Chapter Text
The soles of her running shoes scrape hard against the pavement as she uses her heels to brake and put her body to a stop. Hyejoo pants just a little, pulls her phone out of the pocket of her hoody to check her progress. The app widget flashes the distance she’s covered across the screen - 1.2KM. It elicits a frown from her and she looks over her shoulder, to Jiwoo, grinning brightly as she approaches with springy steps, and to Sooyoung, grimacing with each measly meter she covers.
“You look like you’re in pain, Sooyoung unnie.” Hyejoo comments when she’s close enough to hear. She then pointedly keeps her face straight and relishes in the scoff she gets from her cousin.
“And I swear, I heard your joints creak earlier while we were warming up.”
It takes Sooyoung a little less than a minute to finally catch up to her and when she does, she puts has to put her hands on her knees to keep herself up.
“Shut up... you brat.” She breathes, glares at her.
Hyejoo holds that glare with a cheeky grin but Jiwoo pushes herself through the small space between them, cutting off their eye-contact and shooting them a frown and pout combo each.
“Hyejoo,” The girl starts. “You know she isn’t usually like this.”
Her hand comes up to rub her girlfriend’s back comfortingly. “She’s just having a bad morning. No need to be mean.”
With a soft look, Sooyoung turns to Jiwoo and Hyejoo rolls her eyes at the two of them. She had a couple more remarks about old age up her sleeve but she is obviously beaten and she lets it go.
“Are you guys still up to completing the 2.5K?” She asks instead, shows them the numbers on her phone before she shoves it back in her hoody pocket.
Sooyoung and Jiwoo trade looks and Hyejoo thinks she knows what they’re going to say before they even open their mouths.
“Go! ” Sooyoung waves her hand in front of her, beckoning for her to move forward. “We’ll be right behind you.
She looks to Jiwoo for confirmation. The girl beams and nods enthusiastically at her, so she resumes running without another word.
Suspicion tingles the hairs on the back of her neck, just below the base of her ponytail. Still, Hyejoo sprints a couple of hundred meters first before she checks. When she looks back at the two, she finds them walking at a rather leisurely pace while holding hands.
Hyejoo hates that she has to fight a frown at the sight of them being affectionate with each other. She knew she was getting herself into something like this but she still asked them to accompany her to her Sunday morning jog. Obviously, she regrets doing that now that she feels like she’s third-wheeling. It’s just too bad Chaewon couldn’t join them.
Not that she’s mad or anything. She knows Chaewon needs her rest. Rehearsals for that production of theirs went on for the whole day yesterday and clearly drained her. She had passed out on her bed as soon as she got back last night. Hyejoo also knows that the girl had to tackle a ton of other coursework during the week. The thought deepens her frown. Did Chaewon even have anything to eat before she crashed last night? Maybe she should hurry back to the dorm and check on her now.
Soon, the dorm buildings come into view and she rounds past the corner that marks her last lap. Hyejoo catches her breath while slowing down to a brisk walk. Thinking that she should wait for Sooyoung and Jiwoo, she paces back and forth on the steps for a couple of times. When she sees no sign of either of them, she concludes that they have gone on a full-blown date without telling her and heads inside.
Her steps are bit stompy and her lips a tad pouty as she takes the stairs two at a time. She doesn’t want to be that bitter single friend, especially when she knows she can’t blame Sooyoung and Jiwoo for not being able to hold back on their affections for each other (they’re in love!), but seeing them like that somehow reminds her of people she shouldn’t be thinking of. People whom she’s undeniably missing already, even though it hasn’t been that long since she decided she needed to not be with them for a time.
Hyejoo pauses in front of her and Chaewon’s door when she reaches it. She feels the sadness creeping up on her but she brushes it off like it’s dirt on her shoulders. There are more pressing matters at hand and she wants to focus on those. The first being if Chaewon would be down to grab breakfast with her. Her favorite breakfast place opens in half an hour and she’s hoping that they could go there. Anyway, if Chaewon’s still too tired to leave, Hyejoo can just get takeout for them like she did before so it’s no biggie.
Satisfied with her plan, she bursts through the door with a smile on her face. But that smile disappears when she finds only silence welcoming her back. Chaewon’s bed is made up and the girl is nowhere to be found. Hyejoo glances at the clock on her desk. It’s barely even 8 AM. Where could she have gone? Did she head out to get something? She didn’t have other plans for the day, did she?
