yejun && yeona – planned get-together

Starting texting with Yejun comes easy. Like everything with him, it feels just as natural.
After meeting during the spring festival and basically spending together the entire night, him showing me around the campus, taking me to his favourite place, talking about whatever came to our minds without awkward small talks, we carry on like we never stopped after I see some cute panda video on my Insta feed the next day and send it to him. Plus, I set one of the pictures he took of me on the rooftop as my profile picture on KakaoTalk.
Neither of us is addicted to our phones but we have been pretty much chatting ever since. He's a super chill guy and I like how funny he is and that he doesn't get offended when I don't get his jokes. He tells me about his university life, his friends, his cool sister, the football practices and in exchange I snap him photos of cute cafés I have visited, of poetry books I have been reading and tell him childhood stories of me and my brother. Having grown up with boy relatives in the family, I don't feel shy around other guys either and I like how easy it is to befriend Yejun. He never asks about my family's financial background which is a great relief after meetings too many people who are too hung up on the idea that I'm a Kwon. Yejun doesn't seem to care and even though I'm proud to be a part of this family, I'm glad.
It also comes natural when Yejun mentions that the next match of the season is coming up and invites me since I told him I would be interested. Without university or a job, I'm pretty much always free if there no family program, so it's no question I'm going and that's why I'm heading over to SNU on a lovely May afternoon. Even sending Minhyuk a selfie of me before the football arena, though I doubt he would text me back at all. Or if he did he would probably not appreciate me coming over for a sport event but he has all too stiff principles, so it wouldn't change a thing.
I dressed comfy and I guess I did a pretty good job because I don't stick out like a sore thumb from the mess of students as I take a seat among the audience. I have never been at a football match, so I don't know what to expect but it's definitely more fun. The enthusiasm of the crowd is crazy and I find myself screaming Falcons with the SNU students after a while. Not to be biased but it's quite easy to find Yejun among the athletes, so I keep my eye on him during most of the game and I have to take a note of that he's a good player and in the end his team ends up winning which has me standing up and hollering, too. I don't have much to do with the whole thing and yet the experience makes me feel giddy, so I type a text to Yejun telling him I'm here and I'll wait in front of the building if he has time to catch up.
It takes quite some time to get out with all those people and by the time I find myself a place to stay put, I get a reply saying that he's coming. I heard the others talk that there's an after party going on, so I wouldn't want to keep him away same as last time but it's been a month since we have met in person. It makes me smile wide when I see the tall boy approaching after a few minutes quickly passing by.
"Turns out you didn't lie about your team being good. Next time I should get those blue war paints on my cheeks, too," I greet him right away with a playful remark and a smooth promise of next time as I crane my neck to be able to look at him properly. "Do you have any cool food places around here? Cause I'm starving and I wasn't even the one running around," I let out a chuckle as I raise a brow while I'm waiting for the boy's answer.

"Maybe," I say with a shrug, with no shame when Yejun asks me whether I turned into a Falcon fan already.
He seems super giddy when he steps out in front of me. It’s like he didn’t even spend the last hour running after a ball. He doesn’t even seem tired at first glance. He might be pumped up because they just won the match but whatever the cause is it’s nice to see him smile. So brightly. Maybe that’s what pushes me to be extra enthusiastic about their win and consider being in his uni’s colour for the next match that I have time for and with no university or job for the time being there’s a pretty big chance that I’d be there for the next one. If he invites me.
“Cool. She sounds like a fun person,” I hum when Yejun brings up his sister, Yeji and tells me about the blue paints she has had drawn onto her cheeks for his matches.
From what I have heard of her so far, she sounds really nice and it’s also good to see that a brother-sibling pair gets along so well. Luckily it’s the same with me and Yeonwoo but it’s actually pretty rare as I have heard. For a moment I wonder whether it’s weird that I kind of want to meet Yeji even though we have barely known each other with her brother. Would it be weird? Not sure, I usually go with the flow and don’t worry about such things, so I don’t ponder over this too long either and instead I ask about food options because I could definitely eat and I let out a laughter at the athlete’s answer while nodding along, agreeing that we should get going.
“Let’s go for burgers,” I decide almost right away when he offers me options to choose from.
The thing is, growing up in a wealthy family is definitely a good thing, you can let yourself enjoy numerous things, indulge in pleasant things that others couldn’t even dream of. However, it also means that everything that’s associated with the poor and the low working class like fast food chains are frowned upon and avoided at all costs. Luckily I have never been too restricted but living at home and having a cook just for us, it means that I can rarely enjoy junk food of any kind, so this time I use my chance and follow Yejun to the nearby burger place he knows that turns out to be American Diner themed. It’s quite lovely. Just the same as talking with the boy next to me while walking.
“To be fair, I haven’t really been keeping up with football on TV, so I don’t really have a decent comparison base but you were definitely good and yes, I did enjoy it. It was really exciting, much better than I expected. So thanks for inviting me,” I smile brightly at the boy and turn to him with my own set of questions, not even trying to crane my neck to look up at him because gosh I don’t even reach his shoulder height, he’s so tall. “So how long have you been playing? I don’t remember you told me why you started playing it instead of basketball for example. You’d be an ace in that too I bet,” I mention playfully hinting at his advantage with his height but I do mean it, I think he would be good at that too. I wonder what’s his reason because just as his major surprised me it could take me aback as well. Yejun seems like a guy who is full of surprises and I can’t wait to unwrap them one by one.

