Chapter Text
“Come on Chae! We’re gonna be late for assembly!” Jiwoo yells to Chaewon, who is adjusting her skirt through the mirror of a random car they passed by.
It is the first day of the school year and Chaewon was nervous for some reason. She and her best friend Jiwoo, are running late for school because the former took her time getting ready, making sure her silver hair and make-up were absolutely perfect before stepping out of her room. What can she say? She wants to make an impression on her first day back to school.
Chaewon and Jiwoo have been best friends since they were little kids. Despite Jiwoo being a year older than her, they’re attached at the hip. Spending their time together during breaks in school everyday (Jiwoo is a year above her) and then spending the rest of the day in the other’s house; they’re practically inseparable. And it’s been like this since the day they met.
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Jiwoo is being picked on by a kid at the playground. Chaewon is there with her nanny, playing with her expensive toys by the slides.
She watches as the little girl get called silly names like “bangsy” and “rag doll” for her red hair with bangs. She knew she had enough when the kid starts pushing the poor girl. Chaewon struts toward the bully and taps him on the shoulder.
The kid was about to punch her when she shows him a large brand new, expensive-looking, toy airplane. “Want this?” the boy quickly nods and reaches out for the plane when Chaewon quickly pulls the toy back. “Stop picking on her and I’ll give this to you,” the boy clicks his tongue and tries to steal the toy from her. She fake drops the toy causing the little boy to scream. “Do as I say or I’m breaking this,” she looks at him sternly.
The boy groans “fine, just give me the toy,” she thinks for a second and speaks out, “the second I see you pick on her again, I’m telling mommy you stole my toy and make you get in bad trouble for it.” The boy looks at her in fear and nods. She gives him the plane and the boy quickly scurries off.
The black-haired girl slowly walks towards the crying baby and pats her on the head, making the girl look up towards her, snot forming a string from her arm to her nose, tears slowly streaming down her face.
“Ew. I mean uh hi, my name’s Chaewon.” The girl immediately surges towards her saviour and gives her a big hug. “Thanks, Chaewon. I’m Jiwoo.” Chaewon immediately pushes her back, grossed out by the snotty kid. Jiwoo gives her a big smile though, making Chaewon smile back at her.
She knew this was gonna be the start of a great friendship.
~~~~~~~~
“Alright, alright sheesh. You know, no one really cares about assembly, right? Everyone’s half asleep and annoyed by the principal’s long “welcome back to school” speech,” she mocks. Jiwoo just rolls her eyes at her and pulls her by the wrist to walk faster.
“Just hurry up, Jungie’s in the hall already,” Chaewon raises her eyebrows and scoffs. So that’s why Jiwoo’s in a rush.
Jungeun and Jiwoo have been dating for nearly a year now. After watching her best friend pine over the dark-haired girl the entirety of freshman year, Chaewon finally pushed Jiwoo enough to confess her crush on the girl one month after sophomore year started. Their relationship was rocky at first, this being both their first real relationship. But over time, things got a little easier for them. I mean relationships are always difficult one way or another but they somehow manage to handle things maturely. Most of the time anyway.
They finally arrive at the school just 5 minutes before the assembly starts. They both speed walk through the school corridors and push past the heavy Main Hall doors. The room was packed, surprisingly.
People near the door look to see who just entered the hall. They all smile and wave at Chaewon and Jiwoo, greeting them “good morning” and “welcome back to school.” Needless to say, they’re pretty popular.
Jiwoo just looks around the room, ignoring the people and looking for her girlfriend, dragging Chaewon by the wrist, who was slowing down trying to greet people back to be nice. When Jiwoo spots her favorite girl she runs towards her, yelling her name to get her attention, and tugging Chaewon hard through the crowd.
Chaewon tries to catch up but ends up bumping hard at someone tall, causing Jiwoo’s grasp on her to loosen and lets her go. Jiwoo continues to run towards her girlfriend, leaving Chaewon with whoever didn’t care enough to move away from the yelling girl bumping at everyone to get to her girl.
Before she gets to react though, the first thing she noticed was that intoxicating smell.
Roses.
Her heart skips a beat for some reason but she shakes her head. Taking a step back, she looks up at the towering girl, about to glare at her she looks at her face to make sure the tall girl’s attention is on her, but her face drops along with her jaw.
Damn, she’s pretty.
She stares at her a bit longer than she should have. Long, wavy black hair running down her shoulders, her cheeks tinted slightly rosy, her lips were full and had a captivating triangle shape, her jawline was defined, but she’s clearly clenching them out of anger from someone suddenly bumping into her aggressively. She looks up at the eyes staring down at her hard. She snaps out of the trance she was in and remembers she’s supposed to be pissed.
“Uh, excuse me lamp post.” she scoffs, feeling her heart flutter when the taller girl softens her features and slightly giggles from the lame name-call she used.
“Lamp post? Seriously? That’s all you’ve got?” she crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow at the smaller girl.
Chaewon slowly reaches out to the girl, about to push her out of the way, when the tall girl immediately backs away, like the silver head could burn her if she touches her. The taller girl’s face scrunches up, looking offended that the smaller girl tried to make contact with her, then suddenly turns around and walks away towards a brown-headed girl.
Weird girl. She thinks to herself, watching the tall girl talk to her classmate. “Why is she talking to Yerim?”
Soon enough Jiwoo is walking towards Chaewon, arms clinged to Jungeun. They stop a few feet away from her though. Watching the silver-haired girl give heart eyes at someone from a distance, smiling softly. She tries to see who her best friend is looking at but suddenly everyone’s attention is caught by a teacher tapping on the mic.
“Everyone, please gather to your respective classes. The assembly is about to start.”
Chaewon is snapped out from starting at the girl. Why was she even staring at her? The girl was rude. She didn’t even apologize. Maybe she should’ve apologized, she did bump into her. Ugh, no it was her fault, not yours. Chaewon is mentally scolding herself when the back of her head gets hit. Pissed, she looks at who hit her this time.
“Stop overthinking. The assembly’s about to start. Tell me what’s wrong after,” Jiwoo tells her sternly. Jungeun covers her mouth to stop herself laughing at the annoyed girl. Jiwoo didn’t need to ask, she knows well enough what was wrong even without questioning her best friend.
