A/N: I said I'd try to keep it shorter but everyone was being so nice and told me long chapters were fine so... Chuuves part 2!

Word count: 5,919 words

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Jiwoo blinks at Jungeun’s hand waving in front of her face. She doesn’t know how long it’s been there and neither does she want to know so she wraps her hand around her cup of (melted) iced latte, brings it closer to herself, and takes a sip to avoid having to look into her friend’s eyes.

 

“You miss having those long- nerd dates with her, don’t you?” Jungeun starts, doesn’t even bother to be casual about asking. But it’s okay because it’s Jungeun.

 

“None of those were dates. We were just studying together.” Jiwoo says, looks hard at her drink as she stirs it with the straw.

 

“But you wish they were, don’t you?” Jungeun pushes.

 

Jiwoo lets out a breath and looks out the window to her left before she replies. “It doesn’t matter now.”

 

And that’s the truth. It doesn’t matter if she did or didn’t because it wouldn’t change a thing now. Sooyoung’s leaving and she’s going to be far out of Jiwoo’s reach both literally and figuratively.

 

She should’ve known that it would be like this. Sooyoung was too cool for a regular girl like her. She’s kind, beautiful, intelligent, and put-together. And she’s from a well off family too, which explains her free-handed spending whenever they’re with Jinsol and the fancy car she drives every now and then. It’s like she’s the main character in a high-budget TV drama while Jiwoo’s just an extra.

 

She’s too good to be true for her. She’s a dream - beautiful and fleeting. She made Jiwoo feel a lot of wonderful emotions but she isn’t meant to be in her life for long. She’s only meant to be there for a moment and be gone in the next. Sooyoung’s a dream and, just like with Jiwoo’s other dreams, there’s an end, a time to wake up from it, a time to wake up from her.

 

It really would’ve been great if she knew that from the start. That way she could’ve stopped herself from catching these things called feelings. But whatever. It’s done. The best thing she can do now is to not fall in deeper because forgetting about the older girl and how she feels for her would definitely take a lot of time. And that’s the reason why she’s been cutting the time she spends with her lately, making up excuses to not show to their study sessions outside class, and avoiding the topic of hanging out at all costs.

 

“There’s only a couple of weeks left with bridge.” Jungeun says, squeezes her hand from across the table. “Just hang in there for a bit more, Jiwooming.”

 

Jiwoo smiles weakly at her, feels genuinely grateful for the support.

 

The bell attached to the cafe’s door rings and Haseul enters. She walks toward them, bends down to hug Jungeun from behind her chair, and gives her a quick peck on the cheek.

 

“Hey, Jiwoo! What’s up?” Haseul cheerfully greets her when she straightens up.

 

“Not much.” Jiwoo says, inclines her head to the side.

 

“She’s heartbroken.” Jungeun says, takes Haseul’s hand as she occupies the seat next to her.

 

“What? Why?” Haseul asks.

 

Jiwoo isn’t prepared to relive things so she shakes her head in reply at the older girl. Thankfully, Haseul understands.

 

“Anyway, I think I might just have the thing to cheer you up, Jiwoo.” She smiles as she pulls out a black envelope from her purse, waves it up and down in excitement.

 

“Are those tickets for your recital?” Jungeun asks, takes it from Haseul and looks through it.

 

“Yup. And you know how I said we were only given two complimentary passes for guests each time? Well, they’ve given out an additional one this time!” She says enthusiastically.

 

“Sweet! Are you going to invite your sister?” Jungeun smiles at her then at Jiwoo.

 

Haseul’s kid sister has been brought up a lot in their conversations before but Jiwoo’s never met her. Jungeun dotes on her a lot so she’s kind of curious to meet her. However, Haseul shakes her head.

 

“I thought of doing that but she’s been to my other recitals with mom and dad before. Since this time, Jiwoo is coming with us, I thought it’d be nice to invite another friend.” She says, smiles widely.

 

Jungeun raises an eyebrow and Jiwoo allows herself to feel expectant. “Which friend?”

