Title: Twist of Fate

 

Pairings: Ki Heehyun // Jung Chaeyeon

 

Genre: College AU

 

Summary: Heehyun’s life takes a turn when she meets her new roommate, and although Chaeyeon keeps mum, she honestly has lots to say.

 

Word count: 2,526

 

Note: Mentions of physical disability ahead, if any of y’all are sensitive to the topic. Also, no more angst lol.

 

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Heehyun spins the basketball in one hand, letting it balance on her index finger before she smacks it upwards and catches it mid air. She tosses the ball to Suhyun, who passes it over to Haein swiftly. When Haein fixes her gaze back on Heehyun, there’s a suspicious smirk plastered on her face, one that Heehyun can’t quite put her finger on. And she shoots.

 

Haein is undoubtedly the better player out of the three; with Heehyun coming close at second, but Haein’s forte had always been being precise and accurate in her aiming. So when Haein’s ball flies past Heehyun with at least a meter to spare, the latter is left confused. She whirls around, and witnesses a girl crouching on the ground, pressing at her left abdomen in pain. She hears Haein snicker.

                                                                             

Heehyun watches as Haein picks up the ball and bounces it on the ground, dangerously close to the girl.

 

“Oops, my bad,” her voice dripping with sarcasm as she apologizes. She grabs the girl by her wrist and forcefully pulls her up, and that’s when Heehyun decides it’s time for her to interject.

 

“Haein, that’s enough.”

 

Haein shoots her an incredulous look, a mixture of anger and betrayal, but she does let go of the girl’s hand, walking back to Suhyun and muttering something along the lines of look at Heehyun trying to play hero today. Suhyun covers as she stifles a giggle, and Heehyun clicks her tongue in annoyance. She glares at the girl standing beside her.

 

“What are you still doing here? Get lost.”

 

The girl smiles at her sheepishly, before scurrying away to the campus. And for once, Heehyun does feel guilty.

 

~

 

“Look,” Haein says, waving a piece of worksheet in front of a poor boy’s face, “I offered you free lunch for a week and you’re not going to accept my offer?”

 

She slams the piece of worksheet onto her table and pushes her chair back, easily towering over the boy. She jabs one finger at his chest.

 

“I want my work done by tomorrow.”

 

Haein strides out of the classroom with Suhyun tailing after her, and Heehyun rubs her temples as she sighs. The boy is now left sobbing, hands trembling as he extends his arm to retrieve the worksheet.

 

“Leave it.”

 

The boy widens his eyes at Heehyun, and she rolls her eyes at the sight of his lower lip trembling.

 

“I said to leave it there, I’ll do it for her.”

 

The boy retracts his arm and awkwardly bows at her, before scrambling out of the classroom. Heehyun lets out her breath in a long sigh once again.

 

If there is anything Heehyun detests about the college life she is currently leading, she can easily name two. First, it’d be having to deal with Haein and Suhyun’s antics. Although Heehyun knows that they don’t mean any real harm, it’s frustrating having to be the one who’s always solving their problems. Second, it’s making new friends. Oh, so that’s why she’s stuck with Haein and Suhyun. And apparently, just her luck, her roommate had transferred to another school, and now she has to deal with welcoming a new roommate.

 

Heehyun hears a slight knock on the door, and she looks up from her phone.

 

“It’s not locked, you can come in.”

 

The door creaks open and a girl, dragging a luggage half a size, enters. Heehyun blinks.

 

The girl offers her a toothy grin, and Heehyun remembers her as the one Haein threw the ball at on the first day of school.

 

 

Heehyun rolls her eyes, gets up from her bed, and exits the room.

 

~

 

Heehyun idly spins around a ball pen in her right hand and she narrows her eyes, staring at her worksheet. Neither Haein nor Suhyun was ever one to study, so she was left alone in the library, its silence ringing in her ears. The only sound is the soft patter of feet on the wooden floor, whispers and the occasional hum of a copy machine. She hears the dragging of chairs along the wooden tile and looks up to see her roommate. Again, she smiles at her.

 

Heehyun thinks she would’ve rolled her eyes at her, or gotten sick of the same smile, however, she feels the urge to smile back. She suppresses that urge and focuses her attention back on her worksheet.

 

It wasn’t working, anyway. She feels herself glancing back up from time to time, watching as the other girl types her essay on her notebook, notices the way her head would tilt slightly, her eyebrows creasing and her lower lip pouting whenever she stops typing to analyze her work, and once again, Heehyun finds herself suppressing the urge to smile. Haein would’ve laughed at her.

 

Just then, the girl stands up, and Heehyun doesn’t know what has gotten to her, but she opens to speak before she even has time to register her words.

 

“Are you walking back to the dorm?”

