Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“ok, i seriously cannot stand it anymore.”

lia and yuna turned towards where yeji was looking.

underneath a tree in their school courtyard stood their two other friends, ryujin and chaeryeong, who’ve been passionately making out for the past 10 minutes. 

“they have to come up for air eventually right?” asked yuna.

“who knows?” said lia, “i saw them go at it for even longer yesterday.”

“this is getting ridiculous."

yeji let out an exasperated sigh, succumbing to the reality that there was nothing she could do but wait until their friends decided to stop devouring each other in public. 

“maybe one of us should talk to them about it?” lia suggested.

“and say what? ‘hey, could you guys please get a room and stop kissing in public because you’re grossing us out?’” said yuna.

“ok, maybe not exactly that, but something! i feel like i haven’t been able to comfortably be around them for days now, and it’s getting really annoying.”

“yeah, i know what you mean. i just don’t get how they could be so oblivious…”

after what seemed like a century had passed, the two aforementioned girls finally extricated themselves out of their embrace and joined their friends.

ryujin sat down first, and to her friends’ horror, she pulled chaeryeong down so that the red-head was practically sitting in ryujin’s lap.

lia had to hold in her urge to gag.

“well, well, well! look who decided to finally take a break from kissing and grace us with their presence!” mocked yuna. 

“technically, i didn’t want to, but chae has dance club duties later, so we figured she should at least eat a little before she has to leave.”

the way that ryujin used “we” had the other three girls rolling their eyes. 

“what?” 

“just, forget it,” said yuna. 

after that, the five girls conversed easily about the small things from their day. what exams had given them trouble, the latest coffee shop they liked, and rumors about new couples on campus.

the whole time ryujin handed grapes and other snacks to chaeryeong because she knew chaeryeong wouldn’t remember to eat otherwise.

in return, chaeryeong gave ryujin a small but affectionate smile, and that gesture alone was enough make ryujin ridiculously happy. 

before long, chaeryeong looked at the time and realized she had to leave.

“sorry guys, somi asked me to come in during lunch to help her with something for our dance club fundraiser. but, i’ll see you guys tomorrow?”

“here, i’ll walk you.”

“no, it’s ok ryujinnie. the studio is like on the other side of campus. plus, you promised you would study with yeji unnie for your test today.”

“but-“

“ryujinnie…”

“ok fine,” said ryujin, pouting like a 5 year-old who’s been told they can’t have any more candy. 

“i’ll make it up to you after, ok?”

“you better.”

ryujin pulled chaeryeong into another deep kiss that lasted for way longer than it should have. 

"i think i feel my lunch coming back up,” yuna muttered.

after a while, chaeryeong finally broke the kiss and waved goodbye. ryujin kept her eyes on chaeryeong’s retreating figure until she could no longer see her in the school halls. 

when ryujin turned back around to the lunch table, she was surprised to be faced with a fuming yeji. 

“library. now.”

without waiting for a reply, yeji stood up and started walking away from the table. 

sensing that it was more of a command than a question, ryujin grabbed her stuff and followed her blonde friend to the school library. 

the two girls went into one of several private meeting rooms that were open. seeing as yeji wasn’t taking out any books, ryujin figured they weren’t here to talk about geometry. 

“ok, spill. what the hell is going on between you and chaeryeong?”

“um, what do you mean?”

“i mean, why are you guys literally eating each other’s faces 24/7?!”

“uh…” ryujin shrugged. “because it’s fun?” 

“oh god, that’s not-“ yeji groaned. “i mean when did you guys just get together? and how?"

"what do you mean how? we just see each other in the halls and we meet up-"

"no, i mean when did you two even start liking each other?”

“well, we have been friends since middle school-“

“i don’t mean that kind of like!”

yeji heaved a sigh at how evasive ryujin was being. was ryujin actually being serious or was she just avoiding her question?

“look, you guys were completely normal two weeks ago at our christmas party. like normal friends. and then without any warning whatsoever, you two just come back from winter break as a couple and you don’t even bother to tell any of us what happened?” 

ryujin looked down at her hands. somehow, she couldn’t find the nerve to meet yeji’s gaze. so, she stayed silent. 

“i thought we told each other everything… but i feel like i haven’t been able to talk to you for weeks now because you’ve been gone all the time. but, c’mon, don’t i at least get to know what’s going on between my two best friends?”

yeji didn’t let ryujin’s quiet demeanor deter her. 

“and what’s with all of this pda?? it’s so unlike you, ryujin! even when you were dating heejin you weren’t this bad.”

“well, that’s because it’s… different with chaeryeong than it was with heejin.”

“how? how is it different?!”

“well, for starters, chaeryeong and i aren’t dating.”

yeji paused.

“…YOU’RE NOT WHAT!?”

Chapter Text

“what do you mean you’re not dating!?”

yeji wondered if her jaw could touch the floor because it felt like it has.

“i mean, chaeryeong’s not my girlfriend.”

“wha- then why are you guys making out all the time?”

ryujin took a shallow breath and raked her fingers through her hair.

“ok, to be honest, i’m not really sure what the two of us are right now either. it just sort of… happened.”

“happened? so you just happened to start kissing one of your best friends?”

ryujin shrugged.

“oh my gosh… you’re killing me, shin,” said yeji. “there has to be more than that. what happened to make you guys start?”

“i guess it all started at the christmas party…”

//

for christmas, the five girls decided have a sleepover party to unwind from the semester. after probably too many cups of spiked eggnogs and hot chocolates, all of them were kind of tipsy. they were all wearing pajamas and lounging around chaeryeong’s apartment. at some point during the night, yuna suggested that they watch “a nightmare before christmas.”

chaeryeong immediately started objecting.

“but, you know i’m scared of horror movies yuna~”

“what! a nightmare before christmas is not a horror movie!”

“yes, it is!”

“no, it’s not!”

“the main character is literally a walking skeleton!”

yuna and chaeryeong argued back and forth, until finally, chaeryeong was outvoted.

ryujin knew chaeryeong really didn’t like anything scary, so ryujin went over to the red-haired girl and put her arms around her.

“don’t worry, chaeryeong-ie, you can just hug me if it gets too scary!"

ryujin's comment earned woo's and laughs from all the other girls.

