It was the first day of classes, and it was raining. Seulgi was the first to wake among the two in the dormitory, and she was peering through the window in her room, watching the droplets fall from the sky while waiting for the kettle to boil.

She couldn’t help but be anxious, watching as students go to school in groups as if already pre-made. She didn’t really have anybody to go to school with— except Wendy, though she wasn’t sure yet if her dorm mate was exactly up for that. She heaved a sigh, noticing her breath fog up the window. She raised a hand, index finger moving to write ‘화이팅’ against the fogged up glass. Seulgi smiled to herself upon reading the lone word.

She then turned her head and pulled on the curtain to cover the window up, not allowing the little light to pass— only to be startled by the sight of Wendy sitting on the chair next to her bed. In her surprise, Seulgi clutched her chest and instinctively jerked back, gasping. “Hey, who said you were allowed in my room?! And in your pajamas too, wow—”

“It’s raining.” Wendy plainly said, her gaze not raking away from the window. “Could you push away the curtains for me?” Her voice was so soft that Seulgi thought her roommate was just sleepwalking and talking.

Seulgi’s expression twisted into a scowl, but she gave in to Wendy’s request anyway. “Going to use you mind powers to make the rain stop, or something?” Seulgi squinted her already small eyes upon allowing the daylight to enter through the window.

“No, weirdo,” Wendy retorted, rolling her eyes slightly, “just to let in some of the light. Don’t you have a lampshade around here, or something? This room is about as dark and dull as your personality.”

“Hey, you’re the one trespassing here. If you’re going to barge into my room like this, then don’t talk about my personality like that.” On that note, Seulgi hears the kettle whistle. She crawls off of her bed, racing towards the kitchen to turn off the stove.

“Seriously though, Wendy,” she calls out while very carefully transferring the hot water from the kettle onto the thermos, “get out of my room. Let’s… have breakfast, or something.” Seulgi’s tone while saying this was gradually getting lower; embarrassed to have invited Wendy over so casually like that. It’s been a while, after all.

“What’s for breakfast then, Chef Kang?” Wendy sang, walking over to where Seulgi was in a springy step. She stops right behind Seulgi, peering over at what she was doing.

“I don’t know.” Seulgi grumbled, tensing up at how close Wendy was at that moment. She could practically feel her breath against her bare shoulder. She made a mental note not to wear sleeveless tees to sleep anymore, if mornings were going to be like this.

“Just make sandwiches from the bread and jar of nutella we bought last night.” Wendy twirled around, and eventually disappeared into her room, announcing, “And I’m going to get ready for school.”

Did Seulgi dare defy Wendy’s order? Nope, even early into this friendship of theirs, she knew better than to not follow what she said. She heaved a sigh, opening one of the cabinets where she remembered she stored the bread and nutella from last night.

To her surprise, the jar of nutella was already opened… and half-empty “God damn it, Wendy.” Seulgi utters in an undertone, though finds herself smiling in amusement.

▲▼▲▼

Seulgi chose to dress comfortably today.

She glanced at the clock which sat on her bed side table, noting that it was 8:30 a.m., which would be the right time for her to get going. She put on the straps of the backpack she prepared last night before sleeping, and exited her room.

Wendy was still seated in one of the chairs in the kitchen, not yet finished with her cup of tea. Her eyes followed Seulgi as she strode wordlessly towards the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Wendy suddenly blurts out, making Seulgi stop at her steps.

“School, obviously. My class is at nine—“

“We’re walking together.” She then so suddenly proclaimed, raising the teacup to her lips to take a small sip. “Trust me; it’d be better than seeming like an absolute loner on the first day.”

“I—“ Seulgi paused, furrowing her brows together as she retracts her hand from reaching at the doorknob. “I’m guessing I don’t really have much of a say in this, huh?”

“Bingo.” Wendy flashed a charming smile in her direction, and then stood up from her seat to place the then empty teacup in the sink. “Just let me get my bag and we can set off.”

Seulgi only nodded in acknowledgment, turning on her heel to instead head for the couch, plopping down on it while waiting for Wendy who’s disappeared into her room.

In her silence, Seulgi found herself wondering she was allowing herself to be bossed around and sassed by her new found acquaintance (she wasn’t ready to call it a friendship just yet, really), when in reality she wouldn’t allow herself to be treated like that so easily.

She pondered on perhaps changing her ways, but realized that doing that would just make it harder for the both of them, as roommates. Besides, she doesn’t really mind being responsible for most of the chores, since it’s what she has been doing, in aid to her mother, for the past few months, anyway.

After a few more quiet moments of mulling, Wendy finally exited her room, a messenger bag hanging from her shoulder and across her torso. “Let’s go now, then?”

Seulgi nodded as she got up on her feet, exiting the room with Wendy.

“You better have used a spoon, by the way.” Seulgi mumbled as they went down the flight of stairs side-by-side”

“Hm?” Wendy hummed in response, looking over at the other girl quizzically.

“The nutella. I’m just saying you better have used a spoon instead of something gross like… your finger, or something.” Seulgi kept her gaze forth, though playfully smiling in a noticeably teasing manner.

“You don’t know how to live properly if you use a spoon to eat out of the nutella jar, Seul.” She says as-a-matter-of-factly, making Seulgi roll her eyes and contort her expression into a scowl.

“Disgusting—“ Seulgi scrunches up her nose, turning her head to gaze over at Wendy with a sour expression on. “Did you just call me Seul? God, only my brother ever calls me that.”

“Well then, get used to it.” Wendy deadpanned, giving her a blank expression.

“No,” for once, Seulgi found herself defying Wendy, “call me Seulgi.” Her tone was insistent, as if she was never going to agree to being called any other name. “I won’t respond if you call me Seul.”

“… Whatever, Seul.” Wendy only teases further, causing Seulgi to raise her hand and land a light jab against her shoulder. Wendy responds with prodding her index finger against Seulgi’s side, making her instinctively jerk away due to the ticklish feeling she got from it.

By then, they’ve already set foot on the ground floor, and were already just about a ten minute walk away from campus grounds. Out of instinct, Seulgi checks on the watch latched around her wrist—it was 8:40 a.m., just enough leeway to get to her classroom which was on the second floor.

Unknowingly, Wendy’s arm had already wrapped around Seulgi’s as they trudged towards the entrance of the university. Seulgi would have already jerked her arm away, if only she actually noticed that Wendy was being uncontrollably touchy again.

▲▼▲▼

As expected, getting to class right on the dot wouldn’t be a problem, all thanks to the fact that their university, in comparison to other universities, was much smaller— just four buildings of seven floors each (all with elevators, thankfully), erected very close to each other.

Wendy entered the already somewhat filled lecture room, Seulgi following close behind her. She wasn’t really going to admit it, but she didn’t want to be seated away from Wendy. Little did she know, Wendy had the same mindset as well.

Wendy’s hand wrapped around Seulgi’s wrist, and aggressively dragged her towards a vacant row five seats away from the lecturer’s table. Wendy placed her bag on the seat next to the wall, marking it hers.

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