Archive of Our Own

The ding of the microwave has Sooyoung jumping for joy, scurrying over from the dining room table to retrieve the full bag of popcorn in all of its buttery glory. She quickly finds a bowl from the cabinet and fills it to the brim, grabs a soda from the fridge, and makes her way towards her bedroom with a huge smile on her face.

Her afternoon classes have been cancelled.

Now, she loves her classes, genuinely. She’s a journalism major, and while others may find the countless English courses a drag, Sooyoung relishes every chance she gets to work her fingers on a keyboard.

That doesn’t mean she isn’t enormously thankful for a bit of a day off. Seeing those emails ping in throughout her morning class made her feel like she’d won the lottery, not having a care in the world as to why every one of her professors had suddenly managed to contract a mysterious illness.

As Sooyoung crosses the threshold into her room, she pulls her laptop onto her bed and slumps down, sighing in relief. She hasn’t had the best few days, so curling up with the latest Netflix crime docuseries sounds like the perfect way to spend her now free Monday afternoon.

However, she’s barely five minutes through the first episode, the dent in her popcorn not even visible, when she hears her apartment’s front door open and close with immense force.

Sooyoung stills, pausing her laptop and perking an ear to hear who has entered the apartment. She assumes it’s Jungeun, her roommate usually finishes her classes around this time, but as Sooyoung rises from her bed, she can distinguish two voices, both quiet, as if they were muffled.

Curiosity immediately overwhelms her, and Sooyoung tiptoes her way over to her bedroom door and opens it just a crack. She’s immediately met with a loud, guttural moan that echoes throughout the apartment.

Sooyoung rolls her eyes, wondering why she’s even surprised. This isn’t the first time Jungeun has done this, Sooyoung’s had the pleasure of walking in on her roommate and her “lover of the week” in varying displays of nudity more times than she’d like to admit.

After she started losing count, Sooyoung made it very clear that there was never to be sex when the other was in the apartment. And Junguen, to her credit, has followed that rule very diligently. She wasn't to know that Sooyoung’s classes would get cancelled and she’d be home all afternoon.

But, now that Sooyoung thinks about it, she can’t remember the last time Jungeun had boasted about her various encounters over the breakfast table. The younger girl usually loved the chance to brag, especially to Sooyoung, and she’s now finding it quite odd that she hasn’t fallen victim to the blonde’s teasing in at least a couple of weeks.

Could it be that someone has finally managed to tame the wild Kim Jungeun?

Sooyoung’s curiosity grows, and now, she simply has to learn the identity of this supposed tamer. Maybe this will be more interesting than the crime doc after all.

Her footsteps become incredibly light as she paws down the hallway, the sounds getting louder with each step. One voice is most certainly Jungeun’s, Sooyoung has to suppress a gag when Jungeun whines loudly, but the other one… seems familiar, somehow.

Maybe it’s one of their shared college friends? Or maybe someone Jungeun met through her part time job? Sooyoung has had to drop off her lunch a few times, and her clothes, and has visited just to be a distraction, and all of Jungeun’s coworkers had seemed relatively nice.

As Sooyoung gets closer, she can start to hear words being uttered instead of just noises.

“Thank god Sooyoung is gone all afternoon.” Sooyoung snickers at Jungeun’s unrestrained relief. She must be whipped as hell, Sooyoung doesn’t think she’s ever heard the blonde this desperate in their 6 years of friendship.

Sooyoung’s just about to poke her head around the corner to view into the living room, she’s sure they’re on the couch, when she hears the second voice pipe up, crystal clear.

“I’ve never been more grateful for her strict perfect attendance,” the voice mutters, followed by a chuckle and a squeal from Jungeun.

Sooyoung stops dead in her tracks, eyes as wide as saucers.

No fucking way.

Needing confirmation to confirm what she can only describe as pure insanity, Sooyoung slowly peeks around the corner. What she sees immediately makes her want to pour acid onto her eyeballs.

She’s met with not just one blonde head, but two, one straddling the other in a make-out session so heated Sooyoung is mildly concerned for their lungs.

The one on the bottom is definitely Jungeun, Sooyoung can tell by the large bruise on her calf that she watched appear the night before during a feisty game of beer pong. She’d be laughing at the fact that Jungeun is a bottom, not surprising if you really knew her, if she wasn’t so preoccupied with who was currently on top of said bottom.

Jinsol?

Really?

Sooyoung can’t believe it. If she wasn’t witnessing it with her own two eyes, she’d slap someone across the face if they suggested two of her best friends were going at it on the couch in the middle of the afternoon.

And yet, there they are.

When Jinsol’s hand starts to slide under Jungeun’s shirt, Sooyoung tucks back around the corner, pressing her back up against the wall. Her eyes still wide, she mouths various exclamatory statements laced with curses, and viciously rubs at her eyes before peering to look at the sight again.

Yeah, it’s definitely real.

So many different feelings flood through her, confusion being the most prominent. How long has this been going on? Why haven’t they told anyone? Why on Earth would Jinsol date Jungeun? Or are they just hooking up?

Jinsol is a catch, Sooyoung would admit it. Out of their entire friend group, Sooyoung’s always surprised that the blonde is single, and she’s never been in a relationship as long as she’s been friends with them all.

She’s at the top of her class, some sort of biology, Sooyoung thinks. She’s never really paid enough attention to know. She has a wicked summer internship every year where she gets paid bank, so she lives in one of those fancy dorms on campus.

Sooyoung envies her, sometimes, but Jinsol is probably the nicest girl she’s ever met, and she wouldn’t hurt a damn fly, so Sooyoung more feels like she’s someone who needs to be protected from the evil of the world more than anything else.

And then there’s Jungeun. Sweet, sweet Jungeun. She’s a bit of a mess, if Sooyoung were to be honest. Undeclared major, terrible spending habits, a bit of an asshole at times. But she’s got a heart of gold underneath all of that… shit. Maybe Jinsol’s managed to find it, through one way or another.

Or, maybe Sooyoung’s overthinking, and maybe two of her friends having sex is just that. Fuckbuddies would sort of suit them, both seemingly unwilling to commit to anything serious, and Sooyoung isn’t oblivious to the softness the two have always shared. It would make sense, in a way. Or, about as much sense as it could in as strange a situation as this.

Sooyoung is interrupted from her chaotic thoughts by the sound of the couch legs scraping against the floor and footsteps starting to approach her.

“Shit,” she whispers, before running as fast as her tiptoes will carry her towards her room, hoping the couple are too wrapped up in each other to hear her light steps.

She barely manages to reach her bedroom before the unmistakable sounds of the pictures hanging on the walls crash against the ground, followed by a couple of “oops” mumbled in apology.

Sooyoung rolls her eyes. Horndogs.

At Jungeun’s bedroom door being closed, Sooyoung huffs in relief, moving to plug in her earbuds and blast her music so she doesn’t have to hear the ungodly sounds coming from across the hallway.

She pulls out her phone, with her first instinct being to text Haseul and inform her of the recent developments, knowing the girl would be just as shocked, and disgusted, as she is.

But, just as Sooyoung opens Haseul’s contact, she stops, being reminded of their current situation.

It’s… a bit weird between them currently. They’ve both been avoiding each other without fully saying that they’re avoiding each other, sort of following an unspoken understanding.

Sooyoung huffs and falls back onto her bed, frustration overwhelming the confusion temporarily.