The sunlight slipping through the half-drawn curtains gets in her eye when she crosses the room and she is stopped with a realization - she probably shouldn’t be thinking too much about this. She is, of course, worried about Chaewon. How can she not when the girl is tiny, looks way too fragile, and goes about everything like she’s always running low on energy? She thinks that’s enough reason but the thing is, the two of them still don’t know each other that well, even though they’ve been roommates for two months now.
Hyejoo squints. She doesn’t want to come across as clingy so she’s not sure if she’s allowed to be this much concerned over a new friend just yet. But she does know that it’s what she feels. She just doesn’t want Chaewon to overwork herself and get sick!
Still, all this thinking isn’t going to get here anywhere, so she grabs clothes and hops in the shower. When she finishes and sees that her roommate still isn’t back, she lies on her bed and decides she’ll wait for her a little bit longer before she considers changing her plans.
She didn’t even realize she had fallen asleep in the process, but hearing the sound of chair legs dragging across the floor, wakes her. She’s quick to turn around though, very much ready to ask Chaewon if she would like pancakes or waffles, except, it isn’t actually her whom she sees sitting on the kitchen table.
Hyejoo blinks, wondering if she’s imagining things because she might not be fully awake yet.
But she only gets an unwavering stare in return as the silence drags on.
“Uh, Yeojin?” She calls, tentatively.
“She speaks!” The younger girl exclaims.
“What are you doing here?” Hyejoo frowns as she sits up.
“I don’t know.” Yeojin answers, her face blank. “What do you think I’m doing here?”
“Where’s Chaewon?” Hyejoo asks.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Hyejoo looks back at her, confused.
“What do you mean? Didn’t she let you in?” She’s sure she locked the door behind her when she came in.
Yeojin shakes her head dramatically slow and leans over the table to look her in the eye.
“I know what you’re planning to do to her and I’m not afraid of you, Son Hyejoo.”
She says it so clearly and so confidently that Hyejoo has to wonder what’s really going on.
“Umm… what?”
“I see through you. I always have. I always will.” Yeojin continues.
Hyejoo looks around the room for a camera or some other telling sign that this is a prank. Again, she doesn’t know Chaewon that well (just yet) to know if she’s capable of pulling one on her, but she’s seen glimpses of her impishness that springs up now and then whenever Jiwoo and Sooyoung are near.
Yeojin demands her attention again by slamming her hands on the table.
“Hey, look at me while I’m talking to you, you psycho murderer.” She hisses.
This time, she even stands up to her full height to possibly look intimidating, so it proves to be quite anticlimactic when the door of the bathroom swings open and a smiling Yerim marches out, diffusing what very little effect Yeojin’s intimidation has on Hyejoo.
The bubbly girl takes one look at her and her friend before she quite literally skips over to them.
“Oh, You’re awake! Hi, Hyejoo!” Yerim’s brightness bursts out like fizz does from a newly opened soda can.
“Ah, you’re here too, Yerim?” Hyejoo greets back after a pause, feels an awkward smile creep over her lips.
Yerim bends a little to meet her eye and she leans back on her bed for some space. She swallows, coming to the conclusion that this is a lot harder to deal with than Yeojin’s earlier outburst.
“Mhmm! We have a group report for socio to cram today!” Yerim explains, unaware of her struggle. “Chaewon unnie had volunteered your room as the meeting place. Hope you don’t mind us being here.”
Hyejoo straightens up at the mention of Chaewon.
“Ah, I see.” She clears her throat. ”Yeah, that’s… that’s cool.”
“How’s your group’s report coming?” Yerim asks with a grin.
“Pretty much done.” Hyejoo replies as she tries not to think about how they’ve gotten their work done by communicating mostly through Kakaotalk.
“Aww, lucky you!” Yerim says, keeping her with her and Yeojin.
“Thanks, I guess.” Hyejoo blinks. She looks down at her hands and lets the urge to ask win. “Do you know where Chaewon is?”
“She’s gone out to get snacks and stuff. She said she’ll be back quick.” Yerim answers, pauses. “What were you two talking about earlier?”
