Sarang slowly opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn’t. Ugh, her head was pounding. She slapped her hands over her eyes to block out the sun, turning over on the couch. Wait. Couch? Sarang bolted upright, forcing her eyes open to take in her surroundings. She was in what seemed like a girl’s apartment, with a fuzzy blanket draped over her. Wherever she was, it wasn’t home. Ugh, the pounding in her head was horrible. With a heavy hand she patted around looking for phone, groaning with every pound of her head.

“Here. It’ll help with your hangover.” Sarang looked up in surprise to see a girl with pink hair offering her a cup with steam coming out of it. Wait. Wasn’t she Moon Yeolhwa?

“....hangover?” Sarang tilted her head in confusion. How was she hungover? She didn’t drink, ever. She would never drink. But how did she end up in Moon Yeolhwa’s apartment… Oh god. The past night came flooding back to her. Hyunjin and Ryujin. Taking the shot and leaving them. Taking many more shots after that. Bumping into Yeolhwa. Spending the rest of the night with Yeolhwa and her roommates. University hadn’t even started and she already broke the rule she had made for herself to never ever drink. All because of…

Nothing. It was nothing. Sarang shot the thoughts down before she could think them, turning her gaze up at Yeolhwa and accepting the hot drink and taking a sip. Wow, that really did help her feel better.

“You can wash up in my bathroom and borrow some of my clothes. And you can walk to school with us too.”

“SCHOOL?” Sarang jumped off of the couch, now frantically looking around for her phone. Today was the first day of school? She didn’t come home last night too, her dad must be worried- With an amused smile, Yeolhwa held Sarang’s phone up in the air. “I texted your dad last night saying you were sleeping over at a friend’s place. Bathroom’s down the hall on your right. Use whatever you need.” She tossed Sarang her phone and headed past her towards a closed bedroom door and swinging it open. “Don’t worry, you aren’t the most hungover one right now.” It took Sarang a second to realize that the room didn’t belong to Yeolhwa. “PARK HYERI WAKE THE UP,” she heard Yeolhwa yell.

In the bathroom, Sarang stared at her reflection as she brushed her teeth with the spare toothbrush Yeolhwa left out for her. Her eyes were slightly swollen and her long blonde hair was a mess. After rinsing and washing her face, she glared at her reflection, holding out a finger gun at it. “Jung Sarang, this is never happening again, okay?” she whispered to herself in English, applying her light makeup, brushing out her hair, and changing into a gray oversized hoodie that she found in the back of Yeolhwa’s closet.

She pulled out her phone, finding a ton of missed called and texts from Hyunjin. Her heart did a light jump as she took in the large amount, skimming over each one. Hey, where are you? Are you okay? Ryujin and I-

Sarang stopped reading closed the notifications, stuffing her phone in her pocket and leaving the bathroom just in time to see two girls leave the room that Yeolhwa had just been yelling in.

She faintly remembered them from last night. One was perfectly dolled up in a girly form fitting dress, her in light curls, giving Sarang a wave. This was Lee Hana, she remembered. The other was dressed in an oversized hoodie similar to Sarang’s, paired with trendy white sneakers. Her eyes were even more swollen than Sarang’s, and not to mention they were red as well. A shameless smile graced her face. This was Park Hyeri, who Sarang was certain was more drunk than she was the previous night. Yeolhwa came out of the other room dressed in the most stylish outfit Sarang had ever seen for a day at university, a two piece skirt set paired with heels and eyeshadow to match her outfit. An over the top outfit that only Moon Yeolhwa could pull off.

Yeolhwa strutted over to Hyeri and held out a pair of oversized cat eyed sunglasses, which Hyeri took and placed over her swollen eyes. With the rest of her outfit, and her attractive looks otherwise, Hyeri looked like a kpop idol at the airport. The sunglasses were a little over the top, yet they worked on Hyeri just like Yeolhwa’s outfit worked on her.

The three grabbed their bags and headed towards the door. “Hey, don’t you think that Yoo Howon guy was really cute? He’s smart too.” Hyeri asked them. Yeolhwa rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen better.” Hyeri stuck her tongue out at Yeolhwa and Yeolhwa made a face right back at her while Hana sighed. “Yoo Howon’s the chosen one, we’re going to be hearing his name all the time now…” Hyeri laughed and swung her arm around her best friend. “Hey, when we get home today we’re making you a tinder. It’s about time Lee Hana gets back on the market.” “DON’T YOU DARE!” Hana retorted, and the two left the apartment giggling. Yeolhwa was about to follow suit before turning back to look at Sarang.

“Aren’t you coming?” Sarang nodded and scurried across the room, as they caught up to the other two at the elevator.

