MIMI.

Mimi is in her second year now. The past months were really busy for her. She went back to the province for two weeks on vacation. Jiho even sent her a letter on her third day at home. Really, the girl is so funny, she says she hopes Mimi would bring her food when she comes back. 

Mimi had cut her hair short and dyed it light brown. Her grades for her first year were excellent, her family was really happy and proud of her that they even planned a surprise event for her when she came home on her break. This is nice, she's really having fun, her classmates were really nice to her too. One thing Mimi likes about herself is the good appeal she gets from everyone. Even though she doesn't really talk personally with her classmates, they still invite her to parties. 

It was one of the parties that her classmate, Kei, threw just after their vacation and before their class starts when she saw a familiar face. It was Shiah. It's been months since Mimi last saw her. Mimi got really busy so she didn't get the chance to stroll at night. There were times that she was free so she goes out but the girl isn't there, the bench was always empty. She checks the other benches too, but she wasn't there. Maybe, it's not the right time yet for them to meet.

Mimi remembers the first time they met, it wasn't even in her plan to meet such a girl like her. And the last time she saw her, Shiah even kissed her forehead. 

"That's Miss Yoo from the Biology department." Mijoo, one of their closest seniors in the Architecture department sat next to her.

Everyone's busy at the party, and Mimi got tired standing so she's here resting on the corner of the living room. She grabbed a drink when she saw Shiah walking in from the front door. Is she close to Kei too? So.. she goes to my university as well? And I had no idea? 

"Yeah, I know her," Mimi says as she places the glass of juice on the table across her.

Mijoo was talking about one of their possible professors in the second year but Mimi was too focused on Shiah. The doll-like girl was wearing a party dress and a leather jacket, in the middle of the room with some girls, Mimi guesses were her friends. Should I approach her? What? Like 'Hi, it's me, you have my coat remember?' Like that? Or no..?

Instead, Mimi excused herself from Mijoo and walked out of the room. She walked past behind Yooa but she chose not to approach her, why would she though?

It was a cold night, Mimi remembered she didn't get to tell Jiho that she'll be late tonight. So then she fished her phone from her pocket and sent Jiho a text. She was busy typing when someone poked her back. When she turned around to check what or who was it, it was Kei. 

"Why are you out here? Is it boring?" Mimi shook her head quickly.

"No, I just wanted some fresh air, your party's really fun!" Kei chuckles and stood next to her, leaning back on the wall. Kei was about to cling to her arm when Mimi saw Yooa coming out of the house alone. Mimi was troubled about whether to follow the girl. Is she going home already? 

"Ah, she must be busy." Kei says, which finally caught Mimi's attention. "I invited her over because she once helped me with Chemistry." Oh? She's good at studying, then. 

"Can you give me her number?" 

--

"Are you dating someone?" Jiho asks as she placed her book on the shelf. 

"What? No? What makes you think-" 

"You've been staring at your phone for hours." Mimi heard shuffling sounds of a chair being dragged and footsteps.

She then only realized Jiho dragged the chair towards near her bed, now sitting oh-so-cool on that chair; legs opened, hugging the chair, her arms were resting on the top rail of the back of the chair where you're supposed to rest your back on. 

"Don't you know how to sit properly? You're already in college, be professional." Mimi says as she sits up, Jiho was grinning. Mimi mouthed a "what", and this made Jiho chuckle.

"Yeah? How can I when my roommate is being always unprofessional, I saw your phone, I don't know whose number were those but text them. Staring won't say hi to them."

Mimi smiled, "Maybe later."

And Jiho whined, "You're boring." 

The two continued with the nonstop bickering about anything very unrelated. Mimi and Jiho have gotten really close now. At first, Jiho only asks her about her family, her life, and everything about Mimi. Until it hits Mimi, Jiho wasn't opening up to her. So she once told Jiho that she's all-ears for her. Jiho even cried to her that night,

"Why are you so sweet to me!! I hate you already" was what Jiho told her, but Mimi's happy because Jiho really trusts her now. Turns out, Jiho lost her parents when she was 17. A young age for her to deal with it but Jiho was really strong and here she is now. 

"But, back to the topic, who's that?" Jiho was referring to the owner of the contact number that Mimi had been staring at. "Your chick?".

Mimi threw a pillow on Jiho. "What chick? She's not!" The two laughed, they should be sleeping now since tomorrow will be a big day, more for Jiho, her first day in college. 