It's easy like this, the playful remarks, the jokes, the teasing, it feels like we can be ourselves next to each other for which I'm really grateful for because at family events I always get the same questions about boys, about education, about how poetry is a nice hobby but what I will do for a living if I don't want to become a housewife and it annoys me to no end to put on a sweet smile and listen to all that. I know that a few of them don't mean anything bad by those comments, they just genuinely don't get my choice but most of them just want to find faults in me and my family and I hate that. So not just for myself but to keep our family's pride, I wanna prove myself and be able to publish at least a small anthology or something. Sure, with grandpa's connections it would be ridiculously easy but I don't want to take advantage of that. I want them to like my poems for themselves and not for who I am or whose who I am to be precise. So that's why being around and talking with Yejun is like a breath of fresh air.
"I mean, a healthy amount of self-confidence is never a bad thing and you are indeed pretty cool, so…" I shrug with a smile because 1) I really think so 2) despite his comment, Yejun doesn't seem like an arrogant guy, not at all. And to be honest it would be pretty cool to get to know his sister, too, really, she sounds like someone I could be on good terms. Maybe I will ask Yejun for her contact one day, so I could ask her about those face paints the guy just mentioned earlier. And with that it's easy to mention the option of coming more. The match was definitely more fun than the ones I remember watching in front of the TV. Not that I had much experience in that, but during a few sleepovers I caught a glance of sport events like this, or when I watched a bit of the Olympics with my brother, I didn't think it was so exciting. Probably because I had no connection to it and it was more interesting now that I had someone to look out for at the field.
"I enjoyed it a lot, don't worry about it," I reciprocate Yejun's wide smile and I find it refreshing how happy he is for me, that I had fun but really, it's all thanks to him, without him I would have never come to a university football match.
So of course, I have to inquire about Yejun's story with the sport and somehow his answer doesn't surprise me. He seems like a hardworking guy but not someone who would stress over something so much, so it's great that he plays the game not only because it's considered cool or because he has to but because he genuinely enjoys it. It's much better to do so than to go for basketball just because of his height.
"It's great that you like it since middle school, there's no need for cool stories," I reassure the guy and mumble out a compliment at the burger place's design when we arrive there, taking seats by the window. There are loads of options on the menu, so I'm actually very grateful for Yejun's recommendations and I go for a bulgogi one in the end, ordering juice on the side. I might not have a problem with greasy food or eating with hands despite my upbringing, bubbly drinks always make me hiccup, so I usually opt for mineral water or juice at places like this.
"No cool story here either," I let out a chuckle when Yejun asks about my love for poems. "Actually I only realized in high school that I don't prefer poetry over novels just because they are shorter but because I like how tricky it is to understand them sometimes. Then I actively seeked out a few contemporary and 20th century Korean poets' works and I loved them a lot. Then I started writing my own to pass time at first and I realized that I want to do this for a long time."
I show one of my favourite poems of the lot to Yejun while we wait for the food and try to explain to him the meaning I see behind the lines and it's funny go interpret it differently. But that's just another beauty of poetry. Then our burgers arrive and one bite of the juicy sandwich is enough to know it's delicious.
"Hm, this is really good! Do you come here often? With your teammates?" I wonder aloud because I see a few other athletes here even though it might be only an after match kind of tradition.

