A month had passed since the start of the new semester.

Chaeyoung recently had her first evaluations and apparently, she did great. Ignoring her awkward living situation of the first weeks, everything seemed to be okay now.

Since Mina had decided to speak to her, the task of befriending the girl had become much easier, still a challenge though.

They wouldn't talk much, just when necessary but sometimes Chaeyoung would try her luck and ask a silly question like some days ago when she said

"Hey, Mina do you like monkeys?"

To which Mina decided to ignore the question but then she looked at how serious Chaeyoung looked and answered

"I don't know if I do or not, but I really love penguins"

And that was it. Chaeyoung was random like that. For sure she had a reason at the moment but out of context like what it looked like to Mina, well... Chaeyoung was really something.

She had also noticed how Mina was actually really quiet, she seemed to enjoy silence. It's true the girl gave a silent treatment to Chaeyoung for weeks and now they talked just a bit, but you could see how Mina wasn't quiet just because of Chaeyoung, maybe that's why it was so easy for her to just ignore the younger one. Pity, she had to meet her just screaming because when she got to hear Mina's calm voice, she was sure she hadn't heard anything like it before.  

What you could really call a big win is that they had exchanged phone numbers.

But not just because, no, it had a very specific reason. As usual, Chaeyoung would buy dinner for Mina sometimes, but she had to get to her room and then decide if she was going to do it or not by interpreting the girl's mood, Chaeyoung had got really good at it and leave again. Now, she could just ask if the girl wanted anything and buy it before getting to the room.

But their text messages were just as weird as their exchanges in real life.

Some of her last texts a couple of days ago went like this

To Only Mina
M
Mina
Are you i the dorms
in*

From Only Mina
Why do u not know how to type
yes
why
bring me fruit

To Only Mina
srry
treat me nixe
nice*
ok
strawberries

And that would be it. Mina wouldn't start the conversation or finish it either. Somehow Chaeyoung would always mess up typing whenever writing to Mina, she was trying to fix that up.

The short girl was now sitting by the desk she had to get for herself because the only desk they were supposed to have and share, Mina had appropriated. Somehow she had managed to get an extra one that was kind of old and was a little bit crooked but it worked either way. And yeah, she needed it because even though they had started to talk a bit and their interactions were human enough, Mina hadn't given up on separating the place, apparently, she was still not comfortable sharing a room with someone like Chaeyoung.

But she had heard a bit of the conversation Mina had with her friend some weeks ago, and she knew that Mina's intentions apparently weren't bad, she was just dense.

And stubborn

And proud

And had been taught a lot about hate.

Well, she had heard a lot about the conversation. But it was for the best. She now knew that Mina was trying to be okay with all homoual activity.

And Chaeyoung had this ability of reading people quite well, except for when someone was flirting with her or showing them they had a crush on her, but still, she could see how Mina probably didn't realize that her actions or words had consequences.

The thing is, it was Saturday, she was alone, and she hadn't made any plans so she was hoping for a text from one of her friends to save her from a boring afternoon.

That's when Nayeon called her. She took her phone with a big smile.

"About time," she breathed.

"Yeah, hello to you too."

"Would we go out?" she asked with a baby voice

"Yes, you don't need to convince me  with cuteness, okay?"

"Yay," she celebrated throwing a fist up.

"We should get dinner, and then maybe some drinks, I don't know. But invite the girls, I'll pay, don't worry," Nayeon proposed.

"Why thank you," Chaeyoung joked. "you're really kind."

"I'll hang up now, bye." and that she did.

So she went to her messages and typed a quick invitation

SMC🦅🐯🤮

From Chaeyoungie🍓
hey guys, Nayeon is buying us dinner

From Tzuyu🧡
when

From Dahyun🤍
as if you're busy today or any other day

From Chaeyoungie🍓
Just come to my room and we'll go together

From Tzuyu🧡
okay

Chaeyoung waited for half an hour when she felt some noises outside her room, more like voices bickering so she knew it was them.