 

The girl seems a little taken aback by the sudden initiation, but she nods her head shyly, arms wrapping around her notebook. Heehyun immediately follows suit, hands fumbling as she collects her worksheet in a messy pile and dumps them into her backpack.

 

“Me too, let’s walk back together?”

 

The girl’s lips curl into a small smile, the corner of her eyes crinkling before she nods. Heehyun feels her heart palpitating against her chest, but she concludes it’s due to the fact that the girl is simply what everyone would deem as attractive. Everyone feels the same way when they meet with attractive people, do they not?

 

They stroll their way back to the campus, with none of them uttering a single word, enjoying the sound of their shoes scraping against the pavement, before Heehyun decides she could take the initiative again.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

The girl opens slightly, enough to flash her teeth, but then she reaches for Heehyun’s phone, and types in her number and her name.

 

Jung Chae Yeon

 

Heehyun is unable to hide the attempt to keep in her laughter, as she slides Chaeyeon’s phone out from the pocket of her sweater, and types in her own number. She hands the phone back to the other girl.

 

Chaeyeon smiles back for the umpteenth time, but this time, her smile reaches her eyes. This time, Heehyun smiles back.

 

~

 

“Say, Heehyun, you haven’t been hanging out with us lately.”

 

Suhyun says as she pokes her chopsticks at the kimchi on Heehyun’s plate, the latter picking up her own pair of chopsticks and tackling Suhyun’s away.

 

“I’ve been busy, and I don’t get out of my room often.”

 

If Suhyun isn’t buying her excuse, she’s doing an excellent job in hiding it.

 

“So, who’s your new roommate?” Suhyun asks, and Heehyun stops reaching for her food.

 

“Not someone you would know, anyway.” Heehyun replies, feeling Suhyun’s eyes bore into her.

 

“By the way, wasn’t Haein looking for you since a while ago?”

 

Suhyun gasps as she claps her hands together, giving Heehyun an apologetic pat on the back before she scurries off. Heehyun scoffs. It was never a hard task in getting rid of the other girl.

 

~

 

Heehyun walks back to her dorm with a bento set in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. She turns the doorknob of her room and enters, and confirming her speculation, Chaeyeon is indeed there, head buried in a pile of books.

 

“For you.”

 

Heehyun settles the items on the very top of Chaeyeon’s pile of books, the other girl blinking cluelessly at her before she takes out a piece of post it and scribbles on it, before handing it over to Heehyun.

 

Thank you, Heehyun.

 

Heehyun feels heat rising from the base of her neck, to her cheeks and finally to her ears. She turns her back on Chaeyeon before her face turns into an embarrassing reddish hue.

 

“You’re welcome,” she mumbles, feeling her heart racing. Must be the heat.

 

~

 

The girl beside her giggles and Heehyun does a mental face palm. Her stomach has been rumbling and growling for the past hour, and the fact that the lecturer had been going on and on about an extremely uninteresting and dull chapter simply did not help at all. She eyes the clock wearily.

 

When the bell finally rings, Heehyun bolts out of the classroom, sprinting across the hallway and making a beeline for the cafeteria, ignoring the stares she garners on her way. She looks over the sea of people and tries to spot Haein and Suhyun, but when she finally does, her teeth are gritted and her fists are clenched. She storms over.

 

Yanking Haein back by the shoulder, she watches as Chaeyeon’s flannel shirt drips with soup, her shoes stained with food. She looks at Haein’s emptied plate and bowl, and immediately shoots her a glare.

 

“What the , Haein?” Heehyun hisses.

 

Haein shrugs her shoulder, cocking her head a little to the side, before she leans in to Heehyun’s ear and mumbles, “She was blocking my way, she deserved it.”

 

Heehyun’s face contorts, her nostrils flaring, her eyes flashing and closing into slits. She grinds her teeth, lifts one of her clenched fist and throws a punch at Haein, sending her flying to the ground. Suhyun immediately rushes to cradle her in her arms.

 

The students in the cafeteria has stopped whatever they were doing, crowding around them as they whisper to each other. Heehyun walks over to Haein and grabs her by the collar of her shirt, the blood dripping from her knuckles staining Haein’s white blouse.

 

“Listen,” she says through her gritted teeth, “Stay away from her and nothing happens to your pretty face.”

 

She lets go of Haein and stands up, dragging Chaeyeon by her arm as she makes her way through the crowd of people and back to their dorm. Once they’re back, she slams the door behind her, lets go of Chaeyeon’s arms and slumps on her bed. Chaeyeon is on the brink of tears, Heehyun notices, but she tries to avert her gaze.

Chaeyeon gets on her knees and takes Heehyun’s bleeding hand into hers, and that’s when Heehyun thinks she’s had enough. She jerks her hand back and stands up.

 

“Why can’t you speak up for yourself?” Heehyun’s voice came out a tone harsher than she had expected, but she continues, “Why can’t you learn to at least retaliate when someone comes at you?”

