by Leigh Ban
I nodded, then tried to scan the café to check if there were any empty tables.
“Should I go and see if there are any free tables?” he offered, stepping away from the line. “Wait in line, okay?”
After Isaac left, I overheard the conversation of the group of women in front of me.
“Why are they taking so long with each order?” said a woman in a duster coat, tapping her pointed-toe ankle boots on the floor.
“I know, right? We’ve been here for five minutes and this line hasn’t been getting any shorter,” replied a woman in a fuzzy teddy bear jacket, sticking her head out to peer over at the back of the line.
A woman in a white down jacket smiled at her friends and chimed in. “I think two of the baristas are trainees. Look over there. Can you see their special badges?”
The woman in the duster coat sighed. “Aren’t we lucky? We came here on the most perfect day, didn’t we? Complete with the best weather for getting frostbites.”
Funnily enough, the queue began moving faster shortly after. I wondered if the wait might not be so terribly long after all. When I turned my head to see where Isaac might be, I spotted another familiar face instead.
He was none other than Minsoo Kim, the first guy I dated in college. Although I hadn’t seen him since freshman year and he had a buzz cut now, I’d been taunted by him enough times in my nightmares to feel like I was merely bumping into him yet again. Minsoo was sitting alone with an empty glass cup next to his laptop. To my horror, he proceeded to close his laptop and put it into his canvas bag. Then he got up from his seat. While he made his way in my direction, I hurriedly took my phone out of my pocket and stared down at the screen, as if I’d been assigned a top-secret mission from the president. Just as I thought he was going to stop and approach me, he walked past and entered the men’s bathroom. I slowly released a sigh of relief.
“Hey, I’m back.”
I flinched and turned my head. “Hey!”
“Are you alright?” Isaac asked. “I left my backpack and coat at one of the tables on the second floor.”
“Of course I’m alright. Why wouldn’t I be?” I tittered hoarsely.
As he raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth crept up. “Because you were very conspicuously hiding from that guy.”
“That guy?” I squeaked.
“The one who just went into the bathroom.” Isaac chuckled. “Come on, Yumi. What’s your deal with him?”
I sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“We’re not exactly strapped for time.”
“I’ll tell you later,” I mumbled, waving my hand dismissively as I kept my eyes on the bathroom door.
“Let me guess, a team project gone haywire? Your rival in high school? Or—I’m casting my vote on this one—a bad breakup?”
“You suck,” I hissed, my face heating up. “Alright, it looks like Minsoo’s taking a while in there, so I’ll just share the key details.”
“His name’s Minsoo?”
“Yup. Minsoo Kim. He’s technically my first boyfriend.”
“Technically? What is that supposed to mean?”
“Minsoo and I only dated for around three weeks. When other people share stories about their first love, they talk about weeks or even months of buildup, of gradually developing feelings for each other, and eventually connecting on an emotional and physical level. He asked me out on the second night we hung out, while we were… spending the night together.”
Isaac nodded. For some reason, I’d expected him to judge me and look at me in disdain. He didn’t seem fazed by what I said though. I felt like I was talking to one of my close friends.
I continued. “Our relationship, which was basically a quick fling, ended as abruptly as it started. After a couple of motel dates, Minsoo invited me to his house. Apparently his parents were traveling to Jeju to attend a wedding or something. He was dumb and horny. He didn’t bother to check if they’d boarded the plane.”
“Uh-oh… I see where this is going,” Isaac said.
“Oh, it was worse than you could imagine. The dust storm was particularly bad that day, so the plane got delayed, then canceled, and his parents came home earlier than we expected. When Minsoo heard the front door open, he thought it would be a good idea to shove me into his closet.”
“How long did you stay in there? It wasn’t for the rest of the weekend, was it?”
“I only stayed in there for a couple of minutes. His parents saw my patent platform heels once they walked in and noticed what was going on.”
“Yikes,” Isaac murmured.
“So I ended up meeting them. It was the most awkward interaction I’ve ever had, to be honest. And all for nothing. Because Minsoo broke up with me the next day. He outright told me his parents don’t approve of him seeing a girl who disrespects them by sneaking into their house.”
“What? His parents really said that? When he was the one that invited you to his house?”
“Yeah, he even showed me screenshots of the messages his parents sent him. They literally accused me of sneaking into their house, like their son was about to bone the burglar. According to them, I’d disrespected their privacy. Which I think is rubbish. They were obviously just uncomfortable with the idea of their son getting laid in his bedroom. Anyway, do you remember how I told you I was a wreck during my first semester? And how I ended up in the hospital?”
“You were going through a hard time, weren’t you?”
“Being dumped by Minsoo, then seeing him with his new girlfriend a couple of days later… that’s what triggered my downward spiral. Ultimately, I should’ve had more restraint, but what happened with Minsoo crushed my self-worth, especially since I kept bumping into him and his girlfriend on a weekly basis.”
When the bathroom door swung open and Minsoo stepped out, I jumped, even though I knew it would be him.
“Yumi!” Minsoo exclaimed.
“Speak of the devil,” Isaac muttered under his breath.
“Well, it was only a matter of time,” I muttered back.
