Chapter Text
“Ugh! He did it again today!” Yona scoffed as she sat down at the familiar dining hall table. The large half booth, able to seat up six people (eight if they squeezed tight), was currently occupied by Yoon, Kija, and Hak.
“Did he at least acknowledge you this time?” Yoon asked while looking up from his heavily annotated textbook.
“This time, yes. I thought getting a seat in an advanced political science course as a freshman would set me up for an academic challenge, but now I have to deal with the stubborn upperclassmen. Soo-won argued about the failings of involving religious perspectives into domestic governance. It’s frustrating because he makes excellent points, but his ego can get in the way of discussions. I brought up the point that many of the civilizations we see today started on a religious bases and although it’s not as heavily involved in policy today, it shouldn’t necessarily be regarded as a failing. He always smirks and dismisses me like I don’t know any better.” Yona finished recounting her previous class and rested her head on the table. “He’s so smart, and I know I am too. I just want to be able to productively engage with him. Isn’t that what college is all about anyways?”
Hak chuckled lightly. “You’re right. What’s the point in being so passionate if you don’t get to discuss your ideas in a place like this? Don’t take it too personally, Soo-won and I were in the same incoming class two years ago and he’s always been like this. He can turn on the charm and get nearly anything he wants. I’m betting that’s why he’s student council president.”
“I don’t hate him, I just wish he took me seriously.” Yona raised her head to see Kija practically buzzing in his seat. “Kija, are you still worried about that exam?”
“Yona, we're only three weeks into the semester and it’s an exam that’s already 25% of my overall grade. How could I not worry?” He shuffled through a couple more pages of notes before landing on one covered in bright highlighter marks. “Yoon, how much of this war do you think they’ll cover?”
Yoon, who was only a freshman alongside Yona, had taken it upon himself to help Kija study for a history exam. Even though Yoon was a pre-med student taking 18 credits in his first semester, he couldn’t help but make time to help his new friend. Yoon had an eidetic memory, so he rarely had to read things twice to memorize them, but he understood the importance of studying and did his best to find ways to help others.
“It’s hard to say,” Yoon answered while glancing at Kija’s notes. “It was pivotal to the successful coup d'état of the military but they might focus on the conditions that led to the war in the first place. I’d say you could assume to at least expect to write a short essay about it.”
Kija groaned and pulled out another energy drink from his bag. “Hey! You’ve had at least two of those already this morning! You’re not going to pass it if your heart explodes!” Yoon scolded while snatching the drink away from Kija and switching it for his water bottle.
“Hey, you’ve been studying non-stop all week. You’ll do great,” Hak said to Kija. “And it’s Friday, so we’ll either celebrate the nice job you did or celebrate that it’s over. I’m sure Zeno won’t mind sharing the spotlight at his party.”
“What about my party?” Zeno asked when he arrived within earshot of the group’s conversation. He was hand in hand with Kaya, his high school sweetheart, and they were each carrying a tray stacked with food.
“We’re toasting to Kija tonight for completing his exam,” Hak repeated. Zeno smiled at Kija as he and Kaya sat down, and everyone noticed the massive amount of food. “Zeno, why do you have so much food today?”
“Can’t the birthday boy treat himself a little? Kaya and I couldn’t decide what to get so we decided to share our top five choices, plus dessert, of course.” Zeno barely finished his sentence before digging in to the dish closest to him. “Oh, Kaya, you’re going to love this!”
Kaya was already on her way to say the exact same thing to Zeno with the dish she was eating, so she giggled and served him a bite of her dish. “I still have a cake I made for you, so don’t eat too much before tonight or else everyone but you will be eating it.”
“Do you guys want help setting up? Lili and I will be done with classes early this afternoon.” Yona offered. She and Lili were roommates living in the dorms on campus. They were assigned randomly, but Yona had already felt so close to her since they shared a similar upbringing. Lili also felt a similar kinship and regarded Yona as a sister.
“That would be great, I’ll pick you two and Yoon up about an hour before the party starts. I’m sure Jea-ha will have finished his rehearsal by then.” Hak answered.
Zeno and Jea-ha were both seniors who became friends their freshman year. They lived together in a dorm on campus during their second year, where they met their friends from the new incoming class: Hak, Kija and Shin-ah. The next year, they all decided to share a house off-campus together. Hak, who had been childhood friends with Yona, quickly introduced her to his friend group and they gladly welcomed her.
