Work Text:
“Haseul!” Heejin calls, standing up from her seat, pausing for a brief second before gingerly pushing it in so that no one would trip on it, “I’ve finished sorting through all the club proposals! I’m going to the bathroom and then to the vending machines for a minute, that okay?”
She receives a thumbs up from the older girl seated across the room, currently shifting through a thick pile of student folders.
“Sure thing, Heejin! Mind getting me a can of coffee while you’re there?”
“Of course!” Heejin quickly reaches into the depths of her backpack, pulling out the reasonable amount of loose change she’d managed to accumulate over the week and shoving it into the pocket of her blazer.
She gently nudges Hyejoo on her way out, the younger girl startling out of her prior hunched position, a pair of earphones falling out of place and onto the desk surface with a clatter.
“Y-yes?!” Hyejoo yelps, straightening as soon as she sees Heejin standing beside her.
Heejin only chuckles fondly, shaking her head. Hyejoo had been working all afternoon. She pats Hyejoo’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Don’t worry, Hyejoo. I was just wondering if you wanted anything from the vending machine.”
“Oh!” Hyejoo puffs out a cheek, lifting her shoulders as she thinks. She taps the eraser end of her pencil against her desk thoughtfully. “Um, if M&Ms wouldn’t be too much of a hassle…?”
“Not at all,” Heejin says kindly before spinning on her heel. “Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes!”
“Take your time, Heej!” Haseul calls just as Heejin’s stepping out the door. “Hyejoo and I are almost finished anyway, so don’t feel rushed!”
--
Heejin steps out of the bathroom stall, and then almost immediately steps back in, heart hammering in her chest, eyes growing wide at the sudden appearance of another able-bodied human in the girls’ restroom.
Literally nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Kim Hyunjin, the soccer team’s newest addition to their crew of star players, standing in front of a bathroom mirror in nothing but a black muscle tee, her shoulders still heaving from exertion as she tugs her perfect black hair out of a high ponytail post-workout.
It doesn’t help that Hyunjin catches her stunned look in the mirror, the soccer player’s eyes widening slightly upon realizing Heejin’s presence.
“Oh!” Hyunjin whirls around, brushing her hair back with a hand, fingers threading through raven black locks as a good-natured smile plays on her lips. “It’s you!”
“W-wha—”
“You’re our year’s student council representative, right?” Hyunjin inquires, cocking her head innocently, as if she'd just strolled here down the hall and hadn't come from what was probably a vigorous training session. “Jeon Heejin?”
“Ah, yes, that’s me!” Heejin nods quickly after taking a hot second for her brain to buffer. “And you’re Kim Hyunjin.”
Hyunjin’s eyes brighten, and Heejin wants to die on the spot. It makes sense for Hyunjin to know Heejin, their class rep. The other way around however, makes considerably less sense.
“You know me?” Hyunjin asks eagerly.
“I-I mean, it’s not very often that we get new students?” Heejin offers, although it sounds more like a question than an explanation. And there’s no way in hell Heejin’s going to ever admit to attending her friend Jungeun’s soccer game a few weeks ago, with the honest intention of supporting her, only to find herself staring at Hyunjin the entire time.
Jungeun’s girlfriend, Jinsol, and Heejin’s other friends, Jiwoo and Sooyoung, had teased her about it for the whole game they were seated in the stands, the older girls having an absolute field day upon the revelation that the Unattainable, Perfect Student Heejin had finally set her sights on somebody.
Not that she’d ever planned on doing anything about her harmless infatuation, but then again, here Heejin is, alone with the only girl she’s ever had a crush on in her life, ever.
“That makes sense,” Hyunjin hums, and she stoops down momentarily to grab a towel from her sports bag, wringing it loosely around her neck, dabbing at any remnants of sweat.
Heejin nods wordlessly, scrambling over to an adjacent sink, her right hand jabbing at the soap dispenser as her left flicks on the water. She scrubs at her hands with meaning, nose scrunching as she allows the water to run as icy cold as possible, trying her best to jolt herself away from this dreamlike situation.
“Why do I get the feeling that you do everything this earnestly?”
Hyunjin’s playful voice cuts through Heejin’s fleeting reprieve, and the student council member whips her head around to stare at Hyunjin wide eyes.
“U-um, pardon?”
“Jungeun’s told me a lot about you,” Hyunjin says in lieu of explanation, and Heejin blinks. “She told me about how you’re definitely gonna graduate with the highest GPA when we get to senior year, and she told me how diligent you are in your studies. I suppose it only makes sense that everything you do has this sort of… honesty? Is that the right word?” Hyunjin shrugs, waving off the attempt wuth her hand. “Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to get at is that you really do look like a hard worker, and I’ve never really met you until now, but I heard a lot about you, and I really admire you.”