Everything was fine, normal, even. They’d met a few days prior for their bi-monthly “drink wine and play board games” night. Both being hyper-competitive, and both loving wine, it usually results in a mixture of squabbling and giggling, and it is one of Sooyoung’s favourite activities. Plus, Haseul’s company isn’t too bad either.

However, this time things took a bit of a different turn. They were in the middle of a particularly heated game of Battleship. Sooyoung was cruising to a landslide victory, and was already thinking of ways in which to celebrate, when Haseul suddenly threw the game against a nearby wall and jumped onto Sooyoung and connected their lips in what Sooyoung felt to be desperation.

She was shocked, to say the least, but it wasn’t an unwelcome feeling either. They were both a little tipsy, and Sooyoung isn’t blind to Haseul’s outrageous beauty, so she didn’t fight it as Haseul pushed Sooyoung down onto the carpet.

It didn’t get any further than that, however, and Sooyoung is equal parts thankful and disappointed that Haseul had miraculously come to her senses and fled the building immediately.

And now, it’s weird, because Sooyoung can’t stop thinking about how good Haseul’s lips felt against her own. And she’s wondering how long Haseul has been wanting to do that.

And how long she’s wanted her to.

It’s all a little confusing, and Sooyoung hopes that one of them finds the courage to bite the bullet and break the silence, but she also knows they are both equally as stubborn as they are competitive, so this stalemate could go on for a while.

For now, she’ll have to deal with the confusing feelings in her chest and the slight shaking of the walls as she resumes her Netflix docuseries, wishing her afternoon classes hadn’t been cancelled after all.

-

Haseul grumbles as she dashes between awnings, making her way down the street in the pouring rain towards her favourite coffee shop. She’d meant to check the weather before leaving and curses the distraction that has been plaguing her mind for the past few days.

Damn Sooyoung and her stupid pretty face and smug smile. Everywhere Haseul goes, she sees Sooyoung’s face and hears Sooyoung’s laugh. It’s like she’s being haunted, which is ridiculous considering the girl is anything but dead. Even though the radio silence might make her think otherwise.

Then again, Haseul only has herself to blame for their current predicament, she’s still not sure what came over hert, but she surmises their little encounter was a long time in the making given how it felt like they were achieving some sort of inevitability the moment their lips connected.

No matter, Haseul still won’t admit defeat, and refuses to address the problem until they simply cannot avoid each other any longer. When that day comes, maybe she’ll have her feelings sorted out a little more.

Taking a quick glance upwards, the clouds are getting darker by the second, and Haseul swears she hears thunder rumble in the distance. She can spot the unmistakable yellow paint colouring the coffee shop just down the street, and she sighs in relief.

She’s prepared to rip Jinsol a new one for insisting on meeting for coffee, despite omitting the reason as to why it was such a pressing matter. Jinsol’s texts were extremely curt, and Haseul would have been concerned about that, Jinsol usually sends about five emojis per text, if she weren’t so worried about her own issues.

But, here Haseul is, trudging through the pouring rain because her friend evidently needs her help with something important. Her selflessness will come back to bite her in the ass someday, she’s sure.

The remaining distance is cover-free, and Haseul waits a moment for the feeling to restore in her toes before tackling the final stretch. From where she’s standing, she can spot Jinsol waiting for her through one of the glass walls of the shop.

Once Haseul leaves the safety of the last awning, she gets close enough to see another blonde head with Jinsol. Jungeun, Haseul guesses, and her guess is confirmed when she spots Jungeun’s characteristic leather jacket through blurry vision.

She’s only a few metres from respite when she sees something that halts her dead in her tracks, rain be damned.

Jinsol leans over, places a hand on Jungeun’s cheek, and leads her closer to… kiss her?

What?

Haseul’s jaw drops, and she rubs at her eyes a few times, sure that the rain is clouding her sight. Or maybe she accidentally ingested a hallucinogen, she never knows what Yeojin is up to these days.

But once the hypothetical fog is cleared, she’s met with a very flustered Jungeun, Haseul could see that from a mile away, hiding her face in Jinsol’s neck or shoulder or something.

Haseul can’t close her mouth, the shock genuinely leaving her paralyzed. Of all of the things she ever thought she’d see on this Tuesday afternoon, that would never have crossed her mind.

She’s not given much of a chance to digest the information, because Jungeun is now standing from her seat, leaving a kiss on Jinsol’s cheek before heading towards the coffee shop’s exit. They’ve managed to avoid noticing her presence, likely much too focused on each other which Haseul gags at, but now she’s right in Jungeun’s line of sight.

Haseul’s eyes dart around and she spots a perfectly placed mailbox a few feet away, just big enough to hide her small frame. The rain is now the least of her concerns, and she practically dives towards it, leaning up against its back and squeezing her eyes shut.

The thought of confronting them briefly flashes by in her panic, but there must be a reason they are keeping this… development from the rest of the group.

While Haseul is still crouched over, she wonders if Sooyoung knows, being Jungeun’s roommate after all. She wants to tell her, wants someone to talk about this with, and Sooyoung has always been her confidant.

She once again curses their shared idiotic stubborness. And how her thoughts always seem to make their way back to Sooyoung.

Once Jungeun’s blonde head is out of view, likely on the way towards the university, Haseul breathes a sigh of relief and stands from her hunched position, cracking her back a few times in hopes to relieve some of the tension.

Making her way into the coffee shop, she is now much more interested in the motivation behind this lunch, thinking Jinsol’s concerns may have to do with their mutual friend. Haseul barely manages to quell the shock before she catches Jinsol’s attention, the ringing accompanying the opening of the door causing Jinsol to perk up.

Jinsol immediately sports a beaming smile, and it never fails to make Haseul follow suit, the blonde’s characteristic bubbliness infectious even when Haseul isn’t quite feeling her best.

Haseul orders her usual from the barista and, coffee in hand, sits down at the seat across from Jinsol, purposely avoiding the one adjacent to her.

It’s only when she sits down that Haseul remembers the rain, and the fact that she’s absolutely soaked from head to toe. Jinsol’s smile morphs into a frown full of guilt, and she’s quick to rush out apologies.

“Oh, Haseul I’m so sorry. I should have checked the weather before picking today, I just really wanted to catch up and get your advice on something,” Jinsol spills out in haste, and Haseul forgets the tiny bit of resentment at having been dragged out from her warm apartment.

“It’s okay, I should have brought an umbrella,” Haseul says dismissively. Plus, if she hadn’t been invited here, she never would have bore witness to her friends’ little secret rendezvous. The trip has become somewhat worth the hassle.

Jinsol nods, but Haseul knows she’ll still be apologizing for the next week.

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

Haseul takes a sip of her coffee and starts to analyze Jinsol’s features. Something is clearly troubling her, and even though she looked happy when she was with Jungeun, she now looks much more… conflicted.

“So, what’s on your mind?” Haseul starts, gently. She hopes she’s a good actress.

Jinsol sighs, and rubs her eyes with her hands. Haseul has to hold in the scoff at Jinsol’s natural beauty, not a trace of makeup on her face.

“It’s just… have you ever kept a secret from your friends?”

Haseul pauses, realizing that she is indeed keeping a secret. Maybe not from all of her friends, but definitely from a certain individual in which said secret might relate to.

“Yeah, I think so,” Haseul replies.

“How do you do it? God it feels like I’m living a lie,” Jinsol says with anguish as she rests her forehead on the table in front of them.

Haseul pats her head a few times in comfort.

“You could try not keeping the secret? Maybe telling your friends about it?”

Jinsol doesn’t move, but Haseul guesses her eyes may have rolled given the snark of her next statement.

