Nayoung eats her breakfast in Sejeong’s apartment again the next day, but she’s with some batter and she used Sejeong’s good-as-new (as in never been used before) oven to do her magic as Sejeong gets ready.

It’s just chocolate chip cookies, but Sejeong swears she never ate anything as magical. (Not even the ones Chungha’s mom makes.)

There are no whipped cream wiping this morning, with Nayoung too busy reviewing for her Biotechnology exam and Sejeong too busy trying to sort out her weekly schedule with the addition of two swim practices every Tuesday and Thursday after classes. She’s annoyed by it. The whole day swim practice on Saturday’s more than enough in her opinion. But then again, not even Jieqiong can change Im Nayoung’s mind when she’s on Leader Mode.

Nayoung just sneaks glances at her from the top of her iPad with that amused smile that never seems to leave her lips and pretends to be reading every time Sejeong catches her.

It’s quiet compared to the one the day before, but Sejeong likes the breakfast just as much. Besides, she finally drinks the coffee Nayoung made and she has to admit, it’s one of the best she’s even tasted too.

(And there was a bit of footsie fight underneath the table the fifth time she sees Nayoung looking at her teasingly.

Sejeong could get used to this.)

-

She doesn’t have breaks between her classes every Tuesday, but her last class ends just after lunch and the first thing she does whenever she gets out of her class (Creative Writing 101) is look for a new place to eat in.

Their campus is surrounded by coffee shops, restaurants, and basically every kind of food you will ever crave for. And Sejeong has made it her goal to try out each and every one while she’s still here.

Creative Writing 101 is a pretty large class though, with at least thirty students, so exiting the classroom takes time.

She doesn’t understand why a class like Creative Writing has such a large number of students when it’s supposed to be a small book club-like class. But she’s learning anyway. And it’s one of her best classes this semester. They always have the most amusing debates and discussions — ranging from family to open wounds.

Just as she’s walking out, she spots the familiar backside of a girl’s head. She’s seen it exactly one time before, in Hire-A-Jellyfish’s office.

She yells out, “Mimi!” and a few students look back at her. She ignores them and runs to Mimi, a smile on her face and with probably too much force, she practically jumps on Mimi’s back and hugs her from behind. “Hey!”

Mimi looks up at her, startled. “What the .”

She remembers this is only their second meeting and blushes, letting go of the girl. “Sorry, I got way too excited when I saw you.”

“Oh, Sejeong.” Mimi nods in acknowledgment. “You take this class too?”

“Yep. Do you have class after?”

Mimi shakes her head, adjusting the strap of her backpack with a small frown. “No, I’m going to meet up with the others to eat.”

“Which others?”

“Um." Mimi blinks, then sends a pointed look at one of their classmates that she was talking to before Sejeong jumped on her back. She turns to said classmate. “Hey, Jiyeon, I’ll text you the details later okay? Sorry for making you wait.”

‘Jiyeon’ just shrugs and sends her a small smile before leaving to run after one of the Chinese exchange students Sejeong’s familiar with. She’s seen them hanging out with Yeonjung before.

Mimi looks back at her. “The jellyfishes, of course. You want to come with?”

“Yeah, sure,” she answers way too enthusiastically. She frowns. Is it the caffeine in Nayoung’s coffee? “Hey, ever drank Nayoung’s coffee before?”

“Yeah,” comes the immediate reply from the girl. They start walking, Mimi leading her. “Was awake for a whole night the first time I did. Even though I drank it during the afternoon.”

Sejeong sighs in realization, narrowly avoiding a huge guy walking in the hallway like he owns the whole place. “So that’s why I’m ultra-energetic today. I should drink her coffee again tomorrow so I don’t fall asleep in Philosphy.”

She receives a small smack on her shoulder and looks over to see Mimi frowning at her. “Philosophy is great! What Philosophy do you have?”

“Philosophy 1 with Hwang Insun. It’s also a very large class. Seventy of us, I think.”

Mimi’s frown deepens, probably judging Sejeong hard right now. “Philosphy 1’s really easy. Especially with Insun. She’s kinda new and she's great; had her last year. She requires a field trip, right? That’s probably one of the ‘must-have’ experiences in this university.” Then she shrugs, her bag moving behind her. “You can ask Nayoung to help you. She’s a total nerd.”

She smiles then nods. “I know.”

They talk about other things too, after: the agency and their classes, the topic even drifts to pet peeves at one time. It’s easy to talk to Mimi, the girl always inserting jokes here and there. It’s comfortable too, like they’ve known each other for more than just three days.

Mimi leads her to a milkshake place near the university pool. It’s not crowded, unlike the ones the most of the athletes usually go to. But then again, their university treat athletes as “stars” or “special students” so students usually flock to where the athletes go to.

Sejeong likes the underrated places most. Like this place. Not more than twenty people are inside, not counting the jellyfish team sitting very near the counter of course. It’s not rowdy, not chaotic. But not boring either. Sejeong likes it.

Hana is first to notice them. She smiles warmly at Mimi and smiles wider when she notices Sejeong, beckoning them to come nearer.

Mimi grabs her wrist and pulls her to the table. It’s not the whole Jellyfish team — a few people including Nayoung aren’t there — but it’s still a slightly huge group of people.

There’s just six of them, aside from Mimi and Sejeong: Hana, Sojin, Xiening, Haebin, Hakyeon, and Jaehwan.

And Jaehwan’s trying to balance a wafer stick on his tongue as Hakyeon blows on it. Hana pushes him as soon as Sejeong and Mimi reach their table, getting a small pout from the boy.

“I was about to break my own record.”

“It’s disgusting. You know, while the agency embodies the ‘jellyfishes don’t have hearts’ thing, you alone embody the ‘jellyfishes don’t have brains either’.”

