“Hey, is it okay if I bring a friend over tonight?”

               “Is your friend a guy?”

               “Uh huh.”

               “Then no. It’s not okay.” You reply as you walk over to the kitchen while you struggle to carry three boxes filled with your stuff inside.

               “I can? Thanks Hyunmi, you’re the best!”

               You roll your eyes at the girl as she sashays her way towards her room. You don’t really know why she still bothers to ask for your permission, when she keeps inviting guys over at the apartment even when you clearly show displeasure towards it.

               “I’ll be taking a shower, if anyone comes looking for me, just let him in, kay?”

               “Chae, you know I’m fixing my stuff for the move, can’t he just wait for you outside?”

               You show her the boxes you have at hand, then you tilt your head towards the kitchen, where most of your things are.

               “No. I really like this guy and you’re not gonna make him wait outside for me.”

               “You say that about every guy you date.” You mumble to yourself.

               “I think he’s the one Hyunmi.” She said with hearts in her eyes. “Gosh, he’s so handsome, I think I’m in love!

               You scoff.

               In love? My !

               “Besides he’s not the type you can just ignore, let alone make him wait outside.” She said matter-of-factly. “I’m lucky he even accepted my invitation.”

               “What? You’re the one who asked him on a date?”

               “Couldn’t help it, he’s hot.”

               “That’s low Chae, even for you.”

               In her case, it’s always the guy who asks for her number and begs to go on a date with her. Chae is the gentleman caller between the two of you, while you are the exact opposite of her. You’re an introvert, a person who loves being alone, you’d rather spend the rest of the day reading books or watching movies rather than partying all night.

               “Whatever. Just be nice to him. I don’t want you ruining this for me.”

               “When have I ever ruined things for you?”

               “Do I really have to remind you how Minseok was all over you when he saw you? I dumped him because he was asking for your number, that bastard.”

               “What?” You look at her, your face filled with confusion.

               “Oh right, you didn’t know that.” She said as she purses her lips.

               “Chae, what do you mean by-“

               “I’ll go ahead and shower now. Bye!” She close her door shut, leaving you baffled.

               You scoff as you watch her door close. You two have been living with each other for over six months now, but you’ve never gotten a chance to really get to know each other. You work part time at Yonsei University as a substitute teacher while you search for a permanent job, while Chae works at night, at an exclusive club as a bartender. That’s where she met all those men she takes home with. The only chance you get to see each other is on the weekends, when she gets ready for her date while you entertain her guest, and by entertain, you mean ignore and snarl at them when they try to start a conversation with you.

               You’re not very sociable, in fact, you think you’re the most timid person on this planet. You do have friends, but you try your best to make up a thousand excuses just so you can’t hang out with them. You’re not always like this. Truth of the matter is, you were once very friendly, you’ve dated guys before, but it all changed when your parents decided to move to America.

               Your parents told you it’s for the good of the business and they want you to come with them and finish college abroad. That’s where things took a turn for you. Your boyfriend at that time found out you were leaving the country and he didn’t take things pretty well. One morning, when you were about to tell him that your parents changed their mind about you studying abroad, you found him on his bed and next to him is a woman, sleeping soundly in his arms.

               It left you crippled and broken. What’s sad about the situation, is that the woman turned out to be one of your closest friends. It crushed you, even more so. You feel like the world is on your shoulders and you’ve never ever trusted anyone after that.

               That was one of the darkest days of your life. With your family gone, you’ve got no one to talk to. You’ve lost all faith you have left for humanity, so you became this unsociable, distant and aloof person.

               Through the years you’ve learned how to move on with your life, with no one to lean on to and it feels liberating. One thing you do know is that loneliness is dangerous, it’s chronically addicting. Once you see how peaceful it is, you no longer want to deal with other people’s crap.

               After you graduated college, your parents sold your house, everything, even the company they've worked hard for. They sold half of the shares they own, to make do for moving to another country. To pour everything they have just to make sure the business your father is starting abroad, can and will be successful. It did and everything went along well with the plan. Now he's twice as rich as he was before. They demanded you to move to the states with them, but you feel that living abroad is not for you, so you stayed and that's where things took a turn.

               They revoked you of all the privileges you once have. Your father cut off your only source of survival, which is your credit card. The only thing keeping you from getting broke is your bank account. You're not one of those rich kids who spends their parents' money to waste. No. Instead, you opened yourself your very own bank account, one which your parents don't have a clue of. If you budget everything properly, it’ll last you for years, but you won’t get to live life like you used to. Much to your parents' dismay, you stayed in Seoul, and right now, you are hell bent on looking for a decent job, just to prove to them and to yourself, that you don’t need their money to survive.

               One of the reasons they want you to fly to America, is for you to