Kim Jiwoo just needed to feel control over one thing in her life. She went to college to get away from her family and to finally pursue music, only for them to try and dictate her life. And now, she’s being told that they didn’t let her into the music department because of what her parents had said back at the interview with the counselor. Jiwoo could ing scream. Her parents were scared of her wanting to be a singer and songwriter, scared that she couldn’t make enough money, but Jiwoo didn’t care. She’s working at the library for money, she’s got enough to get by, she doesn’t need them to be in control of her life anymore. She’s finally in college at 20 years old, living in a dorm with her best friend from high school who ended up enrolling with her, and she’s not going to let her parents or anyone ruin this for her.

And right now, the only thing Jiwoo can think of is how heavy her hair is. She’s always loved her bangs and her hair, loves putting them in ponytails and braids and half-up hairstyles. She’s loved her hair wavy and soft, loved her hair when Jungeun bleached and dyed it red in the middle of the night at a sleepover in her house in high school, loved it when it was straight (unlike her). But, right now, it feels like it’s weighing her down, like it’s the last part of her she needs to get rid of before she lets go.

Which is how she ended up in the dorm bathrooms at 4 a.m., trying to cut her hair to shoulder length by herself. It’s not like it was an entirely spontaneous decision, although it was spontaneous. But it was planned at least a little. She had waited until Jungeun fell asleep, when there was no way she would wake up and see Jiwoo gone, and had grabbed scissors and a plastic bag to cut her hair into.

So, maybe it wasn’t the most thought out plan, but Jiwoo doesn’t need thought, she needs action. And, with it being 4. a.m. and all, it’s highly unlikely anyone would walk in and see her and try to call the Resident Advisor or anything. Or so she hopes. There probably weren't any parties tonight, otherwise Jungeun would've known about it, because she would either be at the party or be picking people up from the party.

But Jiwoo dismisses the thought of anyone walking in on her, swallows her fears, and starts cutting. She starts in small sections, cuts longer than she wants because she can always go shorter, but she can’t make it longer. It’s a big chop, and the first second feels freeing. So she keeps chopping, and chopping and finally at the very least, all of the big chops are done, and she’s looking at herself in the mirror with hair that reaches her shoulder — choppy, uneven hair, but light brown short wavy hair nonetheless.

Her heart feels like a balloon, and even though she knows the back is probably uneven, too, she can’t quite bring herself to care yet. She might freak out about it later, in a few hours when she has to go to her classes, but for right now, she’s content. She needs to try and even it out, so she pulls out her scissors and is about to cut—

And then a girl in a leather jacket walks into the bathroom, and she meets Jiwoo’s eyes. Jiwoo freezes, a chunk of hair resting between her scissors.

“Uh… hello,” Jiwoo says. Her voice is uneasy, she can feel it shaking, but it comes out like she isn’t phased at all.

“Hello,” says the girl, the pretty girl with the cute short hair because holy , Jiwoo really can’t help but note how beautiful she is. The pretty girl with the cute short hair looks around the bathroom, then back at Jiwoo. “Am I interrupting something? I can use another bathroom or something—“

“No no no!" Jiwoo says, her voice coming out louder than intended. She clears before trying again. "No, It’s okay, you can go ahead and use the bathroom! I’m just trying to cut my hair.”

“…At 4 a.m?” The girl looks at her with a blank expression.

“Yes?”

“In the public dorm bathroom?”

“..Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to?”

“That’s… entirely fair.”

“Cool.”

"Cool."

They both stand there in silence for a bit, looking at each other but not moving. Jiwoo’s hair is still between those scissors, the hair she's trying to trim still uncut.

“So, I’m just going to use the bathroom now,” the girl says, gesturing towards the stalls.

“Okay, cool,” Jiwoo responds, and the girl walks past her and disappears into a stall.

