To Jaehwa, Hongseok is the most annoying person she's ever met. Every single day, he asks her out, and every single day, she rejects him. He shouldn't even bother at this point. Her sights are set on Hyunggu.
But one day... her answer changes.
And a...
Hongseok kept looking at me the whole walk home. I guess he was still in shock from my answer. I myself couldn't believe what I had said.
Once I entered my apartment, I flopped down on my bed and banged my head on the wall repeatedly. Why did I say that? I don't want him to get the wrong idea.
I pressed the number six on my phone, speed-dialing Changgu.
"Sup? You only call me when something's wrong- oh... something about Hongseok?" He said the last part in response to my groan.
"Yeah, so, he asked me his usual question and stupid me freaked and said something that was as close to a yes as he ever got so now..."
"Whoa. Slow down. Inhale... exhale."
I did as Changgu said.
"Repeat that again, but slower this time."
"Hongseok asked me his usual question. I freaked out and said something like, 'someday in the future I guess', which is the closest thing he's ever gotten to a yes. Now I dunno what to do." I heard Changgu huff over the line.
"That's... not good. Unless you want it to be."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Obviously your feelings for Hongseok are changing. There's some part of you who wants to say yes to that question."
"No there's..." I faltered. Changgu had never been wrong before when it came to advice.
"Uh huh. See? You just don't want to admit it."
I shook my head and brought out my sketchbook, then propped my phone between my shoulder and my ear. Sketching always helped me clear my mind. I decided to draw my window.
"Anyway, enough about you. Let's talk about me."
"Sure, okay." I said, concentrating on the paper in front of me.
"There's this girl, Haewon, that I really like, and I think she's interested in me too."
"Really?" Finally, a distraction from my own love life.
"Yes. She's so funny and pretty and great at dancing. Should I ask her out?"
"Go for it, man. She's a perfect match for you."
"I'll go do that, then. Annyeong!" He hung up on me.
"Rude." I said out loud to myself. A few minutes later, I held up my sketchbook, Simba-style, to inspect my work.
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(drawn by Yael M. Saiger for the Harvard Crimson)
Not bad, Jaehwa.
Art was my favorite hobby and the thing I was best at besides English. I made sure to do at least one drawing a day to improve my skills. I really wanted to go to art school once I graduated, but I had already been accepted into a really good IT college. My parents hoped I would get to work for Google.