 

Haseul visibly buzzes with enthusiasm as she talks. “It was like fate, you know? I was just thinking of asking you two about it first but we ran into each other on campus just now and I had to ask her already!”

 

She pauses for effect and then drops the bomb. “She said yes! Sooyoung said yes!”

 

“WHAT?” Jungeun stands up so fast her chair skids back.

 

On other occasions, this behavior would cause Jiwoo to wince but right now, she can only stare at the two of them in shock.

 

“Uh, babe, what’s the matter? Did I do something wrong?” Haseul asks, alarmed at their reactions.

 

“No, unnie. It’s okay.” Jiwoo says, quickly. She lets out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and reaches out to her friend. “Jungeun, please calm down.”

 

“Jiwoo-” Whatever she has to say, she drowns out.

 

This is certainly something but it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. She doesn’t want Jungeun and Haseul to fight over this (and they clearly will if Jiwoo doesn’t say something).

 

“It’s okay. Sit down.” She insists.

 

Jungeun sits back down but crosses her arms over her chest as she does.

 

“Didn’t we have fun when we went out to dinner with Sooyoung last week? Was it wrong for me to ask her?” Haseul asks carefully, still confused. “I mean, you were clearly trying to push her and Jiwoo together so I thought-”

 

“It’s okay, Haseul unnie.” Jiwoo says again, seeing the frown deepen on Jungeun’s face. “It’s fine, really.”

 

Jungeun sighs. “I guess I should’ve told you, babe. But it was Jiwoo’s story to tell so I didn’t.”

 

They become silent for a bit, avoiding each other’s eyes.

 

Haseul’s gone from excited I had a Eureka moment to nervous wreck. She’s obviously regretting a lot and she brings herself to ask.

 

“Well, what do you girls want to do now?”

 

“We can’t un-invite Sooyoung unnie. It’d be weird.” Jungeun mumbles, massages her temples with her fingers. She looks at Jiwoo. “Will you be fine with it though, Jiwoo?”

 

“Yeah, sure.” Jiwoo says, clears when voice comes out a little shaky. “I mean, the show’s just going to be an hour and a half, right? I hang around her longer during our study sessions, you know.”

 

“But you haven’t even been meeting as often as you used to.” Jungeun points out, frowns again.

 

“It’s fine, Jungeun. I promise.” Jiwoo’s phone vibrates with a text from her best friend, Chaewon, and she’s given a reason to look away from Jungeun and Haseul’s apologetic gazes.

 

“I really didn’t know. I’m sorry. I thought we were playing matchmaker so I asked her.” Haseul whispers.

 

“We were but things got complicated since Sooyoung unnie is apparently leaving soon.” Jungeun replied.

 

Jiwoo just pretends she doesn’t hear them.

 

&&

 

It’s quite obvious that things have become different between them. Sooyoung hadn’t met Jiwoo to study for three days straight after that dinner with her friends. When they saw each other in class, conversations they had were short and awkward to the point that it made Jinsol ditch altogether when she has been doing such a great job at keeping her attendance perfect.

 

It’s strange because Sooyoung thought she was making good progress with their friendship by asking Jiwoo to hang out with her. Or maybe that’s what caused this? Had she overstepped her boundaries by doing that? Though, Jiwoo seemed happy about it when she asked her. So, what is it then? She knows it’s something she said or did. She can feel it.

 

A huge part of her hopes that their meeting today would clear even a little bit of that gap between them. Like, she has no idea how, but she hopes it does since today is the first time that they’re meeting again for a study session after almost a week. It really has been so long that Sooyoung convinced herself that they’ve gone on an unofficial break if only to not feel sad about the fact that Jiwoo is avoiding her. For what reasons, again, she clearly has no idea. She just wished she knew though. Because if she did, maybe she can let it go.

 

However, an hour hasn’t even passed since the two of them started studying (Jiwoo was the only one studying since Sooyoung was too busy staring at her but whatever) when Jiwoo suddenly gets up from her seat with a panicked look on her face. She doesn’t beat around the bush and immediately tells her she has to leave.

