Within These Shadows || Park Chanyeol/Do Kyungsoo || Book 1

3

Mae walked back to the dorms alone after class. At this time around, Jay could be found on the rooftop of the dorms, studying all alone. She followed one rule strictly: nights are not for studying; they're for chilling and sleeping.

The day felt like it had dragged on for 30 hours in the span of 9am to 5pm. Mae was drained and it took her every last bit of her energy to drag herself for a shower. And fortunately every room in the dorm had an attached bathroom. If they had a central one, she would have never made the effort to drag herself all the way there.

By the time she was done, Jay was already back; lying on her bed, hands clasped at the back of her head, eyes closed.

"Done studying already? How long has it been? An hour only?" Surprise was clear in Mae's voice. Jay's study hours were from 5pm to 8pm, but it was only 6pm when she came back.

"It's only the first day, Mae. There's nothing much to study. I just did some research on the topic we studied in Sociology today. There are a few questions I have, but I don't think I can ask them to Professor Kang just yet. For my questions to have a solid base, he needs to teach a couple of more lessons." Jay's eyebrows were furrowed as she said her thoughts out loud.

"Whoa, you already have questions from future lessons?"

"They're all interconnected. The latter lessons are just more in depth."

"Okay." Mae sighed, she wished she could give in as much effort as Jay. "Go take a shower. You stink."

"No I don't. You just say that just to satisfy your OCD."

Mae pinched her nose and stood as far as possible from Jay. She always did that despite the fact that Jay, in reality, didn't stink. She just didn't like Jay lying on her bed without taking a shower, after coming back from class. So she used that method to get her to take her shower.

"One of these days, this witch will jinx you for doing that to me." Jay grabbed her towel and hit Mae's rear with it before walking into the bathroom, causing the other girl to shriek out.

*

"A thought occurred to me last night," Mae said from the back of Jay's bike.

"What?" Jay replied, paddling her bike a bit slower than before.

"We didn't really take our chances to enjoy our first two years in college. All you did was study for the full two years. All I did was study the first year and deal with a stalker in the second."

"And?"

"I'm thinking about joining some fun clubs."

"Like?"

"Like sports club. We never got to complete our Taekwondo training after leaving for college. There are Taekwondo classes here. We can join."

"We can."

"There are also other clubs that we could join."

"Do you plan on joining every club there is?

"Not every, but enough to have fun. I'll also try out some volunteer work."

"Why'd you leave the Robotics club again?"

"Required too much time and effort."

Jay chuckled upon hearing her best friend's reply. "You do realise that you're a very contradictory person? Joining all those clubs will require time and effort too."

"Yes, but not my brain!"

"Wow, I see you're catching the Jay syndrome. Coming up with witty reasons like that is so not like you."