She’s the cousin of my ex-girlfriend.

Sejeong stared at Hyoseol. She was dumbfounded. The world had a weird way of working, and out of all places. She would have never expected to meet her ex at Hyoseol’s house. And for her to barge in so suddenly too.  Sejeong was a little perplexed at the fact that Hyoseol could still be friends with someone who was related to her ex. On the other hand, Sejeong had a hard time even looking at Chungha. It hurt to see her be so carefree without having her old feelings weigh her down. She could learn a lesson or two from Hyoseol.  

She noticed how friendly the two were, suddenly she felt very small and uncomfortable being in the same room as Chungha. She looked at Hyoseol who seemed to pick up on her discomfort and sent her a looked of reassurance. Even though they had broken up for more than a year, the feelings she had still lingered.

“Chungha how the hell did you even get the code to my apartment?” You asked faking annoyance. You shot an apologetic look at Sejeong, hopefully she would understand, you didn’t even know she would be dropping by. You felt horrible, you didn’t mean to put her in such an awkward position, when all she’s done for you is help you and look out for you.

“Oh, Secretary Lee gave it to me.” Chungha brushed her jacket, “Oh by the way, I think the jjigae is done.”

You snapped your head towards the stove and sprinted towards it to turn it off. The jjigae was boiling violently and you rushed to wipe the soup that had spilt. “Ya, since you didn’t tell me you were dropping by, I only made two portions.”

“Pft, what do you mean? We can always share you pabo.” A mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“I don’t wanna share it with you though.”

Sejeong felt like she was a stranger interrupting a conversation that she shouldn’t be in. She felt oddly out of place and extremely awkward.

“Sejeong-ssi~ How about you share with me? I’ll give us more tofu and meat. Chungha can just eat the kimchi. She doesn’t deserve the tofu or the meat, because she’s being annoying.” You stuck your tongue in an attempt to cheer Sejeong up.

“You’re the only one being annoying here.” Rolling her eyes, Chungha walked over to the rice cooker, bowl in hand to scoop up her portion.

“C’mon Sejeong-ssi, let’s eat,” you smiled weakly. But Sejeong just stood there frozen in place. You grabbed her arm lightly, and dragged her to the kitchen table and made her sit. You scooped up two bowls of rice and brought the dolsot to where Sejeong was sitting.

“Sejeong-ssi, would you like something to drink?” You looked at her nervously.

“Ah it’s okay Hyoseol-ssi, I’ll be fine with the water here.” She smiled in an effort to reassure you.

You frowned slightly. She must feel uncomfortable. Chungha is being way too tactless.

“Hyoseol, you got beer?”

“Unfortunately yes.”

Chungha plopped down on the chair.

Opening the fridge, you yelled, “dude, you have to stop drinking.” You threw a beer in her direction. After inspecting the can, Chungha opened it with a satisfactory pop, the carbonation fizzing out of the can.

“Chungha, you’re gonna get liver damage.”

“At least I lived a good life.” She did a half assed salute before downing the beer.

You brought Sejeong some more water and sat down next to her. You looked at her, and you couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she looked. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she tried blowing on the tofu to make sure it wouldn’t burn when she ate it. She took a tentative bite before smiling. It seemed to suit her tastes.

“This is really good Hyoseol. You’ve improved!” Giggled Chungha, “this beats the time you tried making pajeon for Julie and I. I don’t think that pajeon was even edible. We could’ve used it as a Frisbee.”

Your blood ran cold when she said Julie. That name. it was painful to hear it on other people’s lips. Even though it’s been a year and a half since you decided to let her chase her dreams, you couldn’t help but still feel that ache in your heart.

“Hyoseol-ssi, this is really good.” She looked at you with crescents forming around her eyes as she grinned.

You stared into her eyes, and felt a blush creeping up your face. “Th-thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying the dish…” You drank some water in order to try and calm down. She’s really beautiful. You couldn’t help but smile at the way she wrinkled her nose while focusing, you thought it was really cute. But then you realized you were blatantly staring at Chungha’s ex. It felt wrong.

