The dorm had rules, but that didn't mean they were strictly enforced. The school really couldn't have cared less about what went on in the dorms, unlike Nayoung. Her floor was probably one of the least troublesome ones in the building thanks to her. She wasn’t even the official dorm leader, but she may as well have been. Seeun, the girl’s dorm leader, was usually one of the first ones to insist on throwing a party.

 

For a Friday night, it had been pretty calm on Nayoung’s floor. Studying at close to one in the morning was normal for her, it didn't matter what day it was. The only thing different about weekend nights was that her girlfriend wasn’t in her dorm room with her. Even though it was probably for the best, considering she was usually a huge distraction, Nayoung would have preferred her by her side.

 

It was better than her being out all night doing everything that Nayoung protested against.

 

Jieqiong was a rare breed of animal when it came to parties. Rather than going to ones she was invited to, she preferred to crash random ones. Tonight, she was at a party near Kwachim University, a school all the way across town. She'd gone with Taeyong, and that made Nayoung feel a bit better about it.

 

When a loud knock shook her from her studies, she became grateful for Jieqiong’s friend.

 

She opened her door to find Jieqiong leaning against him, drunkenly mumbling a song to herself. Taeyong just grinned sheepishly.

 

“I think this is yours.”

 

Nayoung rolled her eyes and reached to pull Jieqiong in the room, “Thanks for driving her back.”

 

“No problem. She didn't puke, so it's cool.”

 

“Bye, Taeyong!” Jieqiong sung loudly as she staggered over to Nayoung’s bed.

 

He laughed, “Have fun with your hangover tomorrow. See ya, Nayoung.”

 

As soon as Nayoung closed the door, Jieqiong spoke, “I wish you'd come with us sometime. I wanna show you off.”

 

She turned around to find her sitting at the end of the bed, hands further back behind her. Her long black hair was tousled, leather jacket slipping off of her shoulders. Nayoung could only imagine how much dancing she'd done… and drinking.

 

“I wanna throw a book at you.”

 

“Ow, no!” Jieqiong threw her head back as she cried out in imaginary pain, “Don't!”

 

“Don't be so loud.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

Sighing, Nayoung made her way to join Jieqiong.

 

“Were you studying?”

 

“Of course.” she gave her a flawless smile before laughing at herself.

 

“Nerd.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Jieqiong grunted as Nayoung plopped herself down on her lap. Arms wrapped around her waist, and Nayoung couldn’t help but smile as Jieqiong nuzzled her face against the crook of her neck.

 

“At least you're a cute nerd.” she mumbled into her skin.

 

“Of course.”

 

“Can I sleep with you tonight?”

 

Nayoung pulled away some so she could throw her arms around Jieqiong’s neck, “If you want to. Can you even walk to your room?”

 

“Probably not.”

 

Laughing, Jieqiong let her chin rest on Nayoung’s shoulder as she asked, “Is Jisoo coming back?”

 

Nayoung hadn't even thought of her roommate since she'd left. She was sure Jisoo wasn't coming back tonight at all since her boyfriend was in town. Knowing what Jieqiong was thinking, she didn't want to admit it. It was late. Plus, she still had tons of studying to do.

 

Weak when it came to Jieqiong’s bright eyes, Nayoung ended up confessing, “I don't think so…”  

 

“Wanna take a study break?”

 

Her sly tone had leaked onto her lips, leaving a slick smirk there as she finished her question. Nayoung’s true desires must have been showing, because Jieqiong didn't even wait for an answer.

 

Though she didn't like to drink herself, Nayoung didn't mind the bitter alcohol she tasted as their lips met.

 

:::

 

Wednesday lunches were either hit or miss at the restaurant. Sometimes, they were painfully slow and dead. Other times, they were so busy that Eunbi could barely keep up. Their lack of consistency when it came to customers made Wednesdays even more stressful than Mondays, which were always busy considering it was the beginning of the week.