When Yeojin catches her eye and smirks at her, Hyejoo thinks she’s finally figured out what this is all about. She smirks back at the younger girl who looks surprised at her boldness, which is good, because she’s never been one to back down from a challenge.
&&
The keys of her laptop’s keyboard clang relentlessly as paragraph after paragraph of half-written precis and half-BSed content get typed out. Or at least Chaewon’s does. Yerim’s just been staring at her own laptop screen for almost twenty minutes now and she doesn’t even wanna know what Yeojin is up to at the moment. The youngest is very likely playing minesweeper in discreet but whatever. Procrastination is a thing and, even though they have to finish their report as soon as they can, Chaewon isn’t about to whoop their asses for indulging in it. She trusts them and knows that they will get to the task eventually. She hopes. And besides, she does it too, in her own way.
It’s evident in the furtive glances she throws in Hyejoo’s direction. It’s not because her roommate looks so breathtakingly beautiful sitting up on her bed like that, back against the headrest, hair falling down over her pretty face as she bends over a book. Okay. At the very least, Chaewon knows it’s not just because of that. It’s also because Hyejoo hadn’t said a word to her all morning.
Chaewon swallows as she averts her gaze back to her laptop. Biting her lip, she thinks. Could Hyejoo be maybe mad at her for not telling her about their group meeting in advance? When she woke up this morning, she was already running late to the time she had set to meet with the gremlins and Hyejoo wasn’t around then. She also missed the chance to tell her about the whole thing much earlier, like last night.
The chair on her right skids back so suddenly that it makes her flinch. When she turns to the commotion, she sees that it’s only Yerim getting to her feet theatrically.
“I can’t do this!” The girl exclaims, hands clutching her head.
Three pairs of eyes look to her and then at each other.
“Chaewon unnie… I’m…” She wrings her hands together.
“You’re what?” Yeojin asks, eyebrows meeting in a worried look.
“I’msohungryandIcan’tstopthinkingaboutlunch.” Yerim’s shoulders sag as she finally admits.
Chaewon opens her mouth but no sound comes out of it. She looks at Yeojin and the younger girl wiggles her eyebrows at her, pats her own stomach to back up Yerim’s statement.
“But you finished off two bags of chips and a deluxe packet of cookies not too long ago!” She reasons.
“We’re growing kids!” Yeojin says while Yerim nods in agreement.
From her spot on the bed, Hyejoo makes a nasally sound, a snort, that she tries to play off as a cough to no avail. Yeojin sees through it and she bites on her lip, bares her teeth to retaliate.
And Chaewon, knowing what’s coming, switches to the offense and stomps on the brakes before Yeojin could even get one sentence out (the brake being Yeojin’s foot, of course).
“Is there something you wanna- OWWWW!!!” Yeojin screams.
The younger girl turns to her, eyes streaming with tears, and Chaewon only looks back innocently. She’s not exactly sure if they’re good but she isn’t going to let anyone drag Hyejoo. Not on her watch.
“You okay there, Yeojin?” Yerim asks, clueless.
“Y-yeah, I’m good. Just... a cramp.” Yeojin seethes, gingerly rubbing her socked feet and hiding the murderous intent she has for Chaewon from Yerim.
Yerim nods in acknowledgment and then goes right back to pushing her agenda. “Sooooooo, are we getting lunch or what?”
At the expectant look on her face, Chaewon composes herself so she could think. They haven’t accomplished much yet and a quick glance at her watch tells her that it’s far from a normal person’s lunchtime. Even if they decide to eat someplace off-campus, by the time they get there it will still be considered an early lunch.
But Yerim’s eyes are practically begging and she can feel that Yeojin’s just about ready to jump in to add to that. She does feel a little bit bad for stomping on her foot so she concedes.
“Ugh, fine. But we have to get back to work right after, okay? I don’t want you two to have to stay the night just so we can finish this in time for tomorrow.”
The two scramble for the door and slip into their shoes before she could even finish.
“Hey! We don’t even know where we’re going for lunch yet!” She calls after them, frowns as they throw themselves out into the hallway.
Sighing, she turns to Hyejoo only to see her already smiling at her, as if she was waiting for her. The words get stuck in Chaewon’s throat when she speaks.
“D-do you maybe, umm, wanna tag along, Hye?”
