Seulgi jogs up the six flights of stairs and walks briskly past all the rows of books in the library before reaching it. She had found it toward the beginning of her second year in college- a small nook containing a desk and chair, nestled between a murky window and a dusty row of books that smelled way too much like the 1960s- and claimed it as her own because most other college students were too fattened up by their diet of cup noodles and in-house fast food joints to make the journey up there without collapsing at least twice.

    Seulgi stops abruptly and stands awkwardly in front of the space once she realizes that while most college students haven’t discovered her little nook, someone had. She feels like Baby Bear who had found Goldilocks sleeping in his bed and isn’t really sure on what to do. Does she wake the other student up? Does she let her sleep? Seulgi bites her lip. She furrows her eyebrows and tousles her hair before finally managing to decide. As she leaves, however, she realizes that it’s probably unhealthy to not be dressed warmly- as in only a tank top and some shorts- because the librarian isn’t human and likes to keep the library at near-freezing temperatures, and fumbles to take off her jacket. Draping it around the other college student, Seulgi rummages through her backpack for the pack of post-its she had bought and promptly never used. After writing a simple message on it, she sticks the post-it onto the jacket and leaves to find another part of the library to work on her essay.

._.

    An hour later, Joy wakes to find herself surprisingly warm. She scratches her head in confusion at the strange jacket she had found wrapped around herself before her fingers catch a tangerine colored post-it stuck onto it. The words ‘Keep warm and don’t catch a cold!’ are scribbled onto it along with a doodle of a smiling bear . Joy smiles to herself before burrowing her head into her arms and going back to sleep.

._.

    “Ah,” Seulgi blurts out once it’s her turn up at the cash register in the campus cafeteria. She pats her pockets before sighing in exasperation.

    “What is it?” Wendy questions.

    “Hey,” Seulgi addresses the shorter girl, “do you mind spotting me this time? I think I lost my ID card.” Wendy furrows her eyebrows before nodding and stepping up to pay for both of them. Seulgi wonders where she could’ve lost her card.

._.

    “Kang!” Seulgi pulls her focus away from the scrimmage she’s in to see Yoon Bomi- a senior on their soccer team- calling her to the sidelines. Next to her stands a girl Seulgi’s never seen bef-oh, she’s carrying Seulgi’s jacket.

    “Hi,” Seulgi greets the other girl after bowing to her senior. “How’d you find me?” The other girl grins and lifts Seulgi’s jacket around to reveal “Seoul University Soccer” printed in giant white letters on the back. “Oh.”

    “Also, you left your ID card in the pocket,” the other girl informs. Her voice is clear and her eyes are bright and she leaves Seulgi breathless in a way that’s different from how circuit training does. Seulgi makes sure to blink before she ends up staring way too long and creeping the other girl out. “I’m Park Sooyoung, by the way,” the other girl introduces herself, sticking out her hand. “But you can call me Joy.”

    “I’m Kang Seulgi,” the soccer player says automatically before realizing that Joy obviously already knew that. She shoots the younger girl a sheepish grin and gets a giggle in return. “The librarian tends to project the conditions of her heart to her external environment so the library’s always dark and cold. I hope my jacket was enough to keep you warm.”

    “It was,” Joy smiles warmly and Seulgi’s breath kinda sorta hitches at the sight. “I hope to return the favor someday.” She hands Seulgi her jacket back before checking her phone for the time. “I hate to cut this short, but I have class in ten minutes,” Joy informs. She bows and grins at Seulgi. “Bye, sunbaenim.” Seulgi waves at her until Joy disappears around the corner of a building.

    “Was that Joy?” Wendy asks, stepping up next to her. “I didn’t know you knew her,” she comments, wiping away her sweat.

    Seulgi shrugs. “We met in the library.”

    Wendy raises an eyebrow. “You don’t meet people in the library. You don’t meet me in the library and we’ve been friends since orientation day,” the shorter girl points out. “You step into the library and disappear off of the face of the Earth for about five hours.”

