"Sua, can you help me with this?", asked Minju as she struggled to carry a cardboard box into the new dorm room that she shared with Sua. Yes. Sua's roommate had been planning to move out to live with her boyfriend in a couple of weeks but volunteered to leave early for Minju. She was close to her and was glad to help Minju avoid some unnecessary rooming problems.

"What's in this thing? Why is it so heavy?", Sua asked as she grabbed the sides of the shabby box. "Just books and some other stuff."

Sua rolled her eyes as they set the box down between their beds. Clapping her hands she asked, "Anything else?"

Minju smiled and shook her head gratefully. All she had brought with her was a carrier and books. It wasn't like she had a lot of stuff in the first place. Her landlady had assured that she would take care of the measly four pieces of furniture she had in her now former room and that Minju needn't worry about cleaning up. 

Sua raised her arms into the air and swung them wildly. She shouted a 'yay!' in glee and jumped on Minju, toppling them both onto her bed.

The girls burst into laughter and Sua wrapped her legs around Minju's. "I can't believe you're finally my roommate! I'm so happy! Let's shower together!" Sua tried to place a hand on Minju's chest subtly, but she swatted it away with a laugh.

Although Minju had packed her belongings in the morning, she had to choice but to move during the night, thanks to her work shift. Fatigue from the day caught up to her in no time and an hour later she was fast asleep beside Sua in her blankets, her bed still waiting to be made.

Minju woke up earlier than Sua and began tidying up the room, organizing her stuff and throwing away the trash. Sua's alarm woke up her up thirty minutes later and the girls washed up and left for breakfast. They arrived at the mess hall and were greeted by their classmates. "Hey, Minju! I'm so glad you're back. We missed having you around!", Yuna with the pretty long hair said. "Yes, it's such a shame you had to miss all the parties we threw in the dorm. It's no fun without you. It's good to have you back here!", Ahyoung added.

"Thanks, guys.", Minju replied shyly. "I missed you guys too."

The girls settled down and made small talk about their lives. The academic year was starting in three months, which meant they would become sophomores and new juniors would join. The girls, especially, Sua and Ahyoung, were excited to finally have some sort of authority, after all the petty harassment they had to bear from the seniors,

"You can't bully them, you know," Sua said. "You'll be reported for ragging,"

"What do you mean, ragging?!", Ahyoung exclaimed defensively. "Are we thugs or something? Well just tease them a little, that's all!"

The girls snickered and Yuna said, "Calm your , there are still three months left. Concentrate on studying, you don't want to be detained and join them too.

After five more minutes of chit chat, the bunch walked to college, which was half a mile away. They ran into the boys from their department, who were coming from the Male dormitory.

"Oh? Minju's coming with you guys? That's new.", said a tanned guy, Kim Jongin, who was also Yuna's boyfriend.

"Really? That's great." The other guys agreed and they headed to their classes. 

Minju scribbled down notes in the first class, the next one, and the one after that. With the finals so near, she was anxious. She didn't know what to expect in the exams and the lecturers weren't making it any easier by telling the students how hard the papers were gonna be.

It was soon time for work and Sua offered to walk her to the restaurant. 

"Minju, I've been thinking... You don't have to pay rent anymore and neither do you need to send your mom money. Can't you cut down the work? The exams are near, too. You barely have time at all. You don't eat or sleep properly. I'm worried about your health."

Minju sighed. She'd been thinking about it too. Work made it extremely hard to concentrate on studies. And she didn't want to risk failing in any subject, no matter how attentive she was in class. She had already been contemplating on cutting down on the workdays even before she moved out. All she had needed was extra assurance from Sua.

"Alright, I'll talk to my manager. I've been thinking about that for a while, too."

Sua offered a 'fighting!' and sent Minju inside. Luckily there weren't many customers yet and Minju scored some time to talk to Mrs. Lee.

Mrs. Lee was... surprised. "I heard from my friend, you had to move out of her building. She was really worried about you. Are you okay? Where are you staying now? Did you find accommodation?"

Minju calmly assured Mrs. Lee that she was fine and was staying in the University dormitory. "The dormitory? I thought you moved out because it was too expensive. You want to cutback work too. Will you be okay? Do you have enough money?"