I genuinely enjoy Yejun’s company, he’s really fun. His stories are cool and he seems to be really up front about himself. That’s a pretty refreshing thing to experience when I’m so used to people acting differently around me once they are aware of my family background and most of my life I have attended the same schools as Yeonwoo, so being the little sister of the Lotte Hotel’s heir was my title. The little princess was a nickname I have grown to hate over the years and maybe that’s why I would like to prove my own worth. I love my family, I love our business but I can hardly imagine myself being up there in the management board and doing anything with it. We have always joked with my brother about how I should write copies for our marketing campaigns or invitations for our events because that’s what I’m good at, writing and what use that has for my family? I had accepted that long ago and I’m fine with it now but still, it’s nice not to be treated like a little princess.
“Ah you attempted to seem cool to me, hm? And for what purpose?” I tease Yejun when he says he’s glad he didn’t fail seeming cool in front of me and well, I’m honestly curious whether he has any plan regarding our acquaintance or just goes with the flow like me.
We talk about his love for football and my love for poems and time flies as we talk. It’s easy to talk with him about anything and everything. He never presses, he listens well and his comments make me laugh.
When Yejun asked about my education, I didn’t treat it like a personal attack or something just because unlike 95% of our generation who went to further education, I didn’t. He couldn’t have known and he isn’t someone who looks down on people based on something like that. At least he doesn’t seem like one based on how he phrased the second question but I guess we’re about to find that out.
“Yeah, I’m not attending university and don’t even want to but my parents would like me too. I don’t blame them since it’s not easy to get by with arts but I don’t want to follow social norms and get a degree in something just because everybody does that. Actually, they gave me one year to prove to them I can live by the way I would like to but if that doesn’t work out I will have to study business,” I answer truthfully since it’s not like it’s a secret or I’m ashamed of it. I might not know what kind of family he has but I’m pretty sure he at least knows someone whose parents were pressuring about education. I’m quite lucky in that sense, even for this one year chance, not many parents would be so patient, so I’m grateful. But studying business like my brother? Ugh, I dislike even the thought of.
Our food arrives soon and when I taste the burger, I cannot hide my excitement. Wow, I have never had something like this. Of course, I have skipped expensive meals before only to eat junk food like McDonalds or Burger King but it’s better. I hum at the flavourful taste and let Yejun know how much I like it as well. No wonder I ask him about this place and its reputation, glad to hear that he also likes this. But when he lets me know about his countryside upbringing and puts it in contrast with my Seoul one, I smile. I like that he doesn’t talk about us capital city people like we were snobs just as I didn’t treat him as a countryside himbo as well.
“I adore the Seokchon Lake! It’s especially pretty when the cherry trees bloom and I’m frequent at quite a few art cafés that have great atmosphere. Oh and have you been at the Starfield Library in COEX? The prettiest library I have ever seen,” I chatter about my favourite places, happy to go in detail if he asked about any of them while we’re eating but I cannot not ask about his hometown. “And how is it in Boseong? Is it really different than here? Was it hard to get used to the Seoul life?”
I’m curious because I have never known any other life and it makes me curious about how he sees it and whether he cannot wait to go back or he feels home here despite all that.

In my circle of people, it’s hard to find ones who are actually genuine. Chaebols and rich kids have this idea due to the society’s pressure that we have to be some kind of ideal. Or that we have to be the unreachable top, as if our lives were so different from mediocre people. And in a way it is because we have grown up in a different environment, we were raised with different expectations and we have different opportunities. We have more yet somehow we are still restricted. So maybe that’s why it feels so nice, so freeing to talk so casually with Yejun who doesn’t care about anything like that and I can joke with him easily. It comes naturally, the way my smile blooms when he teases that he’s a mysterious guy. Sure, mysterious guys tell stories like him for sure, I scoff mentally.
“Hm… I’ll decide what I think about that later,” I hum as it was a serious dilemma for me to tell if he’s a nice guy or not. If he wasn’t (or I didn’t think he was at least) I wouldn’t have come to his match, cheer for him and now eat dinner with him but I can’t tell him that so easily. Though, I’m pretty sure he can tell that I’m only being playful.
And while we can talk so teasingly and jokingly with each other, it seems like we’re just that good with more serious topics, like how I admit that I don’t want to go to college and knowing how natural it is in Korea, I’m glad when Yejun takes my confession without a preach. His reassuring words earn an honest, soft smile.
“Thank you, it means a lot, really,” I tell him and jokingly add that now that I have his permission I might spam him with rhythms and ideas until he has had enough. He doesn’t seem to mind though, it feels nice. To be accepted like that.
Chatting over the hamburgers we get in the meantime, I tell Yejun more about my favourite places in Seoul. They might not be up to his alley but he’s listening attentively and doesn’t stop me even when I get way too excited about this art café or that beautiful library. When he asks, I tell him how it seems big because of the glass and the open space but it isn’t as big as I imagined when I was younger. I show him my Instagram photos of the Starfield Library as well while telling him how it has different decorations every season, so it might be different the next time I visit. But the more I talk, the more curious I become about Yejun’s hometown and how hard it was for him to get used to the Seoul life.
“Gosh, honestly, I can’t imagine so many greens and so much tea. I have only seen tea fields in pictures,” I let out a chuckle because even though it could be something I should be ashamed of, I know Yejun wouldn’t look at me disapprovingly as if I was a snob big city girl. It just never really occurred to me to travel outside of the capital by myself and with family we usually went to holiday resorts like Jeju or Japan. But Yejun’s life doesn’t sound boring to me at all, I ask him more about his family and whether he ever has enough of tea and like this we only realize how much time passed as the diner starts closing around us and our plates are long empty already.
However, it seems like the athlete is already thinking about next time which only makes me smile wider. It means I’m not the only one having fun.
“Well, I mean I’m mostly free these days, so why not? But sure, Seoul for now,” I chuckle as we leave the restaurant and we choose a weekend when he’s free and I don’t have any family events either. I’m already excited about spending time together again when we say goodbye by the sidewalk where I wave off a taxi.