Kei simply couldn't believe it - or rather, she simply couldn't believe herself.

Here she was, wallowing in utter disbelief and self-pity as she sat on the brick ledge surrounding her new home, with her hands resting underneath her chin and about a half-dozen boxes of her belongings laying at her feet. How in the world had she managed to lock herself out of her own house on the very first day, even before she had managed to completely unpack and move all of her possessions inside? She usually wasn't this clumsy (although she wouldn't consider herself a clumsy person in general). Luckily for her current situation, she had signed a housing contract to share this lovely abode with five other girls, and this was the day in which they were all supposed to move in and meet one another. She was the first resident to get here, but hopefully one of her housemates would arrive shortly and she would eventually be saved.

Soon enough, a silver sedan pulled up to the curb directly in front of the house, and a girl with long, reddish hair emerged from the passenger side of the vehicle. She stood outside and stared curiously at Kei for a moment before unloading several boxes from the trunk of the car. Unable to do much else, Kei stared back. She could hear an older woman's voice coming from the car, questioning the newcomer as to whether she could carry all of her things on her own, and the girl immediately responded that she could. Once she had stacked the boxes onto the sidewalk, the girl shared a heartfelt good-bye with the driver, and the car sped off toward the direction of the freeway thereafter.

Kei felt her back straightening as she observed the redheaded girl lift up one of the bigger boxes with ease and walk towards her. In close proximity, the first thing Kei noticed about the other girl was how pretty she was. She was pretty in an effortless kind of way, wearing minimal make-up along with her black tank top and ripped skinny jeans. She looked somewhat familiar, and Kei soon realized that she had probably just recognized her from the university's profile pictures of her future housemates. In the midst of preparing for her move, she didn't have the time to memorize their names or match said names to any of their respective faces yet. A shame it was.

Instead of heading straight to the door of the house, the girl approached Kei first. She smiled before she spoke, revealing much of her teeth. She had a pretty smile, just as Kei had expected. "Hi. You must be one of my housemates. What are you doing out here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Hello. I'm Kei and...I accidentally locked myself out of the house while trying to carry my things inside." She lowered her head in embarrassment as a quiet chuckle escaped from her housemate's lips. Her laugh was pretty too.

"Oh, that's okay. I can unlock the door." The girl tucked the box she was carrying underneath one arm and slipped her free hand into the back pocket of her jeans. "I have my key right...here...?" Her pretty face paled as she failed to retrieve what she was searching for. She hurriedly placed the box next to Kei and proceeded to rummage through all of her pockets in case she had misplaced the key, but to no avail. She sighed, signaling her defeat. "Great...I think I dropped my key... It's probably somewhere in the car, but my grandma isn't going to drive back just to bring it to me." She pushed her box aside and replaced the newly formed space with herself. "Well...we can wait out here until someone else eventually comes. In the meantime, we can hang out and get to know each other, I guess. We are housemates."

"I'm fine with that." Kei brushed a loose strand of hair behind her pinkish ear. She never thought that she'd have a bit of difficulty in making eye contact with any of her housemates. Perhaps it would just be this particular one (was that a good thing or not?). "I mean, that would be nice...because we're housemates."

"Yep. My name is Mijoo, by the way. This is probably going to sound weird, but I'm glad that we're stuck together like this. At least we have each other, right?" Mijoo smiled again. Everything about her was pretty. Way too pretty.

Kei didn't know if crushes normally developed this quickly.

In spite of her rigorous courses, Mijoo nonetheless found the time to date - 'dates', Mijoo called them, but it would've been more precise to describe them as flings, hook-ups, one night stands - basically just quick and dirty encounters with no strings attached. Kei liked Mijoo, but contrary to how someone would be expected to react, she didn't really mind this particular lifestyle of hers. Mijoo never took any of her partners seriously anyway, so none of the things she did with them mattered in the end. It's not that she didn't get jealous; maybe it was because Kei didn't see these other girls as potential threats to her own chances of being with Mijoo.

"What are your plans for tonight?" Mijoo questioned as she walked out of her bedroom to find Kei sitting in the living room and quietly watching a variety show, by herself. The rest of their housemates had gone out in some way or another. It was the weekend after all.

Kei picked up the remote beside her and lowered the volume of the television screen before answering, "I'm not quite sure yet, but I'll probably stay home. I just want to relax after that stressful group project." Mijoo paused halfway through zipping up her bomber jacket and raised a brow upon Kei's response. "I really hope you have a good time with your date though. I know you've been looking forward to it all week."

