with the arrival of the new year, it also meant that joohyun's time at school is coming to an end. it's a bittersweet feeling to finally see the end of her gruelling education but she's certain she's not going to miss it any time soon.

 

her final year — sounds a lot more exciting than it should. perhaps it's due to yongsun’s constant yapping about her future. whatever it is, she's certain that the initial thrill of starting a new year would die down when it's exam season. classes kick off relatively smoothly, yongsun is in every class with her, considering they had picked almost all the same ones, at pretty much the same time slots too.

 

joohyun quickly settles into a casual routine, thanks to some strategic preplanning, she doesn't have any lectures on wednesdays and fridays, leaving her with the illusion of having plenty of free time. between attending lectures and studying, she'd occasionally help byulyi with her personal photography projects as well. that keeps her busy enough, yet she still finds herself thinking about the quiet girl from the party.

 

it doesn't happen often, only when she's unfocused, her thoughts seem to gravitate to seungwan. there's a burning desire at the back of her head to get to know her and it's strange because joohyun is not one to be interested in another — it’s usually the other way around.

 

but eventually, her interest slowly diminishes and seungwan takes a backseat in her mind. that is until byulyi invites her to join them for lunch, as per seulgi's request. she thinks nothing much of it and accepts, it wouldn’t hurt to make a few more friends before she finally leaves the academic life behind — at least that's the excuse she hides behind.

 

and of course, making friends includes taking care of them when they're unwell. hence, she offered to make tea for seungwan.

 

there's absolutely nothing wrong with showing concern for a friend.

 

"are you okay, hyun-ah?" yongsun presses the back of her hand to joohyun's forehead with concern in her eyes.

 

her roommate has been hovering around her ever since she strolled onto the kitchen. she's perfectly fine and healthy, on the contrary to yongsun's assumptions.

 

swatting her hands away, the senior furrows her brows in annoyance. "i said i'm fine, yong. what's up with you?" she huffs as she moves about in the tiny kitchen.

 

"i should be asking you," yongsun retorts while settling into a stool at the counter, "you're making tea for seungwan."

 

joohyun shrugs casually even though she knows yongsun is suspicious, "and your point being?" she hums quietly, looking for ingredients littered in various cupboards.

 

"you don't make tea for anyone, other than me, but that's because i ask for it." her roommate sighs in exasperation, "what spell has she got you under?"

 

frankly, joohyun wishes she had an answer. making tea was one thing, but making tea at 10 in the morning on a saturday? no wonder yongsun thinks she's lost her mind. 

 

"i'm doing this because i want to, stop questioning it." joohyun says firmly and busies herself with tea making.

 

"and you're going to deliver it?"

 

"i am going to deliver it."

 

"where's her dorm?"

 

"aquila, third floor, second last door on the left." joohyun recites with ease.

 

this earns a loud gasp from yongsun which startles the smaller girl.

 

"what?" joohyun clicks her teeth in annoyance as she threatens to smack her roommate with a spoon.

 

the other girl merely cackles and raises her hands in defense, "i have never seen you do this for anyone, to think that the one and only bae joohyun would be this kind to a stranger."

 

joohyun rolls her eyes and returns her attention to the tea, "if you wanted me to make tea for you too, you could've just asked."

 

"okay then, make some for me."

 

"no." 

 

"what the heck? yah, bae joohyun …"

 

"i didn't say i would agree."

 

"i hope she's asleep when you deliver the tea."

 

"who would be asleep now?"

 

"you! you don't get up till it's 1 on saturdays!"

 

in her defense, 10 am is much too early for anyone to function, hence most of her classes are closer to or in the afternoon. she’s a huge fan of sleeping in, especially on the weekends unless byulyi requires her for a morning shoot — which is beyond awful and she detests them with a passion.

 

mornings are evil, period.

 

bae joohyun isn’t and never will be a morning person, but making tea for a shy girl she barely talked to at a party is nothing but a tiny sacrifice, her precious sleep could come later.

 

"point taken, but also ignored." joohyun notes with a light scoff.

 

yongsun lets out a loud exhale and plants her cheek on the surface of the counter. joohyun merely regards her dramatic roommate with an amused glance before resuming her juicing of lemons.

 

"seriously, what's up?" yongsun's tone shifts along with the atmosphere to one that's plagued with genuine concern.

 

joohyun raises her shoulders but doesn't offer a verbal response, which only seems to make her roommate think she's hiding something. how could she hide anything when she doesn't even know what it is exactly?

 

"if you don't want to say it, just tell me and i'll leave you alone." the older girl huffs as she sits up with a frown.

 

"i'm not hiding anything, yong," joohyun clarifies as she turns to face her roommate and close friend fully, "i don't know why i'm doing this either."

 

yongsun scrutinizes her momentarily before giving in, in all the years they've known each other, at least she could tell when joohyun is speaking the truth.

 

"well, does it feel like you need to?" she attempts to dissect joohyun's feelings slowly.

 

"not at all, i just want to do something nice for her." joohyun shrugs in response.

