The most annoying sound in the world pulled Jinny back into consciousness, she was quick to smash the snooze button to get at least five more minutes of sleep. She had set the alarm at four in the morning the night before. Today was the day she would fly to Rome for a University excursion. The familiar sound of her mother’s footsteps could be heard timidly walking towards her room, followed by a soft knock before allowing herself in.

“Jinny, wake up. You have a plane to catch.” Eun-Gyeong, her mother, ordered her with a raspy voice as she too had just woken up. Just like any mother would do, she flicked the light switch on causing Jinny to groan in annoyance.

“Ugh five more minutes.” The girl pulled her pillow over her head to block the brightness of the room.

Eun-Gyeong had already stepped out but quickly darted back into Jinny’s room to force her to get up, “I know you well enough that you’re going to get up in thirty minutes, now stop stalling and get dressed.” Eun-Gyeong pulled Jinny’s blanket along with her pillow allowing no chance for her daughter to disobey.

“Ughh… Why did I sign up for this excursion?” Jinny mumbled, getting out of her bed in sloth speed while her mother disappeared to the kitchen to prepare her some breakfast.

The girl had already packed her bags the night before, the only thing she needed to put into her suitcase was her make-up. She took the neatly hanged outfit from her closet and changed out of her pajamas. She wore a simple white spaghetti strapped crop top matched with a high waisted denim jean and a black belt, as for shoes, she decided she would wear her black converse for later. She kept her make-up light and natural, Jinny didn’t need to cover much blemishes as she only had a one or two.

Upon completing her make-up, she put her hair up into a messy bun as she exits her room towards the kitchen where her mother prepared the little table with side dishes, fried eggs, sea weed and some ox bone soup, a typical Korean breakfast by her Korean mother. Jinny sat down just as Eun-Gyeong sets her bowl of rice down in front of her.

“Is Dad still asleep?” She asked her mother who was now washing her hands.

“Yeah, I’ll just wake him up when Yongjin arrives.” Her mother answered.

Yongjin is Jinny’s childhood friend and both under the medical field but with different majors. The excursion wasn’t limited to only the medical cohort, meaning that there would be plenty of students from different degrees. Eun-Gyeong chuckled as she sat down and watched her daughter eat so well, if there was one thing that’s a permanent trait of Jinny, it would be eating like her life depended on it.

“What?” Jinny mumbled with full of food to one side, attempting to grab another piece of the fried egg.

“Nothing- I just like watching you eat.” The small smile on Eun-Gyeong’s face grew wider while Jinny continued chowing down. Meanwhile, the doorbell rang and assuming it was Yongjin, Eun-Gyeong got up towards the front door and long and behold, her assumptions were right, “Yongjin, come in. Did you eat breakfast yet?”

Yongjin bowed slightly upon being greeted by his best friend’s mother, “Yes I did but if you did make something, you know I won’t pass- but I wouldn’t be surprised if Jinny ate everything already.” The male chuckled as he removed his shoes and placing it by the shoe rack.

“I heard that!” Jinny voiced out after swallowing the next batch of food she had in .

“You were meant to.” Yongjin smirked lightly as he sat opposite of Jinny after being led by Eungyeong to the kitchen where she prepared a bowl of rice for Yongjinin as well, “Thank you Mrs. Beamon.” He thanked Eungyeong before she left him alone with her daughter.

“Are you excited?” Jinny’s eyes lit up at the thought of going to Rome now that she was more awake and energized. Mainly looking forward to trying out some authentic Italian food. She sets her chopsticks aside to take a bit of a sip of the warm soup slightly above her rice bowl.

“Yeah, can’t wait to go sight-seeing, though I’m not excited about my angry girlfriend when we get back.” Yongjin admitted. Yongjin had a girlfriend named Hyeri, whom Jinny did not get along with from the start, it was a clash of personalities topped up with the girl not liking Jinny around Yongjin.

Jinny snorted at her friend’s statement, ‘Of course she would be mad, the girl’s possessive af.’ She thought to herself. Jinny clearly knows why Hyeri didn’t like her though- Jinny has had a long-term crush on Yongjin but kept it to herself as she didn’t want to ruin the friendship they had.

