Seulgi would have liked to say that in the following weeks, she was able to successfully curb her hormones in Joohyun's presence and maintain a thriving online relationship with Baechu, whom up until this year she had been so sure was the one.

But alas, the universe couldn't give two s about what Seulgi would have liked to say because by the time midterm season rolled around, she was a ball of stress. And midterms weren't even close to being the leading cause.

Ever since Eco Concrete workdays began, her days became busier than ever. She had a whole project to manage in addition to juggling four difficult courses. Her free time was either spent at the library for homework or the Structures Lab for workdays, and if there wasn't a workday that day she would be thinking about next one. How will we obtain this concrete strength? How should we optimize the proportions of materials?

She'd trudge back to the dorms well after sunset, exhausted and ready to wipe out. One could imagine, there wasn't a whole lot of mental capacity left for brainstorming the newest fic idea or devising the most original yet slightly cliché plot. And that showed in her increasingly dwindling interactions with Baechu.

Gone were the late-night weekday chats and updating sprees. They hadn't exchanged cute messages during classes all year, since Seulgi was busy paying attention and she was sure Baechu needed to for hers as well.

To Seulgi's credit, it wasn't just she who needed to put AFF on the backburner. Baechu also seemed to be pushing her writing career to the side, saying that these days her classes were harder and she was busy managing things with her club, which Seulgi completely understood. After all, she was basically in the same boat.

Despite all this, they tried to be there for each other as much as possible. They still exchanged "Good night's" every evening and chatted over proofreads and updates during the weekends, although those became fewer and farther in between since they weren't churning out content as frequently. Baechu would be there at a second's notice when Seulgi asked if she could beta a chapter, and Seulgi would always be the first to (re)read and comment on Baechu's latest update.

But it just wasn't the same anymore. While she still loved talking to Baechu, her decreasing presence in Seulgi's life coupled with new priorities and new friends made it seem like their days together were numbered, to Seulgi's dismay. And despite trying not to, she found herself unconsciously filling the gaps in her heart with someone who'd become more prevalent in her world, someone tangible and concrete and not an avatar on a screen.

Joohyun.

She now saw the president quite literally every day, whether it was at class, workday, a study session, or more recently, impromptu meals at the dining commons.

It was so hard not to hope that Joohyun might return her feelings. After all, Joohyun made it a point to attend each and every one of Eco Concrete's workdays. She persistently reached out to Seulgi for study sessions with Seungwan until Seulgi told her she could just come over whenever she wanted. And Seulgi actually looked forward towards mediocre college food if she ate it with Joohyun; they'd talk and laugh and forget about time and Seulgi would imagine that they were two people on a date instead of just two friends grabbing a bite.

She'd break out into the cheesiest grin whenever the president's pretty face popped up in her notifications, teasing her about how nerdy she was during workday or liking one of her Eco Concrete posts on Facebook. And on the flip side, she felt anxious when Joohyun failed to reply within 5 minutes, and retook selfies at least ten times before sending her Snapchats. It was exactly the butterflies and stomach flipping she felt with Baechu, except this wasn't online. This was real life

…but real life is never smooth sailing. There was one big iceberg in the way, and that iceberg was called Choi Minho.

Choi Minho, one of the social elite and KSCE administrative board's student liaison to SNU's civil engineering department. Perhaps second to only Park Bogum in terms of looks and popularity.

After the texts she saw between the two during that first study session, Seulgi kept on seeing them together having lunch, talking in the KSCE Lounge, or working on something in the Computer Lab. It happened way too often for it to be normal.

She wasn't the only one who suspected they were dating. Practically all of KSCE believed that with Bogum out of the picture, Minho had swooped in and stolen his best friend's girl. A theory further supported by Bogum ceasing to hang out with Minho, followed by decisive splits in the popular friend group and trash talking on both sides.

Only Seungwan was convinced that the rumors were false, but Seulgi suspected that had something to do with being a supportive best friend. "She doesn't look at Minho the same way she looks at you, Seulgi."

"And how do you know what that kind of look is?"

"I've read your fanfictions and the scenes play out like K-dramas in my mind."

"…So you don't."

Then there was the fact that Joohyun was just plain nice. She still attended other project workdays (though not every single one, as confirmed by Byulyi and Jennie). And she didn't actively seek Seulgi out during classes, continuing to be kind and enthusiastic with each of her different seat partners.

So understandably, Seulgi found herself doubting every interaction she had with Joohyun. Like, maybe she only liked Eco Concrete for the concrete (as any member should, but she wasn't just any member to Seulgi). Maybe she only studied with Seulgi and Seungwan because they were smart legends and she wanted better grades. Maybe she only ate lunch with Seulgi because that was the friendly thing to do. It was a never-ending internal battle, allowing herself to admire Joohyun one second, then reprimanding herself for doing so the next.

