Intestinal Betrayals

A month had passed ever since that strange encounter with an even stranger girl. Details of that eventful day had begun to blur; much like how my focus was beginning to fade due to the monotonous drone of my lecturer. I was a major in Theatre and Film, studying to be an actress. That was my dream. My passion, however, could not overcome the strong pull that lethargy had on my consciousness. My lecturer, Professor Go was going on and on about the elements that made his plays a success. I did enjoy his creative works but this same speech had been repeated so many times that I couldn’t be bothered anymore.

My head slowly drooped lower as I began dozing off. It was about to land on the table when there was a soft tapping on the window pane next to me. I ignored it at first, prioritising sleep over shooing away whatever creature that was pecking on the windows. The incessant noise soon got on my nerves. I raised my head to glare at the stupid pigeon that dared to interrupt my much needed beauty nap. I was about to shoo the dumb bird away but froze in place instead. It wasn’t just some common bird pecking at the window pane, it was Jessica Jung.

I bolted straight up with a jolt causing me to fall off my seat with a magnificent thud. The sudden commotion attracted the attention of the entire class as all eyes fell on me. My lecturer shot a stern glare in my direction and loudly cleared his throat to draw the class’s attention back to him. I sheepishly got off the ground and then proceeded to bow profusely to my lecturer as a form of apology. I turned my head towards the window wanting to give Jessica a good whack over the head for startling me like that only to find that she was gone.

I was starting to think that my eyes were playing tricks on me when the faint sound of knocking could be heard from the window yet again. When I turned this time, I could see the top of Jessica’s head peeking out from the bottom of the windowsill. She raised her head a little bit more and made eye contact with me. The moment our eyes connected she ducked her head down. This exchange continued on for a couple more times before it started to get on my nerves. When she tapped on the glass for the third time, I ignored her and trained my eyes on the board at the front of the classroom.

Just as I was about to doze off yet again, a sudden surge of pain rippled through my stomach. It even emitted a strange alien-like grumble before continuing on with it’s violent protests in my abdomen. I immediately began listing out everything I had for breakfast in an attempt to find the cause for this upset in my bowels.

“Let’s see, I had a club sandwich, a bowl of cereal, a glass of orange juice and some jajangmyeon. Wait… the milk had a weird taste to it. Yet I drank it anyways, nice going Choi Sootupid Young. Oh god, my stomach feels like it’s doing gymnastics in there. I need to go to the toilet, fast.”  My hand shot up from my desk to get the attention of my lecturer.

“What is it now Ms Choi?”

“Can I go to the toilet please? It’s really urgent.”

“Can you?”

“May I?” I said through gritted teeth, managing to suppress a groan from escaping.

“You may. Please hurry back.”

“Thank you sir.”

Even though I made a promise to myself not to run ever again, I left a blazing trail behind me as I sprinted towards the nearest toilet. The moment I entered the nearest cubicle, I slammed the door shut and plopped myself down on the toilet seat. I managed to make it this time, barely. I let out a huge sigh of accomplishment as I managed to relieve myself in an appropriate setting this time. After I was done with my big number two, I flushed everything down and emerged from the cubicle only to realise that I was not alone. A petite figure was perched on the top of the sink while swinging her legs back and forth. Yes, Jessica Jung was back.

“Good morrow poop-spewing human.” Jessica greeted with a slight nod of her head.

“That isn’t exactly the most appropriate greeting but hello to you too Jessica.”

“It’s not? I thought that it was a rather cordial greeting. I will brush up on my greeting etiquette. Besides that, why did you ignore me just now? That was quite an entertaining game of peck-a- if I do say so myself.”

“You were disrupting my concentration just now, I was having an important lecture. The game is called ‘peek-a-boo’ and I didn’t find it entertaining at all.”

“You didn’t seem to be paying much attention to that balding behemoth in the first place. I thought that I could perk you up a little.” She lowered her head a little and stared at the floor, not forgetting to give a little pout which was a little cute in my opinion. I almost burst out laughing when she called Professor Go a ‘balding behemoth’.

“Okok, I’m sorry that I ignored you just now. Don’t pout. Please?”

“Fine.” Jessica complied as she looked back up at me and folded her arms over her chest. It then struck me that Jessica had appeared out of nowhere. She just poofed into existence outside my class located on the fourth floor with no balcony and suddenly she’s here in the toilet! That’s messed up!

