Shall We Talk About Guys?
Jiyoung had spent her entire school years in the countryside. It was only after starting university that she finally began living on her own in Seoul. As a result, she knew far less about the city than her classmates who had grown up there.
Even so, after more than seven years of living in Seoul, the fact that she had only visited Gangnam once was simply because Jiyoung was a hopeless introvert and homebody.
That single visit had been way back in her freshman year, when her department friends had practically dragged her along. So this outing could basically be considered her first real one.
Jiyoung left the house dressed in a sweater and leather skirt, brimming with excitement for the first time in ages. She had always wanted to explore Seoul’s bustling downtown areas.
Besides, the chance to visit a skin clinic she had never been to before filled her with tremendous anticipation.
The moment she arrived at Gangnam Station on Line 2, Jiyoung fished out her phone and checked the KakaoTalk message from Hyejung.
She wandered through the crowded station, glancing around, until she finally reached the agreed meeting spot.
After climbing the long staircase at the station exit, a lively Gangnam street unfolded before her, full of young, sociable people hurrying in every direction.
Jiyoung felt slightly intimidated. She clutched the strap of her handbag, hunched her shoulders, and looked around. At that moment, Hyejung spotted her from a distance, waved cheerfully, and called out.
Hyejung was wearing cropped pants with a pink shirt tucked in. Jiyoung broke into a bright smile and hurried over.
Hyejung beamed and gave a quick bow as Jiyoung approached. Then she immediately frowned at her phone and grumbled.
"Ah, you mean that Sehee girl…?"
"Yeah, that’s her. You saw her last week when she dropped by the club, right? That scatterbrained kid…"
Hyejung crossed her arms, pressed the phone to her ear, and waited for Sehee to answer. A moment later, when the call connected, she spoke in an irritated tone.
"Oh, no, I’m fine…"
Before Jiyoung could finish, Sehee came sprinting from afar, shouting her name.
The moment she arrived, Sehee started talking a mile a minute without even catching her breath, exactly like the first time they had met.
"Uwa, I’m so sorry for being late, unnie! I seriously ran all the way from the station before this and it was exhausting…
And get this—some guy on the bus suddenly asked for my number. I usually ignore that stuff, but he was actually kind of cute, so I was debating whether to give it to him and ended up missing my stop…"
"Aish, enough already. Stop talking and let’s go. Is the shop your aunt runs in that building?"
"I don’t know, it’s my first time too. If the map said so, it should be the right place. But unnie, your outfit today is seriously gorgeous. Where did you get it?"
"Ah, well, I bought it a while ago so I don’t really remember…"
"Whoa, that bracelet is adorable too! Unnie, I just had an idea—want to buy matching couple bracelets with me at the shop up ahead?"
"Will you shut up and start walking? You said you made a reservation."
Hyejung snapped at her, but Sehee, clearly used to the complaints, simply shrugged and kept chattering nonstop. She begged them to stop at every store that caught her eye.
By the time they finally reached the massage shop, they were nearly an hour late for their reservation.
Jiyoung worried their booking might have been canceled, but the receptionist simply nodded at Sehee’s name and guided them inside without comment.
"Hey, I’ll go say hi to my aunt real quick. Take sunbae in first! She promised me a gift card when I show up, hehe…"
"Yeah, go ahead."
Sehee skipped cheerfully into the director’s office. Hyejung watched her go, shook her head with a sigh, and turned to Jiyoung.
"Anyway… She’s a good kid, but her family is loaded and they spoiled her rotten, so she turned out like this… Sigh."
"Still, you two seem really close. How did you end up meeting…?"
"Her? We first met at the club. But when we started talking, we realized we went to the same middle school. That’s how we got close."
"Please change into these in the dressing room."
The female receptionist smiled kindly as she handed them gowns and disposable underwear.
While stripping in front of the cabinet, Hyejung asked.
"…This might be out of nowhere, but where’s your hometown, Jiyoung sunbae?"
"Ah, I’m from XX Province… Is it because of my dialect? I thought I barely used it anymore…"
"No, it’s not that. I just got curious while we were talking. XX Province is interesting—I’m from there too."
"Really? I lived in XX City."
"No way, me too. Do you know XX Neighborhood?"
"Yeah… That’s exactly where I lived…"
"Wait…?"
Right then, as the two of them were changing and chatting, Sehee burst through the door with boundless energy.
"Up we go! Sorry I’m late! What were you talking about?"
"Aish, what if you just barge in like that? You scared me…"
Hyejung grumbled while glaring, but Sehee laughed it off playfully. As she walked in, she stripped off her own clothes in one fluid motion.
True to her rich-girl status, Sehee’s body was adorned with expensive necklaces, rings, and a watch that jingled as she moved.
Hyejung sighed.
"…We were talking about hometowns with sunbae. Turns out she lived in the same area as us when we were kids."
"No way, seriously? Unnie, did you go to OO Middle School by any chance?"
"Hey, what kind of random question is that? There’s no way… Right, sunbae?"
Hyejung asked, looking at Jiyoung as if the idea was ridiculous. But Jiyoung was staring at Sehee with a stunned expression.
"Huh…? That’s exactly where I went…?"
"….What?"
Sehee’s own eyes widened in shock, as if she hadn’t expected it either. The three of them stared at one another in stunned silence, too surprised to speak.
"Huh…?"
During evening class, I sat in the lecture hall listening to the professor’s boring lecture while messing around on my phone. Suddenly a KakaoTalk from my noona arrived.
"…What is it? She sent a photo."
I muttered to myself and opened the message. There was a picture of noona smiling brightly in the mirror, making a V sign.
Her face was glowing, so it looked like she had gone to the skin clinic she mentioned yesterday.
Although the photo wasn’t particularly well taken, I still saved it carefully in my gallery. Sure enough, a moment later noona must have felt embarrassed and deleted the first one. I let out a helpless chuckle and replied. After a brief hesitation, I added one more message. She read it but didn’t reply for a long time. It was only when class was nearly over that she finally responded and sent another fresh selfie.
"This is insane. How did the three of us meet and end up going to the same middle school? That place had fewer than a hundred students total. This has to be fate, right?"
Whether it was fate or not, it was certainly an incredible coincidence. Jiyoung smiled awkwardly as she answered Sehee.
"Y-yeah, I guess so."
The three of them left the shop with refreshed, glowing skin from the massage and strolled along the Gangnam streets. It was that golden afternoon hour when the evening sun began to set.
Sehee seemed thrilled by everything that had happened. She kept smiling brightly as she spoke.
"This calls for a celebration. Let’s officially become best friends starting today. My treat—let’s go drinking right now."
"Are you free, sunbae?"
Hyejung asked with a smile, clearly in a good mood herself. Jiyoung nodded brightly.
The three of them headed to a nice cocktail bar that Sehee knew, set down their things, and sat down.
Sehee ordered a drink for Jiyoung, who was visiting a cocktail bar for the first time. They chatted about all sorts of things, clinked their glasses when the drinks arrived, and took long sips.
The moment Sehee set her glass down, she put on a sly expression, leaned across the table, and whispered to the other two.
"Ugh…"
Jiyoung choked on her drink at the sudden suggestion and coughed.