Zoa's alarm goes off just a couple of minutes after Soojin's does. The girl extends her arms upwards, smiling happily to herself, her eyes still half closed as she takes a couple of seconds to fully wake up. She likes the fluffiness of her bed ⏤even though it's surely not as fluffy as her bed back in her hometown⏤ and sometimes she feels like she could stay in bed all day. But then she opens her eyes immediately, remembering that it's a Monday morning as she immediately gets excited ⏤honestly no matter what day it would be she would still get happy to wake up and do things with her friends. She hops off the bed and checks at the time on her phone, glad that she still has time to get ready.
She glances over at Soojin's bed, the girl having just sat up and stretching her arms upwards, yawning in the process.
"What got you so excited on a Monday morning?" Soojin asks her, knowing well enough like every other decent human being out there that Mondays are hard to cope up with, especially if you partied until late at night the night before... which is their case by the way.
"Nothing. It's just Monday which means a new week filled with classes and new things for me to learn has started!" Soojin laughs mutely, her eyes still half closed as she's too sleepy, realizing one thing; it's still too early for Zoa to get down to earth and realize that there's nothing interesting about college so she is going to have that hyperism within her system for quite a while. Unlike Soojin who feels more and more tired as the days pass by and college has just started for this year...
"Well I hope Monday can make my own Monday morning because I feel so restless and that's obviously her fault for keeping us until very late at the party last night." Soojin says as she stands up and heads towards their mini counter, hoping for some caffeine boost in order to wake herself up a little. Zoa giggles softly at her unnie's comment before she rushes inside the bathroom to start her morning routine.
After half an hour of preparations later and countless of groans, sights and grumbles, Soojin and Zoa finally walk out of their dorm room. Zoa stops in front of Jaehee and Jihan's dorm room before Soojin turns to look at her confused.
"Uhm, the cafeteria is that way, forgot it already?" She tries to remind to the taller girl who shakes her head with a bright smile saying,
"I know unnie. I'm just calling Jaehee unnie and Jihan unnie to join us too." Soojin turns towards the girl's direction, frowning slightly, wondering since when Zoa has become this attached to their friends. They were supposed to be their friends and Zoa only knows them for two weeks so why is she so obsessed with them already? It's not like she minds or it bothers her or anything but sometimes she wonders why do they have to include everyone in their plans. They're roommates so they can just go pick up breakfast together, why bother and drag Jaehee and Jihan too? And if Monday and Soeun were living at the dorms Zoa would surely drag them along too. Soojin just wants the girl to understand that not everyone can always be available and sometimes instead of group hang outs she could enjoy other combinations among her friends in their hangouts.
She doesn't get the chance to talk to Zoa though as the girl is already knocking by Jaehee and Jihan's door.
"Hey, Zoa." Jaehee greets the taller girl as she opens the door before she says immediately,
"If you're looking for Jihan she's-"
"Actually I just passed by to inform you that me and Soojin are going to grab some breakfast first before heading to our classes. You guys wanna join?"
"Oh! Uh..." Jaehee scratches the top of her head before she turns to look at Jihan.
"Do we join them? Or are we running late?"
"Of course we join them!" Jihan's bright voice is heard from somewhere inside the room and Zoa almost tip toes to her left side in order to have a better look of the inside of the girl's room and maybe catch a glimpse of Jihan too.
Jihan then hops off to Jaehee's side, slinging her backpack over her shoulders before her eyes land on Zoa's tall frame and smiles at the girl.
"Hey!" She greets the girl brightly, the color in her voice totally different and sweeter than it was when she spoke to Jaehee seconds ago. Zoa smiles brightly back at her, her smile almost reaching her ears as her face and eyes light up at the sight of Jihan.
"Hi unnie!" She greets her happily.
"Yeah hi, hello, good morning whatever! Let's just go grab breakfast, I'm hungry." Jaehee says, cutting off their little soft moment before she drags Jihan out of their room who laughs at Jaehee's antics and so the four of them head to the campus' cafeteria.
"Hey why didn't you text me you're coming to get breakfast here!?" Jaehee grumbles once she spots Monday and Soeun sitting at one of the cafeteria's tables. Monday raises an eyebrow a little caught off guard before her eyes widen in realization.
"Damn it! I totally forgot it! I'm so sorry! Damn my phone died like half an hour ago and it's still not fully charged."
"What a lame excuse." Jaehee says, still frowning. Zoa looks at the two slightly confused, wondering what she's missed before Soojin pats her on the shoulder saying,
"Let's go get our trays of food?" and the younger nods at that.
"It's the truth though! Look!" Monday from behind them keeps trying to defend herself as she shows her phone battery to the blonde who pouts before she mumbles,
"I was waiting for your text idiot!"
Meanwhile Soojin, Jihan and Zoa are standing in line to get their own tray of food before Jaehee joins them shortly after she's done arguing with Monday. As soon as Zoa takes her own tray of food and turns around to head back to the table Soeun and MOnday are sitting at she sees Jiwoo waving at her from way further at another table sitting with some of their classmates.
"I'll stop by to say hi." She informs Soojin who tells her,
"It's ok if you want to have breakfast with them." to which Zoa replies with a nod of her head before she walks up to Jiwoo's table.
"Hey! I wasn't expecting you to come have breakfast here when you literally live 20 minutes away." Zoa greets her friend.
"I thought I should try it once. Also shot my chance to have breakfast with you but I guess you're too busy with your eonnideul." Zoa looks towards them, not really being able to choose whether she wants to sit with Jiwoo and their classmates or with her eonnideul.
"Hey I was just joking. Don't take this too seriously. Just go have breakfast with them. I know how much you love them, it's ok."