“It’s not me that wants to keep it a secret,” Jinsol grumbles.

Haseul’s eyes widen, finding that little piece of information interesting, but pocketing it for now.

“Look, honey, if it’s troubling you so much to keep it a secret then you should make sure they know that. Maybe they’ll reconsider.” Haseul has to bite back the “she” that almost slips out, as that would raise immense suspicion.

Jinsol nods and finally lifts her head from the tabletop. Haseul chuckles at the indent left on the blonde’s forehead.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably just making a big deal out of nothing.”

Jinsol seems to snap herself out of it, putting her troubles aside and now looks fully concentrated on Haseul. The sudden intensity of her gaze has Haseul squirming in her seat a little.

“Enough about me, what’s going on with you?”

Haseul’s eyes widen. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jinsol scoffs. “Yes you do. Both of you have been acting weird, and our hag groupchat has been dead. I’m not stupid, you know.”

Haseul refuses to meet Jinsol’s accusatory gaze, instead watching the flow of people passing outside the shop window. Always leads back to Sooyoung.

She remains mute, really not ready to talk about this issue yet. Jinsol, thankfully, seems to take the hint, and relaxes in her chair slightly.

“Fine, but you can only hide things from me for so long you know. Sooyoung too, neither of you can keep a secret from me.”

The comeback is right on the tip of Haseul’s tongue, finding Jinsol’s air of superiority comical given the blonde’s current situation. But, she only smiles gratefully in response, and the two spend the rest of their lunch date chatting away, the topics of Sooyoung and Jungeun avoided with diligence.

-

Hyejoo rolls her eyes as she and Sooyoung enter the latter’s apartment complex, desperately trying to tune out the neverending complaining coming from her sister. Haseul seems to be all Sooyoung talks about lately, and there is only so much Hyejoo can take.

“Do you think I should text her?”

After a few moments of silence, Hyejoo is finally brought back down to earth by her sister slapping her on the shoulder. She shakes her head slightly and focuses her blank stare on Sooyoung’s frustrated figure.

“Sorry, I stopped paying attention about 5 blocks ago. What is it now?”

Sooyoung grits her teeth, and Hyejoo knows she’s contemplating if she can get away with murder, to which Hyejoo smiles innocently in response.

“Whatever, I don’t know why I’m asking you for advice in the first place. Your relationship is basically perfect.”

Hyejoo sighs and finds her mind wandering to the object of her affection. Her beloved girlfriend.

They’ve been together for a few years now, high school sweethearts and everything. Their anniversary is actually coming up on Saturday, and Hyejoo has been planning it for months. It’s what someone as perfect as Chaewon deserves.

“Yeah, I guess it is, isn’t it? Sorry, guess you’re on your own with this one sport,” Hyejoo says, half sympathetically, and rests a hand on Sooyoung’s shoulder. The younger sister loves how annoyed Sooyoung gets when she acts older than her. Loves pissing her off in general if she were to be honest.

That being said, Hyejoo is really rooting for her sister and their friend to sort out their issues. They’ve been in love with each other for ages, Hyejoo and Chaewon always talk about how oblivious the two are, so someone just needs to slam their stubborn heads together.

Luckily, Hyejoo has planned for a way to do just that.

Sooyoung’s face is the picture of frustration, at what, Hyejoo isn’t quite sure, but she hopes her sister won’t be too angry when her master plan starts to unfold.

“Hey… just be honest with her. I know you would rather eat your own foot than admit your feelings, but you’re going to lose her if you don’t,” Hyejoo supplies, trying her best to convey as much seriousness as possible and hoping Sooyoung takes the advice to heart.

After a few moments of hesitation, Sooyoung nods.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s about time I woman’d up,” Sooyoung admits, a small smile on her face. And while she doesn’t show it, that makes Hyejoo’s heart warm.

“Great! Because you’ve got about 30 seconds until she shows up.”

Sooyoung’s eyes widen comically, and she starts frantically looking around the apartment lobby, before her gaze settles back on Hyejoo, any trace of softness replaced with burning rage.

“What did you do?” Sooyoung threatens, taking a menacing step closer into Hyejoo’s personal space.

“Nothing that wasn’t for your own good!” Hyejoo bites back. But, she notices the panic quickly overwhelming the anger in her sister’s eyes and sighs, putting both of her hands on Sooyoung’s shoulders.

“Come on, you’ve had your head in your ass for long enough. You know what you have to do, and you never let anything get in the way of what you want, so why start now?”

Sooyoung sighs shakily, and nods her head right as the apartment complex doors open loudly.

Both sisters’ attention immediately turns to their topic of conversation, Haseul looking like a deer in headlights as she meets Sooyoung’s terrified gaze.

Hyejoo looks at the two of them and has to hold back a chuckle. You’d think that they haven't seen each other in months, the yearning in their gazes so intense Hyejoo could vomit. Dramatic lesbians.

Haseul finally tears her gaze from Sooyoung’s and looks to Hyejoo.

“Um… Hyejoo? You said you needed my help with something?” she asks hesitantly, and Hyejoo can tell the short-haired woman is starting to doubt that claim.

But, Hyejoo is determined for her plan to work, so she grabs each of their hands and drags them towards the elevator.

“Yeah! Jungeun’s giving me a table that she doesn’t use anymore and I need you to help me move it.”

A terrible lie, one of her worst really, but Hyejoo is desperate. She can’t take any more gay pining, and if that means a pointless trip to Jungeun and Sooyoung’s apartment then so be it.

“Right, okay. Sounds good, I guess,” Haseul mumbles, avoiding looking towards Sooyoung’s general vicinity. Sooyoung’s eyes are trained on her feet as the elevator doors close in front of them and they make their ascent.

Hyejoo isn’t claustrophobic, but she feels like she might suffocate from the tension in the small space of the elevator compartment. She rolls her eyes at the small glances the two idiots are sneaking at each other.

She’s genuinely considering smashing their faces together when the doors open to reveal Sooyoung’s floor.

“Is Jungeun home?” Haseul asks, and takes an intake of breath when she realizes that question was directed at Sooyoung.

Sooyoung, similarly, clears her throat in surprise at the question, and Hyejoo wonders if she can be a lesbian and homophobic.

“Um… I don’t know,” Sooyoung supplies, voice incredibly uneven as they approach her apartment door. It takes her a few attempts to pick the right key off her lanyard, her shaking fingers almost dropping them a few times.

Once she opens the door, the three let themselves in and scan the living room. No sign of Jungeun, but her phone is on the dining room table and her school bag looks to have been thrown on the couch.

Hyejoo looks around questioningly, and is about to speak when an unmistakably loud noise reverberates around the apartment.

A moan. Jungeun, definitely.

Hyejoo’s face scrunches up in disgust. Typical.

“We should have called ahead. I don’t want to hear Jungeun going at it with her girl of the week,” Hyejoo groans. She’s expecting the two other women to voice their agreement, but when she looks at the two, they both seem to be panicked for a different reason.

“What? Why do you guys look like that?”

Sooyoung and Haseul snap out of it, and they look at each other with narrowed eyes.

“Do you…?” Haseul questions the newly short-haired woman.

“You know, don’t you,” Sooyoung says, shaking her head in disbelief as a small smile graces her face. “Of course you do.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Hyejoo demands, feeling very out of the loop.

“Jungeun and Ji-” Haseul starts, but Sooyoung covers her mouth with her hand, leading Haseul to utter incredibly muffled protests.

