A year passed in the blink of an eye. Yujin was in her final year. Mashiro and Xiaoting were in their third. Chaehyun and Dayeon were in their second year. Hikaru, Hyyih, Yongeun and Yeseo were in their first year. All of them managed to get accepted into their majors. The nine of them made an odd group ranging from different majors and years. 

Xiaoting was waiting in front of the main campus building for a certain Choi. She was a little late today. Xiaoting was about to call her but then she saw her familiar figure approaching. She walked up to her side and exchanged good mornings.

“Unnie, what happened to your wrist?”, Xiaoting held Yujin’s wrist gently, examining the bandages.

“It’s fine. I just sprained it a little when I fell yesterday”, Yujin looked away. 

It wasn’t a complete lie. Yujin did fall yesterday. She threw herself off the window actually. That night her father asked her to take care of drug traffickers who were doing business in the Choi territory. It ended up turning into a shoot-out. One of them threw a grenade Yujin’s way. The only way to dodge was, well, out the window. Thankfully they were just on the second floor, Yujin didn’t fall that far but still sprained her wrist. It was a minor setback but she managed to deal with the drug traffickers in the end.

Xiaoting looked into Yujin's brown eyes. She knew the girl wasn’t telling her the complete truth. It must have been related to the shooting yesterday in the Choi territory last night. Xiaoting was no medic but she had her fair share of injuries. Yujin was trying to downplay her injuries to not worry her friends. Yujin’s wrist looked like it hurt more than the girl let on.

“Hmm, okay. Let me carry your bag then. I’ll walk you to class”. Xiaoting decided that she wasn’t going to let Yujin carry anything heavy with her busted wrist until it got better. She grabbed Yujin’s bag without waiting for the girl’s reply and slung it over her shoulders

“You don’t have to Ting. I know your class is on the other side of campus. You’ll be late”. 

Nothing escapes Xiaoting’s eyes. Anytime something was bothering Yujin or if she got hurt while doing one of her father’s errands, Xiaoting would be the first one to notice and ask if she was okay. She was sweet like that.

“Then we better get there earlier”. Xiaoting adjusted the bag on her shoulders and took Yujin’s uninjured hand into her own.

“You’re impossible. Let’s go then”. Yujin let herself get dragged around by Xiaoting.

 

---

 

“Yujin unnie! Let’s head to lunch?”, a certain Shen called out to her.

It seemed that Xiaoting had Yujin’s classes memorised. The girl was always there waiting for her after each class. Xiaoting would take Yujin’s bag and walk her to the next. Yujin tried talking her out of it but Xiaoting was too stubborn to listen and assured Yujin that she wanted to do it. Yujin gave up and let the girl help her for today.

The pair headed to their group of friends. It seemed that they were the last to arrive. Yujin settled herself at the end of the table. On her left side were Hyyih, Hikaru, Yeseo and Youngeun while on her left were Xiaoting, Dayeon, Chaehyun and Mashiro. They were lucky the university’s tables were large enough for the nine of them to sit together. 

Their table was rowdy as always. Yujin listened in on how Yeseo and Youngeun tried their hand at baking cookies in their dorm and nearly burned down the building. They took the burning cookies out to the balcony and left them there for days, completely forgetting to throw them out. Hyyih made disgusted noises as she shared the same dorm with them. Hikaru asked them to clean up their shared refrigerator while they were at it. Apparently someone had left a half-eaten macarron in the freezer for god knows how long. The four of them started to bicker between themselves. Mashiro, the peacemaker of the group, tried to settle them down. 

Chaehyun and Dayeon were busy feeding each other while watching the free entertainment in front of them. The two had been dating for a while now. Yujin wasn’t about to spend her time being the third-wheel. So, she found herself spending more of her time with Xiaoting. They would hang out somewhere after classes or eat dinner together. Sometimes the other girls would join them but most of the time it was just the two of them.

Lunch time was ending and Yujin looked over to her left. She checked if Xiaoting had finished her lunch yet. The girl caught her eye and flashed her a smile. Yujin couldn’t help but smile too. 

“Sorry guys but Yujin unnie and I are leaving first”. Xiaoting got up from her seat, picking up her bag and Yujin’s too. Just like this morning, she grabbed Yujin’s hand into her own free one and waved their friends goodbye. 

The rest of the group just watched the two figures disappear into the distance.

