"Nice to meet you, Baechu."

When Seulgi would later think back to this moment, she'd find that it wasn't something that could be thought about.

No, it was something that made her feel.

And how could one possibly describe the feeling of connection?

Maybe puzzle pieces could. Maybe locks and keys could. Maybe the components of concrete could, when they were mixed to react together and unify as an entity stronger than their individual selves.

But the difference was, all these things were made to fit. They were manufactured, expected to fit together. Give a mold, and a complementary shape can be made. Give mixture proportions, and that concrete can be made.

With people, it isn't so easy.

Because finding the one out of the 7.5 billion others inhabiting the world is a game of chance, with the only manufacturer being divine fate.

So one could imagine that with such low odds, many never find their perfect match. But for the lucky few who somehow happen upon that true love in their lifetime, human language has not evolved enough to fully describe what puzzles pieces and locks and keys and concrete components probably could, were they able to speak.

All Seulgi could say, was that she was one of those lucky few.

And that it felt amazing to finally reveal herself to Joohyun, so that there weren't any secrets to weigh down what they had between them. To reveal that they'd gravitated towards one another in two completely different worlds and ended up locked in each other's orbits, not only once but both times.

Joohyun's reaction would forever be seared into her memory. Her doe-eyes, opened wide in disbelief, slowly crinkled as a smile began to overtake that initial expression of shock. And then Seulgi couldn't see her anymore, because she was smiling just as hard.

"Seulgi…Sujebi. It's you."

She opened her eyes again to find Joohyun staring back at her, eyes alight and face streaked with tears.

Of course, her mind went into overdrive. Tears? That couldn't be good.

"Why are you crying?" she asked frantically, reaching out in a move to wipe the tears away. "Did I do something wrong? Are you disappointed? Do you wish that I had-"

She was interrupted by a soft pair of lips on hers.

Joohyun was kissing her, gentle and true, and after she processed that Wow, this is really happening, she returned the kiss with as much fervor as one who hasn't had a first kiss before, but has always dreamt of one with the person they're having that first kiss with now, possibly could.

It was a bit sloppy, yes, and a bit uncoordinated, yes. And she was pretty sure that when Joohyun leaned in closer and placed her hands on her shoulders, her pulse skyrocketed so high that the president could probably see her heart beating out of her chest. But it was magical and perfect and all that she could have ever asked for.

Joohyun tasted like lavender and tteokbokki and the Candy that Joy and Yeri sang of. She tasted like study dates and workdays and late night walks back to the dorms, like misunderstandings at college parties and reconciliation and first dances.

She tasted like everything they'd been through together, and now she would taste like Seulgi, too.

They pulled apart at last, breathless and smiling. Joohyun grinned at her with sparkling eyes, sniffling slightly through her remaining tears.

"Tears of happiness are a thing, you know."

She placed her hands on the blushing project manager's, grasping onto them and holding tight.

"I just don't know what I did to deserve someone like you…"

Yes, tears of happiness were definitely a thing, because Seulgi felt them coming too.

"You're you - that's what you did. And that's more than enough."

They told each other everything, from Joohyun's crush on her since freshman year to Seulgi's realization at the Ball.

They were sprawled out on Seulgi's bunk, completely oblivious to the passing time. The automatic room lights had turned off a while ago, the motion sensors mistakenly assuming that the room's inhabitants had gone to sleep. Joy's and Yeri's soothing voices played quietly from their shared Red Velvet playlist, adding to the intimate atmosphere.

Seungwan had messaged to ask if she had gone through with the plan, to which she replied that she had. This prompted her best friend to happy-scream at her over text and "make accommodations" for the new couple:

Son Seungwan: I'll stay over at Chanyeol's for the night, so you guys can have some private time ;)

Kang Seulgi: Stoooooop

Kang Seulgi: Maybe you're the one who wants private time with Chanyeol ;)

Son Seungwan: BYE

She side-eyed Joohyun, who was contemplating the ceiling thoughtfully, and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Wow, we've technically been dating for longer than most relationships can even last."

"We've even already had our ups and downs."

"We certainly have…let's never ignore each other again, because those were some of the worst weeks of my life," Joohyun said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for that." Seulgi thought back to all the times she second-guessed herself and all the miscommunication that happened because of it. "But the way I see it, relationships are kind of like…concrete.

"Under too much stress, concrete fractures. If you leave the cracks alone, the concrete will eventually corrode and weaken. But you can take responsibility and repair it, even reinforce it to make it stronger than it was before.

