Chapter II - Arrangements, Setting Up

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Um, what?”

“You just stopped walking and suddenly started laughing like an idiot.”

I smiled weakly with the sudden realization that I'm an idiot.

“Ehehehehe… Sorry.”

“It's fine.” SinB finished typing on her phone and pushed it to my face. “This guest list look okay?”

“Guest…. Wait. What?” I took a closer look at her phone screen and scrolled down.

And down.

And down...

“I think this should be enough people,” she nodded.

“SinB… In what universe can I fit the entire university in my house? Because it's not this one.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Hmm, weird. Your house always seems so much bigger than I think it is.”

“That's because we are the only ones who hang out there!”

“Oh. I should probably cut down this list then.” She returned to her phone and started to edit the novel that she created. “But I'm definitely inviting Umji and some friends from my dance class. One’s a DJ and she promised to help out.”

“We are going to have a DJ? Hold on! Wait! I was kidding about having a party! I only said that to my mom so that maybe we can play some video games or-”

“Well you should have thought of that before I sent the invites.”

“When did you you send out invites!?”

“Just now.”

She smiled and, with a bit of showmanship, pressed a button with her index finger. Her screen read “Email Sent!”

“...”

My silence was audible.

“Kehahahaha!”

So was her sadism.

“…Fine,” I gave up and we continued our walk to my place. “When is it?”

I didn't mind having people over but I did need to warn the front gate about an influx of visitors coming in. Also the neighbors needed to be notified. It was that kind of area I lived in.

“Tomorrow, of course. Around 7pm. Oh, but I told Hwang Sohee unnie, no relation, to come a bit earlier to set up her DJ stuff. That cool?”

“I guess,” I shrugged. Now, where in the world would I put a DJ in my house? I started to make a mental list of things to shop for before an important thought came to mind. “Did you at least say to ‘bring your own liquor’?”

“Of course! I’m not an idiot!” she smiled like a child being praised by an adult. “Besides, that’s part of the reason I’m doing this in the first place. Drinks!”

Well then. Color me impressed.  Or yellow. But not orange. Never orange.

“That's my girl,” I nodded, patting her head. “But since this is all your fault, you have to help me with the decorations and stuff. And maybe help me pick something cute to wear.”

“Sure. I'll call Umji later and we can help out together. Why the new outfit though? Don't you have plenty of clothes?” She raised an eyebrow and started to smile. “Or, are you expecting to impress someone from your class? Is it that tall, modelesque one? You said she was the president or something? Sowon, I think? ”

“No, she's like a president. Sort of a take charge, leader personality. She's always volunteering for things and enjoys helping others. I don’t mind her height but she’s not really my type.” Although now that I think about it, that may be useful. I sent Sowon a quick message from my phone. She was fun enough. You know, when she wasn’t being in one of her I’m-a-responsible-adult-and-can-take-care-of-you moods. “As for the outfit, I mean, it is my party, right? I should at least look good.”

“Hmm, sounds like a plan. Want to use the bus? Taxi?”

“Neither, we can take my car.”

“Okay,” she said.

The walk from my home to the campus was about 15 minutes which meant driving to school seemed like the lazy option. I mean there was also the fact that walking is a good form of exercise and I need to maintain my adorable figure, right? Besides, parking was always hell around the campus so it would take forever to find spot.

But that wasn't the point I'm trying to make here.

It took a moment for that confused look to set in on SinB’s face. Yay, I win. Sometimes it’s the little victories that are the sweetest.  

“Wait, what car?”

I lifted my cell phone to a panel in the outer fence and gate to my property. After a beep, I opened and held the gate open for SinB. She stopped at the sight of beauty parked under the eve of my house.

“Well, me sideways,” swore SinB and stopped in her tracks.

“No thanks,” I laughed and walked past her, getting some revenge at her little dig earlier. “That's Umji’s job.”

I’m not much of a car person. I don't even know the difference between a Hyundai and a Kia. It’s just something the has never been important to me. That being said, I knew that at the very least this car was pricy. It had one of those cool foreign names on the back that I wasn’t really sure how to pronounce. Something Italian or German. They always make expensive things.

“Jjajang! My birthday gift from my parents!” I said with a wave of my arm to the side like a game show host. I then put our school bags away in the house and grabbed the keys. “It's cute right? I like how it's all curvy and white. I didn't know some cars have the trunk in the front. It's like a funny looking mouth! Hahaha! And look on the inside. Dark red leather! So cool!”

I opened the passenger door to show her as well as let her in. It only sat two people but we would be comfortable. After a few moments of looking around the car, SinB finally spoke.

“Your parents bought you a Porsche?” she dead panned. “And the thing that excites you the most is that it has a ‘funny looking mouth’?”

“Oh, is that how you pronounce it?” I repeated the name a couple of times, trying to commit the “shh” sound to memory. I didn’t know where the S or the C went when I tried to say it. “It’s spelled super weird.”