“You two ready to hit the road?” Richard, Jinny’s father came out the master room ready to drive them to the airport.

“Hit the road with what, Richard?” Yongjin pulled a joke in English, gaining a chuckle from the man and a look of disapproval from Jinny.

 

---

 

“Wake up sleepy head.” Richard sets Jinny’s suitcase on the concrete floor of the parking lot. While getting out of the car, Jinny rubbed her eyes after waking up for the second time. They arrived at Incheon International where they will meet their teachers up at level one. Richard passed Jinny’s cardigan to her before she forgets, “It’ll be cold in the plane so make sure to keep warm.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she stays warm.” Yongjin jokingly answered for the half-asleep Jinny and earned a punched in the arm from the girl, “Ow!”

“This is why your girlfriend hates me.” Jinny took the cardigan and her backpack from her Dad who was playfully rolling his eyes at both of them.

“Take care of each other over there. Yongjin, I’m trusting you not to let her eat all the food in Italy.” Richard advised causing Jinny to drop open in disbelief that both men were teasing her.

“Oh wow, thanks Dad.” Jinny scoffed.

“I’m only kidding sweetheart, enjoy your time there and give us a call when you arrive at your hotel, I love you.” Richard pulled her daughter into a hug, giving her a small kiss on the head before letting her go, “Alright children, go forth before I cry.”

Jinny snickered at her father’s silliness while shaking her head, “I love you too Dad, tell Theo to leave my study snacks alone or I’ll kill him!” She waved at her father with a grin while walking to wards the escalators leading upstairs.

“I’ll just buy you new ones because I can’t guarantee that!” Richard shouted before his daughter was out of sight.

Jinny sighed as they disappeared up one level, she noticed a pair of eyes looking at her with a smile, “Gee, Yongjin- I know I’m pretty but no need to inflate my ego like that.” She started to banter with the male.

“I was actually just having a staring competition with the zit on your forehead.” Yongjin pointed and Jinny was quick to feel if she had any, which was false, Yongjin laughed, “I was kidding- but in all seriousness, I was just admiring your relationship with your family.”

“Ugh you’re the worst—N’aw Yongjin, you know you’re part of the family too.” She faked a smile, almost bitter that she was friend zoning him, herself. A genuine smile curved on Yongjin’s lips as he nods before shifting his attention to getting off the flat escalator and searching for their group.

Jinny looked for the gate on the big screens while matching their flight number, “Hey. Over there.” Yongjin tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at one of the professors holding a large sign saying, ‘Korea University Students bound for Italy, MEET HERE.’

“Oh. Right, let’s go.” She smiled sheepishly as she tailed her friend towards the group. There were a couple of familiar faces and some she saw for the first time. Yongjin was greeted by his fellow medical students through a signature handshake, “That’s such an elementary school thing.” Jinny mumbled under her chuckle loud enough for Yongjin to hear.

“Like your height?” Yongjin raised his raised his brows teasingly, “I’m kidding! Don’t hate me. Come back!”

With hung open from Yongjin’s roasts, Jinny turned around to walk away, “Chill, I’m going to look for Nari, have fun with your squad for the meantime.” She stuck her tongue out, pulling her suitcase with her. She pulled her phone out to check up on her college friend and Italy roommate, Nari.

Jinny: Hey, I’m already at the airport, where are you? (05:14 am)

Nari: Hey!! I’m almost there, just got caught by traffic! (05:17 am)

Nari: OMG I’M SO EXCITED! I brought all my best outfits jsjs (05:18 am)

Jinny: SAME. I mean we got to look good for Instagram :P (05:18 am)

Nari: Yaaas. Btw how many people are there already? Did you come with Yongjin? ;) (05:30 am)

Jinny: there’s like 30 people? And yes, I disdn (05:31 am)

 

A stranger accidentally bumps onto Jinny, both of them apologizing at the same time. Jinny’s gaze followed the man as he walked away, rolling her eyes and mumbling under her breath, “Gee look where you’re going next time.”