“Nothing, Hyejoo. It’s nothing,” Sooyoung says, incredibly unbelievable, and Hyejoo’s curiosity only grows.

Before she can question her sister further, another moan rings through the apartment. Louder, and somehow even more identifiable.

Hyejoo’s jaw drops.

“IS THAT… JINSOL?”

Sooyoung’s hand removes itself from Haseul’s mouth and rushes to cover Hyejoo’s instead.

“Will you be quiet? Do you want them to hear us?”

Hyejoo’s eyes are wide, and the calmness of her friend and sister is incredibly unsettling until realization dawns on her. She opens her mouth to say something but she’s met with Sooyoung’s incredibly sweaty palm.

Swallowing her disgust, Hyejoo licks Sooyoung’s palm, causing her older sister to squeal and withdraw it to wipe it on her jeans.

“Did you guys know about this?” Hyejoo says, shock still emanating throughout her body at this incredible turn of events.

But, if she really thought about it, the concept of the two most anti-relationship members of their friend group getting together isn’t super surprising. Hyejoo just wonders what type of relationship the two are involved in.

“Yeah, they came home on Monday when they thought I was out and started going at it. It’s disgusting,” Sooyoung shivers, trying to speak in a hushed voice as to not alert the two blondes of their presence.

“I saw them when I went to get lunch with Jinsol yesterday. I think they’re cute, they make a cute couple,” Haseul counters, looking at Sooyoung pointedly.

“Couple? No, I’m pretty sure they are just fucking. There’s no way Jungeun, I love her but she’s a mess, could land someone like Jinsol, friends first or not.”

Haseul scoffs, and Hyejoo now feels the dynamic between the two drift back into one of familiarity.

“You didn’t see them at lunch, they were acting all couple-y. There’s no way it’s just sex,” Haseul argues, and pauses. “And apparently Jungeun can at least admit her feelings. That goes a long way.”

Hyejoo’s eyes widen at the dig, and she wishes she could make some popcorn without disturbing the two animals a few rooms away.

Sooyoung scoffs, rolling her eyes in annoyance, before defiance overtakes her sharp features. She raises an eyebrow.

“Willing to put your money where your mouth is there, Jo?” she challenges.

Haseul smirks. “Sure, there are some 50$ boots that have been calling my name for weeks. I’d be happy to take your money, Ha.”

Hyejoo rolls her eyes. These two are really made for each other. And while this isn’t exactly what Hyejoo had in mind when she planned this little scheme, at least they have exchanged more than a few stilted sentences with each other.

Sooyoung laughs, and Hyejoo doesn’t miss the little twinkle in Haseul’s eyes at the sound.

“Sounds like a plan,” Sooyoung replies, outstretching her hand for Haseul to shake.

While the two confirm the deal, Hyejoo’s ears pick up the sound of a door opening, and her eyes widen.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Hyejoo whispers, tiptoeing her way towards the apartment door. She opens it quietly and waits.

Jungeun eventually appears from around the corner in just a loose button up shirt and almost jumps out of her skin at the sight of her three friends standing awkwardly in her apartment entryway.

Hyejoo finally closes the door and puts on a pristine smile. “Hey Jungeun! We weren’t sure if you were going to be home.”

Jungeun’s eyes dart between the three of them, and noticing Haseul and Sooyoung in each other’s presence, she sends a questioning look Sooyoung’s way that is in no way as subtle as the blonde thinks.

“So… you guys just got here?” Jungeun asks nervously, looking back towards her bedroom a few times.

“Yeah! Barely walked through the door,” Hyejoo supplies, lying through her teeth. She’s lucky she is an impeccable liar.

Jungeun sighs in relief and nods. “Alright, well, I’ll just be in my room then.”

She quickly grabs a bottle of water and wipes the layer of sweat off of her forehead before heading back towards her bedroom.

Once Hyejoo hears the door shut closed, she lets out a large exhale of breath.

“Wow, that was a close one. Don’t know why they are keeping this a secret but I’m excited for when it blows up in their faces,” Hyejoo smiles. She looks towards her sister and friend and notices their hands are still awkwardly locked.

Sooyoung notices first and tenses up, which Haseul immediately feels. They both retract and focus their gazes on opposite sides of the apartment.

Hyejoo rolls her eyes. So much for progress.

“Well, now that that’s over with, sorry I lied to you Haseul. I’m going home, see you both on Friday for dinner,” Hyejoo grumbles as she once again heads towards the door.

“Try and sort your shit out before then, alright?”

-

Chaewon sighs as she makes her way through the packed campus, bustling for a Thursday afternoon, towards Jinsol’s dorm building, stress weighing her down with each step.

She has two days before her and Hyejoo’s anniversary, and she still doesn’t have a gift. Or even an idea for a gift. Not a single lead. And it’s starting to freak her out.

Hyejoo is such a phenomenal gift giver that Chaewon always feels pressured to match her, but she seems to fall short every time. Hyejoo, of course, assures her that the gift itself isn’t the point, and that the thought behind it is more important, but that doesn’t fully absolve Chaewon of her guilt.

Hyejoo deserves the world, and Chaewon sometimes wishes it was easier to give it to her. Funny that everyone thinks they're the perfect couple.

Brushing away those negative thoughts, Chaewon spots her destination on the other side of the large greenspace at the centre of their university.

Jinsol is the only one of their group that can rival Hyejoo’s gift-giving skills, and she is undeniably the most sentimental one of them all. If Chaewon is to have a hope of blowing Hyejoo away, she’s going to need the blonde’s help.

The moment Jinsol was inducted into their friend group, she was in one of Haseul’s classes in their freshman year, the older blonde immediately adopted Chaewon as her “younger sister,” finding it incredibly unfair that Hyejoo had Sooyoung and Chaewon didn’t have anybody.

Ever since, Chaewon has felt comfortable telling her anything, and they’ve adopted a “no secrets” policy. Despite the slight age difference, Chaewon considers Jinsol her best friend, and she knows Jinsol will be more than willing to help her with this issue.

She finally makes her way into Jinsol’s dorm building, still surprised at the luxury on display in the lobby. Damn, does Chaewon envy that internship Jinsol’s managed to score.

Hopping into the elevator, Chaewon’s stress lightens with each passing floor, and she optimistically approaches Jinsol’s door once she’s on her level.

As she does so, she hears muffled voices from the other side of the door, and they get louder and louder until she can make out each word by the time she reaches Jinsol’s door. Chaewon’s eyes widen when she recognizes the voices that are almost yelling at each other.

“I thought you were happy with keeping it a secret?” Chaewon’s face crinkles in confusion at Jungeun’s statement, and she presses her ear up against Jinsol’s door once she reaches it.

“Well maybe I’m not anymore! Maybe I’m sick hiding from our friends! I don’t even know why you didn’t want to tell them in the first place.” Chaewon’s heart sinks, finding the exasperation and hurt in Jinsol’s voice extremely foreign.

Still incredibly confused, Chaewon pulls her phone out to send a text to Hyejoo. They haven’t seen each other in a few days, and her tall girlfriend might have an inkling of what this is about.

However, just as she pulls out her phone, something halts her in her tracks.

“Because you’re too good for me, Jinsol! Everyone knows it, and I just wanted to enjoy having you to myself before you realize that too,” Jungeun all but sobs, the anguish unearthing a whole new level of hurt in Chaewon.

Chaewon almost drops her phone in shock and scrambles to catch it before it crashes to the floor.

