☆*✧:*:*・°☆.

 

Jungeun enters the dorm room in a struggle, luggage in tow behind her as she opens the door with one hand. She hears a gasp and looks up to see a blonde girl against the wall with a shirtless man in front of her. They are in a rather intimate position; the man’s hand is on the girl’s waist and her hands are wrapped around his nape. They’re both out of breath and the girl is only covered by a bra. Jungeun’s too tired and aggravated from the day’s travel to look sorry or embarrassed. She lets her eyes roam up and down the couple before she gives a small sneer and continues her way further into the small dorm, walking over to the empty bed across the room from a bed with blue sheets. Jungeun sits down on the empty mattress, releasing a sigh of relief as her legs can finally relax.

 

The blonde girl fixes her messy hair and pushes the man away from her, the two mumbling to each other as the girl puts her shirt back on.

 

“She totally just checked me out,” the man whispers harshly, taking the shirt that the blonde girl gives to him.

 

Jungeun rolls her eyes and begins to unpack her luggage.

 

“Don’t flatter yourself, pretty boy,” she mutters loud enough for them to hear, taking out each piece of clothing she brought, “I don’t swing that way,” she says monotonously, her eyelids feeling heavier with each passing second. The couple look at each other with wide eyes. They whisper to each other a little more before the blonde girl shoos him away, leaving her and Jungeun alone.

 

“Well… that’s an awkward way to meet your roommate,” the blonde lets out a nervous laugh as she sits down on the edge of her bed, watching the brunette unpack her things. Jungeun just hums, not in the mood to talk.

 

“I’m Jinsoul,” her roommate says.

 

“Jungeun,” the other girl replies before remembering something and looking up at Jinsoul, “At what time do orientations start?” she asks.

 

Jinsoul shrugs.

 

“No clue. I haven’t been to orientation since I was a freshman—and that was a while ago,” she answers.

 

Jungeun sighs and continues to take out her things. Jinsoul nibbles on her bottom lip for a couple of seconds before standing up.

 

“Do you need help unpacking?” she asks. Jungeun looks up at her in surprise.

 

“Uhh… sure,” she replies. She’s exhausted and she has a lot to unpack; help would be nice. Jinsoul walks over and sits down next to Jungeun, the two of them taking all of Jinsoul’s things out of her luggage and placing it down on the bed. They do this in silence and Jungeun can’t help but smell the cologne that’s stuck on Jinsoul. She scrunches her nose up at this. Jinsoul doesn’t notice.

 

“I could go run down and get you some sheets and some pillows, if you want?” Jinsoul asks as she folds one of Jungeun’s shirts. Jungeun nods.

 

“That’d be nice,” she gives a small smile. Maybe this girl isn’t that bad. Jinsoul puts the shirt down and gets up.

 

“Be right back!”

 

*✧:・☆.

 

“Oh my God. Yerim. It was so awkward.” Jungeun whispers into the phone as she walks to the auditorium where orientation’s going to take place. Jinsoul had brought her to the counselor in the morning to ask about it, also volunteering to walk Jungeun to the building, but Jungeun refused.

 

Jungeun’s friend laughs, “You walked in on them making out?”

 

“Yes,” Jungeun hisses, “I was so tired yesterday that it’s all coming back to me now.”

 

She can feel her cheeks heating up upon further remembrance of the scene she stumbled upon yesterday. Jinsoul’s body was…

 

“That was so embarrassing,” she lowers her voice even more, “they were both shirtless.”

 

Yerim gasps exasperatedly, “No.”

 

“Yes,” Jungeun whines. She looks around and spots a sign that reads ‘Auditorium’ pointing to the left.

 

“Is she pretty?” Yerim whispers.

 

“So pretty,” Jungeun complains, “but also so straight.”

 

“You never know,” Yerim’s voice is bright and Jungeun can picture her twinkling eyes, filled with devious schemes, “You could make her realize some things.”

 

“Yerim,” Jungeun groans, “Do not make me hope for impossible things.”

 

There is a giggle on the other line and the corners of Jungeun’s lips rise.

