“I hate you.” 

“No, you don’t.” Jinsol smiled at her. 

Hyunjin leaned on the doorframe and pouted. “You’re abandoning me.” 

“Aw, Aeongie, don’t sulk.” Jinsol patted her head. “I won’t be that far. I’m sure the new girl will be a great housemate.” 

“What if she isn’t?” 

“If you keep being so negative, you’ll actually attract a terrible housemate.” 

Hyunjin rolled her eyes. 

“I need to go, Jungeun is waiting for me in the car. If you need anything, you know you can just call me.” 

“You won’t pick up anyway, you’ll be too busy living almost-married life.” Hyunjin crossed her arms and pouted once again. 

Jinsol pinched her cheeks and squealed. “You’re really cute, but I have to go.” She grabbed her bags and blew Hyunjin a kiss before stepping outside. 

“Great girlfriend you have, she doesn’t even come help you carry your bags,” Hyunjin said as Jinsol waited for the elevator. 

“She had to park second row, she can’t leave the car.” 

“Now I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.” 

“Love is stronger than parking laws.” Jinsol winked before the elevator doors closed. 

Hyunjin faked a gag and went back inside. She closed the door and dragged herself to the couch, where her body fell lifeless. Of course she was happy that her best friend was moving in with her girlfriend, and even waited for the end of the month so Hyunjin could find a new housemate and not have to handle expenses by herself. But that didn’t make it any less sad.  

They had moved in together a year ago so Hyunjin could be living near college and Jinsol near her workplace, and the living arrangement had worked surprisingly well. 

But when the doorbell rang, all that sadness and melancholy seemed to fade.  

“Hi, you’re Hyunjin, right?” The girl standing outside asked. 

Hyunjin gulped. “H-Hi, yes, and you’re Heejin, right?” 

She smiled and nodded, and all of a sudden, the world spun around. 

“C-Come in.” Hyunjin moved aside, and her hand moved on its own to grab the girl’s suitcase. “Let me help you with that.” 

“Oh, thank you so much.”  

“I’ll take this to your room, follow me.” 

Hyunjin lead the way towards the end of the corridor to the left, internally screaming and telling herself to calm down.  

She opened the door and slid inside, setting the suitcase beside the bed. She turned to find Heejin looking around with agape. 

“You like it?” 

“Yes, even better than the pictures. Bigger than my previous room as well. It’s great.” 

Hyunjin tried not to smile too brightly, but god damn, Heejin had to be that pretty. “I’m glad you like it. Come, let me show you around the house.” She lead the way once more, and showed her the bathroom, right beside her room, to the right, and her own room, at the left side. “And here’s the living room and kitchen. Feel free to use whatever you need.” 

“Thank you so much,” Heejin said, giving her a quick bow. “I hope we get along well.” 

“Y-Yeah, of course! Make yourself at home, I’ll be in my room, if you need anything, just knock.” And after another thanks from Heejin, Hyunjin rushed to her room, almost bumping into the couch on her way. 

She closed the door and leaned against it. She was going to live with her. Live. She threw her body towards her bed and fetched her phone from her pocket. 

“Yah!” Hyunjin whisper-yelled as soon as Jinsol picked up. “You don’t understand.” 

“What?” 

“The girl...” 

“What did she do?” 

“She’s living here!” 

There was silence over the line, and Hyunjin could faintly listen to the radio and the car moving. 

“I know I’m a bit dumb, but I’m really not following,” Jinsol said. 

“She’s gorgeous, beautiful, super ing pretty!” 

“Ah, Kim Hyunjin in gay panic. Shocking.” 

“No! Well, yes, but this is more than that! It’s not just a random girl I saw somewhere, it’s my damn housemate!” Hyunjin rolled around her bed. 

“You don’t normally say so many swear words. You’ll scare her away like that. Don’t be rude!” 

Hyunjin sighed. “You’re not helping. What do I do?” 

“You... live your life like you always do? Wait, maybe try not to be too weird.” 

“What? I’m not weird.” 

“Whatever you do, showing her your barking talent is not a good ice breaker,” Jinsol said, and even Jungeun laughed. 

“Why would I bark?” 

“Because you bark at me.” 

“But you are you, and she’s Heejin!” 

“So that’s her name. Hey, sorry, we just arrived, I gotta go. Good luck with Heejin!” 

“Yeah, of course, abandon me aga-” and the call was over. “This .” 

Hyunjin sighed, and rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling. Okay, maybe she was overreacting. But she never lived with anyone she just met. So, if she was supposed to live as if no one was around, what would Hyunjin do on this fine Sunday? Grab a cold drink and watch TV to relax a bit, so she could study later. 