    “It not that bad,” Seulgi replies defensively, “is it?” She looks at Bomi for support but only gets a shrug in reply. “Whatever, how do you know who Joy is?” Seulgi asks, changing the subject.

    “Because she’s Joy,” Wendy says, as if that’s an explanation all in itself. Seulgi tilts her head in confusion. Wendy sighs before explaining further that, “She’s a really popular freshman. Everyone’s saying she’s a shoe-in for campus queen this year.”

    “Even though she’s a freshman?”

    Wendy shrugs. “Like I said, the kid’s popular. Really charming, too.” She then glances at the jacket in Seulgi’s hands and furrows her eyebrows.

“Hey,” Wendy starts, pointing to something peeking out of the jacket pocket, “what’s that?”

    Seulgi looks down at her jacket curiously before rummaging through the pockets. Along with her ID card, the college student pulls out an advertisement card for the campus coffee shop with a green post-it attached to it. On it is a hand-drawn coupon that says “Good for 1 Free Drink to Warm You Up~” and a couple of shoddily drawn hearts. Seulgi chuckles to herself. Looks like Joy is as cute as she seems.

._.

    It isn’t until a couple of weeks after she found the coupon that Seulgi manages to find the time to visit the campus coffee shop. She’s able to find out Joy’s work schedule from Heo Youngji from the volleyball team, who knows everything about everyone who’s relevant and even knew more about Joy because she thinks the younger girl is cool (“But not as cool as Hara-sunbaenim!” the volleyball player had vehemently proclaimed).

The air inside the coffee shop is comfortably warm and the doorbell tinkles softly when Seulgi enters. Joy is making the drinks and waves when she notices Seulgi. Her cheeks are flushed from the warmth and the few strands of hair that escape from her ponytail frame her face in a way that unconsciously brings a smile to Seulgi’s face. The older girl waves back in greeting before unwrapping her scarf and sitting down at an empty table. She watches as Joy flits around behind the counter, adding too much whipped cream and chocolate syrup, and leaving the customers a little flustered as she brightly smiles at them when she hands them their order. Seulgi leans back in her chair and stretches. She could get used to this.

Seulgi’s fifteen minutes into her game of Sudden Attack before she notices that Joy’s now working the cash register and walks over to the counter, shooting the younger girl a lazy grin. “Hey,” she greets as she slides the green post-it across the counter. The makeshift coupon is slightly worn from how much Seulgi has tucked it into her pocket and pulled it out to smile softly at it. Joy laughs brightly and slides the post-it into the back pocket of her jeans, but still rings Seulgi up, handing the older girl a blank receipt. The soccer player raises an eyebrow. “I don’t get to order?” she asks in an amused tone.

Joy emphasizes her “nope!” with a prompt shake of her head and a mischievous grin. “No worries, sunbaenim,” she assures the older girl, “I got you.” Seulgi shrugs before heading back to her seat, sliding her chair loudly against the tiled floor.

Seulgi looks up from her game when Joy sets down her drink, steam billowing from the cap. “I’m on break right now,” Joy informs, briefly sitting down in the chair opposite of Seulgi. She jabs her thumb in the direction of the cafe entrance. “Wanna go for a walk?” Seulgi looks around the coffee shop. There were more people now, the quiet lull of the shop now a loud bustle. The warmth in the cafe had become stifling despite the fact that Seulgi had taken off both her coat and scarf, and the same song has been on repeat for the past fifteen minutes. Seulgi doesn’t hesitate before nodding, grabbing her stuff and letting Joy lead her out of the cafe.

._.

    “You didn’t really have to do this,” Seulgi says, referring to the free hot chocolate. She takes a sip and smiles to herself. Cinnamon- her favorite.

    “I wanted to,” Joy replies, smile never wavering. The two settle on a bench on the side of a pathway that winds its way through the school. Seulgi leisurely sips at her drink, looking up at the grey sky, as Joy fiddles with the gloves she had hastily put on.