Hakyeon laughs, loud and beautiful. Sejeong decides being in a room full of laughing jellyfishes won’t be so bad - they do have the most genuine laughs. He looks up and his gaze brushes Sejeong’s, eyes immediately curl in a smile.

“Hey, Sejeong, right?”

She nods, taking a seat next to Haebin as Mimi sits next to Hana with a kiss. She frowns, she didn’t know they were together. Especially with the way Hana looks at Nayoung.

She brushes it off though, and simply takes some fries from the plate Haebin holds out to her, and says her thanks. She’s an outsider, she shouldn’t meddle with things she’s not supposed to care about.

But Haebin looks at her in that way that tells her “I know” and she merely sends her a tightlipped smile and continues eating and jumping in on conversations.

It’s not until they’re down to their last fries that Jaehwan speaks, “Hey, Sejeong. You coming to the party later?”

She blinks. Are they asking her if she’s going to ‘the’ party? Whichever party that is they’re talking about. “What party?”

“Taekwoon’s,” Hakyeon answers, reaching forward to steal fries from Xiening’s plate. Xiening grabs his finger and bends it, smiling at the yelp that comes out of the man’s mouth.

“It’ll start at nine but we usually come earlier.”

“I have swimming practice later. Why will there be a party on a school night?”

“It’s the club’s sixth year,” Haebin says it in such a way that asks for confirmation, the others nod.

Sejeong frowns. “Club?”

“Taekwoon’s family’s club.”

“Club like, um, country club or-?”

“Club like black lights, alcohol, foam pool, and deejays.”

She blinks. Twice. “Taekwoon’s family owns a club?”

“Yeah, and he deejays there. He also taught Nayoung how to deejay before so with enough prodding, she might show you her skills.”

Hana looks up at this, and Sejeong notices Mimi noticing. Haebin sends Sejeong a knowing look. Soon enough, everyone’s either sending each other looks or avoiding each other’s eyes.

The glances mean more than just glances and the shift in the air is too subtle. The kind of subtle that frustrates Sejeong, because she’s an outsider and she shouldn’t notice the shift.

She clears and takes a few fries from Xiening’s plate. Xiening doesn’t complain.

-

Jaehwan offers that they all walk her to the university pool because they’re all going to Insomnia Café anyway. And they all look surprised when she says the coffee buns there are great, except Sojin.

“You’ve been to Insomnia?” Hana asks her, arm lazily looped around Mimi’s shoulder. “It’s not a known place though.”

“I know. Nayoung brought me there yesterday.”

Haebin lets out a small knowing chuckle. “Seems like Naong’s fond of you, huh. She usually doesn’t bring anyone there until the fourth fake date.”

She blushes. “I was looking for a place nearby that sells good breakfast food. She suggested Insomnia.”

“Well, it is a place that sells good breakfast food,” Mimi hums, looking snug in Hana’s arms. Sejeong’s heart aches – probably missing the times she was snug in Chungha’s arms. But it’s also probably something else.

“Sejeong!”

Eight heads turn to look at the literally bouncing kid by the doors of the building the indoor pool is in.

“Hey, you’re one of Jiyeon’s little ones, right?” Mimi asks the girl.

Yeonjung laughs at the term, but still nods. “I’m Yeonjung. You are?”

“No need for introductions, really,” Hana says politely, smiling. “I think you have training in a few minutes and we have somewhere to go to.”

“They’re Nayoung’s friends.”

Yeonjung’s eyes light up in understanding. “Oh. Okay. Nice to meet all of you.”

“Likewise, kid,” Hakyeon replies, nodding his head. He stands straighter and turns to the other jellyfishes. “Let’s go?” He leans against Jaehwan and smiles at Sejeong. “See you later.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

Sejeong watches them all walk away, some shoulders shaking in laughter and a few punches thrown from Sojin to Hakyeon.

They’re a happy group. A joyous one.

But with secrets nonetheless, she remembers as her gaze lands on Hana and Mimi – the two looking absolutely disgustingly in love even from behind.

She looks back at Yeonjung and sends her a smile. “Let’s go swim.”

-

Halfway through the three hour training, Yeonjung exits the pool and tells Im Nayoung she has to give her friend something outside.

Im Nayoung lets her and tells the others they can have a five minute break.

Sejeong sits at the far end of the bleachers, fussing with the bruise that formed on her shin with a frown. Someone sits next to her and she pauses, afraid to make any wrong movements.

“Hey.”

The voice is enough to send glass shards digging on Sejeong’s heart. She takes a deep, shaking breath and looks up with a small smile. “Yeah?”

“You and Kim Nayoung, huh? She’s an, um, Architecture student, right?”

Sejeong blinks, taken aback. She didn’t even know Nayoung’s taking up Architecture. She chuckles. “Did your research?”

“Well, I had to make sure you’re in good hands," she says it so easily. Like she still cares.

Sejeong almost believes her.

She sits up straighter and looks Chungha in the eyes. “Of course I am. She dated Suhyun before. And Kim Nahyun too,” she says proudly as she watches Jieqiong giving out warm face towels.

There’s a slight twitch to Chungha’s eyebrows as she reaches forward to take a towel from Jieqiong, ignoring the way the girl’s looking at them. “Kim Nahyun from the archery club?”

“Hm. Yup," Sejeong replies, masking the shaking of her voice with a slight chuckle. As she takes the towel from Jieqiong, the girl subtly squeezes her hand and she smiles gratefully. “If she broke up with someone like Kim Nahyun and she’s not a cushion for the arrows yet, I think she’s ‘good hands’.”

“How are you so comfortable with talking about her ex?”

A smirk plays on her lips, hand pausing. Then she continues wiping her face to hide the pain in her eyes. “Well, I’m talking with my ex." She shrugs, although to her it just seems like shuddering. "Nayoung and I trust each other.”

