The day was spent with Giselle and Ningning helping Minjeong, and Jimin would help from time to time whenever Giselle would call her. Jimin would then go out of the room as soon as possible once she's done, she feels suffocated in the cramped space - with all the boxes and bags scattered, and the four of them being in one room.

With her being in one room with Minjeong.

Jimin for one, was confused and overwhelmed with everything that's happening. She has never expected to see the girl here, she has never expected to see MInjeong again. Questions started to flood her like a tsunami, filling the brim of her dam - and Jimin pulled herself together to not go there.

Seeing the girl again felt like opening a time capsule that Jimin kept, hidden from everyone. A time capsule that contains every single thing that has happened in Jimin's life since she was 8. Minjeong was her time capsule that she never thought she would be ready to open - and yet here she is.

Right in the same vicinity with Jimin, a few steps away - a few breaths away.

So, when Giselle and Ningning stayed at their dorm, opting to have pizza as lunch just to help Minjeong. The latter insisted that the two just go on with their day, but Giselle being herself, stayed and helped along with Ningning. Jimin watched, sitting on the floor along with the other three as Minjeong occupied the bed.

"So, why this college?" Giselle asked, starting a conversation - a way to get to know each other, saying that the three of them might spend more time together than expected. Jimin doubts that, but she didn't voice it out.

Jimin just listened, catching the way Minjeong glanced at Ningning - the questioning look that she will always wear whenever she's not sure if she's the one being talked to. But as Ning nodded her head, Minjeong answered.

"I just wanted to be here," Minjeong answered, shrugging as she gestured for a minute to chew her food. "I've heard there's an extensive collection of books in the library."

Giselle looked at the girl weirdly, "You're here for the library? What are you even taking?"

"Yes and no. English literature."

"Oh, then you and Jimin might get along! This girl loves to read," Giselle said, bumping her shoulders with Jimin playfully. She just hummed, trying to concentrate on her almost finished pizza - trying to ignore the look that Minjeong was giving her.

"That's nice," Minjeong simply said, "we have the same dorm after all."

And the conversation went on, and Jimin was stuck there repeating Minjeong's words in her head. The girl answered it so blandly, not a sign of enthusiasm, and the way she has a simple reason - having the same dorm. Jimin takes a deep breath, listening to the conversation - trying to tune in on what Ningning was saying. Learning that the girl was taking Fine Arts, and with Giselle asking her favorite piece - then it was directed to Minjeong, again.

"How about you, what's your favorite book?"

And even without listening, Jimin already knows the answer.

"The Little Prince." The Little Prince.

"Isn't that a child's book - "

Then Jimin stands up, looking at Minjeong first and expects the girl was wearing that awkward smile of hers, the one where she knew she's going to be judged with her favorite book. Tearing her gaze away, Jimin looked at Giselle and everyone was also looking at her. "I'll clean up, pizza's gone." she simply said, gesturing to the empty box of pizza in the middle.

Jimin caught Minjeong's eyes - and she'd like to think that the girl was grateful for it, and maybe she just thinks like that.

And just like that, the day went on and soon enough, Giselle and Ning left their dorm - with Minjeong and Jimin saying their goodbye, closing the door. It just clicked to Jimin, as the door was closed, that she'll be staying in the dorm for the whole year with Minjeong. The way the girl's scent lingers on the empty space that was once occupied by Minjeong, Jimin doesn't know how to act.

She never expected this to happen, and god was she nervous. She has been so occupied the whole day that she never thought of what's completely happening - she and Minjeong will share a dorm.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Jimin ly to see Minjeong already looking at her. She frowns as she wonders why, and maybe the question was very much obvious on her face that Minjeong answered.

"I said I won't eat dinner, I'll just clean the room and freshen up, and will go straight to bed." Minjeong said in a tired tone, and not waiting for a reply, she walked inside her own room - leaving Jimin alone.

Jimin stood there quietly, tracing the steps of Minjeong only for her eyes to land on the closed door. Somehow, Jimin also doesn't have an appetite and so, she just went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water before proceeding to take a bath and do her night routine. As soon as she walked out of the bathroom, the steam coming outside, she looked at the adjacent room - the door was still closed.

She doesn't know what came to her, but soon enough Jimin found herself right in front of it - her hand forming a fist, as if she's about to knock, only to stop herself. Jimin quietly leaned her forehead against it, taking careful breaths as she composed herself. What would've happened if she did knock?

