Within the Frames

“Minjae-ya…” Gaeul whispers softly into your neck. “I gotta get ready for the day~” She kisses your chin and taps her small fingers against your shoulders, trying to rouse you awake.

You peel your eyes open and look down at Gaeul. You still remember last night, where she straddled you on the dining chair after having ramyeon, holding you tight, rocking you gently, feeling her heartbeat against yours. You didn't let go of her and carried her to her bed, laying there together smelling each other's scent, feeling each other’s warmth till you both drifted into slumber. Right now, you're both still wrapped around each other, refusing to let go.

“I love you.” You whisper and peck Gaeul on her forehead, before loosening your arms from her. Gaeul giggles and pushes you flat onto her bed, straddling you. She leans down and cups your cheeks, breathing hot against your lips.

“I love you too, dummy.” Gaeul murmurs, before smooching you, peppering every corner of your face with kisses. “I would love to have some fun with you right now, but it's a busy day today~ I’m so excited for the shoot!” She giggles before pushing herself off you.

“You’ll do great later,” you say, smiling warmly at Gaeul.

“Yujinnie always treats me so well, looking out for me, buying nice clothes for me, sharing her opportunities with me~” Gaeul says as she skips towards the bathroom.

Your smile freezes instantly. Your palms begin to sweat and your chest tightens. The guilt that seemed to have slightly faded last night comes crashing back down on you again. It never disappeared — just an illusion you imposed on yourself. The scenes at the public pool yesterday resurface in your head: how you denied Karina once again, how you submitted to Yujin’s taunts, and how you found out that Yujin was the mastermind all along.

Gaeul turns around to look at you through the bathroom door, toothbrush in her hand, mouth foamy from toothpaste. “You're really quiet lately…” she mumbles, eyes filled with concern. “Is this about Jimin?”

You look at her with a short pause, thinking about what to answer. “It’s the finals, I'm just really tired. Don't worry about me,” you say with a forced smile. “Besides, I’m excited for you later.”

Gaeul pouts and turns around, grabbing your pair toothbrush from your mug beside hers. “C’mere, get ready with me. I’m feeling jitters too, but doing things together with you calms me down,” she says.

You get up from the bed hesitantly, joining her in the bathroom to wash up before having a quick shower together with her. Soon, you're donned in a fresh set of clothes — you both have clothes in each other’s dorms — sitting on the edge of her bed.

“Apple?” Gaeul asks as she bends down to grab one from the mini refrigerator.

“Mmm,” you agree, standing up to take a small knife from the table. You grab the fruit from her, give it a good wash in the bathroom sink and begin cutting — right down the center, then into quarters, before removing the core. You leave the skin on — it's full of vitamins, antioxidants, fiber — before offering her a slice.

“Feed me~” Gaeul says cutely. You smile and pat her head softly, cutting the apple further into bite sized pieces before feeding her one. She takes it gently, teeth grazing your fingertips, eyes never leaving yours. “Y’know, I didn't want to do that to Jimin… She has always been one of my best friends, but now that I've noticed, she's been so distant to me lately, especially the period right before what happened.” Gaeul mumbles as she chews, looking a little down. She pauses, flicking her eyes to you, “I’m still kinda mad at her, but I really miss the old Jimin…”

You look at Gaeul, sliding a piece of apple into your mouth. The crisp sweetness turns sour on your tongue. “Maybe you two should sit down and have a talk?”

Gaeul sighs before opening her mouth at you. You pop another into her mouth. “She used to tell me everything. I just want an answer. If she’s sorry, I’ll forgive her. Maybe I should talk to her tomorrow when she’s feeling better.”

“Anyway, today’s about me~ And the shoot.” Gaeul chirps, changing the topic. “I don't wanna sour our day.”

You nod and stuff two more apple pieces into your mouth. “I can't wait to see you in action,” you say, looking at her with adoration. “You’ll be so beautiful. You’re always so beautiful.”

“You’re so sweet,” Gaeul covers her mouth with her fingers as she giggles. “I know my friends are much prettier than me, but you always say that I am the prettiest~ You sure know how to make a woman happy.”

“It's not a lie…” you mumble.

Your phone buzzes.

<Minjeong, 06:38> I’ll see you at the usual? Same time.

“Who's that?” Gaeul asks.

“It’s Winter, I have a discussion with her later. I have to go now, or I’ll be late,” you say, tapping your reply to her on your phone.

