Jae Hee’s POV (Genie High)

As I walked out of my school gate, I saw Krystal with Tae Joon, the high jumping ace from my school. Wow, it happened sooner than I had expected. This was what I was trying to say, if Eun Gyeol did not hurry up in confessing to Krystal, someone else would beat him to it. Although I was a new student, I was aware of Tae Joon’s popularity among girls. It won’t surprise me that our little clique would be seeing less of Krystal in the future. For some unknown reason, that thought saddened me a little.

“Sorry I am meeting someone, and I am running late. You can have the ticket back.” Those words coming from Krystal stopped me on my track. Curiosity got the better of me and I walked towards them to find out what was going on.

“Who are you meeting?” Tae Joon grabbed Krystal’s wrist and she reacted uncomfortably. Being popular with girls did not grant one the right to treat them roughly.

“Me!” I blurted out without thinking. Oops! What had I started?

Krystal stared at me, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Why would Krystal want to meet a sissy boy like you?” Tae Joon sneered, releasing Krystal’s wrist.

“Compared to a manly guy who doesn’t know how to treat a girl with basic respect, a sissy boy is the lesser of the two evils, I guess,” I shrugged.

I walked towards Krystal, removed the ticket from her hand, and slotted it into Tae Joon’s pocket. “Thanks for your kind gesture, but I have other plans for her,” I held Krystal’s hand gently and turned to her, “Sorry I was late.”

“Nope. You came just in time,” Krystal winked at me. Together we left, leaving Tae Joon behind, stunned and defeated.

When both of us were a safe distance from Tae Joon, I let go of Krystal’s hand. “Sorry if my actions have been inappropriate.”

“Compared to Tae Joon’s actions, I consider them the lesser of the two evils,” Krystal grinned.

“Haha. Nice one.”

“So, where are you going?”

“Er… somewhere call Goyangsi, Dukyangu, Goyangdong 421-1,” I read out the names from the memo in my mobile phone.

“Why would you go to such a faraway place?”

“To look for someone.”

“I see. It’s not a very accessible place. Do you know how to go there?”

“Hmm…” I cast a doubtful look, “It seems like I have to take a subway train to Yeonsinnae Station. Then I take Bus 703 / 303 in the direction of Goyang market. Next, I transfer to the minibus 54 at Goyang market. Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? Hehehe…” I scratched my head after I finished reading from the memo.

“At this rate, you are going to lose your way. You should have asked Eun Gyeol to accompany you. Where is he by the way? It’s weird not to see your Siamese twin with you.”

“Siamese twin? HAhaha,” I guffawed. “We had a successful operation a few days ago to separate our bodies.”

“Congratulations then,” Krystal rolled her eye sarcastically.

“I wish the truth is something worth congratulating though,” I sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Eun Gyeol’s dream is shattered when he failed to get selected for the soccer National Team. He has been practising so hard for it, but now it all comes to naught. He must be exhausted, so he left for home three days before the semester break begins.”

“That must be a great blow to him!”

“Yeah! He needs some time alone. Therefore I didn’t want to trouble him with my problem.”

“You have a point. Then again you can’t risk losing your way too. Why not I bring you there? After all, I have been living in Korea for a much longer period of time than you do. I am more familiar with the transport system here.”

“I am more than happy with your company. But I thought you are meeting someone?”

“Aren’t you that someone? And didn’t you say you have other plans for me?” Krystal grinned. “Intentionally or not, you have started this tall tale. I am curious to follow through and find out the ending of this story.”

My heart skipped a couple of beats when she told me that. Clearing my throat to calm myself down, I said, “As much as I would like you to join me, I have to warn you first. My plan may not be as exciting as Lotte World.”