“I am so sorry, Yura Seonbae!” Woojin said, having sprung out of bed to give me a ninety-degree bow. His hair was sticking out all over the place. I wanted to pat every piece of it down.

“It’s okay, Woojin,” I replied with a light chuckle. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well. Thank you for taking care of me after my carelessness. I really am sorry, Seonbae. This won’t happen again.”

“Oh, you’re up,” Elsie said, walking out of the bathroom after her morning shower. “It’s about time.”

Woojin tensed up at the sight of her, especially more so at the fact she was a foreigner. Nervously, he greeted, “H-Hello, I’m Woojin. Nice to meet you…”

I never thought hearing English being spoken with a Korean accent would sound this charming. If I had thought that before, I wouldn’t have tried so hard to Americanize mine. I was in trouble. Everything about Woojin became so attractive in my eyes. Feelings I hadn’t yet experienced in my life were blooming from my heart one by one. I looked at his hands and blushed at the thought of their contact with mine.

“Aren’t you going to leave?” Elsie snapped, her British accent coming out stronger than usual.

Woojin gulped at both her perfect English and assertive attitude. “I… will go.” He turned to me and said more comfortably in Korean, “I’ll see you at school, Seonbae. Again, thank you and sorry.”

I saw Woojin out, waving goodbye as he went his way down the stairs. When I closed the door behind me, I realized Elsie had been watching me the entire time.

“He’s gone now.”

“About damn time,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “I hope this won’t become a regular thing between you two.”

“I’m sorry for bringing an unexpected visitor last night.”

My apology seemed to have some effect in breaking down her tough barrier. Her eyes softened as she stretched out her arms and shoulders. However, the annoyance in her voice stayed as she said, “The floor is absolutely no place for anyone to sleep.”

“Next time I bring someone over, I’ll have them use my bed.”

“Next time?”

I meant my friends, but it was clear Elsie’s focus was still on Woojin. I didn’t care what she thought of him. She could even hate him if she wanted. Her opinion regarding aspects of my personal life meant nothing. We were roommates and nothing more. Sure, we had made irreversible mistakes in front of each other, but those incidents had passed. I wanted to move on.

The memory of my accidental first kiss hadn’t even crossed my mind the entire time Woojin had been here. That was the kind of effect he had on me, bringing all of my attention to every single fine detail about him and only him. It brought me to a world where no one else existed. A world without Elsie around to boss me around. The idea itself already sounded so sweet.

I didn’t talk to Elsie again this morning. I didn’t even tell her goodbye before leaving for school. It wasn’t like we were the type to make common greetings with each other anyway.

. . .

“Hello, Yura Seonbae!” Woojin greeted, rushing into the school lounge where Minji, Yena, and I had been talking over some coffee.

“Woojin, hi.” It was hard for me not to smile.

Minji studied his face then mine. “Care for an introduction?”

She didn’t particularly ask me for it, but I felt the need to step in. “This is Ahn Woojin. He’s a first-year in our major.”

“A total saenaegi, huh?” Minji’s narrowing eyes reflected her readiness to tease the newbie.

(*Saenaegi: freshman)

“Hello,” Woojin said respectfully, bowing to his two new seonbaes.

With a kind smile, Yena said, “Hi, I’m Na Yena. It’s nice to meet you.”

“And I’m Kim Minji!” Minji cut in excitedly. “So, how do you two know each other?”

I replied, “Woojin came as a customer at the comic book café I work at.”

“Is that so?” Minji remarked slowly and suggestively.

“Yura Seonbae, I don’t think I got the chance to thank you for dinner last night. How much did the bill come up to? I’ll send you half.”

I shook my head. “There’s really no need to. I told you it’d be my treat.”

“Then, would it be okay if… I treated you next time?” Woojin asked shyly, aware of the two pairs of eyes burning their gazes onto him.

I mirrored his shyness, giving a small nod.

Woojin held his cellphone out. “Can I get your number, Seonbae? I mean, it might be easier to set up a date to meet this way.”

A date— “Yeah, of course,” I replied as casually as I could.

After saving my number, Minji snatched Woojin’s phone from my hands. “Here’s my number, too. Feel free to ask anything you want. I’ll be a seonbae ready to help!”

“I’ll give you mine, as well,” Yena said.

With all three of our numbers saved to his phone, Woojin bowed once more. “Thank you, seonbaes. I have a class soon, so I’ll be going now. Goodbye.”

“Bye, Woojin,” I said with a wide smile. However, the corners of my lips fell when I noticed how curiously both Minji and Yena were now looking at me.

“I want the full story,” Minji said.

Yena nodded.

I pulled my head back to gain some space. “There isn’t much, I swear. Woojin came to the café, recognized me, and we had dinner together yesterday. That’s all.”

“That’s all?” Minji repeated expectantly.

“Well, he got a bit drunk last night…”

“And?”

Simultaneously, Yena asked, “How drunk?”

In a low voice, I admitted, “Okay, he passed out, so I kind of took him to my place…”

“Song Yura!” Minji squealed. “Honestly, I did not take you to be such a risktaker!”

“Don’t get any ideas!” I uttered, waving my hands out at her in panic. “Like I said, he passed out. My roommate had to give up her bed for him. I think she’s still mad at me about it.”

“Does he live alone?”

“Yeah, but why is that important—”

“Perfect! Next date, ask him for his address. You know, just in case he passes out again.” It was clear Minji didn’t say that out of simple concern.  

“It’s not a date,” I said, moving my hands up to cover my blushing cheeks.

“But you want it to be, don’t you?”

“I mean…”

“You definitely like him, Yura. And it looks like he’s interested in you, too. What’s the problem?”

“But it’s not that simple. It can’t be, right?” I asked.

Minji put a hand on my shoulder. “Yes, it can be.”

Yena smiled in agreement.