She wondered why Chaewon was overthinking though.
The students start lining up with their respective classes. Jiwoo and Jungeun go with the juniors at the back, and Chaewon looks around for the lovebirds and her brown-headed classmate, still greeting the people showering her with adoration. She smiles when she sees two tall girls, wrapped up in each other, talking to a cheery girl … until she sees another tall girl smiling softly at the couple. Ugh, why did my tummy spin seeing her smile? Chaewon tries to wipe off the smile she’s wearing.
She stops when she’s a few steps away from the couple, planning to sneak on them. She crouches a bit and slowly approaches the two girls. What she didn’t notice was the tall girl staring at her approach the girls like some kind of ambush predator. She warns Heejin and Hyunjin by pointing behind them and they slowly turn to the crouching girl with her hands up in a claw position. Chaewon’s smile immediately turns into a frown when she sees the two turn around. Standing up, she sighs, disappointed that her plans were foiled.
“Damn. How’d you guys know I was sneakin’?” Chaewon crosses her arms.
Hyunjin laughs at her “You’re not exactly discreet. Plus I used my cat skills and I sensed you approach us,” she states with a cheeky grin.
Chaewon pouts at the two. Noticing the black-haired girl talking to Yerim behind the couple in front of her.
Heejin gently hits the girl’s arms wrapped around her tummy, softly chuckling at her girlfriend’s words. “She’s being cheeky. Hyejoo warned us you were approaching. Good thing she did or Hyunjin would’ve decked you right in the face.” Hyunjin narrows her eyes at Chaewon, resting her chin on her girlfriend’s shoulder.
Chaewon rolls her eyes at the two. Turning her head to stop staring at the disgustingly clingy couple, her eyes start subconsciously bringing her attention to the black-haired girl laughing lightly at something Yerim said. She feels her heart beat faster at the adorable sound from the cute girl. A soft smile creeps up on her face.
So, she’s Hyejoo, huh?
Her attention is once again torn away from the tall girl adorably giggling at a joke Yerim said when the principal starts the assembly.
The girls line up properly and try their best to stay awake and listen to the world’s most boring, long speech from a man looking too cheerful for someone pushing through their 50s. At least he tried to groom himself, coloring his hair black and finally properly shaving after looking like a drugged Ian McKellen for so long.
For some reason, Chaewon keeps looking behind her though. Seemingly looking for someone. She knows she’s being obvious when she notices the tall girl look to the front of the line with one of her eyebrows raised up curiously.
They make eye contact and start to have a staring contest. Staring deeply into each other’s eyes. Waiting for the other to break. Which ends up being Chaewon because Hyejoo seemed to have stared a bit lower from her eyes for a few seconds, slightly licking her lips, making Chaewon’s knees weak. She breaks the contact, clearing her throat and staring back at the principal, seeming like he’s only halfway through this long-ass speech.
What the hell just happened?
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The principal finally finishes the speech and sends the students to their classrooms. Chaewon tried really hard to not look back behind her, instead actually trying to focus on the lengthy speech the principal gave.
The speech was interesting actually... or maybe she was just trying really hard not to think about the tension she just had with Hyejoo.
Either way, it was over. Chaewon just hopes she’s magically somehow not in any of the same classes with the tall girl.
Immediately, she is reminded magic isn’t real.
Walking into her first class, she is immediately greeted by Yerim hugging her from behind, “heeey Chae~” rolling her eyes and playfully pushing the giggling girl, she turns around and immediately frowns when she sees the tall frame of the dark-haired girl behind her friend.
“Excited for the new school year? Sophomore year woohoo!” Yerim says excitedly, waving her fists in the air, giving Chaewon her signature bright sunshine smile.
“Yeah. I’m excited to see the new freshmen this year,” Chaewon tries to smile back, “also the new faces in our class. By the way, who’s your friend?” she points to the girl scanning the classroom, looking a little awkward from her new environment.
“Oh she’s not just a friend, she’s my cousin and bestest friend!” Yerim wraps her arm around the taller girl’s back,
“Chaewon, meet Hyejoo,” Yerim gently pushes the taller girl forward towards the smaller girl. “Hyejoo, this is my friend I’ve been telling you about, Chaewon,” Yerim tries to pull Chaewon’s wrist to make them shake hands but the smaller girl crosses her arms.
Yerim pouts, looking at her friend curiously. “We’ve met, actually. I accidentally bumped into her this morning,” Chaewon glares at the clearly uninterested p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y girl.
Staring at Chaewon, Hyejoo knits her eyebrows at the smaller girl, “Yeah you didn’t apologize and called me a lamp post. Smart, by the way.”
Chaewon widens her eyes angrily at the now smirking girl. Clenching her fists, she starts bringing one of them up.
Yerim immediately stands in between them, waving her arms around “Okay alright well you two had a rough first meeting haha,” she says nervously, trying to pull Chaewon’s hand back down, but the small girl pushes her aside and takes a step closer to the still smirking girl, immediately smelling roses.
Why does she smell so good?
Bringing her face closer to the towering frame, she stares at dark eyes, “You should be the one apologizing. You saw us obviously trying to cut through the crowd. You were in my way,” she almost spits out. She swears she saw Hyejoo’s eyes darken further.
Opening her triangle mouth to say something back, their argument gets cut off when the teacher walks in. “Everyone, please take your seats.” Yerim immediately pulls Hyejoo away to a seat next to hers around the middle left side of the class. The smell of roses fading away, Chaewon sighs.
Looking around for a seat, a few people try to offer Chaewon the seat next to them. Hyejoo notices Chaewon trying to politely say no to a smelly looking guy persistently trying to get her to sit next to him, grimacing. Hyejoo laughs at the sight, She really is popular, huh?
Only now noticing Hyunjin and Heejin sitting at the back of the class, still flirting with each other, Chaewon quickly moves away, saying sorry at the poor smelly guy for the 5th time, she sits next to the lovers at the right back corner, not really caring enough about the class to pay attention to what's happening.
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The class is really boring. The teacher’s talking about geography or something.
