“Would you still be interested in going on the trip if I told you the houses will be coed?” Rokhyun asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Sunhye gasped in reply, knowing that she couldn’t say that she completely hated the idea.

“But Rokhyun’s the mischievous one… He wouldn’t keep his distance like that,” I mumbled. He would get close, a little bit – anything to make her blush. It was Rokhyun’s rival in love, the prince-like Donghwan, who would be mindful of personal space. I held down the backspace button until most of the paragraph had disappeared.

He placed his hands on the counter on either side of her body, leaning in closer than he needed to. Sunhye felt her cheeks grow warm, and she cursed herself for blushing.

“What?” he smirked, “Are you going to change your mind now?”

“That’s more like it!” I leaned back in my chair with a sigh. My deadline was coming up quick, and yet I had just spent two hours trying to perfect the second page of the chapter. I had never been the best at time management. And it seemed like I was about to waste even more time because my doorbell rang at that exact moment. I quickly saved my work and ran over to the front door of my apartment. Unfortunately I had no peephole, so I had to peer awkwardly through the blinds of the nearest window to see if I could guess who it was. The only thing in my line of sight was what appeared to be the corner of a neon pink book bag. It was Sera for sure.

I flung open the door, barely remembering to stop it before the handle put a dent in the wall.

“You’re here!” I grinned.

“Of course I came,” she replied and brushed past me, “you said you’d be cooking after all.”

Gong Sera could come across as many things when people first met her. Brusque, rude, insensitive, tactless, and cold seemed to be the most popular descriptions. That was certainly what I had first thought when I had met the girl on our first day as roommates freshman year. She had already been intimidating with her perfectly blown-out hair and signature gold hoop earrings, but the first thing out of had been the question, “Would you be all right if I brought guys here, or would you prefer it if I went to their place?” A stunned and still completely innocent me had barely managed to squeak out a reply (and I definitely chose the latter). Yet there we were a year and a half later, the best of friends. One could say we balanced each other out.

“I hope you like black pepper chicken, because I’m in the mood for some fried food!” I sang as I got a pan out of the cupboard.

“Just remember: everything in moderation. Too much fried junk and it will go straight to your hips,” Sera reminded me from her spot at the bar.

“You’re just jealous of my perfect .”

“Please, Nari, your is just as flat as your chest.” I could almost see the eye roll that accompanied her words.

I spun on my heel to point my spatula at her. She was not phased.

“True, but one day,” I said, shaking the utensil, “I promise you, you will be jealous of my .”

“Yeah, the same day that you realize that your true calling was engineering,” she snorted.

“I do practice engineering – engineering literature!” I did, in fact, hi-five myself.

“I don't know you.” Sera cringed.

“Only friends can eat my food.”

“Have I ever confessed my undying love for you before? ‘Cause I will. Right now.”

We chatted about school and the people in school while I finished cooking, and the conversation continued normally throughout most of dinner. However, I eventually did bring up the same topic that I always did.

“Has there been anything lately that made your heart pound? Like anything boy-related?” I asked.

“Nari,” she sighed.

“I promise this is the last time! I’ll try and find out on my own from now on!” I said quickly, “Please?”

“I can’t tell you everything about my love life for the rest of my life; some things need to stay private. You really need to get out more – mingle! Talk to a boy that’s neither related to you nor a freshman! Get a boyfriend and force him to do stuff with you,” Sera ranted.

I knew she was probably right. Romance writers did not get plot points from other people. I couldn’t keep pretending that my scenarios were completely original whenever my editor sent them to the magazine that I wrote for, Heartbeat. My own utter lack of romantic encounters was most likely what had kept me from entering the top three ranks (I had only made it up to fourth with the help of Sera). My “steamy scenes” as I liked to call them did not have quite the same feeling as Sunny’s, Wendy Liu’s, or even J.S.’s, who had managed to score third place with her vampiric reverse harem. My slightly mediocre love triangle was barely holding on to fourth; I was just three votes ahead of fifth place.

