SON CHAEYOUNG'S POINT OF VIEW

It has been a few days since I moved into the new dormitory. I’ve been adjusting quite slowly to the life of a college student. Seriously, living away from my family is quite difficult. At first I thought everything would just be fun and games but after a couple of days, I realized that living away from my family meant doing everything on my own. I have to do laundry myself, study, eat alone since I don’t get the chance to eat with my housemates all the time, and many more things. 

Amidst all this, I still find this type of life charming in its own rights. Living here has its own flavor per se. Sure, at home I can have home cooked meals and I could just ask for money from either mom or dad whenever I’m in need. With my family, I experience this comfort. However, if I choose to stay there, I'm pretty sure I’d be bored to death. I cannot imagine living my college life not being able to do dumb things. I can’t imagine not going to parties, drinking, eating junk, meeting new friends, and the most important thing of all is dating someone. I want to date someone.

I’m not saying that my parents are strict or anything. I’m pretty sure they’ve done dumb when they were young as well. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let me go to a University that’s far away from home if they intend to protect me my whole life. I know they weren’t born yesterday, and I’m sure they know that letting me live far away means that I’ll do normal things ladies my age do such as; partying, drinking, and dating. 

It’s just that, there’s something my parents probably do not know about me. As their eldest and only daughter, I do not want to hurt or shock  the both of them. The truth is, I’ve dated someone about two years back and we eventually broke up. The break up, did not end either in bad or good terms. Our relationship, in my point of view, just ended like nothing and I moved on. 

I was a year younger than the person I dated and well, since my partner’s University life started, our relationship somehow fizzled out. During our relationship, I made sure that my family did not notice a thing. I made us, a secret. I’m pretty sure that we were the only ones who knew that we dated.  I wasn’t proud of what I did and I felt sorry for my partner but I had no choice.

My parents are not against the idea of me dating, I just thought they weren’t ready to hear my story during that time. Well, I’m pretty sure I wasn't ready to tell them that I’ve started dating someone too. 

Anyway, it has been two years and I’ve really tried to forget. I do not regret it; I just want it to become a memory that would serve as something I’d look back and smile at. I’m pretty sure I’d be able to date someone freely now since I’ve become an adult. The thought makes me smile. I’m not actively seeking someone to date though, but hopefully, I’d get to eventually start dating later.

“Chaeyoung-ah, I think you’re walking a little too fast.” 

I look back and see Tzuyu struggling to keep up with my pace. I chuckle and stop just to let her catch up to me. My thoughts sometimes, get the best of me. 

“For someone with short limbs, you sure walk fast.” she teases me.

“For someone with long limbs, you sure walk like a toddler. Keep up, will you?” I jokingly snort at her and she gave me this blank stare.

“Look, Chaeyoung-ah, a good height comes with a great responsibility. I’m sorry you can’t understand this thing that I’ve been bestowed upon. I don’t expect you to understand my hardship.” She smiles coyly. To this, my mouth dropped and I playfully smack her arm. 

“Shut your trap, you tree.” I pretended to be hurt because I wanted to see how she’d react.

“Is our Shorty hurt?” She asked me with her lips all pouty. She’s even patting the top of my head like I’m some kind of a child. I roll my eyes at her.

“I hope you’d grow taller!” I stuck my tongue out as I curse her. 

“Is that supposed to be a message to yourself or something?” She smirked. I cannot believe that I am currently being severely burned by some giant. I look at her blankly as we walk. She starts chuckling and I forget that she was teasing me. I laugh with her too. 

It is things like this that make me think that moving here was the right decision. 

“Tzuyu, what time is it?” I ask her. She looks at her wrist watch and nod.

“It’s quarter to 9, why?”

“Darn it, have we been that busy the whole day?” I scratch my head in frustration. She nods.

“Yeah, I mean, we’re both so busy we even forgot to eat lunch a while ago.” She looked at me. My eyes widen as I realize what she said was true. The funny thing is, I was in autopilot mode and did not really care about not eating anything.

“Holy . We totally forgot to eat lunch.” She nodded and just shrugged. I shake my head in disappointment. 

