“Stop rubbing your eyes. You’re smearing your makeup.” Nahyun used a paper towel to wipe away the black smears off Ahreum’s cheek. Ahreum examined herself in the mirror. Red splotches peppered her skin including the area around her eyes, face bloated enough to rival a marshmallow.

Prior to Ahreum’s wailing fest in the bathroom, she sped in there as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, escaping into a bathroom stall, hiding there with salty water flowing down her cheeks as she caged her cries using a fist shoved into the mouth. Nahyun came to the bathroom some time later, calling her, worried after not seeing her for a while. The constant hiccups and the way Ahreum had trouble speaking normally made the situation clear to Nahyun, and she talked to Ahreum, being patient enough to convince Ahreum to come out of the bathroom stall to where they were currently standing: in front of the bathroom sink right across the stall Ahreum exited from—it wasn't a large change, but it was believed to be significant considering Ahreum's desire to stay until the end of day.

“A-At least it can be wiped away. T-The makeup artist tried to h-hide my handmark on his f-face, b-but they couldn’t even hide everything!” Ahreum exclaimed, erratic hiccups between her words. “Now what do I do? He probably h-hates m-me.”

“You should be the one that hates him. You didn’t even say your lines that differently, but he yelled at you like you messed up everything.” Nahyun handed Ahreum another paper towel to wipe the tears.

“N-No, I-I’m talking about O-Oh-Oh…” She stopped and took the tissue, using it to blow her nose, not able to finish her sentence since guilt grabbed her by the neck and prevented her from saying the victim’s name. 

Nahyun rubbed Ahreum’s back in attempt to comfort her. “Sehun oppa didn’t look mad. I’m sure that he doesn’t hate you, so let’s head back.”

Ahreum immediately shook her head. “I can’t g-go back like t-this!” Her erratic hiccups had lessened and became less uncontrollable, yet her face made her worry about other people’s reactions.

“But what if they finished filming and everyone is leaving without us?” Nahyun reasoned, trying to convince Ahreum to finally head back to the filming location. “And don’t worry. I’ll redo your makeup.” Nahyun smiled, taking out a makeup bag from her purse and showcasing it. Ahreum's makeup was professionally fixed; everything was nearly normal again except for the bloating of the face. Besides from that, it was a good enough job to persuade Ahreum, both heading back before the end of the final filming scene. Filming ended after the director yelled, "Cut!" and the staff members began to pack up the filming equipment while the actors left.

Park Shin Hye came over to say goodbye to her co-star, but instead asked, “Are you alright? Your eyes are red.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just lacking a little bit of sleep,” Ahreum replied.

“You’re lacking sleep? The director shouldn’t keep you here like this when you’re not even filming. I’ll ask him to let you off early next time.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Shin Hye placed a hand on Ahreum’s shoulder. “It’s not alright. You’re a student. You can’t afford losing time to sleep. I’ll make sure to ask him, okay?”

Ahreum felt a warm feeling from Shin Hye’s kindness. “Okay,” she finally said. “Thank you.”

“No problem. See you tomorrow!” Shin Hye waved to her before leaving.

“Wow, Park Shin Hye is so pretty!” Nahyun squealed when the actress left.

“You saw her before,” Ahreum laughed.

“But I still can’t get used to it. You’re so lucky that you get to play her best friend. She treats you so nicely.” Nahyun playfully pushed Ahreum’s shoulder. “Are you heading to the bus now?”

“I don’t have a choice. I don’t have a car to drive myself in or a manager to drive me.”

“Do you want to ride a taxi with me? I’ll pay for you.”

“No, it’s alright. Your home is in the opposite direction. It’ll be inconvenient if we go together.”

“Then I can give you some money and you can use it for a taxi.” Nahyun rummaged through her handbag.

“I can go home by bus. You doing all of this for me will make me feel bad.”

“Ay, what’s the point of feeling bad between friends?”

“It’s because we’re friends that I feel bad. The makeup you did for me already helped with a lot today. I don’t look like I have the chicken pox anymore”

“Should I at least wait with you until the bus comes?”

