A PLAN FOR LOVE ✓

ten : beomgyu

He’s late.

Of course he’s late. Probably still sleeping after flirting his way into another party last night.

I pull out my phone and type up a text.

You know YOU asked ME to meet now.

But before I can hit send, Yeonjun’s head appears at the top of the staircase leading up to the coffee shop inside the campus architecture building. He plops down in the chair opposite me, and I roll my eyes.

“What?” he asks.

“You asked me to meet you here. At two.”

“Yeah?”

He follows my eyes to my phone lit up on the table. 2:13.

I take a deep breath and let out an audible sigh. “Forget it.”

“It’s thirteen minutes.”

“What if I have class soon?”

“You don’t.”

“How do you know?” I shut my bio textbook and slide it off to the side of the table.

“Beomgyu it’s a Friday afternoon, and you wouldn’t have come if you had class.” Yeonjun drops his chin and gives me a deadpan look. I swear it feels like his brown eyes are looking right through me. I can see how he might actually be good at something like this. He’s pretty good at reading people, at understanding what makes them tick… at least with me.

Not that I’d ever admit that to him.

“Why are we here? Is this step one in your big plan?” I ask. His confidence falters just a little. “You do have a plan, don’t you?”

“The plan… is five steps. It’s a five-step plan.” He motions his hand through the air like he’s reading off a marquee above my head as he announces, “How to Get your Crush.”

My whole body recoils. I can barely even get the guy to notice that I exist.

“I know that title’s pretty cringe. Sorry. But each step is about getting Taehyun’s attention until you guys can get in a relationship,” he says, totally mistaking my unbridled anxiety for judgment of his title. “Anyway, step one: get his number. So we’re not leaving until you successfully get someone’s number.”

I start choking on absolutely nothing. “Phone number?” I finally manage to cough out.

“No, Beomgyu, their social security number.”

“Yeonjun, you can’t just go up to someone and ask for their phone number! And what the heck am I going to do with some stranger’s number anyway?”

What if this is just another attempt for him to humiliate me like in Never Have I Ever? Maybe this has nothing to do with proving himself to his kinda boyfriend. Maybe Yeonjun is just bored and he’s only looking to ruin my life. It was naive of me to think he was actually capable of doing something nice for me.

“I’m not doing this.” I shake my head and stand up from my chair.

“Yes. You are.” Yeonjun slaps his hand down over my bio textbook, pinning it to the table. “Sit down.” When I don’t, he continues. “It’s not just about the number. It’s about having the confidence to be able to go up to someone and ask for it. Or the confidence to sit down next to a guy you like in class.”

“Give it to me.” I hold my hand out palm up, even though that sort of makes sense. He slides the book even closer to himself. “Yeonjun,” I say in a firm voice. I can see the wheels turning in his head as his eyes flick around the room before centering their attention on me.