She appreciated her manager's concern, she really did. But Minju couldn't help but wish she hadn't asked about the money. She had to keep the secret but she also didn't want to lie to her.

"Yes... I, uh, I..." Minju struggled to find an excuse. Mrs. Lee seemed to have sensed her discomfort and swiftly changed the topic. "Anyway, I'm glad you're okay. I understand that your exams are near. I'll talk to the HR and tell you tonight." 

"Thank you—"

"Two orders for half fried chicken!", Sujeong interrupted while taking two bottles of soju from the fridge. 

"I'm on it," Minju answered and got to work after giving Mrs. Lee another bow.

Minju was busily mixing frying batter in the kitchen when Mrs. Lee approached her at around 8 PM. 

"I talked to the HR. They said our branch is short of employees, and that we'll be getting a notice to hire three more people soon. They told me to divide kitchen work between two people. You can choose any three days as workdays or choose shifts. Of course, your salary will be decreased accordingly."

Minju nodded solemnly and thanked her manager once again. The salary cut was on her mind all day but she convinced herself that it was okay. She had enough money saved for the next year's tuition, and if the scholarship was approved she wouldn't have to use that either. Now that her annual income would be halved, she had more chances of scoring the scholarship too. As for her daily expenses, they could be covered by continuing to work in the franchise.

She wondered if she should take the option of working in shifts or dividing the workdays. After an hour of deliberation, she decided she would have to ask Sua.

"I'm thinking shifts would be better. You'd still have to work every day but it's much better than coming home at 2 in the morning. That's not healthy."

Sua opined and Minju agreed. Staying up so late was really taking a toll on her. Her eye bags were unreal and she often found herself fighting to keep her eyes open in the mornings. Her legs and arms hurt from working for hours straight and they weren't getting nearly enough rest. She thought about what would've happened if she hadn't made that deal with Baekhyun. She would probably still have been looking for a place to stay or working on Sundays too, to pay the rent. After all, her old room was the cheapest one around. She wouldn't have had to go to a fortune teller to know that she would flunk her finals, too. Baekhyun really had made her life comfortable.

Speaking of Baekhyun, Minju hadn't heard from him or his manager ever since their last encounter. Her mind still hadn't fully processed over the fact that she was now 'dating' her idol. Only a couple of weeks ago she had had him as her as the wallpaper of her outdated phone, and now she was involved with him deeper than she could've ever imagined. She didn't want to admit it, but she thought about the way he smiled at her and how smooth his voice sounded. It felt surreal. 

She took out her phone and stared at her contacts. Out of the few numbers she had saved, one stood out more than the others. BAEKHYUN ACTOR. Minju had wanted to add a heart but she felt awkward, now that she knew him personally. She tried not to imagine doing anything weird with him like kissing talking to each other every day because she knew she wasn't his real girlfriend. The poor guy just got cruelly dumped for god's sake! He wouldn't be even thinking about girls for a good while.

A  couple of weeks passed faster than ever, and Minju was living her days as usual. Studying, working, studying, working. A new part-timer was hired in the restaurant, so she more time to herself. She'd taken the 4:00-8:30 pm shift and got home by 9. D

It was almost time for work when Minju called her mom. The recent events distracted her and she hadn't talked to her mom in a while, although she did send pictures every other day. Nonetheless, she missed her and felt guilty too. After a missed call and three rings into the second one, her mom finally picked up.

"Hello? Minju, my puppy! Finally thought of your old mother, eh?"

"Mom!" Minju answered, switching to her local dialect. "I'm sorry, I was a little busy. I won't do it again."

Mom chuckled at her sad whine, "I'm just joking, my daughter. It's because Mom misses you so much."

"I miss you too," Minju replied with a smile her mother couldn't see. "Are you okay? What were you doing? You didn't answer when I called you the first time."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. My friends came over so I was having tea with them outside. I saw you calling when I came to get some rice cakes."

"Mom!" Minju protested. "I told you not to work a lot, right? You'll get tired. Who'll take care of you if you get sick?" Minju's parents had her late, so her mother was already past sixty. Being her only child and living away made Minju worry about her quite a lot.

"I'm so sick of your chiding, you punk! My friends are the only ones who keep me occupied in this boring town. That's how all old people are. You'll know when you get old too!"

"Then you go over to their house or something, Mom. Why do those ladies keep coming to our home all the time?", Minju chastised. 

