Ji Eun clicked her pen in frustration. How hard was it to format a goddam paper? She was at her wits end, ready to pull out every last strand of hair. She threw her pen across the room and stormed out. Coming back in, and slipping on her shoes and grabbing her shoulder bag. Then she stormed back out.

She sighed as a cool breeze caressed her face. The sunshine was warm, but not too hot. She made her way through campus, weaving in and out of buildings and around telephone booths to get to the lake, surrounded by weeping willows.

She took shelter und a tree near the water with just enough sun for perfect reading light, and opened her copy of “Parasite Eve.” Gina would say something sarcastic if she were here, calling her a nerd and whatnot. But she’d take sci-fi/horror over a party any day.

As the pages turned, she lost herself in another world, one filled with mystery, and science. Science she half understood, and half needed to look into the glossary to understand.

A shadow appeared, blocking her reading light. She looked up and scowled, sighing and rolling her eyes once she realized it was Minseok.

“Shouldn’t you be studying?” he asked, leaning against the tree.

“Shouldn’t you be working?” she asked, closing her book. She stood up and turned to walk away. Minseok grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face him.

“What’s your problem?” he asked. “I thought we were cool?” he asked. “And besides, I finished early.” He said, crossing his arms.

“I like my own alone time, thank you very much, and two, just because we’re ‘cool’ doesn’t mean you can pop up everywhere.” Minseok rolled his eyes.

“Someone’s touchy.” He said. Ji Eun’s cheeks flushed pink.

“Gina wouldn’t give it up.” She said.

“Give up what?” asked Minseok. Ji Eun sighed exasperatedly.

“She took your little stunt seriously and told everyone. Now everyone thinks we’re dating, and it won’t stop!”

Minseok sighed and rolled his eyes. “What won’t stop?” he dared to ask.

“They keep asking me if you smell this bad in bed.” She signaled to him. He hadn’t gone home and showered yet, which might have been a good idea. It also might explain her sour attitude.

“Oh come off it, I clean a college for a living, I’m not going to smell like roses.”

“You could at least wear deodorant.” She said, throwing her hands up. He went to say something, and closed his mouth.

“Okay, so my hygiene isn’t that great during work, but I smell just fine any other time. Did I smell like garbage at the party?” he asked. Ji Eun shook her head.

“I guess not.” He shook his head, trying not to laugh.

“You should care less about what other people say.”

“Well when someone throws a banana peel on your desk and says, ‘this is for your boyfriend,’ it’s kinda hard to ignore.” Minseok sheepishly rubbed his neck.

“Ah…” he shrugged. He turned to her. “Ji Eun,” he said, tilting his head so that it rest on the tree.

“Yes, Minseok?” she said, looking up at him with her sweet brown eyes.

“Would you go out with me?” he asked. Her cheeks flushed darker.

“Seriously?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Yes…” he waited for her answer. Why did girls take so long to answer these kinds of questions? This wasn’t a pop quiz, yes or no would suffice nicely.

“Well…you’re going to smell decent, right?” Minseok’s mouth dropped open.

“Wow, rude much?” Ji Eun smiled sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, but I’m trying not to vomit, you smell like rotten fish.” Minseok stifled a laugh.

“Well when lunch ladies decide that the garbage disposal is for whole foods, then gets messy. And guess who cleans it up?” he sarcastically signaled to himself. “And if you must know, I do use soap and deodorant regularly.” She smiled.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked.

“Meet me outside your dorm at 5. I have a few hours before class.” He said, winking at her. She smiled and rolled her eyes. “I’ll leave you now to make myself presentable, my lady.” He said, over exaggerating as he bowed to her.

“Alright then.” She said, waving to him as she turned towards her dorm. As she turned away, her face fell.

‘DATE? YOU AIN’T NEVER BEEN ON A PROPER DATE! SUBWAY DOES NOT COUNT!” She screamed at herself on the inside.  ‘Ugh,’ she thought. ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this but…I think I might need Gina’s help.’

*****

“A DATE?” Gina asked, giddy with excitement. She immediately ran to the bathroom, emerging with her makeup caddy. “Oh, and we can’t forget clothes!” she ran to Ji Eun’s closet and frowned. “Huh, nothin really says ‘cute’ in here…” she ran to her own closet, throwing things across the room and onto the floor. “Ah-ha!” she emerged with a pair of short shorts, a tank top and a loose tee. “This’ll be perfect.” She said, sitting Ji Eun down in her desk chair. “Now sit, and trust me, you’ll look gorgeous!”

About forty-five minutes later, after much plucking, waxing, hair pulling, makeup application and shoving Ji Eun into clothes that were just a teensy bit too small, Gina stood back and admired her work. “You look so cute!” she said, moving Ji Eun over to her full length mirror so that she could admire herself.

She looked like a goddamn . At least from her perspective. Her s were halfway out her shirt and her shorts were so short she could nearly see her . “Now let’s go for shoes,”

Gina flung pair after pair, as Ji Eun dived, ducked and dodged her way around the speeding heels and flats, nearly being stabbed by the back end of a stiletto.

Gina finally settled on a white pair of Mary Janes. “These’ll look cute on you!” she said, lifting Ji Eun’s foot so fast she almost fell on her .

She was pulled by her shorts back onto her feet. “Don’t wanna ruin your hair now, dear.” Gina said, fluffing her soft curls.

‘Beep Beep Beep’ Gina’s phone went off. “Dammit, I’m gonna be late for class again,” she said, hurriedly grabbing her bag. “Tell me all the deets when you get back!” she said, slamming the door behind her.

