T Swift's new song is so lit, i just had to make it this chapter's title
Also, since I'm from a tropical country, I'm not really sure whether swimming classes are feasible during the winter. I just realized that the story's setting takes place in late January, and late January in South Korea is still winter, I think. I should've checked.. but maybe for the sake of the story and the consistency, i'll make it feasible lol pls understand
Please let me know if it really is possible xo
 

Throughout her three years in the university, the only problem Jinri had everyday was waking up early and choosing the most comfortable shoes she can wear to school. Now that Ong Seongwu’s in her class, Jinri had to face a lot more than just that.

Just like any normal girl, Jinri wanted to look good every time Seongwu sees her. It’s common sense; no girl would want the person they like to see them in their worst state ever. Her prettiest shirts which hid behind her closet finally got a taste of sunlight; her worn out sneakers finally got a break from all the running around school, and she finally considered wearing her denim skirts to school instead of just stacking them behind her go-to pair of jeans (even though it’s freaking January, and winter).

Even though she had no intentions of making a move for Seongwu to actually notice her, she at least had to look decent every Tuesdays and Thursdays for her Media Studies class. She wants him to see her as an actual human being who doesn’t need a wardrobe makeover, instead of someone who looks like she just got out of bed and went straight to school.

Ever since Minhyun and Jaehwan found out about her sharing the same class as Seongwu, she has been receiving endless teasing from the two (especially from Jaehwan). She can clearly remember Jaehwan’s laugh echoing in her head before telling her that the universe is finally making a way for the two to finally interact with each other without the help of Jaehwan and Dongho.

“See, even the universe thinks that you should stop being a chicken and finally gather all your guts and talk to Seongwu.” Even Minhyun, who usually just nods or sides with no one in particular, believes that this kind of things don’t happen for no reason. At first he was just ‘naaaaaaah’and all just ‘whatever’ about it, Jaehwan was finally able to convert Minhyun to a believer of the messages the universe sends their way.

“Is that shirt new?” Jaehwan narrowed his eyes at Jinri as he studied her entire look. As soon as the two met this morning, Jaehwan knew something was different, he just couldn’t figure out what it is.

Jinri rolled her eyes as she covered Jaehwan’s eyes with her palm. “Stop analyzing me.” She already knew that endless teasing is coming her way as soon as she admitted that her shirt is new, plus, she’s actually wearing a little make up today (mascara and a little bit of tint on the lips and the cheeks).

Since Minhyun isn’t around to back her up (they just dropped him off to his class, the one after lunch), she’s been praying to whoever’s listening that Jaehwan won’t be able to figure out that she finally took her makeup bag out of her bottom drawer and use it on normal days (instead of using it on special occasions only).

“Something’s really different,” Jaehwan shoved her arm away and looked at Jinri from head to toe once again. “Except for the shoes since I saw them before, when you bought them but something is really different.” He held her chin and made her face him, forced her to face him even due to all the unspoken protests obvious on the Jinri’s face. He narrowed his eyes as he took a close look at his friend’s face. “Did you get your eyes done, Jin?”

“What the hell.” Jinri rolled her eyes before pushing Jaehwan away, earning a laugh from the guy who tried to regain his balance. “My mom would kill me if I get anything done, and I don’t have that kind of money.”

“I’ll figure it out, whatever’s different on your face.” Jaehwan poked Jinri’s cheek a little too hard, earning a whine from the girl. “Where are you headed anyways? Isn’t it your break?”

“I’ll probably just get some coffee from the Starbucks across campus.” Jinri shrugged, fishing out her wallet from her bag to check how much of her allowance is left. “What’s your next class anyways?”

“PE.” Jaehwan said nonchalantly, busy texting on his phone.

Jinri looked at Jaehwan, closing her wallet as she placed it back inside her bag. “PE?”

Jaehwan nodded quickly. “Yep. PE. Swimming.”

Jinri raised a brow, crossing her arms across her chest. “Swimming? With Ong Seongwu?”

