Nayeon was taken aback by Sana’s outburst. She had walked into the room to explain herself but she was being kicked out of their room instead. Had Sana even spoken to the secretary about changing roommates? She couldn’t just pull Nayeon out of the room whenever she pleased. They already tried to split when they moved in for the first time.

She moved forward but Sana pulled back, pointing at the red tape on their room floor. “Stay back. Rules are still rules.”

A snicker almost left Nayeon’s lips. Was Sana really going to be like this right now? When they actually needed to talk? “Is it what you want?” Nayeon asked, her hand as she tried to calm herself. “You don’t want to listen to any reasoning I have?”

Sana scoffed and crossed her arms. “Do you really think I’ll make the same mistake twice to trust your words? I meant it the first time I said it.”

“I’m still going to be in your classes. And we’re still going to be working on the project.” Nayeon pointed out, trying to salvage her relationship, or what was left with it.

“I’ll find another class. I can’t have you messing with my head. I can’t have you here. You say one thing but don’t keep up with what you say. I know we didn’t talk about what was going on between us when we returned, but why do I feel like a fool?” Sana sighed. “I–just, when you were meant to be here, you weren’t. So, please, just leave.”

Nayeon shook her head, distraught because of their situation. She came back to clear things. She came back to finally confess because Momo had encouraged it, and slapped her in the face with situations that she didn’t want to be in. Sana wasn’t even willing to hear her out.

“Let me just–”

“Nayeon, I’m pleading with you. Don’t. I haven’t talked to the secretary yet, but I’ll do it later.” Sana stopped Nayeon from explaining herself.

Nayeon nodded, backing away. Even with Sana’s confession of falling for Nayeon, she felt utterly hurt with the assumption that she was the same as she was in high school.

It hurt her because she still didn’t know what Sana saw in her that made her hate her so much.

It hurt her that even though the person she’s liked for years, liked her back, it didn’t matter.

It hurt her that Sana wasn’t even willing to hear an explanation from her.

If Sana liked her like she said, wouldn’t she be wanting to hear her out, at least?

Sana didn’t want anything to do with her. Nayeon still pined after her. Their story was almost as tragic as Romeo and Juliet.

This was the end of their rocky relationship.

“Don’t go the secretary. I’ll go and talk to her. It was a rollercoaster ride being your roommate Minatozaki Sana. I don’t know what happened in high school that made you hate me so much, but I’m sorry for whatever I did. It was great knowing you, and yes, you can ignore me when I say this. I fell for you long before you fell for me.” Nayeon confessed, wiping away the stray tear that made its way down her cheek before Sana could see it.

She could see the swirls of emotions in Sana’s eyes, but Nayeon didn’t want to stay for longer. She didn’t want to be drawn back to the same honey coloured eyes that drew her in, years ago. For a moment, she thought Sana might have wanted to say something but Nayeon pushed herself to not falter, walking out of the door of their shared dorm.

---

As soon as Nayeon left the dorm, banging the door shut, Sana cried. She fell against her bed, pulling up her knees and hiding her face between.

She broke down.

She didn’t want to show such a front to Nayeon. She didn’t want to say any of what she just did. She honestly saw Nayeon as the person she met at college, not the one her friend had told her about in high school. But, it was easier on her heart for her to listen to her mind. To reason, that building something with Nayeon was impossible.

Sana almost gave in there. Almost believed what she said about falling for her already. But Sana knew better than to believe in someone who’s lied before. She knew better than to trust someone who just disappeared out of nowhere, without a word.

She tried to ignore the image of how Nayeon’s smile dropped as soon as Sana had spoken of making her leave the room. She tried to ignore Nayeon’s pleading tone, wanting her to just give her a chance to explain herself.

She didn’t want to hear Nayeon’s reasoning.

She didn’t want to waver.

Sana knew that if she listened, if she let Nayeon explain, she would believe her.

It was better off this way, where her heart would be protected and blocked away from getting hurt ever again.

---

Nayeon was defeated. Her posture screamed it.

Her sagged shoulders.

Her red nose from crying.

Her exhausted facial features.

As she walked to the secretary, she tried to convince herself that it was the right thing to do. Nayeon was listening to what Sana wanted, what they’d both benefited out of. She’d been a fool to believe that Sana would accept her love. She’d been a fool to think of confessing.

She couldn’t get it out of her mind. She couldn’t make sense of their situation.

Sana liked her.

Nayeon liked Sana.

What was left to be unsaid? They liked each other. They already moved forward in forgetting about whatever happened in high school but Sana seemed to be the one to hold on tightly. She wasn’t letting go and it had successfully ruined any hope of them being together.

Nayeon tried to understand. She tried to think of things through Sana’s perspective. It was so perplexing. Was Sana trying to protect someone? Herself? What other reason could she have to be so against dating Nayeon? She’d only ever tried to prove that she was a regular girl, with a regular lifestyle. It frustrated her that months later, she still didn’t know what Sana’s problem was. She wanted to know what was driving Sana away from her grasp.

Arriving at the secretary’s office, Nayeon hesitated as she stood at the door. Once she did this, it couldn’t be reversed. She’d be moving out of Sana’s dorm and would never be able to step in it again. Was it worth it to go this far?