Heejin is trying to take the class seriously but Hyunjin keeps poking at her arm with a pencil, pouting at the annoyed girl writing notes, trying to get her attention. Hyunjin doesn’t really care about the class either since she’s riding on a varsity scholarship for football. All she needs is to do is not fail any of her classes, and with the help of her smart girlfriend, she’s doing pretty well.
“Hyunjin I swear if you don’t stop, I’ll stop helping you with your homework,” Heejin says, clearly pissed.
“But I miss holding your hand..” Hyunjin pouts at her girlfriend, who’s starting to clench her jaw, still looking at her pissed.
“Aeong,” Hyunjin says softly, bringing her closed fists under her chin, trying to act cute to get her girlfriend’s attention. Heejin’s jaw loosens up, trying really hard not to smile from her girlfriend’s actions. They stare at each other for a while.
Hyunjin squeaks, celebrating when Heejin rolls her eyes and finally breaks, holding her hand under their desks. Hyunjin stares at Heejin with heart eyes as the latter girl continues to write down notes for them to study later.
Looking away, Chaewon gags at the sight of her friends being all flirty. She secretly wishes she could have something like that though. Flicking her pen between her fingers, she tries to look for something that could entertain her. Looking at the class, she notices all of them trying to actually learn and take down notes.
Yerim looks like she’s writing down notes but Chaewon knows she’s just drawing tiny animal characters and other cute things.
The girl next to her though is writing down something. Her hand is placed under her chin, propping herself up from the desk, her dark hair flowing down her back and shoulders, her eyes focused on her notebook, her tongue sticking out slightly, she looks like her mind is in another world. She’s obviously not writing down notes either because she isn’t looking up from her notebook.
Chaewon narrows her eyes at her trying to figure out what she’s doing.
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Hyejoo knows she should be studying right now, but honestly, she could care less about school. She just wants to go home, play games all day, and eat her favorite snacks. She knows she can’t do anything about it so she might as well try to look busy by drawing her favorite LOL skins on her notebook. She can’t help but feel like someone’s watching her though.
Looking around she spots Chaewon staring at her softly smiling, but the blonde drops her smile and quickly looks away. She smirks,
Looks like I’m actually getting through to her .
Hyejoo tries to focus on the class but ends up zoning out while drawing.
She starts thinking about still having to work after classes instead of her relaxing on her bean bag chair in front of her console playing her favorite game. She works at her family’s cafe, Cafe Rosy, with her cousin Yerim, and her upperclassmen Jungeun and Sooyoung. She thinks back to when they first met a year ago.
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Hyejoo has been working at Cafe Rosy for 2 years now. Her workmates (who were also cousins but not related to the Son family) has a family issue and suddenly has to stop working immediately. They said it had something to do with their parents fighting over family inheritance since their last grandparent had just recently passed. Mr. and Mrs. Son understands and lets them go, but they knew they needed new employees as soon as possible.
Hyejoo’s mom told her to help spread some “help wanted” posters around Yerim and Hyunjin’s campus in case a student needed some quick cash. Hyejoo immediately said no when her mom asked her to put the posters in her school.
Yerim, Hyunjin, and Hyejoo walk around campus to look for bulletin boards to put posters in. When Hyunjin spots Heejin walking from her Japanese lessons class, she immediately tells her cousins that they should split up so they could do things faster. When Yerim and Hyejoo see their cousin walk to her “friend,” they realized she’s not gonna help put the posters up anymore. They decide to continue splitting up, each of them covering the other half of the campus.
Jungeun was looking for a job. She was walking towards the school bulletin when she saw Yerim posting the ad. She didn’t really know the cheery kid. They only ever interacted once, but Jungeun knew she was a really nice and positive kid.
One day, while walking to her class, Jungeun saw Yerim trip and immediately rushed to help her. When Jungeun was helping Yerim up she was confused why the taller girl was laughing.
“Woah, did you hit your head or something? Are you okay? ..Why are you laughing??” Jungeun is looking at her worried.
Still giggling, Yerim responds, “nothing, nothing. It’s just that I was looking at this really really fluffy dog and I got distracted at how floofy the dog was that I didn’t see the large rock on the ground and ended up tripping.”
Jungeun looks at her weirdly, wondering how she could be so positive even though she ended up with a few cuts and bruises on her hands and knees. She found it endearing though.
After gently cleaning Yerim up, they go to the campus clinic. They never really spoke afterward, just the casual “hi” and “hello” when they pass by each other through the hallways.
“Hey, see any floofy dogs lately?” Jungeun slowly approaches the Smiley girl.
Giggling, Yerim replies, “I actually saw one a few minutes ago. It was Huge (Yerim makes a big gesture with her arms) and extra extra fluffy!” Yerim puts on a big sunshine smile, which makes Jungeun smile, feeling more at ease around the cheery girl.
“That’s nice. What are you doing there?” she gestures at the poster the smaller girl is pinning to the corkboard.
“Hyejoo asked me to help her put up these job posters around the other half of the school. Her family’s looking for some help at Cafe Rosy. You interested?”
Jungeun’s eyes immediately brighten up. She really needed to start working soon if she wants to move out after high school. The taller girl nods at Yerim and asks for the details. Yerim happily writes all the details at the back of one of the posters and hands it to Jungeun.
The taller girl thanks her over and over again and walks away with a slight skip.
-----
When she walks back into her dorm room, she is greeted by her cousin, Sooyoung whose rewriting her notes on her desk.
“Hey, what’s up owlie? What’s up with that weird grin on your face? Finally asked that redhead out?” Sooyoung mocks, turning around on the chair.
Jungeun immediately blushes and hits the taller girl hard on her shoulder. Sooyoung winces and rubs on the sore spot. “NO! Jeez, would you drop that? She’s definitely not into me.”
Jungeun glares at her cousin, who’s now laughing at her, “Oh please, you’re both so whipped for each other it’s actually annoying,” Sooyoung pretends to gag, still mocking her cousin.
Jungeun hits Sooyoung again, “Just shut up!! I have news,” she walks to her side of the room, putting her bag down next to her bed, “I finally found a decent job for us,” she says with a grin, turning to face Sooyoung.
“You keep saying that but they always end up being some kind of sleazy, underground dungeon work for some snotty rich college student,” Sooyoung says, turning around to work back on her notes.