 

So far, it had been quite slow. Eunbi wasn't confident about it staying that way, however. She was staying on her toes no matter what. Waiting three ables at a time was a breeze for her, but relaxing wasn't an option. She knew better.

 

“Here you go, sir.” she smiled to the older man as she gave him his plate of food. Lots of his side items were already gone, so she quickly grabbed the plates that were empty so she could carry them away.

 

As she was making her way back to the kitchen, she almost tripped over herself due to the way she instantly froze.

 

With a smirk that Eunbi wanted to slap off of her face, Yuju gave her a small wave. She just shook her head in response and hurried back into the kitchen to get rid of the dishes she was holding. She looked around making she didn't have any orders to take out before making her way back out and straight to Yuju’s table. Feigning innocence, Yuju just looked up from the menu she was pretending to read.

 

“Hi, yes, I'll have the-”

 

“What are you doing here?” Eunbi hissed.

 

Yuju’s wide eyes of surprise made Eunbi even more annoyed than her response, “Is that any way to talk to a paying customer?”

 

“Why aren't you at school?”

 

“Why aren't you?”

 

Eunbi wasn’t as amused as Yuju in the slightest, “You know why I'm not.”

 

“And you know why I'm not.” Yuju tossed the menu aside and started playing with the sugar packet holder, “School when you're not there.”

 

“We're both already under a truancy contract, you can't just not go to school for no reason.”

 

“I obviously don't care that much.”

 

Not wanting to argue with her while she was at work, Eunbi just stayed quiet. She was sure her glare said enough. Yuju didn't break her gaze and just leaned back in her chair as if she didn't have a care in the world. Eunbi knew it was just a front, but it still scared her sometimes. Sometimes, she really feared that Yuju didn't care about anything at all. If it wasn't for their relationship, she would have believed it.

 

“Well, I do.” Eunbi softened her tone some, “We can't both get in trouble. I'm only lucky that my dad talked to the school. If you keep missing days for no reason though, then they're gonna expel you.”

 

“I'll just get a job like you, and then they won't. Problem solved.”

 

Done with the conversation, Eunbi just walked away.

 

Three days out of the school week, Eunbi had permission to miss school for work. If she was absent for any other reason aside from that, then it would affect her truancy contract. She still couldn't even imagine what her father had said, or mostly likely threatened, to the school board to get her such a deal. Whatever it had been, she was definitely grateful for it. She needed this job.

 

So, with three full days of work and a few nights during the school week, Eunbi had a full schedule. School was important to her, it was. But work made it a lot harder than it had to be. Homework rarely got done. In class, she was usually asleep rather than paying attention. She was barely passing her classes, but she was at least trying.

 

Yuju wasn’t. Not only was she not trying, but she didn't even want to.

 

Even before they'd started dating, Yuju had skipped class religiously. When she was in class, she was usually goofing off and getting herself in trouble.

 

It was a problem. Even though nowadays she was skipping school for Eunbi, it was still a problem. And Eunbi had no idea what to do about it.

 

“Hey.”

 

Eunbi stopped walking. She had just finished refilling a table’s drinks. As much as she wanted to go back into the kitchen, she gave Yuju her attention.

 

“Sorry.” she genuinely apologized, “Let's be real, though. It's not like I'd be doing anything at school anyway.”

 

“That's not the point and you know it.”

 

Silently mouthing another apology, Yuju made a heart with her hands and showed off what little aegyo she had. Unable to not laugh at how ridiculous she looked, Eunbi rolled her eyes. It was hard to stay angry at her.

 

“So, what?” Eunbi asked as she leaned forward on the chair in front of her, “Are you just gonna stay here all day? I work a double.”

 

“You should think more highly of yourself. Waiting all day for you is worth it.”

 

Embarrassed and annoyed that Yuju’s smooth words and gaze got to her, Eunbi immediately left again and ignored the chuckles coming from behind her.

 

:::

 

Mina sighed.

 

“What?”

