"Minju?"
Minju lifted her head for a second before dropping it, almost as if in shame. Her voice was hoarse and she spoke in-between hiccups, though it wasn't clear whether that was from the alcohol or the crying. "No... it's not me.."
Considering that Nari had never seen her drunk before, let alone to the point she was completely unaware of her surroundings, she was slightly concerned.
"Come on, let's get you some water then take you home."
She flung Minju's arm around her shoulder, attempting to lift her up before they both lost their balance, stumbling back onto the ground.
Nari sighed in defeat, "wait here, I'll get Doyoung." She looked back as she felt a tug on her shirt.
Minju was shaking her head, her eyes with a slight desperate look.
"...Alright, stay here for a second. I'll be back."
As tempting as it was for Nari to ask Doyoung for help, seeing the look on Minju's face prevented her from doing so. So she ended up asking one of the restaurant workers for help.
After thanking them and calling a cab, she suddenly realised another problem.
"Hey... where do you live?"
"Mmm... no, I don't want to go."
"You don't want to go home?"
Minju shook her head again. Perhaps not a good idea because it almost made her throw up. "Nope.."
"Well, are you heading somewhere or not?" The driver asked, slowly losing his patience.
After being dropped off at Nari's apartment, things did get easier as Minju had sobered up considerably thanks to Nari making her down some water and food.
As the elevator door shut, Nari finally relaxed her shoulders. The hard part of the night is over, well the hardest. As the number by the door increased, she could tell Minju was started to get nauseous again.
"Please don't throw up here."
"I'm trying," Minju grumbled, a hand covering her mouth as she swallowed. "Ugh... I feel sick..."
"Why did you drink so much? Were you hosting something?"
"Well there was student council but we didn't really drink then... it was more after.."
"After?"
"..Sorry."
Nari took that as a hint not to pry further and just nodded her head. "It's fine. You'll feel better if you get some sleep."
"Mm. Thank you. You're a good friend, Nari."
Nari made a questioning expression mixed with a somewhat bashful smile, not knowing if the compliment was genuine or just because she was drunk. "Thank you..?"
-
As the morning sun seeped through the curtains, Nari, who had been snoozing her alarms for about half an hour finally got up. She stretched a little before heading to her room, giving the door a gentle knock before cracking it open.
Minju was still asleep and seeing as it was early, she decided to just let her be.
After managing to escape her only lecture of the day surprisingly quickly, Nari still got caught up in the foot traffic before she was able to leave the building. Giving up and just blending into the slow crowd, she was scrolling through her phone to check for any available classrooms to study in rather than going to the library. Luckily, there was one just by her but it looked like there were still some people inside.
"Yeah, thank you so much. I'll see you next class... Nari?"
It took her a second to figure out who was calling her name but that just made her more confused. The person was someone she hadn't seen for years, and honestly she never thought she would again. The guy towering over her had changed a little from the last time they'd seen each other; his brown hair now shorter than before and the height difference between them had clearly increased but one thing remained the same. The half-eager smile when Nari looked at him.
"...Theo? Why are you here?"
"It's a year abroad thing with my degree. What about you?"
"I'm studying here."
"Oh for real? Huh."
"What?"
"No it's just I didn't think you'd actually, you know, come here."
"Their law department's good."
"I'm sure it is but I doubt that was the decisive factor."
Nari suddenly stumbled a bit as an arm swung around her shoulder. She gave Doyoung a warning glare, making him back off quickly.
"Sorry... How come you didn't come back last night?"
"Oh, uh... I forgot I had more reading to do."
Theo blinked then looked between the two of them, "are you two..?"
"No, no way. He's talking about a society thing."
"Haha, well nice to meet you, I'm Theo."
"I'm Doyoung. Are you a finance major by any chance?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"I think I've seen your name on the tutoring sheet."
"You're a finance major?" Nari asked, a bit more judgment in her tone as she thought there would be.
"..You didn't know?" The disappointment and betrayal was so obvious in his voice that Nari felt a bit bad shaking her head. "I can't believe this... this one-sided friendship... hurts."
"What the hell.. I thought you were a sports major or something."
He made a fake hurt expression. "Wow... I see how it is."
"Wow, Nari. I can't believe you..." Theo joined in.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Don't worry man, she did the same thing when we first met too." Theo patted Doyoung's shoulder.
