kim jiwon grimaced at the strong alcohol scent that lingered on hanbin's body. that bastard get drunk, again. 

 

jiwon dragged his body, half-heartedly. he should have gotten a real sleep tonight, he just finished his assignments and the last thing he wanted is dealing with drunk kim hanbin, because seriously, that guy is the worst after he got drunk. like now, he starts to talk gibberish, "jiwoooooonnieeeeeee, where is jinhwan? huh? huh?" hanbin poked his cheek several times, jiwon only eyed him, "firstly, stop poking my face or i'll kick you, second, he's your hyung, don't you have manner even when you're drunk?" jiwon starts complaining all the way to their dorm, while hanbin giggled every time jiwon starts to open his mouth. 

 

jiwon practically throw hanbin's body on his bed. jiwon still have heart to let him sleep inside, next time, even if taehyun begged him to send him home, he'll just ditch him, or locked him out so he would never ever dare to get drunk. if he still wants to be his roommate. he know it will turn out like this, hanbin getting drunk because of a stupid bet, or losing a game continuously. sure, college is full with reckless action but jiwon did not tolerate being irresponsible.

 

their room is pretty dark, the only lightning come from the table lamp on jiwon's desk, he forgot to turn it off before picking hanbin from taehyun's party. he was about to go to sleep when he stumbled to a book, he picked the book up, a japanese dictionary. he opened the first page, a library's book. he did not recall borrowing a japanese dictionary, maybe it was hanbin, but hanbin is majoring in music department, why on earth he needs a japanese dictionary? 

 

he put the dictionary on his desk and he tried to sleep. he tossed his body to the left and right, he tried hardly to close his eyes but he can't. he's wide awake. 

 

jiwon sighed. what a great night.

 

he stand up, went somewhere, and get back with a cup of warm tea on his hand. his cure to insomnia was a little different, tea, especially a warm one. he sipped it slowly while closing the door behind him. hanbin is sleeping peacefully and he is not snoring, the only good thing tonight. he grabbed his chair and sit in front of his desk. his eyes can't gaze anything but that dictionary. while he's waiting for the tea effect to start kick in, he flipped a few random pages of it and stopped when he saw several pages are full with doodles and random rants, "i'm a japanese, born at kyoto to be exact, but when they asked me to speak in my native language my hands got sweaty and my brain messed up. i think i live in korea for too long (sob)"  

 

jiwon can't help but to laugh at that one, he continued to read another lazy scribbling, "pig legs are serious crime because it is so delicious," he glanced on the other writing, there's a list of korean foods, "i sought solace in eating food," and he laughed again. a gold medal should be awarded to whoever this person is for being such a genius. he mean, c'mon, who would dare write such thing, especially on a public's book? he should thank this anonymous for being such an amusement for his unlucky night.  

 

when he was about to close the book, he saw a lines of numbers with many arrows pointing at it. maybe this is a clue that will lead him to this anonymous person. he was curious as hell and he could give it a try. he ripped a piece of paper and hurriedly write the number. he will try to call this person next morning.

 

jiwon prayed his guts are right about everything.

 

---

 

if he could describe his first conversation with her, the right word would be delighting.

 

jiwon just had a crappy morning, he did the wrong assignment and his professor decided it was a great day to embarrass one of her student. the whole class laugh, including his own hyung, "good boy, you have been noticed by your senpai," seunghoon ruffled his hair, and jiwon totally hates it when someone ruffle his hair, seunghoon knew that and he just casually walked away before jiwon burst.

 

he was looking for his motorcycle key on his pocket, along with the key he found a crumpled piece of paper. he opened it and he saw a line of numbers. ah that's right, i should try to dial this number.

he dialed the number, he was so shocked when he heard the person on the other line, "moshi moshi?" 

 

he was astonished on so many level, first, that person is a girl, a cheerful one. second, did he just make an international call? because his phone bills are already on its death bed. third, he remembered clearly that he didn't mistyped plus eighty two to plus eighty one. 

 

"hello?" he said in english and he slapped his own mouth right away. she laughed, "hello? you can speak korean if you want to," 

 

jiwon exhaled the breath he's been holding, "god, i thought my bills are going to explode," on the other line she laughed again, and without him knowing, the corner of his lips tug a bit, and he's not exaggerating, he'd like to hear that everyday.

