“You are so stupid.”

“I know.”

“The most stupid Ph.D. holder in existence. My niece has made smarter decisions than you, and she’s not even one and a half yet.”

“I know, okay, I know! I’m an idiot, a stupid ing moron who s up anything and everything.” Jisoo was slowly swiveling in her office chair while watching Jennie pace the length of their shared office. Their second Monday lecture had been a success, with the exception of Jennie effectively avoiding a certain young brunette and her best friend. It had been a week since their summer romance had come to an unexpectedly abrupt end and Jennie still hadn’t talked to her. She’d been meaning to after the elevator chase the week prior, but the determination and energy she felt as she wrote a text message had dwindled out and been replaced with fear when the moment to press send came.

She was a wuss. Plain and simple, a gigantic wuss, and now they were in a limbo where neither really knew what was happening or what they were anymore. Chaeyoung had given up. Jennie was still frantic. Were they even still girlfriends? Sure didn’t feel like it for either of them. But they’d had the most amazing summer together and they couldn’t just never have a proper ending and leave things like this. They’d have to see each other every week for the rest of the year, Jennie couldn’t just ignore this and act like a stubborn baby when she was supposed to be the adult AND the professor.

“Sooooo, what are you gonna do about it?”

“I still have no clue, so I guess I’m gonna ignore it for now.”

“Thank god I’m not your Ph.D. advisor.”

“Oh god,” collapsing into her chair, she put her face in her hands and groaned loudly. “I’m a ing mess. Anyways, let me just have a little bit of time to figure this out, please?”

Jisoo folded her arms with a casual shrug, “Sure, it’s your thing, but I can talk to her if you want me to.”

“Yes! Wait, no! Or maybe… no, nonono, nooooo, but maaaaybe?”

“I’m so confused.”

“I-” letting out the biggest sigh, Jennie crashed her forehead against her desk, whimpering slightly as the pain shot through her head. “Ugh, who am I?”

“Jennie Kim’s stupid identical twin.”

“Apparently Jennie got all the brain cells.”

“You two took twin to twin transfusion syndrome very seriously.”

“I’m glad you see the humor in my misery.”

“Aww, Nini, you know I’ve got your back and I love you. I know it’s Monday, but when the weekend comes try to relax and think things over and I’ll do the prep work for next week.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, I need you to get your head in the game and you’re not gonna be doing that any time soon if all you think about is this tall, gorgeous brunette who stares at you like a lost puppy.”

“God, she’s so gorgeous, isn’t she?”

“Mhm, sure is.”

“Fine, I’ll take a few days to think this over then I’ll make a decision and fix this.”

“That’s all I ask. Now let’s talk about our first assignment.”

***

Miss Park,

I would like to see you in my office on Wednesday at 9am.

Kind Regards,

Dr. Kim Jisoo

--

Dr. Kim,

Unfortunately, I have class on Wednesday at 9 with Dr. Kim Jennie. Would you like me to see you afterwards?

Kind Regards,

Park Chaeyoung

--

Miss Park,

I am aware of that, I was hoping you could ask a friend, perhaps Miss Manoban, to take notes for you?

Kind Regards,

Dr. Kim

--

Dr. Kim

I will ask Miss Manoban for help. I’ll see you on Wednesday at 9.

Kind Regards,

Park Chaeyoung

***

Park Chaeyoung nervously picked at the skin on the side of her fingernail on her thumb, biting her lip in deep thought as she stood outside the office belonging to Dr. Kim Jisoo and Dr. Kim Jennie. She was ten minutes early, and fully prepared to flee down the corridor because at any moment now that door was likely to open and Jennie would come rushing out, heading towards the class Chaeyoung was supposed to be in.

And she really didn’t want to see her potentially-still-girlfriend like this, awkwardly running into each other in a hallway for half a second before Jennie would inevitably scurry off towards the elevators because that’s what she does. She ignores her problems until they go away. Well tough luck, because Chaeyoung wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

But she also knew that now wasn’t the time to ambush or approach Jennie. She had a class to teach and Chaeyoung had a meeting to attend; she didn’t want them to awkwardly stare at each other in an empty hallway and possibly make things worse. And she was nervous enough about this meeting without adding Jennie to the mixture. She had no idea what Jisoo wanted; they were halfway through their second week of the semester, and she hadn’t caused any trouble yet. So what could Jisoo want from her?

The sound of movement from the other side of the door threw her out of her reverie, causing her to scurry around the corner with her tail between her legs. Peaking around the corner, she saw her sort-of-girlfriend in the elevator as the doors closed, only then allowing herself to approach the dreaded office once again. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she lifted her left hand and knocked swiftly on the door three times.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Shaking her head to get her thoughts out, she opened the door and entered the office of the two Dr.Kims. One desk was filled with an organized mess she recognized from Jennie’s apartment, while the other was slightly less organized but with a smiling brunette seated behind it. “Hi, have a seat.” With a nod, she directed Chaeyoung to the uncomfortable looking guest chair in front of her. The student tentatively took a seat as she placed her bag on the floor in front of her, eyes roaming the desk for any sign of why she was there to begin with. “Uhm, Dr. Kim, may I ask why I’m here?”

“Call me Jisoo, I asked you to come for personal reasons. It’s nice to finally meet you properly.”

It took her by surprise. In front of her wasn’t Dr. Kim Jisoo, her professor. Oh no. In front of her was Jisoo, her girlfriend’s best friend. And right now, she wasn’t sure which was scarier. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she hesitated before adding the last part, “Jisoo.”

“I was going to say ‘only good I hope’,