How u doin'
It’s Friday evening and Yeji is resting on the couch in the living room. Her parents sit together in the sofa across the coffee table. They have just finished watching the news and are now having a casual small talk with each other. Yeji is just about to lean forward to pick up the TV remote when a buzzing sound is heard from her phone. She notices how her parents turn their heads towards her for a short second but then goes back to face each other. Yeji takes a look at the screen and as she does her heart skips a beat. The face turns hot like burning lava, which must shine right through her fair skin. She is happy that her parents did not find the notification sound interesting enough. How would she have explained this reaction to a simple text from Ryujin?
Yeji opens the message without any delay. She knows some people might call it desperate and that she should wait for a while, but how is that possible? Waiting would only make the heat increase and she doesn’t want to melt into nothingness.
Yeji reads what Ryujin has written. “Hi! How is it going with the recipe? Have you tried it yet?”
What should she answer? Her fingers a shaking slightly from the tension she felt before reading. She does her best in controlling them when typing an answer.
“No, I have not had the time yet.” She presses send. Should she write something more? Something that is not totally plain and boring?
Quickly she ads to the conversation. “I am not that great of a cook and the recipe seemed quite advanced.” She finishes the message by adding a smiley emoji. Then she puts her phone on the armrest, with the screen down. Not more than one minute passes before another notification sound can be heard. This time her parents does not look at her, fortunately, because her face is still warm and it’s hard to be still. When reading the message it does not get any easier to keep calm.
“It sounds like you can use some help. I’m free tomorrow if you would like some assistance.”
Yeji stops amid a deep inbreathing. Did Ryujin just ask her to hang out? Or was she joking? It doesn’t seem like it since there are no emojis to confirm that. What should Yeji answer? Does she want to cook with Ryujin?
Yeji takes a few seconds to think, all while feeling her heart pound in her chest. Is this a physical reaction to her wanting to meet Ryujin, or not wanting to? How to tell the difference? Because usually Yeji’s face only heats up when she is nervous, so is that the case here? Is she nervous? But why? Because an acquaintance just asked her to hang out? Yes, that must be the reason. Yeji has had her set of friends for years now and making new ones is nothing she is used to. That is probably the reason for her warm face and sweaty palms. Because Ryujin does not seem like a bad person, rather the opposite. It was super nice of her to help Yeji in the grocery store. Should Yeji give her a chance?
“Who are you texting with?” Dongjun’s voice echoes over Yeji’s head. She jumps in her spot by the sudden noise and quickly turns her head towards her father.
“Um, I,” She studders, caught completely off guard.
“Shin Ryujin.” Her father mumbles when reading from the screen and scratches his beard. “Is that not the former girlfriend of Hanguk?”
“It is.” Yeji turns her head back towards her phone. She can feel her father eyeing through the conversation on the screen.
“Well, shall you not invite her over?” He proposes in a cherish tone. “Such a good girl can keep you good company tomorrow when me and your mother are out. Is that not fantastic?”
“I guess.” Yeji answers quietly and puts her fingers in position around her phone. She does her best to hide her shakiness. With her father still leaning over her shoulder Yeji types an answer. If her heart was beating fast before it’s now racing. Does he really have to stare at her? It gives her the worst of performance anxiety. She misspells several words and starts over with a sentence completely. When she has pressed the send button, she has no clue of what she actually wrote.
“There we go.” Her father exclaims and pats her on the shoulder. “I am sure you will have a wonderful time together.”
“Yes.” Yeji answers as her father goes back to the other sofa. She glances over at her parents and gets a soft but tired smile from her mother. Must they always engage in everything she and her brother does? They have a private life as well. A sudden anger raises in Yeji. Quickly she excuses herself and leaves the living room. Hopefully the meeting with Ryujin can ease her tension, and not make it any worse. Only time can tell, and there are not many hours left until tomorrow afternoon.