 

After a moment, Jungeun bites her lip, “I miss you.”

 

Yerim cooes, “I miss you, too!”

 

The two continue to talk as Jungeun travels across campus to get to her orientation.

 

Jungeun’s feet stop as she nears the auditorium.

 

“I have to go,” she says sadly. Yerim just laughs and says her goodbyes. Jungeun puts her phone into her back pocket as she walks into the large building.

 

:・☆.

 

“Hey, Jungeun. How was orientation?” Jinsoul is sitting at the desk next to her bed as the brunette walks in. Jungeun gives a small smile, walking to her own desk.

 

“Boring,” she replies, taking off her bag and sitting down. Jinsoul turns around on her swivel chair, letting out a small laugh.

 

“It always is,” she comments.

 

It’s silent for a couple of moments.

 

“I just—“

“About yester—“

 

The two girls look at each other in embarrassment, eyes connecting only for a brief second before Jungeun’s flutter to the ground.

 

“You first,” she says.

 

Jinsoul’s cheeks are pink, “I just wanted to say sorry about yesterday.”

 

Jungeun lifts her gaze.

 

“I was going to say the same thing,” she chuckles.

 

Jinsoul smiles widely, momentarily stunning Jungeun with her brightness.

 

“Then… we’re okay?”

 

The younger one hums, “We’re okay.”

 

*✧:*:*・°✧:*:*・°✧:・☆.

 

“It’s late, Jinsoul.” Jungeun has one eye open as she lays down on her bed, focusing on the girl sitting at her desk with her lamp being the only light source in the room. It’s currently three in the morning and Jinsoul is crouched over a textbook, jotting down notes and repeating them to herself under her breath. The girl doesn’t reply to Jungeun’s comment, just muttering another thing about something scientific that Jungeun can’t understand. The brunette huffs and sits up.

 

“Go to sleep,” she throws her pillow towards Jinsoul, hitting her swivel chair and causing it to turn just enough for Jungeun to look at her face.

 

Jinsoul shakes her head and repositions her chair, “I have a test tomorrow.”

 

Jungeun stands up and walks over to the girl, taking hold of her swivel chair. She turns her around and places one hand on the back of the chair. She looks into Jinsoul’s bloodshot eyes, noticing the bags under them.

 

“You’ve been studying until five in the morning for the past three days. You’re going to fall asleep during the test session if you continue doing this,” Jungeun’s voice comes out in a whisper, eyes flickering between Jinsoul’s.

 

The blonde girl pouts, making something inside of Jungeun flutter, “I need to study like this to keep my scholarship.”

 

Jungeun smiles, “You’ve studied enough. Your health is more important,” she says, “Go to sleep now.”

 

“Fine,” Jinsoul sighs and pushes herself away from Jungeun, standing and shutting off her lamp. The dorm is now pitch black. “Why are you still awake, anyways?”

 

“I can’t sleep with your lamp on,” Jungeun answers, slipping into her bed. Jinsoul lets out a laugh.

 

“That’s bull,” she replies, getting into her own bed. Jungeun doesn’t reply, slipping them into silence. It happens often between them, the silence—but it’s never uncomfortable.

 

“Jungeun,” Jinsoul whispers after about ten minutes of pure silence. Jungeun hums in reply.

 

“I’m hungry.”

 

Jungeun bursts out laughing and sits up, looking over to the other girl who peers over at her from beneath her covers.

 

“Seriously?” she asks with a wide smile. She can barely see the girl but she knows that Jinsoul nods because of the sound of ruffling sheets. A thought pops up into Jungeun’s head, “What time’s your test?”

 

“Eleven-thirty.”

 

“Okay,” Jungeun stands up and turns on the lamp on her desk, “Let’s go.”

 

“Go?” Jinsoul asks, watching Jungeun put on a sweater over her loose shirt as she sits up.

 

“Let’s go eat,” Jungeun replies as if it were obvious, slipping on her shoes, “If we eat quickly, we can be back here before six. That’ll give you about seven hours to sleep before your test.”

