Claire opened the door to her hotel room and pulled the small suitcase behind her. After she laid down on the bed and took a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and emptied her mind of everything. The next day was her first job interview, and Claire wanted to nail every part of it.

After she submitted her job request to the human resources department of the regional history museum, Claire received an invitation to attend an interview for the assistant curator position. She was beyond excited, for the museum was rather new and focused on both the indigenous societies that held roots in the area prior to European colonization in addition to the societal changes that took place due to colonization and modernization. Since her thesis focused on the effects that modernization of media had on beauty standards and diversity in Asian Americans, Claire felt that the emphasis the museum had on societal changes and the factors leading to those changes was exactly what she wanted to continue studying in her future career. 

After she cleared her head for a few minutes, Claire sat up from the bed and pulled her phone out to text Kai. "I've arrived," she wrote.

Not even a minute later, a ring sounded from her phone. "Ah, sounds good! Did you nap well on the flight?"

"Yeah, I did," she texted back, "how are you doing?"

"Still waiting on graduate school admissions results, haha," Kai wrote back to her. "Are you going to sleep soon?"

"Yeah, I will. Do you want to chat for a bit after I shower? Or are you too busy?"

"I'm free. Call me when you're ready."

"I will soon! Give me a few minutes."

Claire placed her phone and connected it to the charger before undressing and entering the shower stall. After cleaning and drying up, she opened her suitcase, pulled out her special, white "interview" dress, along with her dark blue pumps, tights, and dark blue cardigan, and arranged them on the couch. She then pulled out her makeup essentials and facial cleansers and moisturizers and arranged them in the bathroom. There was no way she wasn't going to look nice at this interview either.

After arranging her interview materials and going over any possible responses that she may not have thought about, she called Kai. "Hello?" he picked up at the first ring.

"Hey, Jongin," she spoke softly.

"Hey," he responded, and Claire could imagine his lips turning upwards. "All cleaned up?"

"Yep! I think I'm ready for tomorrow," she replied.

"I'm sure you are. You prepared a lot for this."

"I'm still nervous though..." Claire trailed off.

"Well, it's normal to be nervous," he continued, "but just remember to take a few deep breaths and then do it, yeah?"

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks," she smiled.

"Of course," Kai murmured. "I miss you already."

"I miss you too."

"Say..."

"Yeah?"

"Want to be Facebook official?"

"Hmm," Claire hummed, "I don't mind if we are or if we're not. Why?"

"I kind of want to," Kai spoke hesitantly.

"Alright then, let's do it."

"Yay, I just sent you a notification!" he exclaimed.

Claire laughed, "You were just waiting for me to say yes, did you?"

"Aha."

"You're silly," she teased.

"You're cute."

"Oh stop it."

"Why?" he asked while he laughed his off.

"You're embarrassing me."

"Well, now that we're together, I have every right to embarrass you," he continued, and Claire heard the glee in his voice. "Besides, what I'm saying is true!"

"No, it's not," she tried to stay serious.

"Ahh, you just don't know it yet," he sang.

"Alright, fine, you win," Claire pouted.

"That's my girl, haha," Kai grinned.

"You're crazy," she continued to pout.

"Well, then you must be equally crazy since you accepted the notification," he teased.

"Okay, you caught me on that one, it seems," Claire laughed.

*

The next evening, Claire arrived back at her dormitory, and was welcomed with a "CLAIRE!" the moment she closed her bedroom door.

"Yes?" she exclaimed through the wall.

Melanie left her own room and knocked on Claire's door. The second Claire opened up, Melanie gave her a huge hug, "You're back! How did it go?"

"It went well, I think? I tried my best," Claire answered honestly.

"Well," her best friend started, "it's all over now! You can relax temporarily. Oh yeah," she hit her best friend's shoulder, "how come you didn't tell me you and Kai were a thing?!"

"Uh..." Claire then realized she forgot to tell all of her friends about her dating situation, "I forgot?"

"HOW CAN YOU FORGET SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT AS THIS?! Oh my god, Claire, you're going to be the death of me."

"Sorry?"

"Hehhhh," Melanie sighed, "well, it's okay. Are you happy?"

"Yeah, I am," Claire smiled.

"I'm so happy for you, he better not hurt you, or he'll answer to me!"

"What's that?" a male voice sounded from behind the girls, and when Melanie turned around, in her front line of vision was the subject of the conversation.

