I don’t get the point of my school separating the classes for boys and girls—this ain’t 1997. I know it’s still common in this country, but it can be pretty frustrating, especially right at this moment.

     The school suddenly plans to arrange its very first prom night in the next three months, and the couples will be picked by having the girls taking a name randomly from a box which will be rotated from class 3-1 until 3-10. What.

     The box is currently at the third class, and I, in the next class for the box, with my classmates are buzzing about the possibilities of our picks. Everyone is hoping that they can get Kim Jongin, the resident flower boy, or Zhang Yixing, the Chinese exchange student.

     Forget Jongin, I would like it if I get someone I know, I think to myself. This is my senior year and I don’t really know many boys from this school because of the separated classes.

     A school staff brings in the box to the class, and we screamed. The school staff irritably tells us to sit down and he’ll call our names one by one for our turn to pick a name from the box.

     I stare at the boring, grey box which holds the names. You hold my destiny, dear box. A few girls had been called and so far the reactions are either they don’t know who the boys are or they apparently know AND they don’t want to pair with them. Sigh, are the boys that hateful?

     The mood darkens as the most irritating girl in this class gets… Kim Jongin, with the odds of 1:400. She squeals in the most annoying way possible, and the other girls send her their most disgusted look.

     Life is unfair, guys, I continue resting my head on my arm. That must be nice to get Kim Jongin, though.

     “Nam Shira!” the staff yells, and I walk to the teacher’s table to pick one folded paper containing my future partner. I sit back on my seat, and open the paper indifferently.

Oh Sehun – 3-8

     Okay, Oh Sehun, from Class 3-8… Who is he? My deskmate, Heeyoung, peeks at my paper, and she’s just as puzzled as I am. “Oh Sehun? Which one is he?”

     I shrugged. “How can I know… Seems like he’s not that popular.”

     The last one to be called is Heeyoung, and she gets Zhang Yixing. She covers in disbelief and only shows the paper to me. We both silently shriek and I hug her happily. The staff prepares to leave, and says we have two days to find our partners and confirm our participation.

     “Oh my, congrats! You got Yixing!” I exclaim.

     Heeyoung hugs me again. “I’m going to approach him right after school.” she says excitedly. “Are you going to find your partner today? We can wait together at the gate.”

     I stare at my paper, and put it away. “I don’t think so, I have something to do today. I’ll just do it tomorrow.”

     I walk to the gate after school just to find at least a hundred girls looking for their partners. Others already walk side by side exiting the school, having found them or originally know each other as friends before. I secretly glance at their nametags, hoping to find Oh Sehun just to know his face. Well, I don’t find him. Tomorrow it is.

     “Is there something at school?” Mom breaks my daydream when we shop for clothes at a mall later that evening. “You are being so quiet since at home.”

     I shake my head. “No, I’m just thirsty I think.”

     Mom brings me to a café and orders drinks and cakes. As our orders are being made, Mom looks around, and suddenly gasps. “Oh my! Dana-ya!” she approaches a table and a woman on that table also gasps and gets up from her seat. The two women hug and say a bunch of variations of I miss you and all. On the table, a young man sits quietly, probably the woman’s son, looking at the scene blankly. I scan his appearance. Why does he look slightly unpleasant?

     I go to that table bringing our tray, and sit in front of the boy.

     “Dana, this is my only daughter, Shira. Shira, she’s Mom’s close friend since university.” Mom introduces her. I bow from my seat and smile.

     “Nice to meet you, this is also my only son, Sehun.” I get shocked at the name, but I try to be calm. “Mido-ya, how long has it been since the last reunion? Five years?”

     Sehun and I bow to each other, and the two mothers continue talking. Sehun is busy with his phone, and I just drink my coffee. The mothers’ talk is now about their children, and apparently Sehun and I are both seniors.

     “Where does he go?” Mom asks.

     “Duksung High.”

     The chocolate cake I’m eating suddenly tastes bitter. Okay, it’s him.

     “Really? Shira goes to Duksung too!”

     “What? You guys don’t know each other?” Sehun’s mother asks.

     “Our school separates boys and girls.” Sehun says to my mother with a smile. He looks less grumpy with that smile.

     “Ah, right.” Mom nods. “It’s a little regretful that you just know each other now, go introduce yourself!” she pats my thigh.

     “I’m Nam Shira.” I bow to him again.

     “I’m Oh Sehun.”

     Oh, man. It’s him. His face turns petulant again and he continues with his phone.

     The mothers continue their talk way back to their last reunion, and I finish my cake. I take out my purse and look at the folded paper with the name of the boy in front of me written on it. I carefully take it out, and stealthily slide it across the table for Sehun to see.

     His reaction is expected—his eyes widen, and he moves the paper to his lap. He looks at me without a word, and slides his phone to me just as carefully, signaling me to input my number. I put the numbers in, and give back his phone. Soon, my phone beeps.

                So it’s you, Nam Shira.

                Yes.

                Nice to meet you.

     Somehow this makes me smile a little.

                Nice to meet you too.