“ohhh, shin ryujin!” yeji teased. “someone’s trying to be cool~”

“shut up!” ryujin stuck her tongue out at yeji, but didn’t withdraw her arms from around chaeryeong.

chaeryeong didn’t even notice because she was focused on the sight of ryujin’s rosy cheeks.

“oh my god, shin ryujin, you are so tipsy right now!” chaeryeong poked her finger at ryujin's cheeks. 

“not true! *hiccup* i am perfectly sober, thank you very much.”

yuna, who had been watching the interaction, overtly put her arms around lia.

“lia unnie, hug me if you’re scared!” mimicked yuna.

“yuna, i’m so glad you’re here! whatever would i do with out you!” said lia, hugging her back.

all five of them laughed at the way the two girls were clinging to each other and almost falling over because of how tipsy they both were.

“you know, you can always tell that ryujinnie’s drunk when she starts hugging people,” observed yeji.

“not true!”

ryujin hugged chaeryeong even tighter and leaned in so far that their noses touched.

“chaeryeong-ie just looks so cute today, i can’t help it!”

“oh my gosh please stop!” laughed chaeryeong. “you’re being so cheesy right now!”

“nooo, i always tell you when you look cute though!”

“alright everybody shut up, the movie’s starting! ryujin unnie, stop flirting and be quiet.”

yuna gestured for everybody to hush and started playing the movie on chaeryeong’s tv.

ryujin rolled her eyes, but nevertheless, held back her retort so as to not disturb the movie.

despite chaeryeong’s comments, ryujin noticed that the red-haired girl still stayed by her side the entire movie. chaeryeong would even cling onto ryujin’s arm or hide behind her whenever she got too scared.

it dawned on ryujin that she liked this feeling, of chaeryeong close to her, holding on tightly.

how come she's never noticed that chaeryeong has a mole on her chin? and that her eyes turn into crescents when she laughs? or that she bites her bottom lip when she’s nervous?

how come she's never noticed that her best friend is so freaking adorable?

ryujin didn’t even know the movie had ended until yuna turned the lights back on. under the bright lights, chaeryeong came to her senses and immediately leaned away from ryujin. 

it left ryujin feeling oddly empty.

“ok that was fun! what should we do now?” asked yuna.

“hm… how about a video game?” suggested yeji. “shin ryujin, i still have to get you back from the last time you beat me in super smash bros.”

“you’re on, hwang.”

the two of them got up from the couch and started to connect their nintendo switch.

“well, i suck at super smash bros,” said lia.

“oh, lia unnie, do you want to our nails?” asked chaeryeong.

“yes! that’s a great idea! oh my gosh, can i see what colors you have?”

the two girls started to leave the living room to go look at chaeryeong’s nail polish collection while yeji and ryujin started smack talking each other’s gaming skills.

ryujin watched as chaeryeong stood up, and her heart fluttered a little when she noticed that chaeryeong’s pajamas had little foxes on them.

she couldn’t help but think about how chaeryeong’s cuteness resembled a little fox, with her sharp ears and fluffy hair…

ryujin shook her head violently. she wasn’t supposed to be thinking these things about her same-age best friend. she’s supposed to be making fun of her and laughing with her; not ogling at her.

even though chaeryeong really did look lovely. she had tied some of her hair back with these red ribbons and it was quickly becoming one of ryujin’s favorite hairstyles on her.

ryujin did try to concentrate on the game. but, her eyes somehow had a mind of their own. they kept glancing over at chaeryeong and how precious she looked.

“ha! i win!” yeji declared.

ryujin turned her attention back onto the screen where yeji’s pikachu was now hopping up and down and cheering.

“wait! no, not fair! i was distracted!”

“nu-uh, i won fair and square! ah, my dignity has finally been restored,” yeji raised her arms up in victory.

ryujin started to whine and complain, “wait, i thought that was a practice round!”

“no, hey, it’s my turn now ryujin unnie,” yuna cut in. “you lost, get over it.”

before ryujin realized what was happening, yuna had stolen her controller and was shoving her away from the screen to get a better view.

“yeji unnie, i’m about to take your crown.”

“ha, in your dreams, yuna.”

the two started another round and ryujin was left behind in the dust. ever the competitive gamer, ryujin pouted and crossed her arms, not unlike an angry kindergartner.

at that time, chaeryeong had finished painting lia's nails and went to the bathroom to put them away.

as soon as she saw that chaeryeong had returned, ryujin wanted to be next to her again.

“jagi~”

ryujin reached out her arms, gesturing for chaeryeong to come hug her.

chaeryeong turned and couldn’t help but smile fondly at ryujin acting so cute.

“aww, did somebody lose her video game?”

ryujin pouted even more. 

"no. i just got distracted, which is your fault by the way!”

“what! how is it my fault? i didn't even do anything!”

chaeryeong sat down next to ryujin, who immediately started cuddling her, even putting her legs in chaeryeong’s lap.

“it’s because you look too cute today and it was distracting me!” ryujin drowsily tugged on the collar of chaeryeong’s pajamas, pulling her closer. “but it's ok, because  all i care about is you, chaeryeong-ah.”*

instead of smiling as ryujin had expected, the corner of chaeryeong’s lips turned downwards and she turned away to look at the tv. and, instead of hugging ryujin back, chaeryeong subtly maneuvered out of ryujin's grasp and moved a couple inches away. just enough to be out of ryujin’s reach.

ryujin frowned, unsure of what she did to cause this change in demeanor.

“you know, ryujin, lately, you like me too much,” chaeryeong said quietly.

“who? me?”

“yeah.”

ryujin wasn’t sure where this was going, but decided to play along.

“yeah that’s true, but can you blame me?”

ryujin was slightly joking, but it didn’t seem like chaeryeong was.

chaeryeong paused, still avoiding ryujin’s gaze. after a couple long moments of silence, chaeryeong spoke up again.

“don’t.”

the harsh tone surprised ryujin.

“what did you just say?”