“No, I swear it’s legal this time,” Jungeun walks over to Sooyoung, turning the taller girl back around. Sooyoung just narrows her eyes at her cousin. “It’s that cute little cafe just outside campus. They’re looking for a few people since the 3 cousins that worked there quit for some reason.”
Sooyoung continues to narrow her eyes at the girl standing in front of her, “for some reason? Jungeun if we end up getting kil-”
“Soo, do you actually believe the sweet little family that works there has the capability to kill anyone?” Jungeun cuts her off.
“Well, the look I got from the older guy working there when I was on a date with some girl did kinda say ‘murder’..” Sooyoung states.
Jungeun starts to rummage through Sooyoung’s closet, “well you better act nice when you see him, I already called them about the job before I walked in here, we have an interview in an hour,” picking out her cousin’s formal attire, she throws it to the sitting girl now slouching in front of her.
They ended up getting the job after the first interview. Despite the dirty looks Mr. Son sometimes gives Sooyoung.
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Yerim walks to Hyejoo still putting up some posters. The former girl finished putting her posters up fast since she put half of the posters in one bulletin board, forgetting that there are other bulletin boards around the campus. She also would’ve finished faster if she didn’t stop to pet every dog and cat she passed by.
“Hey, Hyejoo,” Yerim taps her on the shoulder to get the attention of her cousin, who seems to be distracted about something while putting her last poster up, “why don’t you want to put up posters in your school?”
“I don’t like the people there,” she states plainly.
Yerim gasps, “but people there are nice! They always try to talk to you and are nice to you. Don’t you want some friends?”
Hyejoo pauses to think, “I have you,” Hyejoo proceeds to smile softly, “.. and maybe Hyunjin.. I don’t really need other friends.”
Yerim smiles and steps forward to hug Hyejoo but is immediately stopped by a hand on her chest. The brown-haired girl pouts.
“Yerim, we’ve talked about this. One hug a day. You already used it when you saw that family of cats by the dorms on our way here.” Hyejoo states with her eyebrows knitted. Yerim just sighs and hugs herself.
“Why do you care if I have other friends, anyway?” Hyejoo continues to fix the posters she hung up.
“Well, sometimes you look really sad when you’re alone. Hyunjin and I can’t always be there for you since we study in different schools,” The brown-haired girl points out.
“I’m not sad, that’s just my face.” Hyejoo stares at the posters to see if they’re aligned.
Yerim giggles, “I know, but I still worry. You don’t even have a crush in your school. Or maybe you just don’t talk about it...”
Hyejoo clicks her tongue, “You know I don’t date or do crushes. And you know why.” She starts to walk off.
Yerim sighs, following her and clinging to her cousins’ arm. They start walking off-campus, going back to the cafe. They weren’t talking, just humming and looking around the aesthetics of the campus.
Halfway back, Yerim stops humming. Hyejoo looks at her curiously, “Hey, what’s up? You okay?”
“Jungeun unnie talked to me earlier, asking about the job,” Yerim stares down the pavement, “I think she’ll do well working at the cafe. Sometimes I think about being friends with her since she’s really nice..” Yerim smiles and stops walking.
“Where are you going with this?” Hyejoo stands in front of Yerim, knitting her eyebrows.
“I’m thinking about working at the cafe too. Dad’s not really getting paid well enough. I might have to stop studying after high school if I don’t do anything about it.”
“Oh,” The taller girl places both of her hands on her cousin’s shoulders, “Do you need help with anything?” She tries to look at the eyes glued to the ground.
“I feel like I won’t do well with working,” Yerim continues to stare down, her tears start to build up, “but I don’t want to stop studying. I don’t want to stop seeing you and Hyunjin. I don’t like coming home seeing how tired my dad is after working for so many hours every day of the week,” Yerim feels her tears stream down her face, “I know my mom feels bad too and she can’t do anything because of her injury. I’m just tired Hyejoo and I don’t know what to do anymore.” When her first sob hits, Hyejoo immediately holds on to her tight, surprised by the sudden breakdown of her cousin.
“Hey, hey things are gonna be alright. Okay?” Hyejoo rubs circles on her cousin’s back, feeling her start to shake hard, “You’re gonna do well with the job, I’ll be there to help you with anything. You’re not alone in this. Hyunjin and I are gonna be there with you no matter what happens. We will help in any way we can.” Yerim grips on to Hyejoo’s shirt tightly, continuing to shake hard. She hides her face on Hyejoo’s shoulder, trying to control her sobs.
Hyejoo continues to hold on to Yerim, rubbing her hand up and down the shorter girl’s back, rocking their bodies slowly and trying to match her breathing with the shorter girl, then slowing back down so Yerim can start calming down. This goes on for a few minutes until Yerim stops to shake, her hands still gripping tightly on the shirt she’s holding onto. Hyejoo just holds on to her until Yerim pulls away, grimacing when she sees the wet spot on the taller girl’s shoulder. Hyejoo notices too and just smiles softly at her cousin, reaching over her face to wipe the leftover tears still flowing down.
“It’s alright, I have a spare shirt at the cafe. Are you feeling better?” Hyejoo asks. Yerim slowly nods, finally looking up at Hyejoo.
“Thank you,” Yerim says, her voice cracking. She finally breaks a small smile, still sniffling.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just go back to the cafe and get you cleaned up. You look like a mess.” Hyejoo smiles when she finally hears a small giggle coming from the shorter girl.
They walk back to the cafe, not really talking to each other. Hyejoo continues to hold on to Yerim while they walk, occasionally rubbing small circles on her best friend’s shoulder.
When they get back to the cafe, Hyejoo immediately talks to her parents about letting Yerim work there. Her parents immediately agree, not really needing any more explanation. Soon, Jungeun and Sooyoung arrive at the cafe to apply for the remaining slots for the job. They immediately get hired as well, Mrs. Son impressed by their work experience.
This was the beginning of their good friendship.
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Snapping back to reality, Hyejoo looks around the classroom. Her notebook was filled with her drawings and some random words. She looks behind her and sees Chaewon actually listening to the class and writing down some notes. Hyejoo blushes and smiles softly watching the smaller girl’s soft features. Her short silver hair waving every time her head moves from looking at the board and to her notebook, her mouth opening and closing while nodding every time she understands something, her legs are crossed and she’s gently kicking her foot around. Hyejoo just lets herself stare at the girl for a little while since she seems distracted anyway.
