Don't worry about it? Don't give up? 

In a slight delay of a reaction, Minju realizes what she's laid out to the girl for asking about Yujin's dating status. She unknowingly gulps, determined to deny whatever meaning Sakura had tried to imply.

"Ah don't mind me, I ramble about unnecessary things often. What do you want from the menu?" Knowingly, Sakura takes back her innocent allegation, though her small grin suggested otherwise. 

And just like that, the subject changes. 

Minju notices the intent but decides to go along with it, not wanting to prolong the subject further. She utters "Chow Mein and teriyaki chicken" softly, thanking the girl after and promising to pay back.

"It's on me. You got me out of the dorm. Have I not seen you earlier I would have gamed until the next sunrise." Sakura chuckles, eyeing the menu for her own order.

"You remind me of my roommate. She would've said the same thing." 

Sakura advances the car to the ordering window and relays both of their orders, finally turning to her when the car up front stalls to wait for their pick-up.

"She sounds like a fun load. What's her name?" 

Sakura's eyes sparkled differently this time, Minju notices. It was a look of fascination that she could easily compare to a child anticipating the best part of a story. 

"Kang Hyewon. She's very passionate with her games, much more when she interacts with other players." She softly chuckles, images of her roommate in her gaming habitat crossing her mind.

It was their turn for the pick-up and Sakura wasted no time to reach for the readily laid out bags of food, giving the cashier a smile of gratitude.

Minju notes the shade of pink now worn on the server's cheeks, reacting to Sakura accordingly. 

"Was she the friend who picked you up yesterday?" Sakura hands her the food bags before driving off. 

"Yes, the loud mouth." Minju smiles sheepishly

"As a gamer should be." Sakura chuckles. Minju finds her block after they've reached a familiar corner and starts guiding the girl around. The street leading to her abode was narrow and somewhat deserted, half of the street lights inoperable.

The community almost resembled a ghost town. 

"Minju." Sakura murmurs after some time, as she parks the car closely to the gate entrance. 

Minju hums in acknowledgement. She watches as Sakura swiftly reaches down on her sheep-clothed jacket's side pocket and pulls out a cellphone.

"You mind if I get your cell number?"

Minju was slightly puzzled by the sudden request, but she found no time to ponder upon it since the girl had already extended the device out to her. 

"O-oh okay." 

"Call or text me if your roommate is not available for a ride, for any reason."

Minju recalls Sakura scrutinizing the surroundings earlier with what seemed to be uneasiness on her face, and that's when she finally understood. She hides her smile as she types her number on the girl's phone. 

knock knock

Sakura slightly jerks in her seat while Minju screams in an octave higher than usual, secondly grabbing the phone that's now on the floor due to her throwing it from the sudden noise and hands it to Sakura apologetically. She glares at Hyewon's face centered perfectly in front of the window frame.

"Roommate?" 

Minju groans in agreement, slowly recovering from it all while Sakura presses a button to open the passenger seat's window. 

"Ever heard of calling? I was worried sick thinking you've been kidnapped- Who is this?" Hyewon gives an interrogating look at Sakura, who's now smiling at her, seemingly amazed. 

"This is Yujin's cousin, Saku-" 

"Miyawaki Sakura. And you must be Hyewon?"  Sakura had enthusiastically reached out her hand, her upper torso uncomfortably bent in an effort to take a closer look at Hyewon. 

"Cute- I mean yes, I'm Hyewon." 

🌹

Yujin gets back a few minutes passed five p.m. to an empty room. 

After lazily hanging her duffel bag on the wall, her eyes venture to the laptop that had been hastily placed on top of the crumpled bed covers, then to the empty key holder on the bedside table where her car's spare key would have been.

Not a second later, a text pops up from no other than Sakura herself. 

Will be up there in a minute (: Sorry I'd borrowed your car unannounced, needed to take Minju home. 

Yujin raises a brow. 

The two had oddly hit it off, it seems. 

Unconsciously she sat herself on the foot of the bed, reading the text once again.  

As if doing so would let her have another view, another understanding of it- she doesn't know. 

"Knock, knock? I was gonna wait, but I don't want your eyes to get damaged from glaring at the screen like that." 

Sakura reaches her arms up for a good stretch before closing the door behind her. She drops to the bed slowly, facing down. 

"Had fun?" 

Yujin doesn't see the way Sakura smiles impishly against the bed surface before looking up to answer exuberantly. 

"Damn right I did. Never thought Minju could be such a character- oh, hold on a sec." Yujin watches the girl whip out her phone, fingers tapping quickly to respond to a text. 

The small curl on her cousin's lips after that made her painfully curious.

Satisfied, Sakura then tosses her phone on the side and shoots up in a sitting position, directly facing Yujin. 

"Yushin, can I give you a piece of advice?" 

"Shoot your shot." 

As if flipping a switch, Sakura's face turns serious. 

"If you want to fly on the sky, you need to leave the earth." 

Yujin gives the girl a questioning look. Half-understanding, half-unsure. 

" In other words... if you still get caught up with the old story, then the new one that's meant for you to read might just get taken away." 

Yujin wakes up the next day from the bright sun making its way through the cracks of her window. 

The day was too good to not give her slumber a few more hours. 

But a familiar laugh reaches her ears before she could doze off, and so she gets up to peek through glass surface.

Below came Sakura, standing leisurely with her hands resting atop her head, chatting away with Minju, whose face is becoming brighter and brighter by the second while a few chuckles escape her hand-cupped mouth. 

Sakura's mouth continue to move, her smile never leaving its form. 

And whatever she said must have been delightful, as Minju's right foot taps on the ground behind her, face exhibiting a meekness glow.

"... if you still get caught up with the old story, then the new one that's meant for you to read might just get taken away." 

Author's Note: So I accidentally published a draft that I had wanted to delete altogether, and some of you had unfortunately seen it. It took me a couple of days to recover from the embarrassment of it all, but here I am now shamelessly facing my readers again with a better chapter... I hope hehe... I love youuuuuus.