“A dance? Are you serious?” Bora smirked, gesturing towards the sign plastered on the inside of the elevator. The interior of the elevators on campus were always littered with various flyers.

              Minhee turned in mild interest. “Why not? It could be fun.”

              Bora turned to face her best friend in a mixture of surprise and irritation. “Are you kidding me? What is this, high school?”

              Shrugging, Minhee unlocked her phone and took a picture of the flyer. “It’s just a casual thing. It’s a DJ and some refreshments. I won’t say no to free cookies.”

              The elevator dinged, signaling the arrival on their floor, and the girls fell into step beside each other as they proceeded to class. Minhee decided to comfort Bora, who seemed more than a little bit upset that Minhee had been busy without her lately. “It could be a girl’s night.”

              Perking up slightly, Bora did not seem quite as opposed to the idea anymore. “I suppose. We could pregame at my place.”

              “I can get the stuff,” Minhee offered. “I know we usually drink your booze, and I feel kind of guilty.”

              “Don’t worry about it,” Bora waved her off. “I need to get rid of it, anyways.”

              “Hey guys!” Came the voice from behind them, and Minhee knew exactly who it was.

              “Hey Seulgi,” the two girls muttered in response. “How’s it going?”

              “Did I hear that you guys were going to that dance tomorrow night? That sounds like so much fun!”

              Minhee and Bora exchanged similar uh-oh glances; both knew where Seulgi was going with this.

              “I mean, I’m not busy tomorrow night,” Seulgi began. “I would love to join.”

              “I mean,” Bora tried to let Seulgi down easy, “it’s kind of a girl’s-only night. I don’t think bringing Chanyeol along to this sort of thing would really sit well, if you know what I mean.”

              “Girl’s night?” Seulgi perked up. “That sounds great!”

              “It’s going to be very low-key,” Minhee chimed. “I don’t think it would be your thing.”

              “No no!” The bouncy girl waved her arms in protest. “That sounds great! Where should I meet you all?”

              “My apartment. Seven-thirty.”

              Minhee shot Bora a look so sour that her friend could taste it in the back of . “Traitor,” she mouthed.

              Apologetically, Bora shrugged back. Her eyes were pulled wide in an innocent look. "What did you expect me to do? She wanted to come."

              “Seven-thirty,” Seulgi chirped and pulled out her phone. “I’ll be there! Here, text me your address.”

              The girl gave one last over-enthusiastic giggle and wave before taking her seat in the classroom. Seulgi's long hair flew dramatically behind her, and Minhee sourly the shorn ends of her own hair. Chanyeol had always loved to play with it when it was long.

              “Great,” Minhee grouched. “Just great. This was supposed to be completely Chanyeol-free.”

              “I mean,” Bora shrugged. “It technically is.”

              “Shut up. You know Seulgi is going to drag him along, one way or another.”

              “So you’re going to invite Minho, then?” Bora looked hurt.

              “No,” Minhee backpedaled. “That’s not what I was getting at, at all. I just wanted to be you and me.”

              Bora looked satisfied. “Seulgi isn’t completely horrible.”

              “That’s the worst part,” Minhee growled. “If she weren’t dating my ex-boyfriend, I would maybe even be her friend. I'm just saying,” she gestured at the girl’s tasteful wedges, “just look at those shoes.”

              Minhee skipped out of her class, clutching her scarf in hand and her tea in the other. She had gotten an A on her last test for Linear Algebra, and she had studied her off for it. It was shaping up to be a great day, but the boy waiting for her on the bench outside the building made it even better. 

              “Channie!” She squealed. “I got an A!”

              The boy looked up from his phone and his face broke into that grin that took Minhee’s breath away each time. “I knew you would do great!”

              Kicking her heels off and into her hands, she broke into a run, not stopping until she plowed headfirst into her boyfriend. Chanyeol let out a grunt at the impact, but gathered her up in his arms and swung her in a circle. Minhee laughed for the first time in what felt like weeks.

              “I love you,” she mumbled into his chest.

              “I love you, too.”

