Ready or Not

Chapter 4

By the time you went to bed last night, it was close to 1:00 AM and you normally never stay up that late. But on account of making new friends, you ended up going to bed very late. And because of that, you wake up this morning much later than usual. Fortunately, you don't have any commitments that you have to meet until after 12:00. You have your Biomaterials class at that time and then you have three students that you are tutoring consecutively today after that. As you slog through your mediocre oatmeal, you think about the people you met and got to know last night and the fact that you had assumed that two out of the four were looking at you as a potential mate. Then you shake your head at your rich internal life filled with fanciful delusions. You think, "This is why I'm still single." Once done with your brunch oatmeal, you don your backpack, filled with tutoring materials, your laptop for your class and the textbook and grab your good-as-new bicycle and head out.

The class is little over two hours long, but you find the topic quite interesting and the time flies by. You look at your watch and see that it is 2:30 PM and your first tutoring student doesn't start until 3:30, so you decide to take the next hour to just ride around on your bike in the park until you have to head over to your first student's home. You walk out of the Biology building that the class was in and get to your bike on the rack. You think, "She looks shinier than ever." As you unlock your bike, you see that there is something sticking out of your front basket. When you open it, you see a folded piece of paper. So, you lean the bike against your thigh and pick out the paper from the basket. You open it up and see a handwritten note. You've seen this handwriting before. In fact, you have a matching excuse note, back at your apartment somewhere. The note reads.

I spotted this beautiful girl across the campus and had to leave a little note. I'm wondering how she rides. I had such a great time last night and wanted to know if you'd be interested in taking a bike ride with me somewhere. I know this weekend, we have that hike planned, but maybe the following week? Well, to be honest, I really don't want to wait that long, but don't want you to feel pressured. So, call me, text me, send a carrier pigeon, perhaps a smoke signal? Just let me hear from you soon.

- Joonie

You think, "Who does this? Can this man be any more charming? How is he exactly single? Is there something wrong with him that I'm just not seeing? And what is it that he is doing exactly? The note makes it sound like he is desperate to see me and hear from me, but are we just pals?" The more questions you ask, the more confused you feel. So, you decide that you are not going to ask anymore questions and just enjoy his company. But unbeknownst to your conscious mind, there is a tiny seed of warm feelings that was planted recently, just waiting to sprout into something. Before you take off, you decide to text Namjoon.

You:
Hi Joonie,
I got your note.
That was beyond sweet of you.
My girl is riding like she is brand-new, thanks to you.
BTW, did you have the brakes repaired too?
Because it's working so much better.
Anyway, a bike ride sounds great. I'm working in the afternoon today and tomorrow.
But I can spare some time on Friday.
Let me know if that works for you.
Later.

Once sent, you get on your bike and take off. You've been riding on the bike path from one side of the park to the other for about twenty minutes. Then from a distance, you see a familiar figure of a man walking towards you. He hasn't spotted you yet, but the next time he lifts up his head, he does and gives you a small wave. When you get close enough to him, you dismount your bike in one smooth and practiced move and walk towards him.

He says, "Hi, Sweet pea. Well, this is a treat. How are you?"

"Hi Warren, I'm well and yourself?"

"Much better now."