"She's just someone I knew before, but I don't think it's the right time to approach her yet," Mimi says as she placed her phone on the table beside her bed. Jiho stood up already, putting the chair back in its place while humming. 

"Well, good luck on that someone, and good luck to my college life." Jiho smiles at Mimi before closing the lights. 

The next morning, Mimi woke up with Jiho cooking. She laughs when she realized how early it is. This is so not Jiho, she used to wake up late, but maybe this is what happens when she's excited. 

"Make sure not to mess up your day, tiger," Mimi says before walking upstairs for her class as Jiho waved at her, practically pushing her to go away. Mimi suddenly felt like an older sister to her.

Mimi wishes her professor would dismiss them early. She really feels too lazy today. And thankfully, their professor just oriented them with the course syllabus. Mimi's plan is to go straight back to the dorms and sleep.

But sometimes, things don't go as planned. She was walking in the hallway, with the plan in mind when she bumped into two girls. One of them is a very familiar face. It was Shiah, the girl who literally and figuratively looks like a dream girl to Mimi, with a petite girl, which Mimi can describe as a girl with fair skin and she's like a dolphin. The other one was the one who dropped her books, Mimi and Shiah immediately helped the girl.

After they picked up the books, Mimi looked at the two and apologized. The girl next to Shiah told her it was okay. Mimi glanced at Shiah, hoping the girl remembers her. 

"Are you okay?" The other girl asks Mimi. Shiah looks back at Mimi just now and smiled at her before walking away with her friend.

What was that?

What happened really troubled Mimi in the next few days. And for those days, she had been circling all around the university in her free time, trying to bet on the chance she got whether she sees Shiah. But she failed. 

"Anyway, Mimi, you should come with me later at lunch! I'll introduce you to my friends." Jiho says while tying her hair one morning. Mimi agreed, Jiho has been talking a lot about her newfound friends and it's really nice to meet new faces, instead of being all so confused with Shiah. 

Mushroom, that's how Mimi describes Shiah. Looking back at all her encounters with Shiah... the girl is definitely a mushroom who pops out randomly, causing Mimi's confusion and mixed feelings. And now. she once again crosses lives with Shiah when Mimi entered the room that Jiho referred on her text 30 minutes ago. 

There was Jiho, and a short-haired girl with glasses, which Mimi guesses were just reading glasses, a girl in pink-blond hair with a loud voice, a small girl with that smiley face, and there's also this one familiar face but Mimi couldn't remember where she saw her.. until Mimi's eyes caught Shiah on the corner. The other girl was the one who Mimi bumped into, last time in the hallway. 

Shiah was wearing denim jeans and a light pink shirt which really makes her look like a cherry, a very beautiful cherry. Her brown hair, which Mimi only noticed now, makes her look cuter.

Jiho excitedly pulled Mimi towards her friends. There were a total of 7 of them in the vacant room. Mimi introduces herself, the others did the same gladly. Until it was Shiah's turn. 

"Um.. I'm Yooa, I shared the same class with Hyejin unnie last year, and I used to tutor Yubin's sister." So, Shiah also just got pulled by the others here.

"And I'm your dorm neighbor! Don't forget about that." Mimi chuckles at the girl, Hyojung who really keeps pushing that she's Shiah- or Yooa..?'s dorm neighbor.

Mimi remembers Jiho told her that they just met when Yubin, the short-haired girl lost her phone and Hyojung happened to find it. That's how their friendship started. Then, after days of talking, they found out that Shiah was a mutual friend and that's why Shiah is here. Jiho once talked about Mimi and the others knew her name because she once got a perfect score on her major exam of one of the famous strict professors in the university.

Little did they know was that Shiah and Mimi already know each other. Mimi sat on the vacant chair near Jiho, since that's where she guesses she should be. But the thing is, across her was Shiah. Mimi, again, doesn't know what to do. 

Should she act like they're close? Shiah even cried infront of her last time. She even lend her a handkerchief and her coat, which was her favorite and really meant something to her because it was a gift from her mom. Mimi thinks what she has with Shiah is really special. She just hopes this could be her opportunity to talk with her. 

Mimi and Shiah just happened to meet everytime none of the two makes a move about it. Particularly when Mimi tries not to involve Shiah in her life, life then gives her Shiah. And she doesn't know if Shiah is the same. 

