"i'm ning.. ning yizhuo, a transferee from China. it's... nice to meet you all"

she gives a light bow and her jittery fingers hold the straps of her small bag, following the professor's hand as she was told to occupy the seat just around the fourth row. her eyes roam around the room, eyeing almost every detail she could notice, an attempt to scribble little doodles on her almost two-month old journal. ah, it's the first day of school, and yet here she is, drowning herself into art.

"you're really fond of butterflies, no?"

yizhuo suddenly closes her journal as she hears a foreign voice just beside her. the girl laughs quietly as she fixed the lost bang that had fallen on her forehead. "sorry to startle you, but i really like your doodles. you an artist?"

yizhuo couldn't answer, since she wasn't really fond of socialization. her whole life, she had only met two to four people and considered them her friends, but she wasn't sure if she could still call them that now. the girl beside her clicked her tongue to ease the awkwardness.

"ah, i see. not used to talking. kim minjeong, by the way. i hope we can be good friends."

yizhuo wasn't sure if it was the glare of the morning sunlight or minjeong's smile, but she sensed warmth. not always in her life she encounters this kind of feeling, and it paints a glimmer of hope in her eyes the moment it meets with minjeong's. she hesitates to bring her hand out, and minjeong nods, signalling her that it's okay, i'll be waiting for your response. you can do it, pal.

"n-nice to meet you, minjeong" she gives a light grin, taking minjeong's soft and welcoming hand.

-----

"n-ning-ah... hold on.." minjeong shakily pulls away as yizhuo realizes she went kind of far today.

"a-ah! i'm sorry, joongie, was it bad?.." yizhuo asks as she her lip, bursting minjeong's poor gay heart.

"no! you were totally amazing. i just didn't know you could... you know, kiss like that.." minjeong's cheeks flushed red summer afternoon, averting yizhuo's gaze because god she couldn't take it by looking at her mesmerizing enthusiasm that she got complimented for being a good kisser.

sometimes, minjeong wanted to punch herself, if she would let anyone know about their situation, they would probably go off telling minjeong what the hell, you're corrupting yizhuo's mind, what on earth have you been thinking?

seriously, things weren't supposed to come down like this, if only she controlled herself when the younger woman had been doodling small sketches of lovers swooning with each other; if only she hadn't asked her if yizhuo had tried kissing, if only she kept shut,

but no, yizhuo was just too irresistible . minjeong has never felt this way about someone before, atleast before she met yizhuo for the first time on their first day of classes. she was like a puppy's soft breath on a winter day, like a caress of the warm wind. minjeong couldn't help but feel infatuated.

"did i hurt you? i'll try to be careful next time" minjeong's head malfunctioned the moment yizhuo uttered "next time". jesus christ, we're going for more.

"i-i loved it, ning. you didn't hurt me at all. thank you" minjeong wipes her thumb on yizhuo's cheek, emitting a small gasp from her.

they come out of the girls comfort room like nothing happened, and head to the campus gates. minjeong's place was the complete opposite of yizhuo's, which is why they had to part ways whenever they head home.

----

sometimes, yizhuo would get too excited, she would peck minjeong out of the blue, and the latter gets flustered. it was all those random parts of the week where they would kiss in the garden, the campus rooftop, the room at the back of the gym, and even in the classroom when everyone was out of the picture. minjeong was going insane, lightheaded that she was supposed to take charge and initiate every kiss but no, it was always yizhuo. minjeong's stomach twists knots when she's near, when she holds her cheek and leans in, consuming her lips.

this time, they were at the library, and it's obviously awfully quiet. minjeong was rewriting her notes as yizhuo was reading a novel she hasn't even heard of. they were on the leftmost table of the fiction section, and not enough people come by to hang at this very spot.

"m-minjeong.. can i kiss you?" minjeong stops writing, her face all flushed and red once again. yizhuo was just there, waiting for minjeong to answer.

for some reason, she doesn't want to let her. maybe because she wants it to be her that would initiate it this time. or maybe she was just worried that the never ending beating of her heart would kill her.

or; she was scared of keeping things like this all the time, that she's kissing the girl she loves, but doesn't even get the assurance that she feels the same.

"ah, about that, ning... can we pass for today?" minjeong feels the pang in her chest when the younger's pupils went from upright to inverted crescents. ah .

she was about to take it back when a familiar voice called out her name.

aeri uchinaga from the other class walked to them as yizhuo retreats from minejong's space, widening their gap.

"i didn't expect to see you here, a new friend?" aeri used her lips to pout and point at yizhuo who was silently averting her gaze.

friend, minjeong was unable to answer. is yizhuo a friend to her? or just some person she kisses because she wants to know what it feels like?

"yes, ning, this is aeri, or giselle, she's from 4-B. she likes drawing too, you know?" minjeong tells yizhuo as she just looked at aeri with a blank expression, settling awkward air.

"it seems she doesn't want to talk too much yet," aeri mentally sweats as minjeong gave a sheepish smile.

"don't worry, she's just usually shy, trust me, she's a really great companion!" minjeong persuades as yizhuo was acting minjeong's words otherwise; she started to glare at aeri, and it wasn't really going well.

aeri then bids them goodbye as they start to fix their things, planning to leave very soon.

"can you walk with me today?" yizhuo asks as they step out of the campus gate. minjeong was confused, since this was the first time yizhuo asked her about walking together.

"i mean, sure, i'll just take the seven pm train later" minjeong nods and they start to push their feet towards the tracks.

the silence was killing her, not literally, but minjeong feels like dying. all she could hear was the pre-evening breeze and her calm heartbeats caused by the thought of walking y