Chaeyoung wants to date. She does. So when her social butterfly of a friend named Nayeon offers to set her up with a few people her friend knows, she doesn't decline.
But see, it is from Nayeon's good intentions that she ends up having the worst nights she's had in a long time.
Chaeyoung doesn't mind a long hair, a goatee, stubble marks, and tattoos all over a man. But when he consistently makes that aweful snorting noise whenever he will start replying to whatever Chaeyoung is saying, or whenever he will laugh at whatever she is saying, not that she tries to because she only tries hard when she likes somebody and she obviously doesn't like him, it's like pulling the plug out for her.
"No, unnie." Chaeyoung says stubbornly to her friend over the phone.
"But Michael's been pestering me all week. Try and give him another date then tell him in person you're not interested."
"I don't know how you're friends with him when he obviously doesn't know when to quit bothering a girl who doesn't reciprocate her feelings." She replies huffing out a breath.
"Actually he's a friend of a friend, who's been crushing on you for a long time."
"I'm sorry, Nayeon unnie. I don't want to waste both of our time. And if he wanted any answer from me, me not replying his texts should be enough."
Chaeyoung hangs up the phone after that.
The next date night, it is pretty okay. Jimin is obviously so taken by her. But she's kind of used to it by now, having had a lot of people grovel at her feet since she entered the age of puberty, so no big deal. And he's a gentleman enough. He pulls up her chair when she comes in, asks her first what she wants to have for dinner and not make the wrong move of getting their orders for both of them in an unattractive way of masculine display. But by the end of the night, she decides he goes out of the way for her too much.
"Are we finished with dinner now? Should we go home? Can I see you again? Can I call you?" Chaeyoung shares to Nayeon Monday morning in her office cubicle. "I swear Nayeon, it's like he can't make a decision on his own."
Nayeon laughs at her exaggerated reaction but defends Jimin. "You're too harsh on him. It's actually cute. Not a lot of guys will do that for a girl nowadays."
Chaeyoung rolls up her eyes. "You think that's cute but we talked about books and I asked him if he liked To Kill a Mockingbird because he said he's read it but his answer was should he like it? Because, he said, if I liked it then he'll like it, too."
Nayeon lets out a loud laugh at that. "He's probably too nervous around you."
"I'm sorry if I'm being harsh but I cannot date a pussy."
Many date nights come around after that but all are first dates and there is still no one she considered having another one with. Nayeon says she's running out of ideas, which Chaeyoung only half believes because, duh, how can she, if Chaeyoung swings both ways and basically all single people can fit in on her category, maybe except for those who are not between the age of twenty and thirty and of course doesn't belong to the crazy asylums.
One night looks more promising than the others. Mina is a pleasant girl. She says the right things at the right time. Sort of laughs at her jokes. Shares most of her hobbies and seem nice enough. But when she's about to ask her out on another date, Mina bursts out crying, saying she comes from a strict Catholic family and going out on a lesbian date is already making her feel awfully guilty, so yes she has to say no.
"Unnie, I'm not sure if you're really trying to help me out. Next time you pair me up with a girl, make sure she's really into girls and proud of me. I'm starting to believe you're out here trying to give me heartbreak instead of fixing my problem."
