Kim Minjoo.

 

A nerd — well, not really. She acts like it but she still bears the beauty of a goddess, often deceiving people of her true personality.

 

She's your typical studious honor student in the university who spends a lot of time in the library. Reading glasses and thick pile of books? You'll always find her with those. Sometimes, there's even a venti Starbucks frappuccino settled not far from her hand that's busily fidgeting a pen when not in use.

 

Believe it or not, her form of stress reliever is keeping herself busy, and, yes, that includes hours and hours of studying. Ironic? Yeah. But that's only because if she does nothing in her dorm, she ends up getting stressed instead.

 

And as a well-known introvert in their university, people found it shocking on that certain night to see her inside the club, getting forced by her extroverted friends to mingle and drink whatever they offered her.

 

 

But the ever so modest Kim Minjoo politely declined for the nth time.

 

 

"I really don't want to drink, Sakura unnie." 

 

"Psh. That's why people call you boring." The Japanese sneered and chugged down everything in the glass. Their common friends chuckled and snorted but Minjoo didn't mind.

 

Instead, she pushed away the bottles that were near her and took out a book from her bag then placed it on the space she cleared. The other people in their table looked at her in disbelief as she the flashlight of her her phone, pointing it to where she had left off in the book before Sakura forcibly dragged her out of her safe haven.

 

"Are you serious? Ya Kim Minjoo! We're not in the library, we're in the club! This isn't a place for studying!"

 

"Correction, I am entertaining myself, not studying. And also, there's no signage that says I can't open a book in the middle of this crowded, loud and stinky place." Minjoo reached for the only glass of water on the table and took a sip. "You can't force me to get drunk, unnie. I am the only responsible person here who'd willingly take you home after you get wasted."

 

"What are you? Her babysitter?" Hyewon, a fellow senior from Sakura's department mocked, raising a brow at her.

 

"If that's how you call it, then, yes I am. She acts a lot more like a baby anyway." 

 

Hyewon only laughed louder.

 

Even with Sakura's earnest objections from being called a baby, she actually did end up like one when the clock struck 2:00 AM and the bottles were clean until the last drop. They were the only ones left in their table as their other friends had already gone home. 

 

Minjoo sighed helplessly as she looked at her friend clinging on to the surprisingly-still-sober Hyewon and mumbling gibberish baby words.

 

"She's not going to let go of me any sooner, right?" Hyewon asked warily, glancing at the Japanese who snuggled closer to her.

 

"Nope." Minjoo popped the 'P'.

 

"Can you drive?" Hyewon asked out of the blue.

 

"What?"

 

"I'm supposed to drive you two home but she's probably not going to release me until she wakes up so..." Hyewon trailed off and Minjoo isn't an honor student for nothing to not get what the older girl was trying to say.

 

"Okay. But I won't guarantee I won't leave your car without a scratch." 

 

"No worries. My car's insurance got it all covered." 

 

Hyewon tossed the keys and Minjoo caught it clumsily. "It's the black BMW at the far east side of the lot. We'll wait for you out in front."

 

Minjoo nodded and headed out of the now peaceful club. She clenched her bag's strap on her chest as she carefully made her way across the dim lit parking lot to where she was told the car is.

 

When she got to the place, her steps immediately stopped upon seeing three BMWs of the same color and model. Her mind tried to remember if she once had seen Hyewon's car before and maybe the plate number, but unfortunately,

she hasn't and has no idea about the number.

 

At the moment, she felt like not an honor student and dumbfoundedly stared at the cars in front of her.

 

Her hand fidgeted in a forming panic in her head until she remembered the car key she was holding the entire time. She heaved a breath of relief upon realizing the solution to her problem. Just a click and she will know.

 

 

She pointed it at the car in the middle and pressed the button.
 

 

 

Lights succesfully flickered with a sound.
 

 

 

However, two cars on both sides did the same. 
 

 

She heard steps coming to her direction and she mindlessly made her way to the car on the right, hoping to not be too obvious to anyone that she had no idea on what was going on.

 

She quickly got inside the driver's seat and fed the key into the slot. She confidently turned the ignition but nothing happened. She tried again and still nothing.

 

Realization hit her and she banged her forehead on the steering wheel.

 

"Kim Minjoo, you idiot." She muttered to herself, acknowleding how her friends had oftentimes called her an airhead.

 

A knock on the window startled her and it wasn't that diffucult for her to figure out who it could have been. She sighed deeply and hesitantly opened the door. She stepped out carefully and did not look at the owner, instead, she bowed apologetically.

