Crying Over Spilled Milk

My Awkward Romance


I wake up to the stern tone of my friend yelling up the stairs that I'm going to be late for class if I don't get up to leave soon. His voice echoing in my ears as I wipe the drool off my face and slump out of bed. I stretch for a moment as I catch a glimpse of the time and the horror finally sets in that I had overslept. I scramble, looking around the room for what to wear. I throw my hair up in a quick bun and put on my glasses as I rush to the entrance barely putting my book bag on my shoulder as I put on my shoes. At the end of the stairs I see Jin standing there with a plate in hand and a semi-annoyed look on his face.

“Your shoes are untied.” He says in a deadpan tone, not even looking at my feet.

Before I can stop myself, I trip over a loose shoe lace. I fall down the last remaining steps, making a sound similar to that of a broken squeaky toy. I tumble to the ground harshly, my world spinning for a moment.

“Hurry and tie your shoes I got your breakfast ready.” Jin says to me as I lay there on the floor.

I tie my shoes and scramble to my feet grabbing the slice of toast with a black sesame spread on top knocking the plate to the floor, breaking it.

“That's the third plate this week.” Jin sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I'm so sorry I'll pay you back!” I blurt as I am heading out the door.

“No you won't.” He mutters in an exasperated tone as the door shuts behind me.

I'm out the door rushing to the subway stuffing the toast into my mouth, barely chewing, as I do a half walk half run. I'm still getting use to not having my aunt around to do so much for me as I'm settling into my new life style of being a college student. I never knew that having so much freedom would come with so much responsibility. All those reality shows and dramas I watched have really skewed my outlook on adult life. What I thought would be fun and glamorous is all a complete lie. My diet consists of instant foods and what ever is on sale at the grocery store that week.

It's hard man.

I shake my head pulling myself out of my head as people start to file into the subway during the morning rush of getting to school and work. This is one thing I hate about morning classes.

Aside from waking up in the morning.

I tried to get most of my classes set for during mid day and evening but sometimes life is just like 'Hey, you.' So here I am. Early in the morning, no make up, barely brushed hair, no contacts, looking like a sick child during the Great Depression that isn't going to make it through the winter.

At least my glasses cover most of the discoloration under my eyes, right?

The weight of my sleep deprivation starts to really weigh down on me as I'm standing there holding onto the pole to keep me steady as the subway stops and goes. I feel myself sort of nodding off as my head droops down a bit before I snap back to reality.

I can't just fall asleep here it would be really embarrassing if I were to just fall over, or worse if I were to stumble into someone.

A pale masculine hand places itself next to mine while I am pushed forward with more and more people getting on the subway. The spicy scent of cologne tickles my nose the closer I get to this stranger's chest. His hand is close to mine and I feel a bubble of embarrassment rush over me. I try to avoid looking at his face but his style is so nice and he's tall as I look up at him. His lips plump and pink, his eyes long and sharp as he looks down at me, his chocolate colored hair resting on his face. I feel a blush spread across my face as he smiles catching my gaze.

I look away trying my hardest to avoid eye contact with him, but I can feel his gaze on me, my cheeks turning a shade darker. His style is so clean and nice and here I am with jeans on and a pizza stained shirt as I didn't have time to check what exactly I was wearing today. I sniff myself trying to see if I smell weird and all I smell is pizza and...dust. I sigh and I hear a small chuckle as I peer up at the man before me. He is looking to the side with a grin on his face. I shake my head and look down at my feet feeling like I am about to die in that very moment.

What was I thinking staying up so late last night? I had to study for the exam today but why couldn't I have been maybe a little more prepared? Maybe put out some actually clean clothes before going to bed. I just grabbed the first thing I could find.

Ahh!

I'm mentally cursing myself as I feel a small finger brushing across my thumb as the subway comes to a stop. My muscles tense up and I am caught off guard a bit as I shift forward. I feel a hand press against my shoulder before I catch myself. I look over to my right to see his hand on my shoulder. I look up at him again and he smiles to me nodding his head as he lets go of me. I feel my throat being tied in knots while I am mentally cursing myself for my fashion choices and lack of hygiene today. Come to think about it I don't think I even brushed my teeth this morning.