It feels like the moment was broken, like the instant gratification of cutting her hair and staring at herself is gone, but Jiwoo? She honestly doesn’t care. She’s still happy, and she’s still ready to trim. So she finally cuts the hair that’s between her scissors, and tries to even it all out as best as she can.

She hears the toilet flush in the background, and sees the girl in the mirror walking out of the stall, adjusting the zipper on her green ribbed cropped top. She hears the sound of running water, of the girl washing her hands. Jiwoo trims her hair to get it even, not letting herself be distracted.

But then she sees the girl standing behind her, looking down at the back of her neck, then looking back at her face in the mirror, and she hesitates to trim any more. She doesn’t know why the girl is looking at her, but she can feel her stomach getting rumbly, and not because she was hungry. Jiwoo hasn’t felt penguins walking in her stomach for a long time.

“Do you need help getting the back?”

Jiwoo whips around to look at her. “What?”

“Well, I know it’s hard to cut your own hair,” she says, gesturing to her short hair cut, “and I was wondering if you needed a hand? It’s hard to get the back and get it even, but I have a lot of experience cutting hair from cutting my own hair and—“

“I would love the help!” Jiwoo says, a wide smile coming onto her face. She hands the girl her scissors and the plastic bag she was putting her hair in, and she lets her get to work. She watches her in the mirror as the girl puts the hair between two fingers in small sections, slowly trying to trim each section to be the same length. Jiwoo can’t help but stay quiet, just observing the girl’s motions. The moment feels intimate, like it shouldn’t be shared between two strangers at 4 a.m. in the dorm’s bathrooms. It feels like she’s holding her breath, penguins walking in her stomach, and she’s stepped into something she doesn’t understand. But truly, has she ever really understood anything?

“Done! What do you think?”

Jiwoo snaps out of whatever that was at the sound of the girl’s voice, and her eyes finally focus on the mirror to a perfect haircut. It’s right to her shoulders, exactly where she wanted it. It’s like she knew what length Jiwoo wanted without even. It’s… perfect. She turns around to look at the girl.

“Thank you so so so much! It looks perfect, exactly how I wanted it! Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, but it was no problem, really,” the girl says, smiling down at her.

Jiwoo can’t just let the cute girl leave after this; she’s got to do something to repay her help. She’s got to take a chance. College was about chasing what she wanted, and Jiwoo wants to take this girl out for coffee or something to repay her.

“Um! Can I take you out for coffee sometime?” The girl’s eyes widen at Jiwoo’s request. She probably thinks she’s asking her out on a date or something, and while Jiwoo does think the girl is cute, she really just wants to repay her. Besides, she doesn’t jump into these sorts of things without seriously making sure she likes the person, and she’s gonna have to explain this before the girl takes it the wrong way because Jiwoo didn’t even check if she’s okay with that sort of thing.

“I mean,” Jiwoo clarifies, “I want to repay you for your help tonight. Or this morning. It’s late and you stopped to help me, so let’s get coffee sometime, my treat?”

The girl breaks into a smile, and Jiwoo feels her heart swell at the sight. “That would be great! Here, gimme your phone!”

The two swap phones, and exchange numbers, making their contacts. Jiwoo thinks it would be funny to make her contact name “haircut girl,” but she thinks that it’s best just to put her name. She does, however, take a selfie for a contact photo so that the girl can at least realize who she is.

“There we go!” They return each other’s phones, and Jiwoo looks at the screen.

Ha Sooyoung.

Her name is Ha Sooyoung.

“I’ll text you when I’m free to go out for coffee,” Sooyoung says, pocketing her phone.

She opens the door to leave the bathroom, and just as she’s closing it behind her, she turns around.

“Bye, Kim Jiwoo,” Sooyoung says, closing the door behind her.

Jiwoo is left staring at the door, holding a plastic bag of her cut hair, wondering what the hell just happened, why her face is so red, and how she’s going to explain any of this to Jungeun.

Yeah, Jiwoo’s hair may be straight and short, but she was only one of those things, and it wasn’t straight.