The entire day I’ve been trying to get to my classes on time, but now that I’m finally getting the chance to succeed…

Damn, is it actually worth it?

10 minutes in and a whole other hour to go, I don’t think I can sit on my for that long without slowly going insane soon.

I don’t have anything with me to distract myself and kill time, while there’s no one in mind that I can randomly reach out t- ah.

Never-mind, then.

Apparently I do since my phone just vibrated within my pockets.

Is… Is Jihyo eavesdropping on my complaints right now?

Ehem… hi unnie.

I’m uh, trying my best to be a good student now, aren’t I…?

Pleasedon’tkillmewhenwe’rehomeI’msorry-

After a quick prayer to the God almighty, I refocus on the device within my hands.

I tap open my iMessages and stare at the new text I just received, raising a brow slightly.

It’s an unknown number, huh… that’s some suspicious sh*t right there.

As undercover superheroes, of course we’re taught to protect our privacy.

I’m also one of the most anti-social person out of the team, so there’s no possible way for strangers to get hold of my phone number.

Well um… whatever.

It won’t hurt to check it out.

Hey Tzuyuuuu
It’s me, Sana!  12:42 PM

Ahhh, it’s that Squirrel-looking head-.

For a second I forgot we exchanged numbers, geez.

I really didn’t expect for her to reach out to me this soon, but uh…

How am I even supposed to respond to that?

I don’t do chit-chats with strangers- I hardly ever talk in general unless I have to (or unless there’s a chance for me to roast someone, of course).

Hence, I cross my legs as I proceed to stress about just that.

The structure of my first text to someone is probably super important, right?

I mean, texting ‘heyyy’ or ‘hi’ or ‘what.’ will make her feel differently about me, and perhaps it’ll even determine whether if we’ll get along.

That’s a lot of unnecessary pressure now that I’m thinking about it.

Damn… socialising is way harder than thought.

I’ve never had to worry about this sort of stuff since I only contact my members.

There’s no need to consider their feelings because pfft, em all… love you God Jihyo.

Ah, perhaps I can brainstorm about this a bit more.

I can probably help myself by answering two very important questions:

First- what should I save her as in my contacts?

Animals popped into my mind the second I saw her face, but will nicknaming her after a breed of dog or different types of rodents come off as rude?

Will she hate me for comparing her to the cousins of rats, or am I just thinking too much?

I mean, I do have Nayeon saved as ‘obnoxiously loud ’, Mina as ‘the haunted spirit of Jihyo’s mansion’ and Dahyun saved as ‘that crazy b*tch’ in my phone, so maybe this question isn’t that important after-all… let’s move on to the second one then:

How… How do I feel about Sana so far…?

To be completely honest, I’m very confused about that myself.

I actually felt surprisingly comfortable around her when we first met- which is not normal at all.

It usually takes me quite a while to store away my stranger-danger barriers, and it takes even longer for me to warm up to someone new.

Most people would’ve given up on befriending me by the time I get to that stage…yet I’ve somehow skipped all that with Sana.

I’ll seriously need to do some self-research, but for now I should probably send her a reply as my first step.

I’ve been silently debating with myself for the past two minutes or so, and it’s definitely not getting me anywhere.

As for my first text…

Let’s go with something that’ll express my sophistication.

iMessages: XX-XXXX-XXXX

12:44 PM  Yo

Ah, so you did give me the correct number!
I was starting to get worried hehe  12:44 PM

I’m not that mean, oi
12:44 PM   But what’s up? 

Nothing much actually, since I’m all done for the day!
I’m just waiting for my roommate Momo
She still needs another hour though TT  12:45 PM

We’re kinda on the same boat then
12:45 PM   My class doesn’t start for another hour or so

Oh I see
Why don’t we hang out then?  12:45 PM

Um
12:45 PM   We were literally together 2 hours ago, Sana

Yeah but we both have nothing to do right now
Plus
Nvm
Anyways, what do you say?  12:45 PM

12:45 PM   Where can we go though?

How about we meet up at the community centre first?
We can decide later or just chill there if you want  12:46 PM

Well
Ok then
12:47 PM   See you in a bit

Yikes, what are you doing to yourself, Chou Tzuyu?

I thought you described yourself as anti-social, yet you’ve just agreed to hang out with a stranger who might’ve seen you lift up a vending machine?

Is this why people say university is life-changing? Because you find yourself doing dumb sh*t like this?

Look, I swear I’m usually not like this.

I don’t mingle with normal citizens, get too attached, risk revealing my true identity, and then go running back to Jihyo to beg for help…

Yeah I’m looking at you two, DaYeon.

Oh, maybe something was wrong with the coffee I drank this morning.

That could be an explanation to my weird choices right now.

Or maybe karma’s just messing with me for destroying an innocent machine?

