Chapter Text
There was this girl Minjeong’s class.
She was sort of like a celebrity.
Not outright, but known—popular around campus, but still well-received among students.
And she just so happened to be in her literature class.
Minjeong walked in early on the first day to get a decent spot in the hall, but stood corrected. Apparently 15 minutes didn’t cut it these days.
The front half of the room was filled, only out of reach seats left. Her preference would’ve been the third row, near the aisle, where she was close to the professor but a decent enough distance to not look like a try hard.
Having to opt for a little farther back, Minjeong settles into one that's half empty and prepares for a boring lecture. Syllabus days always droned on. All she was looking forward to was sinking in bed after a draining winter break with her family.
Minjeong scans around without much else to do. The hall quickly fills to about a hundred people as class time gets closer. Her eyes naturally drift up towards the front where students now dribble in.
It’s a given that she recognizes Yu Jimin. She’s sure the whole class did.
The girl is much taller than she had imagined. From the side her jaw line is more prominent, as sleek mid-length hair highlights the length of her neck. She’s dressed up pretty today. That being said, most people are for the first day of the semester, but her effort comes off less attention seeking. Just, natural.
Murmurs quietly ripple through the hall. Yu Jimin’s eyes dart through the crowded room in a search of something, and a smile breaks out when she finds it. She waves to a friend who's saving her a seat. With one simple step forward the entire row gets up in sync to give way. Her smile, which had previously been very bright, fidgets under the eyes of her peers.
Even from a few rows back Minjeong watches the girl get teased by her friends.
It's weird seeing someone she’s only known of online now in person. There was a disconnect before. Yu Jimin, the hot topic of the school. A girl whose name gets brought up in the most casual conversation. The campus crush who appears on her instagram feed because that's just how the algorithm works these days—is now sitting in her class. A regular person.
And that's all she made of it.
Only a week passes before Minjeong decides she has to change spots. No—needs to change spots.
To hell with the unspoken assigned seating and the societal standards of a college classroom. She can barely hear the professor over the obnoxious whispers to her left, and all the guy on her right does is switch between minecraft and the stock market of all things. Whenever he’s sprinting through a cave, fighting off a swarm of zombies and skeletons—the endless clicking makes Minjeong feel tone deaf.
(She may not be the best at paying attention, but it's the effort that counts, right?)
So, she arrives early to the lecture hall. 25 minutes early. It would’ve been 30, but there was a…problem…this morning.
To her luck, many rows were empty aside from a weird patch of students on the right side of the hall. Minjeong ignores the fact, grateful she now gets her perfect spot. Third row, a few seats in from the aisle, and a respectable distance from the professor.
Her mind goes on autopilot to let time pass, pulling out her laptop to feign productivity. She mindlessly scrolls through her agenda for the week as the footsteps of other students become ambience in her mind. Until a certain voice interjects.
“Um, sorry, can I pass through?”
Minjeong looks up to its owner. Her muscles tense in position almost immediately. If she were truly cognit she would feel her jaw drop ever so slightly as well.
But she’s not. For some reason.
Yu Jimin stands to the side, brown eyes staring into her own.
Words she was supposed to have processed finally do, and Minjeong feels a burning sensation at the shell of her ears. Her muscles now lock upright, letting the taller girl through the row to—
—the seat next to her?!
Sitting down as quickly as she got up, Minjeong simmered in the odd feeling occupying her stomach.
She’s seen a lot of pretty girls. In fact, the world is full of pretty people—beautiful people, but for some reason her insides feel as if they’d melted when she met Yu Jimin’s eyes.
Only by steeling her vision back to her laptop (the screen turns into a white blur if she’s being honest) does Minjeong feel some sanity fall back into her hands.
The voice comes again. Her brain makes the connection faster that it belongs to Yu Jimin, but never caught the actual words.
She draws in a quick breath, mustering the courage to look right.
Fuck she’s smiling.
There’s a mole by her lips that, for the life of her, Minjeong now can’t get out of her head.
She has to think of the most nonchalant person she knows just to dull the awkwardness that threatens to drown her. “Sorry did you say something?”
Yu Jimin shakes lightly as a small laugh passes through her lips. “I asked your name?”
And now she feels like drowning in a puddle.
“Oh—sorry, it’s Minjeong.”
“My name is Jimin, nice to meet you,” she says sweetly.
The girl can only smile back as politely as she can. From experience the best way to end an interaction is to not give back, so that's what she does.
