“The showtime’s at 4:05 PM, so we have about fifteen minutes before entering the hall,” Kai discloses after we’ve done purchasing the tickets. “Let’s go buy popcorns and drinks at the concession store before the line gets packed, shall we?”

I press my lips together into a thin line. “Can you go alone?”

“What do you mean?” He lifts an eyebrow at me. “Where are you going? Washroom?”

“Nope, I want to go to Subway instead.”

His frown gets deeper. “Subway? What are you going to do there?”

I let out a chuckle. “Honestly, I’m not really into popcorns, so that’s why I want to buy sandwich at Subway. You’ll go buy popcorns for yours and I’ll run to Subway, okay?”

“Seriously though, how are going to hide it? We’re not allowed to bring outside foods and drinks inside the hall, are we?”

“I’ll just put it in my bag.” I never actually thought Kai wasn’t the type of person to break the rules. I suppose everyone does that all the time, so it’s really weird to see him being perplexed at the mention of bringing outside foods inside the hall. “Don’t worry, Kai. They won’t rummage our bag, I assure you.”

“Okay, then,” says Kai, nodding sluggishly. “I’ll buy popcorns and you’ll go running to Subway. Make sure don’t be late, okay?”

“Okay!”

///

Kai looks at me in awe. “You made it, Soojung. I’m impressed.”

“I thought I was already late.” I glance at my wristwatch—4:03 PM. “Sorry for keeping you waiting, Kai. The line was somewhat long today and I really thought I wouldn’t make it on time.”

“It’s okay if you were a tad late. It’s not that movie’s going to start upon its showtime,” says Kai, beaming reassuringly. “So what did you buy?”

“Meatball sandwich,” I say, lifting the transparent, plastic bag for his view.

“I never knew you were a big eater, Soojung.” He bursts into big laughter. “I mean, you just had noodles before and now, you’re going to eat a super big sandwich?”

Color fills my cheeks. I feel hot. “Am I?” I say bashfully. “You know, we, uhm, walked around afterwards… so yeah, I’m getting hungry again.”

“I got another interesting fact from you, Soojung,” he says, as though writing intriguing notes on mind. He thinks now that we’re spending some time together, he’ll be able to get to know me closer.

My eyebrows knit together as I only see only one drink in his grip. “Where’s my drink? You didn’t buy one for me, did you?”

He shakes his head lightly. “I bought a large one of cola, so I thought we could share,” says the Architecture student. “You’re okay with us sharing, right?”

“Well, I’m okay.” I smile at him feebly. To be honest, I’m shocked. I never thought he’d do that—sharing foods or drinks is something you do when you’ve gotten really close to someone.

I feel a pang in my heart, but I can’t tell what that feeling is.

“Soojung?” Kai touches my shoulder, breaking me out of my reverie. “Let’s get going. The hall’s just been opened.”

I turn at him, a jumbled look on my face. Briefly I get a grip of myself and nod in agreement. “Oh, okay. Let’s get going.”

///

“What is our seat numbers again?”

“It’s H-18 and H-19,” I say and slip the tickets into my tote bag. We are practically the first ones to enter the movie hall upon its opening.

Kai leads me to our seats, and later instructs me to sit at H-19 because the seat is the last one to the right. I can’t tell why he’s doing that, but a man might be sitting beside me if I sit at H-18, so maybe that’s why he’s doing that.

“No one’s here yet,” the latter says as he sits down on the assigned seat. “I guess we’re really early, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are,” I answer awkwardly. Suddenly my throat feels really dry it feels uncomfortable. “You don’t mind, do you?” My hand clutches around the fizzy drink.

“Sure, I don’t.” He chuckles. “We decided to share it, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, we did.” I give him a nod and lift the cup for a small sip.

“Soojung, may I ask you a question?” asks Kai.

“Sure, you may. What is it?”

“Are you okay with us spending time together?” He stares into my eyes deeply, and I suddenly feel a rush of electric shock going through my body.

“Of course I’m okay. I would’ve refused if I hadn’t been okay, you know.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” His reply is rather shaky. “What I meant is, aren’t you boyfriend mad?”

I laugh silently. So now I get it. He’s worried about that possibility. “I don’t have a boyfriend, Kai. I’m still, uhm, available.” Okay, maybe I should not have added the last sentence. It sounds as though I am giving him the light to something God-knows-what.

“You don’t?” he says incredulously. “A pretty girl like you don’t have a boyfriend? It doesn’t make sense at all.”

