Although Kris’ insistence that I move in with him ceased momentarily, this only gave him the upper hand when he found out that I had lied to him about my part-time job. I had no desire to continue the argument and that’s how Kris ended up at Szechuan Palace. Fei was easily smitten by the ever so charismatic man who the charm to convince her to shorten the usual one-month notice period to just two weeks.

Batting her lashes, Fei nodded obligingly at Kris. “Oh Amber, you are so lucky to have such a caring boyfriend.” Funny how every one seemed to be equally bowled over this person – is this how people who did not grow up with Kris viewed him?

I flashed a fake smile at my soon-to-be-ex-boss and continued mopping the floor. Waitressing may be hard work but it was an honest way of making a living. I just didn’t want Kris to nag at me anymore. Perhaps in the whole scheme of things, this was just a small issue. Whatever it was, I guess I just wanted for both of us to have some peace after the initial squabbling – I had to give my oldest friend props for all his effort.

Mulling over how much I would miss my friends at the Chinese restaurant, I dragged myself to my Microeconomics lecture on a November morning. The examinations loomed – I guess it was a good time to stop working so I could mug, if Kris wasn’t a distraction. Sighing to myself, I wondered what I was going to do about the sudden loss of income. As much as Kris was inclined to paying for me when we were together, I was more comfortable spending my own money for my own little luxuries – like those solo trips to the chocolate shop where I would gorge myself.

I closed my eyes, mentally bidding the chocolate fondue I enjoyed so much goodbye and crashed face first into someone. Looking up to his textbook roman nose, I saw Jin Woon’s small eyes sparkle as they became two slits – what the Koreans call eye-smile.

This was just typical of life, when you weren’t paying attention to where you were going, you meet the one person you want to avoid. My gaze fell to the ground. I had not had any face-to-face encounters with Jin Woon since the last time he sent me home. It had almost slipped my mind how unassumingly handsome I found him and now up close, I could feel my cheeks burning up.

“Hello Amber, how have you been?”

He seemed genuinely pleased to bump into me and there was none of that awkwardness that I thought would transpire when we met again. So who was I to behave weirdly?

“Jin Woon! I’ve been fine. Busy you know with school and what not.”

“Are you going to class?” The smile never left his face and even though we had only been acquainted for a short while before I went MIA, I queerly felt a tug of yearning.

“Microeconomics!” I returned his smile and held up my notes to show him. It was very odd, I felt two conflicting emotions – one inexplicitly ecstatic, the other wary. 

“Let me walk you there, I’m done with my classes today.” The tall boy offered.

I could only nod, not trusting myself to say anything as he fell in step alongside me – it dawned onto me that I sorely missed those nights he sent me home. Those were simple moments however they were a substantial memory.

The usual companionable silence between us was broken by Jin Woon as we reached my destination, “I, er, hyung told me this. I don’t mean to pry but er, your boyfriend is teaching here?”

Kris had wasted no time in making friends with Luna, after her initial jealousy and shock that I was snagged such a hottie without keeping her informed, they had become close fast. And when Kwon spotted us having tea together in one of the canteens, he had zoomed over to introduce himself and now the diva considered himself to be tight with Kris. My “boyfriend” was just tickled pink to be included in my Korean world.  

So Kwon had discussed Kris with Jin Woon too. As though the ground had opened and swallowed me whole, I stood frozen to the ground just a metres away from the lecture hall. Kwon had been perfectly scandalised and practically screeched when he discovered that I actually had been hiding a significant other. Luna had cornered me and demanded an explanation about my relationship with Kris the other night and yet the guilt then didn’t weigh as heavy as it now did.

Jin Woon wasn’t looking at me now. I opened my mouth yet didn’t know what to say. Why did I feel so bad as though I had lied to him? We had never touched on the topic of girlfriends or boyfriends previously anyway. Why did I feel as though I had led him on?

“I didn’t mean to …” What the hell could I say?

He caught sight of what must be my perplexed expression and reached a hand towards my face. For a minute, I thought he was going to cup my cheek. And for a split second, I wondered how it was like to have his fingers caress my skin.