Her phone hummed in the back pocket of her jeans just as she had finished brushing her hair, getting rid of any knots.  

Joohyun put the brush back into the bathroom cabinet before fishing the device out of her pocket.  

She felt her breath getting stuck in  as her eyes settled on the name of the person responsible for the fluttery feelings she had been experiencing.  

From Seungwan: 

‘'Hey, do you still want to go together?’’ 

She bit her lip at the thought.  

After having spent time together yesterday, she had felt more comfortable being around Seungwan.  However, the ticklish feelings didn’t seem to disappear. 

She wondered why. 

Joohyun unlocked her phone and started typing away. 

To Seungwan: 

‘'Yes’' 

She frowned at the message. 

Do I sound too aloof? 

Joohyun pressed Delete, before hitting the keys once again. 

To Seungwan: 

‘'Yes, of course! 🙂’' 

The older girl scratched the back of her neck in thought.  

Does this sound like I’m way too overjoyed? Is this smiley emoji passive-aggressive or ingenuine? Don’t people usually use it when they are annoyed? 

...wow Joohyun, why are you so bad at this? 

A heavy sigh escaped her mouth, her frustration growing.  

Joohyun took a glance at her face in the mirror, before quickly turning her back towards her reflection due to embarrassment.  

She tapped her foot on the floor, feeling the pressure slowly dominating her.  

At this point her only wish was to have some confidence and basic social skills. More particularly, texting skills. 

Her eyes were glued to the screen, hoping she would come up with a better sentence to send. 

Hmm... maybe if... 

Joohyun deleted both the smiley and the point of exclamation. 

She read the sentence one last time before pressing Send. 

To Seungwan 

‘'Yes, of course xx’' 

That felt a bit better. Not aloof, not clingy. Just well-balanced. 

Not that it calmed her down anyway.  

She continued to stare at the screen, her heart skipping a beat as soon ‘read’ popped up, the few seconds of silence feeling like the most dreadful moment she had ever experienced in the entirety of her life.  

The butterflies in her stomach were shot through a canon aimed at her heart as she heard the sound of a new message. 

From Seungwan: 

‘'Great! I’m actually ready to go. How about you? Should I wait in front of your door?’' 

From Seungwan: 

‘'I mean, I know it’s literally a 3 second walk from my door to yours but you know... yea...’' 

Joohyun chuckled at the thought of Seungwan awkwardly typing the last few words.  

To be honest, she did feel relieved knowing she was not the only one to feel a bit clumsy when texting someone. 

That sense of comfort did not last long as the alarms in her head went off. 

Oh , she is already done, and I have to brush my teeth and grab my jacket and my bag and my shoes and- 

She snatched her purple toothbrush and put some tooth paste on it before quickly typing a response. 

To Seungwan: 

‘'On my way, just give me 1-2 minutes!’' 

Joohyun read the younger girl’s name over and over again. 

She felt unsettled at the absence of a nickname for Seungwan. Simply saving the latter under her name made her feel as if she was dismissing the blonde girl and labelling her as just an acquaintance, someone insignificant.  

However, Joohyun wanted to come up with a nickname that held a special meaning to it, and as for now there was none. Yet. 

The older girl absently brushed her teeth as she thought of reasons, of causes. 

Why was there such a need to give her a special nickname?  Why was she being such perfectionist when texting her? Why did the thought of being able to talk with the blonde girl give her goose bumps paired up with a grin from ear-to-ear on her face? 

Unanswered questions that were, in some way, already answered. 

Joohyun’s eyes continuously drifted back-and-forth from the door to her phone, hoping for some strength sent by the universe. 

Not wanting for Seungwan to wait much longer, the black-haired girl inhaled and exhaled to relieve a bit of stress as she pushed the door handle down.  

The older girl could have sworn that everything felt like a dream for a moment. 

The sight of Seungwan turning her head away from the paintings at the sound of a door being opened, her right hand holding on to the bag strap which was hanging off her shoulder, the tip of her tongue between her teeth, slowly forming itself into a smile, the twinkle in her eyes.  

