“She’s alive!” Jisoo exclaimed dramatically as Subin walked up to the group. They were sitting down on one of the few tables sprawled out across the quad. As she approached them, she didn’t know whether to laugh or groan, as their looks of concern and curiosity would surely result in an interrogation. One that Subin wasn’t entirely sure she could get through. 

She approached them, and they tried not to comment on how it seemed that she was already letting her appearance slip. She was wearing athletic shorts and a white t shirt, and a hat covering her messy hair. Truthfully, she had barely moved after she kicked the stranger out. She had taken a long bath, one that caused her skin to prune more than she thought possible. She thought and mused, and mourned even more about her loss. 

But somehow, by midday Sunday, she had stopped being sad. She was still heartbroken, and flashes of Baekhyun with other girls threatened to make what little she was eating escape through , but it wasn’t a crippling sadness anymore. It wasn’t acceptance, either. Subin had a good way of knowing when things were over. She considered it being more emotionally literate than others. She liked to think that she knew when things were over, she could usually tell in the past. This with Baekhyun, she thought, was not yet over. It didn’t feel like it. She didn’t feel like things were complete, and as they had proven in the past, no split ever lasted long with them. Like magnets, they always found their way towards each other. There was a slight fear in the back of Subin’s mind that this time would be different. That they wouldn’t magically solve their problems this time around. She silenced it, and pushed it the furthest it could go. 

“When are you gonna invite us over?” Jennie asked upon Subin’s arrival to the table. 

“Whenever.” Subin shrugged, taking a seat next to Chaeyoung, who hugged her tightly and placed her head on her shoulder. 

“We can’t blame her for being busy all weekend,” Chaeyoung giggled, which was followed by several nudges from each girl sitting around the table. 

“It must’ve been great. You know, finally being able to get your hands on each other after not seeing each other for so long,” Jennie mentioned as she stirred her iced coffee. Who knows why she was seemingly indefinitely tired, but she always had the drink with her. 

“Spare us the details, though, please. I can barely look him in the eyes after the last time you told us about your intimate life,” Jisoo snorted and faked a shudder, which was returned by laughter all around. 

Subin only responded with a weak smile. Even with her confidence in the future, she couldn’t help the nauseous feeling she got when she remember that at least in that moment, they weren’t together. Seeing that she wasn’t continuing the joke like she normally would, attributing it to sleep or Subin’s tendency to stress about everything, the girls moved on to different topics, none of which engaged Subin. Inquiring about how Jennie’s drunken mistake of a rib tattoo was healing up. Discussing whether or not this was finally the year that Jisoo would quit her awful job at the campus bookstore and look for a real internship. Chaeyoung bragging about her improving cooking skills, which no one believed because it had only been a month si