Changes and Chances

Chapter 6

She woke up 2 hours late after an unplanned drinking session with Min-ju last night and was frustrated to find out that instead of setting an alarm, she typed in 6:00 on her Calculator app.

She quickly wrote her professor an email and went back to bed.

No more drinking on weekdays. *vomiting emoji

She sent a text to the girl she was with last night.

To which the other girl replied: I'd say you were not a very good influence. But good thing you've realized it on your own. Haha. Good luck with your classes!

The two of them have gotten closer over the past two weeks - physically, at least. What happened on the night of their first meeting happened several more times as it was a much better setup with both of them already knowing all the unspoken rules of the casual scene.

She knows very little about Min-ju but was glad that she at least has the same humor as her. They've agreed on some ground rules and it was beneficial because Yeji would now have less time in meeting other people because of the resumption of classes.

She finished the rest of her classes at 6PM and was greeted by an email from her business class professor when she checked her phone.

"Great, a post-test about the lessons she missed. Aren't I lucky", she murmured while traveling home.

Yeji woke up late (again) the next day. It wasn't as late as the day before but she barely had time to think about what to wear so she grabbed the first set of clothes she saw and drove herself to school.

She applied a quick touch up before leaving the car and ran hurriedly towards her department's building.

If it wasn't for the all-nighter she pulled last night, she would've gotten enough sleep to get through the day.

She might not look like it, but Yeji takes her education very seriously. Despite her path being drawn out for her, she actually enjoys business school and aims to launch her own business one day. Even if it meant working double time for her family's business and for her own.

Business management 301 was one of her favorite classes this year - that's why she's putting extra effort for it. Not only that it's one of the most interesting and hardest subjects she enrolled in, her professor was very good at teaching, too.

When she arrived inside the classroom, she quickly ran towards her seat to catch her breath. Professor Park has just finished her introduction and the exam materials are being distributed to the class.

She was rummaging through her bag for her pen when a familiar girl appeared in front of her. Her used-to-be pink hair is now black.

And she's holding the exam papers - looking a little stunned to see Yeji, too.

Ryujin regained composure first and extended the papers she's holding to the other girl. "I'm the new TA. Please pass these on."

Yeji did not miss the way the other girl smirked at her before moving to the next row.

She shook the questions out of her head and focused on the paper in front of her.

Surprisingly, she felt confident as she was answering the exam. She knew most of the problems and was able to solve them properly.

When she was done, she stood up to hand the paper in. She almost forgot about Ryujin. She made a mental note to send a text to Chaer after class as she walked towards the stool where the earlier is sitting.

She looked up and shot Yeji a knowing smile. Yeji nodded timidly and made her way outside the classroom.

She dialed her best friend and the latter picked up right away.

"Who are we killing? What's up?"

"Why didn't you tell me that your friend from dance class is my professor's new TA?"

"And you called me for that? Wait, who and what are we talking about?" Chaeryeong answered, confused.

"Ryujin from dance class? She was professor's park's new TA. She handed in the exam papers earlier."

"Huh..." the other girl paused. "I didn't know. We don't really tell each other a lot of personal things. But why are you so bothered by this, that you had to call me? You never call during class hours."

Yeji could already picture her best friend smirking on the other line.

She would be lying if she said that she wasn't surprised. It has been a while since the embarrassing walkout scene in the dance studio and she hasn't heard from Ryujin after that one, unanswered message. But there's a certain weirdness to it that they seem to always run into each other unexpectedly.

Later that night, Yeji still felt so bugged by her encounter with Ryujin during her class that she couldn't get herself to sleep. She pulled out her phone and located the message from her.

She didn't save her number but hasn't deleted the message, either.

She started to type in the reply window.

I didn't know you're-

Deleted it, then typed again.

What were you doing in my-

Deleted it, then typed again.

Why do I seem to always run to you in unexpected places? Is this telling me something? Grrskdjslnenawekln

She smashed random keys on her keypad out of irritation.

Unluckily, she accidentally pressed the send button and the message was delivered. It took her a moment to realize what happened.

"What the actual... AGHHHHHHH!!!"

She bounced off the bed with her heart banging loudly on her chest. Her eyes widened with shock when she saw the read receipt, followed by a typing bubble soon after.

"Ugh", she sighed deeply and sat at the end of her bed.

R: *smiling emoji*

R: Sorry that you're not very happy to see me earlier. Too bad we'll be seeing each other for the next 15 weeks.

R: I was glad to see you, though.

R: You looked pretty.

R: Also, I can see you reading my messages through the read receipt, in case you forgot.

R: *wink emoji*

"Wow, she is quite shameless", Yeji muttered.

She buried her phone under her pillow without replying and tucked herself back in bed.