Non troppo: Not too much

Both Jung sisters found themselves running to class but for very different reasons. Soojung was running late after the little coincidental rendezvous with the girl from orientation and when she got to class she just grabbed a random seat a few rows from the back and a few seats from the side. Sometimes it was annoying when students sat at the ends of the rows and left all the middle seats empty for those who were late to make a big commotion when they wanted to get to a seat, so she was glad that wasn’t the case then.

She was actually really ready to get into the swing of things; diligently listening to the lecturer even though they were basically just going through the outline of the subject. Only when the lecturer mentioned that it was rude to use cellphones in class that Soojung remember that she was meant to text her big sister.

“Unnie…! Did you get to class alright? The first of my text spam! First day in class is rather boring… I miss you. ㅋㅋㅋ ^^” Soojung texted, sending her sister some affection over the phone.

“Concentrate in class, you! Uhm, shall we meet up for lunch later…?” To those who do not know Sooyeon, they would probably never realize that she meant for that to sound cute but Soojung broke out into a wide grin knowing how her sister truly was.

She proceeded to make plans to meet with Sooyeon for lunch although she felt just a little disappointed that her big sister did not want her to text spam her.

“Hey!” Soojung was greeted unexpectedly by someone who had appeared out of nowhere and sat next to her. She turned her head to see who it was but her expression turned into a mix of puzzlement and surprise when she saw who it was.

“You again…?” Soojung said with a little bit of annoyance in her tone although she didn’t actually mean to sound that y.

“Why am I always bumping into this girl? Is she stalking me? No, that’s so conceited of me…” she thought to herself.

“Oh, uhm… If you don’t want me to sit here, I can totally change seats,” the girl said, feeling a little rejected by the way Soojung reacted.

“Wait… Sorry… I didn’t mean to sound so… you know. You’re free to sit here if you want. Who am I to stop you?” Soojung sighed.

“Good! I’m glad you said that because I really wasn’t planning to move,” the girl joked. “Who’re you texting?”

“Uhm… I don’t even know you… You do realize that right?” Soojung said incredulously because the girl was just a little too comfortable for Soojung’s liking.

The girl shrugged. “I’m Amber or AJ Liu, freshman obviously, film department,” Amber paused. But after a few heartbeats of no response from Soojung, she continued. “This is where you introduce yourself back to me.”

Soojung raised an eyebrow. She thought about saying something nasty to Amber but she was also found Amber a little charming in an annoying way. “I’m Jung Soojung, freshman, drama department.”

“Jung Soojung. The same forwards and backwards… It’s such a beautiful name…” Amber said in a cheery manner.

Soojung tried her best not to but she knew her cheeks were turning pink. “Uhm… thanks…”

“So… now that we’re friends… are you going to tell me who you were texting?” Amber grinned.

“Why are you so curious about that?” Soojung asked back.

Amber shrugged. “You had a sort of goofy smile when you were texting, so I was just curious.”

“I was just texting my sister…”

“Oh, I thought it was a boyfriend… or… girlfriend…?”

“Nope, just my older sister…” Soojung answered without even blinking.

“Right… So, what did I miss?”

“Did you just get here? What were you doing?”

“Who’s the curious one now?” Amber smirked.

Soojung bit her lip, annoyed that she herself was curious about a complete stranger after she had made such a fuss about it.

Amber chuckled. “I’m just joking. Stop being so serious…” Amber said as she poked Soojung in the cheek.

Soojung was about to swat Amber’s hand away but then she realized that she was being a little uptight and cracked up instead. Amber’s playful charm was difficult to resist despite Soojung’s naturally shy and somewhat serious demeanor. It usually took her a while to warm up to strangers but there was something about Amber that was bringing out another side of Soojung.

Soojung cracked a smile. “Fine, you got me. But it’s only because of our incident earlier…”

“Well we do seem to keep bumping into each other… Didn’t we also have a moment during orientation?” Amber mentioned as she put her feet up on the seat in front of her.

“Yah…! Don’t do that…” Soojung pushed Amber’s feet of the chair. “And also, I don’t recall what you’re talking about…” she lied.

“Damn, girl, stop being such a kill joy. And please, I caught you staring at me during orientation…”

“I wasn’t staring! I was scanning the room when you looked my way!” Soojung replied defensively.