She skipped channel after channel, while she listened to the water running in the bathroom. Should she ask if Heejin wanted to watch a movie when she was done? They met not even an hour ago, that was too blunt... right? At the same time, it would be a good idea to break the ice without... barking. It would probably make it easier to live together if they were friends. 

Convinced it was a good idea, as soon as she heard the door opening, Hyunjin turned her head, but she did not expect to find Heejin leaving the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her body, and her wet hair running down her back. Hyunjin didn’t mean to, but her eyes wandered all the way down to her feet, then back up, until they met Heejin’s, and she didn’t want to know how red her face was. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know you would be there,” Heejin said, her feet glued to the floor. 

“I-It’s ok-kay! I’m sorry too, I didn’t know you would come out... like that.”  

Heejin opened , but said nothing, and rushed inside her room.  

Could Hyunjin panic now? Or maybe slap herself, jump out the window, something like that. That was not part of the live your life like you always do plan.  

Hyunjin wanted to go to her room, get under the blankets and somehow try to erase what just happened from her mind, but that would be weird. So, she stayed there, browsing the channels and skipping without even paying attention to what was on.  

A few minutes, or an hour later, Hyunjin didn’t know, Heejin’s door opened. This time, she didn’t look, and kept her eyes on the random movie she ended up watching. 

“I-I have to head to work, do you have my keys?” Heejin asked. 

“Oh, yes, of course.” Hyunjin stood up and walked in quick steps to get Heejin’s keys. She turned and didn’t expect Heejin to be so close to her, a mere step away. Hyunjin couldn’t help but notice their height difference, and the cutest of the moles just by her left eye, and how her long, dark brown hair shone under the rays of sun that peeked through the window- 

“Uh, are those the keys?” Heejin extended her hand.  

"Right, I’m sorry, I...” Hyunjin gave up on trying to speak and dropped the keys into her hand. 

“Thank you, I’ll probably be back late, so don’t worry,” Heejin said, opening the door. 

“All right, I won’t,” Hyunjin said, and mentally slapped herself. “I mean, just because you said so, or else I would probably wonder when you would arrive, I mean, if it was really late.” 

Heejin stared at her, the corner of her lips raising as Hyunjin almost tripped on her words. 

“See you later, then.” 

“Yeah, have a good day at work.” 

And Heejin had to shot her a smile before closing the door, but she didn’t need to, because she had no idea how hard Hyunjin’s heart thumped against her chest. 

There was so much on Hyunjin’s mind that she gave up on the tv and studying altogether. She didn’t know if the weather got too hot, or it was just herself, but a shower was what she needed. She grabbed whatever she needed from her bedroom, probably forgetting something silly because her head wasn’t thinking properly. 

Hyunjin was about to step inside the bathtub, but something stopped her. Her nose scrunched up as she stared at the strands of hair lingering in the drain. She lost count of the times she fought with Jinsol because she never learned that Hyunjin hated, dreaded, hairs in the bathtub drain.  

But Heejin couldn’t have known, right? Maybe she didn’t notice. 

--- 

Hyunjin was told not to worry, but there she was, rolling around on her bed, waiting for Heejin to arrive instead of trying to fall asleep. Even if she tried, she wouldn’t be able to, not until she knew Heejin was home. How could she not worry if she didn’t know where she worked at, or what she did, when it was almost midnight?  

But didn’t they just meet today? 

She gave up. Instead, she got off bed and went to get herself something to munch on. And just as she opened the fridge, the front door opened. She shot up and met Heejin’s eyes. 

“Hey.” Heejin gave her a small smile. “Still up?” 

“Yeah, couldn’t sleep,” she lied. Well, it was not a lie. 

“Were you waiting for me?” Heejin asked, irking an eyebrow at her as she removed her shoes. 

“N-No, you told me not to worry, remember.” 

“You could wait without worrying.” 

Hyunjin held her breath and tried to come up with something to answer, but when nothing came, Heejin smirked. 

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll head to sleep,” Heejin said, walking to her room. 

“Of course, I should do the same.” Hyunjin closed the fridge. 

Heejin giggled. “Good night, Hyunjin.” 

“Good night, Heejin.” 

She should indeed go to sleep, she had classes the next morning and she was not an easy person when she didn’t get much sleep.  

But falling asleep after a day like that wouldn’t be easy. It hadn’t been a day since she met Heejin, yet so much happened already, and Hyunjin didn’t know how to deal with the explosion of feelings she experienced that day.  

---

A/N: who wouldn't panic right... HI EVERYONE I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I'll upload regularly at Mondays and Thursdays (if I don't forget, if I do, I'll apologize in advance keke) 

Thank you for reading this story! ^-^