But evidently Yu Jimin’s brain is wired differently as it does not work. “Do you normally sit here?
“Uh, no.”
“Me neither. There were a lot of people in my spot so I had to change seats,” she sighs.
“…”
“What’s your major?”
“Education,” she states, risking a glance at the other girl. It must be that Minjeong has finally gone insane because she has this gentle look with insistent eyes that makes her resolve crumble. “…what about you?
Yu Jimin's lips stretch into a bright grin. “Pre-med!”
“Cool.”
“Have you checked out the assignment for this week?”
Minjeong didn’t like where this was going, “yeah.”
“Do you wanna work on it together then?” Yu Jimin asks like it's completely normal to do so with someone you just met.
“I thought it wasn’t a partner sort of thing?”
“It’s not.”
“Oh…” slips out, and in the brief time before her next words she tries to think of an excuse to say no.
She fails. “Okay.”
“Perfect! Do you have instagram?”
As if she had a choice, Minjeong fumbles in her back pocket for her phone, handing it to the girl’s eagerly awaiting hand. Yu Jimin opens the app to find her user without any time for the other girl to process the action. Though, instead of typing, her thumbs halt over the keyboard.
There’s her username, @yujimin, already at the top of the search history.
Minjeong’s head turns away almost robotically. She stares blankly at the back of someone's head as a sudden dizziness washes over.
There’s a funeral in her mind. A few people gather around the ditch in their nicest black clothing. They don’t cry at the sight—it's a bit awkward actually—as Minjeong buries herself in the cold dirt.
With a glazed look, she takes her phone back.
“Oh, I also put my number in if that’s okay…?”
Minjeong has already died and come back to life, so she’s able to truly look at the other girl.
The crazy must have never left because there’s the faintest hint of red coloring Yu Jimin’s cheeks.
Whatever the lecture was on—whatever nonsense her professor spout about that day, was lost to Minjeong. Sure, she was paying attention. All of her attention, but her head was empty. Only the simple thought numbed her. That if Minjeong were to walk out of class, trip down the stairs—have all her belongings spread across the floor like some cartoon as she laid face first in the tile, she wouldn’t feel as dazed as she did right now.
She really doesn’t know what was wrong with her. Yes, Yu Jimin is pretty. Maybe prettier than anyone she’s seen up close, but no. Minjeong is not a weak person who buckles at the sight of a sweet smile and big brown eyes.
Well, she’s not supposed to be.
The smart thing would be for Minjeong to stay away from Yu Jimin. She’s accustomed to attraction and all those sorts of feelings. If there’s one thing she knows, it's that they’ve never been helpful. All they do is get in her away. Sure, the campus celebrity could be so much more than a pretty face. She could be kind and funny and genuinely a great person to be around, but all that is dangerous. Especially to someone like Minjeong.
But like she thought before—the older girl has to be wired differently.
Yu Jimin has a weird interest in her, so you can say that's how they became close.
Then again ‘close’ seems like too big of a label.
They sit next to each other in class now, and have plans to work on assignments with one another. They never go through with them, but the sentiment always lingers. During class they make small talk too. The typical, “How was your day?” “Oh, did you finish the homework?" “This lecture is so boring I’m falling asleep.” The easy stuff.
Minjeong gets a lot better at being a functional person as well. Ignoring the first day they met, they get along well. It was like practice. Yu Jimin would make conversation during the lecture, and Minjeong is already braced and ready to respond normally. Sure, it takes some extra mental effort, but this prevents any further embarrassment.
“You know you always call me by my full name, why is that?” Yu Jimin whispers and leans a bit closer.
Minjeong briefly remembered introducing the girl to a friend who didn’t believe she knew “the Yu Jimin”. Then there was another time she left her pencil case at her seat, so Minjeong called out ‘Yu Jimin’ to get her attention.
Thinking about it, Minjeong had become accustomed to the girl’s username.
It’s the association between them—yujimin.
In her head there’s still a distance between them. yujimin has all this attention—so many people that want her attention, and Minjeong is just… just.
yujimin has so many followers, she’s genuinely becoming an influencer. She doesn’t doubt the chance the girl becomes a full fledged celebrity, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she goes on to be some sort of model doctor in the future.
This is yujimin who posts ‘day in my life’ vlogs and keeps up with trends. yujimin who racks an insane amount of likes on instagram.
yujimin who people want to meet, want to get to know, and want to confess their feelings to.
