a/n: read at your own discretion lol there’s nothing explicit, but there’s profanity and at one point it gets a bit…heated..in room 203. anyways, i felt like a sinner writing this so enjoy

An inaudible gasp escapes from Jieqiong’s throat as Nayoung collapses on top of her.

The two lie breathless for a few moments before Nayoung rolls off of her and abruptly sits up. Jieqiong pulls up the blanket to cover herself, eyes fixated on the small of Nayoung’s back when the taller girl stands up on two feet, pulling up a pair of shorts on her way up. Her gaze travels up and traces Nayoung’s long figure until red marks near her left shoulder catches Jieqiong’s eyes.

“I think I scratched you,” murmurs Jieqiong as she fiddles with the edge of the blanket. “Sorry.”

To no avail, Nayoung turns her head a little bit over her shoulder in an attempt to catch a glance at the mark. Jieqiong watches as she coolly shrugs, her dark hair falling down her back when she turns back to face the wall.

“It doesn’t hurt?” asks Jieqiong.

“No,” Nayoung promptly replies as she slips on a sweatshirt. “I have class in an hour so I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

When Jieqiong hums in reply, Nayoung gives her a small smile before grabbing her backpack and scuttling out of the room.

Turning on her side, Jieqiong lets out a sigh as the sunlight filters into the room through the translucent curtains and accompanies her 8AM haze.

&.

A brusque pulling of the seat gets Jieqiong’s attention when the sound of the chair scraping the floor interrupts her study time.

Eunwoo plops down on the chair, clutching a cup of coffee in one hand and a phone on the other, before letting her forehead meet the surface of the table. She lets out a frustrated groan.

“What’s up?” asks Jieqiong as she looks at the crown of her friend’s head.

“I hate group projects,” begins Eunwoo, putting her head up, “I hate them with a passion.”

Jieqiong puts her hand on Eunwoo’s cheek, lifting up her head up as she says, “Don’t put your face on the table. Siyeon supposedly cleaned it, but I don’t trust her.”

Eunwoo huffs as she narrows her eyes at the girl behind the counter sneaking a cookie into . “Siyeon still works here? I just saw her eat a cookie. How has she avoided getting fired from this café?” When Jieqiong just shrugs in reply, Eunwoo puts her elbow on the table and props her chin on her hand.

“Group projects are fun,” says Jieqiong.

“No they aren’t. Not in this seemingly never-ending nightmare called college.”

“You’re just not fully reaping the benefits of group projects.”

“There are no benefits to reap.” Jieqiong chuckles when Eunwoo lets out a childish whine. “Our seminar is in two days and this still doesn’t have his part of the PowerPoint finished! Seriously Jieqiong, the document has just been sitting there unchanged for two weeks. Two weeks! What has this boy been doing for the past two weeks that’s more important than our presentation?”

“Do what you did last time and throw him under the bus,” suggests Jieqiong.

“Oh trust me, I want to throw him to the wolves so badly,” replies Eunwoo, “But the professor docked us points for doing that last time so…”

She chugs down her coffee before letting out a defeated sigh.

“Poor baby,” Jieqiong teases with a pout. “Your eyes are even drooping.”

“I got back from the library late last night and to make matters worse, my roommate snuck someone into our room. They were very loudly banging each other. Ugh!” Eunwoo buries her head in her hands, miserable and ready to drop. “I had to sleep in Yebin’s room. On the floor. Because she’s an who doesn’t know how to share a bed. And her roommate is an awfully loud snorer. In short, I’ve been terrible. What about you?”

“I’m good,” Jieqiong answers, holding back from laughing at her friend’s misery.

“Yeah, whoop-de-doo,” Eunwoo drawls, tone dripping in feigned excitement. “I wish I was rich enough to afford a dorm room all to myself. Do you realize how much you luck out by not having any roommates?”

“Yes,” is Jieqiong’s prompt reply, sending Eunwoo into yet another long-winded groan of anguish and exaggerated woe.

“Lucky you, you have a convenient place to privately screw whoever you want with no worries,” adds Eunwoo. “Except you don’t do that because you only screw one person anyways. How’s your buddy?”

Eunwoo winces when Jieqiong throws a firm punch at her forearm.

“Stop calling her that, we are not buddies,” mutters Jieqiong.

“Fine. Friends with benefits,” Eunwoo corrects herself and flinches when Jieqiong holds up a fist, threatening another punch to the arm. “Hey! You can’t deny it this time, admit it.” Jieqiong sighs before putting down her fist in admitted defeat.

“She’s fine. Probably. I don’t know,” answers Jieqiong honestly. “Ask her yourself. How would I know?”

“Um, you of all people should know all about her, inside and out–”

She is interrupted by an agitated shove on the shoulder courtesy of Jieqiong and her lack of appreciation for Eunwoo’s ill-timed quips.

“I literally did not even say anything wrong. Geez, you are so sensitive,” replies Eunwoo defensively as she rubs her shoulder.

