Wonwoo sent Jin a text message about an hour after it happened: Jin. Look, I’m sorry. I was too caught up in the moment, and I didn’t realize what I was doing. I don’t know why I did it; I just did. Jin, you are like a sister to me. I hope we can forget it happened and just not talk about it. Okay?

Jin read the text. It was such and empty text, she thought. It was exactly what she thought though; it didn’t really mean anything. It was just being “too caught up in the moment,” whatever that meant. It that her first kiss was a mistake, a product of this "being caught up in the moment" or whatever.

Okay, Jin replied to Wonwoo. Jin tried to stop thinking about it, because really that was the last of her troubles right now, but every time she tried to think of something else, she recalled the feeling of her friend’s lips on her own and she would feel her blood rush.

It would never be the same with Wonwoo ever again. In some way, Jin felt like the comfortable platonic relationship they had transformed into something else. She tried to tell herself that it was just a stupid kiss and that it shouldn’t affect how she thought of him, but it didn’t work. It changed everything.

She felt uncomfortable now being in his room, staying in his room. She did not want to stay there anymore; it would just be too awkward. She also did not want to go back to her own room. She felt so lost for a moment as she considered her options.

Whatever that kiss was, it severed the comfortable relationship she had with him. She didn’t resent him, but at the same time, it was not the same. She started to realize now that all of her relationships with her friends were kind of ruined. She felt so irreparably alone all of the sudden.

She didn’t know what to do or how to feel. Should she be angry with Wonwoo for messing with her like that? Clearly, he didn’t mean to mess with her, but it still felt like he was at fault.

She weighed her options of staying with Wonwoo or going back to her own room with Sena. She decided to go back, letting Sena know that she didn’t want them to talk to one another. She just felt like the awkwardness of staying with Wonwoo after he kissed her would be so much greater than the awkwardness of staying with Sena. It probably had to do with the fact she really didn’t know how to act with Wonwoo anymore, but with Sena, she still wanted to ignore her

She packed her things and walked back to her room, texting Wonwoo to let him know that she was going to spend her nights in her own dorm from then on.

I understand, he replied.

I’m so sorry, he added a minute later.

-

She was walking back to campus to go to a class she had with Wonwoo. She didn’t know how to act when she saw him again. Was she supposed to act normal? If she was, then she wasn’t so sure that she could.

She went into the class and took the seat beside him like she usually did. She avoided eye contact with him, and so she didn't see how he was reacting to her clear indications that she did not want to talk. Luckily for her, the professor started the lecture before Wonwoo had a chance say anything to her (and it sounded like he did).

During the lecture, the tension that she felt between her and Wonwoo was so rampant, that Jin actually tried to listen to the professor’s boring explanation of religious courts in secular law. But it was so boring that she couldn't pay attention. Instead, she was painfully aware of Wonwoo’s gaze onto her; he was inspecting her.

Her phone vibrated, for which she was glad because it gave her something to do besides sit there awkwardly and deal with the tense atmosphere.

The text was from Vernon: hey Frostbite!

V: my mom wants to talk to Sofia. I know you’re going through some heartbreak or whatever, but can you still come talk to her?

Jin still had not spoken to Vernon since her drunken night. She was still embarrassed about it, and she did wonder what he thought of her now that he witnessed her at her worst.

But of course, she would agree to talk to his mother. She felt like she owed him for taking care of her that night, but more importantly, Jin found that even she had some care for the woman. If simply talking to her over the phone would make her happy, then Jin would certainly do it.

J: Okay. When?

V: Now? Are you free?

Jin was glad for the excuse she now had to leave right after class. It meant no awkward conversations with Wonwoo when the class was over. She could just zip out of the class when the lecture finally finished.

J: After my class. Where do I meet you?

V: Can you come to my room?

J: I’d rather not. Seokmin lives there.

V: Fine. Library? I’ll reserve a study room. The same one you tutored me in before midterms.

J: Okay.

When class was over, she told Wonwoo quickly that she was meeting someone.

"Can we talk first?" Wonwoo implored her. He looked so ashamed as he looked at her.

"Later," Jin said and turned away without another word.

-

When she arrived at the study room, Vernon was waiting for her. It made her anxious facing him after the embarrassing things she said that night and after making him carry her to his room and sleeping on his bed and… recalling all of that made her nervous to face him.

“Hey Frostbite,” he greeted with his characteristic grin.

She bowed to him slightly, and then apologized for that night.

“I thought it was fun,” he told her, “you’re cute when you’re drunk.”

She blushed and looked away. He laughed.

He then took out his phone and explained to her: “so mom thinks you’re back in New York now. If she asks you things about the family and whatnot, I’ll write it down and you just play along.”

Jin nodded, and he dialed the number and put it on speaker. A nurse answered, and later they were transferred to Mrs. Choi’s quarters.

And so Jin talked to her again. Mrs. Choi asked about the family, and Vernon was quick to tell Jin exactly what to say. She learned a lot about his family from the conversation. She learned that they had a cat named Sejong, that he had an alcoholic uncle, and that his cousin had given birth a few weeks ago. It was weird acting like a part of his family, and talking as if she knew all of these people when she really didn’t.

She also learned about more about Vernon. She learned that he had lived in Korea most of his life, and that his parents had divorced while he was here. She also learned that he rapped, which was something she would have never imagined.