She went to the door descending only by her side of the room, when Mina wasn't there she still respected the tape, out of habit maybe.

She opened the door just when Tzuyu was about to knock.

"Hi, come on in," Chaeyoung greeted both of them, retreating to her bed and leaving the girls to enter.

They had got in, but Tzuyu just kept looking at the red tape with a serious face. Dahyun on the other hand got with Chaeyoung on the bed.

"I've always loved your bed," she stated fully throwing herself next to Chaeyoung

"Maybe you just love it because I'm on it."

"Yeah maybe." and she snuggled closer to her friend.

"Wait," Chaeyoung suddenly said "I have to pee." and she left to the bathroom, leaving Dahyun complaining but respecting the line and then crossing it with a careful step as if she was doing something really forbidden. When she got out she did the exact same thing and got to her bed again, pushing Dahyun to the other side.

"Would you stop that?" Tzuyu suddenly
snapped

"What?" Chaeyoung genuinely questioned

"That thing, with the line, she is not even here, you look ridiculous."

"Oh."

Chaeyoung had told them all about Mina some weeks ago over lunch with Nayeon. All six of the girls were there and she realized they didn't know about her new bestie and all the things that came along with it. So she told them everything from the first awkward encounter to the tiny progress they were having, which she was really proud of achieving for some reason, it was all a game to her but her friends didn't quite see it like that.

Jihyo, Nayeon and Tzuyu were furious at Mina.

It even took all of Chaeyoung's physical strength to keep Nayeon from going to her room just to talk to the girl.

Dahyun and Jeongyeon were just laughing like maniacs over the fact that Chaeyoung had just accepted everything the girl said.

"Chaeyoung you can't just let her do that to you," Jihyo said really concerned

"I'm going to kill her, really, who does she think she is, my Chaeyoungie is really dumb but no one can-"

"Okay, Nayeon you don't have to do that," Chaeyoung tried to calm everyone, "she is not that bad, we get along now."

"You talk to her and she answers whenever she wants, she doesn't let you walk freely in your own room and she treats you as if you were a predator," Tzuyu argued with a serious face.

"We get along now," Dahyun mocked Chaeyoung words and Jeongyeon began laughing again.

"Come on you too, it's not funny either."

"Chaeyoung I'm sorry, it's hilarious, okay yeah, the girl has some serious issues, she might be dealing with internalized homophobia for all we know, you can never be sure but, wow, you really are naïve."

Nayeon gave a nasty look to Jeongyeon and held Chaeyoung. "Yeah, but she's our silly naïve little baby, that Mina girl better watches her back."

And they continued to discuss the situation, while Chaeyoung kept on giving excuses for her roommate's behavior.

Now Tzuyu was calling her out again. She was thankful Mina wasn't here.

"Really, Chae, it's stupid, you are better than this."

"Tzuyu, come on, don't be like that, we know it's weird but Chaeyoung is dealing with it her own way." Dahyun decided to sit on the bed and give her opinion, to which Chaeyoung was grateful because she didn't know what to say to Tzuyu, the girl had really reacted negatively to all of this.

Chaeyoung decided this uncomfortable moment to text Nayeon for details while the other two girls argued.

To Nayeon💙 5:35pm
Tzuyu and Dahyun are arguing in my room, when should we get there
and where is 'there'

From Nayeon💙5:35pm
around 6 its okay, we'll meet at the place right outside campus
with the cute lights

To Nayeon💙5:35pm
Okay, see you:(

From Nayeon💙
Cry baby

Yeah. She was a cry baby.

"Okay we have to get there by 6 so we should get going in a bit" Chaeyoung calmly said to them as if they weren't arguing.

'What a pair of goofs'

***

Nayeon's exams complicated the girl's life more than they should have, that's why on this fine weekend, all exams finally done, she had decided to treat everyone for dinner. She needed a break, but mostly she needed to spend quality time with her favorite humans.  