Ahreum shook her head. “Just go. It’s getting late.”

“It’s already late. M—” Nahyun froze, creating confusion in Ahreum. Then Sehun came into view; he was some feet away, talking with his manager, and Ahreum knew that his presence was the cause of Nahyun's transformation into a statue.

Ahreum waved a hand in front of Nahyun’s face, laughing when she didn’t respond. “How will you be a good actress if you freeze whenever seeing your idol like this?” Nahyun wouldn’t reply, only becoming more rigid when Sehun was seen walking up to them.

Ahreum was surprised at first, but quickly mustered a, “Hi.”

“Hi,” he returned.

“Is your…” She checked his cheek, in which was still slightly red. “...cheek okay?” He nodded. “I’m sorry,” she apologized out of guilt. Another nod from him. “Does that mean that my apology is accepted?” A nod again. “Thanks…um…sorry again. And… well, I have to go catch my bus. Nahyun, I’m going first.”

“You can ride with us,” Sehun suddenly said.

“Us?” Ahreum asked.

“My manager and I,” he clarified. “She can come too.”

After seeing that Sehun mentioned her, Nahyun stopped breathing for a second time, Ahreum wondering how she was still alive at that point. “Is that okay?” Ahreum asked.

“Yeah. I’ll go tell my manager,” he said before leaving.

“Nahyun,” Ahreum nudged Nahyun when Sehun was gone. “I think we’ll ride in EXO’s car.” Nahyun stopped breathing for the third time. More than her excitement, Ahreum was hoping that Nahyun wouldn’t faint in the next five seconds.

 

---

 

The two EXO fans examined EXO’s van like meerkats. They took in every detail of the vehicle’s interior from the color of the seats to the number of water bottles lying in the compartments. “Sehun,” Sehun’s manager called, watching the two meerkats through the rearview mirror before switching his gaze to the idol. “Don’t you know the risks of this?”

“Hyung, we’re going to crash if you don’t pay attention to the road. Safety is the most important thing of all, right? We even have guests this time.” Sehun gestured to the meerkats who were going to get neck cramps very soon. His manager sighed, putting his eyes back on the road. “Have you ever been in a van?” Sehun asked the two.

Ahreum shook her head. “Your van is very nice. I’m too broke to afford a van like this.”

“So am I…” Nahyun added. She then gasped and turned away from Sehun, face red.

“Did I do something wrong?” Sehun asked, confused by Nahyun’s actions.

“No, not at all. She’s just shy because she's your fan.”

“Ah…” Sehun nodded his head in understanding.

Nahyun frantically shook Ahreum’s arm with widened eyes. “Don’t tell him that I’m his fan, yet,” Nahyun mouthed.

“Why not? Just talk to him,” Ahreum mouthed back. Nahyun shook her head.

Sehun watched them curiously, mainly because he couldn’t see the two’s exchange since Ahreum’s back blocked it. “Can she have your autograph?” Ahreum asked him, taking the initiative for Nahyun.

“Sure,” he said.

Ahreum leaned back into her seat to allow Nahyun to come into Sehun’s field of vision, but Nahyun also leaned back into her seat, mouthing to Ahreum, “I can’t do it!” Ahreum rolled her eyes, springing up and forward, now resting her head on her knees, forcing her friend to face the idol. “U-Uh… um…” Nahyun clumsily searched her bag to take out her EXO album and a marker, then handing them to Sehun with shaking hands.

“Do you bring that around with you?” he asked, his smile conveying positive surprise as he took the pen.

“T-Thank you so much!” Nahyun said when she received the signed album. She held the album tightly in both hands that were still shaking, but this time she mustered the courage to make eye contact with him. “O-Oppa, I’m your biggest fan!” she blurted with an expression of pure starstruck, her soul most likely already leaving this world.

“Thank you.” He smiled. She looked like she was going to faint. “Am I your favorite member?”

“Y-Yes! You are!” She nodded enthusiastically. He smiled again. She blushed like a beet. Ahreum silently cackled.

They arrived at Nahyun’s place. She got off, said “Bye” to Ahreum, shyly said “Goodbye” to Sehun, and rushed into her home.

