Saturday afternoon someone tapped Somin’s shoulder during her study group’s session in the university library. She lifted her head from the textbook to turn and see a former classmate who she didn’t currently share any courses with. Nonetheless she smiled and gave him her undivided attention, even if only for a brief moment. He gave her a tense flash of a grin back.

“Hey Somin, sorry to disrupt. But do you still do tutoring sessions on the weekend?”

She felt awful for forgetting his name.

“Not currently. Busy with midterms, you know. “

“Ah...well...I’ll leave you alone then.” He finished with a nervous laugh.

Somin called out a goodbye as he casually walked across the open room towards the stairwell. She was on the second base floor, two flights under entry level. He must have searched quite a while before stumbling upon her. Now the girl wondered if he sought her out specifically, or was on a general tutor hunt.

“What did you get for number seven on the review?” Her friend Chaeyoung whispered from the seat beside her.

Somin clicked back to study mode, flipping through her worksheets to find the answer.

In the evening as the sun dimmed and a faint breeze ruffled leaves on trees, her group began to dissolve, going their separate ways to spend the weekend night. Somin and Chaeyoung opted to walk a short block away from campus and gulf down some street food, too tired for anything more riveting.

“Hey,” Chaeyoung interrupted herself with a yawn, tilting her head back, causing her wavy dark hair to shine in the light of golden hour. “Who was that guy?”

Somin jogged her memory of what her friend was referring to, now piecing together that she recognized him because he was actually an assistant to a previous professor. That’s why she didn’t know his name, cause she always knew him as assistant/mister Kim. But he looked young, which is what threw her off, making her think he was also a student. She opened to inform her friend, quickly getting distracted by the long line leading to their favorite food tent.

“Are you serious? The spicy rice cakes here really aren’t THAT good,” The girl said aloud, careful to keep her voice low yet loud enough for her friend to hear. The often clear food cart was currently cluttered with enough people to fill an entire lecture room.

“It really is though, and we both know it.” Chaeyoung stated with a pretend serious face. Somin rolled her eyes, knowing it was the truth.

At that moment, a tall boy emerged from the counter with a dish in hand, causing half of the crowd to raise their phones to take pictures and video while they failed horrifically at suppressing their fangirling. Both girls squinted as they tried to recognize who the oh-so popular boy could be.

“Who is that?” Somn asked as Chaeyoung tilted her head.

The boy in question looked their age, maybe a year or two older with such a stern resting face. He was tall, thin and pale with a handsome appearance that softened as his thin lips curved into a laugh as he heard something his friend called out to him. Yet he walked over and sat at a table with said friend, whom also looked to be on the more attractive side despite having a tinge of a tan, not quite meeting the high korean beauty standards as perfectly as the first boy, and they bit into and chewed their fried food the same as everyone else. Nothing significant or prestigious or perfect about them, outside of their expensive looking clothes. Why people were losing their minds over the duo was beyond the two girls.

Cha