Stepping into her new dorm room, it’s undoubtedly different from what Eunji’s used to. In one corner, there’s a cute little folding table accompanied by a matching set of folding chairs, a single bed on the opposite side (which is conveniently right by the window), and a pair of wardrobes near the doorway. 

 

Considering that there are voices coming from the next section of the dorm and the lack of belongings in the area, Eunji assumes that this bed will be hers. She leaves her suitcases and bags at the foot of her newly acclaimed bed and makes her way over to the open entryway that leads into the next room. 

 

So much for privacy…

 

She knocks lightly on the wall beside her, briefly scanning the room until she finds her roommate staring back at her. ‘Their room is significantly bigger, with a double bed!’ Her brain screams. 

 

Her roommate is also really pretty.

 

Her pretty roommate makes the first move. “Are you Jeong Eunji?”

 

Oh . Her voice is lovely too.

 

Amidst her clammy hands and closing up, she manages to let out a squeaky, “Yeah. What’s your name?”

 

“I’m Park Chorong, nice to meet you.”

 

At this, Eunji finally clears , “I hope we get along well.”

 

“Likewise!” Chorong answers her with a warm smile that makes Eunji’s legs weaken.

 

“So, what are your courses, Chorong?”

 

“I major in computer science.” She replies, “What about you?”

 

“Astronomy.”

 

Distracted by her gorgeousness, Eunji finds it almost impossible to focus on what Chorong’s saying, but she somehow manages to listen attentively and catch the important bits: 

 

1. Chorong can get extremely touchy, but she understands that not everyone likes that. So she encourages Eunji to speak up if she ever invades too much of her space

2. She has a best friend named Yoon Bomi, who she should expect to barge into their dorm from time to time

3. Admittedly, Chorong informs Eunji that she isn’t the best drinker. So she apologizes in advance if she ever ends up doing anything stupid

 

A sudden knock on the door is what saves Eunji from drowning in Chorong’s eyes. 

 

“I’ll go get it,” Chorong casually chimes, “It’s probably Bomi.”

 

Chorong gleams and hugs them tight as soon as the door opens. 

 

“Bomi!”

 

“Woah, Chorong. Your roommate is hot!” Bomi exclaims.

 

Chorong rolls her eyes, “Why is this the first thing that comes out of your mouth?! You haven’t even said ‘Hi’ to me.”

 

Hearing this, Eunji lets out a laugh. “It’s okay, I get that a lot.” She winks, “It’s nice to meet you Bomi.” 

 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Bomi says, “I came over to help Chorong out with the unpacking, but it looks like she’s done everything herself.” She’s peeking into the first room to get a better look at Chorong’s unpacking progress when she realizes, “Never mind, those aren’t her luggages.” Bomi mumbles.

 

Chorong ignores Bomi’s comments on her unpacking, distracted by another greatly important matter. Her eyebrows furrow. “Aren’t we going out for lunch too?”

 

Bomi pauses.

 

“Right. About that, Naeun wanted to go out for lunch and I couldn’t refuse. And since Eunji’s here, she can take my place instead so that you guys can get to know each other.” Bomi jokes.

 

“Oh, gotcha. No worries Bomi, I understand.” Chorong’s face relaxes into a smile, letting out a small giggle.

 

“By the way, Eunji, you don’t have to eat lunch with her. I was just kidding.” she pauses to glance at her watch, “Anyways, I have to go right now,” Bomi steps to leave after giving them each a pat on their shoulders. “It was nice meeting you!”

 

“See you around, Bomi!” Eunji calls back, her voice echoing through the hallway. 

 

Bomi turns the corner and disappears from sight, the click-clacking sound of her shoes growing fainter as she descends from the staircase. 

 

“Are you still up for lunch?” Eunji offers her arm. 

 

Chorong accepts, linking their arms together and letting out a cheery “Let’s go!”

 

They arrive shortly at a ramen store, instantly greeted by a practised “Irasshaimase!” from the staff. Chorong decides on a bowl of pork miso ramen, while Eunji opts for beef shoyu. Their orders are soon taken and the pair are left with a comfortable silence between them.

 

Tapping her feet, Chorong ponders if she should be asking why Eunji hasn’t complained about her claiming the bigger bed in their dorm. 

 

Before she can ask, Eunji breaks the air first. “Are you thinking about something?”

 

“Why haven’t you asked or complained about me taking the double bed?” Chorong questions.

 

Eunji shrugs, “I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed at first, but it’s alright because you’re pretty.” She winks. 

 

Chorong freezes. 

