[i saw an idea from pinterest and its along the lines of "what the fuck r u doing its 2am why are you playing My Heart Will Go On on the piano". and i thot, aye thats actually nice.]

[and once again, i pretend to know how college works.]

[the spaces between us]

Letting out a whine, Ahn Yujin rolled over her room's carpetted floor so that she was face down in a pile of pillows and her stuffed toys.

"College shouldn't be this haaaard," she groaned, her voice muffled through the cotton of her beloved stuffed dog, "Studying shouldn't take this long! Daeng, help meee."

"You can't fail your midterms again, Yujin," She remembered her best friend, Jang Wonyoung's voice telling her as they were walking back from class one day, "Second chances aren't too easy to get. Plus, I think you've used all yours up."

"That's easy for you to say. I'm not as studious as you, Youngie. It's too hard!"  Yujin had whined right back, slouching forward as if the weight of her struggles was pulling her down. "I can't just study all night only to fail!"

"Still, it's better to actually study for once," Wonyoung had responded. "It really does make a difference, trust me."

And with that, Yujin's promise to study for her midterms were in action. Only she had left it too late and was now pulling an all-nighter to make up for four weeks of avoiding the torture of studying.

At least Nako had the sympathy to help her start out, as Wonyoung was also busy with her own studies. She had left just a little after 8:30PM, which seemed like an eternity ago to the puppy.

All that was left was to finish reading the eight textbooks she had borrowed from the library.

Her head spun as she recalled the three books she had already finished.

Whipping out her phone, she decided to shoot the big baby a quick text.

pup: how do u stay focused on studying??? im dyinggggggg

About a solid minute later, she received a response.

bun: just try not to get distracted.

bun: i finished about three hours ago so im playing mario kart w yuri unnie, kura unnie, and nako unnie.

pup: no fairrrr. can i join u????

bun: finish studying first, ahn yujin.

Yujin sighed, finally admitting defeat. 

Oh, you cruel, cruel world! Still so young with so many years left to live before the cruel hand of the school system had taken away her precious life. 

How she had longed for the missed opportunities that were still to come for before her untimely death.

 She had wanted to see her tiny unnies grow old (and actually grow), watch Wonyoung get married to the person of her dreams. Heck, she still hadn't even had a girlfriend. for pete's sake!

Maybe Wonyoung wouldn't min--

Her thoughts were interrupted by the very muffled sound of piano notes. At first she thought that she had truly reached the afterlife and that this was the sweet melody that was here to guide her through to the heavens.

Upon closer inspection, Yujin had gotten up to draw the curtains of her dorm room to track the source of the gentle melody which she could hear more clearly now. Stepping out onto the balcony, she noticed the dimly lit room across from her own.

A girl with long hair was seated at the stool of a keyboard, her fingers dancing across the keys as if she were performing an ancient ritual. They traced the edges of every note as if she had done this countless times before. 

The girl faced sideways to the balcony, and Yujin noticed that her eyes were closed in concentration. She moved ever so slightly, yet not at all. 

 It was easy to tell that she was a master at this art, confidence radiating from every note that was made.

Yujin found herself entranced by the other girl. The song that was being played was obviously a very emotional one, as she noticed the tune had begun to shift to a sadder contrast from before. She wondered how many years it would've taken the girl to become so exceptional at playing such instrument. 

It seemed this has certainly a lot more dedication than she would ever put into her own studying.

She watched the girl's eyebrows furrow slightly. Her soft, pink tinged lips, illuminated by the glow of the lamp at her side. Her cheeks were a similar shade in contrast, complimented by the complexion of her face.

Yujin continued staring from her balcony, her arms folded on her chest as she gazed into the room across from hers. The long-haired girl started humming to the tune of her song. 

She was certain her heart skipped a beat. 

Although the other girl's full voice couldn't be heard, her hum was smooth and could almost make her fall right into the spell she wasn't aware she was casting upon Ahn Yujin.

Suddenly, the gears started turning in her head as she paid a little more attention to the song that was being played.

Wait a minute.

Was that My Heart Will Go On?

Everything stopped at once as Yujin's mind had caught up to the rather shocking realization. She should really be ashamed for not noticing sooner. Rather, her attention chose to focus on the performer instead of the piece itself.

As the girl transitioned from one verse to another, a dark, mischievous (and possibly stupid) thought started forming in the back of Yujin's head.

She shouldn't.

But it was all too late.

Yujin sprinted back inside to search for the one object that could really make this night perfect. She opened her closet and started frantically rummaging through her belongings, throwing clothes and the like behind her in search for her desired object.

Shoving her hand into the depths of one of her discarded travel bags, she felt the familiar texture of the plastic and grinned, yanking it out.