"Are you sure?" Zoa asks, scratching the back of her head a little shyly to which Jiwoo replies with a nod of her head, smiling brightly at her friend.
"Yeah. After all, I'll meet you in a while in class. Except if you want to skip."
"I don't skip classes." Zoa replies simply and Jiwoo nods her head.
"Then I'll see you then. Now go! Your moms are waiting for you!" Jiwoo says, kicking Zoa's legs with her feet. The girl groans in pain before she glares at her friend saying,
"They're not my moms!"
"Sure thing Zo~" Zoa shakes her head before she sticks out her tongue to her friend and leaves her table with a playful giggle. Meanwhile Jiwoo just sighs behind her. Zoa is just so elusive and it's only their second week at college officially. She's friends with Monday and Soeun who are popular for their dancing skills and troublesome characters while she's friends and lives with Soojin who's the students' council's president and now she's even part of the basketball team and is already gaining lots of attention for her amazing skills at that sport. She's gaining popularity and attention too fast and Jiwoo feels like it's too hard to reach her friend anymore...
"Jaehee and I found a good place that could be our hideout last night." Monday announces once Zoa is back on their table and sits down next to Jihan.
"Really? That's all you were thinking and looking at while making out with her last night?" Soeun teases her friend.
"Cut the crap if you don't want me to expose your wild activities last night either." Monday says with a smirk. Soojin exclaims in shock while Jaehee looks at them, not surprised by their bickering. Jihan just laughs and Zoa looks at them puzzled as to why they could take jokes that far then again it's Soeun and Monday and they tend to do such things a lot.
Before Monday can tell them more about the hideout however a bunch of boys walk towards them and Monday can only sigh annoyed at how they get to get fans this early in the college year. They're all from the football team as Jihan informs Zoa who asks her in a whisper ⏤except Younghoon who's just best friends with them⏤ and they used to flirt with Jaehee the precious year before finally getting rejected by the girl. Jaehee liked the attention she was receiving last year until it got a little too much so she had to reject them at some point in order to find her peace of mind but it looks like they're not backing up that quickly.
"Hey girls. Can we sit with you?" A red haired guy named Juyeon who has been the main guy flirting with Jaehee the previous year says though Younghoon is already sitting down on their table anyway.
"If you're here for Jaehee then just take your leave already she's told you she's not interested last year." Monday says firmly immediately, not liking their cockiness to the slightest, their disgusting confidence making her want to vomit.
"Last year. Maybe this year she's changed her mind." Juyeon says before he smirks at Jaehee and winks at her. The girl parts her lips, looking slightly troubled as she's about to turn down his offer but he cuts her off before she's even able to speak by chuckling and shaking his head.
"But even if she had, I'm not into her now anyway." He says as he looks at Monday, totally enjoying making Jaehee look like a fool even if the girl hasn't uttered a word.
"This cutie however..." He mumbles before his eyes land on Zoa and the girl fiddles with her fingers nervously, gulping hard. Right now, to her, Juyeon doesn't look charming at all even though ⏤according to Jihan⏤ he's one of the most charming guys around college. Even if he's forming his most charming smile on, and even if he's really handsome and mature looking. To Zoa, he looks like a predator, like a bully, trying to make her as much uncomfortable as possible.
"Seriously? The log out of all girls in this college, Juyeon ah? She's not even attractive!" Younghoon can't help but grumble so to the girls it looks less suspicious for Juyeon to like Zoa or else they would surely know he's Younghoon's pawn in order to humiliate Zoa and hurt her.
"You have to be blind, man. She's drop dead gorgeous." He comments, his eyes never leaving Zoa's as he licks his lips, literally looking like a hungry predator. Zoa gulps hard, staring at him in fear before Soeun comes to her rescue.
"She's drop dead gorgeous but she's not interested. Whoops! How bad! Isn't it? What are you gonna do now? Cry to your mommy?" Juyeon laughs before he scoffs.
"I think we should let her decide that for herself, shouldn't we? Why does she need a lawyer? Can't she talk for herself?" Soojin gulps hard, trying her hardest to think of civil ways to make him leave, knowing very well by her younger friend's expressions but overall the girl's background in love and boyfriends that Zoa is terrified out of her mind right now.
"Uhm, I think-" She tries to say but Jihan is faster as she nudges Zoa out of her own zone of fear that she's entered saying,
"Hey! It's almost time for your first class. Hurry up!" And picks the girl's backpack from her chair, handing it to Zoa who looks at her still in a daze but slings it over her shoulders anyway. Jihan quickly hands her a juice in order for the girl to at least have that as her breakfast since she barely had time to eat anything before she turns to look at the guys by their table saying,
"Uhm thank you for your offer uh... what was your name again?"
"Juyeon." He says, glaring at her as if she made the most ridiculous question out there.
"Yeah that, whatever. Either way, we thank you for your offer, but this chick over here you're so into right now has to catch up with her classes. And once she's done she has to grab lunch with her friends and if there's any free time for her left by the end of the day she might consider your offer among the countless others she's receiving from her fans these couple of days. You see, they don't call her a champion without a reason!" Jihan says, faking her kindness and charming smile before she waves goodbye at their friends and pushes Zoa out of the cafeteria, the both of them heading towards the girl's class.
"You heard her. Now get lost! You're dirtying our table with your dirty minded and unwanted presence!" Monday yells at him, totally not wanting him on their table any longer. He scoffs and leaves the the table, defeated and humiliated as everyone had their eyes on them anyway.