"That's what we did, right? We got through a rough patch together. And every time we do, we'll have to make the choice whether to fix us or not. I know for me…I'm willing to stay by your side, and rebuild every single time," she finished, just in time to see the smile breaking out on the president's face.

"Only you could make concrete a metaphor for relationships and still make me swoon," Joohyun giggled, and then her expression turned serious. "But in all seriousness, I'd be so happy to have you as my constant in life, and be yours as well. One could say...a concrete presence."

"Is that all you've got? You're a fic writer, you should be waxing poetic instead of relying on simple puns," Seulgi teased.

Joohyun rolled over onto her side and laughed jarringly, snuggling closer to her and resting her head near her shoulder. She could barely make out the president's features, dimly lit by the faint blue-white light of Asianfanfics.com still open on their laptops.

"So let me get this straight. The president of KSCE was crushing on me? Like, all the way since freshman year?"

"I was actually crushing on Sujebi during that time, so in a way, yeah. You know, 'cause Sujebi was way more attractive to me than you were."

"Are we even dating," Seulgi grumbled, actually getting jealous of her online persona for a hot second.

"I'm kidding. I told you, I've always been attracted to you; I found myself looking at you and felt butterflies whenever we interacted," Joohyun said shyly. "That's why I couldn't help but come on strong, like holding your hand at General Meeting and making those concrete hearts…Yongsun and Jisoo reprimanded me for being too much, but I'm glad to know that the feeling was mutual."

"And there I was, hyperventilating this whole time because I thought I was unworthy of your presence," Seulgi laughed. "By the way, you wouldn't believe the mental turmoil I put myself through trying to figure out if you were straight or not."

"Me too! I assumed you were straight for the longest time because you described an 'ideal man' that one time after General Meeting. No biggie though, I totally would have done the same."

"Closet struggles," Seulgi grinned sheepishly, "Also, I didn't think I'd ever have a chance with someone like you, when I’m just…me."

"'Someone like me'? If you take away the labels, all the 'president' this and 'project manager' that, then everyone's the same. You're amazing in your own way, and we're even better together," Joohyun said tenderly.

"Don't worry - now I know that."

 The president propped herself up on one elbow, suddenly giving her a teasing smirk.

"Good. And Kang Seulgi, did you know that you’ve lowkey been pulling girls?"

Seulgi's mouth dropped wide open, "I what now?"

"At KSCE parties, one of the truth-or-dare questions is always 'If you could date someone of the same gender, who would it be?' You wouldn't believe how many times your name comes up."

"No way."

"It's true. It's that mysterious, super polite, mad-genius image of yours. You're such a…girl crush."

"When in reality, I'm just an awkward concrete enthusiast who writes fanfiction…"

"Hey, now I can say the same," Joohyun giggled. "How long have you known that I'm Baechu, by the way?"

"Ever since Ball, when you told me what you were wearing. I wasn't ready to reveal myself, though, hence all this."

"I'm glad you waited. I would have passed out from happiness right there in front of everyone. And your JoyRi fic idea blew my mind," Joohyun blushed.

"What can I say? I'm a girl crush," Seulgi drawled in her sleaziest tone.

"For a self-proclaimed awkward person, you sure are smooth. Well of course you are, I've seen the that you write."

The tips of Seulgi's ears flared red. "Let's not bring that up now."

Joohyun narrowed her eyes, suddenly looking…jealous? Possessive? Honestly, she didn't look very threatening at all. Like a spicy marshmallow, at most.

"Hold on. If you've written about those things, does that mean you've done them before?"

Seulgi nearly choked on thin air.

"No, absolutely not! I was single as a Pringle before you."

The president exhaled in relief. "Okay, phew. For all I know, you could secretly have been the shy-but-actually-a-massive-player type."

"You're one to talk. Your collection has like, fifty more upvotes than mine!"

It was Joohyun's turn to get flustered. "Oh, you're right. I swear I've never done all that, it's just…I read about it. Sometimes."

Seulgi smirked. "I also read about it, sometimes."

"Can we blame ourselves, though? What else is a hopeless, pining girl supposed to do?"

"I agree. It's hard being a secret gay."

Joohyun laughed, and gave her another one of those heart-stopping kisses. "You can say that again."

A brief moment of complete silence ensued before Wish Tree began to play, the sweet, chiming instrumental ringing in the air. Which reminded Seulgi:

"What are your Christmas plans?"