    Seulgi glances over at Joy. “You should probably get some new gloves. I don’t think they fit you anymore.”

    “Hm?” Joy looks up at Seulgi as if this she had only noticed that the older girl was there just now. “Oh, these aren’t mine. They’re Joohyun-unni’s,” referring to the graduate student whose pink scarf had matched the tips of her hair and shift started right before Joy took her break.

    “Oh.”

    “Thanks for giving me your jacket again,” Joy reiterates after a moment of silence. “You even lost your ID card because of me,” she laughs. Seugi joins her, wondering how it’s possible that Joy looks even cuter when she laughs than when she smiles.

 “Meh, I probably would’ve lost it anyways,” Seulgi replies offhandedly.

    Joy laughs again, softer this time. “Really?”

    Seulgi shrugs. “Wendy’s always complaining about how much of  klutz I am.”

    “I like that.” Seulgi turns to Joy, confusion written on her face. “You have a bit of a reputation, you know,” Joy explains. Apparently she doesn’t, if Joy has read Seulgi’s face correctly. “You’re basically untouchable, sunbaenim. I mean, great athlete, great grades, great looks-” Seulgi feels the tips of her ears heat up at the compliments. “But to see the side of this cool sunbae that’s clumsy and has messy handwriting-” Joy breaks off and laughs. “It’s cute,” she says, shooting Seulgi a smile, eyes twinkling, “I like it.” Seulgi’s chest aches in the best way possible and she looks down at her hands, trying to contain the smile that’s bound to make her cheeks hurt. Joy checks the time on her phone before announcing that her break's over and slowly rising to her feet. “It was nice meeting you, sunbaenim,” she says, raising her hand up to bid the older girl in farewell, “I hope to see you more often.”  Seulgi waves back and stares at Joy’s shrinking back as she leaves. The college student leans back on the bench and finishes her drink before leaving.

._.

    Seulgi heads back to the coffee shop mostly because she feels like her time with Joy was left too unfinished and isn’t exactly sure what else to do. Joy’s back to work, now making the drinks instead of manning the cash register, and doesn’t exactly notice Seulgi reentering the shop. She bypasses the line and drops a dollar in the tip jar before leaving, empty cup still in hand.

    After the shop has closed, Joy’s surprised expression fades into curiosity as she pulls the dollar bill with a tangerine-colored post-it attached to it out of the tip jar. She grins when she recognizes Seulgi’s messy handwriting and reads the message she had scribbled along with her phone number: ‘Let’s get ddukbokki some time. My treat.’ Joy thumbs the smiling bear Seulgi had once again doodled onto the post-it and saves the number into her phone, but decides to keep the slip of paper anyways, tucking it into her jacket pocket.

._.

    The next morning, Seulgi wakes up to a text from an unfamiliar number saying ‘ddukbokki friday night?’. She saves Joy’s contact :DDD and wonders if she’s being too obvious.

._.

    After working out the details, they decide to go to the night market near the university because the food there is cheap and has enough MSG in it to suit the taste of an unhealthy college student. (Seulgi figures she can give up the diet of an athlete for one night if it means seeing Joy’s eyes twinkle under the night lights of the market.)

Joy latches onto Seulgi’s arm the moment she sees her and leans her head onto the shorter girl’s shoulder. Seulgi- who’s not exactly the most fond of skinship- forgets to tense up when Joy shoots her a blinding smile but does however push Joy’s head off of her shoulder after a while, explaining that, “You’re taller than me. Your neck will hurt if you do that for too long.” Joy grins to herself when Seulgi decides to make it up to her by buying her a hairclip Joy’s eyes had lingered on for a couple seconds too long and clipping it into the younger girl’s hair, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. They have fun chatting and joking around as they wander through the bustle of the night market, and Seulgi only whines a little bit when they both end up eating way more ddukbokki than her budget had really allowed.

