♥ Day One ♥

Monday came far too soon for Soeun’s liking, and when she was woken up by the alarm on her phone at 6.30 AM, her body willed her to stay under the covers until winter that year had passed. Her mind eventually overpowered her body, and Soeun dragged herself up and into the adjoining bathroom to begin her preparations for the day. While brushing her teeth, she carefully separated the blinds to take a peek outside. Overnight, snow fall had managed to increase and there was a substantial layer of snow that covered the ground and the front steps into their apartment building. The sky was still a dark shade of blue early in the morning, the rays of the sun yet to seep into the sleepy world.

Despite the cold, Soeun still took a shower that morning, but briefly so as not to waste the hot water which needed to be divided between four family members. As soon as she stepped out of the shower, her body shivered and she quickly dried herself and put on her robe before walking into her bedroom to put on her uniform. She checked her phone, which was charging on the night stand, and found one new message from the guy who gave her his number the Friday before and the same guy who had girls who would probably pay her to get his phone number. Soeun sighed when she read his text message.

Good morning, beautiful!

I’m on my way to your apartment to pick you up.

Be there in 15?

I’ll see you soon.

 Instead of feeling excited that he had texted her, she just felt burdened. Instead of swooning at being called beautiful and receiving a lovely morning greeting, she just didn’t feel giddy, or anything for that matter. She thought about the Friday before, and how Jaemyung held her hand as they walked home, and how she couldn’t get any words out, not because he was so blindingly hot and she was completely in awe, but because she could not get a word out during his one-sided conversation about his plans to take over his father’s business and expand it internationally. She was infatuated, yes, but being with him in person seemed to shatter her view of him.

Jaemyung also seemed distracted while he was with her, and whenever she had caught him staring off into the distance or looking over his shoulder, he would wave it off by steering the conversation into another direction or throwing her smiles. When they had reached the front of her building, she just wanted to leave and disappear into her apartment, but he caught her before she could leave and enveloped her in a hug, asking her if they could exchange phone numbers and if her could pick her up and drop her off at home from now on. She just nodded because she thought he wasn’t being serious, but the fact that she received another text telling her that he was outside, made it all very real.

Soeun grabbed her bag and went into the kitchen where her mom had already left her brown lunch bag fully packed and she left her thank you note and went outside to go meet Jaemyung. He welcomed her brightly, and his smile so early in the morning made Soeun smile just that little bit as well. He ushered her into his car and introduced her to his father. They would be getting dropped off at school together from now on.

As they pulled up to the front gate, a few of the girls gathered there to greet Jaemyung, but all were surprised when he got out of the car holding Soeun’s hand. Soeun saw Sojung waiting by the gate as well and waved at her, laughing slightly at the way her best friend’s eyes bulged and a smile erupted on her face begging Soeun to tell her all the details.

Soeun quickly ducked her eyes as she walked into the school At least, no one is throwing eggs at us. She decides to smile at some of the kids but she feels a heavy weight in her right hand, the one which Jaemyung is holding. She feels Sojung link arms with her and she sweetly greets Jaemyung and forthright asks them if they are an item. Jaemyung butts in and begins to give an answer, as Soeun spots Jaerim looking at them. His expression is blank but his eyes were burning into Soeun’s. She faintly hear Jaemyung explaining that they weren’t official, but he was doing his best to impress her.

Soeun feels the weight lifted and sees that Jaemyung has finally detached himself from her with a promise to wait for her after school to take her home. She quickly looks back at the spot where Jaerim was and realises he’s gone as she gets pulled into the classroom with Sojung declaring that she proud of Soeun for living out every girl’s fantasy and dating Jaemyung.

“So, you’re saying that you have the hots for Jaemyung? What about Jaerim?”

“You got it all wrong, you see, I’m still crushing on Jaerim, but you, are living in a dream right now, and while Jaerim is not mine, I will live vicariously through your real life fantasy until he is!”

Soeun winced at her friend’s squeal but quickly caught herself before she saw her expression. Soeun also didn’t know why her friend’s crush on the class sleepyhead made her feel a pang of…jealousy?

Sojung and Soeun walk into class and find everyone huddled around the Christmas stockings. Some of the girls were hyperventilating at receiving a confession, even though it was anonymous, and Soeun found that some of the guys were smirking in seeing how the girl’s reacted, and some were even blushing at receiving a love note too. Sojung pulled her over to check their stockings as Soeun took a glance at the back corner seat and was slightly disappointed that Jaerim wasn’t there.