Chapter One

“Hyung, can we get boba pleaseee,” Mark pleaded from the passenger seat.

 “Of course, anything to stall going to the hospital,” I said, changing lanes to the left. My little brother celebrated next to me, turning up the music and yelling “seobangcha” at the top of his lungs. I laughed. Getting boba would make us 10 minutes late to getting to the hospital. Perfect. After getting boba, of course Mark requested to stop for burgers, so being the great brother I was, I stopped for burgers. Even more perfect.

An hour later and a half later we finally arrived to the hospital. “Lee Byul Hospital” in big letters on the top of the building. Mark and I entered the elevator with our second cup of boba in our hands, sipping as we pressed the button to go to the 7th floor.

As soon as we walked into our dad’s office, the nagging began. “You guys should have been here an hour and a half ago,” our dad said, glaring at us.

“Appa, I was hungry,” my teenage brother said simply, plopping onto the couch. My dad ruffled Mark’s hair and took a seat.

"Mark, you don’t have to make excuses for your hyung,” he said, looking at me. I took a breath, clenching the plastic boba cup in my hand.

 “No, hyung really did take me because I asked,” Mark insisted, backing me up.

“Well whatever the reason, the person I wanted you guys to meet went home already, so I guess you guys can leave,” my father said with a sign. He patted my shoulder and went back to sit at his desk. Mark got up excitedly and exited the office. I was turning around when my father said, “Jaebum. You do know that one day I expect you to be sitting in this seat, right?” I simply nodded my head without turning around, and walked out the door.

 

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The next morning, I was rushing into my anatomy class. Mark had asked for coffee in the morning, so of course I stopped by Starbucks before dropping him off at school.

 “Mr. Lee, first time you’ve been late this week,” my professor commented as I quietly snuck into a seat. I shyly nodded my head. She started her lecture and I pulled out my anatomy notebook, not at all excited to start taking notes on the body systems

“Does anyone know what homeostasis is?” Professor Park asked. A hand a few rows ahead of me shot up.

“The process of maintaining stability in the internal environment, regardless of the changing external environment,” the student answered. I quickly scribbled it down,

The rest of the class was a blur as I wrote down definitions of terms that I didn’t care about. As soon as the bell rang I rushed out to the quad. My buddy Jackson was waiting for me in the hallway, a bottle of light blue Gatorade in his hand. He threw it at me once I approached him. Perfect. I took a big gulp.

“You know what, I just saw the cutest girl walk out of your classroom,” he said excitedly.

I took a drink of the Gatorade. “And?”

“Jaebum. You’re so boring! You don’t want to be a doctor but you sure do act like a boring doctor. Live a little, we have a year and a half left of college,” he punched my shoulder. I hit him back because that actually really hurt. “Alright well I know what will actually interest you,” he said after our punch war ended. “Shownu and the guys wanted to dance battle in the quad today.”

My ears perked up. “When?”

“Like. In 20 minutes.”

I grabbed Jackson and started to sprint towards the quad. Dance battle? Perfect

The quad was filled with college students, some making their way to their next class, some mingling in the grass or eating brunch at the tables. In the middle of the bustle was a group of boys already set in a circle, speakers surrounding them.

“Ayee! JB and Wang are here!” they all shouted as Jackson and I arrived. We shook them up and started to bob our heads to the beat that came out of the speaker. Before we knew it, it had started. Baby freezes, windmills and flips everywhere. Perfect. This was what I lived for.

My body took control of me as I moved to the beat. At the end of the song Jackson and I flipped in separate directions. Suddenly, I lost balanced and staggered backwards, grabbing onto whatever was behind me for support.

"Watch out! What the heck!" a girl yelled out, I turned around to see pink splattered all over her white blouse. She held her half empty Starbucks cup and looked at her shirt.

"I-I'm so sorry!" I hurriedly pulled my short sleeve off my body and pulled it over her head. She hit my arm.

"What are you doing?!"

"Take my shirt! I'm sorry your shirt is all dirty I'll pay for dry cleaning," I tried to joke, not even able to look at her face because I was so sorry.

She took my shirt and slipped it on. "Thanks," she said, before walking away angrily. Her long black hair swayed as she left. I still didn't get a look at her face. 

All the boys had stopped dancing and gathered around me. "Bro, what happened?" they asked.

"JB THAT WAS THE CUTE GIRL!" Jackson screamed, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me.

I shook my head. I actually felt bad for getting her shirt dirty. I could just apologize again tomorrow, I thought to myself. The boys turned the music back on but I decided that it was time to leave. I was walking away with Jackson by my side, but the image of her long, black hair swaying never left my head.