 

‘It’s alright because I’m pretty? What the hell, why is my roommate so bold!’ her brain screams.

 

Chorong quickly regains her consciousness, brushing off the flirty comment with an awkward laugh before moving on to the next topic in mind. 

 

“Alright, but just to let you know, there’ll be a delivery or two coming to our dorm soon.” Chorong informs, “My parents decided to give me a sofa-bed and a mini-fridge as a parting gift.”

 

Eunji’s eyes widened, “That sounds cool.”

 

Chorong waves her away, “Yeah they’re pretty neat. By the way, feel free to use the mini-fridge sometimes. I think I’m going to put a few beers and bottles of soju in there.”

 

Their noodles are soon served and Chorong wastes no time savouring the meal. Eunji simply laughs at how adorable she looks when her cheeks are stuffed with noodles. Rather than joining her, Eunji takes a photo of Chorong first to savour the moment instead.

 

Later that night, Eunji finds Chorong sprawled on her bed, staring at the ceiling while seemingly deep in thought. 

 

“A chip for your thoughts?” She jokes, offering Chorong her bag of potato chips.

 

Chorong sits up, accepting her chip offering. “I’m just a little worried about my classes and being away from my parents since I’ve never really spent the night without them.” Chorong says, “Even though I’ve had sleepovers before, it was always Bomi coming over to spend the night, not the other way round.”

 

Eunji puts her bag of chips to the side and settles down beside Chorong. “Think of it this way, even though you’re only beginning to sleep on your own, everyone has had to go through this before, and just like them, you’ll get used to it. It’ll be hard at first, but that’s how it is when you’re new to something.” She replies, “And if it makes you feel any better, I’ll be sleeping right in the next room.”

 

Chorong shares a little smile, looking at Eunji with sincerity in her eyes. “Thank you, Eunji. This means a lot to me.”

 

Eunji smiles as she reassures Chorong that it’s alright, before she jokes about how Chorong could ask her for cuddles in the middle of the night when she gets lonely.

 

This makes Chorong laugh a bit. “Do you have anything to share? If you don’t, just tell me something cool about yourself.”

 

“Okay,” Eunji says, “I’ve been nervous about making friends. The ones I had during high school drifted away from me, so it makes me feel uncertain if I can get to know people again.”

 

Chorong reaches over to squeeze Eunji’s hand. “Just from spending today with you, I already think that you’re a wonderful person. And honestly, you already feel like a friend to me, so technically, you’ve already made progress.” 

 

Eunji smiles but doesn’t say anything as she pulls Chorong in for a tight hug. Chorong understands, as seeing Eunji’s smile is all that Chorong needs to hear.

 

October soon rolls around, with the cool autumn breeze that accompanies it. Chorong stares out of her window, admiring the tree leaves that have turned ombré.

 

“Hey,” Eunji calls over to her, snapping Chorong out of her stance.

 

“What’s up?” Chorong replies. She looks over at her to realize that Eunji has imitated her slumped posture. “Oh off, do you want me to hit you with this?” She says as she quickly grabs her pillow, getting into a fighting stance. 

 

Eunji laughs at the empty threat, “No, I just wanted to remind you that you should sit up straighter. It’s bad for your back, you know.” 

 

Chorong blinks, dropping her pillow. “So no pillow fight?”

 

Eunji doesn’t reply, she just slinks over to Chorong with no pillows or blankets in hand.

 

‘Okay, she’s weaponless.’ Her mind jokes.

 

She’s waiting for Eunji to say something but she keeps inching closer, and she doesn’t stop until she’s settled in Chorong’s lap.

 

“What do you want to do today?” Eunji’s voice is husky from waking up so early. 

 

Before Chorong can answer, there’s a sudden ringing that blares throughout the room, causing Eunji to jump off of Chorong’s lap, as if she were made of boiling lava. Chorong simply chuckles at her as she reaches over her desk to answer her phone, sending Eunji an apologetic smile. 

 

“It’s Bomi.” She mouths. 

 

Eunji returns the smile to reassure her, adding in a thumbs up for good measure.

 

Turns out, Bomi was calling to tell them that she’ll be hosting a party with her roommate at their apartment tonight. Chorong relays this information to Eunji when they’re walking hand in hand towards the dining hall.

 

“Are you going?” Eunji asks.

 

Chorong shrugs, “I’d much rather watch a movie with you on the sofa-bed, but I think Bomi wants me to be there.” She pauses, “Are you?”

 

“I don’t mind, I’ll go if you go.” Eunji smiles at her warmly, giving her hand a squeeze.

