Wheein stared down at the sleeping Hyejin. The peaceful Hyejin. The unknowing Hyejin. Conflicted with the knowledge that she just received, Wheein debated. Should she wait? Should she even say anything? No, she has to say something. Hyejin deserves to know.

Taking a deep breath, Wheein gently nudged Hyejin’s shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time spring semester started, Hyejin was basically fully recovered. She just had to take it easy a bit and maintain her exercises to a minimum. Luckily for her, she managed to snag Friday’s off. Unluckily for her, Wheein had classes all week so that meant on Friday's she had to spend it by herself. 

Usually she would spend that time with friends or something to pass the time, but what after Wheein told her and what Ji Yeon confirmed and what Sujeong affirmed, she felt drained. Drained and constantly tired. 

Sure, she took care of it but at what cost? Her energy.

So here she was, alone in the office, rewriting her notes. Waking up to an empty bed was starting to take its toll on her. Even though Wheein always gives her a goodbye kiss and a little sticky note with a cheesy message and a small doodle, it still wasn’t enough. She missed waking up in Wheein’s arms or having Wheein in her arms. So she needed something to distract her. Hence why she started to rewrite her notes. Not only to help her in class, but to also make her focus on something else. Something else besides the empty apartment. 

Sure, it was only one day out of the week where she doesn’t have Wheein so she really shouldn’t complain. But, it was also on a Friday, a day where only good things are allowed to happen. It wasn’t a day where she wanted to start off feeling empty. 

It was the beginning of February that Hyejin finally broke. But childishly. 

“Wheeeeeeeeeein~” Hyejin whined while draping herself across Wheein’s lap after gently nudging the sketchbook out of the way first. 

Wheein let out a sigh before giving Hyejin the attention she wanted.

“Hyejin-ah, I have to sketch an idea for my piece, can’t this wait?” Wheein’s voice sounded annoyed.

“This early in the morning? Can’t it wait till later?” Hyejin looked up at Wheein with a pout.

“Then you’re going to complain later,” Wheein said without mercy.

“What? No I’m not!” Hyejin huffed. Only mildly offended at the accusation.

“You said that last time and you still complained,” Wheein’s stare was cold.

“I--” Hyejin was caught.

“Do you want attention now or later?” The ultimatum.

Hyejin only let out a high pitched whine before sliding off from Wheein’s lap and slumping down on the floor like a pathetic slug. 

Wheein gently chuckled at the scene before returning her attention back to her sketchbook.

Eventually Hyejin got up and wandered off. Might as well get some studying done. Microeconomics was confusing so it won’t be in vain. Especially once she received a text asking her if she has a study guide or something for the test next week. 

A test she forgot about.

The very first test.

In a flurry, Hyejin rushed back into the office and isolated herself. Making sure her laptop was connected, she prepared the space around her. She had her initial notes that she took during class, and  the separate spiral notebook where the nicer notes will be rewritten in. Checking her water jug and it’s levels, and the amount of ink in her highlighters and pens, she was ready. 

Ready to think of nothing else by Microeconomics for the next couple of hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wheein finally hit an art block. She always heard about it and always expected it. She just wished the art block happened on something that wasn’t school related. In highschool she always had the opportunity to do what she wanted for projects, especially ones that were dependent on what was taught in class, and she always had inspiration from Hyejin. But now? The more freedom she had the more restricted she felt. 

She would draw a couple of lines and immediately changed her mind. A mind where nothing came to it. Usually, given any sort of prompt, ideas would be flowing through her mind, but then art block set in. She had ideas, but had no means to execute them. A painful stalemate. 

There were some sketches that were more developed but, the more she looked at it, the more she realised it wasn’t up to par. As such, she threw away that sketch. Eventually she was surrounded by a small mound of paper. Not realising how much time has passed. 

By the time she finally looked up, it was already evening. She wasted the whole day to only get nowhere.

Wheein growled in agitation before getting up and stretching a little. It felt like she was missing something. The whole apartment felt empty and quiet. Something that left her uneasy and a bit empty herself. 

Taking the time to walk around a bit, she went to go grab something to drink. On her way to the kitchen she finally heard Hyejin. She immediately brightened at the sound of Hyejin’s voice. She felt some of her worries wash  away but then actually heard Hyejin. 

Hyejing was yelling followed by a loud bang of something falling on the desk.

Out of mild concern, Wheein went past the kitchen to take a peek into the office. She knew that Hyejin's classes were becoming more of a pain, based on what Hyejin told her, she just didn’t expect it to kill her girlfriend.

“Hy--”

“This….is….ING BULL!” Hyejin finally came back alive. 

“I knoooow, it worries me,” Sujeong said from the call.

“WHo makes a test that long?!” Hyejin cried while laying her head down on the desk in defeat. There was a clear red spot from where she banged her head earlier. 

“This professor, that’s who,”  A new voice said. 

“I’ve written my will already, so I’ve accepted my fate,” Another new voice.

“This class is going to be the end of me….” Hyejin sighed in defeat.

“Moooooood,” Sujeong droned with a hint of laughter.

“Bruh, I barely passed last semester, I don’t need this,” Another voice, another newbie.

Oh, this must be Hyejin’s new friends from class. Her study group for this class.

“How do you barely pass your first semester, it’s like the easiest semester in our college careers?” Hyejin asked. She turned her head so she could be heard clearly. 

