"Are you sure you don't want to go to your department party? I can come join you if you'd be more comfortable." "Thanks, Marco, but I'd rather just go home with you." "You positive? I don't mind chilling in the library for a couple of hours. I won't leave campus without you." Awe, I grinned, clenching my phone in my hand. "No, you don't have to do that. Let's just go home as planned. Besides, Noah's gonna meet you outside your building in ten minutes." "Oh, right; crap. I forgot he was coming. Gotta hurry up and finish here." "Heh, you do that. I'll see you downstairs soon." "Alright, so long as you're sure Elle….." "I'm sure! Now hurry!" "Ok, I will! Be there in a couple of minutes." "Good. Bye." "Bye." Click!
I put my phone into my coat pocket and hurried to pack up all my stuff in my office. Today was the department's party; they had one every few months or so. I didn't mind them in Amsterdam or Edinburgh, but the culture in Korea was so different. I was one of the only foreigners in my building and while I could speak the language fairly well, I still wasn't fluent. It was awkward, particularly because a large part of Korean office parties both in academia and outside involved a lot of drinking. My sobriety only made things more uncomfortable, and not just for me. No, I'd much rather go home and spend the night with Lee, Marco, and Noah.
Settling on this plan, I tossed on my backpack, closed up my office, and headed for the elevator. The floor was fairly quiet since everyone was already downstairs on the main level. I inwardly cringed at the idea of trying to sneak past everybody. I didn't want to go to the party, but I didn't want to come off as rude or anti-social either. The elevator dinged and I sucked in a long breath. Ok, Elle; you can do this. These are your colleagues and friends; they don't want it to be awkward either. Just head for the door, saying hi to anyone who might see you. Yeah, ok- I got this. I got this!
I so did not have this.
The elevators doors opened, and I felt my stomach drop on out of me. Crowded! The entire floor was chalked full of people. Everyone was talking, laughing, and generally having a good time. It took me a painfully long second to come up with the courage to step into the room- it was like the black sheep entering the party. Luckily, for the first few steps, no one paid attention to me. But of course, good things can't last indefinitely. I groaned inside my mind at the sound of my name being called out.
"Evans! Hey, Evans!" "Hi, Song-yi," realizing I was snagged, I relented and wandered over to where she was standing. Song-yi was this pretty girl whose office was one floor above mine. We met during orientation week and stayed casual friends ever since. It wasn't her I was anxious about, but she stood with a group of other girls- some I'd seen around the department and others I'd never met before. The majority grinned pleasantly at my arrival. "This is Evans Shelley. She's the exchange student on floor seven," she explained to the group in Korean; our whole conversation took place in Korean. "Oh yeah! The American who's living in England, right?" One girl- I didn't know her name- addressed me. "Uh, Scotland," I shyly corrected. "Right. And you're working with Professor Oh?" "Yes, he's temporarily supervising me while I'm here." "Wow," a few of them exclaimed. "I've always wanted to go to the UK. Do you miss it?" "A little, but I love living in Seoul," I grinned. This seemed to please them, all nodding amongst themselves. "How do you like the department? It must be really different than what you're used to," a lady named Ga-rin inquired. "Oh, no! I love our department. It was a bit of a cultural, but it's been like that everywhere. No, I really like it here; I'm glad I came for a year-long exchange." "Well, we're glad you did too," Song-yi smiled- a genuine smile. This made me mirror her expression…. for about four seconds. "Glad you did what?" I don't think I could have internally winced harder. No... Please god, no; anything but this.
"Oh, hi, Ji-yoon. Glad you could make it," Song-yi greeted her with a kind tone. We all looked, including me, to Ji-yoon coming over to us. Her made eye contact with everyone present before stopping on my stare. There was this hidden smirk to her mild greeting grin; she knew she'd caught me here. She knew I wouldn't bring up the books here; not with everyone around us like this. She could be cordial to me, knowing there's not a damn thing I could do about it. And she revelled it in. I had to physically force my grin to remain when she came to stand beside me. Her stare stayed on me through the corner of her eyes.
"I must say, I'm surprised to see you down here, Evans. Doesn't your boyfriend usually come pick you up around this time?" My heart skipped a beat; my cheeks sizzled a bright pink. The other girls all perked up enthusiastically at this. "You have a boyfriend?!" "H-He's not my boyfriend!" I tried my best to wave it off acting all innocent. You never get outright confrontational in Korea- well, unless you're Noah. Knowing she had me now, Ji-yoon's grin grew sourly. "He's always dropping her off and picking her up. It's super adorable." "Awe, Evans! Why didn't you tell us?" Ga-rin squealed excitedly. They have a thing with shipping people here. I let another inward moan ring through me. Great, now I'll never convince them that I don't have a boyfriend. Just perfect.