 

Sooyoung watches in a helpless daze, sinking lower and lower in a pit of anxiety as the younger girl apologizes to her while packing her things. Jiwoo can’t leave. If she does, Sooyoung will have to wait for a whole nother day to see her again and that won’t do because time is running out for them! Once the summer classes end, they won’t have a reason to meet as often. By the time fall rolls around, she would have to leave and although she plans on still keeping in contact with Jiwoo (as friends), she still wants to spend as much time as possible with her before that happens.

 

“I’m really sorry, unnie.” She hears Jiwoo say. “But I really have to go. My friend needs me. She’s been taken to the ER.”

 

Sooyoung snaps to attention at that.

 

“Your friend? Jungeun?” She asks.

 

Jiwoo shakes her head. “No, no. Not Jungeun. Another friend.”

 

She shoulders her backpack, ready to leave.

 

“Oh. But still… which hospital?” Sooyoung finds her brains and her bravery. “I have a car with me. I can take you wherever it is. Just tell me where.”

 

“Unnie, you don’t have to.” Jiwoo says, waves her hands in front of her.

 

“Don’t be silly. This is an emergency.” Sooyoung insists. She gathers her stuff and jumps to her feet to show her willingness. “Now, where is your friend?”

 

“Uh, the university hospital in Gangnam...” Jiwoo finally resigns.

 

Sooyoung doesn’t waste any time. She leads the way to her car and drives as fast as the traffic rules allowed. Within ten minutes, they arrive at the hospital. Jiwoo basically sprints as soon as she parks. With how closely Sooyoung follows her, she sees how anxious and nearly out of her mind she looks so she takes the lead again, gets them to the emergency room with her cool head.

 

As soon as they walk in, Jiwoo races to a bed on the far side. Sooyoung follows her still and finds a younger girl with sleek black hair sitting on the hospital bed, holding an ice pack against her left cheek.

 

“Park Chaewon, you better tell me what the hell happened right now.” Jiwoo demands as she steps by the girl’s side.

 

“Skateboarding accident.” The girl replies blankly.

 

“You don’t skate?” Jiwoo presses.

 

“I don’t but the person who bumped into me does.” The girl lazily nods her head off to the next bed where a boy lies, head wrapped in a bandage, an arm and a leg each in a splint.

 

Jiwoo screws her eyes shut and takes deep breaths. Sooyoung just watches her, half-curious, half-fascinated.

 

“Miss Park Chaewon’s family?” A doctor suddenly appears and Jiwoo opens her eyes, turns to him in attention. Sooyoung draws closer too.

 

“Miss Park tells me she was eating a jawbreaker when it happened? Anyway, the collision and the candy in caused for one of her premolars to chip. The tooth fragments scratched the inside of her cheek and resulted in some bleeding but it’s nothing serious. She’s lucky. The young man who ran into her has two fractures and had to have seven stitches on his head.”

 

Jiwoo winces, looks at Chaewon who pointedly avoids her eye by staring hard at the nearest wall.

 

“Anyway, she might feel soreness in for a couple of days so just get ice on it as often as possible. I’ll give her a prescription for painkillers for when it hurts too much. You can get that at the nurses station later.”

 

With each word the doctor says, Jiwoo looks more and more stressed. Sooyoung just knows she has to say something.

 

“Their collision had to be a fairly strong one for her to chip her tooth, right?” She speaks for the first time since arriving and it earns her a curious look from Chaewon and a grateful one from Jiwoo. “Is there a possibility that she might have gotten a concussion too? Also, won’t she need to get her tooth fixed?”

 

“Ah, yes. I was just getting to that. The candy in played a huge role in her tooth chipping so I’m excusing any head traumas here. We did check her balance and coordination earlier and she seemed fine. Still, if she experiences any symptoms within the next 48 hours, let us know immediately.” Jiwoo lets out a breath at that and Sooyoung pats her on the back comfortingly.

 

“As for her tooth, she will have to get it fixed eventually. It’s in bad shape which may cause more scratches to the inside of when she chews. She’ll have to do it soon but not right now because of the swelling.”