 

her roommate hums quietly, "interesting …"

 

joohyun looks pointedly at yongsun, hoping that she’d get the hint to let the matter go. when her roommate waves a hand for her to elaborate, she draws a line. talking or thinking any harder would probably leave her more confounded than she’d like to be, conversations like these should be saved for twilight instead of at 10 in the morning.

 

“would you just drop it now? i will give you answers if there are any.”

 

“yes, miss bae.”

 

letting out a dramatic sigh, yongsun finally takes her leave and lets joohyun do as her heart desires.

 

---

 

waking up that early was an unnecessary sacrifice because joohyun didn’t start the walk to the aquila hall till it’s well past noon. 

 

she was a little too enthusiastic about tea making or rather, nervous about meeting seungwan again. they’ve had two maybe three interactions in total, though none of them were direct, which is perplexing for her considering her renown on campus — most people would jump at the chance to talk to her. and those people talk a lot more than she likes.

 

but seungwan isn’t like most people, joohyun isn’t even sure if she’s heard the younger girl talk. she’s an enigma to say the least, an odd piece that didn’t fit in a puzzle of her world yet despite all that, the senior still finds herself gravitating towards her.

 

perhaps opposites do attract, but that’s a problem for another day.

 

the 15 minute walk to aquila didn’t feel that long when she’s buried in her thoughts, before she knew it, she’s already standing at the entrance of the hall. she makes her way up the unfamiliar stairs, reciting seulgi’s instructions like a mantra and before long, she finds herself standing outside what is supposedly seungwan’s dorm.

 

there’s no indication that this is the correct room thanks to the doodles on the chalkboard at the side of the door. generally, most residents, like her and yongsun, aren’t gifted in the arts, so they’d just scrawl their names on the complimentary board. 

 

a squirrel and a bear, how adorable. but on the other hand, how is she supposed to know who those are meant to represent?

 

wrestling with her uncertainty, she pushes it to the back of her head and raps her knuckles against the wooden door. shifting her weight from one leg to another, she waits in anticipation, making use of the flask she’s carrying to warm her hands up. when no one answers the door, joohyun wonders if she’s really made a mistake or if the occupants merely missed it. she knocks yet again, this time a little more forcefully, no harm is done if she tries a couple more times.

 

straining her ears, she manages to pick up some shuffling coming from the other side. this time, she’s confident that she’ll finally be able to have a proper conversation with seungwan. her eagerness fades the longer she’s kept waiting so she knocks one final time.

 

“seungwan, are you in?” joohyun calls out, hoping that she’d get a response at least.

 

footsteps nearing the door indicates to her that seungwan is finally answering her, but when the door swings open to reveal someone other than the shy girl, joohyun is a little surprised but also disheartened.

 

gathering her manners, she greets the tall girl in front of her with a polite smile. “oh, hello, are you seungwan’s roommate?”

 

a mutual judgement takes place between the two strangers when the girl contemplates her for a moment. she looks young, a little too young to be a university student, joohyun notes.

 

“i’m sooyoung, seulgi’s soulmate.” the tall girl finally speaks while leaning against the frame of the door.

 

joohyun nods understandingly, it makes a lot of sense now that she thinks about it — seulgi being able to give her instructions to seungwan’s dorm so easily, they’re roommates. "nice to meet you, i'm joohyun. one of seulgi's friends, i suppose." she introduces herself quickly.

 

upon conversing with sooyoung and finding out that seungwan is asleep, she can’t help but curse yongsun’s foul mouth. but at the same time, she couldn’t help but worry that seungwan could be down with something a little more serious.

 

"do you want to leave your number so she can text you when she's better?"

 

a proposition that draws her out of her thoughts instantly — a perfect solution for her problem has just presented itself. 

 

joohyun nods, biting her lower lip to hide a grin. "okay, do you have a piece of paper?" she asks as calmly as possible.

 

sooyoung excuses herself and disappears from sight. in times like these, she's glad she's managed to build a cold and distant persona thanks to her popularity, it really comes in handy when she needs to conceal her emotions.

 

it doesn't take long for sooyoung to return and ask for her phone. "you know what, lend me your phone i'll save her contact for you." she smiles sweetly at the senior.

 

joohyun doesn't think much of it when she watches sooyoung save a new contact seamlessly. she doesn't think much of it when she bids sooyoung goodbye. she doesn't think much of it until she's back in her dorm, lying in bed and staring at the new number in her contact list.

 

son seungwan. 

 

she doesn't think much of anything, but here she is, mind filled with thoughts of son seungwan. she likes the way it sounds in her head, the way it rolls off her tongue so effortlessly.

 

son seungwan.

 

---

 

joohyun spends the whole day struggling to compose a message — a problem that she's never had to deal with because she never texts first. 

 

she decides it'll be best to consult someone who doesn't know anything, yongsun would never get off her back if she asked for advice on texting. considering that she didn’t have many close friends that she feels comfortable baring her heart out to, her younger cousin is, sadly,  her next best alternative. but then there’s the issue of dealing with her partially infuriating teenage sass.

 

yet another sacrifice she’s willing to make for seungwan.

 

joohyun:

yah kim yerim

10:39 pm

 

how do i text someone for the first time?