She hadn't been able to see Chaeyoung much, most of her time was divided between classes, studying, and well, Jeongyeon. But nothing was going the way she wanted. 

She was really losing it. Nayeon may seem like a very composed person, but recently she was struggling more than one should. And all of her energies seemed to run out because of one simple reason. 

Yoo Jeongyeon.

The girl was driving her crazy. Nayeon was a hard to get girl. She used to make it really difficult for the both of them but recently she was so done, she started really trying, but Jeongyeon was just not helping at all. It didn't matter how much she tried and leave her hand hanging, carefully touching the other girl's hand when they were walking, just so she could take it. It didn't matter how much she cuddled up to Jeongyeon when they were watching a movie. It didn't matter how much she would tease the other girl. Jeongyeon just wouldn't react. 

Yeah, they had kissed. Once. It was really great for Nayeon but apparently, the other girl didn't want to try again or something, because, after their kiss, nothing else happened, they didn't talk about it and everything came back to their same old routine. 

That's why Nayeon was really losing hope. Wasn't she enough? Had she read it all wrong? She had no idea what was going inside the other girl's mind.  She could always ask, but that wasn't Nayeon's forte. 

'Communication, what a joke.'

So today she was going to go out with her friends, and yeah that also meant Jeongyeon but she could always ignore her and have a great time. Right?

'No dumb beautiful frustrating gorgeous stupid kind slow girl is going to mess with me.'

She texted to her group chat of three, with Jeong and Jihyo to let them know about the plans she had made. They really needed to make of group with the six of them but she was too lazy to, so maybe one day someone would have the time. She put on some nice casual clothes and some light makeup before checking herself in the mirror one last time 

'It's her own fault she's missing this masterpiece' She winked at herself and left for the Bar and Grill place she had agreed with Chaeyoung.

Everyone loved meat so this place was always their favorite, they also loved the drinks. When she got there, she looked for their usual table, almost at the end near a big window. All five of the girls were already there, she deserved a big entrance. 

When she reached the table she gave big smiles and hugs to everyone. Or almost.  Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were sitting at one side of the table, so she greeted them first, making sure to hold Chaeyoung the longest, and the small girl didn't complain. She was sure she had missed her too. Then, Jihyo was at one of the extremes of the table, who she also gave a big hug, and then there was the source of her sleepless nights. Jeongyeon smiled at her when they made eye contact and she really wanted to slap it away or kiss it away, she always confused those two. Either way, she was not going to sit at the other extreme of the table just to avoid sitting next to Jeong, that would be stupid and everyone would question it, so she had no other chance but to get the courage, she grabbed the girl's shoulder in a reassuring way as if saying hi and took a seat next to her. No hug, but it was enough.  

Chaeyoung immediately gave her a questioning look but she answered it with another one indicating not to worry. They could talk later. Now it was not the moment to suffer about her love life or lack of it. 

'Ugh, great start, Nayeon, you rock'

"Did you guys already order?" She asked no one in particular.

"Yeah, they'll bring the meat any minute now, I also asked for a beer for you, is that okay?" Jeongyeon suddenly replied.

She looked at the girl who was already looking at her with a worried face.

'What is she worried about? she knows what I order. Foolish'

"Mhhm", she hummed affirmatively.

She could feel Chaeyoung's strong gaze but she didn't look at the girl. No one seemed to notice the strong tension between the two of them besides her best friend. 

"Finally we are all here, did you guys do well on your first evaluations?" Jihyo saved her from her awkward position.

"Oh, don't mention that. I forgot everything once I handed the last paper," Dahyun complained.

"Bet you failed," Tzuyu replied.

Tzuyu was really beautiful, extremely, which made it weird whenever she said things like this. She was really mean sometimes, but they all knew she was just joking. Nayeon had grown really fond of the girl ever since Chaeyoung had introduced them in high school, she was glad Chaeyoung had Dahyun and Tzuyu as friends when she had already left for the university. The three of them fitted perfectly. 