 

The doctor excuses himself then. Jiwoo smiles at Sooyoung thankfully before she turns to Chaewon again.

 

“Did you call auntie and uncle?” She asks, switching back to a stern mother hen.

 

Chaewon shakes her head. “They’re at work.”

 

“And your brother?”

 

“Jungwoo’s away on a trip.” Chaewon presses the ice pack to her cheek a little harder and groans.

 

“You do realize we’re going to have to call one of them to get you discharged, right?”

 

The frown on her face gets deeper and Sooyoung feels weird things in her chest. This is the first time she’s even seen Jiwoo like this, remotely unhappy. That’s probably why her instincts to take the lead kicked in. It isn’t nice to see Jiwoo look lost and sad. Although, she finds it amazing to see her being mature and caring for her friend.

 

“No, we don’t. Sk8er Boi over there promised to take care of everything. Down to getting my poor tooth repaired.” Sooyoung hears Chaewon reply.

 

Their eyes meet and she smiles at her awkwardly. “Lemme guess. Sooyoung unnie?”

 

Sooyoung’s eyes widen in surprise but she still answers “Yeah. That’s me.”

 

“This is Chaewon, she’s my… best friend.” Jiwoo says, weakly lifts her hand to point at the younger girl.

 

“Yes, I’m her best friend. Definitely not her daughter.” Chaewon says and Sooyoung laughs.

 

“Right. Well, I’m gonna go to the nurses' station.” Jiwoo mumbles, looks to Sooyoung. “Could you watch over her while I’m gone?”

 

“Unnie! Do you really think I’m going anywhere?” Chaewon asks incredulously, gestures at herself to prove a point.

 

“Shut it, you.” Jiwoo glares at her and then leaves.

 

With Jiwoo gone, Sooyoung is left to awkwardly shuffle on her feet under Chaewon’s scrutinizing gaze. Forget about Chaewon denying that she’s Jiwoo’s daughter because it certainly feels like that’s the case right now.

 

“So… she talked about you a lot.” Chaewon says, lifts her chin a little, trying to side-eye her but it just looks cute.

 

“She did?” Sooyoung dares to hold her gaze.

 

“Not so much anymore.” Chaewon replies.

 

She narrows her eyes at her and even puts her ice pack down before she continues.

 

“The ER is probably not the best place to do this, especially since I’m the one injured but… if I get proof that you did something to hurt Jiwoo unnie, I swear to God I will fight you.”

 

Sooyoung blinks for two reasons. One, because Chaewon is small and cute and it feels a lot like she’s being threatened by a pomeranian pup, and two, because this means that Jiwoo is intentionally avoiding her.

 

“She told me that you’re going to see Jungeun unnie’s girlfriend’s recital with them. I won’t be there but I’m saying you should wise up from now on ‘cause I’ll be watching you.” Chaewon points at her eyes with her index and middle fingers and then uses those same fingers to point at Sooyoung.

 

“You got that?”

 

Jiwoo returns with some forms in her hands shortly after, looks at Chaewon with a frown then at Sooyoung.

 

“What were you guys talking about?” She asks, probably sensing the weird atmosphere.

 

“Not much, really. With sore and all.” Sooyoung says, smiles lightly at Chaewon who looks smugly at her.

 

“Right. Well, I got the forms signed. I met sk8er boi’s guardian there too. We’re good to go.” Jiwoo announces.

 

“Don’t you have to go back to uni though?” Chaewon asks while Jiwoo helps her up by the arm.

 

“You really think I’d go anywhere with you like this?” She scoffs. “Not a chance. I’ll stay with you in your house until auntie or uncle gets home.”

 

Sooyoung watches the two of them continue bickering as they start to walk. She doesn’t want to interrupt the moment in fear that she might overstep something again but she has to ask.

 

“Where does Chaewon live? I can drop you two off.”

 

“Really, unnie? That would be great. Thanks.” Jiwoo says.

