Dares. They're such silly little things, yet so thrillingly invigorating. Why did Minjeong accept this dare in particular?

Well, that would be because she made her team lose a round of flip cup, and they were all tipsy and slightly mad at her for fumbling their sure-fire victory. She couldn't help it—flipping cups was already hard enough when she was sober.

Her best friend was playfully glaring at her from where she stood, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. "We were literally on the last cup, and they still had three to flip... how the hell did you lose this for us?" Yizhuo complained. Minjeong grinned back sheepishly, not knowing how to answer.

Despite already being in her third year of college, Minjeong still hadn't figured out how to be better at drinking games. She could only take her losses in stride.

Jeno, a senior who was on her team, clapped his hand on her back encouragingly. "Don't worry, kid. It happens to the best of us. But it's only fair you do a little dare for us to make up for the loss, right?" he said with a smirk, turning his head to face another girl his age. He winked, and the girl came forward to speak.

"I have just the dare in mind, actually," the girl said menacingly. Minjeong's eyes widened in fear, and she turned back to look at Yizhuo. "That's Aeri Uchinaga, I've only heard good things about her, so I'm sure she won't dare you to do anything too awful," the girl whispered.

Minjeong gulped but nodded in understanding, turning to face Aeri. The older girl's mischievous grin felt like a threat, but Minjeong trusted Yizhuo's judgement.

"There's a zoo a few blocks from here. I dare you to sneak in and take a selfie in the crocodile exhibit."

There were a few gasps heard nearby, but Minjeong made no sound. She stood with agape in disbelief. "Can't I go to jail for trespassing?" she fretted.

"Just don't get caught then," Aeri said in a sickly sweet voice. Minjeong deflated. It was 2:30 in the morning, and she was exhausted and still slightly tipsy, but she knew these students wouldn't let her go without completing her dare.

"Fine," she muttered, gathering her bearings and heading for the exit. The only students that followed her on the short walk to the zoo were Jeno and Aeri, and of course Yizhuo, who was concerned for her well-being. She grumbled to herself the entire 10-minute walk over.

When they arrived at a back gate, Aeri stopped her. "This is as far as we'll go with you, now good luck getting that picture!" she whispered. She and Jeno shared another look that made their eyes shine with mirth. Yizhuo gave her an encouraging thumbs up, yet her brows were furrowed in slight worry.

Minjeong took a deep breath and took a good look at the gated area. It was all wire fencing about six feet high, so she figured it wouldn't be too hard to climb over. She did a quick sweep to see if she could notice any obvious cameras before she parted the bushes as quietly as possible so she could climb the fence.

Once she was over the fence, she took one last look at the other three before turning and crouching down. She silently stalked off in a crouched position, keeping an eye out for any security guards or cameras.

So far the coast had seemed to be clear. She squinted her eyes to get a better look at the signs in the darkness. The arrows pointing towards the crocodile exhibit were leading her a bit further back. She moved as stealthily and efficiently as she could and let out a breath of relief when she reached the exhibit unscathed.

She quickly pulled out her phone and stood up straight, plastering a huge smile on her face so she could take a selfie. As soon as she pressed the button, she felt a hand clap onto her shoulder, and the flash went off before she could even turn her head to see who had grabbed her.

She nervously looked up at her phone to see a security guard grinning back at her on the screen from behind her. She felt herself being whisked away by her shirt collar and prayed she could sweet-talk her way out of going to jail. The cold sweat was starting to kick in, and she could feel her hands trembling around her phone.

She was led into the security office, where the guard had her take a seat in a chair across from her desk. She tried to steady her breathing as she looked up to make eye contact with the guard.

Her jaw hung open when she noticed how pretty the guard sitting across from her was. She glanced at the name tag on the guard's chest and committed the name to memory.

J. Yu

The uniform fit her figure snugly, and Minjeong tried her best not to ogle at the girl just because she found her attractive.

Suddenly the beautiful girl before her and the remainder of the alcohol in her system had a surge of confidence swarming through her veins again. She grinned at the guard.

The guard raised an eyebrow questioningly, but it was clear she was slightly amused by the situation. "Why are you here?" she finally asked, after observing Minjeong for what felt like an entire five minutes.

"Why are any of us here, really?" Minjeong retorted, pretending to ponder her existence while staring up at the ceiling meaningfully. She couldn't suppress her own smile when she saw the corners of the guard's lips twitch upward.

"Okay, well, I'm asking about you specifically," she replied.

Minjeong let out a huff. Should she be honest? She figured it might help her reduce her risk of going to jail, especially considering this guard was already giving off a more lenient aura.

"I made my team lose a game of flip cup, so they dared me to take a selfie in the croc exhibit," she mumbled, looking up to see the guard's reaction to her admission. The smile she was met with was so dazzling she refused to blink so she could engrave it into her brain.

"Considering trespassing is a misdemeanor offense, you could technically go to jail if they don't make you pay a hefty fine instead... " the guard started saying, eyes narrowing at Minjeong's fearful expression, "but since we go to the same university, I'm gonna let you off the hook just this once," she finished.

Minjeong stood up so fast that her chair almost fell over in the process. She rounded the desk and wrapped her arms around the guard in a tight embrace. "Thank you so much! You're my hero, I'll never forget this, I swear!" she exclaimed. The guard was giggling as she wiggled out of the tight embrace.

"Yeah, yeah, now get out of here. You found your way in, so I'm sure you can find your way back out," she teased.

Minjeong nodded enthusiastically and made a break for the door, but not before turning around to get another look. "What's your name, Officer Yu?" she asked, suddenly shy again.

"Jimin."

"I'm Minjeong."

With that final exchange, she took off in the direction she had originally come from. Rather than being stealthy, she ran at a normal pace and quickly climbed the fence to land next to the three who were hiding in the bushes and waiting for her return.

"What the hell took you so long? I thought we'd have to send a search party!" Yizhuo angrily whispered, shaking her fist in the air.

"I just got caught by the hottest security guard I've ever seen in my life, but she was nice enough to let me go," Minjeong admitted, before pulling out her phone to show off the selfie she took.

The look of surprise on her face was almost comical compared to the smug grin on Jimin's face behind her. The four of them laughed at the image, and Minjeong turned to head back to the dorms, not noticing the look that Aeri and Jeno shared behind her back.

*

A week had passed, and yet another "thirsty Thursday," as the kids called it, had come up. Rather than going to another party, Minjeong found herself trembling with excitement at the thought of seeing Jimin again. She had been busy with schoolwork all week, but she finally had free time to go back to the zoo.

She had no idea if Jimin was even working or if the night shift was a regular occurrence for her, but she only had one way of finding out. It was just past 11 p.m., so she told Yizhuo she had plans and set off at a brisk pace over to the back gate she had climbed over previously.

She began her ascent and threw both legs over before hooking them into the wired fencing to slowly make her way down. As soon as her left foot hit the ground, she began to turn her body, only to be met with a flashlight pointing directly at her.

She raised her arms to shield her face and blinked slowly so her eyes could adjust, finally able to notice the figure holding the flashlight.

"Don't tell me you lost a drinking game again."

Minjeong couldn't contain her smile. "I actually thought I'd come keep you company, Officer Jimin," she replied with a chuckle.

The flashlight was clicked off, and Jimin began to walk away, leaving Minjeong dumbfounded.

Jimin stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. "You coming, or what?" The smile made its way back to Minjeong's face, and she jogged over to catch up with the taller girl.

They found themselves sitting in the same position as last week, with Jimin resting her feet on the desk as she stared at all the screens showcasing the security camera footage.

"So you said we go to the same school... what made you decide to work here?" she asked, perching her head in