The implications of Jungeun’s words aren’t lost on Chaewon, and she’d be confused, surprised, and probably a little hurt, if she weren’t overhearing two of her closest friends in the most pain she’s ever heard them in.

“I- you don’t get to decide that for me, Jungeun,” Jinsol almost whispers, voice shaky and uneven. “I’m probably a better judge at what’s good for me and what’s not than you are, thanks.”

Jungeun sighs, and the tense silence that follows could be cut with a knife.

“I’m sorry, Jinsol. I’m just so scared of losing you,” Jungeun admits.

Chaewon hears footsteps retreat further into the apartment, and the blonde blesses whoever decided to install paper thin walls in Jinsol’s dorm complex.

“I know,” is all Jinsol replies, and Chaewon knows that is Jungeun’s cue to leave, recognizing the dismissive tone of Jinsol’s voice.

Hearing Jungeun approach the door, Chaewon rushes to turn down the hallway, still close enough to hear the door creak open.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Jungeun asks, hopefully.

“Yeah, Jungeun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chaewon has never heard Jinsol sound so defeated, the usually optimistic and bright girl completely unrecognizable. She partly wants to fight Jungeun for causing this, but that idea fleets quickly at the dejected nature of Jungeun’s demeanor.

Jinsol’s dorm door closes, and the elevator ding signals Jungeun’s descent. Chaewon slides down the wall behind her and buries her head in her hands.

So much information has been exposed to her in less than five minutes, to say she’s feeling overwhelmed would be an understatement.

Chaewon isn’t sure what the two are going to do, but Jinsol sounded incredibly serious, and the blonde doubts her friend would be willing to continue sneaking around, which is apparently what they were doing without any of their friends finding out.

Baffling, considering how nosy and overbearing their friend group is, but Chaewon would wager that she’s likely not the first to uncover this secret. Sooyoung likely knows, living with Jungeun and all, but what about Hyejoo and Haseul?

Are the two even going to figure this out? The uncertainty and fear in Jungeun’s voice and on her face makes Chaewon unsure if the blonde will have the guts to make the leap.

But, for both their sakes, Chaewon hopes she does, because despite her somewhat lacking relationship skills, she knows love when she sees it.

One thing for sure, though, is that Jinsol has much more important things to deal with than Chaewon’s absence of an anniversary gift. So, she collects herself and heads back home, suddenly very apprehensive for their family dinner tomorrow.

-

Haseul relishes the warm spring air as she makes her way towards the group’s favourite local diner.

To say she’s anxious about the evening would be putting it lightly. So many different balls are in the air at the moment and it’s anyone’s guess as to which is going to fall first.

Of course, the ball she’s most concerned with is the one symbolizing her and Sooyoung’s current predicament. Somehow, the brunette has become even more ingrained into Haseul’s thoughts since the evening of Hyejoo’s brilliant plan.

The two could no longer deny that the energy has shifted, and Haseul feels her stubborn resolve crumbling every time she thinks about how much Sooyoung’s laugh caused butterflies to erupt in her stomach, how the return to their usual banter made her feel the most alive she’s felt ever since their radio silence commenced, and how Sooyoung’s hand against her own brought back all of the love and happiness that she has always associated with her best friend.

She can’t wait any longer. Her feelings have been too large, and too true, to attempt to deny them anymore. She wants to be with Sooyoung, desperately.

As Haseul sits patiently at a table for six, having been the first of her friends to arrive, she spots Sooyoung’s unmistakable brown locks outside the diner window, and the characteristic carefree smile on Sooyoung’s face makes Haseul wonder what was so worth being stubborn for.

The door jingles with Sooyoung’s arrival, and the taller brunette scans the diner quickly, attempting to locate one of her friends.

When her eyes meet Haseul’s, she sighs with bitterness. Of course.

Sooyoung, similarly, has been carefully considering their situation since a few days prior. However, she has come to a slightly different conclusion than Haseul has.

As much as Sooyoung wants to pursue something with Haseul, the way the two have handled their drunken mistake has Sooyoung convinced that the two just aren’t meant to be together. They’re too similar, too alike in all the wrong ways. Overthinking has always been one of her specialties, and she has buried herself deep underneath a mountain of worries, bad endings, and broken hearts.

Or, the shorter answer is that she’s scared shitless about taking this leap. She’s talked herself in and out of it for days, and she’s decided being that vulnerable and letting her true feelings out is a risk she isn’t willing to take.

She figures she’ll save them both the trouble by ending whatever they have now, before they get too invested in the idea of “them.” No harm, no foul.

However, the moment she meets Haseul’s eyes, recognizing both the bright glow of hope she sees and the warmth it brings her, her heart sinks, and Sooyoung realizes it may be a little too late for that.

The older woman sheepishly makes her way over to Haseul’s table, every step filling her with more and more dread. This may just be the hardest thing she’s ever had to do.

Sooyoung takes the seat directly across from Haseul, because it would have been too rude to follow her first instinct and sit on the opposite end of the table.

“Hey,” Sooyoung grunts as she sits, grimacing at how awkward the greeting was. She’s known Haseul for years, she shouldn’t need to force this so much. She’s hoping Haseul will understand where she’s coming from, but neither are the most rational when it comes to feelings.

“Hi… how are you doing?” Haseul asks, hesitantly. She’s incredibly wary of spooking Sooyoung, so she’s making a conscious effort to ease Sooyoung into the idea of the two of them together. Lord knows she’s scared enough herself.

“Not too bad, I’m a little scared for how this dinner is going to go though,” Sooyoung chuckles, hoping to lighten the already intense atmosphere and direct attention to the mess that is their two close friends.

Haseul scoffs in agreement. “You and me both. I have no idea how those two are going to act around us tonight.”

“I just hope they can manage to keep their hands off each other for the night,” Sooyoung says, before a smirk graces her face. “I wouldn’t want you to be in public when you lose our bet, save you the embarrassment.”

Haseul rolls her eyes, but chooses to withhold her snarky comment. She wants to address this before any of their friends show up and Sooyoung can hide behind the other’s drama.

The younger brunette clears her throat, and Sooyoung recognizes the serious demeanor that overtakes her. The pit that has been in her stomach for the past few hours grows in size, and she takes a sizable gulp from her glass of water.

“Listen, I was hoping we could talk… about us. And what that kiss meant,” Haseul starts, cautiously.

Sooyoung sighs, and starts to utter the words that she knows will break Haseul’s heart, as well as her own, before the restaurant’s door jingles with another arrival.

“Hey guys.”

The two immediately turn their focus to the approaching blonde, the dejected nature of her statement causing concern in the both of them.

Chaewon takes the seat adjacent to Sooyoung with a slump, and the atmosphere immediately changes.

Haseul, although concerned as to why the usually bright and happy Chaewon seems so glum, rues the missed opportunity to set things straight with Sooyoung. She once again curses their iron wills.

“What’s wrong?” Sooyoung asks, very thankful for the interruption, prolonging the inevitable for a little while longer.

Chaewon keeps her gaze focused on the menu in front of her, eyes flitting between the various burgers on offer and deciding on the greasiest option they have, as well as a large milkshake. She’s earned it from the amount of stressing she’s subjected herself to the past week or so.

She still has gotten absolutely nowhere for her gift for Hyejoo, and they are supposed to celebrate their anniversary tomorrow. Her girlfriend is ecstatic for it, and has been singing her own praises for days, claiming she’s topped even herself this time around.

That doesn’t make Chaewon feel better in the slightest, and she is honestly dreading seeing Hyejoo tonight, which is a feeling she hasn’t ever experienced.