“This car is wasted on you,” she concluded as I sat in the driver side and we put on our seat belts. “As your best friend, I feel like it's my obligation to tell you that.”

I responded with a look of self-righteous satisfaction, the roar of the engine turning on, and the whine of the convertible roof moving to the back. A tingling sensation came from my back and shot up my spine. It was the vibrations of the engine jump starting my heart and triggering the endorphins in my body.

Joy.

Happiness.

Pleasure.

Everytime I the car, euphoria.  

“Show off.”

“And yet here you are, still by my side~!”

Reap what you sow, as they say. And off we went.

By this point, you may have realized that my mom is quite healthy. In fact, she is more than healthy. She and my dad are overseas at the moment in Japan for work. I’ve never fully understood what exactly they do, but they enjoy it so I guess that’s good. They’re usually gone for months at a time so I practically have the whole house to myself. Or well I’m not alone all the time. SinB comes over when she feels like it and I appreciate the company.

Which, now that I think about it, she’s been doing less and less recently...

Hmm.

Having to share with Umji is becoming more and more hazardous to my health...

“Promise me that when you and Umji get married or something that you will still visit me? I wanna be that cool single aunt that takes care of your kids.”

“Yerin unnie, stop having conversations in your head and expect me to jump in the middle.”

“Euungh~!” I hummed, showing my aegyo and making cute faces. “Promise me~!”

At least SinB was here with me now.

Either way, this freedom has allowed me to throw this party all of a sudden. Not that I would just randomly throw raging events at my place or anything. Too much clean up.

It’s my solitude. My sanctum.

I’m used to a certain level of peace and quiet.

The majority of the time shopping was spent trying to find some cute outfits for ourselves. SinB found some dark skinny jeans and a form fitting blouse that showed off that dancer’s body of hers. I went with a short skirt bell sleeved red dress with a lace pattern and some new black heels.

Like I said, if I’m going to have a party, I might as well look good.

“Yerin unnie! SinB yah!”

Umji was waiting by the front gate of the housing community when drove back. Her eyes lit up as we neared, with her staring at SinB. Like a little puppy waiting for her master… Er, wait.

NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!

Scratch that comparison!

Weird thoughts, bleh!

Must erase!

Ahem! Moving on...

Next to her was a tall, modelesque girl. Sowon looked over at the shorter girl as she shouted, not realizing they were waiting for the same people. I let them in, waving to the guard that they were with us.

“Yo, Sowon unnie!” I hugged her after parking the car. “Thanks for coming after such short notice! I could really use the help!”

“Sure, sure! Always happy to help out a friend in need.”

Kim Sowon.

If I had the ability to edit the dictionary, the term “leader” would have Sowon’s face next to it. I’ve never met someone so naturally gifted at being a leader than her. It was like she was born with the moniker and her first word when she was a baby was “leader”. Or like all of her stats during character creation made her responsible, well liked, and just plain friendly. I wondered if she was always her class representative back in her younger days. Always serious and loved by every teacher she met. Prim and proper. The ultimate visage of the model student.

Sure, I was the head of our major in terms of grades.

Sowon, on the other hand, was just the head of our major. Period.

The fearless leader.

Also, she was a good 5 or so centimeters above me. She had a very commanding appearance that naturally made you want to follow her. If she asked you to go to war, you would. I would, at least.

Umji and SinB awkwardly greeted each other, with SinB kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. Actually no. That wasn’t even a kiss. More like a hovering peck. They were together, together, sure. But they always seemed hesitant to show affection to each other in the presence of others. SinB could barely look at Umji when we first met.

I liked Umji. She fit SinB in a way I could never.

Ah, young love… So adorable.

“Hey, check out these two kids,” I started while elbowing Sowon in the side and made a suggestive gesture. “They’re shy now but give them a few cocktails…”

“I wonder how they will handle the party tomorrow.” Sowon eyed the both of them up, giving a thumbs up with look of approval on her face. “Make sure to keep it PG-13~!”

“Omo! I have to cover my eyes!.” I pantomimed the motion before I peeked at them and winked.

“YAH! SHUT IT!” SinB yelled while covering Umji's ears, both their faces flustered. SinB then ushered Umji along into the house with all of their things.

Their reaction slayed Sowon and me. It took us a moment to get stable enough to walk again.

“We might be at this for a while, possibly all night,” I apologized, attempting to make small talk with Sowon. We followed the young couple into the house. “That okay with you? Like I said, you’re welcome to stay over.”

It was only after I said it that it occurred to me how greasy I came off.  God, I'm terrible. I just can't stop flirting. Even when I don’t mean it. There has to be an off switch in my head somewhere or else it’s going to get me in trouble one day. Luckily, Sowon didn't see it like that.

“I brought my stuff for the occasion."  She motions towards a bag at her side. "But are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“Hahahaha~! Yeah, I’m sure.”

SinB, being already familiar with my home, immediately led Umji into the downstairs bedroom. She liked it there because it was near the kitchen and living room, which had all my gaming consoles.