“Then, what about you?” I retort. “Aren’t your girlfriend mad that we’re now here together? Well, I doubt that.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he says, almost like a faint whisper.

“It’s a lie, isn’t it?” I say. “You’re quite popular throughout the campus, Kai. It’s so a lie if you don’t have one.”

He looks down. “I’m… not ready for one.”

“Oh.” I realize I must have pushed him hard just now. I’m getting overboard.

“There are a lot of girls trying to flirt with me, but I don’t give them a single look. I told you I’m not ready for once, but to be honest, it’s not about being ready or anything. I’m kind of ready to have a relationship with someone, but the thing is… I haven’t found the right one.”

“You… haven’t found the right one?”

“Yes.” He nods, and gazes at me with a beam. “I don’t need a pretty, popular… or even rich girlfriend. I just need someone who can accept for who I am. Not about my popularity, money or anything. Just… someone who can accept me completely. That kind… of girl… I haven’t found it yet.”

I feel a swell of emotion. Kai’s showing me a different side of him. He looks all dashing and posh, but is actually quite a fragile guy. These days, people date one another because they want to feel what it’s like to love someone and to be loved. However, Kai’s quite the contrary. He wants to go out with someone as if he wants to be with that girl for the rest of his life—a true love.

“Now that I’ve told you mine, what about you, Soojung?” he asks, his voice rising in curiosity. “Don’t you feel like dating someone already? I’m sure you do, right?”

“I don’t know.” I’m being honest. “It’s not that I don’t want to go out with someone, I do. But to me, studies are more important. I think I’m likely to start being lazy once I’m in a relationship. I want to graduate with good grades. I want to have a good, stable job. That’s what I really have been aiming for. Love can come at any time even if we don’t look for one.”

“Judging from your word, you’re really ambitious and seem to be an excellent student.” He cracks a laugh. “Your finals result for the previous semester must have been quite good, right?”

“Well, you can say that.” I cringe in embarrassment. I look away at the entrance. People have started to fill in the empty seats. We’re not the only ones in here now.

“Do you want to take a pictures with me?” he asks me all of a sudden.

“Sorry?” I turn to him, looking gobsmacked.

“I’m asking you for a picture with me.” He stifles a laugh. “You know, to commemorate the start of our friendship.”

Friendship. I like the word. It gives me this tingling, heart-fluttering feeling that I have finally opened my heart to accept people to reach my heart. As you already know, I’m not good at making friends. Unlike my friends, I am unsociable and tend to shrink and walk away whenever they want to get to know me.

I don’t know how it started, but I like it. I want to make friends with Kai. He’s nice, bright and talkative. I need that personality of his.

“Soojung?”

“Sure.” I give my final words of agreement. “Let’s do that.”

He pulls out his cell phone of his pocket and jabs at the camera apps. He positions the screen perfectly so that both of us are in the picture.

“Can you smile a little, Soojung?” he instructs. “You know, you look a little awkward.”

“Am I?” I take a small breath and stretch out my lips for a smile. It’s not a big, happy smile, though. My lips are quivering in shakiness. He’s getting quite close towards me as he shifts himself. We’re only an inch from each other our shoulders touch.

Click. He clicks the ‘capture’ button.

I get back to my seat. It’s a little burdensome, honestly. He was so close to me just now. I almost couldn’t catch my breath.

“It turned out well,” says Kai ecstatically. “You want to see it?”

“It’s okay. You look like you’re great at taking pictures.”

“Then, should I send it to you?” he inquires. “You may want to keep it a memory… or something.”

“Sure,” I agree in an instant. “Send it to me later.”

“But you know, I don’t have your—”

The light goes off before he can complete his sentence. I swivel my head towards the large screen. The movie’s going to start after several commercial advertisements.

I glance at him at times and he seems a little bit upset. I wonder why. When I give him another look, he’s heaving a sigh.

Why is he sighing? I ask myself, but the thought disappears as soon as the movie starts.

///

The movie ended around 7 o’clock and now, we’re on the way out of the hall.

“Are you going home now, Kai?”

“Why?” He furrows an eyebrow. “Do you want to go somewhere?”

“I want to go to the bookstore for a moment. I want to look for a novel. It’s okay if you want to go home now. I can just go there alone.”

“I’ll join you,” he answers quickly and there’s no time for me to debate his decision. We’re going down the second floor where the bookstore is located.

“Is the movie no good, Kai?” I glance at him.

“It’s good. Why are you asking?”

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