Hyejoo thinks about how she felt when she first saw the girl a few months back, feeling all those feelings right from the second she laid eyes on her. Hyejoo knew she had to do something about the raging butterflies every time she thinks about Chaewon. She knows what that meant. She was scared though. Very Very scared...
But maybe she would let her feelings take over this time. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad this time around.
Maybe she’s finally my soulmate?
Hyejoo shakes her head.
She can’t let this happen. Knowing the consequences when things do make progress between them. She can’t get hurt and she doesn’t want to hurt Chaewon. It was too risky, too scary.
It won’t be so bad playing around with her a little, though. Right?
Snapping out of staring at the silver-haired girl when the teacher announces that class has ended, she shoves her things in her backpack. Hyejoo waits for Yerim to fix her things, tugging the girl’s hand the second she finishes zipping her bag. They quickly rush out of class, Hyejoo’s trying really hard to not look at Chaewon or she’ll end up looking like a tomato again.
“Hey wait wait, what’s the rush?” Yerim tries to slow down from the strong girl pulling her fast out of the classroom.
“Uh, nothing. Just excited to leave the class and go home,” Hyejoo says to Yerim, trying her best to sound believable.
But Yerim can easily see through her.
“You know she was looking at you when you were running out.” Hyejoo immediately stops dead in her tracks, causing the shorter girl to bump into her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hyejoo continues to speed walk, ignoring the “ows” of the brown-haired girl.
“Hyejoo I know you. I’ve known you since we even knew how to walk. You’re not exactly good at hiding your feelings. Especially when it comes to the girls you have a cru-.”
“Shhh! Shut up Yerim not here,” Hyejoo immediately cuts Yerim off, giving her a weird look while glaring at her. Yerim knew what that meant and stayed quiet.
Finally stopping when they reach their lockers, Hyejoo finally lets go of her grip on Yerim. Yerim takes a breath from speed walking and knits her eyebrows at her cousin. Good thing they were lucky enough to have lockers next to each other, Yerim needed a few minutes from all that.
Hyejoo opens up her locker and hides behind it from Yerim. Yerim opens hers and grabs a few things from the next class. The taller girl just stares inside her locker, zoning out a little bit.
“Was she really looking at me?” Hyejoo starts to blush.
“Yeah,” Yerim peeks at her through the side of the opened locker doors, “she looks like she was gonna call out for you but was too shy to,” she tries to read Hyejoo’s facial reactions. Her face was starting to turn a little red but she maintains her blank expression.
Hyejoo starts to take stuff out of her locker, putting them in her bag and putting stuff back in her locker. She zips her bag close and closes the locker door. Yerim continues to read her face.
“What’s up with your little argument a while ago? It seemed a little intense,” Yerim speaks softly, afraid that the slight off thing she says would scare off the taller girl.
Hyejoo blinks and raises her eyebrows a bit, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do I really have to argue with you about this? Hyejoo,” Yerim starts to whisper to her cousin, “I know you’re still figuring stuff out, but I know you like her. She seems to be interested in you too. You’ve asked about her so much the past few months and your face lights up when I have a video call with her. It’s obvious. But I can’t figure out why you were trying to piss her off this morning.” Hyejoo’s jaw drops, looking around if anyone heard what Yerim said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hyejoo avoids eye contact and takes a step back from Yerim.
The brown-haired girl just pouts and nods, zipping up her bag. She closes her locker door and tells the dark-haired girl the direction to her next class since they don’t have the same 2nd-period class. Yerim takes Hyejoo’s hand and gives it a little squeeze, trying to tell her it was okay. Hyejoo’s features soften and gently nods. They wave at each other and head off to opposite directions.
-------------------------------------------
Hyejoo enters the next class, wondering why the class was mostly empty.
“Hey cutie, the next class doesn’t start until 15 minutes. You can chill here if you want,” some pink-haired girl yells out to her. Hyejoo lightly blushes and nods quickly at her, trying to avoid eye contact.
Hyejoo decides to stay in the classroom since she doesn’t really have anywhere else to go. Scanning the seats, she chooses to sit at the back left corner so she won’t be noticed so much. She pulls out her earphones and starts to listen to some music, crossing her arms on the desk and hiding her face in it, she thinks about the girl that’s been running around her mind constantly for the past few weeks, feeling herself feel sleepy.
--------------
Hyejoo snaps back awake when she hears a loud noise. Someone had dropped their water bottle to the floor. Looking around the classroom, she notices it’s almost full. She must’ve fallen asleep. Rubbing at her eyes, she listens to a familiar voice starts to enter the room. Her cousin and her girlfriend are chatting about having cats and rabbits as pets or something. Opening her eyes and lifting her head a bit, she tries to look for them but she sees a silver-haired girl staring at her, looking like she’s trying not to laugh.
“Uh, you have a little something..” the small girl is pointing at her own lips and bringing her finger up and down.
Hyejoo looks down and sees her drool trail down to her arm. Quickly hiding and using her handkerchief to wipe it off, she looks away from the silver-haired girl.
This is so embarrassing wtf wtf
She can feel her face turn very red while she’s cleaning herself off with some alcohol. She continues to keep her back faced to the girl who’s now laughing.
I feel like d wording, this is so embarrassing and she’s just laughing at me. Oh god, how am I gonna recover from this? I have to move schools again. It’s the first day and I already blew my chance with her. Her laugh is so cute tho. But I’m never gonna hear it again because I’m moving to another country after today.
Hyejoo continues to scold herself mentally when she feels someone tap on her shoulder. She slowly turns around, hiding her face in her hands. Only leaving a small space in between her fingers so she can see the girl giggling.
“Hey, you don’t have to be so embarrassed. I think it was cute. You look cute while you’re sleeping too,” Chaewon gives her a quick wink and a cute smile.
Hyejoo can feel the heat all the way to her ears and neck. Her mind is racing. Her heart beating so fast it feels like she just ran a marathon.
What the hell is she doing?? It’s supposed to be my job making her flustered? What is going on ????”
