Enjoy

It was only two weeks into the new semester that Seulgi learned a lot of things from going to university.

It is practical to always be on time.

When she was late for the first time, she missed a quiz in her mathematics class. Considering that it was a part of her grade and her studying the night before went to waste, she vowed to sacrifice her precious sleep for weekdays. She was resolute on sleeping in every time she can. However, the universe might not agree with her.

High school and college are two DIFFERENT circles of hell.

Back in high school, things were fairly easy as they had a set curriculum that was quite general or basic. For someone as hardworking as Seulgi, not many difficulties were faced but the expectations to keep excelling almost exhausted her at one point. College, on the other hand, seem to throw everyone to the breeze to pick themselves up. Some professors were kind and accommodating in teaching while others completely assume that you know everything, a hardworking student can only take so much.

For example…

Case 1:

Physics 101, physical motions in space, is a required class for her major. She has Professor Kim Heechul for this class. So far, he was engaging in each meeting and isn’t offended whenever there are questions from his students. He sometimes jokes around in class but takes the effort to connect it with the topic. And according to him, “if you don’t ask now, you might regret it later.” It almost sounded as if it was from personal experience but no one may ever know.

Case 2:

Chemistry 10, general ideas and concepts in modern chemistry, is another required class. Professor Son Junho was rumoured to be away a lot for research purposes. At the start, they already had a diagnostic test so the professor has an idea on where to start with the class’ difficulty level. The test was fairly easy with familiar concepts, however, Professor Son emphasized that he will be e-mailing problem sets every week for each new lesson… before discussion. This then left students to pave the path towards becoming self-taught people.

Talk to your roommate especially if the two of you see each other frequently in or outside of class.

After checking out the dance club’s room on her first day, Seulgi was able to meet her roommate when she returned to the dormitory. Awkward greetings were shared and some arrangements were made. Her roommate was Jung Whee In, architecture major just like her. Surprisingly, the other girl is a year younger than her. When she asked how and why she is already taking her college degree, Whee In simply told her with a shrug.

“My parents wanted me to go to school earlier because they thought I might get bored if I don’t ‘get to explore the world sooner’. Their words, not mine.”

What she said was weird but a reason nonetheless. Maybe she had a lot of interests at this point or she started school early.

The first time they saw each other outside the dorms was in the dance club. Like her, Whee In knew a senior who was already a member. Also, Seulgi was surprised that her roommate could get as wild as she is without a drop of alcohol. They met in the club shortly after getting acquainted. The moment Seulgi entered the room with music blasting from all directions, her roommate greeted her enthusiastically.

“Seulgi-unnie, you’re here too!”

‘The excitement in the room must have gotten to her,’ Seulgi thought.

Seulgi simply returned the greeting with a wave and a shy smile, unused to the attention directed at her.

Almost as if she were a puppy, Whee In came running and pulled her along to meet the people she was previously talking to.

“Unnie you should’ve said you like dancing too,” Whee In suddenly said.

“Well, we didn’t have a chance to talk about our hobbies last night,” Seulgi replied sheepishly.

“That’s okay,” she replied calmly. “The auditions haven’t started yet so we can talk for a while, unnie.”

Whee In then proceeded to give her a sweet smile that Seulgi can’t help but adore as her unnie. The two of them then settled in a corner within the dance room beside the wall mirrors. Just then, a person a few steps away from them went near.

“Hey pup, do you want something to eat? I’m going to buy snacks,” the unknown person suddenly asked.

Both girls turned to the newcomer and Seulgi saw someone vaguely familiar though she now had navy blue hair but with the same nose-assisted smile.

“Yeah unnie, could you get me a box of chocolate Peppero?” Whee In then turned to her roommate. “How about you, Seulgi-unnie?”

As soon as you meet new faces, old ones have a chance of appearing too.

“Ddeulgi?” the still-stranger said to her hesitantly.

A flash of recognition passed through Seulgi’s eyes and she was able to identify the unnie next door who always played with her back then before she moved away from the city because of her asthma.

“Byulie-unnie? Is that you?”

The girl in front of her smiled widely, showing off her nose muscles and cheekbones. She then proceeded to ruffle Seulgi’s hair just like she did back then.

“Yep Kang Ddeulgi, it’s me, Moon Byulie,” the blue-haired girl replied.

“But unnie I thought you need to be away from the city for you to get better,” Seulgi said sceptically.

Byulie only smiled softly at her childhood friend and explained her situation.

“Well, I didn’t take dancing as a hobby for nothing Seul. It helped improved my breathing,” Byulie said. “And this university offered the major I wanted, not to mention I got to meet my two little sisters again after a long time, the two of you are officially the pup and the bear,” she finished with a smile.