Meanwhile Zoa is walking on the hallway a little confused of what has just happened turning to look at Jihan by saying,
"I still have half an hour before my first class though." Jihan stares at her hard before she says,
"I know. But I couldn't let him around you any longer. He was making you uncomfortable and we could all sense that." Zoa nods her head slowly, totally agreeing with Jihan's words.
"Am I going to be in trouble?" She asks Jihan then who sighs heavily.
"No. As long as you stay by our side you're not. But he's going to bug you for a while until he gets the message that you're not into him. Just make sure you have enough courage next time to tell him that right on his face. Then he might leave you alone sooner than expected."
"Oh." Zoa lets out and hangs her head low, not feeling that happy to drag unwanted attention out of nowhere so suddenly.
"What did I even do to get his attention, unnie? I didn't even know him until seconds earlier!" Jihan sighs a little.
"I believe Younghoon has to do with this so he might not let go of you that easily." Zoa pouts, before she sighs frustrated.
"I'm not interested in dating though! Why does it look like everyone wants me to do such thing? I'm getting questions about it a lot lately and it's annoying!" Jihan is slightly surprised by the girl's sudden outburst but she can't really blame her. The girl has gone through a lot the past few days.
"I don't know. But just to assure you, you obviously don't have to rush yourself and start dating if you don't want to. I'm doing the same thing too and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything." Zoa nods her head slowly, feeling a little relieved that someone else out there has the exact same mindset as she does.
"Thank you for saving me again. You're like a heroine." Jihan laughs at that before she stops on her feet, caressing the top of Zoa's head softly even though the girl is taller than her and she has to raise her hand higher than her own head in order to reach Zoa's.
"Aren't you exaggerating now?"
"No unnie. Listen, you do feel like a heroine. You popped up right when I needed you yesterday and took me out of there immediately just like how superman would do! And you did the exact same thing earlier as well!" Zoa explains, sounding serious about convincing Jihan that she's indeed a heroine. Jihan just laughs lightly.
"I'm not a heroine Zo. I'm just a friend who truly cares about you." Jihan says and before Zoa can protest she points at the door right next to them saying,
"We reached your classroom. Now be a good girl and get inside. Also drink your juice before your class starts. I will feel guilty all day for knowing that you skipped breakfast because of me." Zoa's eyes widen as she tries to make Jihan stop feeling guilty for literally saving her.
"Hey no! You just saved me! Don't feel guilty about breakfast. You did what you had to do. Breakfast is just collateral damage." Zoa says and forms a goofy smile at the end. Jihan laughs at that.
"Collateral damage huh?"
"Yes. So please don't feel guilty, unnie." Zoa says, forming her cute smile at Jihan who laughs again.
"If you say so. Make sure to at least drink your juice though, alright?" Zoa nods her head before their soft moment is interrupted by a loud familiar voice saying,
"Zoa ya!" Zoa turns to look at no other than Jiwoo who's running towards her before the girl hugs her tightly, wanting to make sure her friend is alright. Zoa laughs, trying to assure her friend that she's alright and with that Jihan leaves them alone. Zoa looks at the older girl walking down the hallway, returning back to the cafeteria most probably before she smiles to herself. She really likes Jihan. She's an amazing person, she thinks.
[...]
After a long and tiring day at college, the girls have decided to meet up at Monday's last class that she has for today before she would lead them to the hideout she's found. Zoa has been busy writing down her notes, copying them from the board to her notebook that she hasn't even realized that she's been left almost completely alone. Her round, reading glasses they she usually wears mostly whenever she's in class in order to be able to see the board clearly ⏤it is proved after all that she did the wrong thing trying to choose a desk at the back of the class because now she surely has a hard time seeing the board clearly⏤ hanging on the bridge of her nose loosely as she's tied her long dark brown hair in a messy ponytail, strands falling here and there, framing the sides of her face and back of her neck.
"Hey, do you think you'll be done anytime soon?" Jiwoo asks her as she drums her fingers on the desk tiredly, yawning in the process.
"I have a few more notes to write down. It's ok if you leave Jiwoo. I'll be fine." Jiwoo pouts at Zoa's response.
"I was thinking of bringing you home though. Mom has promised to make crepes for dinner and I thought it would be fun to bring you home. It's been a long time since the last time you saw my mom, she's missed you, ya know. It would be a nice surprise for her." Jiwoo says, forming a small smile.
"Oh! Uh, thank you for the offer but once I'm done I have to find Monday unnie. She's promised to show me something and then we will crash to her apartment to watch a movie."
"Pajama party?" Jiwoo asks and Zoa shrugs her shoulders.
"Kinda? I guess, I dunno. It's not like I put a label in our hangouts." Jiwoo laughs and shakes her head.
"Alright then." She says but doesn't leave the classroom just yet, not liking the idea of leaving Zoa alone, especially after what has happened to her earlier this morning in the cafeteria. She surely doesn't trust to leave the girl alone even if she claims that she will be fine.
"Knock knock." They hear a familiar voice by the door before Zoa snaps her head towards the direction of it, and as soon as she does her whole face lights up; Jiwoo notices.
"Hey!" She exclaims as soon as she finds Jihan waiting for her by the door.
"I thought you should reply with a "who's there?" kind of phrase, no?" Zoa laughs at Jihan's reply.
"But I see you though. Why would I reply with that?" The girl asks her as she tilts her head to the side, staring at Jihan as she tries to make some sense in what's supposed to be just a casual phrase and a light joke between friends. Jihan is a little caught off guard, she has to admit. She smiles and looks at her feet feeling a little flustered before she replies with a soft,
"Nevermind." and walks towards the two. She waves as a greeting to Jiwoo who waves back at her and takes a seat at the chair right in front of Zoa, making sure she's not blocking the girl's way from seeing the board clearly.