“I’m s-sorry you had to see that,” Hyejoo says softly, her voice shaking. She’s still very much embarrassed at what just happened.
“Don’t worry about it. Seriously.” Chaewon stops giggling, reaching her hand over to Hyejoo’s hands still covering her face, pulling them down to reveal the taller girl’s red face. Chaewon smiles softly at her, trying to get her to calm down.
But Hyejoo only ends up more flustered, her heart beating so loud Chaewon could probably hear it. She feels her brain turn into silly putty. She can’t think straight.
I can’t believe this is happening. What is happening? How is she so calm ?? Why is she so cute ???
Hyejoo’s hands are starting to visibly shake. She tries to stop the shaking by clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles are turning white. Chaewon notices how tense Hyejoo is so she puts her hands on her closed fists. Hyejoo notices how soft her hands are but her mind can’t register things properly right now. Things were starting to get a little out of hand for the taller girl. Hyejoo makes the mistake of staring back at Chaewon’s eyes. Hyejoo feels like her mind is going haywire. She can’t figure out what she sees in her eyes.
They stare at each other for a while, forgetting about the world around them, only focusing on each other. Hyejoo gets lost in Chaewon’s eyes, feeling herself slowly calm down. Her hands loosen up, somehow her mind suddenly had a start-up and she held Chaewon’s hands, intertwining their fingers, feeling how soft her hands are.
Her hands are so soft. How are they so soft?
Her heart still beating rapidly, but it really doesn’t matter. Nothing matters when the person she likes so much is staring deeply into her eyes and holding her hands.
Hyejoo starts to breathe a little bit deeper, her heart rate slowing down. Chaewon’s thumb starts to rub along the back of her hand, calming her down, but something inside Hyejoo snaps and she suddenly gains her confidence back.
This girl really is trouble.
Hyejoo starts to smirk. She looks down, breaking their eye contact. Her grip on Chaewon’s hands became slightly firmer. The thumb still rubbing her hand stops. Hyejoo noticed Chaewon’s breath hitch.
This is my game. If one of us breaks first, it has to be her.
Hyejoo looks back at Chaewon’s eyes, immediately getting lost in them, but not enough to make her forget her goal. They lock eyes again for a few seconds. Chaewon starts to look nervous when she sees how dark Hyejoo’s eyes are.
Hyejoo proceeds to let her eyes fall down to Chaewon’s lips. Biting her lower lip as she does. She felt Chaewon’s hand tremble in hers. She looks back at the silver haired girl’s eyes, still smirking. When she notices Chaewon’s breathing start to pick up, she realizes she can finally make her move.
Using the hand she’s still holding, Hyejoo slowly pulls Chaewon closer, gently, to see how she would react.
When Chaewon starts to follow her lead, she starts to lean over. Not breaking their eye contact, she licks her lips. Chaewon notices and sighs. Hyejoo’s head is swimming.
This is it. I’m actually doing this. With Chaewon. Oh sh*t.
Their faces inching closer and closer to each other. Feeling the butterflies go crazy in her stomach, her knees start to shake, and her heart starts to pick up its pace again, she swallows, trying to calm herself down. Stopping when she could feel Chaewon’s breath against her lips, and the faint smell of lavender, she closes her eyes.
Hyejoo moves one of her hands to Chaewon’s jaw, gently rubbing her thumb along her cheek. “We can stop if you’re uncomfortable. Just say the word and I’ll stop,” Hyejoo speaks quietly against her lips.
Chaewon moves the hand that Hyejoo let go to the back of the dark-haired girl’s neck, pulling her closer to close the gap. “Just shut up and ki-”
--------------
“HYEJOO-YAH!! WAKE UP CLASS IS STARTING!!!”
Hyejoo’s eyes snap open. Looking for whoever ruined her dream, she lifts her head up a bit, rubbing her eyes. Hyunjin is standing over Hyejoo, poking her head to wake the sleepy wolf up. Hyejoo lifts one of her arms to punch Hyunjin at the hip but the girl dodges. The red-head laughs at the groaning girl trying to swing at her.
Hyejoo immediately sits up and fixes herself when the teacher walks in class. Hyunjin goes back to sit next to her girlfriend at the other end of the back row.
Wait. What the hell did I just dream about?
Clearing her throat, pulling her earphones off, and fixing her hair, she looks around the classroom looking for a silver-haired girl.
She’s not here?
Disappointed, she takes out her notebook and actually tries to focus on her History class. Taking down notes and trying to understand what the teacher was discussing. Doing anything to try and forget her dream.
Her lips were so soft. She smelled like freshly picked lavenders. It was so intoxicating. She’s so intoxicating. Her skin was soft. How can someone be so soft?
Hyejoo shakes her head to snap out of thoughts.
This is gonna be one hell of a school year.
-------------------------------------------
The class ends and Hyejoo lazily puts her things back in her bag, still a little worked up from her dream.
She walks over to her cousin to hit her at the back of her head, causing her to groan. Heejin pouts at Hyejoo and gently rubs the back of her girlfriend’s head to calm her down. Hyunjin tries to hit Hyejoo back but the taller girl quickly dodges her and runs away. Heejin wraps her arms around Hyunjin to keep her back.
“Thanks for waking me up, breadjin,” Hyejoo quickly waves at her cousin, who’s sticking her tongue out to her, trying to shake out of her girlfriend’s grip.
Hyejoo quickly walks through the crowd. Trying to avoid any attention people could give her. Some people still try to say “hi” to her though, but she only smiles sweetly and nods her head, continuing to walk at a fast pace.
Until she sees her favorite girl.
She slows down a bit, making sure to get her attention before saying anything. Hyejoo leans against the locker next to the girl, putting on her smug face, and crossing her arms. “Hey.”
A big cheerful smile pops up from the lockers and it instantly lightens the tall girl’s mood up. She never really got tired of seeing her best friend’s sunshine smile.
“Hyejooooo!!!~” Yerim’s hands raise up and she tries to hug her cousin but is stopped with a finger to her face.
“Do you really want to use your daily hug right now?” Yerim pouts and shakes her head no, stepping back.
Hyejoo opens her locker and fixes her things in her bag and locker. “So, how was class?” The taller girl asks.
