Chapter 2.

 

~~~   Negative energy resonates through Minjeong for the rest of the morning. As much as she wishes she could play silly card games with her high school friends or laugh and gossip about the newest Kpop scandal, she is too busy thinking of how exactly she will create a plan. Will Minjeong be stuck in this 16-year-old body? Or will she return to Jimin’s cramped and musky studio apartment by tomorrow? How does time travel work?   They are having Physic, and Minjeong is not listening to a word the teacher is saying. Aeri says that she will copy the lesson note and lets her borrow it later. But by the looks of it, Aeri checked out way before she did.   Aeri grabs Minjeong by the cheeks and tests the new lipstick on her. Minjeong frowns and squeezes her eyes shut. Aeri squeals excitingly and holds up a small mirror.   “You look like a princess; I’m so jealous.” Aeri gushes out.   “Jeez, thanks, man.” Minjeong is about to wipe off Aeri's lipstick when she sees Aeri's two makeup bags. She wonders how this girl can do well in school if she doesn’t even pay attention to half the things the teacher says.   “Can you make me pretty by the end of class?” Minjeong needs to look good if she wants to woo her girlfriend again.   “You have a date??” Aeri’s eyes sparkle brightly. She brings out a mini-size hair straightener.   “Tell me all about it!” Aeri continues as she starts applying primer to Minjeong’s face.   “This person is super high maintenance. It’ll be hard to impress her.” Minjeong says while looking at her nail. They are neatly trimmed, but there is no gel coating.   “Her??” Aeris hisses in surprise. She almost drops the primer tube.   The Physic teacher notices them. He frowns and tells them to be quiet. Aeri clumsily tries to hide her makeup bag.   Jimin turns around. She clearly knows that Aeri is putting makeup on Minjeong. The girl quickly scrunches her nose in displease.   “Did I say her? Him! I meant him!” Minjeong panicky whispers. She catches Jimin looking at her, and she gives the older girl a shy smile. Jimin frowns and turns away.   Minjeong’s cheeks warm up in the process. She drops her head on the table and deeply sighs. It’s like she is crushing on her girlfriend all over again. The way Jimin rolls around the hallway in her chic and elegant manner. Dark, long hair, intelligent in expression, she turns look everywhere she goes. People want to get to know her better. They try too hard to be her friends, but only Minjeong can see the real her.   With her head lying on some textbooks, her eyes peer out at the back of Jimin’s head; she wonders, if things don’t work out, will they ever end up together again? The thought of losing Jimin creates a disappointing thump in her heart.    “It that you have to practice with Jimin every day,” Aeri says as she carefully applies eyeshadow on Minjeong’s eyelids.   “Yeah, .” Minjeong pretends to roll her eyes. There is no need to shout out her undying love for Jimin.   “I wonder if she saw the thing you wrote about her.” Aeri crackles. She pulls out her phone and reads it amusingly.   “What?” Minjeong grabs Aeri's phone and sees that she has written a secret confession about Jimin on her school Instagram page.   CF #8912: Yoo Jimin is the worst. She thinks she owns the school with that stupid smile and stupid slender body. She is just a spoiled princess. Someone who peaks in high school and cannot move forward or mature!!   Minjeong inhales sharply. Her cheeks burn up with embarrassment. She tried to delete the comment, but the admin had already posted it. She groans and face-palm for her dumb move. She was too immature to understand any better.   “Jimin is not spoiled. She lives with a single mom, and life is hard on her, okay?!” Minjeong snaps, cheeks burning red.   Aeri raises her brows at Minjeong. “How do you know that? You always say that she is too spoiled for her own good.”   Minjeong swallows hard; her cheeks are still burning.   Aeri touches Minjeong’s warm cheeks. “Are you sick or something?”   Minjeong sighs, and she shakes her head. “I… I don’t know. I was wrong about that comment. And I don’t hate her.”   “You don’t??” Aeri is more confused than ever. The look on her face tells Minjeong that she will let it go for now, but someday she will circle back on the matter.   Minjeong scrolls through the internet and learns more about the Time Travel Paradox. In his show Into the Universe, Stephen Hawking explained that the paradox is caused by the idea that there are rules that prevent us from time traveling. He then goes on to argue that time travel might not be possible. The Paradox goes like this: Imagine that you travel back in time to shoot your grandfather. If he is dead before getting married, then you were never born. Then how could you possibly shoot him in the first place?   Time travel is nonsense, and even if you can time travel, you must not alter the past, for it will lead to severe consequences to the future, such as erasing your existence.   Minjeong feels like a headache is coming. She groans under a whisper, “ me."   "What's that?" Aeri starts swaying her shoulders. Her long hair covers the tiny Bluetooth earphones.    "Oh, I just want to sleep!" Minjeong frowns. She opens a textbook and covers it over her head.   Aeri puts one of her earphones to Minjeong's left ear. Minjeong closes her eyes and softly hums Close To You by Carpenters. This is her and Jimin's song. The song they would dance to in the living room at 2 a.m whenever Jimin goes home from her late shift at the hospital.   It is true that from now on, there will be no cramped apartment or the softest kisses from Jimin. No more movie nights and no more cuddles in bed on a rainy day.   No more shame and guilt.   A single tear escapes Minjeong’s eye. She sniffles and wipes her tears away. It should be a tear of joy if she thinks hard about it.   Aeri gushes out: "Are you okay?" and pulls a tissue for her.    Minjeong takes it and wipes her new coming tears. “I’m fine. Damn, why do you have that cheesy song on your phone?”    "I can listen to old people's music." Aeri shrugs.   Minjeong peeks at Jimin again. She should stop focusing on her roller coaster emotions. She is an adult who can control her feelings. Perhaps there is something to blame about those crazy teenager hormones taking hold of her body.    Jimin turns around and looks at Minjeong. When they catch each other gaze, Jimin immediately turns away.    She stares at her back for the rest of the day, just for a chance to meet Jimin's eyes again. But the girl never looks back.    ~~~   Lunch is over, and Minjeong is heading back to her class with Aeri. The food was okay; it brought back nostalgic memories since you can never get a similar taste to the food you eat at your high school cafeteria.    Minjeong and Aeri will stay in the classroom for about half an hour before the afternoon classes start. Being back to school is not as fun as she remembered. She always seeks Jimin wherever she goes. The older girl is not hard to locate; consider how she stands out from the crowd, looking like a million bucks even on a school day. But, she wouldn't bat an eye at Minjeong. Occasionally, she gives her a few glares but never a friendly smile.    The classroom looks almost empty, with all the desks and chairs getting pushed to the corner so the students can have a place to