Nina nodded, and he couldn’t tell if she was disappointed that their conversation had been cut short.
“Okay. See you, Seth.”
“I’ll see you Nina.”
That’s when he picked up his pace, putting distance between him and the girl that’d made his heart jump unwillingly.
10
Now
“Have you never asked out a girl before?”
“Yes, like, in high school. When asking a girl out meant giving her a hug when you’re 12-years-old.”
“Did she reject you?”
All it took was Seth’s expression to have Jae burst into laughter. He could not be regretting this conversation more.
The weekend did nothing to soothe his feelings out, it just enraged it more. So, he and Jae both decided that asking Nina out on a simple date wouldn’t hurt. It would help Seth to see whether his feelings werethosekinds of feelings. Get it out of his system. See whether any of this was worth the fuss.
“But aren’t you on dating apps?”
That was true. Seth had the usual apps downloaded, but it wasn’t like he was heavily active on them. And it wasn’t like any of the girls he’d spoken to ever eventuated into anything serious. The last girl was probably months ago. Almost a year.
Chantelle, her name was.
Asking them out was different though. Seth knew that both parties were chatting with the intention of it leading somewhere. There was always the same destination. With Nina, however, hewasn’t super sure. Seth would like to believe that there was still something in there for him from Nina. Maybe a flame that he needed to spark again.
After all, Nina had the biggest crush on him once.
How hard could it be to spark those feelings again?
The only thing was, Seth hadn’t asked out a girl in so long, not someone he knew like he did Nina.
More importantly, are you ready to be in a relationship?
He wouldn’t think of the answer to that right now. He’d cross that bridge once he got to it.
“Just be chill about it,” Jae said, between bites of his mother’s homemade tteokbokki. It actually looked really appetising. Seth was tempted to reach across and snatch one with his fork. Even more so now after Jae had burst into laughter.
“Well, what about you?” Seth asked, deciding to pull the reverse card on him. “When are you gonna ask Anya out?”
At that, Jae must’ve swallowed the tteokbokki a little too fast, as he began to choke. Some of the spit landed on Seth’s cheeks, and he wiped it away with disgust.
Before Jae could recover and respond, Seth quickly added, “If you finally ask Anya out on a date, then maybe I’ll do the same with Nina.”
The smirk forming on Jae’s face as he finally gulped his water and cleared his throat, was not what Seth was expecting.
“Seth, I never said it had to be adateyou know,” Jae cooed, “All I said was ask Nina to hang out sometime, which can either be afriendlyone, or one that turns into a date.”
Seth opened his mouth. Closed it. Then, his cheeks began to burn.
What thehellwas even happening. Why did he feel like this was high school, and worse yet, a high school boy with a crush? Seth was22.
22-year-olds shouldn’t be this nervous about asking someone out.
Breathing in, breathing out, Seth decided that he wouldn’t put anymore weight on the situation.
