Yu Jin's first few weeks in Seoul turned out to be a whirlwind of activities. Juggling university applications and a search for part-time work kept him constantly on the move. Knowing that the savings he brought with him could not be relied on for too long, the urgency of finding a job sustained himself loomed large.

Despite his packed schedule, Yu Jin couldn't resist the allure of a unique opportunity. He decided to attend an astronomy conference where he delivered a presentation on the potential for life on other planets. To his surprise, his speech on astrobiology garnered attention and praise from the attendees.

Before he left the conference, a young girl suddenly approached him. Her vibrant enthusiasm contrasted with his reserved demeanour.

"Hi, your presentation today was great. I liked it really much, you know?" The girl said and grinned. She was wearing a staff jacket and a lanyard with a card saying "MR Team."

Yu Jin blinked in astonishment, momentarily unable to process the unexpected encounter. "You're talking to me, right?" He queried, turning his gaze towards her.

Her round babyface and her funny-looking fringe seemed like a great match with her confident demeanour. She looked just as cherubic as a secondary school student. However, by the fact that she was nearly as tall as him, as well as she was working at an event like this, Yu Jin knew that she could not be that young.

"Yes, speaker Han, who do else you think I am talking to?" She snickered.

His cheeks slightly flushed, and he managed a shy smile. "Ah...thank you very much, I appreciate that."

"The topic you chose was really unique. Your speech was really thorough too. Are you studying astronomy or astrobiology in uni?" She curiously inquired.

"No, I am not in uni yet. And I am not studying any of those fields either."

"Wait, are you still in high school?"

"I have just graduated. I am applying for uni now."

"Oh, so you are the same age as me. I am also applying for SNU, you know? For astronomy," she excitedly shared with a widening smile, "By the way which high school did speaker Han go to, mine was Hansung High."

"I'm from Busan, so you probably wouldn't know my school. Oh, and please, call me Yu Jin. Being too formal makes me uncomfortable."

"Sure thing, Yu Jin. I'm Eun Chae, Hong Eun Chae. 'Eun' for kindness and 'Chae' for gather," she cheerfully explained, extending her hand for a handshake, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Yu Jin said, his awkward smile transformed into a genuine one as they shook hands.

Coincidentally, they both boarded the same bus to return home. Eun Chae's house was only a stone's throw away from the alley where Yu Jin's rented house was located. Amidst their conversation, Yu Jin discovered that Eun Chae was his complete opposite, a lively extrovert with an enthusiasm for life. She was friendly, talkative and out-going. Meanwhile, he was an introvert who preferred to live in his own world. Of course, that did not mean that he never socialised, it was just that he would rather not talk to others, but he would not mind if there was someone starting off a conversation with him.

With her dynamic personality, Eun Chae proposed an idea of group studying as a way to improve the chances of both Yu Jin and her being accepted by their favourite universities. At first he felt a tinge of reluctance as he had never really studied with another person before. But there was no harm in studying with her after all, so he took that offer.

After a few weeks, their friendship grew steadily. Perhaps because they both loved science, studying together was a perfect way to help them become friends. Thanks to Eun Chae's friendliness and communicativeness, Yu Jin also started to feel way less uneasy than the first time they met.

******

That was a piercingly cold December evening when Yu Jin was lying and reading a physiology book in the thickest blanket he had, though still shivering. He was aware that Seoul winter would be way colder than Busan, but he had never expected that it would be this freezing. Yu Jin had seen people hanging out together on Christmas day many times, but how they could bravely hang out without going numb still left him baffled. This year, however, he might be among those revellers.

A sudden message from Eun Chae illuminated his phone screen. Attached was a photo. "Could it be another maths problem?" He thought. But what he saw surprised him.

"Hey, wanna grab some BBQ this Saturday? My friend has two Christmas discount vouchers at a restaurant, but she did not use it so she gave it to me", the text read. Eun Chae's offer caught him off guard, leaving him uncertain how to respond.

For his whole life, he had never been asked out by any girl. Thus, it was understandable that he felt a bit unsure about going out with her. However, he lacked a valid reason to decline. Hence, he ended up agreeing with her.

"You sure you don't have any problem eating out with a boy?"

"Nah, I'm fine with it. My best friend is going to cinema with her boyfriend, and I just don't want to go out alone ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ."

"OK, then send me the address."

"Yes sir!"

That Saturday, just like what they had agreed on before, Yu Jin and Eun Chae met up at the bus station.

"I am glad that you did not stand me up," Eun Chae laughed comically. She dressed up in a white hoodie, a red jacket and a red-and-white striped scarf. What she was wearing, holding the joyful Christmas spirit, definitely did not anyhow match with that of Yu Jin, who only wore a black anorak, a beanie and a pair of jeans.

"You think that I will?" He smirked and looked at her with a judgmental glare.

"Of course I don't, I'm just joking. I know how nice you are. A gentleman like you couldn't do that to an adorable girl like me, right?"

"You make it sound like it's acceptable for an adorable girl to stand me up, you know?" He chuckled.