"Monday unnie is getting a little impatient. Haven't you checked your phone?" Jihan then asks Zoa who blinks at her, eyes wide as if Jihan is speaking a whole different language. Jihan catches herself getting flustered again by the girl's adorableness and she swears Zoa is making it too hard for her not to like her.
Zoa fishes for her phone in her jacket's pocket before she realizes it's actually vibrating nonstop by incoming texts from Monday who hasn't stopped texting their group chat ⏤one that they've made upon the very first week they've all met and moved in the dorms and Zoa has been glad for that because it has helped her get closer to Jaehee and Jihan way faster.
"That's weird. She's not one to spam in the group chat. It's always Soeun unnie." Zoa says and Jiwoo laughs from next to them, finding it funny.
"I'm not telling you to hurry up but maybe that's our call for you to... uh... hurry up, yeah." Jihan says and giggles softly at the end realizing that she's indeed kind of telling the girl to hurry up as she scratches the back of her head a little.
"I'm trying my best. But I surely need to study those a lot of times at home because I'm totally not making any sense of what I'm writing right now." Jiwoo laughs at that too as she has to agree with Zoa, as she's done the exact same thing earlier, copying without even thinking or understanding.
"I haven't seen you in glasses before." Jihan comments before Zoa's eyes flit back on her again, pursing her lips as her stare lasts just a little longer on Jihan's eyes before she looks back on the board. Jihan feels her heart fluttering once again and she wonders if Zoa has any little bit of an idea at all of what her long stares are causing to Jihan's poor heart, if she's even doing it on purpose or if she's just that clueless.
"Yeah, they're reading glasses. But I'm starting to think that I'll surely ruin my eyesight by sitting this far from the board."
"Then maybe you should ask to change seats with somebody." Jihan suggests and Jiwoo even tries to suggest her a specific desk wherein a specific classmate who's friends with them is sitting at and Jiwoo bets she won't have any problem with changing seats but Zoa shakes her head.
"I like it back here though. It feels... safer... in a way..." She mumbles the last part, looking at her notebook and avoiding the girls' stares on her. Jiwoo looks at her confused while Jihan thinks about it for a while.
"I get that. I used to sit at the back desk too on my first year." Jihan says and Zoa's big dark brown eyes are on her again.
Damn it, Jihan thinks. Can Zoa really stop looking at her like that? It almost feels like she's the younger girl's whole world with the way she looks at her! Or even worse, it feels like the girl can actually look right through Jihan's defenses and walls and see Jihan's real feelings. It feels like the girl is a mirror and Jihan is faced with her true self and... and she's not sure if she can face her true self yet. No one is, I mean.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Jihan replies warmly.
"And on which desk do you sit now?" Jihan chuckles before she replies,
"Surely not the first one. But not the last one either. I've decided to sit just one desk before the very last one at the back." Zoa laughs now too before Jihan tries to excuse herself by adding,
"I surely have a better view though. Maybe you should seek the same desk as mine next year."
"Maybe." Zoa replies softly before she turns her attention back on her notes and after a few minutes she smiles brightly, putting her pen down by saying,
"All done! Sorry I made you wait." She apologizes to the both girls who dismiss her apology saying that she's a friend and they don't mind waiting for her. Zoa then gathers her things and the three leave the classroom together.
"Oh, we're actually heading this way Jiwoo." Jihan says once the girl is about to take the usual way she and Zoa take once their classes are over, heading for the main gates of college and then they separate ways; one heads to the building next to college which is the dorms while the other heads out of the campus complex, at the bus stop and from there back at home.
"Oh." Jiwoo exclaims shortly, lips formed in an 'O' shape before she purses them, looking a little bit at thought before she looks back at Zoa with a smile.
"I'll see you tomorrow then, cypress!" Zoa tilts her head to the side staring at her giggling friend confused.
"Where did this come from?"
"Well if Younghoon is gonna keep calling you a log then I'm going to start calling you a cypress. Because you're tall but not stiff. And you surely are very beautiful and charming just like a cypress that everyone admires." Jiwoo explains before she giggles again and waves goodbye at her friend, sticking her tongue out and rushing off. Zoa laughs at her friend's antics.
"She's a dork." She mumbles, smiling shyly to herself though, truly appreciating Jiwoo's efforts of making her day and turning all the miserable things in her life brighter.
"She's nice, yeah." Jihan comments before she holds Zoa's hand and leads their way. Zoa smiles brightly as she looks at their hands, not questioning it at all anymore. It's just how it is. Jihan holds her hand just like how Soojin likes side hugging her and caressing her shoulders whenever she's down or like how Monday likes bumping her fists with her own in a friendly greeting or how Soeun messes the top of her hair or how Jaehee wraps her arm loosely around hers as in a chain like way, their elbows hooking together. Every each one of her unnieshas her own way of showing her affection to her and Zoa doesn't mind as she loves them all a lot already.
"What took you so long!?" Monday groans immediately once she sees them coming while Soojin notes to herself that the two showed up hand in hand.
"Zoa was finishing up her notes." Jihan explains before she adds quickly,
"What's there to show us?" So Monday wouldn't keep bugging them any longer and just forget about it which works because the girl immediately leads the way with an excited grin, explaining to them how she and Jaehee drunkenly and randomly found that perfect place that they could alter according to their needs and likings and make it their place.
