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Chapter 2: Elusive – September 4 – 6, 2019

Jimin sighed.  He was already working on his song.  But he was nervous.  Because he was going to have to play it for a girl who hated him.  When the teacher had called them partners, she would have more aptly named them enemies.  For the purpose of their partner was to critique their work and suggest improvements.  

He growled.  He didn’t need that snobby, little freshman telling him how to write a song.  He’d been writing songs for over two years now.  He knew what he was doing.  What could he possibly learn from a little girl?

This class was so elementary.  He couldn’t believe he had to take it.  So now he would be critiquing a novice songwriter.  He sighed.  It was bound to go badly.  He would surely offend her again.  Not that he cared.

—

Jimin stood outside his class and laughed at Eunji.  Tae’s old best friend was so funny.  Jimin was glad he’d run into her this morning.  He’d been in a foul mood as he headed to his music theory class.  He wasn’t looking forward to seeing Jumi.  But Eunji had brightened his day.  He glanced down at his phone.

—

Jumi watched him talking to a beautiful girl.  With a perfect nose.

Of course.  

He probably had lots of girlfriends.  Brainless ones.  But gorgeous, nonetheless.

The lovely girl smiled at him as she pecked him on the cheek before walking away.  She glanced back at him once and murmured something Jumi couldn’t hear.  But the look on her face arrested Jumi.  The girl looked so happy to be speaking with Jimin.  

Stupid girl.  

Was she just completely clueless about his real character?  Or did she not care because he was so cute?

Jumi despised such girls.  They made the world a worse place for girls with self-respect.  Because such undiscriminating females allowed a cute guy any territory he desired just to be accepted by him.  Which made those jerks think they had a right to everything their eyes landed on.

Which they did NOT.

She sighed.  She couldn’t believe she had to sit next to this guy for the next hour.  She stomped into class and plopped herself down two seats away from him.

Jimin glanced up at her.  

Great.

She had returned.  And she was already fuming.  What a fun way to start this hour off!

“Did you write your song yet?” she murmured.

“Yes.”

Her head snapped up.  “What?  You already wrote it?”

He nodded, smirking at her. 

“The whole thing?”

He turned to her with a smug smile on his face, and the chain hanging from his ear caught the lights above their heads as it swung back and forth, reflecting their shine towards her.

He bobbed his beautiful head precisely once, his captivating eyes mocking her.  

She shook her head.  Why did she have to think those eyes were so lovely?  It didn’t matter how stunning they were or how they spoke to her.  The soul behind them was corrupt.

“Have you written yours yet?”

“Uh…not the whole thing.”

Yeah.

He was betting she hadn’t written any of it.

“What instrument are you going to play?” he asked, well aware that this was a simple music theory class, which meant she probably couldn’t tell the bass clef from the treble.

“The piano.”

His eyebrows flew up.  “You play the piano?”

She nodded.  “A little.”

He smiled that haughty smile again.  He bet she wasn’t even any good.  “You just dabble around middle C then?”

“No.  I prefer to play lower than middle C.  My voice isn’t high enough to handle it well.”  She blushed.

It intrigued him.  

Why was she flushing?

“Does your voice embarrass you?” he asked.

She stared at him as she thought of all her fellow music majors.  The ones she was friends with anyway.  All those girls had the most beautiful, clear, high-pitched voices.  They sounded like a bunch of angels singing.  Then, there was her.  

She sounded like a guy when she sang.  Her voice was so low.  It was truly embarrassing.  She made a point of never singing in front of any of them.  No one had ever heard her sing.

She ignored his question.  “We don’t have to sing for this project, do we?”

Just then, the teacher interrupted any response Jimin had been about to make.

—

At the end of class, Jumi turned towards him.  

“So.  When do I get to hear this masterpiece you’ve written?”

Jimin wasn’t about to show her his nerves.  And he decided to ignore the sarcastic tone of her voice.  He’d expected it, anyway.  No surprise there.

So he pulled on a false bravado and declared, “Anytime.  You name the date and time.”

“How about right now?” she queried.  

She was so irritated by this confident guy.  He assumed he was so much better than her.  But she’d been composing songs on the piano for years.  Just because she didn’t like to sing for anyone else didn’t mean she didn’t have an amazing ear for music.  She had just never been able to read the stuff.  She’d always played by ear.  Or by heart.  She simply put her fingers to the keys, and marvelous melodies flowed through them.

She had lied to Jimin.  She’d already written her song.  The problem was…she had no idea how to write down the music.  And it was a requirement for this project.  Not just composing a song but also creating the sheet music for it.

She sighed as she considered the daunting task ahead of her.  If they’d been friends, she would have asked him for help.  But Jimin was definitely not her friend.  She shuddered at such a notion.

“Right now?”

“Yeah.  Unless you’re too chicken.”  She wasn’t sure why she’d said such an asinine thing.  What was she, a middle school boy?

His face was suffused by anger.  “I’m not chicken.  I just don’t have my guitar with me right now.”  He thought for a moment.  “Why don’t you meet me at five?  I can drive you to my house.  I’ll play for you once we get there.”

She eyed him.  He wanted her to get in his car with him?  A perfect stranger?  And go to his house?  Where they would, presumably, be alone?  Was he trying to pressure her into doing something with him?

“I have plans.”  

The words slipped from her lips as a frisson of fear snaked through her.  She was oddly disappointed.  All guys were the same.  Weren’t they?  They were all after something she’d rather not give them.  

Not after her old boyfriend.  

She shuddered.

“Hey.”  Jimin gazed down at this weird girl.  “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” she echoed, returning to the moment.

“You’re looking at me like I’m going to eat you.  I’m not, you know.  I prefer cows.”

She blinked.  What was he saying?  He made absolutely no sense.

“So, when are we going to get together?  We have to turn in phase one of the project on Monday.”  Jimin was piercing her with those gorgeous eyes again.

“Uhhh.”  

Just then her phone dinged.  She glanced down at it.  It was Mallory.  Her friend from the United States.

“I have to take this call.”

“Can you at least give me your number so I can reach you?”

“You give me yours,” she responded.  She answered her phone.  “Hey, Mal.  Can I call you back in a sec?  Okay.”  She opened her contacts.  “What’s your number?”  She glanced at Jimin.

He rattled it off to her.

“Thanks.  Gotta go!”  And she disappeared.  

—

Two more days passed, and still he hadn’t heard from her.  This time he brought his guitar to class.  They were running out of time.  Tomorrow was Saturday.  

She entered class late and slipped out before it was over.  He was growing frustrated now.  She was clearly avoiding him.  She hadn’t made eye contact once during class.  Nor had she spoken to him.  He blew out an irritated sigh and approached his teacher.

“Miss Kwan?  I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m finding my partner to be the elusive sort.  I have all the elements of my project done for Monday.  Except the peer review.  Can I find someone else to fill it out this time?”

She gazed down at him.  She was so tall!  

“I’m sorry, but it must be your partner.”

“Do you have her phone number?  She refused to give it to me.”

“I’m not allowed to give it to you.”

He sighed.  “Thanks,” he mumbled as he turned away dejectedly.  

Was this stubborn girl going to ruin his grade point average?

“Mr. Park?”

He turned back towards his teacher.  “I’ve seen her every day at four o’clock out on the green in front of the science building.”

His face broke into a wide smile.  “Thank you, Miss Kwan.  Thank you very much.”