The Other Campus - Part One

Jana

An hour drive to Jae was nothing to me. We'd been doing this routine for so long that it became a part of our system, and it was definitely one our favorite parts. If we weren't driving out to see one another, we were Skyping, talking on the phone, or texting most of the time.

I actually don't remember how my routine was without talking to him.

Pulling up to his school was very normal for me, despite being in a different colored uniform. I'd always rush over without changing because I was always so eager to see him.

I saw him outside of the gym with Ari. While it looked casual, it sounded anything but that when I rolled down the window to try to say hi to Ari.

I bite my lip, tooting my horn quickly to save my best friend.

"Hi!" I call out, waving at them.

Ari scoots towards my car, trying to escape Jae's wrath. He doesn't normally get upset, but when he does, he doesn't bottle anything in.

"You know he's off limits! You know," Jae whines.

"Stop it. I heard you the first time," Ari shoots back, opening my door to lean in and give me a hug.

"Yeah, you heard me, but are you listening?"

I give Ari a quick squeeze before shooing her off.

"I'll see you later," Ari sighs to Jae, walking off.

"Hey! I'm not done!" Jae hollers.

Before he can take off to give Ari a harder time than he already was, I shake my head then open his car door from the inside.

"Get in," I say through gritted teeth. "People are staring, you bum."

Jae let's out a flustered groan, throwing his bag into my backseat before sitting in the passenger's side.

"Hi," I murmur, pulling out of his school parking lot to get back on the main road.

"Hi baby..."

"How was school?"

"Fine."

"The game?

"Stupid."

I roll my eyes. "Can you please talk to me?"

He sighs, reaching for my hand. "Sorry... I'm just really mad at Ari right now."

"Care to elaborate, or are we gonna play this one-word crap today?" I sigh back, shaking his hand off mine.

"Babe... stop, please..." he begs softly. "I'm sorry."

I shake my head, a small playful smile dancing on my lips after I succeeded to make him feel bad. "Okay, now talk. What did Ari do this time?"

"It's her stupid crush on Young K," he mumbles.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God it's not on you."

"Okay, now say that in front of Mari," he teases, poking my gut.

I flinch while I'm driving, quickly smacking his hand away. "Stop that, or I'm stopping this car and we're not getting food!" I laugh.

He scrunches his nose at me, and this, in turn, makes me laugh even more.

"Anyway," he continues, "she's constantly staring at him, and at the game today, she made it blatantly obvious."

"Googly eyes and everything?"

"Maybe even a little drool... you know, like how I am with you?"

"Shut up," I say, blushing. "Look, just find a way to talk to her about this. I'll give her a call some time and see if I can clear up anything or talk some sense into her. We are not about to deal with this crush again."

"That's my baby girl!" Jae hypes. "Always coming up with solutions, keeping a level-head--"

"Uh, uh, sweetheart. I'm a crazy lady," I scoff with a laugh.

"Three years later and I'm still this crazy about you? Damn, what kind of spell do you have on me?" he gushes, leaning on the center console and putting his chin in the palm of his hand. He stares at me before singing, "Fine as hell, thick as fuck, oh my God, that's my baby."

I hum the rest of the melody to the song he sings, pulling into the parking lot of a ramen shop for some hot soup and gyoza.

"Order what you want, baby. I'll feed you," I offer, turning off my car and looking at him.

He puts his hands on my cheeks. "Marry me."

"That's a goal, baby boy," I giggle, going in to kiss him.