Minsoo smiled at me and called out, “Wow! It really is you. I thought I saw you before, on the way to the bathroom, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. Yumi, how have you been? Long time no see, huh?”
“I’m good. What about you?” I said like I was reading off a script.
“I finished my military service last week actually,” Minsoo shared, then turned to Isaac. “You must be her boyfriend. You’re the guy from Yumi’s profile picture, aren’t you?”
“Yup, that’s me.” Isaac beamed, wrapping his arm around me. “We had a fun day at the Seo Woo Center, didn’t we, babe?”
“We sure did.” I giggled as Isaac caressed my shoulder.
“Early days, right?” Minsoo asked.
“Yeah. It’s the best,” I said, giving him a snide look. “How’s your girlfriend doing, by the way?”
Minsoo scratched the back of his head. “Oh, well, she’s my ex now. We broke up a year ago.”
“While you were in the military?”
“Yeah. She dumped me.”
After Isaac came back from the counter with our drinks, he asked, “So who was your actual first love then?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be telling me about your idea for our next date?” I pointed out before taking a sip of coffee.
“We’ll get to that in a moment. But first, why don’t we talk about love?”
“In that case, why don’t you go ahead and tell me about your first love? Because I don’t really have much to share. Isaac, I’ve never had a meaningful relationship with a guy. At least not romantically,” I confided, studying the swirl pattern on my cup.
“I see.” He took a gulp of cappuccino and added, “This coffee is amazing. Thanks for bringing me here.”
I looked at him. “Well?”
He chuckled. “You want to know about my first love? Truth be told, I don’t know if I’ve had a meaningful relationship before.”
I cast him a
n accusing glance. “You’re just saying this to seem like we’re on the same page, aren’t you?”
“How did you know?” He gave an exaggerated gasp. “I’m a twice-divorced widower.”
I rolled my eyes. “When did you get married for the first time? Was it before your fortieth birthday or after?”
“After my fortieth, before my fiftieth. I look pretty good for my age, don’t I?” He gave me a devilish grin. “Okay, all jokes aside, I’m not entirely sure whether I’ve ever had deep feelings for someone who loved me just as much. It’s different than having crushes, isn’t it? Sure, I’ve been attracted to girls and they’ve been attracted to me, but it was simply on a superficial level.”
“As in you liked a girl because you thought she had a pretty smile and an impressive rack? How self-aware of you,” I teased.
“No. What I mean is, even if I’m talking to a girl for the first time and I think she’s got a sweet personality and we’d get along perfectly, I don’t actually know that. When I think I’m in love with someone who I’ve only just met, I’m merely infatuated with the idealized version of her in my mind, aren’t I? I’m making a lot of assumptions based on my initial impression of her.”
“You’re right,” I muttered. Frankly, I was a little taken aback by how introspective he was. “And that’s why I tell my friends to never hurry into relationships. A guy might seem like Prince Charming in the early stages, but he might be putting on a ‘boyfriend of the year’ façade.”
“But what about the reverse? We’re getting along better than the first day we met,” he said, laughing.
“Because you were a royal asshole then.”
“Yeah, I should have been more sincere with my apology and tried to help you. My mistake was that I didn’t consider how important it was for you to apply for the right courses. I guess I childishly assumed that because course registration wasn’t a big deal for me, you didn’t have anything to freak out about either.” He put his hand on mine. “I’m sorry about what happened that day, Yumi.”
I stacked my other hand on top of his. “Oh, but something doesn’t add up.”
“What do you mean?”
“If course registration wasn’t a big deal for you, why were you at the Internet café with the fastest connection in Sinchon?” I asked with a playful smirk.
“I was coming straight from a night out with my best friend from high school. Now, I’ve got a little trinket for you. I suppose it could be an apology present, even though I didn’t know we’d be discussing the way we first met today.”
“What is it?”
Isaac unzipped his backpack and pulled out a palm-sized Tinkerbell figurine. “This is one of the two clues I’ve prepared.”
“One of the two clues on… what you’d like us to do for our fifth date?” I said as I took the tiny Tinkerbell from him. “How cute. Thanks for this. I think I’ll pop it on my vanity.”
“Alright, where do you think we’re going?”
“Hmm…” I tapped my index finger against the handle of my mug. “Are we watching a Christmas parade?”
“Nope.”
“So our date doesn’t involve any type of Christmas parade? I would’ve guessed that we’re going to some sort of theme park, but we already went to Unicorn World, so I presume we’re not visiting another one.” I paused and fiddled with the little figurine.
“Come on, make another guess.”
“Are you taking me to a… toy store?” I asked hesitantly.
He nodded. “And then we’re going somewhere else.”
“If you keep making me guess, we’ll be here until the café closes. Can you give me the second hint?”
“Sure,” he replied, reaching into his backpack. He handed me what appeared to be a green skirt or shirt.
“What is this?” I laughed as I removed the plastic wrap. Isaac hadn’t given me a green skirt—this was a short Tinkerbell dress.
“Here, I have the wings too,” he said, handing me a pair of costume fairy wings.
“How did these wings fit in your bag?”
“It was a struggle.”
