"I'm sorry I'm late again! Had a bad disaster on the way here," Krystal squeaks, running into the student government room the next morning. Jooyoung doesn't say anything as she fumbles into her seat, but instead glances over her laptop just to see Minseok's reaction. His face is hidden behind his own laptop but she can so imagine the utter annoyance written all over it. Her bad disaster probably means something like a strand of hair out of place, but whatever. No one wants to deal with that now. 

"Okay, let's start this week's meeting!" Krystal says abruptly, in a voice too cheery for the general morning mood. "Vicey, do you have anything you want to update us about?"

Jooyoung clears . "I did up the first draft of the general proposal for our upcoming student government termly project and sent it to the Executive Committee already, so can the members of the Executive Committee look through it and add comments? By this weekend, please."

Minseok looks up from his laptop. "Oh, I've also done up the expenditure record for this month, and if anyone has money they need to claim from the board just approach me with the official receipts by tomorrow night. I'll be sending the finalised copy to all of you as soon as possible."

Slowly everyone with announcements says whatever needs to be said, and the focus is back on Krystal. Jooyoung notices the nail file that she slid under the table before everyone looked back at her. She resists the urge to scoff and instead addresses her as casually as she can afford to. "So, how's the proposal for our dialogue session with the students going?"

Krystal's eyes momentarily widen, before bites her lip and pouts slightly. Her wavy locks cascade off her shoulders when she tilts her head downwards. The entire student government knows what that expression means all too well.

"You're not done?" Jooyoung asks, and she knows her tone comes out slightly accusing. The room falls silent.

See — Jooyoung never means to personally attack Krystal. If Krystal does her part and doesn't need her Vice President to always push for her to get things done, nothing Jooyoung says will be an attack at all. (Instead, honestly, it is Krystal that is slowly killing Jooyoung by making her angry all the time and probably raising her blood pressure dangerously high every single meeting.)

Krystal nods slowly, and Jooyoung sighs under her breath.

"Sorry, Vicey," she fidgets at her seat, looking sheepish. "I haven't started. I forgot it's due for approval tomorrow."

Minseok is the one who responds this time, after a long gap of silence no one knows how to fill. "You haven't done anything? Not even the general details portion?"

"Yeah..."

Jooyoung swallows. "You're relatively free to work on this today, right? I'm free to help you with the proposal so we can all complete it on time." That is a lie, but it can't be helped — it doesn't matter that Jooyoung's schedule is packed for the day, this needs to take priority and has to be done.

"I have a netball match in the evening. And you know it too, my coach wants us to gather for training before the match long before it starts in the afternoon. I gotta leave right after my last lecture for today," she says, her lower lip jut out in a way Jooyoung can't tell whether it's supposed to be cute or not. But, oh gosh. This is not the time to think about Krystal's lip. Oh gosh, oh gosh.

Jooyoung feels her heart wrench in dread and stress and utter anxiety. She feels her head getting lighter, so she rests her chin on her propped up hands to support it. Closing her eyes, she begins to work out a timeline for this emergency. If she skips one lecture, she should be able to work out the general timeline and write something acceptable for the aims and objectives portion. And she'll skip lunch too — yeah, that's what she'll do. And then she'll bring her laptop to the convenience store for her shift afterwards to continue working on the proposal.

Okay, her life is (relatively) under control. Jooyoung inhales and exhales the way she learnt when she searched online 'how to stop being so stressed'.

"I have it all under control," she asserts again, half to convince herself, and half addressing the student government body present. Krystal looks visibly relieved that she is handling it well and Jooyoung decides to ignore her for that.

"If no one has anything else to say we'll conclude the meeting here for today. Don't forget to follow-up to the announcements and prepare everything you need to before the next meeting!" Krystal then chitters.

This time Minseok makes eye contact with Jooyoung. They share a look that screams 'ironic' (Krystal telling the student government to complete everything they needed to when she pushed all her responsibilities to Jooyoung on the day of the meeting? What a joke).

Jooyoung leaves before she gets aggravated further and goes to buy a cup of coffee before rushing off to her tutorial. She had stayed up late the night before to proofread Kyungsoo's essay in exchange for him proofreading hers. Jooyoung had to say, his essay was really good — almost professor-standard, and when she submitted hers to the online portal at the end of the day she felt a little bad about the standard of her own writing.

But ah well. At least that's off her plate — it isn't time to worry about that now.

Professor Park's tutorials and lectures are almost always full, because he doesn't tolerate people randomly skipping his classes, especially not when he deems a student's work substandard. Jooyoung takes a deep breath and tries to think about random Disney movies (according to the Internet, it helps to think about nice things — she's searched it up before as well) to get rid of her moodiness.

It doesn't help, so she sighs and leans back in her seat, making sure not to look to upset because she's supposed to look cool and unbothered.