You turned your attention back to eating while eying Sejeong and Chungha curiously. The two definitely had history with one another. I wonder what happened? Chungha seems way too relaxed, while Sejeong looks like she could choke on the tofu at any moment. She’s so stiff. You glanced over at Chungha who was practically inhaling the jjigae, without a care in the world. Aish, the two cousins are definitely cut from the same cloth. They’re way too carefree sometimes.

“I’m surprised you’re in our grade though Hyoseol, I thought you’d be in the year below us.”

She’s younger than us? Sejeong looked over.

“Hm, it’s probably cause it said that I’m in grade 11 on my transcript.” You replied nonchalantly. “It’s probable that they mixed it up somehow. That’s all right though, I was supposed to skip a grade back in the days.” You shrugged.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go down one grade? I can talk to the principal,” asked Sejeong, eyes full of concern.

“It’s fine Sejeong-ssi, I can handle it.” You couldn’t help but feel the warmth in her sincerity. She was someone who genuinely wanted to help others.

After half an hour, Sejeong left citing that she had to finish some student council work. She thanked you for the meal while eying Chungha who was too invested in her phone to send her off. You glanced over your shoulder and apologized for your friend’s lack of manners. “I’ll see you tomorrow Sejeong-ssi?”

Sejeong smiled, “Good night Hyoseol-ssi.”

Chungha decided to crash at your place for the evening. She got a text from her roommate, and judging from the look of annoyance, it was probably something bad. Something about not wanting to interrupt “Heehyun’s private time.”

“She’s probably doing something that I don’t need to hear.” Chungha groaned, “Glad you own a whole apartment to yourself Hyoseol. I can crash here anytime Heehyun’s acting on her hormones.”

“If you’re going to sleep here as much as you’re implying, you should pay rent too.” You sat down next to Chungha and threw a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants beside her. “You shouldn’t sleep on the bed with street clothes.”

“Aw, you’re no fun.” She rolled onto her stomach, and inspected the clothing. “So, how do you find SKYY so far?”

“It’s all right, the kids here are definitely—more lively. Yoojung and Somi are an interesting duo.” You laughed,” everyone seems really nice. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone else.”

You tugged nervously at the comforter, “So… what exactly happened between you and Sejeong?”

You couldn’t help but be curious, Chungha never mentioned that she had a girlfriend. Despite what happened with Julie, you and Chungha still remained close friends ever since the falling out you had with your ex. “You never told me you had a girlfriend.”

Chungha stiffened, “I guess it must’ve slipped my mind…”

You raised your eyebrow. You weren’t really buying the explanation she was giving you but you decided not to press further. She must have had her reasons.

Chungha closed her eyes and brought the comforter closer to her face, “So we broke up. You know the usual…” She sighed and rolled over to her back. “I realized that I didn’t love her as much as she loved me. But I guess by the time I realized, we were past the point of no return. I feel horrible too you know. Breaking hearts isn’t something fun to do.” Chungha frowned continuing, “Sejeong is… a really pure person. She’s the kind of person that gives it her all.”

You couldn’t help but empathize with Sejeong. You were in the same situation as her.

“I guess I screwed up.” She smiled bitterly, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to deal with it… I’m scared if I act kind towards her, then it will be hard for her to let go of me. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. A catch-22, I’m guilty no matter what I do.” Sighing, she dug her face into the pillow. “I don’t think this guilt will ever go away, no matter how much it I want to.”

You watched her, eyes full of sadness. Is this how Julie feels? I wonder… You reached to pat her on the head. She tensed up for a second, before relaxing into your touch. “I think you should be sincere in your feelings. Maybe you should tell her what you told me. But I don’t think avoiding her will solve anything, that’s for sure. I’m sure she misses you too. After all, before you were dating, you were friends first.” You edged off the bed, “anyways, I’m going to shower and sleep. I hope you can resolve this. It doesn’t make sense for the two of you to be miserable any longer than you have to.”

//

Chungha was still passed out in one of the spare rooms when you woke up. After making some coffee, you went to wake her up. She glared at you in annoyance. “Hyoseol, it’s so damn early I could kill you.” She threw a pillow at you, and then went straight back to sleep.

