Time went by too slowly for Yoobin's liking. She spent all of her time either studying at the library or hanging out with Hyojung and her friends. She was trying to do everything she could to avoid Yewon, which unfortunately for her, led her to avoid Jiho as well. But it was the only way to make it work, to get over Yewon and stop being in pain. 

 

Lately, she had been around Hyojung and Seunghee way too much. Even at that moment, she was getting ready to go meet them once again. 

 

"Are you going out again?" Jiho asked her as she saw her passing by the living room. Yewon from next to her, perked up as soon as she saw Yoobin's figure passing by. 

 

"Mmm." Yoobin only hummed in response. 

 

"Where to?"

 

"Movies." Yoobin answered shortly. She checked her bag once again and then turned to look at the girls saying,

 

"Do I look too nerdy?" She placed her hands on her skirt slightly awkwardly and smiled at Jiho. Yewon stared at her from head to toe. Yoobin's short hair made her outfit and her appearance in general look even cuter.  She was wearing a cute, light pink crop top and a short black skirt. Jiho giggled. 

 

"You always look nerdy. Why are you asking though? Gonna meet your date?"

 

"What? No, I'll be with Hyojung and Seunghee. No dates." Yoobin said and smiled slightly as she pursed her lips. 

 

"Hyojung and Seunghee? Again? You were with them yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day prior that and…"

 

"Yeah, I like being around them. They like me as well. They've been inviting me everywhere they go lately. It's nice." Yoobin said casually. 

 

"Yeah I mean ok. It's nice if you're having fun around them. It's just… you've been hanging out too much with my teammates. More than I, myself do. And… It's been a while since we last hung out like best friends. I miss you buddy." Yoobin giggled. 

 

"You can't miss me. We're roommates. I'm always around here no matter what."

 

"Well, lately you're not. Whenever you return home I'm already asleep or whenever I return home you're just about to go outside. I don't even know how you're doing, some days." Yoobin bit her lips. Truth to be told, she missed her best friend as well. But her best friend was always around Yewon so… she needed to avoid them both. 

 

She sighed. 

 

"I'm sorry. It's just… exams are around the corner and I've been studying a lot."

 

"By hanging out with Seunghee and Hyojung? They're the loudest people I've ever known in my entire life, I don't think they know how to keep it low, focus and study."

 

"Believe it or not, we've figured out a way." Yoobin said and smiled again at the memories she'd made with them, trying to help them study. 

 

"That's good for you then." Jiho said, but sounded slightly harsh and cold. Yoobin sighed. 

 

"I know you miss me. And I miss you too. I'll try to clear up my schedule and I promise you we can hang out. Just the two of us." Yoobin said, making sure to make it clear that it was going to be just the two of them. Jiho smiled happily. 

 

"Awesome. Please don't forget me. I want us to hang out before the exams." Yoobin nodded her head. She waved goodbye to her friend and left the dorm.  As soon as she got outside she took in a deep breath. She didn't feel suffocated even though it was still hard being around Yewon. But she felt slightly better, lighter. Maybe because she didn't look at her at all or talked to her. She smiled to herself. She was now looking forward to going out with Jiho only. She had missed her best friend. 

 

Yoobin got back home late. She was still talking on the phone with Seunghee, chuckling softly at whatever silly things they were talking about. The funny yet interesting movie they had gone to watch was still lingering in Yoobin's mind along with everything else funny they did after that. They had gone for dinner as well and Seunghee and Hyojung didn't lose any chance to be loud and funny and bubbly like always. Yoobin was so glad that she had talked to Hyojung and agreed to let her help her out. 

 

She took off her shoes and walked around the dark dorm room softly. She took off her jacket and placed it on the couch. She headed towards the kitchen to get herself a glass of water as she kept on talking to Seunghee. 

 

"Yeah. Yeah I get it unnie. Next time I'll remember that. Next time we can avoid eating so much as well you know… No, I know you love hot food but you can't handle this much… Unnie! Hyojung unnie will be mad at you again, do you want her to stop talking to you for a week again? Cause I think-" Yoobin stopped midenntence as soon as she turned around, finally getting herself a glass of water. Her eyes fell on something, well actually someone, on the couch in the living room and she froze. Her glass of water fell down on the floor cause of how unstable her hands were at that moment. 

