— Sooyoung didn't think it was creepy that she was watching jiwoo in her free time.
maybe a little. but sooyoung couldn't seem to help it. whenever she found herself gazing out the window situated next to her study table, she would usually find herself looking at the top of jiwoo's ginormous garden hat. the hat seemed to move on its own as jiwoo worked in her garden, most definitely pulling weeds or talking to her plants.
sooyoung would almost inevitably find her lips subtly pulling up at a smile, especially when she would see jiwoo sit up and talk to the plants, her voice silenced by the glass between her and sooyoung. sooyoung was especially entertained when jiwoo got mad, as her nose would visibly scrunch up and her eyebrows would furrow, and her lips would form curses at whatever animal was bold enough to venture into her garden.
since they had first met, sooyoung had spoken to jiwoo once. it was when sooyoung went outside to pick up her package in the morning and had been startled when she noticed jiwoo sitting on her porch, a petite porcelain teacup in hand.
"hi!" jiwoo had chirped at seven in the morning. "what's in the box?"
sooyoung was cradling her marishe package in her arms, and had replied curtly, an effect of the lack of coffee in sooyoung's system. "clothes." jiwoo, in response, had just given sooyoung her signature sparkling smile, and sooyoung had felt her eyes softly squint, in order to readjust to the other girl's blinding grin.
currently, sooyoung was sitting at her study table, chemistry notes strewn around, begging to be studied. sooyoung ignored the notes, simply staring at her blank online document, titled as a study guide. after a few moments, sooyoung scoffed and simply shut her laptop. the lofi study music that had been echoing throughout her small kitchen suddenly stopped. as usual, sooyoung's gaze drifted towards the window, tinted with small dewdrops and light condensation. the soft sunrays of the afternoon subtly warmed her goose-bump riddled arms.
as she opened the door to her backyard, sooyoung's face was greeted by the afternoon's warm air. she settled into the feeling of the time right before sunset, not quite noon, not quite the evening.
predictably, jiwoo's head bopped at she moved around on her knees in her garden's dirt, diligently (and frankly, violently) grabbing weeds out of the ground. sooyoung walked up to jiwoo's fence and rested her arms on the top of the edge, clearing her throat. jiwoo started at the sight of her and placed a small, gloved hand on her heart. "god. you scared me." sooyoung gave jiwoo a smirk, and nodded to the tomato vines. "the tomatoes are starting to come in."
jiwoo's face immediately lit up as she moved to the tomato vine. she gently fingered a small tomato bud, still a yellowish shade of green. "i'm really excited for them. i've tried taking care of tomato plants before, but with no luck. they all ended up dying within the first month. but this one is looking up to be a success!" she turned to sooyoung and raised her crossed fingers.
sooyoung's fingers drew circles in the cracking paint of the picket fence as she nodded. sooyoung's eyes met jiwoo's, and after a moment, jiwoo started up the conversation again. "d-do you have any hobbies? i think you already know what mine is."
"not really." sooyoung shrugged. she looked up to jiwoo looking at her expectantly. "i, uh, i mostly just focus on school and modeling." and recently, watching you, sooyoung's mind reminded her. jiwoo gave her a smile.
sooyoung felt bad that jiwoo was basically the atlas of this conversation, holding up both her and sooyoung's end of the discussion. "so, where are you attending uni? wait, are you attending-" "gwacheon u! i'm a biology major, but i want to be a botanist!" jiwoo sang.
sooyoung felt something stab at her heart. yet another person who knew what they were doing with their life. her mind suddenly flashbacked to when she lived in seoul, back to everyone in her parent's circle of friends eagerly asking her, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" back to the corners of her parent's smiles faintly fading when sooyoung lashed out that, no, she didn't know what she wanted to study.
her own words shook her back to reality. "i'm studying business at gu too." jiwoo's lips formed into a smile even brighter than the last, and sooyoung thought she was literally going to burst. "that's so cool! i had no idea." but jiwoo's tone indicated that it was totally more than so cool.
and sooyoung was so okay with that.