10:39 pm

 

yerimie:

??

10:40 pm

 

just do what you're doing now??

10:40 pm

 

joohyun:

e_e … i meant like how should i start a conversation

10:40 pm

 

yerimie:

don't tons of people text you everyday? just reread their messages

10:40 pm

 

well, she had a fair point but it's not the answer that joohyun is looking for. she doesn’t have to think hard about coming up with an appropriate bribe to get the advice she wants. 

 

joohyun:

i'll buy you lunch

10:41 pm

 

yerimie:

done

10:41 pm

 

it's not that hard, unnie, just type what you wanna say

10:41 pm

 

joohyun:

but what if they don't reply?

10:42 pm

 

yerimie:

sounds like a you problem, it up

10:42 pm

 

joohyun:

yah kim yerim!!

10:42 pm

 

yerimie:

how about you send that text first before you worry about not getting a reply hmm?

10:43 pm

 

would ask for more context but i’m in a game

10:43 pm

 

let me know how it goes

10:43 pm

 

joohyun:

e_e … i hope you lose

10:43 pm

 

tossing her phone aside, she lets out a frustrated exhale while burying her face in her pillow. everything about this is just out of character for her and she doesn’t know what to make of it, or what to do and how she should act. she could just go with the flow as she usually does but her gut is telling her that she should be a little more spontaneous.

 

she’s never really trusted her gut, but maybe she should, things always worked out one way or another.

 

concocting various scenarios in her head, she wears herself out from planning the supposedly perfect first message. sleep comes swiftly and texting seungwan turns into a problem for future joohyun.

 

---

 

sunday mornings are usually when seungwan has her me time, a short half an hour just before seulgi crawls out of bed so they can grab breakfast together. there she lay, bundled in bed with her laptop, about to start a new episode of anime, when she feels a vibration from somewhere on her bed. putting her laptop aside and lifting the duvet, she pats around her bed for her missing phone to no avail. she feels another vibration and manages to track it, it’s hidden under her pillow for some reason. fumbling to unlock the screen, seungwan sees that she has two new messages from an unknown number. 

 

unknown:

hello, it's joohyun

9:07 am

 

unknown: 

sooyoung gave me your number yesterday, i just wanted to check to see if you're feeling better

9:07 am

 

seungwan almost tosses her phone out the window after reading the message but she opts to slam it down on the soft sheets instead. heat rushes to her cheeks and she lets out an excited yet muffled squeal. unable to contain the wide smile on her face, she picks her phone up to reread the two short messages again. 

 

screw anime — she's not about to watch a bunch of 2D characters when bae joohyun, the goddess herself, is texting her. she thinks for a moment for an appropriate response and luckily for her, she's much more articulate in the virtual world.

 

seungwan:

hi, unnie. thank you for your concern!

9:09 am

 

i’m feeling much better thanks to the tea which was delicious :)

9:10 am

 

when should i return your flask?

9:10 am

 

she could flirt in the digital space but flirting in real life? it’d be a miracle if she could even get a proper sentence out. 

 

while waiting for a response, she taps on joohyun's profile, saving her number in the process. joohyun still hadn't come online so seungwan takes a moment to check out her display picture — it's a picture of her with bangs, dressed in a pink knitted sweater with her hands covering the lower half of her face, only revealing her huge bright eyes. it's probably an older picture because the joohyun now doesn't have bangs.

 

smiling contentedly, she reads the psychology major's bio.

 

'hit me up and i'll beat you up 🤨'

 

seungwan's smile turns into one of amusement, the goddess having such a threatening bio feels almost too jarring from the current impression that she has of her. plus, the idea of joohyun beating anyone up is comical, to say the least, they are about the same height and seungwan has never won a physical fight before — at least against sooyoung.

 

as she tabs back to the conversation, she sees that joohyun is now online and typing. a surge of anticipation rushes through her system, she doesn't get to text new people very often and being approached by the one person she wants to talk to is a little scary and thrilling at the same time.

 

with everything that seulgi said last night, she doesn't feel as afraid of the goddess. the fear has turned more into curiosity at this point and seungwan just wants to know what she's really like. besides, texting is easier, she doesn't feel as pressured or flustered knowing that she can edit her messages easily. it's so much harder to communicate in the real world, why couldn't everyone just text instead? 

 

joohyun-unnie:

i'm glad to hear that ^_^

9:13 am

 

i can always make more if you really like it

9:13 am

 

no worries about the flask, i can drop by sometime next week to get it or whenever's convenient.

9:13 am

 

seungwan feels her excitement bubbling and she wants to wake seulgi up so her best friend can spazz out with her about the pretty senior texting her. she's unable to wipe the huge smile off her face as she continues to text joohyun, her excitement fuels her bravery and suddenly it's like she had nothing to fear in the first place.

 

seungwan:

okay! i'll make sure it's sparkling clean before i return it to you.

9:13 am

 

cute sticker too by the way.

9:14 am

 

joohyun-unnie:

hehehehe it was a gift from yongsjn

9:14 am

 

yongsun*

9:14 am

 

anyway, shouldn't you be sleeping in? it's a sunday~

9:15 am

 

seungwan:

i usually get breakfast with seulgi on sundays.