 

Chaewon looks at her with the same scrutinizing gaze but doesn’t say anything so she takes that as approval and takes her other arm to help Jiwoo help her.

 

Even though Jiwoo tells her that the drive to Chaewon’s place won’t be long, Chaewon still falls asleep as soon as her back hits the passenger seat. Sooyoung catches Jiwoo looking at her through the rearview mirror. Her eyebrows are still scrunched and her lips are still pouted in worry.

 

“You care about her a lot, huh?” Sooyoung voices out her observation.

 

“I do.” Jiwoo replies quickly. “She’s more than a best friend to me… she’s like my sister.”

 

“Oh. I see.” Sooyoung isn’t going to lie but she held her breath over the she’s more than a best friend part and she hates it. Fortunately, though, Jiwoo elaborates and she soon realizes that she’s being weird over nothing.

 

“We grew up together. Our mothers have been best friends since college so it’s like we were meant to be BFFs before we were even born.” She chuckles.

 

“Auntie was a single parent when she had Chaewon. She only met uncle when Chaewon was eight. They got married when she was ten. Anyway, growing up, Chae wasn’t the healthiest kid so it was really hard for auntie. Mom was there a lot to help and everything. Naturally, I just did the same to Chae.” She says.

 

“That’s heartwarming, Jiwoo.” Sooyoung replies, meaning it.

 

Jiwoo laughs, shyly and when they exchange looks it’s as if they’re back to how things were before.

 

“What about you and Jinsol unnie?” Jiwoo asks her, eyes crinkling as she smiles at her.

 

“Umm… it was nothing like yours and Chaewon’s. We met in high school. She liked a girl in class but that girl confessed to me. I wasn’t interested in her so I rejected her. Jinsol hated me for that for a grand total of two days. When we met in the dance club auditions on the third day, she told me that girl came to her for comfort after what I did. It was downhill from there.”

 

Jiwoo laughs. For a good minute, Sooyoung just takes it in - the sound of her laughter, the look on her face, the way her heart feels at ease.

 

“You can just pull over here, unnie.” Jiwoo says and that brings her back to reality.

 

“Are you going to be okay by yourselves?” Sooyoung asks after she puts the car on park again.

 

“We’ll be fine.” Jiwoo assures her. “Chae’s clumsy but she’s generally harmless around me. Well, not so much to other people. Like that skater dude.”

 

Sooyoung chuckles. “Okay.”

 

“Sorry for ruining our study plans and for dragging you into this.” She mumbles.

 

“Hey, don’t apologize. You didn’t drag me. I volunteered to come with you, remember?”

 

“And I appreciate it. Thanks a lot, unnie.” Jiwoo squeezes her hand once and she knows things are really back to normal between them.

 

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow?” She asks, allows herself to hope.

 

“Yes. And on the day after, too. For Haseul unnie’s recital.”

 

She gets off and opens the door on the passenger side to wake Chaewon. Sooyoung waves goodbye to them both, trades narrowed gazes with Chaewon (to humor her) and then watches the two of them disappear into the apartment complex before she drives away.

 

&&

 

Jiwoo fidgets with her dress, pulls it as low as it can go to cover her knees while she stands on the subway platform. It had started drizzling before they could even reach the station so now she feels cold and uncomfortable in what she’s wearing. But they’re already running late and she doesn’t really have a choice (whether to change outfits or to take a bus or cab instead of the crowded train).

 

She hears Sooyoung clearing and looks up to see her holding out her blazer.

 

“Put it on before we get on the train.” Sooyoung says.

 

Jiwoo takes it gratefully and tries not to think about it too much as she does. The blazer is big on the older girl so it’s a lot bigger on her that it reaches past her knees, effectively covering her up.

 

Sooyoung smiles at her. “Sorry about this. We should’ve been there by now if I had a car with me.”

 

“No, don’t say that, unnie. It’s fine!” Jiwoo exclaims, waves her hands in front of her.

 

The train arrives soon. It skids to a stop in front of them but even before the doors could open, Jiwoo can already tell how jammed pack it was. She swallows hard and looks at Sooyoung.

