“Trust us Sooyoung, we know you will like this girl!” Nayeon and Yerim giggle as they show off the Instagram page of a new girl that joined their university recently. The new girl was pretty shy but friendly. Nayeon and Yerim approached her in their lecture and there was an instant click. There was something both of them agreed though: this girl is perfect for Sooyoung.

As much as Sooyoung did not want to admit it, she was definitely looking for a girlfriend. Not the desperate kind of search, but definitely seeing potential whenever a pretty girl talked to her. Hell, the girl didn’t even have to be pretty, any decent girl would do.

Yerim and Nayeon have been helping Sooyoung to find the perfect girl for her. After several failures of girls they set Sooyoung up with, they feel like the new girl will be a great match for her. The new girl seems like a person Sooyoung could fall for; she’s good looking, has perfect hygiene, loves dogs, has the same sense of humor as the three of them and is shorter than her.

“I mean… she’s pretty, but I don’t even know if she likes girls..” Sooyoung pouts. She scrolls through the pictures of the girl and is amused at the fact she pouts a lot in her selfies. It’s something Sooyoung always finds cute.

“But we do!” Yerim speaks up. “We asked her about her past relationships and without hesitation she told us that she dated a girl but that it did not work out. We were kind of surprised because people tend to hide the fact that they like girls when meeting someone. Sana didn’t and that’s cool, don’t you think so?” Yerim looks at Nayeon who’s nodding her head and both look at Sooyoung now, waiting for a response. “Oh yeah we forgot to tell you, her name is Sana. Her last name is Minatozaki”

“Yeah she sounds pretty cool. Her name is cool as well, but is she from here? Her last name makes it sound like she is not” Sooyoung looks at Nayeon with a questionable look.

“Oh yeah… about that” Nayeon looks at Yerim with a grin and continues. “Sana is from Japan. She came here on her own to follow a course she could only follow here. Sana doesn’t speak the language well so when you talk to her on your date you need to talk really slow and articulate everything you say. She speaks the language a bit, so if you talk like that you guys can actually have a proper conversation”

Sooyoung jumps from the chair. “DATE? You guys set me up on a date with her? I thought we were just going to say hi to her one time or something. God, when is this date happening? Does she even know who I am? Why are you guys like this,oh god!”

Yerim and Nayeon both start laughing. This happens everytime whenever they set Sooyoung up on a date. But this time Sooyoung looks a bit more stressed and they wonder why.

Yerim chuckles. “Why are you so stressed Sooyoung? Are the nerves hitting you already?” Yerim starts laughing harder and Nayeon joins her.

“No! I’m fine, I’m okay. I am just nervous, but the good kind. When is the date?”

Nayeon purses her lips. “Yeah about that, since we were just so excited we told Sana you would meet her at 7:00 PM to have dinner with her”

Sooyoung looks at the clock and sees that it is 6 PM. “Seven!? That is in an hour! Alright, I am just going to have a quick shower. Where am I meeting her?”

Nayeon opens Sooyoung’s closet to see what she can wear to dinner. “I told her you would meet her at that Italian restaurant around the corner from the university. Wear this”  Nayeon throws a white shirt and a green bomberjack on the bed. “Wear those jeans you’re wearing right now. Oh, don’t forget! Don’t let Sana pay. You need to be a good date. We hyped you up a lot so you need to live up to the expectations”

Sooyoung rolls her eyes and runs to the shower to get ready for her date. Nayeon and Yerim wait in her room and talk about random stuff. They listen to their favorite songs on Sooyoung’s bed.

After Sooyoung is finished getting ready and has put on the outfit that Nayeon picked out for her. Yerim and Nayeon both show her a ‘thumbs up’ to assure that she looks great. Nayeon gets up to grab a bottle of perfume and sprays a ton on Sooyoung. She also grabs a tin of mints and hands it over to Sooyoung. “In case you need it tonight. Never bad to be prepared right?” 

