First day in university, she has to do a tour around the school to make her study place familiar and friendly to her. She just settled her club registration for Literature and all she wants to do is go home and enjoy a warm bath. Plus, seeing the office lady in front of her very busy with a phone call, she doesn’t think that she needs to be there any longer. When she is about to leave, the lady hangs up the call.
“Miss K, are you going home?” the lady asks.
“Yes, thanks for the registration just now. You helped a lot,” she says.
“You’re a Physics student, right?”
“I am. Why?”
“There’s a student…your batch. He is registered here in the Physics faculty as well but he called me telling he is only able to come on Friday,” says the lady.
“Okay....then? What does that have to do with me?” she asks.
“I hope you can help him getting himself familiar with the faculty and the university when he comes later. And perhaps the notes of lectures for these first four days,” the lady goes.
“Oh…sure. Okay, yeah. Friday, eight in the morning, for the tour. I have class at nine,” she agrees.
Honestly, she doesn’t know why she agrees to do so. It is her first week of school, but she is already given a task by the office lady she barely knows. But, she is taught by her family to reach out for anyone in need, although people are not always good to her. True, she is often insulted, not because of her looks, not because of her wealth, but because of her name. However, she could just forgive and forget easily because she is brought up that way.
Thus, when Friday comes, she wakes up early for school. When she arrives at the registration office, she notices a guy at the counter, speaking politely to the office lady. He is physically short for a guy, but otherwise, is still taller than her. His hair is dark brown and from the first look, she could judge the boy comes from a wealthy family, based on the branded clothes, accessories and bags. He even has his Canon DSLR camera hanging at his left shoulder. She would just say he is another brat, but thinking wisely, a brat is never early for school. So, who is he?
“Oh, you are here. This is the boy that I told you last Monday,” the office lady says immediately after she spots her. Perhaps she doesn’t want to waste any more time; Barbie did tell her that she has class at nine.
The moment he turns facing her, she has to ask herself twice whether there is any angel fallen from the heaven. His smile is very warm and friendly, as though they have known each other for so long.
“Let’s go,” she quickly says when she notices her own cheeks are getting warmer.
The guy follows from her back, seems enjoying the scenery around the Seoul University. He captures a few photos, maybe because he is too excited for his first day in university.
“Hey,” he says suddenly and his steps come to a halt. She stops as well.
“I’m Jonghyun,” he says while stretches his hand out for her to shake. She takes his hand and gives a friendly shake a friend always does.
“I’m…Barbie,” she says. She could see a small frown on his face.
“You…are not serious, right? I mean, you must be joking,” he says with a smirk.
“Nobody wants to joke about their own names,” Barbie rolls her eyes. It is not her first time; she even had faced worse, where people directly insult her because of her name.
“Oh, sorry. Okay, Barbie. But, I like Barney better,” he says with a small laugh.
“Now, are you making fun of my name?” she asks.
“No, no. Don’t get me wrong. I just…nevermind. Barbie…err…your surname…”
“I’m sure as hell you don’t want to know my surname,” she tells.
“Well, try me,” he goes.
“It’s Karpova. Barbie Karpova,” she tells him. He laughs a small laugh, “Why? Funny, isn’t it?” she resumes asking.
“No, not at all. Just…worth my tongue saying it. I’ll just go with Barbie then. Barbie is nice,” says Jonghyun.
“You don’t need to force yourself saying it is a nice name. I am fully aware that it is weird and funny,” she says, quite annoyed whenever she’s talking about her own name.
“No…honestly…” he says but upon seeing her intense face, he sighs, “What should I say then?” he asks.
“Keep quiet!” she says and continues walking. Jonghyun is quite surprised with her reaction but he shrugs it off.
He follows Barbie while she is explaining bits and pieces of the school. Showing him the café, the classes and finally, they are standing at the very own building of the Faculty of Physics, where they are going to spend four years of their lives to make a worthy and better future.
“This is where we’ll be seeing each other for four years,” she explains. Jonghyun nods, understand.
“So…are you this sort of mixed-races person?” Jonghyun asks.
“My dad is American and mom is Korean. I am Korean though,” she explains.
“No wonder…you are so…beautiful,” he says and captures a photo of her with his Canon DSLR.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” she feels mad. Barbie is fine if people are friendly to her for the first meeting, but not this outgoing until taking someone’s photo without permission.