//

You exited the elevator and watched a slightly dishevelled Sejeong rush past you. She was holding on to her half-opened bag and looked panicked. She was desperately trying to chase the bus that just passed by, and didn’t seem to realize she dropped her notebook and a roll of kimbap. After chasing it a street away, she stopped and bent over to catch her breath. With an amused smile, you picked it up and walked towards an out of breath Sejeong.

“Sejeong-ssi, I think you dropped these.” You held out the notebook and the kimbap. She looked embarrassed and thanked you before taking them.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even realize I dropped them.” Taking a pause to breath, “I was too busy trying to chase the bus.” Her hair was out of place and her uniform was put on haphazardly.

“You do realize we’re more than an hour early for school right?” You raised an eyebrow.

She looked up at you with her puppy eyes, “I know, but I have a student council meeting in about 20 minutes, and Stone Buddha is so going to kill me for being late. To top it off, I just missed the bus…”  Stone Buddha? That’s’ interesting you mused. “Prez’s probably going to scold me again.”

She looked disheartened. Sighing she resolved to walk to school, though she would definitely not make it there on time for the meeting. Internally Sejeong was mentally preparing for the scolding Im Nayoung was going to put her through for being late.

“Wait!” You called out. Sejeong peered over her shoulder with a curious look.

Dangling the keys in the air you smiled. “I have a car.”

And that’s how you found yourself driving her to school. You looked over at the passenger seat and found her nibbling at the kimbap.

“Is that your breakfast?”

“Yep, it’s the only thing edible in our dorm at the moment, since none of my lovely roommates decided to buy groceries. We’re out of bread too.” She knocked her head against the window and sighed.

You dropped her off in front of the main entrance. She bent down to level with the window, “Thank you for the lift Hyoseol-ssi. Would you like to come to the meeting? Since you’re already here, you can meet everyone in the student council.”

“I’d love to, but I have to run a small errand. I’ll pass by after I’m done with that.” You took out a piece of paper and scribbled your phone number on it and handed it to her. “Just in case I get lost or something,” you grinned, “I’ll see you later.”

Sejeong nodded and waved as you drove away.

After finishing your errand, you passed by a bakery on your way back to the school. You thought of Sejeong and her kimbap. Is she even going to be full with a roll of kimbap? How is that supposed to help her last until lunch?  Shaking the thoughts away, you made a U-turn back to the bakery. That’s hardly a breakfast.

You walked out of the bakery with two full bags of a variety of buns and a small box filled with iced coffee. You hoped it was enough to feed the student council members. Loading everything into the car you drove back to school.

“Oho Kim Sejeong~” Drawled the Chinese girl, “who was that?” She had glint in her eye that could only spell trouble. “God Sejeong getting dropped off at school by someone with a fancy car… Who’s the lucky person who stole your heart?” She propped her arms on Sejeong’s lap, and looked up.

Sejeong blushed.

Before she had a chance to finish, a tall girl with an impassive expression entered the hallway. The Chinese girl’s expression brightened up immediately after noticing her. She ran over and hugged the taller girl. It was like watching a puppy run to its owner after being separated for weeks. Sejeong couldn’t help but smile at the two. The taller girl only looked down without a change in expression and patted the shorter girl’s head. “The meeting is going to start soon. We’ll be late if we don’t get going.” And she began to walk towards to student council room, with the other girl still clinging on to her.

“This is ridiculous,” you huffed after walking around one section of the school for 20 minutes, “this school is too damn big.” Eventually you spotted the room the meeting was being held in and walked up hesitantly. It’s kind of rude to just barge in during a meeting right? What am I supposed to do with all this? You looked down at the box of coffee and the bags of bread. After debating the issue, you decided to go in. Pushing aside your worries, you knocked on the door.

“Come in!” A voice shouted from the inside.

You opened the door slightly, while balancing the box of coffee in the other hand. You struggled to get the door open, before finally entering the room. You walked in to 11 curious eyes staring at you. Putting down the bags and the coffee, you scanned around the room. You recognized a few faces from yesterday: Chaeyeon, Yoojung, Doyeon, and Mina.   