Chungha hums. “Of course you do.”

“She’s great. Really.”

“What sport does she play?”

She pauses again and sends Chungha a disbelieving look. “I thought you did your research? She doesn’t play any sport, as far as I know. But she does deejay, bake, make her own coffee fancily. She’s in the drama club too. And she has amazing grades in all classes.” With a small smile, she adds, “I hit jackpot, don’t you think?”

She looks up and it’s a grave mistake because Chungha’s gaze catches hers and they hold each other. Usual current of attraction passing through turned to bullets giving her only pain and fear.

The lump in grows bigger and she’s quite sure the tears are coming. She takes a deep shuddering breath at the concern in Chungha’s eyes.

Concern. She’s always concerned. It’s almost impossible to hate her.

“Hey, Sejeong, look who I saw outside waiting for you!”

Thankful for an escape, Sejeong looks up and finds Yeonjung smiling and waving at her enthusiastically with Nayoung beside her. A wave of relief washes over her and she automatically smiles. “Hi.”

Nayoung smiles back, letting Yeonjung drag her to Sejeong. Her gaze brushes over Chungha for less than a second, eyes turning cold for less than a second, then she looks back at Sejeong and with a small, shy smile, says, “Hi.”

Yeonjung giggles. “Why are you so cute? You’re taking the best couple award from Jieqiong and Leader.”

A Doyeon sized shape runs to Nayoung and almost jumps to her back. “Hey Sejeong’s Nayoung, did you bring us bread?”

Sejeong’s Nayoung. Sejeong would be lying if she said that didn’t at least make her smile.

“No,” Nayoung replies with a small unapologetic pout. Then whispers something to Doyeon’s ear that makes the girl grin and hi-five Yeonjung.

“What are you doing here?”

Nayoung looks up, fiddling with the earphones plugged to her phone. “I was going to drive you home. I do it every day, remember?”

“Yeah, but I have practice. You didn’t need to wait for me.”

“But I wanted to,” Nayoung replies, grinning. She sits on the bleacher below Sejeong’s, facing her, and leans closer to prop her chin on Sejeong’s knees. “It’s just three hours anyway.”

Sejeong unconsciously combs her fingers through Nayoung’s hair, earning herself a small purr-like noise from Nayoung. It’s soft, Nayoung. “Aw, kitten.”

“Shut up," Nayoung mutters in a deep, throaty voice. Almost like she just woke up. “I’m sleepy.” She tilts her head so that her cheek’s touching Sejeong’s knees and looks up at Sejeong with loving eyes.

“Why did you stay outside then? You could’ve slept here.”

She feels the shrug against the bruise on her shin and winces. Nayoung pulls back and with a small voice, says, “I didn’t want to go somewhere uninvited.” Her eyebrows creases as she stares at Sejeong’s shin. “What happened?”

“Wrong dive. Shin caught on the- now that I think about it, I’m not so sure what my shin caught on. One thing’s for sure, it hurt like hell.”

“Wow, you’re an idiot.”

Chungha moves beside Sejeong and she’s reminded that the girl’s still there. She looks at her and finds her frowning at Nayoung, mouth open to say something.

But then Chungha closes and her frown turns into something else — like a mixture of sadness and shock. And Sejeong feels a kiss planted on where the bruise is.

She looks back and finds Nayoung grinning at her. “Don’t my kisses always make everything better?”

“Cocky, aren’t we?”

They smile at each other and Sejeong’s sure Nayoung’s about to retort (because Nayoung is not one to back down) but the The Leader screams, “Everyone, let’s go back to practice.”

Without much thought, Sejeong kisses Nayoung’s forehead before leaping up from her seat and running to where Jieqiong and Chaeyeon are, ignoring Nayoung’s (her Nayoung’s) scream of “Don’t run by the pool.”

She sticks her tongue out at her and smiles as Nayoung shakes her head in disbelief and amusement.

Her gaze lands on Chungha and she notices her frowning as she walks slowly, eyes trained on the floor.

The throbbing in her heart slows down to a small steady beat. Chungha looks up and catches her eyes.

She smiles.

-

After training, Nayoung goes to her car and tells Sejeong the doors will be left open before climbing in and closing the windows.

Sejeong goes back to the changing room and finds Doyeon and Yeonjung having a small competition over who could finish first. Chungha’s looking at her again and it’s burning the back of her neck. She knows that probably means Chungha’s jealous but she needs that stares to stop.

Yeonjung and Doyeon finish in no time and they run out, Sohye following them a few minutes later.

Somi’s also glaring at her in that childlike way Sejeong can't really get mad at, Yoojung beside her. Jieqiong’s talking to Im Nayoung while Chaeyeon’s quietly dressing on her own.

The silence is too much without Doyeon, Yeonjung, and Sohye. Somi and Yoojung are quiet too. So she clears and speaks,

“Any of you coming to the party later?”

Im Nayoung quirks an eyebrow at her. “Party? On a Tuesday night?”

“Yeah, it’s the club’s sixth anniversary, I think.”

“Party, on a Tuesday night. In a club.”

She nods.

“Are you out of your mind, Kim Sejeong?”

She shrugs. “It’s just a party. Besides, I know the owner of the club.” She met him once, two days ago, not a lie. “Well, um, son of the owner.”

“Who?” Chungha queries, and everyone else pauses, surprised she’s talking to Sejeong so much.

“Um, Jung Taekwoon. He’s Nayoung’s friend. And, I guess Heehyun and Suhyun will be there too.”

At the mention of Nayoung’s name, Chaeyeon’s and Jieqiong’s faces soften as Chungha’s and Somi’s stiffen.

“I don’t have class until later in the afternoon tomorrow. Our prof cancelled our morning class,” Jieqiong says, smiling and ignoring the way Im Nayoung’s looking at — warning — her. “I’ll come.”

