That night Chaeyoung got to her room really happy. She had a great dinner with her friends and even though they complained about her roommate again, Jeongyeon had said she trusted her and that brought some peace to it all. She was not that dumb, right? She was also really thrilled for her best friend. She saw how Jeongyeon and her left together hand in hand, well everyone did, but no one really knew all of the push and pull they had experimented as well as Chaeyoung so she was proud of their development. Everyone at their own pace, right? 

The joy and excitement of the night quickly died down though, because it was getting late and her roommate hadn't returned. She saw the girl at the Bar and Grill, maybe she was still there. But still, she couldn't help but wonder if she was okay, maybe something had happened or maybe she was staying out, she couldn't know. It wasn't her place to know after all, but who could blame her for worrying just a bit. She looked at her phone tempted to text Mina, but she resisted.

It was now some minutes past midnight and she felt the door. Mina had returned. The girl went straight to the bathroom and then to her bed ready to sleep. 

"How was your night?" She tried.

Chaeyoung saw how the girl had her phone and was typing something really quick. 'Maybe something did happen'  She thought and tried again. "Are you okay?" but Mina left her phone, turned off her light, and turned around. 

Chaeyoung then went to sleep too, she was kind of worried but still, it was nothing out of the ordinary if the girl ignored her, it was just that she had been really proud of her little wins that she expected to receive some answers. 

The next morning she got up a little later than usual as expected of a Sunday. Mina on the other hand was already awake. She was on top of her bed with her legs crossed typing again on her phone. 

"Morning," Chaeyoung tried again hoping whatever happened last night, was better now. It wasn't. Mina looked up at the girl, but she gave her a serious face, like the ones she used to have on their first weeks as roomies and then looked down again. Chaeyoung felt like Mina needed some space, maybe she was going through something, so she got up and dressed quickly to go out for a bit. "I'll leave you to it, then, felt like you might need some time alone." And she got through the door. 

Had she done something wrong? 'Don't be silly, Chaeyoung, it probably has nothing to do with you'

So she started walking around campus with no clear direction or a place in mind. It was a bit more chilly now, she was wearing a turtleneck and a long coat, she wished she had brought a scarf as well, but she was not going back, not yet at least. Soon enough she found herself near Nayeon's dorm so she took her phone out and dialed her number. 

"Chaeyoungie."

"I'm near your room, can I go there?"

"Yeah I was planning on talking to you either way," Nayeon said with a deep breath.

"Okay wait for me." Chaeyoung hung up.

'Weird. Maybe something went wrong with Jeongyeon'

Nayeon was alone in her room, she had answered the door after a few knocks and they were now with their legs crossed face to face on the girl's bed. 

"What happened? What do you need to talk to me about?" Chaeyoung questioned. "Did Jeongyeon do something? 

Nayeon abandoned her serious face for a slightly red one. 

"Oh, she did," Chaeyoung smiled.

"She was so cute, Chaeyoungie. I was really mad at her for being so slow, but then I can't stay mad at her." Nayeon's eyes really shined. "She walked me home and we were rea-" Nayeon suddenly stopped herself with a quick hand movement. "Wait, wait, no." She got her serious face again. "That's not what's important right now." 

Chaeyoung looked confused. "What do you mean, just tell me."

"I'm trying," Nayeon insisted "Okay so after all that, whatever, I got inside my room and-" Nayeon seemed to be reliving the memories because she furrowed her eyebrows. "She was here," She said with a deep voice as if she was talking about her worst enemy, putting emphasis on every word. 

"Who?" Chaeyoung was now more confused.

"Mina," Nayeon stated with a disgusted face.

"What? How?"

"THE GIRL WAS HERE IN MY OWN ROOM, I SWEAR I-"

"Nayeon, calm down, explain."

Nayeon took a deep breath and stood up, going to her roommate's nightstand and grabbing a cute pink frame from it. "Here," she said handing the picture to Chaeyoung who was completely lost.

"Why would I want that, Nayeon you're not-" 

"Just take it, Chaeyoung, God," Nayeon snapped. 

So Chaeyoung quickly and afraid of mad Nayeon took the frame and looked at it. In the picture there were three girls, one was at the back making a weird face, almost as if she was not supposed to be in the picture and at the front, there were the two other girls, one was looking at the camera and the other was looking at the girl next to her. 

"That's Mina," Chaeyoung said confused. The girl looking at the camera was Mina, she had her hair a little bit shorter, but it was her. 

"Yeah," Nayeon began again, "and that's my roommate, Momo, you've seen her," she said pointing at the girl next to Mina. "They're besties," Nayeon added with a mocking voice for the besties part.

That's when Chaeyoung suddenly put it all together, Mina was here last night, with Nayeon, and now all her progress was over. Her friend had something to do with that, she was sure. 

"Oh no, Nayeon, what did you say to her!?" Chaeyoung cried.

