I feel like I'm not even myself at this point. I flex my fingers around the strap of my backpack, unaware of my surroundings and completely distracted with my own daunting thoughts as I make my way to the studio. Just then, Eunwoo appears beside me, a bright smile plastered on her face as she chirps a cheerful greeting.

I hadn't seen Eunwoo since witnessing her dancing on the table at the party, totally intoxicated and having the time of her life. She's definitely got a wild side and the pink-hued hair added on to that flair of hers. 

"Where are you heading to?" She questions as she falls into step beside me, easily matching my pace.

"Studio with Professor Ahn, you?" I reply while flexing my fingers again. Maybe Eunwoo can help to distract me from these overwhelming thoughts. I welcome her presence as she continues to keep in step with me and I hear her let out an aggravated sigh.

"Chemistry which I'm completely at," she begins, her eyebrows kissing at the center of her forehead. "My professor is such a douche-bag and he doesn't slow down for anyone. I know I'm smart or whatever but even us geniuses have our weaknesses."

I begged to differ. As long as I've known Minkyung, I've yet to figure out a 'weakness' and that's over twenty years of friendship. 

"I hate science," I murmur, feeling Eunwoo's pain. She could only shake her head before peering at me, "you know, Sicheng's been talking about you lately."

"What do you mean?" I almost trip over a crack in the sidewalk and I think I've played it off but Eunwoo's little snicker tells me I hadn't done as well as I'd hoped. 

"He was just talking about how you guys danced at the party and how you're fun to be around." She goes on to tell me, her eyebrows no longer kissing. "Apparently, he really likes being your friend. I mean—I don't blame him, you are mad cool. You're Minkyung's best friend, why wouldn't you be?" 

I try to hide my vexation. It had been Minkyung and now, Eunwoo's doing it too.

Sicheng's actions alone show that he likes my company and if he didn't think that way, I'm sure he would have never invited me to grab a coffee or come all the way to my apartment three blocks from the university just to check up on me. I let Eunwoo's words simmer as I turn over the sentences she's blubbered in my mind repeatedly. 

I halt on the sidewalk and wait for Eunwoo to notice my abrupt stop before she turns around and confusingly beams at me, eyes wide and caught off guard. I catch the dullness of her irises which is usually vibrant and twinkling with that expected dazzling smile of hers she's always sporting to accompany but is currently nowhere to be found. Yet it's only then that I realize it and of course, I'd been to caught up in my own melodrama to even pick up on it.

I reach the studio a few minutes late but nonetheless, Professor Ahn pays no mind to my tardiness as I rush off to an empty desk. I pull out my sketchpad, a drawing pencil, and my laptop, pretending to follow along with the whatever Ahn is sputtering on about as I click through my hidden phone to compose a quick message to Minkyung. Currently, she's in one of her lectures, barely jotting down notes because again, genius and not paying any mind to her phone but despite it, I quickly type what I need to say in order to send it off as fast as I can. At least before Professor Ahn does catch on to the fact that I'm mentally blocking her out and she calls me out in front of everyone for it because she's been known to do it before.

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