"some days might turn out bad but there will always be hours of good"
Knock knock
"Gyeoul! Wake up and eat breakfast. Come downstairs!"
Groaning, she stretched and let her body move to ease the pain from sleeping in a weird position on the window seat. Before standing up she reaches her hand out towards her phone on the table to check the time.
8:53 AM.
Groaning once more, she sits up, looking around her messy room.
She has been staying up later to finish her work. Despite being homeschooled and having her own schedule, she has been behind her books, forgetting to do her tasks and tests.
Of course, her mum doesn't blame her, she's trying to fit in and make herself comfortable in the community, as well as trying to find ways to make Sunoo happy, and herself as well.
Standing up, she took the books off the bed and stacked them on her desk.
She went to the bathroom to freshen up. Knowing she'd have a long day of school and finally picking up her unfinished work, she had to take a bath and get ready so she wouldn't slack off.
She finds it fascinating how her mind and body properly works only when she has fixed herself and a clean room. She wonders why sometimes, but she guesses it's just some psychological thing.
--
"Gyeoul, what are you doing today? Any adventures?" Grandpa Jung asks at the table, as he takes his morning coffee with his newspaper by his side.
"Hmm. Nothing for today, grandpa."
"Just school. Boring stuff." she replied.
"I just want to finish my school, so that I can focus on the bucket list." she continues.
"I'm off to college soon, I don't wanna go without finishing it." frowning, she looks down on her plate.
"Well then, finish up your meal quickly. so you can head up and finish your studies. Your books don't answer themselves!" Grandma Jung consoles, with a little nagging of course.
With the frown off her face, she follows what her grandma says. "Yes ma!" she cheered.
"Well, we were curious,"
"What else is on your bucket list?" Grandma Jung asks.
Putting her utensils down, she thinks for a few seconds, reminding herself of what was written on the list, "Well... there's attending a party, the zoo, pet cafe, the beach-"
"Oh! And we want to go back to the park we went to! But together, hopefully."
"Don't look so glum now, I'm sure you'll be able to! Now go put your dishes in the sink and finish your studies so you can continue your bucket list." Mama Jung says, finally emerging from the kitchen.
"Yes, I will," Gyeoul says, taking her plate to the sink.
"I'll go do school now!" she said, running upstairs.
"HEY! STOP RUNNING YOU MIGHT TRIP- aish, this child..."
--
Gyeoul was having a hard time.
She had extra classes today that would be held online, meaning she'd be in a meeting for 3–way too long–hours filled with snobby teenagers who, half of the time, weren't even actually in the class listening.
But of course, today had to be one of those days where group projects were to be assigned and she just had to be paired up with that typical guy in class who tells you what to do even though he, himself, has 0 knowledge on the topic at hand.
And here she was, listening to him talk about what they should do and shouldn't do under the topic of Gyeoul-doesn't-even-know anymore because where the hell is he even going with this?
"...Okay so we should do it this way of course, cus it makes the most sense, you know what I mean?" Gyeoul replied with a hum of agreement even though she had no idea what he was even talking about and if it was even related to the topic their teacher gave them.
"You should start writing down ideas so we don't get lost, let's be organised here," because her camera was off, she rolled her eyes freely, not having it anymore. She now regrets asking her mum to be in an English class instead of the Maths class–which probably would've been better than this even though she didn't really like the subject.
"Actually, I've written down ideas while you were talking, I'll just send it to you later,"
Once he stopped talking, she grabbed the opportunity to excuse herself, "I gotta go now, bye...", leaving the call before he could say so much more.
Frustratingly, she messes her hair up, "Why does working with other people have to be such a pain." Groaning once more, she decided she'll leave that for another day as she couldn't focus when her head was too clouded. After sending the list to him, she stood up and stretched.
"I should fix my room," she thought after getting a glimpse of her messy bedroom.
So here she is, finally picking up the books from the floor and the bean bag chair, putting them on the shelf beside her table.
