minjeong's deep slumber was ruined by a certain japanese girl, again. it was four in the morning and their first class would be at eight, but aeri decided to ring the doorbell on minjeong's house at such an early hour to ask for her help. a soft sigh escaped from the blonde's lips as she stared at her best friend who was busy cooking tonkatsu. aeri told her that jimin works herself up too hard and rarely eats lunch so a bento box would be nice.

the blonde wondered why aeri has to do all of this when jimin wasn't her girlfriend in the first place. minjeong also wondered if aeri's gestures make her feel uncomfortable. but still, she had no other choice but to support her best friend's decisions. besides, all of this will be over once jimin finally decides to be honest and reject aeri in the nicest way possible.

“minjeongie, you're spacing out again,” she said, now staring at the blonde with a confused look.

“huh..? oh, sorry. i'm probably just a bit sleepy. do you need anything?”

aeri smiled before patting the girl's head.

“thanks for helping me out and for letting me use your kitchen. you don't know how much this means to me.”

minjeong softened. aeri is indeed the nicest girl ever and she couldn't help but to feel hurt because of her current situation. she does all of these efforts only to be rejected any time soon.

but it's fine, right?

someone much more deserving will come to my best friend's life and make her feel like she owns the whole world.

it'll hurt for a while.

but you'll be fine, aeri.

the japanese girl finished cooking all the food that she needed. she then perfectly set all of them inside a square lunch box, sealing it tightly before writing something on a piece of sticky note.

to president yoo,

eat lots and don't stress yourself out too much!  fighting!

“there we go,” aeri finished the note with a tiny drawn heart on the end.

“minjeongie, you know the drill. give this to president yoo later, okay?”

minjeong tensed up.

“i told you i'm not going back to the student council room anymore. maybe you should just leave it on the door and wait until any of them sees it,” she suggested.

aeri sighed.

“it's food, minjeongie. you don't put food on the floor because that's clearly disrespectful. come on, help a friend out. i promise i'll confess to her once i gain all the courage that i need,” aeri begged.

oh, how it gets hard for minjeong to resist those puppy-like eyes.

“fine,” minjeong breathed out.

aeri reached their university at exactly six in the morning. her tutoring routine with jimin has always been that early and the brunette immediately blushed at the thought of jimin waking up early even if her first class starts at eight just to be able to teach the younger girl.

the japanese girl skipped her way towards the council room to where jimin usually teaches her. sometimes, it would be in the college library, but jimin prefers to be alone with her students so she could teach them well.

“president yoo?” aeri called out, peaking a little at the slightly opened door. she was welcomed by the raven-haired girl with a small smile. 

jimin looked completely different today. the left side of her hair was tied up in a small braid and her dark locks fell freely on her shoulders. the braid somehow exposed her side profile and aeri could only gawk at how beautiful she appeared to be. as always, jimin looked neat because of wearing her complete uniform inside the campus. 

she definitely is a model student. 

“good morning miss uchinaga,” jimin greeted formally. aeri just smiled and greeted back with a slight bow. jimin always talks formally to her even if the both of them are alone and the japanese girl already got used to it. 

“i'm ready for another tutoring session with you, pres!” aeri uttered enthusiastically. 

jimin's facial expressions immediately changed. she wasn't going to tutor aeri today for she needs to tell her the truth. it was the perfect timing since the both of them were alone. 

“well, you see, we will not be having any tutoring sessions today.” 

aeri gave the raven-haired girl a confused look. 

“why so? are you busy today?” 

jimin sighed. 

“i need to talk to you about something important. can you please have a seat?” 

aeri had no choice but to follow the council president's order. she grabbed the nearest chair and made herself comfortable, but aeri couldn't deny the fact that she was feeling really nervous. was jimin mad at her? was it about her tests? or perhaps, did she do something that was against jimin's liking? 

the japanese girl didn't know.

all that she had to do was to listen attentively to whatever jimin was going to say.
 
“so, what is it that you want to talk about?” 

the raven-haired girl suddenly chickened out. it was her first time seeing aeri look so serious. her lips weren't curved up into a wide smile, her eyes looked dull and she appeared to be emotionless. 

god, i hate this. 

if only yizhuo was here. 

i was never good at rejections. yizhuo takes care of my admirers for me. 

how am i supposed to tell it to her when she literally looks so fragile right now? 

jimin sighed for the nth time. she didn't have a choice and she knew she had to do it before aeri's feelings grow further. 

“miss uchinaga, we are not here to talk about your grades or the subject that i'm currently tutoring. i actually wanted to talk to you about a certain matter..” 

“what do you me–” 

“i am terribly sorry but you really should stop giving me gifts and asking minjeong to bring it to me,” jimin said. 

aeri's emotionless expression immediately turned into a different one. she looked rather confused, pained, surprised. jimin started to panic on the inside. 

“what are you talking about, president yoo?” 

the raven-haired girl tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears. she could feel the tension growing inside the room but she still chose to continue. 

“i know you baked those cupcakes. yeji also texted me that miss kim minjeong met her at the convenient store this morning and she asked her to give the bento box to me once we are finished with our tutoring session.” 

aeri's eyes widened. everything was too much to intake and she didn't know how to respond. she wondered how jimin found out about her adoration towards her and a certain blonde girl popped into her head. 

did minjeong tell her? 

why would she? 

no, she wouldn't. minjeong's not like that. 

right? 

“if you are wondering, i overheard the two of you talking beside the locker. i was about to leave but i suddenly heard my name and i could not help but to eavesdrop. i am sorry about that, for sure you are thinking that i invaded your privacy,” the raven-haired girl uttered in a sincere way. 

“n–no, it's not like that president yoo! i'm just quite surprised, i guess.”