Jaehwan nodded again. “Yep, with Ong Seongwu and that DJ guy you met last month, Kang Daniel.”

She pursed her lips together, nodding slowly. “Wow, small world.”

“Daniel’s actually really nice and friendly. And Ong’s his usual self, talkative and just.. Ong.” Jaehwan nodded slowly, glancing at Jinri. When she didn’t react to his statement, Jaehwan took it as a signal to continue with what he was going to say. “The school might be big, but meeting Seongwu in campus isn’t something new anymore, Jin. We’re all from the same college, so stop making a fuss about it. Also, I guess you’ll be seeing him a lot from now on since we’re in a band together.”

Jinri nodded slowly, placing her cold hands inside the pocket of her thick coat. “I figured that out once I saw Seongwu behind the drums.”

“I didn’t join the band to get you closer to Seongwu originally, you’re my dear friend but my life doesn’t revolve around you.” After saying what he said, it was only then that Jaehwan realized that he might’ve been a little harsh. Jaehwan looked at Jinri, checking for her reaction. Seeing the straight expression on her face, he let out a soft chuckle as he wrapped an arm around Jinri’s shoulders, pulling her closer to him. “C’mon, you know I love you and all bu— alright, go ahead and puke. This is so unusual of us.” 

Jinri cringed, looking at Jaehwan with a weirded out expression on her face. “Yeah, what’s gotten to you? Are you on your man period?”

Jaehwan wasn’t actually wrong, or even offending at the least. Their lives doesn’t revolve around her, the sun would still keep on rising and setting even if she slept the whole day. Considering their age and situation, most of the things that they do are geared towards the betterment of their future and not really towards what’s best for others. All those heart fluttering moments were just bonuses to relieve all the stress caused by school.

“Every now and then I’m going to give you some older brother advice.”

“Uhm I have an actual oppa so no thanks.”

“Whatever.” Jaehwan rolled his eyes before letting out a soft chuckle. He patted Jinri on the shoulder, looking at her with a slight smile. “Well, I know that every now and then I’m giving you a nudge, but that’s so you could step out of your comfort zone and try out things. Just once in a while, but you know I’m not totally going to force you into something that would make you uncomfortable.”

“Uhm, you’re such a liar. You do that all the time.”

Jaehwan laughed softly, giving Jinri’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I know. I love seeing you suffer.” With that statement, he earned a not-so-gentle nudge on the side from Jinri. “Ouch, that hurts! If it bruises I’m suing you.”

“You don’t even have a lawyer so shut up.” Jinri rolled her eyes. “And you’re such a drama queen.”

“Oh my gosh, are you talking to yourself Jinri?” Jaehwan said in his high pitched voice, trying to imitate how Jinri said it before. If they kept a tab of how many times they rolled their eyes at each other today, it would’ve been full. “Anyways, I wanted to tell you I joined a band personally, since you don’t use your phone that much or any kind of SNS. I texted Minhyun about it but he just said ‘k’. So much for the friendly love, people.”

“I only use my phone for games, and really necessary communication, like with my mom.” Jinri shrugged. “And SNS for schoolworks. Professors go on and on about how we’re millenials and how we use SNS so much as if our lives depended on it. I mean, can they not generalize?”

“Why? SNS is so fun.”

“I don’t really see the need to share everything. SNS these days are too toxic, I rarely open Facebook. Instagram’s better, just looking at pictures and all.”

“Old person problems.” Jaehwan said with a grin.

Jinri made a face, shoving Jaehwan’s arm away. “Go away.”

“Kill— OH MY GOSH!” Jaehwan suddenly stopped from walking, pointed at Jinri, his eyes wider than usual. He looked like someone who found out a very big secret, or just a very surprised person at the very least. “I KNOW WHAT’S DIFFERENT. YOU’RE WEARING THOSE FALSE LASHES!”

Jinri pursed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m not, pull them out. They’re real.” To prove her point, she did pull on her lashes very gently just in case they might hurt.

