Paris, France

23-12-2016

18:07pm

“ing hell.” Minkyung slipped a few curses out of her chapped lips as soon as she closed the front door of her apartment. She had returned to her so-called home of a 15-square-metre apartment after a long day of attending school, frying donuts, and burning her hands having to wash all the dishes with hot water because the dishwasher at her workplace broke weeks ago. Her boss, a cheap old white middle-aged man, thought that Minkyung was a much more efficient replacement for the said machine, so he didn’t even consider to spend any cents on fixing it at all. She hated it. Working there, at that donut place right at the corner of the street where she lived. However, despite getting shouted at by that scrumbag and customers who thought that they are kings of the world on a daily basis, her payment was actually pretty good, at least enough for her to pay rents and other necessities. And it was just a short walk from where she lived. So yeah, she tried to endure it all.

Taking off her worn-out black Converse, she then quickly ran to where her bed situated and plopped on it, not giving a about her sweaty and full-of-frying-oil-smell work shirt. Today had been such an exhausted day for her, and all she needed right there was a just peaceful nap to recharge herself.

Unfortunately, God didn’t seem to hear her prayers on that particular day. Right at the moment when she was drifting off to sleep, Chen’s voice singing, “I can’t believe” scared the out of the poor girl. Of course she loved Chen’s angelic voice, and EXO as a whole. In fact, she herself had been an EXO-L ever since their debut, and ‘Tempo’ was her current jam, but she was getting so angry at them for ruining her sleep. She wanted to kill whoever called her, seriously.

Coming as no surprise, it was Kyungwon on the other end of the phone line.

“What do you want?” Minkyung asked with a grumpy attitude towards her best friend since elementary days.

“Heyyyyy!! Minky ah, it’s Christmas tomorrow!! Are you busy??”

“Uhhh not really. Just work. Then go home. Eat. And sleep. I’m not a Christian so Christmas is not something I get overly excited about much. You know that tho.”

“Oh c’mon. This is our first time celebrating it. IN PARIS!!! So get your fat out of that depressing apartment and have some fun Minkyung ah. Just walking around, getting drunk and all.”

“Alright fine then. Where are we going tomorrow? Give me a detailed plan.” She finally gave in after a few seconds of considering Kyungwon’s offer. Sensing the excitement coming out from her bestfriend's voice, she didn't really want to ruin that good mood of hers.

“Oh no, I’m not going anywhere with you Minky ah. I’ve got plans with Eunwoo already.”

“What the hell Kang Kyungwon? What’s the point of asking me to go out in the first place? I’m not gonna wander around looking at happy couples alone on Christmas while feeling miserable for myself tho. Nuh uh.”

“Who says you’re gonna be alone? You can hang out with my cousin tho. Yay!”

“Cousin who?”

“Duhh who else have I been abandoning you to hang out with lately? She came to Paris because she’s having a winter break and she wanted to hang out with the greatest and funniest person in  the world whose name is Kang Kyungwon, and she’s been here for almost 2 weeks now. I thought I’ve told you that Yaebinie will stay until 25^th?”

“Oh right. I kinda forgot about it. Yaebin? Was she that shy little girl we used to play with? But I didn’t get to meet her again since she was like, I don’t know, 5 or 6 years old? She was so cute but now I don’t know anything about her at all. I hate awkwardness Kyungwon ah. What if there’s nothing for us to talk about?”

“Oh well, other people say that she’s still the sweet and kind little girl just like who she was before. For me she’s a pain in the tho. Annoying as hell. But I think you guys will get along just fine. Cause you’re annoying as hell too Minkyung ah. And plus, she’s sort of an artistic and dreamy person like you, so maybe you guys can talk about those aesthetic stuffs or whatever. Pretty pleaseee??? Can you just go out with her for one night? I can’t drag her along to my date. I’d be awkward for the three of us.” Kyungwon was practically begged Minkyung right now.

“So basically you want me to babysit your cousin while you finally find the courage to kiss Eunwoo under the mistletoe?”

“Heyyy, I am one brave independent Korean woman…. But yeah….. So, can you?”

“And what am I gonna get in return? Nothing in life is free miss Kang Kyungwon.”

“Fine, I’ll buy you that pair of Jordan for Christmas. Cool?”

“Cool.”

* * *

19:04 pm

“Yaebin ahhhh!!! KANG YAEBIN!!” Kyungwon shouted from her bedroom.

“I’m literally just sitting out here. No need to scream unnie.” Yaebin lazily rolled her eyes. She was lying on Kyungwon’s sofa in the living room while watching some crappy cheesy rom-com movie that was showing. They were basically just one thin wall away from each other.

“I’ve found you a perfect date for tomorrow night! Are you excited? Cause I am! Haha.”

“How many times have I told you that it’s okay to just leave me alone? I will be perfectly fine all by myself, watching TV and reading some books. You can just go ahead and hang out with your girlfriend tomorrow, alright? Stop trying to set me up with any stupid dude like back when I was in grade 9.” Yaebin still got goosebumps whenever she thought about that horrible middle school prom night, when she almost gave her first kiss away to that Jeon guy, whose mouth smelled like he had just had some dead rats for dinner. Disgusting. Her bestfriend, Kyulkyung, almost had to call an ambulance when she saw that Yaebin had fainted right at the moment her date opened his mouth, ready to kiss her.

“Oh no, this time it won’t be any guys. It’s Minkyung! You still remember her right? The one with a big forehead which she always has it covered with bangs.”

“Minkyung? The Kim Minkyung that I once met at your tea party back then? You guys still talk to each other?” Yaebin almost got choked by a piece of popcorn upon hearing that name coming out of her cousin's mouth.

“Yeah duhh. We’re besties for life! Anyways, I’ve asked her already and she said yes. So don’t disappoint her and decide to stay home alone okay? It wouldn't do any harm to either of you to just spend a night out together anyways.”

“Okay okay, I’ll go out with her. Jeez.”

To be honest, how can she ever say no to such a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity like this? Kang Yaebin had always had a huge crush on this Kim Minkyung girl. They have met each other exactly three times. Minkyung might have not remembered, but there was no way Yaebin could have forgotten any second she locked her eyes on that particular Greek goddess. They never failed to capture her whole attention, or her soul in general. Kang Yaebin was never a believer, well, at least that was who she was before she met Kim Minkyung. And ever since then, Kim Minkyung was the only religion she followed unconditionally.