You laid your eyes on her on the fourth day of class.

 

Your lips are attached to a grape lollipop when your eyes landed on her doe-like features, long black tresses prettily flowing down her shoulders and her pink, plump lips munching on a piece of kimbap.

 

“Got your eyes on some of the freshies?”

 

You snapped your head to the source of the voice and saw Aeri looking at you, probably intrigued that you are not on your toes, pecking her lips like you always do when she comes to your table.

 

“Kinda. You?”

 

You don’t have to ask though, her eyes are already trained on someone across the cafeteria, coincidentally sitting beside the girl who got your attention just awhile ago.

 

“Hmm. Kinda.” Your same-aged friend nodded, not leaving the figure of the girl she has laid her eyes upon. “Lemme guess, that doe-eyed looking girl with a gummy smile?”

 

A loud pop from your lollipop and a raise of a brow was your answer to Aeri’s inquiry.

 

“How’d you know?”

 

“Please, Jiminie,” Aeri sent you a smile, “As if I’ve never ed you enough to know your ideal type.”

 

You shrugged, used at her tone of language on this very morning. And because like, her statement dripped accuracy all over. Especially the ing part.

 

“And for you, I’m guessing it’s that gorgeous red-head beside gummy-grinning girl?”

 

Aeri’s cheshire smile never looked so smug.

 

“Bingo,” she smirked, “You’re getting good at this.”

 

“Please, Aeri,” you mocked, “As if you’ve never gotten off with the simple sight of me and my toned stomach.”

 

“Touché,” she said with a smirk on her face, “Say, do you want to take a five-minute reroute before my first period? I’d be on the next building working on a possible thesis for the entire day.”

 

Getting hot all of a sudden at the girl's innuendos, you grabbed your bag and her hand so you could get down to business ASAP.

 

“I thought you’d never ask.”

 

 

***

 

 

You met her again on your way to your locker during free period. Coincidentally, her locker is next to yours so you grabbed the chance to take a closer look at her.

 

You can’t help but get awed at how stunning she looks up close. She’s a freshman at the moment. To think that she is this pretty at this young age, what then would she look like if she reaches her prime years?

 

“Take a picture. That’d last longer.”

 

You didn’t know you are staring at her until her low, sweet voice invaded your ears.

 

Well . This kid isn’t only pretty. She’s got a nice voice too.

 

(And a sassy attitude for a first impression)

 

Leveling your gaze at her (she’s shorter than you, ha) you see a playful smirk tugging on her lips as she looks up at you. You can’t stop staring.

 

“Kim Minjeong. I go by Minjeong, sometimes Winter. Whichever you prefer. Freshman. You?” You notice that the smirk never left her lips.

 

You should be annoyed by now at how haughty this kid is portraying herself. But you are actually surprised that you are not.

 

Somehow along this façade, you could see how she is actually just a freshie trying to charm her way on making acquaintances. Reminds you of yourself during your freshman year too.

 

What a cutie..

 

“Yoo Jimin. My friends call me Jimin. You can call me yours though. Sophomore.”

 

She raised her brow upon hearing the innuendo of your statement, that feeling of being taunted exuding from the way her eyes glinted. But it was gone as soon as it appeared and you swear the smirk on her face have grown exponentially after your introduction.

 

“Well, it’s nice meeting you yours—I mean, Jimin unnie,” she teased, closing her locker as she speak, “See you around then.”

 

Awestruck, you could only give her a nod. With a grin stretching from her pretty face, Kim Minjeong sauntered away, leaving you craving for more gummy grins and sparkling doe-eyes.

 

“Oh I’d see you around, alright. .”

 

 

***

 

 

“ . Go faster..”

 

“Ugh good god you’re dripping.”

 

“T-there..just right there Jiminie..”

 

“ I think I’m—“

 

“Y-yeah I think.. Fuuuucckkkk..”

 

The ring of a bell signaled the end of free period and the end of your daily five-minute routine. It still amazes you until today how you the two of you are able to get off for exactly five minutes every day.