 

"if i may ask, who am i talking to?" she said, "um...how could i explain this, i'm kim jiwon and i found your number on a library's book, and—" she cut him off by laughing (again) with someone also laughing behind her, "sorry for disturbing you by my random rants, you won't tell the librarian right?" 

 

"no, and actually i want to thank you for making me laugh, i had a pretty rough night yesterday, so...thank you." there's a long silence, god this is awkward, he thought.

 

"my pleasure, glad i could help. by the way the name is hirai momo, nice to meet you," she said and he could feel the sincerity from her tone, "do you have plan traveling to japan?" she's trying to make a conversation with him, "i wish, but no. my roommate is the one who borrowed it, i accidentally stumbled to that book," 

 

"hmm, so this is purely fate?" 

 

jiwon smiled before answering, "yeah, interesting isn't it?" 

 

"sure does." she said, and somehow, he feel like she's smiling too.

 

---

 

their second phone call was a little bit unexpected.

 

jiwon is sure he already told her that she could call her anytime she wants. but that girl hasn't call him at all after their first phone call, and he's wondering why.

 

he's on his way to his dorm after gathering with his friends. he glanced at his watch, 10.30 p.m, hanbin said he won't be at dorm tonight so jiwon could call her freely without being teased by him. jiwon parked his bike, he was on his way to the dorm building when his phone vibrates.

 

incoming call from hirai momo

 

​he hurriedly swiped right, "hello—" he heard that she was panting hard, she could barely respond to his greeting, and that make him panic. "please keep talking to me jiwon, i'm scared," he could also sense that she needed his help, her voice tone is low, almost whispering.

 

"where are you? why—" jiwon can't think clearly now, she might be in danger.

 

"you know that alley that goes towards girls dorm from dance department building?" after he heard that, he practically run. that was straight up dangerous, especially for a girl and she's alone. "i'm on my way, just–wait–for me" he said while running, good thing the boys dorm and that alley was close. 

 

"you wont hang up on me right?" she asked him, "i wont." he said.

 

it took jiwon six minutes before he finally found her. she was wearing a sweater with ripped jeans and white converse, she died her hair blonde and that's quite eye-catchy, jiwon strangely liked it on her.

 

"hey–" he said, panting hard while placing his hands on his hip. she noticed there's a few droplet of sweat on his face, she rummaged her sling bag and take a piece of tissue to wipe his sweat but he already wiped it on his own with his sleeve, so she slowly put back the tissue to her bag, "sorry for calling you, i was–"

 

jiwon shushed her, "no, i will be mad if you did not call anyone. why are you alone anyway?" he tried to stop but he can't, he's dead serious about issues like this. she smiled and they continued walking, now in a slower pace, "i'm practicing alone, the clock ticks to fast till i don't notice that the sky are already dark." he only nodded, "next time make sure you're not walking alone at night, okay?"

 

they walked in silence, sometimes momo will talk, or jiwon will talk. they exchanged many information about themselves at that night. momo is majoring in dance department, she opened on the most random moment, she's really good at nail art because she flashed her nails in front of him while bragging, "its pretty right?" and like she said in the dictionary, she totally loves eating. when she's on diet she will look at pictures of food and jiwon furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that, "let me rephrase, you love to torture yourself," and she giggled.

 

they do have many things in common. jiwon felt like he knows her for years and vice versa. they both find comfort in each other. kinda weird that everything went so fast but jiwon is never a fan of seasons on tv shows anyway, he always preferred good 20 episodes. the final conclusion was he liked to take things fast. he's so nervous that momo would like to think otherwise.

 

without him realizing, they are already standing in front of girl's dorm, even when they both tried to walk as slow as possible. 

 

"thanks for the night, i really appreciate what you did." she smiled and he bowed, "the pleasure is all mine," he smiled and she only laughed.

 

momo stayed still on her place, she won't go.