 

She stops to scan Jinsoul up and down, “Are you coming?”

 

Jinsoul stands, eyebrows furrowed with worry, “It’s past curfew,” she whispers.

 

Jungeun hands Jinsoul a sweater and leans in, eyes sparkling.

 

“Then let’s not get caught,” she grins.

 

✧:・

 

Jinsoul’s hand feels warm interlocked with her own as they tiptoe down the dorm hallway, not wanting to wake anybody up. Jungeun can’t help but let out a small squeal as they successfully manage to get out of the building. Jinsoul smacks her with her free hand, “Shh!”

 

Jungeun giggles and they walk off campus to find a place where they can eat. They only walk down a couple of streets before finding a small noodle shop that’s open twenty four hours a day.

 

Jinsoul scowls, “I can’t believe we’re actually here.”

 

“You were hungry,” Jungeun says as she sips some of the soup in her bowl.

 

“I could’ve lived not eating for one night,” Jinsoul replies, picking up her chopsticks. Jungeun just gives a closed-mouth smile, eyes curving upwards. Jinsoul scoffs before her own lips curl, revealing her smile. She laughs in disbelief, shaking her head, “I’ve never broken a rule before.”

 

“What a good student,” Jungeun comments.

 

“If we get caught, I’m blaming it all on you,” Jinsoul says before slurping up some of the noodles. Jungeun nods, continuing to eat.

 

✧:・

 

“I’m stuffed,” Jungeun groans, placing both of her hands on her stomach as they slowly walk down the street. It’s about five thirty in the morning and the sun has yet to rise, the sky’s no longer a pure black but now a dark blue. Jinsoul shakes her head with a smile. She doesn’t say it outloud, but she’s glad that Jungeun had dragged her out to go eat. She hasn’t eaten all day and the meal is much appreciated.

 

“Are you sleepy?” Jungeun asks, looking over to the shorter girl walking beside her.

 

“No,” Jinsoul answers honestly. She feels refreshed more than anything. Jungeun nods and they continue to walk. Somewhere along the way, Jinsoul’s hand finds itself clinging onto the upper portion of Jungeun’s arm, hugging the girl as they walked. Jungeun can’t help the little flutter her heart gives when she feels the girl’s warmth.

 

They enter their dorm room with tiny smiles on their faces. Jinsoul lets go of Jungeun and they both discard their sweaters as the warm weather begins to settle in with the disappearance of night.

 

“You should sleep before your class starts,” Jungeun suggests, sitting on the edge of her bed to untie her shoes and take them off. Jinsoul collapses onto her bed, the tiredness suddenly engulfing her as soon as she lays down onto the mattress.

 

Jungeun smiles softly, “What time should I wake you?”

 

“Ten-forty,” Jinsoul mumbles into her pillow, pulling her blanket up. Jungeun just continues to smile, her heart feeling warm and fuzzy.

 

✧:・

 

“Wakey, wakey,” Jungeun kneels down besides Jinsoul’s bed, arms folded on the mattress and chin resting on top. She reaches out and gently shakes Jinsoul’s shoulder, “Jinsoul, you have to wake up now.”

 

The blonde girl groans and knits her eyebrows together, making Jungeun giggle.

 

“You studied so hard for this test, you can’t just sleep through the test session.”

 

Jinsoul opens her eyes tiredly and is greeted by Jungeun’s smile.

 

“It’s ten forty-two,” the younger one states. Jinsoul inhales deeply and sits up, not bothering to fix the mess that is her bed hair. Jungeun is still kneeling down, her smile growing.

 

“How cute,” she cooes. Jinsoul groans and stands up, walking to the bathroom.

 

Jungeun is sitting at her desk when Jinsoul appears from the bathroom, looking much more awake than she had been minutes ago.

 

Jungeun grins, “Jinsoul, did you know you sleep with your mouth open?”

 

The blonde girl rushes over and gives light smacks to Jungeun, who’s cackling. Jungeun grabs hold of Jinsoul’s wrists.

 

“Alright, alright,” she laughs. “You have a test to get to.”

