Ever since their lunch study date at the café, Jungeun and Jinsoul have been hanging out at least half the week without fail. Jinsoul takes every opportunity to tease Jungeun about her little doodle still, and enjoys it thoroughly when Jungeun starts whining at her. Jungeun, on the other hand, can barely stop herself from actually falling for Jinsoul. Her crush is going to turn into a full-blown unrequited love if she isn’t careful, which is exactly what Jungeun is worried about. Her love life doesn’t have progress because she simply doesn’t let her crushes develop into something more but with Jinsoul…

It almost seems like Jinsoul feels something too.

In the beginning, Jinsoul had used the excuse that she needed a study buddy as a shield since her friends were both annoyingly nosy about all this -

“Hi, sweetie! Have some breakfast before going to class, okay?” Mrs. Kim comes out from the kitchen holding a cup of coffee.

Jungeun comes down the stairs with an eye smile and takes her seat at the table. “Yes, mom!”

Mrs. Kim takes the chance to observe her daughter’s behaviour, using the coffee cup as a form of distraction. She sees the sickening lovesick grin she used to have whenever she went on dates with her husband – Jungeun really takes after her father. When Jungeun’s phone lights up again, Mrs. Kim can’t help but try and peek at who the person is.

“Is Jinsoul still your wallpaper?”

Jungeun chokes on her toast, spluttering out a quick ‘no’ while she scrambles to get water. She should have known her mother was just waiting for the opportunity to strike and dig a little deeper. “Mom! How can you ask me that so suddenly?”

“Just asking,” Mrs. Kim throws her hands up in surrender, rolling her eyes at the overreaction. “Jinsoul is very pretty so I was curious.”

Now, Jungeun might be chiding her mother but all Mrs. Kim can see is the obvious flush across her daughter’s face. Her cheeks are painted with pots of pink and her lips are already curling into another one of those smiles.

It’s already been two years since Jungeun entered university so to see her reacting this way is something new. Throughout her years there, both Mr. and Mrs. Kim have heard way more complaints than compliments about the other students. Not that Jungeun judges people by their appearance, but she is more on the quiet side so noisy and cheery people just aren’t appealing to her. Who would have thought a senior would come barrelling into her life like that?

“Anyway, how did your assignment go? The one you ended up in hospital for.”

“Mom…” Jungeun groans for the nth time this morning. “I didn’t faint on purpose, thank you very much. And I actually haven't seen the photos myself; Unnie said she wanted to arrange them nicely before giving the folder to me.”

Aw, that’s actually really sweet… Mrs. Kim coos inwardly. She might be a little biased but from the first impression she got at the hospital the night they met Jinsoul, her daughter will be in good hands if ever something develops. The way Jinsoul never once left her position, and stayed on at the hospital despite Mr. Kim making things quite uncomfortable for her. And her husband might disagree with her, but Jungeun fainting isn’t Jinsoul’s fault by a long stretch. One thing for sure is Jungeun is just as stubborn as her husband, maybe even more since she herself has some stubbornness to her.

“MOM!”

“Why are you yelling? I’m right in front of you!”

Jungeun’s eyes narrow into a glare, “You were definitely not in front of me when I was talking at normal volume.”

If her mother isn’t paying attention to her, then the woman is probably busy thinking of Jinsoul and Jungeun doesn’t want that – Jinsoul is hers, well kind of.

“Anyway, it’s nice that you’re hanging out with her more often, I think it’d be a good start to getting out of your little bubble. I know you’re very comfortable with Jiwoo by your side but she won’t be beside you forever.”

That’s true…

Maybe Jungeun does need to explore a little bit more.

“And so, I believe society as a whole should not be prejudiced against people of different ualities and genders…”

Jungeun types down these words as she talks to herself, trying her best to keep her cool whilst explaining her point of view. She knows this topic wasn’t always the easiest to open, because some members of her extended family are extremely homophobic – to the point where it’s considered hateful.

According to many teenagers and young adults, they usually shy away from the topic or keep to themselves about their ualities in order to prevent themselves from being prejudiced against. The topic of homouality and gender terms have always come across as taboo, and is usually shut down by parents and families alike. Most religious people have strong beliefs against abnormalities, even in the year of 2022. From someone who comes from a religious family, Jungeun is one of the lucky ones – her parents have always taught her to love whoever she wants, and that they’d keep her protected no matter what.

“Starting on your sociology essay?”

“Unnie!” Jungeun quite literally jumps in her seat, placing her hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.

Jinsoul has such a knack for sneaking up on her, and Jungeun wonders if she’s lucky or cursed to be the victim. This also serves as a reminder though, that Jinsoul’s mischief never appears to anyone else except her friends. If this level of comfort means that Jungeun is now considered one of the special few… then hey, Jinsoul can give her a heart attack any day and she’ll die in peace.

“Sorry, you looked so focused and I couldn’t resist,” Jinsoul grins.

It’s only when Jinsoul takes the seat next to her that Jungeun has to hold back a terribly embarrassing gasp. “You wear glasses, Unnie?”

“Yes, I wear contacts most of the time though. It’s annoying to keep finding my glasses in the morning when I can’t see a single thing clearly.” Jinsoul pouts, resting against her arms.

Jungeun doesn’t waste time in going back to her essay; she knows if she continues staring at Jinsoul and her stupidly adorable face, she might just lean in and smooch the senior on the lips. Throughout the two years, Jungeun has never seen Jinsoul wear glasses and how is it even humanely possible to look even more beautiful than she already does?

“How do I look?”

You look ing amazing; no one looks this cool, cute and nerdy all at once. How can you even begin to ask me that question because that’s ridiculous? How about you ask me if I want to date you or bring you on dates instead? Maybe we can have little babies in like, eight years or something. I’m literally about to pass out just by looking at you…

Is what