Chaeyeon chuckles lightly, as if sharing a joke with herself. “It’s not like I always go to class anyway. I’ll come too. I heard a lot about this club owned by Taekwoon. Lots of good things.”

“I have a 10:30 class tomorrow,” Chungha mutters, voice weak. But then she looks up, gaze slicing Sejeong’s heart. “Philosophy 1. With Hwang Insun. Which I share with Sejeong, right?”

“Oh. Um, it’s a large class anyway.” She shrugs, like it’s no big deal. Which it isn’t. “What harm does one missed meeting bring?” She turns to Chaeyeon and Jieqiong abruptly. “So, how are you going to get there? Nayoung will drive me—” she hopes, “—how about you two?”

“We’ll hitch a ride with the Hyuns,” Jieqiong answers with a shrug, still ignoring Im Nayoung’s glares. “See you later.”

Sejeong gaze lands on the leader, and mutters, “Yeah, see you.”

-

The moment she enters Nayoung’s car the smell of pizza reaches her. She looks at the backseat and finds The Trio, Yeonjung, Doyeon and Sohye, each with their own slices of pizza.

She furrows her brows at them. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to do that. Leader told us we can’t eat pizza while we’re training.”

“Nayoung said we’re only ‘not supposed to do’ something if The Leader catches us doing said something,” Doyeon replies matter-of-factly, taking a pineapple off her pizza and placing it on Yeonjung’s casually. Yeonjung takes a bite out of hers just as casually. “Besides, training ended.”

Sejeong turns to Nayoung accusingly. “Did you buy them pizza?”

The accused’s eyes widen in defense. “What? A little judgmental, are we, love?”

“I bought it,” Yeonjung admits from the backseat. “The delivery man came when we had the five minute break and that’s when I saw Nayoung outside. She offered to take it in her car and keep the heating on so it doesn’t turn cold.”

“And why did you buy it?”

Yeonjung shrugs easily. “I was craving for it.”

Nayoung chuckles. “Anyway, I was talking to them about the short film the drama club’s making for a contest. They said they wanted to see what a drama club’s office looks like. You okay with that?”

“What short film?”

“Didn’t I tell you about it? There’s a short film making contest for all colleges. The drama club decided it’ll be fun to join. I’m in charge of the music.”

“You didn’t tell me.” Of course. They met two days ago.

But still, Nayoung blinks like she’s sure she told Sejeong. “I did though. But then again, you don’t really pay much attention when you’re tired. You were about to pass out then.”

“Yeah?”

Nayoung nods, biting back a smile. “Yeah. It was that night we, um,” she looks at The Trio through the rearview mirror like she’s not sure she’s supposed to say what she’s supposed to say next, “played cards on my bed for the first time.”

Doyeon snorts before muttering a ‘disgusting’, as Yeonjung laughs beside her. Sohye, poor her, blushes as what Nayoung’s obviously insinuating.

Sejeong mimics Sohye, glaring at Nayoung. She makes a show of leaning back on her seat and putting on her seatbelt. “Aren’t we going to the office? Why aren’t you driving yet?”

A loud, joyous laugh vibrates through the walls of the car as Nayoung pulls on the gear and starts driving. “Just so you know, love, I don’t blame you for not remembering anything else aside from the card playing. The cards were great. Also, the way you shuffled them? Magical.”

“Shut up, Nayoung.”

(The loud, collective laughs from Nayoung, Doyeon, and Yeonjung is enough to make her smile despite the embarrassment though.)

-

The office is a mess, pretty much like when Sejeong first stepped foot in it. Haebin’s there, though, standing in the middle of all the mess and looking for something.

“Hey, Haebin,” Nayoung greets, walking in (and stepping on one empty can of coke littered on the floor, it makes a loud, cracking sound) casually. She gestures for the others to follow her, each one avoiding the can. “What are you looking for?”

“My lucky spoon.”

Nayoung sighs, throwing her head back in exaggerated frustration. “How many times do we have to tell you? It’s not lucky. Let it ing go. Sojin probably already threw it away.”

“It is lucky, you . I was eating ice cream with that spoon when the producers called and accepted me as one of the minor roles in my first musical. It wasn’t much, but still.” Haebin pouts. Sejeong can see that this ‘lucky spoon’ really does mean a lot to her. “I went on an audition again and they’ll call me this week, I need it.”

“Haebin, that spoon did nothing. Stop believing everything’s more than what they are.” Haebin sends her a look, an unspoken something. Nayoung shrugs it off and smiles, “Besides, I was beside you when the producers called, maybe I’m your lucky charm.”

“That sounds like a contradictory statement,” Haebin mutters, frowning at the mess around her. “Why is it so messy anyway? I’m pretty sure I cleaned up not a week ago.”

Steps towards the fridge Sejeong only now realizes is there halt as Nayoung looks back at Haebin with innocently blinking eyes. “Didn’t Sanghyuk, Hongbin, Mimi, and Sojin have a sleepover here the other night? They were writing the script for the short film.”

At the mention of the four names, Haebin groans. “Figures. Looks like I have to clean up before the party later.”

“Oh, yeah. About the party, I invited the swim team, is that okay?” Sejeong asks, not really sure if she’s crossing boundaries here.

Nayoung shrugs, taking a carton of juice from the fridge. “It’s a party for anyone anyway. But there’s an entrance fee since it is a club. The only freebie is a drink of your choice. So your friends better tell us when they arrive so we can tell the guards they’re with us and they don’t have to pay.”

“Are we invited?” Doyeon asks innocently.

“No, underaged people are not invited.”

“Party-pooper.”

Nayoung laughs. “Especially those who say ‘party-pooper’. What are you? Twelve?”

“ off.”

“Who are they?” Haebin asks, gesturing to the three. "I only know the bouncy kid in the middle, met her earlier today. Yeonjung, right?"