Seulgi takes Joy home because she has a car and it’s way too late for her to feel comfortable letting Joy take the bus by herself. “I had a fun time, unni,” Joy says, having dropped the ‘sunbae’ title some time between laughing when Seulgi recalled the time she had slept through a fire in her dorm and laughing when Seulgi recalled the time she had accidentally brought Wendy on a date with her and some boy from the basketball team. (In her defense, he should’ve been more clear on what he meant by “hanging out” because all Seulgi heard was “free bingsoo”.) Joy leans forward, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and sticks a green post-it onto Seulgi’s lips before going inside with a soft “bye, unni”, closing the door behind her.

Seulgi stares at the door for a good couple of seconds, blinking, before she pulls the post-it off of her lips to read it. The green-colored paper is pretty much blank except for a poorly drawn pair of lips. Seulgi flips the post-it to the other side to see the message ‘a kiss (in case unni’s too clueless to figure it out’ written in small, bubbly characters and oh. She hastily shoves the note into her jacket pocket, blush quickly spreading, and stumbles off of Joy’s doorstep.

._.

    As she lays in her bed, Seulgi holds up the post-it up to the light and grins until her cheeks go numb. Before going to sleep, she presses her lips firmly against the pair drawn onto the post-it. (Seulgi wonders if it’s too soon to change Joy’s contact name to <3.)

._.

    The next time they meet, it isn’t awkward, mostly because Joy doesn’t really do awkward. So it’s not awkward and everything stays pretty much the same except for the ending. (Joy’s lips replace the green post-it from their previous date as she leans in and softly fits their lips together.) Seulgi’s eyes flutter back open in time to see Joy’s bashful grin as she pulls back and gains her senses back quickly enough to wave before the younger girl closes the door.

Seulgi still kisses the post-it every night, if only to reenact that single moment over and over again. It never feels as good as the real thing.

._.

    Seulgi walks through the library to her little nook one day to see a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the desk, thin wisps of steam still escaping from the cap. On it is a green post-it with a message that reads ‘A token of good luck for your test on Wednesday. Hwaiting!’ in Joy’s handwriting and a drawing of a-

    “Is that a six-limbed baby?” Seulgi mumbles to herself, squinting to look at the drawing more carefully. She never manages to figure out what Joy’s doodle exactly is but the hot chocolate tastes as good as always and she ends up acing her organic chemistry test with the post-it tucked into her back pocket.

._.

  (Seulgi never throws away any of the post-its Joy has given her but instead sticks them onto the wall, in the space above her study desk in case she needs a boost of positivity after studying for too long. Seulgi's 'first kiss post-it'- as Wendy had dubbed it after catching Seulgi kissing it right before a test for good luck- has migrated from underneath her pillow to the pocket of whatever jacket Seulgi's wearing that day. Seulgi admits that she's grown a bit attached to those poorly drawn pair of lips, and maybe a little bit more than attached to the girl those lips belonged to.)

._.

    Seulgi steals a chair from one of the lower levels of the library and treks it back up to her little study corner. She places it on the other side of the desk, facing her chair, and sticks a tangerine post-it on it.

    In class, Joy receives a picture message of a chair from Seulgi and zooms in to see the note on the post-it that says, ‘Finals are almost here. Let’s study together!’ After her lecture finishes, Joy heads to the library and greets Seulgi with some sandwiches she somehow manages to smuggle past the librarian. Seulgi ends up helping Joy study for her calculus and Joy ends up giving up Seulgi pointers for her lit class and they both end up making out an hour or two into the study session.

    (Joy somehow ends up straddling Seulgi’s lap, hands gently pressing her shoulders against the back of the chair and teeth grazing against the older girl’s pulsepoint. Seulgi tilts her head back and doesn’t bother with an attempt to be quiet; Joy’s lips are too soft and it is the philosophy section of the library, after all.)

    They both end up doing pretty well on their finals.

._.

    “Are you going home for winter break?” Joy asks, latched onto Seulgi’s arm because the weather’s too cold and their gloves are too bulky for them to hold hands.