 

"Yeah no I don't want her to be mad but- hello? Yoobin? Are you ok?" Seunghee was heard on the phone but Yoobin never answered her. She took the phone away from her ear, slowly slowly and rested it on her thigh as both of her hands touched her thighs slowly. 

 

"Yewon? What are you… where is Jiho?" Yoobin tried her hardest to sound as normal and casual as she could. Unfortunately for her though, she couldn't hide her shock that much. Yewon was sitting by the couch, wearing nothing but a loose shirt of Yoobin's. Her chest was visible cause of how light yet loose the shirt was on her. Her long brown hair was messy. 

 

"In her room." Yewon answered. 

 

"Come and join me." She added. She raised a glass of wine from the small table in front of the couch and sipped from it. Yoobin gulped hard. She had a really bad feeling about this. Why was Yewon still here at this late hour? And why was she alone? And why was she wearing Yoobin's clothes? Why was she there drinking by herself? 

 

Yoobin walked slowly, heading towards her room. First thing first, she needed to check on Jiho. But as she passed by the couch, Yewon extended her hand and held Yoobin's, stopping her from moving any further. 

 

"Come and sit with me." She said and smiled at her. Yoobin shook her head slowly. Yewon stood up and went in front of her. Her hands caressed Yoobin's shoulders and moved down all over Yoobin's arms and they stopped on Yoobin's hand with the phone. She ended the call and placed the phone in Yoobin's bag. 

 

"I don't think you'll need this now. You can talk to Seunghee unnie tomorrow. She won't mind." Yoobin gulped. Again. What was Yewon doing? She took Yoobin's bag and left it at the hanger next to the door. She held Yoobin's hand and led her to the couch. They both sat down but Yoobin wasn't dumb neither drunk or whatever else. 

 

"Why are you still here? Where's Jiho?" She asked again. 

 

"Jiho is in her room."

 

"Alone? Why aren't you with her?"

 

"Are you always asking so many questions, unnie?" Yewon only answered with the same question Yoobin had made to her back in Mihyun's room. 

 

Yoobin narrowed her eyes. 

 

"I won't stop asking if you don't answer me." She said as she crossed her arms to her chest. Yewon sighed.

 

"She's in the bedroom. Sleeping. We were sleeping together but I woke up and because I have insomnia I came here to have a drink and watch some TV. Happy now?" Yewon said and mentioned towards the still TV. Yoobin thought about it. It was a convincing enough answer. But it still didn't answer one thing. Something that Yoobin wasn't sure if she wanted to ask or not. 

 

"Why are you wearing my shirt then?" She finally asked.

 

"I felt hot in Jiho's pajamas and searched for something lighter to wear. Guess I found it in your closet. Do you mind me wearing it? It looks good on me." Yewon said and puffed out her chest confidently. Yoobin tried her hardest to not stare at her chest area or her body in general since she could basically see everything cause of how light the shirt was. For some reason, as realistic as Yewon's answer might have sounded, it only made things worse. Yoobin's throat was burning and actually… her whole body was. Her nerves were aching and bobbing in nervousness.

 

Yoobin didn't answer her or add anything else. Yewon leaned slightly closer as she checked out Yoobin's outfit. 

 

"You look cute. Like a cute nerd. Very hot and tempting in my opinion." Yoobin gulped. 

 

"I… thanks."

 

"You're welcome. Here. Have a drink with me." She said and gave Yoobin a glass of wine. Yoobin wanted to refuse but took it, not really sure why. She sipped from it after Yewon sipped from hers. 

 

"How was your hangout with the unnies?"

 

"It was fun." Yoobin answered shortly and smiled. Her hands rested on her knees and now she indeed looked like a nerd. She wasn't sure why she was being this weak or acting like this around Yewon. Why was she this weak? She could stand up at any moment, tell Yewon she was tired and go to sleep. But could she really do that? No. She couldn't. 

 

"I'm glad it was. Was it only Hyojung and Seunghee unnie or were there any good looking girls?" 

 

"No it was just- why do you wanna know?" Yoobin's mind started to work, a bit slowly but it did. She wasn't sure what kind of game Yewon was trying to play but she wasn't going to give in. Especially when Jiho was sleeping so peacefully in the room next door! 

 

"Just curious. You're really pretty unnie. It's sad seeing you alone."

 

"To your information, I like being alone." 

 

"If you say so." Yewon said and sipped from her glass of wine again. 