“just, stop. please.”

before ryujin had a chance to respond, chaeryeong abruptly got up and left, causing ryujin to nearly fall over.

ryujin watched, utterly confused, as chaeryeong went over to lia and started chatting as if nothing had just happened.

as if she hadn’t just coldly tossed ryujin away, with her words and her actions. as if she hadn't just caused a million thoughts to start racing through ryujin’s head.

what did that mean, don't? don't what? don't like her as a friend? or don't like her as more than that?

ryujin had a feeling chaeryeong meant the latter. that she didn’t want ryujin to “like” her that way. and that annoyed the hell out of ryujin.

who was she to tell ryujin what to do? and would it really be so bad if ryujin did like her that way? what, was ryujin not good enough for her?

ryujin had always been quick to anger that sometimes caused her to see things irrationally. but something about chaeryeong’s tone made her think that she wasn’t misunderstanding the situation at all. chaeryeong wasn't one to sugarcoat, and she had meant what she said .

to make matters worse, chaeryeong practically ignored ryujin for the next hour or so. and that pissed her off even more.

every time they would change seats and ryujin tried to sit next to chaeryeong, the red-haired girl would get up and go sit somewhere else.

when they were playing a game and had to choose pairs, chaeryeong immediately asked lia to be her partner, before ryujin even had a chance to ask her.

and, when ryujin would hand chaeryeong something, like a game card or a drink, chaeryeong would just curtly accept without even so much as a whisper of a thanks. she barely even looked at ryujin, as if ryujin didn’t even exist. or as if she didn't want to acknowledge ryujin's existence.

ironically, the more that chaeryeong ignored her, the more that ryujin started noticing how attractive chaeryeong looked. how charming chaeryeong's eyes were. how alluring her body looked, even while wearing pajamas that were way too big on her.

ryujin so badly she wanted to make chaeryeong look at her again.

as the night wore on, ryujin’s anger eventually turned into a different kind of fire — one that made ryujin want to show chaeryeong how frustrated she made her feel. with actions, and not words. 

funnily enough, and maybe to ryujin's luck, all of the other girls were too drunk to notice the weird impasse that had fallen between the two of them.

yeji and yuna had started matching each other drink for drink, and lia was already sleepy to begin with, so it didn’t take long before the three of them started to tire out and collapse into various sleeping positions in the living room.

chaeryeong, the ever attentive friend, stepped out to her closet to grab pillows and blankets for everyone to sleep on.

ryujin watched from the corner of the room as chaeryeong quietly put blankets over the already snoring yeji, and lia and yuna who were curled up together on one couch. then, chaeryeong walked to the kitchen to clean up.

ryujin checked to make sure that the other girls were well and truly asleep, and then followed chaeryeong into the kitchen.

she found chaeryeong by the sink, and ryujin wasted no time in cornering her.

“look, i don’t know why you’re avoiding me, but… can we talk?”

it was the first words they had exchanged in over an hour, and ryujin could tell chaeryeong was still hesitant. she stepped closer until chaeryeong was backed up against the kitchen counter, her gaze signaling that ryujin wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

seeing no other way out, chaeryeong simply nodded.

ryujin grabbed chaeryeong’s hand and led her into chaeryeong’s bedroom so as to not disturb the others. once ryujin shut the door, she immediately cut to the chase.

“ok, what was that earlier?” asked ryujin.

“what was what?”

“the whole “don’t like me” thing, what was that?”

ryujin slowly walked closer to chaeryeong who could only back away in response.

“look, ryujin, just forget what i said, ok?”

“forget?” ryujin growled. “how could i forget what you said, my best friend just told me she doesn’t like me!”

“that’s not what i meant!”

“so what did you mean?”

“i don’t know-“

“yes, you do. why don’t you want me to like you?”

ryujin backed chaeryeong into a wall and put her hands on either side of the girl to keep her in place.

“why?”

ryujin gaze bore into chaeryeong. her gaze was flitting around the room, looking anywhere other than at ryujin, but ryujin wasn't going to let her go until she got an answer.

“and why have you been ignoring me for the past hour? what was that about?”

ryujin blinked and suddenly realized the position that they were in. chaeryeong was so close and everything ryujin had been noticing throughout the night was now right in front of her. she could see every fleck of brown in chaeryeong's eyes and the splotches of red on her cheeks.

her eyes flitted down to chaeryeong’s lips, pink and looking oh so soft. just a couple inches away.

ryujin pressed even closer, to the point where their bodies were flush against each other.

“answer me, chaeryeong.”

the red-haired girl still made no response.

“say something!”

“i-“

chaeryeong’s breath hitched mid-sentence and ryujin caught chaeryeong's eyes now roaming her entire body up and down. her pupils were dilated with desire and her eyes were dark with lust. 

“um, i don’t, know what you want me to say,” chaeryeong managed to get out with a raspy tone.

“fine. then, don’t say anything.”

her thoughts muddled with desire, ryujin was acting on pure instinct. the thrill of having chaeryeong staring at her like she wanted to be devoured made ryujin feel like she was losing her mind and all sense of rationality went out the window.

she leaned in closer than ever before and whispered in chaeryeong's ear:

“just tell me if you want me to stop.”

ryujin grabbed chaeryeong and passionately crashed her lips with her own.

chaeryeong responded just as intensely, wrapping her legs around ryujin’s waist and digging her hands into ryujin’s hair.

kissing chaeryeong was like heaven and hell at same the time. all of ryujin’s senses were on fire, yet every part of her body hungered for more. chaeryeong’s lips were just as warm and soft as they looked, and feeling chaeryeong’s entire body against her was driving ryujin crazy.

chaeryeong didn’t have time to process what was happening and decided that she didn’t care anymore. kissing ryujin felt so impossibly good. she never wanted to stop. she didn’t even know if she could.

chaeryeong bit ryujin’s bottom lip and the short-haired girl let out a low growl in response. chaeryeong opened her eyes to see an animalistic lust in ryujin’s eyes that sparked something within her that chaeryeong even didn’t know was there.

“you’re gonna pay for that, chae.”

“oh yeah? and how about this?”

chaeryeong dove into ryujin’s neck, bit, and sucked, knowing that would leave a mark in the morning.

ryujin hissed sharply, half in pain and half in pleasure.

“what are you gonna do about that?” asked chaeryeong when she came back up.

it was beyond seductive to see chaeryeong acting so bold and confident. ryujin felt an overwhelming wave of desire and attraction come over her. she carried chaeryeong over to her bed and threw the girl on top of the sheets.

nothing else was said between the two girls for the rest of the night. their lips were occupied elsewhere. whatever they needed to express, they did it through gazes, moans, and caresses. 

