“Joohyun…” Seulgi repeats herself, letting the name roll out of her tongue and feeling the foreignness in the way it sounds.

“Yes. That’s her name. What do you want?” Sooyoung asks defensively while Joohyun sits quietly, looking down at her palm, and continuously tracing those lines like a palm reader.

The three main lines that transverse her entire palm and the nooks and crannies that are often too shallow to notice.

The act soothes her. It’s the one repetition that does not change. The one constant that she can rely on.

“I-I’m sorry.” Seulgi stutters as words fail her. She hurriedly attempts to create some distance. “I-I-she just looks like a friend of mine.” But of course, she isn’t. How can she have mistaken that person to be Irene? She lacks that dangerously addicting confidence that captivates Seulgi at first glance.

“Well, she’s not.” Sooyoung eyes soften when she noted that Seulgi means no harm. “Please leave. She gets anxiety around strangers.”

“Oh. Of-of course. Sorry about that.” Seulgi stands up clumsily and pushes her chair under the table. She gives a quick glance at the girl named Joohyun, who continues to trace her palm ceremoniously without sparing Seulgi a glance. “Sorry,” Seulgi whispers a quick apology to Joohyun before taking her leave.

--

The girl named Joohyun may have left Seulgi's mind but Irene sure hasn't. Weeks pass by as Seulgi continues to pursue the thrill of capturing Irene’s attention relentlessly with little progress. Luckily, the woman had let on that she is only at the club on Tuesday and Friday evenings. This saves Seulgi the trouble of making disappointed trips to the club.

However, those precious moments with Irene come and go like the fleeting eclipse. At the end of the night, Irene always has excuses to push away Seulgi’s request for dinner or coffee outside the dim lighting and erratic beats that mark the club.

--

“So how is it going with this Irene person?” Wendy glances over at her best friend who is staring blankly at the whiteboard, spacing out as the professor drones on.

Just the name itself was enough to capture Seulgi’s attention. She turns to face Wendy with a silly grin on her face.

“Wan. I think I like her. Like really like her. I’ve never been so attracted by another person before.”

Of course, this comes as no surprise. Wendy has heard this a hundred times before. Seulgi, who is overflowing with love. Seulgi, who is naïve and innocent. Seulgi, who always follows her heart.

It is no surprised at all that she had opened her heart so quickly to this woman overflowing with charms.    

“Seul, if you think you really like her then you meet her outside the club and get to know her. This whole flirting at the club just won’t do.” Wendy advises.

“I tried. But she just won’t give me the chance.” Seulgi slumps down onto her seat and rests her head on the tiny table that is designed to cramp hundreds of seats in one lecture hall.

“Maybe she’s not interested?”

 "I don’t know.” Seulgi sighs out loud. “I get the vibe that she’s interested but for some reason, she’s holding back.”

“Well, asks her out on a date again. And if she rejects you, you move on okay?” Wendy hates to see her best friend so conflicted. She hopes this Irene person is worth it.

--

Wendy’s advice echoes in the back of Seulgi’s mind as she leisurely walks toward her next class.

Luckily, her reflex was quick enough to sidestep the incoming crash as a skateboarder zoomed passed her

The girl in front, however, was not as quick or lucky. When the skateboard skidded inches from her without any warning, the poor girl was so frightened that she dropped everything she was holding.   

Seulgi yells at the irresponsible jerk that left without an apology as she rushes over toward the poor girl surrounded by loose sheets scattered all over the ground.

One by one she picks up sheets filled with numbers and complicated equations scribbled neatly across the page. A little too neatly. 

She shuffles toward the girl, who stood frozen at her spot with hands covering her ears like she is trying to block out some discordant sound. Underneath her hands, Seulgi can see a pair of earphones plugged snuggly in her ears.  Her first layer of protection.

She taps on her shoulder lightly, afraid to scare her even more.

Seulgi can see the girl twitch at the touch but turns slowly, bracing herself to face this new incoming intruder.

“Joohyun?” Seulgi recognizes that face right away. It’s the same face that she has been longing to see but, unfortunately, not the same person.

Joohyun looks up to see the same girl that had invaded her space just a few days ago. She wanted to take a step back but decided against it when she notices her paper in that person’s hand.

Her gaze stays on her paper without acknowledging Seulgi’s presence then she puts out her hand, silently asking for her papers back.

“Oh, yea. Here.” Seulgi puts the stack on Joohyun’s open palm and smiles brightly, trying to dissipate the awkward air that lingers over their head.

She bends down and picks up the two giant textbooks that had also fallen.

“So, you’re a physics major huh,” Seulgi said out loud, more as a statement than a question, seeing the physics textbooks that she had just picked up.

Joohyun nods her head in response, still not looking at Seulgi, and repeats her previous motion to retrieve her books.

“Where are you headed to? I’ll walk with you. It’s a lot for a petite girl like you to carry.” Seulgi held the books tightly, making no attempt to return them to the owner.

“The library,” Joohyun answers softly.

“To study?”

Joohyun nods at the question. She could have just left it at that but for some reason, she felt compel to elaborate. “With Sooyoung.”

“Ah! That barista!” Seulgi recalls the name tag of that barista’s uniform.  “I’ll make my escape before she sees me then. She might poison my coffee next time if she thinks I’m harassing you again.” She jokes.  

Seulgi didn’t think she would get any reaction from this quiet girl who always seems to be in a trance but to her surprise, Joohyun stops mid-walk and turns to face Seulgi for the first time.  

“Sooyoung is. Kind.” Joohyun mumbles softly but the expression on her face shows that she is slightly offended.

“O-of course. Sorry. I didn’t mean to badmouth her. That was a joke.” Seulgi explains quickly and only then did Joohyun realized that she had misinterpreted these so-call social cues once again.

Joohyun drops her head and mumbles a quick apology before walking toward the direction of the library, with a slightly faster pace this time.

The walk toward the library was silent but comfortable. Joohyun counts the rhythm of her steps as Seulgi hums to some tune with an irregular beat.

302. 303. 304. 305. And at the 306th step, 25 steps before they reach the library’s entrance, Joohyun, once again, reaches out to silently demand her books back.

Seulgi takes it as her cue to leave and returns them without a protest.

“Say hi to Sooyoung for me!” Seulgi waves farewell with a bright smile on her face as she runs toward her destination, probably late to wherever she had originally intended to go.

--

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“Am I?” Joohyun touches her cheeks, feeling if really is indeed twitching upward in a smiling motion.

“Yea. Something good happened?” Sooyoung is curious because it’s been a while since she has last seen Joohyun smiles.

And just like that, her small smile disappears like a rainbow without sun. Why is she smiling? What is there to smile about?

The image of Seulgi’s smile conjures up in Joohyun’s head and she is reminded of the message that she was supposed to relay.

“Someone said hi.”

“Who?” Sooyoung looks at her confusingly.

“Um…