“Sooyoung, I’m so sorry! I was waiting for you outside!” Jiwoo says, running over to the table. 

“I know. I saw you looking at yourself in the window. It was cute, and I didn’t want to scare you or interrupt you,” Sooyoung says, looking up at Jiwoo from the table.

“Oh.” It’s all Jiwoo can say, because her mind has stopped. Sooyoung thought she was cute. That’s cool and not a flustering statement at all.

“But, you look cute! Sorry you had to run here by the way, I didn’t know it was so far from you.”

“Oh, it was no problem! You look cute too!” Jiwoo wasn’t lying. Sooyoung looked completely different from last night. Last night, she was wearing a leather jacket and a green ribbed top, and today? She was wearing a light pink T-shirt with simple light wash jeans. It was a complete image flip: from the cool girl who you could never get the courage to talk to in high school to the girl that everyone fell in love with. Yeah, Jiwoo had a lot of crushes in high school, what about it?

“Thank you!” Sooyoung says, popping Jiwoo’s thought bubble. “This outfit actually has a name.”

“Really?” A smirk creeps onto Jiwoo’s face. “What is it?”

“‘The senior class member that was your first love.’” Sooyoung poses, her face in her hands, and Jiwoo thinks she’s right. She smiles like someone you fall in love with at first sight, like the person you’ll never get over.

“It’s very fitting,” she confesses. “I don’t have a name for my outfit, my friend actually helped pick it out for me. I didn’t have much time this morning.”

“I can name it for you! How about... ‘freshman on the way to her humanities class?’”

Was... Sooyoung flirting with her? And saying that she’s the freshman that falls in love with the senior? It was probably just a cute joke, there was no way Sooyoung was flirting with her. But, Jiwoo likes to be brave, and likes to be a little bit selfish, so she’ll hold that thought in her heart.

“Wow, Sooyoung, I can’t believe you read me like a book!” Jiwoo decides to play along. “Well then, dear upperclassman, may I treat you to some wonderful coffee and pastries to thank you for being so helpful?”

“Why of course!” Sooyoung says, leaving her bag in the booth to get in line to order. Jiwoo puts her backpack down too, grabs her wallet, and joins Sooyoung in line.

“So, dear upperclassman, if your current outfit has a name, does your outfit from last night have a name as well?”

“It does! It’s called ‘all my life.’ No capital letters, it’s a very important detail.”

“Why?”

“It was the outfit I wore the most when I was discovering myself.”

“Did you end up discovering anything good?”

“Well, I discovered I liked girls all my life, so I would say yes.”

Good to know. Sooyoung likes girls. Jiwoo is totally fine right now and not thinking about how Sooyoung was totally not flirting with her earlier. If she thought about it much longer, her face would turn red.

“What are you thinking about getting?” Jiwoo says, looking up at the menu. She hopes that Sooyoung buys into the subject change without questioning it.

“Maybe a macchiato? I’m not really sure...”

“Well, don’t worry about the price! I’ve got you covered, so go big or go home!” Jiwoo hopes Sooyoung doesn’t go too big though, because her wallet can’t handle too much.

“Says the short one,” Sooyoung snickers.

“Hey, we’re basically the same height! Watch me wear heels next time I see you and tower over you and we’ll see who the short one is then.”

“So you admit that you’re the short one?”

“Sooyoung!” Jiwoo says. She tries to change the topic. “We’re almost to the front of the line, think about your order.”

“Well, what are you getting?” Sooyoung shoots back.

“Hot chocolate, a chocolate croissant, and two slices of strawberry shortcake.”

“That’s a lot of food.”

“I’m bringing one of the slices back to my dorm for my roommate! She deserves it.” It was a long day for Jungie, especially since she had to deal with her, and she deserved a treat.

“Well, I think I’m going to settle for that macchiato, and I’ll get a shot of espresso and an apple danish! How does that sound?”

“Sounds long, so you tell the barista what you want.” Jiwoo was not risking accidentally messing up her order.

Sooyoung’s tone changes the second she walks up to the barista. Her voice goes up a few pitches, and she’s less teasing, more polite. More like what she was like when Jiwoo met her in the bathroom last night. Jiwoo likes her voice when she’s not nervous better. But, Sooyoung finishes talking quickly, and then it’s Jiwoo’s turn. 

“Hi, I’d like to get one hot chocolate, one chocolate croissant, and one slice of strawberry cheesecake for here. And I’d also like to get another slice in a to-go box, please.”