“, shut the up. I have my reasons,” the voice cried with a mild sob. A clear indication of jest. 

“You thought ya genius could save ya, huh? ,” Hyejin laughed.

“More like who didn’t read the syllabus and didn’t know we had to write papers.” Sujeong piped in. 

“Ok, you know what--”

“, are you blind? What did you think when everyone turned in papers??” Hyejin finally sat up to look at her screen with confusion on her face.

“Ok, first off, it’s bastard. Second off,---”

“No, it’s extraordinaire.”

“ExcuSE YOU--”

Hyejin threw her head back in laughter as it filled the room. As she began to recover, she noticed Wheein peeking from the doorway. The ever shy puppy.

“Oh damn, it’s late,” Hyejin finally signalled that it was time to leave.

“And what did we learn?” Sujeong called off. 

“Jack ~” Came the chorus.

After another bout of laughter, Hyejin finally ended the call. 

Wheein’s heart constricted once she heard Sujeong’s voice. Hyejin assured her that everything was sorted out but she doesn’t know the details, nor did she ever ask. But she’s still a bit uneasy. Although she never told Hyejin that.

In her brief reflection, she didn’t notice Hyejin in front of her until she opened the door wide and quickly hugged her. 

“Wheenie~~” Hyejin said as she nuzzled into Wheein’s neck. Savouring the scent and feeling of Wheein in her arms. It was a sensation she will never be tired of.

“You alright there?” Wheein leaned back so she could inspect Hyejin’s head. She placed a gentle kiss on the red spot.

“I’m better now that you’re here,” Hyejin purred while still clinging on like a koala.

“Is your brain fried?”

“Yup! I never want to see another graph ever again!”

Wheein chuckled and went back to the kitchen with a still clinging Hyejin. 

“What do you want for dinner?” Wheein asked as she manuerved Hyejin out of the way so she could grab a glass of water.

“Y--”

“And don’t you say me. I’m hungry too, you know?” Wheein huffed with a teasing glare at Hyejin.

“What can I say, you’re my favourite dish,” Hyejin peeled herself off from Wheein to lean against the counter. And to give Wheein an obvious smirk and wink.

Wheein just gave Hyejin a dead stare. 

“Hy--”

Before Wheein could ask again about dinner, a knock interrupted that train of thought.

They gave each other a confused look and both shrugged. A clear indication that neither had expected anyone over. 

Hyejin took the lead as they made the short trip to the door. Peeking through the peephole, Hyejin saw one of their neighbors. An older woman, probably in her early 70s, who looked a bit anxious. Hyejin immediately opened the door.

“Yes?” Hyejin asked. Wheein peered just behind her.

“Ah, sorry to intrude, but I need someone to watch my grandson while I pick up my medication. I forgot and the pharmacy closes in an hour or so,” The old woman rambled. 

Hyejin opened to immediately say yes but stopped herself. She looked back towards Wheein to see what she thought. Wheein’s face was full of  sympathy. She looked at Hyejin and nodded. 

“Yea, we can look after him for a bit,” Hyejin said without hesitation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All while the kid was with them there was only one thought in Wheein’s mind. How Hyejin will be a great mother one day. Seeing Hyejin interact with the child, well, she couldn’t hold back her grin and smile the whole time. 

Hyejin’s own childlike energy rivaled the kid’s and it eased the nervous child a bit. Once the kid realised he was indeed in a safe place, the training wheels came off and Wheein had a hard time keeping up. Hyejin easily kept up with the kid and helped bring the kid down. Energetically and physically. 

Hyejin challenged the child to some easy exercises and let the kid win a couple of times. But didn’t make it too easy. She made sure to give the kid a challenge. Once her back started to strain a bit it was time to pass the baton over to Wheein. 

Wheein always struggled with children that she didn’t already know so this was a bit of a challenge for her. Luckily Hyejin made the suggestion that maybe she should teach the kid to draw something. Also luckily, Hyejin bought a big box of crayons months ago so Wheein didn’t have to hand over her art supplies to a small child. 

With their combined efforts, time passed quickly and easily. The kid was easily entertained by their antics and had a huge smile the whole time he was with them. By the time his grandmother picked him back up, he made them promise to have another little adventure. Something they easily agreed too. 

Once the door closed, they looked at each other with big, but tired, smiles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re going to be an amazing mother one day, Hyejin-ah,” Wheein mused as she nestled herself in the comforter and sheets of their bed. She was about ready to doze off and Hyejin was still lying next to her on the phone texting someone. 

“Hmm? You think so?” Hyejin asked as she finally put up her phone and finally went under the covers to join Wheein. 

“Of course,” Wheein yawned and her eyes began to droop, “Your offspring will have the greatest mother in the world.”

“Pffft, you’re so cute, Wheein-ah,” Hyejin said while placing a quick kiss on Wheein’s exposed forehead. 

“I’m not cute, I’m adorable,” Wheein huffed while nestling further into the comforter and sheets. Soon, only the top of her head would be exposed. 

“That’s right, you’re my cute and adorable little pup,” Hyejin giggled while pulling Wheein close and nestling her head on top of Wheein’s. 

She didn’t get a response after that. Wheein had since fallen asleep. Leaving Hyejin alone with her thoughts in the darkness. A time where her demons would come out but not today. Today she had only one thought in mind. 

How she would love to have a family with Wheein one day.