But one extremely familiar figure stood out to you. Is that who I think it is? Zhou Jieqiong?

Your eyes widened in shock. But before you could say anything, a monotone voice cut through your thoughts.

“And who might you be?”

Blinking, you turned your attention to the girl at the head of the table. You bowed deeply. “Hello, my name is Won Hyoseol. I’m the new transfer student on exchange from Canada.” You looked up and caught Jieqiong’s eye. She smiled and mouthed, we’ll talk later. You nodded in her direction and looked at the taller girl whose arms were crossed.

“I’m sorry for interrupting the meeting… I was curious about the student council here. I figured that most of you might’ve not eaten breakfast yet. So I brought food and iced coffee.” You shrugged. “Please help yourself.”

Mina started to move towards the food, before the tall girl shot her a dark glare, daring her to move, implying that she wasn’t done talking just yet. Mina shivered and backed down immediately, while being pulled by the arm by another short girl with dark black hair.

“The next time you wish to watch a meeting, please do come on time. Interruptions lead to distractions. And distractions result in us not getting anything done. That’s not good for the reputation of the student council.” She uncrossed her arms. “But lucky for you, we just finished our meeting.” She glanced back at Mina, then back to you. “My name is Im Nayoung, and I am the president of the student council.”

She stared at you impassively.

“Everyone else, please introduce yourself.”

You managed to remember most of the names of the people on the council. Sejeong, Jieqiong,  Im Nayoung (not the same Nayoung as Sejeong’s roommate apparently), Yoojung, Chaeyeon, Mina, Hyeyeon, Taejoon, Rowoon, and Eunwoo.

You sat down next to Doyeon and watched Jieqiong. She was extremely animated while talking to the stone-faced president. Her eyes were shining bright, and a wide grin was plastered on her face as she waved her arms wildly to emphasize a point she was making to the expressionless girl.  

She seems awfully bright, you thought to yourself. You shifted your gaze across the room, to where Sejeong was, who looked serious while engaging in conversation with Chaeyeon. Her eyebrows furrowed as she scribbled notes while simultaneously listening to the younger girl. You turned your attention to Doyeon, who was focusing intently on someone. You followed her line of vision to Yoojung and another boy—Cha Eunwoo. You watched the two doubling over in laughter, smacking the table a couple of times, then trying to contain their laughter before bursting out in laughter once again.

“Guys! You’re so loud!” yelled Mina getting up from her chair, from the other end of the room before being restrained by the black haired girl, who you recalled as Hyeyeon. Hyeyeon shot a glare at the two, and they instantly froze before apologizing half-heartedly. Damn, girl could kill with a glare like that. But it got the two to quiet down.

Their boisterous laughter turned to whispering. Their heads were almost touching as Yoojung leaned closer to whisper into Eunwoo’s ear.

You noted Doyeon’s usually cheerful expression was replaced with a twinge of sadness and longing. Her eyes expressed a sort of regret, but it disappeared as fast as it came. She couldn’t bear watching the two any longer, so she got up and left, closing the door quietly behind her.

You felt an ache in your heart. You knew that expression well, and you made a note to yourself to buy something to cheer her up.

Sejeong noticed you sitting alone with a blank expression on your face as you were deep in thought. She walked towards you and waved her hands in front of your face before you snapped out of your daze.

“We’re rowdy bunch huh?” she scrunched her nose.

“No, it’s good to have a variety of people with different personalities.”

“I guess you’re right” She smiled.

“So what’s your position on the council?” you asked, curious.

“I’m the Vice-President of Internal Affairs, so I just deal with stuff that goes on inside the council.”

“That’s impressive.” A smile was fighting its way to your lips.

She blushed, and looked up at you. Quickly gathering her stuff, she asked, “should we get to class now?”

//

Class ended faster than expected, and Sejeong had practice, so you decided to look for Jieqiong.

After asking around, it turned out that Jieqiong was in the class next door, you peered into the room during lunch and caught her laughing with a group of girls as she was putting away her books. She noticed you and motioned for you to meet her at the rooftop.

You slumped your body against the railing and observed the people below. Moments later, Jieqiong joined you and sighed. “How many years has it been?” She turned to you, with a sad expression painted on her face.

