Chapter Text
Ha Sooyoung isn't the most gifted when it comes to chemistry. She doesn't get the formulas and weird math that goes into it all. She's not dumb, she just keeps mixing up the equations and things like that. Now if you were taking about having chemistry with people, yeah, that's what she's good at.
She was good at reading people. Hell, she even studied people. More specifically people and living organisms as a whole, since biology is what she's majoring in.
People say biology and chemistry are related, but she just doesn't see it.
“What do you mean you don't see it?” Kim Jungeun, Sooyoung’s lab partner, sighed for the umpteenth time that week. “Biology literally needs chemistry to work! The interactions with atoms, molecules, and compounds are exactly what-”
“Jungeun,” Sooyoung interrupted, “One: don’t care. Two: this is the 10th time you've told me this and it's only the third week of class.” The chemistry lab was also only held twice a week. The amount of times Sooyoung had heard the other girl complaining about the same thing was excessive.
Jungeun crossed her arms with a huff. “That's because you didn't understand it the other nine times I've told you.”
She might have tried to mumble it but Sooyoung heard her loud and clear. “I don't need to understand why, I just need to pass this class.”
“But aren't you going to take-”
“I'll worry about it when the time comes.”
“That's not very responsible-”
“Neither is letting the mixture boil over when it's supposed to be simmering.” A new voice entered the conversation startling Sooyoung and Jungeun. They stopped their bickering and faced their instructor.
“Sorry, Dr. Jeong.” “Sorry, Professor Jeong.”
Professor Jeong turned off burner.
“I expect more out of you, Jungeun.”
Jungeun glared at Sooyoung, who shrugged and stared at her nails. It wasn't her fault Jungeun turned the burner on high. The instructions said to keep a low flame. Maybe if Jungeun would let her help it wouldn't have gotten messed up. So what if she was bad at the equation side of things, she could at least follow simple instructions to do the experiment.
Whatever, Sooyoung didn't care she just needed to pass.
C's get degrees after all.
“I have office hours at 5pm. I expect to see both of you here to redo your experiment.”
That got Sooyoung's attention. Thursday nights were date nights. They used to be Friday or Saturdays, but her girlfriend Jinsol (whose dancing was one of the few to rival her own) taught evening classes through the weekend at the local dance studio, while Sooyoung volunteered at the local animal shelter during the day.
“Dr. Jeong-”
“We'll be there.” Jungeun cut the older girl off. Then it was Sooyoung's turn to glare.
Sooyoung quickly covered the look and smiled at the professor. “Thanks for giving us another chance, Dr. Jeong. ”
“Anything for you, Sooyoung.” He smiled back. “You both can go ahead and clean this up. I'll see you this evening.”
The professor had barely made it two steps away before Sooyoung's lab partner turned to her. “Ew, did you really just flirt with the Prof? Gross. Also, you know you don't have to call him Doc, right? Jaden Jeong does not have his PhD.”
“I know that. I just feel sorry for him because he's the only one in the department without it. Also, I wasn't flirting, I'm just trying to stay on his good side.”
“Riiight.”
Sooyoung rolled her eyes and ignored the girl’s statement. She just continued to pack up her bag and left. Sooyoung couldn't stand the other girl. Just because she was a supposed “science prodigy” didn't mean she was all that.
She really hated that Kim Jungeun girl.
Jungeun chuckled to herself as she watched her lab partner leave the classroom. She was glad she riled her up after making her look bad on front of her advisor.
Then she realized that the other girl had left her to clean up the materials and she let out a frustrated groan.
She really hated that Ha Sooyoung girl.
-
When Jungeun made it to the classroom at 5, there was no sign of the professor, but the materials for the experiment were already laid out on the table. Sooyoung was sat at the table carefully measuring out liquids from various containers.
“The lab isn't worth that much if you're going for extra credit.”
“Look, can you cut it out?” Sooyoung put breaker down aggressively, a bit of liquid sloshed on the table. “I'm already in a relationship and I'm gonna be missing date night to do this experiment with you.”
“Well I'm soooorry you don't have time to smooch with your boyfriend since we have to do this lab over.”
“I don't need your assumptions, blondie. My girlfriend only has tonight off and we've had to cancel our plans 3 times in the past 2 weeks so I've barely seen her since the start of the semester.”
“Oh...”
Sooyoung turned away and busied herself with measuring the rest of the ingredients (it was the easy part). She paused to point to page in the workbook. “Solve that.”
Jungeun hesitated for a moment before pulling out her notebook and a pencil to work on the problem. Sooyoung noticed she didn't pull out a calculator, but didn't let that concern her. She finished up her measuring and lined it up nicely while she prepared to wait.
Prepared being the keyword, because when she looked up, Jungeun was watching her with a bored look on her face.
“Aren't you going to solve it?”
“Already did.”
Sooyoung looked surprised but quickly wiped it away, because of course the prodigy would solve the problem in less than a minute. The problem would've taken Sooyoung at least 5 minutes to solve, and had it been anyone other than Jungeun, she would've asked them to prove how they got the answer they did, but she knew the other girl would get it right. She would never say it aloud, but she envied Jungeun's ability to do chemistry so easily.
“Alright, let's get started then.” Sooyoung said, and began picking up the chemicals she measured out for the experiment. Just as she was about to pour the first chemical into a beaker, Jungeun spoke.
