“This is your first class.” Soojin announces once they finally reach the classroom Zoa is going to have her very first class of her college years. If she has managed to chill out for the past few minutes with the help of her friends, she’s sure back to being nervous now. She stares at her surroundings deep in her thoughts, her big, round dark brown eyes trying their best to capture every little detail in order to remember the way they took in order to reach the classroom or how the classroom or the hallway looks like in order not to get lost next time and has to helplessly ask for her friends’ help again. 

The hallway is long and not too narrow. There are lots of windows and students filling it so nothing too out of the ordinary in order for Zoa to remember it while the class looks like every other class from the outside, she notes to herself. 

She gulps hard. This only means one thing. She’s in trouble. 

“Alright. Uh, remember to text us once class is over so I can come pick you up asap and we can head to your next class from here. Got it?” Soojin speaks up again, trying to get Zoa out of her daze, having realized that the girl is starting to panic a little. Jaehee is busy texting on her phone, tapping her foot slightly impatiently on the floor but not because they’re running late because after all she’s skipping class anyway so it probably has to do with the person she’s texting while Jihan looks at Zoa sympathetically. Zoa almost believes she looks pitiful right now. She stares at Soojin, almost screaming for help with just her round eyes and intense stare and Soojin can’t help but hug her for a second there. 

“You’ll be alright. The first few classes are always introductions so this is the boring stuff here. You see it will be over in no time!” She tries to remain optimistic and hopeful in order to affect Zoa’s mental health and make her feel just a little better. Another student passes by them and enters Zoa’s classroom and Zoa galps again realizing that it’s the fifth student in the few minutes they’re standing there and the class has already been filled with a few students even before they arrived. She realizes she has to head in there whether she likes it or not. She also needs to get herself a good spot and not end up sitting at the front row again. 

When Monday has told her a week ago that college is a chance for a new beginning and an opportunity to try out new things and find herself she hasn;t fully gotten what she meant and just took her advice and placed it at the back of her head because it wasn't something she was facing at that moment. Right now though she realizes what Monday meant by the one last single thought she just did. 

Finding a good seat in class has never been an issue for her before. It has never even crossed her mind! She always chose the front desks in the front row in order to have a clearer view of the board but also pay better attention in class. Right now though she doesn’t feel that good at the mere thought of sitting too close to the professor’s desk. It feels rather scary and the mere thought is making her too nervous and that definitely hasn’t been a thought or a feeling of her past self. Right now though, she’s pretty sure she can use Monday’s advice of trying out new things by trying to find herself one of the desks at the very back of the class in order to feel less nervous and “safer” in a way. 

Maybe that’s the beginning of a new version of her, maybe this means she’s starting to change or that she’s starting to get more mature, or maybe it doesn’t mean anything at all. And it will surely not mean anything if she ends up not managing to get a desk at the back but get a desk at the front row again. 

“I hope so. I think I should get going.” She says, kicking her right feet on the marble floor softly out of nervousness before she turns to face Soojin once again. She holds onto the straps of her backpack even tighter out of nervousness before she nods mostly to herself and forms a tight smile at Soojin and her two new friends. 

“I'll see you later.” Soojin smiles brightly at her and waves her hand in response, almost tearing up out of how emotional she feels seeing her youngest best friend growing up and finally attending her very first class at college. Zoa turns around and pushes her feet on the floor, forcing herself to move out of her spot and head inside the classroom. 

This is it.

There’s no way back now.

…

Entering the classroom doesn’t make her nervousness vanish. If anything, it only fuels it more as she doesn’t have her friends for support anymore. Suddenly she feels like the tallest person on earth and knowing that she’s indeed tall doesn;t help her nervousness at all, making it only seem even more realistic than it actually is. Her palms are sweaty and she has the feeling that all eyes are on her. She tries her hardest to calm down herself, her rational part within her reminding her that no one knows her yet so they have no reason to stare at her or gossip about her but it doesn’t help that much for her nervousness to fade away even to the slightest. 

She heads quickly towards the back of the class, where her eyes have spotted an empty desk at the very end of the very further row, away from the door, away from the professor’s desk and exactly next to the windows in order for her to have the perfect view outside. Her mind is locked on getting that seat immediately and she doesn’t care if she looks too weird or too eager ⏤she doesn’t, by the way, it’s just all in her nervous, overthinking head. 