“HAH! So you do remember!”

Soojung felt herself blush again. “Yeah well, I just remember you almost falling off your seat because you were totally dozing off.” Soojung chuckled quietly as she recalled the memory.

This time, it was Amber who felt a little embarrassed. “Oh yeah… That… Well I ALMOST fell but I didn’t… So…”

Soojung couldn’t help but chuckle harder. “It was definitely the most entertaining moment during the entire orientation.”

“Well then, I’m glad you found that amusing,” Amber pretended to be offended.

Soojung gave Amber a soft punch on the arm. “You’re a playful one aren’t you?”

Amber smiled. She was actually glad and even slightly impressed that Soojung managed to get her sense of humor despite their somewhat rocky start. “Jung Soojung… I like you already…”

“Hmmm… but I’m not sure about you yet…” Soojung let out a slight smirk to which Amber replied with an even wider smile.

For the entirety of her first class, Sooyeon spent trying to wrap her mind around the surreal incident that happened earlier that morning that lead up to class. She tried her best to focus but all she saw was slide after slide of boring facts being projected on the screen at the front of the class but nothing was actually registering. It was a good thing that it was only the first day which basically meant that a large proportion of the class was spent going over the syllabus and the introduction to the subject, so it mattered not that Sooyeon was completely checked out.

“Twice now… twice… What could she possibly want with me? How did she find me? What was that look she was giving me? Why was she even looking at me…? Of all people, why… me…?”

Just then, something finally managed to interrupt Sooyeon’s thoughts; she felt her phone vibrate in my pocket.

“Unnie…! Did you get to class alright? The first of my text spam! First day in class is rather boring… I miss you. ㅋㅋㅋ ^^” Soojung had texted as she had promised. Sooyeon knew that Soojung was basically showing her some aegyo which put a smile on her face instantly.

“Concentrate in class, you! Uhm, shall we meet up for lunch later…?” Sooyeon replied.

“I’m multitasking, unnie… I’m that good! Yes, of course we should meet for lunch. I have a class that ends right at 12, would you mind meeting me here?” the younger Jung asked.

“Yes, I’ll go over to meet you. I’ll see you later. Also no need to text spam me, okay? Love you,” the elder Jung texted back to which her baby sister simply concluded the conversation with, “<3”, leaving Sooyeon grinning at her phone. She was glad to have brought the phone with her after all.

She looked at the time and sighed. There was still quite a while to go before even heading to the next class. She was excited to be back in school but she had forgotten that first day classes were a bore but at least she would have Tiffany with her in the next class.

“I wonder if I could sneak out without being noticed…”

“Sunbae…? Sunbae…?”

Boa was going through the dance steps as if she was completely focused but when someone tried asking her a question, she was complete checked out. The only reason she could still move so flawlessly even if her mind was utterly distracted was because she practiced so much so each movement was now muscle memory. She probably did the moves in her sleep just as well.

“Uhm… sunbae? We’re done…”

Boa finally snapped out of her thoughts. “Huh? Uhm… what? Yeah, uhm… okay, yes you guys can go ahead…” she muttered incoherently.

Her classmates and hoobaes dismissed themselves and as they slowly dispersed from the practice room, Boa was left alone, still in a daze. She decided to stay longer, just like she always did but this time for a slightly different reason. She always stayed longer than anyone else and practiced harder than anyone else because dance was her life and she was determined to be the best. But today… today she stayed because she was disgusted with herself. No. Disgusted was too harsh… She was… disappointed with herself. She was absolutely distracted, and her head and heart weren’t in the dance at all. She wasn’t giving it her all and she wasn’t used to it.

She had 30 minutes before she had to leave for class so if she could just focus for the half hour, she would at least redeem herself. She hit play to start the music and started counting down. She went through the motions but for the first time in a long time, she felt herself not really caring. She want to, so badly, but she felt tired and jaded and the year had only started. It was so uncharacteristic of her that she surprised herself.

“Forget this… I’m tired…” she sighed.

She knew she was going through a weird phase but she didn’t know what to do about it. She figured it was just the stress of final year, graduating, applying to the Berkeley graduate dance program, and everything else in between. There was no point in continuing when she knew she couldn’t even motivate herself to complete the entire routine. So instead, she decided to pack up and get changed for class.