“But unnie we saw each other just over a month ago,” Whee In suddenly piped in.

“Yah Jung Whee In, I’m being honest here.” Byulie then took the youngest girl in a headlock while laughing.

Seulgi laughed softly at the situation around her. She met again with someone whom she hadn’t seen in a long while and gained another new friend in the process. Maybe being in the dance club now would be fun with more friends.

Speaking of new friends…

The first new person you meet in a new place can become your best friend.

After the first meeting in Music 1, Seulgi and Seungwan went together to the Physics building in the campus’ Science Complex. They simply laughed off the coincidence and went to their respective classes. Although she might be slow at times, Seulgi definitely noticed something different about the shorter girl. She went to the direction of where the high profile laboratories are instead of the lecture halls where everyone is.

When her class with Professor Kim ended, Seulgi tried to look for Wendy to see if the other girl was willing to get lunch with her and discuss some of their plans for Professor B’s first activity. Imagine her surprise when she glimpsed at her friend operating expensive looking lab equipment as if it was child’s play. Seeing her friend busy, she settled on a bench nearby continuing her sketches from earlier. She’s free for the next three hours anyway.

Seulgi then heard footsteps approaching and looked up only to be face to face with her professor from earlier.

“Miss Kang? Do you need anything from the laboratory?” Mr Kim asked kindly.

“Oh, no sir I’m just waiting for my friend Seungwan. I was just going to ask her if it’s okay that we grab lunch together,” Seulgi replied.

Mr Kim smiled amusedly at her.

“You do know that you can knock on the door Miss Kang?”

“But sir, I don’t think I should do that,” Seulgi started to which Mr Kim raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want to disturb her since she’s concentrating so much.”

True to her words, the other girl’s features were contorted in a way that somehow screams “do not disturb” with eyebrows drawn together and her lips slightly pouting, looking like she’s figuring out something.

Once again amused by his student, Mr Kim simply turned to the lab’s door. He knocked three times then opened the door as soon as he saw Wendy let go of the elaborate equipment.

“Miss Son, someone is looking for you,” he said with a smile.

At the mention of someone, the girl semi-scrambled to where the professor is standing. Mr Kim held the door for her considering the papers she is carrying. When she saw Seulgi, a smile blossomed on her face and she tried waving to the bear while holding papers. Seulgi returned the wave with a smile too and watched as the smaller brunette went into another room in the hallway. The taller brunette then waited for another few minutes while sketching when hands suddenly covered her eyes.

“Hi Seungwan” Seulgi greeted while smiling.

A light giggle resounded from behind and then her eyes were freed from the darkness.

“Have you been waiting long?” Wendy asked.

“Not really, Professor Kim actually dismissed us early since it’s only the first day,” Seulgi answered. “What were you doing in there anyway? You looked like someone diffusing a time bomb.”

“I’ll tell you later,” Wendy replied. “Let’s get some lunch first.”

Seulgi let herself be led by the smaller girl. They soon stopped by the building canteen and bought take-out food for themselves. After that, they settled to eat lunch at the complex park nearby with trees shading them from the midday sun.

When they were settled, Wendy took a breath then answered Seulgi’s question from earlier.

“Remember when I told you that I’m here on a foreign exchange program and I’m sort of a freshman?” the taller girl only nodded. “Actually I’m here to finish my doctorate research.”

The delicious lunch they were eating went down the wrong path to Seulgi’s stomach. Hearing Seulgi’s sharp intake of breath, Wendy turned to her to find out that she was choking on her food. Wendy immediately went to pat her friend’s back. Strong enough to help her cough the food out yet gentle enough not to hurt her. Luckily, Seulgi survived and was given a bottle of water from Wendy. When she finally settled, they were both quiet. One of them still was absorbing the information while the other was busy eating her food.

“How old are you?”

It was now Wendy’s turn to choke on her food. Seulgi reacted fast enough and did what Seungwan has done for her earlier. The cat-eyed girl waited for a few seconds before offering the water bottle that was given to her before. The other girl swiftly took the bottle and gulped mouthfuls. Finally, Wendy found the breath to answer the question.

“I was born on February 21, 1994 so I just turned 20 this year,” Wendy answered calmly.

Fortunately, Seulgi did not continue eating for a moment or else an instant replay would be seen. She just met someone her own age but was leagues away from her in terms of achievements.

“Wow…” she totally had no words for that.

Wendy was rubbing her neck and looked away shyly seeing Seulgi’s wide eyes on her.

“So-uhh, how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I just turned 20 too, last February 10,” Seulgi regained her composure. “It’s cool that we’re really close in age.”