Joohyun's face fell slightly, and she gave a light sigh.

"I'm not going home, actually. My parents are on a business trip again."

The corners of Seulgi's mouth turned downwards into a frown. "Is it always like that?"

"Pretty much. I'm used to it, though. Whatever they need to do to bring in the money, I guess."

Seulgi felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of Joohyun spending Christmas break all alone in the dorms.

No, that wasn't right. Joohyun, who was so caring and kind, deserved to be surrounded by family and friends who cared about her just as much. And if her family couldn't give that…

"Do you want to celebrate Christmas with me and my family?"

"Really?" Joohyun perked up before becoming crestfallen again. "I wouldn't want to intrude, though…"

"It wouldn't be intruding, seriously. I always have Seungwan over since her family's in Canada, and my parents love the extra company," Seulgi grinned. "Come on, it'll be fun! The more, the merrier."

A slow smile spread across the president's face.

"Alright, if you insist. Thank you so much, Seulgi-yah. Normally Yong or Jisoo would invite me but their families are going on overseas trips this year."

"It's no problem. And I think from now on, it'll be more fitting for me to bring you home than them."

"Right, because I'm yours," Joohyun reached for her hand, which made her die a little inside. Then she asked the question that Seulgi had unconsciously been dreading.

"What will your parents think about us?"

Her tone was meek and scared. It made Seulgi frustrated that she was powerless to do anything about these kinds of situations.

How trapped they'd have to feel, hiding their relationship from the big, wide world. For now, her and Joohyun's freedom was limited to the small spaces where no one could see.

She blinked back tears as she tried to keep her voice from wavering.

"I'm not out to them, so…as much as I don't like saying this, we'll have to keep it a secret."

Joohyun gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, no doubt thinking of the bumpy road ahead.

"It's okay. I'm only ready when we're both ready."

It was commonly said that that there were 5 seasons at SNU: fall, winter, spring, summer, and finals.

The first finals season of the school year was in full swing, with grueling exams being administered throughout the entire week. During this time a hush would literally fall over the campus. Past field studies showed that the average noise level on campus would decrease by at least 10 decibels. Not a single SNU student took finals as a joke - they were at this university for a reason.

For the civil engineering junior class, the horrors of finals week were aggravated by a back-to-back finals schedule, consisting of four 2.5-hour exams with 30-minute breaks in between - all on the last day of finals which was Christmas Eve, no less.

The civil engineering department insisted that it was good practice for the 9-hour Professional Engineer (PE) exam that they would all have to take in the future in order to become professionally licensed engineers.

"Did they really have to make it on Christmas Eve, though?" Seulgi grumbled.

"At least we get more time to study. And we'll look forward to Christmas even more," Seungwan pointed out, trying to look on the bright side.

In the days leading up to the dreaded day of tests, the two best friends held their annual intense study marathon. They shut the blinds of their dorm so they wouldn't be able to tell when day or night ended and took practice exams to perfection. This year, Joohyun made a welcome addition, diligently taking tests along with them although she insisted on studying on the bed when Seulgi offered her desk.

"No, I want you to study in the best environment, and you study best at your desk."

"What about you? I don't want your grades to suffer because you didn't have optimal study conditions," Seulgi said, concerned. "I know I invited you, but you can stay in your room if you'd like."

"Don't worry, I mostly study on my bed anyway. And also, I wanna be with you," Joohyun said shyly, making Seulgi go uwu and Seungwan affectionately groan, "Imagine how tired I am."

Joohyun was a lot less prone to distractions than she was, so every time she switched tabs to Asianfanfics, the president would reprimand her.

"Don't even think about starting another story right now. Your readers can wait."

"But I have soooo many ideas, who knows if I'll ever be this inspired again!"

"You won't be feeling so inspired when you're going bomboclaat at our 10 hours worth of exams."

"Ugh, okay boomer."

"She's definitely whipped," Seungwan shook her head. "When I tell her to focus, she just ignores me." She glared at Seulgi, and Joohyun laughed.

They took breaks for food at the dining commons, joining Yongsun, Jisoo, Minho, Byulyi, and Jennie in rowdily complaining about their studies.

In past years, Seulgi spent her finals week relatively alone (other than studying with Seungwan), dead focused on getting the best grades possible in this cut-throat major. But spending time with her peers was fun. It helped her relax and open her mind. It made her look forward to a career of collaboration rather than mundanely crunching numbers all day.

