“Guys, I have something I want to talk about,” Yena began.

Sipping our iced teas, Minji and I drew all our focus to our friend.

“So, um, you know my boyfriend and I have been dating for a year now, right?”

I nodded.

“Let me guess,” Minji said. “He wants to take things a step further.”

Yena’s face went red. At least Minji put a filter through her words this time. She was the type of person who typically talked first and thought after.

“So, you two banging soon or what?” Minji asked a bit too loudly.

I cringed. I had been friends with Minji since high school, but I sometimes questioned why that was. Our personalities couldn’t be any more different. Yena, whom I had met in university, was much closer to who I was. Both she and I were equally blushing right now, especially with how many people were sitting around us in this busy café. Hopefully, they were much too preoccupied with their own conversations to pay any attention to ours.

“Well?” Minji said expectantly.

“Okay, perhaps this might sound weird to you guys,” Yena said, “but I kind of don’t want to.”

Minji gasped. “Oh, come on! The whole point of being in a relationship in college is to eventually make it to the bedroom.”

“I mean…” I couldn’t fully agree with her on that, but I didn’t know how to exactly express it. Being the only one of us three who had yet to ever date, I felt like I had no voice in this conversation. What could I possibly know anyway? I had zero experience.

“Maybe it is for you,” Yena replied.

Minji shook her head. “At the core of it, everyone’s a sex-driven animal.”

“Why don’t you want to?” I asked in the hopes of shifting the topic toward a more public-friendly direction.

Yena stirred her iced coffee with a sigh. “It’s not like I haven’t had my own thoughts about it before. But now that it can actually happen… I’m a bit worried.”

“Worried?” Minji and I said together.

“I mean, what if it’s not as great as I expect it to be?”

Minji replied, “Do you think people would go this crazy over something that leads to disappointment?”

“Well, I suppose not.”

“Look, Yena. The first time is going to be awkward for everybody. And I’m not going to lie, it probably won’t be much of a great experience compared to all the other times that are waiting for you ahead. With that said, if you keep worrying over it now, you’ll never get to the actual good parts. To be honest, the whole losing your virginity shit is way overrated.”

“Minji’s probably right,” I said encouragingly. Probably.

Yena was stirring her iced coffee again, which was quite diluted now from her lack of drinking it. “So, I should just go for it?”

Minji nodded. “You’ve kept your boyfriend waiting for a year. Hell, you’ve been waiting for a year!”

“That is true…” After a moment of thought, Yena said, “Alright. I’ll talk to him about it.”

“That’s my girl! And what about you, Yura?”

I choked on my iced tea at the sudden mention of my name. Once I recovered from all my coughing, I weakly said, “M-Me?”

Minji smirked. “Any prospects this year?”

“Nope,” I replied a bit too quickly. And I, unfortunately, meant that on both a romantic and sexual basis.

Yena said, “I still can’t believe you’ve never had a boyfriend before, Yura. I mean, you seem like the perfect type for a lot of guys out there.”

Shyly, I admitted, “It’s not like I haven’t gotten confessions in the past…”

“Yeah, but that was in high school, and you always rejected them anyway,” Minji pointed out.

“Well, back then I had to focus on my studies. Dating would’ve been a distraction.”

“Oh, please.” Minji wasn’t buying my excuse. “If you really wanted to date, you’d definitely have found a way to do so while also studying.”

“No, I think what Yura says is fair,” Yena replied, coming to my defense. “Dating can be pretty time-consuming. But that was in high school. What about now?”

“Now…?”

“I can ask my boyfriend to introduce one of his friends for you.”

Minji waved out a hand in disagreement. “That’s a horrible idea. If one of you breaks up, that’ll just make things really awkward for everybody. Forget about blind dates, Yura. You should go clubbing with me this weekend. Eye out all the hot guys you want. With your looks, I guarantee you can grab anybody you want there.”

“Uh, um…” I was overwhelmed by the offers. Just thinking about meeting someone had my heart racing already. It made me uncomfortable in front of my friends. “It’s okay, guys. Really.”

Minji elbowed me. “I think it’s about time you break out of your cocoon and start flying like a butterfly!”

I bit my lip anxiously. “Flying sounds a bit dangerous.”

“Come on, Yura! You already have your gorgeous wings. You just have to learn how to use them.”

“Well…”

Minji was right. I had to be putting too much emphasis on this. Surely, meeting people couldn’t be as hard as it came to me in my head. I wanted to have a boyfriend just as much as the next person. And in order to do so, I had to shake off this pointless anxiety about dating already.