Author's note: To someone who makes me wanna keep going...and writing poems. The ever rebellious poet, EvelynWhite.

_________________________________________

"But I'm not much of party person!"

"Girl, you need to have more interaction with other people! It's been months since you've last had it..."

"You know my cousin will freak."

"Tsh! That old man will freak out over anything, especially you escaping from that house!"

"Who was it that dragged me here?", she asked sarcastically.

"You're the one that was like 'Of course, I'll go to a potluck with you, Kasey! I gotta live my life!' Am I right or am I wrong?"

"No comment," she quipped back, hanging her arm around the shoulder of her best friend.

Thinking on it, it was for the best she had suggested a party-like environment to hang out with after so many years apart.

Her relationship with her was...volatile to say the least. Petty arguments over silly things often occurred between them. Kasey's passion was better in increments, not all at once. Not to mention solitary moments with her would lead them to bring up the past...and she would rather forget that for now.

Both the incident that she could not recall, and their worst moments.

All in all, Kasey was a good person...it wasn't her fault Olivia was so down now.

Maybe she did need this outing to feel better about life in general.

"I still can't believe you brought me as your Hispanic card," she teased.

"Hey! You know I'm an ally for all things multicultural being Nigerian myself!"

"Face it. You love Mexican culture and heritage. If there was a next life, you'd be Mexican if you could!"

"Ay Ay Ay! Stop stalling already and enter the premises before we die of old age! Or is the 'renown' classical pianist afraid to?"

Looking into the house from the window, she spotted a cozy living room fitted with a plastic-covered couch, two leather armchairs, and a coffee table that currently supported plates filled with fried rice.

"No one calls me chicken! Pop pock!" Laughing, she sauntered into the house, and observed a low scale gathering of no more than ten people.

A mix of Latino music, from various genres and countries, seemed to waft from two speakers aligned with the HD TV stuck to the side wall near the stairs.

"I thought you said this was the Latino Potluck...where's all the org leaders at, at least?", she muttered through gritted teeth.

"It's still early, Liv! And...the truth is not a lot of people come to the potlucks than the general meetings. Plus...midterms are coming up next week."

She groaned. "Do not remind me of those. Music midterms were just the worst."

"Nah ah ah! Taking exams at a Master's Level...that's just frivolous to say the least."

"Here you go with your fancy Journalism degree out to conquer the world..."

"You almost did, you were traversing across it...just when are you gonna do it again?"

Striking a raw chord, the silence spread between the two friends, oozing maximum discomfort.

"Need some help over here!", called out a Panamanian dude that Kasey recognized.

"I'll be right there!", Kasey replied. Turning to her friend, she said, "Come on. Let loose and met some people...it might do you good to meet people like 'you'." With a wave of her hand and a smile, she happily skipped to the kitchen.

Stopping dead in her tracks when she saw Mr. Grumpy, otherwise known as...

"Jon! Did you bring the soda or not?", hollered Alejo, the Panamanian dude.

"What's she talking about? People who like Latino food and understand Spanish...actually, that sounds great because Cousin Steven cannot stand me speaking it because he doesn't understand...", she rambled on by herself.

Grabbing a Sprite can off a table in the living room, she gulped half of it down quickly out of nervousness.

At that same party, Dan had been invited...or rather forced to come lend a hand by a stoic Jon.

"This has to be my punishment for disrespecting the History Department! After all this time though?", he whispered until he locked eyes with a spearmint-eyed Texan.

"Olivia?"

"Yes? Who are you?"

"How do you say hello in Korean?"

Staring at her curiously, she almost scoffed at this stranger's outrageous before answering almost instinctively, "안녕하세요"

Where had that come from? Since when did she speak Korean?

Dan Geum smiled wide upon hearing that response.

"Last time we met, you told me to teach you how to say that in Korean. Under no circumstances was I to pretend to know you if you didn't recite the word."

"I said that?"

"Of course, you did. Are you calling me a liar?", he teased.

She grinned. "Dan, right?"

"So you do remember me?", he squeaked.