Nayoung nods. “The other two are Doyeon and Sohye. Sejeong’s little ones.”

“So, Sejeong’s Hyeyeon and Mina?”

“You know Hyeyeon and Mina?” Doyeon queries, already seated on the obviously old couch by the side. “They’re horrible.”

A raised eyebrow from Nayoung. “Are they bullies?”

“Nah, just infuriating.”

Nayoung pauses, meets Haebin’s gaze, then they both smile and shrug. “True.”

The others are still standing over the mess though, and Sejeong frowns as Haebin starts picking up litter. “I’ll help you.”

Haebin looks up, gratitude and suspicion swimming in her eyes. As her gaze lands on Sejeong though, the suspicion is washed off by relief and she smiles. “Thanks.”

“You don’t need to,” Nayoung tells her, receiving a glare from Haebin. She shrugs. “They’re guests.”

“Then you help her,” Sejeong retorts, handing her a broom. “Or better yet, let’s all help her.”

“What, us too?” Doyeon points to herself and the other two, eyes wide in a way that shouts over my dead body. Sejeong nods and Doyeon lets out an exaggerated whine. “Noooo.”

“Don’t be such a baby. Nayoung did keep your pizza warm for you. And, if you don’t, I’ll tell Im Nayoung.”

Doyeon continues her series of complaint as Yeonjung and Sohye quietly help Haebin. Nayoung glares at Sejeong and she smiles at her.

Haebin hides a small chuckle of amusement under her breath, conjuring a few trash bags seemingly out of thin air.

Soon, the complaints die down and is replaced with laughter and screeches of surrender as Doyeon and Nayoung throw dirty gummy bears from the carpet (“ing Kang Mina”) at Yeonjung and Sohye as Haebin dodge each one that Nayoung’s not-so-sporty hands throws.

(They clean it up right after, a satisfied smile on Sejeong’s face as she watches the four pout and grumble under their breaths as they pick up the offensive pieces of sweet goodness.)

-

The party is amazing, and those cheap fraternity parties Sejeong’s been to don’t even compare. Taekwoon takes them to a room above the stage where they can see everyone through the one-way glass walls. The others easily walk up the black stairs with LED lights like they’ve done it multiple times before.

They probably did.

Sejeong, however, feels her heart beating a bit too loudly each step she takes up the festive stairs, like she’s doing something very exciting. Which is stupid, because it’s just stairs. Up to the VIP room. Of a huge, famous club probably only really rich people go to. And a glass of something fancy that Jaehwan put in her hands as soon as she arrives with Nayoung and Haebin (the two receive entirely different drinks). And Nayoung’s fingers tightly wounded against hers. And the bass making everything vibrate a bit too much, making her feel everything a bit too much.

Mostly the bass, probably.

In the room, there are two long leather couches and its very own bar that Jaehwan and Hana immediately conquer with their bartending skills.

Nayoung’s body feels hot pressed against hers as they sit side by side on the edge of one couch, laughing loudly at something Sanghyuk points out to them on the foam pool down at the dance floor (something about someone Nayoung and Sanghyuk both know slipping on the floor).

She downs her drink, letting it burn . It’s tasty, sweet, fancy. But still, it burns. Nayoung stares at her with those eyes – those always, always amused eyes. And she whispers to her hair, “Remember, love, not more than four drinks. Three if you’re drinking what Jaehwan gives you. You have a ten-thirty class tomorrow.”

She’s not sure why they’re so lovey-dovey when it’s just them and the jellyfishes in the room. But she doesn’t complain. There’s nothing to complain about.

The door opens and Heehyun, Suhyun, Haein, Jieqiong, and Chaeyeon walk in, the latter two looking around with fascinated eyes.

One of Nayoung’s friends – one who was there way before them, Eunwoo’s her name, she thinks – immediately hugs Suhyun tightly.

She looks up at them curiously. Nayoung notices and nudges her. “That’s Eunwoo. A friend from high school, like Suhyun and Haein. She’s, um, extremely clingy when drunk. And it seems like she’s already drunk.” Nayoung sighs. “Good thing I’m done taking care of that troublesome .” She leans closer, breath hot against Sejeong’s ear. “Careful, though, she kisses anyone and everyone when drunk.”

“She sounds lovely.”

Nayoung laughs, body slightly shaking against Sejeong’s. “Yeah, she is.”

“Hey, Nayoung, you deejay-ing tonight?” Heehyun asks as she takes a seat in the couch in front of the one Sejeong and Nayoung are sitting in.

“I’m not good though.”

They hear a small, almost inaudible, scoff behind them. Sejeong looks behind and finds Taekwoon leaning against the glass with a disbelieving roll of his eyes. “I taught you. You’re obviously good.”

“Cocky doesn’t look nice on you, Taek,” Nayoung replies nonchalantly, taking a sip from her own drink.

“I told Chungha you deejay.”

Nayoung looks at her with glazed eyes. Whatever she’s drinking must be really strong. “Oh, well, if that’s the case. I will.”

“Jealous much?” comes Suhyun’s offhanded comment from beside Heehyun, smirking at her.

Seems like they’re in on making this whole pretending thing more believable too.

“Nah. Just wanted to show off my skills.”

“Skills where?” Taekwoon mutters as he pushes himself off the glass and walks to the bar, asking for another drink from Jaehwan.

Nayoung raises her off the couch and leans against the back of it, towards Taekwoon. Her body presses against Sejeong’s and Sejeong almost squirms under it. She screams to Taekwoon, “You said I was good!”

She goes back to her initial position, although this time her body’s a bit too heavy against Sejeong’s.

Sejeong tries to ignore it and focuses on the hearty laughter surrounding her every few minutes and the loud bass hitting her ribcage like hammers thirsty for anything to crash against.

