Memoirs of a Young Love (Completed)

Chapter 2 - Cinderellas

Our afternoon walks did not go unnoticed by my Cinderella friends. One day, when they were able to corner me to come with them, as Bin had a soccer practice, they brought me to our usual hangout.

'Ya Son Yejin! How are you?' Hyojin asked me. Oh, how I missed them.

'I'm fine. I miss all of you. Why don't you let me come with you anymore?' I asked them. The girls exchanged looks before they all laughed at me.

'Are you sure you want to join us? You have your hotshot date every afternoon and you want us to tag along?' Jiwon said.

'So how is he, Yejinah? Did he say I love you already?' asked Minjung, almost like a whisper.

I looked at all of them with a dumbfounded face. Seriously, what did these girls eat without me? 'What? Why is he even going to say that?'

They looked at me in disbelief. 'Ya! Anyone who sees you both can really say there's something between the two of you,' Yoona replied. 'We get jealous actually,' she continued and everyone fell silent.

'Says who that doesn't let me go with them anymore?' I shot back. 'I really miss you girls!' and I proceeded to give them a big hug. I truly missed them and our hangouts after school.

Since Bin came, I wasn't able to go with them for tteokbokki as I had to accompany him to get him comfortable. I know that I shouldn't be doing it but there was something in me that made me do it. I want him to get settled. Sure I introduced him to my friends, but they also pulled back on asking me to come with them. I never quite understood why but I tried to think that maybe they wanted me to spend time with the new student.

We spent that afternoon together and I had a good time with them. Since they won't be able to get me every after class, Junghyun proposed something to the group.

'How about we have our lunch together everyday? There's a newly opened canteen here and we could try it tomorrow. If it's good, then we stay there every lunch. Deal?' I laughed at the idea, but honestly they were right. I agreed with Bin walking me home in the afternoon, so lunchtime should be with my friends. It's a win-win.

'But really Yejinah, didn't he say I love you yet? You really look great together,' Yoonah repeated Minjung's question earlier. Seriously, did we really look like we're a couple that time?

'It's just nothing. He just asked me to walk me home every afternoon and I don't see anything wrong with it,' I answered. What else could I say? But my answer made the girls shriek and cover their mouths. They were so happy and as I looked at them, I was also laughing the whole time.

When the laughter died down, Minjung spoke up. 'Yejinah, Bin is such a hottie here in school. There are a lot of girls eyeing on him. And seeing the the two of you almost everytime may make some of them jealous at you. Be careful though, especially with the girls from the other section.'

'Who? I mean, there's nothing going on between us. If they want to be friends with him, they can befriend him,' I replied. But did I really mean what I said?

'Eun So and the brats. They have been eyeing on him since the first time he came, but we weren't surprised when Ms. Cha called you to be his peer facilitator. After all, you are a hotshot too. The school's headturner, and a good student at that,' Hyojin spoke up.

'I wonder what those boys who have been crushing on you think of Bin. They have been trying to get close to you too, but you never allowed any one of them to come near you. At least the way that Bin comes near you,' Yoona said, which again elicited shrieks from these girls.

Just then, Bin came up to the tteokbokki shop and found me. He smiled then he waited for me by the door. I have told him before that I regularly come here with my friends, so maybe he figured that I would be here when he didn't see me where we usually meet-up.

'Well, it's time to go girls. Our Cinderella has her prince charming waiting for her by the door,' Minjung said and the rest of the girls gasped and looked at me in disbelief. They shook their heads before they laughed at me.

'The school's headturner will soon be guarded by the soccer team's hotshot midfielder,' Yoonah quipped, before we stood up to go out. I bid them goodbye and they reminded me of lunch tomorrow, which I said yes before I turned to go to Bin, who was standing and waiting for me.

'Hi,' I said. 'Sorry I wasn't at the orchard earlier. These girls have been missing me so much already.'

He smiled at me and adjusted his duffle bag which contained his soccer gear. 'Hi. It's okay. I think I have been taking you away from them too,' he said, while scratching his nape and smiled shyly.

Looking at him, I wondered why my heart was uneasy. Sure, he is good looking, the same him that I saw the first time. I smiled at him, hiding away the overwhelming feeling at the sight of him. Really, what did those girls see in us?

'Let's go?' he asked before he took my hand to lead me home.

While we were walking, I saw Eun So and her friends steal a glance at us. Bin did not notice them, as he had been talking to me about something. But I saw the look in their eyes that wasn't really pleasant. In my instinct to feel secured, I squeezed Bin's hand that was holding me and looked away from them. My friends really had good observation, I now understood their warning.

--
As I continued walking along the school grounds, I came to the place where there was once an orchard. Dubbed as lover's lane, it gave so much memories of the time when I studied here. Now a building stood in its place, but I could still remember the particular spot where Bin and I used to meet.