Ri Ah arrived to her Korean Myth and Folklore class with a minute to spare. She had purposefully waited till the last minute to avoid running into Tae Sung Sunbae and having to talk to him. However, when she entered the classroom, her face fell when all the seats were taken except the one next to Tae Sung Sunbae. She understood why when she saw his bag on the seat.

Ri Ah sighed and grudgingly walked over to him.

“May I sit here,” she asked Tae Sung, pointing to the seat.

Tae Sung smiled and took his bag off the seat, “Of course, Ri Ah-ssi.”

I would have come earlier if I had known this was going to happen, Ri Ah thought to herself as she sat down. Luckily Professor Park came in and started class so she didn’t have to talk to Tae Sung Sunbae. But when class was over, Ri Ah quickly grabbed her things and briskly walked out the door. Tae Sung noticed her flightiness and ran after her.

“Ri Ah-ssi!” he called to her.

Ri Ah turned around. “I’m sorry Tae Sung Sunbae, but I have another class to get to,” she said with a bow and turned back around, about to walk away.

“Don’t you want to know my wish though?” he called to her.

Ri Ah stopped in her tracks and turned back around. “What is it?” she asked cautiously.

“Give me your phone number and I’ll contact you later about it,” Tae Sung said as he pulled out his phone.

“Why can’t you tell me now?” she asked as she eyed his phone, not wanting to give him her number.

“Because you have a class to get to and my wish takes some explaining.”

Ri Ah sighed before she finally gave in and took the phone. She handed it back to him after she was done.

“Thank you, Ri Ah-ssi,” he said with a charming smile before turning around to leave.

“What was the right answer?” she called to him.

Tae Sung turned around with a confused face, “Right answer? To what?”

“The last question you asked yesterday.”

“Oh, that. I don’t know,” he answered with a straight face.

“What?” Ri Ah asked with a shocked face, “But then how could you say I was wrong?”

“I took a chance on it. You didn’t argue your answer, so I figured you probably didn’t know either,” he said with a smirk.

“Then that means I could be right and I don’t have to grant you a wish,” Ri Ah said in exasperation.

“Actually, you already acknowledged that I won, so it doesn’t matter now,” he said with a smirk still on his face.

Ri Ah stared at him with wide open, not able to process the situation. Tae Sung laughed at her expression.

“Well, Ri Ah-ssi, I’m off then. I’ll make sure to contact you later,” he said with a charming smile before turning around and leaving.

Ri Ah stood there stunned for a while before she remembered she had a class to get to and hurried of. After her class, she quickly ate her lunch and then rushed off to the library to find Arang and the Magistrate. She opened it up to page 25, and went to the second paragraph, third line. The fourth word was, “….Arang…” Ri Ah said to herself with a sigh. It didn’t matter if Tae Sung Sunbae didn’t know the answer, she was wrong anyways. She didn’t feel like reading for that class now, so she put it back on the shelves and found the book for her other class to start on her homework. It wasn’t long before she was done and Ri Ah packed up her things to head home on the bus. She still had her uneaten dinner, which she felt bad about having Mrs. Park make when she ended up not needing it today. As she waited at the bus stop, Chan Yeol texted her:

Ri Ah, are you staying late again today? If not, do you want to go home with me?

I’m actually done with everything for today. I’m at the bus stop waiting for the bus now.

Yay! Don’t get on the bus Ri Ah! I’ll pick you up in my car, so wait for me!

Her bus came and Ri Ah didn’t get on. A few minutes later, Chan Yeol pulled up and Ri Ah got in the car.

“Ri Ah, how about we grab something to eat before heading home? I still haven’t had lunch” Chan Yeol asked her as he drove.

“I’m actually not hungry, but if you want, I still have the dinner ahjumma packed for me that I won’t be able to eat,” Ri Ah offered him.

“Okay, how about we go to a park, then?” Chan Yeol suggested excitedly.

“Sure, that sounds good,” Ri Ah said with a smile.

They arrived at a park and the two sat down on an empty patch of grass. Ri Ah took out her extra food and handed to Chan Yeol, who happily took it and started scarfing it down. Ri Ah let out a little laugh at the sight.

“So Ri Ah,” Chan Yeol said with food still in his mouth. “What do you think of college life so far? Is it what you were expecting?”