And then, there’s her.
“It’s common back home. All my friends call me Kim Minjeong. It just comes out naturally.”
Yu Jimin takes the response with a nod, and Minjeong ignores the weird feeling in her gut as she goes back to listening. With her notes empty, the cursor on her blank document blinks mockingly.
Another question comes. “What year were you born?”
Minjeong tries to type something useful so at least it looks like she’s focused. “2001.”
There’s a pause that could be mistaken for hesitation.
“You should call me unnie then.”
She really struggles this time despite all her practice. It takes extra energy to make her voice come out normally, and not like her head is reeling.
“Okay…” Jimin’s gaze is begging her to look, and she loses the battle. There before her are those same insistent eyes that wait for her.
“…unnie?”
The single world makes the older girl’s eyes crinkle and her heart-shaped lips beam. She looks so happy that Minjeong feels her stomach flip on its head…
Literature! Composition! Her professor!
Focus on your education Kim Minjeong!
Rapidly typing away, the younger girl glances between her computer and the lecture slides periodically. It’s all an act, but it keeps Jimin off her tail and calms her onset light-headedness.
After another unsuccessful day of paying attention, she feels the mental fog start to creep in. She packs away her belongings autonomously. She’s on the cusp of sweet escape back home until—“You have a class after this right? The foundations one?”
“Nope, the class got canceled,” she replies, not even bothering to hide the dreaminess in her voice. There’s an image in her head. It’s of her bed and her warm fluffy sheets and the show she’s been wanting to watch for weeks. Most importantly, there is no girl that causes Minjeong to feel so suddenly hyper aware.
“Do you want to grab coffee then?”
The image shatters.
Instead Yu Jimin is now sitting across from her at a table. She’s gently nursing a drink from her cup, blowing small swirls of steam that float effortlessly through the air. There’s comforting music and the subtle chatter of other people, and Jimin is sitting across from her. Not beside her, not in a classroom—one on one outside of school.
Minjeong’s silence eggs the girl on further. “To study I mean—we can grab coffee and study? If you’d like?”
“Sure!”
Once again, her mouth betrays her mind. Still, how can she regret it when Jimin looks this happy?
“Perfect, there’s a place downtown I’ve been wanting to check out!”
Minjeong doesn’t have the time to take back her decision. When she’s mentally gathered herself, they’re already standing at the steps of a cozy looking cafe.
The older girl held the door open without a second thought, and she’s hit with the heavenly smell of baked bread and ground coffee. Walking through, the dim lighting and low music cures the tension in her back Minjeong didn’t realize she had.
They find a spot that has its own little corner, a bit secluded from the rest. The cafe isn’t busy, but it's not empty. It's comforting. Minjeong understands why she wanted to go here.
Shrugging off her jacket, the two of them take turns scanning the menu. “Do you know what you want?”
Minjeong tilts her head at the pictures of food, staring at the sandwiches in particular. In the end, she decides against it. “Just the green grape ade and kaymak bageI think.”
“Perfect, we can share,” she pauses just to ask again, “no coffee?”
“I try to avoid it at night, it makes me kind of… hyper.”
The older girl nods. “I’ll go order at the counter then.”
As Jimin gets up to stand, the younger girl stops her. “Wait, I’ll come pay with you.”
She shakes her head. “You can get me back next time,” replying casually.
She walks away, and Minjeong feels her insides twist at the thought of meeting Jimin. Again.
During the time the other girl takes the order, she does her best to get situated. She pulls out her laptop along with the book assigned by the literature professor. The reading was a sort of modern life piece, and she had already finished chapter one. Notably, only a sliver of the book was divided by a train ticket back to Seoul, the only spare piece of paper around when Minjeong finished the assigned reading last night.
It’s when she goes to riffle through the pages does she feel the dampness on her palms. Then again, she also feels a bit hotter than usual. Her sweater, which had been great protection against the winter, was now becoming a problem.
Worried she looks too warm, she checks her reflection through the window. With the setting sun hiding behind her transparent face, the girl fixes herself carefully. She had dyed her hair blonde recently, half out of rebellion, half out of curiosity, but it left her hair a lot dryer than usual. It also made her bangs a lot more stubborn, so they required extra attention as she ruffled the stray pieces back to their positions.
