Inevitable x Michaeng

College Life

"I'll see you soon," Chaeyoung says with a final hard nod. She turns and clambers into the passenger seat, clicking her seatbelt into place before she rolls down the window, fingers clutching at the lip of the car door.

"Call me when you get there," Mina almost yells through the window, hands twisting in front of her herself as her feet shuffle in the grass.

The car starts to pull away and Mina watches it go, standing in the lawn until it disappears from sight and she begins the walk home.

*

That night Mina looks in the mirror above her vanity. She traces a finger over her cheeks and her chin. She imagines she can see the charcoal smudged there, leaving dark bruises in the shape of Chaeyoung's mouth across her skin.

*

Chaeyoung forgets to call and summer's end has never tasted so bitter.

*

Mina's face pops up on her desktop and Chaeyoung is so relieved at the sight of her smile that she forgets they haven't talked all week.

Mina screeches out something that sounds vaguely like a greeting before ducking out of the view of the web-cam, coming back to frame with Sana attached to her arm. Sana grins sloppy and wide at the camera, eyes drooping with exhaustion as she waves her hand limply.

"Hey Chaeyoung," she leans in closer to the camera, jostling Mina out of view, "I really wish you were here. I need some serious help with my statistics homework."

Sana stumbles out of frame as Mina shoves her, shooting a glare at Sana, her hands reaching up to adjust the laptop. "I also wish you were here," she says, "but not because I need help in class." She pauses and turns to Sana who has collapsed onto her bed in the background, "Maybe someone wouldn't be having so much trouble if they would fucking pay attention in class."

Chaeyoung smiles at them, propping her elbows on her desktop, leaning closer to her computer screen as though she can bridge the 240 miles by inching closer to Mina's pixelated image. "Just text me the homework problems," Chaeyoung says, words directed at Sana in the background, "I'll try to help."

Sana grins from behind Mina, giving Chaeyoung a messy thumbs up before collapsing onto her pillow. Mina turns back to the screen, mirroring Chaeyoung's propped elbows, resting her chin in her hands.

"I take it that you and Sana are still working out as roommates?" Chaeyoung asks quietly. Sana doesn't move in the background and Chaeyoung wonders if she already fell asleep.

Mina nods loosely, lips turning up in a smile. "It's been a month and I haven't killed her yet so I would say things are going great." She pauses to study Chaeyoung, eyes flickering across the screen before she asks "And your roommate?"

Chaeyoung shrugs, glancing at her room's closed door. "She's fine. We don't talk much."

Mina furrows her brow and pouts her lip dramatically, "but you're not too lonely?"

Chaeyoung sighs in exaggerated exasperation. "Mina," she says, "you do realize I am capable of making friends, right?" She quirks an eyebrow, leaning back in her chair, "I can be charming when I want to be."

"I know," Mina says, voice a little breathy before she clears her throat, eyes darting back to Sana. There is a beat of silence before Chaeyoung leans forward again.

"And Busan? Is that still good?"

Mina nods enthusiastically, arching her arms over her head in a stretch, wincing as her shoulders pop. "Busan is amazing," she says, "the campus really is smack in the center of it all."