“Nahyun is like your biggest fan,” Ahreum said as the van started towards the direction of Seoul University of the Arts. “She’s always too scared to talk to you.”

“But I’m not a scary person, right Hyung?” Sehun’s manager glanced at him before shaking his head. “You're not scary. You're just a handful.”

Sehun ignored his manager’s last comment.  “I'm not a scary person,” he repeated.

“She’s not scared to talk to you because you’re scary. She’s scared because she doesn’t know how to talk to you. She’s also afraid that she might look stupid if you see her fangirling.”

Sehun nodded, muttering a prolonged “Oh.” He then said, “You can tell her that I don’t mind.”

Ahreum smiled. “I’ll tell her that the next time I see her.”

The rest of the car ride contained no spoken words, the silence breaking only when Sehun’s manager announced, “We’re here.” He parked the car and turned to Ahreum. “Please safely leave.”

“I’ll take her.” Sehun put on his face mask.

“Yah,” his manager said. “What are you doing?”

“Giving her a safe leave like you said by walking her to the entrance. I’ll be back.” Before his manager could reply, Sehun was already out the car. Ahreum watched Sehun with enlarged eyes, then got out to find him. Sehun was found stretching, his arms rising above his head, while he seemed to be enjoying the night air.

“You’re walking me to the entrance?” she asked.

He nodded. “Is the entrance this way?”

She nodded this time, following behind him when he began to walk. “Are you okay?” he suddenly asked, slowing down and allowing her to match his walking pace.

“I guess I am?”

“You didn’t get hurt by what the director said?”

“Ah… right… Not really.” She laughed nervously. “I deserved it anyway. I messed up too much. And I know that I asked this already but… is your cheek okay?”

Sehun unconsciously lifted his hand towards his cheek, stopped midway, and brought it down again. “Yeah,” he simply answered.

“Are you sure? Does it still hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt that much.”

“So it does hurt. At least a little bit.”

“Just… a little bit.” He pinched his fingers together to represent the small amount.

“It must’ve hurt a lot at first… sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s not like you killed me.”

She was a bit shocked by what he said. “I’m happy that I didn’t kill you. That’s the last thing that I would want.” Her head wouldn’t lift up, only remaining facing the ground.

“It was a joke…”

“Your joke makes me feel bad.”

“Oh.” He displayed signs of awkwardness with a hint of regret. “Sorry.”

“I was joking,” she laughed.

“Oh.”

She continued laughing while he looked away with a grin. “Thanks for walking me here,” she said when they reached the entrance.

“No problem. Your school… looks really nice.”

“Yeah, it’s a good-looking school I guess. It’s old, but it has that nice… old look?” She silently questioned her own description; Sehun's nod affirmed that it made enough sense for her to move on. She was a second away from bidding him goodbye, but a figure popped up beside her and scared them both.

"It seems that I've frightened you."

“W-Who are…” Ahreum squinted her eyes to examine the person, noticing the familiar clothes and hair, recognizing the familiar voice. “Seul-ah?” Seul-ah nodded. “What are you wearing?” Ahreum questioned when the person’s identity was confirmed.

“Clothes,” Seul-ah answered.

“No, not that. That.” Ahreum pointed at Seul-ah’s glasses. They were strange glasses that had protruding eyeballs, the eyeballs hanging on a spring connected to the frame where the lenses should be. The glasses were also part of the main reason why Ahreum was as scared as she was when Seul-ah emerged out of nowhere.

“The glasses?”

“Yes. Is the person you’re assisting making you do weird things again?”

“No. She’s been quite sane these days. It’s alarming.” Seul-ah noticed the man dressed in all black, including a black face mask covering the majority of his face. “Is this person dangerous?” she asked about Sehun.

“No, he’s not. Not at all. We’re acting together in a drama,” Ahreum explained.

“If I remember correctly, your drama has a school setting. I don’t remember you mentioning a murderer.”

“He doesn’t play a murderer.”

Confusion was clear on Seul-ah’s face as she reexamined Sehun. “A kidnapper?”

“No.”

“A thief?”

“No.”