However, she was not the only one that learned about him. At one point throughout the conversation, Mrs. Choi asked about the guy she wanted to confess to.

“Last time we talked, you told me you wanted to confess to him. Did you yet?”

“No,” Jin answered, “He was dating a friend of mine all along,” she answered, trying not to sound too dispirited.

“Oh, I’m so sorry sweetheart,” she repeated, “It must be hard on you right now.”

“It is,” Jin repeated honestly.

“Are you angry with her? Your friend.”

“Yes, very much,” Jin repeated.

“Don’t turn against your girl friends for a guy,” she advised.

“I’m not angry at her because of that. I’m angry at her because she hid it from me and because she read my personal diary even though she knew that it was personal and I didn’t want her to read it,” Jin said. She found it strangely comfortable letting her heart out to this woman, even with Vernon listening. It was just easy for some reason.

She also really wanted to talk to someone, anyone. Now that Seokmin, Sena and even Wonwoo were no longer possibilities for that, Vernon’s mother seemed a timely replacement.

Jin found herself pouring out everything she had wanted to tell Wonwoo before he randomly kissed her. She told Vernon’s mom everything that she was feeling, about her disappointment in Sena, and about her jealousy and about even about Sena’s drinking problems. Mrs. Choi listened, and advised Jin to wait until her heart is settled, and then to eventually forgive her.

“No matter how much you think you hate her, Sofi, a best friend will always be a best friend. She cares about you, and you clearly care about her. Don’t let this be the end of a friendship. Life is too short to hold grudges for long.”

“Thank you,” Jin told her. Finally someone was directing her, telling her what to do and convincing her.

“Are you feeling lonely, Sofi?”

“Yes,” Jin repeated, “that’s why I’m happy to be able to talk to you. I have no one else to talk to.”

“What about your brother?”

Jin had almost forgotten that she had a “brother.” She hesitated for a while before saying, “my brother has better things to do with his life than listen to my problems.” She glanced up at him, and she saw that he was just sitting there resting his head on his hand and waiting for a time in which he needed to intervene.

Before Mrs. Choi had the chance to respond, it seemed like a nurse had come into her room.

“Sweetheart, I need to go for a check-up. We can talk later, okay?”

“Okay,” Jin responded, feeling sad that it was over, “bye mom.”

Vernon took his phone and hung up the line before turning to Jin and saying, “did you enjoy that?”

Jin nodded, “I did.”

“Good, because now she’s going to expect you talk to her often.”

“I don’t mind,” Jin said.

“My phone bill does,” Vernon scoffed.

“I’ll call her. Just give me the number, and I’ll do it on my own time.”

“No way,” he said, “if she asks you a question and you don’t know the answer and she finds out you’re not Sofia, it would break her heart. You’ll only call when I’m around.”

“Okay,” Jin repeated.

He put the phone in his pocket and lifted his head slightly until his eyes leveled with Jin’s and he stared at her. Jin felt unsettled by the suddenly intense eye contact he was making. She drew back and waited for him to look at something else, but he didn’t.

“Listen Frostbite,” Vernon said in what seemed to be a serious tone from him, “I’m going to ask you something. You don’t have to answer immediately, but I do expect an answer soon. It’s probably not even the best time to ask it but, I’ll still ask it anyways.”

She waited curiously for him to ask her the question, but he seemed oddly restless and even hesitant to ask it.

It took him a few seconds to finally come out with the question: “would you go out with me?”

Jin froze, completely and utterly surprised. Her first instinct was that this was a joke, but the more she inspected his facial expression, the more she was convinced that it probably wasn’t.

“What?” she asked again, just to confirm that she didn’t hear it wrong.

“I’m asking you out,” Vernon repeated. “I’m serious. You can answer later. I’ll just leave you with the question for now.” He then stood up and left the study room as Jin processed his words in a daze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary,

The last two days have been so eventful. I got my heart broken for the first time. I got my first kiss. And now, Vernon asked me out on a date. It’s all happening so fast, and I don’t know how I’ve been keeping up with it all.

But yes, Vernon just asked me out. The douchebag. The guy I said I hated countless times in this diary. But I don’t hate him anymore, but neither do I particularly like him though.

Anyways, I don’t think he was serious about it. He literally witnessed me drunk and he read my diary and so he knows the most embarrassing things about me; I don’t understand what could have possibly propelled him to ask me out and be sincere about it. It’s probably some cruel practical joke he wants to play on me to humiliate me so that I hate him again. I don’t think I’ll ever not dislike this guy for long.

I’m just going to ignore it. And if he asks me again, I’ll tell him that I’m not falling for his stupid tricks. It would not be the first time he tricked me. Remember the theology exam kiss? Remember the in my locker? Even when I was eating with him, he would trick me and not let me have the pieces of meat. I have every reason to believe that this is some joke meant to embarrass me, and I will not fall for it.

Besides, I saw him today flirting with other girls and asking for a kiss on the cheek. If he really were serious about this, he would not have done that. He knows he’s on my stupid list and so he thinks I’ll easily fall for his tricks. I’m not.

And in the unlikely event that he was not joking… he’s probably only wishing for this fling with an easy girl like me, and I don’t want a relationship like that. I’m not going to be one of the girls he uses and then dumps when another submissive one comes around. I don’t even know why I’m thinking about this.

A/N: Finally some VerJin developments :D

And wow I got an overwhelming response to the last chapter! 50+ comments damn!!