"Bet you'll be single for life," Dahyun counterattacked and that surprisingly made Tzuyu really uncomfortable.  Nayeon wondered if it had anything to do with the girl in between them. You see, Tzuyu could be really quiet and savage when needed, but she had one weakness, that everyone knew, everyone except for the source of that weakness. She had a massive crush on Son Chaeyoung, but she had never acted on it, and if you tried to talk to her about it, she was going to deny everything, but it's so obvious that Nayeon sometimes really wanted to slap her best friend and shout at her face about it. But no, Chaeyoung blindly believed that they were just really good friends and that all the things Tzuyu did specially for her and not for any of the other girls, were just normal.

Nayeon used to find it really cute, the girl is extremely jealous of people that talks with Chaeyoung and is not one of us, she is always buying her coffee, she is the first one to laugh at Chaeyoung unfunny jokes, and she is always looking at the girl, everyone wondered how it was possible that Chaeyoung hadn't realized by now. But now she doesn't think is cute to have a crush and not act on it 'C'mon Jeongyeon, I'm right here.' 

"Okay don't fight now, we are here to have a good time," Jihyo, the voice of reason, stated.

The meat and drinks and other food they had asked for arrived in a couple of minutes, everyone got focused on that, while Jeongyeon got in charge of the grill. Dahyun and Chaeyoung started talking about some Netflix series they had been watching, Jihyo was helping the girl next to her, and Tzuyu was still lost in thought. 

Nayeon poured her a drink and tried to give her a reassuring look. Tzuyu smiled back, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. 

After an hour everything was better, it was getting darker outside and the food and drinks cheered everyone up, this is what Nayeon had wished for, all six of them, just eating and laughing together. She was still pretty tense when it came to talk to Jeongyeon, but with the drinks she had now on her system, it was getting easier. Everything seemed a little bit more fun now, was it the alcohol? Maybe. But she was taking advantage of it. She looked at Chaeyoung, the girl was happy too.

But then she looked behind her. There was a girl, with pretty brown hair and a sweet smile, she was looking directly at Chaeyoung. Nayeon looked at her for a while, trying to see if she knew her from somewhere, but nothing came to mind. The girl wouldn't move, she seemed to be completely amazed by her friend and it was getting weird, so she decided to let this one know.

"Chaeyoungie, you got an admirer," she said. Chaeyoung looked at her with a questioning look so she pursed her lips to indicate behind her. Chaeyoung turned around, and the girl's smile grew even bigger. Chaeyoung looked slightly embarrassed now as the girl approached her even more seeing that Chaeyoung had seen her. 

"Son Chaeyoung." The girl smiled at her. "What a nice coincidence to see you here."

Chaeyoung stood up and politely bowed to the mysterious girl. 

"Hey..." Chaeyoung seemed to hesitate but then added, "Minatozaki Sana."

The girl gave a little squeak. Which made Chaeyoung's face become red. At that Tzuyu moved uncomfortably on her seat. Everyone was watching the scene but Tzuyu remained to look forward with her hands grabbing the table. 

'What's all this about?'

The girl was going to say something when she was interrupted by another voice

"Yah, Sana, what's taking you so long?" The voice asked with a sulky tone while walking towards, apparently, this Sana girl. A dark-haired girl that Nayeon could have sworn she had seen somewhere else appeared. That's when Chaeyoung lost all the color of her face. 

"Mina," she said. 

'Oh no, not this , I've been meaning to know her' Nayeon reacted at the name, trying to stand up, but Jeongyeon grabbed her wrist, preventing her actions. 

"Minari, Chaeyoung's here, why don't you invite her to have drinks with us?" The sweet voice appeared again.

"Sana, don't be silly she's clearly with her friends. Let her be. Let's go." Nayeon couldn't stand that voice. She really wanted to tell her a few things, but Jeongyeon tightened her grip and whispered to her ear. "Nayeon, it's okay, let her handle it." She was mad, but Jeongyeon's voice worked wonders in her, so she stayed. 

