Dear Kim

📃 CHAPTER ONE | DEAR KIM

"Staring at that dancer again, aren't you?" Jesse Parker, my roommate and best friend, asked on a perfect Friday sanctified by bright blue skies and the flower-filled scent of spring.

It was a year ago.

The icy whites of winter had begun to fade away by the gold glistening of spring's sun. Birds made fashionable by beautiful feathers chirped loudly as they danced from branch to branch.

Animals once hibernated, crawled between grasses drenched in a healthy shade of green. The wind sent cool over my skin as it made its way through parted pink curtains in my dorm. I took in a deep breath and smiled at Jesse with joy in my heart. It was a beautiful day.

"Yeah I am. Is that a problem?" I asked Jess.

"No. It's not but you and I both know that stalking becomes obsession when you give all your energy and time to a person. Especially a celeb figure like your crush. And on a Friday? Come on it's fun day. You can drool over him some other time." She said.

Pretty Jess, always such a diva. She believed life was too short to exclude fun and her definition of fun was parties, amusement parks and large slices of pizza on a Sunday morning. The sparkle in her eyes was never dulled and I loved that about her.

Dressed in a blue jumpsuit and yellow heels, she folded her arms and pouted. Her green eyes fixated on my right hand. Her blonde pixie cut interrupted by streaks of red and blue.

"Is that eggnog?" She asked, eyeing the cup of creamy liquid in my hand.

"Yup!"

"Adult eggnog or kid eggnog?"

"Kid eggnog. It's morning Jess."

"No! It's three hours past noon Pree and a little addition of vodka to eggnog isn't wrong. It's the perfect comfort remedy for adults."

"Yeah right, an alcoholic beverage in the morning just before class, is remedy to a student's soul. You'd make a great guidance counsellor."

"I already told you Pree. It's three o'clock in the afternoon! Seriously you're obsessed with that Tea guy."

Pree. That was what she loved to call me. She said she liked it better than Priya Kapoor, my actual name. Well, after two years of sharing a room and the perks of medical school, I grew to love the name too.

"He's not 'that tea guy'. It's Kim Tae Min. Say it with me." I said slowly, trying my best to annoy Jess.

"You're crazy." She said.

"Guilty as charged my love." I replied.

I smiled. We both laughed.

"Move over, I've got to see what you're so focused on." Jess ordered.

I placed the cup of eggnog in my hands on a nightstand and rolled over to the right side of my bed, while my best friend curled up next to me on the left.

"Wait a minute, what's this? Dear Kim? You're pen pals with the guy now? I thought he was some hot shot. How did you...when did you...what did you..."

"Relax Jess, it's just a fundraiser hosted by Kim's agency. They put up some kind of contest for fans. All you've got to do is send a beautiful message to Kim. An email address has been placed on all social media platforms." I explained.

"So you just write a message to him and send it to the email address?"

"Pretty much but you've got to buy one of the customized products on sale first. When you buy the product you'll be given a code, which you'll also send as part of the message. It's a charity event for a children's hospital in Seoul. The products are quite expensive but with fan girls being fan girls, they'll get more than enough cash for the kids. It's all about the fans' love for good merch. Everything would be sold out in no time." I smiled from ear to ear.