It’s most probably just the loud bass, she tells herself.

(And maybe the fact that no one has ever been this close to her aside from Chungha before. But she brushes that thought off as soon as Nayoung’s laughing against her again.)

-

She first spots Chungha a few minutes after eleven. Taekwoon called Nayoung and told her it’s her turn to deejay and Nayoung dragged her downstairs with her. Jieqiong, Chaeyeon, and a few others also joining them.

Chungha’s by the bar, alone and nursing her own glass of scotch. Sejeong knows it’s her go-to drink. She also knows that Chungha likes to drink it slowly, savoring each sip, unless something’s bothering her, or she’s trying to get drunk fast for some one night stand.

And she despises herself for still knowing these little things about her.

Sejeong still sits beside her though, because she did invite her. “I thought you were concerned about the Philosophy class tomorrow?”

“Well,” she mutters, shrugging and playing with her drink, watching the liquid splash from one side to the other. She looks up at Sejeong through long lashes in that same way that used to make Sejeong’s heart ache with so much love (it still does). “I wanted to make sure you’re okay here. Besides, I found someone to go with.”

Found someone to go with. Sejeong nods, then looks at the stage where Nayoung’s arguing with Taekwoon about something, some pre-remixed song playing on the speakers.

It hurts. Breaking up with Chungha hurts. Knowing Chungha still cares hurts. Knowing Chungha’s here with someone else and not her hurts.

It hurts. But she keeps her eyes trained on Nayoung and hopes for the same kind of comfort Nayoung’s hand brought her the day before when she had to face Chungha after a few weeks of not meeting.

Nayoung’s behind the deejay equipment, looking cool and everything Heehyun would disagree Nayoung could ever look like. And Taekwoon pats her shoulder encouragingly before leaving the stage.

Soon after, a different kind of music fills the club. Much livelier. Much louder and upbeat. Much more human than the other songs a while ago. Sejeong’s not sure she should call such music human but with Nayoung managing it, it feels so, well, human. Like Nayoung gave each note arms and legs and beating hearts, encouraging each one to dance with each one in this club – one note for each soul.

And they’re doing a pretty good job at it, she thinks as she watches the dance floor shift from twerking and grinding to dancing as form of art. Dancing to express, not impress. Dancing for the sole purpose of dancing, and not just so that they find someone to afterwards.

She hears an amused huff beside her and finds Chungha’s eyes trained on Nayoung. “You weren’t lying. She’s good.”

Chungha’s looking at her now. And her heart reaches out its cage, reaches out to Chungha. Tries to bend the bones enough so it can escape and jump to Chungha’s ribcage and let Chungha’s heart free. Tries to reunite. But a little part of it stays in its place and grins proudly at Chungha. It stays and says, ‘yeah, I know. She’s good’ because Nayoung is good. And it’s something to be proud of.

“Hey, love.”

She sees a little annoyance flash through Chungha’s eyes before she transfers her gaze to a sweating Nayoung.

Nayoung grins at both of them, wiping the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. Sejeong automatically reaches forward with a handkerchief and wipes it for her. Nayoung sends her a thankful smile, breath still heavy. “Wow, why the is it so hot up there. I could barely breathe.” She looks at Chungha. “Hey, you made it.”

“Yeah. You were great.”

“I had to be. Taekwoon taught me and he takes pride in his little ones.” She looks around, fingers circling around Sejeong’s wrist and pulling it down. “You here alone?”

“Nah, I came with someone,” Chungha replies, also looking around. She shakes her head a bit, tilting it a little. “I wonder where she is though. Probably talking with some fellow Chinese.”

“Oh, a Chinese? Xiening probably knows her. It’s funny how they all flock together, huh?”

A sincere smile reaches Chungha’s lips - small, but still there. “Yeah, I guess. But then again, it’s probably because they find a piece of home in each other.”

“You’re a poetic one, huh? Taking up literature?”

“No, I’m taking up Business Ad. My parents have a company they want me to manage once they retire.”

Nayoung nods, looking like she’s genuinely listening. Her fingers play Sejeong’s, probably a promise of ‘I’m here’. “A rich one too. I’m taking up Architecture. Dad has an architecture firm. Mom, well, she couldn’t care less what I take. If it were up to me though, I’d probably take up Film Production.”

“Oh yeah, you’re part of the drama club, right?”

“Wow, how’d you know about that?”

They keep talking and Sejeong just watches, not even bothering to join the conversation. There’s no reason to. Nayoung’s doing this to make Chungha realize she’s a pretty good replacement. Chungha’s doing this to show Nayoung she’s not going to be a real about it. They’re both trying to fool each other with almost sincere smiles and almost genuine concerns.

Sejeong just wants it to end. Her heart’s still trying to reach out to Chungha, to tell her sorry for anything she might’ve done - to beg for forgiveness she shouldn’t even need to look for. But her body stays beside Nayoung. It finds comfort here, beside Nayoung. It’s safe.

A few more not-so-genuine laughs later, Xiening appears with two girl beside her. One of them’s the one the Jiyeon girl ran to a while ago. The other one’s in their Philosophy class. The former merely smiles before leaving to find her friends, the latter stays beside Chungha.

“Hey,” Xiening greets, immediately ducking in Nayoung’s outstreched arm. She smiles adorably at Nayoung before leaning in to whisper in a not-so-hushed voice, “Jaehwan gave me three different drinks to try. Do you think Hana’s going to kill me or am I going to die first?”

Nayoung’s face crumples in disappointment. She sighs and pries her hand out of Sejeong’s grasp to pat Xiening’s already messy hair. “One thing’s for sure, I’ll kill Jaehwan as soon as I see him.” She lifts her gaze to over Xiening’s head, narrowing her eyes. “Make sure Hana doesn’t see you until it’s time to go home or until she’s had a few of Jaehwan’s drinks, okay?”