"Chaeyoungie, you have to understand, last night I did have one or two drinks, I was not completely-"

"NAYEON WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HER?" Chaeyoung was frustrated.

"Okay, okay, I was surprised. I asked what she was doing here and Momo answered everything for her, that girl, I have to talk to-"

"Nayeon, please," Chaeyoung insisted.

"Right, sorry. Well, she looked kind of scared, I was yelling, you know? sorry, but I was," Nayeon corrected herself. "I am really mad at her. I hate the way she treats you and..." 

That's how Nayeon began explaining everything she had said to Mina last night it turns out she was more mean than she had intended.

"She's my friend, Nayeon, what's the matter?" Momo asked her slightly raising her voice due to Nayeon's reaction.

"Friend? How can you be friends with her? She's a homophobic piece of-"

"Hey", Momo interrupted her. "Watch your mouth."

"Do you know how your amazing friend has been treating my friend?" Nayeon was pissed.

That's when Mina grabbed Momo's wrist who was about to go to Nayeon and probably do something she would regret later. "Wait," she said softly. "She's right, let her." 

"Oh, so you're admitting it," Nayeon began again. "Don't you have any shame?, my sweet baby has been behaving like a fool in her own room just because of you- And what's with the tape, uh?" Nayeon was in a monologue now. "You can't forbid her to walk freely in her own room, what's the matter with you. She's not going to do anything to you. She might like girls, but what's with that, uh? Tell me. That doesn't mean she has a crush on every girl she meets, I don't know who told you that. Or I don't know if anyone has told you this but YOU are not the center of the universe. I'M A LESBIAN, so what? I don't like you, I even despise you, the-" 

At that Momo got up again, putting an end to Nayeon's scene. "Enough," she said.

"Enough?! I'm just starting, you-"

But this time Mina got up making Nayeon stop, she got closer to Nayeon and raised her head. "Sorry," she simply said looking directly at Nayeon's eyes. She then gave a look to Momo and left, leaving Nayeon to yell at her roommate.

Now in Nayeon's room, Chaeyoung was completely frozen after Nayeon ended her story.

"Chaengie, say something please." 

"Nayeon, I love you," Chaeyoung began slowly, "but I was handling things, you didn't have to defend my honor like that, and what's with you saying that I've been acting like a fool, I haven't." Chaeyoung pouted.

"Okay, if you say so." 

"You shouldn't have done that, but I forgive you because I know you drank last night, okay? But, if you ever see her again I want you to apologize, promise?"

"You have to be kidding me," Nayeon laughed. "Of course I won't. Didn't you hear what I said? She apologized to me." 

That's right, Mina had said sorry to Nayeon, which indeed proved everything Chaeyoung had been saying this whole time. The girl was trying. Chaeyoung now felt bad.

"You will. You shouldn't have yelled," Chaeyoung sighed. "I've been telling you all that it's complicated. She is... complicated," Chaeyoung finished, looking at the ground.

"Chaeyoung don't do this."

"What?"

"This. You're starting to worry too much about her, you don't even know the girl."

Chaeyoung could feel real concern in her friend's voice so she just said, "It's okay, just trust me. Jeongyeon does." 

At that Nayeon seemed to think for a moment. "Okay I will, I do, I always do but just be careful, okay? this girl shouldn't be that important."

But for Chaeyoung, who was already thinking of ways to apologize and regain her roomie's sweet voice, it might be too late. After that, she left Nayeon's room with only one thing in mind. 

***

Mina was, once again, a mess.

'What's with all these people suddenly making me feel so guilty?'  

Momo had called her out, then Sana completely broke her and now this Nayeon girl, defending Chaeyoung, who probably would have yelled at her too if she wasn't such a nice person to do it herself. Yeah, Chaeyoung was too nice for her own good, just like Sana. Mina thought that maybe the two of them could probably make a great pair. 

'But isn't it that opposites attract?'

Either way, last night she left Momo's room completely lost. Was she really that hideous? They were the ones wrong, weren't they? Clearly, no one could see that and that's what was making Mina so unsure. If everyone seemed to be against her, then she must be wrong. She had tried to be herself around Sana these past weeks and it was really different, but a good different, Sana didn't mind her mean comments, that weren't mean after all, they were just of disapproval, she really believed they were more like a piece of advice, but deep down she knew the girl did not care at all. She couldn't change who she was. But it was refreshing. She liked Sana and now she could just speak her mind. And Sana had been right. To every comment that Mina made, the girl had a smart answer and Mina ended up sounding really dumb.

Momo seemed to like this new her too. It was everything much easier. Not having to talk behind her friend's back, which she knew had been really wrong, but she didn't dare to say it. There was even this sort of envy towards Sana. How could the girl be so positive and open and proud? Mina could never. She was too shy to go against any of the rules she had been taught to follow and respect. She was too afraid to try anything that she wasn't supposed to. Everything in her life was supposed to be perfectly meditated. There was nothing out of the ordinary. 