9:15 am

 

which is also whenever she decides to wake up 😐

9:15 am

 

joohyun-unnie:

sounds like your breakfast might turn into brunch hmmm~

9:16 am

 

seungwan:

sigh 😔

9:16 am

 

why are you up this early on a sunday?

9:16 am

 

joohyun-unnie:

i was a little worried that you'd might still be sick

9:16 am

 

i wanted to text you last night but i was afraid you might already be asleep

9:17 am

 

so i thought i’d check in on you in the morning instead

9:17 am

 

seungwan's eyes widen and her eyes read the message again, she's a little astonished at how concerned joohyun is for her wellbeing. what did she do to warrant such kindness? it feels odd, almost foreign, that anyone would be this kind to her, let alone notice her in the first place.

 

seungwan:

sorry for worrying you

9:17 am

 

you can head back to bed now that you know I'm fine.

9:17 am

 

joohyun-unnie:

it's okay, yongsun and i are going to get breakfast too

9:18 am

 

maybe we'll bump into you and seulgi hehe

9:18 am

 

okay, breakfast is cancelled. there's no way she's going to risk meeting joohyun for some bacon and pancakes. even though she says she will talk to the senior, she just doesn't feel ready yet. for now, she's fine if they can talk through text. it's an equally valid way of communication and a step up from straight-up running from her.

 

seungwan:

seulgi isn't up yet 😩😩

9:18 am

 

have an inkling that we might be having lunch instead 😔

9:19 am

 

joohyun-unnie:

do you want to join us for breakfast instead? you can also get something for seulgi when she wakes up.

9:19 am

 

seungwan:

thanks for the offer, but it's alright, i’d feel bad if i ditched Seulgi.

9:19 am

 

go enjoy your breakfast, unnie.

9:19 am

 

joohyun-unnie:

okayy~

9:20 am

 

seungwan:

:)

9:20 am

 

11 minutes. 

 

she’s spent 11 whole minutes talking to joohyun. that’s gotta count for something, right? she’s making progress, not that she deserves an award for such a minuscule achievement but something along the lines of a pat on her back would suffice. she could see herself working up the courage to talk to joohyun in real life at this rate.

 

seungwan hears a loud yawn coming from the bed across hers and sees the figure under the sheets moving before emerging with a stretch. looks like it’s time to unleash her frantic thoughts upon her poor best friend. 

 

---

 

being up before noon on both days of the weekend is absolute torture for joohyun.

 

flitting in and out of sleep through the night makes her even more exhausted, but getting up now would probably save her body clock from being ruined. reaching for her phone, she checks the time. she expected it to be early but not this early, it's barely 9 in the morning and she's up — not something she'd like to turn into a habit.

 

blinking tiredly, she navigates through her social media feeds, hoping it'll wake her up. it does the exact opposite, dropping her phone on her face though — that woke her up instantly.

 

sobering up, joohyun concludes that now would be a perfect time to text seungwan. a simple hi would suffice, why did she even bother fantasizing about a multitude of elaborate scenarios that would never happen anyway? speaking to yerim feels like overkill too, on top of that, she has to treat that brat to lunch — yet another problem for future joohyun.

 

nothing is too daunting when you're half awake, so she shoots son seungwan a text. and as with all risky texts, she throws her phone aside upon hitting the send button. joohyun plops back down in bed and lets out a loud sigh. seungwan aside, she had some work that needs to be done today which is unpleasant to think about at 9 in the morning.

 

a knock on her door draws her out from her thoughts and she turns towards it. “come in!” she calls out after she lets a loud yawn escape.

 

yongsun pokes her head in and surveys the room with a tired look, “breakfast?”

 

“are you cooking?”

 

“no.”

 

“munch?”

 

“munch.”

 

“i’ll be up soon.”

 

“i’m killing you if you fall asleep.”

 

“mhmm.”

 

the door clicks shut and she hears yongsun shuffling to the bathroom to wash up. she lets out another exhale before she’s finally ready to separate herself from her warm sheets, but a buzz from her phone signals that she’s received a new notification. reaching for her phone, she looks at the notifications popping up on her lock screen.

 

son seungwan

3 unread messages

 

she lays back down with a huge grin, ensuring that she’s comfy before opening the messages.

 

texting people is something joohyun is pretty decent at, though this conversation with seungwan feels a lot different from her usual ones. usual ones where she doesn’t really try because short replies lead to short conversations. it’s a different ballgame when she’s texting someone she’s actually interested in, talking doesn’t feel as gruelling as it normally does.

 

a disappointingly short conversation with this enigma of a girl puts her on cloud nine though she’s not any closer to solving the mystery behind her attraction. pushing her attraction aside, there are more pressing matters at hand, like yongsun stomping loudly towards her room.

 

---

 

"what do you mean breakfast is cancelled?" seulgi groans while she texts sooyoung from the comfort of her bed.