 

"it's cold at this hour, won't you go in?" he put both of his hands on his sweater pocket. momo shakes her head, "promise me that you will always answer my phone call,"

 

jiwon was confused for a moment before his brain worked properly. he restrain the urge to pat his head for being adorable so he can only smiled, widely.

 

"of course i will."

 

later at that night, momo was about to go to sleep when her phone beeped, she saw who sent her a message at this late and her lips tugs upwards.

 

from: (bobby) 

even if we rarely see each other like the sun and moon, after a thousand of falling stars, we'll cross paths soon. good night, have a good sleep.

 

---

 

 their third call happened when jiwon is speeding with his bike at midnight.

 

he wasn't in rush or anything, it's just a bad habit he can't get rid of. jiwon live his life for speed and he freaking loves the adrenaline rush on his blood veins. 

 

also, he developed a new habit. jiwon answers all kind of calls now, momo could call anytime so sometimes he swiped right before seeing the caller id. his friends rejoice at this jiwon's new "habit", even if they are dumb, jiwon is dumber. it was super fishy to be honest.

 

jiwon feel a long vibrate on his pocket so he pulled over from the busy street. he took of his helmet and he fished his phone from his pocket. as usual, he just swipe without seeing the caller id first.

 

"hello?" he screamed a little because the street was too noisy.

 

"hello? jiwon? could you come?" she said, also screamed because his background was so noisy, "huh? what?" he asked her, he truly can't hear her.

 

"never mind, i know you'll say yes. i'll text the address, see you!" and then she hang up, leaving him hanging. the only thing he heard are yes and address. one minute later his phone beeped. an address, he know that place, so he immediately put back his helmet and went back to road.

 

his big black bike was driving attention, especially when he parked it in front of 7-11. momo was one of the person who notice him right away thanks to his bike. she waved excitedly until her ponytail was bouncing. when he took off his helmet, he waved back while smiling. the old jiwon won't publicly do cheesy thing like this, even if his head is on the bet.

 

he entered the store, momo greeted him and took her bag from his "reserved" seat. jiwon excused himself from a moment and come back with two banana milks. he stabbed one with straw and give it to momo, the girl looked up and took it, "you're not eating?" she asked, while jiwon looked back at her and his eyes wander around until he noticed a japanese ramen being cooked.

 

"you eat that? you look healthy though," he said, while she laughed. she laugh a lot lately, "if i consume ramen then i look unhealthy to you? you hurt my feelings,"

 

jiwon laughed and stabbed the banana milk with straw for himself, "actually i missed japan, a lot." she began to speak and jiwon intuition said this night is going to be filled with heavy conversation, and his prediction was never wrong.

 

"ease the pain with ramen?" he said, trying to lighten the mood, but her expression won't change. "at that day, he was supposed to give me a call. asking for second thought of 'us', asking for a rewind," 

 

"who?" he said, again he already tried to just zip his mouth and let her do the talking, but things sometimes not going according to what he desire.

 

"his name is yuta. he was my childhood neighbor slash friend and he eventually became my high school sweetheart. the reason why we broke up–" jiwon shushed her, "you don't need to tell me," momo only looked him long before she put his hands on top of his, "no, i want to tell you this. we broke up because he opposed my decision to move here to study. he did it in his own way, which was harsh and i don't want to let anyone put borders in my dream so i found that we're not compatible anymore," she stopped for a while like asking permission from him to continue, "i was so nervous and i just pick up every phone call i get, as long as it's not him. and i bumped to you."

 

"he later text me accusing me that i purposely avoid his calls because i have another man. and he said he don't care anymore, he said it was my loss."

 

jiwon stopped moving, just to look at her eyes directly, "no, i wasn't mad at you at all, i'm thankful for everything. truthfully, if you didn't call me, i might ended up at the same pit i used to stay for him. so thank you very very much."

 

it's his turn to speak, "in both ways, i feel really grateful and sorry towards you. grateful because i met you, sounds cheesy as hell, but i'm being honest here. stop smiling!" he demanded her, or else he might as well smile too, "all of my past relationships ended because i can't set my priorities right. i never want you to feel the same experience, so i try hard to fix it, and i feel sorry because i'm still a mess from the core."