Hyejoo nods, smile getting wider. She pushes herself off the bed and swipes her wallet off her desk in a swift motion like she could be excited.
“Yeah, let’s go.” She says.
Chaewon’s in a sort of daze as they make their way out to the streets. Her heart races in her chest as she falls in step with Hyejoo, walking side by side with her while Yeojin and Yerim lead the way to some hole-in-the-wall place a little ways off campus that two of them know. It seems that she’s still a long way from getting used to seeing that smile.
To distract herself, Chaewon looks around the scenery they pass. She is reminded of how much she enjoys staying on campus during weekends. It’s easily a ghost town without the presence of students, running to classes or loitering in the grounds. The way the trees looked in late spring fills her with a calm she can’t explain and she figures there isn’t a better time to start a conversation than now.
“I hope it’s not much of a bother...” She starts.
“Hmm, what is?” Hyejoo looks intently at her.
Chaewon gestures vaguely in front of her, flustered at her gaze.
“I’m sorry. I meant to give you a heads up last night, but I fell asleep, and when I woke up this morning, you weren’t there.” She explains.
There’s a pause while Hyejoo makes sense of her words.
“Oh, you think having Yeojin and Yerim over bothers me?” She exclaims when it hits her.
“Does it not?” Chaewon asks, curious at the girl’s surprised tone.
Hyejoo shakes her head quickly. “They’re your friends and you’ve all got a project to work on. It’s cool, Chae.”
“So, you’re not mad at me?”
“Why would I be?” Hyejoo eyes never leave her.
And frankly, Chaewon can’t look away from her either, even more so when she smiles again. But there’s also something mischievous about it that has her raising an eyebrow.
“There is, however, an incident earlier.” She mumbles, looking down at her feet.
Chaewon swallows and prepares for the worst. “What is it? Did something happen?”
“I’m pretty sure I got called a psychotic murder by Yeojin earlier.” Hyejoo deadpans.
Shame and murderous rage flares up Chaewon’s back and she starts to think that it would be best if the ground just swallows her whole now.
“But don’t you go stomp on her other foot now.” Hyejoo quickly adds, chuckles. “It’s okay. It was kinda funny.”
“You saw that?” And her humiliation doubles.
Hyejoo nods and stares ahead.
“You’ve got weird friends, Chae.” She says. “But that’s fine because you’re kinda weird too.”
Great. Now, her crush thinks she’s a weirdo.
“But it’s not bad, Chae! Weird is cool.” Hyejoo grins at her. She holds her gaze for a bit before she clears her throat. “Which is why I hope they’re alright with me inviting myself to your friend group.”
Chaewon is both relieved and endeared that she’s able to laugh the last bits of her embarrassment away.
“Oh, believe me. They’ll be thrilled to have you.” She says, mirrors Hyejoo’s grin. “But... are you sure you want in? I mean, Yeojin did call you a psychotic murderer.”
“Yeah, of course! I think it’s cute that she was being protective of you.” Hyejoo thoughtfully points out and Chaewon frowns.
“Protective? Of me? Why?” Chaewon wonders.
“Well, yeah. I don’t exactly look like the softest person around.” That playful look on her eyes is back. “And we don’t know much about each other yet. Didn’t you ever think that Yeojin could be right?”
“Hyejoo, please.” Chaewon says with a roll of her eyes. “You cried over Banana Allergy Monkey. You can’t be bad.”
Hyejoo lets out a loud ringing laugh that has Chaewon blinking.
“Anyway, I think that just goes to say that you’ve got some really good friends.” Hyejoo runs, just a couple of steps ahead of her, and turns back to smile at her one more time. “We should probably pick up the pace if we don’t wanna lose them!”
Chaewon gives her a nod and when she’s turned away, she trails after her with a dumb smile on her face.
&&
The four of them head back to the dorm after a relatively quiet lunch. While the trio resumes hustling their group report, Hyejoo hovers in the background, mostly playing games on her 3DS, but also sometimes cheekily staring at Yeojin whenever she notices the younger girl gazing longingly at the console in her hands. She wants to catch Chaewon’s eye and joke with her about it, but her roommate’s too absorbed with her work and she doesn’t want to disturb her.
The afternoon is gone in a flash. When the sky darkens, their motivation dwindles, like the snack bags they opened and emptied.
