“Okay mom, I love you, I’ll be safe, I won’t do drugs, I won’t get pregnant, so please stop worrying!” Jieun said as her mother squeezed her and took her by the shoulders.

“Oh I know you’ll be fine, honey, I’m just not sure your dad and I will be,” her mom replied, sighing for the millionth time that day. “It just feels like we brought you home from the hospital yesterday, and you are already off to live your own life.”

Jieun groaned, “Mom, you’ve been saying this the entire way up, I’m already 20, I can take care of myself. Besides, it’s just college.”

Her mother looked at her and sighed again. ”Okay dear, we’ll leave now before I change my mind again.” She smiled wistfully at her daughter. With one more tight hug and a “love you,” she closed the car door, and Jieun’s parents drove away, leaving her where she was, waving. When she could no longer see the car, she turned towards the door of the dorm that was to be her house for the next year.

***

Jieun was very happy with her new room. Although it was small and she had to share it with a random roommate, she had already made the place her own. Her bed was covered in colorful sheets and cute stuffed animals, the walls plastered with all the posters she had accumulated through her childhood. On her desk, she placed her favorite stationery and pencils, alongside brand new notebooks. She glanced over at her roommate’s side of the room, which clashed with her cute and bright side of the room, dark, chic and modern. My side looks so childish compared to my roommate’s, she lamented. But this is me.

Just as Jieun started wondering what her roommate was like, she was tackled into a big hug and barraged by an excited torrent of a self-introduction. “You must be Jieun! I’m Jung Hana.” Jieun knew that by the sign on her door. “But there are sooo many Hanas, so my friends just call me Zinger,” the girl said with a sense of confidence that left Jieun in awe.

Hana--no, Zinger, was just like her half of the room, elegant and chic. Her aura was just...cool. Even though she was cool, she wasn't intimidating with her colloquial chatter. "Have you met any friends yet? What are you planning on studying? What kind of clubs do you want to join?"

"Whoa whoa, one at a time!" Jieun laughed, relieved that her roommate wanted to be her friend. "Well, I just got here, so I don't really know anybody." ("Then I've gotta introduce you to mine!") "I love music, but it's not a very viable major so I have no idea what I'm studying yet." ("Oh my gosh I love music too, my friends and I are starting a band!") "And I sing, so maybe choir or something?"

"Wait, this is perfect," beamed Zinger, "just join my band! We need stronger vocals. We're actually getting dinner soon, wanna come with?"

"Of course!" As Jieun followed Zinger out the door, she smiled to herself and thought, hey Mom, I'm doing alright by myself!

***

On the way to the school cafeteria, Zinger briefed Jieun about her two best friends growing up, Hyosung-unnie and Sunhwa. After talking about how cool the two of them were, she just gave up and said, "well, you'll see what I mean when you meet them." Just outside the cafeteria, they passed a boy sitting in the windowsill of the hallway, scribbling in a worn notebook. He was wearing headphones and a hoodie that was too big. To Jieun, he looked like somebody to avoid, but Zinger pulled Jieun closer and whispered, "That's Bang Yongguk, he went to my high school. Isn't he so hot?" "Um," replied Jieun, but Zinger didn't notice and giggled as she swung their linked arms. "He was actually only the second hottest guy at our high school. The number one was Kim Himchan, but that's only because he has a better personality. Odd, they're usually together...oh well, you'll see him soon!"

As the two girls entered the cafeteria, two other girls stood up at a table in the close corner and waved to them. "Unnie, I found you a potential vocalist. This is my roommate, Jieun!" Zinger greeted the girl who one with shorter hair and an eye smile, who turned her attention onto Jieun. "Hey, my name is Jeon Hyosung. This one," she said, guesturing at the taller girl, "is Han Sunhwa." Sunhwa waved. Hyosung continued, "I'm the one who started this group that I think Zinger told you about. If you want to be a vocalist, you've gotta audition first. Do you want to sing something right now?" Hyosung asked. Taken aback, Jieun thought Hyosung was joking, but after a moment of returning Hyosung's expectant stare, she asked, "can I sing something from a song I'm working on?" At Hyosung's nod, she started singing, her sweet voice turning more than a few heads.

When Jieun stopped, the small crowd that had gathered around their table started clapping. Hyosung stood up, and flashed her a bright smile. She announced to the dispersing crowd, "that was our member Jieun! If you want to see more of that, look out for our band!"

"What's the name of the band?" A curious bystander asked. Wrinkling her nose thoughtfully, Hyosung then replied with a wink, "it's a secret." Turning back, she muttered, "I knew we should have thought of a name beforehand!" However, Jieun, who was still in a daze after her first live performance of her song, misheard, and thought aloud, "Secret is such an interesting name! Who came up with it?" Sunhwa, Zinger, and Hyosung all exchanged glances. It seemed like the same thing was going through their heads. Sunhwa spoke first, "it sounds like something really enticing...and a little y." Zinger picked up that train of thought, saying, "secrets are always desired, and have an intimate feel to them." They both looked towards Hyosung, who had already started smiling widely. "I know."

A sudden, loud grumble from the direction of Jieun's stomach surprised the four girls. "Oh, we got distracted, we should go get some food," Zinger laughed, pulling Jieun towards the servers.

***

After an exciting first dinner at college, Jieun and Zinger headed back towards their dorm, sipping on orange-juice cartons they had taken with them. All in all, Jieun mused, this was the best first day at college I could hope for. She went through a mental list of all the things that had happened. My roommate turned out to be awesome, I met not only one but three new friends, I joined a band, and I even got to name that band. There was nothing that could ruin this special day for Jieun.

Well, except for maybe what happened next. As the two girls rounded the corner, Jieun crashed into something large. She stared in horror as her orange-juice carton flew out of her hand and upended itself in slow motion all over Bang Yongguk and the notebook he was carrying in his hands.