“It was fun! We drew a bunch of shapes and I made them into cute barn animals. We also did a lot of maths stuff but that part is boring..” Yerim trails off, peeking at her cousin to watch her reaction, “Chaewon was there in Geometry class too.”
Hyejoo’s ears perk up when she heard the small girl’s name and Yerim immediately notices. She narrows her eyes at Hyejoo, trying to read her.
“She seemed really distracted though. Like she was thinking about someone,” Yerim notices Hyejoo’s eyes widen a bit and her eyebrows knit slightly. Closing her locker to face the taller girl, she continues her story, “I tried to ask her about it after class but Jiwoo unnie immediately pulled her out of class. It seemed like they needed to talk about something urgent so I just decided to ask about it next time we see each other.”
“Are you two that close?” Hyejoo asks.
“Not really but it wouldn’t hurt to ask for you,” Yerim giggles mischievously.
“What do you mean for me? I don’t care about her,” Hyejoo looks at the shorter girl with a serious face, fully knitting her eyebrows and narrowing her eyes.
“You’ve been asking about her a lot the past few weeks. The way you smile when you see her isn’t the same way you smile at everyone else. The way your ears perked up when you heard her name and the way you’re starting to blush right now kinda says otherwise,” Yerim raises her eyebrow and chuckles at her now angry-looking cousin.
“Shut up,” She closes her locker door a little hard and startles Yerim a little bit.
Hyejoo starts to walk to the cafeteria and Yerim trails after her. They walk quietly, just trying to get through the crowd.
They continue to grab their lunch after waiting in the long line and go to a table, still not speaking to each other while waiting for their friends. They start to eat, sitting in front of each other. The only noise they’re making is from Yerim’s utensils hitting her plate and Hyejoo’s sandwich wrapper crumpling. Hyejoo starts shaking her leg under the table, clearly anxious about something.
Yerim puts her utensils down and starts to stare at Hyejoo, whose knitting her eyebrows and pouting at the girl thinking about something deep while staring at her half-eaten sandwich.
The taller girl raises her eyebrows and slows down her chewing, staring back at Yerim. She knew Yerim wasn’t going to stop asking even if Hyejoo tells her to shut up. She just has to face her fears and talk about this. Finishing the food left in her mouth and drinking some water, Hyejoo clears her throat and closes her eyes.
“I- uh..” Hyejoo trails off, opening her eyes but looking at her side to avoid eye contact.
Yerim knits her eyebrows further and starts narrowing her eyes. “I think.. that maybe…” Hyejoo’s leg starts shaking harder under the table, pursing her lips and taking a breath, mentally preparing herself for what she’s about to confess to her cousin.
Yerim softens her features and holds Hyejoo’s hand, knowing she’ll need to give her favorite cousin a lot of support for what she’s about to say.
But Hyejoo smirks. Seeing how serious Yerim looks, she decides to troll her cousin first to try and avoid the topic she’s being cornered into.
“You’re the biggest dork I know.” The dark-haired girl covers her face while laughing when the shorter girl leans over to gently hit her on her head repeatedly.
“I thought you were actually gonna talk to me about your feelings!” Yerim pouts at her cousin, sitting back down when she sees a teacher walk past by them.
Hyejoo just fixes her slightly messed up hair, still laughing at the pouty girl whose arms are now crossed.
Hyejoo stops laughing when she sees Chaewon walk in the cafeteria with Hyunjin and Heejin. She immediately blushes and hides behind her cousin, lowering her head down and putting her chin on top of her crossed limbs on the table.
Yerim looks behind her and smiles, waving her hand around to get the attention of the 3 girls. She then proceeds to point at their table, mouthing at them to sit at her table. She softly claps when she sees the girls nod.
Turning back around, she gives a questioning look at her cousin still hiding under the table.
“I think I like her,” Hyejoo proceeds to hide completely in her arms. “I don’t know what to do,” she says, muffled by her limbs.
Yerim smiles at how silly her cousin looks and pats her on the head, “ugh, finally. Do you want me to help?”
Hyejoo looks up to her, pouting, “please.”
Yerim gives Hyejoo her brightest sunshine smile, “alright you baby, here’s what we’re gonna do..”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“..but do they help with digestion? I mean they could be fooling us into thinking it is, just because of the branding,” Hyunjin makes a gesture with her hands, waving them around.
“Yeah, but Digestives have wheat right? They have to help with digestion,” Heejin smiles, looking at Hyunjin with heart eyes when the taller girl drops her jaw and knits her eyebrows, clearly thinking about their topic deeply.
“But they have like chocolate and other stuff on it. They also never said anything about fiber so they could still be lying to us,” Hyunjin says as-a-matter-of-factly.
Heejin reaches her hands to Hyunjin’s face and pulls her closer to kiss her nose, “alright alright maybe Digestive cookies don’t help with digestion, now go pick out your lunch you big weirdo,” Heejin giggles at Hyunjin, who looks offended by the kiss and insult.
When the two taller girls pick out their lunch they look over to their tiny friend, not realizing she hasn’t said a word nor scoffed at them being all flirty with each other. When they see her staring at a certain black haired girl from afar, they knew what was up.
Hyunjin taps on the silver-haired girl’s shoulder to get her attention, “Hey Earth to Moon, grab your lunch we’re going to her anyway.”
Chaewon quickly turns her head to the lovebirds, looking a little dazed and confused, “What?”
The two lovebirds giggle at their lovesick friend, “Wow, she already got you that whipped already?” Heejin says, handing Chaewon her tray with her usual lunch on it.
“What? No. I don’t even know her,” Chaewon looks back at the girl still pouting at her cousin, nodding along to something the brown-headed girl is saying.
Chaewon continues to give heart eyes to the dark-haired girl for a few seconds until Heejin clears her throat, snapping the smaller girl out of her trance and finally taking the tray from the taller girl. Heejin and Hyunjin roll their eyes at the flustered girl.
They walk over to Yerim and Hyejoo’s table. Chaewon feels her heart beat faster every step she takes, hiding behind the couple still arguing about some biscuit.
Why am I feeling this way? I barely even know her. All i know is she’s really pretty and her name is Hyejoo. She’s a little rude but her smile is so.. Ugh Jiwoo was right. Chaewon feels her face heat up.
