When she returned home she found Christian sitting on her bed with her computer resting on his lap watching an anime. He had removed his contact lenses and was wearing his black bone-rimmed glasses. She'd been with him for several days now, almost half a month, and she was beginning to need his presence. They were so different from each other but at the same time so much alike. They complemented each other and she could be her true self next to him. In the last few days she had once again been in the process of comparing Christian and Stephen, and she had realized that with Stephen she was giving up on herself in an attempt to please him, something she had never done for her childhood friend. But Christian was just that, her childhood friend, like a brother to her, and it couldn't be more than that. She sighed and hung up her bag. Over the oven there was ready-made food. She opened the lid of the pot and let the smell wash over her. Vegetables with rice and chicken. Such simple food and yet it smelled so good. 

She walked into her room and waved to him. She took her clothes and after changing she lay down next to him taking one of the books that she had leaning on the headboard of her bed. She needed a break from medicine. She picked a romantic novel. Christian looked at her askance and began to tease her about her choice. His little Lydia had been an incurable romantic ever since he remembered her, and many times he himself had given her books by the Bronte sisters or Austen as gifts. She closed the book and playfully hit him over the head with it, making him put the computer down on the floor and grabbing her hands he laid her back on the bed. He climbed on top of her and with one hand he immobilized hers over her head and with the free one he began to tickle her knowing her weak spots.

She saw him stop suddenly and move closer to her face. Her breath came out gasping with laughter and joined his calming one. A strange sensation began to spread through her body, from head to toe, a tingling sensation as his chocolate-colored eyes captured hers. She watched him lean in and draw even closer until his lips met hers. They were warm and soft and she wanted them on hers. His kiss was tentative at first, but soon became more demanding and made her heart beat faster, uncontrollably. She responded and was surprised when she realized she was expecting it. That she was enjoying it and wanted more. She opened her mouth and let his tongue join hers. She wanted to free her hands so she could embrace him, to run her fingers through his hair, but he continued to hold her still. Suddenly she felt him freeze. Their lips parted, and releasing her, he left the room. She heard the bathroom door shut with force. Frustrated, she stood still staring at the ceiling trying to understand her own feelings and what had just happened. He had kissed her. She had liked it and wanted more. She brought her trembling fingers and touched her lips swollen from their kiss. What did this mean for their relationship? Her emotions had become a tangle. Why had she liked the fact that she had been kissed so much by a man who until recently had been like a brother to her? Why had she begun to think of him differently than she usually did? Why was she searching for more? She shook her head back and forth as if trying to push her thoughts away, but the taste of her first kiss kept coming back to her mind over and over again.

Christian wet his face in an attempt to compose himself. What had he done? He looked at himself in the mirror. What if he had scared her? What if she wasn't ready for the transition yet? He ran his fingers through his black hair, cursing himself for getting carried away in the moment. How would he face her now if she wasn't interested? He decided to act as if nothing had happened hoping his action hadn't ruined their friendship. He went out and found Lydia cutting salad as if it were an ordinary day. She avoided turning to look at him. He once again damned himself. Had he ruined everything? He approached and began setting the table, choosing not to mention what had just happened. He could feel the tension between them. There was awkwardness. Lydia tried to avoid his gaze as she feared he would reveal the fact that she had been affected by his kiss. She could feel her cheeks burning and she dewed them with her wet palm while he was turned in another direction. 

They sat side by side at the table as usual with Lydia avoiding touching him. He was unusually quiet. He didn't comment on the kiss they had shared. Frustrated, she assumed he regretted it. After all, why would he prefer her? She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Even with his sweatpants and hair mussed he looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine. He was tall with a square chin and pronounced cheekbones. His features were handsome and at the same time gave him a childishness. His monolid eyes were the color of chocolate. He was talented in painting and sports. He could have any girl he wanted, why pick someone like her. No special talent, no color on her at all. Petite, without curves, with hair an indifferent brown color and an oval face that filled with freckles with exposure to the sun. So she decided to pretend that nothing had happened between them in the hope that they would at least remain friends. She continued to play with her food without eating. She had lost her appetite. She got up and put her plate on the stove, then she hid in her office. She heard him cleaning up the dishes and then silence. She assumed he had gone to her room to continue the anime he was watching. She looked at her cell phone and wondered if she should tell Danae. Maybe she could advise her. No, better not to complicate things, she thought and began to read in an attempt to keep her mind occupied and not think any more without any success. 