She marvelled at the small instrument of mass destruction with a look of longing. Blowing into it to make sure it still worked and she had the right notes, she rushed back out to the balcony. 

The girl was still playing, only seconds from the chorus. Perfect.

Yujin waited.

And waited.

And waited just a bit more.

She inhaled.

"PWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

The girl at the piano flinched, her fingers slipping to the wrong notes at the sudden disturbance, her head quickly whipping around to look at the culprit who so very loudly decided to accompany her.

Her cheeks blushed a furious shade of red. The girl across from her had chosen to join her during the chorus on her recorder.

Despite the fact that she had stopped playing after being startled, the recorder girl kept playing on her own, as if the world was her stage and she was a grand performer in a grand event.

All while the performance was taking place at midnight in a campus full of stressed college students pulling all-nighters.

Among the madness of the scene, the brown-haired girl found herself laughing. Standing up, she slid open the screen door and stood out on the balcony, basking in the glory that was this stranger's recorder cover of My Heart Will Go On.

Realizing her performance was now a solo piece, Yujin opened her eyes and looked across the balcony to see the piano girl now outside, staring at her.

"Why'd you stop?" The puppy asked aloud, looking back at the girl, "it was meant to be a duet!"

"I would've been fine playing along with you, if I had not gotten such a shock from your intro," The girl replied, laughter in her silk-like voice. 

It reminded Yujin of the ocean, and she instantly felt at ease when talking to her.

"Ah, I guess that is my fault," Yujin said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, "sorry for scaring you."

"You didn't scare me!" The long-haired girl said almost defensively, her hands waving out in front of her with her eyes wide open, "well, kind of... but I shouldn't have been playing the piano instead of studying anyway, so I guess it's my fault."

Yujin smiled, "How about we both take the blame?"

The girl across from her giggled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "That's fine by me. What's your name?"

"Ahn Yujin," The younger grinned, instinctively bending forward to bow her head.

The other girl smiled and bowed back at her, "I'm Kim Minju."

"That's a pretty name!" Yujin beamed, letting her arms draped over the edge of the balcony railing, "So, how long have you been playing the piano, Minju-ssi?"

"I started lessons when I was eight," Minju said, mirroring Yujin with her hands folded neatly on top of each other, "I'm currently doing a bachelor of music, and I also play the guitar along with it, but right now it's all really..."

Yujin bit her lip, sensing the hesitation on Minju's voice, "Hard?"

Minju looked up at the other girl. "Yeah. I'm kind of in a slump right now, which is unfortunate," she glanced up at the sky, "and untimely."

"Well, if you ever need any help, I can always back you up on my recorder!" The pup said, bringing it to her lips once more. 

Smiling back at her, Minju leaned forward slightly, "So I take it you're not majoring in music like I am?"

Gasping with mock offense, Yujin soon pouted, "That's a hurtful assumption, but I guess it's true," She tapped her fingers along the plastic tube, "I'm actually switching between majors right now. I'm not exactly sure what I want to pursue just yet."

Minju frowned, "Do you know what you want to do instead?"

"Think I can get into a music major with my recorder?"

I like this girl. Smiling, Minju leaned into one of her hands, "That depends. How long have you been playing?"

Yujin hummed in thought, "I mean, I was probably a master at age ten, but then there was a long hiatus."

"How long?"

"I'd say about.. a few months?"

Minju gasped, "But you sound like you've been doing it for years!"

Was it possible to have a crush on someone who you just met? The younger laughed,  "What can I say, I'm probably the descendent of Mozart!"

"Isn't he Austrian?"

"...That's not important."

"I'd say it is pretty important, though," said Minju, "Plus, Mozart was more known as a pianist and violinist. I don't think he ever played the recorder."

"That's ridiculous! Surely he went to grade school."

"School would've been different back then. Besides, not every school teaches the recorder."

"Did you ever learn the recorder, Minju-ssi?"

Silence filled the space between them as Minju's face grew warmer.

"...No?"

Gasping, Yujin leaned further, "You mean you're a master at every single instrument but you never learned to play the recorder?!"

Minju blushed and defensively shot back, "Only two instruments, mind you! And I was taking special music classes outside of school, so I never needed to."

Still not satisfied, Yujin only became more astounded by what she was hearing, "I can't believe this! The recorder was such a big part of so many children's school experience and you weren't a part of it at all!"

"Please lower your voice, we don't want to disturb everyone else," Minju begged, her voice hushed. "This is so embarrassing..."

"It doesn't have to be!" She declared, standing up straight. She lowered her voice a little bit for Minju's sake, "I can teach you how to play!"

"...Teach me?"

"Yeah," said Yujin, a proud smile plastered on her face, "and in return, you can teach me how to play piano!"