Tzuyu and I have classes together in some of our minor subjects. Though this giant sometimes comes off as totally shrewd, I felt a rush of relief wash over me when I saw her. Normally, I wouldn’t want to hang out with her since she’d really burn me with her words. Seriously, she’d me when she feels like it. 

But, when her eyes met mine, I see her Smile. For some reason it also seemed like she also felt good when she saw me. She even invited me to sit next to her. 

“Don’t worry, let’s just endure this project for now. Even though you’re short, you’re quite skilled in the academics. I like that about you.” She says this as if talking to her employee.

I nod. Tzuyu and I teamed up for an upcoming project because I didn’t really want to team up with someone I totally do not know. Besides, picking her as my partner seemed like the best option so far. Since we live in one house, this meant she’d be accessible. 

We continuously walk towards our dormitory. The University that we attend to is only 15 minutes away from our dorm if we walk. As we stride together, my stomach rumbles its hymn of death. I pretend to not hear a thing. 

“Don’t worry. When we get home there will be food for us.” She tells me reassuringly. 

 I look at her with a confused look. What is she talking about?

“Sorry, what did you just say?” I asked her.

“I said, there will be food ready when we get home.” She looked at me, this time seriously. We still were walking during our exchange.

“I’m sorry but don’t get me wrong, are you a psychic or something?” I ask her. I was confused since during the past few days, whenever I get home, no one is really in the living room. It’s either they're asleep in their rooms or just doing their own business. Most of the time I get my food from the nearest convenience store. 

“What does this have to do with being psychic?” She looked at me.

“How do you know there’s food?” I ask her.

“Because THERE is.” She says in frustration.

“Well then, HOW do you know?” 

Remember when I said that Tzuyu is shrewd? Sometimes she’s not only shrewd, she’s also difficult to understand at times. No, not only that, sometimes I want to ship her back to Taiwan.

“We’ll be having a group dinner tonight.” She looked at me. I scrunch my nose.

“Like, everyone inside the house? So like, we’ll eat together?” After asking this I realized I sounded like a girl who’s from California. 

“Yeah, everyone. Jeongyeon unnie and her housemates will be there too.”

I nodded and wondered how come she knows all about this and I don’t? I shake off the thought out of my head and continue walking. Tzuyu and I continued walking until we can already see our dorm. The night is cold and walking has really helped with keeping myself warm. 

All of a sudden, a familiar face emerged right before me and Tzuyu as we got close to our dorm's gate.

“Where have you guys been?” The girl asks, she seemed concerned.

“Has the dinner started yet, Jeongyeon unnie?” Asks Tzuyu. 

“Got no time, come on!” Jeongyeon unnie grabs each our hands and she started leading Tzuyu and I into our dorm as if she lives in the place. I mean, she practically lives in the place. She always eats there and she always seemed to hang out with Nayeon unnie. I glance at Tzuyu who is acting totally nonchalant at the moment. The three of us walk past the gate into the lawn and up the stairs where the door was closed but is unlocked. 

“You guys should come in now. Tell everyone you guys can start eating without me.” Says Jeongyeon unnie calmly. 

To this, Tzuyu nodded and she went straight inside our place. Jeongyeon unnie was still standing beside me. She was looking right past the dorm's gate. 

“Unnie, why would we eat without you? Come on in. Let’s eat together.” I try to persuade her.

“Just do as I say, Chaeyoung-ah. I’m still waiting for one of my housemates. Okay? I’ll come inside once she’s here already.” She smiles and pats the top of my head. 

I just looked at her. She seemed insistent enough so I nodded and went straight inside. The moment I stepped inside the dorm, the smell of good food wafted inside my nostrils. When I entered the place, I saw familiar and unfamiliar faces.

Everyone was seated in the middle of the living room. The coffee table was put aside in which a bigger cloth was placed in order to serve as a place where all the food was placed. All sorts of food was placed in the middle of the room. There’s jajangmyeon, sweet and sour fish, side dishes, hot pot, and loads of other delicious dishes. 

