Chapter Text
Mina let out a sigh of relief as her first ever college class came to an end. Students started getting up right away, eager to either go to their next class or get something to eat. But Mina just sat there, her head spinning.
“Wanna go to the cafeteria?” Mina’s roommate Nayeon poked her arm, jolting her out of her own world a little bit too soon. “I met a new friend who’s free now too and wants to go with us.”
Leave it to Nayeon to somehow have made a friend within the first half of their first day of college.
“Sure,” Mina said, mostly because she had nowhere else to go, and she knew she should eat something before her next class that afternoon.
Nayeon grinned, and grabbed a girl who was leaving the classroom by the arm, pulling her over to them.
“This is Momo! She’s in the same dorm, even the same hallway, as us. I recognized her and pounced because us English Majors have to stick together!”
“I’m actually a dance student, but got put in this class by accident,” Momo mumbled, glancing at where Nayeon’s hand was still squeezing her arm.
“Then even us fake English Majors have to stick together,” Nayeon amended. “Let’s eat?”
Mina’s ears perked up hearing Momo was a dance student. She’d given up ballet to come to this college, and she still ached for it sometimes. But her other passion was writing. After dedicating her whole life to ballet, she knew it wasn’t what she wanted to do forever. It was time to give her other passion a chance to shine.
Mina followed Nayeon and Momo to the Student Center, swiping their IDs as they entered the cafeteria.
“I hear the food here isn’t too bad,” Nayeon said. “And that there are some good places off-campus if it is bad.”
“I’m broke,” Momo said with a pout.
“How are you broke already?” Nayeon said. “We literally just got here!”
Momo shrugged, and Mina stifled a laugh. She had a feeling this was going to be a very one-sided exchange between the two other girls.
“So, Mina, what did you think of Professor Lee?” Nayeon asked once they were seated.
“He seems nice,” Mina said, pushing her omlet around with her fork. “The syllabus is really clear, which is always nice.” She winced at herself for saying nice twice in a row.
Get it together, Mina, she internally scolded herself.
“An organized syllabus is always a good sign,” Nayeon agreed. “I’m just excited to dive into our studies. This is the only English class I’m in this semester because my advisor thought I should knock out some of my requirements.” Nayeon rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I have to take history just because I failed the stupid AP exam.” She stabbed a piece of melon with her fork as she spoke.
“That does suck,” Mina said, though she wasn’t in the same boat. She got out of history, government, and science requirements thanks to her APs.
“What’s the day in the life of a dance student look like?” Nayeon set her attention on Momo again, and Mina was grateful. Between class and sharing a room with someone for the first time and just constantly being around people… she was starting to feel a bit tired, and a bit overwhelmed.
Mina’s thoughts drifted to her best friend, Dahyun, who was at a whole different college. It was their first time being separated like this, and Mina was really feeling it. She hadn’t realized just how much she relied on Dahyun for some things, like helping her navigate social situations. She wondered what Dahyun would say about Nayeon, and if she’d have any advice for her.
Call her later, Mina told herself.
Or maybe don’t. You don’t want to bother her already. She’s probably making new, super cool friends and doesn’t need you anymore.
Mina sighed and picked at the piece of bread she’d taken with her salad. She wasn’t all that hungry, but she had classes until later that evening, so she tried to eat most of her bread. All she could really think of was Dahyun. Before she could stop herself, Mina pulled out her phone and texted her.
Mina: How’s your first day going?
She pocketed her phone so she wouldn’t obsess over Dahyun replying (or not replying), and ate what little else she could. Across the table from her, Nayeon was laughing loudly and hitting Momo’s arm. Momo looked vaguely confused, but already resigned to Nayeon’s antics.
“What class do you have next?” Nayeon asked after she’d recovered from her belly laughter.
“19th Century British Literature,” Mina said with a frown. Not her favorite time period or favorite form of literature, but she supposed she should be grateful she was in a second English class at all.
“Sounds depressing,” Nayeon said with another laugh. “Have fun with that!” She looked at Momo. “You’re free for a bit, right?”
Momo just nodded.
“Great! We’re going to learn that dance I showed you on TikTok!”
Mina had to admire Nayeon’s confidence. No wonder she made friends so easily. The two of them waved goodbye to Mina, and hurried off. Mina stood, ready to head out to class. She tried to ignore the growing sense of dread taking root within her, but with the way her stomach was churning, it was getting harder to ignore.
Mina sighed. It was going to be a long day.
***
“Sorry I’m late!”
