Page 24 of The Romance Rivalry

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, to be honest. It’s just, books bring me comfort. And I like having them around, I guess. Carrying them from place to place. It sounds weird, but I got here, in this huge library, and suddenly felt very small. And so I started going up and down the fiction rows and grabbing familiar titles.”

Well, that sounds relatable. I clasp my hands together on the table and force them to stay there instead of reaching up to my heart. I will not be that person, even though my insides squeeze at his confession. Because I get it. I understand that feeling exactly.

“And I’d never assume you wouldn’t have an opinion,” he adds, his mouth scrunching to the side as he tries to hold back his smile.

“Oh, well, yeah, sorry to snap at you. I’m trying to get my bearings”—I sweep my hand at all the space and air and life in front of me—“with all this.” I should explain what I mean. How college is already overwhelming. How my classes are harder and maybe not as fun as I’d hoped early on. And how I’m trying to go through with The Plan, requiring me to put myself out there to find a boyfriend for reasons I fear would make most people laugh at me but that I suspect, just maybe, Aiden might relate to. But the words don’t come out. And I barely know Aiden at all, not to mention that in my mind, I’ve already made him out to be my enemy... my nemesis. He could use any weakness against me online.

I sneak a peek at Aiden. He’s nodding, head slightly tilted, as if seeing something in me he’s fascinated by.

“Yeah, it’s a lot,” he says. And that’s it. No jokes, no disagreeing, no debate.

I don’t have the time, and this is not the space for me to figure out how I feel about this. This small interaction that seems to carry more weight than it should. I tuck it all into the back of my head to obsess about later tonight. I open my laptop, log in, and connect to the Wi-Fi.

Aiden already has the project syllabus open and I notice he has some lines of it highlighted. I, on the other hand, haven’t looked at it once since it was sent to us after day one of class last week.

“So I was looking over the assignment and got reallyexcited. This is totally right up our alley.” Just as expected. The man is trying to steamroll me. “I mean, I assume you agree that we should focus on romance?” He lifts his eyebrows, waiting for confirmation. Fine, I can admit that he’s hit the mark. Of course I want to focus on romance. I mean, no, I didn’t even read over the assignment, so I’m not quite sure what we need to do, but if it’s about books, romance is all I’m interested in.

“I figure we can decide what category or trope as we discuss today. But I’m glad we’re on the same page. I do think the professor was giving us a hint in class that maybe he wants us to give equal time and focus to the classics. But we have so much to work with. I mean, my first choice would be Austen, but I’m curious what you’re thinking. Too obvious a selection?”

I’ve never read an Austen book. I don’t want to admit that to Aiden, though. I don’t admit it to anyone in Romancelandia. I’d be ostracized. But I just don’t... understand her books. So I do the thing that I always do when I’m feeling overwhelmed or out of my league. I nod. Because I’m not quite prepared with an argument to disagree.

“Are you just nodding because you think this is what I want and don’t want to disagree?” Aiden asks.

As if.

“Honestly, I’m sorry, but this first week has been really crazy so I haven’t had a chance yet to look over the assignment orcome up with any ideas. If we want to get the best grade possible, I think we should focus on things we know well and that fit what the class is about, the path of least resistance. Something that we could do with our eyes closed. Contemporary literature”—I hold up my right hand and then raise my left as the other side of the scale—“contemporary romance novel.”

Aiden turns his laptop screen to face me and points to the text as he recites the highlighted parts from memory. “‘Compare two pieces of literature and present the similarities of story that transcend perceived differences, deep diving into character arc (The Hero’s Journey; reference reading list), the timelessness of tropes, and the context and impact of setting.’ I don’t think it makes a compelling presentation to just compare two contemporary romance novels.” He drags his finger down to the bottom of the screen without even looking... yet lands exactly at the spot he’s highlighted in green. “Contemporary literature can include works from the modern era as far back as the 1940s. Which makes me think he wants something from back then, too, at least as a reference point if not comparative.”

I want to debate this further, but I know he’s right. “Okay, fine. It’s probably time I finally read an Austen book, anyways.”

Aiden’s eyes jump up from the screen to my face. They’re rounded in disbelief. “Wait, you’ve never read Austen? Really?”

Exactly as I expected.

“Are you gonna go post it online so your followers call me a fraud?”

“Hey, that’s the second time now you’ve basically accused me of trying to take you down in some way online, and I’m not really sure where you’ve gotten that idea. Do I enjoy our rivalry? Sure. It’s fun. But I’ve always thought it was friendly, at least.”

“Friendly? Have you seen the comments?”

“I try not to read the comments.”

“How do you interact with your followers, then? How do you maintain engagement? How do you build and keep loyalty?”

“To be honest, my mental and emotional health are more important to me than any of that. Anyways, rest assured, I’m not trying to drag you online in any way. I never thought of it as your followers versus mine. I thought we shared a lot of the same followers. I mean, you have over a million, and I’m getting close. We’re the same age, we’re both Korean American, crossover is likely, don’t you think?”

This may be true, but among those followers, there are definitely some Team Irene vs. Team Aiden ones in the mix. But Aiden doesn’t read the comments. Is it possible he doesn’t realize what’s being said about me?

“Though... I wouldn’t mind some of those brand deals you’re getting. People like the novelty of a guy readingromance, but no one wants to put money behind it, I guess.” He shrugs. “But I was recently approached about a pretty unique opportunity to create content for a cool Korean brand. We’ll see if anything comes out of that. It would be my first paid gig.”

If this is his first sponsorship, maybe he isn’t as big as I thought. Seems he still has a ways to go before catching up to me. I had five deals before I was even a year into all this.

“Anyways, since I made the suggestion of Austen—that is, if you’re willing to give Austen a try—why don’t you go ahead and pick the comparison novel. It can be any book... the assignment is to compare and contrast across these topics.”

When faced with the choice of any romance novel, what to choose, what to choose?

“And may I suggest maybe not making too safe of a choice,” he chimes in as I’m thinking.

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