“An undercover policeman?”

“No.”

“His role is very difficult to determine.”

“I play Ahreum’s classmate,” Sehun spoke up.

“Yeah, he’s my on-set classmate,” Ahreum agreed.

Seul-ah thought about it before something connected in her head. “You must be Ahreum’s love interest.”

“You know about that?” Sehun asked.

Seul-ah nodded, eyeballs bouncing, giving her an image of silliness. “She talks about it often. She seems very excited that—”

“I usually tell her about my role in the drama and everything, and you being my love interest came up a few times because of that,” Ahreum jumped in to explain.

“It was more than a few times, though. You talk about it very—”

“Have I introduced you two?” Ahreum swung an arm around Seul-ah with a smile that was too wide to be natural. “This is my friend and dormmate, Yoo Seul-ah.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sehun politely said.

“Our meeting has not been long enough for that to be determined,” Seul-ah said. “Therefore I feel neutral about our meeting.”

“Ah… um… okay,” Sehun said.

“You won’t be saying that if you know who he is,” Ahreum told her. “He’s Oh Sehun. He’s in EXO.”

“I don’t believe that a person can reside in such a place yet.”

Silence was all that was heard for a full minute. “Seul-ah, when I’m talking about EXO, I’m talking about the group,” Ahreum whispered in Seul-ah’s ear. “Don’t you remember? We’ve been over this before.”

“We have?”

“Yeah. Don’t you remember me talking about EXO? Their albums? Their variety shows? Xiumin?”

“Shoe?” Seul-ah searched through her brain. “I do remember.”

“You do?” Ahreum brightened up from seeing that she finally remembered something about EXO. “What do you remember?”

“Shoeman.”

“Shoe...man?”

“Yes, he’s easy to remember because of his peculiar name. I envision him making shoes, which makes it easier to recall him.”

“Shoes…” Ahreum contemplated about Seul-ah’s sentence before facepalming. “Are you talking about Xiumin?”

Sehun, who was able to hear that part of their conversation since it wasn’t whispered, bellowed out a laugh. “Shoeman?” Sehun said with a hand clutching his stomach. “Is that what you call Xiumin hyung?”

“No, no! I call him Xiumin, like Xiu-Min,” Ahreum emphasized the two syllables of her idol’s name. “She just misheard me. I would never get Xiumin’s name wrong. Never.” She shook her head in a serious manner.

“It sounds like you’re his fan,” Sehun said when his laughter subsided.

“Ah… um… kind of...” A small blush crept onto her cheeks.

“I’ll tell him that.”

“What? No! Um… I mean, you don’t have to… will you?”

He nodded. “I think he’ll be happy to hear it. He saw you in our script reading pictures. He said that you look cute.” Ahreum blinked, pausing a moment before becoming overly bashful, covering her cheeks with her hands when the red invaded her face. “And you…” He turned to Seul-ah. “Do you have a favorite member?”

“Member?” Seul-ah asked back.

“In EXO,” he replied.

“No,” she said with a shake of the head, googly eyes unintentionally bouncing in a funny way.

"Then do you remember anyone else in EXO?"

“I only remember Shoeman.”

“Xiumin.” Ahreum snapped out of her dream when her Oppa’s name was spoken. “Xiu to the min,” Ahreum emphasized every syllable until Seul-ah said it right.

“Xiu to the Min,” Seul-ah copied, repeating it until she believed that she remembered it.

"What's his name again?" Ahreum tested.

"Xiu to the Min," Seul-ah answered.

"Perfect! But remember to drop the 'to the' part."

Seul-ah nodded while Sehun watched with amusement in his eyes. "You don't know EXO at all. How old are—”

“Sehun!” All three of them turned around to see Sehun’s manager running up to them. “It’s getting late and tomorrow you have to wake up early for your schedule. Let’s go.” Sehun nodded before saying, “Goodbye” to the both of them.

“Bye. See you on set.” Ahreum waved to Sehun and he did so back. “Let’s go,” Ahreum said to Seul-ah when he was gone.

“You look overly puffy,” Seul-ah stated.

“I know. I didn’t have a good day today.”