 

Sooyoung walks towards  the restaurant, knowing she is five minutes late. She hopes Sana is not there yet, but when she walks around the corner she spots Sana looking on her phone.  “Crap, she’s already here” Sooyoung mumbles. Sana looks up and sees Sooyoung approaching her.

“I am so sorry for being late. Sana, right?” Sooyoung goes in for a quick hug. Sana nods her head and speaks softly. “No worries..”

Sooyoung forgot that Sana has some problems with the language and decided to follow Nayeon’s instructions to speak slow and articulate. Sooyoung opens the door for Sana and lets her go in first. Sana manages to mumble out a soft ‘thank you’ and they both wait for a table. Apparently Yerim and Nayeon made a reservation for them so they could be seated quickly.

“So.. what kind of food do you like? Your favorite food?” Sooyoung tries to articulate her sentence as best as she can. Sana smiles “Japanese”. Sooyoung looks around as she can feel this is going to be a long evening with her trying her best to communicate. “You?” Sana asks while she’s looking at the menu. “I like Japanese food too” God this is awkward

Sooyoung is no quitter though so she makes another effort to start a decent conversation. “What you study? You like your study?” Sooyoung looks at Sana. Sana on the other hand is confused why Sooyoung is talking like that but does not want to offend her.

“Yeah I like it, it’s alright. Not to be offensive  but are you also from abroad? Nayeon and Yerim did not mention that to me. Jeez, it has been so lonely for me all this time! I am glad that I got introduced to another foreigner!” Sana’s eyes light up at the thought of Sooyoung also coming from abroad.

Sooyoung’s face turns red. She can’t believe Nayeon and Yerim fooled her like that. Well actually she can, they do it all the time.

“I am so sorry Sana I thought you didn’t speak the language. I am so sorry for talking like that!” Sooyoung puts her hands on her face, showing that she is embarrassed.

“Just because I am a foreigner does not mean I am bad at speaking the language. But it is okay, I am used to it” Sana shrugs.

Sooyoung panics  “No, no! I did not think that I swear! Nayeon and Yerim fooled me and told me you did not speak the language. I just wanted to make it easier for us to communicate, I promise!”

Sana laughs “I am messing with you. You are sweet though. I’m just a little shy, so people assume  I don’t speak the language. Anyways, let’s pick something to eat. I am starving” Sana makes a sad face.

Sooyoung exhales out of relief. She scratches the back of her head  “Thank god! I was worried I messed this date up already. It’s only been five minutes. It would have been my personal record!”

They both order food and talk about all kinds of things. Sana talks about her life in Japan and how she left everything and everyone behind. She likes the university though and has no regrets.

Sooyoung starts talking about her dating life and how her best friends Yerim and Nayeon try to help her. She goes on and on and tells Sana all kinds of stories. Stories from them getting drunk, how one time Yerim got into a fist fight and how Nayeon once spit in the teacher’s coffee before handing it to him, asking how it tastes. The teacher answered it was good, but tasted a little ‘salty’.

Once they finished eating dinner, Sooyoung offered Sana to buy her some ice cream. They get the ice cream and since it is a nice evening Sooyoung insists on walking Sana home.

“I loved your stories. Can I hear some more anytime soon?” Sana eats a bit of her ice cream. Sooyoung smiles “You can hear every story I know”. They walk towards Sana’s dorm which isn’t that far from the ice cream place.

“I think we should come up with a plan for our next date. Hear me out” Sana looks at Sooyoung struggling to not spill more  ice cream on her shirt. “Sure, tell me” Sooyoung says while wiping some ice cream off her shirt.

They approach Sana’s dorm.

“We should get Yeri and Nayeon back for pranking you” Sana looks at Sooyoung who’s smiling. “Oh, don’t make me fall in love with you, Minatozaki”

“I can’t promise you that. What I can do though is fix those stains on your shirt. Do you want to come inside?” Sana’s eyes are laid on Sooyoung’s shirt which is covered with ice cream stains.

“I would love to”