 

✧:・

 

“I totally failed that te—“ Jinsoul cuts herself off as she notices the sleeping girl. She gently closes the door and pouts, feeling responsible for Jungeun’s exhaustion. She sets her bag down and walks over to Jungeun’s bed. She notices that the girl is sprawled all over the bed, leg dangling off the edge.

 

“She sleeps so messily,” Jinsoul giggles to herself, leaning down and lifting Jungeun’s leg.

 

“Jinsoul?” Jungeun mumbles as she drifts out of slumber.

 

Jinsoul hushes her, “Go back to sleep.”

 

She pulls the blankets up. Jungeun tries to sit up only to be stopped by Jinsoul’s hands on her shoulders, “Sleep.”

 

“The test…” Jungeun murmurs, still half asleep. Jinsoul lets out a small smile despite the not-so-good test session she just had.

 

“We’ll talk about it later. You’re tired.”

 

Jungeun doesn’t bother trying to resist Jinsoul, closing her eyes again and humming. Jinsoul pats Jungeun’s shoulder, smiling as she gets up and walks to her side of the room.

 

When Jungeun finally wakes up, it’s already five in the evening.

 

“Woah. There goes my sleep schedule,” she mumbles groggily, staring at the time on her phone. She quickly types back a message to the spam texts she’s gotten from Yerim.

 

Jungeun can hear the shower running so she assumes Jinsoul’s in there. She sits up and runs a hand through her hair, feeling a faint pounding in her temples. She can hear the shower shut off and hears the click of the bathroom lock only a few moments later. She watches as Jinsoul walks out of the bathroom with only a towel on.

 

“You’re awake,” Jinsoul comments.

 

“And you’re ,” Jungeun replies under her breath, turning her head away.

 

“Sorry,” Jinsoul blushes, “I forgot my clothes out here,” she points to the clothes on her bed. Jungeun hums and turns her whole body around.

 

“Tell me when you’re decent.”

 

“Am I not decent now?” Jinsoul teases.

 

Jungeun tosses a pillow over her head, hoping to hit Jinsoul. The older girl laughs as the pillow goes nowhere near her.

 

“That’s not what I meant,” Jungeun grumbles.

 

“I was kidding,” the blonde replies brightly, putting her clothes on, “Okay, I’m no longer .”

 

She’s wearing an oversized hoodie with some baggy sweatpants, pulling her wet blonde hair up into a bun. She hops onto Jungeun’s bed with a grin.

 

Jungeun responds with her own smile, trying not to let Jinsoul’s beauty affect her to the point of her not being able to function properly, “How was the test?” she rubs at her tired eyes.

 

Jinsoul scoffs loudly, “Horrible.”

 

“Really?” Jungeun asks, feeling bad for the other girl who had studied so hard. Jinsoul crosses her arms over her chest. Jungeun can already feel the sass coming from the girl.

 

“Can you believe the things I studied weren’t even on the test? I swear my professor is a nutcase.”

 

Jungeun raises her eyebrows up in amusement as she listens to Jinsoul go on and on about how unfair her professor was with the test. “And to think, I studied so much for things I didn’t even need!” and Jungeun can’t help but think that Jinsoul is really really cute. Not even just her physical attributes, but the way she speaks and the way she expresses herself.

 

And then Jungeun realizes maybe she is actually starting to get sick.

 

Jungeun’s phone starts to ring on her desk and Jinsoul reaches over to get it for her.

 

“Yerim is trying to FaceTime you,” she states, giggling at the picture Jungeun has set for her friend, “Pick up?”

 

“Uhh, yeah, pick up,” Jungeun says, watching as Jinsoul slides to answer.

 

“Hey Jungeu—WOAH!”

 

Jungeun snatches the phone from Jinsoul with a roll of her eyes.

 

Yerim opens her eyes widely, “No! Go back to the angel!”

 

“Jinsoul, this is Yerim,”

 

“That’s Jinsoul! No way!” Yerim says excitedly, “You weren’t lying when you said she was beautiful!”