“Did you measure everything properly?”
“Of course I did, or do you need to check my work, Ms. Prodigy?”
“No, I believe you, I was just asking. It's my grade too, y'know.”
Sooyoung nodded. “Sorry, I'm just trying to get this done and you've been treating me like I'm incompetent since we started this course.”
“Look, I'm not trying to be an ass. I just love science and I'm very passionate about it. I'm sorry we started off on the wrong foot, how about we start over?” Jungeun finished her own apology with an outstretched hand and a hesitant smile.
Sooyoung waited a moment to gauge whether the other girl was being genuine. She decided she was and gave the proffered hand a firm shake.
“Deal. I'm Ha Sooyoung, 21-year-old bio major. I love to dance and I don't understand chemistry.”
Jungeun laughed. “I'm Kim Jungeun, 20-year-old chemistry major. Dancing is fun, but I prefer singing.” She paused before adding. “And I'd love to help you understand chemistry... if you want?”
“I do, but not right now. The only thing I want right now is to finish this up so I can go smooch with my girlfriend.” Sooyoung teased.
Jungeun groaned and put her head in her hands. “I'm sorry about that! I shouldn't have assumed.”
“You know what happens when you assume...”
“No?”
“You make an ass out of u and me.”
“That was terrible.” Jungeun said but laughed anyway.
“But true. Anyways, it doesn't matter anymore. We started over, remember?” Sooyoung smiled and continued with the experiment.
Jungeun smiled in return. Maybe Ha Sooyoung wasn't so bad.
They were halfway through the experiment when Sooyoung made a comment.
“You would think Prof. Jeong would be here. With the ingredients we have, something could easily go wrong.”
“But I'm here.” Jungeun gave a smug smile as she poured a chemical into the solution on the burner.
“Wait, isn't that-”
Jungeun froze at the panicked look on Sooyoung’s face. She watched as a drop from the tube in her hand landed in the beaker. She screwed her eyes shut waiting for the impending reaction, but nothing happened.
“Just kidding.”
“What the hell!” Jungeun screamed hitting Sooyoung in the arm. “I almost had a heart attack!”
“You're fine. If you would've poured the one next to it then it would've been bad.”
“I take it back. You're terrible.”
“Aw, Jungeunnie!” Sooyoung grabbed Jungeun and pulled her into a hug. “Don't be like that!”
“Ack!” Jungeun yelped and struggled in Sooyoung’s hold. “We're barely even friends.” Sooyoung laughed and hugged Jungeun tighter as she tried to get away.
“What are you doing?!” Jungeun quickly tried to push away just as Sooyoung was releasing her. Thus, causing Jungeun to bump the table. Sooyoung's laughing immediately ceased as she watched the beaker that was on the bunsen burner tip into the chemical she was just talking about.
“Jungeun, look out!”
“I’m not falling for that agai-”
Sooyoung ignored her and pulled the other girl back to her, just as the two solutions touched.
-
It wasn't an explosion, but it was something like it.
Sooyoung opened her eyes. All she could see was white. She was confused, but then she noticed she was on the floor. She groaned and sat up. It wasn't just because she was on the floor, the lab looked like it was engulfed in a thick white fog.
“Jungeun?”
A groan.
“Are you okay?” Sooyoung tried to crawl through the thick smoke to the pained groans coming from the other girl.
When she reached her, she screamed.
Jungeun quickly sat up at the noise. But then she immediately put her head between her knees as she felt a wave of nausea come through her. Sooyoung’s screaming didn't help the headache she was currently sporting, but the panic coming from the other girl scared her too.
“What's wrong??”
“I'm dead!”
“No, you're not.”
“Then how can I see me!”
“What are you talking about?” Jungeun lifted her head and looked at herself. Wait, how can I-?
Jungeun screamed.
“Stop screaming!”
“You were screaming first!”
“That's cuz I'm dead!”
“You're not dead!”
“How come I can see me then?!”
Jungeun stopped her yelling for a second to regard the other girl.
“Wait, you can see you too-I mean, you can see yourself too? ”
“Yeah, can you?”
“Yeah.”
A beat.
“Why are you in my body?!”
“Why are you in my body?!”
“This is all your fault!”
“You're the one who knocked over the experiment!”
“You're the one who was being all weird!”
Ding Ding.
That was Sooyoung’s text notification and she reached into her back pocket. It wasn't in the right pocket so she checked the left.
“See! You’re being weird. Stop feeling on my ass!”
“What ass? Anyways, I'm trying to find my phone!”
“Oh, I've got it.” Jungeun sheepishly replied and took the phone out of her pocket. “Here.”
Sooyoung quickly checked the message then her face went pale.
“What's wrong?”
“That was my girlfriend. She's coming here to pick me up for our date since she got tired of waiting for me.”
Jungeun sighed.
“Then go. We already finished the experiment.” Jungeun looked around. The thick white cloud had disappeared and the classroom didn't look odd at all. The only thing left was the remainder of the experiment and a knocked over stool. “I'll put up the supplies, it's fine.”
Jungeun stood, righting the stool on her way up, and began to clean up their experiment.
“Jung, look at me.”
Jungeun paused and gave her a look, as if to say 'so what?' Sooyoung rolled her eyes in response.
“I mean... look at me.”
A few seconds pass, then:
“Ohhhh, right.”