Somewhat satisfied, Minjeong returns to her surroundings. As she does, the other girl is already walking back with a tray of delicious looking food, smiling at the turn of her head.
Maybe that was the real problem.
She stares at the food in front in order to satiate her hunger, only to notice something else. “The sandwiches?”
“Oh yeah, it’s getting close to dinner time, so I thought you—we might want more,” she pauses, her words falling more quietly. “But if you don’t want it that’s okay, I’ll just take the rest home,” Jimin mutters, sliding into her seat. There’s something in her voice though that tells Minjeong she would be happier if she did eat them.
The younger girl mumbles her thank you. After distributing their food, Minjeong focuses on sipping her drink. Not on how the older girl slowly stirs her iced americano with her straw, and the satisfying sound of ice against the glass. Or how she takes extra care to ensure every inch of her toasted bagel has an equal amount of kaymak, her small hand gripping the spreading knife. And not on how her eyebrows make this frustrated scrunch of satisfaction after she takes a bite, her eyes already scouring for the next one.
Right, Minjeong is focusing on pulling up their assignment for this week. Not anything else.
Speaking of which, something had been on her mind.
“I was thinking, don’t stem majors take lower level English classes? Why are you taking literature?”
She swallows before answers. “I just thought it'd be more interesting than the intro to writing. I am paying to go here so might as well take the better class, right? It’s the same credit anyways.”
As she now takes out her belongings, Minjeong can only mull over her response.
So Jimin is pretty and cares about her education.
That’s… annoying.
Minjeong is dragged from her thoughts when the girl speaks again, “have you read the first chapter?”
Knowing she’s referring to the book, Minjeong nods.
“Do you have a prediction in mind?” Jimin asks, typing at what she assumes is their assignment.
Giving the brief description on the doc a once over, Minjeong contemplates whether to tell the truth or make something up. On one hand, they’d finish their work quickly, and on the other, they’d have a longer conversation.
The university student already knows her answer. “If I’m being honest I looked at a synopsis online…”
Jimin’s jaw drops in exaggeration, and Minjeong can’t help but laugh. “I didn’t get any big spoilers though! Just some common themes…okay, that might have been another lie, I can basically predict the ending…”
“Where’s your academic integrity!” the older girls exclaims in a hushed voice, leaning in as if they’re about to get caught.
“Oh come on, it’s predictable from the start! It’s gonna dive into Character A and B’s relationship, there’s gonna be a whole spiel about how life is ‘unpredictable’, themes about change and how differences are just room for development and whatever—if you tell me you didn’t get that you’re lying!”
Jimin shrugs, leaning back into her chair. There’s a smug look on her face all Minjeong wants to do is wipe off. “What’s the fun in that? You’re basically going against the whole point of the book.”
The blonde chooses not to answer, spurring the girl to continue on. “The fun is in not knowing. The fun is in the buildup and conflict and the battle of interests. Taking in all the details is what makes the end so rewarding and the theme hold true.”
“Still, the ending isn’t gonna change.”
“That’s because you already envisioned it in your head. Sometimes you need to take a step back and look at everything from a new perspective,” Jimin says with finality, a satisfaction to her words.
The younger girl takes the moment to truly take them in. She analyzes the fervor that the other girl’s tone had and how it remained so consistent. There’s a lightness in her chest again. “…it doesn’t sound like we’re talking about the book anymore,” she smiles.
“No,” Jimin matches her grin. “But still, it’s fun right?”
Minjeong lets those words go unanswered.
Maybe.
Maybe it was fun.
Maybe Kim Minjeong won’t let herself fully develop the thought in her head. The one threatening to linger longer than it should that she’s enjoying the company of Yu Jimin.
She is not sure why her brain automatically backfires on the idea. Instead, it brings up memories where Yu Jimin is fawned over. Where classmates, just like Minjeong, flutter at the idea of their campus crush acknowledging them. It's with the imagery she wonders who else gets this treatment.
Or, is it just that Yu Jimin is the type of person anyone can fall for.
Fall for.
Minjeong does her best to erase the idea as soon as it enters. As if scrubbing her brain could get the words to disappear, but she knew it from the beginning.
Getting this close to Yu Jimin would be a problem.
God, why is she overthinking this. They’ve known each other for a month, maybe less. All they do is sit together in class, the other girl making random jokes and Minjeong somehow laughing. From quality or pure stupidity, she doesn’t even know. And now Minjeong is analyzing her actions—her words, what Yu Jimin wants from her.