 

"I-I'm sorry. I thought it was m-my car."

 

"How uncanny it is for you to not recognize your own car, Minjoo-ssi." 

 

Upon hearing the voice of the car's owner and her own name being called, Minjoo froze in her place and her breathing hitched.

 

She knew very well who owns the airy and low-toned voice. For a girl, it sounded too manly, much more with her physique and mannerisms that everyone had fawned over since her first year in the university.

 

Minjoo had always been one of those people who had paid attention to the younger girl. A little too special actually.

 

"Uh, it's not mine. It's Hyewon unnie's. I'm just–"

 

"Do you have a license?" 

 

Minjoo, although not wanting to look at the girl's face, looked up and found the ever-so-attractive pair of eyes looking down on her. Her gaze made Minjoo want to melt on the spot right there and then but she held her breath to save herself from embarrassing herself more in front of her junior.

 

"Of course I do. Are you underestimating your senior, Ahn Yujin?" 

 

"I'm just making sure. Don't want you getting caught on the streets now."

 

"And how does that concern you?"

 

Yujin looked amused by their exchange, Minjoo was already slowly losing hold of her self. The junior leaned back on her heels and slipped her hands in her hoodie's pocket. 

 

 

"I am always concerned when it comes to you, Kim Minjoo-ssi."

 

 

All the blood in Minjoo's body felt like it went straight to her cheeks and stayed there all the while they talked. Fortunately for her, there isn't much light to illuminate their faces, saving her from getting exposed. But even so, she was having a hard time in maintining eye contact – especially since it's with the girl she had been harboring feelings for over a year now.

 

A chuckle slipped from Yujin's lips and Minjoo swore she thought she saw the heavens open up above them. And when Yujin patted her head, Minjoo felt her soul escape her body.
 

 

"I'm just messing with you." 
 

 

Her hallucination shattered to pieces and her heart fell seeing the playfulness in Yujin's eyes. 
 

 

Of course… How could she forget? 

 

Yujin was never the the type to take things seriously. Every person, male or female, who has come up to her and confessed had been dismissed almost immediately. Sometimes, if they're lucky enough, they'd be played around with for awhile before they get dumped…mercilessly.

 

But even so, Minjoo still bore those feelings. She settled from a distance and admired the junior in her safe space. She is one of the very few who believed that Yujin still has hope to change.

 

 

"I'll go ahead."

 

 

Minjoo stepped aside and allowed Yujin walk up to her car. She expected the younger to leave right away…but she didn't.

 

Yujin went back to her.

 

Minjoo shut her eyes and held on tight on her bag's strap when the junior suddenly leaned towards her. The moment felt surreal when Yujin's soft lips touched her cheek and lingered for a few seconds.

 

 

"See you again soon."

 

 

It took her a minute or two before she managed to open her eyes. Yujin was no longer in front of her and neither was her car. The cause of her discomfort was nowhere to be found but her heart remained constant with its erratic beating.
 

 

 

"What took you so long?" Hyewon asked the moment Minjoo got out of the vehicle to help her settle in the back with Sakura who's now clinging on the senior's neck like a child.

 

"S-Sorry. I got caught up with something."

 

"Something? Or someone?"

 

Minjoo assisted her in getting inthe car before going back to the driver's seat. She drove away without answering Hyewon's question but the latter wasn't letting her off the hook that easily.

 

"You ran into Yujin, didn't you?" 

 

Minjoo wanted to make an excuse but Hyewon beat her to it. 

 

"Don't even dare deny it. She was the last person to leave the club and everyone knows you have a crush on that kid."

 

"And so? Is that enough for you to assume that I was held up with her?"

 

 

"No." 

 

 

Minjoo smirked. 

 

 

"But because Yujin also knows about it, of course it's safe to assume that that exactly happened."

 

 

Minjoo's smirk faded and bit her cheeks from the insides. She didn't bother looking at the rearview mirror because she can already picture out Hyewon grinning smugly at her. Of course Yujin would know about it. Her clumsy nature was to be blamed for the leak.

 

Connecting the dots of what Hyewon just said and what Yujin did back in the parking lot, it further solidified her idea that the junior was just toying with her.

 

Like she always does with people she becomes aware of what they feel towards her.

 

 

Since that night, Minjoo had tried her best to avoid bumping into Yujin anywhere in the university. Once she sees the famous junior treading down the hallways hundreds of meters away