The Ideal Girlfriend

"Come on man; I already explained things to you… I don't have a girlfriend. Don't be stupid."

"Oh, is that the really the case?"

"Dawn… I know who you're talking about and you're dead wrong. She is just my best friend and there's nothing else in the middle. I don't know what made you think about anything about that."

Dawn chuckled.

"What do you mean, Jae-in? Eve you called her as your 'girlfriend' at some point, right?"

"I did that because she's a girl, right? She's also my friend, so I think it just makes sense that I warrant myself calling her that. And by the way, I did that because of that one particular time that Vincent and Jayden drank their butts off and started asking stupid questions. I remember answering back at their claims just to make them both shut up. It was my only way out."

"Well, sometimes things do work out like that especially with Vincent and Jayden. It's funny how we don't often see them talking together recently… "

"Hey, I don't know what's with you and the rest of UK, but why are y'all putting me in the hot seat now? You have no idea how much of a chore I had to endure with all the questioning from Jared and the others. Heck, even Katy is being added to the mix and I can't do anything about it. It feels weird that I'm complaining about this now, especially when I was so cool at it a while back but… I guess I was just uncomfortable talking about Wendy especially to them. I only felt that when I was already relaying what transpired."

"I don't know about them… as far as I'm concerned, I just want to everyone else to be happy. I mean, look how well this first official date went with Roslyn. Like I said, if I don't screw things up, this boat is sailing away smoothly. As a friend, I want those same things to happen to you guys as well, especially you, my man. I can't even express to you how happy am I knowing my friends are good with Roslyn. It makes my efforts for her more relaxed knowing I have you guys behind me."

"I'm happy for you man. It turned out to be a good idea that you brought us on this."

"Wait, Jae-in… I just realized something…"

"Which is…?"

"You know with all of these happening… I'm sorry but I'll have to introduce Wendy to the conversation again. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead, I guess. We're pretty much talking about her already at this point so might as well."

Dawn scratched the back of his head just as he and Jae-in crossed a street towards a bright shop, of where they proceeded to continue on walking.

"I realized that… it's been a while since you and Wendy went dating, or went out, whatever… I just figured, you never introduced her to anyone else rather than the group, am I correct? I'm curious as to how she'd react with Wendy given her personality is drastically different from most of us."

"Who are we talking about? Is it Yvonne?"

"Of course man, who else could it be? You know how Yvonne works and how she's so picky with stuff, especially those who date you. It's funny to think how Victoria hated her so much back in high school and her predictions never came to fruition. You and Yvonne were still friends up to this day. It's hilarious when I think about how much that hated seeing each other because of you. I wonder how your ex would react once she finds out that you two have gone stronger ever since."

"I get where you're going at. Yvonne is pretty much very nitpicky on whoever I'm dating, or having an intention to date but she has her reasons. After what happened with Victoria, she made sure to have my back ever since. She's always been the brain in my heart, as I tend to act out of impulse without thought. I would go as far and say that she's the voice inside my head telling me to think twice about things before heading in, which is exactly why I trust her so much. Also, you know how guys have that hint whenever a dickhead is hitting on a girl with malicious intent? Girls have that too, man, and Yvonne's been the one warning me of everything… well, at least until recently anyway."

"Yeah, I know that. I just wondered, in case you introduced Wendy to her… what do you think she'd say about her, then? Do you think she's going to have the same thought like you did?"

"Knowing Yvonne, she'll be the first person to tell me to back off. All those realizations, all those reasons why I chose to end it with Wendy … I'm sure she would have seen it coming before I even thought about it. It would feel as if she'd be the one to back off for me while I still can't get the courage to do so. I don't know; like I said: womanly instincts. She'd be sure to tease about it to me at some point along that, too."

Dawn nodded.

"Well, in a way I envy you; girls are pretty hard to understand. At least you have Yvonne there to help you out for things, especially on the red flags we guys are normally blind to."