“Yah, Son Chaeyoung! What took you so long?” that was Sana unnie looking at me, she’s smiling though. Cute. All of a sudden, a girl with a beautiful face handed me a plate and chopsticks. I looked at her confused. “I’m your Jihyo unnie. Nice to meet you, Chaeyoung-ah.”  She pats my and she headed for the kitchen. I smiled, I don’t know, I just felt welcomed.

“Chaeyoung-Ssi, Where’s Jeongyeon?” that was Nayeon unnie speaking. I looked at her and just shrugged. I honestly don't know where that unnie is right now. Besides, I’m pretty sure Nayeon unnie wouldn’t die if she didn’t get to see Jeongyeon. 

My eyes roamed around to look for a seat but to no avail. I just sighed and was about to go sit at the kitchen when a voice called out to me.

“Chaeng-ah, come sit beside me.”

I turned my gaze to the direction where the voice came from and saw a familiar face. It was Mina unnie. I smiled at her and immediately walked towards where she was sitting.  I sit beside her. She didn’t really react when I sat beside her; she even scooted a little bit to give me more space. I carefully tucked my loose hair behind my ear and looked at her. 

“Thank you, Mina.” I smiled. She just nodded and then smiled back. When I say smile, I meant a smile without teeth. Just a smile. I guess she’s the type to not really talk so I let her be. I looked around some more and observed everyone.

“Anyway, why are you guys so late?” that was the unnie named Jihyo speaking.

“Yeah, why?” that is a follow up question from Sana unnie. 

“Didn’t you guys read the group chat? There was a reminder there for everyone to be here on time.” That was Nayeon unnie talking.

Wait, hold the up. There’s a group chat? I turn my gaze towards Tzuyu who was now obviously trying not to look me in the eye. That sly creature totally forgot to add me to the group chat.

“What Group chat?” I look at everyone innocently. The moment I asked the question everyone sighed and realized that the reason we were late and uninformed is because I wasn’t in the group chat. I sighed and looked at them. “I have no idea what you guys are talking about.” I tell them.

“Yah, Chou Tzuyu. Shouldn’t you be the one who should’ve added short-limbs Chaeyoung to our Group chat?” that was Sana unnie talking to Tzuyu. “I’ll punish you later.” she suddenly winked at Tzuyu. Everyone laughed at her statement, Jihyo unnie was visibly taken aback though. Tzuyu looked away. That’s the first time I saw Tzuyu terrified. It’s actually quite satisfying, wow.

“Yah, Sana. Cut the kid some slack. She just got home from a tiring day at school. Quit teasing her.” A girl with beautiful round eyes and a cute voice interrupted. She handed Tzuyu a plate full of food and smiled at her. “I’m your Momo unnie. Nice to meet you, Tzuyu.” Momo smiled. 

Everyone seemed to have forgotten their train of thought because all the girls started to get their own food for their plates. I didn’t really feel hungry because of all the people inside the place. So, I just observed everyone and their movements. The moment I looked to my right side, I noticed Mina unnie wasn’t really digging in as well. I guess she’s just waiting for everyone to finish getting their food. 

I look at her and notice how she’s just observing everyone around us. If I were to be completely honest, I do not know everyone here just yet. I mean, I do not know their personalities and attitudes. Everyone is unique but they all seem to get along. Though each of us have different personalities, I can see the unity when we’re together. 

I look at Nayeon unnie. Nayeon unnie, doesn’t seem like she’s the oldest among everyone in this room. She’s quite full of full life. She acts like a kid, maybe this is an act to cover up for the fact that she’s getting old. Okay, that’s funny. She seems caring though, for sure. She seems to be caring and sweet. 

Jeongyeon unnie seems cold at first. To me, she comes off as assertive. Like, whenever she thinks something is wrong she’s say it outright. Honestly, I think she’s beautiful. She could be a supermodel. I noticed how she loves to joke around too. I just don’t understand why, because most of the time she’s not that funny at all. 

Sana unnie, she comes off as cheerful and very cute. To be honest, I find her cute and almost flirty with everyone. I don’t find that odd though since everyone in this dorm is relatively beautiful. To be honest, I’d say everyone looks attractive.

Tzuyu, the brat. She’s a ing tree who’s secretly pretending to be a human being. Sometimes she is just insufferable. However, even though she projects this kind of image I can see that she’s really more than that if I dig deeper. I think she’s a sincere person though. 