Zoa follows as Monday leads the way, surprised by how many hallways and stairs they pass by before they finally arrive at the very end of a hallway at the very top of the college building at the very end of the right side of the building. Zoa looks at the closed doors in front of them a little surprised, not really understanding in which part of the college complex they are as she's never been this further away. Her classes are usually close to one another and the labs are always at the lab classes section. All of her classes have always been easy to find so overall she hasn't walked that further away and all over the college because simply there was no need for that before. Except if she wanted to pick up one of her unniesfrom their classes but it was usually the other way around so... So this section of the building is completely foreign to her.
"Where are we?" She can't help but ask and to that Monday smirks happily, excited to brag about her knowledge on this part of the building.
"We're at an old lab class. Our professors used to work in here in their upcoming projects. It is believed that an experiment went wrong once and left the lab in a very bad condition ⏤with lots of chemicals and things burnt up, if you get what I mean⏤ so it wasn't allowed for students to enter in here ever again. For everyone's safety the labs have been moved to the very other side of the building and most classes aren't anywhere close to this section. Some students have even made up myths about infected students and overall the story has gone too far over the years that most students today don't even believe in these things and think this whole incident is a joke or don't even know about this story at all." Monday explains while Soeun catches up on the girl's story and adds,
"It still smells chemicals though no matter how many years have passed ever since then."
The two stare deep in Zoa's eyes, trying to make sure the girl has heard the whole story. Zoa on the other hand holds onto Jihan's hand tightly as she almost hides behind her out of fear, her whole frame shaking.
"Ye-yeah, it still smells." She mumbles, her nostrils actually catching up on the smell in the air before she tries to protect her breathing by putting her free hand in front of her nose and mouth.
"Ya! Don't scare her off! Cut out the joke already!" Soojin scolds the two same aged girls and hits them on their shoulders before the two burst out laughing, pointing at Zoa's terrified expression. Now Zoa looks at them confused, tilting her head to the side and furrowing before she groans and looks at them annoyed.
"Hey! Bad eonnideul! Stop making fun of me just because you know I'm getting easily afraid!"
"Isn't it interesting though? You guys lied to her about the intoxicated air and her mind somehow convinced her about it and she could even smell it herself while in reality the air is just fine. Fear is an interesting instinct as it can be used to achieve a lot of things. Damn we could manipulate a lot of people just by making them afraid." Jaehee points out and Soeun rolls her eyes, both hers and Monday's laughter dying down as she ruined the mood.
"Yeah we know you're studying psychology, no need to remind us genius!" She says. Jaehee scoffs.
"Hey she's actually right though." Monday defends her.
"And now you're taking her side as in what?" Soeun teases Monday who scratches the back of her neck mumbling,
"Ya why do you have to ask such questions?"
"Alright so what's with this class? What's the truth behind it?" Jihan asks this time, dragging Zoa closer to her, wanting the girl to feel her comfort by that action.
"There's nothing interesting actually. It used to be another auditorium, then it turned out to be just a storage room when the new auditorium was made and now it's nothing honestly. I just didn't happen to find it open until last night at the party." Monday explains before SOojin folds her arms to her chest saying,
"Yeah you found it unlocked because of some irresponsible and forgetful students that our college council consists off. I'm pretty sure I've told them once they pick up enough chairs to freaking lock it again! Jeez!"
"So you knew about this room already!?" Monday asks her, surprised before Soojin simply nods her head.
"Yeah, I'm the president so I pretty much know most stuff. We had to unlock this classroom to get a few more chairs in order to rearrange the auditorium in a more friendly and party-friendly place. But other than that yeah, as you said it's usually locked and filled with stuff from the gym or labs that aren't that often used." Soojin explains and Monday nods her head before she smiles again, proud to have found this classroom as she says,
"Alright so, I'm happily about to announce you that you're allowed to enter this classroom and see what's insi-"
"Just freaking let us in Kim Monday!" Soeun groans a little, then pushes the doors open and enters the storage room. Monday groans before she follows her yelping,
"Hey! You ruined my speech! And I was supposed to enter the room first! Not you!"
"My ass Kim Jimin!"
"Why would you even think of this place as our place though?" Jihan asks, confused.
"I thought it would be the best place to rearrange it and make it our place as it's big and has everything in here! And now that I know that Soojin knows about this place too, it will be way easier to make it happen as she has the keys!" Soojin crosses her arms to her chest as they follow Monday inside the storage room saying,
"I'm not so sure about that. I mean, no one uses this classroom and I am the only one who has the keys of this classroom anymore as I asked for them from a cleaning lady the other day and she said they were the only ones existing but I still have to give them back to her. Then again if the professors find out we rearranged a classroom that's already been used for something else and made it just our place to chill will totally forbid us from doing so and will lock it down again."
"First of all unnie, you worry too much." Monday says as she turns around to Soojin and holds her from her shoulders.
"Secondly, they don't have to know. No one comes to this part of the building; it's even placed in a blind spot! So no one will see us or hear us! As for the cleaning lady she will eventually forget about it. Come on! Relax and have a little trust in me." Soojin sighs before she looks around the place. The class is indeed big and now that most chairs have been removed and placed inside the auditorium ⏤they're still forgotten in there⏤ the class looks even bigger. It has a couple of lockers on its left wall because it used to be a lab before, there are a few desks and lab counters in front of the wall that's directly ahead of them as there's a black board on the right wall. There are a lot of stuff used for gymnastics as the college used to promote students towards those fields but now these all look old because most students don't pick those fields anymore or even if they do, they attend special colleges for that exact reason and only so the equipment looks old as it hasn't been used in a long time. There are hula hoops, balls, mattresses and a lot of other stuff. Among all that equipment used for gym classes and sports Soojin even spots a couple of skateboards. She shakes her head with a smile before she turns to look at Monday saying,
"Fine. You have my permission to make this place our own little hideout. But you need to find a new spot to place all that stuff."
