~ Seven Years Ago ~

I smiled when I saw the caller ID on my ringing phone just as I was already parking my car. I answered the call and turned it on loudspeaker before I maneuvered my vehicle in between the yellow lines of the mall parking area.

“I’m at the parking area already,” I said over the phone.

“You’re late” I heard Irene’s voice over the phone even though it was Chorong’s name on the caller ID.

“I told you already. My class ends at 6pm. I can’t just magically appear there if I’m still in my class. Hang up now” I said as I was reversing my car, aiming perfectly in between the yellow lanes.

“Walk fast,” Chorong said before they ended the call.

It has been six years since we’ve seen each other. Irene, Chorong and I are college friends who were separated due to our employment circumstances. Chorong was immediately hired to work overseas while Irene and I remained in our home country. Right after graduation, I immediately pursued my graduate studies and was able to get both my masters and doctoral degree in the span of three years. After attending graduate school, I got really busy traveling around the country and overseas for work so it was also hard for me and Irene to meet up. When Chorong told us that she will be visiting the country again, meeting over dinner to catch up with each other became an automatic agenda.

I grabbed my purse, keys and phone right after I parked the car. I placed my keys and phone inside my purse just as I got inside the mall. The entrance from the parking area and the restaurant that we were supposed to meet was a little bit far and a floor above, so I have to quicken my steps in order to get there as fast as I can.

“Excuse me.” A man suddenly called my attention when I reached the floor of the restaurant.

I looked at him and mentally scanned all the people I’ve met but can’t remember; from project collaborations, to mere acquaintances, and even conferences, but I came up empty.

He reached out a hand to shake while I just narrowed my eyes at him, still trying to place his face if I knew him somewhere. “I’m Sungho,” he said, introducing himself.

If I know a Sungho in my life, I’m pretty sure it was never him.

I reluctantly took his hand and shook it. “Do I happen to know you?”

He smiled at me and shook his head. “No, but I was hoping we could get to know each other”

No way.

I politely smiled at him and shook my head. “I don’t think so. Have a good night” I said as I retrieved my hand from his hold and started to walk to the restaurant.

He immediately walked beside me while he smirked at me and said, “Well, we can just skip the part where we get to know each other and just go straight to bed if that’s what you want”

I dropped trying to be polite and glared at him while I continued to walk. “Get your face out of my ing sight or I’ll call the guards on you for disrespecting me”

He raised both his hands and muttered, “Fine. Your loss.” Then he walked away from me like I was the nuissance disturbing him when it was the other way around.

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

s.

I’m wearing a white double button long-sleeve slim suit dress that reaches right above my knees and black pumps while my long dark hair flows down past my shoulders. If I look at myself right now, I could easily tell that I look professional. Without bias, I think people around me would totally say that I do look professional. Except for that . I walk and look professional. I’m not even wearing something revealing for him to tell that I'm the kind of person who'd do one night stands.

I’ve been in this situation before. Men and women asking me out, assuming that I’m a e or the kind of person who’s up for one night stands. This is the very reason why I’ve chosen to invest myself in my well-being and career. I lost trust in people who seemed interested in me, especially those who are so confident. They are only interested to get me to bed but not to get to know me as a person, enough to potentially be in a relationship with me.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the restaurant and went directly in. A waiter behind the reception desk asked for reservation details and directed me inside when I mentioned Chorong’s name.

“Kim Yongsun, what took you so long?” Chorong asked, smiling at me as she stood up to greet me with a hug.

“I’m really sorry. It’s so good to finally see you again, Rongie” I said, smiling at her as I returned the hug.

I moved around the table and hugged a pouting Irene. “Stop being grumpy. You know I’m always on time, if not for my class” I said as softly laughed at her.

“I’m not” she said, laughing with me as she hugged me back.

When I pulled back from the hug, I directed my gaze on the people they were with and shook their hands. “Seulgi, Bomi. Hi!” I said to them then looked at my college friends, narrowing my eyes at them. “I wasn’t aware of a plus one”

"Well, we're fully aware that you don't have a plus one" Irene said while we took our seats. 

"What if I do have a plus one?" I said, raising my eyebrows at them.

"Do you?" Chorong asked, teasingly smirking at me. 

I sighed and rolled my eyes at them. 

"Exactly" Irene said before the whole table erupted with laughter. I just smiled and shook my head at them.

All of us talked and caught up with each other as we waited for our food. My friends' girlfriends had become my friends too after meeting them a couple of times. They're fun, easy to talk to, and would make sure that I wouldn't feel left out, being the only person who’s not in a relationship among the five of us.

It was somewhere in the middle of dinner when the topic of my status was brought up again. 

"Yong, you're beautiful…" Irene started. 

"And smart," Chorong added. 

"But somewhat intimidating," Seulgi said. 

"And slightly dismissive," Bomi added.

"Why are you teaming up against me?" I said as I released a sigh.

“Wait, let me just add this one” Chorong said, chuckling. “Let’s not forget Miss VP for R&D” Chorong added while I just beamed at her, feeling a little bit proud of myself.

"With all the great qualities we know you have, how come there is not a single human being out there who's interested in you?" Irene asked as she leaned on the table to look at me. 

"Oh, there are. Men and women. But I never reciprocated" I said, leaning back on the chair as I crossed my legs under the table.

"Why?" Irene asked, eyebrows dipping down from confusion. 

"I don't think I could be interested in them when all they wanted is to get under my pants. You know I don't just want a one night stand" I said, shaking my head at them. 

"All of them?" Chorong asked in disbelief. 

"All of those who approached me" I said, nodding my head at her. "Even earlier, someone walked to me with a stupid pick up line"

"No way" Bomi said, shaking her head at me.

"Maybe it was just what you assumed" Irene said, pointing a finger at me.

"I tried to go out with some of them, okay? By the third person, I stopped trying when it’s obvious that they only wanted me in their beds. One didn't even bother to take me out to dinner and just straight away brought me to some hotel. Fortunately, I never encountered someone who’s very persistent. They were confident and sometimes disrespectful, but at least they never forced me. Ever since I started declining, they would go straight to the point and just simply asked to have with them" I explained, drinking my wine when I finished talking.

"So what now?" Irene asked, propping her chin on her palm. 

"What?" I asked, clarifying her question. 

"Do you have plans on even trying at this point?" 

I shook my head and chuckled. "I don't think so"

"What if the right person hasn't come yet?" Seulgi asked.

"Then that person better come fast. I'm not getting any younger" I said, earning a laugh from everyone. 

We continued talking, dropping the topic of my love life, when our desserts arrived. I fed myself some ice cream while I smiled and nodded at them, engaging in conversations with them. Even if they would naturally involve me in their conversations, I can’t help but feel left out. They looked so happy having their significant other with them.

I am happy too, despite not being in a relationship.

But moments like this makes me wish and think how it feels like to be in one. Makes my strong independent woman anthem falter, for a little bit. Makes me wonder how it would feel like to fall in love, to be in love and to be loved. To trust someone enough to emotionally invest myself in a possible relationship with them.

It’s not that I don’t welcome the thought of being in a relationship, I just simply never thought of it. I’m not against it either. I just simply don’t let my mind wander on matters like this.

I shook my head just as I finished my ice cream and cleared my mind from these thoughts. With that single motion, I’m back again to my resolve as a strong independent woman.

A woman with tan skin and long dark hair with highlights dragging a muttering woman with pearly white skin and long dark brown hair caught my attention just as I was drinking my water. My sudden silence eventually caught the attention of m