 

Oh well. Daily practice pays off it seems.

 

Aeri’s pants filled the cramped janitor closet and you smiled down at her disheveled state.

 

“You get so easily wet these days, Aeri-yah.” You noted. “Are you about to get your period or something?”

 

Shaking her head, Aeri tried fixing her messy state with whatever she has, replying, “It may or may not be because of some cutie red-head and her ing gorgeous face as my seatmate that got me dripping so easily.”

 

“She’s on our year?” You asked, a bit surprised. “And she’s your classmate?”

 

“Not on our year but she’s enrolled in some elective classes in our year. Her name is Ning Yizhuo and she’s a very pretty Chinese girl with a big brain. Cool huh?” Aeri and her smug smile that never leaves her face.

 

You kinda envy her. At least she gets to have a ‘we time’ with her crush every single day.

 

As for you..

 

“How about you?”

 

Shrugging, you swept her bangs to her side and dusted some non-existent dirt on her shirt, “She’s definitely not on my classes like yours. But she’s a freshman too. Got to meet her once this week. Smug kid just like you. She’s really pretty too.”

 

“And really gay,” Aeri added, opening the closet door and ushering you outside to your next class, “I saw her turn down like, five boys in one day. Some are from our year even. The kid just had no time for at all.”

 

Snorting at your Aeri’s words, you slinged your bag and started walking alongside her.

 

Only to halt on your steps when the subject of your conversation is meters away from the two of you. Kim Minjeong is being handed a what looked like a handwritten letter wrapped in a beige colored envelope. And to top it all, it was a younger female student that looked around her age.

 

You see, Kim Minjeong accept the envelope with a charming smile, patting the girl’s head as a way of endearment and saying her thanks. The said girl, with a mad blush on her face, walked away with a grinning face and flushed cheeks.

 

For a freshman, you do admit that the kid is kind of popular with the populace.

 

Putting the letter inside her bag, Kim Minjeong looked up from where she stands and spotted you. You don’t know why, but there was this unsettling feeling inside your stomach when her neutral face broke into that megawatt beam you craved to see since you landed your eyes upon it.

 

“Annyeong, Jimin unnie.”

 

With that, the girl sauntered away again from you, leaving you yearning for her presence once again.

 

“Gosh she’s beautiful. Are you sure you don’t want to swap targets?”

 

“Back off. She’s mine,” you gritted your teeth at the girl beside you, rolling her eyes for how she laughed out loud because of your possessiveness.

 

“Just kidding, babe. I’ve got my eyes on someone else. She got abs and has nice fingers.”

 

“Good good. Get that fingers, bish.”

 

 

***

 

 

Before you knew it, first week of classes has passed by and things started getting busy. Professors begin bombarding students with a lot of activities in and outside the classroom and you’ve been occupied trying to meet ends with your subjects.

 

Aeri had been busy doing a gazillion of essays or so she says; but you perfectly know that even though it actually means she’s spending time with her crush Ning Yizhuo, you know she’s also pertaining to the actual papers she needed to do. It may not seem like it but the girl is an achiever who always works her off to get that straight A’s she had always aced.

 

Which includes but not limited to the school’s course syllabus. Insert Ning Yizhuo in the formula because

 

(“She is such a sweetheart, Jimin-ah! She lent me her pen when I forgot to bring mine the other day!”

 

or that

 

“She can draw Jimin-ah! She said she would show me her drawings one day when things aren’t hectic and I if I could be one of her French girls. Ning just gave me her stunning smile and grinned like an idiot and WOW YOO JIMIN SHE COULD LITERALLY CREATE SOMETHING FROM SCRATCH HOW IS SHE THIS PERFECT?”)

 

Which gives you all the time in the world to catch up with whatever Mr. Kim had been blabbering about René Descartes and how he thinks therefore he is or something like that.

 

Leaving you here, inside the library, trying to look for a comfortable spot where you can digest this 500-paged Philosophy book the librarian gave you. You could actually call Aeri and take a break with her but naaah.