She can’t help but relate to Jungeun currently, feeling incredibly inferior to her girlfriend and wondering what Hyejoo even sees in her.

Of course, Chaewon isn’t going to vocalize any of that to her two concerned friends. As out of it as she is, she immediately sensed the overwhelming tension between the two brunettes the moment she sat down at the table.

Tonight, much bigger problems await than her silly insecurities, so she puts on a brave face, fake in every aspect, and smiles at her friends.

“Oh nothing, just got a bad mark on one of my assignments,” Chaewon replies, attempting to quell the worry on her friends’ faces.

Haseul’s eyebrows knit together, not believing that in the slightest. But, before she is given the chance to question the blonde further, another blonde appears at the table and takes the empty seat next to Haseul.

All three pairs of eyebrows shoot up at the entrance, and Sooyoung and Haseul exchange looks, which Chaewon catches. So the two of them must know about some part of their friends’ secret relationship. That just leaves Hyejoo, but Chaewon guesses that if all three of them know, Hyejoo likely does too, somehow.

“Wow I’m starving, have you guys ordered yet?”

Sooyoung shakes her head. “Nope, we only just got here. The waitress hasn’t even come to take our drink orders yet.”

Jinsol nods her head, and focuses on the menu in front of her to avoid her friend’s gazes.

She was extremely close to backing out of this dinner, she’s barely left her bed since Jungeun left her apartment yesterday. But, after too much binge-watching of Bachelor in Paradise and a couple of pints of ice cream too many, she decided that she’ll have to confront Jungeun eventually, so might as well bite the bullet.

Plus, the pleading look on her girlfriend’s face that has been etched in her brain did plenty to convince her.

So, here she is, dreading the inevitable appearance of the potential love of her life.

It has been quite the story for the two of them. Jinsol has always seen Jungeun in a different light than her friends, but had never thought too much about why that was.

Jungeun was over at Jinsol’s dorm and they were doing homework, as they often do. Jungeun usually won’t touch her school work unless she absolutely has to, so Jinsol took it upon herself long ago to be the blonde’s primary motivator and study buddy.

The smile Jungeun sports whenever she gets a good grade makes the money spent on snack breaks and the long hours at the library worth the effort.

All of a sudden, the space between them on Jinsol’s couch got smaller and smaller, and Jinsol’s attention was pulled from her textbook on complex vertebrates to Jungeun’s lips by a timid, but determined, hand.

While initially shocked, the moment their lips touched, the scattered thoughts in Jinsol’s brain started to rearrange themselves, and the buried feelings for her friend made themselves loud and proud. No wonder she has never been interested in the many men and women fawning over her throughout her college career.

And then, it was really good. They met up in Jinsol’s dorm almost every day, and while very few words were ever exchanced, Jinsol doesn’t think she’d ever been happier. And the sex was pretty good, too.

After a couple of weeks, Jinsol wanted more, and when Jungeun was clearly a little hesitant, Jinsol suggested taking it slow and not tell their friends, but to start going on real dates instead of quickies between classes.

Jungeun cautiously agreed, to Jinsol’s immense joy, and it wasn’t long after that that Jungeun asked Jinsol to be her girlfriend.

It was great for a little while, but Jinsol started to get tired of the quick withdrawals whenever one of their friends appeared and pretending that she was sitting next to a friend and not her girlfriend at their gatherings.

She loves Jungeun, at least she’s pretty sure she does, and she’s sick of hiding it from the people she cares most about in the world.

The bomb Jungeun dropped on her yesterday, that the blonde felt inferior to her in some way, was shocking to say the least. Jinsol has never once thought that Jungeun wasn’t good enough for her, but rather that the two deserved each other. Jungeun hasn’t had it easy, and Jinsol wants to be there for her for as long as Jungeun will have her.

Jinsol desperately wants this to work, but if Jungeun can’t handle making their relationship public, then she isn’t sure that it will.

Sooyoung clears her throat and meets Jinsol’s curious gaze.

“So, Jinsol, there’s this girl in my creative writing class that I think would be perfect for you. She doesn’t want a relationship, just looking to have some fun. That’s all you want these days right?” The brunette’s eyes flick to Haseul, who’s jaw has dropped.

The fact that she’s come here prepared to stop things with Haseul doesn’t mean their bet has taken a backseat. Sooyoung is determined to get the truth out of Jinsol, or Jungeun, for that matter, by the time this dinner concludes.

“No, Jinsol I’m sure you’re looking for something a little more serious, right?” Haseul counters, placing a hand on the blonde’s shoulder.

Jinsol’s eyes widen and her gaze flickers between her two friends. This is weird, even for them, and Jinsol is incredibly suspicious. She wouldn’t be totally surprised if one of them has figured out her and Jungeun’s secret. As much as they’ve tried to be careful, Sooyoung does live with Jungeun and her friends always seem to out-nosy each other.

“Um… no, I’m pretty happy with where I am right now, for the most part,” Jinsol replies, pensively.

Chaewon’s ears perk up at that, and her mind flashes back to how devastated Jinsol was just the day before. Her eyes look up to meet her best friend’s, and at the sympathy and worry Jinsol sees in them, the older blonde starts to think Chaewon somehow knows more than she’s let on.

Jinsol whips her phone out and sends Chaewon a quick text.

you know, don’t you?

Chaewon feels her phone vibrate in her jeans pocket, and pulls it out to check the incoming message. When she registers Jinsol’s words, she looks up once again and nods.

Jinsol’s chest constricts, and she looks down to see the three bubbles appearing on Chaewon’s text line.

stopped by your dorm yesterday. caught the last bit before jungeun left. i’m sorry jinsol. :(

Jinsol sighs, and nods her head, trying to blink back the tears that are threatening to resurface. She counts herself lucky that Haseul and Sooyoung seem to be too distracted by not looking at each other to notice her distress.

Before she can excuse herself, another of their friends makes an appearance. Jinsol’s heart stops when the door jingles, but to her immense relief, it’s just Hyejoo.

While Jinsol is relieved, Chaewon’s heart stops and sinks at the sight of her beautiful girlfriend, her small smile still managing to lighten up the entire room.

Hyejoo’s eyes immediately find their way to Chaewon, and her smile involuntarily grows as she makes her way over to sit beside her girlfriend.

“Hi baby!” Hyejoo says as she leaves a kiss on Chaewon’s cheek. “I missed you.”

Chaewon laughs at the pout on Hyejoo’s face, and pushes her away at the antics.

“It was only a few days.”

“A few days too many! I basically forgot what your face looks like,” Hyejoo whines, moving to hold Chaewon’s hand and interlock their fingers.

For a moment, the feeling that Hyejoo’s touch brings, the familiarity and comfort, sends Chaewon’s worries away.

“You are so whipped,” Sooyoung pipes up from the other side of Chaewon.

Hyejoo ignores her sister, her loving gaze still focused on her girlfriend.

Chaewon’s brow furrows. “What are you looking at me like that for?”

“I just love you,” Hyejoo replies, as simple as can be and with no hesitation.

Chaewon feels her face flush red, and she smiles bashfully, but the pit in her stomach somehow deepens, and she feels the smile be replaced with a frown.

Hyejoo has never shied away from PDA, and sometimes Chaewon feels bad that she doesn’t always reciprocate. Another of the many reasons she feels like she doesn’t deserve the younger girl.

“That’s the problem,” the blonde whispers to herself while fiddling with the buttons on her shirt.