"Well we don't have to get rid of everything." Soeun points out before she casually sits down on one of those desks.
"Ew. I would have double cleaned that up and sterilized it if I were you. But now I guess you're a living, moving health hazard along with that desk." Jaehee points out. Soeun just laughs, shrugging her shoulders and scrolling on her phone as if nothing has happened and she totally haven't sat down on a very dusted and dirty desk.
Now that Soojin observes the place a little better she realizes that it's indeed very dirty and dusty.
"Jaehee is right. The class needs cleaning and sterilizing."
"Fine doc, we will take care of that. But I'm not planning to alter this classroom as our hideout by myself! You need to help me out too and put your own ideas in here. We're a group! It won't be nice and fair if it's altered only by me!" Monday points out and Soojin hums in agreement.
"Can we just leave now? It's too dirty!" Jaehee points out.
"Aw! Someone doesn't want to dirty her shoes and breath the air surrounding a very dusty classroom for any longer!" Soeun says in a fake awe voice and Jaehee glares at her.
"Am I wrong though? It's not just about getting soiled, it's about getting infected by whatever old and dangerous insect living in here too! And trust me, I don't want to die in my 19s. I'm too young for that!" Soeun laughs while Jihan frowns a little, nodding her head as she looks around her cautiously.
"She's right." She adds, dragging Zoa even closer to her, almost colliding her by her side at this point as she wants to make sure the girl isn't accidentally touching any of these old and dusty stuff occupying this old classroom.
"Honestly I'm not sure what to choose as a better scenario; a dusty and health hazard classroom or a polluted by chemicals classroom." Zoa mumbles as she sticks by Jihan's side, their shoulders bumping and their sides colliding together.
"I don't think any of the two choices is better than the other, Hyewon ah." Soojin replies and the girl lets out a sigh.
"Alright. I'll help you clean up tomorrow. Then we can get rid of a few things and then the rest of you can help us rearrange it." Soojin says and Monday nods her head, happy that Soojin is going to help her and agrees with her plan and ideas.
"Let's get out of here now." She says then and waits for the girls to follow her before she closes the door and locks it.
"And you!" Soojin points to Soeun who raises her eyebrows confused.
"You need a very long shower and to sterilize yourself and your clothes." Soojin tells her seriously. Soeun groans before she replies,
"Yes mom!"
"Idiot." Soojin mumbles before she walks by Jaehee's side, deciding to ignore her immature friend. Zoa glances at them, wandering if they've fought again. They were just fine the night before. She seriously doesn't understand how quickly their mood changes but she's learnt overtime not to interfere as it's not her place anyway.
[...]
"The popcorn is almost ready~" Soojin sings song from the kitchen. Zoa peeks through the shorter girl's shoulder to make sure it's perfectly made before she smiles pleased. She hands the older girl the melted butter so that Soojin could pour it over the popcorn and give them extra flavor. Once again the two of them are by Monday and Soeun's kitchen cooking as they always love cooking and they're best at that anyway.
"I wonder how you two live in here. Whenever I come over you always make me cook so I really wonder who's in charge of cooking whenever I'm not around." Soojin says and the two laugh from the kitchen.
"No one. That's why we're always at the college's cafeteria." Monday replies as she and Soeun laugh and high five from the living room.
"You're hopeless!" Soojin replies back.
"Do you seriously not cook? Ever?" Jihan asks the two from the living room.
"I mean, we both know how to cook and we've done that before. Among the two of us I'm obviously better at cooking but yeah... when there's an easy option like the cafeteria why bother cooking in the first place? It's not even that far." Soeun explains and Soojin smiles and shakes her head when she hears the girl's response from the kitchen.
"Have you decided on a movie yet?" Zoa asks her unniesbefore she hears soft hopping footsteps coming towards the kitchen.
"The unniesare into scary stuff so we haven't decided anything yet." Jihan says before she tries peeking through Zoa's shoulder to see what the two are making.
"It smells so nice! I'm so hungry!" She mumbles and Zoa giggles softly over her shoulder. She takes an amount of popcorn in her hands before she turns to Jihan with a happy smile, her hand aiming for the girl's mouth. Jihan giggles softly as she leans in and accepts to be fed by the younger girl who smiles even brighter once Jihan has taken the popcorn in her mouth.
"Is it good?" She asks and Jihan's eyes widen at the taste before she nods her head vigorously. Zoa laughs softly, smiling, proud at herself and Soojin for making such good popcorn. Soojin steals a few glances at the two, smiling softly as she sees them interacting. Along with Soojin's help the two place the popcorn inside a few big plastic bowls and head towards the living room with Soojin walking in first saying,
"Popcorn's ready~"
Zoa follows her from behind with a bright, cheerful smile on her lips, excited to spend her night with her friends.
"Why would we even put a scary movie? We're not into that!" Jaehee argues with Monday on the couch.
"Because that way you'll have a solid reason to hug me~" Monday teases her with a playful smirk. What she didn't expect though was Jaehee's shameless and brave reply.
"Why do I need a reason to hug you?" Monday stares at her blankly before Jaehee leans forward and takes the remote control from Monday's hands.
"Ha! My time to choose a movie!"
"Hey! That was so sly of you! To get the remote control by distracting me!"
"Not my fault you believe my words!" Jaehee teases Monday by sticking out her tongue to her.
"Hey! Don't do that!"
"Why not?" Jaehee teases Monday as she tilts her head to the side, staring at Monday playfully who can't help herself but lean in and kiss Jaehee on the lips.