“YOU’RE SUCH A GROSS HUMAN BEING, STOP DOING THAT TO YOUR EYES!” Jaehwan closed his eyes, even covering them with his hands as he moved away from Jinri. He’s the kind of person who didn’t like it when something gets really close to his eyes, or Jinri’s eyes, or anyone’s eyes in general.

Jinri laughed heartily, feeling as if she just won the bickering battle between her and the boy overreacting beside her. “Okay, open your eyes now. I’m done.”

Peeking with one eye to make sure that Jinri’s not joking, Jaehwan scrunched his nose afterwards. “You are such a mean human being.”

“I know, thanks.” Jinri said with a grin. “I love seeing you suffer.”

Jaehwan rolled his eyes, not knowing how to respond. So, he decided to bring the conversation back to where it was before Jinri grossed him out. “Then you’re wearing makeup. You even used a blush, I am so proud of you!” Jaehwan ruffled Jinri’s hair. “Welcome to the world of femininity, you’re now a girl!”

That statement hit Jinri like a blow on the solar plexus. How Jaehwan is able to turn the situation around and actually make her embarrassed is one of his special skills.

In order to avoid a beating from the embarrassed girl in front of him, Jaehwan ran away quickly, heading to the gym that is a few meters away while waving at his dear friend.

Jinri didn’t know the walk to the gym would take long enough for Jaehwan to figure out that finally, she decided to use her makeup bag.

“Stop staring at me, Daniel.”

“Sssshhh.”

“What the— why are you shh-ing me?” Jinri raised a brow, holding up her bag to cover the side of her face facing Daniel. Ever since Daniel arrived five minutes ago, he’s been staring at her as if it’s his first time seeing Jinri.

“I’m trying to figure something out.” Daniel held Jinri’s bag, placing it on her desk so that he could take a good look of the girl in front of him. He pursed his lips into a thin line, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Jinri from different angles. “You look familiar.”

Jinri felt a little uncomfortable with what Daniel was doing, but instead of expressing it, she blurted out: “That’s such a lame pick up line, Daniel.”

Daniel chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement. “And I’m still not flirting with you, so don’t worry.” He took off his white cap and placed it on the desk before running his fingers through his wet hair.

Daniel came to class ten minutes earlier before the designated time. When he entered the room, Jinri half-expected Seongwu to come as well, since the two came from the same class before this one, but until now, no Seongwu came.

“Dude, your hair’s dripping.”

“Mm?”

“Your hair’s dripping, dry it with something.” Jinri pointed at Daniel’s hair, beads of water dropping from his hair to his shirt at the moment. “Your shirt’s getting wet.”

“Oh.” Daniel nodded slowly, as if realizing it just now.

“You’re going to get sick, why didn’t you dry it before coming to class?”

“I’m going to be late, so I kind of didn’t have time for that.” Daniel took out a small towel from his bag and started drying his hair with it.

“Ask the professor why they schedule swimming classes on winter. It’s like they want you all to get sick.”

“The pool has a water heater and it’s really warm, I kind of enjoy it to be honest.”

Jinri nodded slowly, watching Daniel dry his hair with the towel. A week has passed ever since the school year started, and it has also been a week since Jinri started seeing more of Daniel.

Due to Daniel’s talkative nature, Jinri felt at ease. Even though she’s sober, Daniel is still as talkative and enthusiastic just like when she first met him. Having Ong Seongwu on the other side gets her a little anxious and too conscious or her movements, but with Daniel’s continuous talking and jelly offers (the guy always brings a pack of jelly which he gives out to both Jinri and Seongwu, as well as the freshman beside him named Joo Kyulkyung), Jinri feels a little at ease. Daniel never runs out of comments about all the things the professor says, and it keeps Jinri entertained. It turns out that even though Daniel looks all tough and manly and rough on the outside, he’s just as fluffy as his pink hair.

Daniel suddenly stopped halfway, the towel still hanging on his head. “I figured it out!”

Jinri raised a brow, tilting her head on the side. “Figure what out?”