Welp… whatever the truth is, hurting my brain over it right now is pretty useless.

I’ve already agreed on meeting up with Sana, so I might as well get going.

Having a mid-day existential crisis won’t solve anything, anyways.

So, after a brief walk to the community centre, I find myself scanning the crowds for a particular Shiba Inu-looking chick.

I soon spot her sitting next to the line to Starbucks, staring down at her phone with a blank expression on her face.

I subconsciously chuckle at the sight of her letting out a big yawn, making me slap my own cheek the moment I catch myself doing so.

Don’t act like a creep Tzuyu, ew.

The two of us make eye-contact once she notices me approaching, triggering her lips to arch into this blinding smile.

It’s so powerful, I literally had to squint while the pit of my stomach experiences this very odd sensation that I can’t really describe right now.

“Hey Sana, how ar-” I attempt to greet her, only for my entire body to malfunction before I can even finish my sentence.

Perhaps the Sana sticking against my body can justify my behaviour.

She now has me in her arms, snuggling into my torso and turning me as stiff as stone.

I am no longer human, for I now identify as a statue.

Crap… it’s worsening, that weird sensation.

My cheeks are now joining in the hot mess by increasing their temperature.

My head’s also slightly spinning from accidentally inhaling a lungful of her sweet-smelling perfume.

Am I- or is this… is it possible to be allergic to other human beings???

“U-Uh, how are you?” I finally squeeze out the rest of my question in the most awkward manner possible, remaining frozen even after being let go.

“I’m good, and thanks again for helping me find my class earlier!” she replies cheerfully, acting like the first version of her personality. “Would you like to grab a drink first? My treat!”

I follow the tilt of her head and find myself looking at the line to Starbucks, instantly recalling my theory of getting my drink spiked and blaming it for all of my weird behaviour today. Not today, Satan. Ain’t nobody taking that chance.

“I-It’s ok, thanks. I’ve had one after dropping you off to class earlier.”

“If you say so… then, please wait for me! I’ll be right back.”

After Sana returns with a Strawberry Frappuccino in hand, I proceed to allow her to drag me away to another table of her choice, the two of us then taking a seat across of one another. We begin to chat about the most trivial topics as we’re, well, practically strangers still.

Sana leads our conversations as I had expected, which is mainly just her blasting me with even more questions than before and with me slapping an UNO reverse card at her once I’m done answering them.

This method helps me learn the fact that Sana and her roommate Momo are both transfer students from Japan and that they’re here through an exchange program. It seems like Sana’s most excited about making new friends here, while Momo’s apparent goal is to just devour as many different Korean cuisines here as she possibly can. An interesting duo, I must say.

When we’re talking, I do find myself getting astonished by Sana’s Korean fluency since we’re both foreigners to this country, yet she sounds as if she’s native; although I don’t think I’m as skilled as her just yet, I am fluent enough to catch the random compliments she sneaks into our conversations every now and then. I don’t know why she’s doing that, but that doesn’t really bother me.

… But what does bother me is her habit of reaching over the table and grabbing my hand, because whenever we make physical contact my mind can’t help but go asdljhdlfklsdkjalsdjl- oh.

It really does seem like Jihyo’s currently watching over me right now.

Because right when I’m going through yet another one of my mini gay panic attacks, a break was given to me through the form of a phone call.

The sudden muffled tone of ‘Mr. Taxi’ triggers Sana to let out a surprised squeak and a quick apology, making me flash a tiny smile back to reassure her whilst holding in my laughter. I continue to observe her quietly as she digs her phone out of her purse.

“Oh, it’s Momo.” she says almost dejectedly, even letting out a sigh before answering the call. “What is it… oh…okay… I’m in the community centre… right next to Starbucks… mhm… well um… I’m actually with someone right now… yeah okay, I’ll see you soon… mhm, bye.”

I tilt my head as my way to ask if things are alright, to which she nods with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, she’s just telling me that her professor has let them out half an hour early, so she’s currently on her way over here.”

“Ah okay. Should I leave you be then?”

“No no, it’s okay! Let me accompany you until you need to go to class.”

“But aren’t you guys going to head home?”

“Well… it depends. I’m not really sure yet.”

“Depends…? On what?”

For some reasons, my question triggers a moment of silence.

We maintain eye-contact for a couple of seconds until she glances off to her left.

I’m now wondering if she’s has had blush makeup on this entire time or not.

“You’ll see, but just… please promise me you won’t get weirded out by Momo if she starts asking you a bunch of questions later. She’s… She can be quite full-on sometimes, so please try your best to just go with it.”

Uh… the heck is she talking about now?

We’re still talking in the same language, right?

Why can’t I understand anything she just said, then?

She’s talking as if the situation’s going to revolve around me, and that just doesn