Chapter Text
“Let me see if I got this straight,” Jamie said, covering his face with his hands. “We’re cutting back on our precious, beloved sleep for a PATHETIC GRADE in a GENERAL EDUCATION COURSE, and NOW you want me to stay up to get an ‘OUTSTANDING’ in a class no one cares about?! IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE TELLING ME?!”
“Exactly that,” Sunwoo said, pointing at him with her pen.
“Congrats, you’ve got average reading comprehension,” Ryo said without looking up from his notes.
“Think of it this way: the better your grades, the fewer problems and pointless nonsense like this you’ll have to deal with later,” Klara added as she typed on her computer—anything other than what her friends were studying. “You grind through the boring stuff first so only the fun remains, right?”
“Killjoy, you don’t get to tell anyone to work through the boring stuff first,” Tayane cut in, taking a sip of water. “I literally had to FORCE you to finish your English assignment or you wouldn’t have turned that thing in.”
“I’m just saying, I’m just saying… ugh, I feel gross just remembering that assignment,” the German girl replied with a nervous laugh.
A few of them laughed.
“You know what? Those are good points! I’m gonna destroy this exam!”
“If you actually studied and talked less, you’d at least know what date to write on the paper.”
Jamie’s kick at Ryo was so hard the table shook. Tayane laughed along with Sunwoo, who was trying to hold it in so her friend wouldn’t complain later.
After a few resigned sighs and the clock hitting 12:30 a.m., someone walked into the small study room.
“We’ve got class in seven hours and we’re not even halfway done,” Tala said, her face damp as sleep started to win.
“Don’t say that stuff, Phoenix over here gets sad,” Sunwoo said without looking up from her paper.
“Shut up,” Jamie replied, same tone.
Before sitting down, Tala noticed how focused everyone was. She thought that if it were like this more often—and especially earlier—none of this would be happening. Still, as she sat, she couldn’t help glancing to the side. There, Sunwoo wrote with tired but attentive eyes, with drive, but clearly fed up with what she was doing. Her angriest phase had already passed. Tala had always noticed that the Korean girl lost her composure very quickly when it came to dumb topics or things she didn’t care about. Honestly, Tala had a theory: as nice as it was that they’d all become friends, being forced to take crappy courses they didn’t want kind of clouded things sometimes. Before yawning, she realized she’d been staring at Sunwoo.
“I’m going to get coffee,” the Filipina said, standing up slowly, a blush almost nonexistent.
“Someone doesn’t want to work,” Tayane sang.
“I’ll come with you,” Sunwoo said, getting up and putting on the hoodie she had tied around her waist.
Honestly, Tala hadn’t expected Sunwoo to tag along to get that shitty vending machine coffee, but there they were, walking slowly because, truth be told, both of them had an unspoken agreement to take as long as possible. Sure, to avoid working—but deep down, maybe, just maybe, because it was fun to spend time with each other.
“How’s it going for you?” Tala asked, watching her friend walk with her arms hanging loosely.
“Fine… but I’m tired, I’m tired!” Sunwoo shot back quickly, slipping back into her usual posture.
“Same… it’s not like I even need this grade that much…”
“Well… I do, because my attendance and participation grade? I’m sure that’s gonna be rock bottom.”
“Failing,” Tala nudged her.
“Shut up,” Sunwoo nudged back.
Both felt a small pinch in their hearts—but ignored it.
They reached the machine after a slow walk under the yellow library lights. They hadn’t seen anyone on the way. Tala pressed two buttons, and the half-white, half-greenish paper cup started filling through the little transparent slot.
“Want one?” Tala asked, as her friend leaned against the wall next to the machine.
“Yeah, I definitely need one,” the Korean girl laughed. “Hang on, I’ll buy mine too.”
“Relax, this one’s on me.”
When Sunwoo heard that, her brain—at least a little—snapped awake at 100%. Suddenly, she didn’t even need the coffee.
“What would I do without you, my Prince Charming!” the white-haired girl teased. “What would I do without this Prince Charming willing to spend a whole dollar on this shitty coffee! Oh my God!”
Tala laughed before grabbing the now-ready cup.
“If you want, I’ll just never treat you again,” she said, laughing and worried the coffee might spill on her hand.
Sunwoo noticed—and honestly, it startled her. Her reaction was quick. Tala was holding the cup by the rim, where you drink from, but Sunwoo had already grabbed the base with her palm. It burned a little.
“Damn it, Tala, be careful,” Sunwoo laughed again. “You’ll burn your hand and then I’LL have to write for you.”
Tala smiled at the comment.
“Maybe I’ll do it on purpose.”
“Huh?! What for? So I suffer?”
“Well, yeah, that’s a great excuse—but also so we can come waste time here more often. That way, more coffee for you, since I feel like you need more every day.”
The comment made Sunwoo’s heart skip a little in its own way.
“No, no. You have to treat me to real coffee,” she replied. “This stuff will give me guaranteed cancer if I drink it every day.”
“Nice knowing you, Mateo,” Tala said dramatically, remembering how much their friend enjoyed this awful coffee.
In shared laughter, they both realized how close they were—how perfect it would be for someone to snap a profile picture of them and post it somewhere as a reference for drawing “ships” and people’s hyperfixations. In a second, after locking eyes while laughing, they both pulled back a little, their backs and toes tensing.
“Here,” Tala said, handing Sunwoo the cup. “This one’s yours. I’ll get another.”
And so they did. The two of them went back to the study room, talking as they walked slowly—losing more study time, but gaining more time to hear each other laugh. Every time Tala or Sunwoo think about how awful General Ed courses are, when they think of each other, deep down—even though they constantly mess with each other—they can’t help but feel that maybe those classes aren’t so bad after all.
EXAM SCORES FROM THE NEXT DAY – THE USUAL STUDY GROUP:
KLARA: 19/20
RYO: 18/20
SUNWOO: 18/20
TALA: 16/20
TAYANE: 15/20
JAMIE: 15/20
LI (who wasn’t in the study room because he was practicing piano): 16/20
MATEO (who was just partying because he already passed the course, according to him): 14/20