It didn't take long for Minho, Byulyi and Jennie to realize that she and Joohyun were dating, as subtle as they tried to be. The three were genuinely happy for them, which strengthened Seulgi's hope that SNU wasn't as homophobic as she originally thought.

"Can I just say that I shipped it since the first workday?" Byulyi puffed up her chest proudly.

"The whole Eco Concrete team lowkey ships it," Jennie informed them. "The Gomdori field trip sealed the deal."

Seulgi blushed, "Shoot, I thought I was being slick."

"Me too," Joohyun added.

Seungwan snorted. "About as slick as un-sanded concrete."

"I second Seungwan, y'all are so obvious. At least to anyone who isn't a pressed heteroual," Jisoo flipped her hair sassily.

"It was cute, though. Oh, to have a love like that," Byulyi lamented dramatically.

To her right, Yongsun giggled and slapped her shoulder, "I know, right? OMG Byul-ah, you're so funny!"

Byulyi flushed to the color of her half-eaten spicy kimchi-jiggae, "What? That wasn't even supposed to be funny."

The rest of the table raised eyebrows, and when no one said anything Jisoo broke the ice.

"I bet Minho is feeling awkward as hell right now," she grinned devilishly.

Minho groaned good-naturedly and buried his face into his hands. "Am I never going to live down my past?"

"As a former friend of Bogum, you've got a lot of redeeming to do," Jennie teased.

"Right you are. I can't believe I used to be such a ."

"Speaking of , how are you guys going to deal with Bogum dicking around in Construction?" Seungwan piped up. "I heard that they haven't practiced full scenarios and presentations yet, and their competition is the same day as Eco Concrete's."

Yongsun sighed, "Yeah, about that…I'm more in charge of managing project affairs so I haven't told Hyun-ah this, but hear me out."

She turned to Joohyun, "The Construction team is deadass in despair right now. There's no way Bogum could pick up his slack enough to make it work."

The president leaned forward, eyes wide. "You're thinking of a replacement."

Yongsun nodded. "And there's only one person I know, a certain Construction legend, who could pull off training a team to competition standard in a very short time. Hyun-ah…will you take over the Construction team?"

Joohyun's chopsticks halted midway to , dropping her piece of beef. Seulgi placed an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, knowing that she hadn't expected such a request.

"I know it's finals week and you're obviously super busy," Yongsun continued, eyes pleading, "But think about it, Joohyun. You're the best one for the job."

The protective part of Seulgi hoped that Joohyun wouldn't take such a stressful task upon herself, but she knew in her heart that she was the only person in KSCE who could save Construction. And that fact made her proud. So, she'd support whatever Joohyun chose to do.

Even if that meant that the president wouldn't be there for Eco Concrete's competition.

"Construction's later in the day, right?" Joohyun spoke up at length.

"Some parts are overlapping, but for the most part Construction is after Eco Concrete," Yongsun confirmed. "It depends on the time slots they give us."

The table awaited the president's decision with bated breath.

"I'll do it. I'll be there for both competitions," Joohyun's eyes sparkled as she looked around the table, gaze landing on Seulgi's.

"You can count on me to make it work."

The table erupted into cheers, Seulgi's the most audible of all.

She couldn't have been more proud.

Being with her friends, her best friend and her girlfriend by her side, and not worrying about what others thought of her, Seulgi felt…

Happy.

Happy? During finals week?!

Yes.

That was how she knew she was finally at peace with herself.

"And that's that! We're officially halfway done with junior year!" Seungwan hooted triumphantly into the chilly air as they burst out of the very last final.

"Do grades define me? Hell no!" Joohyun yelled, grabbing Seungwan's hand and dancing around maniacally.

"My brain's fried," Seulgi whined and faceplanted into a patch of snow, furiously waving her arms and legs to make a snow angel.

"So cute," she heard Joohyun coo, "She looks like an angry slug."

Seulgi was about to argue that slugs didn't have arms nor legs, but Seungwan screeched, "Sluggie!"

Joohyun doubled over with laughter, "Omo, Sluggie! I'm calling her that from now on!"

Yup, they had truly lost their last braincells over those finals. Seulgi hoisted herself up, a dopey grin and bits of snow plastered on her face.

"Time to go home, guys! I'm gonna call and tell my parents that we're coming now."

As Seungwan gave Joohyun a rundown on what Christmas at the Kang household was typically like, Seulgi