“You look like my cat!” Daniel said cheerfully, smiling at Jinri as soon as he took the towel off of his head.

Taken aback by Daniel’s sudden cheerfulness, Jinri didn’t know how to react. Whether it was meant as a compliment or an insult, she really didn’t know. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the pink-haired boy carelessly stuffing his wet towel inside his bag. “I don’t know whether I want to thank you or hit you on the head for that.”

“I’m serious! And don’t get offended, I adore my cats a lot.” Daniel stressed on the last two words, taking his phone out of his pocket. “You look just like Rooney.”

“Rooney?” Jinri wasn’t able to stop herself from raising her voice, catching the attention of Seongwu who just reached his seat. Jinri didn’t notice his presence yet though. “Your cat’s a boy? Wow.”

“Rooney’s a girl, to be honest.” Daniel said with a small chuckle, showing Jinri a picture of him and the cat named Rooney on his phone. “I named her Rooney, after my favorite soccer player since she runs really well. Turns out Rooney’s a girl, but I can’t really change her name anymore. I also have another cat and her name’s Peter. I named her after Spiderman since she loves to climb walls a lot, but it turns out Peter’s a girl so..” Daniel shrugged nonchalantly.

Hearing the tragic story of how Daniel named his cats, Jinri wanted to do a facepalm in place of Rooney and Peter. Daniel never fails to amuse her with his stories.

Jinri nodded slowly, looking at the photo on Daniel’s phone before looking at the boy once again.  She smiled and patted his head gently. “That’s cute. A puppy has a pet cat.”

Daniel chuckled softly, shrugging slightly. “Some people do say that I do have the charms of a puppy.”

Everybody suddenly straightened up as soon as the professor entered the room. Jinri turned to look at Seongwu’s seat, and she almost jumped out of hers since she didn’t know when the boy arrived. Seongwu gave her a sleepy smile and a slight bow before looking ahead.

“You can all relax now, we’re not going to do something dreadful.” The professor said with a smile as he set his laptop on the table. “We’re just going to watch a movie, but don’t sleep. You need to submit a reaction paper on this movie next meeting.”

Jinri heard Seongwu let out a sigh of relief. She looked at him the same time he looked at her.

“PE makes me really sleepy and tired.” He said with a sleepy smile, hugging his black bag tightly as he leaned his head on it. “Why schedule swimming classes in the winter? People, really.”

That’s exactly what she thought. She was quite amazed that he did think the same thing. Seongwu’s obviously talking to her, and she needs to respond if she didn’t want to seem like a snobby person. “I guess you can sleep today, we’re just watching a movie.”

Good job, Jinri, she thought to herself. Take things slow and talk like an actual human being.

Seongwu raised a brow. “Really? If I did, would you cover up for me? Like, wake me up or something when the professor’s coming?”

Jinri nodded slowly. “Mm. Go ahead and sleep.”

Seongwu smiled at her and nodded. “All right, thanks.” With that, he leaned his head on his bag once again and closed his eyes. But even before Seongwu could drift off to sleep, Daniel called him out.

The pink haired boy leaned on Jinri’s desk, getting a little too close to Jinri as he called Seongwu. “Seongwu hyung.”

Seongwu didn’t open his eyes. “Mm?”

“Why is your hair dry?” It may seem like a really stupid question, but Daniel asked it so curiously and innocently it made Jinri laugh instead of wanting to do a facepalm in behalf of the guy who’s ridiculously close to her, maybe a little too close for her comfort.

Seongwu did find it amusing, for even with his eyes closed, he let out a small chuckle. “I used a hair dryer, Niel.”

“Really?” Daniel looked like someone who doesn’t know what a hair dryer is.

“Mm.” Seongwu nodded slowly. “You can borrow it next class. Now let me sleep.” He said before shooing Daniel away with his hand.

Daniel nodded with a smile, clapping his hands softly as if he won something good.

Jinri looked at him with an amused smile, patting his head gently. “Congratulations, you won’t get sick anymore.”