The barista rings them up, and Jiwoo swipes her card to pay. She refuses to look at the price, because she’d rather be shocked about running out of money in her dorm than with Sooyoung. They grab their number and wait at the table for their stuff to arrive. It’s silent. Jiwoo doesn’t know why, but it’s awkward again. They’re just sitting there, waiting. Waiting for their drinks and for the other to say something. Jiwoo’s tempted to pull out her phone, text Jungeun to rescue her or tell her how it’s going, but she can’t. Sooyoung was trying so hard to not make things awkward earlier, with all her compliments and teasing, but she looks nervous now. And Jiwoo doesn’t want to make her nervous, so she repays the favor.

“We probably jumped the gun a little earlier. We only met in the bathroom yesterday for the first time, and we were joking around like best friends. Not that I mind, it was really nice! But, I should actually introduce myself. I’m Kim Jiwoo, currently a freshman! I’m undecided about my major, but I want to switch to the music department! What about you?”

Sooyoung doesn’t answer for a few seconds, and Jiwoo feels her heart drop.

“Well,” she continues, trying not to make this conversation fail. “You said you were coming from the Performing Arts building in your text, right? Are you a theater kid? Or maybe you’re a musical kid?” Jiwoo could handle choir kids, after all, she had been one. Spontaneous singing at the mention of a familiar phrase was something she could handle, but musical kids were something else.

“What? No way!” Sooyoung says. Jiwoo's glad the accusation worked. “Me? A musical kid? I’m majoring in dance . I wanted to double major actually, so I could major in music, but they wouldn’t let me. So, I chose dance first. I’ve got one more year before I can re-enroll.”

“That’s so cool! I know a few choreographies, but I focus more on singing.” It’s true. Jiwoo remembers staying up late with Jungeun, trying to learn the choreography to their favorite songs in high school. Jiwoo got it with hard work, but she had always just enjoyed singing and songwriting more.

“That’s okay! Do whatever makes you happy!” Sooyoung says, and Jiwoo is happy to be supported.

The things arrive at their table, from a different employee than the barista. She’s staring at the croissant and danish like she’s trying to eat it with her eyes, but she eventually walks away to serve someone else. Jiwoo looks at her hot chocolate, and sees that she’s got art of a bunny on top. She looks over to Sooyoung’s macchiato, and sees that she’s got art of a cat. It’s the cutest thing Jiwoo has ever seen.

“Can I take a photo of our food?” Jiwoo says, holding up her phone.

“Go ahead! What’s it for?”

“Instagram! I have a surprisingly big following on there,” Jiwoo says as she arranges all the food and drinks on the wooden table.

“Oh? Considering how cute you are, it’s not that surprising,” Sooyoung says casually. She’s talking about it like her being cute is just a fact, and while Jiwoo knows it’s true, she didn’t expect this. And yet, Sooyoung continues like she didn’t just cause Jiwoo to blush. “But, tell me your handle! I want to follow you.”

“Ah! Give me a moment, and I’ll type it in for you!” Jiwoo finishes taking her photos, and then puts out her hand for Sooyoung’s phone. She puts it in her hand, and Jiwoo types her handle into the search bar, and clicks on her profile.

“That’s me!” she says, handing the phone back to Sooyoung.

“‘StrawberryJiwoo?’ That’s your handle?”

“Yeah! My name is Jiwoo and I love strawberries. That’s why I got the shortcake!”

“I think ‘JiwooShortcake’ would be a better handle then, since you’re so short.”

“Hey!”

“There, I followed you,” Sooyoung says, putting down her phone.

Jiwoo opens Instagram and sees the notification.

“I’m not taking criticism from ‘Swan_youngie,’” Jiwoo says, looking at Sooyoung’s Instagram and following her.

Sooyoung gasps dramatically. “How dare you insult the art of the pun?’

“You’re the one calling yourself a swan.”

“Says the penguin.”

“What about me screams ‘penguin’ to you?” Sure, Jiwoo loved penguins and found them cute, but calling herself a penguin wasn’t even close.

“You waddle. It’s cute.”

“I do not waddle!”

“Yes, you do.”

“I do not! I’m texting my friend; she’ll defend me.”

“Or she’ll prove me right,” Sooyoung says, taking a sip of her drink.

Jiwoo’s phone buzzes right away.

You do waddle like a penguin sometimes, sorry Jiwooming.

“This is the worst news in my life,” Jiwoo says. Maybe she shouldn’t take this cake back to Jungie.

