i:
I remember deeply sighing as I pressed upload, adding about three decent pictures of myself… for Tinder.
Online dating was something I never planned on doing, but I did it anyway.
Well… actually, I was kind of forced to by my roommate and best friend, Nari, who always thought I needed to put myself out there and casually date.
I don’t know if I created a Tinder account to seek some sort of validation from complete strangers… or just to see what could—
What has happened.
And well… something did happen.
It was summer, the year I graduated from college, just before I was headed off to Seoul for a dream job as a fashion journalist for one of the top magazines in Korea.
Well… an assistant writer who wouldn’t have much...if any say, but I couldn’t complain. It was just me getting my foot in the door.
So, casually dating wouldn’t hurt, right? It wasn’t supposed to be serious. Just something temporary.
I did what I was supposed to do on Tinder, swiping left or right on potential matches, but with my luck… or maybe my pickiness, I was mostly swiping left.
Meaning, “Nope.”
I remember reading through random, obnoxious bios that tried way too hard to be witty:
“I think you’re lacking vitamin ME.”
Or something overly confident about how they can do a backflip and how much of a gym rat they are.
I was already disappointed.
Honestly, a little regretful that I even tried this whole online dating thing.
But that all changed when I saw that you matched with me first.
You were one out of the fifty guys who swiped right on me… and the only one I actually found attractive. You just seemed… right.
I was pretty sure you were a bot or something, because there was no way someone who looked like you would find me cute.
But I remember scrolling through your pictures, completely in awe… and matching with you right away.
Your name… Jeongguk.
From Busan.
Exactly 32 kilometers away from me.
I can’t remember your bio word for word, but it was something cute about taking someone’s breath away and being smart enough to bring it back.
I just know it made me smile.
Then the chat notification pinged.
And it was you.
You wrote:
“Hey, is your name Earl Grey? Because you are a hot-tea!”
Yes… I still remember that pickup line.
I remember blushing as I typed back:
“Hahaha! GREAT one!”
“Sweet, I was hoping you’d like it! Nice to meet you, Sooyun :)”
I’m pretty sure we talked for about an hour that night, just about random things, whatever came to mind. We got to know each other… but not too much. Not anything deep.
If I had known then what I know now…
I would’ve realized you had your guard up.
We eventually exchanged numbers.
And at that moment…
That was when you became someone I would never forget.
