Sujin rests her elbows on the countertop, far more engrossed in Sora's story than she'd ever expected to be. Sora takes this as a non-verbal cue to continue talking.
"Sujin..." She hesitates, "Me and Riki... we're not like you. And most people here."
Sujin's brows furrow in confusion, "Because you're Japanese?"
"What- No!" Sora shoves her on the shoulder with an unexpected giggle, "Well, yes - but it's not for that reason."
Sujin puffs out a sigh of relief. Racism is low, even for the likes of Chaeyoung.
"What I mean is we don't come from all... this." Sora waves her arms around, and Sujin reads the gesture as a summation of Darisan Preparatory as a whole, "Just a small town in Japan, in a little old house with our parents."
"That sounds nice..." Sujin slowly replies, not a clue in her mind about where Sora's going with this.
"You don't get it, do you?" Sora sighs, shaking her head, "We're scholarship kids, Sujin."
"Oookay." Sujin blinks, "And?"
"There is no and." Sora chuckles, "That's it. We're just not filthy rich like the rest of you."
"Oh my god, that's it?!"
"What?!"
Sujin drops her forehead into the palm of her hand, "I thought you were going to say you were ex-child murderers or something!"
"Why the hell would we be ex-child murderers?!"
"I don't know!"
The two girls double over in sudden laughter, the sound echoing off the walls of the small bathroom.
"You're seriously telling me that's it." Sujin sputters in disbelief, "She dropped you over something as stupid and meaningless as that?"
"Pretty much," Sora shrugs.
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my entire life." Sujin deadpans, "I can't believe you just made me waste all those minutes of my life getting invested for that to be the ending!"
Sora laughs.
"Over here, admitting you're enrolled on scholarship money is social suicide." She reminds her, "I'm pretty sure these kids would prefer an ex-child murderer. So long as they have a trust fund, that is."
Sujin's nose scrunches up in disgust, "Dude... that blows."
"Tell me about it," Sora rolls her eyes. A big weight off her shoulders, she gently raises Sujin's arm and gets back to her original task of patching up the scratches. "Chaeyoung ran her big mouth around campus and practically everybody knew by the end of the first week back. I'm also pretty sure she only ran for Student Body President to spite me or something, because the girl had literally zero interest in the position before!" She sighs, "You have no idea how many friends I lost that year."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Sujin empathizes, absentmindedly forgoing all control in her arm to let the older girl work her magic.
"'S not your fault," Sora smiles, "But I appreciate it. Thanks for being so understanding."
"Bare minimum, if you ask me."
"You'd think, huh?" She shakes her head.
A new thought pops into her mind, and Sora's face visibly softens as she starts to wrap the bandage around Sujin's arm. Even from such a close proximity, Sujin can't quite tell whether her expression is happy, sad, or an odd mix of both.
"I just..." Sora pauses, considering her words carefully, "I want to make sure my little brother never has to go through anything like that, you know?" Her voice is lighter than ever - as if she's scared the words would crumble the moment they're spoken aloud - "He can be a little shit sometimes, but we're really all each other have when we're away from home... I just want the best for him."
Sujin thinks Nishimura Sora might just be the most selfless person on planet Earth. Or what she knows of it, at least.
She reaches over to give her hand a reassuring squeeze, "He's lucky to have you, Sora."
And I am too.
Sora shoots her a grateful smile. As she makes her final adjustments on the bandage, she hopes more than ever that Sujin's words are true.
"And on that note, we're all done."
Sujin peers in the mirror, twisting her right arm in all sorts of directions to see that her roommate has, indeed, done an immaculate job of dressing the wound. And an even better one at talking her through the process.
"Damn, you are good!" She gawks, a tinge of disbelief seeping its way into her voice, "Thanks for, uh... patching things up, Nishimura."
And though nothing else is said, Sora knows that she means the last statement in more ways than one.
"That's Doctor Nishimura to you, Miss Han." She jests, earning a light elbow to the ribs.
A comfortable silence falls between the girls as they busy themselves with packing away the contents of their first aid kit. As Sujin bends down to return the box to its original place, Sora washes and dries her hands in the sink whilst humming an indistinct tune.
"Hey -" Sujin clears her throat, causing Sora to glance back at her curiously, "- For what it's worth, I would've voted for you." She looks up to meet the girl's eyes, earnest and unabashed, "For President, I mean."
A radiant grin immediately stretches across Sora's face, crinkling at the corners of her eyes and poking a faint dimple into the apple of her left cheek. And before Sujin can even process what's going on, the older girl has her pulled into a tight hug.
"Whoah-" Sujin freezes up, not used to the sudden and affectionate contact.
Despite this, Sora breathes a grateful sigh into the material of her shirt.
"Thank you, Sujin."
The sincerity of her words have Sujin hesitantly melting into the embrace. She rolls her eyes - God, I'm going soft... - and feels her lips start to curl into a faint and entirely unfamiliar smile.
"Anytime, doctor."
SAGE'S SPACE! 🗯️
I'M NOT SOBBING U ARE 🥲
personally, this has got to be one of my favorite chapters of the entire book !!! i just think that girls looking out for one another is one of the purest forms of love out there, and female friendships are such a special thing 🥹💕 plus, sujin's words of affirmation matched with sora's acts of service love languages just makes my heart melt... i love them saur much 😞
til next time, sage ♡
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