Instead of sleeping more than four hours that night – which would have been the smart thing to do – I made a list of everything that I could do to spice up the lives of my characters while leaving my readers wanting more but not leaving them hanging for too long. I had seen several writers go down that awful spiral after putting their readers through too much emotional turmoil, and I was determined not to follow them. My list was not extraordinarily long, but I thought that it must have had at least a few good ideas. Those few better ones included:

                              3. Introduce another male lead who makes Rokhyun and Donghwan jealous

                              7. Obligatory season-themed chapters with a twist – like murder

                              11. Break that fourth wall

                              17. Murder mystery chapter(s)

                              23. The author tries dating to gain some romantic experience

                              29. One of the leads gets into a serious accident and almost dies, causing another lead to realize just how deep their feelings are

                              31. Unreal romantic tension caused by something like being forced to share a bed on a trip

I was really feeling number seven.

 

 

---

 

 

Sometimes I found myself wondering if people came into our lives at the moment they did for a reason. I mean, I knew that there was a reason for everything, but I always found it amazing because those moments usually seemed insignificant at the time. Only after years had passed would I realize that that particular moment had been a turning point. I often wished that there could be a flashing neon sign that told us this.

So when my editor Kim Seokjin, whom I affectionately called Jin, showed up on my caller ID right before I was about to enter my first class of the new semester, I thought nothing of it.

“This is Kim Nari speaking, how may I help you?” I answered his call.

“Nari, I have huge – no, ginormous news! You’re never going to believe it!” Jin shouted.

“Well I’m certainly not going to believe it until you tell me what it is,” I replied.

“Very funny,” he sighed, “anyway, the magazine is starting a new book department, and they’re offering book deals to the Heartbeat writers!”

I almost dropped everything I was holding. I couldn’t find the words to express the overflowing joy and excitement I was feeling. My silence must have lasted longer than I thought, because soon I heard him calling my name

“Yes?” I snapped out of my daze.

“There’s just one catch, but I’m sure you can make it before the deadline,” he laughed, although it was slightly strained.

“What is it?” I asked, immediately suspicious.

“The book deals are only going to the top three writers as of the end of this school semester.” Jin continued to drone on, but I wasn’t really hearing any of it. I had the span of a few months to break into the top three.

I made my way dazedly into the classroom, finding myself unable to even remember which class it was and which book I needed to get out. This was not the attitude I needed on the first day of class. I needed to be upbeat and seem interested and introduce myself to the professor. I was, however, fairly sure that the class was not a part of my major. How was I supposed to pretend like we had anything in common if I had no clue what they were talking about?

The next thing I knew, a textbook was slamming against the top of the desk to my right. I jumped in my seat and looked over to see who had caused such a racket. I was met with the sight of possibly the most adorable person I had ever seen. The boy had a round, kind face that probably lit up the room for more than a few people. His hair was spiked up in the front, exposing his cat-like eyes, through which the twinkles of mischief shone.

I quickly averted my eyes, not wanting it to seem like I was staring at him. Even then, I couldn’t help but notice the way his biceps stood out as he shrugged off his jacket.

“I’m acting under the assumption that this seat is free and you don’t mind if I take it for the rest of the semester,” he said with a wide grin, “My name’s Minseok by the way, Kim Minseok.”

I nodded a small bow and quietly responded with my name. I was never really comfortable around new people on regular days, so Jin’s news had made the meeting even more stressful for me.

But then a thought struck me, a thought that could change my life. I remembered Sera telling me to get a boyfriend and force him to do things with me that I could use in my writing. Maybe – just maybe – I could use this boy. He would never really have to know about it; After I broke through the rankings into the top three and procured a book deal, I would dump him and that would be that. I could almost feel Sera and Jin pushing me to approach Minseok again.

I took a deep breath, preparing to dive into the unknown world of dating.

“Minseok, would you like to start a study group for this class with me?” I asked, the words rushing out in an embarrassed blur.

He turned to face me, and our eyes met. He rolled his lips back between his teeth, seemingly in an effort to keep himself from laughing.

“A study group… for a culinary arts class?”