The Kissing Booth: Adult Edition

Those Awkward Moments In Life

"Are you sure you don't want to go to your department party? I can come join you if you'd be more comfortable." "Thanks, Marco, but I'd rather just go home with you." "You positive? I don't mind chilling in the library for a couple of hours. I won't leave campus without you." Awe, I grinned, clenching my phone in my hand. "No, you don't have to do that. Let's just go home as planned. Besides, Noah's gonna meet you outside your building in ten minutes." "Oh, right; crap. I forgot he was coming. Gotta hurry up and finish here." "Heh, you do that. I'll see you downstairs soon." "Alright, so long as you're sure Elle....." "I'm sure! Now hurry!" "Ok, I will! Be there in a couple of minutes." "Good. Bye." "Bye." Click!

I put my phone into my coat pocket and hurried to pack up all my stuff in my office. Today was the department's party; they had one every few months or so. I didn't mind them in Amsterdam or Edinburgh, but the culture in Korea was so different. I was one of the only foreigners in my building and while I could speak the language fairly well, I still wasn't fluent. It was awkward, particularly because a large part of Korean office parties both in academia and outside involved a lot of drinking. My sobriety only made things more uncomfortable, and not just for me. No, I'd much rather go home and spend the night with Lee, Marco, and Noah.

Settling on this plan, I tossed on my backpack, closed up my office, and headed for the elevator. The floor was fairly quiet since everyone was already downstairs on the main level. I inwardly cringed at the idea of trying to sneak past everybody. I didn't want to go to the party, but I didn't want to come off as rude or anti-social either. The elevator dinged and I sucked in a long breath. Ok, Elle; you can do this. These are your colleagues and friends; they don't want it to be awkward either. Just head for the door, saying hi to anyone who might see you. Yeah, ok- I got this. I got this!

I so did not have this.

The elevators doors opened, and I felt my stomach drop on out of me. Crowded! The entire floor was chalked full of people. Everyone was talking, laughing, and generally having a good time. It took me a painfully long second to come up with the courage to step into the room- it was like the black sheep entering the party. Luckily, for the first few steps, no one paid attention to me. But of course, good things can't last indefinitely. I groaned inside my mind at the sound of my name being called out.

"Evans! Hey, Evans!" "Hi, Song-yi," realizing I was snagged, I relented and wandered over to where she was standing. Song-yi was this pretty girl whose office was one floor above mine. We met during orientation week and stayed casual friends ever since. It wasn't her I was anxious about, but she stood with a group of other girls- some I'd seen around the department and others I'd never met before. The majority grinned pleasantly at my arrival. "This is Evans Shelley. She's the exchange student on floor seven," she explained to the group in Korean; our whole conversation took place in Korean. "Oh yeah! The American who's living in England, right?" One girl- I didn't know her name- addressed me. "Uh, Scotland," I shyly corrected. "Right. And you're working with Professor Oh?" "Yes, he's temporarily supervising me while I'm here." "Wow," a few of them exclaimed. "I've always wanted to go to the UK. Do you miss it?" "A little, but I love living in Seoul," I grinned. This seemed to please them, all nodding amongst themselves. "How do you like the department? It must be really different than what you're used to," a lady named Ga-rin inquired. "Oh, no! I love our department. It was a bit of a cultural, but it's been like that everywhere. No, I really like it here; I'm glad I came for a year-long exchange." "Well, we're glad you did too," Song-yi smiled- a genuine smile. This made me mirror her expression.... for about four seconds. "Glad you did what?" I don't think I could have internally winced harder. No... Please god, no; anything but this.

"Oh, hi, Ji-yoon. Glad you could make it," Song-yi greeted her with a kind tone. We all looked, including me, to Ji-yoon coming over to us. Her made eye contact with everyone present before stopping on my stare. There was this hidden smirk to her mild greeting grin; she knew she'd caught me here. She knew I wouldn't bring up the books here; not with everyone around us like this. She could be cordial to me, knowing there's not a damn thing I could do about it. And she revelled it in. I had to physically force my grin to remain when she came to stand beside me. Her stare stayed on me through the corner of her eyes.