And that's what Zoa sees once she enters the living room. The two girls involved in an awkward kiss, legs tangled with each other and hands tangles with each other's hair. It's supposed to be just a small kiss because Monday couldn't help herself but Jaehee seems like she likes it too and so it lasts longer than it was supposed to. It gets more passionate too and Soojin awkwardly walks towards Soeun, trying to give the two some privacy as she places the popcorn on the mini table in front of the girl.
"When did this happen?" She asks awkwardly, referring to the two. Soeun has been scrolling on her phone so she glances at the two for a brief second before she gasps in surprise, obviously not having noticed them. She immediately starts filming them with her phone saying,
"I need this to blackmail Monday!" totally ignoring Soojin's statement who sighs but then immediately bites her bottom lip troubled once her eyes land on Zoa's shocked expression. The tall girl immediately shoves the plastic bowl of popcorn on Jihan's chest before she quickly rushes inside the bathroom.
"Crap." She mumbles as she stands up from her spot and heads towards the bathroom.
"Zoa. Are you alright?" She asks as she knocks on the door softly, trying not to be too loud so the rest wouldn't hear them. She jiggles the doorknob, trying to enter the bathroom to check up on her friend but she realizes that the girl has locked the door.
Meanwhile Zoa quickly rests her hands on the sink as she stares at her terrified reflection in the mirror. She couldn't have seen that, right? She couldn't have seen her two beloved unnieskissing like there's no tomorrow. No, she definitely didn't see that. She tries hard to convince herself that she was wrong, that it was an illusion, that her mind was playing tricks to her but the image flashes so clearly before her eyes and she quickly shakes her head to get it out. She shuts her eyes tightly, trying to erase it but it keeps on reappearing. It feels wrong. It makes her feel sick. She feels so sick that she's sure she's going to vomit soon. She feels weak, she's sure everything is spinning around her and her stomach tightens so much. It can't be real.
She swore her unniesare like family to her! INcluding Jihan and Jaehee who might be new friends to her but they already feel like family and they're close friends with her unniesanyway so they're part of the family now too. It feels so wrong. How can two of her friends kiss on the lips? Friends don't kiss each other!
Her face burns and she's sure she's going to vomit or at least pass out anytime now. She quickly turns on the tap and splashes as much water on her face as possible, trying hard to... to what exactly? Lie to herself about what she saw? How can she explain it to herself? How can she live with this now?
Soojin bites her lips hard before she quickly returns to the living room. Fortunately for her the two have already stopped making out and had been staring at each other with flushed cheeks, talking about the kiss and how they liked it, receiving teasing comments by Soeun. Monday throws a pillow at her before Soojin interrupts them by saying,
"Hyewon has locked herself in the bathroom and I believe she's freaked out over you two kissing." She sighs heavily, ruffling her hair, feeling troubled and wanting so bad to help her younger friend. Jaehee frowns as she stares at Soojin confused while Monday gasps, looking now as worried as Soojin does.
"Why would she freak out? Except if she's a homophobic. Then that's her problem because we're all lesbians in this group." Jaehee says, defending herself and folding her arms to her chest, looking serious while Soeun laughs at her last comment.
"No no! She's not homophobic at all! She's just... a little slow." Soojin explains, scratching the back of her head and forming an awkward smile.
"Crap! What am I going to tell her now? Please unnie don't leave me alone in this!" Monday pleads Soojin. Jihan looks at the two a little confused as well.
"I won't leave you alone. But you surely have some explaining to do." Monday hungs her head low before the two head towards the bathroom again.
"What did she mean when she said Zoa is slow?" Jihan can't help but ask Soeun who raises her eyebrows, trying hard to find the right words to say.
"Damn it. Soojin is the best at words, not me. But technically Zoa hasn't had any experience in love or crushes before so this whole topic is pretty foreign to her. She was pretty shocked when she found out Monday was experiment with both genders in the beginning of college because she couldn't understand this whole field. She's surely better at that now because she's older, but it's still a shock to catch your best friend whom you've grown up to making out with another one of your friends." Soeun tries hard to explain and Jihan nods her head slowly, hoping her new friend to be alright.
"Zoa ya. Are you alright? Monday is here." Soojin says softly.
"What!? Why is she here!?" Zoa asks, panicked, from the other side of the door.
"I'm here to explain what happened. Uh, if it helps Jaehee is in the living room." Monday says slowly, not wanting to panic the girl any further.
"She wants to explain but you have to get out of there alright?" Soojin says softly but Zoa shakes her head vigorously before she realizes they can't see her.
"I don't think I can."
"Why not?"
"I think I'm sick, unnie." She replies weakly.
"Damn it. It's worse than I've thought." Soojin mumbles.
"Listen. We can't help you to get better if you keep being locked in there, ok? You have to open the door." Soojin says and after a couple of minutes they hear an unlocking sound before the girl drags the door open. She stares at both of them weakly, but also terrified before she quickly hides her lips with her hands, her eyes widening at the sight of Monday.
"I'm here." Soojin replies softly before she quickly hugs Zoa who hugs her back, already feeling her tensed up body calming down a little.
"Why would you do that!? You're supposed to be friends with Jaehee unnie!" Zoa whispers-shouts to Monday once she feels better and takes a step back from the hug with Soojin.
"Does this mean you're going to start making out with all of us now? We're your friends and back then when you said you were trying things out you promised you weren't going to involve us in this! What in the heck is wrong with you!?" Zoa can't help but burst as she seriously can't understand. Monday tries to take a step closer and explain to her but Zoa immediately takes a step back. Monday's eyes widen, hurt being visible in her eyes but she gets this.
"I'm not experimenting on you or the girls. Just because I like girls doesn't mean I make out with my friends. I've already explained that."
