At about 8am, Eliza woke up to a notification on her phone. She got a text from her boyfriend cancelling their date today. They hadn't seen each other for a while and this weekend was supposed to be just them unwinding a bit. She was disappointed; Eliza missed him after all. When she heard that he had to stay in the dorms to do some last minute schoolwork, she thought of just bringing him food and coffee. She cleared her schedule for the whole day anyway. She had nothing to do.
Plus, Sam often forgets to take care of himself. The fact that he had to cancel probably meant the amount of work was overwhelming; he'd probably forget to eat.
The concerned girlfriend reluctantly stood up from her bed and washed her face in the bathroom. She checked herself out in the mirror. Eliza was a beautiful woman; she was often told that. Smooth, glowing skin, dirty-blonde hair, long eyelashes on pretty hazel-colored irises--she stood out in any crowd. She undressed calmly in front of the mirror and tiptoed around, examining her naked body. She was mostly thin and petite in her teenage years. Now, as a college woman, she's gained a bit of weight, giving her a more thick and womanly figure. She started exercising a lot in the past year too. It toned the curves of her body just right--accentuating her figure to the fullest. It was a mature woman's body. The type of figure a healthy woman ten years older than her would have. She stretched, her taut skin glimmering in the warm lighting of her room. People would be stunned if they saw the sight.
Every inch of her felt like it had an aesthetical purpose on her beautiful body.
Eliza got a towel and took a shower. She came out completely drenched and awake after a few minutes. Originally, she chose a strawberry-colored dress to wear, but since the date was cancelled, she'd probably go with something a little more practical. A white shirt with jeans would do, she thought. Eliza went out of her room and greeted her already-awake roommate, Julie. She was a straight-A student who looked deceptively ditzy. Despite her casual look, Julie's actually the most disciplined person Eliza has ever met. In fact, Eliza had never woken up before her. She saw her roommate reading every morning without fail. Novels, almanacs, biographies, you name it. She followed a sleeping schedule to the tee, but she's surprisingly laid back during normal days--always wearing her hoodie. She was pretty nerdy and Eliza liked her a lot. If she was being honest, a little too much.
They've been roommates since they started college and she's always had a thing for Julie. Sexually. The oblivious woman didn't seem to notice one bit. Either that or she did, but she wasn't interested. Regardless, they remained good friends over the years.
"Leaving?"
Eliza nodded and explained.
"Ah. Have fun then. Careful on your way out," Julie said, waving her hand.
Eliza said goodbye and left the compound wearing a jacket Sam gave her. It was pretty cold here in the morning after all. People were starting to wear more and more layers each passing day.
The beautiful woman bought two cups of coffee and a hot chocolate for herself. She also got a healthy take-out from Sam's favorite diner while she was at it.
Eliza headed to the college dorms. She waltzed right in and no one stopped her. Everyone knew Sam's girlfriend. Extremely hot and way beyond his league, plenty of men and women were already hitting on her before she met dated Sam. Even after she finally answered her boyfriend's vehement courting, some men still shot their shot. In fact, many of them already tried getting into her pants with more straightforward ways despite Sam, who was taller than average, incessantly glaring at anyone who dared oggle at her.
Eliza smiled: her boyfriend was the sweetest man she knew. She didn't think he was below her league. Shallow people tend to only see the surface. That was what separated Sam from the others and that was why she dated him over her many choices.
Plus, he was good at sex.
Eliza opened the door to the apartment and saw her boyfriend buried under a lot of papers.
She greeted, "Hey, baby! I got coffee."
He turned towards her and yelled, "Oh, shit. You're here! You're a lifesaver, Lizzie. I love you so much." Sam walked towards her and took her in his embrace.
"Baby, why are you here?" he asked, pleasantly surprised.
Eliza gave him the take-out she ordered.
"I thought I'd drop by and see how you're doing. You don't eat when you're stressed out, so I brought breakfast. I didn't have anything to do anyway. Cleared my whole schedule out," she explained.
Sam squinted his eye suspiciously and asked, "You just came here to play with my consoles, did you?"
"Pretty much," she replied instantly.
He laughed and said, "Well, play away! I do better when there's a pretty girl waiting for me anyway." Sam pecked her lips before comedically sprinting towards the kitchen to open the breakfast she bought him.
Eliza chuckled over his playful antics.
Then, he walked in.
The smile on Eliza's face slowly disappeared. Not in a malicious way. In fact, not even consciously. Her usually bright countenance just slightly dampens down in his presence for some reason. The difference was somewhat negligible, but it was obvious to an observing eye.
Eliza has always been really keen and observant on intra-personal stuff. She was aware of the way her mind reacts to certain people whenever she hung out with them. Hyun-woo was a nice, handsome man. Out of Sam's friends, he was possibly one of her favorites.
She just couldn't feel completely comfortable around him for some reason. In fact, she knew the reason. She just didn't want to entertain it.
"Oh, Liz! You're here. I haven't seen you in a while," Hyun-woo greeted.
Yeah. It's because of you.
"Hey. I just came here to bring Sam some coffee, if that's okay," Eliza said, uncharacteristically nervous.
He grinned, "No problemo, Liz. Stay as long as you like. Heck, stay for the night! You know you're welcome here."
He continued, "Date was cancelled, huh? Sam told me about it. That sucks. I know his professor--she really is a bitch, that one."
She smiled back, "Thanks. It's cool though; I'd rather stay indoors anyway."
"Also, put on some clothes," she said after a hesitant pause.
"Ah," he omitted, surprised that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Honestly, who walks into a room and fail to notice they're half naked?
"Hyun, who's there?"
The man who gets a different slam-buddy every night apparently.
He looked at her and apologetically said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were coming."
Eliza waved her hand, "It's got nothing to do with me. Why would I be bothered?"
He stared at her for a while, his expression unreadable, before chuckling. Hyun-woo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he muttered, "You're...right. I don't know what I was thinking."
Silence visited the two once again. It was kind of awkward, Eliza thought.
Hyun-woo replied back to the new mystery girl, "Sam's girl is here. Pretty sure I told you about her. Come here and meet her."
Footsteps followed and a girl came out of his room. She was almost naked, just wearing a two-piece and a polo that was way too big for her--probably Hyun-woo's. She was pretty, Eliza couldn't help but glance.
Hyun-woo suavely put his arm across the woman's shoulder as he continued to stare at her. For some reason, Eliza couldn't help but feel as if he was somehow...taunting her. As if he was a kid, showing off his toys to make her jealous. The blonde girlfriend was taken aback. That couldn't be it. That didn't even make sense.
"Hello. I'm Eliza, Sam's girlfriend. You are....?"
"Maybelline. So you're Liz. He's told me a lot about you," she said as she pointed at the man beside her.
"Oh? I'm curious. What did he say?"
"None of your business, kid." He grinned as he walked towards her and messed up her blonde hair. He seemed completely normal now, unlike awhile ago.
You see, that was the part that bugged Eliza the most. Hyun-woo had these moments where suddenly, she couldn't read him completely. People were usually black and white in that regard; it was either you could read them, or you couldn't. The more you spend time with them, the more you could predict their reactions somewhat. Hyun was different. He was so predictable.....until he wasn't. As if what he normally showed her was only the surface pretending to be the sea-floor.
Eliza didn't like that, but it was mostly irrelevant if you ignored those moments and just focused on what you can read from him. None of what he shows seems fake either, so she didn't mind too much.
"I'm literally your senior of two years. Doesn't Korea stress the importance of hierarchical positions in school years?"
He raised his eyebrows and asked, "You living in Korea?"
"No, but--"
"Well, that answers your question! Stay in your place, shorty."