This is surprising, yet disappointing. I thought this would happen at school, with the girl approaching the boy when his friends are around.

If I did that, wouldn’t you be disappointed to see the girl?

Now that I’ve seen her, I would kill to have that moment.

     I unknowingly go red in the face, and after some time I reply him.

                Do you want me to do that tomorrow?

     He slides the paper back to me, and smiles meaningfully.

                I’ll be near the basketball court near my class on the first break tomorrow.

                What will you give me in return?

                You’ll see when we officially become partners for the prom.

     “Oh, look at these kids, eyes glued to the phone and all.” Mom criticizes. “Shira, Aunt Dana and Sehun’s family apparently have been living in the same apartment as us, in the next building, since the beginning of the year!”

     Sehun and I look at each other, equally surprised. So much coincidence today.

     We part ways in front of the café, and Sehun mouths “Tomorrow.” after he bows. I smile as an answer.

     The next morning, Heeyoung is in high spirits because she successfully came up to Yixing and told him she was his partner. They ended up having dinner together.

     “He’s just so angelic.” Heeyoung marvels. “How about your partner? Are you going to look for him today?”

     “I—yeah.” to be honest, I feel so jumpy about the upcoming break time. “Would you accompany me to the male 3-8?”

     On break time, I naively ask for someone named Oh Sehun to the guys in 3-8, and as expected, they say he’s at the basketball court. I see him from afar, among a group of other guys, and innocently ask one of them which one Sehun is. The guy cheers, and announces it to the group. Sehun’s quite a good actor too, and I want to burst out laughing to see him genuinely acting surprised. He approaches me, and I show him the paper.

     “Yo, Sehun, your partner’s pretty!”

     Sehun waves his hand, as if he’s saying “I know.” and takes the paper from me while I try hard to hide my red face. We introduce ourselves for the second time, and Heeyoung just stares in awe beside me. Sehun promises to meet me after school, and I go back to the class.

     “Shira, he’s good looking!” Heeyoung squeals. “But he looks a bit cold.”

     “Uh-hum.” I agree. “Probably that’s why he’s not that known.”

     After school, Sehun has waited for me at the gate, and I successfully earn a few envious looks from other girls when he greets me with a smile. We walk together exiting the school, but then I slow down my pace.

     “Wait, where are we going?”

     “Let’s go home together.” he says calmly. “We live in the same apartment complex, right?”

     “Uh?” I get confused, but keep walking. “Okay.”

     In the subway, I awkwardly sit beside him, but he strangely looks so relaxed.

     “Are you excited about this prom thing?”

     I just take out my phone, and slowly slide it back into my bag. “Uh… Maybe.”

     “Do you want to change partners if you can?”

     “What? No. I’m… I’m good.”

     “Even if you don’t know me before?”

     “You look like a nice kid, though.”

     Sehun smiles, and he just seems so different with who I saw yesterday.

     “You look like a nice kid, too.”

     My phone beeps, and a text from Mom appears. She tells me to go to a certain unit on the next apartment building, since she's there, at Sehun's home. I sigh.

     "What happened?"

     "My mother is at your home, and she wants me to come too."

     Sehun looks elated. "We're really going home together."

     We arrive at his apartment unit, and I’m greeted by some nicely dressed mannequins. Mom and Aunt Dana are sitting in the living room, picking out clothes.

     “My mom is a designer.” Sehun whispers as we come in.

     “Ah, I see.” I look at the clothes in awe. “The clothes are pretty.”

     “Kids, you’re here?” Aunt Dana exclaims, and suddenly she storms towards me with a dress on her hands and puts it side by side with my body. “Mido, this is perfect! Your daughter fits perfectly with this dress! She’ll be looking amazing at the prom!”

     Wait—I haven’t said anything about prom to Mom. Not to mention that Sehun is actually my partner. I turn to Sehun, and he shrugs.

     “Why didn’t you say anything about it, Nam Shira? Don’t you know how delighted we are to know that our children are partners?” Mom folds her arms. Aunt Dana laughs, and tells me to hold the dress. It’s a simple pink dress, with a bit of retro feeling in the motives. Wow, I like it.

     “Can you try it out? I think it’s a bit big for you, but it’s okay, I can always make it smaller.” Aunt Dana points to the bathroom. I dazedly nod, and walk to the bathroom. The dress is a bit too big on top part, but the rest is okay. Now I actually want this dress. Mom and Aunt Dana smile proudly when I get out.

     “Ah, this is why I want a daughter. Shira, go show it to Sehun, he’s in his room.” Aunt Dana points to a slightly open door on the right corridor of the apartment. I hesitantly go closer to the door, and carefully open it, just to spot Sehun taking off his shirt. I freeze in front of the door, and somehow my sight is locked on his flat stomach. Oh, why.

     “I-I’m sorry.” Sehun grabs his T-shirt, and hurriedly changes.

     “No, I’m sorry.” I stare at the floor.

     “Come in.”

     I can feel him scanning my appearance as I leave the door slightly open. I sit on his studying chair, and he sits on his bed, facing me.