 

You have this unspoken rule of not getting it on when things are starting to get serious with someone else in each other’s area and right now, you feel like Aeri is finally on her way to get a proper relationship. You are not going to ruin her chance of experiencing something she always claimed not to know.

 

 

(“I don’t know what love is, Jimin-ah”

 

“You haven’t even experienced it. What do you know?”

 

“There’s nothing to experience. I am awfully contented with what we have right now I don’t know if I’d want to go through the tedious system of a labelled relationship”

 

“I bet my life you’re going to be the whipped and greasy lover once you found the one. Ew. I could imagine you spewing cheesy stuff already. I pity whoever gets to end up with you.”

 

“Hey! It’s not that bad!”)

 

 

You love the boundaries you created with her, perhaps even one of the reasons why you’ve been in this setting with her for three years now without screwing your friendship. You both know that romantic relationship between the two of you will not work.

 

You tried it once but no, you both are much better off banging without strings attached. It just won’t work and the two of you are acutely aware of that. So there’s that.

 

Then there’s a familiar figure seated on that lonely table on the corner. And an unoccupied seat across the person too.

 

Subconsciously, your feet led you to your target and you unceremoniously plopped down the seat across her.

 

Kim Minjeong and her surprised face is one of the loveliest you’ve seen this week.

 

“What the—“ her wide eyes are gone as soon as it appeared upon realizing that it was you who shocked the living cells out of her, “You surprised me, Jimin unnie.”

 

“I know,” you deadpanned, setting your bag and the book on the table, “I’ve achieved my goal.”

 

Kim Minjeong looked amused at what you said and stared at you for a moment. Realizing that it was indeed your intention to startle her, she shook her head with a brief chuckle before going back to what she was working before you came.

 

“Why are you alone?” you interrupted, eager to hear her voice again.

 

“I am not,” Kim Minjeong replied without looking up from her notebook, “You are here.”

 

You found yourself rolling your eyes from that reply. This kid is playful as and you just got yourself a match in the form of Kim Minjeong.

 

“I mean why are you alone before I came..”

 

You see a smile spread on her lips from your angle and god this kid is insufferable.

 

“Yizhuo, my friend, is busy,” she replied, “Says her professors gave her tons of essays to write that are due this week and knowing her, she wants it to be perfect. So I have to entertain myself and work on my own homeworks while she’s gone.”

 

You nodded. This just confirmed that Aeri is indeed working on a lot of essays and that she is with Ning Yizhuo, the apple of her eyes.

 

That bish just got herself lucky, indeed.

 

“How about you?” you hear Minjeong ask, still without looking up from what she was writing on her notebook, “Why aren’t you with that cute unnie I usually see you with?”

 

You brows subconsciously shoot up from that question. That cute unnie she usually sees her with? Does this mean Kim Minjeong had been watching you?

 

“Aeri?”

 

Kim Minjeong shrugged at that, glancing at you with that doe-eyes of her, “I don’t know her name..”

 

“That’s Aeri.” You tell, “She’s working on her essays too. She’s been busy just like your friend.”

 

A nod of her head was what you got from the younger fella across you and you can’t help but wonder what she is working on that got her all focused.

 

“What are you working on?” you voiced out your thoughts. You know you are kind of pestering her right now with all these questions but you can’t help it. You want to hear her voice as much as you can.

 

“Stuff,” she curtly replied.

 

“What stuff?”

 

If the slight huff she let out was supposed to be indication that you are getting on her nerves, you totally ignored it and stared at her expectantly, waiting for an answer that may either drip of sarcasm or sassiness.

 

This is what you came here for.

 

“Math problems.”

 

“Ooohh. May I see?”

 

Kim Minjeong stared at you for a moment before slowly sliding her notebook to you, a sigh escaping her lips as she does.

 

“Color me surprise,” Kim Minjeong deadpanned, “If you know the answer to that I might as well date you—“

 

“This is easy,” you drawled, unconsciously reaching for the extra pen at the table and quickly answering the messy equation scribbled on the piece of paper, “You just have to transpose this here and put x next to this number, multiply it by 4 then divide the same with the denominator of the fraction next to it. And there’s your answer.”

