Chapter Text
Sooyoung had always liked the solace the library offered. There were, more often than not, barely any people and she was given free rein to sleep and sulk as much as she liked without being bothered. Everything was quiet and calm, a stark contrast to the never-ending drama highschoolers always seemed to like. The librarian, Vivi, was also nice. She was a senior who worked there for a couple of hours after school, and she had started smiling at Sooyoung every time she entered. Sooyoung evidently went here a lot.
Today, however, she couldn’t help but feel like Jiwoo was ruining the solace she had come to associate with the library.
“You get what I mean, right, Sooyoung? Like, I would willingly drown everyday during our swimming lessons if that meant she’d save me every time. If you had seen-“
“I’m trying to study, Jiwoo,” she quietly chided, gritting her teeth as she tried to make sense of the numbers on the pages in front of her. Having her friend’s voice constantly attack her ear wasn’t helping.
“Oh! Right, sorry.” Jiwoo blinked and immediately quietened down, taking no offense. Sooyoung knew it wouldn’t last long before the hyper girl would unconsciously start talking again.
They were silent for a few minutes. Sooyoung was stuck trying to understand basic highschool algebra and Jiwoo was staring at her phone with a smile. In this corner of the library, Sooyoung had always studied, moped, and slept alone, but now Jiwoo’s whisper screams accompanied her. She didn’t even know why her friend came with her. Sooyoung was starting to get embarrassed with how many concerned glances Vivi threw their way.
“Jungeun’s offering to teach me how to swim!” Jiwoo half shrieked, half whispered, and Sooyoung gave up.
She leaned back on her chair with a sigh, grabbing her now cold coffee and taking a sip from it. At least Jiwoo brought her some fuel. Er, caffeine.
“I said I don’t really like the school’s pool, there are always a bunch of people there when there’s no class, and she offered to teach me either at their house’s pool or at the nearby beach,” Jiwoo continued rambling with a smile. “Imagine getting swimming lessons from Jungeun at the beach. That’s kinda far, though, even if it’s near, so I think I’ll go with her house instead.”
“They must be pretty loaded if they have a pool,” Sooyoung replied, deciding she’s better off humoring her friend than trying to wrap her mind around math that somehow had letters.
“Nah,” Jiwoo dismissed the idea while still smiling and typing furiously on her phone. “The house was given by her aunt.”
Sooyoung hummed. “Be careful,” she said simply. She wasn’t familiar with the girl Jiwoo had suddenly taken a liking to. She knew the girl was in their school’s swim team and had saved Jiwoo from drowning during one of her classes while the girl was on break, and nothing else. She wasn’t classmates with either Sooyoung or Jiwoo.
Jiwoo looked away from her phone to smile appreciatively at her friend. “Of course! I wouldn’t crush on a serial killer.”
Sooyoung stayed silent, eyeing her.
Jiwoo reached over to punch her arm with a whine, and Sooyoung yelped in pain. She cradled the violated limb with her other hand.
“I didn’t even say anything, you stupidly strong black-belter!”
Jiwoo and Sooyoung immediately heard Vivi shush them from their spot at the counter, and they tried to calm down, Sooyoung still playfully glaring at a quietly giggling Jiwoo.
“How’s your math going?” Jiwoo changed the topic and put down her phone. They made sure to keep their volumes low this time.
“Like shit,” Sooyoung complained. “Why do we have letters now? I thought those were reserved for English.”
“That’s called Algebra, dummy.” Sooyoung could hear the amusement in her voice. “You suck at math.”
She glared at Jiwoo who had unashamedly dissed her with a sweet smile on her face. It didn’t help that the hyper girl, despite her carefree and outgoing demeanor, was leagues better than her at math.
“Is that why you’re here? To make fun of my suffering?” It came out more sorrowfully than Sooyoung intended, and Jiwoo made a weird whine-noise of sympathy.
“No, I thought I’d come with you to make sure you’re not dying. You’ve been spending hours here in the library everyday after school for the past week, and you’re even more irritable than usual on our morning walks to school.”
Sooyoung sighed, knowing it was all true.
“What am I supposed to do? We have a huge test next week and I understand nothing,” Sooyoung explained with frustration. “I already failed the last test; at this rate I’ll just fail the subject as a whole.”
“Want me to teach you…?”
“Jiwoo, no.”
Every time she tried, their sessions just turned into unproductive movie nights.
Jiwoo pouted.
“Oh, your sister has a math tutor, right?” Jiwoo grinned, thinking of a great idea. “Isn’t she a junior like us? Jungie’s classmate, I think.”
“Yeah, they’re starting tomorrow.” Sooyoung raised an eyebrow, not quite liking where this was going.
“You could ask her to teach you!”
“Absolutely not.”
Jiwoo gaped at her, and Sooyoung felt obligated to explain.
“What would it look like when the older sister of the kid you tutor also asked for lessons? On a topic that students your grade should’ve supposedly mastered already?” Sooyoung kind of regretted cheating her way through math during her freshman and sophomore years. “I’d look like a dumbass.”
“First off, your sister is not a kid. You’re literally just two years apart and she’s a lot more put together than you,” Jiwoo said, and Sooyoung wondered why it mattered and whether Jiwoo was trying to insult her. “Second, you mean to say you’d prioritize your pride over your grades?!”
“Yes.”
“Sooyoung!”
Jiwoo was practically yelling. Before they knew it, Vivi was standing next to their table, her expression a weird mix of exasperation and guilt.