 

“We’re only two stops away. I think we’ll be fine.” Sooyoung says, gives her an encouraging look.

 

“Yeah, okay.” Jiwoo agrees.

 

With that, they squeeze themselves in the train car. Sooyoung holds the bouquet of flowers they brought for Haseul over her head as she leads the way to the corner where there is slightly more available space. Jiwoo follows her but with much difficulty. When the train starts to move, she bumps and falls on the other passengers who take the effort to complain loudly. She apologizes to them and tries her hardest to keep herself upright.

 

Sooyoung catches her eye. “You okay? Do you think you can squeeze in here with me?”

 

“Now?” Jiwoo asks.

 

“Yes, before we get to the next station because more people will get in by then.” Sooyoung says.

 

Jiwoo nods and does just that, maneuvering her way in with more pushing and apologizing.

 

“Comfy?” Sooyoung asks as she stands in front of her.

 

“Not really.” Jiwoo says, looks over her shoulder at a bunch of rowdy high school boys.

 

“Hold this.” Sooyoung hands her the bouquet and Jiwoo takes it. Her eyes widen as the older girl’s hand grip her by the shoulders and she’s promptly turned around so that their places are switched.

 

The train lurches over a particular bump on the rail. The passengers move with it, swaying in different directions and squishing against each other but Jiwoo doesn’t feel any of that. Because Sooyoung has her safely tucked in that corner. She even uses her own body to shield the others from touching Jiwoo.

 

“Comfy now?” Sooyoung asks again after seeing the realization hit her.

 

Jiwoo can’t find it in her to speak or even think. She just gets the urge and she doesn’t stop herself. She closes the small distance between them, wraps her arms around Sooyoung’s waist, and buries her face in her shoulder. The implications can screw themselves.

 

She feels the older girl freeze, hears her breathing become uneven.

 

“Uh... Jiwoo, you’re crushing the flowers but… yeah… you’re welcome, I guess.” Sooyoung mutters, lets her hand pat Jiwoo’s head steadily.

 

&&

 

They arrive at the opera house relatively unscathed even though the bouquet for Haseul fell to a different fate. They did manage to get a handful of unsquashed flowers from it and Jiwoo was also able to salvage parts of the wrapping paper so it’s still okay. They meet Jungeun at the lobby who, for some reason unknown to Sooyoung, gives Jiwoo a long and pointed stare.

 

“The subway was crowded. Sorry, we’re late.” Sooyoung speaks, hopes to pacify the upset vibe she gets from Jungeun.

 

“Oh, it’s okay. You’re not late.” Jungeun replies, spares her a look before she takes the flowers from Jiwoo. “Let’s go?”

 

They head to balcony and find their seats. Sooyoung easily claims the one nearest the aisle while Jiwoo and Jungeun make a weird dance over who gets to sit next to her. Jiwoo eventually does but not without another round of pointed staring (this time accompanied by some eyebrow-raising too). Sooyoung doesn’t want to intrude whatever friends-only non-verbal communication is going on so she keeps silent despite feeling that it somehow concerns her.

 

It takes a whole awkward five minutes before the lights turn off and the curtains roll back. Sooyoung hears an excited gasp from Jungeun and sees Jiwoo move to the edge of her seat to get a better view. She smiles at their reactions and leans back to prepare herself to enjoy the performances. Just then, her phone starts vibrating in her pocket.

 

She looks at the screen and her sister’s contact name flashes in it. She swipes to the left to reject the call but her sister calls again just as quickly. She looks up to see Jiwoo look questioningly at her and she gives her a sheepish smile.

 

Realizing that it might be important, she excuses herself and takes the call just beyond the doors.

 

“What do you want?”

 

She and her sister haven’t exactly been on the best terms since she was in high school. They hardly even talk at home so why is she calling her now?

 

“...”

 

“I’m in the middle of something important and I’m pretty sure mom and dad know so say something now or I’m hanging up.”

 

“Something came in the mail. For you. International post.”