“I’m…taking photo,” he says and shrugs but when he notices she could swallow him right on the dot, he apologizes, “Look, I’m sorry. If you really don’t like it, I’ll delete it,” Jonghyun says.
“Nevermind. We have class in five minutes. I’m sure you don’t want to be late on your first day of school,” Barbie reminds him and leaves.
Although they had quite an argument before, Barbie thinks Jonghyun is not a bad person. He doesn’t insult her, nor making fun of her name. Even during class, he is not a student who is nonchalant and taking easy of study. He keeps focusing in class listens to the lecturer at all time, and taking down notes. But, it is too early to make a judgment. First day is a day to give the best first impression, isn’t it?
It is Sunday morning and Barbie would love to go on with her routine. She dresses in her sweatshirt and a pink jacket, together with her pink sweatpants. Her hair is tied into a ponytail and she wears a pink hairband to avoid her bangs distracting her when she jogs. And perfectly, her jog is not distracted by her bangs, but it is distracted by a guy with a Canon DSLR. She is sure he is Jonghyun who is busy taking photos around the neighbourhood. She decides to give the boy a surprise.
“Boo!” she jumps in front of his lens.
“Hey! What are you doing here? Nice to see you…in pink,” he says and immediately takes a photo of her.
“Well…nice to see you here,” she rolls her eyes.
“You live in this neighbourhood?” he asks.
“Yes, the house at the end of this street,” she points, “That’s my sweet home!”
“Cool. Looks like were in the same neighbourhood. I live two streets behind,” Jonghyun checks out the photo he just took.
“I never have seen you before,” she says.
“I just moved here a few days ago,” he goes.
“Oh! With your family?” Barbie asks.
“They will come in the next few months. I moved in first because I need to be at university, although I came a bit late,” he explains himself.
“So, you’re living alone for a few months?” she asks again.
“Yeah…seems like it,” he shrugs.
“Oh. So…where are you going after this? I mean…what are you doing?” another question from Barbie.
“I need to go home and unpack everything. The furniture and electronic equipment have been delivered yesterday. They’ve arranged everything in place. But, my room is still a mess. I need to clean it up,” he says.
“Hey, do you need help?” she asks. Jonghyun frowns.
“Huh?”
She doesn’t wait for an answer from him. She takes out his phone and makes a call. Jonghyun is surprised when the word ‘Mom’ comes out from her mouth. She is not calling her mom to help him, is she? But, when he hears her asking permission to help a friend, Jonghyun could sigh in relief. She speaks as soon as she hangs up.
“I can! Come on! Let’s go!” she pulls his hand but Jonghyun is not moving from his place at all.
“Where?” he asks.
“Your house! Mom gives me permission to help you with your house,” she says.
“Really?”
“Oh, come on!!!” she pulls harder and this time, he follows her with a smile.
On their way to Jonghyun’s house, Barbie learns a lot about him. He is a Korean-American as well, appa is Korean, and umma is American. He just moved in from America. He has been there for ten years, following his family. He has an elder sister, who is now already working.
“You like photography?” she asks.
“Yes, it is like...my life,” he says.
“Then, why are you taking Physics?”
“Physics has always been my dream since young. But, photography is an inspiration,” he explains.
“Oh…”
“Well, we are here,” he stops walking in front of a well-built, fine bungalow.
“What a fine house you have here,” she says.
“Come in,” Jonghyun says while gesturing her towards his house.
He opens the door and they come inside. As predicted, Jonghyun comes from a rich family. The furniture and electronic gadgets explain it. But, the house still is a bit empty. Even their footsteps produces echo around the house. He brings her into his room, which is located upstairs.
“This is one hell of a big room. But, it is so empty, Jonghyun,” she inspects around.
The room is occupied with one queen-sized bed, with one tv and an audio system and a dvd player come along with it, a study table, a rack full of books and also a closet. There is one bathroom attached to it. It is a typical view of a teenager boy’s room. Hearing her comments about his room, Jonghyun only chuckles while placing his camera on his study table.
“I told you, I still not manage it just yet,” he says.
It is true. All the furniture is still not in place. Even his clothes are still in his luggage. There are five big boxes that are still well-taped. The room looks quite dull, except for the vertical-striped, purple and green wallpaper.
