Yuri curled up at the feeling of a pillow hitting her back repeatedly. Trying to cling to dear sleep, she resisted the stimulus.

"God, this girl is hopeless," muttered a familiar voice as Yuri finally gave up and opened her eyes ever so slowly. "Finally, you woke up!" greeted Nako's voice.

"Morning, Nako..." rubbed her eyes, "Did she return already?" she asked, glancing at the empty bed, her face expressing worry.

Nako shook her head, not looking into Yuri's eyes.

"I see." Yuri sighed.

***

Wonyoung finally finished College Algebra class, when the bell announced break time.

"Wonyoungie!" Yujin rushed to her side and Wonyoung couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, Yujinnie?"

Yujin flashed her 100-kilowatt smile again.

"Uhm… Do you mind coming with me to the rooftop?" Yujin clasped her palms together. "I have something to tell you and it's pretty private," added the active puppy.

'Is she confessing to me?' thought the younger girl.

"S-sure! Let's go!"

Hitomi and Miu, who happened to witness the whole thing, wondered what the two went to talk about. Looked at each other and decided to follow the young pair.

After arriving at the rooftop, they stayed in silence for a couple of seconds, both girls were nervous, Wonyoung was also expectant and Yujin didn’t know how to start.

Finally, the older of the two mouthed what she wanted to ask, as soon as the words registered in her ears, Wonyoung’s eyes opened big and her right hand covered .

Yujin just smiled. Both of Yujin's index fingers touched, positioned in front of their owner as anxiety took over. "So… What do you say?" she asked.

"Sure." A smile appeared on Wonyoung's lips as her eyes turned into crescent moons.

Together, the two went downstairs and joined their friends in the Cafeteria.

"Okay…? Where is Miu, Hitomi, and Chaewon?" asked Yujin, immediately noticing the absence of the 3 girls.

"Those three are yet to arrive, I guess,” Yunjin shrugged.

Meanwhile, in the fire exit, Miu was going downstairs with Hitomi. Their original plan was to eavesdrop on Yujin and Wonyoung, thinking that something interesting could come out of that encounter, but they were too late for the party. On their way down, Miu suddenly stopped.

"Miu-chan, is there anything wrong?" asked Hitomi with a puzzled.

Miu exhaled to free some pressure on her chest. 'No one is here so I guess I can tell her.’

"Hitomi-chan," muttered Miu, nervously.

"What is it, Miu-chan?"

Miu held Hitomi's right hand.

"Hii-chan…" Miu, at first, couldn't look at Hitomi directly but gathered enough courage to do so. "I…" Hitomi was also looking at her. "I like you."

Hitomi smiled.

"I like you too, Miu. We're friends."

Hitomi had misunderstood and Miu's grip became tighter.

"No, I mean… I like you more than a friend."

Hitomi's eyes widened as the corrected confession echoed in the empty fire exit. Her lips opened a bit, wanting to say something when suddenly, the strong sound of a fire exit door closing overwhelmed both of them.

"What the?! Who's there?!" Miu's frowned upon hearing the recent sign of intrusion.

Miu couldn't hear a squeak and assumed that the intruding party left the premises, and faced Hitomi once more, looking into her eyes.

“Now…" She breathed in and out.

She muttered several words Hitomi would outright deny if she said it out in the open but Hitomi just listened, knowing for a fact that what the girl was saying was real. And is still relevant. Miu ended it with a bittersweet smile on her face, setting the girl's right hand free.

"Still, I won't give up on you. I will win you over, Hii-chan," Miu then walked downstairs and opened the exit. "Let's eat lunch, shall we?"

***

The days passed uneventful, between classes and homework, everyone distracted by different things and situations.

That Saturday, at exactly 8 in the morning, the sound of a quacking duck could be heard in Yuri’s dorm room, waking up, she looked around until finally realized that was coming from her phone. She had forgotten changing Yena's contact ringtone, it made her giggle. Worrying that the duck might get mad soon, finally picked up the phone, still lying face down on the bed.

"Hello, Yena-yah…?"

"Oh, uhm… Hello, Jjoyul."

“You better have a good reason for calling at this hour or I'm hanging up..."

