“Are you sure you don’t need me to visit?” Jessica’s asked.

“For a hundred time, sis. No,” Soojung answered boringly. She quickly added— noticing how rude she probably sounded. “But thank you.”

Suddenly, the phone was taken away from her hand. Soojung scowled at Jongin who now was talking to her sister.

“Noona, Soojung is hanging out with her friends, how bad is that?” Jongin grinned.

Sometimes Soojung didn’t believe how the past two months turned. The first few weeks after his death was hard, it was fresh— the memories and the loss. They never left her alone— her family, Jongin and Minho. She still remembered the tears her sisters shed— all because of her. They lost him too and she didn’t need to add the burden by becoming another one they lost. She had to be strong, to be the old Soojung. She would show them that she wasn’t the most fragile thing. So she moved on.

Jongin and Minho were here with her— at the university. They somehow eased the worries of her family by being with her. Hell, her family probably asked them to. Her family used to visit every weekend and call everyday but it was becoming less and less now— courtesy of Jongin and Minho.

They were living in the dormitory— a small flat for two freshmen that randomly put together. Same building, different floor. She got Seulgi— a business major student like Minho and Jongin. Seulgi was kind and a very outgoing girl. She was always trying to get Soojung at whenever party and hang out she was in. But Seulgi was kind enough to not force Soojung.

“Done,” Jongin handed back her. “God, your sister is so persistent.”

“Thank you,” Soojung said as she took her phone.

Jongin smiled as he patted her head casually. “Sehun would be thrilled to hear you thanking me. You used to despise me, remember?”

The Soojung two months ago would probably said something to get back to that. But she wasn’t. She has changed her view on Jongin now that she knew everything. She smiled. “I know who you really are.”

“You mean you know that I’m handsome and fabulous?”

Soojung laughed as she threw a pillow toward him. She used to have this a lot—talking on the couch with Sehun, watching, laughing, and... “He patted my head a lot.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Jongin took a popcorn box from Seulgi’s hand. She was playing PlayStation with Taemin. He took a mouthful and took his time. “Headmaster patted our head a lot when we were kids, you know, to show us her affections. I think we all got that from her.”

Headmaster was Sehun’s mom at the orphanage. Soojung met her few times— she could totally picture her doing that a lot. “How is she?”

“She’s fine and have you seen her baby— I mean her real baby,” Jongin beamed. “Wait, I have pictures.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Not playing, Minho?” Seulgi asked him as she took a glass of water from the counter.

“Not a fan of Taemin kicking my ,” Minho said. “He plays that console like a pro.”

“True,” Seulgi laughed. She then glanced to the couch where Soojung and Jongin were looking at Jongin’s phone. “Are they...”

Minho followed Seulgi’s eyes and shook his head. As much as he loved his brother, the idea of Jongin and Soojung together was a big no. He shouldn’t let Seulgi— of all people thought about that. The last thing he needed was Soojung’s roommate playing cupid for Jongin. “But our parents expect that from either Jongin or me.”

“Your brother looks so interested,” she was still looking at Jongin.

  “The rain is crazy,” Taemin said as he closed the bathroom’s door. They just got back from Soojung and Seulgi’s flat upstairs two hours ago, and Jongin was back to his. Even though Minho didn’t get Jongin as his roommate, he couldn’t feel luckier to have Taemin. They weren’t that close in high school, but he knew Taemin was on the good side. 

“Yeah,” Minho slumped himself on the couch— refused to say more. His mind was too occupied.

“She’s doing better,” Taemin said, joining him on the couch.

Minho raised his brows, silently asking his roommate to elaborate.

“Soojung is doing better,” Taemin corrected.

“That’s not what I’m thinking.”

“It’s not?” Taemin raised his brows too— clearly not believing what Minho said.

It was, but Minho wasn’t going to admit it. He had been seeing this Soojung post Sehun’s death. She laughed a lot and even hanging out with Seulgi’s friends— that was what they called ‘get better’. But he saw through her— whenever she was with company, she was just there, but not really contributing. It was as if her body was present, doing the autopilot response but her mind wasn’t really there. He was kind of missing her harsh remark, not because he liked being insulted, but at least that Soojung showed more emotion.

But maybe it was just him.

“Soojung is doing b