Then suddenly his eyes popped open, and he started laughing. She bent down and punched him in the shoulder.
“That was so mean!” she hissed at him, tears evident in her voice.
Instantly, he felt remorse. He hadn’t meant to scare her. He was just goofing around. As her hand smacked his shoulder, she lost her balance and fell on top of him, her mouth coming to rest over his.
It was Tae’s turn to inhale sharply. Both of them stared deeply into each other’s eyes. Without thinking, Tae responded to her by reaching up to embrace her, making sure she didn’t roll onto the floor. His arms slipped around her waist as her hands came to land on his shoulders. Tae was still clutching his ice cream cone, but she had dropped her triangular carton on top of him when she’d fallen. It had bounced off his right shoulder and landed on the floor. A smear of ivory ice cream coated his black jacket, little chunks of chocolate clinging to his coat. Her hand came down onto the wet patch, vanilla ice cream sticking to her fingers as she clutched his shoulder.
Tae decided to take advantage of this intriguing position by deepening the accidental kiss into something real. He pressed his lips against hers, his arms tightening around her even as he held his ice cream cone away from her back. This was surely the best way to comfort her, right? He closed his eyes to savor the taste of her lips. But his were the lips that tasted sweet. She enjoyed the savor of her favorite ice cream flavor on the lips of her favorite guy.
Anna lay on top of Tae in the middle of the ice cream shop, delighting in his kiss. After a moment, they both seemed to come to their senses, realizing that people were walking around them in their haste to order a sweet treat.
She didn’t even mourn the loss of her ice cream. She was sure it tasted best on Tae’s lips anyway. She slid back onto her knees before standing up. Tae scrambled to his feet, still feeling dazed from their first kiss. Absentmindedly, he licked his ice cream cone as he stared at her out of those intense, dark eyes of his.
What a birthday present! Her first kiss. With Tae! What a day! She wanted to lie back down on the floor and close her eyes in bliss, reliving that moment over and over again.
She was feeling a little woozy. She wandered over to a chair and sat down at a little, round table. Tae joined her a moment later. He handed her an ice cream cone.
“I skipped the cup this time. Thought you might be more comfortable eating out of a cone than a triangle. All things considered.”
After thinking he’d expired from eating from an ice cream cone, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to eat ice cream out of a cone either. But she gave him a weak smile before licking her cold treat.
“I really freaked you out, didn’t I?” His voice was soft, disturbed. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid ruse. Especially considering all you’ve been through today.”
For just a moment, she slipped back into yesterday’s universe as she responded with a faint smile, “Actually, it’s just the kind of nonsense you would have pulled on Jimin yesterday.”
“Jimin?” Tae’s eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. “Who’s Jimin?”
Who’s Jimin? Those had to be the saddest words that had slipped through his lips today.
“He’s your best friend.”
“Oh.” Tae didn’t have a best friend. Not in this universe.
She was quick to pick up on his melancholy. “What’s wrong?”
“I like the idea of having a best friend. What was he like?”
She considered his question for a moment. “Probably the best friend in the whole world. Jimin is a very loving person. Very giving, generous, sweet. You defended him in high school. Protected him from bullies. I imagine he adores you. Adored you. Ahhh!” She sighed in frustration. “It’s confusing living in two different worlds!”
Tae mumbled, “I wish I lived in yesterday’s world.”
“Me too.” She glanced up at him, and their eyes collided. “Except…”
“Except?”
“Then I wouldn’t know you.”
“And I wouldn’t know you.”
They sat in silence eating their ice cream while they stared at each other, unable to fully relish these moments together, both of their thoughts on yesterday’s world and all the shortcomings of today’s.