 

“Yerim!” Jungeun hushes her, “I’m gonna hang up on you.”

 

“No—don’t!” Yerim begs.

 

“You said I was pretty?” Jinsoul asks curiously, a smile on her lips.

 

“I may have mentioned you a couple times,” Jungeun responds quietly, not looking at Jinsoul because the tips of her ears were burning up already.

 

“A couple times? More like—”

 

Jungeun ends the call, making Jinsoul laugh. Yerim calls back immediately and Jungeun bregrudingly picks up.

 

“Kim Lip, you better not hang up on me, again!”

 

“Kim Lip?” Jinsoul questions.

 

“It’s a stupid nickname,” Jungeun shakes her head embarrassedly.

 

“I gave it to her when we first started dating!” Yerim states proudly.

 

Jinsoul tilts her head at this, looking at Jungeun confusedly.

 

“You say that as if we’re still dating, Yerim,” Jungeun sighs loudly. She gives Jinsoul a pointed look, “We barely dated. It was way back in middle school. I don’t count her as my first girlfriend.”

 

“How could you say that, Jungeun?!” Yerim shouts exaggeratedly, “I gave you half of my cookie!”

 

Jinsoul laughs at this and takes the phone from Jungeun, causing Yerim to whoop loudly.

 

“Pretty girl!”

 

Jinsoul grins at the name, “Do you have any embarrassing stories about Jungeun?”

 

“Boy, do I!”

 

Jungeun tries to grab for her phone but Jinsoul jumps off the bed and holds the phone away from her. Jungeun tries to reach for it but to no avail. Jinsoul continues to laugh loudly as Yerim retells a story of how Jungeun broke her elbow as a kid by running into a wall.

When they say goodnight to each other, it’s dark outside and they’re still sat on Jungeun’s bed. Jungeun hangs up the phone and lays down on her bed dramatically.

 

“I’m not even near her and she still manages to make me tired,” she says with her eyes closed.

 

Jungeun nearly has a heart attack when she feels Jinsoul lay down next to her.

 

“You two seem like really good friends,” she states. Jungeun’s too scared to open her eyes as she hums.

 

“I’ve known her because she was my neighbor when I moved as a kid,” Jungeun explains, “she was the annoying little girl next door.”

 

Jinsoul lightly smacks Jungeun’s hand, “Don’t be mean. She seems really nice.”

 

The fact that Jinsoul doesn’t remove her hand from on top of Jungeun’s makes the younger girl’s eyes open. She’s immediately met by Jinsoul’s gaze, staring directly at her. Jungeun looks back at the ceiling and ignores the fluttering in her stomach.

 

“I’m only kidding. I love Yerim, she’s my best friend,” Jungeun says with a small smile, “It was actually her idea to become ‘girlfriends’ when we were in middle school.”

 

Jinsoul chuckles at this, turning her body so she’s laying on her side and looking at Jungeun, “How so?”

 

“Well…” Jungeun starts off, also turning her body so she’s facing Jinsoul, “I came out to Yerim in middle school, and of course the first thing she thinks of is getting me a girlfriend.”

 

Jinsoul’s lips are curved up in the softest smile Jungeun’s ever seen.

 

“She goes, ‘I’m your best friend! We should date so you can get to know what it feels like to be gay!’ and I don’t know why I agreed to that, but I did,” Jungeun laughs softly at the memory, feeling especially intimate with Jinsoul considering the lack of distance between them and the eye contact they’re sharing, “The most we did was hold hands and kiss each other’s cheeks, but we did that even before we were ‘dating’, so it wasn’t much of an experience.”

 

“So, who was your first real girlfriend?”

 

The question takes Jungeun a couple of seconds to process.

 

“My first real girlfriend?” she repeats softly. Jinsoul nods and Jungeun hums, “A girl named Jiwoo. We dated for my first three years of high school. She was older than me by a year.”

 

“Why’d you guys break up?” Jinsoul asks quietly, the hand she has on top of Jungeun’s tightens, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

 

“It’s… it’s nothing big. Nobody cheated or anything, it’s just that she got into a college abroad and we didn’t think we’d work well with long-distance,” Jungeun answers, “She was the best first girlfriend I could’ve asked for, to be honest.”