I look around some more and my eyes notice Mina. She’s probably the only housemate who I haven’t really thought about these past few days. Maybe it’s because she’s mostly not around. I don’t see her that much and to be honest, I don’t really know her that well. 

I look at her some more. This time I’m trying to memorize how she looks like and realized that this is probably the first time I’ve stared at her this long. If I were to be honest, she’s quite the looker. I mean, as I’ve said before, everyone in our dormitory looks beautiful. I don’t have favorites. Mina, though, has a good looking side profile. Beautiful straight nose, lips that aren’t too pouty nor too thin, her bangs just fell effortlessly on her forehead, and she’s got beautiful eyes too. 

I looked away and sighed. I hope to be that attractive. I turned my gaze to Mina once more and is caught off guard. She’s now currently looking at me. I blinked, not sure with what to do. I only looked away for a second, right? Has she been looking at me for a while now? 

Suddenly, Mina moved .  She was saying something but I couldn’t hear it. Not with all this noise inside the dorm. I looked at her and gave her the “what is it” look. But honestly, the only thing that I’ve noticed about her are her moles. Usually moles are considered imperfections here in Korea but now that I look at her some more, I realize she looks good with it. How the hell can she make moles look desirable? Gosh darn it, I wish I’m half as attractive as her. 

“Why aren’t you eating?” she asks, her voice soft. It sounded concerned even.

“What?” I ask her as I blink my eyes repeatedly. All of a sudden she smiles, exposing her teeth. A gummy smile and because of this I couldn’t help myself, so I also smiled. She looked at me again and she ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Here you go.” Mina suddenly handed me a plate full of food. I receive it and just look at her. I’m in awe. How can she be kind as well? 

“You know Chaeyoung-ah, when someone gives you food, you eat it.” She looks at me and smiles. I chuckle and look down not knowing what to do. I suddenly feel my cheeks become hot. I breathe out and then look up. I noticed she’s now grabbing food for herself. 

“Thanks.” I say softly. She turns around and nods at me. 

“Do you want me to add you in our Group chat?” Mina asks. I look at her and nod. She then grabs her hand phone from her back pocket and opens it. She scrolls through her stuff and then she looks at me. She’s got this blank look on her face. “Give me your number then.” She looks at me with her piercing eyes. I just stare at her.

What did she just say?

“Yah, everyone! Look at our Minari making moves on Chaeyoung.” That was Nayeon unnie laughing. Suddenly, everyone started laughing too and I couldn’t face anyone. I look down and try my best not to gain attention.

“Look, Chaeyoung is turning red!” that was Sana unnie teasing me. 

“Oh my God, Minari! It seems like you’re liking this! You’re smiling!” that was Jihyo unnie. I hear hands clapping together and more teasing.

She’s smiling? 

“Chaeyoung is not blushing. She’s just really tired. We’ve both had a long day and she hasn’t eaten anything yet.” That was Tzuyu speaking. Thank God. 

I look up and Nod. 

“Yeah, I haven’t had anything since lunch. What are you guys talking about?” I defend myself.

Everyone started nodding and everyone seemed to quickly forget what just happened. Huh, that was fast. I turn my gaze to Tzuyu who’s now busily eating and talking to everyone. I owe that Giant a favor. I shrug and looked at Mina. 

“Don’t forget, I asked for your number first. Understood?” she whispers. I look at her and nod. What the hell does that mean? 

I grabbed her phone and typed my number and handed her the smartphone right after. Moments later, I receive two notifications in my Kakao talk. I just shrug it off because I know it’s the invite for our group chat.

“I added you in two group chats. One for everyone who lives here in our dormitory and the other one is for everyone in our dorm plus the people in Jeongyeon’s place.” She blabbers and then she eats a bite of her food from her plate. I just nod and doze off again. “Eat up. Tzuyu said you haven’t eaten yet. Right?” 

I agree and I start to eat and that’s when I realized that I really am hungry. Damn it, how can I forget to eat lunch? What kind of an absent minded idiot am I? I continue to eat when all of a sudden someone speaks. It’s Momo unnie.

