As they ate, Ivy and Selena looked at her with curious eyes, "So? How did it go?" Ivy asked impatiently.
"Well, Prom was good. I had fun," Haewon said, and both Ivy and Selena looked at her incredulously.
"We didn't wait all this while just to hear that," Selena said, and Ivy flashed her an appreciative smile.
"We need the details, and why didn't you get out of the car immediately? Don't tell me he kissed you?!" Ivy asked dramatically, and Haewon blushed.
"He did?" Selena asked in surprise when she saw how Haewon was blushing.
"Of course not!" Haewon said defensively.
"Then why did your face turn red?" Ivy asked, and Haewon cleared her throat.
"I only felt embarrassed that you would insinuate such a thing. My lips are not that cheap, you know?" Haewon said without meeting their gaze.
Ivy and Selena exchanged a glance.
"Okay, then. So, what happened?" Ivy asked excitedly, and Haewon filled them in on the events of the prom, leaving out how she felt when they held hands and the kiss he gave her on her cheek.
By the time she was done, Ivy was grinning, "He is so sweet," Ivy said, and Haewon rolled her eyes.
"Didn't you say he was ill-mannered a few weeks ago?" Haewon reminded her as she ate.
"Well, that was before we got to know him and...."
"We don't exactly know him yet. We have only seen him. We still don't know him on a personal level yet," Selena pointed out as she looked at Haewon curiously.
"You like him, don't you?" Selena asked, and Haewon rolled her eyes.
"It was only one night, Lena. For all I know, he is still a jerk and might just go back to being one next week…"
"It was a yes or no question. You like him," Ivy said knowingly.
"No, I don't. And it's silly to do, don't you think so? We are graduating already. I don't even know the university he is aiming for and…" She stopped rambling abruptly when she noticed the amusement on both Ivy's and Selena's faces.
"I don't like him. Enough about him. What about Nath?" Haewon asked, changing the subject.
"What about him?" She asked, not really wanting to talk about Nath yet.
"What is his name? You said his name was changed from Nath, didn't you?" Haewon asked curiously.
"Gabriel Fox. I swear, Haewon, he is soooo gorgeous! Those childhood pictures of him didn't do him any justice. He's such a hunk!" Ivy said dramatically as she picked up her phone to show Haewon Nath's pictures, and Selena raised a brow.
"You have his pictures?" Selena asked when Ivy passed her phone to Haewon, who sighed appreciatively at the sight of Nath.
"Well, yeah! I started following him last night. If he's going to be your boyfriend, I should…"
"He's not going to be my boyfriend. We were just friends," Selena said, and Ivy rolled her eyes.
"Have you texted him yet?" Haewon asked without looking away from the pictures.
"Can you believe she doesn't want to reach out to him and just wants to study him from afar? I really can't believe Lena sometimes," Ivy said, and Haewon looked up from the pictures and turned to Selena.
"Why? You have spent years searching for him, and now that you found him, you'd rather not approach him?" Haewon asked, and Selena sighed.
"I searched for him because I was worried about him initially and how he disappeared suddenly. Now that I know he is alive and doing well for himself, I'm relieved. I might approach him, but not just yet. I need to know what kind of person he is and if it's wise to try to reunite with him. It would be silly to assume he is the same young boy I knew," Selena said, and Haewon nodded in understanding.
Selena had made that decision because she was scared of approaching him now without an idea of the kind of guy he had turned out to be. After what he went through, she was pretty sure that there was no way he would be that supportive and easygoing friend he had been to her.
She didn't want to get too disappointed, and that's why she had decided to watch him from a distance. If he were still the Nath she remembered him to be, then she would approach him and rekindle their friendship no matter what, but if he weren't, she would just let it go.
"That makes sense. I understand," Haewon said, remembering what Charlotte had said the previous night about considering the fact that Nath might not remember or care about Selena. The last thing she wanted was for Selena to get hurt.
"You do?" Selena asked, and Haewon smiled as she gave her a nod.
"Yeah. You should take your time and see for sure if he is worth being friends with or not," Haewon said, and Selena smiled.
"I'm glad you're mature enough to understand," Selena said, and Ivy snorted.
"Wow! I guess I'm the immature one then," Ivy said with a shake of her head, and they all laughed.
Haewon glanced down at her phone when she received a message notification, and she snatched it up immediately, hoping it was from Jake, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw it was an email notification.
She had applied early for college, and she was surprised to see it was an acceptance letter from Princeton University.
"I got in!" Haewon screeched happily as she pushed away from the table while Ivy and Selena watched in confusion.
"Princeton accepted me!" She explained breathlessly, and they both rose to embrace her and do their celebratory dance.
"I need to call my parents and let them know I'm going to Princeton," Haewon said as she hurried away to her bedroom.
It might not have been a text from Jake as she had hoped it would be, but this was something she wanted even more than a text from Jake. It was something her parents wanted. An Ivy League degree.