Evidently, Yerim has been sliding down against her seat until she’s half-lying on it, legs lazily stretched out under the table. Yeojin, on the other hand, resembles a statue now, with how she has both of her feet up on the chair and how her eyes stare unblinking ahead of her. Both prove that Chaewon is the strongest as she’s still able to type away on her keyboard, less intense than before but still with that eagerness to finish.
“Chaewon unnie…” Yerim calls, almost lifeless. “Is it… time for dinner yet?”
Chaewon sighs but keeps her eyes glued to her work. “What do you guys want?”
Yeojin unfreezes and leans closer to her with a hopeful look on her eyes. “Can we have noodles? The stir-fried ones from the food truck by the south gate are the best.”
“I’m afraid we can’t afford to eat out again. Going to someplace and then coming back here takes so much time.” Chaewon mutters.
“So delivery?” Yerim suggests.
“Uh, they don’t deliver.” Yeojin frowns.
“Then pick another place to get food from or change the menu.” Chaewon simply says.
“But I kinda want those noodles now…” Yeojin mumbles.
Hyejoo sees the slant in her brows and the pout on her lips and she speaks before she could stop herself.
“I could run there and get takeout for all of us... if you all would like that?”
Their reactions vary greatly. Chaewon looks up from her laptop with surprise. Yerim vibrates with excitement. And Yeojin looks very much like she wants to hug her out of gratitude.
“Hyejoo, you don’t have to.” Chaewon starts.
“But we’d be really grateful if you do, Hyejoo… unnie.” Yeojin says, looks away shyly.
“Yeah, sure. I mean, it’s the least I could do to help.” She offers them a smile. “You guys have been working so hard all day. Besides, I’m not doing anything.”
Chaewon looks like she has more to say so before any of them could protest or anything, Hyejoo rolls off her bed and exits the room.
She makes her way off-campus in silence but with an enthusiastic bounce to her step. She takes a shortcut through the arts building and meets a swarm of students armed with cameras and sketchbooks. They walk ahead of her, seemingly following two tall guys pushing a cart with heavy equipment. An ah escapes her when it clicks in her head.. She had seen posters for the astronomers’ club’s stargazing event all week and that’s supposed to be today.
Hyejoo continues to observe the group in mild interest. She thinks that if Chaewon and the kids finish with the report soon, they could swing by and get a peek through that cool telescope. At that moment, two girls drift away from the cluster. One pulls at the other with an urgency that is both shy and thrilled. There are plenty of couples in the university and it isn’t unusual so Hyejoo doesn’t think much of it, until they stand directly under the streetlamp and she recognizes who they are.
With the beam of light falling on them, Hyejoo sees everything in perfect clarity - Hyunjin places a hand on Heejin’s nape and pulls her towards to meet her with a kiss.
But she doesn’t see their lips make contact because a hand shoots out of nowhere to block her view.
Hyejoo’s eyes drop to her feet and she immediately recognizes the pair of white converse sneakers next to hers, poised on the toes to allow her to pull off this valiant attempt.
“Uh, Chae?” She starts. Her voice shakes but she knows she has to say something. “I can still kind of see them there. Your hand is very small.”
It’s a lie but she doesn’t know what else to say.
Chaewon quickly pulls her hand back and proceeds to grab her by the shoulder, turning her away from the scene.
“Is that better?” She asks.
Hyejoo weak smile crosses her lips and she reaches out to squeeze her hand. She notices how the girl’s panting slightly.
“Did you run, Chaewon? Also, you followed me?” She inquires.
“You left your wallet.” Chaewon simply says.
“Ah,” Hyejoo mutters. She takes the item Chaewon passes with her free hand as the other one is still occupied with holding onto Chaewon’s.
The silence drags on painfully slow and the older girl just looks ahead with narrowed eyes while Hyejoo continues to stand, facing the other way.
“They’re gone.” Chaewon sounds a little stiff when she speaks and it contrasts the way her thumb softly runs across the back of Hyejoo’s hand twice.
She must’ve noticed it too because she clears her throat and when she talks again, her voice is back to that soft, breathy tone.
“You can turn around now, Hyejoo.”
Hyejoo does exactly that. The two of them start to walk. She’s still at a loss for words but there’s a longing in her to get something across.