Mijoo shook her head and pulled her phone out from her pocket. "I'm going to cancel it."

"What - why?" Kei's expression rightfully contorted with confusion while Mijoo presumably sent a text message to the poor girl she was supposed to go out with that night. Kei admittedly felt pity for her, though the girl was pretty much a stranger to her.

"Why not?" Mijoo replied, ping and shrugging off the jacket she had just put on. She smoothly tossed it onto the arm of the couch and plopped down beside Kei. "I'd rather hang out with you." The younger girl gaped at her as she leaned back into the welcoming cushions of the furniture and closed her eyes, sighing softly in content.

"But your date - "

Mijoo opened an eye offer the girl beside her a lazy glance. "Do you not want my company?"

"N-No, it's not like that," Kei stuttered. Of course she did, what could possibly be any better than spending time alone with her crush of over a year? "I do, but I thought that you'd rather go on your date than stay at home...with me. I'm not really fun or interesting like the others, and I don't even know what we can possibly do aside from watching something - "

"Don't say that. You're just as great to be with as everyone else, if not better. Trust me, I know that personally. It's also no problem if we can't decide what to do now. We do have this entire night to ourselves; we'll eventually figure something out. We've done this countless times before, haven't we?" Mijoo reassured with a confident grin, and Kei could only shut down the disagreements in her head and nod. There was no wrong that they could do as long as they were together. Kei felt more than happy with Mijoo's presence alone.

As time passed, she came to realize that she was only falling deeper, faster, harder, for Mijoo.

But she also realized that as she fell, she had to hit the ground eventually.

"Mijoo has been bringing the Jungs' daughter over so often lately... Something is up, don't you think?" Jisoo asked with a knowing gleam in her eyes. She scooted a bit closer to a distracted Jiae and leaned towards her in a clear attempt to steal a peek at the cards in the other girl's hands. With a glare, she was promptly sent reeling back. "I know she's tutoring the kid, but it's pretty obvious that Yein's got a huge crush on our Mijoo. It may be a cute and harmless one-sided thing for now...but when I ask my bestie about the girl, she gets all defensive and flustered. You can't tell me that it doesn't mean anything."

"Since you two are close, you probably know her best. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they did start going out with each other...although the four-year age difference does seem kinda questionable." Jiae replied to the girl adjacent to her without glancing up from her cards. She plucked one card out of her hand and laid it facedown on the pile they'd accumulated thus far. "One eight."

Fortunately for Kei, no one was looking at her during this moment and therefore did not notice the evident frown that formed on her usually smiling face. Of all the infinite things they could've possibly talked about, why did it have to be this? Why did it have to be Yein, out of all the people their housemates could've chosen to pair Mijoo up with? Why was it Yein, Kei always wondered, that Mijoo spent most of her time with out of everyone else available? In the beginning, the younger girl was just their neighbors' adorable daughter. Now, it seemed like she was someone who meant a lot more than just that...particularly to Mijoo.

Kei didn't dislike Yein and she definitely harbored no ill feelings toward Mijoo, but the thought of Mijoo and Yein together, as something more than just friends...the thought alone made her feel discomfort that sickened her to the very pit of her stomach. It wasn't Yein or Mijoo that she hated; it was this horrible feeling. It was this dreadful feeling that clawed at her from within, whenever she thought about Yein and Mijoo together, whenever she heard about the two of them together, whenever she saw them together...shredding her apart from inside. She knew that none of this was right. How she wished that she could simply make these feelings disappear, but things were never easy when it came to Kei's feelings, especially when they involved Mijoo. She still liked her. How could she not? (How could she still?)

"We'll be back soon." Before she knew it, Mijoo and Yein had walked past her and the other girls, hurriedly heading for the door. Kei fixated her gaze on the way the younger girl gleefully latched herself to Mijoo's arm, clearly relishing every bit of the contact. Mijoo had provided no initial explanation as to where exactly the two of them were going, but there really was no need. The ecstatic expression on Yein's face was adequately telling.

"Enjoy your date!" Jisoo shouted teasingly at the pair just before they opened the door.

"Yeah, yeah."