—

the next morning, yeji, lia, and yuna woke up to the two other girls walking out of chaeryeong’s bedroom together.

to ryujin and chaeryeong’s relief, the others were too hungover to question them. nor were they awake enough to notice ryujin wearing a turtleneck that she didn’t have the night before.

for the remainder of winter break, ryujin spent all of her time at chaeryeong’s apartment. sometimes they would cook together, watch TV, or draw, but most of the time… they found each other’s lips more fascinating than any other activity.

for some reason, whenever ryujin saw chaeryeong, she would have the inexplicable need to kiss her. and so, the first thing ryujin did when she saw chaeryeong every day was to lock lips with the girl. it thrilled ryujin and made her heart race, the feeling that this girl was hers and hers alone to hug and touch. 

it got to the point where chaeryeong knew whenever she saw ryujin, the short-haired girl would start kissing her. and that’s just what chaeryeong came to expect and it would just happen. so, when classes started back up and they had to actually be around other people again, chaeryeong didn’t even question it when ryujin started kissing her in public.

acting like each other’s girlfriends, in private and in public, become like second nature. even if, deep down, they both knew they were just avoiding the truth.

//

back in the library, ryujin recounted most of what happened over winter break to yeji; (obviously except for the details of what exactly went down in chaeryeong’s bedroom)

“ok, so basically, you guys kissed at the christmas party, but you’ve never talked about if you’re actually going to be a couple or not?”

“basically,” sighed ryujin. “and i still don’t know what she meant by not wanting me to like her, but i can only assume that means she wouldn’t want to be my girlfriend.”

yeji paused, also unsure how to interpret chaeryeong’s actions.

“look, ryujin, she was probably confused and also slightly drunk. i seriously doubt that’s what chaeryeong meant.”

“well, then what did she mean?”

“i don’t know,” yeji said, slightly stumped. “all i know is, if she really didn’t want to date you, then she wouldn’t be making out with you in public all the time. that’s like broadcasting to the entire world that you’re a couple.”

“but, maybe she’s just going along with it because she feels bad, i don’t know...”

“then just ask chaeryeong what she meant. or just ask her out for real! then you’ll know for sure if she actually likes you or not.”

“but…” ryujin sighed. “i don’t know if i’m ready to be someone’s girlfriend again.”

“what do you mean?” yeji furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“i mean… being someone’s girlfriend is a big commitment. i rushed into things with heejin before i knew what it took to be a good girlfriend, and then i broke her heart because i wasn’t ready. i don’t exactly have a great track record, you know.”

yeji stilled, her previous irritation dissipating. now, she just wanted to hug the sad, insecure ryujin in front of her. doubt and sadness was usually hidden behind her casual bravado, but ryujin was just as self-conscious as the rest of them. maybe even more so.

“ryujin-ah, you were a great girlfriend to heejin. i know for a fact that you made her extremely happy.”

yeji leaned across the table and held ryujin’s hands.

“but, you just weren’t in love with her, ryujin-ah. and that’s not your fault. you did the right thing by breaking up with her, you know that right?”

ryujin nodded meekly.

“you didn’t do anything wrong. and now she’s moved on and she’s happy with hyunjin because of you. you're not the bad guy, ok?”

ryujin was trying really hard not to cry again.

“so… you deserve to move on too,” yeji said gently.

“yeah, i know…”

yeji could tell by the hesitation in ryujin’s voice that it would take a lot more than talking for ryujin to get over her insecurity and ask chaeryeong out. and she could tell it that wasn't the right time or place to push ryujin to face her fears. so, yeji yielded, for the time being.

“ok fine, you don’t have to ask chaeryeong out right now if you’re not ready. but just say that you’ll think about it at least?”

“yeah, i’ll think about it.”

“good.”

yeji sat back, worried about her friend's feelings, but glad that ryujin at least voiced her concerns. then, yeji almost jumped out of her seat when she realized what she forgot.

“oh, and for god’s sake, could you two please stop with all the pda? do you have any idea how hard it is to eat when your two best friends are exchanging saliva right in front of you?”

ryujin laughed, holding her stomach.

“oh my gosh, is it really that bad?”

“yes! and it’s not just me either, yuna and lia haven’t eaten lunch for days!”

yeji put her hands together in a begging motion.

“so can you please, please, just, wait until you guys are like alone or something to hop on top of each other?”

ryujin scratched the back of her head and grimaced. yeji had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what she was going to hear next.

“yeah... sorry, i can’t do that.”

“why not?”

“well, the reason i keep kissing chaeryeong in public is… because i don’t want anyone else thinking they can have her.”

“oh my god… you’re really not making this easy for me, shin.”

Chapter Text

yeji hated how dumb ryujin was.

their conversation in the library had to be cut short because they both had to leave for class, and yeji didn’t have time to convince ryujin to at least stop all the stupid pda.

a couple hours later, yeji spotted ryujin by herself in a hallway outside the english classrooms. yeji started to walk up to her to try and talk her out of needing to be so possessive of chaeryeong. but then the classroom doors opened and swaths of college students began pouring out into the hallway, blocking yeji's path.

and one of those students which was chaeryeong.

as soon as ryujin caught sight of her, she waved and they gravitated towards one another like magnets.

“hi,” chaeryeong said.

“hey, how was class?”

“good. were you waiting a while?”

ryujin shook her head.

“not really, but any time i spend apart from you feels like forever.”

yeji almost gagged as she listening from behind a group of students, but apparently chaeryeong found it endearing because yeji heard her giggle in response.

“stop it, ryujin!”

“well it’s true! ok, come here.”

ryujin took chaeryeong’s hand and backed her up into a somewhat discreet but still public corner of the hallway. with a smirk on her lips, ryujin began to kiss chaeryeong passionately and shamelessly as dozens of people were milling around them.

chaeryeong reciprocated and got completely caught up in the kiss as ryujin cupped the sides of her face and kept her body flush against hers.

yeji waited to see if maybe they would keep it quick and she could still talk to ryujin before her next class, but as the minutes wore on, the two girls kept kissing without any sign of stopping.

at one point yeji saw jaemin, a classmate of chaeryeong’s, try to approach the couple with papers in hand. probably an assignment that he needed to ask chaeryeong about, but the two girls were so transfixed in their make-out session that neither of them even noticed the boy standing there. at least he looked somewhat sympathetic and not grossed out, but he still gave up after a while.

yeji sighed. there was probably nothing she could do to tear ryujin away from chaeryeong at the moment. even if she could, yeji doubted that there was anything else she could’ve said to stop ryujin’s ugly jealous streak.

ryujin had always been protective of her friends, but yeji could tell that was being multiplied by 10x with chaeryeong. and that was being even further amplified by ryujin’s insecurity from her breakup.

so, yeji decided to leave and go back to her dorm, which ryujin was barely at now because she basically lived at chaeryeong’s apartment.

yeji realized that if she wanted to help ryujin, she needed a plan and reinforcements. so, she invited lia and yuna out to a cafe near their school to tell them everything she had found out.

yeji was the first to arrive, so she decided to wait outside until the others arrived. she leaned against the wall of the cafe and took out her phone, scrolling through various apps.