“You choose this colour on your own?” Barbie asks while pointing to the wallpaper.
“Yes,” Jonghyun admits.
“You have a bad sense of colour, bro,” she says frankly. Jonghyun only laughs to that.
“Why don’t you use the service of the interior designer to arrange your room as well?” she asks while they are moving the bed to the corner of the room.
“I want to decorate my room on my own,” he says.
“Well, bad choice, bro. Seeing your wallpaper, I think this room will be such an eye-sore sight for this fine house,” she says. The only thing he does is shrugging and they resume their work.
They arrange the furniture, tv and audio system in place. Barbie even helps him to vacuum-cleaning the room. When everything is completed, she still doesn’t seem to satisfy with the room. There’s no decoration and also there are three boxes left unattended.
“You room is dull, really,” she complains.
“Well, I’ll decorate it later,” he says. She shrugs it off.
“What about those boxes? What is inside? You’re not going to unpack that, are you?” she asks again.
“No…leave those on me. I can always do it later,” he ensures her with his smile.
“Okay then…time for lunch,” she says cheerfully and runs downstairs to the kitchen.
She checks thoroughly through the kitchen, cabinet by cabinet, only to find nothing except biscuits and breads. Does this guy even eat, she thinks for a while. It doesn’t satisfy her. She thought of cooking for him, just to be nice since a welcoming present should be put into consideration for him. But, there’s no fresh food and she could only sigh.
“Bro, what’s up with your kitchen?” she asks once Jonghyun appears at the door.
“What?” he asks back with his eyes widen.
“Only biscuits and breads? Not even instant noodles?” she holds her shoulders high.
“Well…I’m not fond of fast food,” he twists the cap of a mineral water bottle and takes a gulp. She looks at him with disbelief.
“Nerd,” one word is enough for Barbie to describe him. He frowns.
“I survived on those whenever my umma is not home. And it has been two days I depended on those for meals,” Barbie cannot be so sure if that is a statement or a joke. A guy, a teenage guy, eats only biscuits and breads for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. No wonder he is short.
“Man…you’re undernourished,” she is sure as hell she has made the right statement and looks at him intensely, “Come on! We’re having lunch at my house!” she exclaims.
She pulls his hand and needs to handle a lot more argument all the way to her house. Two streets away seem to be a long journey for her. How could this guy still talk a lot when he is underfed? She can’t be sure about that. As they reach Barbie’s sweet home, she quickly opens the door and calls her parents.
“Mom! Dad! I bring a friend home for lunch!” she says loudly. Jonghyun wonders how much louder she could shout.
And here comes her parents. From his short observation, Jonghyun could tell that she resembles her mom quite a lot, except that she has that slight Western genes in her blood. They look friendly, but Jonghyun can’t be sure about it yet.
“Hi, boy! You must be the one Barbie always talking about since last Friday,” she embraces him. Way too friendly for the first time meeting, Jonghyun thinks. He immediately likes Barbie’s parents. He is treated like a family.
“Really? Oh, yes,” he replies to her mom while looking at Barbie, wondering what she has been saying about him. Their eyes meet, but she quickly pulls it away, and Jonghyun notices her cheeks turn red. At that moment, Jonghyun could conclude that she said nothing bad about him.
He is brought to the dining table. Upon seeing the food on the table, Jonghyun could be sure that he is missing the real food, the food his umma always cooks for him. Relying on breads and biscuits is not really the best thing to do.
“We are happy you are joining us for lunch,” Barbie’s mom states. Jonghyun nods, still feeling awkward with her fondness towards him.
“Yeah…I just don’t want to see a boy eating only biscuits and breads for meals. I’m afraid he will be shorter day by day,” Barbie spoons the rice to her mouth.
“That is rude, dear. He is our honourable guest,” she receives a slap on the arm from her mom. Jonghyun chokes on his food after hearing the honour placed on him.
“I’m fine,” he says after he takes a big gulp of orange juice.
“So…you moved here from…” her dad emphasizes the questioning tone and Jonghyun couldn’t let it be unanswered.
“The US,” he replies it short.
“I assume you are Korean-American as well?” he asks again.
“Umma is an American,” Jonghyun states while feeding himself the well-cooked meat with his fork.
