Today's BGM

💘JVKE - this is what falling in love feels like💘

“So this is love, I know it is”

•••

”This is falling, falling in love”

---

I'm twenty-two now. When was the last time I felt this happy at this age? I have no memory of laughing. If anything, I'm just exhausted. People confess to me for the most ridiculous reasons. I don't want to date. I don't like anyone. And I have no desire to play with people's hearts.

When news spread that I was enlisting, things got even more headache-inducing. Crying, clinging, begging... I'm not a celebrity, and they're not my girlfriends, so why do I have to deal with this? I wanted to escape to the military as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, the military was full of men. ...Or so I thought. For various reasons, I keep running into female soldiers. It would be fine if we just passed by, but why do they keep pretending not to know things they clearly do, just to stay near me? I couldn't even ignore them because they were either my juniors or seniors.

Still, I wasn't the only popular one. Thankfully. There's a guy named Jung Woojin who's very popular with women because he's so sweet. Having two older sisters, he's sensible and very considerate. He has a completely different personality from mine.

Once, I ended up sitting next to him. I asked him if he wasn't tired. That junior said he was tired, but he enjoyed the attention. I just found out we're in the same barracks.

One day, while I was resting on the bunk, Jung Woojin sat next to me and acted friendly, as if we'd become close just because I'd spoken a word to him.

“This is a photo of my sister's play for her Early Childhood Education assignment. Aren't the kids so cute?“

I wasn't interested, so I just skimmed it and said casually,

”It's alright.”

But then I stopped turning my head. I glanced at the photo again. My eyes widened. This time, I turned my head to look properly. I pointed at a certain woman.

“Who is this?”

When I asked, Woojin replied,

“Don't know. Probably a friend from the same department. Why? You interested?“

I was startled by his words and shook my head quickly.

A few days passed, and I couldn't forget her. It felt like an eternity. It was finally the day of my leave. I still couldn't forget that face I saw in the photo for just a split second.

I walked out of the base, staring blankly at the ground, when I suddenly bumped into someone. I looked up to apologize quickly—

It was a familiar face. I'm not the type to remember women's faces. No matter how many times I see them, I tend to forget easily. I had never seen her in person, but for some reason, she felt familiar. I stared at her without realizing it.

As my thoughts raced, I realized it. This woman was the one in the photo I had been thinking about all night for days. The friend next to her called her name. I felt like if I missed this moment, I would regret it forever. Because it was the first time I had ever remembered and liked someone.

“..Excuse me..!”