I took one last look at myself in the mirror; I wore my hair down, with a slight wave and bangs on one side. My make-up was really light; despite the fact that I wanted to impress him, I didn’t want him to think that I’m overdoing this meeting.

Woman’s pride.

I wore a wool blend plaid coat, a one piece dress, black leggings and a pair of black boots, despite the cold weather. I carried a red snowflake patterned scarf in my tote bag, in case it’s becomes colder. A few more minutes of staring in the mirror, finally, I smiled at myself in satisfaction.

Hell yeah, I’m gorgeous.

Well I had to be. Aside from the fact that I work on a fashion magazine, I’ll be meeting the man of my life, how can I waste this opportunity? I took a deep breath and muttered a ‘hwaiting!’ before I left the ladies room.

I was in Seoul station ; figured out that the fastest affordable way to reach Busan is via KTX line. The train will be arriving any minute now. I looked at my watch; it’s only 11:00 in the morning. Before 2, I’ll be in Busan. 30 minutes of walking to our meeting place. Hmm Say we’ll get to see each other at 3.

Right. 3 o’clock.

I rubbed my palms together because it was so cold. Damn, what’s taking that train so long? I was playing with my phone when I received a call from no other than my best friend Jessica.

“Hey Jess—”

“YAH!” Her voice was so loud that I had to put my phone away from my ear. “I’m at your apartment right now and Taeyeon said you’re already at Seoul-yeok. Don’t tell you’re really going to that stupid place because that stupid promise?!” she shouted at me. I swear I can almost see the fire coming out from her nose.

“Good morning to you too.” I told her sarcastically, “Jessica, first of all, I’m not going to a stupid place. I’m going to Busan. And second of all, it’s not a stupid promise.”

“Oh yeah it’s not; It’s way beyond stupidity.” I rolled my eyes at her remark; if she wasn’t my bestfriend, I would’ve traveled all the way back to my place and punch her in the nose. “Are you kidding me? It’s Christmas!”

“I know. Merry Christmas.”

“Tiffany, please come back here. I know you’re sometimes an idiot, but not today please. Get your in here.”

“I can’t. The train’s arriving in any minute.”

“Tiffany.”

“Jessica. You know how long I waited for this day to come. 10 years Jessica. 10 years! I’ll be meeting him finally, okay? Can you just be supportive? Just this time?”

“You don’t even know him! You’re dwelling on a stupid promise you made when you were kids!”

“Correction, we were 13. Teens. We were already teens.”

“and you’re 23 now. You know better than that.”

I sighed, “Yes. I’m old enough to decide for this.”

“You’re too old for that kind of crap.” I can feel the irritation in her voice, “It’s dangerous. You can’t even remember his face.”

“Of course I do. He’s chubby, killer eyes, has a weird hairstyle, which matched his weird sense of humor—”

Jessica cursed in English, “Can you hear yourself? You’re describing a goon.”

“He’s really kind.”

“Yeah when you were 13. Come on Tiffany, What if he didn’t remember it? Which by the way has a 99% probability.”

What if he forgot? My heart skipped a beat. “Then it’s fine. Jessica, It doesn’t matter okay? I just have to try this.” I told her as I heard the sound of the train nearing us, “Hey, the train’s here. I’ll call you later. Bye.”

“TIFF—” I cut the line before she could even shout at me and turned my phone off. Most of the time my bestfriend makes me happy but sometimes I want to beat the crap out of her. I stood up and made my way towards the door. There were a few people, as I expected, but I guess I was too keyed up so I entered the train quickly.  

When I found my seat, I quickly settled myself in, near the window. I would love to admire the beauty of nature while thinking of the possible things that can happen later. Man, I’m so excited to see him.

I pulled out the letter on my pocket.

We’ll meet here, 10 years from now. That’s Christmas 2011, 3:00 pm.

If one of us doesn’t make it, then weren’t meant to be.

Until that time comes, you’ll be my soulmate Mi Young. :)

I smiled at the last part. Soulmate. I can remember him writing this before; his chubby cheeks were red because it was so cold. He was smiling at me, showing his deep dimples. We were just friends for a year and I’ve grown to like him.

I never told Jessica, but I was really fat before.

