♫ J_ust - Listen and Sleep

“Your presence is the most precious gift you can give to another human being.”

Marshall B. Rosenberg

“I wonder what she’s doing right now.” Sakura said to herself as she stretched her aching limbs.

She’s been stuck at her desk for what seemed like forever. It was that time of the semester when Sakura became the most stressful. For the past 3 years whenever midterms or finals rolled around, Sakura would have the most trouble. Medical school was hard enough, but coupled with the harsh competitive nature of everyone around her, she’s been pressured to do well. Especially from her parents who were doctors themselves. She didn’t want to disappoint them or ruin their reputation. This time however, she also had to work on her thesis, so she rarely had time to do anything else but study.

For an entire week now after she was done with all of her classes, she’s been heading straight home to avoid any distractions. That also meant that she couldn’t hang out with Chaeyeon. She was still sending her good morning and good night messages, but other than that, they didn’t really talk. Knowing how Chaeyeon was though, Sakura figured she understood what was going on with her so even if Sakura wanted to talk, Chaeyeon would cut the conversation short and tell her to keep studying. Sakura didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t focus very well today for some reason.

Sakura got up from her chair and walked out into the balcony for some fresh air. She gazed up into the sky and saw the moon. It was a full moon tonight, and it seemed bigger and prettier than usual. As she was gazing, she became curious as to if Chaeyeon had seen the beautiful view too. She grabbed her phone and checked the time on it. It was already late, but she hadn’t told Chaeyeon good night yet so she thought it’d be a good time to do it now. Instead of texting Chaeyeon this time though, Sakura decided to call her. If Chaeyeon wasn’t going to pick up, Sakura would just text her goodnight.

Sakura pressed on Chaeyeon’s number and waited. One ring after another, there was still nothing.

I guess she’s asleep.

Sakura thought. As she was about to hang up though, the ringing stopped.

“Saku-chan?” 

Sakura was surprised that Chaeyeon actually picked up. 

“H-Hey.” Sakura answered after clearing .

“Is something wrong?” Chaeyeon asked.

“N-no. Nothing’s wrong.”

“Oh, are you just calling to say goodnight?” 

“Uh, yea.”

“Since you’re busy, you could’ve just texted me you know.” 

“I know, but I just wanted a break. Besides….” Sakura paused for a moment before continuing.

“We haven’t hanged out for a week now, so I kind of miss talking to you.”

Sakura could hear Chaeyeon chuckling.

“I missed talking to you too.” Chaeyeon replied.

Sakura smiled, happy to hear that Chaeyeon was feeling the same way as her. She walked back onto the balcony and stared up at the moon again.

“Can you see the moon right now?” Sakura asked.

She heard some rustling coming from Chaeyeon’s end, as well as footsteps before hearing something sliding open.

“Yea, I see it.” Chaeyeon answered.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“It is. It’s probably a supermoon tonight since it’s bigger than usual.”

As the two were gazing at the sky, it became quiet. The only thing that can be heard was their breathing. Sakura was feeling better now, less stressed, but also a little anxious for some strange reason. Maybe it was because they haven’t seen or talked to each other in a while, but Sakura was weary about what to say next to Chaeyeon. She didn’t want their conversation to end, even though they weren’t saying anything anymore. She really didn’t understand it, but she just really wanted to see Chaeyeon.

“Chaeyeon-ah?” Sakura softly called.

“Hmm?”

“Since it’s Saturday tomorrow, do you want to hang out? I could definitely use a break, and I’m sure you do too.” Sakura nervously asked. 

There was a moment of silence before Chaeyeon answered.

“Sure. Where do you want to go?”

“Ummm, how about we grab some lunch?”

“Sounds good. Let’s meet in front of the library at noon.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

“Goodnight, Chaeyeon.”

“Goodnight, Saku-chan.”

•~•

Several notification tones could be heard as Sakura was grumbling, still in her bed. She was getting annoyed as to who was contacting her so much so she got up, violently ruffling her hair as she grabbed her phone, annoyed. She rubbed her half shut eyes as she squinted at the screen to see what was going on. There were about 5 missed calls and a million text messages from Chaeyeon

“Babo! Where are you!” The text messages read.

Sakura’s eyes jolted wide open as she panicked and looked at her alarm clock.

“Dang it!” She groaned while quickling jumping out of bed.

“Sorry, I overslept. I should be there in like 30 minutes.” Sakura hastily texted back.

Sakura quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth while finding something to wear. She’s been so busy with her studies though, that she hadn’t had time to do her laundry yet. So she just grabbed whatever was lying around and ran out the door. She ran as fast as her feet could go to the campus library. As she arrived near the front entrance, she saw Chaeyeon leaning on a wall. Sakura rushed to her and stopped in front of Chaeyeon, breathing heavily. Chaeyeon was surprised that Sakura actually made it in 30 minutes, but she did not look so good.