 

Feeling anger boiling within her, Heehyun takes two steps forward and gives Chaeyeon a hefty shove at her shoulders.

 

“Why won’t you ever say anything?”

 

Chaeyeon looks away from Heehyun, her lower lip now quivering as she tries to sink her teeth on them to keep her tears from breaking free. But soon enough, small, tiny beads of teardrops start to creep out of her eyes, one after another, streaming down her cheeks and dripping from her pointed chin into her shirt. Her legs give way and she sinks to the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest where she hugs them tightly. Heehyun immediately feels guilt hit her all at once.

 

“H-Hey, I’m sorry.”

 

She squats down with the other girl, trying to pry her hands away from her face as she swipes the pad of her thumb against the tears trickling down her face. Even when she’s crying, Chaeyeon is really pretty, Heehyun thinks.

 

“Let’s get you up, okay?”

 

Heehyun supports Chaeyeon to her feet and leads her to her bed, settling down beside her. She awkwardly pats the other girl’s back before her breathing becomes steady.

 

“I didn’t mean what I said,” Heehyun says, “I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

 

She watches as Chaeyeon abruptly stands up, going over to her table to pick up a pen and a piece of post it, scribbling quickly on it before handing it over to Heehyun. When Heehyun reads it, she doesn’t believe her eyes.

 

I’m mute.

 

She swallows thickly before looking at Chaeyeon, who has her fingers curled up at her sides and her eyes on the floor. Heehyun reaches out to take one of Chaeyeon’s hands, opens her clenched fist and intertwines their fingers together.

 

“I’ll speak up for you.”

 

Chaeyeon turns to look at Heehyun, and Heehyun blushes, but she doesn’t look away. Instead, she gathers the courage and looks into Chaeyeon’s eyes.

 

“I’ll be there for you whenever you need me, so all you have to do is tell me when you need me there.”

 

Chaeyeon sniffs as she breaks into a smile, her face blushing and Heehyun thinks that maybe, maybe Jung Chaeyeon is worth making friends with, maybe Jung Chaeyeon is much more than how Heehyun originally makes her out to be.

 

~

 

 

Heehyun watches as Chaeyeon comes back from her shower, towel drying her hair. She in a breath at the other girl’s beauty, and decides to excuse herself to the bathroom before she says something indecent. She gets up from her bed and makes her way to the door, but is stopped by Chaeyeon’s hands on her wrist.

 

Wait.

 

Heehyun has learned to get used to lip reading Chaeyeon’s words, making it much easier for them to communicate. Chaeyeon points for Heehyun to sit back down on her bed, and she reluctantly does so.

 

I need to tell you something.

 

Heehyun raises her eyebrow, but she can’t deny the fact that she is slightly nervous. Did something bad happen? Did Haein do something to Chaeyeon again?

 

Her suspicions were far from accurate when Chaeyeon sits beside her and takes both of Heehyun hands into hers. She shyly looks into Heehyun’s eyes and smiles.

 

I love you.

 

Heehyun blinks, and blinks, and blinks again.

 

She thinks she must’ve imagined it, but when she sees Chaeyeon staring back at her expectedly, her cheeks pink like a spring rose, Heehyun’s head starts spinning. She’s unable to hide the large grin on her face and she interlaces Chaeyeon’s fingers in hers. She takes a good ten seconds to stare at Chaeyeon’s face, before she removes one of her hands from their tangled fingers, and places it on Chaeyeon lips. Chaeyeon flinches.

 

“It’s okay,” Heehyun assures her, ghosting her fingers over Chaeyeon’s lower lip. Once she’s sure the other has led her guard down, she lets her fingers rest on Chaeyeon’s chin, and gently pulls her closer.

 

Heehyun feels giddy when their lips first touched. Chaeyeon’s lips are soft against hers and she tastes of strawberry, and Heehyun thinks she wouldn’t exchange this moment for anything in the world. When she finally pulls away, their chests are heaving as they pant lightly, and the heat she feels on her face confirms that she’s blushing as hard as Chaeyeon. Chaeyeon has her eyes behind Heehyun, her hands shyly tucked in between her legs. Heehyun lifts both of her hands to cup Chaeyeon’s face, allowing her to stare directly into the brown orbs. She smiles contently, because with Chaeyeon, she feels like the happiest person in the world.

 

“I love you too, Jung Chaeyeon.”

 

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A/N: Everyone hates me after the napink fic I previously wrote :’) I really can’t write fluff to save my life, but I figured I’d rather attempt something horribly disgusting than to receive death threats so here’s a fluff I tried writing??? It didn’t turn out as good though, but I hope it’s not too bad either lol. Tell me what you guys think!! Also, the way Heehyun dealt with her horrible fall yesterday just proves how professional she really is and I’m just so so proud :’(