Upon giving the wings a closer look, I realized they were slightly bent out of shape. I straightened the edge and asked, “Do you want me to wear this… with the dress?”
“Bingo.”
“Isaac, whatever your idea is, it better be good.”
Chapter Ten
Although Unity Library was West Seoul University’s main library, my favorite place to study was Yoon Library, a two-story rare book library tucked away at the back of the campus. Unlike Unity Library, which consisted of two eight-story buildings linked through a sky bridge, Yoon Library didn’t have a state-of-the-art computer lab or a rooftop café or even any private seminar rooms, but I didn’t mind. All I needed was an empty desk and a somewhat comfortable chair. Since half the student body seemed to be unaware of there even being a study area on the first floor of Yoon Library, I always had plenty of spare seats to choose from.
On Sunday afternoon, I sat at one of the desks behind the archive of medical journals, a place where I knew nobody would come and find me. While I was flipping through the pages of my economics textbook, I felt a hand brush against my back and almost fell off my chair.
“Boo,” a voice whispered.
“What the—”
“Hey, Yumi.”
When I turned my head, I saw Isaac pressing a fist against his mouth to muffle his laughter.
“Why did you do that? We’re in the library,” I hissed, checking to see if anyone was coming our way. It seemed to be that we were totally alone.
“Please forgive me. I missed seeing your reaction from that day at Unicorn World,” he replied, giving me a cheeky grin.
“When I felt your hand on my back, I thought you were a tarantula. You’re lucky I didn’t turn around and hit you with my textbook.”
“Thank you for showing me mercy,” Isaac joked, kneeling like a knight.
“You are super embarrassing,” I muttered, though I couldn’t help but smile.
“Only because you’re fun to embarrass. So what have you been up to?” he asked, perching on the spare chair to my right.
“I’ve been revising for classes. Can’t you see?” I lifted my textbook and waved it at him.
“How’s your studying going? Did I make you lose focus?”
“Considering the fact I almost landed on the ground? Yes.”
“My bad. I was just excited to see you. You know, today is the first time we’ve bumped into each other outside of class. Is this where you’ve been all semester?”
“Well, I do have a social life and a home, but yeah, this is where I come to study.”
Isaac pointed to the nearest bookshelves and explained, “I’ve been doing research for a term paper on the first Western hospitals in South Korea.”
“I didn’t ask, but good for you.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Yup, good for me because I’m about to head out for a walk and you’re going to join me.”
“Where do you want to go?” I said, tossing my pencil into my pencil case and zipping it up. I’d been sitting at my desk for a couple of hours, and I was getting pins and needles in my legs.
“You’re ready to leave right now? Frankly, I thought I’d have to sweet-talk you into coming with me.”
“I needed to take a breather anyway.”
Once I packed my bag, I followed Isaac out through the back door of the Yoon Library, which led toward the campus forest. Although we were approaching the coldest part of the year, it was an unusually warm and pleasant day. The cool air felt refreshing. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.
I grabbed his arm and asked, “Do you know where we’re going?”
“I know this is the infamous campus forest, but otherwise, not really,” he replied, taking slow strides.
“Oh, so you’ve heard the rumors?” I said, remembering a story Stella had told me. According to her, impassioned moans and groans could be
heard in these woods after dark.
“Of course. Those rumors are true, you know.”
“You haven’t done it, have you?”
“Not yet. I suppose I’ll join in on the fun next year.”
“You’ll… join in on the fun? Is that why people come here? Because they can hear everyone else at the same time?” I said, grimacing. Was Isaac an exhibitionist? The image of him making out with a girl and hiking up her skirt under an oak tree made my heart drop. I was beginning to regret having asked him whether he’d come here to hook up.
“I guess. Do you have a problem with it? These woods are so secluded I doubt anyone could hear what was going on from elsewhere. It’s harmless, isn’t it?”
“Are you serious? If it’s just harmless fun, why didn’t you come and do it earlier? Heck, come and do it tonight with someone,” I blurted out.
“Wait, what are you talking about? Yumi, people come here after their first cadaver dissection. They don’t do it on a regular basis.”
I stopped in my tracks. “After their first cadaver dissection? What does that have to do with anything?”
He tilted his head a little, giving me a curious look. “Aren’t we talking about how med students come here after their first cadaver dissection to distress? Apparently, they shout the names of back muscles because they start off by dissecting the back on the first day.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
Isaac added, “Clearly that’s not what you were referring to.”
“My friend told me… well… never mind. There must’ve been a misunderstanding,” I mumbled, scratching my earlobe.
“Go on. What were you thinking of?” He smirked. “It had to be something far more scandalous than a bunch of sleep-deprived students yelling out muscle names.”
I peered up at the thick branches of a towering oak tree just a few feet away from us.
“I’ll take a guess. Do students come here to trade old exam questions? Or for a secret society meeting?”
I chuckled. To be honest, I felt like a massive idiot for having gotten a little upset at him over nothing.
“Or do they just come here for raunchy, hedonistic fun? I’ve heard there’s a blog dedicated to places where West Seoul University students have hooked up. Complete with details on the best time of day to get away with it and whatnot.”