Professor Park barks that he's returning the reports that they had done previously in the form of presentations, and Jooyoung goes up to collect her results when her name is being called. She doesn't look at her results until she returns to her seat — and even when she does, it takes her long to pluck up enough courage to flip the paper over to reveal her grade.

She turns the paper over. Her eyes glaze over all the words, and stops when it reaches a red marking.

Credit.

Her heart falls. She feels her eyes spring with abrupt tears, but she hurriedly blinks them back and clears softly. What is wrong with today?

Jooyoung casually flips the paper over again to hide her grade and leans back in her seat still, trying to look chill, and it probably works because people are staring at her with a look Jooyoung knows is probably amazement and envy.

She tries to comfort herself by reminding herself once again that this is Professor Park's class, and in Professor Park's classes only one student gets a High Distinction. So a Credit is good enough — yeah, it is. (But Jooyoung has never gotten just a Credit — or even merely a Distinction — since she started college. Man, she didn't make do with anything less than an A and a GPA of 4.5 in high school. That's what's sad.) Her thoughts are playing with her brain and she tries to think of Disney movies again, but she can't concentrate.

It doesn't help to overhear the conversation of the students in front of her, and it annoys Jooyoung that it's the only thing that is actually registering with her brain now.

"What grade do you think Han Jooyoung got?"

"I call a High Distinction or Distinction! I mean, her grade is definitely much better than my mere Pass. But anyhow, I'm satisfied enough with my passing grade. I genuinely thought I was going to fail Prof PCY's class."

"At first I was thinking Han Jooyoung probably got a HD, but now I think she got Distinction as well. You know Prof's unofficial only-one-student-gets-HD rule? Apparently Do Kyungsoo got it. The report he presented was on how the pattern of availability heuristic changes in different personality types."

"What in the world? He got HD even after attempting such a difficult question?"

"Didn't I tell you? He's pure genius."

Jooyoung hopes no one sees her upset expression. She knows she's probably just being petty right now, but honestly, she feels no one can really blame her — it's a disastrous morning. First came the ultra-bad student government meeting, and now the fact that her grade falls deep beneath her expectations. She's now just slightly glad no one knows her horrible grade. Maybe it's part of her personality, how she can't take disappointment and failure, or how important grades are to her, but at this point of time the world just seems to have left her alone on its bare surface.

And of course Do Kyungsoo is the one getting the HD. The Do Kyungsoo who plays Diner Dash instead of doing work and doesn't even care about his grades. The Do Kyungsoo who keeps spending her money like its his. The Do Kyungsoo who, well, Jooyoung was beginning to like talking to (just a little bit) because she could say literally anything and everything around him.

She pokes at her paper with a capped pen.

Yuck, Do Kyungsoo. Stupid Do Kyungsoo.

___________________________________________________

At her shift later in the afternoon it is quiet in the store, a rarity especially when both Jina and Jooyoung has shifts at the same time. Jooyoung works on the proposal for the student government, typing rapidly, her fingers stopping only when she reaches out for her canned coffee (her second one that day) and takes big, needy gulps.

Jina fiddles with the buttons on the cash machine, arranges the snacks on the shelves neatly (although they are properly placed already), and hovers around the store, having nothing to do because Jooyoung is busy and she knows better than to disturb her. Soon she returns to the counter and plops herself beside Jooyoung, settling down on her phone.

"It's so quiet," Jina sing-songs, eyeing her coworker. She is more than bored, and would literally do anything do get Jooyoung to talk to her. It doesn't happen — Jooyoung either pretends not to hear her, or really doesn't because she is working on the proposal with total concentration. Either way, she doesn't respond at all, much to the chagrin of Jina.

Just then the bell at the door rings and Jina shoots upwards, slightly over-enthusiastic about their customer. And then Jina starts to chuckle, and sits back down, leaning ever so slightly towards Jooyoung.

"Your boy is here," she mutters, and this is when Jooyoung finally tears her gaze away from her laptop. Kyungsoo strides to the counter after selecting a drink. Today, his small build just reminds her of her Credit, and how small she feels for the first time in a long while.

"Hey," he addresses the both of them, but he looks at Jooyoung specially, waving the drink at her. It's a cheap drink, and it's on discount, so her wallet wouldn't suffer today from paying for it. But somehow the way he shakes the drink in front of her face is so horribly obnoxious that she feels a surge of impatience rise up her being.

"Pay for it yourself," she says, every word slicing the air sharply. It seems Jina and Kyungsoo are both dense, because none of them take her seriously. Kyungsoo merely mouths a 'thanks' while Jina jokingly reaches her hand out for money.

"Do Kyungsoo!" She shouts this time, feeling her self-control explode in her like lava. Her body feels molten from utter annoyance, especially when he merely raises his eyebrows and retracts the drink. At least Jina has the decency to look a little scared and guilty.