But now, everything seemed to be changing around her. Could no one see that? 

Last night she had walked around campus before getting to her room, she didn't want to see Chaeyoung. She was far too embarrassed. Everything that Nayeon girl had said was true, that's why she hadn't defended herself. Momo seemed pretty ready, though, Momo was always ready for everything Mina related. 

To make everything worse, when she got to her room that night, Chaeyoung had no idea and tried to make conversation again. Mina was really losing it then, she didn't have to ignore the girl, but what could she say?

'Yeah sorry I got late I was too busy being yelled at by your friend and then I took a walk to reconsider all my life decisions and beliefs' No thanks, she was going to ignore her.

Then this morning, Chaeyoung was considerate enough to leave because she thought Mina needed some time alone, which she did, and she was so grateful that it was getting really hard to keep sanity, so she left too to breathe some fresh air. She walked for a few minutes and then got herself some coffee, it was really cold outside, so she went to the library to get some books she needed making the best out of her free time and when some hours had passed, she returned to her room. She didn't know if her roommate would be there, but she would have to face her sooner or later. 

She opened the door careful not to drop her books. No one was there, Mina felt slightly relieved. But then she noticed something; Chaeyoung had been here. Next to her bed, on top of the red tape, there was a tiny box with a note on it. Mina grabbed the box carefully, sitting on her bed to read the note that simply said in messy handwriting:

Sorry

'How deep' Mina thought and checked the box. There was a big piece of cake with some strawberries on it. It was really beautiful and it smelled great too. Was this the way Chaeyoung usually apologized? Because if it was, then Mina wanted to receive apologies from the girl more often. She perfectly knew that her roommate didn't have to apologize for anything so, she looked at the cake and left a big sigh. 

'Jesus, Chaeyoung, you really are something else'

Mina couldn't understand what was the girl possibly sorry for, having great friends? being extremely nice and patient with her? She had to do something. 

So she got deep in thought waiting for Chaeyoung to return, but first, she took a bite of the cake, it was really delicious, maybe she could save some for the girl. Would she accept it? She left the rest of the cake on her nightstand and after a few minutes, she suddenly fell asleep while waiting for her roommate. 

For how long she slept she had no idea, but when she opened her eyes, outside it was already dark and in her nightstand there was cake. 'Cake?' Immediately she remembered everything and got up looking for Chaeyoung. 

She found the girl straight away, by her desk, that she had had to get because Mina had taken the one they were supposed to share 'Mina you really are stupid' Chaeyoung was painting. She wasn't drawing on her sketchbook as usual, this time she had a medium-size canvas and acrylics.  Mina found herself staring. Chaeyoung looked really cute even though she could only see half of her face, she could see how concentrated she was and the way her hand moved so steady over the cloth. 

"You didn't have to say sorry." Mina suddenly got out of her trance and stated the words in a low voice, her normal voice. 

Chaeyoung got startled and made her brush do something it wasn't supposed to do.

'Great start, Mina'  "I didn't mean to startle you," Mina lamented.

Chaeyoung turned around to face her. "That's nothing, that's one of the things I love about painting, you can always just paint over," she answered with a smile seeing Mina's worried face.

"I saved you some cake," she tried to start the conversation in that direction again, which was so hard for her, she was never the one to initiate anything. 

"Didn't you like it?

"I did," Mina added quickly. "I just wanted you to try it too, I noticed you like strawberries," Mina's voice died down with every word. This was harder than she expected.

"Oh." Chaeyoung seemed so surprised now, that Mina felt awful. Was it so hard to believe she could be nice? Well, she had created herself quite the reputation. "If you want me to, then I could have some," Chaeyoung replied getting up from her position and walking near Mina, stopping at the tape. "It's true I like them." 

Mina looked at the girl for a while without saying anything. "Then you should take it," she said after what felt like hours.

Chaeyoung looked more confused than ever. Mina knew the girl was not going to take it on her own because the box was on her side of the room so she also knew, she needed to allow it. 

'Okay, Mina, you can do this. It really isn't that big of a deal. The world is not gonna end'  She then remembered Nayeon's words about how she wasn't the center of the universe. 'Just say it'

She looked at Chaeyoung's eyes, which were already on her. "You should cross it," Mina finally said. Chaeyoung's eyes widened but she didn't move. "Really. Just cross it," she insisted.

At that Chaeyoung took an unsure step, crossing the line slowly with one foot and then the other. She got near the nightstand and took the box with the cake. "Thank you," she said not once leaving Mina's eyes. She had crossed the line and it was so simple but it felt great.

Mina got up and left to the bathroom leaving the girl with a silly smile that she never got to see. 

Chaeyoung then returned to her side of the room, just to cross to the other once again, and again, while taking bites of the cake until she decided to reach for her phone and text Nayeon. 

To Nayeon💙
"Nayeon, you're a genius"