“Far too many.” You closed your eyes before slowly opening them.

“I missed you, you know. It’s been so long…” She leaned her head against your shoulder. “I couldn’t believe they sent you away like that. They didn’t even let me say goodbye.”

You hugged her. Squeezing her tightly, hoping that it could convey your regret and apologies. “I had to go.” You whispered. You felt Jieqiong nodding, because she too, could understand the choices you were forced to make. “I’m really happy we could see each other again. But I didn’t expect it to be here.” The edges of your lips curved slightly upward.

Jieqiong sighed, “It’s a long story, but I decided to study here in Korea rather than back in China. I really love the culture, and home was getting a little stuffy. Mom keeps asking me to come back, but I really like the people here.” She grinned.

“You mean you like a certain person right?”

Her face flushed with the shade of a light red. “W-what? No way!” She hit you playfully before laughing. “Okay, fine, you got me.” She dug her heels and bit her lower lip.

“Stone Buddha huh?” You teased.

She hit you again on the shoulder. “Don’t call her that! She has a name you know!” Crossing her arms, she pouted, sulking like a child. “It’s Nayoung! Na.Young.” She said forcefully, emphasizing every syllable.

“All right, all right I got it.” You put your hands out in defeat. “I’m sorry, I’ll just call her Buddha instead for short.”

Jieqiong glared at you and stuck out her tongue.

You couldn’t help but smile at her antics. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen her, and it was reassuring to know that some things just don’t change.  “So are you two dating or what?”

Jieqiong rested her chin on the railing, “I wish… But I don’t think she even knows how I feel. I think she just sees me as a close friend and nothing more.” She looked down before sighing again, “It’s okay though, as long as I’m next to her I don’t care about the rest…” Shifting her weight, she turned to you. “So, tell me how it was living overseas! How was Canada? Are the people as nice as people say they are?”

You could feel that the topic was weighing heavy on her mind, so you accepted the change of subject gracefully. You told her about how beautiful the first snowfall was when you first arrived in Canada, you told her about how sometimes the weather is just so ridiculous, that people actually cross country ski to school or skate to school when there’s been frozen rain. You told her how you met a girl, and how she changed your life. Then told her how heartbreaking it was to be selfless and to let that girl go. Told her that love, it seemed, and people had a tendency of running away. But even then you told her with a bitter smile, that a part of you still loved her anyways.

//

After that talk with Jieqiong, yesterday, you felt a little better. The last class of the day was PE, and since you didn’t have a gym uniform you were forced to sit on the sidelines. You enjoyed watching Sejeong working out, seeing her sweaty and out of breath led your mind to wander to a variety of happy places.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed two angry looking girls, dragging another shorter girl with bangs towards the back of the school. You made an excuse saying that you had use the bathroom and followed the girls.

“Kim Sohye, you’re really annoying you know that?”

“You’re such an eyesore.”

The taller of the two start advancing towards Sohye, and she put her arms out to try and push her away.

“P-please stop this,” Sohye was close to having a panic attack, she could feel her lungs tightening and the world starting to go out of focus. She could feel her heart racing faster and faster, as if it could burst out of her chest. “P-please.”

The girls cackled and pushed Sohye against the wall. Amused at her horrified expression.

Sohye could feel her legs giving way as she struggled to breathe, she was on her knees with her hand pressed against her chest. I’m okay, I’m okay, it will be okay. Her breathing started to pick up speed. Her hands started to lose feeling, and she started to shake.

“What the ?”

“She’s so ing weird.” The shorter of the two kicked Sohye, making her fall on the floor.

Sohye started to hyperventilate. Things started to move slowly, as if it were a dream. This doesn’t feel real. She felt disconnected from the scene, as if she was part of an audience, watching the scene play out.

The door suddenly opened and a tall girl with black hair rushed into the bathroom, pushing aside the bullies. That girl bent over to check on Sohye and propped her against the wall. She was mouthing something, but Sohye couldn’t hear anything. The girl said something again, and rested her hands on Sohye’s shoulder to try and reassure her. She could feel herself fading away into the silence. The world slowly dissolved and faded away.