"Can you stop coming here, and stop expecting me to pay for your everything, and just stop appearing in front of me? You're so annoying!" She belligerently shouts. Her hands are awkwardly in the air, and she doesn't know what to do with them, so she just slams them on the table and goes back to her work. Nothing is going right for her today — Kyungsoo is one of the last people she wants to see, and yet he's the only customer in ages to turn up at their store. Every detail of his face just seems to nag at Jooyoung about her broken straight-HD record and how disappointed she is in herself. It .

She doesn't look up from her laptop a second time, and only hears the bell ring again as Kyungsoo exits the store. Then she hears the cash register opening and Jina carefully slipping coins in.

"Don't pay for him!" She barks, and Jina jumps ever so slightly behind her. Jooyoung catches the slight movement, though, and her anger dissipates for a split second.

"It's his own money," Jina says softly. There is a brief silence as Jooyoung goes back to her work, and it is painfully awkward for Jina as she hesitatingly sits herself back down.

"You alright?" She asks carefully, and Jooyoung manages a quick nod.

"You don't look alright," she states. Jooyoung ignores her and continues jabbing her keyboard furiously — she's almost done, finally, finally, finally. Nothing will distract her now, not until the end.

"Want to catch a drink later? I can call Minseok, you know he's my senior in one of my medicine courses and I have his number. Drinking will help you forget your troubles," Jina tries, but Jooyoung doesn't give as much as a reply. After a few seconds of waiting, Jina decides she's probably never getting a response out of Jooyoung and turns away to call Minseok anyway. She speaks to him in a whisper — but it won't matter actually even if she shouts because Jooyoung doesn't hear anything she says both ways.

The hands on the clock of the convenience store tick slowly. It's the only sound in the store for a while.

Jooyoung feels a sense of satisfaction creep up her body, tingling her senses as she begins writing up the last part of the proposal.

Jina waits, changing her wallpaper to a different picture of Woozi (yes, she still has that thing for short guys after seeing Kyungsoo).

Jooyoung scans through the completed proposal, edits a few minor errors, and squeezes her eyes shut in excitement as the proposal attached in an email whizzes off into cyberspace.

"I'm doneeee!" Jooyoung whoops, swinging her arms in the air. Jina breaks into a smile.

"Finally! I missed you, friend." Jina slides across the counter and tackles Jooyoung into a playful hug. Being like this and feeling all these random, finally positive emotions in her being makes Jooyoung temporarily forget about her broken High-Distinction record.

It's at this time that Minseok ambles into the convenience store. His lips curl into a smile upon seeing Jooyoung close her laptop. Jooyoung knows that he's aware of how hard she worked the entire day.

"Krystal's proposal is done?" He asks, and she nods excitedly. Then Minseok shifts his gaze to look at Jina, and his expression changes into a playful one. "And now time for drinks?"

It's Jina who nods excitedly this time, flinging her convenience store vest off her body. She runs up to Jooyoung and tiptoes to get her vest off as well, and when that is done and everything is packed up she drags both Minseok and Jooyoung out of the store in an excited flurry.

"We're going to bring you to a super great place," Jina squeals, and Minseok manages to nod despite running. "You're so going to love it, Han Jooyoung."

It's needless to say that Jooyoung is frazzled when the place she is dragged to is a nightclub in the middle of the city, filled with students — some of whom she vaguely recognises — from her university. They pack the dance floor in the middle of it all and the various tabletops are filled with both empty and full glasses.

Jooyoung feels severely out of place in her oversized faculty t-shirt and sweatpants. Not to mention extremely uncomfortable — she always skipped parties and always avoided nightclubs but somehow she has ended up in a party at a nightclub. She swiftly dodges a man waving a beer bottle in the air and stretches her neck to find Minseok and Jina.

"Guys, I love you, but why here?" she laments, compressing her arms against her body so she doesn't get pushed around too much by the waves of people streaming everywhere.

"What? Can't hear you back there!" Minseok shouts over the crowd. He drags an excited Jina by the wrist and swivels his head to look for Jooyoung, but he is washed away in the sea of people so quickly Jooyoung can't spot his tiny frame no matter how hard she tries.

The nightclub is stifling, and all she can smell is the stench of crowds and alcohol and awful places in general. It chokes her, and she can't wait to get out, although she had just gotten in.

Jooyoung lets out a disgruntled groan and massages her temple with one hand. With the other, she fumbles into the pocket of her sweatpants and pulls out her phone, which is her comfort device in times of extreme discomfort. She declines a drink offered to her while texting Minseok: I'm going to ditch y'all, bye.

