Nayeon was flabbergasted as she saw what Sana was doing. What was going on in her mind to do such a thing? How had she thought of using tape to split the entire dorm room in half? The sound of pulling the tape frustrated Nayeon. She couldn’t handle it anymore. She stormed up to Sana, pulling the tape from her hands. Sana glowered at her, asking for the item back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Nayeon fumed.

“I’m doing what’s right. It’s already frustrating having you in this room with me, I’m not going to deal with anymore. Either you live with this or find your own place.” Sana suggested, pulling the tape off Nayeon.

She scoffed but let Sana be, knowing that butting heads with her would be a bad choice at this time. On the bright side, it would mean that they’d respect each others boundaries.

Unable to bear the screeching noise, Nayeon left the room to join Momo. She knocked on their dorm door, greeting Mina with a smile as she opened the door first.

“Is everything okay?” Mina asked.

“She’s splitting the entire dorm room in half.” Nayeon sighed, making Mina widen her eyes.

“What?!” Mina gasped.

“I’m sorry if I end up popping by here more than usual. It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I’ll be rooming with her.” Nayeon apologised.

“Being her friend of five years, I completely understand.” Mina offered an assuring smile, patting Nayeon’s back. “Let me go have a talk with her.”

Momo came out of the bathroom as they finished their conversation. Mina tried to hide her blush upon seeing her wrapped in a towel, but it was noticed by Nayeon, who only chuckled at the effect. Momo looked between them in confusion, wondering if they were teasing her.

“I’ll get changed quickly.” Momo muttered.

“Oh, no, take your time.” Nayeon grinned cheekily, earning a jab from Mina.

“Are you okay Nay?” Momo snickered.

“More than fine.” Nayeon struggled to keep in her laughter as Mina whined beside her.

“Momo, I’m just going to Sana’s dorm. I’ll see you later.” Mina escaped, almost running out the door.

Nayeon shook her head at the sight, finding the mutual attraction between the pair quite cute. Seeing someone who made Momo speechless? A rare catch.

“What happened?” Momo asked as soon as Mina left.

Nayeon sighed heavily, groaning and collapsing on Momo’s bed. She was lucky to have no restrictions on her living arrangement with Mina. She had no idea what she was going to return to when she went back to her dorm room afterwards. It infuriated her that Nayeon let herself be controlled by that girl, without putting up an effort of rejection. She understood respecting boundaries but this was too much.

“I’m about to go nuts. She’s so infuriating.” Nayeon screamed into the pillow on her bed.

“Just deal with it for a little while.” Momo encouraged, patting Nayeon’s head. “Do you want to go out for food and drinks? Might make you feel less worrying about class tomorrow too.”

“Argh. I just need an escape.” Nayeon agreed, jumping off the bed.

---

Nayeon blinked thrice, not believing her line of sight.

“Is she stalking me?” Nayeon asked out loud.

They’d arrived at a fast food restaurant about fifteen minutes ago and just finished ordering. Leaving the campus had done wonders, but the cause of her stress had followed her. Sana stood at the entrance with Mina.

“What are you talking about?” Momo asked, mouth full of fries. She turned to where Nayeon was looking at, jaw dropping as she noticed the pair. She looked around, realising there weren’t any seats available, other than the table they were at.

Nayeon seemed like she thought the same and her eyes immediately widened as she recognised the look in Momo’s eyes. “Absolutely not."

Smiling innocently, Momo called for Mina’s attention, and she grinned as Mina waved back. She pointed to the table and Nayeon just wanted to hide herself. Momo was truly an embarrassment sometimes.

“Hey, swap! Come sit next to me.” Momo whispered.

“What? No way! That means I have to see Sana while I eat.” Nayeon shook her head.

“Do it for me.” Momo pleaded.

Nayeon cursed under her breath glaring at Momo before sliding up beside her, crossing her arms. What she was doing for their friendship.

Mina smiled widely as she approached their table, nudging Sana, who looked like she didn’t want to be with them either.

“Can’t we eat at the dorms?” Sana whispered.

“No. I’m not making a mess of my dorm when it’s our first day. And, you won’t clean up, so no.” Mina answered, beating Sana and sitting in front of Momo.

Nayeon and Sana awkwardly sat at the table, watching their friends embarrass their selves. The former drummed her fingers against the table as she waited for the arrival of her meal, trying to distract herself.

“Can you stop that?” Sana growled, hating the noise.

“Once you stop tapping the table leg with your own.” Nayeon shrugged.

Rendered speechless, Sana didn’t attempt to argue, pouting at the treatment and remaining silent. Nayeon’s meal arrived moments later, and she would’ve dived right into it if Momo hadn’t kicked her. She glared at her best friend, wondering why she was being disturbed.

“Wait for theirs.” Momo scolded.