"I guess so… although with that whole thing with Wendy, I never really told her anything. Yihyun-noona even knows more than her on this regard… I guess I never really had the chance to tell her as it went on… I just never thought of her as well. With how quiet she is, maybe she's just really busy recently.

"You know what, come to think of it… I never saw Yvonne since the semester began. I guess being on a different engineering department ought to show how dedicated she is compared to us, and how physically and mentally committed she is on school. Then again, I didn't expect less from a high school top student. At least she's not spending her weekends going to bars like we do."

"Jae-in, but I heard that you barely join Thomas and the others when they invite you out. I heard that you're not even showing up."

There was a pause, which involved Jae-in giving his friend a joking glare only for Dawn to return it with a smirk.

"Okay, Mr Smart-ass, I know you're happy. I get it. I'm happy for you as well. I just don't get why Yvonne suddenly got dragged into this conversation out of nowhere. Point is I really haven't talked to her for a while so she has no idea what's going on with me. It might surprise her with how much shit I've been through without even being halfway across the semester."

"Maybe that's the point. I genuinely got curious how come she's never heard of anything… surprised, even. You got to tell her and catch up, man. You two have been through a lot and she ought to know at some point. In that case, it would be better if it would be from you."

Kim Jongwan and Yoon Jae-in reached the end path of the long street they have been traversing on. The skies have completely showed its vibrant purple hue as the day succumbed into the incoming evening. As always, Seoul's bright night life had begun to bare itself amidst the baby steps of the twilight. Shops began to show their innate beauty along with the approaching evening, with Jae-in only being able to realize what he was missing right as he and Jongwan were about to part ways. He stood with his eyes on the marketplace's humble horizon, its roof carefully etched to match the elegance of the incoming dusk.

(Maybe I should. I do kinda miss that chaos of a girl as well.)

---

Jae-in's POV

---

After the grand culmination of Dawn's plan, it was suffice to say that he had once again become incognito, but I quite expected that. I really could not blame him; after that good enough of a start, he ought to focus all of his efforts towards Roslyn if he really want to make the most out of what has been given to him. Plus, the rest of the United Kindred have been really confined lately, with the conversations solely existing between the occasional appearances of Vivian complaining about how she constantly forgets her basic maths skills, Jayden teasing her about it, Thomas moderating all of them. Katy and Vincent became the new love birds of the group effectively replacing me and Wendy, which was a good thing. Granted, we never really displayed our affection in front of our friends, even if it was just a group chat, but at least the rest of the members attention were focused on them and not us. They didn't even bother to bring up the topic of Roslyn and Dawn for the rest of the conversations.

Still, there was no word from Wendy, as expected. It was also rather odd that I don't see her around campus, be it with Vivian or Thomas even for just a chance encounter. I don't know if she's doing that on purpose or we're really just not allowed to see each other with fate dictating what the best is for both of us.

But I guess I could not complain with that. At least she and I could get a huge breathing room.

With the threat of the exams just being around the corner, I figured I might as well grab the chance to catch up with a long-time friend of mine. Who knows when she'll be busy again?

I messaged Yvonne exactly on that night that Dawn and I went our separate ways. Well, given the really tight schedule of this particular woman, I had to arrange our next get-together after quite a long time. Days passed and it was another weekend, and like how it passed by with Jongwan I found myself on a local bubble tea shop with a rather high, wooden ceiling. It was this small, compact space with a natural vibe echoing off of it with the wooden furniture, floorboards, ceiling, as well as the entire house-like feel of it. The open windows raged from all around, with the rear exit offering a veranda filled with chairs coupled with the breath-taking view of the city.

As much as I love the feel of the wind grazing my face as we'd consume our respective bubble teas, with the length of Yvonne's hair it ought to get to her face at some point. I don't want to ruin her experience here just because of that, so I elected to pick tables indoors.

"Jae-in, heya," I heard her voice call from the entrance of the shop's doorway, appearing all in her youthful presence as she supplied me with an enthusiastic smile. "You finally decided to ask me out, hmmm? Can't seem to find the perfect fairy for all this?"

