DERANGER - SEULRENE

012

you set down your four-years-worth of case digests on top of your thick law books, stacking them all together on the side of your study table.

then you sit down and stare, a hand to your chin.

it's still worth a try, you think. you've got three months to go through these cases again, rememorising articles and preparing yourself for the bar.

you know it'll be dreadful. but it's still worth another try.

besides, this is the best diversion you've thought of. the news of you breaking up with donghae spread quickly to both your parents, and even your churchmates. your mum and dad kept bugging you over the weekend, trying to make sense of what happened or what went wrong.

to them, donghae is the best partner you could ever find. giving them reasons like you don't feel the same way towards him anymore doesn't make sense.

they only stopped when you told them you want to focus on taking the bar and don't want any distractions.

it surely put you in a challenging situation, but at least your dad liked the idea.

now, all you need to worry about is passing that damn bar exam.

---

you are slightly bothered to see seulgi's empty chair the following week.

makes you wonder if her absence is related to that pretty girl you saw her with last friday.

you notice there's a pattern. whenever that girl appears, seulgi will be gone for days.

and your theory is proven right when wednesday came and seulgi's still missing. no word. not a single email or text message.

you want to call her, but you think you think that's too slutty. everything between the two of you should be over after that night (and morning) you shared on her bed.

that's the silent rule of hook-up, right?

although, you don't want it to end like that because seulgi made you feel like you can be yourself with her.

but yeah, maybe that's just how seulgi is when it comes to her flings.

sadly, you're just one of those flings.

---

you are reminded that you are her professor, and you've got every right to know why she isn't attending your classes.

because of that, you tried calling her number only to get an unavailable prompt.

---

you found out from yeri that seulgi's missing their workout schedules and has been unresponsive for days.

you find it weird, considering it's seulgi. but she's done this last semester, a reason she had to retake your class.

you want to reach out to yuri through your taeyeon, but you're worried they might find it weird.

so, you plan to wait until friday to see if something or someone will come up.

---

"all set now?" eunwoo asks as he drops the last piece of box top of the other.

you are squatting on the floor as you count the boxes around. "yeah. it's all here. thank you."

eunwoo squats beside you. "this is nice. i like this one better than your old flat."

"you think so?"

"yeah. i don't see why your ex would disagree with you living here. it's strategically placed at the centre of the city. and there's a 7-eleven just across, in case you need something urgent."