“yeji-aaaah!”

even though she was more than a block away, there was only one person who called her like that and whose voice yeji could pick out from any crowd. she looked up and saw lia running towards her.

every time she saw lia, it was like yeji was privy to her own personal sun. lia’s smile was capable of giving off light and warmth simply by being, and yeji would never stop feeling lucky that she got to be on the receiving end of them.

lia half collided and half threw herself into yeji’s arms once she reached her. yeji smelled the faint scent of roses that always accompanied the brunette and felt at once at home. the five of them were best friends, but to yeji, lia would always be her safe space, her haven.

“is yuna not here yet?” asked lia.

yeji shook her head.

“she said she wanted to stay behind a little at her class to ask the professor some questions, but she shouldn’t be more than a few minutes.”

“ah geez, that kid, always trying so hard…” lia shook her head. yeji found it endearing to see lia chastising yuna. lia pretty much saw yuna as her little sister, more so than any of the others.

they decided to go inside and start waiting in line to order, foreseeing that there was no way yuna would forgive them if they didn’t order cake. together, they perused the case full of tarts, macaroons, and cake slices of all different flavors.

“ohh, the strawberry and creme cake looks good!” lia commented.

“that’s what i was gonna say!”

lia faked an expression of surprise and gasped, making eye contact with yeji. they almost always had the same tastes.

“wow, you too?” they both said at the same time.

they both laughed, bodies gravitating towards one another, and ordered the cake along with some coffees. they waited off to the side and yeji found it so cute how lia’s eyes twinkled in anticipation. yeji wrapped her arms around lia’s waist and pulled lia closer to her, nuzzling her face into her shoulder.

yuna arrived at the cafe and sighed impatiently when she saw her two oldest unnies in a back-hug at the end of the counter. were they here to talk about ryujin and chaeryeong’s pda or yeji and lia’s?

“yuna!”

lia waved, still comfortably in yeji’s embrace, and yuna joined them, albeit feeling a bit like a third wheel. the three of them collected their food and sat down at a table in the corner.

between moans at how delicious the desserts were and lia chastising yuna for being late, yeji recounted everything that she had learned about ryujin and chaeryeong.

“wow… so they’re both idiots,” concluded lia.

yeji nodded fervently, glad that someone else agreed with her.

“i know right!”

“yeah, but what’s new?” yuna said.

the youngest girl took a bite of her cake. she thought to herself that it was funny that yeji and lia of all people were calling ryujin and chaeryeong idiots, but she decided to keep that to herself.

“i think they’re just not being straight with each other,” yeji continued. “i feel like they could resolve everything if they just sat down and had an honest conversation.”

“yeah, except that would involve them not kissing each other for long enough to do that,” yuna scoffed.

“yes,” yeji laughed. “priority number one is to at least make ryujin stop being so paranoid and stop kissing chaeryeong in public.”

“i don’t get that. if she wants chaeryeong unnie to be her girlfriend so bad, ryujin unnie should just ask her out.”

“i think she’s afraid that chaeryeong doesn’t like her back because of what chaeryeong said at the party.”

“oh my god, literally anybody with eyes could tell her that chaeryeong unnie likes her back!”

“that’s what i said! i think the whole thing at the christmas party was chaeryeong being drunk and saying things she didn’t mean. you know how she gets sometimes, she never has a great filter when alcohol is involved.”

yuna nodded pensively. chaeryeong did have a habit of spacing out and saying random things, even when she was sober. put a couple of drinks in her, and the usually reserved girl became even more unpredictable.

“i don’t think chaeryeong meant what she said.”

lia announced with great conviction.

“i have a feeling, that if ryujin asked her out, chaeryeong would definitely say yes,” lia added.

“i think so too,” yeji sighed.

she had been on the edge of her seat the entire time while re-telling her conversation with ryujin, but now she collapsed into her seat, her shoulders hitting the back of her chair. it was exhausting trying to solve ryujin’s love life.

“ok, so all we need to do is get ryujin to ask chaeryeong out,” said lia.

“then we need to help her get over what happened with heejin,” yeji pointed out.

“how do we do that?”

“could we get heejin unnie to talk to her?” yuna asked.

yeji shook her head.

“i think heejin’s studying abroad this semester. plus, i feel like her and heejin are on good terms. it’s not like heejin blamed her at all for their break-up, it’s more that ryujin is still somehow punishing herself for it."

yuna nodded, sympathizing with ryujin. she remembered the long nights she spent with her, trying to convince ryujin that she wasn’t the bad guy, but it never seemed like yuna got through to her. ryujin would just listen, silently, and then nod as the tears kept streaming down her face.

yuna was surprised when she found out that heejin and ryujin started dating because she had thought at the time that ryujin didn’t like anyone. the older girl tended to have a lot of friends and was popular. but, she also focused on school and her hobbies, never expressing a clear interest in dating anybody.

out of their five person friend group, yuna thought ryujin was the hardest to read while yeji and lia were like an open book.

it was clear that the oldest two liked each other, probably to everybody except themselves. whenever yuna watched them — whether it was lia constantly asking yeji to do stuff with her or yeji being the only one to laugh at lia’s lame jokes — it was like there was a huge sign on their foreheads with the words ‘I LIKE YEJI/LIA’

yuna knew yeji and lia both wore their hearts on their sleeves, and she was glad they had each other, or else they might get easily hurt if they were with other people.

ryujin and chaeryeong, on the other hand, were less obvious. sometimes it would seem like they did care for each other —ryujin would stare a little too hard at chaeryeong when they watched their dance club performances or chaeryeong’s ears would get red whenever ryujin told her that she looked pretty that day — but at other times it seemed like they got on each other’s nerves — chaeryeong nagged ryujin for having a messy room and ryujin constantly made fun of chaeryeong about how she dressed like a grandma.

but more recently, or at least before heejin and ryujin were dating, it seemed like ryujin was making an effort to not fight with chaeryeong so much. she would clean her room if chaeryeong was coming over and she would always ask chaeryeong to help her with her homework, even though yuna has never seen ryujin struggle with her classes. and ryujin would say stuff like ‘chaeryeongie would like this’ or ‘i wish chaeryeong were here to see this’ whenever the other girl wasn’t around.

yuna didn't think it was anything more than ryujin trying to be more cordial, but maybe chaeryeong thought differently, being on the receiving end of some it.

