"AJHUMMAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", Dara grabbed the land lady ajhumma's legs, "PLEAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSEEEEEEE!"

 

"Dara get off me now!!", the ajhumma tried to walk, "Your rent is 1 week late!!"

 

"Please please!!", Dara whined and tried to do an aegyo.

 

"Stop it!", the ajhumma wagged her finger at her, "you know what happens when you don't pay dara?!"

 

"I have the money I swear!!", Dara pleaded.

 

"You said that 1 week ago!", the ajhumma shook her head, "look dara, I don't want to throw you out but...I need to feed my family too....I'm sorry"

 

"Ajhumma pleaseeeeeeeeeee just give me one more week please", dara scrunched her face up in desperation.

 

"I'll give you by the end of today!", the ajhumma said sternly and left.

 

" Today?!", Dara exclaimed to herself, "AISHHH! OOWWWW", she kicked the front door of her tiny, shabby rooftop house and then hopped off to uni in pain.

 

 

 

 

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"WHAT??!", Bom shouted in complete shock.

 

"I'm really sorry for the confusion", the lady at the accommodation office replied.

 

She had arrived at Seoul Uni as planned and had gone to the accommodation office to ask for her keys, all was well until she was told that there had been a mix up and they had double booked her room and since the other person had booked the room before, that left her....well roomless.

 

"But....the room is meant to be part of my scholarship....I don't have the money to live anywhere else!", Bom wailed.

 

"I'm really sorry Park Bom shi", the lady looked geniunely worried.

 

"How long will it take to find me a room then?", Bom asked biting her lips.

 

"Well....", the lady looked at her computer screen, "oh dear....the next room available on campus is in 6 months time"

 

"6 MONTHS?!", Bom couldn't help but shout out.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

"This will do!!", Dara looked at the poster in her hands and stuck it by the accommodation office wall.

 

FEMALE ROOMMATE NEEDED ASAP! (preferably today!) 

A COSY ROOFTOP HOUSE WALKING DISTANCE FROM THE UNIVERSITY!

RENT 1,400,000 WON PER MONTH SPLIT WITH 

ROOMATE!

CONTACT 2ND YEAR DARA PARK FROM THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT!

 

 

"6 MONTHS!!"

 

Dara

startled at the sound and peered into the accomodation office to see who was shouting.

 

"Are you JOKING??!", Bom exclaimed, "please tell me you're joking!!!!!"

 

"I'm sorry Park Bom shi, there's nothing I can do right now but put you on the waiting list for a room", the lady said apologetically.

 

"But where am I meant to go now??!! I don't know anyone in Korea!!", Bom flapped her hands around.

 

 

 

 

"She needs a room eh?", Dara smiled.

 

 

 

 

"This is ridiculous!!", Bom kept saying, "Great I shall now be a homeless medical student!!" and walked out dragging her luggage.

 

 

 

 

"Excuse me!", Dara shouted as Bom walked past.

 

"Yes?", Bom huffed as she turned around to face dara.

 

"Hi, I'm Dara Park", Dara smiled as she put her hand out

 

"Hi...nice to meet you", Bom furrowed her eyebrows, "I'm Park Bom..", she shook Dara's hand.

 

"Park??", Dara exclaimed, "hey we have the same surname!"

 

"Don't...a lot of people in Korea have Park as a surname?", Bom asked unsure why the girl was looking so excitedly at her.

 

"Fair point", Dara straightened herself up, "listen I heard you in the office"

 

"Oh", Bom's face dropped again, "yeah....what absolute crap!"

 

"It doesn't have to be", Dara smiled, "you see I'm in need of a roommate...."

 

"You are?", Bom raised her eyebrows.

 

Dara nodded, "Really need a roommate...preferably by tonight"

 

"Tonight?"

 

"I'm kinda short of my rent money by like 200,000 WON and if I don't pay the land lady by tonight then I'm going to get kicked out"

 

Bom nodded.

 

"So...what do you say", Dara picked her poster off the wall and handed it over to Bom, "do you want to be my roommate?"

 

Bom read the poster, "Oh you're from the medical department?"

 

"Yup...2nd year medical student at your service", Dara pretended to bow.

 

"Me too!, I'm a 2nd year medical student too!", Bom shouted in excitement.

 

"You are?", Dara asked, "I haven't seen you before"

 

"I transferred!", Bom said while Dara nodded, "so....can I be your roommate then? I don't have much money but I can give you 200,000 WON as deposit and that could help you pay for rent and then for next month's rent I'll find a job somewhere-"

 

Dara cut Bom short and hugged her, "THANK YOU ROOMIEEEEE!"

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

"Look ajhumma please it's the only way!", Dara pleaded the land lady again just like she had this morning.