Oh god…

The train starts up again and people get on and off in their commutes. I inch closer to the pole and look at my hand next to his. His pinky rests over my thumb and this small amount of contact strikes so much anxiety in me.

As if I wasn't already anxious enough!

Okay, breathe…breathe…you got this.

I give myself all the pep talk I can before my stop comes up and I have to peel my hand away from the close proximity of his and I can feel my heart racing while I awkwardly look at him and he catches my gaze once more.

“You look familiar.” He says to me.

I look at him with a questionable look.

“Have we met somewhere?” He asks.

I look at him up and down and I am about to open my mouth then I remember…

I didn't brush my teeth this morning.

Way to go...way to go!

I shake my head in response as I bite my lip looking at him.

“I could have sworn I've seen you around before.” He says.

I gulp silently just as my stop comes up and I awkwardly smile at him while the doors open. I can't make a quick exit but I can at least make an exit.

I should at least respond to him right? If only we had a little more space between us then maybe, just maybe I could say something short without letting out my horrid morning breath.

I get off the subway and I let out a sigh as I feel like I can breathe again for a moment. I look to my left and I see him standing right next to me. I smile to him awkwardly feeling my body stiffen us as I feel like I cannot move.

“Uh...” He looks at me awkwardly.

“Yes?” I say through my teeth.

A sad desperate attempt at hiding my morning breath.

“You have something in your teeth.” He says pointing.

I had a black sesame spread on my toast this morning and I feel all the color drain from my face as I feel like I'm turning to stone.

Jin why did you have to put black sesame on my toast this morning?! Of all the spreads you could have chosen. You chose black sesame!

“I have to go!” I say quickly as I run away realizing that I am running late.

I run and not once look back, I am too embarrassed to even show my face in that public area anymore. The one time I meet an attractive guy on the subway I look like a dying animal and even worse my breath probably smells like it too. To top it all off I have black sesame in my teeth.

This day is turning out to be just great now isn't it?

I shake my head as I rush to class and just barely make it in time. I want to say I am going to crush this exam but I just can't get the horrific events of the morning out of my head.

I got this, just focus. Focus on the exam, I need to get good grades.

I've already done it before but I am doing it again with the pep talks so I can get myself through the exam. The hour is over faster than it started and I hand in my exam feeling pretty good about myself, actually.

If there is anything I'm good at, it's academics...sort of.

I may have slept in but before I realize, it's lunch time and I can feel my stomach growling as I head to the cafeteria.

Finally my favorite time of day, as fat as that sounds, lunch time.

I love food and it loves me...maybe a little more than I thought.

I enter the cafeteria with my friends and we sit down with our food. I look out at the people around the room and I spot a familiar face. It's the guy from the subway. I nearly choke on my drink as I set it down and one of my friends asks me what is wrong. I shake my head while I pat my chest catching my breath as I look out into the cafeteria at the man from the subway. He is casually talking with what I can only assume is his group of friends. He's interesting to look at.

If you know what I mean. Ehh.

I shake my head and turn my attention back to the conversation before me as my friends talk about their classes and plans for the upcoming weekend.

“How was your exam?” Haewon asks.

“I want to say that I crushed it because I studied all last night but I was so tired during class.” I sigh.

“I was gonna ask you about the weird stain on your shirt.” She chuckles.

“I just want this day to be over with.” I mutter.

“Really woke up on the wrong side of the bed didn't you?” She comments.

“You have no idea.” I sigh.

“Bad morning?” She says.

I nod and I rub my temples while trying not to relive the horror in my mind.

Let's just hope my day gets better after this. Lunch always cheers me up, because...well food. I love food.

They all continue to talk amongst themselves while I am going over my notes for my next class. I have a mid term exam and I am sort of freaking out about this one because it is a class I will fail if I don't get it together with this exam.

Maybe I should have stayed up studying these notes rather than the other ones...Ah! I'm so stupid! I was so caught up with my first exam today that I totally spaced the next one!

It's okay...it's okay, it's just an elective. No! I cannot fail any of my classes! That's not who I am!

