Kim Chaewon is a model student. Kim Chaewon is working on her second degree at 20 years old, and on the fast track for grad school applications by next year. Kim Chaewon is going to change the world, even if her family refused to pay for her education after she came out. She has a full ride scholarship for her grades, and she will graduate with no debt.

So, when a piece of paper with 10 digits on it is slammed down on top of her Quantum Mechanics textbook during her requisite daily 3.5 hours of library time, her reaction is one of intense irritation.

“What’s this?” She asks suspiciously, lifting the paper with the tip of her pencil.

“It’s a phone number,” Yuri drawls, shifting some of Chaewon’s notebooks so she can plop down in the adjacent chair and prop her feet up on the desk. “I’d have thought you’d know that, Miss Genius.”

“I know that,” Chaewon says, pushing at Yuri’s feet until they fall to the floor again with a thunk. “Who does it belong to, and why is it on my desk?”

“It belongs to a hot girl, and it’s on your desk because said hot girl wants you to text it.”

Chaewon sighs, rolling her eyes and trying to turn her attention back to her notes. “Yuri, I told you. I don’t have time for dating.”

“Come on, Chaewon,” Yuri groans. She crumples up the nearest piece of blank paper and throws it – it bounces off Chaewon’s forehead, and Chaewon has to breathe deeply through her nose to keep from breaking the sanctity of the library ‘quiet’ sign to yell at her. “You’re not even the high-powered CEO I know you’re going to be yet, and you’re already pulling 60-hour weeks. It’s only October!”

“I’m motivated,” Chaewon counters, but Yuri shakes her head.

“You’re a recluse is what you are. You live in the library!” Yuri gestures around them emphatically, as if the realization of where they are is somehow going to change Chaewon’s mind. “You’re young, you’re gorgeous, and you’re recently out of the closet. You could have any girl you wanted. You even have a y roommate, what’s her name again -“

Chaewon can feel her face heating up, and not for the first time she rues the day she even mentioned her roommate to Yuri. She’s Chaewon’s best friend, but Yuri is far too invested in her personal life (or lack thereof), and she doesn’t need to give her any more ammunition. Even if her roommate is ridiculously attractive, all three times Chaewon has seen her this year, with her perpetual gym clothes and her raven ponytail and those cute, slightly bookish glasses.

“I said cute, a cute roommate, and I don’t remember her name,” Chaewon hisses, already packing her things. Her own room is less quiet and her desk is a little too small, but it has a lock on the door, and right now that sounds incredibly tempting. “It started with a Y, Yoonha or Yuna or something – and we’ve barely even spoken, so don’t even -“

“Okay, jeez,” Yuri concedes, raising her hands in surrender. “Look, there’s a girl in my English Lit class I think you’ll like.”

Chaewon pauses in her hurried stuffing of physics textbooks into her bag to sigh, rolling her shoulders in preparation for the weight of it.

“God, sometimes I wonder what it’s like to live in a world where you can take a Lit class.”

“Well, you can ask her all about it on your date!” Yuri chirps, handing Chaewon her notebook with the phone number still on top.

“Yeah, sure,” Chaewon mutters, taking the book and shoving it beside her laptop. She’s slung the bag over her shoulder and is halfway to the door when Yuri’s words hit her.

“Wait, my what?”

Chaewon has no idea how Yuri talked her into this. She could have resisted – she could have locked herself in her apartment, could have disappeared off-campus to do some work instead of letting Yuri pick an outfit and help her with her makeup.

But she didn’t. And now she’s standing outside a moderately fancy sushi restaurant, in a dress she hasn’t worn since her last disastrous date over a year ago. The one her mother had set her up on, with the boring business major who claimed he only slept with ‘good Catholics’.

Maybe she is the tiniest bit excited for her first real date with a girl. Possibly. Not that she’d ever admit it to Yuri.

She smooths her clammy hands over her skirt as the hostess leads her into the dining room, and the excitement almost doesn’t seem worth the nerves.

“Someone will be by to take your drink order –“ The hostess is saying, but Chaewon has long since tuned her out because the girl that stands up from the table with a dimpled smile is probably the single most attractive person Chaewon has ever seen.

Long blue hair in soft waves, strong jaw, bright hazelnut eyes, and biceps that strain against her tight button-up shirt. The combination is enough to make her knees weak – but thankfully Yujin is there to steady her.

“Chaewon, hi! You look amazing, wow,” Yujin says genuinely, accepting Chaewon’s handshake and pulling out her chair. She seems a little overly friendly for a first meeting, but Chaewon brushes it off as their eyes meet across the table. Something about Yujin’s grin is striking Chaewon as somewhat familiar, but it seems less and less important as the conversation flows freely.

Yujin