-

Jung Daehyun was the first thing, person, Eunji had to face when she entered her second class on Monday morning. “Here,” Daehyun handed Eunji three pieces of A4 paper which had something printed on it, “I’ve photocopied my notes for you.” She, on purpose, skipped the first class she was supposed to attend for she had overslept, being tired from the previous night.

“Thanks.” She managed a smile though she would rather not. “You don’t have to.” It didn’t matter how much she tried to ignore Daehyun, he would keep on coming. Eunji pressed her back hard against the chair in the lecture room and puffed out.

It didn’t matter either how many times she had to tell him not to do all those stuff—his small friendly gestures and helpful deeds—he would still do it without second thought and it became a part of his life that Eunji very much want him to get rid of.

~

Jeong Eunji was stepping into the lecture room when the music from her earbuds stopped flowing. She swiftly pulled her iPod out from the pocket of her shirt and when she pressed the home button, pitch black screen was its only response—that girl must have forgotten to charge it the night before and let the rectangle on the upper right corner stay red.

“Do you have your charger with you?” Eunji asked a random girl that had an iPhone with her.

“Sorry, but no.” The girl shook her head.

Eunji then tried each and every one in the room who had the Apple product in their hands, but the answers were all the same . . . negative. She even asked her professor who was in the middle of setting up for class. “I don’t use iPhone,” the professor, a Samsung user, said to her when she asked if he had one. “Now can I ask you if you have a seat? I can find you one if you don’t.”

“Okay, professor.” Eunji swiveled around and picked a seat on the last row at the back of the class. As she took out her notebook and pen from her backpack, the guy sitting beside her handed what she was hoping to get since the last several minutes.

“You can use mine,” the guy said, putting the charger in front of her.

Eunji let out a sigh. “Omo, thank you so much,” she whispered so the professor would not hear her though teachers or professors or lecturers alike always seemed to have rabbit-hearing. “I think you’re the only one who understands how important it is to have a charger at all times.”

“I can’t bear without my iPod.” He chuckled as he showed Eunji his own.

“Really? So do I.” She smiled before crawling toward the electrical socket to stick the charger into. The screen lit up again, showing the bitten-apple logo of the company that product belongs to.

“I’m Jung Daehyun,” he introduced himself as when Eunji ninja-crawled back to her seat.

“Jeong Eunji,” she replied. It was only Eunji’s first year in Seoul and she hadn’t grown accustomed to Seoul dialect yet, people who had only recently met her could easily guess where she came from.

“Busan?”

She giggled. “Is my dialect too obvious?”

“Very very thick,” Daehyun replied.

~

Daehyun trailed behind Eunji as they walk out of the room. The latter had her full attention on her phone screen that she seemed to not remember she wasn’t the only person walking on that building. Another girl, hastily sauntering toward the lecture room that was just used, also didn’t have her eyes on what was in front of her that she didn’t know she was about to run into her sunbae.

The bump between both girls sent Eunji’s phone and the girl’s thick textbooks plummeting to the floor beneath them. “Ah, I’m so sorry,” the girl quickly muttered as she picked Eunji’s phone up whilst Eunji collected the girl’s book.

“Here you go.” Eunji handed the girl’s books over.

“I’m so sorry.” The girl gave Eunji her phone with both hands.

The tall and lean girl eventually looked up and Eunji got to examine her face for a while. “It’s . . . okay.”

Eunji couldn’t help but stare at the girl’s back as she walked away from them. “Why are you looking at her like that?” Daehyun asked. She inhaled as much air as her lungs could hold and then exhaled hard.

“Do you know her?” They continued toward the cafeteria, their first destination.

“Hm, yeah.” Daehyun firmly nodded. “She’s Krystal Jung. Or, Jung Soojung.”

“Krystal?”

“From the States,” Daehyun told her. “She’s pretty popular.”

“Oh?” Eunji tilted her head. ‘So the little missy who my ex screwed around with is Jung Soojung?’ Soojung was pretty and has this unique feature that wasn’t so Korean. Perhaps, being a western-born Asian who lived too long outside of her home-country made her that way. ‘No wonder Minhyuk is awe-struck.’ She scoffed and brushed the thoughts off of her mind. And for the umpteenth time, she told herself not to think of that guy.

“Hey, Eunji, the cafeteria is that way!” Daehyun cried out when Eunji started making her way toward the exit of the building.

She stopped and swiveled around. “Let’s get cheesecake. It’s on me.”

The boy’s face lit up in excitement like decorative lights on a Christmas tree. “Really?” Eunji rolled her eyes and continued walking, so Daehyun paced up to catch up with her.

-

They found a spot at the corner—away from the crowds and ironically loud murmurs—of a coffee shop selling overpriced coffee, cakes, and pastries which was known worldwide but still attracts people nonetheless. “What’s wrong?” Daehyun just took the first bite of his cheesecake.

“Nothing.” Eunji was poking hers and was blankly staring at the floor.

“Don’t play with your food.” He grabbed Eunji’s hand which held the fork and placed it on the table. She shot him a glare. If they were still together, Eunji would probably do not mind the skinship. “Does this have anything to do with Krystal Jung?”

Eunji scoffed. “What makes you think so?”

“It seems like it.” He shrugged at took another bite. “It’s written on your face, actually.”

She looked up from her plate. “Is it?”

“For me, yeah, I think so.”

She puffed out. It annoyed her how Daehyun could read her so easily whilst others couldn’t. And it annoyed her too how Daehyun, her bestfriend, turned into her boyfriend, and then turned into a friend again. He was the very first friend she had since coming into the Metropolitan Seoul, the very first person whom she adjusted to.

If only he had put what they had besides friend past him, she wouldn’t mind all this.

“What’s with Krystal?” Though they are bestfriends, Eunji never explicitly told him about her love life. Any of it.