"N-no, 'yul! Don't hang up!" Yena's panicking voice, on the other side of the line, made Yuri chuckle.

"So what do you need this early?"

"It’s already morning so I thought I could call you now." Yena reasoned.

"I was trying to rest though..." Yuri's lips curved into a pout.

"A-ah! I'm sorry!"

"No, it's alright." Yuri giggled after hearing Yena's quick apology, turned around, now facing the ceiling. "Is it a date?" she added with a smile.

Both had gone on dates every day after class, Yena was trying to prove to Yuri (Yujin and Nako in extension) that she could improve in this thing called 'dating'. Slowly but steadily improving, 1 point at a time. Baby steps.

"Uhm… Yeah."

"Alright. Where do we meet?" Yuri got up from her bed excitedly.

Nako turned her head to look at her friend, still in bed, she was formulating codes for one of the many projects that were still unfinished and the deadline was getting close. While Hyewon was busy studying or pretending to be busy, not wanting to engage in a conversation with Yuri and have another breakdown. To be honest, the pages of the book Hyewon is pretending to read isn't really sinking into her brain, Hyewon tries but her mind is only filled with Yuri and Yuri alone.

And she's starting to hate it.

Half an hour later, Yuri was done preparing for her date with Yena. After eating 2 pieces of bread for breakfast, she finally leaves the room after bidding the two goodbyes.

Hyewon let out a sigh and closed the book after the girl left, which earned a suspicious look from Nako.

"Is it hard?" Nako asked, sitting up.

"Yeah. I can't absorb the material I'm reading."

"I wasn't asking about that."

"Then what?"

"Nothing." Nako heaved a sigh. 'I guess I'll just let her be.'

***

Yena was waiting for Yuri in front of the dorms, quite anxious. She was wearing a black hoodie under a black varsity jacket, coupled with black slacks and yellow sneakers.

As soon as Yuri walked out of the front door, Yena immediately ran to her, presenting a stem of a rose.

"Oh. Here." Yena muttered as she nervously extends the flower. Admiring Yuri’s appearance.

The young girl was wearing an indigo long-sleeved shirt inside a white jumper dress. She wore a pair of white high-heeled sandals.

"Going for the kill, aren't we?" giggled taking the lone flower from Yena's hand and smelling it afterwards.

"Well, I do try." Yena smiled offering a hand to Yuri. "Let's go?"

Yuri didn’t hesitate and took the brunette's hand.

Several minutes later, Yuri was still surprised that Yena had preferred to grab a bus, the girl knows how Yena always preferred going everywhere by car.

Yuri was seated on one of the leftmost seats while Yena was standing in front of her, grasping onto the strap dangling from the metal bar a couple of feet above her.

Yena was busy swiping up the screen of her phone. Yuri sighed in frustration.

Suddenly the bus speeds over a hump, causing the passengers to lose balance, Yena included. She loses the grip on the strap and accidentally leaned too close to Yuri. The sitting girl closed her eyes in reflex. Nothing happens, not even a peck on her cheeks. Wait, why was she expecting something to happen? Slowly, she opened her eyes, meeting Yena's. Her heart starts to race and her cheeks become as red as tomatoes.

Yuri wasn't the only one to feel flustered, but Yena is unable to look away from Yuri's gaze. A good two seconds had passed until the older girl decided to pull away and look somewhere else, awkwardly trying to grasp the strap once more.

"O-oh yeah, w-where are we going again?" Yuri tried brushing it off but failed.

"T-to the Arcade." The girl standing in front of her tried as well, but it was another failed attempt.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at their destination, an arcade in a mall. The two ventured near the doors, the automatic sensors recognized their movements, prompting the glass doors to slide open. It could be seen from the outside that there were numerous gaming consoles.

"So what are we going to play?"

"Uhm… I don't know. Games that could be played by couples?"

"Alright. I'll wait here. Go buy our tokens." Yuri giggled, her eyes never left the girl who queued in line.

'Ahh… I almost died earlier on the bus. Her face was so close too…' Her eyes widened after realizing her thoughts. 'Am I going crazy?' She tapped her cheeks lightly, trying to wake herself up.

'Yuri, don't. Yuri, you declared you won't fall for such arrogant duck.’