Joohyun wished she had been able to catch that moment with a camera and replay it over and over again, even though she was sure that nothing would measure up against the real-life experience, against the privilege of observing the blonde girl with her own eyes.  

That display reminded her of the night when Seungwan had come over to join them with dinner. The day she would never forget. Their first day. 

‘'Hey... good morning’', Seungwan greeted, her soothing voice instantly calming the older girl. 

‘'Hi...’', Joohyun replied, unable to take her eyes off her. 

She could have sworn Seungwan had gotten even more beautiful compared to yesterday. 

Was that even possible? 

Unbelievabl... 

...bly cheesy! Joohyun, please get a hold of yourself! 

Joohyun felt her cheeks burning due to embarrassment.  

She had always disliked things that were too cheesy, and yet here she was, thinking of words that she would rather avoid hearing in movies. 

‘'So... are you ready to go?’', Seungwan asked as she kept her eyes on the slightly taller girl. 

The latter blinked a few times, before slowly nodding in response. 

Daydreaming, being in a trance, blinking in order to get out of my head, all whilst standing in front of the person responsible for it? Joohyun, it seems like you are caught up in some kind of routine... 

‘'Let me just lock the door...’' 

Joohyun fished a keychain out of the pocket of her black jacket, her fingers slightly shaking as she quickly searched for the key that matched with the lock.  

She secretly prayed to not make a fool of herself and do everything flawlessly, which meant not dropping the keys, finding the suitable one, and getting over and done with it. 

The universe seemed to have listened as she completed all of her personal missions at a fast pace.  

‘'Alright, I’m done.’' 

Joohyun bit her lip as she searched for some courage to make eye contact with the blonde, without showing any signs of her constant internal conflicts. 

They walked towards the exit of the building in silence. 

‘'Did you sleep well?’', Seungwan asked, sounding genuinely curious about the matter.  

The older girl’s heart sped up as she remembered the thoughts that popped up in her head that night. 

The truth was that she had been unable to sleep for a few hours, thinking of no one else than the person who was currently accompanying her. 

She had spent those hours on the balcony, reflecting on the time they had spent together at the park, recalling what Seungwan had revealed concerning her past and regretting not being able to comfort her the way she wanted.  

Joohyun had felt her own heart ache every time she thought about the shorter girl’s pain. 

It still ached. 

‘'I couldn’t sleep right away... it actually took me awhile. But I fell asleep eventually.’' 

‘'Oh why? Are you okay?’', Seungwan put her hand on Joohyun’s shoulder, and despite the layers of clothes covering her skin, the latter felt a surge of electricity flow through her body. The unexpected touch had definitely caught her off guard. 

Oh god, this can’t be healthy. 

‘'Y-yes'', Joohyun’s voice was shaking and she internally cursed herself for it. ‘'I... guess I’m one of those people who is like... bad at sleeping early and at waking up early...’' 

‘'Ah really? Hmm...’', Seungwan pressed her lips together as she sunk in her thoughts. Joohyun suppressed a smile at the view. 

Cute. 

She wanted to hug her and kiss her cheek and hold her tight so badly that it felt like torture not being able to do so. She felt like crying and laughing at the same time. 

Joohyun shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts and emotions. 

Ridiculous.  

‘'I’m actually pretty good at waking up early’', Seungwan suddenly remarked. ‘'You would never run late again.’' 

The older girl’s eyes widened at the last 3 words. ‘Wh... what?’' 

‘'Yea, I mean... you are bad at waking up early and I’m fine with it. So, I would be like... the one to wake you up and you would never be late again.’' 

Joohyun bit her lip at the thought of seeing the girl’s face every morning. She would replace any alarm in the world in order to wake up to her voice.  

‘'Ah... I... uh... that’s...’', Joohyun flinched at her poor choice of words, if she could even call it words to begin with. 

Seungwan chuckled at Joohyun’s failed attempt to construct a coherent sentence. 

‘'Don’t worry, don’t worry. I won’t barge into your house. Don’t think you would appreciate that. Neither would Seulgi. I feel like she would karate-kick me out of the window.’' 

The older girl giggled at the scenario. 

‘'Yea... she most certainly wo