Wasted. That was the word that always came to mind when Nayeon remembered how terribly she and Momo treated each other for weeks after they first met. They were destined to be lovers but they had fought like enemies. It was all lost time that they would never get back.

Wasted. That was the word that always came to mind when Momo remembered the state she was in when she talked to Nayeon for the first time. They were at a college party and Momo had been drunk beyond belief, drunk beyond the realm of logic. But maybe... maybe that was the key to everything.

If you were to ask Nayeon whether or not she thought popularity was important, Nayeon would say that popularity wasn't important at all. But of course, that's what popular people always say when asked. In the same way that rich people say that money isn't everything, or the way tall people say that size doesn't matter, Nayeon always casually told her admirers that popularity wasn't important while secretly keeping an eye on her vast network of friends on campus.

It wasn't that Nayeon needed to be popular, but it was just a familiar atmosphere for her, having spent 4 years of high school being regarded as a goddess. Truthfully, Nayeon hadn't expected that she would've maintained her popularity once she started college, especially since she was going to school in Japan, where she didn't know anyone and was still learning the language. But after a week of attending her new university near Tokyo, Nayeon was quickly reminded that the foundations of popularity in Japan were the same as the foundations of popularity in South Korea.

Step 1, be beautiful. Luckily for Nayeon, she didn't have to do much to satisfy this criteria. She was the kind of person who could roll out of bed and still be considered the prettiest person in a crowded room. And Nayeon never took it for granted that she was blessed with good looks. Beauty got her noticed, beauty made heads turn when she entered a room. Popular people weren't always beautiful, but it definitely made popularity effortless for Nayeon.

Step 2, be special. It was another easy category for Nayeon. High school Nayeon made her mark by being athletic. She could dance, she could play sports, she could climb that stupid rope attached to the ceiling that every gym teacher forced students to climb, knowing that 99% of them would fail; except Nayeon was the 1% that succeeded, the 1% that was regarded as special. Nayeon could've easily used her athleticism to stand out a bit at her university in Japan, but she had something less taxing and more practical in mind to make others view her as "special".

There was a rather annoying rule for freshman in which all incoming students were forced to live in the school's dormitory for the first year. No exceptions, no workarounds, no ifs, ands, or buts. The rule was painfully clear to Nayeon, but she was also stubbornly set on not spending a full year dorming with some random person in a room likely a quarter of the size needed for proper living. Therefore, she brazenly signed an apartment lease without asking for permission and didn't bother to show up at her assigned dorm room. And she likely would've gotten away with not living in the dorms if her would-have-been roommate hadn't reported her absence.

But even after Nayeon got called in to see the Head of Student Affairs, who was determined to make Nayeon give up her apartment and move into the dorms, all it took was 15 minutes with Nayeon's charming smile and her dramatic plea that the apartment had already been leased for a year and she couldn't back out now without huge penalty fees and please oh please couldn't the university make an exception and let her keep the apartment? to make the Head of Students Affairs give in.

The stories about Nayeon's triumph quickly spread across campus. She became known as the freshman who had her own apartment, the beautiful foreigner with the bright red hair who could dance like it was nobody's business. Once again, Nayeon was special. And once again, she became popular.

It was due to that tremendous popularity that all eyes were on Nayeon at a wild party thrown a few weeks into the new school year, a party that was already being hailed as the party of the century even though the night was still young. And of course, Nayeon was at the center of the festivities. Nayeon didn't exactly know everyone standing around her, laughing, dancing, drinks in hand, but they all seemed to know who she was and Nayeon loved being the center of attention. She didn't even have to try to be popular anymore, and maintaining it was as simple as looking good and being friendly to everyone. That's why Nayeon didn't mind it when a girl in a pink hoodie too drunk for her own good stumbled into her with two drinks in hand, the girl's over-filled plastic cups of beer sloshing dangerously over the brim.

Everyone nearby laughed at the drunken girl as Nayeon helped her stand up properly, an arm looped across the girl's chest for support. Nayeon peered into the girl's face and vaguely remembered seeing her before, perhaps at freshman orientation. Her name might've been "Momo", but right now the girl in pink was just another person to boost Nayeon's growing popul