I didn’t have many friends; most of them made fun of me. I used to have inferiority complex because of that. But there was this boy, 2 years older than I am. He treated me differently. He was chubby too, like me so people liked to make fun of us. But since he was older, a lot of my classmates were afraid of him. So when he’s around, no one bullied me. I was always crying but he, he’s always by my side. He’d cheer me up in any way possible and he never failed to make me laugh.

He was my first love.

We always meet at that place; it used to be our hide out. There we would eat our lunch, hang out after classes, work on our assignments, it was our special place.

He was very vocal about how he felt about me. He said he liked me but I didn’t tell him that I liked him too since well, we’re too young. Instead we became the best of friends and we shared a wonderful year together.

Until we had to move to the U.S. I was crying at him, telling him I didn’t want to go. Turns out, they were leaving the town too, he didn’t tell me where he would go but he said he didn’t want to leave me too.

But we had to deal with it.

So we made a promise on December 25, 2001 to meet at that place on December 25, 2011.

The same thing written on this piece of paper.

He has a copy too by the way.

I heard someone coming from the back so I quickly put the paper back to my pocket. I was about to turn my attention to the window but I caught a glimpse of the man who stood before me.

My eyes widened in horror when our eyes met.

“Oh. What is a mushroom doing inside a train?”

Good heavens, of all the people in the earth.

The last person I wanted to see, No I take that back, the person I would never want to see this Christmas,

Choi Seunghyun was standing victoriously in front of me with a smug in his face.

The office jerk who did nothing but to annoy the hell out of me. Seeing his face made my insides turn, not in a giddy lovey dovey way, but the kind that makes me want to punch-a-person-in-the-face way.

Why do I have to see this jerk on Christmas day?

The mere sight of him made me frown, “What are you doing here?”

He gave me that knowing smirk I hated the most. “You just asked me the same question.”

“You’re riding this train too?!” I looked at him in disbelief.

“No, I’m sleeping on it.” He laughed at himself, “Of course! what does it look like?”

I can’t believe I’m riding the same train with this horrible creature.

He raised an eyebrow at me, “and uhm, you’re sitting on my seat.”

See? He can be a jerk in less than ten seconds.

I scoffed, “I don’t see your name anywhere.”

The jerk took something from his pocket and shoved it in my face. It was his ticket, which says, yes indeed that I was sitting in his place. I squinted at him, “Who cares. I’m a girl, let me have this seat. Be a gentleman for heaven’s sake, it’s Christmas!” I didn’t wait for his answer and just turned to the window.

“Men and Women became equal years ago. You’re so medieval.”

I blinked hard, imagining myself punching his groin so hard that he’d crumble to the floor and cry like a baby. I exhaled loudly, “Ugh.” I muttered to myself before standing up.

Choi Seunghyun chuckled, “Arasso. Since its Christmas, you sit there.”

“No, I don—”

The jerk sat beside me quickly and pulled me down back to my seat, “Just say thank you, okay?” he winked at me.

Eeww. I was about to say something but I changed my mind. Relax Tiffany. Don’t let him ruin your day. I just gritted my teeth and tried to breathe evenly.

“So, what is a mushroom doing here? I’m surprised you even know how to ride a train.” He snickered.

You see, I had this reputation in the office that I can’t do a lot of things since I came from the U.S. I mean, I speak a little bit differently from the others, I eat American food, I use maps sometimes and well, I always mispronounce words.

That explains why this jerk is calling me mushroom. We were in a meeting and I mispronounced jewels (boseok) to mushrooms (beoseot) . It’s a korean thing. Anyway, Choi Seunghyun had been calling me mushroom ever since.

“We have trains in California, FYI.” I rolled my eyes at him, “and please, I’m your senior. Learn to use some respect, will you?” It’s true; he’d only been a year in the office. I had been working there for 2 years.

He made a face, “We’re not in the office, you know? And I’m older than you. You’re the one who should pay me some respect. Call me Oppa.” The jerk wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“In your dreams.”

A few moments later, the train started moving. I planned to ignore him for the rest of the ride but I doubt it could happen. The guy was annoying as hell. He was fidgeting on his seat and that just bothers me.