As soon as she sits down and settles her things on her desk only then does she let out a long heavy breath she wasn’t even aware she’s been holding in. She feels way calmer now that she managed to get a good seat and her optimism boosts up a little. Maybe this college year won’t be so bad now, right? 

She stares around at the classroom blankly for a couple of minutes, seeing more and more students entering the class, some of them already busy talking about their vacations or introducing each other. She almost smiles upon observing them, wondering if she should take part in their conversations too or stay in her comfort zone. She decides upon the second option even if she’s actual a social kid and never had issues upon meeting new people and socializing overall. She scrolls a little on her phone to kill her time and before she realizes it the class is already filled with students. Almost all desks are occupied by now and when she raises her head to stare back at the classroom she almost gets too surprised by the amount of people she’s facing. She checks at the time on her phone and realizes that it’s almost time for her first class to start and that explains the huge number of students occupying the previously empty seats. 

When she firstly entered the class she wanted to find the desk at the very back of the class and hoped she wouldn’t have a seatmate but now that she looks around her she feels a little lonely for not having a seatmate yet. Having a seatmate would give her an easy chance of meeting a new person and get out of her awkward nervous wreck that she’s been trapped in since earlier. She sighs to herself and stares at the view outside of the window to calm down herself, noticing that the yard outside barely has any students now which meant that most students had already attended their classes. 

A loud dragging noise from the chair next to her is heard before loud thud follows and Zoa turns her head to face at the reason of the noise that has disturbed her peace and quiet only to be met with a tall, thin pretty brunette occupying the seat next to her and becoming her official seatmate. The girl abruptly takes out her notebooks and seems to struggle to find a pen, literally turning her backpack upside down on the desk and shaking it up and down in order for everything inside it to fall down on the desk, in hopes that will help for her lost pen to magically show up.  

Zoa stares at the messy and loud girl beside her in utter shock, not having a good feeling about her weird seatmate at all. The girl beside her groans before she turns to look at her saying,

“Can you stop staring at me like a weirdo and give me a pen? Or do you prefer it if I start scribbling down with my nails instead?” Zoa blinks hard before she nods her head awkwardly, turning to look at her own pencil case searching for a pen. Her own side of the desk is perfectly neat and organized, her notebooks already opened and ready for her to take down notes, her blue pen placed on top of her notebook while her pencil case is at the corner of the top of her desk in order not to occupy too much space so she would be able to write without getting bothered. The girl beside her however seems to be the complete opposite of a person, belonging to the category of the people who can’t work with plans and refuse to be organizing, meaning that Zoa is definitely going to have a hard time for the rest of her college year… 

She sighs as she hands the girl one of her pens. The girl gathers her mess before she turns to look at Zoa, smiling brightly, her small eyes somehow closing so much that they almost close completely before she lets out,

“Thank you! Damn, I can’t believe I lost my pen already!” She then extends her hand for a handshake to introduce herself to Zoa when she suddenly pauses a little, her hand hanging awkwardly in the air for a handshake that Zoa isn’t sure she should take since the girl doesn;t exactly introduce herself before she girl narrows her eyes and frowns. 

“Hey I think I know you from somewhere!” She lets out. Her handshake turns into a fist as she points her index finger towards Zoa’s face before she leans closer, studying the girl’s face. Zoa looks at her weirdly and almost nervously she can say, wondering how the heck she ended up with such a weird seatmate. 

“Don’t tell me. Jo Hyewon?” She lets out as soon as it finally clicks in her head, moving it a little back in order to get a better look at Zoa’s face and her eyes light up as soon as she scans Zoa’s face for some more, looking happy for finally having found out. 

“It’s really you oh my gosh! It’s been what!? Centuries!? Hello!?” She exclaims and laughs to herself, proud for having found out who her seatmate is as she seems happy upon seeing Zoa. Zoa on the other hand remains clueless though she has to admit the girl seems familiar. The girl laughs again. 

“I’m Lee Jiwoo, idiot! How dare you forget about me already!” The girl ⏤Jiwoo⏤ lets out and crosses her arms to her chest, pouting as if she’s been too hurt for being forgotten. Zoa gasps as her eyes widen, finally realization hitting her right on her forehead. 

“Jiwoo from elementary school!?” She lets out and points at Jiwoo who nods her head eagerly, a bright smile spreading on her lips, happy that Zoa remembers her. 

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Hey! How have you been?” Zoa asks her enthusiastically, happy to meet a friend from her childhood. 