"Oh, we can hang out next time, Chaeyoung, would you like that?" The smiling girl proposed.

Chaeyoung was obviously lost for words, she glanced at Mina and then at Sana. "Uhm, yeah, maybe." 

"Okay then, see you around," Sana said as Mina grabbed her and guided her to another table.

Chaeyoung looked all of that still standing when suddenly Dahyun blurted out loud 

"You got a fan club, Chaeyoungie?"

At this Chaeyoung sat again while Tzuyu gave Dahyun a look full of pure hate. 

She tried to remove her wrist from Jeongyeon's strong grip but the girl suddenly moved her hand down, to grab Nayeon's hand intertwining their fingers. That caught Nayeon by surprise, but she was glad. Mad, but glad.

"That's one of my roommate's friends," Chaeyoung said. "She is lovely."

"Chaeyoung, you , she clearly likes you," Dahyun assured, gaining another look from Tzuyu.

'Literally, it's looking all pissed right next to you, Chaeyoung, c'mon'

"So that was your roommate, correct?" Jihyo seemed to be the only one asking the right questions.

"Yeah, that was Mina..." Chaeyoung's voice lowered with every word. 

"She didn't say anything to you," Tzuyu began. "You said her name and she completely ignored you." She was looking at Chaeyoung now.

"Well, yeah. It's okay, I'm used to it now, Tzuyu, don't worry," Chaeyoung uttered innocently.

'oh no, my sweet baby'

"That's not right, Chaeyoung." Tzuyu was mad. Suddenly Nayeon remembered she was mad too.

"Chaeyoung why do you stand everything she does?" Nayeon finally found her voice.

Her tiny friend took some time before she answered, "I don't know." she said calmly, "she's not that bad, really. It's fine." 

"Well I trust you, Chaeyoung," Jeongyeon said. 

Their hands were still intertwined and they stayed that way until they left. After half an hour, everyone decided it was better to head back to the dorms. Nayeon paid and everyone got up. Jeongyeon was still holding Nayeon's hand. The girl wanted some explanation, but she'll ask her later. Now, they got out of the place hand in hand. Everyone saw. Chaeyoung too, so she smiled at Nayeon and she felt really happy at that moment.

'See, Jeongyeon, it's not that hard'

Everyone went to their respective dorms, Chaeyoung was in the same building as Jihyo and Jeongyeon. Tzuyu and Dahyun were in another one that was a little bit more far away than her's. She didn't share a room with any of the girls so Jeongyeon walked her. 

Walking under the moonlight holding her lover's hand was really healing. All her doubts were disappearing. She was less mad a the girl next to her.

"What are you thinking about?" Jeongyeon asked in a low voice.

"I like it when you do this," she boldly confessed. There was nothing to lose.

"Really?" 

"Of course I do, don't you?"

They had arrived at Nayeon's door. She wondered if her roommate was there. 

"I love it," Jeongyeon whispered

"Then do it more often, silly" Nayeon let go of Jeongyeon's hand and moved her hand up to caress Jeongyeon's slightly cold cheek. "You're cold," she stated. Jeongyeon moved her own hand up and grabbed Nayeon's hand on her cheek.

"You're beautiful," she said. 

Nayeon removed her hand. "Yah, that doesn't have anything to do with you being cold."

"I thought we were just saying facts."

"You're stupid." 

"Fair enough." 

At that Nayeon heard movement from inside her room and decided it was time to go. "You have to go now, thanks for walking me."

"Always," Jeongyeon smiled 

"Okay, you can stop now," Nayeon cringed. But she loved every word that came out of Jeongyeon's mouth. "Good night."

"Good night." And with that Jeongyeon left.

'She'll be the death of me'

She watched her go and then opened her room. Nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to witness, all the giggly feeling Jeongyeon had created was gone. 

"You," she shouted. "What are you doing here?" She looked furiously at the girl and then at her roommate and that's when it hit her. She could have sworn she had seen the girl because she had. It was the girl her roommate always hung out with.