After meeting, the two chatted for a little while about various shared interests, and soon thereafter exchanged contacts. They both bought their items and went back to their respective living spaces.

As the days till classes began to come and end, the two texted back and forth about various topics. fixations, hobbies, and commonalities the two had. Eventually the topic of classes came up.

Jun: Hey, I’m not sure if I’ve asked this, but what classes do you have?

Leia: I was actually wondering the same thing about you. But since you asked first I’ll lay mine out

Art history with Mr. tompkins

Sculpting with Ms. Jackson

Painting with Mrs. Wu

And Mr. Abara for storyboarding

The rest are just your standard maths and language arts nonsense that I'm not really going for but they make us take anyway. What's a girl to do...

Jun: storyboarding? That’s an interesting choice. Tryna be a writer of sorts?

Leia: Something like that. Mostly just fancy the idea of writing my own comic strip or manga someday. It always seemed like fun so I thought, what the hell, why not

Jun: ha, yeah that’s fair. sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Hopefully they're a good teacher. Let me see what I’ve got picked out. I think we might share a class!

Jun looks at his scheduled classes and types them out as he reads

Jun: Art history with Mr. Tanaka

Figure drawing with Mr. Jameson

Color theory with Mrs. Megurine

And painting with Mrs. Wu

We do share a class!

Leia: That's so cool! At least I'm going into this knowing someone now. not sure if you could tell by my accent, but i'm not exactly from around these parts.

Jun: I assumed as much. A bit of a shot in the dark here cause I'm not the best with accents but...Scotland?

Leia: On the money! yeah, the fam and I moved here a few years back because of dad's job. but we still visit home often, that's how I've been able to hold on to the accent so well.

Jun: ahhh, that makes sense. What's it like over there? never really met anyone from that neck of the woods before.

Leia: It's not too bad, a wee bit gray and a little frost during the winter. But the people are lovely and the whiskey always runs cold. It would take some getting used to if you weren't born and raised. but it's a lovely place. just describing it makes me miss it already…

Jun: sounds like it. How often do you visit?

Leia: every other month or so. Mum owns a few apartments in Glasgow, so she has to oversee basic maintenance and upkeep. She likes to make sure everythings in running order for her tenants. Me and my dad follow just so we have an excuse to see my grandparents and catch up with friends.

Jun: ah, well at least you get to go back every now and then. My parents are from Korea, but they moved here before I was born, so I never really got to experience what my "homeland" was like. I would always beg them to let us go on a trip someday, but they would never budge. always saying that we "didn't have the money"...despite the fact that two Mercedes Benz's are parked in front of our two story house…

Leia: mmmm, I smell bull shiiiiiit

Jun: yeah my dad was never a good liar lmao. I always felt there was another reason he would never let us go, but I could never figure it out. My parents are very loving individuals, but equally so secretive.

Leia: Hey, who knows. maybe you'll get so big and famous from your art you'll get to travel back yourself

Jun: HA HA HAAAAAA

Jun: aaaah, Leia you are too funny for your own good I swear 🤣

Leia: HEY! I'm being serious! I've seen the stuff you do. you have some serious skills. art like that doesn't just appear out of nowhere. the more people who see your works, the more i'm sure they'll agree. Give yourself more credit, man.

Jun was at a loss for words, no one had really stopped him in his tracks like that before. Usually he would be self-deprecating about his abilities and that would be the end of it. But she didn't let it slide. she didn't let him talk himself down. and very suddenly, he felt a weird sensation in his heart. a mild rush of emotion he wasn't sure what to do with. He sat there quietly, at odds with himself. He thanked Leia for her upfrontness with him. then made up a reason to put his phone down. He sat there on his bed. blushing and overthinking.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He did his best to rationalize the situation. Despite his efforts, he had never been able to get the attention of women. He was always polite and gentle, for his parents always told him to treat women with respect. But he was simply never lucky with the opposite gender. So to have someone of the opposite gender not only befriend him, but compliment him. It was a very new and very foreign experience for him. He did his best to stay rational with the situation. But the feeling never quite left him.

Over the coming days, he continued talking with Leia. Getting to know her hobbies, interests, tastes, and so on. Sharing his own, as well as finding how much he had in common. They both enjoyed Anime and animation as a whole. Gushing on and on about their favorite shows and series. As the days went on, Jun neglected talking to his other friends, mainly his closest friend since middle school, Diego.

Jun checked his messages in the morning to find that he had several unread from him. In a mild panic, he read through them all in a frenzy. They were all asking similar questions of if he was okay, what was he up to, and why he was ghosting him. In all caps, Jun replied:

Jun: FUCK FUCK FUCK SHIT SORRY DUDE I COMPLETLEY FORGOT TO REPLY SORRY 😭

Jun: I'M FINE I'VE JUST BEEN A BIT BUSY

Diego read the messages and instantly started typing.

Diego: jesus FUCK dude don't scare me like that 😭😭😭

Diego: What in god's name were you so busy with that you couldn't reply? there's no way bruh 💀

Jun sat there staring at his phone pensively. He was unsure of how to explain his newfound situation. So instead of being upfront like he usually is. He stutters, like a fool

Jun: so...uuuuh

Jun: I met this girl…

diego began typing rapidly

Diego: JUN IS FINALLY GETTING SOME BITCHES!!!