“Boo!” Nari grabbed onto Jinny’s shoulders causing the latter to jump a little bit out of shock.

“Holy f- don’t do that!” Jinny clutches her heart as Nari casually laughs and gives her a hug.

“Sorry, you just look so cute when you’re startled.” Nari pulls back and drags the girl to take a seat on a nearby bench. Nari has been Jinny’s friend since freshman, they were lucky enough to be on the same class multiple times hence why they developed a very close friendship. Though Jinny had plenty of friends, it was only Nari and Yongjin whom she trusts very much. Jinny is that type of girl that likes to keep a small circle of friends, all because she had been betrayed severely from the past.

Nari stretched her arm forward with her phone on her hand with the intent to take a selfie with Jinny, “Jinny! Smile.” Nari smiled sweetly while Jinny leans her head closer towards her friend smiling sweetly as well, “Wow, girl. Why are you so pretty? The hell, Yongjin is f**king blind seriously.” Nari made a face as she puts a cute filter on the photo before posting it on her Instagram story with the caption: Can’t wait to go to Italy with this pretty girl <3

Jinny nudged for Nari to stop, “We’re just friends Nari and it’ll most likely stay that way.”

“Oh my gosh! Have you seen the way he looks at you? He’s probably just using Hyeri because one, she’s top of the class- not saying Yongjin is dumb- and two he’s trying to make you jealous.” Nari shrugged, noticing that Jinny glanced towards Yongjin’s direction. Yongjin noticed Jinny and gave her a small wave, “See what I mean, boi didn’t even notice me.”

“Don’t give me hope Nari.” Jinny threw her head back, pouting slightly while her friend sighed lightly beside her.

“Sorry but I am just stating facts, you don’t notice it but he does give you that look when you’re unaware.” She shrugs, “Okay- let’s just drop the subject cause it’s bumming you out.  How abou-” Nari got cut off by the professor calling out the student to huddle and call out the role.

“Here!” Jinny raised her hand to catch the professor’s attention after being called out.

 

After what seemed like forever, the rest of them were finally boarded into the plane. They were about to take on an eleven-hour flight and Jinny came prepared, she had her power bank fully charged, her Nintendo switch and music to keep her entertained, and also Nari who loves to talk. Jinny allowed Nari to have a seat first by the window, she wanted to sit by the aisle for easy access to the toilet. Yongjin sat nearby, less than a metre away in the middle seats by the aisle as well.

Jinny was just getting comfortable on her seat when Yongjin reached over to bother her. Jinny imitated his actions and reach out to give him a slight push on his arm. Nari took note of this and with a smirk decided to say something, “Gee guys, just date already, I feel like a third wheel now anyway.”

Yongjin chuckled at her remark, “Too bad I have a girlfriend huh?”

Jinny pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, “Yes you have a girlfriend Yongjin, now stop flirting with me, I bet Hyeri can smell it from her house.” Jinny sarcastically called him out in a joking way. Yongjin raising both his hands up in defeat before checking his phone.

 

---

 

The ride had no stop overs which wasn’t good for Jinny as she always gets a bad case of jetlag. She was restless through out the flight, bouncing back and forth from movies to games. Unlike her friends that slept like a baby throughout the entire flight to which she wondered how could they possibly do that? They were only awake when food was there. She was only able to get snooze when their plane was soon to land in the foreign country. The slight rattling and shaking of the cabin woke her up. Her eyes blood shot from not having some proper sleep, not to mention the uncomfortable seat and the person accidentally kicking her chair multiple times. She could feel the heaviness of her lids but forced them to stay open.

“You didn’t sleep well, did you?” Nari asked as she noticed at how lethargic her friend looked, “Here drink my iced coffee, just have a rest when we arrive at the hotel okay?” Nari placed the double expresso can in Jinny’s bag to drink for later. Jinny quietly thanked her friend before stifling a large yawn before getting up to take her belongings from the overhead locker.

“Here I got it.” Yongjin acted quickly before Jinny does and grabs her bag before helping out Nari as well, “Damn, you look… dead.”