Again, Xiening stands on her toes so her lips are right beside Nayoung’s. Chungha raises an eyebrow at Sejeong, the Chinese girl from their Philosophy class sitting beside her. Sejeong avoids her gaze. “Hana won’t drink Jaehwan’s drinks. They’re having a bartending competition.” Xiening looks around, like she’s scared someone might accidentally overhear. “Haebin’s their drinker.”

“Isn’t Haebin the designated driver for the girls?” Xiening nods. Nayoung groans. She turns to the others. “I’m sorry, I have to knock some sense into someone’s head. Love, you coming with me?”

Sejeong sneaks a glance at Chungha and the Chinese girl, feeling pricks in her heart. She shakes her head. “I’ll stay here.”

A pair of eyes narrow, unsure. But then Xiening’s lips are against the shell of her ear again and she shrugs and leaves.

Leaves Sejeong there, with Chungha and her probably date. Her heart hurts. Too much. So she takes the drink Jaehwan handed her before they left the room (“You might need it," he had said with a small wink,) walks away from the bar and sits on one levitated side of the foam pool, and takes a huge sip. This one’s much stronger than the fancy drink she got earlier. It burns a whole lot more. And she likes it.

She looks up again, finds Chungha’s and Chinese Girl’s faces a little too close to each other. Imagines Chungha whispering secrets to her, voice heard only by the two. Feels Chungha’s arms around her waist, then it tightens and tightens until her heart’s squeezing out her rib cage in all the wrong ways.

It hurts.

She notices Jieqiong in one corner with the really clingy-when-drunk friend of Nayoung's and when their eyes meet, she sees the subtle begging in her friend's eyes - don't tell anyone. She shrugs, not like she'll remember anyway.

She doesn’t really know how long she stays there in her side of the foam pool. She finished her second (or was it third) drink of the night and it hit her pretty bad.

Hongbin appears beside her though, with a worried expression that quickly dissolves as soon as he sees her empty glass. He flashes her his signature winning smile and hands her a different drink. He leaves after that.

She downs this, too. Her hazy mind tries to think of how many more drinks she’s allowed to drink (did Nayoung allow her five or six?) when an arm hooks under each of her armpits and she’s pulled up by force.

Obviously really tipsy (or is she drunk?) she leans against the wall pulling her up from behind, muttering something even she doesn’t understand.

“Hey, how many did you drink?” The voice is low, really low, against her ear and she shudders. A pair of arms circle her, taking her hand with them so that she’s also hugging herself. “You okay? You didn’t bring extra clothes, dork. You’re drenched.”

She sighs wistfully, trying to blink the blurry figures away. She shakes her head, making it all turn into much more indistinguishable blobs. “You know…”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t understand it.”

“What?”

She shrugs clumsily, but the arms are strong around her. “My heart.”

It’s silent afterwards – as silent as a room with walls beating to the sound of Taekwoon’s deejaying can be. But then the arms talk again. “What about it?”

“It won’t listen to me. Why does it want to go back to her heart after every time her hearts breaks it – mine? How can something be so damn stubborn?”

“Well, hearts are stupid. They don’t have brains, remember? They just do what they do best.” A soft chuckle tickles her ear. “Which is, of course, loving and breaking.” She’s turned around and she finds sincere eyes staring at her. “But I have a brain so I don’t just love and break. I know how to do other things too. One of those is protecting those I care for. Lucky for you, you’re quite easy to care for.”

Her head’s pulled down so she’s leaning against the sincere eyes’ collarbone and her arms unconsciously snake themselves around sincere eyes’ waist. “I’ll protect you, love.” Then they’re swaying slowly to the sound of loud bass and the scratching of a record.

That’s the last thing she remembers from the night. She doesn’t remember how she got home, what time it ended, if she ever said goodbye to Chungha. Even bits and pieces of the moments before that are missing.

All she remembers is the genuine I’ll protect you, love and the slow, steady beating of her heart as they dance to the loud music, soft voice whispering a song to her hair.

-

A sharp pain wakes her up and the ceiling that greets her isn’t hers. She stares at the glow in the dark stickers and tries to complete the puzzle of last night’s events, trying to ignore the way her head throbs in all the ugly ways. She remembers the bitter taste of alcohol in and the floors vibrating to the music. But that’s all she can remember.

The sharp pain came from her head and she thinks it’s because of the bright light coming in through the open curtains of the floor to ceiling windows beside where she’s lying. She turns slightly to her left and finds hair splashed all over the pillow – not hers. And she feels a light weight on her stomach. She looks down and sees an arm around draped clumsily over her waist. One question pops in her mind.

Did she find a one night stand last night? She hopes not, because Nayoung (and probably the whole agency) will kill her once they find out.

But then again, maybe she won’t. Her vision slightly clears and she finds Nayoung’s face slumbering peacefully next to her arm, cheek squished by her elbow. “Nayoung?”

It might still be the drinks from last night messing with her head, but Sejeong swears the transition from asleep Nayoung to awake-but-still-sleepy Nayoung is the cutest thing she’s ever seen. First, creases form by her eyes’ sides like she’s squeezing them close, eyebrows meet and a pout appears on her lips. Then, one eye lazily open, gaze on Sejeong’s face immediately. A lazy smile appears on her lips as she opens both eyes.

Lastly, in the rawest voice Sejeong has ever heard, Nayoung greets her a “Good morning.”

As per usual, a smile fights its way to Sejeong’s lips. “Good morning. What time is it? The light’s too bright.”

“Oh, ,” Nayoung mutters, sitting up immediately and looking at her phone. Sejeong notices she’s wearing jeans already. “It’s nine am. I already prepared breakfast and all you have to do is take a bath and dress up. My closet’s in the room next to the bathroom.”

