minjun finds himself wrapped up in a game; a battle of tug of war, every push and pull as gratifying as the one before, but he's unsure if mina is the opponent he has to beat, or the prize at stake.
either way, he acknowledges that she had won this round, though there's still a long way to match point. with a tube of lipstick in hand, he finds himself outside her dorm room, taking bait to her attempt at reeling him in with traces of her and their little rendezvous the night before.
not that they did anything more than exchange sultry glances at each other, dilated eyes darting down to steal glimpses of each other's lips, looking away before the guilt seeps in, but lingering long enough to imagine what it'd be like to have the other's lips on theirs. it's how he even knew that lipstick stranded in his car belonged to mina—he'd recognise that shade of cherry red any day.
he knows she left it behind on purpose, he saw her checking her pockets before she left his car. was it to tell him that she had noticed him staring at her lips all night? or was it an illicit invitation to explore the forbidden? whatever it was, minjun is here to find out.
he lands a couple of knocks on her room door, fiddling with her lipstick in his free hand, the usual lousy excuse they use whenever they meet unprompted at the very tip of his tongue. the door opens, and with it, reveals a face he was not expecting to see. instead of being greeted with one of mina's coquettish smiles, he meets eyes with an unwelcome face, one he was conditioned to turn and walk in the opposite direction whenever his gaze falls onto her.
fukumura seina.
or the self-proclaimed campus cupid, of whom he had fallen victim to in his early semesters at mugunghwa. a good amount of time had passed since then, he is no longer a clueless freshman exploring a new medium of art, he now knows the hallways of mugunghwa like the back of his hand. still, her bothersome antics were etched deeply in his mind. after all, it’s not everyday you get a complete stranger pestering you to go on a date with another stranger.
just as she had spent weeks attempting to match him up with a girl that had implored her matchmaking services, he had spent equal amounts of time avoiding her, escaping the hallways she roamed. minjun was never one to concern himself with other people's business—not until it involved him, or threatened to destroy his peace, both of which seina managed to do.
his eyebrows creased—an evident perplexity that shows whenever he is in her presence—as he fights back a disgruntled sigh, forgetting for a brief moment that mina and seina are roommates. not that it surprised him, he really didn’t know enough about mina—it’s exactly what draws him to her.
“is mina in?” he asks, straight to the point. there was no need for pleasantries with her.
CLEAR THE AIR ft. @dulcetcure