Jun: IT'S NOT LIKE THAT...I THINK

Diego: MF WHAT DO YOU MEAN you THINK?

Jun: WE JUST MET LIKE A FEW DAYS AGO

Jun: I'm still getting to know her. We're just friends...but like…

Diego: "but like" what brother? open your mouth or bugs are gonna fly in

Jun: she complimented my art, and it made me feel kinda...I don't know how to explain it, but it felt nice

Diego: awwwwwwwwww jun's got a cruuuuuuuuuuuush

Jun: NUH UH

Diego: YUH HUH

Jun: SHUT UP

Diego: never

Jun: whatever...but yes...a little

Diego:...she hot?

Jun: respectfully, yes holy crap

Diego: pics?

Jun paused for a moment. He just met this girl, but he didn't have any pictures of her. And to be quite frank, he didn't really know how to ask for any. It's not like he was asking for anything crude or strange. But he simply wasn't sure how to approach it. He pondered the thought for a moment, then came up with an idea.

Jun: not yet but i'll ask to see if i can get one. one moment

Jun opened Leia's contact on his phone and gathered the courage to ask one simple question

Jun: hey this is kinda out of the blue, but can you take a picture of yourself? I don't have anything for your profile pic and I try to have an image for everyone. If it wouldn't be a bother

it took a minute or so, but Leia eventually responded

Leia: Yeah sure! Let me try to find some good lighting.

After a few minutes of waiting , Jun finally got a response.

He was at a loss for words. She looked as beautiful as when he met her in that aisle. He was incredibly flustered by her beauty. He responded quickly, thanking her. and saving the image to his phone under a new album. simply titled, "her".

He re-opened diego's messenger and sent the photo

there was a minuet pause between them

diego then responded

"...damn"

Jun: yeah...I know

Diego: Where did you meet this girl? respectfully, how does one just stumble upon a goddess like this?

Jun: In all places, an art store. She was grabbing some materials for school and so was I. I learned we were going to the same school, and we hit it off from there.

Diego: damn...all art girls are pretty. It's like, a universal constant or something lmao

Jun: hehehe, true

Diego: Well, I don't really have anything else to update you on. Just wanted to make sure you weren't dead. please for the love of god don't do that again. You know how worried I get when people just stop responding like that.

Jun: Yeah I get it. It won't happen again, I promise.

Diego: Thanks man, take care. Ciao

After that, Jun sat in his bed, thinking of what to do with the day. The semester wasn't going to start for another few days. And he already had everything laid out for the classes he was taking. "I could go for a run," he thought. He looked at the weather. The forecast read rain till the evening. "welp, that's out of the question". He rolled around his room, thinking of something to do. He went back and forth with himself, contemplating how to spend his day.

And that's when the thought hit him. She had been running across his mind since he woke up that morning. And the mental image of her only grew stronger when he requested the photo. He wanted to go out with Leia. It wasn't as if he was going to be asking to go out as anything more than friends. He had only just met this woman a few days prior. But his nerves were grasping him tightly.

he wrestled with himself for what felt like an eternity, trying to rationalize what he wanted to ask of her. "She might be busy, I wouldn't want to bother her," he thought to himself. "But I'll never know if I don't ask". He continued to toil back and forth with his decision. But eventually, he had enough of his own indecisiveness. He sat down, opened her messaging, and began to type.

Jun: Hey, this is also kind of out of the blue. But are you at all busy today?

Leia: eh, no not really. Been lazing about my apartment for the most part. What's up?

Jun: Nothing huge, but I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today? I know the weather is supposed to be a bit iffy. But I was wondering if you'd like to go out and do something.

Leia: Sure! I'm down for just about anything. Didn't have much of anything planned for today.

Leia: What d'ya have in mind?

Jun had a moment of pause. He didn't think he was going to get this far, so he had very few actual ideas lined up. He racked his brain for a moment, then suddenly, the lightbulb flickered.

Jun: I was thinking maybe we could stop at pikes place for a bite to eat and then hit up the international village and drop by Kinokuniya? I've got the bites if you've got the gas.

Leia: Sure, sounds lovely! I've never actually had an opportunity to visit the international village, so this'll be a new experience for me.

Jun: Awesome! I'll pick you up whenever you're ready.

Jun then had a sudden realization.

Jun: wait...where do you live?

Leia: ah, yeah you probably need my address. Could be helpful, just maybe 🤣

Leia gave him the address, he looked it up on google maps. It was an apartment complex in a nicer side of town. He put it down in his notes for later.

Jun: Alrighty, thank you! like I said, just let me know when you're ready, i'll be there as soon as I can

Leia: Oh don't worry too much about time. I'll let you know but you don't have to be there in a flash, I can wait.

Jun: Well, I get that. But I was raised to always be punctual. I don't like to keep people waiting too long. It just seems rude, I was the one who invited you after all

Leia: awwwe, aren't you a gentleman 🤭

Leia: Well, that’s very kind. Most men aren't as courteous as you are. I appreciate that.

Leia: I'll let you know when i'm ready :>