The next day, Naeun saw me in English class.

“Listen Bomi, this Saturday will be fine, we can go to the movies.”

I looked up at her. She was clearly hating this.

I looked down and mumbled,

“I know you don’t want to do this Naeun, I know that Taecyeon embarrassed you into it, and Chorong unnie is making you go through with it. Let’s just forget about it, ok?

“No,” she said. “Chorong unnie said that you’re a really sweet girl, and that I was making a huge mistake by not going out with you. I want to know what she sees in you.”

She blushed as the words came out of .

“Ummmmm. I didn’t mean that to sound as y as it did…”

I looked up at her. She shuffled her feet and looked uncomfortable.

“Okay. I appreciate you giving me a chance.”

She turned and walked towards her seat before she turned back towards me.

“I like your haircut. It looks really good on you.”

“Thanks.”

The rest of the week went on. Taecyeon’s group didn’t treat me any differently, so Chorong unnie obviously didn’t say anything to them. They quizzed me about my plans, and how I planned to make my move.

Suho was insistent that I try to get at least a my hands in her pants. Taecyeon suggested that getting my hands on her chest was a more achievable goal, while Taeyeon, the writer, opined that getting a kiss was a more reasonable expectation.

I looked at them with some exasperation:

“Guys, live in my world for a second. God only knows why, but any of you clowns can get a girl to give you to do you on the table right here! It doesn’t work like that for me!”

They laughed.

“Bomi, you need to have a little self confidence.”

“Yeah dog,” Suho interjected. “What I do, is I just whip it out, lean back, and wait for the girls to come running.”

I looked at him incredulously. “Is that why you have a criminal record?” I queried. The boys broke up laughing at this.

I glanced across the lunchroom and locked eyes with Chorong unnie. She looked down and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. I turned away.

“What’s up with you and your girl?” Suho asked me.

“She’s not my girl. And nothing.” I said quietly.

Taecyeon looked back and forth between the two of us and thought quietly for a moment.

“She may not be your girl, but she’s something to you, and there’s something going on.”

I froze for a second.

Taecyeon just kind of shrugged. “But that’s chicks for you. Just get Naeun to go down on you in the movies, and you’ll be fine.”

-----

Saturday afternoon came, and I met Naeun at the mall. We stopped to grab a bite at a Chinese restaurant before the film. It was kind of awkward at first, and Naeun had insisted that we go to a mall that was further away from our homes, so that she wouldn’t be embarrassed at being seen in public with me. A week earlier, that would have stung, but after what I had gone through with Chorong unnie, it barely registered.

She actually turned out to be a pretty nice girl, even if she was a bit of a ditz.  

She admitted that our entire grade was puzzled that I had been accepted by the Varsity soccer Seniors and the popular crowd in general. Everyone was wondering how that could have happened.

And the situation with the punk Freshman soccer player had astounded everyone. He had been bragging during soccer practice that he had outdone me, and apparently my friends had gotten wind of it. They surrounded him at his soccer locker afterwards, and made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that if it ever happened again, he was going to be used as a tackling dummy by them. As a matter of fact, it was all just a big misunderstanding right? He probably didn’t mean anything by it, right? Why he was probably anxious to go apologize to me to show that there were no hard feelings, right?

I just shrugged and said that Chorong unnie had told them to look out for me.

As I mentioned Chorong unnie, her eyes kind of widened.

“Is she like, related to you or something?”

“Nope. She’s just my neighbor.”

“Did you guys used to go out?”

I almost choked on my water. “Are you kidding? Why would she go out with someone like me? We’re just neighbors. I’ve known her all my life.”

“Well, the way she talked about you, I got the impression that she had some strong feelings for you. She really wanted me to go out with you today. She told me all sorts of wonderful things about you.”

I blushed, remembering my last conversation with Chorong unnie.

“Well, she probably exaggerated pretty badly. I hope I can live up to it.”

We chatted a bit more, then went to the theater. As the lights went down, she looked me over. “You know, you’re actually kind of cute. In a nerdy kind of way.”

“Thanks, I think.”

As the movie played, she kind of leaned into me, but I wasn’t really sure if it meant anything.

As we left, we wandered around the mall. We had met for an afternoon showing, that had made it seem a less “official date”, but it had also given us some time to kill. As we walked, we talked about all sorts of things, and I realized that she was really a very sweet girl.

We finally came to rest on a bench outside. She turned to me.

“You really are nice. I’ve gone out with a couple of guys, and all they wanted to do was grab my s, or try to get in my pants. Gross.”

I was silently thankful that I had lacked the courage to follow through on my idiot friend’s advice.

As her ride pulled up, she thanked me and left. As she got to the car, she turned to me. “Would you like to go out again next weekend?”

“Really? You want to go out with me again?”

She shyly looked at her feet and nodded her head.  

“I think it would be nice. Do you chat online?”

I nodded yes. She scribbled something on a scrap of paper and handed it to me.

“Here’s my contact information.”