Chapter 7;

“You’re an angel, Jung Eunji, have I ever told you that?”

The pretty girl with the cute button nose and cheerful eye-smile let out a large laugh as I linked my arm with hers as walked. “Not nearly enough.”

“My mother always told me I would meet a good girl in Busan!” I said dramatically, looking starry-eyed.

“Oh, quiet,” she shushed me, grinning nonetheless. “You know that kind of sweet talk won’t work on me.”

“Well, tell me what will then. Because I’d do anything to taste your cooking again!” 

I wasn’t even exaggerating. Eating her ramen had been like tasting a small slice of heaven. 

Eunji pouted, pretending to be exasperated with me.

“Are you sure you’re not just using me for my cooking, Lee Sandeul? You’re going to eat me out of house and home one day.” She bopped me on the nose playfully. “You’re just lucky you’re so cute.” 

“I’m lucky that a girl like you will even talk to me,” I admitted.

“Well, you’re no Tony-Oppa,” she told me with a giggle, “but you’re good enough for me.” We both laughed, and I opened my mouth to speak again, but was interrupted when I felt a hard slap on my back, making me jolt forward.

“God, lovebirds, get a room!” It was my roommate, Baro. He was dressed in his football uniform, bag slung haphazardly over his shoulder and beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, fresh from practice. Standing in front of me with his arms crossed and a grossed-out expression on his face.

“Piss off, Baro,” I told him. I wasn’t really angry, but his slap had hurt quite a bit. “You’re just jealous.”

“Oh yeah?” he grinned, suddenly looking obnoxiously smug. “Why’d I ever be jealous of you?”

“Baro has a girlfriend these days,” Eunji explained, rubbing the place Baro had hit me. “My cute dongsaeng, Naeun.”

I gaped, shocked. “But she’s one of the hottest girls on campus! How'd a mountain troll like Baro get with someone like her?!”

Baro’s brows furrowed in annoyance.

“Control your facial expression, Sandeul, you look stupid,” he groused. “The bigger mystery is how some loser like you can hang out with Eunji.”

“Why you — !”

“So you think Naeun’s hotter than me, then, do you?” Eunji cut in, also looking annoyed, preventing me from launching into a tirade.

“Well, no, of course not, but I—I—” I was interrupted yet again, this time by two consecutive slaps at the back of my head. First from Eunji, then Baro.

“You’d better treat her right, Sandeul, she’s too good for you,” he said.

“Yeah, you think I don’t know that?” I grumbled, rubbing the back of my head and feeling an odd sense of deja-vu.

“It’s okay,” Eunji said, suddenly jovial again. She wasn’t exactly the type to dwell on things. “Sandeul has lots of charms too, you know.”

Baro laughed.  “I did hear you topped the last aural exam, Sandeul,” he admitted, half-grudging, half-genuine. “I’ll give you that.”

“Thanks a lot,” I said sarcastically.

“I was so proud of him!” Eunji exclaimed brightly, “We should all go on a trip to celebrate! Baro and Naeun too!”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. We should try Seoul, I haven’t been before,” replied Baro, nodding. “But not these holidays, I’ve got some important games on. It’s gotta be next.”

“I’d go anywhere for you, Eunji,” I told her tenderly, clasping her hands in mine, “I’d even tolerate being in close proximity with Baro for you.” 

“I take that as a yes,” she answered, laughing as Baro glared at me.

The three of us continued talking for a while, until Baro waved us goodbye to go to his next class. 

“The reason you two can insult each other so much is because you’re close, right?” Eunji asked, referring to our football-playing friend.

“Yeah,” I conceeded, sighing, “Baro’s annoying, but I have to admit I like spending time with him.” 

We chatted for a while after that, walking around campus. To tell the truth, I was very happy. After what had happened the previous Summer, I’d returned to university with my shoulders weighed down with a heavy burden. My mind was a jumbled mess, and I could barely sleep at night. All I could think of was Gongchan. 

And then, like an angel, Eunji came into my life. We got close because we both loved music, and we both had a drive to succeed at it that most of our classmates didn’t. I stayed up late in those days. I studied hard because I wanted to prove myself. Prove I wasn't just some fool from the countryside. And she was like that too.  She was both beautiful and hardworking. She understood me like no one else at school, and I also cared about her a great deal. 

She kissed me one night, when we'd gone out drinking together. One of her friends told me she always did that when she got drunk. But it was the start of something. It wasn't "dating" exactly. We were more than friends, but not love