If one of the two of them were happy, would it be okay?

---

When Sana knocked on Mina’s door with puffy eyes, her best friend pulled her inside without a second to waste. She shooed Momo out of the room, having an inkling that it was about Nayeon, again. Honestly, she hoped it was good news. The two were slower than Momo’s awareness of Mina’s liking for her, and that was saying something.

Mina, however, was caught off-guard when Sana cried in her arms instead. They definitely weren’t tears of happiness that Sana was shedding. Hadn’t Nayeon explained herself? Or had she gone and broken Sana’s heart instead? She told Momo to get her to fix things, not ruin them all over again. Mina sighed as she comforted Sana.

She was used to seeing Sana being happy and cheery. This continuous streak of Sana crying in her arms was hurting Mina too. The only time Sana had ever cried this hard was when she missed Mina’s play performance in high school that she promised to go to. Just what had Nayeon done to make Sana cry so hard and so much over the span of a whole week?

“Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you crying so much Sana? Talk to me.” Mina encouraged Sana to speak her feelings, rubbing her back to quieten her cries.

“… Nayeon… screaming… moved out… I hate her.”

Mina struggled to make sense of what Sana was saying through her loud sobbing.

“Nayeon screamed at you to move out?” Mina attempted to decode what she just heard.

Sana shook her head, sniffling as she tried to stop her crying to explain. “I told her to leave.”

“Why would you do that? I thought you accepted that you like her!” Mina gasped, not understanding her best friend’s mind. “Please, don’t tell me you’re still hung up on what your friend said in high school.”

“Our friend.” Sana defended.

“She’s no friend of mine. She was a liar and she was manipulative. I don’t know how you never saw that.” Mina grumbled. She didn’t want to think about that girl again.

“Maybe it is about what she said. Mina, Nayeon left me and didn’t even give me a reason why. She told me she loves me but then why did she leave me, without saying anything? Through her actions, it seemed like she liked me, I agree – but then she disappeared out of the blue. That’s exactly what I was told in high school.” Sana justified her actions.

“Did she not even explain herself?” Mina raised her eyebrows. She knew Sana didn’t like listening to explanations – something she still struggled to deal with today.

“Well, I didn’t want to hear it.” Sana shrugged.

“Are you serious? You like this person, and you don’t even let them explain themselves. Are you crazy?” Mina scolded Sana. How could she act this way to someone she liked?

“I didn’t want to be swayed with her words.” Sana offered a meek response.

Mina could’ve laughed at Sana’s answer. Nayeon was so busy taking care of her mother and siblings – Sana couldn’t even give her a chance to explain. For a moment, she was extremely agitated with Sana’s behaviour towards her roommate.

“I can’t believe you.” Mina shook her head. She was disappointed.

“I did nothing wrong! I wanted to protect my heart from pain!” Sana argued.

“No, Sana. If you cared about her, if you liked her, you would have listened. You wouldn’t have been rash in kicking her out.” Mina countered. “If you’d listened to her, you would have known that she’s been extremely busy because her mother was in a car accident. You would’ve known that she’s meeting Lena because she’s picking up notes. All you had to do was let her explain.”

“Accident?” Sana paled upon hearing Mina’s words. “How do you know all of this?”

“I talk to my girlfriend. That’s what you do when you think something isn’t right, you know? You don’t jump to conclusions. I did the same and I feel extremely guilty. Because you were so upset the entire week, I basically scared my girlfriend into thinking she’d done something wrong because I assumed something that was incorrect. Fix this Sana.” Mina smacked some sense into her best friend.

Sana scrambled from her spot, jumping out of her seat. “You’re right, I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have let someone else’s words blind me when I saw that Nayeon wasn’t what she said she was.”

“Go get her.” Mina smiled, pushing Sana out of her door. She prayed that it would work out between them two.

---

Sana bolted through the corridors of the dorm she resided at. She smacked into people, apologising as she continued to run forward, hoping to get to Nayeon before she left their shared dorm.

God, she felt like a complete idiot. She felt like the crappiest person to be alive. How could she be so insincere and heartless? How could she be so blinded by someone else’s words that she let it overpower how much she liked Nayeon for who she really was?

She dropped her room keys in a rush to open the door, cursing herself for her shaky hands when she didn’t need them right now.

She froze as she entered.

The room was bare.

All of Nayeon’s things were gone.

Her posters, her utensils, her books, her clothes.

Her side of the room was tidy to the extent that Sana couldn’t see a speck of dust.

The red tape stood out in the gloomy room now, a reminder of Sana’s stupidity.

Sana crouched by her bed yet again, unable to stop herself from crying.

Nayeon had left. Nayeon had left her because Sana had pushed her away.

“Sana? Why are you crying?”

Sana whipped her head around to the bathroom, seeing Nayeon standing there, tilting her head in confusion.

“Sana?” Nayeon waited for a response from the crying girl.

Instead of saying anything, Sana jumped up and ran towards Nayeon, pulling her towards her by the collar of her shirt.

Nayeon was bewildered, not knowing what was Sana was up to. It was a complete turn-around from when she left the room earlier.

Sana smirked as she noticed Nayeon’s dazed out state. Without wasting another second, she tiptoed and pressed her lips to Nayeon’s.