 

"joohyun-unnie and yongsun-unnie are going to grab breakfast together and there's no way i'm talking to her just yet." seungwan repeats in exasperation, she's said this twice now and her best friend just doesn't seem to be paying attention.

 

seulgi taps away on her phone with a smile on her face, " okay, but sooyoungie asks how do you know?"

 

the introvert rolls her eyes before going into their group chat to send a couple of angry emojis. "you would've known if you had paid attention to me earlier." she sighs as she reads a response from sooyoung.

 

seulgi's demon:

🤪🤪🤪

9:26 am

 

"yah! stop texting park sooyoung!" seungwan tosses her pillow at her best friend who has shockingly good reflexes, "do you want to know or not?"

 

seulgi chuckles as she puts her phone down, turning to face her roommate with a cheeky grin. "yes, yes, boss, go on." she nods while resting her head on her hand.

 

"joohyun-unnie texted me just now to check on me," seungwan starts slowly to make sure the design student is actually listening this time, "and then we talked for a little and she said she's going to get breakfast with yongsun-unnie."

 

seulgi watches the introvert talk with glee and her joy is infectious, a -eating grin makes its way onto her face and she can't help but feel a little proud. “so she’s joohyun-unnie now, huh?” she teases her little nerd lightly.

 

seungwan gapes momentarily before retorting, "what else am i supposed to call her? pretty senior who gave me her hot lemon water?"

 

the design major cracks up as she plops back down on her bed, "you know how that sounds right?"

 

"don’t start, i regret it already." 

 

this is exactly why talking to kiyub now would be a disaster, her brain would probably malfunction and she'd blurt out something stupid. and god forbid she'd give someone that gorgeous a stupid tattoo.

 

"well, i'm glad you're making progress at least, though i expected a much bigger reaction."

 

"you were texting sooyoung throughout it all, i got tired after you stopped listening for the second time."

 

"sorry!" the older girl exclaims as she hops out of her bed to tackle seungwan into a hug, "but son seungwan, you just might talk to kiyub someday!"

 

the smaller girl struggles initially but surrenders soon enough, well aware of the fact that she could never overpower seulgi. 

 

"we're still going to get breakfast because sundays are the only days where munch makes those fluffy pancakes that you like." the bear-like girl declares while squishing the little nerd.

 

"what part of not wanting to bump into kiyub do you not understand?" seungwan sighs uselessly as her limbs are being restricted by seulgi's weight.

 

"the wanting part," the design student takes a chance to mess up her bangs and grins, "and breakfast is on me if you say yes, we have to celebrate this win!"

 

seulgi knows her too well, the fluffy pancakes are tempting yet the chance of bumping into joohyun is equally as intimidating.

 

"stop calculating the statistics, you dummy. if we do see them, i will let you run." seulgi clicks her teeth as she crawls off to wash up.

 

free breakfast is always nice and so is being able to run from kiyub, this is a win-win situation for son seungwan. besides, there are plenty of eateries around campus, there's no way they'd bump into each other.

 

"fluffy pancakes it is!"

 

---

 

it's a little after ten when the two seniors finally step out of their dorm, catching the poster girl of the entire campus on a sunday morning is a rarity. so of course, joohyun took her time to get ready, much to yongsun's displeasure. 

 

the weather is cold but bearable as they make their way to the hub, the heart of the entire university. the hub has mostly cafes and restaurants but also shops and amenities catered to the students' wants and needs. if you want to hang out or grab a meal, the hub is just the place. it's less crowded on sunday mornings because most students like joohyun, prefer to sleep in.

 

the seniors make their way into munch, a popular cafe amongst students, mainly because of their affordable prices. they'd occasionally get breakfast if byulyi needs joohyun for a morning shoot, otherwise, eating breakfast together almost never happens.

 

joohyun settles into a table for two on the second floor while yongsun gets their food. now that she's a little more awake, she could appreciate the serenity that comes with the early hours. it's idyllic to sit in a cafe and just — exist. watching people go about their day, listening in to random conversations of surrounding strangers, all of these feelings are alien to her but strangely soothing nonetheless.

 

a lapse in her daydreams causes her thoughts to dart to seungwan and their brief conversation earlier. joohyun has zero intentions of making it their final talk at all, though she isn’t exactly sure how to keep up a conversation with someone she barely knows. she’d probably have to ask yerim for plenty of help and she can just picture the glee on her younger cousin’s face — pure ecstasy stemming from her plight.

 

yongsun returns with food and they settle into a comfortable conversation, discussing the work that they’d have to complete for their respective projects between bites. seungwan doesn't come up, joohyun thought it would be a little odd to mention her now and luckily, yongsun doesn’t even think about interrogating her.

 

eventually, yongsun goes off on a tangent about her group members and joohyun is left humming and nodding every once in a while. it’s not that she doesn’t enjoy yongsun’s friendship, she appreciates the brunette for sticking around and being her first friend in university. but sometimes, joohyun’s attention span is much too short for her lengthy rambles.

 

a loud ding from yongsun’s phone finally interrupts her rant and joohyun turns her attention to the patrons below, lightly scanning the crowd, half expecting a familiar face.