 

Sooyoung freezes but still asks even though she already knows. “What? What is it?”

 

There’s a pause on the other line as if her sister is thinking about what to say next.

 

“You know you don’t have to go, right? Mom and dad and… me… we’d rather you stay here.”

 

It all sounds weird to her and she can’t help but be suspicious. “What are you saying?”

 

“So just… whatever the results are, remember that we love you. I love you, Sooyoung.”

 

“Did you look through it already? Without me? Unnie? UNNIE?”

 

“-”

 

The line gets cut and Sooyoung weakly pockets her phone. She rubs her face with her hands and spends a couple of moments looking at the wall, trying to decide what to feel. Her sister really chose the wrong time to be cryptic and affectionate. But she’ll have to find out later what that’s all about. Right now, she has to go back inside and support Jiwoo’s friends.

 

She finds her way back to her seat. When her eyes meet Jiwoo’s, the younger girl offers her a concerned smile to which she only shakes her head at.

 

&&

 

Finals turned out to be a lot more difficult than midterms and prelims for Jiwoo. Maybe it was because she hadn’t seen much of Sooyoung after Haseul’s recital and, thus, didn’t receive much help preparing for the exams. Sooyoung still attends class but their study sessions had stopped. Jinsol did take her under her wing for a time, which according to the girl was a favor to her best friend, but it was weird. She couldn’t concentrate on anything knowing that the reason Sooyoung’s been so busy is because she’s wrapping things up for her transfer.

 

Jiwoo knew this and she’s already set her heart and mind on it but it still makes her sad.

 

A finger pokes her on the cheek and she looks up to see Jinsol beaming at her. She had been hanging around the courtyard, waiting for her to finish the exam since she finished first.

 

“How’d it go for you?” Jinsol asks.

 

“Difficult but I think I’ll pass.” Jiwoo answers.

 

“Great!” Jinsol exclaims, clapping her hands together.

 

Jiwoo smiles back but then drops her gaze to the ground. “...Did Sooyoung unnie finish already?”

 

“She finished earlier than me but we handed in our tests at the same time.” Jinsol says, starts to walk.

 

“Oh, really? Where is she?” Jiwoo asks, tries to keep up with her long strides.

 

“She was in a hurry to leave.” Jinsol shrugs.

 

Jiwoo nods despite feeling regretful inside. Had she missed her chance to properly say goodbye for the last time? And it seems as though Jinsol senses her despair.

 

“But, hey, cheer up, Jiwoo! Summer classes are over! We should celebrate!” The older girl drapes an arm around her shoulder and winks.

 

“Sure, I guess.” Jiwoo musters another smile. “What do you have in mind, unnie?”

 

“Minkyung’s having an end of summer classes bash at her apartment tonight. It’s supposed to be a small one. Only everyone in class. You should come. I’ll bring Sooyoung too.”

 

“Okay, I’ll come.” Jiwoo mumbles.

 

“Do you promise?” Jinsol looks her in the eye.

 

And she looks right back. “I promise, I’ll be there, Jinsol unnie.”

 

The rest of the day goes slowly. Her phone blows up with messages from Jungeun and Chaewon but she ignores it. They know she’s feeling down and they probably want to cheer her up but she wants to make sure she’ll be free for the night. With bridge over, it might be the last time she and Sooyoung will meet.

 

The clock hits 6 o’clock and she finally heads out to meet with Jinsol and Sooyoung so they can go to Minkyung’s apartment together. Jinsol is so excited that she basically speedwalks the whole way, leaving Jiwoo and Sooyoung to lag behind her. But none of them say anything until they get to Minkyung’s and are supplied with a drink each.

 

Maybe it’s because they haven’t really talked in a while and there’s just a lot that had happened and they don’t know where to start. Luckily, Sooyoung speaks first.

 

“How’d your exam go?” She asks as they occupy the couch.

 

“It went okay, I guess. I’m kinda sure I’ll pass.” Jiwoo replies, puts her feet up to get comfortable too.

 

“That’s good.” Sooyoung says, smiles at her.

