There’s only one reason why I’m sitting in my parents’ office, staring at a photo with a couple grinning brightly. I bite my lip as I stare at the photo, wondering why the couple looks so familiar.

“Dohyun, stop staring at the picture and look at us.”

I tear my attention away from the photo and look up at my parents. My mom narrows her eyes at me. Her lips form a frown and for a moment, I start to regret my decision. My dad on the other hand keeps an expressionless face. I bite the inside of my cheek and will myself to stay true to my decision and face the consequences after.

“Why,” my mom starts, “won’t you consider becoming a wedding planner?”

I blink and look down on my lap. “I just think the job isn’t meant for me.”

“Dohyun, look at me.” I flinch at the tone she used but nonetheless look up. My mom isn’t giving me a hateful look or any of that. I don’t think my mom will ever do that. She is, however, looking at me with a disappointed look. A look that is ten times more guilt-inducing than one filled with hate.

“Are you sure you want to give this up?”

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and shrug. To be honest, I’m still not sure. I mean, who wakes up around six in the morning, bursts into their parents’ room and randomly exclaims that she’s not going to be a wedding planner? Apparently, me.

My parents have been in the wedding planning business since I was seven and much to their surprise, they actually excelled in it.  It started out as an idea. They thought that hey; why not plan a wedding for our friend? And suddenly they were recommended by that friend to other people and boom, sudden advertising. As a seven year old, I found the glitz and glamour of weddings fascinating and overall romantic. Back then, I wanted to be like my parents—planning the best weddings so I could see everyone have a good time. Now that I’m nineteen, I’m not sure if I can even handle planning or making sure everyone have a good time.

As far as I can remember, my parents have tried countless of times to train me in this type of business but I always failed. I can interview our clients and jot down their ideas but finding the right decors and calling the right persons, I have no luck in doing those. Most of the time, I stop planning halfway and let my parents handle the rest.

I trace the patterns on the tablecloth and think of my answer.

“I think so,” I reply, not looking up.

“That doesn’t sound convincing to me.”

I gulp and force myself to look up. “I’m giving it up.”

My mom raises and eyebrow while my dad crosses his arms. I can feel their reluctance in agreeing with me. After all these years, they thought that their only daughter would be their successor and here I am, openly admitting that I’m giving it up and pursuing something else. And what’s worse is that I have no idea as to what I’ll pursue afterwards.

I feel the sweat build up in my palms and I hastily wipe them on my skirt. I glance at the clock behind them and instantly panic. I have around thirty minutes to get to school and yet here I am, sitting in a chair facing my parents’ disappointment. I squirm in my seat and pray that my parents will let me go right away.

My dad whispers something in my mother’s ear and the two nod their heads. My brain’s already making up weird guesses as to what my dad said but I kept a blank face as I stare at the two of them. I clench and unclench my fists as my eyes dart back and forth from my mom to my dad. My mom fixes her gaze at me and shakes her head.

“We’ll take more about this later. For now, leave.”

I exhale in relief. Relief because I still have a chance of getting to class on time. Relief because I still have another day without my parents pestering me over what I’ll do now. At my mom’s words, I stand up and bow. I stand back up and see the anxious gaze of my father and the disappointed look of my mother. I lower my head and leave out of the room.

Well, that didn’t go as expected.

I run up the stairs, taking the steps two at time, and burst inside my room. I scan the room and immediately head over to where my bag is. Some of my books are still scattered on my table as well as reviewers. Frowning, I shove them inside my bag not caring if they’ll get crumpled.  I take one last look at the mirror beside my bed and nod to myself. I quickly pocket my phone and walk out of my room.

As I go down the stairs, I can’t help but notice that my parents are still inside the work office. I bite my lip. A part of me wants to take back my decision so that they wouldn’t stress over it but this was it. I have to make a decision for myself even if I’m not entirely sure if this is the best for me.

I grab my coat from our coat rack and hastily put it on me. I take out the keys from my bag and step out of the house. I silently shut the door and lock it. I my lips as I stare at the door in front of me thinking about how I just did that. I shut a door to a potential path for the me in the future. A sigh escapes my lips as I walk down the steps. I look up and down the streets before walking down the road.

After a few minutes of walking, I feel my phone buzz in my coat’s pocket. Sighing, I fish it out.

“Hello?”

“Ya, Im Dohyun, where the hell are you?”

I flinch and pull the phone away from my ear.

“Good morning to you, too, Sora.”

She scoffs at my reply before continuing.

“Anyway, you’re like ten minutes away from getting a sneer and a lecture from Ms. Oh so I suggest you drag your here right away.”

I raise an eyebrow as I quicken my pace. Just a few more steps and I’ll finally reach the bus stop.

“By Ms. Oh you mean Jiyoung right?”