“But, you doesn’t look American at all,” her dad says. She could say that she has the rudeness in her because she inherits the trait from him.
“Well, let’s just go with my appa’s genes conquer all,” he says with his signature smirk. His words gain a big laugh from her parents.
Barbie notices something at that while, Jonghyun is actually horribly funny. He is a guy with an incredible sense of humour that she has long wished she could have. He jokes, making fun of something, but never in an insulting way. Overall, he is a guy that is very pleasant to be with. Even her parents like him.
After lunch, Jonghyun plans to go home, saying that he needs to settle other things. But, Barbie’s mom insists him to stay. Perhaps not only her mom, but Barbie actually very much wants him to stay until dinner. Well, at least he is not eating biscuits again for meal.
“I’ll be very happy if you could stay until dinner,” says her mom.
Jonghyun looks hesitate, not because he doesn’t want to, but he feels that he should respect the family’s privacy. It is Sunday, and it is usually a family-bonding time. However, seeing how all of them, including Barbie herself, insist him to stay, he has no reason not to stay. From far, he could see Barbie smiles when he agrees to stay.
Her mom, is annoyingly friendly, takes Jonghyun to the living room and shows him the family photo. Barbie runs upstairs, maybe hiding herself in her bedroom, because her mom starts to tell story about her childhood, while showing her photos to Jonghyun. From that, he knows Barbie is the only child, and she has been well-raised by her mom and dad. He now knows how such a girl could be very sweet and well-behaved.
“She is such a sweet daughter. I’ll make sure I’ll find a good guy to be her husband,” she tells Jonghyun her dream. Jonghyun could only swallow hard.
“Well, her future husband is surely one hell of a lucky guy. She’s a well-mannered girl and she should get a kind one for her,” he goes.
“Oh…speaking of yourself…” her mom looks at Jonghyun with a face Jonghyun couldn’t interpret. Is it hope? Or on the other hand, is it sarcasm? At last, Jonghyun decides to keep quiet.
Barbie’s dad comes in next. Jonghyun is forced to watch and talk about football, something that he really hates worth his life. He doesn’t like to beat about the bush, thus, when her dad asks him what club does he support, he chooses to just be honest.
“I…don’t like football. I’m not even good in it,” he knows people always laugh at guys who can’t play football, but he just couldn’t find any reason to pretend like he knows all.
“You are sure one hell of a frank and sincere guy, aren’t you?” her dad asks him back. He shrugs.
“Maybe. I don’t know,” Jonghyun goes.
“Well, Jonghyun. Don’t you want to check Barbie in her room?” asks his dad. Jonghyun’s eyes almost jump out of the socket when his brain processed the words.
“Well…can I?” he asks not because he wants to do so, but he is sure her dad is joking about it, or maybe testing him.
“I permit you to do so. Upstairs, the room next to the master bedroom. I’m sure she is waiting for you as well,” he says. Jonghyun laughs.
“You got to be kidding me.”
“Or you want to spend time with me watching the next football match for another one hour and a half?” his dad goes.
Jonghyun immediately get up from the couch and runs upstairs. Better do something else than watching the boring (for him) football match on tv and listen to the noisy sports commentator. He knocks on her door as he reaches the room.
“It’s Jonghyun,” he says softly.
“The door in not locked,” she says from inside. Jonghyun is very sure that is a sign of acceptance, thus, he twists the knob and opens the door to find Barbie on her bed.
“Hi…” he says when he enters the room.
“Having fun learning history with mom as a teacher?” she asks.
Jonghyun can’t be sure if she is being sarcastic, or happy about it, but that is not the reason he is stunned without words. The room is the reason. It is all in pink and Barbie dolls could be seen all over the place.
“Wow! It is full with…Barbie,” he states while resting himself on Barbie’s study chair.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’m a girl that is so immature, liking Barbie dolls, all girly and mushy. Well, I’m quite used to that,” she says while rolling her eyes. Jonghyun frowns to the statement.
“No…I don’t think like that,” Jonghyun says, defending himself from being stereotyped by the girl in front of him.
“Then, what?” she asks with a ‘I-know-you-are-not-different-than-others’ face.
“I think it is amazing. Barbie dolls…it just resembles yourself,” he smiles, “Why Barbie anyways?” he ends it with a question.
“What do you mean? My name or all this stuffs?” she asks back, not knowing which one she should explain.
