It’s early in the morning, somewhere around 7:40 AM. The sun is just visible upon the horizon and brings with it some warmth into the bedroom. Yeri sits up in her bed and reaches over for the cup of water she had poured herself last night. It’s not as cold as it was before she slept, but it cures her thirst nonetheless. She sits for a while to watch out of the window as cars drive down the road. People scurry across the street to get to their jobs, coffee in hand at the ready. She’s grateful upon recalling that they don’t have any schedules for today. The date on her phone reads February 14th. Though she already knows what day it is as she has plans for the holiday of love. 

A quiet knock on the bedroom door breaks her from her concentration. Wendy slips her head around it, looking tired and slightly unaware of her surroundings, but tells her that the shower is free if she needs it. Yeri nods in return but doesn’t move for a while. They have both become such early risers on their free days that they let one another shower first in the morning. The other would usually make breakfast, but Wendy is leaving early to meet up with some friends. 

For a long time, Valentine’s Day never phased Yeri. It was all just pictures of love hearts, depictions of Cupid, and people professing their undying love to one another. Ironically, a great majority of the people she had seen doing so have ended up apart not long after. But now, she has grown to appreciate the sentiment behind it. Falling in love with someone for the first time will do that to you. 

She rises from her bed, stretching her arms up in the air as she does so, and finally heads toward the bathroom. As she passes Irene’s room, she can see that Joy is in there this morning and that they’re having a whispered conversation about something. Neither of them notices her pass by the door, and she doesn’t stop to listen in to what they’re saying. Deciding that they’re likely discussing something personal if it’s being whispered. 

The bathroom is relatively tidy compared to usual. Regularly, hundreds of various facial cleansers, body washes, and different hair products are lying around everywhere. But, not today. Someone must have decided it was time to put everything back into one of the many cabinets where they are supposed to live. Flicking the switch on the wall, a burst of warm water flies out of the showerhead and heats Yeri’s entire body. It’s soothing, and if she could, she would stay inside of the shower all day. But she’s on a timer and has to get ready soon. 

Wrapping a towel around her body and another around her head, she walks back toward her bedroom. The door to Irene’s room has now closed, though she can still hear Joy giggling inside. The cold air hitting her freshly shaved legs causes her to shiver and her teeth to chatter against each other. Before she can round the corner to head back into her room, the doorbell rings. She watches as no one else inside the dorm makes a move to answer it, and whoever is on the other side of the door grows impatient, ringing the doorbell yet again. Whoever it is must be here for one of them, as they would have had to enter a code to get upstairs. But, no one moves still. 

“I just showered. Can someone get that?” Yeri shouts, hoping that Seulgi, whose room is closest to the door, would hear her. However, the dorm remains quiet, except for yet another ring of the doorbell. “Fine. I’ll just catch flu for one of you.” She huffs, moving toward the door. 

Opening the front door, she’s greeted by a mountain of red roses. The person holding the flowers isn’t visible whatsoever. They simply push the flowers toward her, and the second her hand hesitantly grasps them, the delivery person darts off. They smell heavenly in her arms, and Yeri swears she has never seen so many roses in a bunch like this before. She slowly walks back to the living area holding the flowers and spots a small card placed in the center of them. It’s a red envelope without a name written on the front, so she decides to open it and be nosy. However, they are addressed to her without a signature to say who they are from. 

“What are you smiling about?” Seulgi asks from the doorway, a sly smirk on her face despite her tired eyes. “Who are those from?” 

Yeri looks back toward the flowers and carries on grinning to herself, knowing who they are from but unable to tell Seulgi who. Her relationship status isn’t known within the dorm, and she doesn’t plan on revealing it here like this right now. A half-lie will have to do to satisfy Seulgi’s curiosity. 

“It’s a mystery. Whoever it is, they didn’t sign the card.” She says, spinning the card around in her fingers to show Seulgi the absent name.

Placing the flowers in the center of the kitchen counter, Yeri walks back to her room as Seulgi rushes off to beat Joy into the shower. Grabbing her phone from the bedside table when she enters, she pulls up her text messages and begins to type out a thank you. However, the time on her lock screen is later than she assumed. Her hair is still wet from the shower, and she hasn’t chosen an outfit yet, but only has an hour to get ready. Placing her phone back down, she decides to just say thank you in person. 

The weather has been cold recently, and Yeri imagines it is even more so by the water, where their date will be. She settles on a pair of skinny black jeans, a baggy white t-shirt, and a gray hoodie that Joy kindly bought her years ago. It’s far too big for her, but it’s comfortable and warm. The front has a large pocket on it where she places a set of dorm keys, just in case she’s late to return. Her phone buzzes in her hand as she goes to put it inside of the pocket too. The screen lights up to signal a new text. 

Five minutes, love.💜

Yeri can’t help but grin as she reads the message. Her first Valentine’s Day date, and it’s going to be spent with someone she truly loves. They have both spent weeks planning out different things they could do together. But, when they both found a quiet spot by a river, it was decided. A picnic with all of their favorite snacks and drinks. Perfect.

As she puts on some perfume and makes sure that her hair is positioned right in the mirror, yet another quiet knock on her bedroom door disturbs her. This time, it’s Joy who enters and sits herself down upon the bed. Yeri smiles widely at her as she does so and moves to sit beside her. For someone who doesn’t have plans today, Joy has seemingly gone to a lot of effort to look good today. Yeri wonders if perhaps she too has a secret person that they all don’t know about also. 

“Hey, did you sleep well?” Joy asks. Her voice still a little hoarse and her expression blank. 

“Yes… the shower this morning was so good too.” Yeri pauses, hesitantly, unsure of where this conversation is going. It’s not uncommon for Joy to come into her room on a morning, but she never asks about her sleep. “Did you need anything? Just I have somewhere to be.” 

Joy shifts slightly on the bed and clasps her hands together atop of her thighs. “Right, sorry. I just wanted to say that your flowers are pretty. Do you know who they’re from?

Yeri bites her lip. She’s never been able to lie to Joy. She can always tell whenever she isn’t being honest. She wishes that she could just tell her all about the girl she has fallen for. But it would erupt both of their lives, as well as the rest of the girls. It isn’t worth the destruction it would bring for either of them. 

“No, there’s no name on the card, so… It must be a secret admirer.” She winks awkwardly, trying desperately to throw Joy off the scent and sell her lie. 

Joy sighs quietly but stands to leave. As she reaches the door to open