A few weeks has passed ever since Shu-hua admitted to Soo-jin that she didn't see her in a romantic light, despite their lust-fueled night. Soo-jin was obviously dejected, but could not hide from her, as much as she wanted to, but not that she needed to.

Shu-hua practically drowned in admirers, and with her avoidance on the topic and Soo-jin in general, their meetings became less and less frequent. Soo-jin still had her admirers flock to her stone bench, treating it like a shrine, leaving the occasional letter and flower, but she knew better than to entertain them, lest she drowned in them. Sightings of the mute musician dwindled, but this was not news to anyone, they simply assumed she was getting better at hiding.

A few more weeks passed, Shu-hua's popularity soared with the help of her beauty and her tendency to connect with people, while Soo-jin's popularity skyrocketed, practically creating a cult dedicated to hunt her down. Her sightings were less and less frequent, to the point where it could be debated whether she was still enrolled in the school.

Shu-hua maintained this distance between them, trying to erase that night from her memory. It sent shivers down her spine just thinking about it, how wrong it felt to fall victim to her carnal desires, and satisfy them with the help of her childhood friend. She felt sick, not knowing what to do as she felt the distance get uncomfortably large.

Maybe a proper talk was in order?

But what could she say? When could she say? Finals were barreling down the road, and between the studying and her new friends, time was scarce and valuable. Did Soo-jin even want to talk to her?

No, this felt wrong. It didn't sit right with her to just leave their relationship at that point, despite her harbouring no romantic feelings towards her, something ached in her, it felt like a large chunk of her life was crumbling away.

And so here she was, taking a deep breath in a hallway as she carefully rapped her knuckles on the wooden door of the dorm room. "Hey, Soojin?" She called out, her voice dry and hoarse from the nerves. "Soojin, can I talk to you? You haven't been replying my text messages, and people on campus have been saying that you seem to have disappeared? Look, I wanted to talk to you, and I was wondering if you'd be okay with that?" She stammered, taking deep, controlled breaths to mentally prepare herself.

Silence, at first. Then shuffling, then the clicking of the doorknob. Shu-hua held her breath, a part of her yearning to yank the door wide open and devouring her in a hug, but she stood there patiently, only to come face to face with a complete stranger.

"Uh, sorry? I think you might have gotten the wrong room," the female said, raising an eyebrow as she bowed slightly, closing the door again, only to hit Shu-hua's foot that shoved itself into the doorway.

"Where's the previous occupant!?" She yelled out, pretty much scaring the stranger.

"W-what? I don't know! They gave me this room and it was empty when I came by, I swear!" She flinched, leaning away from the door as she used her foot to push Shu-hua's foot away, hastily slamming the door shut.

Did Soo-jin go back to her parents? She did say that she was pretty ahead on her assignments and exams, maybe