 

That smile of hers! Chorong thinks her heart could explode.

 

“Well, I guess we’ll go then. I’ll tell Bomi.”

 

After breakfast, they hurried back to their dorm and worked on their respective projects for school. For hours, the room was filled with the noise of fingers tapping on keyboards and pencil scribbles. 

 

Occasionally, small talk would pierce through the silence. Eunji tells Chorong that she’s been getting closer to people in her classes, especially with the girls who sit at her table. 

 

When she hears this, Chorong looks up from her work. “Really? I knew you’d make friends in no time, Eunji!” Her focused face has morphed into a big smile. 

 

She’s extra enthusiastic about Eunji getting closer to her classmates because she remembers Eunji venting to her about her worries some time ago.

 

Eunji smiles back at her so hard that her nose scrunches. “Thanks for all the encouragement, Chorong.” she replies, “What about you, have you had any luck with getting to know people?”

 

Chorong mentions that she’s been talking to her groupmates, the same ones that are collaborating with her on the project she’s currently working on. The rest of their day passes like this — a routine of working diligently and chatting freely.

 

Finally, the evening has come and their hard work has paid off. The two take the few hours they have left until the party to eat cup noodles and get dressed.

 

“You look good,” Eunji comments. “Ready to go?”

 

“But I’m just wearing sweats and I don’t even have any makeup on…” Chorong’s sentence dies in when she realizes that Eunji’s complimenting her, so she just accepts it with a shy smile. 

 

“Okay, let’s go.”

 

When they reach Bomi’s shared apartment, their arms are linked — as per usual. When Bomi lets them in, she briefly glances down at their blatant display of physical touch, all too familiar with Chorong’s clinginess to even comment.

 

Except, just before the two have slipped into the sea of people, Bomi grabs onto Chorong’s wrist. “I hope you guys aren’t here just to hand-hold on my couch.”

 

Chorong rolls her eyes, “Don’t worry about us Bomi, there won’t be any of that happening.”

 

Bomi lets go of her, waving the two off towards the makeshift bar (the pile of alcohol on Bomi’s kitchen counter). Where Eunji wastes no time by eagerly checking out what Bomi has to offer. 

 

She picks out a steel canister and what Chorong thinks are some weird looking strainers. “Do you know what these are?”

 

Chorong shakes her head, “No I don’t. Are you going to make me a drink?”

 

“Sure. Why don’t you head over to where Bomi is on the couch? I wanna surprise you.”

 

Chorong nods, hurrying over to where Bomi and her friends are. It’s only when she gets closer to them, is when she realizes that she knows these people. She talks to them for a bit until Bomi stands to go get more drinks, right when Eunji comes back with a freshly made drink.

 

“Eunji, these are the group mates that I mentioned earlier. Naeun and Namjoo.” Chorong says, gesturing to the girls sitting beside Bomi. “Naeun, this is Eunji.”

 

Chorong figures that there isn’t a need for introductions between Namjoo and Eunji because she reckons that they already know each other.

 

Eunji and Naeun exchange brief hellos before she turns to Namjoo. “It’s nice seeing you again Namjoo, is Hayoung here today?”

 

And she’s right. They do know each other.

 

Namjoo greets Eunji back and says, “Yup. She just went to the bathroom.”

 

Eunji gives her an understanding nod. 

 

“Wait a minute.” Eunji pauses, “Where’s Bomi?”

 

“Bomi went to get more drinks.” Namjoo explains, “Actually, before you two arrived, Bomi and Hayoung were already competing to see who could chug down the most soju, so I have a feeling that she’s going to be causing trouble later.”

 

“I see.”

 

Namjoo makes sure that Naeun is preoccupied before leaning closer to Eunji and Chorong. “Actually, I think she was trying harder today, to impress her crush.”

 

This makes them all snicker, alerting Naeun’s attention. “What’s going on?”

 

Namjoo quickly helps them cover by telling Naeun about something funny that happened during cheerleading tryouts with Hayoung.

 

Chorong tugs at her sleeve. “So what’s the drink called?”

 

“It’s a whiskey sour. And that frothy top is made from egg whites.” Eunji explains.

 

“Egg whites?” Chorong exclaims, “Really?”

 

“Yup, I think you’ll like it.”

 

Trusting her word, Chorong takes a careful sip and says, “Sour. Just like its name, but also a little sweet at the same time. Overall, it’s quite refreshing. I think I do like it.”

 

Eunji’s face is all lit up when she hears this. “I’m glad you did! I was afraid that my bartender skills would be a little rusty.”