 

"By the way…" Yewon started the conversation again. This time, she let down her glass of wine next to Yoobin's on the table and turned to stare at her hard again. 

 

"I think I told you the other time to stop this push and pull game. Didn't I?"

 

"Yeah. And I did." Yoobin answered shortly. 

 

"You didn't. You're treating me coldly again!"

 

"Yes, but only coldly. There's no push and pull, hot and cold or whatever else you want to call it. It's just me. The clumsy, weird, nerdy me who's not good with socializing. If you don't like my behaviour towards you then I don't know what else to do. I'm sorry but that's me." Yoobin said and gave an inner thumbs up to herself for managing to speak up her mind clearly and not backing off. 

 

"No. No, that's not you. I know you can be different with me."

 

"How different?" Yoobin wasn't sure why she asked that but maybe she shouldn't have.

 

"This different." Yewon mumbled as she leaned in, close to Yoobin's face and kissed her on her lips. Yoobin's eyes shot open in shock as she froze on her spot. She thought this was all along in her head but no, no she wasn't crazy! Yewon was indeed playing with her! She tried to push her away but she was way too weak for that. Yewon's soft full lips were moving so slowly and so addicting on hers which only made Yoobin weaker and weaker by each passing second. She moaned slightly as Yewon's hands rested on her neck and deepened the kiss. 

 

"Yewon… Yewon no…" she tried to say between the outnumbing and passionate yet slow kisses Yewon was giving her. Yewon pushed her back on the couch and sat on top of her as she deepened the kiss even more. Yoobin moaned slightly louder as soon as Yewon's leg accidentally hit her on her core. That was enough to slightly break their kiss and have Yewon smiling naughtily. 

 

"I want you, unnie." Yewon said softly, close to Yoobin's ear. Yoobin felt way too hot to do anything, to say anything. She only rested her head weakly on Yewon's chest as she tried to breathe in. This was too much to take. She felt like she was drowning in a huge sea that was Yewon. She took in deep, slow breaths but it wasn't helping. Yewon's smell was everywhere and it was the only thing Yoobin could smell as she breathed. Yewon smiled as she caressed Yoobin's hair. 

 

"You don't need to deny it anymore. I know you want me too. I'm not blind. I've seen the way you look at me every time you see me. The way your eyes stared at me when you learnt I slept with Jiho and saw me at my dorm. I saw the way you looked at my neck. I saw the way you got hurt. I saw the way you looked at me when I danced with Jiho at the party or when I kissed her at the campus' yard the other day. I saw it all unnie. And it's totally ok." Yewon said softly. Yoobin shook her head slightly, too weak to say anything. She had buried her head on Yewon's chest and her hands were now clenching the shirt on Yewon's back as hard as she could. She was shaking in waves as her body was reacting on its own, feelings and thoughts way too much for her to handle. 

 

Yewon tried to move back and face Yoobin but Yoobin only buried her head deeper. Yewon smiled but soon her smile faded away as she heard the first silent sob coming from Yoobin. It was so silent and soft that it felt way worse than an actual crying. It was way too sentimental and deep. 

 

"Yoobin unnie? Hey, are you ok?" Yewon asked her, now shocked and on alert as she caressed Yoobin's back, afraid that she might have hurt her somehow. 

 

Yoobin shook her head. Yewon was panicking. She kept on caressing Yoobin's back and asking her if she was ok, worriedly. Yoobin moved back slightly, and took in a deep breath. She didn't want to worry Yewon. The girl was already too worried and she didn't know what to do. It wasn't something too serious anyway. Yewon kissed Yoobin's lips softly and slowly but Yoobin found the strength somehow to move back.

 

"Don't do that again." She mumbled softly, finally able to say something after a long time. 

 

"Why?"

 

"You're with Jiho. You shouldn't-"

 

"I love you." Yewon said, seriously.

 

"You're with Jiho-"

 

"Yes but I love you."

 

"You shouldn't-"

 

"I don't care!"

 

"I care. I care, ok? She's my best friend. If you don't care about her then I do. And if you don't love her then tell her so she won't live in a lie. I don't want my best friend to be played and hurt. Just be honest with her."

 

"What about you?"

 

"Clear things up with her. Why are you with her if you don't love her?"

 

"I do I just… you always came first. I even met you first, remember?"

 

Yoobin could clearly remember that day. It was crystal clear in her head. Even to this day. Her very first thoughts of that incident, of that day, her memories, her feelings. Everything was still too clear for her liking. 