“You’re okay, you’re going to be okay. Try and breathe in through your nose and out from your mouth.” You tried to get the girl to stabilize her breathing, she was hyperventilating and her face started to look more and more pale. “What the hell did you do to her?” You whipped your head back and glared at the two girls.

“We didn’t do anything, she just started freaking out by herself.”

You turned your attention back over to the girl and saw her slumped over. . She must have passed out. You tried to pick her up but you were stopped by the two girls. “She needs help,” you gritted your teeth, “Move.”

They only smirked and had no intention of moving. You put the unconscious girl down and tried to push through them before being pushed back. One of the girls grabbed you by the collar and pulled you aggressively. You hooked your leg behind her heel and kicked your leg backward while pushing her at the same. Shocked, she let go over your collar to try and regain her balance. The other girl swung a punch to your right, and it connected to the bottom of your eye, forcing you back. Before you had a chance to react she kicked you in the stomach.

You gasped in shock and she moved to try and kick you in the face before you ducked and caught her leg. You forced it up and she fell. The other girl regained her balance and you rushed her, pushing her against the wall and felt the force of her elbow hitting you in the back in an attempt to get you to let go. You feel the adrenaline kicking in and you threw her on the ground and swung your fist against her face. You got a few good punches in before the other girl ripped you away. She kicked you in the stomach again and in the face before tending to her friend.

You crawled to the unconscious girl and dragged her up, propping her against your shoulder. And somehow, you made your way to the nurse’s office.

//

News travels fast in this school. Pretty much everyone knew what happened by the time school ended. You could feel the bruises and the swelling in your cheeks as you applied the cold compress to your face. You shifted your weight and winced as a sharp pain ran through your spine. Chungha and Jieqiong were the first to arrive. Chungha looked worried, while Jieqiong lectured you about fighting on school property. “If you’re going to fight, at least do it outside of school.” She huffed. She brought pain reliever patches and applied them to your back. After their incessant nagging, you managed to send them away as you laid in bed willing away the pain.

The girl who had a panic attack was still sleeping, having used up all her energy before. The two girls also came to get treated by the nurse.

You threw a wrapper from the patches Jieqiong bought, it hit one of the girls square in the face. “Hey, you should ing apologize.”

The girl snorted and turned her attention to her phone.

 “She had a panic attack because of you, don’t you feel bad?”

“I didn’t even do anything to her! Trash like her should just stay down when they get stepped on.”

“She hasn’t even done anything to you. Apologize.”

“Her face annoys me, and I’ll keep doing it.”

“What do you want? Money? I have more money than you can imagine. If that’s you want, I’ll give it to you.”

“Just because you have money, you think you can control people. Forget it, I don’t want your money.”

“Apologize, leave her alone and take care of everything else regarding her.”

“What makes you think that I should listen to you?”

“I guess I’ll file a report on you for physical assault, I’m sure my lawyers will have something interesting to say.”

//

Coach let Sejeong end practice earlier, so she decided to check up on Hyoseol. She heard voices coming from the nurse’s room. She recognized one of them to be Hyoseol’s.

“What do you want? Money? I have more money than you can imagine. If that’s you want, I’ll give it to you.”

The voices became intelligible, so she edged closer to the door to hear better.

“…Take care of everything else regarding her.”

Sejeong was shocked. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Hyoseol, was she this kind of person? She uses money to get what she wants? To solve any little inconvenience? Sejeong felt betrayed. Sure, they had only met recently, but she had gotten the impression that Hyoseol wasn’t that kind of person. She felt a little heartbroken as she walked away.

//

For past few days, Sejeong has been ignoring you and avoiding you as much as she could. You felt a little hurt and perplexed as to what you could have done to make her mad. Even though you sat next to each other for many of your classes, you found it hard to approach her without her fans blocking your way. You were surprised by the sheer number of people that would follow her every day. I guess she’s not called God Sejeong for nothing. People literally worship her.

You decided to let things ride out for a little longer, since you weren’t sure how to approach her. You felt a little shy, so you let her have her space.

