Hi everybody! I actually had most of this typed out but I never had the chance to finish it, though recently I managed to clear up some time to complete this.

If you remember, in entry 45, she told Squishy she had an essay to write, and this is the essay she submitted. Enjoy~

I have had a fair share of embarrassing moments in my lifetime, but the occurrences of such events often happen only when I am around a particular person.

One of the embarrassing moments I had, which happened to also be the most memorable, was when I first met this friend of mine. I still remember happily skipping to a bubble tea shop after a long day in school, with the thoughts of being able to savour the drink I have not tasted since the start of the school term in my mind. Now if it was any other sales assistant, I would have ordered my drink in a normal and calm manner, but one way or another, my mouth somehow knew that we were meant to be much more than strangers, so it tongue-tied when I was ordering my drink. Moreover, it was not just any tongue-tie, I even made up new words on the spot because of the embarrassment! Not to mention that not only was it embarrassing, there was an awkward tension hanging in the air as well. Of course, I did not say anything else, instead I took to my heels and hurried away as fast as my legs could carry me.

Well, I would have used the phrase "Curiosity killed the cat" on myself because I went back to the same place, same time, to meet the same person, but only to create another awkward situation with him. I managed to hold eye contact with him for a few seconds, but that did not help at all. And did you know what was worse? He remembered me, from the previous day's encounter. He remembered how I tongue-tied so badly and how desperately I tried to salvage the atmosphere, which only contributed to the awkward tension growing. After watching him prepare the drink I ordered, I figured there was only one way I could escape; that was to sprint away like how I did the previous day.

Of course, I was not the only who tongue-tied, I have made him tongue-tie once too. However, how did his embarrassing incident translate to mine in the end? Well, let me enlighten you.

I was so fortunately selected for a singing competition that was held across many schools of this district, unbeknownst to me that my acquaintance then would be in the same competition as me, only in another category. I performed my song without the knowledge of his presence plus that of our colleague -who was his good friend- so I was not as nervous. When I was about to leave since my category was over, his friend appeared and pleaded for me to stay. Of course, I was puzzled as to why he would want me to do that, but I obliged anyway. It was not until I saw my soon-to-be friend on the stage singing a song of his own when I found out that he was performing as well. His eyes scanned the crowd, and unexpectedly found mine. It would seem that my presence made him nervous, because he tripped over his words right after noticing that I was there. I definitely felt guilty as that mistake could have caused him his chance to advance to the final round, but I could not help giggling over his funny error.

In the end, when his category was over, I approached him with his friend. For some weird reason, my heart started pounding the more I got closer to him. I settled for a simple greeting before taking to my heels to leave, but I knocked into a chair in the process and almost fell. Of course, the noise produced when my legs hit the chair attracted the two boys' attention, and his friend laughed continuously while he only gave a small smile. That was embarrassing! My own embarrassment made me forget about his mistake on stage and I was quite sure that it had the same effect on them.

Of course, there are not the only embarrassing moments, there were others too. For example, the time when I started on my new job. During the summer break, I applied to work in the shop he worked at, just to get to know him better. Like I said, because it was a new job, I had to learn the ropes from my employer and then-acquaintance. When I was imparted the skills to handle the basics, I was still faring well. However, when my employer left and he came in to continue teaching the more complicated skills, I started fumbling around with my hands and I could not get anything right. Fortunately, he was patient enough not to holler at me for all my mistakes, instead he went through the steps again in a slower pace until I caught on.

It does not seem embarrassing to you probably, but it was sure embarrassing for me. Why? Everyone would want to show their good side to people they were unfamiliar with, so naturally, I was trying to show him my good side too, and giving the impression that I was slow in learning was not helping. Not to mention that I made a huge mistake on my third day, which left me in a crying mess. I was slow in taking orders so when a customer arrived to order over ten drinks, I could not keep up with him and that resulted in the customer repeating his order time after time. After the third time, he got annoyed and yelled at me, which explained why I broke down. Luckily, my colleague stayed back to handle the situation, or I would have been standing there, crying for the rest of the night. I could say that I was utterly embarrassed by that incident.

There were many other embarrassing moments spent with him, the above mentioned being three of the numerous we already had, and the many more we are going to create.

Thinking back, when was I never embarrassed around him?

Other than this, the sequel will be up soon!

-vihyun