“Hang on a second! Why are you even here? How did you even get here? Were you flying just now? How did you even know that I study here?” I erratically fired my question at her in rapid succession, giving her little time to process each one.

“Hmph, at it again with your ceaseless questioning. However, I shall answer your questions. I told you that I would see you again, did I not? My methods of travel are unorthodox in the human world and yes I was flying. This thing called the In-tah-net is a very useful tool, I must say you weren’t the prettiest baby around. Good thing for puberty.”

“So you basically stalked me on the Internet and called me an ugly baby?”

“Out of everything I’ve said that’s the only thing you register? Well, I wouldn’t phrase it like that but yes, something along those lines.”

“Excuse you, I was an adorable little baby, don’t judge me! I didn’t expect you to literally pop out of nowhere! What unorthodox methods are you even talking about? Magical teleportation? Pfft.” I countered while trying to soothe my insulted babyhood.

“Ooh, good guess we have a winner!” Jessica said with a smirk as she snapped her fingers. A glowing circle of ice suddenly appeared beneath my feet and the next thing I knew I was standing right outside my lecture hall.

“W-w-what? H-how? Huh?” My eyes widened in disbelief at what I had just experienced. It felt as if I had been blanketed by a layer of warm snow if that even made sense. A calming, crisp and refreshing scent wafted through my nose as I was being transported through the circle of ice. The experience wasn’t terrifying or bad per se, it was just… out of this world.”

“Nice to meet you again Choi Soo Young. I would like to re-introduce myself as Jessica Jung Soo Yeon, a student of the Fashion Design faculty at this university. Part-time princess of the Kingdom of Chasis, not found on Earth.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Oh yes it slipped my mind that monarchies are no longer popular in your world. I am somewhat of an equivalent to that Disney ice queen with issues.”

“Um…”

“Oh you know, the one that sang ‘let it go, let it gooo, can’t hold’-”

“Yes, yes I know what you’re talking about, please don’t continue on with that song.”

“It is a nice song though. Albeit extremely overused.”

“True. Wait, that’s besides the point! Are you saying that you’re this magical ice princess from another world that just ended here on Earth for whatever reason?”
 

“Yes.” She confirmed with an enthusiastic nod of her head.

“Ok if I hadn’t actually seen you summon all that magical hunky junky I would never believe you but well ok your Highness, everything you’ve told me seems to be true. Oh my god. I need to wrap my head around this. This isn’t exactly what you would see this everyday.”

I massaged my forehead in order to soothe the headache that was beginning to form due to all of the new information.  First of all, I do believe that we aren’t the only ones in this entire universe but to have actual proof in front of my eyes was incredibly mind-blowing. This isn’t just something that you can comprehend in just a matter of seconds.

The next thing that baffled me was that magic does exist, well not on Earth but somewhere else in this universe! I wonder if they have animated movies about people without ice magic, if they even have movies. Wait, that’s off topic. Why was Jessica even on Earth in the first place? Is she going to be staying here for good? I was snapped out of my thoughts when Jessica audibly cleared . I looked up and saw that she was staring at me with an expectant look in her eyes. I decided against asking her questions for now out of the fear that she would zap me with her magic. I did not want to get transformed into a Soo-sicle just to satisfy my curiosity.

“May I request that you become my guide around campus for the meanwhile? I wouldn’t want to get lost.”

“Fine, sure, whatever. Just don’t use any of your magic out in the open for the time being. I still need time to digest this and it totally would cause a riot on campus.”

“You can eat information on this world? Interesting. I will oblige with your request.”

“I meant it figuratively. Look, I really need to go back to class now. I’ll show you around later ok? Meet me here in 30 minutes. You can go off and explore the rooms around here for awhile first. See you later.”

“Bye bye Syoung.” Jessica gave a little wave as I turned around. I was a little surprised that she had addressed me so casually but I brushed it off, assuming that it was the norm in her culture or something. I was adapting to this situation surprisingly well, I should go treat myself after this. That is if Professor Go doesn’t kill me first. He was glaring at me as I entered class. I just casually avoided his gaze and ducked down into my seat, trying to keep a low profile. I’ve had enough excitement for today.

