Seungwan plopped herself down onto her bed, the old wooden frame groaning as it was suddenly forced to bear her weight. She reached down and pulled the blankets over her body, wrapping herself in their warm folds and pressing the side of her face against her pillow. She glanced over at the small alarm clock by her desk.

    8:42 pm.

    Like clockwork, her stomach called out to her, a mewling growl that was accompanied by a feeling of complete emptiness. She grabbed an almost-empty bottle of water from her nightstand and finished it off, focusing on the sensation of the lukewarm liquid as it s down . Unsurprisingly, the water did nothing to help, and her stomach called out to her once more, creating another burst of wanting that was more powerful than the last. Seungwan gritted her teeth before shutting her eyes and willing the feeling to go away.

    I just need to get to sleep. If I can get to sleep, I won’t have to eat. I can just sleep through the night, and have breakfast tomorrow.

    The mere idea of breakfast caused her to salivate, and she wished that she’d brought more water bottles to combat this awful feeling. Her limbs were weak, her body was sore, and her mind was sluggish. She felt as though she were dying. But she couldn’t eat, not yet. She’d already had too much to eat today.

    Seungwan rolled over in bed, attempting to get comfortable enough to drift off. But she knew it wouldn’t happen. It was far too early in the night, and she was far too hungry to go to bed. She wondered if she should go take a melatonin from the cabinet in the kitchen. No, that would leave her too tempted to wander over to the refrigerator, to open it up and see its glorious contents…

    No. No. I have to stay strong. I have to go to sleep. It’s the only way I won’t eat again tonight. Think about your abs, Seungwan. Think about how good you’ll look. Think about how bad you look now. Think about-

    The sound of the bedroom door opening interrupted Seungwan’s spiraling slew of thoughts, and she peeked her head up to see her roommate, Seulgi, approaching her. The older girl held an all-too-familiar aluminum tray in her hands, one that no doubt contained some sort of takeout food. Seungwan’s gut gnawed needfully at her, practically crying out in anguish, begging her to satiate it.

    “Hi, Seungwan!” Seulgi said cheerfully, her cheeks bunching up as she smiled unknowingly, half-skipping over to her the younger girls bed, “Are you trying to go to bed early?”

    “Hi Seul…” Seungwan responded weakly, mustering up a smile in return, “Yeah.”

    “But we don’t have an early schedule tomorrow,” the monolidded girl furrowed her brow as she sat down at the foot of her roommate’s bed, “You should come watch movies with me and Yerim.”

    “Uh… nah,” the younger girl had to fight back a grimace as she imagined all the types of junk food that Seulgi and Yerim would be consuming, “I’m, uh, tired.”

    Seulgi paused for a moment, staring at Seungwan with an odd intensity that made the younger girl feel vulnerable, as if she was being heavily scrutinized. She tried to shake off the sensation, as she knew Seulgi was a very innocent and upfront person.

    “But, Seungwan-ah, we haven’t spent a lot of time together recently… like relaxing time, I mean,” Seulgi’s crestfallen expression and softened tone almost melted Seungwan’s heart, “And you ca