“Mmm, I’m not sure what I think of it just yet. I like my classes. And although there’s a lot of homework, I don’t find it bothersome,” Ri Ah said as she gazed out on the wide open grass.

“Sounds like you’re enjoying it,” Chan Yeol remarked.

Ri Ah sighed, “For the most part, yes.”

“And what part do you not like?”

“Dealing with people you would rather avoid,” she answered, still staring out into space.

Chan Yeol stopped eating and looked at her, not sure what to make of her answer. “Is someone bothering you, Ri Ah?” he asked concerned.

Ri Ah sighed and turned to him with a smile, “No, I can handle it.”

Chan Yeol still had a worried expression. “You know you can tell me if something…or someone is annoying you. This puppy is actually a pretty good fighter,” he said with a smile, pointing to himself with his thumb.

Ri Ah laughed and ruffled his hair like she was petting a dog. “Aigoo, my puppy is really protective of his master.”

Chan Yeol laughed.

“What about you? What do you think of college so far?” Ri Ah asked.

Chan Yeol sighed. “I have a problem with being on time. I was actually late to my first class today because I didn’t wake up in time.”

Ri Ah gasped. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I should have woken you before I left,” she said with a worried expression.

“No, it was my fault. I really should take your advice though and try sleeping earlier,” he said with a smile. “But other than that, it’s like high school all over again. Teachers give boring lectures and I try to stay awake.”

“You know, if you try to take interest in the subject, you might find that class isn’t that boring and you’ll be able to stay awake.”

“Said by a true nerd.”

Ri Ah laughed. “Well, I do have to maintain a minimum GPA to keep my scholarship. So should I wake you up early again tomorrow?"

"Actually, I think I'm going to try to slowly change my sleeping habits, but thanks for offering," he said with a laugh. "However, I'll count this meal as 5,000 won. So you owe..." Chan Yeol took out his phone to check his calculations, "269,400 won. Hmm, it looks like you'll be doing favors for me for a while at this rate, Ri Ah."

The two continued talking for a while longer before finally heading home.

Later that evening, Ri Ah got a text from an unknown number:

Hi Ri Ah-ssi, it’s Lee Tae Sung. I hope you gave me the right number. This is Lee Ri Ah’s cell phone number, right?

Ri Ah looked at the text with dismay and reluctantly answered.

Yes Tae Sung Sunbae. This is Lee Ri Ah’s number.

That’s great! I was worried you might have given me a fake number.

As you can see, I’m not a cheater like you, Tae Sung Sunbae.

Ri Ah-ssi, did you just call your teacher a cheater?

I apologize, Mr. Lee.

Haha, I was kidding. Please don’t call me Mr. Lee. It makes me sound so old.

Alright. What is your wish then, Tae Sung Sunbae?

Actually, I still haven’t thought of one.

What?! But you said you had one earlier today!

I changed my mind. I’m going to think on it a little bit more. I hope you don’t mind, Ri Ah-ssi ;)

Ri Ah heaved an irritated sigh. Why is he making this so complicated? What exactly is he thinking? She thought to herself.

Okay, Sunbae. Please let me know as soon as you decide.

I will! Have a good night Ri Ah-ssi!

Ri Ah didn’t like how he was dragging this wish thing. She hoped he would ask for his wish soon so she wouldn’t owe him anymore.

Author's Note

Haha Tae Sung, you’re so cunning pulling one over Ri Ah like that. You better watch out Chan Yeol-ah, Ri Ah might not be able to spend as much time with you in the future ;)

I’m glad you’re enjoying the story sipeoyo-ssi. I was worried it would be too slow and boring for my readers, but my intent when I started was for it to be an innocent and sweet story about young people. That’s not to say it won’t have its moments of pain and heartbreak (or at least I hope I can convey that in the future), but for the most part, I plan to keep it fairly light-hearted. However who knows? I realized that as I continued writing, this story was developing a mind of its own and my initial ideas on how to progress changed little by little the more I wrote. Actually, Lee Tae Sung’s character was made up on the spot out of nowhere. It was in response to Hamachi-ssi’s request for drama, but I guess Hamachi-ssi doesn’t really like him judging from your past comment :(. Lol, well anyways, please do comment with your feedback and who knows? I may change the story in response to your guys’ ideas and concerns.

Until next time! – 6/24/12 1:32 AM