Make It Work

Popularity. That one term is something that can be found all around us. Just think about it, even in jobs people can have a big group of friends and be pretty popular with all of their coworkers. Musical artists depend on popularity at times to get awards and such. These examples just show that it can come to be in a lot of things.

One of the places you currently were, focused quite a bit on popularity, college. Making your way through the hallways you could hear the various voices of your classmates, and their plans for the weekend. Within the mix of plans was the sound of laughter as people took a glance at you.

Being on the poorer side of life you were commonly seen in inexpensive clothes and shoes. The backpack you had had a small hole on the top but still did its job well. Even with the lack of money in your life, you were still happy with things.

Entering your classroom, you made your way to the back of the class and set down your things. Taking out your materials for the class you looked at the time, seeing there was a minute left till class started. A sudden influx of your classmates Emerged as they ran into the classroom to avoid getting scolded.

At the end of the line of people entering was the final group of students, the popular ones. Everyone took a glance at them as they entered. These girls were every guy’s dream girl, and all The girls were jealous.

Ryujin, Nayeon, and finally The most popular of them all, Ahn Yujin despite being the youngest of the bunch quickly made a name for herself as a track star as well as having immense beauty.

As the girls take their seats a couple of rows in front of your seat, you could feel the mock looking most of those girls gave you. Finally, your professor entered and commenced a boring lecture on organic chemistry. After an excruciatingly long time, you found it was nearly the end of class. At that time your professor cleaned the chalkboard and looked at you all.

“ Now we are reaching the end of the first semester so I think a presentation is the best way to end it.”

The sound of complaints began to fill the room as your professor raised her hand to make you all stop.

“ Yeah yeah yeah. I will be assigning partners so meet up after class and get started. The documents I will hand out will have your partner’s name on top. Please have it ready to share with the class in two weeks.”

At the time your professor began to hand out the papers which took a while with a large class but finally, she arrived at your table and handed you your instructions and topic. On top, you saw the name of your partner, Ahn Yujin. A smile filled your face as you saw who it was.

The sound of the bell rings in your ears as the stampede of students begins to leave the classroom. Seeing your partner was about to leave you stood up and made your way over to her and her friends. Ryujin at that time saw you walking over and rolled her eyes.

“ The fuck do you want idiot?”

“Oh excuse me. Sorry for interrupting but Yujin, did you see we are partners for the presentation?”

“ Oh yes, I did Hajoon. Should we start later today?”

“Yeah, that’s perfectly fine. I will let you know where to meet up. Have a good rest of your day ladies.”

“ Yeah, whatever.”

Ignoring the rude attitude you made your way to the door and looked back at the group of girls. As Nayeon and Ryujin were looking away Yujin faced you and sent you a wink. Your face filled with a smile as that helped you get the rest of your school day over with.

Arriving at your little 2001 Toyota Camry, you made the trek to your apartment, suffering through the city traffic for an extra Thirty minutes until you arrived home. Parking your car in the lot you made the walk over to the front door and entered the complex. Your apartment was on the first floor so the walk to your door was short. Putting in your passcode you heard the familiar beep of acceptance into your humble abode.

Just like the rest of your stuff this home was nothing fancy, just something small you could afford working your ass off after school most days. The feeling of removing your shoes after a long day is one of the best as you throw on your slippers, and walk into the kitchen. Opening the fridge you pull out a box of cold chicken and throw it on a plate.

A familiar buzz fills the air as you put the plate and the microwave and start to heat your dinner. Two minutes later, you hear the beep from the microwave. Pulling on the handle, steam begins to flow out as you put your hand on the plate and pull it out.

Running to the living room, you put the plate down on the table before you ended up with little burns on your fingers. You were happy the table already had a water bottle so a trip back to the kitchen wasn’t required.

Grabbing the remote you turned on the tv and placed it back down. The smell of your reheated chicken got to you quickly, so you dug into your food. Sure, reheated food didn’t taste as good as freshly cooked chicken from the shop but what can you do when you need to save money?

Despite your attention being on your food and the Korean variety show in front of you, the sound of your front door opening got your attention. Either way, you kept enjoying your meal and watching tv. Footsteps came from the hallway as they got closer and closer until you felt someone sit next to you on the couch.

A hand enters your field of vision as it grabs a piece of chicken and takes it away. All you could do is laugh a bit as you felt a head lay on your shoulder. The crunch from the chicken echoed in your ear as the person kept eating. Soon the bone from that piece of chicken lands on the plate as the hand goes for another piece.

“Are you gonna keep eating my food Yujin?”

“ I’ll order more Oppa.”

Rolling your eyes, you just laughed and signaled to her that she could take more. A giggle left her mouth as she grabbed more chicken and pulled out her phone to order more.

“ There, more chicken ordered Oppa.”

“ Thank you giant puppy.”

Feeling Yujin move her head off your shoulder, you turned your head to face her and saw she was puckering her lips at you. Putting your lips on hers filled your stomach with butterflies every time. Guess your girlfriend just had that effect on you. Perhaps it’s best to explain everything.

Flashback one and a half years ago

Senior year of high school. It was the start of the school year and you found yourself sitting in your classroom getting your homework ready to give in. As the rest of the students came into the classroom, an energetic puppy came running to her seat which was next to you.

“ Morning Oppa!”

“ Good morning Yujin. Let’s go, pull out your homework.”

With a full smile, Yujin pulled out her blank sheet of homework and started copying your answers. This has been the relationship for the first few weeks of the school year. Some people might assume that she was taking advantage of you but Yujin never actually asked you to copy your work, you offered.

Once Yujin finished copying your homework, you placed your papers in front of you and faced her once more.

“ So how did your night go? Were you busy?”

“Oh, it wasn’t so bad. I had work and then I went home to rest and finish my homework.”

“ Are you sure you aren’t tired? Do you want to take a nap?”

“I’m ok for now. I will take one at lunchtime.”

Even at this age, you came from a poor family. They ran a small tobboki stand farther away from the city. Your parents always wanted you to have the best education so they saved and saved for years, getting you into a nice high school in the city. You did live quite far away so moving into the city was the best option for you but you didn’t want to put any more trouble on your mom and dad so you worked enough to get a small room for yourself.

At that time you saw the teacher walk into the classroom. Everyone then stood up and bowed toward the teacher and class began. Despite being exhausted, you made it through the class until the bell rang for lunch. As everyone left the room, you just put your head down on the table and closed your eyes.

Not even a minute passes as a group of students come back into the room and begin to mess around. The room is usually empty at this time but it happened every once in a while so standing up, you made your way to the backup sleeping spot you have.

The steps up the stairs felt heavier and heavier the closer you got to the top. Finally, at the door, you pulled out a spare key you had to the roof and put it in the key slot. You couldn’t help but notice any resistance as you turned the key as if it wasn’t locked in the first place.

As you pushed the door open, you made your way over to the only source of shade up there. Getting closer and closer you couldn’t help but see Yujin sitting there eating.

“Oh, Yujin. How did you get up here?”

“ Oh, it was just open. I was looking for a quiet spot to just enjoy my lunch.”

It honestly seemed a bit surprising as Yujin was constantly surrounded by people being the star of the track team.