 

It was just another day. Or so she thought or kept telling herself. Just another day. Yeah sure. If ordinary, casual, everyday, boring days were like this then yeah sure. If casual and normal days were rainy all day, cold and chilly and windy, lonely and moody and filled with unenjoyable and tiring classes all day with a lot of loud and too energetic students, fake diva girls and too charming boys talking around college, and strict and boring professors trying to teach their lesson then yeah. Yoobin's day was one of those, once again. She was pretty much used to it already. Too used to it that it didn't even bother her anymore. Not even her grumbling stomach that was aching in pain and hunger, asking for her attention was ignored. Cause Yoobin was used to that by now. 

 

She was spending all of her days at college, having so many classes. She only had a few breaks in between and whenever she had, she thought it would be pointless to return back to the dorm even though it wasn't that far. So she preferred going to the library and studying instead of doing anything else. Not even eating was a part of her busy and packed schedule. 

 

It was an understatement, moreover, to think and believe that Bae Yoobin was a lonely nerd. After all, all she ever did was study. Not interacting with many people. It was weird how she managed to have a few friends. Well, now that she thought of it… she only had Jiho, her roommate and best friend since forever. She also had a few high school friends but they had slightly lost contact since everyone was busy with college and since most of her friends were studying at the college back in her hometown. She was the only one from her old group of friends that had moved out to a whole new and bigger city. It was a four hours trip by train, and honestly Yoobin could return home and meet them during weekends whenever. So that wasn't really the case as to why they weren't meeting that often anymore. Yoobin was just a weird, not too talkative and social person, that was all. That simple. 

 

Books were her only escape and love in her life. Jiho often saying that she was going to marry a book one day. Yoobin could actually see that coming and she wasn't even surprised or offended by that playful comment. 

 

So, here she was, dragging her tired, cold and numb feet around campus, heading to the library once again to study. She had a long break between her previous class that had just finished about ten minutes ago, and her next class which was starting around four hours later. Her stomach growled once again but she ignored it. She only tightened her hold on her umbrella, as she breathed in through her running nose, making a small sound in the process. She lowered her head, her short  ⏤just below her jaw⏤  hair bobbing along with her head cutely as she walked. She glanced at her small feet that got more and more wet by each second passing by. They made a splashing sound as she walked around the flooded pavement of the campus. She was wet, and her skin was slightly freezing. 

 

Her stomach growled again and she bit her lips, trying to somehow ignore it or pay attention elsewhere. 

 

She heard soft talking from somewhere near her. A random group of college students were passing by. They were eating some kind of fast food while talking. She accidentally heard them complimenting a coffee shop nearby, from which they had bought their food. Her stomach growled again and she groaned tiredly at that. She looked at her stomach almost annoyed. Her cold hands reached for her jeans' pockets, searching for her money. She had some. She sighed. Should she give it a shot and finally satisfy her stomach for once as well? 

 

She hadn't even realized that she was heading to that coffee shop. Only when she reached their door did she actually realize it. She shook her head. It was too late. Her stomach was already acting before her mind. She pushed the door open and walked inside. The bell above the door rang as she did so. She closed her umbrella and held it close to her, careful to not wet her clothes more than they already were. The warm air from the air conditioning that the shop had immediately hugged her and the strong smell of hot chocolate welcomed her nostrils. She sighed happily. It almost felt like heaven. On a weirdly,unexplainably and way too cold day like that, at the beginning of October, this warm place indeed felt like heaven. Yoobin made a mental note to herself to try and leave as soon as she was done with her order but she already knew it was a lost cause. She had already given up, too tired to try and return back to the campus and go to the cold and lonely library, moreover. 

 

She walked towards the counter, which had a small line of people waiting for their order. She glanced at the huge menu written above the counter as she tried to think of what she should order. Everything looked so warm and tempting for her to buy. She felt helpless, too unable to make a choice. She kept on thinking as she pointed at each meal with her index finger, discreetly of course. Without her realizing it though, she had already reached the counter and it was already her turn to order yet… she hadn't decided.

 

"Good morning. How may I help you?" She heard a soft, almost airly female voice. Her eyes lowered from staring at the menu and fell on a pretty, petite brunette barista girl. She had a warm smile on her lips as she waited patiently for Yoobin's order. Yoobin stared at her slightly surprised, probably because the girl was unfairly beautiful. 

 

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