“And you look the same, how the hell do you sleep so well?” With low energy, Jinny tries to wear her backpack over her shoulder.

“Here, I’ll take it.” Yongjin stole the bag from her, ending up carrying her bag along with his own.

In the background Nari was wiggling her brows at what she just witnessed while Jinny shakes her head at her, “What? I didn’t say anything?”

The line began to move forward as people began to get off the full packed plane. Nari slid out first so that Yongjin was directly behind Jinny. After the last step of taking their belongings from the carousel, the group headed towards the busses that was waiting for them. Yongjin carried all Jinny’s belongings even after she insisted of carrying her belongings herself, the boy taking it as a win.

Though she felt like she was about to pass out from fatigue, Jinny didn’t want to miss out on the view that the busses were going to drive pass. She and the other students took nonstop photos until they arrived at their hotel. The hotel was a restored villa, it gave nostalgic Italian vibes just by looking at it from the outside, Jinny bets it would look amazing at night time as well. Jinny and the rest of the group followed their professors into the building. The hotel looked even more stunning from the inside, there were plenty of paintings and antique furniture and the warm lighting inside made her feel like she was in another time.

“Alright gang, when I call out your names take your swipe cards and please do not lose them unless you want to pay 800 euros. The boys will be on level two and girls on level three.” She paused as she set up the list from her tablet, “Mina and Jieun, Minhyuk and Sungjae, Jinny and Nari, Munseok and Dongjin, Yongjin and Yugang-” Jinny and Nari got up to take their swipes before heading in their rooms.

“Alright, let’s go.” Jinny smiled at Nari as they run in excitement towards the elevator among with the other students, “I already love this place, I don’t know why.”

“I know it’s so nostalgic, it makes me feel like a daughter of a rich governor with plenty of suitors.” Nari chuckled at the thought, “Wow, it would’ve been nice having handsome Italian guys flock over you hey?”

“Is this the reason why you decided to come with me?” Jinny furrowed her brows pretending to sound offended.

“Oop- Nah, of course not.” Nari playfully winked at Jinny, earning a chuckle from the other girls in the elevator. The bell rang for level three than the girls stepped out of the lift.

“See you later girls, maybe we can all hang out after our rest!” Mina, the girl from downstairs bid them goodbyes before heading towards the opposite direction from Jinny and Nari.

“Sure! Would love that.” Nari waved at them along with Jinny before heading towards their bedrooms as well, “Jinny if you could do the honours please.” She playfully stepped aside, Jinny playing along with her by doing a courteous bow and swiping her card on the door and pulling it out. Jinny pushed the door open to be welcomed by such a sophisticated style bedroom with two double sized beds. The colosseum could be seen from the distance as their hotel was on top of a hill.

“Wow this is amazing-” Jinny stared at the view in awe and dropped her backpack somewhere on the floor, then she remembered that she was supposed to call her family back home, “Oh crap, I have to give mom and dad a ring.” Jinny tore her gaze away from the window and dig into her bag for her phone which was already asking for permission to use the hotel’s wifi. She entered the password that was on the swipe card and wasted no time to call her parents.

 

---

 

After the short wholesome call with her family, Jinny was able to get an adequite amount of snooze before the Professors call them downstairs to go out for dinner. She was woken up by her friend's soft voice telling her to get ready for dinner, "Okay give me one minute." Jinny mumbled sleepily as Nari went back to fixing her hair.

"Yongjin is waiting for us outside." Nari blurted out causing the latter to instantly shot up, she laughed at her friend's reaction, but she wasn't lying, he really was waiting outside. Jinny looked at Nari suspiciously, and got up to go outside to check, only to find Yongjin leaning against the wall on his phone, "I told you." Nari mumbled from behind her.

"Are you seriously going out like that?" Yongjin raised his brows surprised to see Jinny's haggard looks. She shut the door on his face as her face was starting to turn red from embarassment.

"I thought we were friends Nari," Jinny mumbled as she fixes herself on the other mirror. 