“Just keep your voice down,” warns Jieqiong. “I don’t want–“

“People to know, yeah, yeah, I get it, it’s a secret. I don’t know why though, I mean, ing an upperclassman from the so-called untouchable performing arts department and it’s Im Nayoung of all people sounds like a great thing to boast about. If I was you, I’d be blowing my own horn like there’s no tomorrow!” exclaims Eunwoo. “Dancers must be good in bed, huh?”

She is met with dull eyes from a tired Jieqiong growing sick of Eunwoo’s irritating antics. Instead of throwing another punch, the Chinese girl just lets out a long exhausted breath as she shakes her head in disapproval.

“I want to experience a relationship with no strings attached too,” says Eunwoo. “Hey, do you want to be my buddy?”

Jieqiong’s expression turns into an incredulous one as she barks out a cackle. “Only in your wildest dreams.”

Eunwoo rolls her eyes. “I dream of much better things. Anyways, I was just joking. I don’t think your relationship is healthy. How about I set you up on a date so you can have an actual normal love life?”

When Jieqiong shakes her head with a firm ‘no thanks’, Eunwoo purses her lips. “You don’t want to see anyone, you don’t want to date anyone, and you don’t want to have with anyone else, hmm… You are practically exclusive. You might as well just date each other.”

“We don’t have feelings for one another,” replies Jieqiong, like an automatic response. “We can’t date. It’s a rule.”

“Really? You’ve never thought of her as anything more than a person to conveniently bang when you feel like it?”

“…Never,” Jieqiong replies, but the short and subtle delay that came before her answer catches her off-guard.

And it’s that slightest of uncertainty, that hint of hesitation that throws Jieqiong into a whirlwind of mental panic; red flags, flashing lights and all. 

&.

It’s late Thursday afternoon and Jieqiong finds herself in the atrium of the dance building with two phones in her hands. She glances up at the panels on the glass ceiling, watching the sky blend into various shades of warm colours as dusk approaches. A voice interrupts her out of her reverie.

“Jieqiong,” says Nayoung. “What are you doing here?”

Jieqiong’s head snaps towards the direction of the voice and she, for a moment, is at a loss for words, entranced by the sight of Nayoung in her dance attire. Jieqiong had seen Nayoung in her practice clothes (and without) plenty of times before – it’s when Jieqiong finds her the most attractive – but something about today made Jieqiong feel…different. More.

Nayoung snaps her fingers in front of Jieqiong’s face and says with a smirk, “Why are you staring?”

Jieqiong can feel her cheeks redden as she averts her gaze to the floor, flustered from being caught. “Sorry. It’s hard not to.”

Nayoung chuckles as she clutches the straps of her duffel bag. “So, what brings you to my sanctuary? Are you waiting for someone?”

“I am,” Jieqiong answers, “You, actually.”

Nayoung raises her eyebrows as a smile plays on her lips. “Oh?”

Jieqiong holds up one of the phones in her hands and waves it in front of the taller girl’s face. “You forgot your phone in my room last night.”

“Oh,” Nayoung says as she collects her phone from Jieqiong. “I never even noticed that I didn’t have it today.” 

“Yeah, I didn’t know where to find you earlier and I had classes to attend so I couldn’t give it to you ‘til now. I had to ask around for you,” replies Jieqiong.

“Well, you found me,” says Nayoung as she puts her phone in her bag. “Thanks.”

When she turns on the heels of her sneakers and is about to walk away, Jieqiong squeaks out a ‘wait!’. Nayoung comes to a stop and turns her head towards the younger girl.

“Are you hungry? Let’s go eat,” urges Jieqiong. She can feel her heart about to beat right out of her chest as she looks at Nayoung with expectation, anticipating the other girl’s response to her sudden invitation. 

Nayoung playfully furrows her eyebrows in suspicion as she snickers, “Do you have some sort of ulterior motive?”

Jieqiong her head teasingly. “No,” she answers, “But if you want…”

Nayoung lets out a chuckle before walking away, waving a hand at Jieqiong to urge her to follow. “You’re funny. Let’s just eat.  Come on, let’s go.”

Jieqiong lets herself be pulled. She’s always been the meekly obedient kind.

&.

As her fingers tap rhythmically on the table– a habit that came with being a music major, Jieqiong watches as an abrupt buzz interrupts the choreography video Nayoung had been viewing on her phone.

She opens up the new message, revealing a string of unread texts from someone whose name Jieqiong can’t read upside down from where she is sitting. Nayoung types a short reply before returning to her dance video.

For a short moment, Jieqiong does nothing but observe Nayoung as the latter watches her video intently. The younger girl’s eyes travel to Nayoung’s mouth; rosy lips pressed together in concentration. Then Jieqiong’s focus shifts to Nayoung’s long, nimble fingers as she tucks fallen strands of hair behind her ear.

If Jieqiong hadn’t been so fixed on her lips, perhaps she would’ve taken the liberty of tucking it behind Nayoung’s ear for her. She quickly shakes her head o