His Cinderella | Choi Soobin

Sixteen ♚

|| SOOBIN ||

Everyone has their destiny.

Babe Ruth was destined to play baseball. Michael Jackson was destined to sing. Me on the other hand... I'm destined to be perfect.

My parents aren't typical parents. The one thing that was drilled into my brain from the day I could process thoughts was that I was perfect. And because I was perfect, I have to live a perfect life.

Perfect grades, perfect face, perfect friends, perfect girlfriend. Everything was destined to be perfect. I never complained, because hey, who wouldn't hate being perfect?

But then I met Ahn Hanjin, and everything changed. The day I met her at the party I felt like my soul was drawing myself to her. She was all I ever thought about. I even told my parents about her after our third date.

Mom and dad were thrilled, obviously. And they were even happier when they met her. "She's perfect for you!" Mom would exclaim, gushing about the girl even days after the dinner I introduced her.

And slowly, Hanjin and I got closer and closer. She would be the perfect addition to my perfect life. I thought to myself while watching the sunset one chilly night a few weeks ago.

Problem is, Hanjin wasn't perfect. Well, technically, she was pretty close to it. She was pretty, smart, athletic, rich, has a good relationship with everyone and overall seems like a good person.

But she wasn't perfect to me. It was as if my life was a jigsaw puzzle. I've got everything sorted out in my life, except for love. And it feels like Hanjin is trying to fill up the missing spot but her puzzle piece just can't fit in.

"It's probably just the fear of falling in love, son" Dad consoled me when I went to him with my problem. "I had the same thing when I first met your mom. I was terrified to death, but soon I manned up and asked her out like a real man. Give it time, you got the rest of your life to sort it out."

And he was probably right. Love doesn't come instantly, I just have to wait patiently for it to arrive. Maybe get to know her family better. And what better way is that than to have dinner at her place?

I haven't met any of Hanjin's family members except for Cynthia and Hyewon. Cynthia is alright. She seems very pushy to have Hanjin and me together, it's sort of infuriating to be around her because she's like a full-time wingman.

Hyewon is different from Hanjin in every way possible. I know it sounds stupid but the first time I ever met Hanjin at the party, she acted a lot like Hyewon. But I got closer to Hanjin and realized she wasn't that shy girl I met at the party who was like, a total outcast.

Hyewon is that outcast. From what Hanjin has said, she doesn't have any friends and gets bullied a lot. I know that means I'm only supposed to think of Hyewon as a pitiful charity case, but that's not true.

For some reason, I feel closer to Hyewon than I ever had to Hanjin. Maybe that's because Hyewon and I share more interests, or maybe it's because Hanjin and I's personalities aren't similar at all. But Hanjin and I probably see each other more often.

It doesn't matter, either way. Hanjin said that I shouldn't get close with Hyewon, and I agree. Hanjin is the girl I'm going to end up with anyways, I don't want to start drama by becoming friends with her identical twin. That wouldn't be perfect.

So here I'm seated on the Ahn's dinner table. Hyewon was the last to arrive, so she takes the only empty seat which happened to be diagonal to me. She wore a modest blue dress that seemed sort of retro but I liked it anyway.

Oh, I also really like Hanjin's dress! She wore a sating pink one that reached to her thighs. It sort of reminded me of a prom dress. It was kind of too elegant for a dinner, but don't tell her I think that.