“Did everyone see that?”, Yeseo quipped

“Xiaoting is whipped”. Mashiro smirked at herself. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Xiaoting used to complain to her about how annoying it was that boys were trying to get her attention, constantly following her around or accidentally bumping into her in the hallway. But here she was, the Shen Xiaoting, following Yujin unnie like a puppy.

“Pretty sure they’re hands are glued together by now”. Chaehyun tried to remember when the two started that habit. She knew her friend was fond of skinship. But it was like every time they saw Xiaoting or Yujin, the other would be close by. Maybe the two had developed some kind of internal radar to sense one another.

Hikaru turned to ,with her eyes narrowed, “Seriously, what are they? You can’t tell me they’re not together”

“Last time I checked Yujin unnie said they were just friends”, Youngeun answered

“That was not ‘just friends’”. Hyyih wasn’t buying that. The two treated each other differently than the rest of the group. It wasn’t that the two didn’t care for their little group. But they were especially sweet and attentive to each other. 

Dayeon buried her head into her hands and groaned out of frustration. “It’s been a year. Why are they so slow”

Chaehyun gave her girlfriend a pat on the head. She was with Dayeon. It was fun at first teasing the oldest two when they were tip-toeing around each other. Now, they were practically all over each other but both Yujin and Xiaoting seemed to be blind about that fact. Frankly it was getting frustrating to watch. “Okay guys. We need to step up our game. I have a plan”

The rest of the girls listened to Chaehyun’s so-called full-proof plan. Some of them were sceptical to try pushing the ship but more than half were desperate to sail the ship already. Eventually, they came to an agreement. If the plan doesn’t work, then they’ll back off and let Xiaojin sort themselves out. But if it does work, Mashiro owes Chaehyun a new set of highlights.

 

---

 

Xiaoting was a homebody. She liked to spend her free time in her family’s shooting range or with a good book in hand. Yujin was her complete opposite. The girl was a social butterfly. She had friends everywhere and anywhere. It would be weirder if you’ve never seen or heard of Choi Yujin. That was why she was invited by Cai Bing for her birthday party. The birthday girl was also friends with Mashiro, Chaehyun and Dayeon. Naturally, the three of them were invited and they were given the okay to bring friends. That led to the four youngest of their group tagging along to the party. Xiaoting strictly reminded them to stay away from the kitchen, only accept drinks from their friends and never leave each other alone or else she’ll drag them back home.

The party was a pretty big one. There were people dancing in the living room, playing drinking games, throwing each other into the swimming pool and god knows what else was going on upstairs. Xiaoting scanned the crowd. True to their words, the kids did stick with each other. Mashiro was with Yeseo and Youngeun sitting by the pool talking. Chaehyun and Dayeon were messing around with Hyyih and Hikaru. She looked around for the eldest of their group. She found Yujin talking with the birthday girl and their friends. All seemed well. She decided to join Mashiro by the pool.

As it was nearing midnight, the party had died down somewhat. Xiaoting saw some poor guy empty his stomach into a house plant at the corner of the room. She winced in disgust and decided to gather the youngest to go home. Her eyes caught sight of Yujin. She was about to walk up to her but saw that the girl was sitting, very closely, next to Cai Bing. Xiaoting threw her gaze away from them and went to find the other girls. Even after gathering all the girls, she couldn’t get the scene out of her head. 

Mashiro, Chaehyun and Dayeon decided to take the kids home while Xiaoting stayed behind with Yujin. Well, waiting for Yujin actually. The girl was still with Cai Bing. Xiaoting wondered if Yujin had spent the entire night next to the birthday girl. Seeing Yujin smile and laugh like that stirred some unpleasant feelings in Xiaoting. Maybe she was just tired. She just wanted to go home. But she couldn’t just barge in there and drag Yujin away from Cai Bing even if she wanted to. So here she was, brooding in the corner while nursing a drink in her hand. Being raised in the mafia, she wasn’t a stranger to alcohol even if she didn’t like it. Alcohol tastes disgusting to her. Xiaoting didn’t know why people at parties enjoy them so much.

Xiaoting saw Cai Bing’s hand resting on Yujin's lap, moving down to her knees and back up to her lap again. The plastic cup in her hand crumpled, the content spilling a little. Xiaoting couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She was about to march towards Cai Bing but a hand on her chest stopped.