The good thing about being in college was that you were expected to be an adult and make decisions for yourself, so no one really cared with if you snuck out of class in the middle of the lesson. Sooyeon had found an empty bench in the field by the music department. She laid on the bench that was perfectly situated in the shade with a pair of earphones plugged into her ears. She had her eyes closed, letting the music take over her entire being, down to the very tips of the fingers that were playing along to the score.

Suddenly, there was a tap on her shoulder. She just wanted to be left alone so she felt a little annoyed that someone had decided to interrupt her. But when she opened her eyes, they softened when she realized it was the sunbae that had her heart racing before.

“S-Sunbae…?!” she greeted as she yanked her earphones loose and bolted upright a little too quickly, losing her balance but the sunbae reached out quickly and steadied Sooyeon.

“Hey, uhm… I was just passing by… and uhm… I wanted to uhm… say I’m… sorry…?” Boa muttered.

“Sorry about what?” Sooyeon asked, confused.

“Well… I’m sorry I’ve been such a weirdo around you even though we barely know each other. I really didn’t mean to and if I scared you, please don’t think badly of me. I’ve just been in a strange mood lately and I was totally mesmerized when I heard you play that first time… and I couldn’t get you out of my head since then…” Boa explained although she may have just made Sooyeon even more confused.

Sooyeon gave her sunbae puzzled combined with slightly horrified look but was not able to respond.

“Uhm I mean I couldn’t get IT out of my head… It… I mean…” Boa sighed at the fact that she was making a fool out of herself. “The point is… I’m sorry… I’m going to try and not make a jackass of myself anymore…”

“Uhm… okay…” Sooyeon responded simply. There wasn’t really anything else to say.

“Sooo… I guess I’ll be heading off… and again, I’m really sorry. I’ll see you around… I guess…” Boa gave Sooyeon a slight nod and turned to leave.

Sooyeon watched Boa leave but then she suddenly had the urge to stop her. “S-Sunbae! Wait!” Sooyeon called mustering up her courage to speak without hesitating.

Boa stopped and turned around, not expecting her hoobae to even speak to her again after her embarrassing speech. “Y-Yes…?”

“Can you spare 10 minutes or are you in a hurry?” Sooyeon asked directly.

“Uhm… yeah I have 10 minutes…” the elder girl walked back towards the younger one.

Sooyeon moved over to one side of the bench clearing up the other side for her sunbae.

Picking up the cue, Boa took the seat next to her hoobae.

“Just for the record… I don’t think you’re a weirdo, sunbae,” Sooyeon said shyly. “But… you did come on a little strong…”

The sunbae blushed but she was lucky since Sooyeon wasn’t looking directly at her.

“May I…?” Sooyeon held out one side of her earphones indicating that she wanted to share what she was listening to with her sunbae.

Boa nodded.

Sooyeon gently brushed Boa’s hair back behind her ear and gently placed the earbud into the elder girl’s ear, slightly grazing her cheek as she did so.

“This is how I feel right now…” Sooyeon told Boa as she hit play on her mp3 player.

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K. 467 II. Andante began to play. The second of a three movement concerto, this piece actually opens with the orchestra featuring the string section creating a dreamlike melody before the piano solo is introduced and ends with the same dreamlike melody, concluding with a coda typical of Mozart.

Just like before Sooyeon was completely engrossed with her eyes closed and her fingers playing along to the piano. Boa on the other hand sat and watched Sooyeon with the music providing the mood as she admired the younger girl who looked so contented just enjoying the music, her hair gently swishing as she swayed her head along with the melody. It had been a while since Boa herself took just a few minutes to enjoy something so simple. She had forgotten what it felt like to just slow down and enjoy the moment. So she too closed her eyes and let the music soak into her.

As the piece came to its conclusion, both girls opened their eyes again and turned to look at each other. Their eyes caught each other’s but surprisingly neither girl looked away immediately.

“Thanks…” the elder girl told the younger one.

“What for…?” Sooyeon was confused again.

“It just… made me feel better…” Boa replied.

“Oh… Any time, sunbae…” Sooyeon gave her a shy smile.

“Really?” Boa beamed gratefully.

“Yeah… uhm… Well I have to get going to my next class…”

“So do I… Hey, uhm… is it too weird if I said, maybe, uhm… Nevermind…” Boa found herself unable to finish what she was about to say.