The rest of the lesson crawled by painfully slow, I bet that Professor Go deliberately wanted to make this lesson as awful as possible. He had switched from boasting about his greatness to going in depth about the creative process behind the script for the hundredth time. I looked around the classroom and chuckled when I realised that I wasn’t the only bored one in the entire lecture hall. More than half of the class was asleep, the rest of us were just staring at the clock, willing it with all of our might to move faster. It was to everyone’s relief when the bell finally rang, releasing us from our captivity. I stretched my back as I stood up, trying to ease the lethargy away. I made my way out of class and searched for Jessica through the sea of students. She gave me a small smile when she saw me walking up to her.

“Let’s get going, I’ll show you around campus.”

“Of course, after you.”

I figured that since she was a design student I should show her the Design Faculty first. I knew my way around since I was always hanging out with my friends here. It was pretty close to where my classes were too. We walked in companionable silence as Jessica observed everything around her while I was left to my own thoughts. I wasn’t really in the mood for small talk either since I hadn’t had a proper meal yet. One does not simply function without a good meal. I intended to head down to the cafeteria after showing Jessica around, the food there was really good.

“Is this the one?” Jessica said as we stopped in front of a massive white and gold building.

“Yeap, I’ll show you the interior.” I then gestured to the various rooms around the building, highlighting the rooms that she would probably use. She nodded along to whatever I said and studied everything with a quick sweep of her eyes.

“Your world isn’t that much different from mine.”

“Can I ask about your world? I mean I know literally nothing about you besides your name and that you’re a princess. You could be some crazy warrior sent here to take over Earth.”

“If I were, all of you would be dead by now, puny humans.” Jessica said with a deadpan expression. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I gulped in apprehension, I may have spent my last moments on Earth as a campus tour guide. Her icy gaze didn’t waver the slightest bit which confirmed my fears that I was going to have a premature death.

“Did you like my joke?” Her face had softened considerably and came to resemble the look of a playful child.

“Joke?”

“Of course funny human, this deadpan humour is most interesting. Was it not funny?”

“It was!”

“Then why aren’t you laughing?” Her expression morphed back into that murderous cold glare which made me break out into loud, exaggerated laughter. I did not want to die. I looked up at her again and was relieved that her killer stare was gone, replaced with the look of pure joy. I was about to suggest heading to the nearest cafeteria to grab a bite to eat when I felt someone looping an arm around my shoulder.

“Heyya Choi, who’s this you’re showing around?” It was the glorious goddess, Kwon Yu Ri, who had her arm around my neck. My face became as red as a tomato within seconds. I was in such close proximity with her that my brain had just blanked out. It took me a few moments to reboot my poor lovesick system before I got around to answering her question.

“Hi Yu Ri, this is Jessica. She’s a new Fashion Design student. I’ve met her beforehand so I figured that I might as well give her a tour of the place.” Much to my horror, Yu Ri took Jessica’s hand and gave it a kiss. Jessica didn’t seem impressed.

“Nice meeting you Jessica-ssi, my name is Kwon Yu Ri but you can call me whatever you want babe. Happy to see a new pretty face around here.” Yu Ri said with a flirty wink. I could literally feel my heart sink. Jessica jerked her hand away from Yu Ri’s grasp and took a few steps back to distance herself from her.

“Please refrain from touching me. My name is Jessica, address me as such.”

“Such a lovely name, befitting of an even lovelier face.”

“Please back off Kwon-ssi, I am not interested. Let’s go Soo Young.”

“See you around, you’ll warm up to me eventually. Bye Choi.” She left with another flirty wink aimed at Jessica and a friendly wave in my direction. I gave a small wave and a curt smile in return. The obvious difference in the way she had treated the both of us crushed my hopes of my feelings ever being reciprocated and that really hurt like hell. The moment Yu Ri turned around and left, my smile immediately vanished and was replaced with a look of disappointment. Jessica noticed the look of disappointment on my face and was about to say something, probably to ask about the glum look on my face, before I cut her off.

“ I’m tired, I’m going home now. You can do whatever you want.