“I’m sorry, you guys are too loud. Can you take it outside…? Some of the other students are complaining.”
Sooyoung simply sat in her seat, thinking she can stay as long as she remained quiet because of the girl’s phrasing and meek demeanor. Jiwoo, however, had already stood up, knowing Vivi was merely too timid to directly kick them out. She kicked Sooyoung’s leg.
“Ow!”
“Come on!”
Taking the hint, Sooyoung gathered her things as Vivi smiled apologetically at them and went back to the counter. Once she had her books in her bag, her notes in her hand and her coffee in the other, they turned to walk out of the library.
“This is your fault,” Sooyoung grumbled.
“We both know you’re not making any progress in your math anyway!”
Jiwoo opened the door for her, knowing she couldn’t open the door with her hands full.
The moment Sooyoung stepped out, all she saw was fluttering hair before a girl harshly bumped into her and she was sent stumbling backwards.
She registered the feeling of dampness and looked down to see that her coffee had spilled all over her shirt and her notes. Sooyoung could feel anger irrationally bubble up inside her.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” The blonde girl, which had fell down to the floor upon impact, hurriedly stood up, ignoring her books scattered on the floor. She tried to approach Sooyoung to offer help, but the other girl stepped away, annoyance clear on her face.
“It’s fine.” Her tone was chipped and cold, and Jiwoo glanced worriedly at her.
“No, let me at least reprint your papers or do those notes again for you. Just tell me wh-“
“I said it’s fine,” Sooyoung cut her off, a lot harsher this time. She ignored the guilt that crept up in her when the blonde flinched away. Sooyoung stepped past her to walk down the hall and out the school’s doors.
Jiwoo, whom she had abruptly left behind, watched her go in disbelief. She snapped out of it when the girl in front of her mumbled.
“Sorry…”
“Hey, it’s fine! My friend’s just a bit more irritable than usual. It’s really no biggie,” Jiwoo comforted the girl, knowing her friend wouldn’t have been as harsh if this were any other time. The girl had ruined her friend’s notes, but it’s not like they were actually helping Sooyoung anyway.
She helped the girl gather her books quietly, trying not to make the situation more uncomfortable. She could see her face clearly still scrunched up with guilt. She handed over the books and stepped aside. As the blonde continue into the library, Jiwoo stared after her. She blinked.
‘Oh, that was Jungie’s friend,’ she thought absently.
+
“You look like shit,” was Hyejoo’s immediate reaction as she looked over to Sooyoung entering the house.
Sooyoung ignored her sister, closing the door behind her and dropping her ruined notes and bag onto the floor. She pulled her shirt (that presently dripped with coffee) over her head and dumped it next to her stuff carelessly. She stalked over to the couch angrily, dropping herself on it and leaning back to watch Hyejoo breeze through Cuphead.
“You left a mess at the door.” Hyejoo threw a quick glance at Sooyoung who was sporting only a sports bra, sweat dripping down from having stomped all the way home and still smelling vaguely of coffee. “Fucking jock.”
“Nerd, shut up,” Sooyoung sharply retorted. “I don’t even do sports. Dance is all I’m good at.”
“And you still look every bit the dumb jock.”
“Fuck off.”
Hyejoo paused her game, and Sooyoung blinked. Her sister never usually paused for anyone.
“Okay, what happened?”
She hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately slumped down her shoulders with a frustrated sigh. “Someone made me spill my coffee on my math notes,” she said. “And me, yeah.”
At the sound of Hyejoo’s sharp laugh, Sooyoung reached over to grabbed her sister’s controller threateningly.
“No, wait, sorry!” Hyejoo immediately tucked it safely behind her. “It’s just…”
“I know, it’s dumb,” Sooyoung interrupted, grumbling. “But I’m even dumber at math and I worked so hard on those. And there’s a huge test next week and guess who’s failing? Me!”
At that, Hyejoo threw her a pointed look.
“My math tutor is also a jun-“
“No.” Sooyoung was starting to warm up to the idea, and she didn’t like it. She could hear Jiwoo’s voice in her head. ‘You’d prioritize your pride over your grades?!’
“You didn’t even let me finish!” Hyejoo complained, then grinned mischievously. “You know what, at this point even I could probably tutor you.”
Sooyoung ignored her, opting instead to stand up and head over to the things she left at the front door. She started gathering the mess up, grimacing every time her hand touched a coffee-soaked paper. Hyejoo watched her and continued speaking.
“They’re not here.”
Sooyoung stopped midway through picking up her notes. “What?”
“They’re not here,” her sister repeated, plugging in a second controller and throwing it on the couch beside her. “C’mon, you can clean that mess up later, no one’s here to shout.”
Sooyoung dropped her stuff immediately. She waltzed over and picked up the controller, falling back down onto the couch as Hyejoo resumed the game.
“Again? They just arrived yesterday. How long this time?”
“A few weeks.”
“Well, good riddance,” Sooyoung mumbled, and Hyejoo stayed silent.
For a while, it was quiet save for the various blasters and noises the game made. When they failed Hilda Berg for the sixth time, though, Hyejoo turned to her.
“I was doing better alone. Do you want me to get a tutor for Cuphead too?”
“Shut up.” Sooyoung mashed on the controller’s buttons angrily before turning in realization. “Wait, what do you mean ‘too’?”
Hyejoo smiled at her, and she sighed in defeat.
No, as much as she wanted to, she did not prioritize her pride over her grades.