Eyes slightly ajar, Nayoung glanced at the small digital clock just by the bed, barely making out the bright red numbers as she tried to adjust to the blurry vision. The actual time didn’t register in her mind as her hand instinctively reached out for Jieqiong, only for it to hit empty cold sheets.

“Oh,” a sigh escapes her lips. “Right.”

They sleep on different rooms ever since their little talk. Said night felt like hours, stretched into days, stretched into an eternity.

No. Nayoung was smart. She never allowed herself to drift into fantasy.

It had only been two days since their confrontation, leaving them with nineteen more to test Jieqiong’s theory.

They had moments that come back every now and then, not as the same as it was before. What gave that away was most probably the now awkward eye contacts.

Now usually, the younger one wouldn’t let her sleep in on school days, taking it upon herself to pull up the blinds to let light in for Nayoung.

It was bliss to not have to throw an alarm clock across the room, and instead have a personal Jieqiong to softly wake her up from her slumber.

But then again, it was dark. The blinds were down, and the clock certainly did not read 5:30 AM.

7:50 AM.

Another sigh. “Oh, right.” Nayoung shot up to get ready for university.

xx

Kyungwon took a seat opposite to Nayoung’s with Minkyung trailing behind. “Any reason why you skipped first period?”

“Kyulkyung didn’t wake me up.” was Nayoung’s stern reply.

She was never one to skip classes, but there was really no point with pushing through when she’s already missed out on about half an hour of her first class of the day.

She swore she heard Minkyung mutter a “that ” under her breath, to which she telepathically replied with an amused, “yeah, it does”.

They shared a small smile before the oblivious Kyungwon spoke up, enthusiastic as ever. “Good news, by the way!”

The latter formed a small “o” with her lips, signaling her to go on. And so, Kyungwon did. “The landlady said you can move in earlier,” she flashed a toothy grin. “You don’t have to wait until next week.”

“That’s,” Nayoung wished she had the right words to say, or at least the right emotions to show. Should she be happy? Well, Kyungwon seemed to be happy, so should she. “Terrifi—“

“Oh, Kyungwon,” Minkyung butted in, eyebrows wriggling. Nayoung half expected this. “My dear, dear Kyungwon. Does it look like our Nayoung wants to move out of the Kyulkyung haven?”

“Cheeky.” Nayoung quipped, devoid of expression.

“Minky,” Kyungwon was just about ready to slam her face on one of the library’s shelves just to show how stupid it was for her to bring Jieqiong into the conversation. She stopped mid-thought, realizing how it would only be futile. “Will you and Yebin stop? Honestly, sometimes Siyeon can be much more mature than you.”


Nayoung stared outside as the other two argued. If only Siyeon really were here, she would’ve had –if not better – stable moral and emotional support.  It’s not like I need it.

It was raining. Nayoung never really liked the rain, it reminded her of things. Like the night Chaeyeon was in their – Jieqiong’s apartment.

The storm brewing outside was nothing compared to the storm of emotions that wrenched her gut at the sight of Jieqiong entangled with someone else, as if twisted and pulled.

She wanted to scream, cry, punch Minkyung in the face – throw up. Yet despite her mind going haywire, she managed to keep a straight face, her vision cleared as if the lens of a camera sharpened its focus.

Nayoung remembered how different emotions battled for dominance in both her head and heart.

Confusion. Betrayal. Fear. Anger.

But laced through it all was hopelessness, as if the world stopped, as if the universe conspired to deprive her of oxygen.

“I can explain.” Jieqiong’s voice never seemed to stop ringing in her head.

Maybe she should’ve let Jieqiong explain, maybe she shouldn’t have ran, and maybe –just maybe— they wouldn’t be in this mess.

But Nayoung didn’t dislike the rain either.

She clearly remembered how Jieqiong wanted them to reenact a scene from a drama she saw, pushing away the umbrella in Nayoung’s hand and getting soaked in the rain together.

The Chinese girl thought it was romantic, Nayoung on the other hand thought it was stupid, considering how Jieqiong had a weak immune system, but complied nonetheless.

The younger girl caught a flu the day after but Nayoung didn’t seem to remember being bothered by taking care of her.

A bitter smile crept up her features; a rare occurrence. If she wanted to forget the hurt, the happiness had to go along with it.

She turned back to Minkyung and Kyungwon, still 10 feet deep into their argument. She sighed before faking a cough to catch their attention.

19 more days to go, how hard can it be?

“Help me move in today.”

xx

Nayoung was pleased as punch, she managed to fully move in in a span of two days, ignoring Jieqiong’s skeptical looks while doing so, her flat was more than okay, she gets to wear all the grey socks her imagination could take her to without anyone to throw a fit, and it was the weekend.

The rain went on but still, she felt victorious.

A glance at her calendar told her that there were only 17 days left.

Absolutely nothing could ruin whatever mood Nayoung was in.

Unless it was a knock on the door. Unless Nayoung opened the said door. Unless it happened to be Jieqiong, soaking wet from the rain behind the damned door.

Before Nayoung could even ask, the Chinese girl spoke. “I locked myself out.”

Oh.

“Do you still have the spare key?”

She shook her head no. It was too late for Jieqiong to go over to their other friends’ house, Nayoung was left with no other choice.

“Stay the night.”

“Do you have a spare room?” Jieqiong’s eyes were filled with hope.

. It was times like these Nayoung regrets putting every unnecessary stuff in any available space, wherein now said space was her flat’s spare room.

What she would say next, she wondered if she would regret.

“We can share my bed. Just for tonight.”

What the hell am I doing? both Jieqiong and Nayoung thought.

xx

Jieqiong could never really sleep during thunderstorms without something or someone  to cuddle to.

“Grow up, Kyul.” were Nayoung’s words when she was hesitant to snuggle into the taller girl.

And so now, 17 days down the drain, rain pouring ever so hard outside, Jieqiong cuddled up to a warm Nayoung, feeling more than hearing her steady heartbeats.

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Kyulkyung?” she was about to drift into sleep when Nayoung whispered against her forehead.

She hums in response.

“I lied,” Nayoung pulled her closer. “I still have the spare key.”

A sigh escapes Jieqiong’s lips. “I know.”

WHATTA MAN IS SUCH A BOP AND JIEQIONG'S HIGH NOTE NAYOUNG'S VISUALS OH MY GOD EVERYTHING WAS SO PERFECT.

bonus: napink held hands. Jieqiong legit held it with both hands im so....