“Now that the new tenants are here, I think we all should have a proper get together. I want to do something fun!” She excitedly says.

“Isn’t this a get together already?” I ask.

“Honestly, No. Not really.” Answers Jihyo. 

Then what the hell is a get together then? Isn’t it supposed to be people just doing stuff together? Aren’t we doing something together just right now?

“Should we go to a Karaoke room?” asks Momo.

“That’s a little weak Momo, try again.” Says Nayeon.

“Should we eat outside?” asks Jihyo.

“Nooooo, let’s do something that we’d all remember.” Whines Momo. 

“Do you guys want to play badminton?” asks Sana randomly.

“Go home Sana, you’re drunk!” Shouts Jihyo unnie as she laughs. Sana unnie only stuck her tongue out in surrender. 

“Maybe we can go to Jeju?” asks Jihyo unnie.

“Yeah … We’re broke so it’s a no.” Interrupted Nayeon. Everyone just Nodded. She’s right, I mean, all of us got like $50 dollars worth of money combined.

“We can all go to Osaka and eat Jimami Tofu.” Suggests Momo.

“We’ve got Nayeon here , you can just go and eat her—” That was Sana unnie being cut by Nayeon unnie. What was Momo supposed to do with Nayeon unnie? And what the hell is a Jimami Tofu? Isn’t Osaka in Japan? I’ve got so many questions inside my head right now.

I look at Mina beside me and noticed that she was just listening. She wasn’t saying anything but you can feel that she’s paying attention. She laughs whenever someone says something funny and she’d even shake her head when someone says something odd.

“Let’s rent a place and have some drinks.” Suggested Tzuyu. 

Everyone looked at her. We were all in a bit of a shock to be honest, but I am not against the idea. Suddenly, Sana unnie stood up and clapped her hands slowly for dramatic effect. She pointed to Tzuyu and nodded in agreement.

“This girl right here, I like her. That’s a very good idea.” She blurts out and then she takes her seat right after her remarks. She’s weird.

“So, I guess, we’ll go with Tzuyu’s idea!” Jihyo unnie raises her hand and proceeds to clap. We all start clapping.

I look around and notice that everyone seems to be socializing with each other. I couldn’t help but smile. I’m seriously having a good time. 

I smile, but not too much. Just enough so that everyone won’t notice. All of a sudden Nayeon unnie stands up and turns the television on. She’s trying to operate something. Seconds later, I notice she finished doing science stuff, she grabs a microphone, turns it on and then speaks.

“Everyone, I will now commence the Karaoke contest. Who wants to go up first?”

Jihyo unnie was the first one to raise her hand. Everyone started cheering for her and the event started. I just look around and notice how they all are enjoying themselves; I’m not really much of a talker if I still am not familiar with the people around me. I usually talk a lot but only with people who I am already familiar with.  I lean back a little bit and stretch my feet. 

“Do you sing?”

I look back and see Mina unnie looking at me, she’s smiling. Maybe she’s smiling because of the way I am sitting down. I sit properly and slowly turn my sitting position in order to face her. 

“Not really, unnie.” I shake my head. “What about you?” I look at her, waiting for an answer. 

I do sing, actually. I just don’t feel like it.

“I’m okay in the singing department.” She answers with a smile. I nod, not really knowing what to say next.

“You know, we do this kind of thing once in a while. It helps us bond with the people next door.” She looks at me as if she knows I’m wondering why there’s a gathering. I smile and nod. 

“How long have you known them?” I ask.

“Well, I’ve been living here for two years now.” She looks at me. The way she answers makes me want to ask her more questions. 

“Do you like it here?” the question suddenly came out of my mouth.

“Well, so far, it’s been amazing. I mean, I’m the youngest tenant here until you and Tzuyu came along so I’m pretty excited to meet you guys.” I nod and I take another bite of my food which is almost finished. 

“Please take care of us, unnie!” That was Tzuyu acting all cutesy. I realized she was sitting beside Mina unnie during our conversation. Tzuyu was listening. That ing tree. 

