I grimaced yet again when I heard a young girl swoon about me to her friend. The sweltering heat made it hard enough for anyone to walk around here, but the constant attention forced me to pull on my hoodie and tug the hood over my head.

College was luckily close to my house, so I was able to stumble into the wide hall pretty quickly and take the front seat with my hood pulled over my eyes. Nobody ever sat in the front, so it saved me from women's constant scrutiny for the rest of the day.

That is, until, someone's feet stilled near mine, and a deep, rough voice cleared their throat. 'Is someone sitting here?'

It's a boy, not a girl was the first thing that came to my mind and I sighed with relief. I shook my head and allowed him to settle beside me. I thought that would be that, until he tried to catch my attention.

'Ahem,' he cleared his throat, and a strange tingle went up my spine. His voice is hot. Damn hot. 'I understand that you probably don't enjoy social interactions, but it's my first day here and I'm really nervous. If you don't mind, could we be friends?'

His simple, childish way of approaching amused me. I've strongly believed that we are losing the art of honest communication, so I humored him with a short nod and pulled down my hood.'Sure, er...'

'Oh, it's Dae-woon. Kim Dae-woon.'

But I'm too distracted by his face to acknowledge his gorgeous name or do much else. His sharp cheekbones, rounded lips, and bright doe eyes had me swooning over him in an intense, love-at-first-sight kind of way. I vaguely sensed him waving his hand over my face before his voice dragged me back to reality.

'That's a pretty name. I'm Min Ji-ho,' I manage to say, swallowing a hard lump in my throat. The predicament I'm in almost causes me to laugh, but the overwhelming frustration quells the laughter, and I turned to face the blackboard again.

This time he remained silent, and I'm grateful for that, as it allowed me to focus on the classes for the rest of the day. I thought that would be that, and he would be annoyed enough to move on, but he tails me across the campus after classes like a lost puppy.

I'm about to turn around and tell him off, but the cute eyes he sends my way cause the harsh words to die in my throat. This is one helluva guy, and I have no idea how I ended up with him. Or what I did to deserve him, either.

'Can I walk with you back home?' he asked, clasping his hands. 'I know my way around here, so you don't need to spend extra time with me. I can drop you at your home, then walk to mine.'

'Okay, look here, Kim Dae-woon,' I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. 'I really don't know why you're insisting on sticking to me, but I'm not that great of a guy. I'm a pretty annoying one, actually. You will be much better off with the more sociable and popular guys.'

'But you're the one I want to talk to,' he whined, grabbing the sleeve of my hoodie and tugging it. 'You're just so... so cool. I feel like you would be a great friend. And I have a good instinct about attractive guys in general.'

Wait, did he say attractive guys?

It catches me so off guard that I merely nod my head and begin walking, with him rushing to keep up. True to his word, he chattered on about anything and everything, and I found myself listening to what he had to say, which surprised me. Usually, I was so miserable that my brain didn't have the energy to process other people's words.

And when we reached my home, he gave a small smile and a wave and began walking back in the same direction we came from.

'Oi!' I said, running behind him and grabbing his hand. It felt warm and rough to the touch He turned around and stared at our intertwined hands in shock, and I quickly let go with red cheeks.

'We just walked from there. Are you really going to walk all the way back?'

'Ah, well. My home is on the right side of the school, not the left.' he said, rubbing the back of his neck. 'I didn't want to tell you earlier, in case you insisted on going our separate ways.'

His gesture touched me so much that I grabbed his hand and made an impromptu proclamation. 'Then let's share the journey. One day I'll walk you to your house, and the next day you walk me to my house. That good?'

His face brightened like the morning sunrise and he wrapped me in a quick hug before dashing off. Fighting a stupid grin off my face, I enter my house with a feeling that's almost hopeful. One look at my dad's expression, however, ruined everything.

'Who was that?' he asked, faced morphed into a cruel version of curiosity.