“Now that you remember me I’m good. I almost got mad at you earlier. Pabo!” Jiwoo jokes and hits Zoa on her shoulder playfully. Zoa laughs softly. 

“I’m sorry. It’s been years.”

“It’s alright. It took me a while to realize it’s you as well. You’ve grown up so much! Look at you! You’re so pretty you know that?” Zoa laughs shyly, shaking her head but Jiwoo refuses to stop commenting on Zoa’s looks. 

Their little catch up is cut short however once the professor enters their classroom but Zoa isn’t as nervous as she was once she entered the class. If anything, she’s happy and excited now and can’t wait for the break time in order for her to catch up with her friend more. 

The rest of the class goes on smoothly. Her unnieswere right when they told her that Ms Kim is a cool professor and literature doesn’t look as hard, difficult or complicated. They were also right when they told her that the first class would be mostly introductions of the subject and the things they’re going to learn throughout the year so the first class passes by very quickly. She also gets to talk a little with Jiwoo throughout the class and work together on homework their professor makes them do in class so when it’s finally time for break Zoa feels way lighter and happier as she and Jiwoo walk out of class. Definitely the exact opposite of how she walked in earlier this morning. 

"All in all I don't replace dancing with anything else out there!" Jiwoo exclaims as the two walk outside of the classroom. Zoa stands by her side as she purses her lips, forming a small pout. 

"I'm not sure if I want to join the dance club though. What if I like something else more?" 

"Then we just won't be in the same club. Duh." Jiwoo replies simply as she smirks playfully while Zoa groans. 

"You're no fun." Jiwoo laughs at that.

"Actually I'm fun. You just get annoyed at my teasing pretty quickly." 

"I thought you would have stopped being a tease by growing up but I guess I was wrong."

"Yeah you were. Teasing is fun." Jiwoo says with a bright happy smile before she bumps her shoulder on Zoa's softly, pointing her head towards a direction further from them. 

"I think you have fans waiting for you." Jiwoo says in a light joking tone before Zoa turns her head to face a group of five girls waiting for her a little further, talking to each other while looking at her. She laughs as she recognizes them as her unniesbefore she turns to look at Jiwoo saying,

"They're not my fans. They're my friends. You remember Soojin unnie, Jimin unnie and Soeun unnie?" 

"Wait! It's them!? Wow! You guys are still friends!?" Jiwoo exclaims as she gasps in amusement. 

"Yeah! Of course we are! They're people you have to keep in your life, so I kept them." Zoa says and smiles proudly. Jiwoo chuckles and shakes her head. 

"Apparently they're still your mothers or else they wouldn't look so worried about you." Zoa rolls her eyes at that. 

"You're really challenging my patience now. You want me to ditch you here and go for lunch with them instead?" 

"Sure. Have fun!" Jiwoo teases and waves goodbye at Zoa who pouts, totally losing between their little bickering games. 

"Alright fine I'm not leaving you. But I'll go tell them I'm having lunch with you or else they're going to worry out of their minds." Jiwoo laughs at that. 

"Once moms, always moms, right?" She jokes lightly. Zoa laughs softly and shakes her head as she walks towards her eonnideul. 

"Hey!"

"Wow hi! Look who finally remembered that she has friends! You got so occupied with your new friend that you forgot about us already? I'm not even that boring, how dare you forget about me!?" Monday jokes and Zoa smiles shyly. 

"Hey I didn't forget about you unnie. I was catching up with Jiwoo."

"Jiwoo? Lee Jiwoo, your best friend from elementary school?" Soojin asks as she turns to look at Zoa who nods her head happily. 

"Wow! Small world that we live in!" Soojin exclaims before she waves at Jiwoo who still stands a little further by herself. The girl smiles back and walks towards them. 

"Zoa is so rude. She left me back there instead of telling me to come greet you! Where are your manners, idiot?" Jiwoo tells Soojin as soon as she reaches their spot and hits Zoa on the back of her neck who groans a little. 

"I told you I was just going to inform them!" Zoa replies with a pout, rubs the back of her neck that still aches in pain. 

"Lies~ you just wanted to ditch me!" 

"Why is everyone making me seem so bad?" Zoa asks and frowns, actually wondering if she's ever made her friends or Jiwoo feel that way towards her. The girls just laugh softly. 

"We're just messing with you, relax." Soojin informs her in order to stop the girl from worrying too much.

