Chapter 2

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So the following day, Yoona stood in front of the cafeteria at precisely 12:30 AM, 9000 won in her hands, waiting for Yuri to show up. She waited, she waited and waited. Then she waited some more. After about half an hour, she started noticing some people pointing at her and whispering to each other. They must have thought she had been stood up by a guy or something. Yoona felt embarrassed, but mostly she felt angry.

What the hell? Yuri had been the one that said to wait here. If she wasn’t going to show up, why suggest it in the first place?

Just as she turned around to go inside the cafeteria, a loud noise reached her ears. It was Yuri, who’d come running down the stairs in her high heels. She was breathing heavily when she reached Yoona. She put her hand on her chest and lowered her head. ‘’I’m so sorry I’m late,’’ she gasped, ‘’I was giving a lecture to the first years and one of them wouldn’t stop asking questions afterwards. You must have been out here such a long time, I’m sorry.’’ Yoona crossed her arms and frowned. Honestly, she still felt irritated, but it was a reasonable excuse and she had been the one to make Yuri wait yesterday. She supposed they were even now.

‘’It’s alright.’’ She said, and gave Yuri a small smile. She handed over the 9000 won to Yuri and turned around once again but this time Yuri grabbed her arm.

‘’Wait… I thought we could lunch together again today?’’ for some reason, she sounded very hopeful. That’s odd, Yoona thought. She hesitated for a moment. She had planned to find some of the people from her own classes to sit with, probably make some new friends. However, she thought, they would surely have finished eating by now and butting in would just be awkward. Yuri looked at her and let go of her arm. Yoona smiled wider and nodded.

‘’Alright! Let’s.’’

This time they found a table by one of the large windows Yoona had admired the day before. The weather was still mild for this time of the year, and she enjoyed the sun coming in through the windows.

‘’Do you have a lecture after this? Only yesterday you had to leave so quickly.’’ Yoona asked as they both started eating. Yuri shook her head. She was smiling less than yesterday, Yoona noticed. She must have been tired from giving her lecture.

‘’I don’t. My next lecture is not for two hours.’’

Yoona was glad to hear that, it meant they didn’t have to be in a hurry. Food was important for Yoona, indeed. One wouldn’t say it to look at her, but among her many talents, eating was certainly one.

‘’I don’t have any more classes today, actually. We don’t have a lot of lectures, more practical stuff.’’

Yuri paused halfway through bringing some fruit to and leaned back in her chair. She pointed at Yoona then, as if to say: Eureka! Yoona quite liked that animated way of talking Yuri had. It was quite comical to her.

‘’That’s right! You’re an Arts girl. Ah, it seems like so much fun. What sort of things do you get to do then? Do you dance?’’ she asked and smiled brightly at the dancing part.

‘’Well, it’s different for everyone. We all share some classes, like art history and acting… but everyone has something unique, like the instrument they play. They choose classes that fit with that.’’

Yoona felt a bit embarrassed talking about this. When she talked about her study, most people thought that the Arts people were just playing around or that they were lazy and chose this so they didn’t have to do much work. So quickly she added:

‘’It’s not all fun and games though. For example, we have to prepare a monologue from Shakespeare for next week. In English! I don’t even speak English.’’

Yuri laughed at that. It seemed she was more at ease now, because she started joking again.

‘’Oh no? You don’t English?’’ she slurred with a thick accent. Both girls laughed loudly now, and some of the other students in the cafeteria looked up. Yuri waved her hand then, her face serious again. ‘’No but tell me, what is your ‘unique thing’ then? Do you have an instrument?’’

Yoona extended her hand. ‘’I’ll tell you,’’ she said, ‘’but you have to promise not to make fun of me.’’ Yuri put her hand against Yoona’s. ‘’Pinky promise.’’ She said.

‘’My major is classical music. Not opera, just the instrumental stuff, you know? Symphonies. My instrument is the piano, I’ve been playing it ever since I was five.’’

‘’Whoa, that’s amazing. Why would I make fun of you for that? I think it suits you. You have piano-hands.’’ Yoona laughed.

‘’What does that mean? Piano hands?’’

‘’Look,’’ Yuri put her hand next to Yoona’s. ‘’Just means your hands are pretty. They’re long and thin, just like my mother’s. I got my father’s hands, they’re ugly.’’ Yoona frowned.

‘’Your hands are fine, they’re pretty. I actually broke mine when I was younger, that’s why these ones are bent a bit strangely in the middle. See?’’ she pointed to her ring and index finger. For a while there was a silence between the two girls, but this time it wasn’t awkward. When they both finished eating, Yoona got them two large lattes.

‘’It’s my treat,’’ she said, sitting down, ‘’because you saved me yesterday.’’ Yuri thanked her and started sipping the hot drink.

‘’What is Economics like then? Seems difficult. You must be really smart.’’

Yuri shrugged.

‘’Not really. It’s just a bit of mathematics and some tricks to make people buy whatever you’re selling. Lectures are everyday, sometimes you work together on assignments. I made some good friends at university though.’’

‘’The way you talk, I would believe you don’t enjoy it at all.’’ Yoona joked.

‘’I don’t.’’ said Yuri immediately, harshly. Yoona felt taken aback by the sudden comment. Neither of them knew what to say after that. Yuri sipped her coffee, while Yoona started fidgeting with the things in her bag, taking out her notebook and pretending to write something down. Then Yuri tied her hair up and pushed her chair back.

‘’I have to go now, sorry. I have to read something or I won’t understand the lecture.’’

‘’That’s okay.’’

Swiftly she put all her stuff back in her bag and pushed her chair back as well.

‘’You’re going to the library then? The exit’s that way, so I’ll walk with you.’’

The walk to the library was silent. Yoona wondered if she should apologise for saying something that made Yuri so irritated, but how could she possibly have know? She still didn’t understand her reaction. And anyway, the walk was so short they couldn’t really have a conversation. When they reached the library Yuri stopped and pulled her cell phone out of her bag.

‘’I don’t want to be rash but I think you’re a nice person and I think we should hang out. I could also help you if you don’t understand something at the university, yeah? I normally sit with my friends at lunch though so we should meet some other time. Only if you’d like that, of course. What I’m trying to say is: I want your number.’’ They both chuckled at that, and Yoona quickly pulled out her phone as well.

‘’Alright.’’ Yuri said, closing her bag again, ‘’Well, you’ll hear from me soon, okay?’’ Yoona nodded and started walking towards the exit, Yuri waving at her.

‘’Don’t get lost on your way out, Yoona-sshi!’’ she shouted jokingly.

‘’I won’t!’’ Yoona shouted back, laughing. And at that moment, somewhere in Yoona’s brain, tiny potassium and tiny sodium ions started their handiwork, eventually creating a reaction so powerful it made Yoona feel she was ten feet tall and her steps were as light as a feather. And her heart pounds with excitement. 

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AN: this chapter is a bit longer.. I hope the chapter will get longer than this, but I still have to find my way in this. I wanted to illustrate the way I imagine Yoona and Yuri to look like in this story, so here are some pics:

Yoona:

http://i61.tinypic.com/350q8ok.jpg

Yuri:

http://i62.tinypic.com/1xxlzb.jpg