LESSON 2

I was awakened by my alarm clock and I grudgingly reached it while I was fighting off my sleep. It was a hard task, honestly.

It was then I suddenly fell off from my bed, causing a loud thump. I groaned, rubbing my lower back that had hit the floor rather violently.

The alarm kept on beeping without a stop, and because I was not a morning person and it happened to be Monday, which I also despise, I punched the alarm. Yes, I punched it, how I mature of me. But I could care less.

After a good 5 minutes of having a war with sleep inside of my head, I hoisted myself up from the floor and walked towards the kitchen.

I did my morning ritual. As usual, I started to make coffee and toast. Suddenly, something caught my sight.

Bom’s cookies.

There were still leftover from yesterday, and trust me, I could eat a lot, but the cookies that she made were much more.

I also popped those in the microwave and preheat it.

I didn’t realize that I had a goofy smile on my face until that I saw my own reflection on the glass of the microwave.

I pushed it down and returned it to my usual poker face.

It was not that long before the toaster went up and the coffee was finished brewing. I didn’t bother getting a plate, but god I was wrong. As soon as I picked up the bread from the toaster, I shrieked when I realized that it was really hot. How stupid, Jiyong. The bread fell on the floor and I picked it up.

I blew on it and carefully placed it on a plate I got. The microwave also made a sound signaling that the cookie was already done being heated.

I carefully took it out, this time with mittens on, and placed it next to the toast. I also took a mug and poured myself a coffee.

I first took a sip from my coffee and picked a piece of cookie from the plate. I moaned to its goodness. Damn, I could eat this my whole life. She said she was only practicing, but it seemed as if she was already a pro.

Then I quickly ate all of my food until nothing remained, I washed the dishes, which only consisted of one plate and one mug, by the way, and headed for the bathroom.

Of course, I took a bath, brushed my teeth and got dressed. I didn’t care much about fixing my looks or whatever, so it only took me a good 15 minutes before I finished.

I took my keys and phone and then headed out the door. I was shuffling my keys from the doorknob when I heard yet another greeting, “Goodmorning!”

I quickly turned around and saw Bom standing from behind. Oh right, she’s my neighbor.

“G-good morning”, how come that I would always stutter? Was something wrong with me? Maybe I’m not really just used to the presence of girls, especially those who’re new to me and I’m not really related with. Yeah, that’s probably.

“So, you’re heading to school?”, she asked, her head slightly tilting to the side, wonder etched on her face.

“Yeah. How about you?”, finally, I said a few words without having to sound like a lagging computer.

She nodded with a cheerful smile on her face. “I’m really excited since it’s my first day and all”

It was then that I realized which school she was attending. My eyes widened at the surprise.

“Wait. You’re going to

“Uh yeah”, she nodded. “Why?”

“N-nothing. I-it’s just that, that’s school’s really prestigious, that’s all”, there goes my stuttering once again. But I was amazed that she goes to that school. Not only was that only it mainly for rich people, but also for the smart ones. I heard that the entrance exams there are really hard, so only those who got enough brains could actually get in.

She snapped me back from my trance, “Oh that. Well, it’s nothing big really”, her cheeks reddened again. Maybe that was her habit whenever she’s embarrassed over something. Was all of the girls like that? Or is it really just her? “So how were the cookies? Were they good?”, she looked at me straight in the eyes, eagerly anticipating for an answer.

I nodded my head with a smile on my face, “It was really good. Thank you by the way”. As I said those, her smile widened.

I suddenly remembered what I should be doing right now, “Oh we have to go to school already”.

“Oh yeah, that’s right”

Both of us went down and bid each other goodbye as we both go to our separate paths.

I was on the bus, halfway to school when my phone rang. I saw who the caller was.

“Hey, why are y---“, I wasn’t able to finish my sentence when my cousin butted in. How typical of her.

“So how was the date??? Did something go wrong? Did you do something wrong??? God Jiyong, because if you did I-m gonna---“, this time I was the one who cut her off.

“Don’t worry. It was fine, really”, I calmly said. “And I did not do something wrong!”, I added, suddenly sounding accused.

“Oh, that’s good then. So, did you already understand what a woman really is?”

“Uhmm… I did… kinda”, suddenly I felt so unsure.

“Really Jiyong, really? How was is that you spent a whole day with a day and didn’t even earn a single knowledge”

“Well, it’s not that easy you know. If you and I were both strangers and you and I dated, would’ve you known me wholly in just a day?”

“You got a point. So you want me to ask Dara to go in another d---“

I cut her off again, “No!”, some of the passengers started looking at me, embarrassed at what happened I bowed my head slightly in apology.

“I-I mean no. I’ve had enough of those”, I said with a sigh.

“So you what are you planning to do? How about your book?”, there was concern that laced around her tone.

I sighed again, “Honestly, I don’t know. But I’ll just have to figure something out”

“Oh”, was all she said. I knew she was also concerned for me. And I was thankful for that. She’d been always looking out for me. “Are you sure?”, she asked.

“Yup”

The bus then came to stop, “I gotta go. I have to attend school”.

“Okay”, then we hang up.