"We will!" Yein exclaimed excitedly as Mijoo rolled her eyes. Despite the visible gesture implying her disdain, Kei managed to catch the ghost of a smile gracing Mijoo's lips; the faintest of smiles, but it was there. It was beautiful as always, but it wasn't for her. Kei couldn't help but wonder how many times Yein has made Mijoo smile like this.

Once they were out of the door and gone, Jisoo faced her friends with a smug grin. "See? I think they're really cute together. Yein is totally different from the other girls Mijoo has been with, aside from age - well, they're not together yet, but we all know where this is going. Right, Kei?" It couldn't have been just a coincidence that Jisoo suddenly decided to discuss the developing relations between Mijoo and Yein, that the subjects of this conversation would briefly appear before them, and that Kei of all the girls would be chosen to respond to such a suggestion. Fate was a ruthless perpetrator.

A few of the girls suddenly turned to look at Kei, with gazes almost expectant, and there was no doubt as to what her answer had to be. Her heart may not have agreed with it, but she otherwise knew the truth (regardless of how she felt, the truth was the truth). "Yes, I think they're going to make a wonderful couple - "

"Bull!" Kei and the other girls' attention snapped towards Jin, who was shoving an accusing finger into Sujeong's scowling face. "I know you're lying. I got all four queens right here in my hand; there's no freaking way that you'd have any. Pick those cards up, you liar." The youngest of their housemates grumbled under her breath as she adhered to the rules of the card game they were playing, and she began gathering all of the cards they had heaped up on the floor.

It was indeed a lie.

Deep down, underneath the gentle exterior of the kind, compassionate Kei who everyone - including Mijoo - thought that they knew and understood, she truly hoped that Jisoo would be wrong.

Kei sang along to the song stuck in her head, a simple but poetic ballad about love and healing. She generally sang whenever she was in particularly high spirits, and everyone who knew her well enough was aware of this. She crouched down next to the oven, smiling at both the warmth emanating from the machine and the sight of the chocolate chip cookies she'd painstakingly made from scratch and love. They were nearly finished.

She had spoken to Mijoo the other day about baked desserts, and the other girl lamented that she hadn't eaten any for a while - so Kei decided on her own to prepare a fresh batch of her baked specialty for Mijoo: soft, gooey chocolate chip cookies. Each and every person who has tried Kei's cookies expressed that they were the best homemade cookies that they'd ever tasted, and she hoped that Mijoo would think of them no differently. She just wanted to make her happy in the ways that she could. She told her that she'd be home soon, and Kei would surprise her with the cookies on the spot.

She waited for Mijoo to arrive, sitting at the kitchen counter and watching over her cooling and hardening cookies. When the door finally opened, an hour later than the original time that Kei had anticipated, she carefully observed the entrance from her chair. Just as she'd predicted, Mijoo passed through the door with a sheepish smile on her face...but Kei didn't expect to see Yein trailing behind her, carrying the distinctive box of the most popular bakery in the city. (Her heart began to sink inside of her chest, but as she usually did, she masked the growing pain with a smile.)

"Hey Kei. Yein and I stopped by the Wonderland Bakery before coming back, and we bought enough desserts to share with everyone else. Is there anything that you particularly like? You can have first choice..." Mijoo opened to continue but she eventually took notice of a sweet scent floating through the air, and she inhaled the warm, sugary residue of Kei's earlier baking endeavors. "Did you cook something? It smells really good."

Kei peered over her shoulder to steal a glance at the tray of cookies behind her. "I made chocolate chip cookies...but I accidentally burned them." She quickly added. She didn't. She rarely ever complimented herself, but these cookies were practically baked to perfection; possibly her best batch yet. But she wasn't going to tell Mijoo, who had gone out to buy baked desserts with Yein...her girlfriend, naturally. They were dating now. She supposed that it had to happen eventually, with the way things were headed. But it turns out that the expectation of pain doesn't necessarily reduce the pain when it does occur. "It's okay though, thanks for asking."

"Mm, if you say so. If you happen to change your mind, we'll be in my room. You know that you're welcome to pop in anytime you'd like." Mijoo offered casually before she and Yein left her, and all Kei could do was smile. Why cry, frown, or even feel bad? Nobody intentionally hurt her. She had brought all of this upon herself. It was her fault for feeling this way in the first place, although she had an idea of what was coming. Jisoo had been right all along.