"It's fun doing it every once in a while." Soeun adds. 

"Yeah, when we don't baby her you mean." Monday comments and Jiwoo laughs at that. 

"So you're still their beloved baby! Ha I knew it even before they confessed about it!" Zoa pouts in defeat. 

"What's so bad about babying her? She's adorable and deserves to be treated nicely and taken care of!" Soojin says, sounding like a proud mother talking about her daughter. 

"You're never going to grow up that way." Jiwoo tells Zoa and giggles. Zoa purses her lips and sighs. 

"Unnie, don't embarrass me in front of Jiwoo or else she will never stop teasing me about it." She says though she truly doesn't mind Soojin taking care of her. She just really wants Jiwoo to stop or overall show her friend that her unniesaren't babying her all the time and that she can handle things by herself. 

"Aw! Our Zoa has grown up and doesn't want us to embarrass her in front of her friends!" Soeun cooes and Zoa glares at her a little before she aims for another way to win them over as she now looks at them pleadingly, hoping that her cuteness would win them over which always works. 

"Alright fine. We will leave you alone." Soeun says and pats Zoa's head who smiles happily. 

"Alright. I will catch up with you guys later. I just met Jiwoo after so long and I want to catch up. Is that ok?" 

"Of course! Have fun! It was nice seeing you Jiwoo!" Soojin says and the other two wave at her too as she also waves at them before the two tall younger girls walk away. Zoa turns her head to look at her unniesone last time before her eyes linger a little longer at Jihan. Jihan's eyes land on her and for a few couple of seconds they stare at each other. Jihan smiles at her before Jaehee pulls her towards her to tell her something and so the eye contact ends like that. Zoa sighs and turns to look ahead of her, pouting a little, feeling slightly sad and unsettled for some odd reason for not having properly talked to Jihan after getting out of her class. She got so occupied talking with Jiwoo and then her unniesthat she barely ever glanced at Jihan and the two didn't even exchange a word! And Zoa really wants to talk to Jihan —and Jaehee— since they're her new friends and she's really excited to be around them too! 

"You could try out basketball. You liked playing with balls in elementary school and you used to be really good at basketball specifically. I heard there's a club about that sport specifically and with your height they will surely come to ask you to join them even if you don't volunteer to do so by yourself." Jiwoo says as the two walk down the hallway heading towards the college's cafeteria to grab some breakfast and morning coffee, bringing Zoa back to reality and dragging her out of her train of thoughts of how she wanted to talk to Jihan but didn't get the chance to do so. 

After half an hour Zoa finds herself in a dance practice room, holding a plastic cup of coffee in her hands while she stands awkwardly beside Jiwoo as the girl writes down her personal information in order to take part in the dancing club. The two of them had had breakfast already by now and had caught up a lot about how their lives had been all those years that they were separated. Zoa feels glad that Jiwoo hasn’t changed much from the girl she remembered in elementary school and not too much has happened in her life all those years she’s lost touch with her. She’s glad that they’re on the same page and that they can start off being best friends like back when they were kids, without anything much having changed. 

“You sure you don’t want to join us?” A thin, petite light brown hair girl ⏤who Zoa has been informed earlier that she’s the captain of the dancing club and goes by the name Nana⏤ asks her. Zoa has noted to herself earlier when the girl was introduced to them and talked to them a little about the club and the things they’re doing, that the girl was really pretty. Her eyes had that capture point that makes you easily remember them, almost luring you somehow, their chocolate brown color and the light within them making them look even more vivid and memorable. The girl’s sharp jaw, beautiful characteristics and light bangs that could easily be hidden at the sides of her head if she wanted to were facts that you would easily notice and remember about her too as well as points that completed the girl’s perfect image of a flawless gorgeous girl. Zoa is pretty determined about that. 

She remembers Monday mentioning about Nana every once in a while though Zoa always had the feeling that Monday was the captain of the dancing club because she was always attending it, working very hard on it and loved dancing a lot so if someone had to be the captain that surely had to be Monday. Or Soeun as the girl’s movements have always been so clean and elegant. It always seemed as if Soeun was naturally born with that gift of dancing. So Zoa could say that she’s a little disappointed that Nana is the captain instead. She surely hasn’t seen the girl dancing though in order to judge that and by the way she talked or explained how the dancing club work or the things they’re doing, Zoa can tell that she’s really good at that part. Monday and Soeun are too, but Nana looks really natural and good at that so maybe she was voted as a captain for the whole image and responsibilities a leader must have. Or maybe it’s just because she’s older from both Monday and Soeun. 

