Paintbrush.

Colored pencils.

Markers.

All these items are spread in front of Suzy, the paintbrush to her right, dry and untouched, the colored pencils to her left, sharpened so the points of each pencil are hard to the touch, the makers on her lap, unopened, unused.

Suzy let out a deep breath, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. Art was never her forte, and of course her classes’ final art project had to be something complicated and unknown to Suji. No, they couldn’t just paint a red apple on a piece of construction paper, or construct a miniature house using popsicle sticks and glue (both projects done by Suzy in previous art classes). No, they had to create something from the heart, Suzy's art teacher Mrs. Kim, said. They had to create something that was a part of them, something that would touch the soul of another. Whatever that was supposed to mean. Suzy didn’t understand how art could touch other people. How it could possibly conquer someone’s soul, bring tears to someone’s eyes, as Mrs. Kim had said. Suzy knew sports; the texture of a baseball bat in her hand, the taste of sweat in as she scored a point at basketball practice.  She knew music; knew how sweet melodies and complicated harmonies could come out of , creating different emotions in others, sadness, joy, compassion. Art was a foreign object to her, a book that had never been opened, collecting dust in a library somewhere.

Suzy sighed, placing the markers on her desk. She gave up; her art teacher could just fail her for all she cared. The paintbrush in front of her, those colored pencils and markers, stood on her desk, mocking her, seemingly judging her inability to complete a simple art project. She grabbed the paintbrush, the colored pencils, and the markers, and shoved them into her art bag, before grabbing her phone off her bed.  If she wasn’t going to complete her art project, she could at least call her best friend, who had been texting her for the last hour, she thought to herself. She called a familiar number.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“ Bae Suji I have been texting you for the last hour, what the hell have you been up to?”

Suzy laughed.

“ Kibum, I haven’t talked to you in weeks, what the hell have you been up to?”

“I just got back from my vacation to Seoul. God, can’t you remember anything?”

Kim Kibum had been her best friend for years. She actually met him on the playground in second grade. At that time she was the tallest in her class, a gangly child with sharp bangs, a pink hello kitty backpack, and a sharp tongue. She had gotten in trouble that day in class for talking back, and was moody after her time out. Kibum at the time was one of the shortest kids in the class, a boy with a Batman backpack and a pair of jeweled glasses that always fell off his face. She accidently ran into him that day, playing tag with a couple of kids in her class, and after spitting out “Move,” got the biggest surprise of her life when Kibum replied back “No, you ugly tall monster!”

They had been best friends ever since.

“I’m sorry; I’ve been too busy with finals….which you seem to not be concerned with.”

On the other side of the line, Kibum, Key to his friends, laughed.  “Being a fashion major equates to not having to take multiple finals. I only have to send in my final portfolio to my professor and I’m good to go.”

Suzy sighed, “You’re lucky, I’m stuck on my art project right now. No matter what I do, I just can’t think of anything that would give me at least a passing grade in that class. If I don’t pass, my parents are going to probably kill me.”

“I think my boyfriend actually might know the perfect person who could help you with this little art project of yours.”

Suzys' eyebrows rose, “Are you serious? I thought you said your new boyfriend wasn’t allowed to have any friends, other than you.”

“ I was just joking. Woohyun has a lot of friends, mostly students from his Music Appreciation class. He says that there are a couple cool people in that class, people who are actually okay with him liking….well guys.”

Suzy smiled, “That’s great for him. You’ve never introduced us, by the way.  Maybe we could get coffee together, just the three of us, and ask Woohyun if he knows anyone that could help me?”

“Sounds good. See you tomorrow at 9:00 am?”

Suzy nodded. “That sounds great. Thanks Key, see you tomorrow.”

Suzy hung up the phone, and breathed a sigh of relief. This friend of Woohyun’s, if Woohyun indeed had a friend that could help her, could solve all of her problems.

****

 Suzy woke up at seven, excited about meeting Key’s new boyfriend. Key had always been a boy magnet for as long as Suzy knew him. Boys to Key were easy. He knew just how to talk to them, just what to say. He was the complete opposite of Suzy. Suzy tended to spit out whatever was on her mind, resulting in many occasions when she said something that either confused her date or completely grossed him out. She also was rather boring. She was pretty, gorgeous as many boys had told her, but boring. She played sports, enjoyed listening to music, and liked talking to her friends. She wasn’t y, nor was she adorably cute. She had no special talents; no quirks that made her stand out from the crowd. As Key liked to tell her, she was a red apple in a sea of red apples.

Suzy was excited for Key though, because Woohyun was different. Key, the boy magnet, was called a player by many. However, Woohyun seemed to have calmed Key’s flirty and fiery spirit, as Key had been talking about him for weeks.  Suzy actually thought Key was serious about Woohyun, the first boy that Key had been serious about for a long time. Suzy couldn’t wait to see the boy who stole Key’s heart.

