#SAVE ME ARMY || K. TH

«─── « ⋅ʚ Eun-Jae ɞ⋅ » ───»

August 21, 2019

Waking up I looked around the room in a daze. It seems I had fallen asleep in the living room after spending a few hours trying to study, I failed. It did explain the stiffness of my neck and back. I lay there for a few more minutes letting my mind wake up fully.

It had been an eventful week; I had finally plucked up the courage and spoke to a few people I wouldn't say we are friends yet, but with time I'm sure it'll happen. I had finally decided on what to do on my date with Taehyung which will be happening this Saturday since he will be back in Seoul after visiting family. I had, also, gotten around to visiting my paternal grandparents, which was oh so fun, with my grandma's indirect jabs that I was gaining weight and that I haven't gotten a boyfriend yet. She always blabbed about me getting older and that if I didn't get a move on, I'd end up alone. I always tried to ignore her, but boy was it annoying. She always preferred Hana over me, so she always compared us, and in a way I understood. She was present in every step of Hana's life while I was the foreign grandkid she got to see every once a year or two with "weird" mannerisms. My grandpa was nice though, and made me laugh when he reacted to whatever my grandmother said with a roll of his eyes or a hand gesture behind her back.

I stayed on the sofa for about a half hour more playing a game when I heard my roommate's door opened. I kept still seeing if I could finally catch a glimpse of Eun-Jae, maybe she thought I wasn't here or still asleep. I heard her heavy steps, and the door open and close with a soft click. Seeing as curiosity got the best of me, I rapidly got off the sofa and ran towards the door. I ripped it open and saw a hoodie covered figure that must surely be her walking down the hall.

"Hey! Wait up!" I called while walking quickly towards her.

Her steps faltered, but then she began speed walking. Not today, today I will face this girl and see what her problem is.

"Eun-Jae, please wait!" I yelled quickening my steps.

She was very close to me, I pushed myself a little harder until I grasped her shoulder, forcing Eun-Jae to turn around, yet I was faced with something I was not expecting. Instead of a woman facing me, it was the features of a handsome masculine face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're not who I was looking for," I apologized an embarrassed blush appearing on my face.

"Who were you looking for?" the mysterious guy asked.

"Um, my roommate I have yet to meet her, it's been what? Three weeks of the program and I haven't gotten a glimpse of her I'm starting to think I did something to offend her," I explained sheepishly.

"I'm sorry," he responded with a sad tone.

"It's okay! It's not your fault I'm just ranting to anyone who listens," I laughed reassuring him.

"No, um, it is my fault," he said, looking towards the carpeted floor.

"Excuse me?"

"I am Eun-Jae," the boy revealed with a tight-lipped smile.

Surprise with a mix of confusion was written on my face. All this time I was expecting Eun-Jae to be a girl, but she was a boy? He was supposed to be a girl from what the rules of the exchange program said. Girls will room with girl and boys with boys. Noticing my confusion Eun-Jae guided me back to my or our dorm, I guess, and we sat on opposite ends of the couch in silence, until he decided to break it and explain.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly," he began nervously, "My name is Lee Eun-Jae and I'm from Sydney, Australia. I'm an architect major and 22 years old."

"I'm Seong Nari, 21, biology major, and from California, USA," I introduced myself trying to ease his worries.

"The rules go that I was supposed to room with another guy, but maybe it was the name that is commonly used for girls or a mistake in my application, but somehow I got roomed with you," Eun-Jae simply explained after taking a deep breath.

"Okay, then why hide?" I asked him with a frown.

"I thought you were going to tell our mentors and I'd be kicked out because there was no more room," he answered with a shrug.

"How do you know there's no more room?"

"I talked to my mentor and said I wanted a change of room after finding out you were a girl and he told me that all the boys were paired equally and that there were no more free rooms."

"I see..." I responded not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Are you going to tell?"

"I won't," I shook my head, "You deserve this opportunity too."

"Oh, thank you so much!" He exclaimed, giving me a hug.

"Hehe, it's alright," I told him, patting his back awkwardly at the random display of affection.

"And I'm sorry again for giving you a hard time earlier," he apologized again.

"Apology accepted."

After having an answer and reassuring me I had done nothing wrong, we began to get to know each other. Eun-Jae was an extremely funny guy, and we seem to get along surprisingly well. I understood why he did what he did. His situation was similar to mine, he came here to learn more about his roots except he was forced by his parents. They were another reason he didn't say anything about the sleeping arrangement. He didn't want to disappoint his parents even if the whole ordeal wasn't his fault.

"Australia sounds like such a cool place, but I have to admit I'm scared of the animals you have over there," I told him with a grin.

"Oh, the're nothing. Most of them are not venomous or poisonous," Eun-Jae told me nonchalantly.

"But they are huge," I pointed out.

"N- Yes, they are I'm not going to lie," he laughed, nodding.

"I'm glad we could work everything out, I was starting to get lonely out here," I admitted with a pout.

"You don't have any friends here?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Within the program, no," I answered, playing with a loose thread of my long-sleeved shirt.

"If you want, I can introduce you to some of mine," he offered politely.

"I'll take you up on that."

"Great, we're going out this Friday and Saturday too, so whichever day you find best or both if you want also," he excitedly added, slightly bouncing in his seat.

"Friday it is! I have a date on Saturday," I said with a clap of my hands.

"Wait, you don't have friends, but you got a date?" he questioned with confusion.

"I met him this past May he is not from the program," Laughing at the expression he made, I clarified.

"Oh, darn I missed my shot," Hearing him say that made me stop in my tracks. I did not need a roommate who was into me, that was asking for trouble.

"I'm kidding lighten up, I have a girlfriend back home her name is Maggie," Noticing my discomfort he quickly spoke, showing me a picture for good measure.

"Oh, thank god," I sighed in relief.

After three long weeks things were starting to look up. It seems I finally made a friend and would be making more in the days to come. My roommate, although not what I was expecting was a nice person and the whole situation was all just a misunderstanding. I had my suitcase back in my possession plus an extra airplane ticket, so no more wearing the same shoes every day. And most importantly, I'd be going out on a date this Saturday with the best person there was, Taehyung. 

A/N:

Were you shocked? Did you see it coming? 

Next chapter is the long waited date!

I'm so so so excited for it! 

Recently I've been getting a lot of ideas for future chapters too!

As always, please, remember to vote, comment, and share with a friend.

-Nikki Marie 💜