Seul-ah took out something from her pocket. “Would you like jellybeans? It may help,” she suggested while holding out a small packet of jellybeans.

“No thanks.”

“Would you prefer chocolate?”

“Yeah,” Ahreum admitted.

“It’s a shame. I don’t have chocolate.”

Ahreum remembered what Sehun gave her on set, taking out the sweet candy from her purse. “It’s alright. I have one.” She smiled as she unwrapped the sweet, plopping it into . “Let’s go sign in.” She turned to Seul-ah and stopped chewing for a second when staring straight into Seul-ah’s fake eyes. “You weren’t forced to wear this?” Seul-ah shook her head, eyeballs still bouncing when she did so. “You’re really strange.”

“I get that often. They usually are insults.”

“I’m not insulting you.” Ahreum hooked her arm around Seul-ah’s while smiling. “I think it’s adorable. Strangely adorable.” She ruffled the younger’s hair, then fixed it since Seul-ah wouldn’t have bothered. From doing so, Ahreum got a close look at Seul-ah’s unblemished skin. “Your skin is always perfect. I’m jealous.” Ahreum pouted. “But this reminds me, I need to save up to buy some skincare products.” She sighed. “It being broke.”

“It may help if you reduce the number of steps in your skincare routine.”

“My routine doesn’t have that many steps.”

“11 steps are many.”

“11 steps are nothing. A lot of people do it like that.”

“That’s interesting information.”

“What’s more interesting is that I know people who have a 20-step skincare routine. Now those people are the ones you should say that to.”

Seul-ah shrugged, munching on the jellybeans that Ahreum refused to take as they went inside the University.

 

---

 

Mass pings disrupted Gong Myung’s pleasurable time spent sleeping. He reached his hand out and patted around the surface of his bed, searching for his phone. His throat formed a low groan when he was once again reading a text message from Kang-joon. 48 consecutive texts came from the guy, enough for it to become his morning alarm, and he was reading the 49th one. The pinging of the 50th text made Gong Myung spring up. His thumbs swept over his phone’s keyboard, texting Kang-joon a single reply before throwing his phone back onto the bed. He then ruffled his hair, failed to hold back a yawn, and got up to brush his teeth.

“Move!”

“You move!”

Loud voices came from downstairs, causing Gong Myung to redirect downstairs out of curiosity. Ahreum and Chanyeol could be seen standing by the downstairs bathroom, Chanyeol holding onto the doorknob while Ahreum held onto the side of the door. A choking tension emitted from them, Gong Myung feeling it when he passed by to get to the living room. “Why are they like that?” Gong Myung questioned Seul-ah.

“Daily bathroom war,” Seul-ah answered while making a small jellybean tower on the top of her hand.

“Daily?” He sat beside her on the couch. “I’ve never seen them like this.”

“Oh right. This hasn’t been a daily occurrence since you took residence here. It’s more accurate to call it a semi-monthly battle.”

“Park Chanyeol!” Ahreum said Chanyeol’s full name. “Let go of the door.”

“Then you let go first,” he growled back.

“You’re going to make me late for my shoot.”

“And you’re going to make me late for a really important matter.”

“What important matter?”

“A really, really important one.” He tried pushing the door open, but Ahreum prevented him from succeeding. “If it’s so important then tell me what it is.”

“Do I have to tell you everything that happen in my life?”

Ahreum paused before answering. “No, but you should tell me if you want to have this bathroom.”

“It’s a matter that’s more important than your shoot.” He made another attempt to push the door open, but Ahreum was fast enough to stop him. The two argued with each other, fighting over who should get bathroom access for that particular morning.

“At least they’re not physically fighting each other,” Gong Myung said.

“Yah! Park Chanyeol!” Ahreum screeched when Chanyeol wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground. “Yah!” Her legs flailed in the air while he struggled to move her over to the couch. Gong Myung grew alarmed since they were heading his way, scrambling over to one end of the couch because of that. Chanyeol dropped Ahreum in the empty space beside Seul-ah, the sudden extra weight causing Seul-ah’s small jellybean tower to topple and fall onto the floor; Seul-ah stared blankly at her empty hand.