“O-oh! Thank you very much!” There’s a warm feeling that arises in Heejin’s chest at Hyunjin’s words, coupled simultaneously by an eruption of butterflies fluttering around desperately in her stomach. “That really means a lot to me, honestly.”
Hyunjin smiles. “I’m glad I could tell you it. And by the way…”
“What’s up?”
Heejin’s honestly amazed she’s managed to stay as outwardly composed as she is.
“So,” Hyunjin starts, toeing the tiled floor with her well-worn Nike sneakers, taking the towel around her neck and wringing it out over a sink. “It’s not that I’m failing any classes or anything, but studying's definitely more difficult than it should be. I feel like I'm always distracted by something when I'm on my own. I can focus in school because there are other people in class focusing as well, but I can't say the same for when I'm studying solo.”
Heejin nods slowly.
“So…?”
“So,” Hyunjin takes a step closer, and Heejin wonders if the world is shaking, or maybe it's just her center of gravity being shaken completely out of proportion by the sudden close proximity. “I know we literally just officially met today, but I was wondering if you would study with me?”
Oh.
Oh.
What?!
“You want us,” Heejin motions vigorously between the two of them, “to study together?”
Hyunjin nods earnestly.
“Yep, that's the idea. Only if you want to though,” she clarifies. “I totally get it if you're super busy, or if you don't like studying with other people, because I know most have the opposite problem as me and just get easily distracted whenever other people study with them. And uh, we just met so—”
“That's not a problem of mine,” Heejin blurts out.
“Wha—”
“I mean!” Heejin takes a deep breath, blowing it out through her mouth a second later.
Hyunjin watches her with glimmering, curious eyes, a smile threatening to break out on her face.
“I mean that I don't have trouble studying with other people. It's fun, actually! My friends and I used to do it all the time,” Heejin says, her brain whirring as it completely over stimulates in some attempt to make her words comprehensible.
She watches the corner of Hyunjin's lips quirk up, and the athlete grins.
“Which means that…?”
“Which means that I’d love to study with you, Hyunjin,” Heejin finally breathes out, honestly, hoping that the grin on her face doesn’t give away too much of how excited she’d become.
“That’s great!” Hyunjin exclaims. Then she blushes slightly. “I mean, it probably means more to me than you, but still!”
Heejin vows to never tell Hyunjin how wrong that last statement was.
“Thank you so much, really!” Hyunjin gushes, beaming with happiness, and Heejin giggles as the athlete turns 180 degrees, attempting (and failing) to hide a discreet fistbump, before whirling back around to face Heejin in earnest. “I don’t even really know how to thank you right now, um, I can walk you home?”
Hyunjin takes one look at the surprised look on Heejin’s face and must assume the worst, because the athlete winces.
“Uh, too soon? Was that too soon?”
And suddenly Heejin can’t concentrate because Hyunjin’s mouth is running a mile a minute, something of a ramble that Heejin can’t really follow because literally within 5 minutes of their first conversation she’s become study buddies with Kim Hyunjin, with her crush - her first crush - and suddenly Hyunjin’s asking Heejin if she wants Hyunjin to walk her home and— oh my god Hyunjin’s probably rambling because I’m giving the complete wrong impression.
“Yes!” Heejin suddenly exclaims, catching both Hyunjin and herself off guard with how loud her voice had been. Hyunjin’s mouth snaps shut, and the student council member winces, heaving her shoulders and chewing on her bottom lip nervously. “U-um—”
She stops short when the light sound of Hyunjin’s bright laughter reaches her ears, and Heejin flushes at the way Hyunjin’s eyes crinkle into perfect crescent moons as she smiles at her endearingly, like Heejin’s some kind of adorable animal.
“You’re really cute, Heejin,” Hyunjin says with the kind of lazy grin that shoots goosebumps up Heejin’s arms, makes a shiver run down her spine with how sheerly attractive the whole scene is, especially as Hyunjin leans back on one of the sink basins, tilting her head in a patient, catlike manner.
“So that’s a yes to what, exactly, Jeon Heejin?” Hyunjin prods cheekily, a twinkle in her eyes.
Heejin takes a deep breath, doing her best to compose herself but failing to suppress the wide, wide smile that blooms on her lips.
“Yes, I’d love for you to walk me home, Kim Hyunjin.”
And maybe Heejin’s just losing her mind with delusion, but for a brief second, she swears she hears Hyunjin inhale sharply. Though, then again, Heejin supposes she’ll never know, because Hyunjin quickly covers up that fleeting moment in time with a cough.
“Cool, cool!” Hyunjin says, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, and Heejin wonders if she’s just hearing things, or if Hyunjin’s voice really just got a tad rougher. “So!” She clears her throat. “Do you need to do anything before we head off, or…?”