“Uhm, I’m still thinking about it. I want to look out for other clubs too before making up my mind.” Nana nods her head, her bright, charming smile never leaving her lips. 

“That’s understandable. Especially if you’re talented in more than one thing.” She says. Jiwoo smiles proud at herself for finally having finished up filling up the needed form before she places down the pen and turns to look at Zoa with a playful grin. 

“Oh she surely is.” Jiwoo exclaims, chuckling softly at her friend beside her. 

“Do you know if there’s a cooking club? My friend over here is really good at cooking actually.” Jiwoo turns to look at Nana and asks her half joking half meaning it. Zoa on the other hand nudges Jiwoo as if to tell her to stop messing around with her. Nana seems to think about it for a few seconds, frowning slightly before she replies,

“I, uh… I don’t think so? But you could open up your own. That would be good actually, if you’re good at cooking I mean. Maybe you can help out at the campus’ cafeteria. It’s time they improve the meals they serve us, jeez!” Nana says and Jiwoo laughs at the last part, patting Zoa on her shoulder.

“Good luck with that my friend!” She exclaims and Zoa glares at her.

“Well, actually, good luck with putting up with Jiwoo. You’ll need it.” Zoa fires back as she says this to Nana though she glares at Jiwoo before she bows her head politely to Nana, then turns around and heads towards the exit. 

“Hey!” Jiwoo exclaims as she rushes to catch up with her pissed friend, waving goodbye at Nana in a hurry. Nana is left behind with a confused expression on, wondering.

“What the heck just happened?” 

“Jeez, stop walking so fastly! I’m sorry! I was just joking ok?” Jiwoo calls out for Zoa as she reaches her. Zoa sighs a little before she turns to look at her friend saying,

“You’re forgiven. Now let’s go visit the basketball club. I’m not joining yet though. I want to see it first.” Jiwoo nods her head before the two take another long walk around the campus, Jiwoo totally trusting Zoa at this as she’s really new while Zoa has a one week experience of how the campus looks. 

“It’s definitely a considerable amount of time that you should take into account before judging me.” Zoa has even joked about her little experience of how the campus looks. Fortunately for them, they manage not to get lost and reach the basketball court on time. The basketball court is big and freshly painted in new colors, the baskets look new and strong so Zoa feels safe upon trusting herself in playing games in this field without putting herself in danger or something. Having a quick good look around she sees lots of students playing basketball with a couple of balls, all of them looking new while half of the students wear the college’s basketball uniform. She sighs a little though as soon as her eyes capture the huge line waiting in front of some put up desks from students wherein the captain and the main basketball team are helping the students fill up their forms. 

“Uh… it was worth a shot I guess but I don’t think I want to sign up anymore.” Zoa lets out, almost turning around to leave. 

“Why not?” Jiwoo asks, confused. 

“There’s such a huge line. I don’t want to sign up in a crowded club. It won’t be fun that way. It will be a mess.” Jiwoo frowns a little though she can see that Zoa has a point. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s get out of here.” She says at the end and the two are about to turn around and leave when they hear a student yelling from somewhere further from them.

“That’s unfair! Clubs are supposed to be for fun and for everyone to join! How is that going to happen if you make us compete with each other and test us huh!?” Jiwoo turns her head towards the direction of the yelling student before she walks closer, following a few students that did the exact same thing, wanting to hear more of this argument. 

“I’m sorry but if we wouldn’t evaluate you then this club wouldn’t work out as there would be too many students joining and it would get out of hand. It is what it is. If you fail the test you’re free to open your own basketball club.” One of the students from the main team says. The yelling student curses at them a little more before he yells that he’s quitting and not going to sign up and try out the test as it’s not fair. 

Jiwoo turns to look at Zoa before she says,

“Did you hear that? They’re putting you under evaluation before choosing who’s going to join or not. That means that it’s not going to be as chaotic as we thought. Are you still not going to give it a chance?” Zoa shrugs, looking a little puzzled as she really can’t choose on what to do. 

“Look, I’ll go ask the team a few questions and if it’s not worth it then we’re out of here. I’m not going to make us both wait here for hours to come up with nothing at the very end!” Jiwoo explains before she walks forward heading towards the front of the line.