WARM MILK | JJK

⠀⠀⠀⠀03: PRELUDE, OP. 23, NO. 5

ACTE UN ― SCÉNE TROIS
UNEXPECTEDLY DISCOVERED.

     PSYCHOLOGY COULD NOT have ended any faster for Jeon Jungkook, it seems. The clock strikes 1pm, and as soon as Professor Cho finishes her sentence, the boy who had shown up late is the first to rush out of the classroom.

"...and don't forget to read!" Professor Cho announces, turning her head in the direction of the door, as if to gripe after Jungkook who is long gone.

"Well," Sekyung mutters under her breath, watching as the scene unfold.

"Isn't he pleasant?"

"I guess he's really in a hurry, huh?" Nana comments quietly, the light hum of chatter from the other students like a backdrop for her voice.

"Yeah," Sekyung replies. "I guess so."

Professor Cho takes a seat at her desk at the front of the hall, a silent reminder that, yes, class is dismissed. In an almost herd-like fashion, everyone in the room begins to collect their belongs and leave, following Jungkook's example as they attempted to escape the class.

Sekyung, however, takes her time.

It only takes a few minutes for everyone ― including Professor Cho ― to leave, and now only six people remain in the lecture hall: a gaggle of girls leaning against the wall and talking in hushed whispers, Sekyung... and Nana.

Sekyung unceremoniously shoves her notebook into her small tote bag, before rising to her feet and turning to face Nana.

"So..." She lets out awkward.

"So," Nana says with a slight laugh.

"I'll see you on Wednesday?"

Nana nods, an awkward and jerky and slightly too enthusiastic gesture, before she stands up too.

"I'll see you then..."

Sekyung swings her bag over her shoulder, turning away from Nana to walk towards the door, but a feeling of unease washes down her spine. Was she really going to leave the girl all alone?

She makes it five steps before she's spinning on her heels, turning back to face a, dare she say downcast Nana.

"Actually," Sekyung almost stutters.

"...Do you want to go grab lunch with me? I'm meeting a friend, but it would be great if you came too."

Nana beams so wide Sekyung thinks her face might break. "Yeah, I'd love to!"

Sekyung can't help the small smile that blossoms on her face in turn.

They make it to the door when Sekyung notices something lying on the floor, narrowly missing stepping on it.

Curious, she bends down to pick it up. It's a small, worn charm in the shape of a rose. The red paint that covers the petals is chipped, and it seems handmade. Sekyung flips it over, to see a small J inscribed on the back.

It was slight and inconspicuous, and had it not been for the slight glint it held from where the paint had chipped, she probably would have never noticed it.

Someone must have dropped it, she muses to herself, still staring at it.

"Sekyung?" Nana asks, stopped in the doorway.

Startled, she looks up, shoving the charm into her pocket before standing up.

"Yeah! Let's go."

/

When Sekyung shows up at the small café that she and Yuna met at weekly with Nana, she wasn't surprised to find her roommate flirting with a boy, one she'd seen around campus but couldn't quite place his name ― was it Taehyung?

"This is so cute!" Nana gushes as she follows Sekyung through the door, staring around in wonder.

As soon as Yuna catches sight of Sekyung, she ditches the guy and almost trips over herself in her haste to get to her.

"Sekyung!" She flings herself at her.

On her part, Sekyung isn't too surprised. From the moment she met her, Yuna has been clingy and touchy feely, so at this point in their friendship, she was used to the hugs.

"...And Sekyung's friend!" Yuna then proceeds to wrap her arms around a very startled Nana, who's eyes widen like a deer in the headlights as she stands, frozen in her grip.

"What's your name?"

"I-Ito Nanami, but you can call me Nana—"

"Oooh, Nanami! Exotic, I like it," Yuna cuts her off with a wink, before turning back to the boy she's abandoned.

"So I'll see you Friday?" Yuna says to him.

He nods, flashing a boxy smile. "Yeah."

Then, he turns towards the door of the café, nodding in the direction of Sekyung and Nana.

"Ladies," he says as he passes, and then he walks out the door, the bell ringing lightly as he swings it open.

Sekyung raises an eyebrow at Yuna after he's gone.

"Classy. Your latest fling?"

Yuna rolls her eyes as she walks towards their usual table. Sekyung and Nana follow, the latter almost tentatively, and the three of them take a seat.

"Why do you assume I'm interested?"

"Because you always are."

"You're so overdramatic, Kyungie," Yuna turns to Nana. "She can be so overdramatic, right?"

"Don't harrass the poor girl," Sekyung chides, and now she's the one rolling her eyes.

Yuna sniffs.

"Well, for your information, no, he's not a fling or anything of the sort."

Sekyung deadpans.

"I'm serious!" Yuna cries with a childish pout. "He was in my Bio class last year and we've been friends for a while..."

She looks up bashfully.

"He actually set me up with one of his friends, and I was thanking him."

"Oh!" Sekyung snaps her fingers, as if something has just clicked in her head. "So he's the middle man."

"No!" Yuna whispers forcefully, casting a glance towards Nana, who until now has been observing as a bystander.

She clears her throat.

"Sorry, we're being so rude!" Her words are directed at Nana.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Nana blabbers. 

"Back home, one of my friends was in a similar situation, where she ended up dating a friend of a friend, and it was great until she cheated—"

She rambles, pausing when she realizes the implications of what she just said.

"—not that I'm saying you'll end up cheating! God, no, I'm sure you won't! I just," Nana takes a deep breath, struggling to find the right words. 

"What I'm trying to say is that I don't mind at all, and I'm sure you're great!"

There's an awkward pause, and Sekyung can practically see Nana's heart drop into her stomach. Yuna's face is expressionless, almost as if she's in deep thought, and Sekyung almost scoffs at the way she's riling the poor girl up.

Sekyung nudges Yuna with her foot, as if to say stop messing around. The silence ensues, and she clicks her tongue disapprovingly.

Then, Yuna laughs. "I think we're going to be great friends."

Nana, who had previously been sitting up straight and tense, relaxes with an almost inaudible sigh.

"Now..." Sekyung interjects dryly. "Should we actually eat?"