Jiwoo hated it. The stares, the pointing, and the whispers. She did it again. Jiwoo landed herself in the spot she promised herself she would never be in again. She promised herself that it would be different this time, but she was proved wrong once again. 

 

As she was walking to her next class, away from all the unwanted attention, she accidentally bumped into someone. 

 

"Ooh, look. She bumped into someone! Is she going to punch that girl too?" 

 

"Get your phone out in case she is going to!" 

 

"I will and post it on YouTube!" 

 

Jiwoo glared at the two gossip girls. 

 

"What are you looking at?" one of the girls snapped. 

 

"Don't hit us!" the other said as she covered her face with her arms. 

 

"Wow. First Haru and now those two chicks. She's really ruthless." 

 

"She's so ruthless." 

 

Jiwoo sighed and helped the girl she bumped into. "Here." Jiwoo held out her hand. 

 

"Thank you," the girl said as she held Jiwoo's hand and got up from the floor. 

 

"Knock knock!" the girl said suddenly. 

 

"Uh... Who's there?" Jiwoo asked. 

 

"Cows go." 

 

"Cows go who?" 

 

"Cows don't 'Hoo.' Cows go 'Moo.'" 

 

Jiwoo bursted out laughing. 

 

"I'm Kang Min-Hee," Min-Hee said. 

 

"I'm Han Jiwoo," Jiwoo smiled. "Let's be friends." 

 

Min-Hee smiled even wider. 

 

She made her first friend!

......... 

 

Haru, who was watching the scene unravel behind a pole, cursed to the heavens above that brought him bad luck. He had a perfect plan that would humiliate Jiwoo into leaving the country, but if he did it now Min-Hee would think that he was a big jerk. 

 

What was he supposed to do now? 

 

He could choose revenge or love. 

 

He grit his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. He glared at Jiwoo. He would leave Jiwoo alone for now. 

 

For Min-Hee. 

......... 

 

"So basically...you just eat the ice cream AND the cone?" Min-Hee asked. 

 

"Yup," Jiwoo said as the guy behind the cash register handed her ice cream cone. 

 

Min-Hee and Jiwoo went to an ice cream store after their classes. Min-Hee had never eaten ice cream before, so she was a little nervous. 

 

Min-Hee took a small of her chocolate ice cream. 

 

"Wow. This is amazing!" Min-Hee said. 

 

"I know right?" Jiwoo said as she her own mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

 

"Um... Can I ask you a question?" Min-Hee asked. 

 

Jiwoo almost dropped her ice cream cone at her words. Here she was again, in the same spot she was just two years ago. 

 

Jiwoo had made a friend in her senior year in high school when her friend asked her why everyone was scared of her, pointing at her, whispering about her behind her back. It was going to be the same. 

 

Just like everyone else in her life, Min-Hee would soon leave and act as if Jiwoo never existed. 

 

"S-sure ask away," Jiwoo said nervously. 

 

"What do normal friends talk about?" Min-Hee asked while blushing. "Truthfully, I never had a friend who was my age before. Actually, I never really had any friends except for my sister and...uh...this guy I know, so I'm not sure what to do with friends." 

 

"I guess I'm in the same boat as you then because I never had any friends and I'm an only child," Jiwoo said. "But I think they talk about things they have in common." 

 

"Hmm... Then what kind of books do you like?" Min-Hee asked. 

 

"I like action and adventure fiction books," Jiwoo answered. "How about you?" 

 

"I like to read about architecture," Min-Hee said.

 

"Do you plan on being an architect?" Jiwoo asked.

 

"I'm not sure..." Min-Hee answered. 

 

"Then what makes you happy?" Jiwoo asked. 

 

"Getting new books about architecture," Min-Hee said happily. 

 

Jiwoo's mouth hung open. What was wrong with this girl? Was she even a college girl? Wasn't college the time of your life where you have fun with freedom?! 

 

"Okay, no offense, but that sounds really boring," Jiwoo said. "I think it's time I show you how to really have fun." 

 

"How?" Min-Hee asked. 

 

"You and I are going to have a full schedule of fun-filled activities for the whole afternoon. Trust me, it's going to be way more fun than reading about architecture," Jiwoo said. "So, are you up for it?" 

 

"Yes!" Min-Hee said. 

........ 

 

"Okay, so this is called a Wii. You play super cool and fun games on it," Jiwoo explained. 

 

Min-Hee nodded and jotted it down on a notebook. 

 

"Don't take any notes. Rule number one on having fun: Learning from doing, not reading," Jiwoo said as she threw Min-Hee's notes behind her. 

 

"Now we are going to play the best game ever invented: Super Smash Bros Brawl!" Jiwoo yelled as she put the game disc into the Wii. 

 

"Move the remote around to use the cursor," Jiwoo instructed. 