“Now excuse me as I go wash up for my very important matter.” Chanyeol swiveled around to take his winning prize, but the battle wasn’t over. Ahreum leapt up, ran over to him, and jumped. The surprised Chanyeol was forced to lean back as Ahreum pulled him down after her arms locked around his neck like an MMA fighter. Gong Myung was speechless when the argument turned to a full-blown wrestling match, which soon turned into a swordfight where a silver spatula and plastic ladle took the place of the swords.

“Should we step in?” Gong Myung asked. He waited for a reply, but Seul-ah was now too immersed in creating another jellybean tower on the ground—using the fallen jellybeans on the floor—to hear him.

“I’m going to be late for my shoot!”

“I’m going to be late for my important matter!”

“There’s a bathroom upstairs. Can’t one of you use the one up there?” Gong Myung suggested.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her!”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him!”

The two went back to arguing and Gong Myung was at a lost. “I didn’t want to resort to this, but I have no choice,” Chanyeol said before initiating an attack.

Ahreum countered it, a loud clang resonated through the dorm as the spatula and the ladle clashed. “I didn’t want to resort to this either!” She sprang forward, her ladle nearly jabbing him, but he gracefully spun out of the way.

There was no end in sight for the ongoing battle. The fighters never dared to take a break, only attacking or dodging, but never stopping or pausing. However, there soon came a turning point. With a rotate of the wrist, Chanyeol expertly disarmed his opponent, the ladle flying out of Ahreum’s hand and landing perfectly into the sink. “Ha-hah! You now are weaponless. What are you going to do?” He smirked while Ahreum bit her lip, wondering the same thing to herself. There was also bewilderment regarding the spatula's perfect landing area, though it was quickly pushed away since she couldn't afford to be distracted on such a matter.

She checked the clock on the wall, realizing that she was not only weaponless but also extremely behind schedule. She turned around and tried running around the counter and towards the bathroom. Chanyeol saw through her plan and hustled over to the right, blocking the path. “Park Chanyeol!” A piercing glare was given to him. “I’m going to be late! I won’t even be able to wash my face at this point!”

“I’m late too!” he retorted.

Ahreum tried again to run around the counter but on the other side this time. Chanyeol once again hustled over and blocked her path. This went on for longer than either of them would like, and Ahreum began to become more open to risk-taking since her annoyance blinded all sense of logic. She attempted a fake-out: pretending to move to one side, then quickly moving to the other. Chanyeol fell for it, an empty path opened up for her. It was the perfect opportunity to bolt for the bathroom, and she took it without thinking. Everything was going perfectly. It was going perfectly, until she experienced herself falling—the cause was a plain sock without grip and a slippery wood floor.

“Woah…” Seul-ah said when her jellybean tower toppled from what seemed like an earthquake. She lifted her head up to face Gong Myung. “I think there was a natural disaster.”

“No, not a natural disaster…” Gong Myung stood up with worry on his face. “But there was a disaster.” He rushed over to the kitchen. Behind the counter, there lied Chanyeol on the ground with Ahreum on top of him, her eyes as wide as the moon. It could've been considered a romantic situation for others who saw them, but it definitely wasn't romantic for Chanyeol.

“Y-Yah." There was trouble breathing from the weight she applied on his chest. "Aren’t you getting off?” Chanyeol said to Ahreum, not knowing how much longer he can intake oxygen before his ribcage collapsed.

“Huh?” Ahreum blinked, too shocked from being able to view Chanyeol’s face from five inches away, to actually hear him. Though, the way his breath tickled her face when he spoke slightly brought her back to her senses.

“Don’t tell me… are you mesmerized by me? Am I too handsome for your eyes?” He was in no position to fool around—ribcage about to give way very soon—but he was foolish and wouldn't miss the opportunity to even if his life was on the line. His infamous smirk came onto his face, and Ahreum, again, could only stare at him with her wide eyes. It was strange, Chanyeol thought, that Ahreum was the way that she was. She usually denied it with all her might when he asked such questions. She didn’t do it this time; it was somewhat worrying. “Yah, Im Ahreum. Are you alright?” He reached his hand up to shake her shoulder.