Yvonne Ahn greeted me on the same way she would almost every time I see her, and that is always with a wide smile over her tall stature. She showed up today with the clear understanding that white was the colour for that meet, having decided to wear a matching white long sleeves and track pants, finished with her white sneakers that fixed the over-all get-up while a folded jacket draped over her arm. Yvonne had once again decided to have her bangs, and I think it suited her perfectly. Seeing her on a hairstyle I haven't seen her do since high school, and especially on this time that I haven't seen her for a while, it felt so nostalgic and very comforting in a way. It did felt like a relief to see my best friend from highschool looking and glowing so well. I'd lie if I didn't miss this girl one bit.

"Give me a break, Yvonne," I replied to her as I smirked. "This might be on me but it's far from being a date. I already ordered and it's already here for you. I was actually serious when I said that your tea might screw itself up when you come in late."

"Excuse me, oppa; you're the one who's early. I'm just in time. If this tastes bad, I'm going to ask you for another one."

"I'm willing to bet that it's not. I made sure to get your favourite."

"Is that so?" Yvonne replied as she rather surprisingly took the space next to me instead of the chair opposite where I was seated. She placed the small hand bag she had with her and brushed her bangs before taking the drink ordered for her.

"You know that there is a chair opposite me, right?"

"Well, I can see that. I can also see that you're smart enough to pick the couch for yourself. In that case, endure sitting there. At least you have a pretty fairy next to you; that's not a loss whatsoever."

"It feels like it's you who missed teasing me, Yvonne. It almost makes me feel bad that I treated you out here," I replied to her as a joke, which immediately earned a slap towards my arm.

"Yah, fine I'll just stop," she said and then proceeded to sip from the drink I bought her. "So what's up with the sudden call, Jae-in? Are you heartbroken again?"

Oh my god… the fact that I know she's joking but at the same time being so spot on is crazy on itself.

Now it feels awkward to open up because she did it first like that.

"I guess that's the case then. You're silence is more than enough evidence for it. Plus, your face says it all," she concluded before I could even speak.

It's so hard when someone knows you so damn much.

"Come on now… of course at some point I'm going to have to ask you out for us to catch up. I know how busy your department could get, being stuck on huge Chem books and all. I'm surprised that you even squeezed me into your busy sched."

"It's not that hectic, Jae-in, really. Most of you people are pretty much exaggerating when it comes to our study habits as well as our activities."

"Really…? So everything that I've been hearing was just an exaggeration? Is that why I never even managed to bump unto you if it was even just by chance? It's like we're not even in the same university, you know."

"Well… actually… it's not an exaggeration because it's an understatement, really. Oh my… you have no idea how happy I am that you asked me out, actually. I've never felt so burned out recently. You not being my classmate take a lot of time getting used to."

"You're not used to being around that much of a girl circle now, do you?"

"It's… It's definitely different. The people I'm with now… I feel like they're so pigeonholed into the one goal of the degree we're all pursuing. I get that, but I'm naturally a fun and outgoing person so… having to stay back with them feels really hard, especially when I'm used to being with you and not taking things all too seriously while still making things work out. It feels impossible to do that now. I also kinda miss us walking home together and sharing some street food on the way to the apartment like we did before. I can't do that now because… I need to be high profile to blend in. It sucks for my wallet, too."

"Did I mishear you or did you just tell me that you missed me?"

Yvonne nearly choked from her chocolate mix as she supressed a laugh. That was not really intentional.

"Maybe I did… this entire thing of us going out felt so refreshing to me. I'm being serious now."

"Well, if that's the case… I'm happy that I thought of asking you when I did. I just figured that maybe it was high time for us to catch up on a couple different axes. I also figured things have come really differently on our first semester away from each other. I was wondering how you're dealing with the change."

"I don't think I have to worry about you now, do I?" She said; keeping her keen eyes planted on my drink at the desk. "I heard a lot from Thomas-oppa. He told me that you've been hanging out a lot with them at bars every weekend. Is that true?"