Everyone looked up as a girl with slightly, yet stylishly, disheveled blonde hair stumbled through the door. Her backpack was practically falling off her back and she had a stack of books in her arms that tumbled onto the desk as she sat down. She sat down next to Mina, and Mina suddenly found herself blushing for no reason, unable to look the girl in the eye.
“Welcome miss…” the professor said with a raised eyebrow.
“Chaeyoung,” the girl quickly filled in. “Son Chaeyoung.” Right at that moment, Chaeyoung’s eye caught Minas, and Mina’s face turned a deep red. “Hi,” Chaeyoung whispered. “Can you catch me up after class?”
Mina managed to nod before turning her attention back to the professor, but, in reality, her attention was completely shot. All she could focus on was Chaeyoung sitting next to her. She glanced over to look at Chaeyoung’s notebook—because she still used a paper notebook, apparently—and saw doodles filling the margins, neat script of the notes from class in the middle.
Mina was suddenly hit with a deep ache of missing Dahyun.
“Can you draw us?” Mina asked with a giggle, leaning against Dahyun as they hid in the library during their free period.
Dahyun started to sketch the two of them in their uniforms, sitting close together on a bench.
“Is this the time we went to the park?” Mina asked as Dahyun added flowers to Mina’s hair in the drawing.
“Yeah,” she said with a slight smile. “That was a really nice night. It felt so…”
“Free?” Mina filled in.
“Free,” Dahyun agreed.
A few nights ago, they’d met at the park near Mina’s house as twilight fell around them. They’d just sat in each other’s company, Mina picking flowers and Dahyun braiding them into a bracelet she wrapped around Mina’s wrist before they left.
“I was sad that night,” Dahyun said. She ripped the drawing out of her notebook and handed it to Mina. “I didn’t know what to say, but just being near you was enough.”
The bell rang, and they never revisited what Dahyun had said. Mina wanted to, but she could never find the words or the courage. But Dahyun’s face when she told Mina she’d been sad haunted her. She often wondered if Dahyun was still sad, and what caused her to be sad in the first place. She wondered if—
Chaeyoung suddenly jumped from her seat, racing out the door and jolting Mina very much back to the present moment.
The professor paused for a moment, but then continued the class with a sigh. Just like she’d been so focused on Chaeyoung’s presence when she was seated next to her, now all Mina could feel was her absence.
When class ended without Chaeyoung reappearing, Mina was left with a dilemma—did she gather up Chaeyoung’s stuff and try to find the girl? Did she leave it with the professor? Did she walk away without doing anything?
No, something within her protested at the last option right away.
The idea of talking to the professor made Mina feel a bit nauseous, so she was left with trying to find Chaeyoung. She picked up Chaeyoung’s backpack and it was heavy. She swung it over her shoulder, choosing to carry her own backpack. She scooped up the books and made her way to the hallway, glancing up and down it. There were plenty of people walking about, but no sign of Chaeyoung.
Mina set her stuff down and flipped open what appeared to be Chaeyoung’s planner. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a number scrawled there.
She fished her phone out of her pocket and started to text her. For some reason, her hands were shaking.
Mina: Hi, I’m the girl who was sitting next to you in British Lit. Class ended, and I didn’t want to just leave your stuff there, so I took it with me. Text me when you can, and I’ll bring it to you. I’ll be in class until 4:45, but can meet after that.
Mina hit send before she could overthink it, and slipped her phone back into her pocket.
It was only after Mina was sitting in her next class, self-conscious about how much space she was taking up with Chaeyoung’s stuff, that she realized Dahyun had never texted her back.
It hasn’t been that long, she tried to reason.
But when class ended and there was still no text from her best friend, Mina had to bite her lip to keep her emotions in check.
Am I that easy to forget?
She knew she was overreacting, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
Then it hit her: there was no text from Chaeyoung, either. So she had no choice but to go back to her dorm with all of Chaeyoung’s stuff. When she made it back to her room, she counted her blessings that she was alone. She liked Nayeon, but she could be… a lot.
Mina was about to flop onto her bed when her phone buzzed. She grabbed it, expecting to see Dahyun’s name on the screen, but instead, it was an unknown number.
Unknown: Thanks for getting my stuff! I can meet you later tonight, say around 8, to get it back. Where’s your dorm?
Mina didn’t know why, but she was grinning as she read Chaeyoung’s message.
Mina: Sounds great! I’m in Quad C.
Unknown: Me too! See you soon :)
Mina’s hands were shaking again as she set her phone down. And for just that moment, it was okay Dahyun hadn’t replied yet. Mina was meeting new, super cool people too. Mina hugged a pillow to her chest, still smiling, waiting for it to hit 8PM.
Waiting for Son Chaeyoung to arrive at her dorm.