Suzy changed into casual clothes, a plain white t-shirt, a pair of jeans, a scarf for it was September and was becoming colder, then wind bitter and harsh, and headed out the door of her apartment. Suzy was a sophomore in college, majoring in nothing, taking a variety of basic classes that hardly suited her tastes. She didn’t want to take any classes, period, but as she was working to be on the women’s basketball team that upcoming fall she was required to take at least fifteen hours of classes a week. So she took art classes, took a Korean class that she hardly went to, and practiced basketball as if it were the only thing in her life.

She made it to the coffee shop fifteen minutes early, ordered herself a latte, and found a seat away from the crowd of students who were crowded in the front, watching the local news and chatting amiably. Suzy didn’t like crowds, didn’t like the loudness that a group of people created. That was probably one of the reasons why Suzy didn’t have many friends.

Suzy sipped her latte, looking around the coffee shop. She spotted a brown haired girl from her Korean class, Sulli, she thought her name was, and waved. The girl waved back, sitting with her own group of friends, but made no motion to invite Suzy to join the group. Suzy didn’t mind, and continued to scan the room. A couple sat to her left, kissing passionately (gross), and a cute boy with glasses and an expensive camera sat to her right, sipping what looked to be ice tea. A really, really, cute boy, with brown hair and pink kissable lips and….

“Bae Suji who are you staring at?”

Suzy jumped, her eyes moving to look at the two boys who were suddenly in front of her.

“Nothing, um, I was just looking out the window, getting a look at the scenery.”

Key, laughed, and Suzy wanted to hit herself. She didn’t mean that the boy was the scenery…

“Let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Woohyun. Woohyun, Suzy, Suzy, Woohyun. “

Suzy looked to the boy beside Key. He was cute, a little shorter than Key, with brown neatly combed hair and a bright smile.

“Nice to meet you Woohyun,” Suzy said, sticking out her arm to shake the man’s hand.

“Nice to meet you too, I’ve heard a lot about you from Key.” Woohyun said, giving Key a shy smile.

“Good things, I hope?” Suzy said, giving Key a mock-glare.

“Of course, Suzy, what bad things could I possibly tell Woohyun about my perfect little Suzy?” Key said, ruffling Suzy’s hair. Suzy smacked his hand away.

Key and Woohyun went up to the counter to order their drinks, and Suzy smiled quietly to herself. Woohyun seemed really nice, and Suzy was glad that Key had potentially found himself a keeper this time.  Love was a hard thing to come by, and Suzy believed that as long as Key and Woohyun loved each other and were honest with each other they would be a couple for a long time.

After the boys had ordered their drinks, Woohyun a latte like Suzy’s and Key a frappuccino, Suzy got straight down to business.

“So Woohyun, Key tells me that you may have a friend that can help me with my art project?”

Woohyun smiled, and nodded. “Yes, he is a special friend of mine, someone whom I have been friends with for a long time. We even were in a band together in high school.”

“You were in a band?” Suzy asked curiously.

Woohyun laughed. “More like a boy group actually; we dance and sung at the same time, did a couple of school performances. We broke up after high school though, didn’t have enough time to practice.”

“Sounds cool,” Suzy said, impressed.

Key put an arm around his boyfriends’ shoulders. “Woohyun actually invited his friend here today. We both thought, the faster you two meet, the faster you can finish your art project.”

Woohyun nodded. “He was actually supposed to be here a half an hour ago. Maybe he got caught in traffic. I can try calling him?”

Suzy shook her head. “It’s okay; if you just give me his number I’ll call him myself. What’s his name by the way?”

“Kim Myungsoo. His number is (721) 999- 6750.”

Suzy nodded, jotting the information on the back of her hand before putting then pen she was using back in her purse.

“I actually have to be going now, my math class starts in twenty minutes. It was nice meeting you, Woohyun.”

Suzy stood up, grabbing her coffee in one hand and swinging her purse onto her shoulder. She leaned over and gave Key a kiss on the cheek (something that the two had been doing since fourth grade) and gave Woohyun a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

As she was turning to leave, Woohyun stopped her, grabbing onto her arm,

“Try not to fall in love with him, kay?”

Suzy stared at Woohyun quizzically.

“Not going to happen.” Suzy said confidently, giving the couple one last smile before walking away from them and out the door.

Key turned to his boyfriend. “What was that for?”

Woohyun smiled, “Trust me, she’s doomed. From the second she meets Myungsoo, she’ll be doomed. She’s going to fall in love with him, promise.”

“And will Myungsoo fall in love with Suzy?” Key asked, going along with what Woohyun was saying but finding the whole topic to be a little bit bizarre.

Woohyun shook his head. “No he won’t. He’s going to break her heart.” 

****

So how was the first chapter?

I wonder what Woohyun's premonition was about?

I wonder who the cute boy is with the glasses?

Time will tell! Kekekekeke~

Please leave me any suggestions or kind comments, they really make my day!