“Uhm… what is it, Sunbae…?”

“What are you doing during lunch? I, uhm… would really like to get to know you that is if you don’t mind unless I’m totally being too creepy again I don’t even know what I’m saying okay never mind just ignore me…” Boa spat the words out, all stringed together.

“Sorry…”

“Uhm… Nevermind… It’s nothing…”

“Uhm… No, I-I heard you before… I just meant sorry, I can’t…”

“Oh… okay…” Boa felt a little hurt from the rejection.

“No, no… That’s not what I meant, sunbae… It’s just, I already have plans today… Maybe another time?” Sooyeon clarified.

Boa’s mood brightened again. “Really?” she asked a little too excitedly.

Sooyeon actually gave a little chuckle. “Sure…”

“Sooo… I guess I’ll see you around…?”

“Uhm… I guess so… You seem to be able to find me all the time…”

Boa blushed.

“Good God, woman… Can you be more embarrassing?!” she thought as she tried to calm herself down. Honestly she was just glad that her hoobae didn’t think that she was a complete freak.

“I’m not stalking you, I swear… It’s just… fate?” Boa responded.

“Uhm… okay…”

The elder girl let out a short nervous laughter after realizing she had said something ridiculous again.

“I’m not really helping my case am I…?” Boa dropped her head, unable to look at the younger girl.

Sooyeon chuckled again. She found the elder girl utterly adorable, although she wasn’t sure if she should be feeling that way. “You’re fine, sunbae… I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon…”

“Oh, uhm… right… okay… cool…”

Both girls got up from the bench and for a long moment they stood and stared at each other awkwardly because they weren’t sure how they should bid each other farewell. Finally Sooyeon decided to just give a little bow. “See you later, sunbae… Have a good day...”

“Sooyeon…”

“Hmmm…?”

“Thanks…”

Sooyeon returned with a smile and another nod before heading off again.

By lunch time, Sooyeon was still in a state of daze. She had tapped into every ounce of courage she had to spend that 10 minutes with Boa. She was still surprised that she was the less nervous of the two of them in that encounter. Did she really share her feelings with the sunbae who was practically a stranger? She didn’t even know that she was capable of doing so.

“Unnie!” Sooyeon heard the voice of her baby sister which drew her out of her dazed state. She looked in the direction of the voice and realized that Soojung was literally running in her direction as her eyes focused once more.

Sooyeon caught Soojung just in time as the younger Jung literally leapt into the elder’s arms and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“How were your classes for far, unnie?” Soojung asked as she climbed off of her sister.

“It was okay… You do know that people are staring at us now, right?” Sooyeon said to her sister.

“I don’t care… So is Miyoung unnie coming along?” Soojung ignored her sister’s statement rather than worry about other people’s opinions.

“No… She’s been a little weird and mysterious since this morning… I’ve no idea where she’s sneaking off to,” Sooyeon shrugged.

“Wow… Miyoung unnie being mysterious? Is she dating someone?”

“She hasn’t said anything to me… and it’s only the first day back…” Sooyeon responded agitatedly. She was slightly possessive and didn’t like the fact that her best friend could possibly be ditching her to hang out with someone else.

“I was just kidding… She probably just has some stuff to get done, you know her… overachiever and all…”

“Hmmm… that does sound more like her…” Sooyeon mumbled under her breath.

Soojung wrapped her arms around Sooyeon’s shoulders. “Awww, unnie… Don’t be angry. You still have me… and you know no one loves you more than I do…” She showered her big sister with aegyo.

Sooyeon never could resist her little sister’s aegyo. She melted immediately and even broke out into a little smile.

“Okay, okay… I’m hungry…” Sooyeon gave in.

“I’ll buy you something delicious…”

“You know that you and I both get our allowances from mom and dad, right?”

“Yes, but I’m willing to sacrifice some of it on you…”

Sooyeon giggled. “Oh, you silly rascal…”

Soojung linked her arm around Sooyeon’s and started dragging her sister towards the college cafeteria.

“So unnie… anything interesting happened this morning?” Soojung asked.

Sooyeon thought back on the morning and it had been a rather interesting morning but she didn’t know if she should mention it to Soojung. “Well… it’s been a long morning…”

“Ohmigod, I know what you mean…”