With a still slightly spinning head, Sejeong mimics Nayoung and sits up. She realizes she’s on a bed on the floor with probably too many pillows and stuffed toys. There’s a very thick and soft blanket in a royal shade of blue draped on her legs. She can see a black couch from where she is, a messy desk, a huge TV, and the kitchen. No walls separating them from the other rooms, just some bookshelves here and there.

“This is your apartment?”

Nayoung nods. She stands and reaches her hand out towards the girl

“Come on, get up. We have to go to class.”

She grabs Nayoung’s wrist as the girl grabs hers and lets her pull her up. “Why am I here? Did we-” she stops herself immediately, blushing profusely.

The fingers around her wrist loosen as the laugh she now really, really adores hits her eardrums. “Did we play cards?” Nayoung smirks, winking at her. “Nah, we didn’t.”

“Oh. Um, good.”

“Yes. Good,” Nayoung muses, smiles in that amused way that’s probably programmed into her body, and sends a short refreshing feeling in Sejeong’s heart. “Anyway, dork, you need to go dress up. We have Philosophy class in less than two hours.”

“We?” Sejeong asks, eyebrows meeting. But Nayoung only replies with a grin and by pushing her in the bathroom, handing her some fresh towels, and closing the door.

Last night’s events slowly piece themselves together, and Sejeong could remember the bass of vibrating through the walls, bittersweet taste of the alcohol, and a gentle smile shining down on her.

-

Turns out, Nayoung’s in her Philosophy class. Even though she has never even seen her there.

“You’re in my class?”

“The class that started thirty minutes ago?” Nayoung asks as she takes her keys off the ignition, then smiles. “Yep, I am. Race you to there.”

Before she knows it, Nayoung’s out the door and running to the building, tripping over herself a few times. She shakes her head in bewilderment before exiting the car, making sure it’s locked, and running after the kid.

She wins the race (Nayoung’s unsurprisingly really easy to beat in sporty activities), and grins insultingly as she watches Nayoung almost crawl on the floors of the fourth floor, panting as she tries to reach Sejeong without dying.

Nayoung reaches her with a frown, lips parted in harsh breathing. “Wa… ter.”

With a small laugh, Sejeong hands her the tumbler she keeps by the side of her bag every time. (Nayoung somehow found a way to get in her apartment and got her bag while she was asleep; she insists she didn't 'steal' Sejeong's keys) “Don’t die on me.”

After three huge gulps that leaves Sejeong with the impression that she might need to refill her (probably now empty) tumbler after the class, Nayoung takes a deep breath and grins. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Let’s go.” She opens the door forcefully, making Sejeong wince at the loud sound of a heavy door hitting the wall that follows.

Nayoung looks in the room and smiles sheepishly; Sejeong bows her head, afraid to make eye contact with her professor. Many students say she’s mostly kind and friendly, but when angered, deadly.

And she’s waiting for the scream of ‘get out of my class’ when Nayoung greets Insun like they’re long-time friends. “Hey, Insun!”

She hears a loud, defeated sigh and murmur from the class as Nayoung walks to the professor (dragging Sejeong with her) and giving her a huge smile. “Sorry we’re late. You know what happened last night,” she says this like she’s hinting at everyone (probably Sejeong) that Insun was there at the party with them. “We’ll go to our seats then.”

And then she drags Sejeong to the empty seats in front, smile never leaving her face. They sit and Sejeong abruptly turns to her with a glare. “What the ? Are you trying to make me fail?”

“No, don’t worry. We were friends since she was a graduating student and I was a freshman. We were in a class together and now we’re, like, besties.” She nods cheekily at the glaring Insun - whose face softens, rolling her eyes, and opens her book. “She loves me. Which is why she let me in her class even though I didn’t enroll, nor did I pay.”

Sejeong leans close, face centimeters away from Nayoung’s. “You weren’t in this class?”

“No, I took this class years ago. With another professor, unfortunately, since Insun was in the same class as me.”

“Stop whispering, please,” Insun’s voice bounces off the wall, startling Sejeong. She pulls back and smiles.

“Anyway, as I said a while ago, for those of you who just came in—” Nayoung smiles at her, not at all affected by the way Insun’s glare is probably enough to freeze the whole room “—our field trip will be in Busan. It will be in two months, I suggest you all prepare for it. We’re going to have mini games and tests throughout the whole trip.”

Sejeong watches as she continues with her lecture again. Her eyes wander around the room as Nayoung opens her notebook and doodles on it, not bothering to listen to Insun, probably because she’s been in this class before and she won’t really be graded.

Her gaze lands on a couple near them, both sporting really dark eyes and pale lips, obviously tired from last night. And there it is again, the aching in her heart. Chungha looks up and their eyes lock, silent conversation going through them. Sejeong doesn’t know what their eyes talked about, but her heart sure does as it does what it does best - hurt.

Nayoung grabs her palm and the end of her pen digs against the skin of Sejeong’s wrist. She draws on it, and Sejeong stares.

“Don’t look at her,” comes Nayoung’s voice, low enough so that only the two of them can hear. And then she’s quiet, working on the drawing of a heart full of pins sticking on it. “Stop running after her, because every time you get closer, the pins stick farther in. Voodoo Doll by Tim Burton. Always remember that.”

Her lashes sweep up and she stares at Sejeong with gentle eyes. “I told you I’ll protect you, right? That’ll be hard when you keep on putting your heart in danger of getting hurt again.”

She looks back at Chungha one last time and finds her staring at her. She smiles, then goes back to watching Nayoung draw on her wrist. Nayoung will protect her, and damn if that isn’t the safest sound she has ever heard.

A/N:

this was long, sorry for those of you who get bored really easily. Believe me or not, I already deleted lots from this. But I (lowkey) needed these in this chapter. Anways, thanks for the comments, guys. I really appreciate them!