"Um excuse me? I literally told you but you didn't believe me." Nari scoffed trying to hold back a laugh as she notices the redness of her friend's face, "Don't be too emarassed Jinny, you didn't look that bad- you should definitely take advantage of this trip to see how he feels about you, y'know? Tell him you like him." 

"Easy for you to say but I would literally be putting our friendship on the line if I do that, plus... I think he already moved on from me after I rejected him in our freshman year." Jinny sighed heavily as she adds a spray of sweet perfume to add onto her style. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled satisfied with how she finally looked. 

Both girls grabbed their shoulder bags and headed outside to meet Yongjin in the hallway, "Finally. Let's go, I am starving!" Yongjin walked off first being followed by the two girls inside the elevator. 

"Wait for us!" The other girls shouted from the hallway, Jinny placed her arm out to prevent the door from closing until the other two enters the elevator safely. One of the two noticed Yongjin in the elevator to which she acted shy around him. The boy oblivious to what was in front of him as usual. 

"I talked to one of the Professors and they're taking us to this Piazza surrounded by restaurants then we can choose from there." Yongjin broke the silence and made eye contact with Jinny and Nari as he spoke.

"Oh really? I thought we were going to one place all together?" Jinny laughed sheepishly, the elevator doors opening as they continue to converse all the way out the hotel where the Professors were waiting.

"Dude, you think a restaurant can fit all sixty of us in their restaurant?" Yongjin furrowed his brows, "Wake up Jinny, did lack of sleep kill all of your brain cells?" 

"Oh shut up. It probably did to be honest. Don't you want to eat with your mates for dinner?" Jinny tilted her head at the question, she was surprised he didn't want to eat dinner with his friends.

"Nope. I want to take my mind of our loss at the soccer match with Japan and all they do is rant about it so no, I don't want to eat dinner with them." He nonchalantly shrugged, "If you don't want to hang out with me that's fine though, I can join them." 

"No! I mean, no it's fine I mean it's just me and Na-" Before Jinny could finish her sentence Nari cut her short.

"Actually, while you were sleeping, Mina and Jieun, y'know those girls over there- they asked if we wanted to look around together but since Yongjin wants to hang out with you I guess, I'll be joining them alone! Just me! See you back at the hotel Jinny." Nari walked away mouthing, 'Just tell him.' Before running towards the girls.

Jinny widened her eyes and shook her head in disagreement, leaving Yongjin confused, "Tell me what?" The male asked curious about what Nari meant while the professors finished counting the students, they head forth the Piazza which was a five minute walk south from the hotel.

"Nothing! That girl's just crazy- Anyway! Let's go! Thinking about authentic Italian food makes my mouth water." Jinny changed the subject and pulled Yongjin closer to the group. It was around eight in the evening and the sun was just about to set, it was summer in Italy afterall meaning more time to go have fun outside. The short walk to the Piazza was a bit awkward as both of them weren't speaking with each other. 

"Hey look at that book store over there, want me to take a photo of you?" Yongjin pointed at the aesthetically pleasing bookstore nearby the Piazza entrance. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket while Jinny turned head in the direction he was pointing at. 

"Hell yeah, make me look tall okay? Cause I got told once that I have the height of an elementary schooler." Jinny passive-aggresively stated with a light chuckle as she jogged towards the front of the book store. Yongjin smirked as she reminded him of the joke he said at the airport. Yongjin angled the camera down and bended his knees a bit to make Jinny look taller in the photo. As they both know the drill, Yongjin would press the shutter button continuously while Jinny casually change her poses. 

"Okay stop, we don't want three hundred of my vain in your albums." Jinny grinned and waved for Yongjin to stop taking photos.

"Um excuse me? do you mind if I take a photo of you guys? I'm just taking random photos of people for my portfolio." A rather handsome and tall male approached them in English, with a polaroid camera in hand. Yongjin noticed that his friend pushed a strand of hair behind her ear upon being approached by the guy. 

The two looked at each other and Yongjin nodded, "Sure, why not?" He replied in English and stood beside Jinny.

