When Chaewon woke up the next morning and found herself alone in her bed, she bolted awake. She rushed outside her room, taking a quick breath when she found Hyejoo by the window. But when she noticed the cigarette between her fingers, she wasn't relieved anymore.  

"You can't smoke in here, it’s against the rules and you can get us all kicked out." Chaewon grabbed her wrist so she could reach for the cigarette. "Are you out of your mind?!"  

But as Hyejoo shrieked and looked at her, letting go of the cigarette that fell to the floor, Chaewon realized she shouldn't have done that.  

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you-" Hyejoo pulled her arm away so hard Chaewon almost lost her balance.  

Hyejoo's breathing became loud and unstable as she held on her own wrist, eyes twitching and unable to focus. She leaned against the wall and shut her eyes close, letting her body slide to the floor and curl into a ball. Her body trembled and Chaewon could hear her muffled sobs.  

She couldn't freeze now. She had studied how to handle panic attacks last week. She ran to extinguish the cigarette in the sink and came back in a second. As slow as she could, she squatted next to Hyejoo and rested a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch.  

"Hyejoo, listen to me. You need to come back to your senses, and you need to do as I say. First, listen to my voice. Can you?"  

She nodded.  

"Good, now look at me." Chaewon hesitated but touched her cheek to help her. Hyejoo's eyes focused on hers and she gave her a small smile. "You're in my dorm, look around." Hyejoo did as told, and looked back at her. Chaewon took a close look at her bruise and cut, that still looked bad, but not as bad. "Now-" And her body froze yet again.  

Come on, it's not time for that!  

Chaewon grabbed on Hyejoo's shoulders and pulled her close. "Smell my hair and touch my pajama."  

Not only that, Hyejoo threw her arms around her neck and squeezed her body hard. Chaewon felt Hyejoo's hands touch the fabric of her shirt and her hair, as she inhaled close to her neck.  

Her breathing had started to stabilize at its own pace, as the trembling in her body slowed down.  

"Feeling better?" Chaewon asked, not noticing her own arms had s around Hyejoo's body, hugging her close.  

"Yes," Hyejoo managed to mutter.  

"Wait, let me get you something to eat or drink."  

Chaewon let Hyejoo take her time to pull away. Giving her a smile, she moved to the fridge and came back, sitting on the floor beside her.  

"Do you like chocolate milk?"  

"My favorite." Hyejoo smiled, taking a sip.  

They let silence take over as Hyejoo drank her milk and Chaewon observed her, recapping what just happened.  

"I'm sorry. I went crazy when I saw you smoking. But you can't smoke in here, Hyejoo."  

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. It's the first thing I do in the morning and I really needed it. I didn't even consider that students can't smoke in the dorms."  

Chaewon nodded. She shouldn't even smoke in the first place.  

"A-Are those frequent?"  

"The panic attack ?" Hyejoo asked nonchalantly. "It happens sometimes, but I startle too easy with touch."  

"God, I'm so sorry Hyejoo."  

"You couldn't know. It's okay, I'm fine now. Thank you for helping me. That's already an improvement from yesterday, Dr. Park Chaewon." Hyejoo chuckled, earning a glare.  

"Is there a reason you get startled easily?"  

"Are you my therapist now?" She laughed again. "You appeared out of nowhere, and you kind of held my wrist too tightly, yeah."  

"I don’t want to in, but is this somehow related to something someone did to you before? I remember you mentioned your relationship with your father was difficult."  

Hyejoo irked an eyebrow. "Wow Miss Therapist, I'm impressed. Yes, he used to do that when he got mad."  

"D-Did he hit you?" And when Hyejoo dropped her head, Chaewon felt like hitting herself. "Gosh I-I'm so sorry, I'm asking too mu-"  

"He did," Hyejoo said, still facing down. "He always did. He's that kind of man who thinks he's the owner of the world and can say or do whatever he wants to everyone. He hit me or my mom for no ing reason whenever he was mad, even if it had nothing to do with us. Like when he lost a case or whatever."  

Chaewon bit her lip. She knew it was not the correct thing to do, but she couldn't help but push a bit more. She wanted to get to know her. "Do you like your mother?"  

"Oh, I love my mom. She always understood me, never judged me for my career choices or for me being gay... Unlike my father. She always cared about me and my happiness. But when she filed for divorce a few years ago, being a filthy rich motherer of a lawyer, he gained my custody. I could barely see my mom after that because he put a restraining order on her. I miss her so damn bad."  

"So you can’t even go live with your mom if you want to, now that you’re an adult."  

"Basically, yeah. My life has been a living hell since then."  

"That's why you started smoking and drinking?"  

Hyejoo nodded. "Are you sure you want to be a therapist and not a detective?" She chuckled. "Yes. I played tennis before, and not to brag, I was ing good, the best of my school in fact. But without my mom, and having to deal with his bull every day, playing tennis stopped being enough to get my mind out of it. I even had a punching bag in my room to let out my rage instead of on his face. Not that I would mind, I always wanted to punch his face so bad, but I would only get hit back and he’s much stronger."  

"Then, it's kind of good that you're here, right? You don't have to deal with your father anymore, and you can always call and video chat with your mother and he won't even know."  

"If you see it like that, yes. Actually, another reason he sent me away was to separate me from my mom even more. Even with everything going on, I still managed to see her in secret sometimes, and even though he was suspicious, he could never get evidence. But I don't want this, Chaewon. I'm wasting my life doing something I don't want to. What am I doing here?"  

Chaewon wanted to answer, but she didn't know what to say. She wasn't a therapist yet, but she wanted to help Hyejoo. It was unfair for her to be going through everything when she did nothing to deserve it. She wanted to help her, at least in making her life a bit more enjoyable.  