“You can have the upstairs guest room, by the way. It has an on suite so you can have more privacy.”

“Haha, wow~! Nice place!” Sowon looked around the living room, breakfast bar, and adjoining kitchen. The wall leading to the backyard was glass, making it seem like a large picture frame to the outside world. Stairs wrapped around the living room, leading to where I was currently pointing to. Above the kitchen was a balcony that I sort of converted into a library. “This is like a mini vacation.”

“You can think of it like that sure. In exchange for room and board, you can help set up for my party!”

“Deal. Oh, are you having a DJ?”

“Mmmm, yeah. Wouldn't be a party without a one. Why?”

“They should set up there.” She pointed to the balcony. “With the glass banister and modern decor, it would be visually impressive. Especially with lights. And I bet it would sound better coming from up there and we can use this living room as a dance floor. Save space?”

You know how, back before Youtube and stuff, TV stations would stop broadcasting and it would just be a “Please Stand By” screen? With that really annoying “beeeeep” sound? Yeah, that was going my brain. The synapses in my head lost connection. My hard drive had an error and had to reboot. I swear I felt my eyes go crossed eyed. 

“Sowon…” I said, after a pause.

“Yes?” Sowon turned to look at me.

“Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you are an idiot.”

“They… They don’t. But… Okay?”

“That... was the best thing I’ve heard all day.”

“Thanks…?”

Why didn’t I think of that!?

My mind raced, thoughts moving at the speed of light. I was also getting a bit hyper. Yeah, I was feeling it. The phenomena that happens when it's the day before your birthday or the prospect of having a good time.

“HEY LOVE BIRDS!” I slammed my fist into the downstairs guest room door. “Stop making out and help! Your unnies have a crazy idea!”

After I heard the two girls behind the door yelp in embarrassment, I led Sowon to the upstairs bedroom to set down her stuff. Excitement was growing inside of me as the ideas of how the party would turn out started to formulate in my head.

This was going to be fun.

“My room is right there,” I pointed to the door at the end of the hall before directing to a closer room. “This is you. Hope it’s okay?”

The guest room was simple with a full sized bed and other basic amenities. This was actually my parent’s room. But with them coming and going, it’s rarely used. They basically lived out of their luggage so none of their stuff was in here anyway so it was effectively a guest room.

“Thanks. Um… Hey, I know this is weird but can I ask you for a favor?” Sowon started, looking a little sheepish as she set down her things in the room.

“What’s up?”

Considering the fact that I’m practically using Sowon for free labor, it was the least I could do.

“Mind if I invite someone to the party? You see… I’ve had my eye on this girl in my singing classes… and I think it would be… Oh, I don’t know. But if we hit if off at your party... ”

With the number of people SinB may have invited, it was entirely plausible that this crush of Sowon’s was already planning on coming. But hey, why not?

“Well then, who would have thought that Sowon unnie is such a romantic.”

“Oh, please? Can I? She lives in the dorms on campus so she will probably bring her roommate along but they are both super nice. I promise they will be cool.”

Maybe it was because of the excitement or the sudden rush of adrenaline flowing into my system but I was actually okay with this. I would usually be give some sort of nonsense answer about having some false truth but no.

Not this time.

“Sure,” I nodded my head and patted her on the back. I was also just curious how Sowon was with flirting. That should be fun. “Why not? More the merrier.”

And I was serious.

“THANKS!”

Sowon hugged me and immediately started typing furiously on her phone as I left the room to move furniture in the makeshift library.

“Eunbi-yah~!” Sowon called out. I've never heard her speak like this before. “Are you… Well, tomorrow....”

Huh? The girl has the same name as SinB. Small world. I didn’t mean to pry but the curiosity got the better of me… and she wasn’t particularly quiet about her conversation. But, wow. Watching her gush like that. Was this really Kim Sowon in my house right now? The real Kim Sowon?

I couldn't believe it but I guess it made sense.

People change when they are in love. That much is certain. It might not be huge. It might be small. But at the very least it's significant.

Sowon’s cute speech brought a smile to my face. Whipped by some girl in her singing class. That's incredible. Hell, now I really want to know how amazing this girl must look to have mesmerized the modelesque leader.

Of course this begs the question that I'm sure you are wondering right about now.

Did I know then?

Did I know that granting Sowon’s favor would lead me to meeting her?

Of course not.

How in the world could I?

It was just simple chance. Amazing odds leaning in my favor. And yet I could have never predicted it. It was too random. Too many strings being pulled at opposite ends.  It was catching a shooting star. Just impossible.

It only seems like a coincidence in hindsight.

It only seems like a curse in foresight.  

But even now, I still thank Sowon for that day.

Friday.

The Friday to end all Fridays.

The end of everything of me.

The next day was Saturday, August 19.

The start of everything of me.

“Yeah! Come along tomorrow,” continued Sowon. She was giggling all the while. “You can bring your roommate, sure!

“Bring Choi Yuna!”