𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍|2YEON|ENG

Best... Friend?

Jeongyeon opened her eyes. It had now been a few months since she had started university. She hadn't been able to sleep that night because she had set the alarm. It was the day she would be taking her first exam and, surprising even herself, she wasn't anxious at all. It was five in the morning, she got up, washed, dressed and went out while it was still dark. She had to be honest: she was scared about going out at that hour, especially because a homeless man had been found sleeping in front of her door, in her building. She couldn't know whether he was a good man or not, so she felt a great sense of nausea and anxiety every time. She walked to the bus stop with her earphones on and traveled for an hour to get to her university. She even arrived early, before the doors opened. Better sooner than later, right? When they finally made it inside, Jeongyeon sat at the back, as she used to do. She was alone, fortunately. The professor gave them the exam paper and Jeongyeon began to answer her first question.

-Hey, sorry, do you think I can see my student number on my phone? I don't remember it.

Jeongyeon didn't even realize someone had sat down next to her.

-I think so.

She continued writing and finished the exam in about an hour, sitting on her hands for another hour.

-Can you help me with the second one?- the girl next to her whispered.

Jeongyeon was afraid of being discovered, even though she was the one who was helping, not asking for help. However, she wasn't a bad person, so she helped her. Taking advantage of the fact that she had finished, she then decided to take a look at the person next to her. Without moving her head she looked to the side and immediately frowned. How was this possible? She tried to look better hoping not to be discovered and she saw that from her profile she was not only very pretty, but she was... Who knows what her name was, who knows what courses she attended. She tried to read her student number but she couldn't. They spent another hour in silence, finally deciding to give the test together. They went out and the beautiful girl immediately introduced herself.

-Nice to meet you, Nayeon.

It wasn't possible. Nayeon wasn't real, she was just a figment of her imagination, that set of positive characteristics of all the people she had met in her life, the maximum idealization of the human being, of the prototype of a friend.

-Jeongyeon.- she replied, shaking her hand, feeling her heart beating fast.

What if that girl didn't actually exist and she was just a figment of her imagination? But it was impossible... She saw her. And how was it possible that she was identical to the one she had imagined and that she had the same name as her?

-What faculty are you in?- Nayeon asked going down the stairs.

-Art and design.

-Ah, mine is filmography. I suppose this was our only exam together.

-I think so.

-It was nice to meet you. Maybe we can exchange numbers.

some day in 2028

-Jeongyeon! Where are you!?- asked her best friend on the phone.

-Nay, I'm coming.

-Quick! I need help with my thirty pages.

-As if I could be useful. I don't know what you study.

-But you're good at writing. I'll wait for you at my house.

While Jeongyeon lived in Incheon, Nayeon was from Seoul. Both continued to live in their childhood home. Jeongyeon mostly for Ryujin, while Nayeon had a good relationship with her parents.

The blonde arrived in front of the Im house and knocked. Mrs. Im immediately arrived to open and smiled.

-Nayeon is waiting for you.

Jeongyeon nodded and entered that house where everyone treated her well, where they were present and she almost felt part of that family. In those five years, Mr. and Mrs. Im had always been very helpful and had welcomed her with open arms into their home when Jeongyeon didn't feel like spending time in hers.

She walked up the stairs that led directly to Nayeon's room and knocked on the door.

-Come in.

Jeongyeon walked in and smiled as a form of greeting to her best friend, or at least she thought they were. Lo and behold, she was back at it again. After the disappointment of 2023 she was convinced that she would never consider anyone that way again. In fact, she hadn't considered any of the new people in her life to be "friends", but Nayeon was different and she had made her feel the need to give her that name for some strange reason. In five years they had never argued and Jeongyeon had even had the courage to open up to her a little, something she had no longer been able to do since 2022. But Nayeon was special, she was always there for her, she trusted her and felt that, for some strange reason, Nayeon really liked being with her, she didn't think she was boring, or maybe she did? Uncertainty continued to affect the poor girl. And now she had fallen back into it, feeling that feeling in her heart again, once again coming to consider a person the most important in her life. But did Nayeon feel the same? Could they call themselves anything close to best friends? Or maybe the girl from Seoul just considered her a banal friend.

-Have you started writing?

-Jeong, I told you a thousand times not to knock, only my parents should do that.

-But it's bad manners. What if you were getting dressed?

Nayeon shrugged. -We are girls, nothing you haven't already seen, right? Oh no, when I get dressed you always turn around.- she said and then laughed, making fun of her friend for her embarrassment about everything. -Now help me write something that makes sense.

-What have you written so far?

-I actually haven't turned on the computer yet.

Jeongyeon shook her head, finally closed the door and went to stand next to Nayeon, who in the meantime had turned on the computer.

-You start writing and I'll correct it.

-You're lucky to have already finished everything.

-I graduated last year because I didn't waste time.

-Yes, as you say. Do you want something to eat?

-No, thank you.

Nayeon knew her friend but always tried to suggest to her to eat. Jeongyeon had difficulty eating in front of people and doing so at any time other than lunch was out of the question.

-Then let's get started.