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"That's all for today, class. Thank you for your attendance."
Like always, Jiseol didn't want to bother being sandwiched between sweaty strangers on her way out of the classroom, so she hung back and took her time in clearing her things. As the buzz died down and she zipped up her bag, her ex-roommates came up to her with hopeful smiles. She still couldn't say that she was happy to meet them, but she smiled back nevertheless.
"Hey, Jiseol," Solji greeted her.
"We miss you!" Hyejin pouted, playfully grabbing Jiseol's arm.
"We were wondering if you'd want to grab lunch with us sometime. Catch up like old times," Heeyeon said and Jeonghwa nodded excitedly in support.
Jiseol hesitated, unsure if she was ready to "catch up" with the people that tore her down when she needed support the most. But she guessed that there would be no harm in testing the waters and experience for herself her current level of comfort with them.
"Sure. Maybe next weekend?"
"Next weekend's great!" Hyejin grinned.
Heeyeon decided to be the one to address the elephant in the room. "Jiseol...don't you have any plans on coming back to live with us? Who are you living with now anyway?"
That wasn't a question she quite knew how to answer. Jiseol didn't know how to tell her roommates that she was living with the guy she had always mentioned as her life's greatest curse, but more than that, it was probably best that nobody knew she was living with a guy after her part of The Grand Reveal was ousted to the world. She could only imagine what kind of offensive jokes would stir up from that.
"I'm staying in a place with my brother," Jiseol lied, hoping that they would buy it. "I've got to go. I'll see you later, okay?"
With a small wave, she quickly rushed out of the classroom and walked a distance before glancing backwards to see that her friends were moving in the opposite direction. Jiseol sighed, suddenly feeling sour at just how much she didn't trust her ex-roommates who were her closest friends on campus for the past three years. At least she had Chenle—she didn't know how she would make it through without him.
In her distraction, a tall boy with glasses came up to her quietly, looking anxious yet somewhat excited. Jiseol saw that he was a freshman from his jacket—the university's official jacket would differ in color based on your graduation class; the jacket for this year's freshmen was navy blue, Jiseol's was sage green. She looked past him to see his presumed group of buddies giggling and slapping each other and she could immediately guess that they were trying to do something to her. She rolled her eyes and begun walking away, but the boy with glasses stopped her.
"I'm really sorry for doing this but it's a dare and if I back out on the dare, my friends would tell my mom that I smoke," he said, but he didn't sound sorry. He was grinning.