Ji-yoon only added fuel to the fire. "Don't be so shy, Evans. He's really cute." "You've seen him, Ji-yoon?" A girl I didn't know asked her curious. She nodded proudly. "He's not Korean." "Oh! Is he American too, then? Or is he from the UK?" Ga-rin questioned me. I blinked, very uncomfortable right now. "He's uh, American…." "Awe! So did he come here to be with you? That's so romantic!" "No! He um... he's on exchange too." "Honestly, there's no reason to be so bashful, Evans. Lots of people our age are in relationships," Ji-yoon flashed me this sickeningly sweet smile- an evil smile. I felt a drop of sweat roll down the back of my neck. God, what I would give to get the hell outta of here now. By Monday, everyone in my department is going to think I have a boyfriend. This is a nightmare!
I think Song-yi was about to say something about all this until a man interrupted us. He was carrying a tray of bottled drinks. "Can I interest you ladies in a drink?" "Sure." "Thanks." "Thank you." "Thanks, Han," practically all of them took a bottle- all except for me. Of course all eyes were on me puzzled by my silent refusal to join them. "What's wrong, Evans? Not thirsty?" Song-yi asked me, a mild concern to her voice. I think she knew has this looked as well as I did. I clasped my hands in front of me, wanting the floor to open up and swallow me whole. "Oh no! I'm just uh…. leaving soon," I couldn't look in her eyes while answering. This was utterly horrible. Everyone looked surprised.
"What? You're leaving?" "Is your boyfriend picking you up?" "You should at least have one drink with us before you go." "No! N-No, thank you…. I don't drink." You'd think I said I shot someone. "You…. don't drink? You're over twenty-one, aren't you?" One girl inquired. "She looks old enough to drink," the man holding the tray unhelpfully added. "You can't have one drink with the members of your department?" Ji-yoon remarked clearly unimpressed. Secretly, I knew she was loving watching me squirm like this. My cheeks burned an even brighter shade of red as I shook my head. It was Song-yi who saw the distress I was in and came to my rescue.
"Oh, that's ok, Evans. Everyone has a different diet. Maybe next time you'll come drink with us." "Yeah, sure," I gave her a grateful grin, which I'm sure she understood. Like some light at the end of the tunnel was showing itself, that's when I spotted Marco and Noah through the lobby window. My heart leapt for joy. I sent everyone a goodbye smile. "I've got to go now. We'll catch up on Monday, ok?" My hand waved as I was about to turn around. Surprisingly- although perhaps not so- Ji-yoon was the one who stopped me. She grabbed my wrist and smiled that devilish smile of hers.
"You should at least take a bottle for the road." "Oh, no! That's fine. Thank you, though," always gotta say "thank you" here. But Ji-yoon didn't release me. Instead she thrusted a bottle into my hand. "Here, take my cider. I've already opened the bottle but haven't had a sip yet. Take it, so you don't leave empty-handed," she practically thrusted this soda bottle into my hand. It was one I didn't recognize since I don't drink much- if any- pop at home. Reading my face as I scanned it over, she widened her grin. "It's a non-alcoholic soda," Ji-yoon stated. The other girls seemed impressed by her "generosity".
"Awe, that was really nice of you, Ji-yoon," one girl cooed. "Now Evans will have something for the way home," Ga-rin tacked on. The rest of the girls nodded their heads approvingly, including Song-yi. She bought into Ji-yoon's BS just like everyone else. It's not her fault; Ji-yoon has a way of making herself look like an angel. Her stunning beauty didn't help matters either. That's why everyone looked badly upon me when I hesitated to accept the drink. The guy even scoffed. "What? Don't appreciate good hospitality?" He spat. I knew what that was code for: look at the ungrateful foreigner who wouldn't know what manners looked like if they smacked her in the face. Seeing that there was no way for me to win here, I decided to play the game and go along with it. I snatched my arm back from Ji-yoon and gave her the sickest, most patronizing grin. "Thank you, Ji-yoon. That was really kind of you and I appreciate it. I'll see everyone on Monday." "Bye, Evans. Have a good weekend," they waved at me as I took off. Noah and Marco were outside, looking in slightly confused. Their eyes fell onto me coming through the sliding lobby door. All semblance of a grin was vanished from my lips now and I looked a wreck.
"What was that all about, Elle? Those girls friends of yours or…?" Noah scratched the back of his neck, confused and slightly concerned. I did not seem happy at the moment. Marco eyes moved from me back to the group; they enlarged after a second. "Hey, wait… Isn't that…..?" He didn't finish but he didn't have to. I silently nodded, not looking at either of them at the moment. But I could sense Marco's face darken from here. His eyes narrowed; his mouth drifted to this predominant frown. Noah blinked surprised when all of a sudden Marco reached down to take my hand. "We are leaving," he said with anger and finality. "Hey, Marco? What's wrong? Hey, wait a minute!" The stunned Noah followed after us as Marco led me away from my building by the hand. He didn't stop dragging me until we were in the underground train station, but even that didn't feel far enough. Nugh…..
If I never seen that Ji-yoon, it'll be too soon.