"Hey, that's not what I mean," she nudged his shoulder, "By the way, I've got this for us," she opened her Mickey mouse tote bag and took out a pair of Santa hats, "One for you and one for me. It's weird going out on Christmas without these"

"Come on, are we five-year-old kids? I won't wear it!" He grumbled. But his meagre resistance could not win her over.

"I don't care, just wear it. Lots of people are wearing it, not only you," she stood on her toes, removed his beanie and put the Santa hat on his head.

They arrived at the restaurant and she soon became super energetic. "This girl must be a fanatic foodie," Yu Jin thought to himself.

Yu Jin was not as interested in food as her, he just ordered flank, brisket and mandoo as those were all he knew. Meanwhile, Eun Chae asked for bunches of dishes he did not know, or he had never eaten before like tripe, honeycomb, sweetbread, heart stem and some other things.

"By honeycomb, you aren't referring to the bee's nest, are you?"

"No, of course", she snorted, "All the things I ordered were parts of the cow, honeycomb and tripe are parts of the stomach, sweetbread is the pancreas. And heart stem, you should know it already as you are studying bio."

"You like cow organs, right?"

"Yeah, they taste good, don't they? What about you?"

"I don't like offal really much. In fact, I have never tried out any organs except for liver and bone marrow."

"Come on, you are wasting your life, just try offal once. I bet you're gonna regret not trying them earlier."

The meat and mandoo was served first, and after a while came the cow organs. There were two completely opposite pictures of the two dishes. The slices of meat were thinly cut and arranged in a very artful way. The meat looked lavish, reflecting rainbow, metallic and shiny rays of light. Meanwhile, the plates piled up with bizarre cuts of offal immediately made him lose his appetite.

The two put their food on the sizzling fire and waited to start digging in. Yu Jin calmly sat beside the table and enjoyed the smoky, appealing aroma of the meat. Meanwhile, Eun Chae seemed to be overly excited and continuously flipped the slices over.

"I don't think flipping them makes them cooked faster," he sighed and peered at her.

"It does, stop nagging me! By the way, some of them can be eaten already", she happily put some cuts of meat and offals onto her plate. "Hey, try this", Eun Chae said and put a slice of something into his plate. It looked somewhat like pork belly, and also somewhat like the brain, but not exactly the same to any of those. And when he touched it, it seemed pretty tender and succulent.

"What's this?"

"The pancreas, you should definitely try it."

He took a bite. It was crispy on the outside, and creamy inside. In fact, he found out that it tasted pretty good.

"Hmm, not bad," he nodded his head.

"Then try this too", Eun Chae used the chopsticks to pick up a slice of something which was brownish grey in colour. It had a rough surface with a multitude of projections pointing outwards, appearing just as disgusting as it was taken from a monster in a horror movie.

"What the hell is that thing? Just keep it for yourself. It looks terrible!" He scrunched his face in disgust.

"It's the stomach. I know, it doesn't look fancy, but trust me, it tastes really good."

"Thanks, but no."

"Come on, you should make use of the discount vouchers. Stop eating only meat and mandoo all the time."

After a while, Eun Chae finally succeeded in persuading him to try eating that grotesque thing. He put his trepidation aside, closed his eyes and opened his mouth, while Eun Chae was about to put the stomach slice into his mouth. But just before it reached his teeth, his phone rang.

"Oh come on!" Eun Chae pouted.

"Wait a minute."

It was his mother who called him.

"Hi mom."

"What are you doing?"

"I am eating out with my friend, I'll call you later. See ya."

"On Christmas Day? Is that your girlfriend?"

"No, just my close friend. I gotta go now, I'll call you back, alright? Bye mom," he said and hung up.

"Who's that?"

"My mom."

"OK, so now, are you ready?"

"Just put it on my plate, I will eat it myself."

After the meal, Eun Chae insisted on paying the bill. But Yu Jin tried to stop her as he also wanted to pay and said that he could not let a girl pay for his meal. "It's now the century of gender equality, don't be so old-line like that" was how Eun Chae replied. It took them a few minutes to discuss and Eun Chae decided she would pay two thirds.

******

It was an evening in the middle of January, Yu Jin had just had a 'luxurious' dinner with instant noodles and some fried sausages. Normally he would not dare to eat the sausage so as to save money. But they were about to reach their expiry date so he had no choice other than to eat them right away.

Failing to manage his finances effectively, Yu Jin was completely broke despite already having a part-time job at a café. He was using his computer, not to study as normal, but to look up some organs that people could live without and how much they cost.

"Ah, so I will still have a good life with only one kidney", he thought to himself. So now he had a way to pay for the monthly rent which he should have paid about more than a week ago.

But his 'work' was disrupted by the sound of the doorbell. He opened the door. And to his horror, he saw the landlord standing in front of him. His face was filled with tension, and Yu Jin knew that no matter what was going to happen next, it would never be a pleasant experience.

Thank you very much for making it this far! If you enjoy reading my story and are excited to find out what is going to happen next, don't forget to click the star to vote for me as well as recommend my story to your friends. You votes really motivate me a lot^^