Shortly after Zeno and Kaya finished their meals, Yoon left for one of his human anatomy classes and Shin-ah took his place at the table.
“Shin-ah, have you seen Ao recently?” Yona asked excitedly.
Shin-ah had a wild squirrel who would show up by the window in his room every other day. Being an environmental science major, he developed a soft spot for seeing it and left out fresh food, water and even made a small shelter for it. He named it Ao after consistently seeing it for a couple weeks. When Yona heard about this, she was very excited to see this squirrel for herself. However, it rarely showed itself to anyone besides Shin-ah. Perhaps it felt safer around him since he had such a kind and gentle demeanor.
“I found out she’s a female recently, and I’m guessing she’s about two or three years old. The last time she visited she didn’t eat any of the cashews I left out for her, maybe I’ll try some meal worms or insect larvae instead-"
“Absolutely not!” Kija flinched upon hearing the words ‘worms’ and ‘insect.’ “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep in the room next to you knowing that those things are creeping around!” He shuddered and began packing his notes.
“Okay, okay, they won’t enter the house. I’ll just leave them outside for her. I just want to make sure she’s getting enough protein in her diet.” Shin-ah compromised. Kija visibly relaxed and quickly rushed off to begin his exam while everyone wished him good luck. “Yona, I think she gets scared to come around when you’re watching because you get so excited when she shows up. If you promised to not make as much noise and make slow movements, I’m sure she’ll warm up to you. The same thing happened with Zeno.”
“Oh yeah,” Zeno piped in. “Now Ao loves me since she knows I won’t hurt her. It’s still nothing compared to her and Shin-ah’s bond though. It’s crazy, it’s like he can actually understand her.”
Yona perked up upon hearing this. “Okay! I’ll do my best!”
Shin-ah smiled at her enthusiasm, his bright eyes slightly squinting behind his thickly framed glasses.
Kaya was telling the group about her and Zeno’s plans for the afternoon. She wanted to spend time with him all to herself before the party later that night, so she described their plans to go to the beach, go shopping around town and grab a drink at their favorite coffee shop. The entire time, Zeno could not take his eyes off of her, the affection he held for her radiating from his face.
Yona had never been in a relationship, and seeing Kaya and Zeno with each other made her heart so happy. She had boys in the past tell her they were interested in dating, but it never felt right to her and it wouldn’t go beyond a single date. Growing up alongside each other, Hak tried to make sure Yona had high standards for whoever she wanted to date. He wanted to make sure she was treated well because he knew she deserved it. However, he didn’t want to interfere in her love life too much unless Yona had asked him to, which happened a couple of times.
“Alright, we better get going so we can fit all of our events into this afternoon. I’ll see you all tonight!” Kaya said as she and Zeno got up to leave campus. They turned around to see Jea-ha walking toward the table. Kaya gave him a quick wave and Zeno and Jea-ha exchanged their unique handshake before laughing and parting ways.
“Hey,” Jea-ha greeted before settling into the seat besides Shin-ah. “Yona dear, tonight will be yours and Lili’s first college party, right?”
“I guess so, yeah. Why do you ask?” Yona asked.
“Because Zeno is very popular and there will be a lot of people there. I know we’ve only known you since the start of this year, but we see you as one of our own and we want to look out for you. Zeno picks his close friends well, but I know he can’t help but invite everyone he knows to come out when he’s hosting a party. There are some sketchy guys on campus, so we wanted to give you some advice.” He nodded over to Hak.
Yona smiled to contain her laughter, this wasn't the first time she received a lecture from them about looking out for herself. She knew they meant well, especially with Hak's influence, so she'd entertain them so they would feel better knowing that she would heed their suggestions.
Hak started, “For starters, don’t let anyone but us pour you a drink because there are shitheads out there who might add stuff to them.”
“To add on to that, don’t leave your drink unattended. Find one of us if you want to dance without a drink in your hand and we’ll watch it for you.” Jea-ha added.
“Don’t give in to peer pressure, we want you to have fun but don’t be afraid to say no to doing something you don’t want to do just to please people.” Shin-ah suggested.