              For a week leading up to the exam, Minhee had worked her off to keep her A. That had meant long nights of pulling at her hair and many afternoons missing Chanyeol and his stupid laugh as she dragged herself to the library to study. It had all paid off, and it had never felt so good.

              “Want to get an early dinner?” Chanyeol smiled. “My treat.”

              “Duh!” Minhee grinned. “That sounds amazing.”

              Taking his hand, Minhee let him pull her down the street to the small café that she knew that he frequented with his friends. The whole way there, the smile never left her face. Although the clouds were grey and the weather was growing cold, Minhee was walking in sunbeam.

              “I love eating here,” Chanyeol was telling her casually. “They make really good soup.”

              Minhee laughed; Chanyeol had a huge sweet spot for soup. “Of course.”

              “They do,” he nudged her. “Just wait until you try it.”

              “Yeol?” Came the voice from behind them. Minhee turned to see who had called.

              The owner of the voice was a girl- a very gorgeous one, at that. She was tall, just about Minhee’s height, and the legs on this girl made Minhee self-conscious. Long and black and thick and everything Minhee wished she could have, the girl’s hair hovered just above her thin waist. She glowed like she had swallowed a lightbulb.

              Minhee did not like it.

              “Sunhee,” Chanyeol stepped towards the girl who had called his name. He scratched the back of his neck. “What’s up?”

              “I didn’t know you came here,” the girl gave Chanyeol a tight hug, which Minhee’s sharp eyes noticed was reciprocated by her boyfriend. 

              “Yeah, well,” Chanyeol shrugged. “They have good soup.”

              The girl burst out laughing as though it were the funniest thing she had heard in a while. “You are so right! I love their soup.”

              Eyes narrowing, Minhee glared at Chanyeol’s back from where she stood at the distance in line. That was their own little inside joke, and she did not appreciate this girl being in on it. With every word that passed between the two in front of her, Minhee felt her day melting into a puddle around her feet and pooling around her ankles. The anger was hot, but it was fast in turning into a cruel pit of insecurity.

              What was this girl’s relationship to Chanyeol? Was Chanyeol interested in her?

               "We have to meet up for lunch sometime," he was saying to her. Minhee felt sick to her stomach.

               "Of course," the girl put her hand briefly on his bicep and squeezed gently before raising it up in a half wave. "I'll see you around, okay? Call me about that lunch date."

               Chanyeol wandered back over to Minhee and slung his arm casually around her shoulder. He held his phone in his other hand, scrolling through his texts.

              “Who was she?” Minhee stared up at the menu. She could not bring herself to stare at her boyfriend.

              “Oh, her?” Chanyeol did not seem to notice how upset Minhee felt, and he seemed completely at ease as he scrolled through their soup options. “Just some girl I met through my friend Suho. She’s super cool.”

              “Suho?” Minhee bit her lip. “Who is that?”

              “Suho?” Chanyeol opened a new text. “One of my mates.”

              “Oh. Your friends," she felt her chest clench. They had been dating for several months and never had he even mentioned introducing her to his friends. "You know what?” she looked down at the floor. Her eyes stung. “I think I have to use the restroom really quickly. Order me whatever.”

              “Okay,” Chanyeol seemed unaffected. “Soup okay?”

              “Yeah, that’s perfect,” was closing up quickly, and Minhee made a beeline for the bathroom stall.

              The bathroom was deserted, and Minhee was grateful that no one was around to hear her come apart. She felt ugly in comparison to the girl from earlier. Why did it feel like this girl that Chanyeol had referred to so flippantly knew more about her boyfriend than she did? What was it about Minhee that made Chanyeol so secretive about his life? Was she not good enough? Why was she even crying over this? It wasn't a big deal, right? Chanyeol would never cheat on her.

             She did not want to lose him: Minhee knew that much. 

            Wiping her eyes, Minhee drowned her insecurities in mascara and lipstick. She was not weak, and she certainly was not about to lose Chanyeol to “some girl” in a café. With each of her hand, she applied her warpaint, her mask.