"It's on your name tag," she quipped, pointing to his GTA nametag still left on his shirt after teaching classes that afternoon.

"Oh this? It's for my students...otherwise, how else would they know who to curse late at night when turning in assignments?" Wondering why he was feeling so disappointed, his face once again lit up when he elicited a chuckle out of her.

"Are you always this..."

"Outstanding?"

"How did we meet again?", she inquired.

"You dropped your macramé bracelet at the airport..."

"The one I never let out of my sight?" She showed her wrist, and let it jingle. "That was you? Regardless, that was amazing pronunciation. Are you by chance Puerto Rican?"

"Nope, full-Korean. Born and raised, cept in third grade when I visited my grandma, and then again sophomore year of high school when that woman convinced my parents to let me stay in the US save trips now and then."

"Really?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"I knew a guy back in my undergrad days whose mom was Korean and his dad Puerto Rican. He was proud of being Puerto Rican and being Korean. There was no half with him."

"At least you didn't assume I was Chinese or Japanese...", he teased.

"The Korean I spoke kinda gave it away, and you just confirmed my suspicion here."

"Are you always so quick-witted?"

"Maybe," she nonchalantly answered.

"Earth to Olivia. The jello shots are coming out, you want some?", questioned Kasey, a full tray in hand.

"Nope!", they shouted in unison.

"Okay...jeez." Kasey winked at her friend, pursed her lips approvingly and left before Olivia could smack her.

"I don't drink-I'm Protestant," he responded, oblivious to the girls' exchange.

"Catholic," she responded, then hiccuping when the bubbles finally made their way up.

"Since we're both not gonna drink and it looks like the gathering will get even more rambunctious, want me to call an Uber and rideshare with me? I'll pay."

It was true. As more people arrived, they brought their drinks with them.

Many came from countries where the age limit was eighteen. Hopefully, the grad students and upperclassmen wouldn't let it get out of control.

"Thanks," she said reluctantly.

Getting into the Uber wasn't the hard part.

It was the tension in there-you could cut it with a cheese grater, never mind a knife.

Her fear of enclosed spaces-she had always been a bit claustrophobic as a kid, but it had been highly exacerbated by the incident-and the knowledge that ride-share drivers and cab drivers were known to harass single women, especially around campus, made her tremble with fear.

Dan Geum sensed immediately that she was uncomfortable, and made sure to redirect the driver's questions, answering them in her stead.

If it had not been for Dan stepping in, she would have gladly taken the night bus.

She had that to be grateful for at least.

Pulling open the door for her once the car stopped, she stepped out into the night, sighing when the cool breeze hit her.

"Thanks!", said Dan, waving goodbye to the driver with a reserved grin.

Dropping it as soon as it sped off, he glanced at his companion.

"Do you live close by?"

"Yes. I can walk the rest of the way."

"I could..."

"Thanks for the offer, but we're actually closer to the house than if I had taken the bus."

Walking at night was never fun but trying to sneak her way into the house would already be an ordeal without a clueless guy waving goodbye.

Imagine if Steven...nope, he would definitely get the wrong idea.

"OK. My dorm's not that far off too...so I guess I'll be seeing you around then..."

"How do you say sorry in Korean? Informal way please."

The few streetlights barely gleamed, a new moon shrouded the sky in darkness; however, Olivia could swear that Dan's pearly whites lit up the night.

He chuckled before saying, "The same thing as when we last met...죄송합니다."

"죄송합니다", she chanted all the way home.

Maybe next time, she'd remember the memories that come with it.

_________________________________________

Vocab notes: (For all those people who missed the author's note last time.)

죄송합니다 (joisonghapnida)-an informal way of saying sorry

Author's note: I don't drink personally b/c of bad family history. (And I would never want to glorify it either.) Once again, Jon...could care less about Dan's actions. He's not a bad guy. Also, Dan is not a stalker...it's all been coincidences that they keep meeting each other...

 I'm trying to do my first 50, 000 word novel...yeah, it's ambitious, but I've outlined/written most of it.