The stillness of the air, the quietness of the room,  and the warmness of the entangled bodies, those are the things that are currently surrounding the four cornered walls as breaths continue to cycle rhythmically. "I'm confused," Mina stated, finally breaking the silence as she gently pushed the shoulders of the person in front of her. Her heart kept on thumping as if it wasn't aware that those words she just heard weren't confessions, not even near to an actual confession. Mina sighed knowing between the two of them, Chaeyoung was the last person to confess. Nonetheless, she was happy from hearing those words from the cub of her interest. Happy yet there was a stinging feeling. Heart's always the stupid one, anyway. 

"Lost even," she added trying hard to have a sincere smile on her face. She blinked once then twice from the lack of reply. "I need you to be my partner in art," Chaeyoung said with glints in her eyes. There it goes, the proper explanation and objectification of her I want you and I need you like what Mina had expected. Despite being informed with the true meaning of Chaeyoung's words, Mina's traitorous and stupid heart still skipped another beat from hearing and seeing how the cub replied. It's not like she didn't expect the revelation because she actually did, but she couldn't be blamed because Chaeyoung just have THAT effect on her. Despite the zero intent of the cub, Mina couldn't help but to reside on the sensation of hearing the words.

"Are you okay?" the cub held the penguin's face between her hands, "You're totally spacing out, Mina," she leaned, feeling the warmth on her palms and staring confusingly. Their faces were too close with one another. One face scrunched, seemingly like looking for all of the answers in the universe while the other looked like lost in the vastness of the same universe.

Mina finally landed back to her conscious self, "I would love to," placing her palms on the back of Chaeyoung's hands. Love to end her problem and frustration in art and at the same time love to see the cub with that genuine smile. She squeezed the other's hands, fighting the urge to gently place it on her lips and kiss it. God, I love this cub, she admitted to herself, making her heart not to skip a beat but to calm its beat. Mina was so sure that she was giving this heart eyes and heart smile to Chaeyoung because of the known fact that she couldn't help it. The penguin slowly removed the cub's paws on her cheeks; embarrassed how much blushing and heating she was doing and gave it a final squeeze.

"Ah! Really?!" Chaeyoung asked beaming another smile that was already smothering Mina's poor, weak heart. The taller girl nodded in agreement while selfishly keeping the younger's hands on hers. Holding hands isn't weird as long as the other person is thicker than the Earth's crust and mantle combined. The penguin thought that she might at least benefit with the cub's misleading statement earlier because Chaeyoung can be this kid who's oblivious with love.

"Thank you, Mina," Chaeyoung said relaxing her body  and giving the taller girl a calmer smile and look. Mina breathed as she watched the calmer cub. She loves this child-like Chaeyoung but she also loves this calmer and sweet Chaeyoung. To be honest, Mina loves every version of Chaeyoung that she can imagine: the drunk, the sober, the kid, and this regular Chaeyoung. She was way too lost inside the tiger's den and she kept on going deeper. "But I never tried human art," Chaeyoung explained apologetically, "And it may take some time to grasp it." Mina removed her hands from the cub and moved to her unforgotten phone, "Then we just have to spend more time to perfect your art," she said dismissing the uncertainties of the cub. She took her phone and stopped the playing music, "I know that but you're a med student," Chaeyoung said then pausing, "And you're probably super busy all the time." "Then, let me have a free will to turn down some of your invites," Mina said, going back to Chaeyoung's place.

She couldn't afford for Chaeyoung to back out from her own words especially when quality time with the cub was being at risk here. She reached a paint container that rolled out of the bag then she added, "How about that?" Chaeyoung took the container from Mina, "Thanks, really." "Just tell me if uhm you're not free on my requests, okay?" the cub said as she picked what she just bought this morning. They busied themselves with packing back the discarded items on the floor.

"Aren't you going back to dancing?" Chaeyoung asked, looking up to Mina who finished handing the items back to her. Mina smiled as she hinted the worry from the shorter girl's voice, "No, I wasn't planning to dance for long since I haven't had breakfast." "Good, I thought I disrupted your morning," Chaeyoung chuckled back, "Why don't you have breakfast in our dorm? It's closer to this department than where the regular diners are." "Sure, for free breakfast," Mina chuckled, agreeing with the offer. "Jeong's the one cooking though," Chaeyoung said as they headed out of the room.

-------

They were walking back to the place where Chaeyoung spotted Mina earlier, "So, how do we make this work?" the penguin interrupted their peaceful stroll. Chaeyoung looked over her right shoulder for she was leading the way to their dorm, "How about during some school breaks and maybe Saturdays if it's necessary, once my professor gave our next work?" she asked. "Six days a week sounds fair," Mina teased. The cub let out a quiet laugh, "Yeah, since I really need to practice and this is new to me, but don't worry it's not like I'll bother you. I'll just quietly sit the opposite and quietly sketch you." The penguin smiled, "We'll basically be spending a lot of time together then." The cub looked up to the bright sky and laughed, "You'll basically going to be sick of me, but I'll just probably bribe you with any not-pancake foods."

