Ready or Not

Chapter 3

It's been about a week since the bike collision and the subsequent dinner with Namjoon. To your surprise, you don't hear from Namjoon at all during that time. You've been thinking about reaching out to him, but because you don't want to seem like you were pressuring him to get the bike repaired faster, you decide to wait for him to reach out to you. He did say that he would call you when the bike was done being fixed. It is still before noon, and as you walk out of your "Principles of Tissue Engineering" class, you take in a nice deep breath of crisp autumn air. With your bike still out of commission, you had to resort to hoofing it everywhere. As you zip up your quilted vest against the mild chill in the air, you start walking towards the park.

You don't have anything particular to do other than prepare for your private tutoring sessions tomorrow. You work part-time as a private tutor for handful of high school students. You only have to work about six to seven hours a week and at $75 per hour rate, you do really well for yourself. When you were in undergrad, you charge $60, but since starting grad school, you had increased your rate. Believe it or not, since the increase in your hourly rate, you have gotten busier. So, you are not complaining. You make plenty to pay your rent and have more than enough to live on. You are even able to put some money away in savings. Coupled with the stipend from the university as a full-time grad student, you have more than enough money to live comfortably. You actually have another two students that you are planning to add onto your schedule.

Tuition is really the only big expense you have. However, you are in grad school on a partial academic scholarship that takes care of fifty percent of your tuition for the entirety of your master's program. Your dear father is paying for the other half of the tuition. He said, "Listen daughter, you are an only child and are probably the best daughter any father can ask for. So, I am more than happy to pay for your graduate school education. Especially because I only have to pay half of it."

Since your mother's passing seven years ago, you and your father's bond has become much stronger. You were always a daddy's girl, but after your mother died, both of you knew that you had to get it together and not fall into the abyss of grief too far. In the process of that, your father and you have become much closer. You like to think that your mother had something to do with that, that she was looking in on you and your dad from wherever she was now.

Lost in thought, you stroll on the sunny side of the bike path, when you hear a familiar bicycle bell ringing behind you. But this time, without the frantic warning for you to watch out. When you stop and turn around, you see Namjoon dismounting his bike and jogging up next to you with that adorable smile of his. He says, "Hey there Buttercup, I was going to call you today. The bike shop is done with repairing your bike. They were good enough to do a little maintenance and tune up for you as well."

You say, "Hi Namjoon, that's great news. Although, I think I might miss my walks."

He replies, "Well, you don't have to stop walking. Maybe you and I can go for a hike together sometime."

You think, "There he goes again. Seamless transition to suggesting a hangout without appearing to be too eager or pushy. He is either the slickest man or the most earnest." Then you say, "I would love that."

Then he says, "Great! It's a date! Oh, wait... I meant... um."

You chuckle and say, "Alright, alright. It's okay. I got what you meant. Boy, you sure love to use that figure of speech, don't you?"

He scratches the back of his head with a sheepish smile. Then Namjoon asks, "So, would you like to go pick up your bike now or some other time? It's over at my place. We can go get it now if you'd like."

You say, "Oh...okay.... Sure."

Namjoon notices your slight hesitation and says, "Oh no. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to lure you to my place. I'll just bring your bike over to your apartment. Wow, I am really not a creep. I swear. I can give you some character references if that would make you feel better."