The first thing I hear as I open my eyes is the obnoxiously loud ringtone of my phone. I grunt in annoyance and blindly pick it up, not bothering to check the caller ID.

“Hmm?” I hum sleepily, absolutely ready to fall back to dreamland, until I’m hit with Bom’s unnecessarily shrieky voice.

“Dara, are you seriously still asleep?? Wake up you lazy jumbo! I need to gossip about this new intern in my company! His name is Jinwoo and he’s seriously so cute and so innocent I want to keep him in my pocket forever and feed him chocolate chips and marshmallows-” I hang up and toss the phone away. I’m so not in the mood for Bom’s daily dose of balderdash. The phone rings again, but I choose to ignore it. It rings a third time and I feel myself on the verge of turning violent, but I keep my calm and put my phone on airplane mode. That should shut her down. With a content sigh, I turn around in my bed, ready to welcome sleep, but then my brother abruptly barges in.

“It’s Bom.” he says, holding the house telephone in his hand. I let out an animalistic grunt, feeling all kinds of anger float my system. I get up and snatch the phone from him.

“I will kill you.” I mutter through gritted teeth, but Bom, ever the annoying senseless buffoon she is, pays me no attention and continues her tittle tattle.

“So anyway, I talked to him and he told me he has a boyfriend- he’s an out and proud dude, respect for that, right?- and woah! His bf, Mino, is like the hottest peace of to ever grace this pitiful planet, thank you lord! But like, I never really expected it, like he’s so cute and then his bf is like so buff and hot, so it’s kind of obvious that Jinwoo’s the bottom in the relationship and I about it-”

“BOM!” I yell at the top of lungs, “STOP TALKING ALREADY!” I am on the verge of kamehame-ing her through this phone and sending her to the nonexistent 11th dimension.

“So yeah, he’s so sweet, we instantly became besties. Anyway, how are you?” she continues casually, her tone careless, and I can swear she’s checking her nails and taking tons of selfies with her other phone, absolutely mindless of me. Ugh, sometimes, I wonder how we even became friends.

“Bom, why the hell did you call me?”

“what? Can’t I call my bestest best friend?” I roll my eyes at her response. She didn’t even call me when I had an upset stomach two weeks ago! The nerve of this woman.

“You and I both know that’s not it” I reply, feeling incredibly tired and it’s only nine in the morning.

“Ouch Dara, you think I should have a reason to talk to you? What? I can’t just randomly call my friend and check up on her? Wow, I’m so disappointed in you right now” she huffs, and pretends to go do something else, but I’m sure she’s waiting for my next insult, and that’s exactly what she’s getting.

“I will literally choke you if you don’t shut up” I try to make my words sound menacing, but judging from Bom’s reaction, they had the opposite effect.

“Ohh, ! I didn’t know you were into choking. Too bad I have Seunghyun to do that for me, and let me tell you, he’s so great at it”

“Ew! Bom! Too much info!” I shudder at the mere thought of anything between those two while she laughs at my response.

“It’s so fun teasing you! Anyway, the real reason I called is because I’m throwing you a party, you know, for getting a job, and guess who’s invited? YOU!” she excitedly wails and I can’t help but smile. How can she be both annoyingly careless and awfully considerate at the same time? Bom’s mind amazes me.

“That’s cool and all, but I don’t think it’s really necessary-”

“Listen.” She interrupts me, “I will be hosting that party and nothing will stop me, so you better be here tomorrow evening! and bring whoever you want! It’ll be so fun!” she announces happily, as if the party is for her. But then again, no matter whose party it is, Bom always manages to steal the spotlight.

“You know, I’m starting to think you’re not really doing this party for me-”

“Gotta go now, Bye!” she rudely hangs up and I shake my head at the catastrophe that is my best friend. Seeing as it’s already futile to go back to sleep, I get up and lazily stretch.

“Hey, dung-ah.” I call out to him and he appears at my door seconds after.

“Yes?”

“Next time Bom calls the house, do yourself a favor and don’t answer it.” as soon as I say these words, he sighs in relief.

“Thank you. I seriously can’t handle her.” he pouts and walks away. It’s amazing how Bom can bring misery to all of us.

I grab my phone and check the schedule for today. Oh right, I almost forgot. Jiyong invited me to his place this afternoon to further discuss the job offer. I have no idea where he lives so he better be the one picking me up. Without much time left, I open my closet and try to decide what to wear. Wait, why should it matter? This is Jiyong for goodness sake, get a grip Dara! No need to impress him. I nod to myself and pick my black jeans and oversized Gray hoodie. I stare at my choice and smile. Perfect.

……………………..