Hyejoo hears the quiet statement, and she takes in the state of her girlfriend, finding her anxiousness very alarming. But she knows asking about it now won’t do any good, so Hyejoo tables that line of questioning for a little later.

She does hold Chaewon’s hand a little tighter, though, and the patterns that she rubs reassuringly on the back of Chaewon’s hand makes the blonde feel just a little bit better.

A light chatter emerges between the five of them. Jinsol and Haseul tell a funny story about their anthropology professor. He’d accidentally attached some choice pictures to one of his slideshows on animal behaviour. The class certainly learned a lot about behaviour from the images of their professor decking what looked like a whole round of tequila shots and failing to ride a mechanical bull.

Sooyoung complains about the group project she’s been a part of for the past couple of weeks, and the four of them hear for what must be the fiftieth time about how useless her group mates are. Halfway through the complaining, Hyejoo starts mocking Sooyoung’s words, mouthing what she says with a funny face, and the group’s laughter gets too loud for Sooyoung to finish her story. The sulk she begins sporting quickly disappears when Haseul laughs particularly loud at one of Hyejoo’s jokes.

It’s about half an hour after their agreed meeting time when the empty seat becomes much more obvious.

The waitress has just come by to ask if they are ready to order, and the fivesome look to each other in hesitation. It doesn’t seem like Jungeun is going to show up.

“Where the hell is Jungeun? Last time I checked with her she was still coming,” Sooyoung questions. She doesn’t think she’s seen much of her roommate since yesterday morning, but what could have changed in that time?

Jinsol sighs. And to think she only came today because Jungeun asked her too. She’s tempted to just leave right now, she can practically feel her bed calling to her.

But, she’s been having a good time with her friends, so maybe she can just forget about Jungeun. At least for the rest of the night.

“I guess she isn’t coming,” Jinsol replies, unable to hide her disappointment as she looks through the menu for the tenth time despite having picked out her order on her first attempt. Hyejoo looks puzzlingly at Sooyoung and Haseul, who share the sentiment.

Chaewon looks between the three of them and shakes her head, which only makes their confusion grow.

“Do you know?” Hyejoo mouths to Chaewon, to which the blonde nods.

Sooyoung scoffs and shakes her head, finding the situation quite funny. She shouldn’t be surprised that all of their friends managed to find out about Jinsol and Jungeun, and she can’t decide if those two are just terrible at hiding or if the rest of them are just incredibly nosy. Probably a bit of both.

As the group are placing their orders, Jungeun finally turns down the street housing their beloved diner. Once it comes into view, she stops in her tracks, halting her previously brisk pace.

She’s spent the past two or so hours working up the courage to do what she probably should have done a long time ago. What can she say, she’s a coward.

As happy as she’s been with Jinsol, she has kept so much of her worries and insecurities penned in. The amount of nights she’s spent stressing over how she doesn’t deserve someone like Jinsol, and that Jinsol could leave her at any minute, is astronomical.

Yesterday, that all just came to a head. Jungeun has never been one to share her feelings, one of the reasons why none of her relationships ever seem to end well, but when Jinsol made her feelings about them being a secret known, Jungeun’s own worries came flooding out.

She feels terrible that Jinsol has been feeling this way for so long, and that Jungeun didn’t make the other blonde feel as though she could share those concerns.

Their relationship up until this point has been good, really good, but their communication about what they really want has been lacking. They sort of dance around the topics of anything real, with the exception being when Jinsol wanted them to start going on real dates instead of just sleeping together.

And Jungeun doesn’t regret becoming official with Jinsol at all. She’s still shocked Jinsol said yes, with even that question asked with immense uncertainty.

Jungeun desperately wants to get out of her own head and give Jinsol what she needs, and while it may be a slow process to get there, she’s willing to do anything.

That is why she is here, approaching the diner and recognizing the blonde head of hair she loves so much. It’s do or die, and Jungeun is finally going to let her heart guide her instead of her head.

She opens the diner’s door with purpose, and her eyes immediately find Jinsol’s, which widen in shock at the sight of her girlfriend.

“Jungeun?” Jinsol asks pensively.

Jungeun barely registers her friends at the table and makes her way over to Jinsol’s side, taking the blonde’s hand in her own.

“I know I’m a little late but I really had to hype myself up before coming here,” Jungeun admits, a nervous chuckle not masking the sincerity and determination her presence gives off.

“Hype yourself up for what?” Hyejoo asks, with all four pairs of eyes curiously watching the pair. Sooyoung has a feeling she’s about to lose a bet.

Jungeun ignores Hyejoo completely, her focus still entirely on her girlfriend sitting anxiously, anticipating Jungeun’s next move.

“You know I’m not great with this kind of stuff but I’m going to try, for you. I’m sorry in advance if this is a little all over the place,” Jungeun starts, nervousness already giving her confidence a hit.

Jinsol squeezes Jungeun’s hand in encouragement, and nods for her to continue.

Jungeun sighs, and opens the gates she’s kept on her heart for far too long.

“Jinsol, I love you. I love you so much that it’s honestly terrifying, because you’re you and I’m me, but I don’t ever want to stop loving you.”

Haseul gasps, Sooyoung’s jaw drops, Hyejoo’s eyes widen, and Chaewon smiles.

“I can’t help feeling like I don’t deserve you, and I get the feeling I’ll always feel that way. You are just so incredible in every way, and being with you sometimes feels like a dream that I’m destined to wake up from, being brought back to a reality without you.”

At that admission, Chaewon tenses up a little bit, Jungeun’s words hitting a little too close to home. Hyejoo notices the little change, and brings her attention away from the enthralling scene unfolding before them.

Suddenly, the pieces start to come together for Hyejoo, moments from the past two years flying through her mind, and her heart aches looking at Chaewon. That discussion she tabled earlier is going to have to happen a lot earlier than she’d planned.

“I’m sorry I waited so long to talk to you about how I was feeling. We shouldn’t keep our feelings from each other, for any reason. As hard it might be for me, I care about you too much to let what we have go because of miscommunication.”

This time, Jungeun’s words resonate with the two brunettes at the end of the table. They instinctively look at each other, and suddenly, all the reasons Sooyoung had that the two of them wouldn’t work have left her memory.

She’s wasted enough time denying her feelings, refusing to talk to Haseul. Maybe she was stubborn, maybe she was scared, but either way, she’s just as certain as Jungeun that she cares too much about Haseul to ruin what potentially could be the best thing to ever happen to her.

“You deserve someone attentive, someone who will give you all the love in the world, and show you off no matter who’s around. And I so desperately want to be that for you, baby. I promise that I will try every day to be my best for you, if you’ll still have me,” Jungeun finishes, out of breath and on the verge of tears at the mess of feelings that have come out of her in such a short amount of time.

Jinsol, similarly, feels the onrushing flow of tears attempting to escape, and she doesn’t hold them back as she stands and engulfs Jungeun into her arms.

“I love you too. You are perfect the way you are, and you’re already more than enough for me,” Jinsol whispers into Jungeun’s ear as she buries her face in Jungeun’s neck, not wanting to ever let the blonde go again.

Jungeun sighs in relief and rubs her hand up and down Jinsol’s back.

“Then I guess I’m perfect for you,” Jungeun replies, leaning back ever so slightly to kiss her girlfriend with all of the love she can muster.

“Son of a bitch,” Sooyoung sighs, causing the blondes to separate and all of the attention to be on her.

“Oh, I mean, I’m super happy for you guys, but I bet Haseul that you guys were just fucking.”