 

She was surprised that Momo didn't ignore her distress for once. Standing in the middle of her room, she just held the shirt she was about to put on in her hands. Momo sat up in bed, confusion in her brows.

 

“Nothing. I just should have gotten out of here a long time ago.”

 

“What fake plans do you have this time?”

 

With a taunting gaze, Momo just smirked. Mina shouldn’t have been angry. Even she didn't believe her own bull most of the time. It was always like this, and she was starting to get sick of it. She was sure even Momo was sick of playing games as well. Then again, she'd practically invented most of them.

 

“I don't have any plans.” Mina blatantly explained as she focused back on the shirt she was putting on, “I just don't need to be here.”

 

“It wasn't like that an hour ago, though. What changed?”

 

“Came to my senses, I guess.”

 

“You seem to lose them a lot, not that I mind.”

 

Mina shook her head and went over to grab her bag that had somehow ended up on the floor near Momo’s desk. She didn't see her shoes. Figuring they were in the hallway somewhere. She didn't give Momo a second glance. Despite opening a can of worms with her words just a second ago, Mina wanted to leave it there. It wasn't like they both didn't know how she really felt anyway. She didn't need to say it.

 

But the more Momo challenged her, the more she wanted to.

 

“I'm not gonna let you leave upset.”

 

Hearing footsteps behind her, Mina her heel. Momo had thrown on a t-shirt that barely covered the rest of her body. She was shameless, and it had become a less attractive quality of hers nowadays.

 

“You're upset with me when really it's all you. You're making this harder for yourself.”

 

“I've told you a billion times that I don't want this.” Mina muttered.

 

“And I've told you just as much that you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. So, why do you keep ending up here?”

 

Mina wouldn't even admit the answer to that to herself, let alone to Momo.

 

“You obviously have feelings for me. It's not my fault that you don't want them.”

 

Feeling guilty, Mina couldn't hold her gaze, “I- I'm not blaming you.”

 

“Doesn't feel like it.” Momo’s laugh that followed had bitterness sprinkled all over it.

 

“This is hard for me, okay? You know that.”

 

When Mina had first started working as an assistant instructor at the dance studio, she hadn't expected her life to change so drastically. All it had taken was a smile from Momo to flip everything upside down. Considering Momo was a part of one of the classes Mina helped teach, they spent far too much time together. It wasn't healthy. Mina had realized that once she'd started falling for her.

 

It wasn't right at all, but that meant nothing when it came to Momo.

 

“Right.” she scoffed, “How do you think it is for me then, huh?”

 

Momo’s risen tone made Mina’s stomach drop. She'd been expecting Momo’s usual “Whatever” or at least something along the lines of it.

 

“Or does how I feel even matter? It's always about you, right? It's always about how hard it is for poor little Mina. I know.”

 

“Momo-”

 

“This is hard for me too, especially since I'm the one being used.”

 

Her words put Mina a state of disbelief, “What? How am-?”

 

“You like me, but you don't want to be with me. Except you do want to be with me, but only so you can get off and go back to pretending you're someone you're not.”

 

“Are you serious? You think that's what this is about?”

 

“Tell me it isn't!” Momo demanded with a fierce gaze.

 

That wasn't what it was about, not all of it anyway. Being with Momo was hard for plenty of reasons. However, Mina couldn't think of any. The longer she stayed quiet, the faster hurt started to flood Momo's dark eyes. Mina didn't know what to say. As Momo spit her next words, she didn't know what to do either.

 

“This is why I hate biual girls…” her words cut through Mina like a knife, “Just get out.”

 

With that, Momo went back to her room. The sound the door made as she slammed it shut echoed throughout the hallway. It having shook the walls and Mina, she felt as if she couldn't move anymore. Leaving was the last thing she wanted to do now. Resistance wasn't the only thing she had when it came to Momo’s heart.

 

Trying to ignore the tears threatening to fall past her lashes, she hurried to the main room to find her shoes. She didn't even care about forgetting anything as she left her apartment.