Then she firmly holds her phone in her hand and squeezes out of the crowd. She finds and sits at a bus stop outside the bar, swinging her legs and watching cars go by. It's a respite from the unpleasant environment of the nightclub. Minseok doesn't reply her text, not even after what seems like hours have passed, but it's not like Jooyoung even expects him to be able to find his phone after drinking, so that's that.

But after a while, she does receive a message from Minseok: Knushoo ins cining waut fr hmi. She sighs knowingly at the text. Hopefully Jina is sober enough to bring the both of them back to the dorm successfully, though she doubts it. But both of them have gone drinking like this before on separate occasions and they've returned home safe and sound, so Jooyoung isn't all that worried.

It's late, and the buses have stopped running, and somehow the solitude at the bus stop compels strange guilty feelings in Jooyoung — to apologise to a certain shortie who has done nothing wrong but still got flared up upon. Yes, Jooyoung may be hot-headed, but she does have a conscience that will prick her any time of the day. And she hates avoiding problems — if there's something she needs to solve, she will do it.

So she slowly goes to Kyungsoo's contact and presses the 'call' button, then stares at her feet as she brings her phone to her ear and waits for him to pick up.

He doesn't. Not even after calling thrice.

Jooyoung sighs. She knows she can't really expect Kyungsoo to really pick up his phone and want to talk to a person who got mad at him especially at this time in the night, no matter how unbothered he seems by everything. She wrestles with the belated guilt settling in her heart by deciding to take advantage of the free WiFi at one of the restaurants near the bus stop to play games on her phone.

She's in the midst of preparing a burger for a customer on Cooking Fever when someone slides into the seat next to her. She inches to the side without looking up to make space for both herself and the man, but he inches closer again, and this is when she looks up.

And he smiles. "Sorry I didn't pick up your calls."

She blinks, then gasps, "Do Kyungsoo!"

Jooyoung literally pounces on him, grabbing him forcefully by both shoulders and shaking his frame vigorously. He lets her do all this without much resistance on his part.

"How did you know I was here?" She asks, feeling the previous solidarity and (slight) loneliness fade away into oblivion. She feels her heart becoming lighter already, the lightest it has felt this entire day.

"Minseok called and invited me — he got my number from discussing the exchange programme. But I hate parties like this, so I wasn't going to come until he told me you were here–"

"Aww, that's sweet!"

"Shhh. Listen to my entire story first. So apparently while Minseok was on the phone with me and I had already decided not to come, a certain someone called me three times successively and I thought something had happened, so here I am." He shrugs, then props his arms by his sides and begins to swing his legs.

"I'm still touched." Jooyoung nudges Kyungsoo, then begins to make a big show of clutching at her heart, which makes Kyungsoo laugh. She realises this is the perfect opportunity to apologise without the mood changing, so she closes and her lips, then inhales a deep breath before speaking up again. "And also with all my heart, Do Kyungsoo, I'm sorry for getting angry at you for no justified reason just now at the store."

"You were angry with me?"

"What?"

"Kidding," Kyungsoo laughs, earning an arm smack from Jooyoung. "It's okay, you dumbo. I didn't even take it to heart."

She scoffs jokingly, relieved, then switches on her phone to check for the time. Kyungsoo peeks in as well.

He tilts his head. "Your lock screen wallpaper... Is that Nemo and Dory?" He asks, and she immediately feels a little stupid. No one is supposed to know about her love for animated movies — it's strange and slightly childish and ever-so embarrassing. Imagine a top college student crying and obsessing over children shows! She hurriedly switches off her phone again and stuffs it in her pocket sheepishly.

Kyungsoo seems to notice her embarrassment, because he leans in closer and sits up straighter. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Yuck. Stop teasing me." She curls her fingers around the fabric of her sweatpants, refusing to look straight at him.

"I'm not teasing you, though," he looks bemused, and Jooyoung only half-believes what he is saying until he crosses his arms and sing-songs, "And Disney is not exactly my genre, but as long as you pay for my ticket I don't mind going to watch the exclusive classic Disney marathon at the cinemas tonight."

Surprise is an understatement of Jooyoung's feelings now. She doesn't expect this to be happening at all, so all she does is grab Kyungsoo by the shoulder again (oops) and gulp.

"You'd go with me?" She asks wide-eyed.

"Why not?"

"Animated movies at our age is weird!"

"You're falling into the trap of societal pressure and norms. It's not, Dumbo."

She notices the pun he made (although she is nothing like the flying elephant) and grins even wider, bursting into a happy shout. "I was planning to go by myself another day! Thank you thank you thank you Do Kyungsoo!" She doesn't resist hugging Kyungsoo tight, and he pats her on the back as a response, his amused laughter filling the small gap between him and herself.

"Be prepared, I'm going to force a Disney movie onto you every night in London," she says, her words muffled by the fabric of Kyungsoo's black Nike shirt.

"Okay."

a/n: i want a kyungsoo please