Instead, these days you spent most of your time hanging out with Chungha, Somi and Dani. Since all three of them were native English speakers, you found it easier to communicate with them without having to search for words to describe exactly what you wanted to say.

You reached over to take another piece of dried sweet potatoes from Chungha’s hand. You were watching Dani and Somi trying to see who could spit the most watermelon seeds on to their faces. So far Dani was winning by a landslide.

You couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous the two friends were. They looked hilarious with the seeds covering their faces.

Chungha leaned in and whispered into your ear, “you wanna go to a club tonight? Heehyun and Suhyun got a VIP booth with one extra ticket.”

You thought about it, the past week or two has been pretty tiring for you, it wouldn’t hurt to have some fun. “Sure why not?”

//

Heehyun and Suhyun were puking on the sidewalk as you dragged a wasted Chungha to the front seat of your car. Somehow and some way, you managed to get all of them back to the apartments without incident. After dropping off Heehyun and Suhyun, you walked back to the elevator where you left Chungha. She was still asleep had curled up into a ball.

“You sure look cozy Chungha.” You poked her affectionately. Propping her up against the wall, the elevator started ascending.

//

Sejeiong had just finished working her shift at the bakery, before heading to the CU a few streets away. While most people were spending their Friday night either going clubbing or staying at home, Sejeong was working her two part-time jobs. From when school ended to 10pm, she would be at the bakery and working closing. Then at 10:30 her shift would start at the CU conveniently close by to the bakery that she worked at, and her shift would end at 2:30am.  For the most part, she never felt scared to take the bus home at night, but lately there had been an alarming increase in crime in the area. Her boss warned her to be careful since there were a lot of weird people coming in and out.

“Hello, welcome to CU!”

A man in his 30s walked in with a suit and briefcase, he was a regular customer at the bakery, and it was surprising to see him in the store where Sejeong worked. Especially when working hours finished a long time ago. He bought a bag of chips and a soft drink and sat in the back of the store.

Finally, Sejeong’s shift came to an end and she bid farewell to her coworker as she left. She started walking in the direction of the dorms. After a few minutes, she got the impression that someone was following her. She turned around and saw no one there. She quickened her pace and walked into a Family Mart. She was hiding between the aisles, when she saw the man from the CU following her.

She dialed Mina’s number, hoping that she was still binge watching tv at this time. But unfortunately it went to voicemail. She dialed Kim Nayoung’s number—her best friend and roommate to help her get out of this situation. “Kim Nayoung. Why don’t you ever answer your phone when I need you?” She grumbled. She tried calling Hana—a family friend who she’s known from when they just toddlers. No answer. She sighed, she was probably at her girlfriend’s house. She dialed a few more numbers, all of them not picking up.

She was down to the last number in her contacts.

Chungha with a hamster emoji next to her name lit up the screen. She wasn’t sure if she should call her or not. Her hands started to shake. But no one’s picking up. She reasoned with herself. It wasn’t because she wanted to talk to her, to hear her voice, and hear her say her name. Sejeong blocked those thoughts. It was do-or-die. Was there no other option?

Then she realized that Hyoseol had given her number last week. She took out the piece of paper that Hyoseol had written her number on. Would she even pick up? I’ve been ignoring her for days. She’ll probably think: why is this girl calling me? It’s past 3 in the morning, I doubt she’s awake. Still, she thought that it was a better option than dialing her ex’s number.

Sejeong dialed her number and waited, as the man outside set up camp outside the store. Sejeong hoped that Hyoseol would pick up the phone.

Sorry for the wait! I had two back to back midterms this week, which killed me. Heh, life is rough. I have two midterms next week too, so I don't know if I can update this story on time. I'll do my best though! It'll probably be 2-3 days late. After midterms end, I'll definitely update consistently! So to make up for it, I made this chapter slightly longer! 

Also, I know the story is taking a while to build up, but since I wanted to include so many characters, I have to set up the story slowly so that everyone's relationships can slowly emerge. I'll try to pick up the pace for next chapter for sure!

If there's any specific couples you want to see, let me know and I'll see if I can work it into what I've got planned! 

Thanks for reading! :)