Where Did You Think You're Going BABY? So 'Call Me Maybe'!.

Where Did You Think You're Going BABY? So 'Call Me Maybe'!. - Chapter 1

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Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out, saw the caller ID and sighed before answering it. "Hello?"

"Where are you?! You were supposed to meet us here twenty minutes ago!" Seulgi wasn't pleased. "It's beach day, Irene. Remember?"

"Yeah um... about that..." She didn't want to go. She refused to spend her holiday watching her friends and their dates or boyfriends having fun on the beach.

"You're going to bail on us again, aren't you?"

"Omma called me this morning. She said she wanted to come visit for a bit," she lied.

"Don't lie to me, Irene." Seulgi then sighed. "You should've asked someone to go with you if you didn't want to come alone."

"You say that as if it's so easy to do."

She had a different preference than most, if not all, her friends. She didn't even feel the need to pretend to give boys a chance since she turned twenty one last year - the age when she finally started to come to terms with herself.

"You're too afraid."

"Wouldn't you be?" She started making her way down the stone staircase. "Look, just go and have fun. I have stuff to do anyway."

"What stuff? Brooding along Cheonggyecheon stream again? Watching couples and cursing your love life?" Seulgi knew her friend very well.

"Good bye, Seulgi. Go have fun and send them my regards." She tried ending the call.

"What should I tell them?!" Seulgi yelled before her friend could hang up on her.

"Whatever you want. Bye. Drive safe." She ended the call and pocketed her phone again.

She walked on and sighed when she saw the crowd gathering near her destination. "Tourists," she muttered under her breath as she slowed down near the pond said to be made of stones collected from eight provinces in Korea.

She saw the people and children taking turns standing on the lower ledge that led to the round stone hole in the water, trying their luck with tossing the coins into it.

She stopped walking.

Every time she had a day off she would make sure that she visited the place to toss a coin into the small hole, hoping that she would make the throw and could finally make a wish.

It was a sad and lonely thing to do, she knew; borderline pathetic even. That was why she never told anyone about it but she honestly thought that it was better than looking for girls online - a method recommended by one of her friends when she told her about her hesitation in approaching girls she happened to meet at public places. She didn't just want any random girl whose photo and information appeared on her computer screen. She wanted to fall in love the old fashioned way. Stealing shy glances, getting to know each other over coffee or during walks and not by reading about it on a webpage.

Again, she knew how stupid and impossible it was. The chance of that happening with boys was already slim let alone girls. But a small part of her couldn't stop hoping.

She reached inside her pocket, taking out the coin she had prepared. She looked at it and then at the hole. She could just try throwing it from where she was standing. Theoretically, it was doable. She didn't have to go down to the ledge.