 

“Who taught you?”

 

“Youtube.” Eunji says, “I searched it up one night and mixed a few drinks for my parents to practice and receive feedback.”

 

“How impressive,” Chorong replies, already going in for another taste. “Oh. I feel like my lips are going to pucker up now.”

 

Of course, this sentence is what gets Bomi’s attention. She suddenly appears out of nowhere, scaring Chorong so badly that she almost drops her glass.

 

“If you’re about to pucker up and kiss her, you better get out and do it in your own dorm!” Bomi slurs, “When are you finally going to —”

 

Namjoo is quick to smack a hand over Bomi’s mouth, “Okay, you’re very drunk, we get it.” 

 

Naeun stifles a laugh as she helps Namjoo get a hold of Bomi. Chorong and Eunji are still sitting in shock as they stare at Bomi in disbelief. 

 

Namjoo knows that drunk Bomi is one to not be trusted. So she quickly ushers Chorong and Eunji to get out, assuring them that they’ll take care of Bomi and end the party soon.

 

Chorong starts to mumble, “What do we do now?”

 

“We could drink soju while we watch movies on the sofa-bed,” Eunji shrugs.

 

So that’s exactly what they did.

 

Chorong’s first to get comfortable in the sofa-bed. She gets the movie set up on Eunji’s laptop as Eunji brings out the soju from the fridge. They’re drinking and chatting as they watch until Chorong’s speech starts to slur and Eunji feels her getting drowsy.

 

‘Well, I guess that’s it for tonight,’ she thinks, ‘I should move her to her bed.’

 

Eunji starts lifting her bridal style, but Chorong starts to stir. “Are we getting married?” She drunkenly mutters, “I’d marry you.”

 

Eunji almost drops Chorong. 

 

Unfortunately, her sudden halt startles Chorong a bit, sobering her up slightly. “Nooo, I wanna sleep on the couch,” she whines, “With you.”

 

Well, who is she to say no to that. 

 

So Eunji follows Chorong’s wishes, placing her back down on the sofa-bed in a comfortable position, propping a pillow under Chorong’s head first, then a pillow for herself, before she finally covers the both of them with a blanket. 

 

‘Being married to Chorong…’ Eunji thinks, ‘That doesn’t sound too bad.’

Those were her last thoughts before falling asleep.

 

The next morning, Eunji wakes up with a cramp in her arm. It looks like Chorong has somehow managed to shift her head off of her pillow and onto Eunji’s arm instead. 

 

As much as Eunji wouldn't normally mind Chorong resting on her, her arm is seriously starting to grow numb. So she reluctantly shuffles her arm out, waking Chorong in the process.

 

Since she’s awake, Eunji doesn't refrain from speaking normally. “Was my arm that comfortable, sleeping beauty?”

 

Chorong squints at her with mock anger. “No,” she argues, “It was just a moment of weakness.”

 

Eunji raises an eyebrow at her.

 

“Hey, do you… by any chance, remember what you said last night?”

 

“Maybe,” Chorong murmurs, “What did I say?”

 

“You said you’d like to marry me,” Eunji replies as she turns to look Chorong in the eyes. “Is that true?”

 

Usually, Chorong would never have the guts to confess to someone, but Eunji is asking her and she doesn’t want to mess this up. 

 

“Well, I believe that drunken Chorong was a little too ahead of herself, but I think that I could see that happening one day.” she verifies, “I wouldn’t mind getting married to you. What do you think?”

 

“I like you.” Eunji breathes, “I like you a lot, and I think I could see it too. That’s what I think.”

 

Chorong’s eyes are full of hope and Eunji has no intention of breaking it.

 

“Will you pucker up for me now?” Eunji jokes.

 

Chorong grumbles but complies nonetheless.

 

BONUS:

 

It’s not until later when Eunji realizes that Namjoo has texted her a bunch, to tell her and Chorong what happened after they left. Turns out:

 

1. They found Hayoung sleeping in the bathtub

2. Drunk Bomi confessed her undying love for Naeun

3. Bomi forgot to lock her bedroom doors, so when they tried to assist Bomi to her bed, they found out that it was broken because it had been literally jumped on like a trampoline by a bunch of drunk guys

 

This last statement makes Chorong snort. “She deserved that, I can’t believe she wanted to kick us out last night!”

 

 

 

A/N: I had so much fun writing this! Merry Christmas pandas!

(You can follow my Twitter if you want to hear me ramble about Apink and Work Later, Drink Now)