„Oh, Jia, look at you! You’ve grown up so fast!” I heard an eager yell from behind and when I decided to face the owner of the voice, I bumped into the most annoying person on Earth. “You’re such a gorgeous woman. I bet your mom’s proud of you,” Kang Gain hollered and smiled at me gleefully.

I couldn’t believe that my aunt invited her. She was my best friend until my family moved to Seoul and until she turned into a total eyesore. I regret that I’d ever spent time with her but of course when you’re only 10 years old, you can’t tell that your bestie will be a pain in the one day. She was now one of those typical shallow-minded, irritating girls that they make fun of in silly American comedies. Luckily, we didn’t encounter in the last 10 years and I prayed that we wouldn’t even do before I die. God must have neglected my pray.

“Well, thank you, Gain,” I scrunched my nose in annoyance and didn’t even bother hiding my sarcasm. “Good to see you again.”

“Where’s your boyfriend?” she inquired, her eyebrows knitted together in question. I let out a sigh. I should have expected a question like this, especially from her, but I decided not to care about the pitiful glint in her eyes.

“I don’t have one.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she pouted like a little puppy but I exactly knew that it was all part of her one-man show. “You might be so lonely,” she snickered and I felt a need to facepalm. Thank God that my grandmother chose this moment to notice me and waved at our direction. I waved back with a half-smile and averted my eyes back to the girl who was in front of me.

“Sorry, Gain, I need to go. But it was nice to see you,” I bobbed my head and bid my goodbye. I was relieved when she didn’t follow me because even though we talked for approximately 2 minutes, she had already gotten on my nerves. Seriously, that girl was too much.

I manoeuvred myself around the crowded hall and apologised whenever I stepped on someone’s foot. There was an overexcited hustle-bustle in the room that I wasn’t in the least fond of but I tried to reassure myself that it’ll only last for a day. Gosh, I hated the idea of attending