 

Kim Minjeong and her surprised face is seriously one of the loveliest you’ve seen this week.

 

“So, how about that date you were talking about?” you smugly asked, a smirk on your lips, a certain twinkle on your eyes.

 

And a squinting, very amused, and a drop-dead gorgeous Kim Minjeong in front of you.

 

 

***

 

 

You end up walking up the stairs of Minjeong’s dorm room at 6PM on the same day after successfully snatching a date with her. You can’t help it if Math is basically breathing for you okay? Besides, it got you a date with Kim Minjeong, the freshman who has been plaguing your mind since the first time your eyes landed on her. Maybe you like having this superb Math skills after all.

 

“Jimin?” a familiar voice cuts through the air just as you were to knock at the door that separates you from Kim Minjeong, turning your head to the source of it and finding Aeri just meters away from you.

 

“Aeri? What are you doing here?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Aeri replied, amused smile painting on her lips as she eyes you from head to toe. “What got you all groomed up? You don’t wear that leather jacket on normal occasions.”

 

“Just because you’re kinda dressed up as a hobo today doesn’t mean you can point out how wonderful my wardrobe is, as always.”

 

“Hey!” the older girl pouted at your snickers, “I haven’t done laundry for almost two weeks because of this stupid essays I’m working on, okay. This is the first thing I saw on my thinning clean clothes when I opened my dresser. You can’t really blame me. And this flannel is nice! They’re comfy!”

 

And like always, Aeri and her TMI tendency never failed to amuse you.

 

Just as when you were about to reply a snarky remark at her strange combination of clothes, the long forgotten door that you were trying to knock into opened and comes out two sets of voices, making you and Aeri snap your heads at the direction.

 

“—and remember, be back before 12AM okay? Don’t be out for too long. Oh and your jacket, don’t forget your jacket. It’s cold outside.”

 

“Ugh yes mom, you’ve been reminding me that for the past hour or so.”

 

“Good, I—oh! Hi Aeri unnie! How long have you been there? You look cute in that flannel by the way.”

 

In your peripheral vision, you see Kim whipped Aeri tucking a strand of hair behind her ear upon the girl’s greeting, arching your brow at the uncharacteristic behavior of the older girl.

 

“Just now, Yizhuo. And thanks. This is my favorite”

 

Yizhuo turned her attention to you and oh wow, that icy aura she exudes is indeed something else. Aeri isn’t lying when she says that Ning Yizhuo is a witch Jimin, how can someone be so cute and y all at the same time?

 

“And I’m guessing you are the ‘Yoo Jimin’, my Minjeong unnie’s date for the night?”

 

The sudden turn of her soft Hi Aeri unnie to the hint of authority in her voice when she turned at you threw you off guard, making you stiffly nod your head at the question with a respectful, “Ne.”

 

You could hear Aeri holding back her chuckle beside you and Minjeong’s soft groan of protest, probably out of embarrassment.

 

“Kindly bring Minjeong unnie home before 12AM sober and intact. She easily gets cold so make sure you are not going to a very cold place or something”

 

You awkwardly gave her a stiff nod once again, “Ne.”

 

“No drinking. I am serious, Miss Jimin. I do not want to smell any hint of liquor on her when she gets home.”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

“And I repeat,” Yizhuo’s cold voice cuts through the air, probably ripping apart the amount of confidence you were wearing before you came here, leaving you into this awkward, nodding mess, “Bring her home before 12 AM. Understood?”

 

“Ne. I-I understand.”

 

The authority in her voice drops and a warm smile appears on Yizhuo’s face, making you relatively exhale in relief.

 

“Good. You guys have a nice evening okay? Take care of my unnie, Miss Jimin.”

 

With another nod, she and Aeri sauntered inside the room. But not without the Kim throwing you a suggestive look and a wiggle of her brows.

 

You could only roll her eyes at her.