“This place is huge!” I exclaim as soon as I step foot into Jiyong’s Condo. It’s a lot bigger than what I had in mind, I imagined he lived in a small apartment, struggling to pay the monthly rent like all of us normal people. I sure underestimated him. He closes the door behind me, smugly smirking at my reaction. “I didn’t know you were crazy rich!” He laughs and gestures me to follow him.

“I wouldn’t say I’m rich.” I roll my eyes at his response.

“That’s exactly what a rich person would say.” I reply as I let my eyes wander around. The living room is beautifully decorated, with a huge plasma screen TV hanging on the wall and fancy black leather sofas opposite it. I whistle in appreciating, running my hands around the ceramic table holding different types of books and magazines. I pick one randomly and see a tall gorgeous model wearing nothing but black lacy lingerie with a bombastic leather jacket on top, riding a motorcycle. Just from the cover I’m guessing it’s either a Victoria’s secret magazine or straight up o, and I’m leaning more towards the latter. I put it down and plop down on the sofa, making myself comfortable. Jiyong takes his blazer off and lays it on a chair nearby.

“Want something to drink?” he offers and I shake my head. “Okay.” He sits next to me and rests his hands on his thighs. “So, I talked to my aunt and she’s happy to take you in next semester. I’ve already told her about your long period of unemployment, she said she’s not bothered by it, especially that I’m the one who recommended you. You can say she trusts me” he states matter-of-factly, loosening the tie around his neck.

“I still feel like I’m cheating.” I confess, feeling guilty all over. “I mean, I have no professional experiences, no qualifications, no prior jobs, and my degree is like a decade old. There are hundreds of people out there who are more deserving of this spot than me, don’t you think?” I stare at him, feeling doubtful all over. I try not to let the negative thoughts swarm my head, but there’s only so much I can do.

“You remember Miss Min, freshman year?” he suddenly says, a small smile on his lips. I nod, not sure where this conversation is going. “She was really clumsy, always forgetting where she put her things and had this habit of clutching the sides of her long skirts when talking. Her courses were boring to attend, and her way of explaining things lacked so much finesse. Well, two years ago, I run across our university’s dean and we had a long chat. I asked him about Ms. Min and if she’s still as awkward as she was. He laughed and told me that back then, it was her first ever year in teaching, and that she had no previous job experience, but now, she’s one of the most sought-after professors of the university.”

“That’s incredible.” I reply, feeling a tad bit proud of Ms. Min.

“Yeah. Despite being an all-around mess at her job, she never gave up and continued to improve bit by bit. She didn’t steal anyone’s spot, Dara, just like you aren’t. You’re at the start of an opportunity that is yours, this job was meant to be yours, so give yourself some credit and go for it.” He playfully nudges my arm with his elbow. “Plus, between you and me, I think you’ll do a better job on your first year than Ms. Min.” he mutters, the smile never leaving his face and I smile back.

“Thanks.” I look down, feeling my cheeks starting to redden. God, why am I suddenly feeling bashful? Change of subject. I need to change the subject. “I still can’t believe you live alone. You’ve never had anyone to live with here before? a girlfriend maybe?” I mentally face-palm as soon as the question leaves my mouth. What the hell me? why am I asking about his girlfriend?

“Curious, Dee?” he smirks and I hit his arm.

“Just answer the damn question.” He chuckles and crosses his legs.

“I’ve had girlfriends but nothing too serious to bring up the idea of moving in with me, you know.”

“Casual flings? I didn’t peg you for a player” I and he shakes his hand in renouncement.

“No, it’s just, there was never a connection. I liked them, but it was a fleeting feeling that died as easily as it came.” he replies and I my head in amusement.

“What would you know about connections anyway? You’ve probably never loved anyone before.” I chuckle, ready for him to counter back, but he remains silent and I stop laughing. He stares ahead, a melancholic look in his face, and then he looks at me and smiles.

“I did. I was in love once, and maybe I still am” there’s something about the way he said it, and the way he’s looking at me right now that’s makes me blush, the intensity of his stare taking me by complete surprise, and yet, I can’t look away.

“What was she like?” I find myself asking, never breaking eye contact.

“Beautiful, witty, a little competitive, but I loved that about her, I still do” he murmurs softly, his eyes b with fondness.

“Where is she now?”. He smiles at the question and suddenly brings his hand closer to my face. For some reason, I stand still, not knowing how to react, but then, I see his fingers hover over my eyes, and he brushes away the strands of hair stuck on my forehead.

“She’s on her way to finding herself.”

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A.N: Hey peeps! I'm back! the updates will still be slow, as college is keeping me busy and ruining my life, but that's nothing new. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!