Jungeun’s eyes widen, and looks around the table at her friends, who she now realizes don’t look too surprised at her word vomit of feelings.

“Did you guys all know already? How?”

“I found out on Monday. My afternoon classes were cancelled and I heard y’all coming home and getting it on. I’m scarred for life,” Sooyoung says with a shudder.

“I saw you guys kiss on Tuesday right before my lunch with Jinsol. I really jumped behind a mailbox in the pouring rain just so you didn’t see me, so you’re welcome,” Haseul says with a smirk.

“When Haseul, Sooyoung and I were at your apartment on Wednesday, we totally heard you guys going at it, unfortunately,” Hyejoo supplies, and Jungeun’s face goes from a light pink to a crimson red as she attempts to hide behind Jinsol’s taller frame.

“I went to Jinsol’s dorm yesterday to ask for her help with something and I kind of accidentally heard the tail end of your... fight,” Chaewon admits hesitantly, not wanting to ruin the mood. But Jungeun and Jinsol’s smiles don’t cease, and Chaewon doesn’t think they will for a while.

Jungeun shakes her head, finding the irony of this situation almost comical. She was so worried about telling her friends and she didn’t even have to.

“Well, so much for us sneaking around then,” Jinsol says with a laugh.

“Yeah you guys were terrible,” Sooyoung agrees.

“Well, we did only find out this week, and this seems to have been going on for a while,” Haseul counters.

Sooyoung rolls her eyes, but her smile betrays her. “Yeah whatever, now we’re going to be forced to see their mushiness all the time. I could vomit.”

They all laugh, and Jungeun takes the empty seat next to Jinsol, with a semblance of normalcy finally restored. They finish their dinner without any more heartfelt admissions of love, but while one couple has settled their differences, the other two still have a few things to iron out.

Haseul excuses herself to go to the washroom right before the bills arrive. The conversation has reached a bit of a lull, the two established couples becoming a little too engrossed in each other, so Sooyoung takes the opportunity to slip away after her.

She finds Haseul in front of the bathroom mirror, fixing her already perfect hair. Even now, Haseul’s beauty still manages to blow her away.

“Hey,” Sooyoung starts, the awkwardness that has been characterizing their interactions lately nowhere to be found. She knows what she wants now, and it isn’t like her to not go for what she wants.

“Hi,” Haseul responds with a slightly confused smile. “Here to pay up?”

Sooyoung nods. “I don’t have 50$ on me, but I think I can make it up to you another way, if that’s alright with you.” She takes a step closer, judging the brunette’s reaction.

Yes, they still have much to talk about, but Sooyoung figures this option will get the message across pretty clear.

Haseul’s eyebrows furrow, but she recognizes the look on Sooyoung’s face, and she smiles.

“Yeah, I think that’s alright with me.”

Sooyoung wastes no time and closes the gap between them, placing her lips firmly on Haseul’s. Haseul’s arms wrap around Sooyoung’s shoulders, her hands playing with Sooyoung’s hair in a way she knows the brunette likes.

Despite not being the greatest with words, Sooyoung puts everything she has, everything she’s been feeling, into this kiss. And she knows Haseul gets it, because she feels the same thing on her end.

They break apart with a newfound understanding, both knowing exactly what that kiss means. And what will come after it.

“That sure was a long time coming,” Haseul sighs, still close enough that Sooyoung can feel her breath on her lips.

“Probably should have happened a long time ago,” Sooyoung admits. Haseul nods, knowing she’s equally to blame for that.

“The past is in the past. I’m just looking forward to the future.”

Sooyoung can’t hold in the loud laugh at that statement, and she reels back from Haseul a little bit. “That was corny as hell.”

Haseul hits her on the arm, but finds herself laughing right along with her.

When the laughter dies down, they exit the bathroom hand in hand after a few more quick kisses. As they approach the table, Hyejoo notices their interlocked hands and smirks at her sister.

“You finally pulled your head out of your ass. God, took you long enough.”

Jinsol’s eyes widen, and she squeals in glee. “Yay! I’m so happy for you guys.”

She jumps up to pull them both into a hug, and it isn’t long before all six of them are in a huge group hug in the middle of the diner.

“I love love!” Jinsol exclaims, thinking this is one of the best days she’s had in a long time.

The waitress clearing her throat interrupts their little love fest, and they each pay their bills and make their separate ways home.

Jungeun’s intervention is needed to pry Sooyoung and Haseul off of each other, but Jinsol is equally as reluctant to leave Jungeun that she ends up going home with her and Sooyoung anyways.

That just leaves Hyejoo and Chaewon. Finally alone, Hyejoo insists they take a walk to “let their food digest” before separating for the night.

“So, is there anything you want to talk about?” Hyejoo prompts. She wants Chaewon to come to her with her insecurities so that she can do what she can to make her girlfriend feel the love she has for her.

Chaewon sighs. After the events of tonight, she feels she might as well follow in Jungeun’s lead.

“I guess… Jungeun isn’t the only one that’s feeling like she doesn’t deserve her girlfriend. You’re so amazing Hyejoo, and especially with our anniversary tomorrow and how excited you are about giving me your gift, I just don’t feel like I can compare to you in most things.”

Hyejoo’s heart sinks, and she doesn’t know if there is a worse feeling than what she’s feeling right now, seeing her girlfriend so insecure about herself when Hyejoo views her as a literal angel.

“Babe, I love you so much. I don’t care if you give me a piece of string for a present, I would cherish it because it came from you.”

Chaewon laughs, and Hyejoo’s words already start to warm her heart.

“I can’t tell you how to feel, but just know that you are the most important thing in my life, and I can’t imagine living without you. I hope that I can make you see how perfect you are, because that’s what I see every day.”

Hyejoo pulls Chaewon closer so she can leave a soft kiss on her forehead. And being so close to Hyejoo, feeling all the love the taller girl has for her, Chaewon finally feels a little bit of hope that things will start getting better.

“Besides, giving gifts is overrated. How about tomorrow we just spend the day doing everything we love to do? No gifts, just us spending time together,” Hyejoo suggests. Her gift was pretty good, and she was excited about it, but she would do just about anything to see Chaewon smile. A small price to pay.

Chaewon’s face morphs into a pout, and Hyejoo resists kissing her puffed up lips.

“Are you sure baby? You were really exci-”

“I’m sure. You are more than enough,” Hyejoo echoes Jinsol’s sentiment from earlier, and Chaewon pulls Hyejoo’s head down to connect their lips in a kiss a little bit more special than their countless others, the publicity be damned.

"We really are the perfect couple," Chaewon says with a giggle as she pulls away, riding a high she hasn't felt in a long time that remains long after her and Hyejoo part.

And so all six of them went home taking something from the events of the night.

Sooyoung learned that perhaps she isn’t always right and that she doesn’t always know the right thing to do. And that that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Haseul now knows that it isn’t always worth being stubborn. And that Sooyoung really knows how to kiss, even though she kind of knew that already.

Hyejoo is happy that her sister is finally happy, and is now going to be a little more attentive when it comes to her girlfriend.

Chaewon is going to be more conscious of her feelings, and will remind herself that Hyejoo is with her for a reason. And that she’s pretty awesome.

Jinsol goes home feeling light as a feather, and now understands how important it is to communicate your feelings and not keep them in.

Jungeun understands how much she has to work on, but she’s more than willing to do it, not just for Jinsol, but for herself.

And, with all of them getting terrible food poisoning the next morning, they’ve learned to never go back to what was once their favourite diner.