Sunday morning was unusually sunny, despite it being the middle of November. The sun was peaking through the window in Seulgi’s room. The light offensively set on girl’s sleepy eyes, making her squirt them in annoyance. She stretched her arms forward, letting out a yawn. She lifted the bedsheets carefully enough not to wake up her boyfriend lying next to her. She grabbed her fluffy robe with a cute bear pattern over her PJ’s and headed out to the kitchen. Tying the robe tightly around her waist, she stopped in her tracks as soon as she reached the living room.

It’s too early for that.

Sitting on the sofa, buried under piles of papers and notebooks was her roommate Joohyun. She was still in her clothes from the previous day, her hair all over the place and there were visible bags under her eyes. She was aggressively flicking through the pages of a huge book in her lap. Judging by the size of the volume, it could have been the penal code. Seulgi’s gaze landed on the coffee table occupied with empty cans of RedBull, more papers and yesterday’s tteokbokki. 

"Hey Baechu. Still studying for Monday?”

Joohyun lifted her head, looking a person who have just saw a ghost and was now startled by the tiniest noise or movement. She relaxed when she saw Seulgi in a doorway.

"I’m trying to find reference to proceeding in the event of a robbery culminating in forced self defense with an injured attacker.”

Law students. What a committed bunch of people.

"Any progress?”

"Professor Lee may tell me that it doesn't apply for a test but I know this scum lies just to plunge me." And with that, she returned to eyeing the book, almost touching it with her nose.

Seulgi crossed her arms over her chest. So much for having a roommate studying Law. When it comes to exams, bubbly and organized girl could easily turn into mess with a mentality of a frightened squirrel.

“Interesting. I usually prefer to start my day with coffee.” She said, heading towards the kitchen area which was connected with the living room. She grabbed her bear -shaped mug and started filling it in. “You’ve been up all night?”

“Is it morning?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ve been up all night.”

In the hallway, the sound of shuffling announced the arrival of Jongin. He had his one eyes closed, his hand scratching disheveled brown hair as he was scrolling through his phone first thing in the morning. He was so focused on it, he almost walked into the wall. He was also shirtless, having nothing but grey sweatpants on.

He took a glimpse at Joohyun, giving her the questioning look, before turning to Seulgi who was standing by the fridge.

“I told you, she's like my dogs. You don't close the gate, they are running wild in the apartament.” He said it loudly as he opened the fridge to grab a yogurt. He took a place beside his girlfriend, eyeing their friend as she threw random "damn it’s" and "s" around.

“Did you call the help?” Asked Seulgi.

“Yeah, yesterday. According to my calculations, he will be here-” Jongin looked at his phone “ - in three. Two. One.”

There were three knocks on the door.

“There he is.”

Seulgi yelled "come in" and Junmyeon entered the apartment.

“I’m here! What’s the emergen-” Before he finished, he noticed his disaster of a girlfriend who didn't even acknowledged his arrival. “-cy?”

His jaw dropped as he met the gaze of his two friends behind the counter, mouthing "Again?" to them. Seulgi nodded to confirm. Junmyeon put his coat away, slowly approaching Joohyun like Stevie Irwin would act with alligators.

"Hey honey. What are you- Oh sweet merciful Buddha.”

The dark circles under her eyes created a contrast with her face which seemed to be paler than usual. Hair tied into a messy ponytail were sticking out, the glasses hidden somewhere in them.

Not having any reaction, he snapped his finger in front of her face. Her head shoot up giving him the look of an angry Pomeranian.

“When was the last time you slept?” He asked concerned.

“ On Monday.”

“But today is Sunday...”

“Exactly.”

Junmyeon didn’t know how to answer. Everybody knew how devoted Joohyun was to every project or exam she had but for the last year she took that to the extreme. Skipping meals, not sleeping at all sometimes, poor diet and bad attitude- those were the things her friends had to watch over Or mostly her boyfriend had to.

“Okay, I guess it’s enough for you for this week.” He tried to reach for the book to take it from her but her hand squeezed his arm so hard he whimpered.

"Touch this and I'll rip your arm off and beat you with it.” She said in a low tone.

Jongin came from behind the sofa, grabbed girl’s wrist and gently removed it from his friend.

“Heeeey noona! Easy, we just want you to take better care of yourself.”

“You're saying it as if I have a problem, which I assure you, don't have. Oh, and by the way. I went into your room last night looking for a highlighters and I was watching you two sleep for a moment. I noticed your snoring is worse when you’re on your side.”

“Jongin doesn't snore.” Seulgi replied.

“ I know. I was talking to you.”

While Seulgi tried to fight the urge to comment back, the two boys stood over Joohyun, watching her comparing two pages, holding them in the air.

“I haven’t seen her this stuck since she tried to figure out the second Back To The Future movie.” Junmyeon massaged his neck.

“Me neither. I mean, they go to the past, but the title has future in it. Wouldn't it have more sense to call it Back To The Past?”

To that, Junmyeon could only frown in cringe.