Ji Eun waited a few moments before she changed into yoga pants and a bigger shirt. This one hung off her shoulder and was a sunshine yellow. Everything else was okay. She looked at her watch.

It was 3:30. An hour and a half left. What was she going to do looking  this flawless?

*****

‘Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!’ ‘I do have something to say~’ 1TYM blasted in her earphones as she took turns kicking her pillows with each foot, only 45 minutes had past. Only. Like that last 45 minutes weren’t torture each and every second, even now. She threw herself off the bed, disconnecting her iPod as it dropped to the floor.

“Oh my God!” she ran to it, checking it over. “Whew!” she tossed it back on her mattress and threw the headphones with it, getting them tangled in her hair, and then taking a few extra seconds to throw them against the wall after they were free.

But she’d forget them if she left them there. So she strained to reach as she lie on her bed, finally throwing them against her pillows. “And stay there!” she said, grabbing her bag and heading out her bedroom door.

She looked both ways, exiting the room cautiously and gently closing the door. She didn’t know if Gina had actually gone to class. Sometimes she skipped if she knew there was a quiz and she hadn’t studied.

She slowly made her way through the hall and into the kitchen/living space. She exited her room and locked the door behind her.

As she made her way downstairs she stopped. She had just flopped all over the place, what if she looked a hot mess? She ran back up the stairs but then stopped. She pulled out the compact from her bag and looked.

A few stray hairs, but other than that, nothing had really changed. She adjusted her hair, and then her shirt. And then her shirt again. For three whole minutes she fiddled with what shoulder to hang the shirt off of, and did this tank top really go with this shirt? Should she change quick? She leaned against the wall.

She hadn’t really ever had to deal with the way she looked because normally, it didn’t matter. What was even different?

She didn’t know him enough to want to impress him…or did she? Did she want to? She hadn’t quite figured that out yet.

While she was lost in thought, she could feel heat emitting on her left side. When she went to go feel her arm, she hit something else and looked.

“Gah!” her foot immediately shot forward, hitting him square in the inner thigh.

“Ow!” Minseok yowled. “Have some self-control, would ya?” he asked.

“Don’t be creepy!”

“You were taking forever, I wanted to make sure you remembered, or were okay, or something!” he rubbed the sore spot on his leg.

“I’m perfectly fine, thanks for asking.” She said, standing up and brushing herself off.

“Shall we go then?” he asked, holding out his hand.

“Fine.” She passed by him and trotted down the stairs. He rolled his eyes and followed suit.

*****

He took her down towards the garden, which was funded by the Nature Club for the college. It had a biking trail throughout that led into the wooded area of the campus and out towards the road leading away from the college.

In the garden itself were a plethora of flora, with rose vine covered trellises, and several of the paths leading to benches, eating areas and the far reaching gazebos by the lake had a trail of flowers on either side.

The sight was truly breathtaking, but he didn’t bring a picnic, was there a part two? She thought dates were taken at coffee shops.

She had a date at Subway once. It was awkward. She hoped that this wasn’t déjà vu. He grabbed her by the arm and led her to a gazebo over by the lake.

They sat down on a bench inside the quaint structure in silence for several minutes.

‘Let the awkwardness commence.’ She thought as she fiddled with her hair. He bit his lip nervously, fiddling with his watch.

‘Crap, now ’s awkward…what do I do now?!?!’ Minseok wondered. ‘Couldn’t have brought food, could you have?’ he asked himself. ‘I guess we could talk.’ He swallowed nervously and looked over at her.

She had played with her hair to the point that it had tangled into a knot around her finger. He had to stop himself from giggling at the sight. She was adorable.

‘Don’t let him see, don’t let him see, don’t let him see,’ Ji Eun looked out the corner of her eye. ‘Crap! Act natural.’ But how natural can one act as they have their finger stuck in their hair? As it turns out, not really.

“Here,” he scooted closer to her and slowly began pulling small strands out of the knot. Slowly but surely, he released her poor entangled finger with nary a break in her locks.

“Um…thanks.” She said.

“No problem.” He blushed.

After a few more moments of silence, she turned to him and asked, “So what are you doing here?” she asked. He looked around and shrugged.

“Thought we were on a date.” She gently punched him.

“No, not literally ‘here,’ I mean, at college. What’s your major? What’s your story?” he pursed his lips.

“My story, eh?” he looked at her and sighed. “My story can wait for another time. But as for my reasons behind coming to college, of course, like many other people, it’s to give myself a leg up in the world. A helping hand in the job market, so on and so forth; etc., etc.” Minseok rolled his eyes. “As for my major, as of right now, it’s Gen Eds.” He turned to her.

“And you?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Ditto, I suppose.” She shrugged. “Well, I kinda got pressured into choosing a major last semester.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

“Journalism.” She moved a strand of hair out of her face and continued. “I suppose it’s where I was headed anyway, but I’m so unsure of myself sometimes. I wonder if it was the right decision. I wish they didn’t make you choose so early.”

“I know college isn’t a game,” she said, turning to him. “But when I sat there in that office and was shoved some papers and told to pick a major, I just…took the easy way out I guess.” She bit her lip. “I was always told that I was a good writer. That that’s what I’d do when I grew up. But now, I’m not so sure that that’s what I want anymore.”

He nodded. “Being an adult .” She rolled her eyes this time.

“I don’t know if being an adult or if the expectations of adulthood that are being forced on us by the older generations are what really .” He smirked.

“You’ve got quite a lot to say for someone who doesn’t say much.” She shrugged.

“Takes the right kind of person, I suppose.”

And at that moment, Ji Eun didn’t feel so alone. And neither did Minseok.

END OF CHAPTER 4