 

“Sorry about that,” you turn your head at the sighing Kim Minjeong once the door closes, “Yizhuo could be like that sometimes.”

 

“Like what? Your father?”

 

“Ugh yes,” you found yourself chuckling at her embarrassment, “She thinks she’s doing me a favor by doing all that ‘dad-talk’ thing whenever I go out with someone. But really, all she does is embarrass me and ruin a date night and a potential partner with all that talk.”

 

The way your heart slightly plummeted at the thought of her going out on a date with someone else was compensated with the fact that Kim Minjeong is thinking that you are a potential partner. It made your heart burst with something akin to happiness, but you kept your cool.

 

“Who says I’m going to let that ruin our date night?” you say, an easy smile dangling off your lips as your stared at Kim Minjeong with a hint of confidence in your voice, “This is going to be the best night of your life, Kim Minjeong.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Hell yeah.”

 

Challenged at the thought, Minjeong threw you a smug look, “Don’t disappoint me, Yoo Jimin.”

 

 

***

 

 

You brought Kim Minjeong to the movies for the first stop of your date night. You asked her if she’s up for that one horror movie that is going viral right now and the snort she gave as a response simply boosted the list of Kim Minjeong facts that are piquing your interest.

 

 

(“You’re not like, weirded out or something right?”

 

“Why should I?”

 

“This is our first date, and instead of a romantic movie I’m setting you up for a horror, probably with a lot of gore.”

 

“And I should be weirded out because..?”

 

“You know what, just forget I said anything. Do you like your popcorn large??”

 

“Extra large, you mean?”

 

“That’s what I said.”)

 

 

Turns out, Kim Minjeong is a scaredy-cat and she lied to you about not hating horror because she definitely does. (Well, she did not technically say she likes horror movies BUT! she did not argue with you about watching it okay).

 

Five minutes into the movie and she was clinging to you like a koala especially on those surprise scenes where the monsters would suddenly come out after an eerily quiet moment. Her squeals are no better, she was screaming her lungs out you are afraid she’s going to burn them.

 

In the end, you were not able to finish the movie after hearing the small whimpers under your neck.

 

In as much as you like her lavender scent evading your nostrils and the warmth of her body pressed against you, you did not feel right enjoying the moment in the expense of Minjeong’s comfort.

 

Halfway through the movie, you are dragging a half-crying, half-confused Kim Minjeong out of the cinema. You wanted to but the statement she gave before you could even say a word out just made you smile at her fondly.

 

“You looked like a child oozing with excitement when you talked about the movie okay? I didn’t have the heart to tell you how I hate horror movies. Besides, if you like it, how bad could it be right?”

 

“Very bad, it seems. You were going crazy.”

 

“Ugh shut up..”

 

You chuckled at the predicament of the younger, shaking your head at her reasoning, and at the same time, feeling a little special at Kim Minjeong’s stupidity.

 

“Alright then, because you made me choose our first movie together, I’ll leave it to you to choose where we could have our first dinner together.”

 

Saying the word we and together in the same statement with Kim Minjeong’s name behind it feels odd and nice at the same time. You cannot pinpoint the feeling but it’s there.

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

“You’ll buy?”

 

“Of course, silly. I asked you out remember? It’s on me all throughout.”

 

Kim Minjeong frowns at that, “That doesn’t feel right. I’m on this date too, y’know. I should also spend something for the two of us.”

 

“It’s okay,” you reassure her, “I gotchu, Miss Kim.”

 

“Maybe for our next date then. I’ll make it up to you.” She mumbles but you heard her oh so clearly, so much that you are grinning so wide when you turned to her.

 

“So there is a next date?”

 

You see her stumble upon her words and you are relishing every bit of the charm Kim Minjeong exudes from her little mishaps and slips.

 

She tells you to shut up and drags you away with red ears, all while you stare at your intertwined hands that looks so, so beautiful together.

 

 

***

 

 

Kim Minjeong brought you to this chicken stand just a few blocks away from the movie theater and the smile on her face when the food arrived at your table, you believe, was enough to cure cancer.