The two were already heading to the second floor after their brief deal and conversation. The cub had informed that their room was in the second floor of the building. "Hey, hand me your phone," the cub demanded while looking behind. Mina blinked for a moment before she reached and handed her phone. "Password," Chaeyoung said pointing the screen to the penguin. Mina tapped on the screen of the red cased phone follwed by the cub's own finger taps, then a short beep echoed their spot. "Here," Chaeyoung handed back the phone to its owner and reached for her own. "Peng-Mi-na," she spelled out as she continued to operate her phone. Another beep. Looking down, Mina received a text from an unregistered number.

She smiled to this little gesture of exchanging numbers, "Son-Cub-bers," she typed then showed it to the other girl. "Stop adding ridiculous names to my collection," Chaeyoung smiled, grabbing Mina's left hand. The penguin let herself to be pulled by the cub, "It's ridiculously cute names for you," she laughed then added, "Wait, wait, wait." This made the shorter girl to halt her movements, "What? Come on, breakfast," she said as she tugged the penguin's left hand. "I think Son Cubby is cuter," Mina said as she tapped on her phone again. Chaeyoung just groaned from the taller girl's silliness, "Consider this as my first bribery, Pengmina," said the cub, dragging the penguin to their front door.

Chaeyoung let go of Mina's hand when she opened their door. "Chaeng, you're just in time for… Mina?" Jeongyeon asked when she saw the girl behind her roommate. Chaeyoung and Mina — who bowed her head — entered the room, "Yeah, she's going to have breakfast with us," the cub said while gesturing her hand for the penguin to take a seat in front of their table. Mina followed through the cub's instruction, "Be right back, I'm going to put this in my room," she said, leaving her best friend and art partner in the dining area. The silver haired girl looked at her roommate's morning visitor, "Good morning, Jeongyeon," she smiled. "Yeah, okay. What's going on here?" Jeongyeon asked knitting her brows together. "Oh, I asked her to be my art partner," Chaeyoung said as she quickly emerged from her room. "She's basically my solution for my failing career in art," she added while looking back to her friends.

Jeongyeon flipped the bacons on the pan, "That doesn't make any sense," the taller girl said, still confused with the given information. "I saw her dancing in one of the arts' buildings," Chaeyoung replied as she pulled a seat for herself. "You mean ballet?" Jeongyeon asked as she placed the plate of bacons on the table. "Yeah, that," the cub pointed her finger in dead air, then she poured Mina a mug of coffee. "I got inspired and decided to heed what Tofu said," she said, moving the plate to Mina's direction. The penguin kept on quietly watching the cub who was attending to her needs. She finds the attentive cub really cute.

"And you're okay with this, Mina?" the eldest asked as she sat on her own seat. "Yes, I mean she gave me this freedom to turn down any of her invites," the penguin said, joining the roommates' conversation. She reached for the bacons, "Thanks for the food. So to put it simply, I pretty much hold our schedules," she added. Jeongyeon knowingly chuckled, "Of course, you're okay with this. Just…" the silver haired girl reached on her right where the cub was seated, "Don't bother her too much. She's a med student," she said, messing with Chaeyoung's hair. 

Chaeyoung swatted her roommate's hand away from her, "I won't. Jeez, Jeong, stop messing my hair." "Ah, baby beast is really cute," Jeongyeon heartily chuckled, "Right?" the silver haired girl directed to the penguin. From the hints Jeongyeon kept on giving, Mina could safely deduced that the eldest knew what was going between the two of them. "She is," the penguin agreed. "Stop, I'm not cute," Chaeyoung pouted to the two, "Just eat."

"Yes, you are," Jeongyeon laughed, she likes to annoyingly tease the cub in front of other people. "I'm already 18 and I refuse to be called cute," Chaeyoung said as she shove a bacon in . Mina just shyly smiled, savoring her moment with the cub. They ate their breakfast with minimal conversation, and with Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon's banter. When they finished eating, "Thanks for the delicious breakfast," Mina smiled while sending her gratitude to the two. Jeongyeon took the used plates in front of her, "Are you leaving now, Mina?" The penguin just nodded to this question, "It's laundry day for me." "Baby beast, walk her out," the taller occupant commanded as she brought the plates to their sink.

The cub gestured for the penguin, "Come on, I'll walk you out," she smiled. When the two were outside the building, "Thank you for walking me out, Cubby," Mina faced Chaeyoung then smiled. "I don't see why I'm a cub," she started, "I am more of a tiger." The penguin laughed softly, "Tiger? Where?" she feigned ignorance. "I am a tiger," she smirked. Chaeyoung walked closer to Mina, then slowly rounding her as if acting like she had caught her prey. Chaeyoung, now standing behind Mina, leaned and whispered in a husked voice, "In many ways," then she blew air past through her prey's neck. Mina's right hand flew on her neck where the puff of air landed, "Stop it," she demanded while facing the other girl. "You're a cub because of these floppy ears of yours," the talle