 

Jiwoo doesn’t need to ask her about hers because she knows she aced it. So, for a moment, she just looks around the room, at their classmates who are chatting and drinking and dancing. She doesn’t know where she finds the strength to but she asks.

 

“How are things going with your transfer, unnie?”

 

Sooyoung takes a deep breath, swirls her beer around her cup for a while until she finally replies. “I’m not going, Jiwoo.”

 

“What?” Jiwoo nearly drops her cup.

 

“I didn’t pass.” Sooyoung says simply. “Slots for the program were limited and there were applicants who are better qualified than me so…” She shrugs.

 

“I’m sorry to hear that, Sooyoung unnie.”

 

Despite her shock and that tiny feeling of hope suddenly blooming in her chest, she means it. Sooyoung must’ve wanted to get in that school for a long time and she clearly worked hard for that application.

 

“Eh. It’s fine.” Sooyoung waves her hand in front of her to dismiss it. She, then, takes a sip of her drink. “I was bummed about it for a time which is why I couldn’t help you study for the finals. I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

 

“It’s okay, unnie.” Jiwoo shakes her head.

 

Sooyoung looks at her. She inclines her head to the side as she does, like she’s seeing her in a different light. Jiwoo tries her best to hold her gaze, wants to know what Sooyoung’s thinking of. But there’s only so much that her heart can take and she eventually has to look away as it starts to feel like she might explode. Maybe she wasn’t so wrong about hoping?

 

“Yeah. I guess I’m okay now too.” Sooyoung speaks again, takes another deep breath, and shrugs. “It’s complicated but I realized that I don’t want it as much now than when I was younger?”

 

“You don’t?” Jiwoo asks, trying to keep a wave of mixed emotions from sweeping over her and pulling her under.

 

“It’s cringy but I think a huge part of me was using LSE as a means to prove that I was better than my sister. She was always trying to put one over me and made everything a competition when we were kids. The two of us had a heart to heart talk recently and that made me realize it.”

 

Jiwoo doesn’t know what to say as her mind is already going through the overwhelming possibility in front of her. Perhaps fate is giving her a chance to know everything there is to know about this girl, a chance to fall in deeper and never resurface. Frankly, Jiwoo wants to take that chance.

 

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” She finally says.

 

“I do. She’s a year older than me.” Sooyoung looks at her again, smiles. “What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

 

“I have two younger brothers.” She replies and Sooyoung nods slowly.

 

“So on top of having Chaewon, you also have two younger brothers.” Jiwoo laughs, loud and bright. “Which reminds me, did she get her tooth fixed now?”

 

“Yes. Yes, she did. Got a stainless steel crown for it. She says it makes her feel gangsta even though it’s hardly visible.”

 

Sooyoung laughs out loud too, mirrors Jiwoo’s mirth. Their eyes meet again and some unexplainable force pulls them to draw closer to each other.

 

“I’m sorry about LSE, unnie.” Jiwoo says again.

 

“Don’t be. London isn’t all that great. SNU is a good school too. And… here is a pretty nice place to be, you know?”

 

Sooyoung’s hand finds hers and neither of them questions it because if they’re going to be honest, both of them know that this is long overdue.

 

“I guess I can say I’ve found several good reasons to want to stay.” Sooyoung admits, smiles as she looks down on their hands and intertwines their fingers.

 

Jiwoo’s heart beats so loud in her chest. Sooyoung could probably hear it so she doesn’t bother trying to hold herself back anymore.

 

“Unnie,” She starts.

 

“Yeah?” Sooyoung looks her in the eye again but keeps her hand wrapped around hers still.

 

“What do you feel about going out on a date with me?” Jiwoo asks.

 

Sooyoung bursts into the biggest smile she’s ever seen on her that she has to blink.

 

“I’d feel really happy about that.” Sooyoung says.

 

“You would?” Jiwoo checks, not believing her ears for a second.

 

“Mhmm.” Sooyoung mumbles, holds her hand tighter. “We should do it real soon. Shall we go to see a movie on Wednesday?”