Gong Myung went over, gently shaking her other shoulder. “Ahreum, are you alright?”

She was fully awake now, immediately pushing herself off of him, fresh air flowing easily into Chanyeol's lungs. “Y-Yeah… I’m alright.” Her eyes went this way and that, looking at everything and anything, except Chanyeol. “I-I’m taking the bathroom!” She fled the scene, slamming the bathroom door behind her and locking it.

Chanyeol changed to a sitting position, gazing at the bathroom door with confused eyes. He then took in deep breaths to check the condition of his lungs. They were fine; he breathed out in relief. “Did she hit her head when she fell? I thought I caught her in time.” His hand went over to the back of his shoulder—which played the largest part in breaking the fall—and winced when he felt it throbbing.

“Are you alright?” Gong Myung asked him.

“I’m fine.”

“You fell pretty hard.”

“A fall like that isn’t killing me.” Chanyeol’s ears twitched when he heard loud scribbles. “What are you doing?” he asked Seul-ah, who was also sitting on the ground while scribbling away in her sketchbook that she for some reason had opened. He used his feet to slide himself over to her. “Is that…” he scrunched his brows. “Did you just draw me and Ahreum on the ground?”

“She did?” Gong Myung went over to also look at her sketchbook. The page contained what looked like stick figures and writing that had closer resemblance to Swahili than Korean. “She did?” Gong Myung asked again, thoroughly confused at what was on the paper.

“She did. What I’m wondering is why.”

“Shin Aebong told me to try drawing romantic scenes.”

“And that just now was a romantic scene?”

She nodded. “I did research.”

“You researched romantic scenes?” Chanyeol scrunched his brows. “I’ll probably regret asking, but how did you do that research?”

“I was told to try watching dramas and read webtoons from the romance genre. Apparently, my goal is to find scenes that can induce the fast beating of the heart. When I'm able to draw them like an expert, she may consider promoting me to draw those panels.”

“When you draw like that, I’m surprised that she even lets you draw at all.”

“I’m surprised too. My style is very different from her preference.”

She stopped drawing, placed her pencil on the ground, and held her sketchbook up. Her head tilted to the right while she examined the drawing, the other two doing exactly the same. Her head then tilted to the left to have a new perspective for examining the drawing, the other two copying her moves. The sketchbook was then released, falling back onto her lap, as her arms slumped down onto the ground.

“This doesn’t induce the fast beating of the heart at all,” Seul-ah said. She thought for a moment until a light bulb lit up above her head. “I should draw a murder.”

Both men were taken aback by her conclusion. “You’re supposed to draw romantic scenes. How is a murder romantic?”

“I can try researching that.”

“No! Don’t ever research that. Do you hear me? Don’t ever research that.” Chanyeol wasn’t fond of her, but he didn’t hate her enough to allow her to do something that may end up scarring her innocent, yet strange head for the rest of her life. He then took the sketchbook and continued the art examination, though it seemed useless considering that the art consisted of only stickmen and Swahili.

“That reminds me, I haven’t read your webtoon yet,” Gong Myung admitted.

“It’s alright. It’s not very interesting. It has very few views,” she said.

“Of course. Who would want to read it if you draw like this?” Chanyeol said while waving the sketchbook.

“Very bored people,” she said.

“Are you dissing yourself?” Chanyeol asked.

“Am I?” She tilted her head, genuinely wondering the same thing after he asked it.

Gong Myung held back a laugh as Chanyeol shook his head in disbelief. “Are you going to use the bathroom upstairs?” Gong Myung asked Chanyeol.

“Right, I forgot.” Chanyeol stood up, dropping the sketchbook back onto Seul-ah’s lap. He checked the time muttering an “Aish” before running over to the stairs.

Gong Myung made eye-contact with Seul-ah, shrugged, and asked, “What’s that?” while pointing at the Swahili.

“Dialogue.”

“Is it in another language?” She shook her head in reply. “Then it’s in Korean?” She nodded, surprising him and putting her work on the list of hardest Korean writings in the world to decipher.