I can just cram for the next two hours before class. If I start now I can get in an extra half an hour.

“I'm gonna go to the library to study for my next exam.” I say to my little group of friends.

They all give me words of encouragement while I stuff my books into my bag. I stick my little straw into my milk and I start walking sipping at it as I shuffle through my bag for my wallet.

Can't have my milk without snacks right? Brain food...right it's brain food. That's it.

I have to stop convincing myself to eat snacks, not only does it break my wallet but also, my diet.

I am drinking my milk as I get to the snack machine I bump into someone.

“Hey, I seen you earlier!” I hear their voice.

They sound familiar as I look up and see the guy from the subway and I choke on my milk and it comes out my nose onto his chest as I drop everything I was holding. He takes a step back looking down at his sweater brushing it off with a slightly disgusted look on his face. I'm standing there coughing so hard you might think that my lung is about to come out.

I try to voice my apology but I am still coughing too hard to make anything I say comprehensible. I hear his tongue click as he is patting himself down with a napkin before he starts wiping off his shoe.

“I'm sorry! Let me help you with that.” I say finally catching my breath just enough.

I grab some napkins and start dabbing his shoe and all my notes spill out of my bag into the small puddle of milk on the floor.

Just kill me now. What have I done in my life to deserve such horrible karma all in one day?

I scramble to pick up my papers and dab them off before the words start to bleed. I'm cursing to myself as I am shaking off a page flicking milk everywhere.

Ah, what is more important here? My grades or my dignity? They both seem to be going down in flames right now...Er well, milk.

I decided that I have nothing left to lose and try to salvage my notes the best I can from the milk. The pink substance has already made my most recent pages bleed and I cannot read them anymore. I sigh and hang my head in defeat and I let it sink in, milk and all, that I am going to bomb this test.

Why...just why? Is it because I kicked an ice cube under the fridge the other day? Or is it the fact that I ate Jin's pizza and lied about it last week? Is this my punishment?

“What class was this for?” I hear subway guy's voice.

“Professor Seong's class.” I mutter looking at the milky remains of my notes as I wipe up the mess I made.

“I have his class later today, I can let you use my notes.” He says pulling a book from his bag.

“No. It's fine. I think I'll just ask him what extra credit I can do to salvage my grade after I fail the midterm.” I say not once looking at subway guy.

I don't think I would be able to make words come out of my mouth regularly around someone as attractive as him but I did just get my notes destroyed because of complete disregard for hand eye coordination while being graced with such a beautiful face. Wait what?

“It's the most I can do, I made you spill your milk all over your notes.” He says nudging me with his book.

I just stare at the floor feeling my heart beat in my cheeks as they are probably as pink as the strawberry milk on the floor by now. I shake my head and I continue to wipe up the milk. I hear a small sigh and I see his white, now stained lightly pink sneaker walk away.

Oh god...I even stained his shoe! He is so...prim and stylish he must be so upset about the stain on his shoe. Should I get him a new pair of shoes? Wait...Isn't there a superstition about shoes? If I do that then I won't be able to afford my snacks and no one gets between my snacks and I.

I let out a relaxed sigh as I sit down in the library.

Finally somewhere quiet and away from my strawberry milk shame.

I bring out my books to see what I can study up on from the remains of my notes and an unfamiliar book falls out. It's labeled with Professor Seong's name and I open the first page to see a name written in the middle of the page.

 

Park Jimin.

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Minsugayoongii
#1
Chapter 1: This so relatable..college life and don't even get me started on exams..waking up in mornings are a story of its own..I've never really met a good looking guy in college and when I rarely do,they are either taken or I embarrass the out of myself..
RunsFromSalad #2
Chapter 2: Oh my God I can relate to her so much. College midterms are the worst. Well. Aside from finals. Oh, no. Finals.
JIMJAMZZ #3
I like this story a lot. It's way more realistic than the ones I've read before, not to mention the fact that I relate to the main character on a spiritual level lol I will await your next update. ?
Rainy_eyezz
#4
Chapter 1: Oh dear..the girl so gross...not brushing her teeth..eewwww....authornim make her more descent n feminine a little bit...