“Does she actually agree with me? Wait, I didn’t actually expect this.”

“Shut up and eat.”

“Oh no, I can’t believe my kind underclassman is threatening me!” Sooyoung says sarcastically and gets to eating her apple danish.

Jiwoo bites into her strawberry shortcake, and she doesn’t regret getting this cake at all. She wishes she could make it herself, but she doesn’t exactly have a kitchen in her dorm room to bake a cake. She eats her cake fast, leaving not even a crumb on the plate, and then sips at her drink slowly.

Jiwoo hasn’t really thought about it that much today, but her short hair really has felt lighter. Sure, it can be slightly inconvenient, like how it keeps falling into her face when she leans forward and she didn’t want to ruin her hair by tying it back, but she’s felt a lot better since she cut it. And, it’s too soon to tell, but maybe it’s what she really needed to feel independent. She starts making a list of things she wants to do later. Jiwoo wants to get an apartment or just a place where she can live with Jungeun. She wants to buy recording equipment so she can record songs more professionally than she does with just the microphone on her earbuds. She wants to learn more about composition so her songs can be more interesting and advanced. She wants— 

“So, what did your hair look like before you cut it?”

Sooyoung. Jiwoo wasn’t really paying attention, so she didn’t even notice that Sooyoung had finished her danish.

“Oh, I can show you some photos if you’d like,” Jiwoo says, holding up her phone. Sooyoung nods, so Jiwoo unlocks her phone and pulls up some photos.

“This is me and Jungeun from the other day! You can’t see my hair well though.” It’s a photo where Jiwoo is squishing her cheeks, and Jungeun has her light-brown hair up in a ponytail. Jiwoo’s hair is behind her shoulders. Jiwoo tries to find a better photo.

“You can’t see my hair that well in this one either... but that’s Jungie again!” It’s a photo where Jiwoo is wearing a big puffy jacket with her hair tucked into it, and Jungie is wearing a light pink knitted sweater with her hair down. Jiwoo swore she had more photos of just herself, but right now, all she’s finding are ones with Jungeun.

“Aww, you’re making a kissy face,” Sooyoung comments.

“Ah, well. It’s one of my signature poses... I do it on instinct sometimes.”

“I totally understand that. I started winking at my friends to practice winking and because it was funny to watch them get flustered, but now I just keep winking at people.”

“Actually, there might be a photo where I’m winking and doing a kissy-face...”

“Jiwoo, you are the pinnacle of human evolution.”

“Oh! I found a photo from high school! That’s when I had red hair... Jungeun and I bleached our hair together, and she dyed mine! We got in so much trouble, but it was worth it.”

“You have a lot of pictures with this Jungeun. Are you dating?”

If Jiwoo had hot chocolate in , she would’ve spit it out. “No no no! We’ve just been best friends since high school! I just talk about her a lot, since we’ve been friends for like... a long time.” It wasn’t the first time Jiwoo had been asked this either.

Jiwoo didn’t want to remember the time her mom told her that her aunt asked if she was dating Lippie because she wouldn’t stop talking about things she did with her. So what if Jiwoo thought she might’ve had a crush on her at some point? She was wrong about it anyway!

“I found a good photo! Here!” Jiwoo tilts the phone to Sooyoung proudly. “This is from when I had the underside of my hair bleached! It was actually dyed red, but it faded out really quickly. I was going to a party with my friend, so we more matching outfits. That’s why the outfits a little weird.”

“Ooo! You look adorable!”

“Thank you!” Jiwoo says, locking her phone.

And they just talk. Jiwoo just talks to Sooyoung like they didn’t just meet, like there wasn’t this weird intimate moment last night, like they were just... normal friends. And Jiwoo likes this. She likes talking to someone about singing and about songwriting, likes talking to someone who listens to different types of music, likes talking to someone who isn’t majoring in the same stuff as her.

Jiwoo finds herself entranced almost. Sooyoung felt like she was in another world, but she was right by Jiwoo’s side. Maybe this encounter was meant to be, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but Jiwoo knows she doesn’t regret it one bit. Not when she gets to talk to Sooyoung, who talks about how her family has supported her dreams ever since she knew what they were. Who talks about how dancing makes her feel like she’s flying closer to her dreams and to who she wants to be.

And Jiwoo, despite cutting her hair, is still on the ground. It’s one step towards freedom, but what does freedom take?

