To say that Mina was anxious would have been an understatement. She paced the floor of her room so many times she could swear there were indents in the carpet. Twenty minutes after the agreed upon time, there was finally a knock on her door.
"Sunny, finally! We have to get a decent outline started tonight." Mina bypassed all greetings and went straight to the point. She wouldn't let her eyes linger on the tall slender figure leaned against her door frame. She certainly would not give her the satisfaction of reacting to the now blonde hair dyed and framing her face in soft waves. Nope. Didn't cross her mind. Not even when her eyes dropped down to the floor to keep from staring but happened to take in the golden toned bare legs barely covered by shorts.
"Soonyi. Not Sunny," she said.
Just like that, the trance was broken. The same lips that used to curl up into a smile at the mere sight of Mina were almost snarling.
"Right. Whatever, we need an outline to divide the workload evenly and then we don't have to meet up. Maybe make a Google Doc so we can add our work and leave critiques if the work isn't finished." Mina's shoulders slumped ever so slightly at the reality check. The girl now casually waking through her room wasn't her friend. She was a classmate and nothing more.
"Start then," she said. The reply was as cold as she was.
Mina sat down at her desk and immediately began going through the requirements for the project. "Do you have a topic choice? It needs to be an issue that can be looked at by two different perspectives. A debate of sorts. Or something that has effects not only on an individual but society as well."
"Haven't thought about it." Soonyi had taken residence on the empty bed and already pulled out her phone.
"There are always the obvious debates like pro choice versus pro life, views on capital punishment, gun control, maybe even foreign politics," Mina began making a list of potential topics.
"Those are boring," Soonyi said.
"Okay.. what about current issues for people around our age group?"
The response earned her a sneer. "And what problems do we have in common?"
Mina felt her temper start rising. "Maybe a different approach then. Toxic relationships, bullying, drop out rates, or how far someone can be pushed before they respond with—"
The sound of her phone buzzing cut her off and caught her attention. She looked over at her phone still laying on her desk between them to see she had a new message.
Jungkook:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Wish me luck! And Tae says hi 😒
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Mina caught herself smiling and flipped the phone over face down. "Just pick a topic."
Soonyi hadn't missed the texts though. She had caught the name and seen the photos. She slid her phone back into her pocket. "Who was that?"
"A friend."
"From here?" She wasn't naive enough to believe that Mina was actually texting Jungkook but it was pretty funny for her to think that her former friend was pathetic enough to text someone pretending to be an idol. Maybe it was one of the AI chat bots she had set up to send photos of Jungkook. She stifled a laugh at the thought.
"Come on Mina, you used to tell me everything."
She had softened her tone. There was a smile playing at the corners of her lips. She made the same puppy eyes that had always gotten her way with Mina.
"It's no one you know. Just a running joke I have with someone." The lie came effortlessly because she couldn't tell her the truth. She wouldn't believe her and it would only open her up to more ridicule. Or worse, she would believe her and involve Jungkook in their mess somehow.
"Drop our rates and how they can effect the individual versus society," Soonyi replied. She stood up from the bed and took the sheet of paper Mina had labeled with her name. "Joint thesis, I get two arguments for society, you get two for the individual then a joint conclusion. Set up the document and send me the edit link," she paused on her way to the door to smile back at Mina. "You do still have my contact info, right?"
Mina pressed her lips shut and nodded her head.
"Good. We'll talk later."
Soonyi was already typing out a text to her boyfriend before the door had even closed. You'll never guess what just happened...