"Really? Then what was that earlier!?"
"I like Jaehee! There you go! Alright? She's my friend but I like her more than a friend. I'm sorry I can't help myself or my feelings towards her. I didn't choose to like her. It just happened! And it happens to be her, who's also my friend. But I promise it's only her and not any of you, alright? I kissed her because I like her romantically and want her to be my girlfriend." Monday explains as much as she can, blurting out whatever comes to her mind, at this point being heard by the girls in the living room but she doesn't even care. She was going to confess to Jaehee later on anyway. It was a matter of time.
Zoa's eyes widen as she tilts her head, staring at Monday and trying hard to understand.
"Oh don't give me that dumb look again! I'm trying really hard, Hyewon but you're not making it any easier for me. What else do you want me to tell you? Love is love! I didn't choose this! It happened! And if I have to apologize to you for liking Jaehee then so be it! I'm sorry! But I can't change this. I like her and I just can't convince myself that I don't. This won't change anything between our friend group though, I promise. I will try my hardest for it not to affect our friend group. I promise."
Zoa's eyes lan on Monday before they land to Soojin who nods her head slowly as in to comfort her. She looks back at Monday before she lets out a small broken,
"What if Jaehee unnie likes you back? Will it change anything?"
"Only between me and her. We will be friends but we will also be girlfriends. It won't affect the rest of the group. I promise." Monday says. Zoa thinks about it a little before she finally asks,
"Does she like you back?" Monday laughs at that.
"What!? I'm worried. I don't want you to end up heartbroken if your feelings are one sided. Plus it will make things between you and Jaehee unnie awkward." Monday giggles just a little more before she smiles to herself and shakes her head.
"Well, there's only one way to find out I guess." She says and shrugs her shoulders. Zoa nods her head before she pushes between the two of them heading towards the living room seriously. Soojin follows her as she laughs saying,
"Look what you've done!"
"No wait!" Monday screams in terror but Zoa is unstoppable. She stops right in front of Jaehee who stares at her half afraid and half confident.
"Do you like Monday unnie?" Zoa asks her. Jaehee's eyes widen as her eyebrows fly up on her forehead, surprise written all over her face. She parts her lips before she stammers out incoherent words,
"I.. uh... what is this even?"
"Do you like her or not?" Zoa asks again, testing out the words in her mouth before she looks at Soojin for confirmation, wanting to make sure she's using the right verb and term in order to refer to romantic liking and love and Soojin nods her head with a smile.
"I do. But what does this have to-"
"I got my answer, thank you." Zoa replies shortly before she heads back to Monday's spot saying,
"She likes you. Do something about it and don't give me a hard time next time! Jeez!" Monday looks at her surprised while Soeun laughs hard.
"I guess it's that simple." Soojin says and laughs too.
"Would it be better to show up at your dorm room one day then and tell you I'm dating Jaehee?" Monday asks then, just to make sure but Zoa shakes her head, sticking her tongue out to her.
"It wouldn't. But either way, thanks for explaining. Now I want to watch the movie. I had enough of this conversation. It's awkward." She says as she places herself down on the couch next to Jihan while her unnieslaugh at Monday's surprised expression.
"I swear this girl is gonna drive me nuts. She's going into panic mode one moment and then she acts as if nothing happened and didn't worry out anyone just now!" Monday exclaims.
"Our kid is growing up, Monday. Get used to it." Soojin says, patting her on her shoulder before they all sit down on the couch and Soeun puts on the movie.
Jihan reaches out to hold Zoa's hand as the movie starts and Zoa smiles at that before she rests her head on the girl's shoulder, enjoying her comfort.
"So are you two together now?" Soeun asks once the movie ends, looking at the newly made couple. Monday is sitting on the couch with Jaehee sitting on the carpet right in front of her, Monday's legs hugging her sides.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks to the new matchmaker over there." Monday teases and winks at Zoa who smiles embarrassed and hides her face behind the pillow.
"So you weren't embarrassed when you went to ask Jaehee about her feelings towards me but you're embarrassed now?"
"Leave me alone!" Zoa yelps, still embarrassed as she hides her face more behind the pillow and the girls laugh at her cuteness.
She's not sure how this will go from now on. As a young, innocent adult that she is, sometimes she feels like she just stepped out of her shell and she's exposed to the real world that's filled with so many new things for her to explore and get to know. Good and bad things. Her dad's words came back to her mind as she realizes he was right. College is a new opportunity for her to get to know a lot of things, hear out a lot of things and see a lot of things. They've raised her to be a kind and good person though as well as a smart one so she's going to choose which things she should keep and include in her life from the new things she's going to learn and which ones to throw away and ignore.
She's not sure what will happen from now on. She's not sure how things will be from today onwards. But Monday promised nothing is going to change so she decides to trust her friend. She still doesn't fully understand how can her two friends who are also friends with each other like each other more than friends and get together and do what girlfriends do but she's willing to accept it and support them. As Monday lays there on the couch, hugging Jaehee, Zoa thinks that maybe things will change a little, but not to the point that it will affect her life somehow. It's just a new change, among the many others that have happened the past few weeks in her life and the many others that are good to follow and she's willing to accept this new change because it's not a bad one. If anything, she's curious to see how things will be from now on and she's even more curious to witness Monday as an unnie in a relationship now and not a single unnie who makes out a lot. She's seriously curious to see Monday taking care of Jaehee or going out on dates with her or acting all lovey dovey with her because Monday has never cared for somebody like that before. Plus Zoa believes it would be fun to witness too.
She smiles at herself as she squeezes Jihan's hand as they're halfway through the second movie. She's not worried anymore. She trusts them.
======================================================