 

"you can't fix a man in one night, right?" she smiled, and he mirrored that smile, "by the way, who's the another person that laughed with you on our first phone call?" he was curious about that since day one.

 

"you probably know her, myoui mina. she's my roommate." after he heard that his eyeballs looked like its going to fall from its socket, "myoui mina you said? she's my classmate, and hanbin's–"

 

"soon-to-be girlfriend? i know, you also like to be the third wheel, right bobby?"

 

"wha–​what? how do you–​ oh, myoui mina you're so dead," and momo burst into laughter. "i know much more about you, bobby."

 

jiwon rubbed his ears repeatedly, "this is going to be a very long night."

 

and it really did. they stayed there until 2 a.m only to talk.

 

---

 

jiwon changed his shirt to his basketball jersey. they have a big match today between his university, hanyang university and yonsei university. he's super nervous since he's the captain. hanbin seemed to notice and he patted his shoulder, "fighting! hirai momo is watching–" hanbin can't finish his sentence because jiwon tried to choke him. "stop–this is an attempt to–murder your–own friend" hanbin gripped both of jiwon's hands.

 

"mina told you?" he asked, hanbin shook his head several times, "no, the whole university acknowledge that. do you know how heartbreaking it was for me? i should know first you bloody traitor," hanbin hissed, and jiwon just let him go. "you can't hide if you still ride that big--scary bike, especially with a girl as a companion. a hirai momo to be exact." jiwon flung his legs to kick hanbin's back.

 

"sheesh, you're so rude, oh my, i pitied momo for—" jiwon was about to kick him again when their coach gathered them up. hanbin stopped joking, everyone was focused on what the coach said. they discussed about their strategies and before they hit the court, jiwon said many things for their team as the captain. 

 

"focus on the ball, don't let anything bother you." he said, then hanbin opened his mouth, "not even a girl, right captain?" 

 

be calm jiwon, hanbin is a jerk on daily basis.

 

they entered the court and jiwon notice the blonde haired girl who is now watching him while sometimes clapping her hands. hanbin was right, she is indeed watching his match. jiwon honestly hought hanbin was joking.

 

alongside of momo, there's also mina there. that explained hanbin's cocky attitude.

 

they did their best on this match, their pride relies on this match. jiwon can't glance or adverts both of his gaze and attention to her.

 

it was worth the hard work though, they won.

 

his team went to him and hugged him, after their short celebration, jiwon eyes searched through the crowd for a certain blonde girl, but she's nowhere to be seen.

 

jiwon walked to their changing room, he searched for his phone to call her, "finally, you called. it's your first time after that day." she said, he furrowed his eyebrows, "stop playing momo, i won—"

 

"this will be the last time you call to this number." he was taken aback by her statement, and she sound damn serious about that, "wait, what? repeat it once again because i just can't get what you actually meant,"

 

"go outside and walk to a bench under a tree. now," she demanded him, he went outside and searched for a bench under a tree, "what do i do?" he asked her, "just sit and wait."

 

he was super confused, did he make a mistake? she should've said or mention it, he's not a psychic or something like that.

 

"i will deactivate this number and change to a new one, so nobody else will get my phone number so easily like you. you are the only one, exceptional, remarkable," momo stopped and took a deep breath before she continued, "i really really like you. it's crazy how i could like someone this much on such a short period of time, i'm not cheap, okay? you're just that extraordinary, and i like you for everything, you're the one to blame"

 

jiwon's breath stuck on his throat.

 

"your kindness is something that blows my mind, how could you be so selfless jiwon?" he heard her voice behind him, he turned around and he found her, standing there.

 

"sorry for being a coward and slow witted guy. sorry momo," he said, to the phone, momo laughed, "so do you like me back or not?"

 

he stood up from the bench and walk towards her, now he's facing her, "i like you since i hear your voice, so we're good," he smiled

 

"stop being cheesy, bobby."

"wait, are we a "thing"?"

"it's all up to you."

"yup, we're totally a thing."

 

---

a/n: 3427k words, sorry if the ending was kinda rushed bcs i can't think at all, gomen. please drop comments or anything will be very delightful, thank you for reading and sorry for the long wait! :) 

(sorry for typos and any grammatical errors)