Jiyong lay on his bed and reached for his phone. The sooner he told Dara about Kiko’s major in university, the better, lest she find out from other sources.

 

Hey baby girl, are you asleep?

 

Almost. What is it?

 

I need to tell you something that you won’t like.

 

Haha, why do you sound so serious? What is it? You ate fried chicken without me?

 

Oh, I just did that two days ago with Youngbae.

 

Yah, Kwon Jiyong!

 

All right, I’ll be serious. Kiko just told me that she’s studying applied music at university as well.

 

Is that it? You felt I needed to know about this?

 

Of course. I’d rather you found out from me than from other sources.

 

:) I appreciate that, Ji. I know you’re going to have to see her more often from now on, whether I like it or not. Don’t worry, I won’t overthink. Just promise me that you’ll try to spend time with me when school starts.

 

Of course, baby girl.

 

Goodnight, Jiyong.

 

Goodnight, baby girl.

 

…

 

It was the fifth week of their first semester and students studying in the arts faculty were feeling the stress build up as the number of projects that had to do were slowly accumulating. Both Jiyong and Dara had their fair share and as luck would have it, Jiyong had to pair up with Kiko for most of his projects partly because he didn’t know anybody else and partly because she threw herself at him at the prospect of spending more time with him. Jiyong was about to text Dara to meet her for lunch at their faculty canteen when Kiko popped up next to him.

 

“Oppa, shall we discuss the project details over lunch? I think it’ll be a good idea to get started on our projects early,” said Kiko.

 

“Oh but I was planning to meet Dara for lunch,” replied Jiyong.

 

“Oppa~~~ you’re going to see her tomorrow, right? I want to get the details ironed out today. Let’s go for lunch~~~” said Kiko with her best aegyo.

 

“All right, all right,” said Jiyong resignedly. He was just about to put his handphone in his pocket when it beeped.

 

From: Baby Girl

 

Hey Ji, shall we meet for lunch?

 

Hey baby girl, I’m sorry I can’t today. Kiko wants to discuss project details over lunch today. Shall we meet for lunch tomorrow instead? I promise I’ll keep it free.

 

Haha, it’s all right Ji. Sure, we’ll meet for lunch tomorrow instead.

 

Are you angry with me?

 

What would you do if I was?

 

I’ll ditch Kiko now.

 

Don’t be silly. You’ve got work to do. If I’m angry, I’ll take it out on monkey Yejun instead.

 

So I should expect to find him in pieces on your bedroom floor the next time I go over to your place?

 

Yah! Am I that petty?

 

Of course not. You’re pretty, not petty.

 

Aish~! I can’t stand you, Kwon Jiyong. For goodness’ sake, go have your lunch.

 

Okay, okay =P

 

…

 

Dara and Jiyong ploughed through another month of school before the results of their projects were released. Dara wanted to surprise Jiyong after his lecture, so she texted Youngbae to ask which lecture theatre Jiyong would be at after lunch, as Youngbae was also reading applied music.

 

Hey Youngbae, I want to surprise Jiyong for lunch today. Do you know which lecture theatre he’ll be at?

 

He’ll be outside LT12. You might want to be there before 12pm though. The lecturer usually ends his lecture quite early.

 

Okay sure. Thanks for the tip! ^_^

 

Dara arrived at 11.45am and stood round the corner out of sight waiting for Jiyong to come out of the lecture theatre. Five minutes later, the door opened and a stream of students flowed out of the lecture theatre. Dara saw Jiyong emerge from the lecture theatre and was about to go up to him when she saw Kiko come up behind Jiyong. Kiko flung her arms around Jiyong and screamed in delight, “Oppa! Isn’t it great? We got an A for the project!”

 

“Yeah, it’s great, Kiko,” replied Jiyong with a smile.

 

“Shall we go celebrate, oppa? My treat!” said Kiko.

 

“Sure! I think this calls for a celebration too,” replied Jiyong.

 

Dara’s heart sank as she took in the sight in front of her. She reached into her pocket for phone and texted Jiyong.

 

Hey Ji, do you want to get lunch together today?

 

She waited for five minutes and was about to put her phone away when it beeped.

 

From: Jiyong

 

Hey baby girl, not today. I’m busy. I’ll catch you up tomorrow, all right?

 

Yeah sure…

 

…

 

“Am I overthinking, Bom?” asked Dara. “I want to trust Jiyong but I can’t stop thinking about how close he’s getting to Kiko. We barely meet even once a week nowadays, because of our workloads. I really don’t want to lose him, Bommie.”

 

Dara had asked Bom to meet her for lunch after her failed attempt to surprise Jiyong.

 

“If you’re really worried, why don’t you talk to him, Dara?” replied Bom.

 

“I don’t want to be too controlling, Bom. I told him I wouldn’t overthink,” said Dara.

 

“You have a right to be concerned, Dara. Your boyfriend is constantly hanging out with his ex, for heaven’s sake! I’ll always be here to listen to your troubles, Dara. But if you want the problem to be resolved, you need to talk to him,” explained Bom patiently.

 

“Sigh, I guess so,” replied Dara.

 

…

 

That night, Dara tried to focus on the paper she was writing but all she could think of was her relationship with Jiyong. Was this what happened to all couples in universities? Was she just overthinking? Surely she had a right to be concerned? Without knowing, two hours passed with her barely typing one paragraph of her paper. Dara got up from her desk and flung herself onto her bed in frustration. She pulled monkey Yejun towards her and started pummellin