“Everything,” he replies.
“Mom likes Barbie so much, like this freaking-addicted to it. She likes to play with Barbie dolls and even dad wins her heart with those dolls-”
“And you are named after it,” Jonghyun takes a wild guess.
“Precisely,” she sighs.
“And you are forced to like it as well?” another wild guess.
“No,” she sighs, “Perhaps it is in my every blood and vessels,” she admits. Jonghyun shrugs. He doesn’t think it is a crime to like something, especially when he has his own obsession towards something too.
“Nice room you got here,” he compliments.
“I know. Far better than your room,” Barbie feels like slapping himself for being so sarcastic again.
“I will show my nice room only when I find my true love,” he says. Barbie frowns.
She is about to say something when her mom ruins the moment by calling them for dinner. Now, Jonghyun knows why Barbie can be so loud sometimes. He stands up, ready to go.
“I’m going home after dinner,” he says while walking to the door.
“Wait,” she stops him, “Take this along,” she says while giving him a Barbie doll.
“What?”
“Why? Is it so gay for you to accept my Barbie dolls?”
“No. No. It’s not that. I mean, Barbie resembles you a lot. Giving it to me…don’t you feel like you’re…you know…I mean it is your pride and trust you’re giving me,” he says. Barbie smiles.
“I trust you, that’s why. I know you are a good friend, right?” she says while putting the doll into his palm. He takes it with a smile.
“Thanks for trusting me as a friend,” he says.
“Guys! Don’t you want to come down for dinner?!” another shouts from mom and another laughter from the kids.
Just in a few weeks, the relationship between Jonghyun and Barbie grows stronger. It is typical; they go to university together from the neighbourhood, share lecture notes, refer to each other and even have dinner together every day, since Jonghyun parents are still somewhere in America. They don’t confess, but, people could sense it, the vibe they radiates to the surrounding. It is something people call love, affection, fondness or anything goes with those terms.
One beautiful weekend, Jonghyun asks Barbie to come to his house. She agrees, on reason because Jonghyun has come to her house every so often. Jonghyun tries to hide his contentment when they walk to his room, but otherwise it is obvious through his grin.
“Why are you grinning like an idiot?”
“Welcome to my room,” he opens the door, revealing something Barbie could say absurd to be belonged to a teenage guy.
“Dude! Seriously? Barney? That explains the wallpaper a lot!” Purple and green dinosaur, grinning all over the place inside his room. Plushies, bed sheet, pillow cases, comforter, carpet and even his bunny slippers; they are all Barney for Heaven sake. He even has these stacks of Barney CDs from all series.
“Why? Do I look gay to you?” he asks while pulling the girl to sit at the edge of his bed.
“No. Just that…you are very different from others. I mean for a teenage guy to love something like this, it is very rare. You need sincerity and courage,” she says.
“I just…you know…I grow up with Barney. The stories…the songs-”
“You remember the song?” she asks excitedly.
“Duh…of course. What do you think of a Barney fanatic like me?” he laughs.
“Hey, I see my Barbie!” she points to the doll placed beside Barney on the bed. Jonghyun laughs and takes the Barbie.
“You want to hear the Barney song?” he asks. Without her answer, he proceeds.
“I love you…” he sings while looking at the Barbie doll in his hand, “You love me…We are happy family…With a great big hug…” he hugs the Barbie, “…and a kiss from me to you…” he kisses the doll, “Won’t you say you love me too?” he laughs when he ends the song but Barbie doesn’t think it’s funny. She takes a wild guess. Is it a confession?
“Okay! Understood!” she grabs the Barney on the bed and starts to recite the same song, “I love you,” she looks at the Barney, “You love me…We are happy family…With a great big hug…” she hugs it, “…and a kiss from me to you…” she kisses it, “Won’t you say you love me too?”
“You know the song too?” Jonghyun asks. She doesn’t answer, but gives a statement.
“You said you will only show this nice room when you find your true love,” she says. Jonghyun smiles to that.
“You know what? I think Barbie and Barney look good together,” he says and arranges the Barney and the Barbie side by side. He takes his Canon DSLR, switches it on, and snaps a photo of Barbie-Barney.
He shows the picture to Barbie and together, they smiles at the frozen moment of Barbie and Barney.
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