“Ah, then go! I’ll clean up, don't let Minjeong wait~ Oh, don’t be late to the boutique. I want you there. I’ll text you the address later.” Gaeul says before pulling you into a deep kiss.

The door clicks shut behind you, and you walk towards the campus library.

“Hey,” you whisper, tapping on Winter’s shoulder. She’s in her usual library corner, head bent over notes like always.

“Hey, you're here. Take a seat, sorry about the mess~” Winter points at the empty — well maybe not so empty — seat beside her, hastily removing the stack of thick books from the chair. She then sweeps imaginary “book dust” off the chair and pulls it out for you.

You look at Winter as you sit down, thinking if she’ll ask you about what happened at the pool yesterday, but she doesn't. Her eyes flick to you briefly, but she doesn’t ask anything. She just looks at you with a soft smile, which somehow sends warmth and comfort to your heart.

“Hey Minjeong, before I forget,” you say, pulling a small paper bag from your backpack and handing it to Winter. “Can you pass these to… Jimin?”

Winter looks at the bag, then back at you. Inside contains a few items:

• A travel-size tube of moisturiser

• A pack of fragrance-free feminine wipes

• A small tube of pain relief cream

• Two electrolyte powder packets

• A handful of her favorite Haribo gummies

• A folded note: “For you — Minjae”

Winter’s eyes soften as she peeks inside.

“This is really thoughtful,” she says quietly. “She’ll appreciate it. Thank you.” Winter puts the paper bag in her backpack and turns back to you. “So, you ready to discuss the project?”

“Yea,” you reply before fishing out your laptop. “I’ve read up a bit about serotonin, but I’m having difficulty drafting out what we want to focus on.” You pull up the draft PowerPoint file that you made over the last week and show it to Winter.

“Give me a while to look through…” Winter says, her eyes instantly locking on the screen. She clicks through the slides, penning down notes on a piece of scrap paper as she mumbles to herself. And you? You just sit there silently, trying to make sense of what Winter is mumbling, but your mind keeps drifting to how you orgasmed to Yujin’s voice yesterday.

“Oh wow, this is actually really well made, you've summarised the key related concepts down.” Winter clicks through a few more slides, then looks up. “Okay, after weighing the pros and cons, I think we should focus on serotonin’s production, regulation, and its gut-brain connection. This way we’ll get a full story with good flow — if that makes sense?”

“O-okay?” You say, barely catching on to what she is saying. Before you can even ask, Winter continues to ramble on.

“You’ve made a nice point here,” Winter says, clicking back to the first slide, “where 90-95% of serotonin is made primarily in the gut.”

“W-wait, I'm a little confused. What is serotonin again?” you question.

Winter looks at you with an exasperated expression, “Don't tell me you just copy-pasted whatever you searched…”

“Yea?” you smile sheepishly. “As in I know that it has something to do with our mood, but that's about it. It made me slightly confused, why would something that influences our mood be produced in the gut and not the brain?”

“That’s why you have this section here! The gut-brain connection. Sheesh, you really got to stay focused,” Winter laughs, poking your cheek with her finger. “You see what you typed here? The enterochromaffin cells in the gut lining produce serotonin from tryptophan, and the microbiome plays a huge role in regulating that process. Stress messes with the microbiome, which can lower serotonin production and make anxiety worse. It’s like the gut and brain are in constant conversation.”

You listen, nodding as Winter re-explains what you have already researched. “So if your mind is messed up, your gut rebels?” you ask.

“Yea. Exactly what's happening to you right now,” Winter says, her voice lowering slightly. “I've been noticing recently. You’ve really been looking really really stressed. It's written all over your face.”

You look at her, not knowing what to say. Your mind wants to focus on ‘From Gut to Brain: Serotonin Biosynthesis and Its Enzymatic Mechanisms’, but Yujin’s moans and Karina’s begs keep flashing across your mind.

“It really doesn't take much. We don't need to be Gaeul to know what you're feeling, y’know?” She puts down her pen and grabs a granola bar from her bag. “Eat. I know you haven't been eating well.”

You reach out, taking the bar from her hesitantly. “T-thanks, Minjeong.”

“Healthy mind, healthy gut. And vice versa.” She taps on the temple on her head. “Anyway, on the topic of food, have you tried the new café down the street by the old pizza place? The one famous for its beef lasagne and Margherita pizza with burrata~”

“No, what's the name? I haven't had time to… eat out lately,” you reply, munching on the granola.