“Slow down there tiger. If looks could kill, Cai Bing would be in the grave now”, the stranger pushed Xiaoting’s chest until she leaned back to the wall.

Xiaoting swatted the hand away. “Do I know you?”

“Kawaguchi Yurina. We share History, Psychology and also Linguistics together”

Xiaoting tried to remember if she’s seen the girl in class before. The girl was slightly shorter than her. She had sharp features and did not look Korean. Then it clicked to her. She was the Japanese transfer student. Xiaoting did share a lot of classes with her. She furrowed her brows, “What do you want?”

“Let’s just say I know how you feel”. Yurina put her hand on Xiaoting’s cheek.

Xiaoting brought the hand on her cheek down. “First of all, I’m flattered but I’m not interested. Second, we may share a lot of classes but you don’t know anything about me”

XIaoting was about to walk away from Yurina but she stepped in front of Xiaoting. Xiaoting was forced to take a step back. 

“I see how you look at her”. Yurin took a sip from her drink.

Xiaoting raised her eyebrows, trying to get the girl to elaborate. Yurina nodded her head towards where Yujin and her friends were sitting. Xiaoting didn’t quite understand what the girl was impling. She kept glancing back and forth between Yujin and the girl in front of her.

“The way you look at her is the same way I look at Cai Bing”. Yurina took a step forward.

“I can’t stand them being that close with each other. You agree, don't you?”. Another step forward. The girl was right in front of Xiaoting now.

“How about we teach them a lesson?”. Xiaoting’s back was flush against the wall. She couldn’t back away 

Yurina stared straight into Xiaoting. She leaned in and whispered into Xiaoting’s ear, “Kiss me”

 

---

 

Yujin was sitting with Cai Bing’s circle. Today was the girl’s birthday. Yujin congratulated her the moment she arrived. She gave her pair of earrings as a birthday present. Cai Bing grabbed her into a bear hug. 

“Thank you Yujin. This looks so beautiful but not as beautiful as you”. Cai Bing winked at her.

Yujin just laughed in response. Cai Bing did have a crush on her. She confessed to Yujin in their first year. Yujin declined her confession at the time but that didn’t stop Cai Bing from trying. In fact Cai Bing confessed again recently. But Yujin still didn’t feel the same way. Besides, the year they graduate would be the last time she would see Cai Bing, at least for a long time. Cai Bing was going back to China to continue her family business. They decided to remain as friends. 

It was fun spending time with Cai Bing but Yujin couldn’t help but search the crowd for a certain someone once in a while. Sometimes she would spot her with the kids. Sometimes the girl would just disappear. 

“Okay, spill it, who are you looking for?” Cai Bing knocked Yujin’s shoulders.

“I came with my friends and I can’t find them”. Yujin kept glancing around. They were eight people and there weren't a lot of people left at the party. Why couldn’t she find them?

“You came with Chaehyun, Dayeon and Mashiro right? I saw them leave a while ago”. Cai Bing spoke up from her side.

Yujin checked her phone. Cai Bing was right. Chaehyun texted her that she left with the kids but Xiaoting was still there. Yujin looked up again. “Hey, have any of you seen Xiaoting?”

“You know Shen Xiaoting?”, Yaning stared at her in disbelief.

“We’re friends”.Yujin hadn’t seen Xiaoting in a while. She was getting worried. She tried texting the girl but she wasn’t replying. Yujin contemplated whether she should call her or not.

“You better stop looking for her. She looks pretty busy right now”, Cai Bing pointed at the two girls in the corner of the room. 

Yujin narrowed her eyes at the two, “Who is that?”

“Calm down, girl. That’s Kawaguchi Yurina”. Yaning was amused at Yujin’s reaction. The girl was shooting daggers with her eyes.

Yujin saw everything. Watching Yurina lean in towards Xiaoting was the last straw. She stood up from her seat and marched towards the two. 

“Xiaoting!”. Yujin was practically yelling across the room but she didn’t care. All she cared about was getting the girl away from Xiaoting. The two turned their heads towards her. 

Yujin flashed her usual smile. “I’ve been looking for you. Let’s go home”

For some reason, Xiaoting just stared at her. Yujin tilted her head and held Xiaoting’s hand. That seemed to knock some sense into her. Xiaoting smiled and nodded. Yujin dragged her away from Yurina, away from the party, away from everyone until it’s just the two of them.