“What the hell is your problem?”

“I want to sleep, mushroom.”

“Then just sleep! Why are you fidgeting?”

“Because I can’t. Duh.” He turned his back on me, which almost made me smile.

He would’ve been cute if not for that attitude of his. Really. Choi Seunghyun was a crush material. He looked like a model who just walked out of a magazine cover. He was so good-looking; tall and lean, not muscular. His jawline was so perfect that every man would kill to have one. His eyes, oh man, it can speak a thousand words; tantalizing and deadly at the same time.

And he looked especially good today. It looked like he’s only wearing 2 layers of clothes despite the weather. He wore a black stylish sweatshirt with his auburn dyed hair styled down wards. With those facial features and all, he looked like a freaking celebrity.

Ugh, Why am I even describing him? I felt my cheeks burn so I turned to the window. My phone suddenly started vibrating wildly in my pocket. It was Jessica. Oh yeah, I forgot to call her.

As soon as I answered the phone, rage filled my ears.

“LIAR! YOU SAID YOU’D CALL! AND HOW DARE YOU HANG UP ON ME!”

I closed my eyes as I put the phone away farther from my ears. When I sensed she’s calmed down, I answered back, “Jeez Jessica, lower down your voice.” I spoke to her in perfect English.

“Why are you suddenly speaking English?”

“So the jerk beside me won’t understand a thing I’m saying.” I rolled my eyes, “Jessica, that’s like our secret code.”

“Oh. You’re just aboard for like 10 minutes and someone already pissed you off?” her tone changed.

The jerk beside me doesn’t seem to care I’m saying. That’s what I love about speaking English in Korea, someone rarely understands a thing you’re saying. I smiled in victory, “Nah. You wouldn’t believe this. My mortal enemy is here beside me.”

She seemed to ponder for a while, “Choi Seunghyun?”

“Yep.”

“The hot and gorgeous Choi Seunghyun??”

I sneered. “Yep. The gorgeous jerk is here.”

“EEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Jessica’s dolphin scream rang through my ears. “Yah!”

“Sorry. But you two are just so meant to be.”

“Repeat that and I’ll rip your throat.”

“If you can.” I can imagine her teasing face, “The guy’s gorgeous in and out. You’re perfect for each other. Forget fatty and date Seunghyun, my God.”

Fatty? How dare this Jessica Jung. Really. “That won’t happen in a thousand years. I’ll call you again later, the jerk’s moving.”

“Again? I was the one who called you,pabo-ya.”

I snickered. “Whatever. I’ll call you later. Promise.” And I hung up.

The jerk turned with a big smile on his face, looking incredulously at me. I glared at him in return, “What?” I asked in korean, faking an irritation. As much as I hate him, you gotta admire how good looking this jerk is. He’s still an eyecandy. But of course, he didn’t have to know that.

Choi Seunghyun just smiled, shaking his head. “You know, describing me as a gorgeous man would’ve sounded sweeter without that jerk on it.” He grinned at me, flashing an idol kind of smile.

F.uck.

I was so surprised that I stared at him in horror for a while.

Seunghyun smirked, “I’ll take that look as a question and here’s my answer.” He said as he moved his face closer to mine,

“Yes, I do speak English. Uhm, A li’l bit. but I got what you said.” He told me in perfect english.

 Then he leaned back to his seat and chuckled to himself.

! ! !

I never considered that this jerk can speak my language! I closed my eyes and hoped that he would just let it go. Apparently, he’s not…

“So you find me gorgeous huh?” Seunghyun started to tease, “Drop that act, Mushroom. Stop pretending you hate me so I can notice you. That is so old school.”

I quickly composed myself and gave him my deadliest glare, “J-Just so you know, Mr. Know It All. It was my bestfriend who called you gorgeous, not me and Stop flattering yourself, I really hate you.”

He raised an eyebrow at me, “Why?”

Why? Because… I don’t know. I just didn’t like him. I contemplated whether to answer that question or not and decided to just let it go; the lesser conversations with this jerk, the better. “Nevermind. I’m just gonna sleep.” I told him and turned to the window.

I know it was going to be a hell of a ride.

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TADA! I'm going to post the second and third chapter before new year. :))