“Oh, shoot. It’s almost 2:45 and my class is on the other side of campus,” Sooyoung says, standing up. They had really spent almost three hours in a coffee shop just... talking. Jiwoo’s not even sure if that cake she got for Jungie is food safe anymore.

“Oh!” Jiwoo stands up to pack up her stuff. “Thank you for hanging out with me, and for cutting my hair.” In all of this conversation, she had forgotten that's what the meeting was about: paying Sooyoung back for cutting her hair.

“No, thank you,” Sooyoung says as they walk out the door together. “I’m glad the hair turned out well. I’ve only really cut my own twice, so it could’ve been disastrous.”

Jiwoo giggles. “Good thing it wasn’t, because then I wouldn’t have tried to pay you back!”

Sooyoung glances to her right. “My class is this way, if you don’t have anything to do, would you like to walk with me?”

Jiwoo looks in that direction. Her dorm is that way too, so it’s not out of the way. “Of course!” 

They start walking, and they let the silence fill the air. But this time, it doesn’t seem bad. It’s nice, like a breeze autumn rustling up the leaves. Jiwoo likes this silence, this non-awkward silence.

“Do you live on campus?” Sooyoung asks.

“I do. I’m in the dorm where you saw me in the bathroom. I room with Jungie. Do you not live there?”

“Ah, I live off-campus with a few friends. We’re mainly an artsy kind of house, so we work well together.”

“What are your friends like?”

“Well, Haseul is really kind. She takes care of us, despite actually being the youngest in the household. She brings our spirits up when we’re down, and she’s just... genuine. She’s trying to be an opera singer, so she’s taking vocal training for that in her free time when she’s not working at her part-time job.”

“She sounds nice.” Jiwoo means it. Haseul sounds like a light breath of fresh air, like green leaves on a spring day.

“My other friend, Jinsol—”

“Wait. Jung Jinsol? As in Gundam builder Jinsol? The Jinsol that hit her head on a table while trying to impress a girl? That Jinsol?”

“Wait, do you know her?”

“I haven’t met her, but Jungeun is Jinsol’s best friend, and Jinsol asked her out this morning.”

“That’s why she was smiling like a dork this morning; I can’t believe this. She didn’t tell me! I’m so texting Haseul, we’re gonna about this when we all get home.”

“I can’t believe we could’ve met before,” Jiwoo says.

“Well, I guess we have to blame our friends for that one.”

“Wait, you said your house is artsy? What’s artsy about Jinsol?” Jiwoo hadn’t heard anything from Jungie about this.

“Oh, Jinsol may be an engineering major, but she knows music theory and composes on the side.”

“... And Jungeun never told me, her composing best friend?! I can’t believe her.”

Sooyoung laughs at that, and Jiwoo thinks it’s the prettiest laugh she’s ever heard.

“Pft, you’re so cute.”

“Stop it!” Jiwoo lightly taps Sooyoung’s shoulder with her fist, and Sooyoung turns to her in shock, clutching her arm.

“Violence? Again! I can’t believe I’ve been betrayed!”

“I only tapped you!”

Jiwoo only now notices that they’ve stopped in front of a door and that they’ve been here for a few minutes.

“Is this your class?”

“Yeah. I was just having fun, and it’s not past time yet so...”

“Oh. Well, don’t let me be a distraction from your class! You’ll do great!” Jiwoo pumps her fist into the air. 

Sooyoung smiles at her. “I’ll do great.”

Jiwoo thinks that smile could make her melt, and she’d rather not melt in front of Sooyoung.

“Well, thank you again for today! I’m gonna head back to my dorm. Bye!” Jiwoo waves to Sooyoung and starts to leave.

“Wait!” Jiwoo turns around to see Sooyoung standing there. “Uh, would you want to hang out again sometime? You’re really cool to talk to, and I had fun today. And if you didn’t want to hang out with just me, we could have a hangout with friends. And if you did want to hang out with just me, I could... show you how to dance? Or how I dance?” Or—”

“Yes. To both of those things. I’d love to, Sooyoung.” 

Sooyoung beams at Jiwoo at those words, and Jiwoo needs to get back to her room soon because she’s way too sapphic for this and she just wants to scream about how beautiful Sooyoung is.

“Cool! I’ll text you then! See you later, Jiwoo!” Sooyoung opens the door to her class and walks on in. 

Jiwoo walks back to her dorm, closes the door behind her, and screams into her pillow.

It’s only later, when she uses the bathroom, does she realize something.

If Sooyoung doesn’t live on campus, then what was she doing here so late last night?