“could we get chaeryeong unnie to ask ryujin unnie out?” yuna suggested.

“uh, i feel like that’s not gonna happen,” lia said. “chaeryeongie’s way too shy to do that.”

“true…”

the three girls racked their brains for a solution, but couldn’t think of anything that would solve the problem without forcing one of their friends to do something they’d be uncomfortable with.

“wait, yeji unnie, what did ryujin unnie say again? about why she keeps doing all the pda?”

“basically that she doesn’t want other people to think chaeryeong’s single.”

a lightbulb went off in yuna’s head.

“that’s it!”

yeji and lia turned towards yuna.

“we should just get someone else to ask chaeryeong unnie out!”

“what? no, the goal is to get ryujin to ask chaeryeong out.”

“well, yeah, duh. i just mean we get someone else to fake ask her out and that’ll get ryujin unnie to ask her out.”

“how would that work?” asked yeji. “chaeryeong’s just gonna say no.”

“yeah, but that’s not the point. we just need to make ryujin unnie think that she might say yes and that she might be losing chaeryeong unnie.”

“uh, i’m not following.”

yuna sighed at her unnies’ slowness.

“ok, ryujin unnie is too scared to actually ask chaeryeong unnie out, right? but, she doesn’t want anybody else trying to ask her out either. so, she’s using the pda to scare people off. but, what if someone still ends up trying to ask chaeryeong unnie out? then, she’ll see that her plan has failed.”

yeji and lia nodded.

“then, once she sees that the pda isn’t working, she’ll realize that she has no other choice but to get over herself, woman up, and ask chaeryeong unnie out. and once they’re actually dating, ryujin unnie won’t feel the need to use pda anymore. problem solved!”

yeji and lia’s mouths made an ‘o’ as yuna’s plan dawned on them.

“i get it! so you think ryujin’s gonna get jealous and then ask chaeryeong out before she thinks it’s too late?”

yuna nodded enthusiastically.

“yeah! and remember how shy she was around heejin unnie when they were dating?”

“yeah, ryujin could barely hold her hand without blushing,” added lia.

“exactly. ryujin unnie is just forcing herself to do all this pda so people think that they’re dating, but i doubt she’d feel the need to do it once chaeryeong unnie’s officially off the market.”

“and then i can finally eat my lunch in peace…” sighed yeji.

“same. so, now we need to figure out who we could get to ask chaeryeong unnie out,” yuna pondered.

the three girls sat and contemplated about the people they knew. it was of the utmost importance that they get the right person for the job or else it wouldn’t work.

“it has to be someone who’s somewhat close with her so that ryujin could conceivably believe that chaeryeong might say yes…”

“but someone who doesn’t actually like chaeryeong and that chaeryeong wouldn’t like back,” reminded yeji.

“and who’s a good actress…” said lia.

the three of them put their heads together and started brainstorming of someone who could fit the description. after half an hour of going back forth, making lists, and debating, they got nowhere.

“what about that guy on your team, jisung?” lia asked yeji.

“i don’t think jisung would be a very good actor, he’s kind of slow.. plus i think he’s too young.”

“ok… what about joy unnie from drama club, she’s a good actress," yuna suggested.

“i think she has a boyfriend,” lia said. “what about d.o? he’s in drama club.”

“yeah, but i’m pretty sure he’s dating kai oppa,” yuna replied. “what about karina unnie? she’s on the dance club too right?”

“yeah, but she’s dating winter," yeji replied.

“oh my god!” yuna put her hands on the table in defeat. “why is everybody in a relationship? and why am i not in one?!”

lia patted yuna’s head in comfort while yeji simply laughed.

no matter how hard they tried, everybody else that they could think of seemed to be already in relationships, who didn’t know chaeryeong, or who wouldn’t ever agree to do something so ridiculous.

luckily, fate seemed to be on their side that day.

the door to the cafe opened, signaled with a bell ringing, and yeji looked up to see jeon somi, the dance club president.

“oh my god! i’ve got it!” yeji said.

“who?” asked yuna.

yeji gestured for the two girls to subtly look towards the door. once they saw who yeji was alluding to, both of them gasped.

“isn’t she perfect?”

“yes! somi’s in drama club, she’s good friends with chaeryeong, and i know for a fact she’s not into chaeryeong because she’s been pining over that senior at her dance company, hyuna sunbae,” lia said excitedly. “plus, she’d totally be down.”

“should we just ask her now? she doesn’t seem like she’s with anyone right now.”

“yes, ask her to come over, yeji unnie,” yuna nudged.

“hey, somi!”

the blonde girl turned around when she heard her name and saw yeji sitting with lia and yuna. yeji was gesturing for her to come over so somi sat down at their table.

“hey guys! fancy seeing you here, how’s it going?”

“good, good, listen,” yeji said. “we need your help with something.”

“ok, shoot.”

“have you noticed how chaeryeong and ryujin can’t keep their hands off each other lately?”

“have i noticed? how could i not!” somi laughed. “every day after dance practice ryujin is practically prowling outside our studio waiting for chaeryeong. and once she’s done, she literally pounces on the poor girl like she’s a meal or something. it’s kind of gross.”

somi shuddered, remembering the sight of the two girls entwined by the dance club lockers.

the three other girls looked at each other excitedly. the more that somi talked, the more obvious it became that she would be perfect for their scheme.

“when did those two even start dating anyway?” somi asked.

“well, that’s the thing,” said yeji. “they’re not actually dating.”

somi’s eyes widened.

“no. way. shut up.”