 

and she does. it’s the face of a person who’s profile picture she spent a lot of time staring at last night.

 

son seungwan.

 

“looks like seulgi and seungwan are here too,” yongsun announces just as she catches sight of them, "byul just sent me seulgi's story."

 

her breath hitches as she turns to face yongsun with a raised brow, “hmm?”

 

“i said, seulgi and seungwan are here too.” her roommate turns her phone to show the other girl what she was looking at.

 

she squints at the instagram story, it depicts a video of seungwan holding up a plate of souffle pancakes while grinning at the camera.

 

hi_sseulgi    5 m

 

‘fluffy pancakes for @todayis_wannie’

 

the shy girl must be feeling a lot better now that she’s out with seulgi, at least joohyun doesn’t have to worry.

 

the corner of joohyun's lips tug upwards in a smile and it doesn't go unnoticed by yongsun. "did she like your tea?" she eyes her roommate curiously, momentarily putting aside the idea of looking for the two juniors.

 

joohyun hums as she sips on her drink, side-eyeing the table where she spotted seungwan earlier. "yeah, we texted a little earlier." she responds shortly.

 

"why didn't you invite them to join us?" yongsun probes as she follows joohyun's not so subtle gaze directly to the two best friends.

 

the smaller girl raises a brow and turns her attention back to her companion, "i did but she rejected me because she was waiting for seulgi to get up."

 

"ah, meanwhile i would've left you behind if you fell asleep." yongsun retorts while snickering.

 

joohyun snorts with her signature smile gracing her lips, “and i’d gladly let you.”

 

the conversation drifts off into a silence where joohyun doesn’t mind the mild tension and yongsun is contemplating whether they should talk about the elephant in the room. they are close, yes, but their friendship still has boundaries. they didn’t have a ride or die friendship like seungwan and seulgi, their bond was more muted and subtle, existing in forms of talks in the wee hours of the night and occasional shared meals.

 

but perhaps this isn’t the right time to pursue it, yongsun leans back in her chair and the tension eases off. joohyun visibly relaxes and resumes her observation of the patrons below, but really her eyes are glued to a single patron by the name of son seungwan.

 

the younger girl is talking animatedly about something but joohyun is too far to hear and it’s hard to make words out with her subpar lip-reading skills. still, it's a different side from what joohyun has seen — quiet, reserved and stared a little too much. seeing her alone with seulgi, eyes widening with a large grin on her face as she shovels breakfast into , makes joohyun wonder if they could reach that level of ease as well.

 

on the other hand, yongsun could only watch her roommate stare at the two friends below them. whipping out her phone, she snaps a few shots of the decently popular instagram model for two reasons. one being that joohyun would probably need to post something soon, and two, the look in her eyes, while she's watching seungwan, is all too familiar.

 

"do you wanna go say hi or are you just going to watch like a creep?" yongsun sighs after joohyun remains frozen for a solid five minutes.

 

the poster girl waves her off with a glare, "no, they look like they're having fun. let's go."

 

"mhmm, sure you don't wanna continue staring?" yongsun teases as she gets up.

 

"she's cute but don't forget that we still have to graduate." joohyun scoffs.

 

yongsun groans as they link arms and make their way out of munch. joohyun has a busy day ahead but texting and seeing seungwan makes it feel a little more bearable.

 

the enigma of son seungwan brings about an unfamiliar but welcomed joy.

 

---

 

the universe is working in her favour today, seungwan acknowledges with a small smile. a conversation with her soulmate, free breakfast, it sounds a little too good to be true for someone with her luck. she wouldn't be surprised if it all goes to soon. she's a little disappointed that her conversation with joohyun ended that quickly and she somehow convinced herself that the other girl probably has better things to do than to talk to her.

 

seulgi returns with their food and they devour the delicious pancakes with some occasional chatter. with how well the bear-like girl has been feeding her, seungwan is ready to put all her anger aside — not like she could ever stay mad at seulgi for long. the two friends chill and catch up about things that happened during the week since they have contrasting timetables, it's hard to talk on weekdays.

 

the introvert enjoys moments like these, just hanging out with her best friend and talking in their own world. seulgi gets up to go to the bathroom towards the end of breakfast and seungwan continues to mindlessly bite on her straw since there's no drink left — a habit she's never managed to kick. her phone buzzes in her pocket and she reaches for it without thinking. seulgi has sent a worrying text to say the least.

 

seulbear 🐻:

DONT PANIC AND DONT LOOK AWAY FROM YOUR PHONE

11:01 am

 

seungwan:

???

11:01 am

 

are you okay?

11:01 am

 

seulbear 🐻:

KIUUB 

11:02 am

 

KIYB

11:02 am

 

KIYUB HERE

11:02 am

 

seungwan freezes at seulgi's frantic texts, she squeezes the device tightly and tries to remain calm but her eyes widen as the panic makes itself at home in her chest.

 

seungwan:

WHERE

11:02 am

 

seulbear 🐻:

dOMT LOOK

11:02 am

 

DONT LOOK SHES WATCHING U FROM THE 2ND FLOOR

11:03 am

 

you know, the more you tell someone not to do something, the more likely they are to do it? seungwan can’t resist the temptation to look. bringing her phone a little closer to her face, she wonders if she could just take a peek. but seulgi returns just in time and obscures her view with a huge grin.