“Uh, no?”

I pause. I gulp and look at the phone in horror. “Then you mean—“

“Oh Yoomi, yes. So I suggest you get here as fast as you can!”

“Okay, I get it. I’m already here at the bus stop. Delay her if you can. Please? For me?”

I scan the bus stop and notice that there’re only two people—me and the guy sitting on the bench. He’s reading the newspaper with a blank expression on his face. I furrow my eyebrows but ignore him nonetheless.

I hear some shuffling on the other side of the call which only makes me worried. Sora’s probably browsing through her list of favors.

“Three scoops of strawberry ice cream with chocolate syrup in Cello’s?”

I roll my eyes.

“Deal.”

“Be in school by 10. See you!” And with that, she ends the phone call. I frown at my phone. I glance at the bench and wonder how long it’ll take for the bus to get here. Seeing that there’s no bus in sight, I take the seat farthest away from the guy reading the newspaper.

I whistle a tune I heard from the radio and tap my feet to its beat. I shove my hands in my coat’s pockets and look up and down the road to see if the bus is finally here. The only sounds I hear are the sounds of rustling paper and my own whistling. I glance at the newspaper guy again, seeing that I have nothing else to do.

I watch him flip the page. He still keeps an expressionless face thus giving me no clue if the news he’s reading is good or bad. I tilt my head a bit to read the newspapers headline—University Tuition Fees to Increase in the Next Four Years. I frown. That’s bad news for my parents. I scan the other headlines and find one that intrigues me. Broadway Star YongKijoon: Finally Engaged! Now that’s good news for my parents—another potential client for their business. I continue reading the headlines but somehow I feel as if someone’s watching me. Slowly, I raise my head.

The guy holding the newspaper has his eyes on me. I can’t see his whole face but I’m 100% sure he’s looking at me oddly. I blink and quickly straighten myself. I do a slight bow and quickly turn away from him. This is embarrassing.

My phone buzzes again and I use this opportunity to make myself look busy. I can still feel his gaze on me and I purposely move my body away from him as I take the phone call.

“Please save me,” I whisper to the phone as the stranger continues to stare at me.

“Uh, I already did?”

“What?”

“I managed to convince Ms. Oh that the cafeteria’s baked goods are on sale so I just bought you an extra ten minutes to get here. You better be thankful.”

“Yes that’s why I’m getting you that three scoops of ice cream!”

“Oh. Right. Well, I have to go now because I still have some math homework to cram.”

“Wait,” I hiss. I carefully cast a sideways glance at the newspaper guy and he’s still looking at me. Is there something on my face? Is that the reason why he’s staring so intently at me? I fix my gaze on my phone and gulp. “This guy is looking at me what do I do?”

Sora laughs. “Really?”

“What do I do?” I silently scream.

She continues to chuckle. “That depends. Is he good looking or ugly.”

“That’s rude.”

“Come on, answer.”

I scowl but no matter what, I am not going to cast another look at him. I think back on his facial features but realize that I have no clue as to how he looks like except for the fact that he has tantalizing eyes.

“He has nice eyes.”

“Fallacy.”

“ you.”

“Rude.”

I sigh exasperatedly. I am getting nowhere. Just when I’m about to yell at her for being of no help, the bus comes with its open doors screaming for me to hop inside.

“You know what? I’ll just go inside the bus and forget about this conversation.”

“Wait!”

I pause and narrow my eyes. “What now?”

“Wink at him.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just do it. I mean, you’ll never see him again right?”

I glower at the phone. “Hell no.”

“Aw come on. You only live once?”

I bite my lip. The bus hits the brakes and passengers hop out of the bus. I look at the stranger again but he’s not staring anymore. I let out a breath and shake my head.

“Whatever. Bye.” I end the call and jog over to the bus. I pass by the stranger and give him one final look. For some reason, he also had to urge to look up because we locked eyes and I swear to god nothing feels more awkward than to lock eyes with a stranger.

I my lips and bow again. Then I remember Sora’s words. No harm in doing it, right? Gathering up what’s left of my courage, I send him a playful wink. I’m not sure what his reaction will be but I think I saw his mouth drop a bit. I chuckle to myself a bit knowing that Sora will be proud of me for doing something spontaneous as that.

I hop on the bus and hum another tune. I walk down the bus’s aisle and take a seat near the window. The newspaper guy didn’t move a single inch but right now, the newspaper’s long forgotten because he’s just staring into space. I smile a bit before taking out my phone, ready to send Sora a simple text.

To: Ahn Sora

I actually did it.

From: Im Dohyun

A/N:

well damn looks like someone couldn't keep this chapter to herself. First one's up and I hope you all like it! It's short but I promise the chapters will get longer in the future hihi <3

xo