"Did what?"
"Judging our intelligence just because we're so good at sports.. can't believe you're still doing that." He shook his head in disappointment.
"Oh my god, I'm not. I just thought that because I've not seen him in a classroom, ever." She furrowed her brows in confusion over what to do as the two carried on the pity act. Nari pressed her lips together, "ok, I'm sorry. I should've ask what major you were."
"I guess it's fine," Doyoung sniffed, "I'm just so... hurt. The only way you can make it up to me is if you come on the ski trip."
"No." Nari replied immediately.
"Please! It's an annual thing and it's really fun."
"Hold on are you talking about the one with the snow sports society?"
"Yeah, it's at the end of the year so some time away but tickets are coming out soon."
"I can get it for you if you'd like. I'm the treasurer."
Doyoung's face practically lit up, he grabbed Theo's hands and thanked him before turning to Nari. "Oh yeah, I was meant to ask if you know where Minju is."
She shrugged, "no idea, sorry."
Doyoung sighed, sending a text before leaving in a hurry. She did feel a bit bad for lying and for someone who knew her tells, he chuckled as she bit her lip.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just really obvious you're lying."
"Well he doesn't know that. Anyway, why are you on the committee if you're only here for a year?"
"It's a good opportunity and I already had the campaign set up from running for another committee last year."
Nari chuckled. "You're working hard."
"What about you? Not running for anything?"
"Mm, it's not really my thing and I have enough work as it is."
"Yeah... I'm assuming you're here because of her then."
There was a brief pause and a sort of gloom washed over Nari's face before she gave a small nod. "Yeah. Pretty much."
Picking up on it, Theo gave her a small nudge and a smile. "Well, if things don't work out, we can give it another go."
"As if."
"Hey don't say no just yet. The offer will always be there."
"Yeah, yeah, sure thing."
"So, you're going to go on the trip right?"
"It's not until the end of the year, I'll think about it first."
"The tickets sell quick, trust me. Come, it'll be fun and you'll get to show off your snowboarding skills."
"Actually, I've taken up skiing recently."
He raised his brows, "really? Are you the same person who used to make fun of me for skiing or..?"
"Oh shush. I just thought it was a good idea to learn something new."
"Yeah.. Most people switch at the start, you know, when they figure out snowboarding is harder and what was it you said? Way cooler than skiing?"
"And I still stand by that."
"Then why the sudden change?"
"Just... well, I already learnt everything there was so, why not?"
"Hm, that's true. Well, come on the trip then. We'll race, see whose better."
"And if I win, we can both agree snowboarders are a lot better."
"Yeah but you're not going to win, I have years of experience."
"So do I."
"Playing for the opposite team."
"Did someone forget about that badminton match already?"
"...Ok that's not fair. You had a coach!"
"I did not! Her helping me practise does not equal to someone who'd been playing since primary school."
Theo sighed. "Fine. Guess we will have to see who wins this--"
"Wins what?" Younghee asked, a small frown on her face as she looked at him. "Theo."
He gave an awkward smile, "hey... long time no see?" Unfortunately, being met with an unfazed expression just knocked his confidence down. "No? Ok.. I have a lecture so I'm just going to run."
The moment he was out of sight, the burning stare became obvious to Younghee. "What is it?"
"You remember Theo right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"...No reason, just checking." Nari mumbled something to herself before looking at her again, this time as if testing her. "You remember he's my ex right?"
"Yes...? Do you not or something?"
"Hm... When's my birthday again?"
"November 11th.. what's going on?"
"Nothing... Let's get food."
The cafeteria that became deserted during the last time they'd been there was now swarming with people once again. Nari didn't know everyone anyway but this made the fact there was an entirely new group of first years set in even more. She somehow still managed to spot a few people she did know. Mouthing greetings to a few classmates and upperclassmen, her face suddenly fell as she spotted a face that should not be there.
She grabbed Younghee's arm, "it's too busy, let's go somewhere else. There's a new restaurant by the east entrance I think."
Nari smiled before looking back over her shoulders. A girl sat by one of the tables stared back at her, the straight face turning into a cunning smile immediately as she waved. She leaned on one arm, watching them make their way through the crowd before grabbing her phone.
"Hey babes, I'm at your university. Wanna meet up?"