 

---

 

“Sorry. I sent too many texts, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“But hey, we had fun. Now we both know how to dance like EXO. Look at this.” Kang-joon clumsily moved his body to imaginary music, movements seemed a bit creaky in some places.

“Yeah, I guess,” Gong Myung said.

“But are you sure that you don’t want to audition with me? We’ll make a great team.”

Gong Myung thought about it for a long time before answering “I’m sure” in an unsure tone.

“But even the Professor is saying that you should audition.”

“I know.”

“And you still don’t want to audition?”

Gong Myung continued to refuse Kang-joon’s offer to audition while leaving the empty music room that they used as a dance studio. The numerous texts he got in the morning from Kang-joon were all talking about the dance practice he “absolutely needed if he wanted to pass the life-changing audition.” As they got out to the grassy part of the campus where many students were either walking around or hanging out with each other, Gong Myung saw Seul-ah skipping by with her backpack bouncing behind her. “Seul-ah!” he called, waving his hand to catch her attention. She stopped at the sound of her name. He smiled and waved at her.

“You,” Kang-joon stared at Seul-ah and then at Gong Myung, “know her?”

“Yeah. She’s my dormmate.”

Kang-joon gasped, eyes widening. “Yoo Seul-ah is your dormmate?”

“Yeah.”

“Which dorm?”

“The house one,” Gong Myung answered with wariness. “Why?”

“Call her over.”

“Why?” Gong Myung asked again.

“I want to talk to her. Call her over for me.”

Gong Myung hesitated, but then did what Kang-joon asked of him. “Hey,” Gong Myung said to her when she hopped over.

“Hi, Gong P—”

“Myung.”

“Myung.”

“Hi.” Kang-joon waved to her with a charming smile.

“Hello,” she replied.

“I heard that you live in the same dorm as my friend here.” Kang-joon swung an arm around Gong-Myung, displaying their suddenly close friendship.

Seul-ah nodded, her eyes wandering towards something in the air. Kang-joon tried to create a conversation with her, but she seemed distracted by the thing in the air that caught her attention a second ago. “I apologize, but I’m leaving,” she said.

“Oh, okay.” Kang-joon was still smiling. “My name is Seo Kang-joon by the way. I’m your senior, so you can call me Sunbae.”

“I won’t be calling you that.”

“Huh?” Kang-joon looked taken aback while Gong Myung held back a laugh.

“Goodbye.” She hopped away afterward, leaving them.

“People weren't lying when they said that she's pretty but strange. Usually I don’t find a personality like that cute, but I strangely find her cute. Why is that?”

“I find her funny.”

“You know she’s funny because you’re in the same dorm. Is there still a room left in your dorm for another person to join?”

“There’s space, but you’ll have to share a room with another person.”

“I have to share with someone?” There was unhappiness in his tone. “I guess that doesn’t matter if she’s there. I don’t even care that your dorm is haunted.”

“It’s not haunted. No one has seen a ghost yet.”

“That’s because ghosts don’t show up easily. They’ll pop up when you least expect it. But hey, are there any other pretty girls in your dorm?”

“There’s Ahreum.”

“Ahreum?”

“Im Ahreum.”

“Never heard of her. Is she one of those lesser-known beauties?” Kang-joon didn’t wait for an answer as he swung an arm around Gong Myung again. “You are friends with Yoo Seul-ah, right?”

“I guess you can say that.”

A wide grin grew on Kang-joon’s face. “Do you want to grab something to eat? I’ll pay.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“It’s an offer from a sunbae to a dongsaeng, or a friend to a friend if you like that more. Let’s go!” Kang-joon merrily hopped towards the exit of the campus with Gong Myung pulled along by him.

---

A/N: Woohoo! Finally finished editing. Thank you to those who read this fic even though it's really boring and the updates take way too long. Oh, but the classic "we fell and now you're on top of me and I for some reason do not have a concussion" cliche is seen here. Very cliche, but what is life without cliches. I don't know if cheesy cliches will persist, but do leave if you don't like them because I like them. It's a guilty pleasure, really.