“yes, way. long story short, ryujin is too shy to ask chaeryeong out. so, we need your help to… give her a little push.”

somi laughed. she was always down for meddling.

“alright, count me in! what do you need me to do?”

Chapter Text

“ryujin…”

the short-haired girl quickly looked away, her dark blue hair whipping against her face. she hoped she hadn’t been caught staring, even though it was obvious that she was.

chaeryeong decided not to say anything more, but a couple minutes later, she felt a certain pair of eyes on her again.

“you know i can feel you staring right?”

ryujin coughed and looked away, surprised to have been caught again.

“uh- i don’t know what you’re talking about,” ryujin lied.

several minutes of comfortable silence passed, chaeryeong completed a homework question, and then glanced over and was met with ryujin’s eyes staring dreamily back at her.

“ryujin!”

“what!”

chaeryeong laughed and put her pencil down.

“you promised you’d focus on your homework!”

“i am focusing!”

“oh yeah? how many pages have you written?”

“like, a lot…”

“mmhmm, and how much is a lot?”

“like, a paragraph.”

chaeryeong raised her eyebrows, her point obviously proven.

“ok, but i can’t help it right now! you look so good in my sweatshirt, it’s distracting.”

chaeryeong blushed a deep shade of red. ryujin’s compliments often had this effect on her. she shyly pulled up the sweatshirt in question and hid her face, covering her toasty ears.

“i mean, i could change, if that would help…”

“no, don’t change! please, i like seeing it on you.”

“ok fine,” chaeryeong relented. how could she not when ryujin’s eyes were practically shooting hearts at her?

“but you still need to focus! we both have assignments due and neither of us have done any of it since…” chaeryeong trailed off, too embarrassed to say what they’ve been busy doing.

“since?”

thoughts of the two of them tangled in chaeryeong’s bedsheets flashed through chaeryeong’s mind. the feeling ryujin’s searing lips covering every inch of her body, her hands tangled in ryujin’s hair and then roaming down ryujin’s back…

chaeryeong shook her head to wake herself out of her reverie and focused back on the conversation at hand.

“since- since you keep coming over to my apartment and distracting me!”

“oh, so i’m distracting you now?” ryujin slowly moved closer to chaeryeong. “well, if we’re both distracted, then it doesn’t make any sense to keep working now does it?”

ryujin started leaving a trail of light kisses along chaeryeong’s collarbone. chaeryeong shivered slightly as ryujin’s warm lips made contact with her bare skin, feeling euphoric as she always did when ryujin started touching her. she leaned into ryujin’s touch, always looking for more.

but, then the looming deadlines and ten assignments she’s been ignoring popped into her thoughts and made her hesitate.

“wait- no, ryujin,”

ryujin ignored her and kept planting kisses at the nape of chaeryeong’s neck, a spot that she knew chaeryeong was weak for.

chaeryeong almost succumbed and gave up on work because of how good it felt, but she knew she had to fight it.

“ryujin-”

the short-haired girl planted another kiss, right on chaeryeong’s jaw.

“hm?”

another kiss, now on chaeryeong’s cheekbone.

“i know what you’re trying to do…”

“oh yeah?” another kiss, on chaeryeong’s temples. “what am i trying to do?”

“you’re trying to distract me again…”

another kiss, near chaeryeong's lips but not on. chaeryeong couldn't hold back and a soft moan slipped out.

“is it working?”

just as chaeryeong was about to let go and surrender to ryujin’s caresses and forget about her responsibilities, her phone started ringing and vibrating on her desk.

ryujin nearly cursed at the interruption. both of them were breathing heavily, obviously turned on, but ryujin stopped and reluctantly leaned away from chaeryeong so that she could answer the phone.

“hello?” chaeryeong smiled. “oh hi somi! what’s up?”

ryujin made a mental reminder to beat somi up later.

“um, yeah, sure, i could probably come a little earlier. you mean today?”

ryujin furrowed her eyebrows. she didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“yeah, no, i don’t have any plans, it should be ok.”

ryujin noticed that chaeryeong was biting her lip, one of her nervous habits.

“ok. yeah, i’ll see you in a little bit then. bye.”

chaeryeong hung up and immediately got up from her seat, causing ryujin to have to get out of her lap. ryujin frowned and watched chaeryeong start to put away her things.

“what did somi want?”

“she asked if i could come a little earlier to dance practice today.”

“what for?”

“i don’t know, she just said she wanted to talk about something,” chaeryeong shrugged and continued to put stuff in her bag.

for some reason, ryujin had a bad feeling. somi wouldn’t ask chaeryeong to talk in person for nothing when she could just text or call. and chaeryeong sounded anxious, all the more reason to think that somi wanted to talk about something serious.

ryujin glanced at the clock and realized the time.

“wait, you’re going now?”

“yeah, i have to. she said she wanted me to come like an hour early.”

chaeryeong went into her bedroom and started changing into her dance clothes. when she took off ryujin’s sweatshirt, however, she felt like something was missing. the faint citrus scent of ryujin’s shampoo mixed with her own vanilla-scented soap now seemed like a presence that she always needed.

she finished changing and took the sweatshirt back to the living room where ryujin was waiting.

“um, could i, wear this sweatshirt to practice?”

chaeryeong was being cautious because she didn’t know yet if they were at that point where they could wear each other’s clothes out in public.

“i swear, i won’t actually wear it when i’m dancing, it’s just cold and-“

“chae,” ryujin cut her off softly. “of course you can keep the sweatshirt.”

ryujin stood up and locked her arms around chaeryeong, trying to dispel any of chaeryeong’s doubts about them with the firmness of her hug.

then an idea popped into her head.

“on one condition.”

“oh?”

“let me walk you to dance practice,” said ryujin.

chaeryeong rolled her eyes, even though she wasn’t even the slightest bit annoyed.

“ok, deal. but don’t blame me if you fail your english class!”

ryujin hugged chaeryeong one last time and kissed her on the cheek before she started to get ready to leave as well.

the heavy feeling in ryujin’s chest got a little lighter. if she was lucky, she figured she could listen in on what exactly somi wanted to talk to chaeryeong about. and berate somi for interrupting them.

once they were both ready, the two girls put their shoes on at the front door.

