Even before Taeyeon was born, her parents had already planned her life ahead all the way down to a T. Being born into a medical family, everyone already assumed that she would walk down the same path. Not just that, she was envisioned to be the best of them all.

If she followed her family’s wishes, she’d probably still be at college by now, taking her pre-medicine course. Then who knows, after a few more grueling years, perhaps she’d finally be the first neurosurgeon in the household.

But that was far from who Taeyeon was and what she wanted to become.

Maybe it was the pressure of holding up the family name and legacy. Or, as she sometimes liked to joke, maybe she was adopted and wasn’t related to any of them by blood at all. That would have been an easier explanation to her perceived defiant life.

Yet here she was standing in front of the gate representing everything she hated about the academe. This was truly the worst joke life ever threw at her face.

Hell, to say that Taeyeon was nervous for college was an understatement. She was beyond that, she was ing terrified. Her grip tightened on her carry-on as her feet moved on their own accord, bringing her past the university gates.

Only after three steps did she realize the absence of her best friend beside her. She turned around spotting Yuri still on the other side, obviously deep in thought.

“Yul?”

The girl didn’t even spare her a glance. Taeyeon studied her for a while. There hasn’t been a good time to properly talk about the situation they were thrown at yet.  

Yuri finally lets out a breath, “I’m the first person in my family to actually go to college,” she pondered out loud.

Taeyeon’s anxiety was replaced by something else, like a swelling sense of pride for the younger girl. She knew how much this meant for Yuri no matter how small it may seem.

She’s met Yuri’s family multiple times over the years to the point that they’ve accepted her as an official member. For the first time in her life, Taeyeon met a group of people who accepted her for what she was and not who they wanted her to become.

She walked towards Yuri, falling back to where she came from earlier, gently twining their hands loosely.

“Come on,” she flashed a bright grin before tugging on the limp hand, “let’s go.”

Yuri doesn’t budge and Taeyeon turned around again wondering what the holdup was this time.

“What’s wrong?”

The taller girl’s face was unreadable for a while until it shifted into an easy smile. “Nothing, I’m just glad I’m doing this with you.”

Thank you for being there for me. The unsaid message was clearly heard by Taeyeon.

“Someone’s unbelievably sappy in the morning,” she teased.

A whine came out of Yuri. “Can you stop being a jerk for just one second?”

Taeyeon snorts. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

The taller girl just chuckled and draped her arm over Taeyeon’s shoulder before they both resumed walking. She was right about one thing though, Taeyeon wouldn’t want to be doing this with anyone else either. Yuri made her brave like no one else did.

Their dorm room was surprisingly better than nice. It was spacious and the paint wasn’t chipping off to the point of utterly gone. The bathroom wasn’t made for the size of a single, tiny, five foot two girl either.

“Oh my god, Taeng this place is even better than our own apartment.”

Taeyeon could only nod in response, still taking in the new surroundings of what would become their home for the next few months. She was already starting to plan where to place their drafting board, secret compartments for their guns. Until she finally spots the one thing that could ruin the perfection of the room.

“Yul…” Taeyeon pointed to the other side of the room, “there’s only one bed.”

Yuri looked at the single bed. “And the problem is?” Cocking her eyebrow in question, “it’s not like this is the first time we’ve shared a bed.”

Well that was mostly true except she knew exactly what was going through Yuri’s mind right now.

“We share the bed in one condition,” Yuri listened intently, “no bringing home of girls and yes, that includes Yoona.”

“Wha—“ Yuri’s mouth went agape, “but—“

“No buts.” Taeyeon stood firm. “Don’t worry, she can visit. I love that girl too you know, just no staying over for nightly escapades.”

“Fine.” Her roommate relented. “But cuddling is allowed right?”

Taeyeon’s eye twitched. Yuri knew how much the older girl loved to cuddle. She sometimes did it unintentionally even. What can Taeyeon say, she craved companionship that much.

“Yes…” she muttered almost inaudibly but Yuri caught it anyway.

Taeyeon gets pulled into the bed unexpectedly, winding her out of breath. She tried to sit up but Yuri’s arms were locked around her, pinning her to the bed.

“Yah, Yuri-ah! What are you doing?!” She squirmed fretfully.

“Napping with my best friend, what else? “ Yuri replied complete with a yawn.

“We haven’t finished unpacking,” she tried to reason but it was useless when she felt the other girl’s arms loosen their grasp on her.

The damn girl actually fell asleep. Taeyeon clicked her tongue but didn’t get up from the bed anyway and instead positioned herself more comfortably next to the sleeping girl before closing her eyes as well.

Unpacking could wait, sleep was more important anyway.

--

Sometimes, Taeyeon tends to imagine what life would be like if she were born in a body like that of Yuri. That would instantly mean being much taller than five foot two— now that would be the dream. But in her current situation, she simply wanted to have the same stamina as her partner.

Try as she wanted, she still couldn’t get used to the constant workout Yuri forced on her once in a while. She cursed whatever wrongdoing she committed in her previous life to be reborn with such a weak physique— it must have been really grave.

Yuri slowed down and fell into step with the struggling blonde, “come on Tae, we’re not done running around the whole campus yet.”

Taeyeon cursed at the taller girl who hasn’t even broken a sweat yet considering they’ve been running for quite some time now. How amazing would it be if she was a Kwon Yuri but instead she was a Kim Taeyeon, the human paper.

She willed herself to keep up and it worked for a while but her mental drive could only do so much. She pushed Yuri to go on ahead without her, she’d try to catch up. Yuri reluctantly sped up and in a few seconds she was already meters away.

Just then, a girl riding her bike dashed nearby. It was almost a close call, she could’ve been hit but just as she thought she was out of trouble, she locked eyes with the rider and that did it.

Never has she seen a woman as beautiful as her. Call her cliché but it felt like time slowed down altogether as she kept her gaze on the girl pedaling her bike. She had the most striking eyes, chest-nut brown hair and cheekbones that made her look like a model from a magazine. No, she definitely beats any model out there.

Her ogling only lasted for two seconds and would have lasted longer until Taeyeon literally ran into a bench, crashing and breaking their connection. Taeyeon heard someone exclaim but she wasn’t too keen on it. She found herself lying on her back on the pathway. A groan, ugh not this again.

“Uhm hey,” Taeyeon heard as she felt someone approach her, “are you… are you okay?”

Taeyeon opened her eyes and instantly regretted it as she came face to face with the gorgeous girl earlier. Her pride was really taking a beating today. How doe