"Uh... can you maybe put an arm over her shoulder? Are you guys a couple?" The male asked as he changes his polaroid camera setting.

"NO! We're just friends, he has a girlfriend- we're just in a university excursion." Jinny snapped before Yongjin could even react. 

The stranger chuckled at Jinny's defensiveness and nodded ihis head in ackowledgement, "Alright, well just do a casual pose I guess." He shrugged with a smile and prepared to snap a photo of the two. Yongjin place his arm over Jinny, slightly pulling her closer, "Ready? One... Two... Three." He presses the shutter, the bright flash slightly blinding Jinny.

"Gee- I hope I didn't blink, I have a bad case of sleeping on photos." Jinny laughs sheepishly causing the stranger and Yongjin to stifle a laugh.

"We'll find out soon," The male chuckled as he lightly fanned the film, "It's your lucky day, you were wide awake- Hang on I'll print two more copies for you guys as a souvenir." He pulled a small digital polariod printer to print two more copies. 

Meanwhile, Nari's eyes wandered her surroundings in search of Yongjin and Jinny and saw that they were having their photo taken with some stranger. She smiled to herself to see the two spending their time so well, "If there was a Degree as a wing woman, I would've gotten the highest honors." She chuckled to herself before paying her attention back to what their Professors were saying.

"Alright, one for you and for you. Thanks so much for being cool guys, enjoy the rest of your evening." The stranger gave out one copy each for them before bidding his goodbyes. They both thanked him back before having a look at the photo. While being led by Yongjin towards the group, Jinny waited patiently for the photo to be properly developed. 

"Wow- You look so ugly beside me." She chuckled as the photo had finished developing, in truth though, she was admiring the fact that they kind of look good together but she erased that thought- she didn't want to be that girl. 

"Speak for yourself, I look fly." Yongjin took quick peek at the photos. 

"Let's meet here at the front of this fountain around 10.30 to 11 pm is that sufficient time for everyone?" Mr. Kim asked the group.

The students all agreed to come back at the given curfew before scattering off to different restaurants. The fountain was in the middle of the Piazza, Jinny only noticed it when the different coloured lights came on, complimenting the statues of it. She noticed the sign that had it’s name on it and a brief history of the fountain.

“Fontana d’Amore.” Yongjin read the sign Jinny was reading. The name of the fountain sounded familiar and then it all clicked- this was the fountain her grandmother was telling her about in her bedtime stories.

“It’s not pronounced Fontana d’Amore, it’s Fontana d’Amo-re, in English, The Fountain of Love. My grandma used to tell me stories about this fountain. What are the chances I’ll be seeing it with my own eyes?” Jinny stepped closer to see all the coins that laid at the bottom of the tiles.

“Fountain of Love, so cheesy.” Yongjin chuckled lightly before turning his back and looking around to see the different restaurant around them.

“I know, I wonder is people actually got their wishes granted? my grandma said that if you steal coins from the fountain the owner of the coins will fall in love with you.” Jinny shook her head still mesmerized at the coins that glistened beneath the water.

“And how do you undo that?” Yongjin lifted his brow, intrigued but he made it sound a bit sarcastic.

“I don’t know… my grandma didn’t really elaborate on that part.” Jinny shrugged, trying to remember if her grandmother said anything about it.

“Wow- What a legend- So where do you want to eat? You got plenty to choose from.” Yongjin changed the subject to divert Jinny’s attention away from the fountain. Jinny backed off and observed the area, she noticed a restaurant that had a fairly decent amount of people and pointed towards it, “There? Alright, you go first and save us a seat, I’ll just quickly give my Mom a call,” The boy lied.

“Oh okay, meet you there then.” Jinny smiled at him before approaching the server that greeted customers outside.

Meanwhile, Yongjin pretended to be on this phone and waved before approaching the fountain again with a quarter in his hand. He felt ridiculous wishing upon a statue but if he was honest with himself, he’s a pretty superstitious guy. His wish wasn’t light-hearted, he was pretty genuine about it- he opened his eyes and threw the quarter in and walked away.