“Are you feeling unlike yourself? You’re lacking your usual cheer.” Jessica said while looking at me with a gentle gaze. A sudden wave of annoyance washed over me, she was the reason I was feeling so crappy in the first place. Those thoughts were completely illogical and uncalled for but I just needed to pin the blame on someone to make myself feel better. I wanted to be selfish for once because I was honestly sick of being that sweet little girl next door that never got her crush. I didn’t want to think that it was because of my lack of physical appeal, in my eyes, I could never compare to anyone else in terms of that. I wasn’t pretty, I was gangly and awkward. Yu Ri not even batting an eyelash in my direction just served to hammer in that point. I was a nobody.

“Can you just back off! Stop trying to be my friend and annoying me! Go bother someone else!” I lashed out at her, a stream of hot tears threatened to spill down my face.

“What is your problem? I just asked what’s wrong! How dare you scream in my face for no reason!” She shot back with the same amount of ferocity.

“Just get out of here! I don’t want to talk to you right now!” There was a tone of finality in my voice as I spun around and stormed off. I didn’t need this right now. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to have a decent conversation with anyone without snapping at them. What I needed right now was some peace and quiet, plus a heck load of chocolate. I walked over to a nearby vending machine and bought two bars of chocolate. I made my way over to a deserted part of campus. This used to be where the theatre hall was before the new one was built. No one really came here anymore after the building got torn down, especially since rumours started surfacing about some ghost haunting this area. It was essentially just an empty patch of grass with some trees. I didn’t believe in those baseless rumours though, I’ve spent plenty of alone time here before and I’ve never spotted any supernatural activity.

I plopped myself underneath the largest tree and tore open the first bar of chocolate using my teeth. I stared up at the sky while munching on the bar of chocolate and tried to sort my feelings out. I wasn’t new to rejection but this one was by far the worst because I had genuine feelings for the tanned beauty, the rest of them were just mere crushes. Feelings of bitterness and self-loathing soon began to surface. I wanted to be mad at Jessica for stealing Yu Ri away but the image of Jessica’s hurt expression flashed across my mind. It then occurred to me that I had been absolutely horrible towards her, she had every right to blow up at me. She hadn’t even done anything wrong.

I felt an incredible sense of guilt and buried my face in my hands. I needed to find now. I needed to apologise. My feelings for Yu Ri could be dealt with later. I crumpled the chocolate bar wrapper and stuffed it into my pocket. I stored the extra bar of chocolate in my bag and stood up while dusting off my pants. I heard a small gasp coming from one of the nearby trees. I looked behind and saw Jessica peeping out from behind one of them with guilt written all over her face. It was quite an adorable sight. I approached her with a gentle smile and my face and was crestfallen when she shrank back behind the tree. Had I scared her off that badly?

I stood a considerable distance away from her, I didn’t want her to end up running away from me. After realising that she had been spotted, Jessica stepped away from the tree and faced me, refusing to look me in the eye. I was about to come out with an apology when Jessica looked up at me with a morose look on her face, it was as if she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been a nuisance to you. I’m apologise for barging into your life like this. I will take my leave now. Goodbye.” She said meekly.

“I’m sorry that I ever said that to you Jessica, I didn’t mean any of it. I was just really upset because of the all the attention Yu Ri was giving to you and that was really immature of me. I don’t want you to leave or anything, I really do enjoy your company. Anyone that has super cool magical powers and forgives me for trespassing on their property is a keeper in my book. I honestly feel super guilty for lashing out at you Sica, please forgive me? I want you to stay. Just give me some time to get used to having you around here? I’ll be glad to show you our world. So please don’t return to yours just yet.” I pleaded her with the most remorseful expression I could muster.

“I… I will stay. However, please let me know the reason you’re upset next time. I didn’t enjoy getting shouted at. Promise me that, then I’ll stay. I am sorry for losing my temper as well.”

“Ok, I promise. Can I get a hug please?”

“Is this customary here? To hug after apologies are made.”

“Well, only if you want to.”

“Ok, I want to.” She buried her head into my shoulder and let out a contented sigh when I wrapped my arms around her.

“By the way, call me Sica more often. It sounds nice.” Her voice was muffled by my shirt but I still managed to make out what she said and gave a small chuckle. I hadn’t even realised that I had called her that. We let go of one another after a while, she gave me a shy smile afterwards. I remembered that I still had that extra bar of chocolate in my bag and gave it to her as a peace offering which she gladly accepted.

“Hey Sica, let’s head to the cafeteria. Good places to eat are definitely a part of this world that I want to show you.”

“It would be my pleasure Soo.”