What really happened:

Alfred was humming to himself as he scribbled away in his nearly-full diary. It was lunch time, and Im Yong Soo was sitting a few tables away with the rest of the super-cool Asians, staring at Alfred.

The boy was just so... So... Mmmnf, oh god! There was something about his blue, blue eyes and golden hair that Yong Soo couldn't get enough of. Plus, those glasses. Sure, people in Korea wore glasses all the time, but they usually only wore them as an accessory. His friends back home didn't really need them. Seeing how much Alfred depended on the wire frames made Yong Soo giddy. It reminded the Asian that, yes, Alfred was real and human and made of flesh and blood and, yes, he very much WAS date-able.

And that's exactly what Yong Soo wanted - to date this hunk of beauty. The though alone was enough to send a shiver of excitement through his bones and all the way to the edges of his body. He'd never really felt this way about anyone else before, and he liked it. He liked the way that it made his fingertips and his nose tingle and how his limbs felt like jelly and how his heart swelled when he imagined how the American would smell and sound and taste and FEEL pressed right up against him, maybe even lying on top of him.

(Hey, he was a teenager. Some thoughts were unavoidable.)

Yong Soo could proudly say that he loved Alfred. He would shout it out loud if he had to. He would sing it. He would hum or whistle it or write it a thousand times in a million different languages. The only thing he probably wouldn't do was yodel it. But nobody blamed him for that.

He looked down at his half-eaten lunch and decided that this was it. If he didn't tell Alfred how he felt now, he would probably explode into tiny bits of leftover Korean and then he'd NEVER get to date the American. Excusing himself from his table-mates, Yong Soo pushed himself away from them and made his way over to Alfred.

As soon as he slid onto the chair next to him, the blond slammed his diary shut and shoved his hands down on top of it. "What do you- Oh. It's you. Hey."

Yong Soo's stomach flopped around and his heart got lodged into his throat as Alfred smiled at him. SMILED at him. Smiled at HIM. Without thinking, the Asian blurted out, "안녕하세요, 당신을 사랑합니다!"

... Oh god he did not just say that no way please that was not how he wanted to tell him man oh man that was so embarrassing! Yong Soo was about to push Alfred face-first into his puddle of French-fry-laden ketchup and run like hell, but the blond stopped him with a good-humored laugh and an, "I have no idea what you just said, but that was pretty awesome."

Oh. Oh. Right. He was in America. Speaking to an American. Okay, whew. You are so lucky, Yong Soo.

The Korean laughed nervously along with him. "Oh, sorry... I just said that, um... You're looking nice today."

Alfred looked down at his shirt that proudly read "Pants Optional" and his mismatched socks, throwing Yong Soo a wide grin. "Thanks, man! You too."

H-he thought Yong Soo looked nice? Okay. Okay, this was good, very good. Taking a deep breath, Yong Soo placed his hands politely on his lap and avoided Alfred's eyes. "Thank you... Um, hey. Alfred?" Dear lord, it had to be a crime to have such an amazing name. It felt so good coming from his mouth, and Yong Soo imagined that he wouldn't mind screaming, sighing, panting, or moaning it all night lo -

"Yeah?" the blond said, slurping away on his soda. As Alfred's tongue darted out to lick away at the Coke that had overflowed onto the lid, Yong Soo felt his brain stop working and his voice, too. He just stared and stared and wondered what else Alfred could do with that tongue. And while he was at it, the rest of his mouth, and maybe even this hands. "Hey.. Yong Soo? Didja hear me?"

The Korean blinked and shook himself out of that fantasy as a hand holding onto a cheeseburger waved itself in front of his face. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry! I just... Wanted to know if you wanted to maybe go... Somewhere. With me. Because I really kind of think I might be in love with you. Possibly."

Alfred paused in his chewing and blinked, and Yong Soo couldn't decide if that was a good blink or a bad blink. He hoped it was a good one. "... Oh, man... Um, well, ya see..." Nope. It was a bad blink. Alfred scratched at the back of his head nervously. "I'm kind of already seeing someone else..."

Mind snapping like a rubberband stretched too far, Yong Soo pouted. "Oh. ... Who is it...?"

The American seemed to get a little more uncomfortable, shifting and playing with the hem of his shirt underneath the table. "... Your cousin."

Kiku? KIKU? Kiku was dating Alfred? What? When had this happened? How was that even possible? And why were they not sitting together? Yong Soo was very confused.

Alfred awkwardly patted him on the head and shrugged, apparently not noticing the way Yong Soo's face turned a deep shade of red at the contact. "Sorry, man.."

"No, it's okay... I'm sorry I asked. Um, see ya next period," he muttered, standing up and bowing, before making his way back to his own table.

Well, dating Al was out. It looked like he'd have to make do with stalking the American instead. Well, this sucks.

( . . . . . )

What everyone else saw:

That one Korean kid walked up to Alfred during lunch and started talking to him. They chatted for a bit and Alfred ate a lot and things looked pretty awkward when Al patted Yong Soo's head a few minutes before the Asian bowed and left.

Then everyone went back to their lunch because nobody really cared and they all thought the whole thing was pretty unimportant anyway.

[author's notes.]

"안녕하세요, 당신을 사랑합니다!" = "Hello, I love you!"

As promised, here's Yong Soo's recount of the whole ordeal in chapter 13 of Diaries.