I've been meaning to ask... [Ji-Eun; room 4] on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Arnold Manger

December 02, 2014 11:00 PM

I've been meaning to ask... [Ji-Eun; room 4] by Arnold Manger

Arnold had put it off for far too long; today was the day.

He had asked Ji-Eun earlier, with surprisingly calm voice, to meet him in the MARS art room at 6:00 that evening, doing so under the pretense of wanting to paint her again and see if his skills had improved. The only part of him he could feel shaking as she spoke was his hands, which he tucked with apparent casualty, thinking to himself the entire time, Be cool. Unfortunately, cool was not his forte, although he felt he did a sufficient job faking it. In fact, he felt like he had outwardly a nice stone face; sometimes growing up with an android for a sister had its advantages.

Now it was 5:53, and he felt all his false calmness melting away, merging and running with the sweat on his palms. Everything was set up, and it was, he thought, a pretty idealistic way to ask a girl out, with a few personalizing twists. He had the default flowers, although he had decided against chocolates, which seemed a bit much. But beyond that, things were more personal; they would be in the room where they had first become friends, for starters. Plus, he had charmed the doorway so that when Ji-Eun entered, a K-Pop song by one of her favorite groups would start. (He’d listened to quite a lot of K-Pop in preparation for this moment, and after careful consideration, he had selected what he found to be most romantic--at least, what sounded romantic, since he couldn’t speak Korean.)

But the icing on the cake here was what currently sat masked by a black sheet: the painting he had done over midterm, in which a faceless, blue-clad boy with red curls twirled a faceless, dark-haired girl dressed in a softer shade of the same color. The fourth year was actually rather proud of the piece, even without its implications; specifically, he liked how the traditionally cool color didn’t hinder its warmth.

At 5:57, he thought he heard the doorknob rustling. Immediately he thrust the flowers behind his back, a grin subconsciously spreading as he offered a breathy, “Hi.”

12 Arnold Manger I've been meaning to ask... [Ji-Eun; room 4] 261 Arnold Manger 1 5

Ji-Eun Park

December 13, 2014 12:49 AM

Then you'd better get on with it by Ji-Eun Park

Although Ji-Eun suspected nothing of Arnold's true intentions, she had still picked out her outfit for the evening with care. After all, as he had said he planned to paint her again, so she would be captured wearing this for all eternity. Her previous portrait outfit had been very pink and girly. It wasn't a look she regretted at all – in fact, she had been heartbroken to grow out of the ruffly pale pink dress over the summer, and had utterly failed to find an adequate replacement. She had decided to go for some bold colours this time. Arnold wanted to see if he had improved but hopefully that didn't mean he needed to do exactly the same picture again. She had toyed with the shimmering silver tank top she'd purchased over the summer. She loved it and it made her feel good when she wore it – in her head, transforming her into a shining star - but whenever she caught sight of herself in the mirror in it, it highlighted to her how much she still lacked any kind of a figure. She wasn't sure she wanted that captured for posterity. She had opted for a loose fitting sleeveless top, which did more to hide how child-like she still looked. It was bright canary yellow with a little set of gems around the neckline. She had paired this with short denim shorts. The neckline of the top ended quite high and didn't leave much room for a necklace, especially with the decoration so she had gone for a wrist full of mixed, brightly coloured bangles on each side, which clanked pleasingly when she walked. She had tried one of the new braiding styles Chloe's book had taught her, the elaborate plait running over her shoulder and completed with a yellow and white polka dot ribbon tied around the end. She wore little sunshine studs in her ears and a smile on her face as she walked down to the MARS room, fairly pleased with her ensemble.

She was very glad that Arnold wanted to paint her again. It gave the two of them a lot of time to hang out – made it easier to do. She would ask Chloe to spend time with her but outside of that friendship, she relished the structure of having to partner up in class or of being in a club, as giving her time and reason to hang out with people without having to put herself out there and ask.

She did a double take as she entered the MARS room and music started blaring out. She was even more surprised as she realised that she recognised it.