'No one,' I replied, slinging my bag on the sofa with a despondent thud and making my way to the fridge. But Dad was unrelenting; he followed me and badgered me with questions that caused my blood to boil.

'That didn't seem like no one. It seemed like you two are close... if you know what I mean.' he persisted. 'Who was that girl? She looked a little like a boy to me, but I guess everyone has their own way of dressing. As long as she likes you, am I right?'

'Uh huh,' I mumbled, grabbing a carton of milk and chugging it. When, oh when, can I scream that I'm gay and that I have absolutely no interest in girls? That I fantasize about having a boyfriend and living happily ever after with him?

There might have been a chance for acceptance once. But it all vanished when mom died.

'Son,' Dad said, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder. 'I don't enjoy pushing you either, but mom used her dying wish to ensure that you get a girl with whom you can spend the rest of your life.'

'I know, dad. She could have used it for anything else, being a rare soul, but she only thought of me and my eternal happiness. So for her sake, I should settle down with a nice girl,' I recited with a painful twang from my heart. It seemed to satisfy him, though, and he gave me a content smile and left me alone.

Usually this was my cue to go to my room and study, but today my head was full of the charming and thoughtful Kim Dae-woon. He seemed like he was gay, and was in for the long haul, and that very fact kept me eagerly waiting for school.

Dae-woon seemed surprised at my sudden change of heart, but took it in stride and leaned on me closer than ever. Our friendship over the next few weeks gave me more satisfaction than any of my ex-girlfriends, and I knew that I wanted to be his boyfriend.

The only problem now was my mom's wish that she'd bestowed on me. Before asking him out, I needed to tell him the truth about me.

'Dae-woon,' I said one day, where we were sitting on a tree with our legs swinging in the breeze. 'There's something I need to tell you.'

'I know,' Dae-woon smiled. 'You want to ask me out, is it? I've known for a really long time that I like you. I was waiting to confirm whether you liked me back, and now I think you do. So-'

'Wait,' I said, my heart beginning to pound. He likes me back. We can be together. But I need to tell him everything first. 'Dae-woon. There's something you have to know before we consider... dating.'

And so I tell him everything. About my mother being one of the rare people who could make a powerful wish on her deathbed. About her using that wish to make me super attractive to women, so that I could date someone and never be lonely. About my dad taking her last wish as a personal blow, and meddling with every aspect of my life to ensure her wish wasn't wasted on me.

'I come with baggage, Dae-woon,' I said, struggling to keep the tears from my eyes. 'My dad will never accept us. Girls will keep fawning over me until I settle down with a woman. I'll always be on edge because of my mother's curse.'

'Hey, don't say that,' Dae-woon said, clasping my hands between his. 'Everybody faces struggle in their life. Why do you think we look for companionship? It's to ensure that whenever we stumble, someone is always there to catch us. I'm sure that's what your mother wanted, even though she didn't phrase her blessing properly.'

I manage a choke-laugh at the way he's able to lighten the situation and assuage my fears so easily. Gods, I love him so much.

'We'll convince your dad too. Once he knows that you're set, he'll be able to move on with his life, and stop being stuck in the past. And as for the women...' he said, giving me a small smirk. 'I know that you're hella gay, and you'll be committed to me, so I won't ever feel jealous of your fangirls.'

I couldn't help it anymore, I leaned forward and hovered over his lips. 'Can I kiss you?'

That was all I needed to say. He grabbed my jaw and pressed his lips to mine, and my first kiss was pretty much how I'd always pictured it. Absolutely passionate, and absolutely gay.

Later that day we walked hand-in-hand down the same road we took together from school. And this time I was with my wonderful boyfriend, and nothing could go wrong, really. As long as he held my hand like this.

'Dad, I'm home,' I called, pushing the door open. 'I've brought someone with me.'

Dad looked up from his laptop with an eager expression that, for once, matched mine. Before he could speak, I held up our intertwined hands in the air. Up where he could see them.'This is my boyfriend, Dae-woon. And he's one helluva guy. I hope we all become close.'