 

“What was she like?” Jinsoul questions. Jungeun feels a warmth spreading throughout her chest as Jinsoul seems genuinely interested in her. She hasn’t felt like this since...

 

“Jiwoo… She was…” Jungeun takes a moment to think about it, “You know those types of people who makes the room light up whenever they enter?”

 

Jinsoul nods.

 

“That was Jiwoo. She was just so bright and happy and always cared for other people more than herself. She was really the best.”

 

“You guys don’t keep in touch?”

 

“No, not really,” Jungeun says in a quieter tone, a bit regretful, “We have each other of social media but we don’t really talk. She has a girlfriend now, though. It’s probably pathetic but it kind of stings seeing them so happy together.”

 

“It’s not pathetic,” Jinsoul replies instantly, “You’ll find someone, Jungeun.”

 

“Thanks,” Jungeun whispers before clearing , “but what about you? Your first boyfriend?”

 

Jinsoul her lips and looks away, laying back down on her back and staring up at the ceiling, “I’ve never really had a first boyfriend.”

 

“What?” Jungeun asks in confusion, “What do you mean?”

 

“I… I don’t know, people ask me out. I go on a couple dates, but nothing ever stays,” Jinsoul says with a sigh, “The guy you saw me… making out with—sorry about that, again—I don’t talk to him anymore.”

 

“Oh, I see,” Jungeun nods slowly, “I’m sure you’ll find the right guy eventually, Jinsoul. Anyone would be lucky to be with you.”

 

Jinsoul turns her head at that, “You think so?”

 

Jungeun smiles, “I know so.”

 

And maybe it’s too dark and Jungeun’s hallucinating, but she swears she sees Jinsoul’s eyes flicker down to her lips.

 

“How did you know you were gay?”

 

The question takes Jungeun by surprise. Her eyes widen slightly and opens, but nothing comes out.

 

“Why… do you ask?” Jungeun replies.

 

Jinsoul gently pushes her shoulder, rolling her eyes, “Just answer.”

 

Jungeun shrugs, “I don’t know. I’ve always known. It’s always been girls for me. I never had any crushes on any boys and I’d feel butterflies around pretty girls.”

 

“Pretty girls, huh?” Jinsoul asks in amusement, “If I recall correctly, Yerim told me you said that I was—”

 

“Alright,” Jungeun sits up abruptly, making Jinsoul laugh and get up as well, grabbing onto her hand.

 

“I was kidding,” Jinsoul says before letting out a soft gasp at how close their faces are.

 

Jungeun starts to move away but Jinsoul’s hand reaches up to cup her cheek, keeping her in place.

 

The younger girl’s heart is about to beat right out of her chest with the way Jinsoul’s staring at her. There’s a moment of hesitation where Jinsoul leans in before backing away, and that’s all it takes for Jungeun to connect their lips.

 

The kiss is soft and tentative. Their lips feel barely-there, but it still makes Jungeun’s heart soar.

 

It doesn’t last long, and the two pull away simultaneously, opening their eyes.

 

Jungeun can feel a sense of regret creep up on her as she’s suddenly thrown into the unknown that is Jung Jinsoul.

 

“Jinsoul, what did that kiss mean?” Jungeun asks shakily, preparing herself for the worst.

 

But the worst never comes.

 

“It means that you’re the first pretty girl that’s ever given me butterflies,” Jinsoul replies gently, “and I think… I might be gay.”

 

Jungeun tilts her head, feeling the tension in her stomach unwinding, a smile growing on her face, “Huh… must explain why you never liked any of those guys you dated.”

 

“I guess so,” Jinsoul laughs, laying back down onto Jungeun’s bed and pulling Jungeun down with her.

 

Jinsoul pulls the blankets up to cover both of them and wraps an arm around Jungeun’s waist. She tugs the girls body against her own and closes her eyes.

 

“So, are you my girlfriend now?”

 

“Go to sleep, Jungeun.”