Mina chuckled and nodded at Tzuyu. She grabs something, a tissue, and she leans in close to me. Real close. I mean real close, to the point that our faces are almost touching. Our proximity gets me off-guard and I just blink. I try not to make any sudden movements but the more I try to constrain myself, the more I become tense. I dread this feeling. I breathed in and caught a whiff of her. Her scent. She smelled of lavender. 

“Here.” She places the tissue directly over my mouth. “I’ll take care of you guys, for sure.” She smiles. She looks at me in my eyes for a second. She had this lingering stare. Her stare, it seemed blank. Like nothing was there, it felt like she’s trying to understand me through my eyes. She then easily leans back and starts a conversation with Tzuyu.  

That is when I understood that I've got food stain on my mouth. I turn my back and wipe my mouth immediately. I groan in frustration. my life. 

“Yah! Myoui Mitang!” that was Nayeon unnie calling out to her.

“Yes?”

“Come up here and sing.” She urges Mina.

Mina just nods and stands up. She receives the Microphone from Nayeon who visibly looks impressed. For some reason, everyone went silent. I look around and notice that almost everyone is paying her attention. I turn my gaze towards Momo unnie. I stand up slowly and move next to her.

“Unnie…” I whisper.

“What’s up?” she looks at me. 

“How come everyone is so quiet when it’s her turn?” I whisper, slightly pointing my finger to Mina’s direction. She just smiles at my question.

“Minari, she’s introverted.” She smiles at me, sweetly. I just stare at her, amazed with how beautiful she looks up close. “Don’t get me wrong, she's pretty shy at times but she’s fun to be around with. I actually don’t know why she’s so confident all of a sudden.” She whispers back. I just nod. 

Mina’s chosen music starts and I hear a very familiar melody. I look at Momo unnie, she just smiles at me. I listen a little more and realize the song she’s about to sing the song entitled “Good Person”, by super junior. I couldn’t believe it, of all the songs she could’ve chosen, why did she pick a song that I liked. I gulp.

Right before the music starts she looked at where we were sitting awhile ago and realized I wasn’t there anymore. I wave at her and she finally noticed that I changed my seat. She smiled. I mouthed the word “FIGHTING” and smiled back. She nodded and turned her gaze towards the screen again.

She opens and sings the first note. My heart sinks. Have you ever felt your heart sink? Usually people associate this feeling to heartbreak. I do feel a little betrayed as of the moment. I feel as if my heart is broken because my expectations were not met. When I expect things, I want it to go my way. 

As for her, Mina, I wanted her so badly to bluff. I wanted her to bluff that she knows how to sing. My heart is sinking because what I wanted isn’t what came thru. I wanted Mina to be tone-deaf. I wanted her to miss each note and make everyone laugh. But no, this almost flawless person singing right in front of me is breezing through every note effortlessly. I sigh. That’s why my heart sank. It’s because she’s perfect. 

“Oh, Chaeyoung-ah, I can see you like our Mitang.” Momo unnie teasingly whispered as she’s poking my waist for fun. 

“EH?” I look at her confused. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised though.” She looked at me cheekily.

“EH?!” this time my voice was louder.

“I said, I wouldn’t be surprised!” she says with conviction but her voice is quiet enough that only the two of us can hear our conversation.

“EH…” I say in a weak state. Seriously, I wasn’t in the mood for this conversation.

“Quit saying ‘EH’. That’s my line.” She looked at me with a threatening stare.  “ I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised because everyone in this house adores her. Everyone here likes her. She’s precious, our Mitang.” 

I look at her hoping that she’d just blabber more. 

“She’s got this thing where she’s like a magnet. Everyone is just drawn to her because she’s really nice and cool. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d want to be friends with her too.” she looks at me.

“I’ve got no choice, have I? I mean, she’s a co-tenant. I have to be friends with her if I want to live my life here peacefully.” I jokingly whisper at Momo unnie. She nods and went back to listening to Mina.

I look at everyone and I notice that they’re all smiling. Huh, I guess we all feel the same way. Seriously, what’s wrong with me? This is probably because I really like the song. And for this person to sing it right in front of me, I smile, maybe saying that I like the song is an understatement. Maybe I love it.