Jimin doesn't know how long she was standing there but she was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard faint rustlings from the inside, and footsteps approaching. Without much thought, Jimin walks away in quiet strides - and in a second or two, Jimin has closed her own door to her room and she heard the other door being opened.

Leaning her back against her door, Jimin tightens her hold on to her towel - her heart still in a mess.

Jimin laid down on her bed, staring at the ceiling with nothing to look at - with only her thoughts as her companion. Everything jumbled inside her, and somehow, the silence of the dorm just emphasized the fact that there's another presence - a new and familiar one, on the other side of the wall. Jimin quietly lays down and sleep didn't consume her in 15 minutes - only the memories on her time capsule entered her mind.

Jimin finished the book in a day or two, even though she was amazed with how quick she read it despite not having any interests to read. Maybe the drawings helped her, Jimin found it entertaining but what she mostly looked at were the messy handwritings on each page. She wonders why Minjeong  wrote on the book, and yet it was much more entertaining for her.

The way the girl would simply write OMG, what, or even draw random shapes - coloring the drawings on the notebook. It was too chaotic, too messy, and still, Jimin managed to finish it without any problems.

Staying right under the same tree, Jimin was holding the book between her tiny hands. It's been three days and she still hasn't seen Minjeong again. Jimin isn't that close to the girl for her to come knocking right at their door to look for Minjeong, and yet she's holding Minjeong's favorite book.

Opening it on a random page, Jimin just read and traced the words that Minjeong wrote - hard enough to leave a mark on the page, and then the crunching sound welcomed her. She looked up to see Minjeong, a dirt on her face and what seemed to be gardening gloves - too huge for her tiny hands, waving at her.

"Jimin Yu Jimin, hey!" Minjeong said excitedly, wearing a baseball cap backwards and approaching Jimin. The latter looked and saw the flower that Minjeong was holding - obviously dead.

"Minjeong, hey. It's nice to see you again." Jimin greets back and Minjeong grinned at her, her eyes going from Jimin's face to the opened book.

"You've finished it?!" Minjeong said excitedly and Jimin simply nodded, and the girl squealed like a dolphin. "What did you think about it? Is it good, or bad? Or was it too confusing? The drawings are good, right?!"

Maybe that's just how Minjeong is, chaotic, messy, enthusiastic, throwing questions right after another. Jimin answered her questions as best as she could, in the right order.

"Yeah, I've finished it. It's actually good, I love the story and the lessons that it gives after simple stories. And yes, the drawings were amazing and cute."

Jimin smiles and nods to herself, satisfied with her answer and when she looks up - it's like Minjeong saw gold, the latter was looking at her with eyes full of wonder and a smile that seems too bright as usual. That's the only thing that the girl did and a minute already passed and JImin felt too self-conscious now.

"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're smiling," Minjeong points out, "I mean earlier, not now. But earlier." she grinned. The tiny beads of sweat were running down her cheeks, and Jimin didn't realize that she was smiling earlier.

"Oh really?"

"It looks good on you, Jimin Yu Jimin." Minjeong grinned, and just like that a loud voice was heard calling out to Minjeong from the other side of the road. The two of them looked at the direction where it's coming from, and Jimin saw a tall boy - maybe three to four years older than her, looking at them.

"Ah, that's my brother. We're doing some gardening," Minjeong said and gestured to the huge gloves she's wearing. "I better get going now, it's nice to see you again!"

"Hey, your book!" Jimin shouts, and Minjeong stops walking back to Jimin.

"You can keep it, it's yours already." Minjeong smiles, and scrunches her nose and bites her lips in the process. "Would you like, uh.."

Jimin was bewildered with the sudden change, making her smile and tilting her head. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Maybe join us on our next gardening? If you'd like, not that I'm forcing you, after all, it's all dirty and - "

"I'd love to."

That simple answer was enough for Minjeong to stop being a mumbling mess, all changed to her smiling and energetic self as she beamed at Jimin. The latter just watched the girl run back to her front yard, her brother messing around with her and she kicked him. It was entertaining to watch, she and her sister never acted like that - they were more on the side where they talk and joke around, but not like that.

And that night, as Jimin wrote something on the book that Minjeong gave her, right beside the girl's messy handwriting, Jimin wrote her own.

and Jimin Yu Jimin :)

Jimin woke up earlier compared to the day before, seeing that it is still 8 in the morning. Going out of her bed, she wonders if Minjeong is already awake as well - it seems eerily quiet, as if there's no new occupant in their dorm. Jimin quickly fixes her bed, going out of her room to see the living room and kitchen empty. She glanced at the still closed door of Minjeong, and continued to proceed to the bathroom to do her morning routine.