“You look like a mess.” Chaeyeon teased upon seeing Sakura.

She was wearing a pink hoodie with sweatpants and some strands of her hair were sticking out and still a little messy even though she tied it in a ponytail.

“Shut it. I was rushing.” Sakura said, trying to catch her breath.

“You could’ve taken your time.”

“No, I was already late. You had to wait an hour for me so I didn’t want to make you wait longer, especially since it’s a bit chilly today.”

“But, do I really look that bad?” Sakura added.

“Nope, not bad at all. You look exactly like the average stressed out medical student.” Chaeyeon teased with a smile.

“Humph, whatever.” Sakura pouted.

Chaeyeon chuckled at Sakura’s reaction.

“I’m just messing with you. You still look pretty.”

Sakura slightly froze. She was caught off guard with Chaeyeon’s comment. She didn’t expect to be called pretty in the state she was in, and by far, not by Chaeyeon. For as long as Sakura had known Chaeyeon, she had only been teasing her. She’ll compliment her every once in a while, but she’ll back it up with more teasing, so Sakura got used to it. She’d never expect in a million years that she’d compliment her on her looks.

“What about me?” Chaeyeon suddenly asked, catching Sakura off guard again.

“Huh?”

“What about me? Am I pretty?” Chaeyeon asked again.

Sakura suddenly couldn’t look at Chaeyeon in the eyes, so she looked away.

“C-come on. Let’s get going.” Sakura dodged the question and rushed off.

•~•

After a little train ride and walk, the two arrived at the Hakata Ramen Kazu shop. Sakura figured that since it was a bit chilly, they could warm up with a bowl of ramen. They sat at the corner farthest from the door and began looking through their options. The place was small, so there wasn’t much to choose from. The two both got the special and a plate of gyoza to share. They quickly finished the gyoza, but the ramen arrived just right after. They were excited to dig in and of course, before Chaeyeon took a bite, she added some chili powder to her bowl. Sakura had quite the appetite that afternoon for some reason, so she was almost done with her portion already, but as she looked over, she saw that Chaeyeon’s bowl was still pretty full. She thought maybe the ramen wasn’t that good for Chaeyeon, but then she saw Chaeyeon’s face. She had actually noticed when they met in front of the library, but just didn’t say anything until now.

“Hey, you look a bit pale. Are you okay?”

Sakura saw that Chaeyeon was a little panicked. She stopped taking her little bites of ramen and quickly pulled out a little mirror from her bag to check her complexion. She seemed a little sad after putting the mirror away with a sigh.

“I’m fine.” Chaeyeon reassured Sakura.

“Are you sure? You’ve barely touched the ramen. Do you not have an appetite?”

Sakura paused and looked up at the chef for a moment before continuing.

“Or is the ramen not good?” She whispered in Korean.

“No, it’s actually good. I’m just a little tired, that’s all.” Chaeyeon replied with a smile.

“Have you not been getting enough sleep?”

“Yea. I’ve been having troubles sleeping lately.”

“Is it because of your midterms?”

“No. That’s not the issue.” Chaeyeon replied, suddenly sounding nonchalant.

“Then, maybe someone is thinking about you.” Sakura teased.

“There’s a saying that when you can’t sleep, it’s because someone is thinking about you.” She added.

“Really?” Chaeyeon asked with a raised eyebrow while looking at Sakura.

Sakura became a little flustered at the sudden attention. She could feel her cheeks warming up and her heart beating a bit faster. She didn’t want to let Chaeyeon notice, so she looked down at her bowl of ramen while clearing and sipped on her broth.

“If that’s true, I wished they’d think about me less. I’d like some sleep.” Chaeyeon said with a laugh.

“I am stressed about something though. It’s nothing big but my roommate is definitely not helping either.” She added with a sigh.

“Why’s that? Is she bugging you or is she staying up too late?” Sakura inquired.

“No, the opposite actually. She goes to sleep early.”

“So, what’s the problem then?”

“Her snoring! It sounds like there’s construction going on the entire night. I can block her out by listening to music while I’m awake, but I can’t do that when I’m trying to sleep. Even my noise canceling headphones can’t do anything. I swear, her snores can even penetrate through a 50 foot wall made of titanium.”

Sakura bursted out laughing, but also felt bad for Chaeyeon. Sakura’s thankful that she’s got her own apartment to herself so she doesn't have to deal with others, but she totally understands what Chaeyeon was going through. She also had to share a room with another student while she was studying abroad, and her roommate had pretty bad sleeping habits too. Sakura wanted to help Chaeyeon as much as she could, since she can tell how bad Chaeyeon’s conditio