‘No, we're friends now and she's actually kind.’

‘Yuri, do you hear yourself saying those words because I remember you signing a contract.'

Yuri was quarreling with herself, one of the telltale signs of losing one's sanity. Yuri A is thinking the unthinkable while Yuri B wants to stick to the contract. Yuri tries to reconcile the two by thinking of the brunette's flaws because yes, if you want to dislike someone, you got to look at the flaws. Except that thinking of those flaws makes Yuri smile more and think of the girl as cute, not the contrary.

'It's not happening. Nothing's going to happen. We'll just go with the contract, reach the contract's goal, and accumulate wealth for my tuition fee for the next semesters. Yes, that's it,' Yuri convinced herself.

But, what was the goal again? After a couple of seconds of thinking, Yuri remembered as a pout manifests on her lips.

'Yena and Kwon-sunbae would end up together again, huh…?'

'You are not thinking of me, are you?' She looked at the brunette's back.

As the line moved little by little, Yena remembered the incident in the bus, a flush of pink painting her cheeks.

'Aigoo… What the heck? It's all that bus driver's fault… She was so close too… Ah, no!' Yena shook her head.

Unlocking her phone, she opened the gallery and after a few scrolls up, Eunbi’s face appeared. Her heart was still not over the older girl, the memories stung too much but it didn’t matter, Eunbi was her everything.

And just like that, she felt healed and, at the same time, sick again.

***

Hyewon decided to get out of the dorms for a change, their room was filled with Yuri. Yuri's scent, Yuri's things, and oh, Yuri herself.

Walking outside the campus, she stumbled upon a modern coffee shop. In hopes that the aroma of coffee replaces Yuri’s scent, she walks inside. She took her time reading the menu written in chalk several feet above the cashier and ordered a regular-sized Frappuccino.

‘If only getting rid of feelings was as easy as paying for a Frappuccino…’ she sighed and found herself a nearby seat.

Several minutes later, a familiar girl placed the Frappuccino on the table. Hyewon was sure she knew the girl but couldn't remember. She barely cared about the names of other people. Her fault, not anyone else's.

"Uhm… Excuse me, we've met before, right?" asked.

"Oh” The waitress realized it was true, they’ve met before, and tried thinking, it seemed both weren't paying attention when they were introduced to each other. "Uhm… Yeah. You're…" She locked eyes with Hyewon. "Who are you, again? I'm sorry, I'm really bad with names."

Hyewon chuckled.

"It's alright," She said, with her eyes still looking at the girl with the green apron around her waist. "We should reintroduce ourselves, don't you think?"

The girl pursed her lips and looked at the cashier for approval. The cashier signaled her with a thumbs up so she took it and looked back at the girl in front of her.

Hyewon removed the plastic straw from the paper covering it and inserted it to the hole on top of the Frappuccino. She sipped a bit and faced the girl once more.

"I'll only say this once so please remember my name this time."

"You're the one to talk." The girl snorted, a hand covering .

"I'm Kang Hyewon. From the Department of Accountancy."

"Hmm… Kang Hyewon-ssi, huh?" The girl looks up, sort of trying to remember it with an amused expression on her face. "I'll remember it." The girl smiled at Hyewon, her eyes turning into crescent moons.

"I'm Minju. Kim Minju from the Department of Computer Science."

"Kim Minju-ssi, I see." Hyewon smiled at the girl. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," replied Minju with a smile.

***

10 wins against 5. Yuri sighed, dropping the toy gun to its holster. Who could have thought that Yena at these kinds of games? She sighed and looked at the competitive duck.

Now that she thought about it, the way Yena was dressed reminded her of a cartoon character, the name slipped away. It didn’t take her long to finally remembering.

"Ah, Daffy Duck."

Upon hearing that name, the brunette sent an annoyed stare towards Yuri, who noticed and giggled.

“Yena-yah, you look like Daffy Duck."

"I heard you the first time." Yena's glare wasn't diminishing in intensity. "Geez, do I really look like a duck?"

Yuri nodded, trying to stop herself from laughing. It doesn't help that Yena is wearing yellow sneakers. The resemblance was too uncanny.