There are thousands, like actually thousands, of people who would kill to be in her position right now. Sharing a meal with Jimin, chatting with Jimin—doing something as simple as homework with Jimin. And she is the one sitting across from her.
…Could it be?
No,
That's impossible.
Someone like Yu Jimin could never fall for Minjeong.
She’s seen it with the friends that wait outside of class for Jimin, calling for her to join them. She sees it when Jimin speaks with their professor after a deep lecture. She even sees it in the many acquaintances the girl had made through life.
They have this smile, gentle and resolute, that is because of the warmth Yu Jimin seems to radiate.
And Minjeong is just another one of those people who are lucky enough to be on the receiving end.
Reminding herself to be grateful, she continues their banter. Yu Jimin asks a question about pets, she responds with how she likes dogs, but doesn’t think she can have one. Yu Jimin asks about family, and she makes a short memo about each member—her father, her mother, and her older brother. Yu Jimin asks why she wanted to become a teacher, and Minjeong tells her the truth.
She does this all with one single thing running through her brain.
The worst had happened. She developed a little crush, and that’s okay. Minjeong just needs to be a stronger person and keep her distance.
For the sake of herself.
Leaving the cafe, the sun had fully set. The streets, which Minjeong had remembered being more quiet, had become much more crowded. Downtown had transformed from its busy but calm alley to a bustling street of college students.
Drunk college students.
They're loud and active, walking down the streets for the next place to hop to or person to bother. The bitter smell of alcohol stains the air as the dark lighting from the bars glow onto the sidewalk. Groups of stumbling students and lines of hyper people leave Minjeong to mourn her decisions.
This is what she gets for enjoying herself.
She does her best to stay alert, but she can’t shake the edge. These are the types of situations she told herself to avoid. Where there’s too much room for chance, and less control in her hands. She’s known this all her life.
Her eyes dart through the clusters of people for the safer route. A back alley she can take to a bus stop or an empty street to walk home. Anywhere that’s less accident prone.
“Let’s go this way, unnie.”
Jimin has to catch up to the younger’s sudden pace, but follows right along.
Thankfully, the lively sound of college students slowly drowns out. As they walk further, the street is no longer illuminated by bar signs or club lighting, but the warm yellow glow of street lamps. There’s an occasional car that passes, headlights flooding the road. Though, aside from that, they’re alone.
She is too focused with the GPS on her phone to notice Jimin’s approach to her side.
It’s said so casually, Minjeong swears she misheard. (Even wishes she did.) Like the wind blew in the wrong direction, or there was something in her ears. “I had fun today…with you.”
Her feet stop on her own, underneath the warmth of the street light. Here Yu Jimin has a radiance to her. Minjeong blames the lighting, but she knows that's not the true perpetrator.
It’s her weak heart.
There’s no wind tonight, nor does Minjeong have bad hearing.
Inside, her brain is working overtime—searching for the right thing to say. So many words come to mind that can keep the conversation casual, and cradle her within this net of safety. Any remark that could shoulder Jimin’s blunt nature. Still, the ones that remain at the forefront are simple.
Me too.
But she’d never risk saying them.
Either way, she can’t spare the thought another second.
There’s an obnoxious laugh and a loud boisterous voice, all accompanied with rapid footsteps. The tell-tale sound of drunk people coming from behind. Before Minjeong can properly spin around and avoid their wobbly nature, it’s too late.
Only one half turn, and the younger girl watches her doom in slow motion.
Minjeong is bumped in the shoulder. She’s set off balance—tripped by the force. Her arms don’t even outstretch to catch herself. Instead, Jimin’s does. So quickly she has no choice but to let it happen.
“I’m so sorry!” It’s a man with the reddest flush she’s ever seen. He apologizes with the deepest sincerity an intoxicated person could give, before chasing his friend as crazy people do.
But it’s too late.
Jimin finds she has fallen on her knees.
Which is…weird.
There’s supposed to be a girl in her arms.
Instead there’s a pile of clothes below her—Minjeong’s clothes. They lay crumpled on the ground along with the girl’s bag. It’s weird because that’s not possible.
Minjeong was just here, and now there’s something fluffy in her arms. It wiggles and squirms until Jimin is forced to look down.
…There’s a…dog.
A puppy, specifically.
A warm furred, beady eyed, soft nosed puppy.
.
.
.
“Minjeong?!”
Shit.