Never on Schedule

You would never let a meeting run over.

The library's third floor. Again. Same table. Different chaos.

The study room hasn't changed since last time. Same off-white walls. Same whiteboard nobody's erased since spring. Same single working outlet currently being fought over by four different phone chargers. Somebody's left a half-eaten granola bar wrapper on the windowsill. Nobody claims it.

You get there four minutes early. Which feels like a personal victory until you see Winter's already there. Three folders open. A fourth one, new. Labeled GALA in block letters, sitting on top like a threat.

“You're late,” she says. Not looking up.

“I'm early.”

“You're four minutes later than me. That's late, by any definition that matters.”

“That's not a definition. That's a personality flaw.”

She looks up at that. Almost. There it is, the one you've been counting. Before she catches it and goes back to the folder.

“Sit,” she says. “We have forty minutes before the rest of them show up and ruin it.”

“Ruin what?”

“The plan.”

“There's a plan?”

She slides a printed sheet across the table. Times. Bullet points. A pie chart, for reasons you choose not to ask about. At the bottom, smaller font: CONTINGENCIES.

“You made contingencies.”

“I made three.”

“For a committee meeting.”

“For seven people who've never worked together. One of whom is you.” She taps the sheet. “Contingency two is for when you derail the agenda in the first ten minutes.”

“What's contingency three, Batman?”

She rolls her eyes. “Also for you.”

“That's not a contingency plan. That's just a personal vendetta with extra steps.”

“It's efficient. I'm allowed to plan around known variables.”

“I'm a known variable now?”

“You've been a known variable since sophomore year. I just finally wrote it down.”

You don't get to defend yourself before the door swings open and Karina arrives like weather. Tote bag over one shoulder. Phone already in hand. And, inexplicably, a two-liter of soda under her other arm.

“I come bearing snacks,” she says, setting the soda down like an offering.

“Drinks aren't technically allowed past the front desk,” Winter says, eyeing the two-liter like it's a liability.

“Study rooms don't count. Everyone knows that,” Karina says. “Where's the rest of the food?”

Winter, apparently, doesn't have a rule for this exact scenario. Which might be the first gap in her whole system all night.

“There is no food,” Winter says. “This is a planning meeting.”

“There's soda.”

“You brought that.”

“Exactly. I fixed the problem before anyone else noticed it.” Karina drops into the seat across from you, phone already angled. “Don't mind me. Documenting.”

“Documenting what?” Winter asks. Tone flat.

“History. Same as always.”

Yeji arrives two minutes later. Exactly on time by the actual clock. Which earns her a look of pure relief from Winter that you're pretty sure she'd deny giving under oath. Yeji sets her bag down, scans the room, and takes the seat that puts the most distance between herself and whatever Karina's currently radiating.

“Where's Yuna?” she asks.

“Right here.” Yuna slides in behind her, backpack half-open. She waves at you with the same easy, unweighted energy from the hallway. “Sorry. Ran into someone.”

“Define someone,” you say.

“Chaeryeong. She's outside. With…” Yuna hesitates, glancing back at the door. “Someone.”

The door opens again before she can finish the sentence. And the someone announces himself.

“I come in peace,” Jaewon says, stepping inside with both hands up like he's under arrest. Behind him, Chaeryeong lingers in the doorway. Arms crossed, wearing the exact expression of someone who agreed to something ten minutes ago and is already regretting it.

“You are not on this committee,” Winter says.

“Correct.”

“So why are you in this room?”

“Structurally? I'm not. Spiritually, I'm very much here.”

Sunwoo, arriving right behind him with Jiho in tow, doesn't even break stride. “Round four,” he says, dropping into a seat.

“There is no round four.”

“You said that about round three too,” Jiho says.

“Round three is ongoing. This is a natural extension of round three.”