  She heard the office door open and Christian speaking Korean. She saw him take off his headphones and handed her the laptop. A charming thin woman with long dark brown hair greeted her through the screen. 

"Hello Aunt Hannah." She greeted her and watched him cross his leg and lean against the desk casually. 

"I hope he is not torturing you." He asked her and Lydia laughed. 

"He's actually a wonderful roommate." She commented and meant it. 

She wished he would stay there with her but she knew he would leave eventually. 

"I'm glad." She heard the older woman reply.

They talked for quite a while. She always had something to say with Hannah Lee and always enjoyed conversations with her. She was like a second mother. When they ended the call she found Christian lying on her couch with one of her English books. It was a strange sight to see this man reading romance literature. 

"Your mother tells me you're going back to England the day after tomorrow." She watched him put the book down and nod in affirmation. She lay down on top of him forgetting whatever awkwardness she had felt up to that moment towards him and buried her head in his chest sucking in his perfume. "It feels good to have you here near me." She confessed sadly and felt his arms wrap around her, tightening her in his arms. 

Lydia came out of the auditorium with Katerina and Stefanos and Manolis were following behind when they saw an Asian man leaning casually against the wall with a literature book in his hand. He was wearing black faded jeans with his black boots and a dark blue jacket.

"Are we going to have yellow faces now?" She heard a fellow student comment.

  She clenched her fist. Maybe the comment wasn't directed at her, but she couldn't stand the racist comments against her friends. She approached him and pulled him by his jacket to bring him up to her height to give him a kiss on the cheek. He closed the book and waved to the girls she was with.

"This is Manolis and Stefanos." She introduced him in English to the two fellow students she was with.

He extended his hand in a handshake. 

"Christian Hyo Seop Yang. Nice to meet you." He too introduced himself in English. Stephen raised an eyebrow in impression. 

"You have a great British accent." He commented and Lydia laughed. 

"I was raised in England." Christian explained to him and hugged Lydia so they could start for the bus stop as he had chosen that day to travel by public transport. 

"Is that your boyfriend?" Stephen wanted to know. 

It seemed strange to him that Lydia knew an Asian man. Christian looked at her meaningfully and asked her in Korean.

“am I Lou?" and he saw her blush, but she didn't give him an answer. 

The bus arrived and they got on, avoiding answering Stephen as well.

She walked between Stefano and Christian as they chatted in English about art and it felt strange as a sensation. On the one hand she had her childhood friend who had recently discovered that she might not want him to be just her friend, and on the other she had the one she had until recently thought she liked. She finally let them go ahead on their own and squeezed herself between Katerina and Anastasia. They were walking by the sea and the cold air tasted of salt. Soon they met Theo and Stella, who had decided not to show up for class that day, thus increasing their company. 

It was a beautiful winter day. The sun was pleasantly warm, in contrast to the cold air, and the sky was clear. Lydia had mixed feelings. On the one hand she was happy that her new group was getting to know one of her dearest friends, but on the other hand she was sad as Christian was leaving that night. He had arranged to fly directly back to England and his family. And her parents would be visiting her over the weekend to return their car to their hometown as they didn't yet trust her to make this trip alone.

They stopped in front of one of the most famous taverns in town and greeted Stefanos and Manolis before going inside. They sat at a table by the large glass window and soon a waiter was leaving them menus. When their wine came and they were served they raised their glasses and tossed to a beautiful future and their dreams.  Their dreams that it was up to them to make come true. Her eyes wandered to her fellow guests. Stella, Katerina, Theodore and Anastasia came, like herself, from families that had nothing to do with medicine. They had read and sacrificed much of their childhood and knew they had even more to sacrifice in the future so that they could make what they loved a reality. And Christian, who had a degree in architecture, had sacrificed no less. He put his hand on the back of her chair and looked at her. He had known her since he could remember, and it was nice to see her now coming of age and one of her greatest dreams taking shape. He remembered how even when they were children she had always chosen roles in their games like wizard, wise man, healer, doctor, who could heal others. He looked at her new group and felt mixed feelings about these people. On the one hand he was glad that she had found good people as fellow travelers in this new chapter and on the other hand he was jealous of them. He would be far from her.  

That night at the airport, Lydia snuggled into his arms and closed her eyes. She wanted to memorize his scent. She wondered when she would see him again in person. He pulled away and looked at her. 

"Take care." He told her, kissed her forehead and headed for the gate, choosing not to look back. Lydia waited there motionlessly looking at him until she saw him disappear from her sight and went back to her empty house.