 

Just as the chicken she basically inhaled was enough to feed an infantry.

 

Awestruck at how she was on her way to consume her third order of chicken, you silently gawked at her with bemused eyes and small smile tugging at your lips.

 

“What?” she noticed you staring at her, mid-bite on the chicken leg she was about to swallow whole.

 

“Nothing”, You continued staring at her with that stupid smile on your face “Do you want my chicken?”

 

Confused, Minjeong asked, “How about you?”

 

You shook her head no, slightly pushing the plate of calorie-rich fried chicken towards the younger girl who looked like she could use five more plates of them.

 

“My diet doesn’t contain fried food.”

 

“Wha—you could’ve told me so we would have gone to a place where you can eat something!”

 

Minjeong was ready to burst out of the restaurant but you were quick to reassure her, “No no no, it’s okay. I had a salad before coming here. So I’m good.”

 

“Eww,” there’s that pout again ugh, “What’s fun in salad. They’re all leaves. Don’t they taste like soil or something?”

 

Feigning offense, you brought a hand to your chest with a gasp, “Kim Minjeong you vegetable-hater! THEY DO NOT TASTE LIKE SOIL! Do not bad-mouth them in front of my..my—“

 

“You don’t have a salad so you cannot really say salad unnie so..”

 

Huffing, you scanned for the items on your table and your mouth uttered the first thing your eyes landed upon, “Yeah? I don’t have a salad but you’re bad-mouthing vegetable right in front of my ketchup! Ketchup comes from tomato which is a vegetable used in salad so it’s basically salad. Yeah that’s right. Right infront of my ketchup which is basically salad. So apologize.”

 

Rolling her eyes at you, Kim Minjeong resumed consuming her beloved chicken, “Shut up weirdo. Don’t tell me there’s no single vegetable you are not eating?”

 

“Well, I hate carrots but—“

 

“SEE!” Minjeong exclaimed, pointing at you with her childishly oily fingers, “You hypocrite! And you’re calling me a vegetable-hater! You hate carrots yourself!”

 

“It’s not the same!” you know this argument is stupid but you’re enjoying every second of it, “Carrots have this weird aftertaste or something okay? Eugh! I hate it with passion!”

 

“And I hate leaves with passion too!” Minjeong replied, “So what are we going to do with that?”

 

“Well, I guess you just continue hating leaves until you don’t anymore.” You suggested, back to your usually calm and level-headed self, as if you just didn’t have a heated discussion about carrots and salad.

 

You grabbed a clean napkin on the table and reached out to the child sitting opposite of you, deliberately wiping away the remnants of her chicken battle all over her jaw. You didn’t miss the way she slightly stiffened at the sudden gesture which surprised you as well.

 

You’re not so much on actions and you smooth your way out of things through your words. But just being with Minjeong makes you want to take care of her for the rest of the days, make sure she’s well-fed or just comfortable in every way.

 

It doesn’t make sense.

 

“And I am going to do the same with carrots until I die coz I am never gonna like them. Ever. Deal?” You say, staring straight at her. “Now eat your chicken before I do.”

 

“Okay deal. And don’t eat my chicken!” The kid that is Kim Minjeong defended and you wonder if she is a five-year old girl wrongfully trapped in a woman’s body.

 

A stunning woman you might add.

 

You have never enjoyed watching someone munch on a fried chicken the way you reveled in the sight of a certain doe-eyed girl happily wolfing down her 8^th order of chicken drumstick for the night.

 

 

***

 

 

Your last stop for tonight’s date is the Arcade and the arcade-obsessed kid inside of you has never come in handy until today.

 

Because Minjeong just happened to love Arcade.

 

The only thing stopping her from fully loving Arcade is: she has never been in this place before.

 

“You’ve never been in this place before?” you felt the need to repeat what she said when she timidly pursed her lips at the revelation.

 

Who in the world haven’t come to the haven of rowdy kids and childhood memories?

 

Kim Minjeong that is.

 

“Well,” you started, scanning around the place looking for a good starter-game for rookie gamer girl Minjeong, “What do you want to play?”

