Tick tock, sounded the clock hanging on the far side of the room, the only sound in the otherwise dead silence.

Park Jihyo, a third-year student, sat at the counter, watching the clock hands slowly move with practiced patience. There was once a time where she thought books, mobile games, or online chatting would provide sufficient distraction from this depressing time of idle, but as time went by, all those activities proved to be even more of a chore in comparison with sitting still and watching the clock. Eventually, Jihyo abandoned all attempt of doing anything, opting for just thinking while her unfocused eyes drift to any noteworthy object beside herself- which, in this case, was the clock counting towards the end of her shift.

It was a quarter to five, which meant there was fifteen minutes left before she could leave the job for her band practice. Despite the excruciatingly bland job of hers, Jihyo was actually the leader of a quite successful university band named TWICE. In their two years of existence, they had garnered attention by partaking in various inter-school music competitions, and while they did not always win, they had for themselves quite a number of fans in the region where they lived. As expected- but not adequate, she always thought, of students currently enrolled in JYP- the country’s most prestigious music academy. Only by continually telling herself and her friends-slash-members that they were yet to live up to the school’s expectation could they get out of complacency and keep on practicing.

Jihyo’s part-time job at the mail room, where she was currently lounging, entailed sorting all incoming mails into respective mailboxes and, should it be packages too large to fit through the hole, giving them to the recipient directly when they showed up. It was by no means an interesting task, but it provided a steady source of income, and she need not do anything that might affect her stamina. Taking into account the amount of energy required for both schoolwork and band practice, it was the most fitting job she could find. That’s why, over time, she had come to appreciate the resting time she had, just sitting around staring at the ticking clock.

Still with that in mind, a human mind was not designed to endure boredom without a meaningful purpose. Jihyo knew that, and she had it covered already- hers was about to arrive any minute now.

The bigger hand on the clock eventually reached five, signaling its arrival with a resounding bell ring. As if on cue, the heavy wooden door on Jihyo’s left swung open, and in came a slender figure with long flowing brown hair. The girl meandered towards the towering rows of mailboxes, seemingly unaware of Jihyo’s stare fixated on her. She stopped after a dozen steps, reached for one upper box with little more than a slight tip-toe (she was tall, Jihyo noticed, most students would otherwise have to use the chairs). With practiced precision, she rotated the dial on her lockpad until it clicked (she brought her own too, the default ones must have failed her tastes), and pulled open the steel door. Jumping up a little, the unknown girl snuck a peak inside and, upon finding it empty (as expected, probably by both people present), promptly slammed the door shut. 

Quietly shuffling out of the mail office, the girl stopped at the door, and looked back at Jihyo with a hesitant glance. Jihyo smiled at her, shooting her a small wave. She nervously responded with the lightest of smiles before quickly departing, and Jihyo was alone again. This scene had repeated itself like a broken record, and for all her dedication and commitment, she had always left empty-handed; no letter, no postcards, not even a magazine.

Her name was Chou Tzuyu, and her locker number was 1401. That was all Jihyo knew of this girl.

Still, as time went by and their silent exchange continued for an entire semester, Jihyo decided she needed more than that.

_____

“Jihyo-unnie, I can basically draw an accurate picture of your five-o’clock girl by now, you don’t need to tell me anything else.” Dahyun sighed. Jihyo pouted at her dongsaeng’s lack of enthusiasm.

“Well sorry for ranting on about the only interesting thing in my afternoon Tofu.” She stuck her tongue out at the pale rapper. “Anyways, I have a plan.”

They were gathered in their dorm, where all eight members of TWICE resided together. It had been only Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Nayeon- the eldest among them at first, so they all stayed at their respective homes, only meeting up for practice and occasional hangouts. But when they got together with a dancing machine of a Japanese students- Hirai Momo, as well as the young rapper Kim Dahyun who asked to join TWICE as soon as they enrolled, they decided to move in a common dorm room. It was a miracle how quickly three groups of disparate backgrounds and personalities clicked together, and only then did the notion of TWICE become serious. That did not mean though, that every meeting of theirs had to be professional and strict.

Like now, when Momo was taking a nap on the couch and Nayeon was out somewhere on a club-related errand, the remaining members were just lounging around, idly watching TV or playing with their phone when Jihyo came up with her ingenious scheme.

“A plan to do what exactly?” Jeongyeon inquired curiously.

“To make acquaintance with this girl of course!” Jihyo answered with enthusiasm. “She’s clearly not the type you can just walk up and strike a conversation. Especially when we’ve been seeing each other everyday for a semester already, it’d just be weird if I talked to her now. That said, I need a proper plan, and I probably need all your help.”

She proceeded to tell her bandmates of what she had in mind. When she was done, both Jeongyeon and Dahyun looked at her with disturbed looks.

“Jihyo-unnie… That was strangely elaborate, yet so stupid at the same time.” Dahyun finally found her voice to comment. “Why would you wanna go that far just to talk to her? Did you fall in love with her already?”

“No! It’s just…” Jihyo hastily denied. Jeongyeon gave her a questioning look.

“Why then? Going through all that, while you can just walk up to her and say hi.”