This girl’s gonna be big trouble .
The two girls at the table shush each other up and tries to act cool when the three girls arrive at the table.
“Hey! What are you two talking about?” Yerim asks the girls standing by the table, giggling at each other.
“Yerim! How do you pronounce ‘envelope’? Is it en-velope or an-velope?” the red-head asks the girl moving to the side of the table, gesturing at the two so they sit next to her.
“Hmm it depends on my mood. Sometimes when I feel fancy I say an-velope,” She cheerily replies. The three continue to talk about envelopes.
Chaewon just stands there. Holding her tray and staring at Hyejoo. Stuck in her spot because Hyejoo’s also just sitting there staring back at her, not moving from her seat.
They just stare at each other for a few seconds. Blank expressions on their faces, but their minds are going haywire.
The three stop talking when they notice the two having an intense staring contest. They move their heads side to side, looking back and forth between the two girls, trying to figure out what’s happening.
“Is this some kind of flirting tactic they’re using on each other?” Hyunjin whispers to the girls next to her.
“I think they’re trying to communicate telepathically,” Heejin replies.
Yerim clicks her tongue. Standing up, she raises both her hands, bringing her palms together, making a sound loud enough to snap the two flustered girls out of the daze they’re in.
“Hyejoo please move a bit to the side so Chaewon can sit,” Yerim says with a weird smile, “Chaewon please sit down.”
Hyunjin and Heejin laugh at Yerim having to make a scene to get the two girls to function like normal human beings.
Hyejoo and Chaewon clear their throats and move so they sit next to each other.. 5 feet apart.
The three girls just sigh at the girls in front of them sitting with a huge gap between them. Acting like if they touch each other something horrible would happen.
The group continues to have their lunch. The 3 girls still chatting about the most random things while Hyejoo and Chaewon just pick at their food, trying to avoid eye contact. Afraid of what could happen if they do.
Chaewon’s mind is still racing. Wondering if the other girl is stressing out the same way as her. If the dark-haired girl’s heart is racing just like hers. If her stomach is doing backflips every time the other thinks about her smile, or the way she laughs.
Shaking her head to get those foolish thoughts out of her head, Chaewon looks at the girls in front of her and she notices Yerim shoot a serious look at the girl next to her and quickly returning to their conversation about eggs. She glances over her shoulder at the taller girl and sees her awkwardly shuffle closer to her.
What is she doing?
Chaewon gathers up her confidence and decide to nervously move closer to the girl now watching her through the corner of her eyes.
They continue to very very awkwardly move closer to each other. Not looking at each other. Just quietly shuffling towards each other slowly, not making any sudden movements, afraid of startling the other.
The three girls notice what the two are doing, giggling in the middle of their conversation now about teaspoons, trying not to be obvious about watching the two girls, slowly moving towards each other like magnets in slow motion
Chaewon immediately freezes when she feels the heat of Hyejoo’s body radiate to her. The smell of roses starting to linger around her, making her feel some kind of comfort. She continues to look anywhere but the girl next to her.
She starts to panic when she feels something touch her hand that’s between her and the girl now resting her head on one of her hands leaning on to the table, trying to look cool and calm. Chaewon knows it’s all an act because the hand slowly inching towards hers is shaking. The small girl starts to panic even more now, so she closes her eyes, trying to remember the words her best friend said to her in the bathroom a few minutes ago.
Just go for it. I know you literally just met her a few hours ago but if you’re panicking about her this much already then maybe this could be it. It’s scary and hard at first but don’t let the gay panic get to you. Don’t let her get to you so quickly either. It’s not a bad thing to play around the field for a while. Just don’t trip and fall too early in the game or you’ll regret it. Go out there and remind her that she’s not the only one in the field. I’ll ask around about her if anyone knows her from her old school. Don’t fret so much. You got this.
Surprisingly, it helps. Chaewon takes a deep breath, gathering up her confidence, she takes a leap. Taking Hyejoo’s shaky hand and intertwining their fingers quickly, she looks at the girl’s reaction. Panicking again when the girl’s jaw slightly drops and looks down at their laced hands, but calming down when the agape triangle mouth closes and forms a soft smile.
Hyejoo makes eye contact with Chaewon, still obviously tense. Chaewon smiles at her sweetly, rubbing small circles on the back of her hand to try and calm her down. Chaewon doesn’t know what got into her, but for some reason she feels really calm. Like she’s in control of the situation enough. They stare at each other for a while. Just smiling at each other. Enjoying this moment together.
But after a while, Chaewon decides to take a small step further. Not breaking eye contact, she moves their hands up from between each other and shifts closer to the taller girl, closing the gap and letting their hips touch. Putting their still intertwined hands on the crack between their laps that are now also touching each other.
Hyejoo is immediately startled by the sudden contact, breaking their eye contact to look down. About to move away, she looks back at the eyes still looking at her with this utmost love and adoration. She immediately calms back down. How can I be so afraid of someone who looks that adorable? How can someone who is so soft and smell so nice scare me so much I feel like fainting every time I see them? How am I already feeling so much for this girl I don’t even know?
Maybe it won’t hurt to get to know her a little better.
Hyejoo opens her mouth to ask something to Chaewon when the bell rings, startling the girls, breaking all their contact. Their smiles turn into frowns. Realizing what they just did, they both panic internally.
They quickly move away from each other. Standing up and leaving the table to clean up their food. Walking to the opposite bussing stations at the other ends of the cafeteria, not looking at each other anymore. Hyejoo and Chaewon immediately leave the cafeteria separately. Leaving the three girls completely startled at what they have been watching the past few minutes.
Hyunjin, Heejin, and Yerim stopped talking when the two girls finally got close enough to each other. Knowing everything happening under the table. They just sat there quietly, smiling widely at their friends finally making moves at each other. They silently geek out among each other when the two stare at each other. Feeling weird that they were just there watching the whole thing happen. When the bell suddenly rang and the two run off like the tension they had didn’t happen, they were very weirded out. Looking at each other when the two leave the cafeteria suddenly, they look at each other and nod. Not needing words to explain the mission they’re now about to tackle.
Time to get Hyejoo and Chaewon closer to each other.