“I love this song,” she grinned at Arnold, pleased by the strange surprise. She was distracted entirely from his shifty posture, or the mysteriously veiled canvas. “Did you want to paint me dancing this time?” she queried, trying to find a reason for the music. Well, if he did, she thought she'd chosen a good outfit for it.

13 Ji-Eun Park Then you'd better get on with it 268 Ji-Eun Park 0 5

Arnold

December 13, 2014 1:33 AM

Getting on with it! by Arnold

She was here. She was really, really here. Oh Merlin, what am I doing? Arnold thought nervously. What was he thinking planning this? Ji-Eun would probably say no and then be so awkward around him that she just avoided him altogether. Then he would be alone again, sent back to the emptiness of the awkward artist, the nervous nerd. He didn’t have a lot of other friends; he felt like he was starting to get to know his roommates a bit better, and obviously when in doubt he could always spend time with Jake, but it would never be the same. Ji-Eun had wandered so gracefully into his life that he could hardly imagine how it would be without her, either as a friend or, if she felt like he did, maybe a little more.

“I love this song.” And he loved to hear her speak. “Did you want to paint me dancing this time?” That was it, setting him up to move into his question. The variety of possible disgusted rejections galloped through his mind, but he had come too far to chicken out now. She was just a girl--albeit a very pretty, very sweet one--and he didn’t need to be so afraid. She was his friend, obvious by the fact that they spent time together and got along so well. And she had come, hadn’t she? She was here. That meant something.

“Uh, I don’t think so. But, actually,” he answered with a nervous grin, “I did kinda do that already. Want to see?” With the hand not holding the flowers behind his back, he gestured her over to the covered canvas. “I painted this over winter break. It’s not all that detailed, since you weren’t there, but I’m actually rather proud of it.” It was easily one of his best paintings, perhaps partially because it was a bit more abstract; the facelessness of the dancers certainly had not hindered the process. Faces were always a challenge.

He reached out and grabbed the sheet, pulling it off to reveal the painting. As she presumably inspected it, Arnold stepped back, allowing her the full view. From there he simply looked on, trying to read her reactions. Was she appalled, impressed, embarrassed, amused? It was hard to tell, and he assumed only her answer would satisfy his perplexion. So after a moment, he came toward her, slowly producing the flowers from behind his back. Speaking over the ongoing music, he said, “I thought, uh, maybe… We could... Um…” The Aladren cleared his throat and proceeded with all the confidence he could muster. “Ji-Eun, would you go to the ball with me?”

12 Arnold Getting on with it! 261 Arnold 0 5

Ji-Eun

December 13, 2014 3:50 AM

Like ripping off a band-aid, right? by Ji-Eun

“Really?” Ji-Eun queried, cocking her head to one side as Arnold stated that he’d painted her already. That was definitely intriguing. “I’d love to,” she smiled, as he offered to show her the painting, equally curious to see it because it was of her and because it was Arnold’s. Whilst, of course, she was flattered by being his subject again, she hoped he’d have some other paintings to show her some time. It was hard not to be pre-occupied by studying how she looked rather than appreciating the painting itself.

She regarded the painting with surprised silence for a moment. The thought of a painting of her dancing had looked very different in her head - it had been an image of what dancing meant to her, something bright and modern, with colourful clothes, usually done by her alone. Arnold’s monochrome version of a couple sweeping around elegantly was undeniably beautiful but quite alien to her.

“It’s very lovely,” she commented, wondering what had given him the idea to paint her like that. Looking back, she would never be quite sure whether the penny had dropped just as he stepped up to her, or whether it was the flowers in his hand, or his actual question… Either way, it all came very suddenly rushing together, breaking the beautiful stillness with a bump back to earth as she realised what was going on.

In her fantasies about being swept off her feet for the ball, she was sorry to say that Arnold had never featured. He was her friend and she was fond of him but her teenage crushes revolved around the boys in bands she liked. The only possibility in her mind of her being danced with at the ball was in the unlikely event that one such band had been booked, and that the lead singer would spot her across the room, stepping down from the stage to come and take her hand… For her, romance was purely a daydream. It had never really occurred to her to view Arnold in the same way, or as having the same possibility.