     “That dress is pretty.” he exclaims. I smile, and whisper a thank you. Silence follows.

     “Did you tell your mother about the prom?”

     “Yeah… Why didn’t you?”

     “I… I just haven’t. I don’t feel the rush to do it.”

     “Guess I’m the most excited one here, no?” he smiles faintly.

     “No… No, I’m excited too. But apparently Mom has heard, even though not from myself.”

     Again, there’s no noise heard between us. I stare at my lap, and Sehun stands up.

     “What do you think about the prom?” he asks.

     “Dance.” I automatically answer.

     “That’s it?”

     “I don’t know what else.” I shrug.

     “There’s going to be a prom king and queen award too.”

     I cringe. “Okay.”

     “The partners usually ended up dating.”

     I almost blush at the ‘dating’ part, but I frown first. “Usually?”

     “Our school used to do this annually, but stopped it in the beginning of the 1990’s. The purpose of the prom was for the students ‘to find love’.”

     This conversation is so awkward. “Did you research about this?”

     Sehun shakes his head. “The other students have been talking nonstop about this. I just heard.”

     “So why are you asking me that question? It’s not that I’m not excited, it’s just it hasn’t gotten on me.”

     Sehun approaches me, and bends a bit to meet my eye level. Our faces are so close to each other, and I suddenly have trouble to breathe properly.

     “Can I do something to make it get on you?”

     My heart pounds faster. Have I ever been this weak before? I move backwards a bit, thanks for the wheeled chair, and Sehun slightly smiles as he stands up straight again. I get up from my seat, and awkwardly cough.

     “Let’s see what you can do.” I say, as I excuse myself to exit his room. I belatedly realize that I might just have challenged him. I get back to the living room, feeling nervous.

     “What were you kids doing? You spent quite some time. What did my son say about the dress?”

     I just nod to the mothers, and go to the bathroom to change back to my uniform. I lie that I have an appointment to attend, and leave Sehun’s apartment. I go back to my own unit, and call Heeyoung on the way. She doesn’t pick up. Soon she sends me a text, saying she’s watching a movie with Yixing so she couldn’t answer the call. Are they already dating or what?! I shove back my phone to my bag.

     Next morning, my school tie is nowhere to be found. I go out from my bedroom, half-shouting “Mom where’s my—“

     Oh Sehun is sitting on the sofa in my living room, and I blankly stare at him for awhile. Mom is cooking in the kitchen with her back facing us. “Are you looking for your tie? It’s on the cupboard beside the sofa.”

     It’s within Sehun’s reach, and he takes it immediately. I’m still staring at him without words when he comes up to me to hand the tie.

     “Oh wait, you need me to put that on. See, Sehun, my daughter doesn’t even know how to wear a tie. Hold on, let me put salt on this then—“

     “I’ll do it, Aunt Mido.” Sehun says. I almost take the tie from his hand, but he pulls it away from me.

     “Oh, thank you. How thankful I am to have you here this morning—Shira, Aunt Dana sends Sehun to deliver her homemade pepper paste. I’m going to send her something later. Now Sehun will have breakfast together with us.”

     I can’t really hear what Mom was saying. Sehun is putting the tie on my collar, and this almost non-existent distance between us makes me motionless. I also get reminded on how tall he is, because my eyes are looking straight at his neck.

     He’s putting the tie so slowly, twice the time Mom usually does it. Is he doing this on purpose?

     “Done.” he takes a step backwards, admiring his artwork. I let out a thank you, but my voice just disappears somewhere. Mom finishes cooking, and points to the dining table.

     “Sit, kids. Let’s eat.” Sehun and I sit beside each other in front of Mom, and we don’t really talk. Mom does all the talking, about my father who is regretfully not home since yesterday because of work. Sehun sweetly says that his father is just the same, with lengthy business trips and all. They continue chatting, as I stay silent.

     “You’re so nice, Sehun. When I’m talking to Shira, it’s like I’m talking to a wall.” Mom complains.

     I want to say that he might just do it out of politeness, but that’d be problematic. I continue eating, and constantly worry about the high possibility of going to school together with the boy beside me. I just feel a bit weird.

     And… I really end up going together with him. I know Mom will kill me if I try to escape, so I choose to go on. We walk without words to the subway station, and once we’re underground, Sehun leaves for a bit and comes back bringing a bottle of banana milk. This is my favorite… Does he know? Or is it just mere coincidence?

     “You didn’t even drink half of your glass back at home.” he even sticks the straw for me.

     “Thank you so much. This is the flavor I like most.”

     He smiles. “Glad you like it.”

     I smile back, and drink the milk. His sight never leaves me.

     “Why are you looking at me?” I ask.

     He just smiles. “Glad to hear you ask questions.”

     “You ask me way too often, now is my turn.”

     He nods a few times, and turns to me again. “Yeah, sure ask away. But I have one more thing to ask first.”

     “What is it?”

     “Do you know that we’re going to get engaged soon?”

     A train passes in front of us, and the loud sound is an exact imitation of an explosion inside my head.