Joy was absolutely correct when she told Seulgi that Wendy would be good to keep around. When Joy was in class, Wendy, who actually took three of Seulgi’s five classes with her, showed Seulgi around campus and invited her to eat lunch with her. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Joy joined them at noon to eat, wherein Seulgi got the chance to watch the two dance around each other in a rapid tango of feelings, neither girl realizing that the other had the hots for her.

They’d get together eventually, Seulgi reasoned.

Life at her new university was mundane but comforting, if anything. Seoul was by no means a small city, and the flirty duo loved showing her around on the weekends. It greatly helped on Joy’s end that she lived in the flat directly across from Seulgi, so Seulgi had no choice but to get up at nine every Sunday to get ready for brunch. There was no way she could sleep through the heavy knocking at her door.

Seulgi felt a sad nostalgia at times, wishing that she could be living in the capital under different circumstances, one in which her whole family was with her, but the more time she spent with Wendy and Joy the more she felt at home.

Home. It seemed so distant now.

After Jihoon was found guilty of attempted murder (but unsurprisingly acquitted of any other charges related to his bribery of faculty, and apparently even university board members) and Minhyuk was sent to a famous institution for the blind about an hour away from her place in Seoul, Seulgi didn’t have an urge to visit her hometown. Her mother was busy working more jobs now that Minhyuk had been sent to an institution, and Seulgi herself had to work part-time at a cafe now that she had given up her full-ride by transferring to a new school (Wendy and Joy came over every day to bug her study as she manned the counter and learned the ropes on the drinks. Seulgi didn’t realize studying consisted of loudly calling over employees on their shifts to whine for a complimentary drink). She occasionally called Minhyuk, who assured her that he was doing well and learned how to read Braille, although she worried at the fact that he hadn’t made any friends yet. There wasn’t much for him to do, so she promised to visit him as soon as she could.

Once in a while, she got a text from Jisoo updating her on life back home. Apparently Sunmi had gotten an internship under JYP Pharmaceuticals, a mid-sized drug company in Busan.

“I was skeptical at first, you know, because the man just has these really squinty eyes and loopy grin, but he offered to provide me housing and a stipend for the first three years! And so I said, ‘this seems sketchy,’ and he laughed really loudly and told me that he’s actually also the co-founder of that nonprofit I wanted to work at, so I told him to transfer me there after three years, and he said yes. A total win-win, if you ask me.”

Seulgi nodded absentmindedly, flipping through her notes as Sunmi went on and on about her boss. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jisoo shove Sunmi out of the camera’s frame and her computer now showed Jisoo, Byulyi, and Solar with a girl Seulgi didn’t recognize.

“Oh, unnie, stop hogging the screen!”

Sunmi shoved Jisoo lightly back. Jisoo stuck her tongue out at her before looking back at the camera.

“Hey ex-roomie. How’ve you been?” She brought the unnamed girl closer to her. “Meet my sister. This is Jennie.”

Seulgi waved. They didn’t look anything alike, but Jisoo quickly answered her unspoken question.

“She’s adopted, but we grew up together since she was two. She’s touring to apply for next year.”

In the back, Byulyi started ranting about which professors Jennie should avoid, resulting in her girlfriend slapping her arm and telling her not to scare off the pre-frosh. The two really bickered like an old couple when they weren’t all over each other.

“...but honestly, I told her that she should just apply to the program she wants to actually pursue, because we all know that Kai’s going to see her everyday even if they don’t take classes together. I couldn’t ever imagine trying to carry on a high school relationship throughout college, but they think they know what true love is, and I’m a bit nauseated anytime I see that boy giving my sister those googly eyes. Sure, he’s a nice kid, but he’s a little too good looking for his own sake, and I’m a bit skeptical about how much he hangs around that Krystal girl, childhood besties or not.”

Seulgi watched Jennie pout at the word vomit Jisoo was throwing at Seulgi. She was sure that no teenage girl would want her love life exposed to a person she’d just met.

Luckily for Jennie, Seulgi’s doorbell rang, followed by an obnoxiously loud knocking on her door. Yup, that had to be Joy. No one else could mimic William Tell so horribly. Even Jisoo stopped talking at the rhythmical banging.

“Uh, I guess I should end the call now. I promised to meet up with someone.”

Everyone said their goodbyes as Seulgi gave one last wave to the people on the screen. Sunmi blew her a kiss, and Jisoo said she’d video call again soon. Seulgi nodded quickly and ended the session.

“Kang Seulgi, you wouldn’t want a y dynamite to explode at your door! What’s taking so long?”

“Coming!” Seulgi jogged over to her door and opened it, revealing a one Park Joy who was beaming, much contrarily to her booming tone earlier. Joy shoved her way in and plopped down on Seulgi’s sofa, shifting through the notes on the table.

“For a moment, I thought you were trying to bail on us. Of course that’s a stupid thought to have in the first place because no one escapes Park Joy, but it never hurts to double-check.”

Seulgi rubbed her forehead and walked towards Joy. “Knowing that you’d then invite Wendy to belt Caro Mio Ben while you knock William Tell on my door gives me no option but to keep my word lest our neighbours kill one of us.”

Joy only gave a cheeky grin.

---

“Yo! Kkang Sseul~”

Seulgi looked up to see Wendy and Joy waiting for her outside of the one class she didn’t share with the shorter girl. She’d just finished taking her first midterm of three for her Victimology course. It was a Friday, which meant karaoke night (where Wendy and Joy would scream their hearts out as Seulgi silently inhaled all the free snacks), but for some reason, neither of the girls were dressed in their usual party gear.

“Hey, sorry it took so long. They gave us an extra hour for the exam. We can grab dinner real quick and head out.”

Wendy waved her hand to signal that all was good