CROSS THE LINE,

Lee Heeseung and Cha Juwon are friends — great friends. Friends that are always there for each other, friends that would do anything for each other. Their friendship was great, sometimes envied by others, but overall great. They had what most people wanted.

Something, however, wasn't right.

Maybe it was the way Heeseung stared at her for hours, listening to her talk about anything — he could listen to her voice forever if she'd let him. Maybe it was the way he smiled so brightly whenever he saw her, running to her and hugging her tightly.

Or maybe it was the way he hesitated to grab her hand whenever they brushed against each other, wanting to intertwine them and put them in his pocket and never let go. Maybe it was the way he could stare into her eyes for hours and swear he saw all the billions of stars there. Maybe it was the way he brought her flowers from the store, even if she hadn't asked for them, and hoped they were enough for her to know exactly how he felt.

But there was a line some friends shouldn't cross, and Heeseung chose to keep his distance from it, knowing nothing good would come from crossing it.

He sat at the kitchen table, staring at the frown on Juwon's face as she leaned over the counter, watering the flowers he'd bought her weeks before. "They were gonna die anyway," he said. "Throw them out — I'll buy you new ones."

"No," she said. "They're not dead yet. They still have time."

"If you don't want me to buy you flowers, just say so, Juwon," he laughed. "I'm perfectly content not spending money."

"That's not what I mean." She sighed and glanced at him, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking away. "You can buy me new ones once they wither completely, okay?"

"So you do want flowers?" There was a smile on his face when she looked at him again, one that made a smile of her own appear.

"Well, who doesn't want flowers?"

"Jay."

"Ugh." The mention of her cousin made Juwon roll her eyes, walking away from the vase of flowers on the counter and to where Heeseung sat the table. "Jongseong's stupid," she said. "It's not my fault he's allergic to flowers."

"I don't think it's his fault either, Juwon," Heeseung said, chuckling. "Don't blame him."

"Can't believe you're taking his side," she scoffed, crossing her arms. "I thought you loved me."

He smiled, remaining silent — maybe a little too silent, considering no one said anything after that. They sat there, Juwon picking at her nails and Heeseung watching her. He felt as if she were waiting for something, waiting for him to say something, but he didn't know what to say and everything he wanted to say shouldn't be said.

The line had never been so clear before.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?" he asked her, trying to break the silence (that he was starting to find uncomfortable). The mention of a movie made Juwon look up.

"A movie?" She laughed, "But you don't like anything I put, Hee."

"That's because you watch a movie over and over again until the entire script is drilled into your head," he said, making Juwon snort. "Look at what happened with The Lorax. Now I can't look a fucking tree without thinking of that short, downgraded version of Edna." She broke out into laughter, holding her stomach from laughing too hard. It was hard for Heeseung to be serious when she had the biggest smile on her face.

"Fine," she said. "I won't put The Lorax." And she didn't. Instead, with a grin on her face, she put a sad, romance movie.

Heeseung could never understand her obsession with movies and anything fiction (especially romance, since she wasn't much of a romantic herself). It was always the same routine — she'd put the movie, complain about how unrealistic it was and then end up in tears with him comforting her. "Why do you do this to yourself?" he'd asked her.

Juwon shrugged, "I dunno," she said. "I thought maybe if I watch enough of them, my life could be like theirs." And she smiled, even though it wasn't a happy smile.

Maybe Juwon chose a shitty movie because they were more than halfway and Heeseung couldn't focus on anything but her. (Actually, it wouldn't matter if she'd chosen a better movie either. His eyes would only be on her.) And maybe he was staring for too long because he couldn't remember when she'd turn to look at him as well.

"You're not even watching," she said quietly, letting the movie continue in the background.

"I didn't like it," he responded.

"How long have you been staring at me?" She didn't sound bothered at all — in fact, it was a genuine question — but Heeseung was hesitant to answer.

"How long is the movie?"

"Two hours."

"Yeah."

His answer made her laugh, even though he was serious. "And you said I'm obsessed with you," she mumbled, turning her attention back to the TV screen. He, however, didn't move. Once he started looking at Juwon, he always found it hard to look away.

There was a line friends shouldn't cross, and Heeseung was getting a little too close.

By the time the movie ended, Juwon was in tears (which wasn't much of a surprise to him or her anymore). She laughed at herself, finding it ridiculous that she had cried despite complaining about the movie the entire time. He smiled at her, finding her amusing. "Why are you crying?"

"Because they didn't have a happy ending," she said, sniffling. "They were supposed to be happy — he promised."

He sighed, "You saw this coming, Won."

"Yeah, but it's still sad." The female frowned, thinking about the last scene of the movie and breaking into tears once again. "Why can't they just have a happy ending?"

"Because happy endings are for fairy tales," he said. "They weren't part of that fairy tale."

Juwon stared at him, wiping her dry tears with her hand. "Damn," she started. "Since when did you get so poetic?"

"I'm not poetic — I'm a realist."

She chuckled, "Do realists buy their best friend flowers just for the hell of it?"

The silence was loud. Heeseung was left with nothing to say (actually, there was a lot he wanted to say, but couldn't). Juwon noticed it and looked away, realizing she'd made it awkward again and cleared her throat. "Sorry," she mumbled. "You don't have to answer that."

Heeseung was at his limit. The line was so close to him, inviting him to cross it and endure whatever happened after, and he wanted to — god, he wanted to cross the line more than anything in the world — but he'd never been much of a risk taker. He'd rather deal with it alone, in silence, and wait for it to go away.

But the longer he looked at Juwon, the more obvious it became to him that this wasn't something that would go away.

"Yeah," he said. "They do that, too."

Three steps. He was three steps too close to the line.

Juwon smiled, her pretty smile that he couldn't help but reciprocate. She turned her and looked Heeseung in the eye, saying nothing. But no words needed to be said — their eyes said it all.

Adoration could be mistaken for many things. Heeseung knew this well, but as he stared into Juwon's eyes, he knew it was no longer just adoration — it was something else, something more — and they were both waiting for it to be said.

"Juwon," he called her name. She hummed, listening and waiting for his next words. "Friends can love each other, right?"

Two steps.

She nodded, "Yeah."

"Even if it's not platonic anymore?"

She knew what he was trying to say and it was so hard not to smile. Juwon nodded again. "Yeah," she said. "Friends can do that."

Heeseung was afraid, even when there was no reason for him to be. He knew how he felt and he was positive she felt the same, but he was so afraid that what he was about to do was going to ruin the seven years they've spent together.

There was still so much he wanted to ask her but he remained frozen, not knowing if he should take the last step and cross the line. But it seemed Juwon had gotten tired of waiting for him to make a move.

In the blink of an eye, she had moved closer to the male and gently cupped his face with her hands, placing her lips onto his.

Maybe he was dreaming — every moment with her felt like a dream anyway. Maybe this was all part of his fairy tale, the one he'd made up in his head and wished on shooting stars in order for it to come true. Or maybe the stars did listen to his wish and it'd become reality. Whatever it was, Heeseung was sure of one thing.

He could no longer see the line.