Everything felt normal, as if Jimin was alone in the dorm - and yet, as she looked at her reflection, the water beads falling from some strands of her hair, she knew that this would be difficult for her. Jimin breathes out as she leans her weight on the sink, inching closer to the mirror - as if trying to talk to herself. She shakes her head at how silly she probably looks, and as she opens the door, Jimin almost jumps with the sudden appearance of Minjeong.

"!"

Minjeong was simply leaning against the wall, with her eyebrow raised - amusement was evident in her eyes, and Jimin swore she saw the girl's lips being tugged upward a little bit. "Oh, sorry. Good morning." Minjeong greeted, taking a step to the left to let Jimin pass.

Jimin clears , the husky and morning voice of Minjeong welcomes her - and she wonders how matured the girl got since they last saw each other. "Good morning, I didn't hear you..." she trails off, wondering to herself why would she say that?

Minjeong just nods her head, "Are you done?"

Jimin stuttered a yes, and walked out of the bathroom - letting Minjeong pass, and she didn't realize that her head followed the girl's scent not until she heard the door closed. She bites her lips at the realization, and quickly shakes her head.

She mentally patted herself for having a normal conversation with Minjeong.

Right, normal. A short one. Not even a single - and Jimin groaned to herself and walked inside her own room. She hates how everything is just clawing out of her, the questions threatening to spill out - and then, there's Minjeong acting completely distant. Or maybe, Jimin was only overthinking things, or is she?

Because the Minjeong she knows never acted this way to her - not until that day.

Jimin laughs to herself, humorlessly and hollow. She hates this, how everything felt normal, too normal - and yet, Jimin knows everything is not the same. Especially when she brought it upon herself, she just didn't expect that it would follow her this soon. Two weeks, two weeks before classes would start, and Jimin needs to think and compose herself every time she would talk to Minjeong.

Two weeks, and yet Jimin never saw Minjeong in those days - not even a hint of her shadow. And Jimin wonders how the girl managed to do it, especially when they are staying in the same dorm? Jimin has never spent too much time cooped up in her room not to see Minjeong.

She even asks herself if Minjeong was actually staying there, and there were small bits to see that the latter is there. It came in the form of an oat milk box inside the fridge, something that Minjeong has preferred since high school. The way there were another set of utensils, mugs, and plates in the kitchen. A pair of shoes and slippers right next to Jimin's.

Minjeong was there, and yet Jimin could never catch a glimpse of her shadow in those two weeks. She wanted to ask if she managed to settle in well, or if she needed help - Jimin just wanted to talk to her. To see her.

And yet, there she was in her morning class, along with everyone groggy and still half-asleep. Giselle is just sitting beside her nudging Jimin who was about to fall asleep. "Late night?"

Jimin just nodded, "Yeah, binge watched some series."

"Great, I thought you were out drunk." Giselle answered and Jimin opened her eyes, looking at the girl questioningly. "What, it's true that you like to go get drunk."

"Yeah but don't say it like I'm an alcoholic," Jimin shrugs, "It's just a stress reliever for me."

"Right, and would suffer later on?"

"Shut up."

"Cut out on the parties, Ji. Things are about to get serious here," Giselle said like a good friend that she is. "Anyway, how's Minjeong as a dormie?"

Jimin paused at the question, shrugging her shoulders in response. "Didn't even see her for two weeks."

GIselle looked at her weirdly, as if trying to think and read Jimin both at the same time. "That's weird, Ning would always go out with her. I even see her in our dorm sometimes."

"Oh." Jimin blinks, oh indeed. "Well, at least I know that she's alive and kicking."

"I thought you guys knew each other?" Giselle asks, completely engrossed with the sudden fact that Jimin didn't see Minjeong at all. "I thought you guys would be great friends, actually."

"Just because we were from the same school doesn't mean that we would be close."

"But were you? Close to each other before?"

Jimin stops for a moment before she continues scrolling, "We were friends, but it's been a year. Things change." People change.

Friends, right. Jimin bitterly thought, that's what they are - or were. She wonders if they are still friends now, but based on the way Minjeong treats her, or the lack thereof, Jimin could say that they are far from being friends. And she knows that she's the sole reason for that.

"For someone who was keen on making friends last year, you sure are dismissive of her."

"Drop it, Uchinaga."

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