"Umm…"

Well, technically…

"If that's really the case, then I'm really envious. I don't think I've touched a single glass of alcohol since we parted ways…. By the way, what did you order? What's in your cup? I don't think I've seen that before."

What?

Yvonne's sudden interest to whatever I ordered really threw me off, but then again she was always like this. I was just starting to take in what was going on with her when she grabbed the drink from my end of the table and brought it closer to her face. Yvonne then eyed the contents through the small hole of the straw, even closing her other eye to get a better view at it.

"What flavour is this, Jae-in? I don't think I've tried this out before. It looks like a cookie and vanilla mix."

"Oh uhh… it's apparently called a Snow Leopard. I got it because I love cookies and cream flavoured things. It's good. Try it out."

With that, Yvonne nodded and immediately went off to sip from my straw; her eyes lighting up. She then took her drink and slid it on the table towards my side as if beckoning me to taste the very thing I ordered for her. I casually took the drink and took a sip from her straw and my taste buds were immediately filled with the unusual chocolate flavour. I did not expect less from a triple chocolate mix that Yvonne dearly loves.

"Damn… that was an experience. I might try that out for myself some time," she exclaimed as she returned my drink to my side of the table. "I might have drank a bit so it's a bit lesser than… yeah. You get it."

"Don't worry. I expected nothing less, Yvonne Ahn."

She slapped my arm and in turn smiling towards my direction.

"Well, anyway I'll head us back to the topic at hand before I got distracted. I heard a lot of deals from Thomas, you know; some of which even surprised me so much."

"I actually did not expect Thomas to tell you something, but that's not saying that I didn't want you hearing about me. It's not like I'm hiding it or anything. It's just… I was expecting that you'd know soon but from either Jayden or Vincent, not Thomas. I wonder how that went down…"

"I'll have you know, it was Thomas who told me because he felt so concerned towards you. He didn't entirely tell me of everything, because in his head those still deserve to be told by you. All he told me was things have been rough for you lately, and asked me to check on you whenever I had the time. They said you've pretty much gone incognito from them, especially recently. I guess when you asked me out for this one, maybe it was a huge deciding factor for me to go as well."

"So I guess he knew that I'd reach you at some point. He's not wrong. Be it that I'm reaching you out because I want to catch up on a couple of different matters, there's no denying that thing have been crazy rough lately, especially the couple last weeks. Let's just say that I'm dealing with the aftermath of that, as you know it affected me now less than it did with… with someone named Wendy Jeon."

"Ah, so that's her name, huh? Well then, we have all afternoon, Jae-in. Now I'm curious. Tell me the entire thing. Tell me how you and this Wendy girl ended up, and why you decided to cut ties with her once you felt it was wrong."

---

The one thing that Jae-in loved so much about Yvonne was that she has always been a good listener.

She merely sat throughout the entire conversation, merely giving her best friend the occasional nods and shakes whenever there was an interesting detail with regards to the story, but of course included with that were the extreme reactions from Yvonne's rather expressive face. Given how confident he is with her, Jae-in elected to not only include his insights among everything that happened, but also the details he would normally reserve for himself; that included everything, especially intimate moments. As expected, Yvonne gave him a face of alarm. The ghost of that expression seemed to have continued until he reached the latter part of his story.

"Well, I guess you can see now why I ended what was going on between us," Jae-in said with a clear conclusion. "It's crazy, right? We haven't gotten halfway through the semester yet and I already have this on the bag. It speaks too much about how bothered I am with the sudden development."

"My god, Jae-in… I didn't expect this to be this involved! You know what, I haven't met this girl yet and I already do not like the sound of everything. It feels like there's nothing linking you together aside from your sudden outbursts of hormones, and that's even trying to call it by the simplest of ways, believe me. You two are just horny, especially during all this."

"I… I guess so…"

"You know, the fact that it turned out the way it did, it somehow reminded me of your ex. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who felt that, right?"

"That's… well, most of the reason why I chose to back off largely was because of Victoria. Things have been… I don't even know how to put it out, actually. I just felt that it was wrong to continue because it was something that I never wanted in the first place. It sucks that it even had to go to that degree that it was already too difficult to let her go given the circumstances. At this point, I'm just happy that I pulled it off."

