scene one

a step ahead

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College was everything Jiyoo hoped for and more.

Great Los Angeles weather? Check. Enjoyable classes and amazing teachers? Check. No curfew? Hell yeah. She was doing better than expected of a typical college freshman.

Her roommate, Amber, was great, and she quickly found herself a dependable group of friends with said roommate. The city life was wonderful and easily accessible, so there was never a dull weekend in Jiyoo's new life. She was thriving in her fresh start.

Yeah, she missed her family and friends back home in New York, but it was tolerable. She called her family at least twice a week, and she looked forward to visiting for the Fall holidays. But she wasn't too homesick, and she was happy in SoCal.

Yeah, she was doing great in LA. Except for one thing.

She missed Taehyung. A lot.

Since their confessions at the airport, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She knew that they couldn't do long-distance, because they were still young and impressionable. She wanted to this to be the real deal, not just some careless fling. Something that would really last forever. 

She wasn't naive, relationships take so much more work than kisses and cuddles. But she wanted to make it work, and for that to happen, they both had to be ready for it before it even happens.

Taehyung wasn't ready for her, and she sure as hell wasn't ready for him.

Despite this, they called every night. She longed to see him. She didn't even realize how much she missed him until about a month into the school year.

One Thursday in October, right when it was starting to get chilly, Jiyoo was walking from class back to her dorm. She was planning on grabbing her laptop and a sn