Sakura sat back on her chair, taking a break from studying. She took her phone from her desk; her thumb hovered over the dating app icon when she realized that she had to text Chaeyeon about her free time. She sent a quick text saying that she’s free on Saturday and put down her phone again. Staring at the ceiling, she thought about her actions earlier. She still doesn’t understand why she was compelled to sit near Chaeyeon. Maybe a part of her wanted some sort of friendship with the girl. Perhaps the fact that they matched gave her a sense that Chaeyeon wanted to have some sort of connection with her too. She waited the whole time that they were discussing their plans for the report for Chaeyeon to mention the fact that they matched on Tinder, but it never came up. She didn’t want to bring it up either of fear of finding out that maybe it was some sort of mistake. She didn’t want to hurt her pride, no. Miyawaki Sakura doesn’t get rejected. But she does fumble. Sakura groaned as she remembered how she fumbled a little while talking to Chaeyeon, which was very uncharacteristic of her. Maybe she’s lost the capability to talk to people without the intention of getting into bed with them. Either way, it was still kind of unsettling for her. Sakura willed herself to not think about it too much. Instead, she went back to studying and tried to focus on gate voltages and drain currents.

It was Saturday noon and Sakura had just woken up. She spent the whole night until 3 a.m. playing games on her laptop. She groggily reached for her phone on her nightstand to check the time. She cursed when she saw that it was already 12:45 p.m. She had to meet Chaeyeon at 1 o’ clock. She hurriedly took a shower, dressed up, and set off, taking her laptop bag with her. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator to arrive.

“,” she muttered under her breath as she checked her watch and saw that it was already 12:55. She typed a message on her phone to send to Chaeyeon.

Hi, Chaeyeon. I’m running a little late. I’m so sorry. I’m on my way tho.

She rode the elevator to the parking level. She got in her car as fast as she can, and before buckling up, she received a reply from Chaeyeon.

It’s okay. 🙂 I’ll just wait here. Take care.

Sakura’s eyes lingered on the last sentence from Chaeyeon’s text. Take care. It’s been a while since anyone really said that to her. She’s never even received any messages like that from her parents. Sakura shook her head and buckled up. This seriously isn’t the time, Sakura. She started her car and drove her way to their meeting place, setting aside her issues for another day.

When Sakura opened the door to the quaint little café that Chayeon chose for their meeting, she immediately looked around for Chaeyeon. It wasn’t really a hard feat, as the place was rather empty except for three other patrons. She saw Chaeyeon seated in one of the booths, quietly scribbling down notes on her binder. She walked to Chaeyeon’s direction and greeted the younger girl with a sheepish smile.

“Hi. I’m sorry I’m late,” said Sakura as she put down her bag on the seat opposite Chaeyeon and sat down.”

“Hello,” greeted Chaeyeon with a smile. “It’s all good.”

Sakura observed the girl in front of her as she set aside her binder. Chaeyeon wore a plain white shirt and had a black baseball cap on. She wanted to buy a drink for the girl but grimaced when she saw that she had already bought one for herself. 

“Oh, you already have a drink,” Sakura said.

“Yeah. You should order a drink too. We’d be here for quite a while.”

“I was thinking that I’ll pay for your drink. You know—to make up for being late,” Sakura explained as she fiddled with her fingers under the table.

“It was just a few minutes, Sakura. It’s fine.” Chaeyeon smiled at her. She can really feel the sincerity from the girl. There was no annoyance, no malice in her words. Sakura felt even more guilty for being late.

“Still, I’m sorry about it,” Sakura said. “I’ll go buy a drink first.”

She walked to the counter and checked out the pastries displayed in the clear glass refrigerator. She wondered what Chaeyeon would like and decided to just choose the chocolate cake. You can never go wrong with chocolate cake. She ordered her usual green tea latte along with the slice of cake. She went back with a tray of her orders and settled back inside their shared booth. She slid the cake to Chaeyeon, and the younger girl looked at her.

“I didn’t know what flavor you wanted. I hope