 

"move! you're blocking my view." seungwan hisses as she tries to peek past the towering figure in front of her.

 

“are you sure you want to look?"

 

“stop it seul, you’re killing me!"

 

"are you really really sure?"

 

“kang seulgi, why are you doing this?"

 

"because i know you're not going to function after you see how she looks at you." seulgi winks as she moves aside, finally letting bae joohyun into her line of sight.

 

she scans the second floor as subtly as she can but doesn't even catch a glimpse of the goddess. was seulgi playing tricks on her? frowning slightly, she kicks seulgi's leg under the table.

 

"ow! what was that for?" seulgi jumps at the pain that shoots through her shin.

 

"she's not there, liar." seungwan huffs.

 

as if on cue, when seulgi turns, she sees joohyun and yongsun descend the stairs from the second floor.

 

seungwan feels go dry and she stares at the senior with flushed cheeks — her hair is tied up and she’s wearing her round-rimmed glasses as usual and holy , her heart is beating so quickly it might actually leap out of her chest.

 

oh to be a mere mortal witnessing a goddess descend from the heavens.

 

a small contented sigh escapes and seulgi snaps her head back at her best friend with a questionable look plastered on her face. the design student cuts her staring short by snapping her fingers in the introvert’s face, causing her to jump slightly.

 

"stop that," she chides while biting back a grin, "if you're going to stare, can you do it without the sounds?"

 

“it wasn’t intentional,” seungwan hisses, “now shut up.”

 

to her dismay, the pair of seniors had already left and that was the end of her staring for the day. seungwan lets out a sad sigh as she pouts at seulgi.

 

"she's just so … pretty …" seungwan bemoans as she rests her chin in her hands, her vocabulary is far too limited to describe the beauty of kiyub.

 

"she's not on the walls of campus for no reason." her best friend retorts nonchalantly as she taps away on her phone.

 

"are you texting sooyoung?"

 

"you bet."

 

"please do not share the little sigh."

 

"too late, joohyun is also known as the hot lemon water senior now."

 

"little …"

 

---

 

yerimie

5 unread messages

 

the first thing joohyun sees when she reaches for her phone after spending a solid four hours on her research is a bunch of unread messages, she’s a little dismayed that they’re from her cousin rather than seungwan.

 

nonetheless, she opens up the conversation with her dearest cousin.

 

yerimie:

i won by the way

3:43 pm

 

how did things go

3:43 pm

 

and when are you taking me out

3:44 pm

 

so you’re going to ignore my messages but still post on instagram?

6:10 pm

 

i hate instagram models 🙄🙄🙄

6:10 pm

 

joohyun:

it was a scheduled post in my defence

6:23 pm

 

and you’re a little bold aren’t you … you were barely any help!!!

6:24 pm

 

yerimie:

you caught me at a bad time

6:24 pm

 

i’m ready now :-)

6:24 pm

 

joohyun:

go away 🙄

6:25 pm

 

yerimie:

don’t regret this 😠😠😠

6:25 pm

 

joohyun scoffs at the little brat’s message before tabbing to check her socials. yongsun took a pretty good picture of her at the cafe earlier and the post went up at the top of the hour. 

 

despite her infrequent usage of the app, it’s still a pretty big part of her life. being byulyi’s go-to model brought a lot of attention to her and though she’s not exactly considering a career in modelling, certain gigs paid pretty decently and it was a more than optimal backup plan should she fail her final year of school.

 

though that is highly unlikely, joohyun likes the security a little too much to let her instagram page wither away.

 

most of the time she’d skim through the comments, reply to a couple of friends and scroll through her typically empty feed. she doesn’t like following people she doesn't genuinely care about, there’s no way she’d be able to keep up with everyone’s posts if she followed everyone she’s vaguely friends with. she scrolls through the timeline with glazed eyes, doing assignments usually leaves her pretty drained.

 

but, a certain user pops up on her suggestions. tapping her profile curiously, the senior takes a quick glance through the design student’s feed.

 

hi_sseulgi

103     839       788

posts followers following

seulgi

hehe

followed by mo_onbyul and yongsun

 

it was filled with a whole variety of pictures, from scenic pictures to outfits to selfies, it’s apparent that seulgi puts a lot of effort into her feed. she drops a couple of likes here and there to applaud her hard work. joohyun could never be that dedicated, she's lucky that her friends are avid fans and take great shots of her which usually requires little to no editing.

 

a picture that doesn’t match the theme of the warm orange and yellow tones of seulgi’s feed catches her eye and she taps on it. it’s a photo of seulgi wrapping seungwan in a tight hug from their high school days.

 

171 likes

hi_sseulgi happy birthday to my best little nerd 💙 @todayis_wannie

todayis_wannie 👎👎👎

hi_sseulgi @todayis_wannie :(

21 february 2019

 

adorable, is the only thing that comes to joohyun’s mind. it’s evident that these two girls have a bond that she could never come close to forging with seungwan and it makes her realise that this isn’t what she hopes to get out of the younger girl. but at the same time, the thought of being merely friends doesn’t satiate her.