Going back to her table, she sorted out the papers that were scattered, placing them in her drawer, reminding herself to shred the ones she doesn't need anymore.
Now walking to her bed, she started with the bedside table, picking up the trash can and placing it by her door so she can throw it out later.
Then she went on to fix her bed that she forgot to tidy up in the morning and picked up the scattered clothes that she didn't even know how it ended up there.
She was so focused on cleaning that she didn't even hear her phone chiming. As she was decluttering her closet her phone started ringing so she dropped the hanger on her bed and picked up her phone that was on the desk.
"Hello?"
"Dude, what the hell. I thought you were dead!"
Wincing, she removed the phone from her ear and put it on loudspeaker instead, worrying for her ear's sake, "Why are you so dramatic, what's up?"
"What do you mean, "why"-I've been texting you for about 30 minutes and no reply! I got worried cuz you were online but you weren't responding! You never do that. Online but not responding-"
Laughing, she cut him off, knowing he'd continue ranting even though it's literally the same sentence over and over again, "Calm down, Sunoo! I was just cleaning my room,"
"What were you even blowing up my phone for?"
"Well I wanted to ask you if you want to-"
"Yeah, for sure!"
"BUT I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED MY SENTENCE!"
Plopping down on her bed, laughing, "Okay okay! What were you gonna say?"
"My friends want to meet you-wait don't say anything yet, let me explain," holding her mouth, she decided to hear him out despite this weird bubbling feeling inside of her, she couldn't tell if it was excitement or uneasiness.
"You aren't meeting them in person yet since I thought you wouldn't be comfortable with that and I would hate myself if I made you feel uncomfortable–I mean just because you're comfortable with me doesn't mean you'll be comfortable with them too right? Right. so don't worry, I told them they can meet you virtually-"
Finally easing up, she laughed at his rambling, "Okay, I'm good with that. What is it? A casual call or something, that's easy, I can definitely do that!" she enthusiastically said, wanting to look at the brighter outcome of this conversation: new friends.
"Are you sure though? I mean I was only asking, I haven't told them yes or anything, I said I'd talk to you about it. They're not expecting or, or anything... so don't worry."
"I told you, I'm really good with it, I promise!"
"I thought of something,"
"What if we like-I don't know how to explain this really, but in shorter words, virtual party?" she reluctantly asked.
"Hmm, a party with just 8 people? That sounds comfortable but fun!"
"What do we do though?"
"I don't know"
"..."
"I really really can't with you... I swear-"
"I mean, like any other normal party! Music, food and people!"
"The difference is just, we are doing it virtually and we'll just find a way to listen to the same music... I don't know, what do you think?"
"I guess that doesn't sound too bad, I'll let them know!"
"Is 8pm good for you?"
"Yep, all good... see you tomorrow!"
--
It was 7pm when she finally finished cleaning her room, Gyeoul is currently slumped back in her bean bag, arranging a playlist for tomorrow's party and making a list of snacks she'll buy tomorrow for herself, reminding herself to buy tteokbokki as Sunoo would definitely want that.
She doesn't know what to expect, I mean, she hasn't had the time to have a proper conversation with his friends. Sure, she said hi and she knew their names but she didn't even know which one is who or what grade they're in.
She doesn't even know why she hasn't met Sunoo yet when he lived next door and his friends come over once in a while, which is why she was able to greet them a few times already when they're behind Sunoo as he calls her.
Are we really waiting for the right time to meet or is it fear?
Sighing, she stood up to sit in front of her desk, thinking of continuing her school to distract herself from thinking further of the topic.
Opening her laptop, she groaned, remembering the group project. "God, why do I have to do that...", she opened her notes to start typing out random words to describe the topic.
She thought it would be a good idea if she could do more than half of the project then he could do the remaining parts and then submit it. I mean she's basically doing more than what he's told to do, wouldn't he appreciate doing less workload?
But she was better than that, groaning once more, she started typing out an email to him, letting him know that she'd be doing the first parts of the essay and he could do the latter–preferably at least 2 paragraphs–then they could submit it together.