 

Minjun was the first one up and ready in his apartment, no thanks to those loud girls that lived in the floor above him. But then again, he would have to be first anyways. Today was the first day of his last year of being a campus representative. “SHUT UP!!” Jackson yelled from his spot on the floor at the ceiling, proceeding to cover his face with a pillow. The night before, he hadn’t made it to his bed. Jacob cracked his door open to see what the fuss was about before slamming it shut again.

Howon stepped out of the bathroom with his hair perfectly gelled. “Yeah, those two definitely aren’t going to school today.” “It’s just syllabus day.” Jackson mumbled from his spot on the floor before burying his face in the pillow.

“We’re all still hitting the gym later, right?” Howon asked, to which Jackson stuck a thumbs up in the air. “Count me out today, first day of university always means we have photoshoots till late,” Minjun said before chugging a glass of juice.

“Oooh...photoshoots,” Howon said in a teasing voice. “Ha Yijeong is back, isn’t she? She still has the hots for you, I saw her face when she first looked at you last night.” “Minjun and Yijeong sitting in a tree…” Jackson mumbled from the floor.

Minjun ripped a napkin on the table into pieces, balling them up and throwing them at both Howon and Jackson. “Shut up. You know I don’t like her like that.” Howon whacked the ball in midair and it landed on the ground by his feet. “Still doesn’t stop a bunch of people from shipping you with her.”

Minjun rolled his eyes and threw another napkin ball at Howon, which the latter once again deflected. “Speaking of girls, didn’t I see you talking to one all of last night? Bro, and don’t think I forgot you dropping me in the elevator last night.” Howon momentarily froze at the indirect mention of Hyeri as Minjun threw another napkin ball, this time successfully hitting him straight in the face.

“Which one was she? They were all pretty cute.” Howon’s mind flashed to the night before, an interaction he hadn’t quite had with any girl before. And who would have thought he would bump into her in his own apartment building? He shook his head to clear the thoughts. She probably was just crashing at a friends place. He would never see her again. Lee Howon does not get attached to girls. “No one special.” he said casually, collecting all of the napkin balls thrown at him and flinging them back at Minjun, who shielded his face.

“Not my face! I need this today,” Minjun jokingly declared, causing Howon to start laughing and only aim for his face. Minjun began balling up more napkins and shooting them at Howon’s weak spot- his hair. Before long the two boys had turned this into a full on battle, hiding behind various items in their kitchen. Minjun was holding a pan over his face and Howon was holding a bowl in front of his hair, the two circling each other in a mock showdown.

“Only one of us makes it out alive,” Howon said in an exaggerated deep voice. “And that would be… me!” Minjun yelled as he pelted Howon with napkin balls, with Howon rapid firing a bunch back at him. The kitchen floor got messier and messier as the balls continued to be thrown in the loud exchange, with the boys yelling and making sounds at one another. Yup, a typical morning in this household.

They continued to get louder until Jackson sprang up from his space on the floor, throwing his pillow at the two in grumpy frustration. “GOD. CAN’T A GUY GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE?” He slouched off into his own room at last, slamming the door.

Howon and Minjun looked at each other and laughed, high fiving. They looked at the mess on the floor and decided at the same time: “Jackson and Jacob can clean this later.” And with that, the two headed to their first day of university.

Seo Youngho buttoned the last button of his suit and looked at his reflection in the window of his office. He had been back in Seoul for two months now, being trained to take over his family’s broadcasting company in the future. Taking a seat at his desk, he fiddled around with his golden nameplate. It was nice being back in Seoul, his hometown. But things were different now. Back then, he was just a student with all the freedom in the world, a ton of friends, and… Eunha. He had none of that now.

He had spent all the years after high school in America, and just when he was getting used to his life there he was already heading back to Korea. Pulling out his phone, he clicked on Eunha’s instagram username once again, hoping to see an update. But like the many previous times he had checked it, it was last updated years ago.

Youngho sighed. He missed her, he really did. But how could he tell her that, when he had no way to contact her? He was the one that broke up with her, yet he felt like their story wasn’t over yet. She had barely said a word back then during their breakup, just quietly accepting it.

He had to at least try one more time. See her one more time. If she told him to off, he would. But he had to talk to her. The only question was, how?

He was now on Facebook, scrolling through a group with all the alumni from his high school. He absentmindedly skimmed through the posts and comments with everyone updating aspects of their lives.

And then one post caught his eye. A photo posted by Kim Hanbin, of Hanbin and Eunha standing on a university’s campus. Eunha. So this is what she looked like now. She was still breathtaking. And she seemed more mature, more confident. Clocking on the photo’s details, he saw that Yeongi University was tagged.

Yeongi University. So that was the university Eunha attended. He had to see if he could meet her there. It was a huge campus but he had to give it a shot. He grabbed his phone and texted his secretary: I’m taking today off.

Pulling the jacket of his suit on, he hurriedly left the building, making his way to Yeongi University.