“you want me to what?”

eunbi sighs, as if annoyed at the fact that yewon still isn’t understanding what she’s saying, and pinches at the bridge of her nose as she turns more in her seat to properly look at the younger girl.

“i don’t get what’s so hard to understand what i’m asking for here.”

yewon barely spares her a glance at the sarcasm as she flicks a few pages in her notes before striking through a couple lines and rewriting her own. she mumbles something about muscle tension and strain, and eunbi almost whines at the fact that she’s being so blatantly ignored despite this being a very serious problem that she needs help solving.

eunbi waits forty-five seconds. yewon flicks another page. eunbi does actually whine.

“yewon, c’mon! help me out here.”

yewon finally sets her notebook aside and clasps her hands together. there’s a look on her face that tells eunbi that she’s slightly annoyed at her shenanigans, but she’s known yewon long enough now to know that it really means she’s barely toed over the line of actually being aggravated. it’s bemused irritation at best.

“you want me to ask my sister if she can help you study?”

eunbi nods quickly, a wide smile stretching across her face. finally yewon understands.

“my sister. to help you study.” she clicks her tongue and her left eyebrow ticks up. “how could sojung help you? you literally teach half your course their assignments. you even helped your professor plan his mid-semester exam because you almost understood it better than him. and you want to ask my sister for help?”

eunbi nods again, yet slower this time, and picks at a chip in the wood of her desk. when yewon says it like that, it does sound kind of weird. but eunbi does believe sojung can help her, what with having studied a part of the course that eunbi is, in fact, actually studying now. who cares if she took the course three years ago and maybe remembers nothing about it other than it happened to talk about a science that barely anyone outside of those interested in it can understand—eunbi is determined to learn.

yewon gives her an unamused look and turns back to her notes. “juyeon was right.”

eunbi her head to the side, lips turned down in a confused frown.

“your crush on my sister is way too obvious.”

there’s a yell, a hurried fumble, and yewon easily dodges the notebook that eunbi launches at her in retaliation.

eunbi stares hard at the table in front of her, fists curled tight in her lap. it’s weird doing this, being out in her free time with someone that isn’t eunwoo, dahyun, or juyeon. even someone that isn’t yewon, yuna, big eunbi, or yerin. 

but here she is, sojung sitting in front of her, casually sipping at a lemonade without a care in the world as to why she’s here with eunbi of all people instead of with one of her many friends that eunbi sees her galavanting around campus with.

“so,” sojung starts as she sets her half empty cup aside, tossing a lazy yet somehow apologetic smile eunbi’s way when the younger girl startles at the sudden declaration, “nayoung-ie says you need my help with your thesis or something?”

eunbi has to hold back a grimace. because while she wasn’t able to convince yewon to talk to her sister, she somehow had gotten nayoung to fall for the whine in her voice and pout on her lips and gotten a meet up with sojung arranged. how nayoung managed it with her limited knowledge of sojung’s existence outside of them suddenly being in a sorority together, she’ll never know, but if her teasing i’m so glad you’re branching out with new friends was anything to go by, juyeon had obviously divulged sensitive information about the crush eunbi definitely did not have.

“right.” eunbi clears and sits up straighter. sojung’s just a girl (a ridiculously pretty, charming, experienced, world-learned girl—but she refuses to acknowledge that), so she can do this. she can talk to her and not be nervous! she just wants her help, that’s all.

“yewon mentioned you studied biomolecular engineering for a bit before.” sojung hums non-committedly as she sips at her lemonade again and eunbi suddenly feels small all over. “and i—uh.” she clears , taps her fingers against the table once, twice, three times, then,

“i want you to help me?”

sojung smirks, “is that a question or a statement?”

eunbi taps again. “a statement.”

“sounded like a question.”

“it wasn’t.”

“but it sounded like it was.”

“but it wasn’t.”

“but—“

“god, you’re infuriating. why do i even want to be around you?”

sojung stops, stares. eunbi stares back, slack-jawed. she’s stupid, so so stupid. how can she claim to be so smart, know so much, then be so stupid.

then, sojung smiles. it’s wide, almost predatory. like she knows something that eunbi doesn’t.