 

Bom stood a bit behind them, luggage at hand and looked at Dara hugging the ajhumma's leg.

 

"That rooftop house is meant for one person only!!", the ajhumma said sternly, "I don't want two people there making a rukus!"

 

"We won't ajhumma!!", Dara pleaded.

 

"Look I don't like students anyway and I only took you in knowing you were a medical student, thinking you'd be easy to handle....if I had know what an absolute trouble you'd be I would never have let you move in!!", the ajhumma exclaimed.

 

"But ajhumma, she's a medical student too", Dara stood up now.

 

"She is?", the ajhumma quizzically looked at Bom.

 

Bom smiled back and bowed politely.

 

"Yes, with me at Seoul National!", Dara continued knowing she had the ajhumma's interest.

 

"She's a transfer", Dara whispered into the ajhumma's ear, "from America....ever heard of Yale University."

 

The ajhumma made an'o' shape with and nodded.

 

Bom smiled again akwardly.

 

"They say she's a genius you know...even at Yale they said she'll probably find the cure for cancer", Dara fibbed.

 

Bom looked at Dara wide-eyed.

 

"Really?", the ajhumma said, totally impressed now.

 

"Of course ajhumma, but Bom being a Korean!!", Dara punched the air, "she decided she would give up her dream life in America,", Dara pretended to weep, "and CURE OUR NATION OF ALL DISEASES!!", Dara shouted out loud making both the ajhumma and Bom jump in fright.

 

The ajhumma nodded totally and utterly impressed by Bom.

 

"Think about it ajhumma....you will be known in history books as the woman who let the rooftop house to the FAMOUS CANCER CURER!!", Dara shouted again, "everyone will come and bow down to you, people will want to live in this very rooftop house after we leave....wouldn't that be amazing ajhumma....think of the glory..."

 

"Yes....the glory...", the ajhumma whispered all starry eyed.

 

"But....ajhumma", dara pretended to look sad once more, "if you want us to leave....then that's ok w'll leave...come on Bom", Dara pretended to walk away.

 

Dara and Bom started walking away.

 

"Dara...what are you doing??", Bom whispered.

 

"Just wait...5....4...3...2...1-", Dara counted.

 

"WAITTT!", the ajhumma ran towards them, "wait....where do you think you two are going...of course you two can stay!", the ajhumma beamed at the two.

 

Dara turned to Bom and winked at her while Bom laughed.

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

"And this is it!!", Dara opened her arms out.

 

After the ajhumma had left, Dara helped pull Bom's suitcase up the stairs to their rooftop house.

 

"It's a bit shabby and small but it's really cosy inside...", Dara continued as they stepped inside

 

"WOW...I like it", Bom said smiling and looking around.

 

The house inside had a room with a little kitchen area on one side and a sofa on the otherside of the room, decorated with everything they would need. But th thing that caught Bom's eyes were the walls, they were covered with hundreds of pictures, all of Dara and her friends, her family, landscape, random people, black and white artistic photos, of animals anything and everything you could think of.

 

*SNAP*

 

Bom turned to find Dara with a polaroid camera aimed at her "Hey!"

 

"GOTCHA!", Dara smiled and waited for the picture to show up on, she then pinned Bom's photo onto the wall with the rest of the photos.

 

"Right the bathroom is around the corner behind the kitchen and the bedroom is....TADAH!", she pulled the sofa out into a bed.

 

"That's our bed?!", Bom exclaimed.

 

"Yes!", Dara gleamed.

 

Bom sighed, "This is going to be....interesting", Bom looked unsure.

 

Dara giggled, "It'll be fun though!"

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

"Bom you finished unpacking??!", Dara shouted from the bathroom.

 

"YESSS!"

 

"Get ready then!"

 

"WHY?!"

 

"We're going to work?!"

 

"What?!"
 

Dara walked out of the bathroom, "You said you wanted to find work....just work with me"

 

"Really?", Bom asked.

 

"Yes I already told boss I was bringing you over", Dara said as she poured water into a glass, "we're always in need of staff!"

 

"Ok....thank you!! Where do you work by the way?", Bom asked.

 

"Well on fridays and saturdays I work as a waitress at the club, where we're going now, it's kind of high class full of idiotic rich kids....so it's good money", Dara smiled as she drank her water and then sighed, "then sunday till wednesday I work at a restaurant"

 

"Can you try to get me a job at your restaurant too?", Bom asked sweetly.

 

"Huh?", Dara looked at her, "Ha! I thought you were going to be worried about working at the club but you want more work....ok then!"

 

"I worked pretty much every night while I was in America too, so no biggy", Bom shrugged her shoulders.

 

"I like you", Dara smiled at her sweetly.

 

Bom smiled back, "I like you too roomie...right shall we get going then"