 

“Um..” Minjeong paused to think, only for her face to break into one of those brightest grins clearly an idea popped into her head, “I want to play shoot and kill!”

 

“S-shoot and kill?”

 

“Yes yes!” the younger girl giddily replied, grabbing your hand and dragging you deeper into the people-filled place with your hands intertwined, “I saw on TV that there’s a game here that lets you shoot bad guys with artificial guns! I want to try it unnie come on!”

 

 

***

 

 

Five minutes into the game and Yoo Jimin finds out that Kim Minjeong is really good in shoot and kill (the game was actually called ‘Rambo’ but does it even matter when Kim Minjeong seems so happy with shoot and kill?)

 

She sent three of the five boys she played with weeping and calling Mommy after they lost in the game with the Kim. Even earned a thousand of points after killing almost a hundred of virtual enemy soldiers within a minute.

 

You had never been prouder in your life the way you did when Minjeong curtsied to the small crowd she gathered after playing the game.

 

You had never felt your heart skip a beat the way it just did right now when Minjeong had found your eyes and grinned that signature grin that always kept you reeling for more.

 

Yoo…what is happening to you?

 

 

***

 

 

You decided to call it a night when the alarm you set entitled “Time to get Minjeongie home or Ning Yizhuo will murder you and feed your body to the crocodiles” blasted off while you guys are idly walking along the still busy streets of Seoul.

 

It’s almost 12 in the midnight but South Korea’s capital city just never seemed to run out of things to do.

 

Unlike your hand that is itching to reach out for a certain doe-eyed girl’s scrawny ones.

 

You two are just a block away from the dormitories, walking side-by-side with the moon saying her hello above your heads. The stars are on full show and the skies are at peace.

 

Everything just feels so right at the moment.

 

Including the way a clammy hand found its way across your palm, slowly towards its intended destination and finally into the gaps between your fingers.

 

It is just a block away from the dormitories and you, Yoo Jimin, are silently wishing it would have been a mile more just so you could hold unto Kim Minjeong’s hand for a little longer.

 

 

***

 

 

“I enjoyed tonight,” says Minjeong as the both of you stood in front of their door. Your hands are still, unconsciously, (or consciously? who knows?) clutching unto each other.

 

You don’t mind that neither you nor she wants to let go though. You don’t mind at all.

 

“Me too.”

 

“Really?” the younger asks, the glint in her eyes and the small grin on her lips making you feel things again. “You enjoyed staring at me throughout the whole night?”

 

You grinned at the statement.

 

“Can’t help it if the view looked rather dashing from here.”

 

Kim Minjeong and the pink spreading on her cheeks was simply a sight to see.

 

“You’re really good at what you’re doing, Yoo Jimin,” Minjeong breathes, her free hand suddenly playing with the hem of your leather jacket, “You’re making it hard for me to resist this.”

 

“Then stop resisting,” you answered, gently placing your free hand on top of the hand she’s playing your jacket with, “Just let me do what I gotta do.”

 

For some intergalactic force between the two of you, you find yourself slowly leaning in, outright attracted with Kim Minjeong’s doe-eyes staring at you this close and feeling the gap between the two of you closing in and closing in and closing..

 

Until there’s no more space left and your lips felt the smooth, soft skin of her cheek.

 

Her cheek.

 

“I don’t kiss on the first date,” Kim Minjeong breathes, felt the muscle of her cheek stretching as your lips lingers on the spot you landed.

 

This girl is smiling and despite not seeing that megawatt grin, you felt the same unsettling feeling inside your stomach whenever her face breaks into that beam.

 

Just what is she doing to you?

 

“First date? You mean there’ll be a second date?” you braved to ask, your voice just above a whisper as you decided to peck Minjeong’s cheek ever so slightly this time before pulling away to look at her.

 

“Depends on your answer to my next question.”

 

“Okay,” You said, curious. “Ask away.”

 

You felt the hands under Minjeong’s clutch being held tighter, met Minjeong’s doe-eyes staring straight at you, straight past your soul and into your whole being.