Nayeon guffawed, knowing how weird it was to hear Momo say those words. She was always the one who ate first but now she was willing to wait? She could see her offer Mina chips from her plate and she was shocked yet again. Nayeon pulled her tray closer to hers, not wanting to share hers with Sana’s. But seeing Sana quietly distract herself, Nayeon felt like sharing, nudging Sana with her tray. She looked at her with surprise and bowed her head, hiding her face with her hair as she basically inhaled the chips.

She didn’t know what to do so she just watched Sana as she munched on, cheeks puffing up like a squirrel as she ate. Nayeon’s chips were probably gone in a few minutes, leaving only her burger and drink. Her eye twitched as she saw Sana reach out for the burger, but the pair’s meal was brought to the them, allowing Nayeon to grab her own tray back again. Momo owed her a proper dinner next time for going through such torture.

Even if she tried to be angry, she couldn’t.

Mina sent Nayeon an apologetic smile as she stared at Sana, sighing softly and giving up. Maybe she was a little but cute, just maybe.

---

Nayeon and Sana walked back into their room quietly, neither uttering a word. She’d yet to see what Sana had done with the division of the room and she knew she was going to be surprised. Sana headed in first, leaving Nayeon to gulp in nervousness.

The red tape split the room evenly, even going all the way to the kitchen. She stood by the door, noting all the locations and every corner of their room.

“The rule is simple. If we’re in an area together, just stay on the other side of the line.” Sana grumbled, walking to her bed. “Nothing of yours can be on my side. Nothing of mine can be on yours. It includes dishes in the sink. Let’s just deal with the next few weeks. I don’t want to deal with you in the day time. We can just avoid each other.”

Nayeon had no energy to fight, and agreed, walking to her bed and collapsing upon it. It had been a long day for her and she was still not ready for the next day when her classes all started. She was going to meet new people tomorrow and she really hoped it went well. First days were always scary to think about.

She was almost asleep when she heard Sana moving around. Nayeon sighed but listened, knowing Sana was about to say something else. How did she have the energy? Nayeon had no idea at all.

“... Also, thank you for sharing your meal.” Sana added, catching Nayeon off guard.

So, she could say thank you.

Nayeon hummed, not providing a proper response. If she were to be honest, she was exhausted with the whole day’s events. Traveling from home, settling in, meeting Sana, arguing and even dinner – she was ready to just fall asleep.

She’d deal with Sana tomorrow, including everything about the bloody red tape. For now, she just wanted to close her eyes and get some rest.

---

Sana woke up after Nayeon the next morning, realising she’d slept through two of her set alarms already. She scrambled to get ready, getting caught in her bed sheets and almost falling down. She didn’t need her clumsiness this morning. If she dressed fast enough, she’d make it just in time. Sana threw on a quick outfit, grabbing an apple from their fruit bowl and ran out of their room to head to the first lecture of the day. Please, don’t judge her. She kept about five alarms set for her morning classes because she usually slept through them all. At least she was being wary of the new lifestyle without her mother waking her up early in the morning. It was a start!

She sped her way through the crowded halls of the college, bumping and apologising to students as she rushed. She couldn’t be late on her first day of college. It was an absolute no. Her speed walking turned into running and she found herself in front of her room, finally. Heaving deeply, she made her way into her class on time, seating herself at the back of the large crowd of students. Sana nervously fiddled with her pen, awaiting the professor’s entrance into the room. She scanned the room for any familiar faces, pleased to find none – well, more so relieved. She really didn’t want to see anyone else from high school when she was already dealing with Nayeon.

Thinking back to their events from their first meeting, Sana was actually now surprised. Admittedly, Nayeon was sweet to share her food last night but Sana had seen her pull the tray towards her first. Though, not taking that into consideration, it was a nice gesture from her. The night had been awkward and she did feel a little bit bad about setting up the red tape but boundaries had to be set. Sana had to put her foot down to make sure that Nayeon wouldn’t walk all over her and make her feel inferior like that final year of high school. She wanted to make herself be shown as a confident person who wouldn’t take no for an answer. This was the start. The red tape had to be done.

The entire cohort quietened down and Sana sat up straight, paying attention. There would be a roll call soon too, if she recalled from what she read up on the course guide. Each class had roll calls to ensure no one missed any. Sana had only scoffed when she reached that part of text. Did the college really expect students to attend every single class? It was high hopes for sure.

“Alright, everyone. Welcome to the introductory class on those who have chosen Film as their major. I’ll start the roll call now."

Sana was noting each student as they were called out, nodding along and waiting for her own turn.

“Nayeon Im.”

Oh, hell no.

This wasn’t happening.

Sana was dreaming, right?

There was no way that her and Nayeon would be in the same course. She searched the crowd, finding the brunette as she acknowledged her presence. That husky voice? Definitely Nayeon.

Sana and Nayeon would be in the same course.

Sana and Nayeon would be in the same classes.

Sana and Nayeon would be seeing each other more often.