Chuckling, Daniel patted Jinri’s head as well. “Mm, you don’t need to worry about me anymore. And I’m still not flirting with you~” he sing song-ed.

“Let it go. That was like, a month ago.” Daniel only responded with a chuckle. Jinri wished she could be just as cheerful as him.

From time to time, Jinri looked at Seongwu’s sleeping figure. She had a hard time focusing on the movie being played in front. Even with his eyes closed and his steady breathing, Seongwu looked beautiful (despite his slightly parted lips which made him more normal than perfect). Every now and then she has this urge to touch the constellation on Seongwu’s cheek and rub it off to check whether they were real or not. They looked too beautiful to seem real.

Ah, I’m screwed, was all that Jinri could think to herself as she looked at Seongwu. First, because she’s having a hard time looking away from him, and second, since she doesn’t even understand what the movie is about anymore. Adding to the list is the sound of Daniel’s constant chewing. It seemed like media studies class is equal to Daniel’s jelly eating time.

“Yah, yah, yah yah.” Daniel’s soft and husky voice and him shaking her arms were enough to distract Jinri from her thoughts.

Jinri turned to look at Daniel, an eyebrow raised. “What?!” she whispered quite loudly, that even Kyulkyung who was watching the movie looked at her.

“Theprofessor’scomingwakehimuphurry!”

As soon as Jinri was able to decipher what Daniel said, she did actually see their professor walking towards their seat. He was checking whether all of the students in class are awake as he did a tour of the lecture room.

“Wake him up, wake him up!” Daniel said, shaking Jinri’s arm.

Jinri tried shaking Seongwu’s arm gently while whispering the words ‘wake up’ but nothing happened. The boy was still sound asleep, and the professor’s getting closer and closer to their spot each second.

, he’s going to get in trouble was all that she can think of. Jinri panicked. How can she wake Seongwu up? Think, Jinri, think!  

Due to the adrenaline rush, she did push Seongwu a little too harshly on the arm, scaring the hell out of the boy as he sat up. The professor reached their spot, raising his brow as he looked at Seongwu who had his eyes closed.

“Is he sl—” the professor was cut off after seeing Seongwu do the sign of the cross. He even mumbled a soft Amen before opening his eyes.

Jinri and Daniel both looked at the professor, waiting for his reaction. The two wanted to laugh, but they were too scared to do so.

Seongwu looked at the professor, blinking his eyes slowly. “Yes, sir?”

“What are you doing, Mr. Ong Seongwu?” The professor asked in an awkward tone after clearing his throat.

“I was praying, sir. So that I could write the reaction paper well.” He ended it with a smile before bowing at their professor. With that, the professor nodded before walking away. How or why he believed it was a mystery to the three.

As soon as the professor was out of sight, Daniel and Jinri both let out a soft laugh.

Seongwu, a little embarrassed and proud of what he did, let out a soft sigh of relief. He smiled as he ran his fingers through his hair. “That was a close one.”

“You could’ve gotten into some serious trouble, man. But I have to admit, nice save.” Daniel said, leaning closer to give Seongwu a high five.

Seongwu nodded. “Mm. I learned it from a senior. Works nine out of ten times.” He then turned to look at Jinri and smiled. “Thanks.”

Jinri swore she felt her heart skip a beat.

The things I do for you, Ong Seongwu.

**

Notes:

learned the sign of the cross excuse from my seniors, I have nothing against any religion and I'm not trying to make fun of it, so if I offended someone (i hope not), i am saying sorry in advance.
PS, HA SUNGWOON HAS THE PRETTIEST LIPS I CANNOT EVEN START

also, thank you for the comments! you guys make me feel so high i'm so crazy 너가 나를 본 순간~
lol see what i did there
but srsly, thank you for the comments! ily all, you make me want to continue writing this random lol
not going to edit anymore because lazy af hehet
see you in the next chapter keep loving wanna one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ps, talk to me in twitter if you feel like doing so

bye i'm really out xo