Minju stiffened, casting her gaze to the railing at her side, "I don't know, Yujin..."

"Aw, but it'll be fun!" Yujin whined, "then we can do piano-recorder duets of My Heart Will Go On, and I might even be able to help you get out of your slump!"

Minju reluctantly looked back at Yujin, her eyebrows knitted. "I can probably help you learn the piano, but I don't know about the recorder."

"Come on! It'll be a fair trade that way," said Yujin, "consider it as payback for teaching me piano."

A few seconds of silence went by before Minju finally looked at Yujin in the eye, skeptical, "I'm not an easy-going teacher."

This caused Yujin to feel a shiver in her spine, but she stared right back, "I understand."

"It won't be easy."

"I can take it."

"It would have to cut into your free time."

"That's absolutely fine by me," Yujin responded as calmly as she could. 

As if she would pass up the opportunity to spend time with a pretty girl she'd just met.

She's persistent. Minju finally sighed, "I guess I can't really say no, huh?"

Determination glowed in Yujin's crescent-like eyes, nodding her head excitedly.

Smiling back at her, Minju chuckled lightly, "It's funny how these things could happen at midnight, when anyone would normally be asleep."

Yujin hummed in agreement, "I like to think that things like this happen because of fate."

Yet another blush creeping up on her face, Minju nearly choked, flustered, she echoed, "F-Fate?"

Yujin felt herself blush, but she still maintained a confident smile. She unknowingly just introduced a rather romantic feel into their conversation, however something about the other girl made her feel at ease. 

Perhaps it really was fate. Or maybe something else Ahn Yujin couldn't fully identify just yet. Nonetheless, she nodded and spoke again, "Yeah."

Minju gulped and felt the tenseness in her shoulders relax. Her heartbeat, although having been pounding against her chest just moments before, slowed down to a normal pace as she breathed.

"I guess things do happen for a reason," She said, gazing up at the stars that littered the blackness above their heads. 

It was weird how one minute, she was playing the piano to escape the horrors of late-night studying, only to have a loud recorder screech suddenly join in with an unexpected duet the next.

This is nice, both of them thought to themselves, basking in the glow of the moon from their separate balconies. Silently, they hoped that it would happen a thousand other times.

"This is nice," Yujin sighed aloud. "This is way better than-"

A muffled ringtone intruded her passage of speech, slightly yanking the lovestruck pup back to the present. Oh, no.

"Is that your phone?" Minju asked, moving her head slightly to the side to look past the younger into her dorm.

"Y-Yeah..." Yujin responded guiltily, "it's probably Wonyoung calling to see how my studying's going."

Minju quickly clasped her hands together in a flustered apology, "I'm sorry I distracted y-"

"No! You didn't distract me at all!" Yujin replied just as fast, waving her hands in front of her, "I really should've finished earlier anyway. I knew she'd call," She looked down with a low sigh, "...that giant baby."

Minju looked back up, still a tinge of guilt stricken in her face, "I see. Well, you should probably answer your phone."

"Ah! You're right!" Yujin turned to run back inside. Before leaving, however, she turned her head to face Minju once again, smiling, "it was really nice to meet you! See you tomorrow, Minju-ssi!"

"You mean later today?"

"Same thing!"

Not wanting to leave, yet knowing she had to, Yujin ducked back inside and closed the balcony door behind her. She saw the older do the same. 

The long haired girl looked up before pulling the curtains and smiled, sending a tiny wave of her hand. 

She's so pretty. Yujin smiled and waved back, only stopping once the curtains had been fully closed.

"Oi, Ahn Yujin!" Wonyoung sighed from the other end, "why didn't you respond to my texts?"

"Sorry, Youngie," Yujin replied, laying down on her bed, "Missed them, maybe. My bad."

"Well, at least you responded to my call," The giant maknae said, "what were you doing, anyway!"

"Uh, studying!" Yujin said, maybe a little too quickly.

Silence.

"I'd like to believe you, but due to your tendency to doze off when you're bored, I'm afraid I can't."

Rude.

"You got me," admitted a defeated Ahn Yujin, "I wasn't studying, but I definitely wasn't sleeping, either!"

"What were you doing, then?"

Yujin felt herself smiling a secret, dumb smile and looked past her balcony. Between their balconies, only a meter or two separated them. 

The spaces between them. Yujin swore she'd someday cross that distance.

"It's a funny story, really..."

______

word count:

2709

i HAD to post jinjoo coz i ranked 1 on that tag like, maybe weeks ago, idk rlly

i love them, but i dont rlly ship them :<

but! i tried to set aside my whipped shipping ass and write them like how i write my favorite ships!! i just hope i did well.

a vote and comment is appreciated!!

i love you guys!!!