Mina finishes the song and hands Nayeon unnie the microphone. Everyone claps their hands. So do I. We all smile and congratulate her. I stay by Momo unnie’s side though. I wasn’t really in the mood to sit right next to Mina. I pretend to scroll through my phone and read stuff from the internet.

“Everyone! We’re here!”

Everyone except for me turned their gaze at the direction where the voice came from. I wasn’t in the mood to look up. Not with my flushed cheeks I can’t. 

“Yoo Jeongyeon! Come sit here beside me.” That was Nayeon unnie talking. 

“Yah! Dubu! Come sit here beside me!” That was Sana unnie talking. I look up to see the tenant they are referring to.

The moment my eyes met hers, I froze. I assume she herself froze too because she suddenly became silent. My heart started racing and it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. Everyone in the room became silent too. A room filled with nine girls became silent. Unbelievable. 

Those eyes, they never changed. That nose, those lips, and that face. Everything was still the same. Nothing changed. It felt like yesterday.

“Son Chaeyoung.” I hear her say my name. Her voice, it wasn’t mad nor was it emotionless. She spoke my name with such a longing tone. I can see it in her eyes that she wanted me to respond. My face started to turn red. Good thing my back is facing the unnies. I can’t let them see me in this state. I wanted to talk but nothing came out of my mouth. 

“Excuse me, are we missing something here?” Sana unnie interrupted. 

“Is this a K-Drama or something?” asks Momo.

“You guys, why aren’t you talking? Cat’s got your tongue? “ asks Jeongyeon.

“This is the first time you met. Right?” asked Tzuyu.

I looked at Tzuyu and I wanted to nod but instead I just looked at her and gave her a confused look. Everyone stared at us. Suddenly I heard Jihyo unnie speak.

“Do you guys know each other?”

Silence.

“Yeah, we do. We know each other a little too well.” I turned my gaze towards Dahyun who’s now walking towards me. She looked at me and motioned for me to move a little to the side. I scooted a little bit to give her space. She then sat next to me while fourteen pairs of eyes looked at us carefully.

“You can’t really know someone that well unless…” Sana unnie trails off and then she smirks.

“Unless what, Shiba inu?” asks Momo unnie.

“You know, unless there’s tension…” trails off Sana.

“Yah Sana, tension isn’t the basis of knowing each other well!” Chuckles Momo unnie. Everyone just listens to whatever’s coming out of their mouths. “We’ve taken baths together, we’ve gotten to know each other after that. No tension came after! ” Momo unnie nonchalantly speaks. We all look at her and pause for a while. What the hell is going on inside her head?

“I know myself too. I know myself a little too well.” Whispers Jihyo unnie, thinking we wouldn’t hear her.

“Go get yourself a boyfriend who’d love to get to know you ‘too well’, geez you’re turning thirsty.” Says Jeongyeon unnie jokingly. Jihyo unnie only looked at Jeongyeon with a death glare.

“What the hell does that mean? ‘We know each other a little too well’?” asked Nayeon unnie mockingly. I just looked at her. Dahyun started to grab her own plate like nothing happened. 

“You know, whatever that means.” Dahyun chuckles. “Her name is Son Chaeyoung and she’s a freshman. She’s small but feisty. What else? Oh! She’s really short. See? We know each other well.” Dahyun shoves food in . 

“Does that mean you guys are friends?” asks Mina. Everyone laughs after Mina’s question. This broke the ice and everyone eventually started talking to each other. Mina’s tone though, it seemed flat. Uninterested even. Why would she bother asking with that tone?

I look at Mina. Personally, I have this problem of not being able to lie. I cannot lie. It’s just in me. I nudge Dahyun discreetly. I wanted her to answer the question.

“Friends? Yeah. You could say that.” She answers as she chews on her food.  

“Aren’t we best of friends?” Says Dahyun with a smile on her face as she pinched my cheek. I forced out a fake chuckle. I nodded and looked at both Mina and Tzuyu. I can see it in their eyes they do not believe anything we’re saying.  I understand them. If I was in their shoes I’d be hardly convinced too. 

I sigh and look away trying not to mind the fact that of all places in Korea, Kim Dahyun had to live right next to mine. I loathe the idea that of all places, my ex-girlfriend had to live right next to my dorm.