 

she heads over to seungwan’s profile which is unfortunately private so she couldn’t do any less than subtle sleuthing.

 

todayis_wannie

3          13         89

posts followers following

seungwan

followed by mo_onbyul, yongsun and 1 other

 

joohyun has a following count of under 10 people, it’s puzzling to see that more people followed seungwan instead of seulgi. of course she has to check who it is.

 

yerimiese

 

and of course, it’s her cousin. her younger cousin which she just chased away through text. swallowing her pride, she heads back to their conversation to figure out how her cousin has made it into seungwan’s extremely private instagram account.

 

joohyun:

how do you know seungwan

6:39 pm

 

yerimie:

😏😏😏

6:43 pm

 

so you need my help now huh unnie

6:43 pm

 

joohyun:

yes … spill

6:43 pm

 

yerimie:

only if you agree to barbeque

6:44 pm

 

joohyun:

yes fine how do you know her

6:44 pm

 

yerimie:

geez no need to rush

6:44 pm

 

we’re online friends

6:45 pm

 

joohyun:

i see

6:45 pm

 

yerimie:

and how do you know her? 👀👀👀

6:45 pm

 

joohyun:

mutual friends at school

6:46 pm

 

yerimie:

how does she have mutual friends with someone like you

6:46 pm

 

hold on i’m going to go ask her

6:46 pm

 

joohyun:

DO NOT

6:47 pm

 

in a panic, she rushes to call yerim who picks up unwillingly after a few rings.

 

“woah, was it that serious?” yerim teases with an amused chuckle, “you know i was kidding right, unnie.”

 

heaving a sigh of relief, her anxiety fades and her annoyance kicks in. “yah, kim yerim, you’re more trouble than it’s worth.”

 

“i’m well aware, but it seems like i have something to hold against you now.” the younger girl drawls cockily.

 

she’s losing this, there’s no way she could win against yerim but it doesn’t mean she’ll go down without a fight. joohyun hisses into the phone, “stop it, keep this between us. seungwan does not need to know we’re related.” 

 

“and if i tell her?”

 

“i’ll snitch to your mom, i bet you probably have some undone schoolwork right?” joohyun threatens with a smirk.

 

“if you’re willing to suffer the consequences of seungwan knowing that you struggled over texting her first then i’m willing to play this game.”

 

joohyun freezes at the threat that has just been thrown back at her. god, yerim is young but at the same time, too smart for her own good. she should’ve known better than to ask this brat for help.

 

“hello? unnie? you’re getting owned by your 16 year-old cousin, how does that feel?” yerim muses in her ever so cocky tone.

 

“what do you want?” joohyun sighs, with an opponent like kim yerim, she needs all the luck she can get but sadly, the odds are not in her favour. 

 

“i’ll text you the deets, but tell me about seungwan.’

 

“why do you want to know?”

 

“because, you, bae joohyun, is struggling to talk to someone like seungwan. it’s almost laughable really.”

 

“what’s so bad about that?”

 

“it should be the other way around, duh. now, tell me everything.”

 

---

 

sunday nights are when the monday blues begin to kick in and seungwan is lying on her bed watching some anime to distract herself from the fact that she has classes tomorrow. but that goes poorly when she receives an odd notification from an app she barely uses.

 

irene (renebaebae) has requested to follow you.

 

now, who the heck is irene?

 

assuming it’s a spam account, she enters instagram to delete the request when she catches sight of the user’s profile picture.

 

bae joohyun. otherwise known as kiyub and perhaps someday she’ll be known as seungwan’s soulmate.

 

“seulgi-ah, what’s joohyun-unnie’s instagram?” seungwan calls out to her best friend who’s busy working on her project.

 

“renebaebae, she goes by irene for her modelling stuff,” seulgi responds while spinning her tablet pen in her hand, “why?”

 

“she just sent me a follow request.”

 

the design student narrows her gaze and reaches for her phone quickly to confirm her suspicions. “what the heck? she followed you but just left a couple of likes on my posts!” seulgi exclaims in offense.

 

seungwan shrugs, not quite understanding her roommate’s outburst, “i’m going to reject it.”

 

“don’t be dumb, do you know how rare it is to get a follow from renebaebae?” seulgi chides instantly as she makes her way over to the introvert’s bed.

 

irene, or rather, renebaebae, was extremely selective about her following. she liked a couple of seulgi’s posts without following her even though they are acquaintances at this point, so that says a lot.

 

and the fact that she bothered to follow seungwan’s little account, says even more. 

 

“no … besides, it’s not like i post anything.” seungwan responds nonchalantly.

 

seulgi sighs as she grabs seungwan by the shoulders and looks her in the eye with an intensity that makes the nerd uncomfortable.

 

“she’s trying to follow you,” seulgi explains slowly, “in her world, it means that you’re worthy enough for her attention.”

 

oh.

 

oh .

 

seungwan bids goodbye to her monday blues and welcomes a new wave of panic with open arms.