There are rumours amongst law students at A university of an infamous lecturer who is nicknamed 'the group leader'. Now, this wasn't given to him just for comedic effect, but for a very good reason, and that is he really is the last lecturer you would want if you hated group projects because he assigns them like readings, like it's mandatory. Sure a few group projects here and there for each term shouldn't be a surprise but variations too? The anxiety of trying to figure out if he was going to assign a pair task or a group of 5 every two weeks keeps first year students on their toes, and this year, he decided to play nice, well in some students' eyes anyway, by assigning a paired project.
That was how Younghee met Baek Nari.
"…and —, and lastly, Seo Younghee with, oh, girl who's slipping through the back door," the lecturer pointed to the direction of the back entrance that creaked open slowly. Had he not, perhaps no one would've noticed the girl tip-toeing into the room late on the first lesson. She paused slightly and gave a small wave as everyone turned to her simultaneously.
Nari grumbled a small sorry with a reddened face as she pulled out the closest empty chair, next to Younghee.
Her first impression of the girl was funny, but she couldn't decide on her character quite just yet, after all she might change her mind after doing coursework with her.
I'll stay neutral for now.
"I've booked a study room so we can use that."
Younghee said bluntly as they headed for the library, with a 2 week deadline, there isn't much time to procrastinate even if you work better under pressure. She glanced at Nari who didn't reply and tilted her head, "is that okay?"
The girl who'd been staring at her suddenly flinched and nodded as if being poked out of a daydream. Younghee had noticed it a bit earlier but the girl really had a bad staring habit so it felt a bit awkward around her.
The smaller study rooms aren't in the main library so sometimes it would be slightly noisy outside. Today there was an argument happening right outside their designated room. A couple's argument to be more exact. The guy's eyes snapped right at Younghee as they approached, without delay, the earlier anger directed at his girlfriend was transferred to her immediately.
Though she didn't hear half the things he had said, there seemed to be someone else who had taken offense for her.
Just as the door opened from her id card, Baek Nari had slapped the guy and grabbed the girl by her hair. But it wasn't as if they had just let her do that as the other girl was quick to retaliate and do the same, scratching Nari in the process.
"Ah! What the fuck! Who are you? Let go!"
Despite the yelling, Nari didn't let go until Younghee spoke.
"Baek Nari, let's go."
She nodded and loosened her grasp, glaring at the couple before shutting the door behind.
The first thing you'd expect from someone who you stood for is probably a thank you, but Nari didn't get that, or anything that showed any sort of gratitude instead got a cold question.
"Why did you do that?"
"Huh?"
"It was none of your business, why did you get involved?"
Nari blinked in disbelief, "what, are you serious? So what?"
Younghee simply shook her head before dismissing it, "never mind, just.. ignore things like that in the future. I'd rather you not get hurt because of someone you hardly know. Sit down, I have a band aid."
"..." the two sat in silence as Younghee patiently cleaned up the blood from the scratch mark. She tossed the used tissue in the trash before putting the band aid on whilst Nari kicked her feet in frustration.
"Hey."
"What?"
"…Did you know she had a boyfriend?"
There was a small chuckle as she gave the plaster a light touch to seal it in place, "does it matter?"
Maybe she had taken what Younghee had said about it not being her business to heart because Nari didn't act out this time despite being unhappy with her reply.
"Yes, it does."
"Then no, I didn't."
It sounded fake, but she really wanted it to be the truth so Nari fell quiet and opened her bag, "alright, let's get this done and over with."
After agreeing on their roles, the two quickly got to work, with Nari doing the initial research whilst Younghee drafted up their essay points and dealt with referencing for the first half, once they had enough material, they would split the work for the presentation 5050.
After 2 hours of nonstop work, they decided it was enough for the day. Nari stretched her arms as she leaned against the chair, waiting for her laptop to shut off. It was beneficial for both that the other was an efficient and smart student, in that sense, despite having just met, they already seemed compatible.