   “Hm? No, I’m staying here,” Seulgi replies shortly. Both of my parents are still stuck at some conference in Europe.” She notices the pensive look on Joy’s face and takes one of her hands out of her pocket to gently flick the younger girl’s forehead. “Hey, don’t feel too bad for me. I still have my Netflix subscription and my parents bought me the new game console out of guilt.” Joy weakly smiles back before changing the topic, but the pensive look never exactly leaves her face.

._.

    On Christmas Eve, Seulgi opens her apartment door to find Joy, a Santa hat on her head and a half-empty bottle of champagne hidden behind her back. Seulgi lets her in immediately.

    “What are you doing here?” she asks as Joy sets the champagne bottle onto her kitchen counter.

    “I expected you to be more excited when I came here. Some people consider my presence to be a blessing, y’know,” Joy teases.

 “What about your family?”

    Joy shrugs. “They see me everyday.”

    “Well, so do I.”

    Joy shrugs a second time. “Yeah, but they have a small country of relatives to keep them company.” She then gestures to Seulgi. “You have Netflix.”

   “I’m pretty sure Netflix is more entertaining than a small country of relatives.”

 Joy laughs before flopping down on Seulgi’s couch. “But is Netflix more entertaining than me?” she challenges, eyes twinkling with mischief and a lopsided grin.

    Seulgi sighs before relenting. She releases control of the remote over to Joy before heading to the kitchen. “I’m cooking ramyun right now. It’s not a Christmas feast but whatever.”

    When they kiss later that night, Seulgi tastes champagne and ramyun on Joy’s lips. (It’s not the most romantic date- in fact, Seulgi’s pretty sure it’s the least romantic date she’s ever had- but it’s warm and it's comfortable, and that’s all Seulgi has ever really wanted.)

._.

    The first time Joy says ‘I love you,’ Seulgi replies back with an ‘okay, bye’ before hanging up the phone. It takes a moment before her mind catches up with the conversation and- oh. Oh. Seulgi sighs and burrows her head into her arms.

    When she tells Wendy about the situation, the shorter girl just laughs and laughs in Seulgi’s face. Seulgi lets her because she kinda deserves it and to be fair, something was bound to happen at some point. Her and Joy’s relationship had been going way too smoothly for something to not have happened. But Wendy being Wendy immediately started to try to help by shooting ideas for an apology the moment she stopped laughing.

    After a while, Seulgi starts to tune her out, thumbing through her quickly depleting stack of post-its and thinking about how she definitely needs to stop at the campus store to buy some more and- Ah.

._.

    Joy receives a text message from Seulgi asking for her to stop by the older girl’s apartment tonight. Had she received it a bit earlier, Joy probably would’ve ignored it, a bit upset at how Seulgi had brushed off her confession. But now she’s calmed down and figured that it was really just her clueless unni being clueless, so she sends back a confirmation text.

._.

    Joy walks into Seulgi’s living room to see a mass of tangerine colored post-its stuck onto the wall, spelling out the words ‘I love you’ and can't contain her surprised smile, warmth spreading through her chest. Seulgi sits on the coffee table right in front of the wall, figure slouched and a small, apologetic grin upon her face. “Sorry,” Seulgi apologizes, “I tried to do this in your room but your sisters wouldn’t let me in the house. They said my eyes looked evil or something.”

    Joy shakes her head and laughs. “I love you, too,” she murmurs, leaning down to peck Seulgi on the lips before settling in her lap. “But really, sticky notes? Don’t you think this is a bit tacky?”

    “Was that a pun?”

    Joy doesn’t dignify the question with a response and instead wraps her arms around Seulgi’s neck, pulling her closer. Seulgi figures that it really doesn’t matter as she feels Joy smile into the kiss. She’ll probably just ask later, when they aren’t preoccupied with other things.

A/N: The ending is weak, I tell you. WEAK. Sorry it took so long; I didn't really have a direction that I wanted the plot to go in so it ended up just being a messy clump of fluff.