"The first time we gathered here, we had an agreement that all latecomers should dance for us," Hyojung says in a serious tone. Everyone was quiet, Mimi realized that she was the last one to come in, ah , is this some kind of college cult or something? She really had no idea, she never had this kind of cult back in the province. 

Mimi was in the middle of recalling the choreographies she recently practiced in her mind when Shiah spoke. 

"Really? Do you think she's dumb?" And everyone started laughing. Mimi was confused. What? Why? What was funny? 

Mimi looked at her roommate, Jiho was really laughing hard. 

"She's stupid!" Hyojung laughed. That's when Mimi realized that they were only joking earlier. Damn it. I'm almost about to dance. 

"Mimi unnie is a cute one, let's keep her please," Yubin says while chuckling. 

"No, I'm taken, sorry." Mimi answers, joking along. 

They decided to finally talk about lunch. Jiho, Hyejin, and Seunghee volunteered on buying their lunch from the cafeteria downstairs. Just when Jiho was taking note of their orders, Mimi realized she forgot to bring her wallet. 

"Jiho." She whispers, the girl hummed while writing. "I forgot my wallet," she says in a low voice, not wanting to let the others hear her.

"Ah, alright. I got you." Jiho says and smiles at her. The trio left already. 

Mimi was fine because Hyojung and Yubin kept talking to her and Shiah, Mimi felt like she's already so close to them even though they just talked now. Jiho wasn't lying that her friends were nice.

It was all fine until Hyojung and Yubin excused themselves because they'll go to the comfort room and now, Mimi is alone with Shiah. 

Mimi really appreciate how Shiah helped her earlier when they were pranking her. She suddenly feels embarrassed because she looked like a real idiot earlier. Anyway, Shiah wasn't speaking or anything. The two remained silent. 

"So, it's Yooa?" Mimi tries to initiate, she had the feeling that the girl won't talk.

Shiah- or Yooa, smiled at her and nodded. "That's what they call me. Like your Mimi." Mimi smiled, happy when she confirmed that the girl still remember her. 

"I'll still call you Shiah, because I don't like the mainstreams." Mimi grinned, referring to Shiah's reason when they first talked. Shiah chuckled before Mimi felt her staring. Shiah stared at her, they were just sitting across from each other so it's not really unusual to stare like that, but she's staring like that. 

"I missed you." Shiah blurted out, Mimi swallowed into nothing, what? 

Mimi was about to speak when Jiho and the others came, cutting off that conversation of her with Shiah. Mimi swore she should lock the door next time she's alone with Shiah.

After eating, they all went out one by one, since some of them has early schedules. When it was her time to go to her class, she stood up and was about to tell them goodbye when Shiah stood up as well. Ah, we have the same schedule then.

"Oh?" The two looked at Jiho who suddenly pointed at Shiah. 

"What?" Mimi asks, Shiah just looked at them.

"I remember you now! Mimi and I saw you one night on the-" Mimi immediately covered Jiho's mouth. Seunghee and Yubin were just watching them, weirdly. Mimi saw Shiah's face blushing. Maybe she doesn't like talking about it?

"We'll go now. See you later!" Mimi says and gave Jiho a look, she clung her backpack on her shoulder and took Shiah's hand, pulling her out of the room. 

Mimi doesn't know what caused her to do that, she doesn't know why she suddenly wants Shiah to be comfortable with her. She suddenly felt like she's the only one who knew those things she knew about Shiah so she wants to protect her from.. sadness?

When they're already on their way downstairs, Mimi felt lost in contact with Shiah's hand. The girl pulled away. 

"I appreciate that you didn't tell her, Mihyun." Shiah says as they walk. 

"You're welcome, and I appreciate that you still know me." Mimi answers back, glancing at the girl. Shiah smiled while looking forward. 

"And- about earlier, you said you miss-" Mimi was cut off when Shiah stopped walking and so she did. Shiah pointed at the classroom on her right. 

"Here's my class, I have to go now." The girl says, looking straight to Mimi's eyes. Mimi, once again, felt stuck on her position. What? Why can't I think of anything?

"And by the way, you look pretty handsome today." That's it, Shiah disappeared into the room, and Mimi only snapped out of her Shiah-thoughts, when the professor tapped her shoulder.

"Are you going in or not?" Mimi immediately shook her head and bowed, instantly walking away from her position earlier. 

Everything she encountered with Shiah til that moment isn't clear. But damn, she drives Mimi calmly crazy. 

There's one thing she's sure about: She'd definitely continue hanging out with Jiho's friends.