"You, Kai," she walked over to him and pointed a finger teasingly, "if you do anything to hurt her physically or emotionally you answer to me, got it?!"

Kai backed up and nodded vigorously. "Yup."

"Good," Melanie relaxed and smiled at them. "Well, I'm going to the library. You two lovebirds have fun!"

"Stop it, Mel," Claire exclaimed, embarrassed at her friend's behavior.

"What can I say? The whole campus is going crazy about you two. And the lovebird thing is true, so don't even deny it," Melanie stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, see you guys later!"

After bidding her best friend goodbye, Claire walked back into her room with Kai right behind her. "Hey, you," Kai smiled.

"Hey, Jongin," she grinned.

"Glad you got back okay, did it go well?" he set his bag down and approached Claire with his arms wide open.

"I hope so, we'll see what happens," she responded as she embraced him.

"Yup, we'll see."

After Claire pulled away, she asked, "Jongin?"

"Yeah?"

"What did she mean, the whole campus is going crazy?"

"Check Facebook," he grinned.

Once Claire opened up her page, she facepalmed. Under the wall post "Jongin Kim is now in a relationship with Claire Lu," there were over two hundred likes. "This did not just happen."

"It just did."

"Oh, man, I'm in for it."

"Why?"

"All your female friends?"

"Eh, don't worry about them, they'll get over it."

"Are you sure?" Claire questioned.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"I'm going to be the talk of the town now. Just what I don't need," she muttered.

"And not me?" he asked.

"Everyone already talks about you, this isn't that different."

"Don't worry about it," Kai sat down on the bed next to Claire, "I'll be right here with you. Do you really not like the attention?"

"Not really," she replied honestly.

"I don't either, so I just ignore all of it. You could just do what I do," he continued.

"Does that work?"

"It did for me."

Claire nodded. "Okay, I'll do that. I just don't want to face your female friends, is all. I'm not friendly with them..."

Kai patted her back, and didn't know what to say. Sure, he had female friends, and he hung out with them from time to time. He didn't know that Claire wasn't on good terms with them.

She, on the other hand, thought back to a time right after she and Kai started dating, and how it seems that despite having a girlfriend, he was still totally comfortable talking to other girls. But that wasn't her main concern. Her main concern was, these female friends of his clearly think that her physical appearance isn't ideal for him, and he didn't seem to defend her:

Claire approached Kai in the student center, and noticed he was Facebook messaging someone. "Hey, Jongin."

"Hey! Come sit with me."

Once she sat down, she couldn't help but ask, "Who're you messaging?"

"Messaging Rina. We're talking about you, actually," he replied.

"Oh?" Claire wondered, "what about?"

"Here," Kai showed her the chat box. Before she could stop reading, what Claire read next imprinted itself into her mind, for it said, 'I thought your ideal type was short and skinny. Maybe even Asian?'

His reply was 'You got the Asian part right.'

Claire was upset and confused. "You know something?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not taking this too well."

Kai was surprised, he didn't see what was harmful with the chat. "She's just joking, that's how she talks."

"But still," Claire was going to come straight with him again, "you don't just joke about someone else's physical appearance, especially when I don't fit the skinny and short girl bill that's expected of Asians."

Once she saw that Kai didn't answer, and just silently while pondering her words, she became even more upset. Seeing that he also didn't bother to try and defend her in the chat, and that he even somewhat agreed with what Rina said, it made her wonder about what he truly thought of her. She spoke, "Now, if you'll excuse me, you can go back to chatting with the short and skinny her while I find another place to study."

His eyes widened, but before he could speak she continued, "I'll see you later. Message me after a few hours if you still want to chat."

Hey guys! So I fully realized that this post turned from cute and hopeful to negative by the end. It seems Kai is a little clueless on how talking about physical appearances can hurt girls. It also seems he is clueless to how his friendships with other girls (especially those who talk about body image) may hurt Claire, and I hope to uncover how they deal with this over time.

I fully realize that talking about body image, in addition to the jealousy that takes place when your significant other has multiple friends of the opposite , are topics that aren't fully talked about, at least in Asianfanfics. I hope to delve into that a little bit with this story, and to see how a couple manages through issues like these. How I'll approach this in the next few chapters is just one way to deal with it, and how you as a reader may deal with it in your own life may differ depending on your own personality and how your significant other reacts to things. If this is an issue in your own relationship, I hope that you can work it out!

In the meantime, thank you so much to my ten subscribers and other viewers! I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing it :D