"Those ladies bring me food every day, for free! The least I can do is make them some tea. They already think I'm obnoxious for bragging about my daughter studying in Seoul all the time!"

"Mom..."

"Whatever! You've grown a lot, haven't you? Even scolding your mom. You need some spanking when you visit!"

Minju kept quiet, too embarrassed to reply

"Anyway, enough of that.", Mom continued. "You know Auntie Soonshim from the laundry? Her second son got a job in Samsung! He's four years older than you and moving to Seoul soon. You want me to set you up with him?"

"What? No!" Minju answered too quickly.

"Why? Did you get a boyfriend? A one with the Seoul accent?"

"No, Mom!"

"So what's the problem? Think again, he's handsome, I say! He looks like Jang Donggun!". Mom insisted, "Why? Should I send a picture?"

"Mom!"

Minju was back at work in a couple of hours when Sujeong dragged her along to watch some TV while taking a rest. Sujeong was casually flipping through the channels when Minju stopped her. An ad was playing on one of the channels. Baekhyun's ad. It seemed like it was the chicken ad Baekhyun had told her about, seeing how he was posing prettily with some delicious looking chicken. What brand, what brand, Minju wondered as she waited for the advertisement to end. UNCLE KIM'S CHICKEN. What? He was hired by her franchise? Also, their chicken doesn't look anywhere as nice like the ad made it look.

"Oh yeah. He's modeling for our brand. The company sent posters, too."  Sujeong said, pointing to a box under the counter platform. Oh wow. Seeing Baekhyun's face every day at work? Not bad. Not bad at all.

Suddenly, Minju's phone buzzed in her apron's pocket and snapped her out of her thoughts. She nearly dropped her phone when she saw who it was.

"Who's that?" Sujeong asked while trying to sneak a peep and Minju hastily hid the phone behind her back. "M-my friend. Give me a minute."

Minju rushed to the corner of the kitchen as Sujeong turned back to the TV. Taking a deep breath, she bought the phone to her face with trembling hands. "H-Hello?"

"Hello? Hello." Baekhyun answered from the other end. "Miss Minju? It's me, Byun Baekhyun."

"Ah yes. I know." Minju replied breathlessly.

"Uh, actually I was wondering if you have time tonight? I've been wanting to treat you a meal. Can I?"

"T-treat me a meal? Why?", Minju asked. "As a token of thanks. There are quite a few things I have to thank you for."

Minju hesitated, wondering if she should accept his invitation. "I'll be free by 8:30. I'm at work right now. But you don't have to, really. Thank me, I mean."

"Of course I do. It's my pleasure. And sorry for disturbing you during work." Baekhyun continued, "Then, I'll meet you outside your restaurant at 9?"

Two hours later Minju hastily applied her lip balm and the eyeliner she borrowed from Sujeong. The clock struck 9 and Minju waved a suspicious Sujeong a goodbye. Walking out, Minju patted down her plaid shirt and light blue jeans. She chided herself for not wearing something pretty. And not having a fashion sense at all.

She looked around, wondering if Baekhyun was there yet. What would he be wearing? How would she identify him? How would she greet him? She was so lost in her thoughts that she barely registered the pat on her shoulder. "Miss Minju."

She turned to face the person behind her but in the haste lost her balance. Fortunately, Baekhyun's quick reflexes allowed him to get a hold on her hand and he pulled her forward. Minju instinctively grabbed his arms to steady herself. She had realised that it was Baekhyun as she was falling and her ears burned in embarrassment.

"Are you okay?" She heard him ask and took a deep breath before looking up at him.

And when she did, she was at a loss of words, because she burst out laughing instead. Baekhyun was wearing a baby blue hoodie with the hood on. The funny part was that the strings of the hood were pulled completely, swallowing most of his face. And what made it funnier were his giant goggles covering most of his already hidden face. He's so cute oh my god!

Baekhyun moved his hands away from Minju she wished he didn't and shrugged embarrassedly. "What? I thought someone might recognise me"

Trying to suppress her laughter, Minju replied. "Yes, yes. You're a superstar now. I saw your ads too."

He took off his goggles and smiled at her sheepishly. He looked around for a few seconds as she stared at him amusedly. 

He looked at her and gestured his hands down the road. "Shall we?"