"As you should," Yvonne replied earnestly. She then proceeded to place her now-empty drink over the table and cross her legs afterwards. "My god, I could not even imagine how much of a sump we'll have to go through again if she ended up being like exactly like Victoria. I would not be surprised if she did. I mean, look at her; she's pretty much a girl who could get any guy she would like. They tend to get really reactive and loud expressing their feelings but when they don't get what they want, the results would automatically be a disaster for the guy… for you, Yoon Jae-in."

"Ummm…"

"Damn, can you imagine how things turned out with you and Victoria from before? Do you still remember how she hated me so much just for the fact that you're my best friend… it's as if I could do something about that? Hello…? What am I supposed to do? I'm not even wedging myself between you two and she acts as if we're having sex in the dark."

Jae-in chuckled.

"I do remember that; of course. We almost never go out together even for a small lunch out because he's always like a detective watching me all the time. It's so uncomfortable. I can't even nod or greet you when we bump into each other while you have Victoria walking beside you, Jae-in. One small eye-contact between us, I immediately get a glare from her, Oh my god; I think she wants me to stop being your best friend back then. She wants me to be invisible when you're around, like what the fuck?"

Jae-in chuckled and Yvonne smiled at his reaction.

"You know, Yvonne, now that I'm openly talking about this, that's pretty much how it turned out before. You know how Victoria and I always argued about you; that she's threatened of our friendship given how our relationship developed from us initially being best friends as well. She always thought that at some point, I'll give her up for you. I'm pretty sure that it did happen, you know; I chose you as my best friend instead of sulking on our doomed relationship anyway."

"Jae-in, hearing all this from you makes me want to go out and eat lunch with you, but not a normal one. We should make sure that Victoria sees it as well, just so we can show her how our friendship thrived further the moment that she was out of the picture. I want to show her that a guy and a girl could be friends without falling for each other."

"You… you talk as if we didn't really try to make something else out of this," Jae-in remarked calmly. "In a way, we're not really a good example for that, all things considered."

"Well, the keyword was we DID try to make something out of it. It just didn't feel right. I never thought that I'd ever be awkward to you, and I don't want that one week of attempted dating to happen again between us. We're soul mates Jae-in, and maybe that means that we're destined to be the best of friends since the very beginning."

"If you put it out that way, it makes me feel so happy that we chose friendship instead of making something impossible out of this one. You always had my back, Yvonne. I'll always be grateful for that"

"We didn't work out, Jae-in, because I know that I'm not really your type," Yvonne said with a tone of humour, covering her mouth with her hand in the process. "And that's okay for me, you know. I have no problems with it."

"Wait, wait, that's interesting, since you brought it up, what do you think my type is, exactly? What does Yvonne Ahn think of Yoon Jae-in's ideal girl and that is in terms of a lot of factors. Let's hear you enumerate everything."

"Ahh, so we're in that stage now, hmm?" Yvonne said before shifting her place on the couch and then rubbing her palms together. "Now this is interesting. Are you asking this from me so that you can confirm the similarities with what I'm about to say?"

"Maybe… or perhaps I could get an idea because I felt like I haven't been running standards for a long time. It doesn't have to be so complex, and you can base it on the previous people I've taken a liking on."

"Well, I can't do everything because we might take all afternoon… how about three?"

"Fair. Let's do that."

"Good enough. Well for starters, girls that are way too feminine do not pique your interest in any way, Jae-in. I'm pretty sure you are aware of that. You don't like the typical text-book reserved, campus-crush kind of deal. You don't like girls who are very well known because they are using fame to be something else. I get that it's not that bad, but you're not just into it because it feels fake. Does that make any sense?"

"It's not something I would expect to come from you but I think I can understand it."

