. Sure I'd picked up the questions for chemistry, but the nervousness and paranoia I was feeling from simply having it was affecting my ability to settle down and study for anything. I'd wanted to toss it in the bin, but I just kept having moments of extreme panic where I assumed the worst that could happen and just decided against it.

"I..." I trailed, trying to think of what to say. I couldn't tell him about how I felt because if I did I would have to tell him about what I had done.

"I'm doing fine," I finally let out, not willing to say anything else. Ji-Hun must have noticed how off I sounded because he didn't ask me any more questions concerning that.

We got up and started heading home soon after. My face was flushed with both embracement and shyness as Ji-Hun took my hand in his. Embarrassment, because I was lying to him through my teeth, and shyness since there was a part of me that leaped with joy whenever we held hands. I hated these conflicting feeling.

It will be over after the test. I tried to tell myself in my mind.

We got to my house first since the lake was close to my place. Ji-Hun walked me to the door, smiling at me before speaking, "I hope that wasn't too simple. I don't want us to do anything fancy now," He muttered, scratching the back of his neck.

"It was fine," I said, feeling fl.u.s.tered. Honestly, just being around Ji-Hun was good enough for me.

"I'm glad." He smiled, before making to leave. I reached out, grabbing the sleeve of his polo shirt, making him turn to give me a confused look.

"I wanted to ask something," I muttered, letting go of his shirt before looking straight at him. "Are we dating?"

Ji-Hun blinking, bending his head a bit to the side before raising a brow at me. I felt my face heat up with embarrassment. He was going to say no, wasn't he?

"I... Of course, I want to date you, but I haven't asked," Ji-Hun mumbled, turning away from me as his face reddened. "Do you want to go out with me?"

I found myself looking lost before I realized that he was asking me out now.

I found myself nodding. "Yes," I said in a low tone as I looked straight at him. He smiled, chuckling a little as he took my face in his hands. He leaned in, giving me a brief kiss before pulling away.

"So, we're boyfriends," he said with a chuckle as he took his hands away from my face. "I'm really happy."

I looked away from him, only hearing the sound of his footsteps as he bid me goodbye and left. I looked up, later on, to find out that he was out of sight before I let out a sigh. I turned, almost jumping down from the stairs when I was face to face with Candice.

"Boyfriends ehh," she giggled as my face burned under her gaze.

"Shut up Candice," I g.r.o.a.n.e.d, walking past her and into the house.

"I ship it though."

"Shut up already," I g.r.o.a.n.e.d, as I escaped into the hallway.