“And if anyone there is making you feel uncomfortable, find one of us.” Hak concluded. “We love having you around and seeing you happy, so we just want to make sure this will be a good experience for you.”
“Shin-ah usually ducks out after an hour or so, so if you get overwhelmed you can probably find him. Maybe you can go look for Ao with him or just take it easy together.” Jea-ha smirked as he nudged Shin-ah. He turned to look at Hak and winked, “Although, I’m sure Hak wouldn’t mind doing that either.”
Hak narrowed his eyes and tried to kick Jea-ha under the table, but Jea-ha quickly dodged it. “Yona dear, it’ll be a great night. These situations are all unlikely to actually happen, so just focus on enjoying yourself.” Jea-ha explained.
“I really appreciate it, I’m so glad I was able to meet you all.” Yona smiled at Jea-ha and Shin-ah. “Jea-ha, when can I hear you play your cello? I think your concert is in a couple weeks, right?”
“Yes, it’ll be a part of my performance course. Honestly, I might pull it out tonight if I get drunk enough. I’m really hoping I won’t break the bow like I did last year though.” Jea-ha sighed. “Well, I just came to say a quick hello. I need to head over to a practice room. Shin-ah, were you going to the greenhouse for your lab?” Shin-ah nodded and they both packed their things to leave.
“We’ll see you later!” Shin-ah and Jea-ha waved as they left the table.
Hak turned to Yona, “Can I walk you to your class?”
She smiled and nodded, and they headed out towards the courtyard.
“Hak, I don’t think I ever told you this, but I’m really glad you introduced me to all your friends.”
She and Hak had been close since they were children and considered each other to be their closest friend. Since Hak was a couple years older, Yona was devastated that she wouldn’t see him as often when he went off to college. They kept in contact and would either call or facetime each other every other night, but Yona immersed herself in her studies to distract her from her feelings of loneliness. Sometimes, she had felt like she was living a fulfilling life through Hak and hearing about what he and his friends were experiencing.
Hak had felt a sense of guilt leaving Yona behind, but was secretly ecstatic when he found out she was accepted into the same university. He also felt a similar sense of loneliness because the person who knew him best was suddenly absent in his daily life. He had many opportunities to find a relationship with the women on campus, but he had the feeling that none of them could surpass the bond he had with Yona, so why bother? His feelings for her soon developed romantically having her back in his life, but he didn’t want to disrupt the friendship they had if she didn’t feel the same way.
“They’ve practically known you for as long as they’ve known me, for how often we’ve talked to each other over the phone. I knew they would love you though.” Hak smiled down at her.
She beamed up at him in return. She remembered when they were first reunited after two years of being apart. She ran and jumped into his arms while he spun her around in their embrace. Even since then, she saw Hak in a slightly different light. He had always been so loyal to her and supportive, and now that he was back in her life, she was more hesitant to let go. However, she didn’t want to assume he felt the same way and ruin their friendship by saying something out of line. So, she held onto those thoughts while cherishing every moment they spent together.
“You know, they only really knew you from your voice, so I’m surprised they didn’t run for the hills when they saw your weird hair.” Hak teased as they fell into step together. Yona laughed and gave him a playful shove.
“You’re saying my hair is weird when Jea-ha dyed his dark green and has his grown down to his back?” She retorted with a laugh.
“Oh, so you’re saying he looks weird? I better let him know right away, it’ll just crush him that you think that.” Hak smirked down at her and laughed at her shocked expression. They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked the rest of the way to Yona’s class.
“Hak,” Yona broke the silence. “I just really feel like these are the people I want to have in my life. Everything feels so right here. Have you felt that way?”
Hak pondered how to respond for a moment. “It’s been great, but with you here now I don’t think I could ask for more.”
They arrived at Yona’s destination and they paused to turn to each other. Yona moved forward and embraced Hak. “Let’s make this our best year yet.” She mumbled, her head turned to rest on his chest.
He returned the embrace and rested his chin on the top of her head, like they always have since he’s grown taller than her. “I’ll make sure of it.” Hak replied. Yona held on a bit longer to try to hide the slight blush to her face, not knowing that Hak was doing the exact same thing.
They finally released each other and Yona gave a quick wave as she walked into the building. “I’ll see you later!” she called out cheerfully.
Hak waved back and began walking to his own class, happier than he’s been in a while.