 

Suddenly, you are anxious as to what she will say next, what would happen next. You can feel a trickle of a bead of sweat down your nape, can hear the throbbing of the pulse on your left ear.

 

God, Jimin. You cannot remember the last time you feel so vulnerable under someone’s gaze until Kim Minjeong.

 

Until this very beautiful freshman with a smug face and pretty smile came barging into your life and made you putty under her gaze, made you a whole body of emotions that you never even knew you had in you.

 

Until her.

 

“Will we go the Arcade again?”

 

You found yourself blinking at the question, trying to process the severity of the words (or lack thereof) because is she.. did she just.. what???

 

“ Minjeong,” you breathed, rolling her eyes at the snickering Kim Minjeong in front of you, personally feeling her celebration for successfully trolling you, “I thought we’re about to get serious and with the vibe that suddenly rolled up.”

 

“But I am serious!” Minjeong defended, throaty laughs spilling from her lips, “Will we go the Arcade again? It was fun there and I like seeing those boys losing and crying right after. Pfft, what a bunch of babies.”

 

“You are the baby.”

 

“I am not!” the way Minjeong’s brows met and the way her lips jutted out at your accusation was simply out of this world for fries’ sake Yoo Jimin how are you still alive?

 

“You are~” you cannot keep yourself from pinching her cheeks and you honestly do not know where all this gesture is coming from, “Can you be my baby, Miss Minjeong?”

 

There goes Kim Minjeong’s hearty laughs again, mouth wide-open and eyes adorably squinting, leaving the muscle inside your ribcage pumping like you’ve run a marathon or something.

 

You believe it’s the latter though; you just don’t know what that something is.

 

(What are you talking about, you know what that something is. It’s just too early for you to label it like that)

 

“You have a long way to go, soldier.” Minjeong replies with a grin. “This is just the first date.”

 

The younger one steps away from you, creating this gap that you just want to close.

 

“Thank you for tonight, Jimin unnie.” She softly says, a cute smile on her face. “You take care on your way home, okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

You are left nodding your head as Minjeong sent you that blinding smile of hers again, almost sending you on your knees.

 

She opens her door to their dorm and was about to step in when she halted, “Oh and I almost forgot..”

 

The younger turns back at you, suddenly leans in and presses her pink lips on the corner of your mouth, those lips lingering like they were meant to be on that place for a longer time.

 

Longer time that those lips stay there and you might move your head a little bit just so you could…you could just..

 

“Those cheeks just looked squishy from the moment I saw you tonight. I badly wanted to feel them against my lips,” Minjeong says as she finally steps away from the very close proximity, “Y’know, to make sure if it was indeed squishy as it seems.”

 

“Is it?” you dumbly asked, mesmerized at how superb Kim Minjeong’s megawatt smile is. “Squishy, I mean..”

 

“Well, what can I say,” Minjeong opened their dorm room once again, this time fully stepping in and looking back at you to finish her sentence, “You never disappoint.”

 

You had to squeeze your cheeks for a good ten minutes in front of the closed dorm room to make sure that it wasn’t all a dream.

 

That Minjeong had indeed went out with you tonight, that you were able to see many sides of her intriguing persona, and that she ended the date with a peck on the corner of your mouth.

 

It’s too early to say this but Yoo Jimin, you’re afraid you are catching a lovebug.

 

And that bug is in the form of a real-life goddess, stunning beauty, smile that can cure cancer, woman with child-like personality, Kim Minjeong.

 

Just…otteoke???

 

 

_______________________________

 

hi sweets! did you miss me? coz i missed you!

here's a love offering from me~ it's a converted one-shot from my snsd ship that i posted here in aff a few years back. i was going through my drafts to pick up some inspo to write when i saw this and thought to myself, why not convert it for my jmj readers? so here it is!

anyway, i hope you enjoy this one! it's nothing much but i wanted to post something coz it's been awhile since i did hehehe i hope you're taking care of yourselves~

- sj