“Oh!” Heejin resists the urge to facepalm, suddenly remembering the loose change she had stuffed haphazardly in her blazer pocket. “Do you mind if we stop by the vending machines, and then the student council room first?”
--
“Here, Hyejoo!” Heejin tosses the bag of M&Ms, which the youngest council member fumbles with for a heartbeat before catching. Hyejoo squeaks out a thank you! right as Heejin hands Haseul her can of coffee.
“Thanks so much, Heej,” Haseul says gratefully, popping open the can.
“It was no problem,” Heejin says with smile, patting the older girl on the shoulder. “You and Hyejoo deserve it, for working so hard! Is there anything else I need to—”
“Is that Kim Hyunjin sitting outside the council room?” Hyejoo interjects. The younger girl had caught sight of someone sitting cross-legged in the hallway and had cranes her neck to see who it was. Much to her surprise, she'd spotted the lithe form of Kim Hyunjin, student athlete and new transferee, nonchalantly messing around with her phone, sports bag on the ground next to her.
“U-um,” Heejin stammers, shuffling from one foot to the other. “Yes?”
Haseul raises an eyebrow.
“Is she waiting for you, Heejin?”
“Yes?” Heejin says, as though questioning the validity of her situation. She shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts with a blush. “We met in the bathroom, and uh, now she's walking me home? Only when we're done here, though,” she quickly adds. “I told her I promised to help you guys.”
Haseul and Hyejoo immediately share knowing looks, before Haseul lets out a laugh and shoos Heejin off with a hand.
“Go home, Heejin!” Haseul chuckles as she rifles through the little remaining folders. “I've only got four more of these anyway, so I'll only be a few more minutes.”
“I'm basically done too,” Hyejoo adds, before she slams a final piece of paper on the stack that had accumulated next to her. “See? All done!” She smiles widely at Heejin. “You can go home, Heejin, I'll help Haseul.”
“I-I—”
“Don't keep your girl waiting,” Haseul says cheekily, and Heejin's face feels like it's on fire.
“How—”
“I'm friends with Jinsol and Sooyoung too,” Haseul says as explanation.
That makes sense.
“I'm gonna kill them,” Heejin mutters. “Jungeun too. And I don't have dirt on Jiwoo yet but it probably exists too, so—”
“Or!” Hyejoo cuts in cheerily. “You can walk home with your future girlfriend right now!”
Huffing, Heejin scoops up her backpack with flair, dramatically turning on her heel towards the door, much to the blatant amusement of Haseul and Hyejoo.
The pauses right before she takes another step.
“...Thanks, guys,” she mutters, before striding out the door, a grin on her face, Haseul and Hyejoo's you're welcome! and we love you too! following her right outside.
--
She finds Hyunjin cross-legged on the ground, still engrossed in her phone when she steps into the hallway, and she shyly pokes the other girl’s knee with the tip of her shoe to get the athlete's attention.
Hyunjin immediately looks up, meeting Heejin's shy smile with a cheeky grin of her own before scrambling to her feet and hoisting the strap of her sports bag over one shoulder.
“Ready to go?” Hyunjin asks.
“Yep,” Heejin hums, giggling as Hyunjin bumps shoulders with her.
“You took a shorter time than I expected in there.”
Heejin laughs.
“Turns out Haseul and Hyejoo had everything under control, so they told me that I could head on home.”
“That's good!” Hyunjin enthuses. “It's still bright outside. Sometimes, when we have home games, I end up leaving the school after it gets dark.”
“That sounds awful!”
Heejin scrunches her nose, and Hyunjin's smile grows.
“So when should we start our study meet-ups?” Heejin asks.
“Oh, uh, are you busy in the afternoons? Practice usually runs until 4pm, so maybe we could meet up after that?”
Heejin nods. She's used to waiting for soccer practice to be over, having been best friends with Jungeun since middle school.
“That works, I'll wait for you!”
“You should sit on the bleachers and watch me,” Hyunjin says jokingly, although there's a hint of something behind her words that Heejin can’t quite place yet.
“I'll be your personal cheerleader,” Heejin replies, equally as playful instead of questioning, and she knows she's said the right thing when Hyunjin’s smile widens and it feels like the athlete's started glowing.
Maybe being brave isn't so bad after all…
“Hey, Hyunjin?”
“Yeah, Heejin?”
“It's a nice day out today, and there's an ice cream place on my route home. Do you wanna maybe stop by there?”
Hyunjin beams, takes Heejin's hand, and leads them out the schools main doors, all while looking like Heejin's just presented her the world on a silver platter.
“I'd love to get ice cream with you, Heejin!”
End.