“If you’re being a turtle again, it will be dark before you reach Seoul,” Hye Sun unnie said to me.

Christmas is 4 days away. My car was out front, packed with my clothes, gifts for my family and other stuff enough to keep me busy during the holidays.

Hye Sun unnie looked at me. “Why do I have this feeling that you’d rather stay here in campus than visit your family in Seoul?”

I smiled at her. She knows how attached I am with the school and my friends. “Ani, I just hate the long travel,” I said to her.

She laughed at me. For some reason, she found that funny. “Whatever you say, Sweetie. Just give my love to Bom and Chaerin.”

I nodded and continued my last minute packing. Bom and Chaerin were my beautiful sisters. Bom is the eldest, then followed by me, youngest is Chaerin, who until last year had boarded with me here in one of Busan’s prestigious schools. Since my father was promoted in his job, our parents moved to Seoul good. My sisters tagged along with them while I begged my parent to let me finish my last year here in Busan.

I’d chosen to stay here because the school felt more like a home than anywhere else. This was where we all grew up. Hye Sun unnie, had become more than just my guidance counselor. Over the years, she was the one who kept us at her house, picked us up in the train station if our parents couldn’t do it for us. As for the school itself, I loved it. I played sports, enjoyed their strong academics and had an amazing group of friends. But there’s one thing missing in this school – guys. Not that it mattered. Unlike my sisters, my love life is still non-existent.

“Sandara,” Hye Sun unnie said. She always used my full name when she wants to say something important. “You know how every New Year’s Eve I have a wish for you? Since I won’t be seeing you until the term begins, I’ll give it to you now.”

“Okay,” Hmm…New Year’s Eve, I thought. I remember that this is one of the busiest times of the year here in our school. There were too many school dances to attend to. My sisters were legendary in this kind of event. Their dating schedule could only be tracked by a computer with extensive memory.

During this kind of events, they’d had so many guys interested in them that they negotiated blind dates for me and almost half my classmates. It was as if our school had put up radio signals from their dorm rooms, sending out waves to the all-male school a few miles away. Now according to my mother, my sisters in Seoul had taken the dating scene by storm. I was dreading to be the boring, plain-looking sister standing on the sidelines once again. It’s one of the reasons why I’d rather stay here in school than go visit my family. I know it’s so shallow but I’m weird that way.

“My wish for you is that you’ll finally realize all you have to offer others,” Hye Sun unnie said, breaking into my thoughts.

“I do already, unnie,” I protested. “This school has been teaching me self-esteem since I got here.” Hammering into our heads, actually.

“Then let me be more specific, Dara. I want you to realize how easy it would be for you to find a nice man to fall in love with.”

I stared at this beautiful woman in front of me who had never been in a serious relationship herself.

“Bom and Chaerin have their beauty; you have yours.”

I blinked a couple of times. How did she know about my insecurities? I’ve always been insecure about my sisters because…well…for obvious reason that I don’t look anything like them at all. I sometimes think that I’m adopted if not for the baby pictures my mom used to collect. My sisters are pretty, y and fun-loving. I, on the other hand, looked like a girl younger than my youngest sister with a body of a teenage boy. Poor me…

“Time for you to go,” Hye Sun unnie said, gently pulling up from my chair. “Don’t you have a dinner invitation from your Aunt Hyori tonight?”

I nodded and put on my pink jacket. It was the one part I always liked about holidays, seeing my unpredictable godmother – my mom’s bestfriend.

“I’ll miss you terribly, Dara. Come back with some good stories.” Hye Sun unnie wrapped a violet wool scarf around my neck and put her hand in my cheeks. I kissed her and I said my goodbye. Without looking back, I drove to Seoul to be with my family.

TWO HOURS LATER

I was driving my way to Seoul, singing Christmas carols along with the radio, when I realized that I needed to pee. I don’t know who lays out highways, but it seems they always put rest stops a few miles past the moment you figure out you need one. And I badly need it now.

I picked up speed. I was really close to pee-ing my pants when I finally hit the exit ramp to the rest stop. By the time I parked my car, I was beyond desperate. I was running like a lunatic being chased by something. When I entered the place, it was crowded with holiday travelers.  I made the side-steps and spins of a basketball player just to get to the restroom area.

BAM! Two other people were also trying to get there, and we all smashed into each other. The 3 of us spun around like revolving doors – 2 guys (tall-thin guy and pretty boy – that’s how I named them mentally) and me.

“Whoa!” The pretty boy held the tall one and me as we circled around.

“Sorry!” said the tall guy.

“No problem,” I responded.

The tall guy rushed toward one of the bathroom entrance and I toward the other.

“Wait a second.” The pretty guy called after us.

The tall guy and I both looked back at him. The pretty boy was around my age and he had a dark hair – that’s all I had time to notice. Well, he kind of looks pretty for a guy. He then pointed to the signs above the doors, the