“alright, you’ve got a deal. i’ll help.”

eunbi doesn’t get a chance to question the abrupt change in mood or even say thank you, because sojung just reaches over and quickly scrawls her number across eunbi’s palm, nothing more than a wink thrown over her shoulder as she leaves a few bills on the table (more than enough to pay for both their drinks three times over), gets up, and leaves.

eunbi sits there for another twenty minutes, realizing that she really doesn’t understand sojung.

//

later, when eunbi retells the meeting to dahyun, eunwoo, and juyeon, they agree that eunbi is, in fact, dumb.

juyeon questions if she’s worthy of her top position in her class, though she quickly apologizes when eunbi leaves her gasping with a swift hit to the gut.

“listen, hwang,” dahyun starts as she relaxes back against her bed, “she’s obviously out of your league.”

eunwoo nods sagely in agreement. and from her hunched position, juyeon agrees with a wheeze.

“but she seems to think you’re interesting for whatever reason, despite you literally not knowing how to talk in front of her.”

eunbi scowls. “i’m better at talking to girls than any of you. who says anyone is out of my league?”

that gets a laugh out of all them. juyeon the loudest, unsurprisingly.

“i literally have two girlfriends,” she hacks out around another hard laugh. eunbi’s scowl deepens.

“and i have my thing with jieqiong,” eunwoo adds on.

“and!” juyeon starts, not even backing down when eunbi fake jumps at her again, “dahyun is out with a new girl pretty much every week! face it, hwang—you’re hopeless.”

eunbi stands abruptly, because she is not hopeless. the word doesn’t even fully register in her head because it’s never existed in her world. she will not let sojung best her. she will not be the fool.

“i’ll show you,” she mumbles as she pulls out her phone and starts keying in the number on her palm. “i’m top notch, always on my ‘a’ game. no one else compares.” the line rings, and she points an accusing finger at a wide-eyed juyeon, “especially a buffoon like you.”

the call connects and as sojung’s relaxed voice spills into eunbi’s ears, she stops cold.

oh god, what has she done?

“uh—i. um. this is—it’s eunbi. from the café?”

she cringes. sees the others cringe, too. can practically feel the awkwardness through the silence that has taken over the line.

“oh wow,” sojung huffs out through a chuckle, “didn’t think you would be this flustered over the phone this early.”

when eunbi’s cheeks bleed red at the innuendo, she quickly turns away from her friends prying eyes and juyeon’s satisfied smirk.

(“so you’re into that stuff, eunbi?” juyeon will tease later, much to the amusement of a quickly filled in nayoung who had pinched her cheeks and claimed her last baby had finally grown up.

“i swear to god, juyeon!” )

“so why’d you call?” sojung questions when eunbi says nothing for a few long seconds. “i mean, figured you would, but not the same day. i bet on it being weeks from now, really.”

and she isn’t far off. while eunbi doesn’t consider herself shy, she still very rarely makes the first move. call it self-preservation, but she’d rather keep herself safe, especially seeing how people are when you let them too close.

“i just wanted to make sure we were still on for you helping me with my thesis?”

(juyeon turns to eunwoo and whispers, “is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?”

eunbi flicks her off.)

“said i would, didn’t i?” eunbi can hear the smirk in sojung’s voice and she has to bite onto her lower lip hard to stifle the groan that rumbles in her chest at being made the fool again.

“you did. and—thank you.” she clears , pointedly ignores the quiet, oddly sincere anytime you need me sojung replies with. then, “coffee tomorrow?”

sojung laughs around her agreement and eunbi feels something in her head shift then settle at the sound.

“alright then, it’s a date!” a pause and eunbi smacks herself in the forehead lightly. “not a date, but two would-be colleagues meeting to discuss science. a get together. a mutual discussion.”

sojung hums. eunbi can practically feel the cool aura that surrounds the older girl as she reiterates, “it’s a date, then.”

the line clicks and eunbi is left how she was mere hours ago: still not any closer to understanding sojung.

“told you,” dahyun states as she takes the phone from eunbi when it chimes. a new text from sojung brightens up the screen, a simple address and a winking emoji that sends a promise for tomorrow. “hopeless. this girl will ruin her.”

eunbi hates that a part of her is intrigued by the idea.

(apparently the blush on her face gives her away. but another hit to the gut silences juyeon easily enough.)