She never imagined that falling in love would feel like falling down a bottomless cliff. Because according to fanfiction, unrequited love only ended up in tears and heartbreak.

So she (figuratively) gripped the walls of that cliff as hard as she could, willing herself to climb all the way out. Climb out, and fall out of love with Bae Joohyun before she slipped and hit rock bottom.

"Time's up! Everyone turn in your midterm exams to the front, please."

Grumbles and cries of disappointment could be heard amidst the rustling of papers as the lecture hall buzzed back to life after two hours of the actual death that was the Soil Mechanics midterm.

"Ugh, I totally failed!"

"I didn't even finish the last two problems…"

"What was your answer for the earth-retaining wall question? I couldn't solve it for my life!"

Seulgi stood up from her seat, patiently waiting for her row to clear out. The test hadn't been difficult for her because well, she was Kang Seulgi, and she also enjoyed Soils because a lot of its concepts could be applied to concrete mix design. But she hated leaving early since it seemed kind of cocky, so she used the extra time to double check her answers. Seungwan on the other hand breezed through the test and left thirty minutes before time was up, but that was because she was going on a Tinder date with some guy named Chanyeol.

She finally turned in her exam and headed towards the exit, leaning on the door and waiting for Joohyun to finish up. It had been a long week of testing, with three midterms down and Enviro left for tomorrow. She and Joohyun were going to study for it together, which wouldn't take too long since Enviro was a relatively easier class.

The president spotted her, a smile lighting up her face as she made her way over. Seulgi politely held the door open for her, and they began the trek to the dorms, the sudden blast of cold autumn air hitting their faces. It was already dusk, the lamplights casting a lazy glow on the leaf-carpeted walkways.

Joohyun turned to her, "So, genius. What'd you think of that test?"

"It was alright for me," Seulgi said modestly. "What about you?"

"Honestly?" Joohyun pretended to pout, and then broke out into a laugh at Seulgi's worried expression. "Honestly, I thought it was fine too. But maybe it's because my study partner's so smart." She bumped her shoulder into somewhere along Seulgi's upper arm, and then tiptoed to bump her again because she couldn't reach her shoulder the first time.

"I think you're just smart yourself," Seulgi grinned, nudging the shorter girl back.

They strolled on in comfortable silence, admiring SNU's scenic views. It was now on the cusp of fall, the chilly days turning the tree-filled campus into a tapestry of brilliant oranges and yellows. Seulgi sneaked a glance at the girl beside her and wondered how someone could be more beautiful than autumn itself. Joohyun looked gorgeous in her oversized hoodie and with her hair carelessly pulled up into a messy bun, cheeks lightly tinted from the biting air.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Do I have something on my face?" Joohyun peered up at her curiously. Crap, she'd been caught staring.

"Uh…" Seulgi snapped her eyes away from Joohyun's intense gaze, "Yeah. Yeah, you do."

She quickly bent down, grabbed a bunch of leaves and tossed them at Joohyun, laughing at the president's squeal of shock and breaking into a sprint seeing Joohyun snatch her own bundle of leaves to seek revenge.

"Yah, get back here right now, Kang Seulgi!!"

"Noooo!! Leaf me alone!!"

Joohyun eventually caught up to her, tackling her to the grass and making sure she was absolutely covered in fall foliage. That was how they arrived back at Seulgi's room, breathless and slightly sweaty and with leaves sticking out of their hair like birds' nests. Contrary to the outside, SNU dorms were well heated, making it uncomfortably warm after what had basically been a workout.

Joohyun took one step into the room, immediately groaning, "Oh gosh, it's so hot." She shrugged her backpack off and carefully placed it on the floor, and to Seulgi's utter devastation proceeded to pull her hoodie over her head to reveal a sinfully tight camisole underneath.

Suddenly the room didn't seem so hot anymore, not in comparison to the sight beholding Seulgi's eyes. Was that really necessary? Couldn't she at least have worn a shirt?

"Do you have some shorts I could borrow? These jeans are really a bother," Joohyun told her.

"Sure, yeah. One second." Turning away so the president couldn't see her burning face, she rummaged through her drawer for some gym shorts and tossed them to Joohyun, bolting to the restroom to change into her own oversized sleepwear and calm her ovaries.

She finally emerged, feeling a twinge of something in her heart seeing the president wearing an article of her clothing.

"You can use Seungwan's desk since she's not here," she told Joohyun, getting out her laptop and preparing her own desk.

"What about your bed?"

"Sure, that works too," Seulgi replied, continuing to avert her eyes from Joohyun's alluring figure. "You can use my pillow if you want."

"I meant, let's both work on the bed! That way it's more comfy,