It had been more than a rough morning for Jiwoo by the time she finally reached the main campus of Blockberry University. She’d driven a heart-dropping eighty miles per hour (yes, she’s that grandma driver who usually goes sixty-five in a fifty-five, and no, she’s not ashamed to admit it), the entire fifteen minute commute from her apartment to the main streets of the university.

For starters, the poor college student had been forced to circle the parking garages nearby for nearly ten minutes, scouring the lot for an open spot. She’d woken up late and hadn’t been able to leave the house in time to secure her usual spot. She was forced to scrounge instead, hunting in between the lanes of parked cars for even a glimpse of an empty spot.

Then, after she managed to parallel park somewhat decently (she prayed she won’t get another parking ticket as she took the keys out of the ignition), Jiwoo readied herself to begin the two mile trek to her class. She stepped out of her car and moved to open the door to the backseat for her backpack only to realize she’d left her laptop and lunch at her apartment.

“Oh my god!” Jiwoo yelped in annoyance, running a hand through her hair. She slipped on the backpack and began to sulk in spite of herself. It looked like she’d just have to stick to sneaking photos of the professor’s slides with her phone and jotting down whatever she could in a spare notebook. Typically, she could get everything said by the professor and all the information on their PowerPoint slides in an instant.

This is what I get for relying on technology, Jiwoo scolds herself, Thanks a lot, Steve Jobs, you bastard. After calming herself down a little bit, she hastily locked her car and promptly made a beeline towards the stairwell leading up to the street. She passed by several slow walkers on her way up, hardly noticing the odd looks they were shooting her.

Jiwoo was a part of Mission: Impossible Get to Class on Time and she didn’t care what anyone else thought about her and her still-damp hair from her shower or the fact that her T-shirt may or may not be currently inside out. Nothing was going to stop her from fulfilling her mission, not even her pride.

On the third flight of stairs she went up, Jiwoo tripped and nearly toppled backwards. No doubt she would’ve effectively, accidentally, and tragically, have killed herself on the harsh concrete. For a moment, she froze there on the stairwell, knuckles white and wrapped around the handrail, mind empty of anything but shock.

No one had been around to see it, but Jiwoo’s cheeks still set aflame from embarrassment. She scampered away from the scene while maintaining a death grip on the handrail, determined to leave the parking garage with her life. Who even tripped up a flight of stairs? She thought grumpily to herself, What kind of ery was the universe throwing her this morning?

As she joined the straggle of students making their way up to campus past the football stadium, Jiwoo tried to make light of the day for her own sake. While power-walking towards campus, Jiwoo began making a mental list of things to boost her drooping mood. If there’s one thing Jiwoo hated, it was feeling down. Often, making these lists helped her stay somewhat peppy and upbeat when things weren’t going her way.

First on her list was that she was supposed to meet her two best friends, Chaewon and Hyejoo, for coffee after her second class that day. The three of them hadn’t been able to find the time to get together since the semester started a month or so ago, and had vowed to clear up their schedules to catch up again. She was anticipating seeing them again, as she knew the two of them had much to tell her.

Jiwoo wasn’t one to be snooping in other people’s business but she did accidentally catch the two girls sneaking a goodnight kiss at a sleepover in Yeojin’s dorm before the semester went into full swing. Not wanting to infringe on the couple before they were ready to tell her, Jiwoo had been biding her time in silence . She had a feeling that they needed to get the secret off of their chest and couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when she told them she’d known all along they’d been dating.

Smiling a little at the thought, Jiwoo looked over her shoulder before crossing the street. She followed the somewhat steep pathway that lead up to the heart of Blockberry University and glanced up at the towering structures around her. The further she went along the path, the harder it became for her to maintain her indifferent look as she struggled up with the rest of the students.

On a completely different mental list, she promised herself that she’d start heading to the gym more often. She didn’t want to keep wheezing over a walk up a slight incline like this. After a few more feet, the incline leveled out and Jiwoo found herself in the middle of the walking rush hour between classes. Students of all shapes and sizes crowded around her, striding with a purpose in each direction. Jiwoo headed up the cobbled pathway, towards where the Humanities building waited for her.

But back to the happy thoughts list, Jiwoo reminded herself. After the coffee date was over, she had the day off of work and planned to spend the rest of her free time holed up in her apartment with her roommates. Together with Heejin and Hyunjin, she planned to set up a home movie theater in the living room and spend the whole night mindlessly watching chick-flicks while gorging on bowls of buttered popcorn. Just thinking about a night without obligations was making her look more and more forward to going home that evening.

The college girl eventually became so immersed in her thoughts that she didn’t even see the man standing idly in front of her until she’d already knocked him over. “Oops!” Jiwoo cried out, practically ripping her earbuds out. “I’m sorry!” The man was stooped down on the ground, fumbling for whatever he’d dropped. That’s weird, Jiwoo thought, catching sight of the giant sign that lay face down on the cobblestone.

Did I just ruin his presentation or something? She thought to herself, frowning down at the posterboard. There is a pretty extensive business college here. Is that why he’s carrying that thing around? . “Are you alright?” Jiwoo tried again, timidly reaching a hand out towards the man’s shoulder. “Ma’am, I’m fine. However, are you aware that we’re under attack?” He said in a high pitched, nasally voice. It was a voice that would instantly rub you the wrong way, like the prick of a thorn on a bed