She felt her face crumple slightly, the happy ease the painting had inspired being crushed by his difficult question. She liked Arnold and she didn’t want to let him down. But she knew exactly what her mother’s expectations were and what she would say if she found out. Her lips had pursed every time Ji-Eun even mentioned Arnold as a friend. Ji-Eun wasn’t sure what her mother had thought would happen in packing her off to a predominantly white American school, but perhaps she had hoped she would stick to making friends with girls and not really notice boys until she could be bundled off to a university with a suitably high proportion of Korean boys, where she could find someone appropriate to bring home. She wondered whether it was this ingrained expectation which had stopped her ever considering Arnold in that light, and kept her crushes in the realm of fantasy. If so, it frustrated her, to have been moulded by her mother to such an extent that she didn’t even feel what she wasn’t supposed to, even if she would never have acted upon it if she did. What he’d done for her was nice, so perfect. It was like something straight out of one her drama shows. She hadn’t thought about him that way but this made her want to. Except she knew she wasn’t allowed.

“I… “ she began, not really knowing how she could say anything that wouldn’t ruin everything. “I’m not really supposed to date,” she began, trying to think how to finish that sentence. She wasn’t supposed to date people who weren’t nice Korean boys that her mother could interrogate in their first language. But, even having grown up with that ideal instilled in her, she could see that it was a horrible thing to say to someone. “u-until I’m older,” she offered. It was technically true, if her suspicions about her mother’s machinations were correct. “I’m really sorry. This is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me and… Maybe if we said it was just as friends? I mean, then I haven’t broken any rules, have I? And Ji-Won won’t tell on me if I don’t tell on what his report card really says.”

13 Ji-Eun Like ripping off a band-aid, right? 268 Ji-Eun 0 5

Arnold

December 13, 2014 4:19 AM

I'd hoped it'd be a bit more fun than that. by Arnold

He was smart to be worried.

“I…” Arnold felt his heart sink: hesitation. If she wanted to go with him, there would be no hesitation. “I’m not really supposed to date u-until I’m older.” He wondered why he had expected anything. They were fourteen, old enough to feel things but young enough to be told not to. A tough age for boys and girls, and one Arnold was learning to loathe. He vaguely longed to be either younger or older, to be either uninterested or unrestrained. Yes, this was definitely the hardest age he had thus far reached. “I’m really sorry.”

Yeah… Me too.

“This is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me and… Maybe if we said it was just as friends? I mean, then I haven’t broken any rules, have I? And Ji-Won won’t tell on me if I don’t tell on what his report card really says.”

The redhead visibly perked up. Go together, but just as… friends? It wasn’t ideal, but it hardly took much thought. “That’s okay,” he answered quickly. “We can definitely go just as friends, if you want to.” Arnold cared about Ji-Eun genuinely, in ways he had never cared about a girl before. He wanted to have her in that capacity, but she was also his friend, and he treasured that. Obviously he did not enjoy the limitation, but he cared for and respected her enough to accept whatever he was given. It was a privilege to have this amazing young lady in his life, and he wasn’t going to ruin it with a spoiled child’s claims of it’s not enough.

“And, uh,” he added as an afterthought, “even if we go as just friends, you’re welcome to keep the flowers.” Arnold again extended the flowers from where he had slowly and subconsciously recoiled, his smile shrunken but amiable. Ji-Eun was his friend, his muse, perhaps his first love. He was not interested in doing anything to mess it up. Still, he felt a bit disappointed by the terms on which they would go to the ball--if she actually did want to go as friends. He wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to or was just offering it to make him feel better. He certainly didn’t want to rope her into anything; it would be a lot more fun for both parties to be together entirely by choice and not by obligation. Her next answer, he imagined, would indicate this.

12 Arnold I'd hoped it'd be a bit more fun than that. 261 Arnold 0 5