For the social aspect however, perhaps not so much. Though the year had just started, Younghee seemed to have a bad reputation and Nari hung out with a group of girls whose most memorable feature was their ability to spread rumors. After a brief goodbye, Nari quickly headed towards her group of friends sat on a bench nearby and awkwardly joined in their conversations.
Even if she herself wasn't like them, perhaps being associated was just as bad. Younghee knew this too, but didn't seem to put much care into it or let it affect her judgement of the girl's character. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't have liked her as much.
Seo Younghee smiled to herself as she walked off. She's pretty too. It's too bad we had to meet like this.
The moment of good mood passed by as she checked her phone. Sighing, she changed the route intended for home to a burdensome errand.
Rolling around in her bed, Younghee extended her hand out to hit the snooze button for her alarm only for it to continue ringing. It took her a while to realise it was the last alarm before she sat up, yawning before turning it off. She saw a glimpse of the lock screen flooded with texts and missed calls before it turned black and groaned before grabbing it to mute the messenger.
It was a Saturday so apart from the scheduled library meet up with Nari, there wasn't anything she had to do for the day, hence why she had woken up later than usual. Since neither had classes today, their aim was to finish the research portion of the project before addition workload was piled on by other classes.
Younghee gently pulled out a chair in the surprisingly empty-ish study area and grabbed her laptop before setting her bag against a table leg. She gently tapped her index finger against the wooden table as the screen loaded, her eyes flashing up as a slight shadow covered her.
"Hi," she mouthed and smiled at Nari who was setting up her stuff opposite. Nari forcibly pressed her lips in a smile as she sat down, turning her phone face down as she sighed.
"I'll take 2000naNN and 1989naNN, are you good to finish up the other one?" Younghee quickly outlined her objective to her and received a cold nod in reply.
As the sun began to set, marking the end of their day at the library, the rest of the indoor lights were turned on slowly to not disturb students as the heating cranked up too. There was a small wave of people leaving for dinner and another arriving for a night study session, the two belonged to the former. After finishing their case studies earlier than planned, they made a draft of the presentation before packing their bags. Maybe Younghee was reading too much into things but something about Baek Nari felt off that day, nonetheless, it wasn't really her business so she didn't ask.
Tomorrow would be a new day, and hopefully, she would've cheered up by then.
-
"And then.." Younghee paused for a moment before ending the story hastily, "well, that's about it really. We naturally started to get to know each other and became friends."
"I see," Ari replied as she switched the TV off before standing up to stretch her legs, "ugh.. I'm tired now, I think I'm going to sleep, do you want me to switch the lights back on?"
She shook her head gently before getting up and muttering a goodnight as the brunette headed to the bathroom to wash up. Ari turned to look at her before she headed up the stairs and smiled, wishing her a good night's rest as she opened the door.
Seo Younghee may not be a liar, at least not to her anyway, but she's not exactly the most truthful person either. She wouldn't go as far as making something up, instead, she would just leave the important stuff out.
That's why Ari never trusts anything Younghee says. Even her faith in their promises to each other, has sorrow and doubt buried within.
Friends...
Lying on the soft couch with her eyes on the ceiling, Ari couldn't help but feel like what Younghee had told her wasn't the full story, but if she wasn't ready to confess everything, then why not start with the other party first? Though, she had just as many questions about Nari. I get some people are fine with that sort of thing but she doesn't seem fine? ...I don't get it. Does she just like her that much?
She suddenly sat up and grabbed her phone, still.. there has to be a limit like there was with her, right? "Huh?" She looked at the unplanned notification as the screen lit up, the surprise making her forget what she was going to do. "What's this about..?" Bae Ari fell asleep 2 hours later than she wanted to that night, as she was suddenly revealed things about Younghee she wished she didn't know. Or perhaps, she wished she knew sooner.
The ever-changing scale was now tipping in her favour.
But the tears that stained the white pillow, will forever indicate a loss.