 

"Like this?" Min-Hee asked. 

 

"Yeah!" Jiwoo said. 

 

"Now pick your character by moving the cursor on top of the character you want and press A," Jiwoo said. 

 

Min-Hee moved her cursor over Princess Peach and pressed A. Jiwoo however, chose Meta Knight and pressed A. 

 

"We are going to battle in... THE POKÉMON COLISEUM 2!" Jiwoo shouted. 

 

"Okay!" Min-Hee said. 

 

After ten consecutive wins, Jiwoo decided to do something else. 

 

"We are going to watch the most epic movie ever- DESPICABLE ME!" Jiwoo announced as she popped the disk into the DVD player.

 

Min-Hee and Jiwoo laughed so hard during the movie that by the end of the movie, they were both hyperventilating. 

 

"That was the best and first movie I ever watched," Min-Hee said after she regained her breath. 

 

"Seriously?" Jiwoo asked. 

 

"Yeah. My mom said that TV was bad for you ever since I was a little kid," Min-Hee said. 

 

"Oh. I never had parents," Jiwoo said. 

 

"Why?" Min-Hee asked. 

 

"I...wasn't meant to be born. I was unwanted, so my parents abandoned me," Jiwoo said. 

 

"I'm so sorry," Min-Hee said as tears welled up into her eyes. 

 

"Hey, don't cry. I'm fine. Look, my parents didn't care about me and I don't care about them. It's alright," Jiwoo said as she pulled out her handkerchief. "Here. Use this to wipe your tears away."

 

Min-Hee did as she was told. 

 

"Okay, now that your tears are gone, I don't want you to feel sad. I'm fine, I really am. Truth to be told, I think my life is better without them. So don't cry okay?" Jiwoo said. 

 

"O-okay..." Min-Hee said between sniffles. 

 

Jiwoo sighed. How could she make the mood better? 

 

"Baby don't cry, tonight~" Jiwoo sang. 

 

Min-Hee immediately felt better when she heard those four words. In fact, it made her smile as she remembered the time Luhan sang that song for her. 

 

When Jiwoo stopped singing, Min-Hee clapped. 

 

"You're really good at singing, Jiwoo. I bet that even Chen would be surprised at how good you sang," Min-Hee said. 

 

"Chen? You mean the lead vocalist of Exo? I guess you know them too since they're so popular," Jiwoo said. 

 

"Er... Yes. You could say that..." Min-Hee said. She didn't feel comfortable not telling Jiwoo the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either. 

 

"Anyway, since you feel much better now, how about we watch Despicable Me 2?" Jiwoo asked. 

 

"Sure," Min-Hee said. 

 

"Alright, get ready for some more Minion action!" Jiwoo said. 

........ 

 

Luhan was worried. Usually, Min-Hee would pick up her phone at the first dial, but he had called her ten times already and the only thing he heard so far was her voicemail. 

 

"The number you have dialed is unavailable right now. At the tone, please leave a message," the voicemail said. 

 

Where was Min-Hee? What if she was in grave danger? Last time when she was sick, she was all alone and unable to take care of herself, but at least she was able to text him. Why couldn't she reply to his 30 text messages and ten missed calls? 

 

Without even thinking, Luhan ran all the way to Min-Hee's house. 

 

He rang the doorbell several times but there was no answer. 

 

Luhan immediately assumed the worst. Maybe she was kidnapped. Min-Hee was cute, and he could totally see why someone would want to kidnap such a sweet and beautiful girl. Maybe she was trapped in the library because she accidentally stayed in too long without noticing. Maybe she was in an accident and was in the emergency room right now. But if that were true, which hospital would he have to visit? Maybe- 

 

Luhan's train of thought was lost from the distracting chatter of two girls. 

 

"And remember when Gru dressed up like a fairy for Agnes's birthday party?" 

 

"Yes, that was quite funny." 

 

Luhan's ears perked up, he knew that voice! It was Min-Hee! 

 

"And the part when one of the Minions threw up after eating some of that horrible jelly?" a girl's voice asked. 

 

"That was really funny too," Min-Hee said. 

 

"You mean hilarious!" the girl's voice said. 

 

"Yes- Luhan?!" Min-Hee stopped dead in her tracks. 

 

"Um... Hi, Min-Hee," Luhan said nervously. 

 

"Uh... Who is this, Min-Hee?" the girl asked. 

 

"Oh, right!" Min-Hee said. "You two don't know each other! Luhan, meet my new friend, Han Jiwoo. Jiwoo, meet my friend, Xi Luhan." 

 

"Xìnghuì," Jiwoo said. 

 

"Wǒ hěn gāoxìng gěn nǐ jiànmiàn," Luhan replied instinctively. 

 

"Min-Hee, why haven't you told me that your friend is a member of Exo?" Jiwoo asked.