It seemed like today had too much surprises for either of them. When Wendy mentioned “doctorate,” Seulgi thought she was another vampire. Her Irene-unnie always looked younger than how she really is and can be easily mistaken for a teenager whose features froze in time. Seungwan somehow thought that her and the bear were of the same age but didn’t imagine the gap would only be 11 days.

“When did you graduate college if you’re taking your doctorate right now?” Seulgi asked curiously.

“I was 16 at the time,” Wendy began. “Right after that, one of my professors wanted me to push my thesis further while getting a master’s degree at the same time. Somehow some people wanted to know how far my research can get so now I’m here.”

In awe of what Wendy just told her, Seulgi remained speechless for a few minutes more. She then observed that her friend looks bashful of her achievements while saying them. Seulgi took pity on her and dropped the subject for today.

“Oh by the way, what do you want to do in music class for Wednesday?”

Grateful for the topic change, bashful Seungwan was replaced by cheerful Wendy.

“Are you free tomorrow?” Wendy asked. “I actually have a lot to do in the lab for today so I don’t think I’ll be able to meet you later,” she finished.

“That’s okay. I’ll just text you whenever I’m free tomorrow.” She then thought of another idea. “Or I could just drop by the lab. I just hope Mr Kim won’t mind seeing me by the bench.”

“You should just drop by,” Wendy said with a giggle. “Mr Kim does like seeing new faces every now and then. He told me once that sometimes he’s getting sick of his colleagues’ faces.”

They shared a brief laugh over Mr Kim’s first world problem and finished their lunch with no more surprises in comfortable silence. Since Wendy still had to get finished in the lab for today, they bid each other goodbye for the day and promised to meet up tomorrow.

Routines are not so bad when with the right people.

After that first day in class, Irene and Seulgi meet up every morning to get breakfast together. Back in high school, they were a force to be reckoned with as a duo in dancing. Although they became close to each other easily back then, the became a factor in their friendship and Irene graduated when Seulgi just became a sophomore. It wasn’t necessarily a big thing as they still got to message each other and hang out every summer when Irene is home from university.

Mornings are special since her unnie chose to spend her only free time hanging out with her even for a while. Other than mornings, Bae Joohyun’s free time can be seen spent on either the dance club or rehearsing for the upcoming theatre programs. Seulgi was initially worried of the upperclassman’s workload but she looked like she’s enjoying herself. The bear just then settled on reminding her to not neglect her health especially sleep to which the older girl replied, “Sleep is for the weak but I’ll be sure to have some, bear.”

Lunches were always spent with Seungwan. It just so happened that the end of Physics 101 was just near lunch time and she has this class daily. Because of this, Professor Kim is slowly becoming used to seeing one of his students near the lab area. Whenever she and Wendy are eating, their conversation topics range from the best pet animals to where did the Earth come from. Anytime they are conversing this comfortably with the most unusual topics, Seulgi can’t help but think that maybe she’s meant to meet Seungwan. The other girl was mostly outgoing but also sensitive of her surroundings. Additionally, she humours Seulgi’s curious questions most of the time.

“So what’s your research about?”

“I don’t think I can say yet if I’m not finished with it.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. But can you tell me why you started it?”

“I got too excited with my new phone back then that I sort of hacked it.”

“Woah… what happened to your phone?”

“I’m not sure if I can explain it to you without sounding alien but I kind of messed up its system.”

“Wow. I think the weirdest that I can do to my phone is breaking it.”

Wendy just laughed at her.

Evenings are mostly spent hanging out with Whee In and Byulie. They usually have dinner together in the campus after dance club but sometimes the eldest girl takes out the younger two to somewhere quiet and off campus. Other times, they have arcade hang-outs when they don’t have early classes the next morning. During these times, Seulgi got to know that her childhood playmate was actually studying computer engineering.

“Unnie why did you take your major?”

“Hmmm? It’s because I think gadgets are cool you know. And my dad wanted me to take his position at his tech company sometime in the future.”

In addition, she never knew this unnie was a total girl crush outside the dance club.

One time, she spotted Byulie entering the music building with a few girls trailing right behind her. When she smiled at the friends she was passing by, she noticed the fangirls were trying to snap pictures of her. Sometimes when the three of them were just leaving the club room, a girl randomly shouted “You’re so hot even when you’re sweaty Moon Byulie!”

Whee In laughed loudly while Byulie waved at her fan awkwardly, but not without hitting the pup on the shoulder for laughing.

College is shaping up to be weird and fascinating for Seulgi but she knows that she likes it so far.

A/N: I think I need help in knowing my priorities.