"Good. Next, you're more into people with strong personalities, which conflicts the other interest I just mentioned. I don't know, but there's a thin line between people you like who are have a very strong presence but not being over-all too feminine and vulgar about at the same time. I can get understand it in my head but I can't find the words for it. I've been you friend for so long and I think I can understand it without words. I mean, I've met some people who were so timid and shy on the face value and yet they're much defined once you get to know them. It's kind of like that."

The fact that she knows so much about me, up to this degree is somehow amazing and scary at the same time. It makes me wonder if I'm that much obvious whenever I'm with her.

(But then again, maybe I am. I'm just that comfortable when I've with Yvonne that I don't seem to mind what kind of stories I spill to her. This conversation was way more yielding than I thought.)

"Now for the last one, this one feels more like an observation from my end but somehow attracted to mature girls. It does not necessarily mean that you're into girls that are older than you, but often enough age is often associated with maturity so I guess things tend to curve that way when it's all said and done. It correlates. I guess there's that sense of security that you get when it comes to people like that. In a way, it perfectly concludes all of the points I've stated previously."

"I don't think that… that it's entirely true for Victoria. I mean, our ages are not that far apart you know."

"Honestly, Victoria or even the Wendy girl does not fit any of the traits I have mentioned. That explains why it was not a surprise that you decided to cut it off. On Victoria, I could understand, because at least you two developed from friends, but for the Wendy girl, I guess it was pretty self-explanatory."

"I guess so… I suddenly became conscious of the traits you mentioned, you know. I can't bring myself to not consider them the next time that I take a liking into someone…"

"And you should, so that you won't just fall on someone who barely even fits your standards. At least by then you'd be able to sort things out for yourself. I get it, Jae-in; love is one huge trial and error, but how many errors are you planning to bust through that you'll finally let yourself loose for the world, hmm?"

"I… I don't know."

"Jae-in, you're a very soft, kind-hearted person and that's about one thing that I really love about you. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the first one who said that, but on times like these it's working against you. You need to learn when to say 'no' and keep you standards to yourself, because at the end of the day you still need to look after yourself. Can't date ever girl in the world to find out if you're compatible or not, right?"

"I'm trying to keep that in mind, Yvonne … it's just that with this Wendy situation, I let it unfold to a painfully hard situation to get out of before I even began to make a move. It's a mistake I don't intend to do again."

Jae-in sat there in silence, keeping his gaze peeled towards the empty drink he had in front of him. He may have stayed in that state for so long that Yvonne grew concerned. There was a sudden, surprising sensation from his left side, only for it to be revealed to be from Yvonne's end. Somehow through the silence, she placed her hand over his as an act of affirmation and assurance. She then clasped it, making sure that Jae-in felt the presence of her then and there."

"Don't think of it badly, Jae-in. I'm not blaming you for everything that happened to you. In fact, I really admire your courage for being honest to the girl. No one should take away the emotions you battled while you're at it, as well. Also… as much as I'm trying to force these sorts of ideas unto you, in the end we're still human beings. Things could not be bound ideally, as they say.

"Finding a perfect person definitely involves a bound of luck as well as a good stroke of fate. You'll never know when you'll meet her, or if you've even met her already. The range of your destiny could be someone you've already spent a long time being with to someone you accidentally tripped over on the way home. It's easier once you let your heart welcome it instead of your mind."

(I honestly don't know if she's aware of the mixed messages she's sending about. However, there's no denying that things like this are pretty hard to understand. In fact, a woman's heart is hard to understand, as I heard someone wise once said.)

"Sorry, I got carried away," Yvonne said finally, returning them both back to earth once again as she shook her head. "We should go, Jae-in; we've stayed so long here that we're already hogging the best seat in the entire shop. Besides, I want to walk the park for a bit if you're game. Shall we?"

And with one final nod, Jae-in agreed. The preparation to leave was as quick as the decision to do so with Yvonne being the first one to head on off for them both. However, as Yoon Jae-in and Yvonne Ahn walk towards the wide doors of the welcoming shop, the young man was dazed with the apparition of their final conversation; clearly curious as to what kind of destiny the future holds for a guy like him.

He has a feeling that fate would confirm his destiny very soon.