"At least I got to know you." Hyejoo met her eyes. “I’m glad we were both buttheads to the point of grabbing each other's luggage.”  

Chaewon smiled, but the memories from last night hit her like a truck. Her body became stiff next to hers, questions swarming her mind. Questions she couldn't keep unanswered.  

"H-Hyejoo, do you remember anything about last night?" She asked, avoiding her eyes as soon as Hyejoo looked back at her.  

"Most of it, yes. I wasn't that drunk, I've been worse. I remember the punch quite well. That hurt. But I punched him hard too. Man, I would kill to know if I really broke his nose. That would have been hella badass."  

Chaewon widened her eyes for a second. She didn't want to see her worse, ever.  

"Yeah, you said that last night. Then, you remember about... when you, y-you know, when I was cleaning up your wounds and..."  

"Yes, I remember. Taylor Swift and all.” Hyejoo cleared and chuckled. “I mean, me. I wrote you a song.”  

She remembered. Chaewon nodded and while she attempted to answer, Hyejoo spoke again.  

"And I meant everything I said. Even though I was drunk and was basically talking with lyrics." She grinned at herself.  

Not only she remembered it, she was serious.  

It was not some drunk nonsense.  

But did she mean something else other than her looks? Did Hyejoo...  

"D-Do you really l-like--"  

"Morning." Sooyoung’s voice made both girls snap their heads. "Hyejoo? What are you doing here? And what are you guys doing sitting on the floor? I think I'm still dreaming." She scratched her eyes and walked to the bathroom.  

Chaewon felt her face burning so much she could be having a fever.  

"Well," Hyejoo spoke, and Chaewon was back at the conversation she didn't even know if she wanted to continue. "I do find you gorgeous and insanely attractive and-"  

"Oh, Hyejoo!" Jiwoo’s turn to step in the living room. Chaewon closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clenching her fists. Why did they keep being interrupted?! "Here so early? And why does it smell like cigarettes in here?" She scrunched her nose.  

"Oh, about that, I'm sorry, I didn't know people couldn't smoke in here. I hope you guys don't get in trouble, but if something happens, tell me. And in fact we just woke up, I was drunk yesterday and ended up here." Hyejoo waved her hand as she spoke.  

Jiwoo irked an eyebrow and approached them, squinting. "What happened to your face?" 

"Punched a dude for groping my . Pretty sick, huh? But I’m cool now, Gowon here took care of me."  

Chaewon widened her eyes and faced down, avoiding both stares. Hyejoo even remembered the nickname... What did it even mean?  

"Gowon? Cute nickname for a cute girl. She’s so sweet, isn’t she?” Jiwoo patted her head.  

“Jiwoo, I just dreamed that Hyejoo was here sitting on the floor with Chaewon- oh, they’re here,” Sooyoung babbled as she walked in the living room, still looking like she was about to fall asleep at any second. “Wow, your face, what happened?”  

“She punched a dude for groping her !” Jiwoo quoted, maybe a bit too excited. “She’s so cool.”  

Sooyoung dropped her chin and awed. “You’re so cool, Hyejoo. Next time punch him two more times for each of us.”  

Hyejoo laughed and promised she would, while Chaewon looked at them in disbelief. “Why are you guys hoping for it to happen again? She got hurt!”  

“You take everything too seriously, Gowon.” Hyejoo caressed the back of her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll punch him for you too.”  

“No, you will not!”  

“Since we’re all together, why don’t we go for breakfast?” Jiwoo asked.  

“It’s 11:30, it’s almost time for lunch.” Sooyoung checked the time on her phone. “Why don’t we go for brunch instead?”  

“Okay it’s set, get ready and let’s go, I know a great place nearby. And it’s on me, as a way to thank you for letting me crash here for the night.”  

“Woohoo, thanks Hyejoo!” Jiwoo said as she ran to the bathroom.  

“Wait, you slept here?” Sooyoung asked.  

“Yep, and you bet Gowon is a damn comfy pillow.” Hyejoo gave her a thumbs up. “Your bed is very comfy, I need to get drunk more often so you take care of me and tuck me to bed with you.”  

Sooyoung snorted and Chaewon widened her eyes, feeling the blush spreading across her face.  

“H-Hey, don’t you dare! And I was actually going to sleep on the couch, but you could need something during the night, t-that’s why I slept, you know, in my bed!”  

Hyejoo wiped a fake tear. “What did I do to deserve you, Gowon, you’re so kind.” She faked a sob, leaning in to hug her for a second.  

Now it wasn’t only her face that burned, but also the back of her neck and ears. Sooyoung squinted at Hyejoo, nodding with a smirk and Hyejoo waved her hand with a small smile as Sooyoung walked back to her room.  

Chaewon had no idea what was going on. She couldn’t understand when Hyejoo was joking or not, and it was driving her mad.  

But they were alone again. There it was, her opportunity to finish their conversation-  

“Since my house is so close, I’m gonna go there and take a shower, I must stink.” Hyejoo smelled her own clothes, scrunching her nose and chuckling. “Yep, I do. When you guys are ready just show up.”  

Before Chaewon could answer, lips kissed her cheek, making her freeze. “Thanks, Gowon, for real. And now you’re stuck with this cute nickname, sorry Gowon.” Hyejoo nudged her, and at last, she turned her head to meet her eyes. Hyejoo smiled at her, a real smile, and stood up, walking towards the door and leaving.  

“A-And by the way, you ALWAYS stink,” Chaewon yelled after Hyejoo closed the door behind her, making sure she still heard it.  

After a few seconds, Chaewon finally came to her senses, and when she did, she buried her face in her hands.  

What in the world was happening? 

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A/N: as usual, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and except LOOOOTS of fluff for the next chapter ^-^