It wouldn't be a problem either because she wouldn't have to sit in a call with him rambling off about something that she doesn't even understand, and didn't want to offend him by not caring directly, so it's better to cut the load in half. They're still working together just not at the same time.
Her phone started ringing just as she was about to finish the first paragraph.
"Yah! How long are you planning to stay on that desk? It's almost 9, Gyeoul! What are you even doing?"
"Oh hey, Sunoo! What's up? How are you? Oh! I'm fine, thank you and you?"
"Weirdo. Come up to your rooftop, get some air,"
"I'll be going up too. I already told my mum and she allowed me so don't worry, I'm good!"
"But I'm not done yet!"
"I don't care, Gyeoul. You've been cooped up in your room for so long, you deserve to get fresh air, you can finish that tomorrow, for now, take a break."
"You deserve a break once in a while... Don't just push yourself to do stuff when you know you can't take it anymore."
"Thanks, Sunoo... I needed that,"
"I'll go up in a while, just let me change."
Closing her laptop, she went to change into warm clothes so she wouldn't freeze up there. Taking a blanket, a pillow and her phone she made her way up the stairs towards the rooftop.
"Mum! I'll be at the rooftop if you need me! Just gonna get some air!" she shouted.
"Okay! Don't stay out for too long, and don't fall asleep there! Your dad isn't here to carry you to your room, Jung Gyeoul!" her mum retorted. "Yes Ma! I won't, I promise!"
--
"Do you think we'd be able to meet soon?"
Sunoo looks at his screen, smiling at the sight of her watching the night sky, "Of course... I badly want to meet you but I need you to be fully comfortable to meet me"
"I'm comfortable..." she hesitantly said.
"But I guess I'm not ready to meet you in person yet because I feel like things would change once we do...", she didn't know how to word her sentences without making it sound like she doesn't actually mean her words?
"What do you mean?"
Scratching her head, she looks down and laughs to herself, "I don't know..."
"I feel like once we do meet, we'd be different towards each other... What if we become awkward? Or we don't even talk to each other anymore..." trailing off, she looks up at the sky once again.
"Or worse, you actually don't like me then you dip."
"That's stupid."
"But-"
"But nothing, Gyeoul."
"I'm comfortable with you so why would I throw our friendship away just because we meet in person?"
"I mean we technically saw each other in person already. Our houses are next to each other." Looking at his screen, he could see her frowning, she knew she was overthinking the situation. "I've seen you through your window and I can see you right now, from my rooftop—doesn't that count as something? Why would something change just because I finally met you face to face?"
"..."
Smiling playfully, he continued, "The only thing that will change after we meet is that I can finally see your ugly face," Gyeoul rolled her eyes.
"I could finally hug you too."
Pointing her finger at him, she replies, "First of all, screw you- you're ugly too," raising two fingers up, "and two, okay, I get it." she says, sinking in her seat.
"I was just overthinking again... sorry."
"It's nothing to be sorry about, Gyeoul. It's normal to overthink about these things but please, I'm your best friend... Why would you think I'd change my mind about you once you're just a few feet away from me?" he assuringly smiled at her, hoping she'll get the message of what he wants to tell her.
"Gyeoul, I'm so happy with you... You've given me a different kind of joy that my parents and friends gave me."
"I can't even explain how happy I am, how thankful I am to have you in my life; how much I appreciate you." Even through the screen, his eyes showed the sincerity he had in his words.
"I don't really tell you this enough but," Gyeoul faces the screen to see him, wanting him to know that she was listening intently to what he wanted to say.
"Thank you, really."
"You've done so much for me that I wish I could do everything I can to make you happy as well. I don't think there's anything I could do that would amount to everything you did but I'll try my best to do the same thing you are doing for me."
"I'm grateful you're in my life, as sappy and dramatic that sounds, I really mean it."
"I'm really grateful for you too. And I mean it as much as you do."
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