Bulletproof Soul

Korea University

The alarm went off as usual, seven am. Too tired from last night's class, I roll out of bed, grumbling all the way to the bathroom. Jungguk lay sound asleep. He usually went to bed around two in the morning from late nights. Nearly every night since our first month at Korea University, Jungguk was swamped with projects. Jungguk enrolled in the Media & Communications program, while I enrolled in International Studies. Jungguk didn't hesitate to choose Media as his major. I think he was hoping to improve his music making skills, yet he discovered that he enjoyed filming a lot more. Early in the year, he followed me around for a whole day with his camera, claiming it was to help him familiarize himself with the functions of his new equipment. I knew that wasn't the case, but I thought it was cute.

It took me a whole week to decide on my major. I wanted to be sure that I was choosing a program that would improve my English and still be useful in some future career. I guess I didn't really have any other educational goals or passion. I just wanted to stay near him, as much as possible. Even though we were studying different subjects, we were still able to live together in our own little studio apartment near campus.

I shower, dress for class and grab a toast smeared with strawberry jam. I'm moving so quickly that I don't notice Jungguk is no longer lying in bed. Turning around quickly, I crash right into him, face first into his bare chest. A little surprised, I try to take a step back, but instead, he wraps his arms around me, smiling energetically.

"Slow down, jagiya." Jagiya, meaning 'dear', was his pet name for me. I loved it when he called me 'dear', it made me feel special. But the pet name usage was dwindling. With each passing day, Jungguk used my pet name less and less. Even our kiss exchanges were not as frequent. I wonder what has changed. I shrug it off for now. His perfect smile always made me forget my troubles. Just like it did the day we moved to Seoul.

I had used some of the money I saved up to rent us a car. We agreed that he would use his money to rent us an apartment. After packing what we could into the car, we left a week before registration, and we didn't look back. Neither of us had any attachments left in Daegu. With both Taehyung and Seokjin already in Seoul, we hoped to see them both before classes started. That didn't happen of course, but we were still happy to be in Seoul, together.

"Ok, I promise I will later, after classes are done tonight." I give him a knowing look, a quick hug and a peck on the lips as I rush out the door. I was going to be late for my morning class.

Hurrying through the door of my American U.S. History class, I hit my arm on the doorknob as usual. This always causes me to stop in the classroom entryway and trip on the floor mat. While I was used to having Taehyung or Seokjin around to catch me, they weren't here anymore. Taehyung was at Seoul Jazz Academy, and Seokjin, at Konkuk University, pursuing their personal passions. I, on the other hand, had bruises from the doors.

"Gotch'a!" Right on cue; a pair of strong hands grabs hold of my arms from behind. This sweet strong gentleman lifts me up and helps me away from the entry way. I turn around to face the nearly six feet tall classmate and give him a big hug, per usual. Today, he wore a black cap, plain black tee under a blue jean jacket and black jeans with purple converse.

"Thanks Joonie!" Namjoon is my best friend from campus. We met on the first day of school, nearly one year ago, in our English Literature class. Since we both speak fluent English, Namjoon and I are both International Studies majors. I remember how nervous I was when I walked into my first college class alone. I didn't know anyone and I felt that maybe sitting in the far back, where I could see everyone, might give me the courage to talk to someone and make a new friend.

Namjoon seemed to have the same idea that day. Sitting in the back row second seat, his bleached blonde hair flared in the front. I sat in the empty seat next to him. He was wearing a white long sleeved shirt, with an opened black long sleeved button up shirt over it, and black jeans with black all-star converse. He was pretty slender that day, yet the color black is a slimming color. We both looked around the class and a few times at one another. I noticed that everyone else had someone to chat with while we waited for the professor to arrive. Waiting in silence was starting to make me nervous.