“Hey, Chae?” She calls. Chaewon looks carefully at her and she shoots her a smile. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it, Hye. I’ve got you.” Chaewon smiles back and then repeats herself. “I’ve got you.”
&&
Chaewon’s brain was still stuck in concepts of social norms and deviance which prompted her feet to be content with following Hyejoo from a distance. Mindlessly, she also ends up watching Hyejoo eye the curious assembly of art students, space nerds, and some other kids falling out of both niches, on their en-masse migration to the main field. Chaewon wasn’t in any particular hurry to catch up with the younger because she knew she would eventually realize that she had forgotten to bring her wallet with her, in her enthusiasm to volunteer to grab dinner for everyone. And they were heading to the same destination anyway. Chaewon simply didn’t see the point. But once she saw how Hyejoo had frozen in her tracks as soon as Heejin and Hyunjin pull out of the flock to reenact a cliche under-the-lamppost kiss scene, she just had to run.
She couldn’t let Hyejoo witness that and have her feel even more heartbroken than she already is. Or at least, that’s what she thinks she feels.
Because they’ve both been occupied with school stuff over the past few days, they haven’t really had the chance to talk after the picnic on the rooftop, so she can’t be sure. And Chaewon did keep wanting to ask Hyejoo how she’s faring with not being around her best friends but she didn’t know how (and yes, they still have socio class together, but Hyejoo’s moved seats to sit with her now). She thought it was cute when Hyejoo expressed her desire to get to know Yerim and Yeojin, and it shows that she really does want to befriend them. But now that Chaewon thinks about it deeply, she realizes just how lonely this whole ordeal has left her and that adds a sad twist to her longing of making new friends.
Chaewon looks at Hyejoo carefully. Past the lazy, uncaring surface, there is a crinkle in her eyes that reminds her of a swing set at sundown on a November evening, when all the children on the playground have ran home to their mothers’ frantic calling. Now, Chaewon doesn’t want to jump to conclusions but she has to admit that she thinks this must be fate. She was known in their neighborhood as that kid who snuck back out to the play in the dark and got into trouble for it until her mom and stepdad just realized it was pointless trying to stop her. Although her stepbrother, Jungwoo, and Jiwoo never did stop dragging her back to the house. Which turned out unhelpful to her then aspiration of being called Princess Chacha of the West playground because screaming at Jiwoo, hitting Jungwoo, and digging her heels on the sand for resistance was not graceful.
As the noodle truck auntie continues fixing their orders, Hyejoo looks up at the night sky. Chaewon copies her and she sees the stars, greets them with a smile.
She recognizes that these are the same stars she’s wished on since she was little. She’s grown up since then but she still recalls how she wished on them endlessly to send her a pretty and badass knight that will keep her company and protect her from bad guys whenever she feels lazy to do it herself.
Chaewon knows that, right now, these stars are saying something entirely different to Hyejoo (because not far off, her best friend and the girl she longs for but can’t have lie underneath it, in each other’s arms), she hopes that one day she would consider being her knight. There’s no need to rush, she thinks. Because, for the time being, while Hyejoo’s stuck in that locked room of a tall tower, Chaewon will be her solace.
“Thank you so much, auntie. Have a great night!”
Hyejoo’s voice snaps her out of her thoughts. She looks away from the sky and turns to the younger girl to see her holding a takeout bag in each hand with a smile on her face.
“Let’s go?” Hyejoo inclines her head to the side, gestures to the campus gates.
Chaewon snatches one of the bags from her and gives her a look of mischief.
“Chaewon?” Hyejoo asks, worry coloring her tone.
Chaewon grins at her and then shouts. “Race you to the dorm!”
She barely catches Hyejoo blink at her because she shortly breaks into a sprint after.
“Last one to get there is a rotten egg!” She throws over her shoulder.
Hyejoo finally realizes what is going on and snaps out of her confusion.
“Hey! That’s not fair! You got a head start! Chaewon! Hey!” She calls after her.
Chaewon’s lungs burn and her legs feel like they’ve been shocked with the sudden exertion. She knows that she will be in pain later for this but when she hears Hyejoo laughing behind her and sees her speeding past her, she concludes with confidence that it’ll be all worth it.