For the rest of the day, Junmyeon decided to stay in girls’s apartament to keep an eye on his girlfriend, since Seulgi had her own homework to do. He basically had to drag Joohyun to the bathroom, force her to take shower and make her brush her teeth. Next, he had to grab her and take her by force to bed- or more like pin her down with his whole body so she wouldn't escape. After trying to get away, she drifted to sleep for like 4 hours. The next morning Junmyeon repeated those actions, then insisted to drive her to the exam. They now sat on the bench in front of the building.

“After not leaving house for a week you should get some fresh air before you go inside.”

Joohyun was holding her head, not sure if it was out of tiredness or attempt to memorize all the things she has read since Monday.

“How are you feeling from 1 to 10?”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck and got head smashed with a baseball bat.”

“Kay, I'll take that as 15.”

Joohyun started to massage her temples with closed eyes. Seeing her in this state was really hard for Junmyeon and he was seriously running out of ideas how to make it easier for her to survive until the exams starts.

"Maybe I should get a snack to get you some energy? I can go over to the cafeteria and buy you something. Maybe with some tea you like?” He asked her. As soon aa he turned around, he was greeted by Joohyun’s quiet sobs, her head hanging low, hair covering her face. He quickly crouched in front of her, caressing her hair.

”Hey Hyunie! Why are you crying?” There was visible panic in his voice.

”I’m tired.” She said in between her sniffs. ”I’m tired of this constant stress and pressure. My body screams for me to take a break but I know that if I back down now, all this hard work will go to waste. I had sacrificed so many things to get results I have now but…I’m just exhausted.”

A frown appeared on Junmyeon’s face. He got the answers he wanted. He always knew that his girlfriend was very committed to everything she was doing and always gave her one hundred per cent. After moving away from her house in Daegu, she had always carried the burden of keeping everyone around satisfied with her, especially when it came to education. Every task she did, every accomplishment, was a way of telling herself ”You did it and your parents’s hard work to send you here didn’t go to waste”.

Junmyeon understood her. Since they shared a similar pressure.

He took a seat next to her on a bench, grabbed her head and rested it on his shoulder. Her arms instinctively found a way around his waist as he put his arm around her.

”Joohyun. Have I ever told you about the day I moved out from my parents house?” 

She shook her head to brush her hair of her face.

” Your mom still tells me that when we visit your house, but why are you mentioning it now?”

Junmyeon cracked a smile. ”You know my dad wasn’t so fond of me staying in Seoul instead of going to Oxford. I was tired of constantly doing things he planned for me so it was a moment for me to put my foot down.” Joohyun nuzzled herself up to him. ” It was hard at the beginning to find a common ground with him and I was thinking about giving my decision up. But as you know, he came to me the day I was suppose to leave for collage and told me that me standing up for myself was the best thing I could’ve done and he will support my decisions from now on.”

Joohyun looked up at him confused. ” But does it have to do with what I’m going through now?”

Junmyeon look her in the eyes and gave her peck on the head. ” You often worry that you won’t live up to the expectations of others. What you forget is that you are a strong woman who accomplished many things, not only through your hard work but also with faith in yourself and from people who love you, me included. What I’m trying to say is, you don’t have to worry about us anymore since we are all incredibly proud of you.”

Joohyun now had tears in her eyes but this time, with smile attached to it. She popped her head up and gave him soft, loving kiss which he gladly returned.

”Why are you so good at cheering people up?”

”Call it years of practise.” He joked, winking at her, Pecking her cheek, he stood up and pulled her up, handling her her purse.

” And now that I’ve lifted your spirit, you can go now and crush this test!” He gave her encouraging fists up. She laughed at his gesture before entering the building, filled with positvity.

2 hours later

Joohyun exited the lecture hall with a smile on her face. She stretched her limbs after having to sit for a few hours and she started to look around for her boyfriend who was supposed to wait for her. Before she could look around, a pair of hands covered her eyes from behind, startling her a bit.

”Guess who, beautiful?” Asked gentle yet excited voice.

” It’s either Junmyeon or cold hands of death.”

” I’ll give you a hint. It’s your favorite person on Earth.”

” Damn it.” She answered, disappointed. She removed the hands from her face and turned around, only to be lifted in a bear hug. 

”Sooo, how did it go?” Junmyeon’s eyes were sparkling with anticipation as he put her down.

” Quite good actually. Nothing really surprised me expect for a few questions. But other than that, I should pass.”

” Was it worthy sleepless nights, junk food and almost twisting my arm?”

"Oh drop it already!” She gave him light punch to the stomach on which he reacted with a chuckle. Before he could say something, he caught her yawning hard.

” Looks like someone could use a nap.” 

Joohyun groaned and extended her arms towards him. ” Only if you stay with me.”

He turned around, patted his shoulder and let her climb on his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting head comfortably on his shoulder, the tiredness slowly taking over her body. Junmyeon walked slowly to the car, taking a glance at Joohyun.

”Always, my little busy bee.”