Would it have hurt her less if she'd stopped denying and just accepted it? Her hopes, dreams, fantasies - everything was collapsing and crumbling right before her very eyes - yet she had made the desperate, futile effort of trying to preserve it in its unstable position, where she wanted it to be. It never should've been like that. This was all a mistake, and it was a mistake that she'd repeatedly make, a mistake that she'd never learn from. When was it finally going to end?

(It couldn't. Not yet.)

"That was some real nice singing earlier, something smells super tasty - woah, hold on! What are you doing?" Sujeong bounced happily into the kitchen only to see Kei standing over the trashcan, prepared to throw out an entire tray of chocolate chip cookies. She raced to the shorter girl's side to stop her. "Those look like perfectly good cookies! Don't waste them like that!"

"No, they're...terrible."

Sujeong furrowed her brows and gently took the tray away from her housemate without the least bit of struggle. She promptly picked one of the cookies up and took a bite out of it, humming in delight afterwards. "You must be out of your mind, Kei unnie. This tastes incredible." The older girl failed to immediately respond to Sujeong, but she turned her head toward the sound of boisterous laughter coming from the direction of Mijoo's room.

"I'm terrible." Kei murmured under her breath, but Sujeong still heard her.

"Hey, isn't that Mijoo unnie? What is she doing out here...with all of that?" Sujeong pointed out as she was walking in between Jin and Kei. The sun was beginning to set and they had finally just returned to the house after attending a meeting for their engineering student association. Kei perked up at the mention of her crush's name, but she knew better than to allow her emotions to get the better of her. She followed her housemates' line of sight and just as she had expected, as always, Yein was by Mijoo's side. Kei herself obviously wasn't going to be the heroine, the winner, the lover in this story, this lifetime. So why couldn't she just let go already? Why was it so hard?

Kei knew it wasn't going to be any good for her, to trail behind her friends as they sped up to approach the couple. But she did it anyway. (There had to be a limit to how much she could hurt before she couldn't take it anymore; there had to be an end. Even if she had to bring it about herself.) Automatically, she managed to plaster a smile on her face, one that couldn't be differentiated from her genuine smiles. She stood next to Sujeong, placing her invisible, utmost effort into blunting her feelings behind that fragile veil of upcurved lips.

"Woah, what's with the bag? Are you running away from home?" Jin jokingly questioned, eyeing the large luggage bag that Mijoo was currently carrying.

"No, I'm only trying to get away from you." Mijoo deadpanned. Jin responded with a playful shove and Mijoo continued, "Yein's parents are going out of town for a trip over the weekend, so they asked me to stay over and take care of their precious daughter in the meantime. I packed everything I would need beforehand so I wouldn't have to come back to the house to grab it."

"But we're literally next door... I can't believe you hate us this much."

"No no, I see what she's trying to do. You just want to stay cooped up inside of that house with Yein...all alone together...doing who knows what." Yein unsurprisingly reddened at the implications of Jin's remark, but no one expected the experienced Mijoo to blush as well. She was rendered speechless for a moment, wordlessly smacking Jin on the shoulder for saying such a thing. Such jokes usually didn't faze her in the slightest, so Kei wondered why it did now. Jin figured that was enough suggestive humor for the moment, so she added, "So you got promoted from tutor to babysitter huh? Congrats."

"Why do you always treat me like a child? I'm technically an adult now. Plus, Mijoo unnie is more than just my tutor or babysitter. She's my girlfriend." A still-flushed Yein passionately interjected. "We're dating! We kiss and stuff!"

"'And stuff...?'" Jin repeated with emphasis, quirking a brow. It seemed like she would be finished with the jokes but apparently, she couldn't help herself when an opportunity happened to arise. She and Sujeong burst into giggles at the expense of the flustered couple as Mijoo and Yein frantically attempted to correct and explain the pure meaning behind their words to deter their friends from deriving any more inappropriate ideas. The two of them already knew that they were poking fun only out of good humor, and the four ultimately laughed altogether.

Meanwhile, a particular fifth person who had been silently observing the exchanges was far from feeling the humor like the other four. There was only so much that she could take. "Sorry, I think...I think I'm going to head back home first." Kei murmured just loud enough for the other girls to hear through their laughter, half of which ceased completely. Sujeong and Mijoo could barely exchange concerned glances before Kei turned around and began to walk towards the house alone. Jin and Yein eventually took notice as well and watched on with worry. None of them had ever seen their usually cheerful friend so dejected before.

"Um...I think I'll go with Kei unnie too. You girls go ahead." Sujeong announced h