“wait.”

chaeryeong put a hand on ryujin’s shoulder to stop her from leaving. she then stepped closer — there was less than a couple of centimeters between them — and started carefully re-arranging ryujin’s bangs, brushing them neatly with her fingers.

this simple gesture filled ryujin’s heart with warmth and affection. chaeryeong’s touches were soft and loving, just like her personality, and it made ryujin want to melt at the knees.

then ryujin noticed just how close chaeryeong’s face was and her breath hitched slightly. chaeryeong’s gaze was too focused on ryujin’s hair to notice her staring and the concentrated look in chaeryeong’s eyes was maddeningly attractive.

it was a crime that ryujin never paid more attention to chaeryeong’s beauty before, and it was overwhelming just how much ryujin liked chaeryeong in that moment.

“okay, i’m done now.”

chaeryeong’s words woke ryujin out of her thoughts.

she thanked chaeryeong with a kiss on the forehead, then the two of them strolled out the door.

as they walked, ryujin’s hand slipped effortlessly into chaeryeong’s, who was already looking for hers, and their hands merged together into one.

ryujin couldn’t believe how easy everything was with chaeryeong.

whenever ryujin was with heejin, she would always over-think every little thing that she did. whether she should hug her or kiss her at the end of a date. whether she should hold her hand or interlock their arms. whether it was appropriate for her to put her arm around her shoulder.

it seemed like ryujin was constantly second-guessing herself.

but, with chaeryeong, it was as if being with her was like second nature; like it was what ryujin was made for and being with chaeryeong was where she was meant to be.

maybe it helped that they’ve been friends for years, but when they hugged or held hands in the past, they were just kids. it didn’t mean anything, and ryujin certainly never got butterflies in her stomach like she did now.

after they got to college though, there were some moments. like during chaeryeong’s first performance with the dance club and ryujin eyes were glued to her for the entire hour, admiring her body lines, and honestly, chaeryeong’s body.

also that time they got drunk on st. patrick’s day and they danced together at that bar, and ryujin thought she was gonna have a heart attack when chaeryeong started practically grinding on her in the middle of the dance floor.

(if she had had one more tequila shot, this whole friends with benefits thing probably would’ve started that night. ryujin had never wanted to take anyone home more badly.)

sure, her best friend was insanely attractive and admittedly very good-looking, but ryujin never dreamed that anything romantic would actually happen between the two of them. chaeryeong was chaeryeong, her shy and funny fox-like best friend.

that was good enough for ryujin back then. but, not anymore. not now.

now, ryujin didn’t want to be just friends; she wanted chaeryeong to be hers. for good.

they got to the dance studio faster than ryujin would’ve liked. she would’ve been lying if she said she hadn’t taken deliberately slower steps in an effort to shorten the time chaeryeong and somi would have together before practice.

their practice room was housed in the basement of the school’s music building. to get to it, you had to go through an old, extremely creaky and loud set of double doors, which lead to a hallway that contained several practice rooms.

when they reached the dance club’s designated room, there wasn’t anybody there except for somi, who happened to be sitting on the floor and stretching in front of the mirrored wall.

“chaeryeong!” somi called out once she saw the red-haired girl.

somi’s enthusiasm visibly lessened when she saw that ryujin was there. not that she was surprised.

“and oh, hey ryujin. what’s up?”

ryujin flashed a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. clearly, ryujin was not a welcome guest. but, ryujin didn’t care.

“nothing, just walking with ryeongchae. we were hanging out,” ryujin said nonchalantly.

“ah, i see.”

somi sensed ryujin’s cold demeanor and quietly celebrated in her head that their plan was working. she switched positions, putting both of her legs straight out in front of her, and reached for her toes.

“ah, chaeryeong, could you help me? would you, just, like, lean on my back a little?”

somi made a big deal out of trying to inch her fingers towards her toes with a slight grimace.

“oh, yeah! sure.”

chaeryeong put down her bag and went over to somi while ryujin lingered by the doorway, suspicious of what somi was going to pull.

chaeryeong started lightly pushing somi’s shoulders with two hands, which pressed somi’s torso closer to her outstretched legs.

“you can lean into it more, you know,” somi gestured for chaeryeong to put more weight on her. “it helps with the stretch.”

so, chaeryeong put her entire upper body on top of somi’s back. her chest was flush against somi’s spine and her arms were wrapped around somi’s shoulders.

“is this good?”

“yeah,” somi moaned softly. “that feels nice…”

ryujin balled her hands into fists. it was annoying to see chaeryeong touching — more like hugging — someone else. but she tried to calm down. she told herself that the two of them were just stretching, and that it was harmless.

but, somi seemed to enjoying all of just a little too much.

after a while — too long in ryujin’s opinion — somi came up and the two of them separated, both standing up and facing each other.

“ah, thank you, chaeryeong-ah! that was really nice.”

“no problem.”

chaeryeong made a move back towards ryujin to say goodbye, but somi stopped her with her hand.

“wait,” somi took out a hair tie. “could you also help me tie my shirt up? i feel like the AC hasn’t turned on yet and it’s getting kind of hot in here…”

somi folded her loose-fitting shirt up to her chest, exposing her extremely well-defined abdomen, and turned around.

“if you could just tie it up in the back that would be great.”

“wow, um, somi, you’ve been… working out, huh.”

somi’s abs were lean and toned, every single muscle visible and hard in the practice room mirror, like concrete.

it was obnoxiously impressive, and ryujin loathed somi in that moment. ryujin saw chaeryeong ogling at somi’s abs and a wave of jealousy crash through her. ryujin could tell somi was totally flaunting her abs just to get chaeryeong’s attention.

and it annoyed the hell out of ryujin.

“oh, this?” somi looked down, feigning confusion. “it’s nothing. you should’ve seen what it looked like when i was rock climbing with my dad all the time.”

“yeah, i bet…”

ryujin stared incredulously at chaeryeong. was she really about drool over jeon somi’s abs!?

“uh, chaeryeong? my shirt?” somi said, noticing how chaeryeong was still distracted.

“oh! right!”

chaeryeong cheeks became maddeningly red, and she quickly tied the back of somi’s shirt, backing several steps away when she was done.

“there. finished.”

somi adjusted her shirt slightly, smiling to herself in her head once she saw how wide chaeryeong’s eyes were.

then, she glanced over at the girl standing by the door, and saw that ryujin was full-on glowering at her, her shoulders tense and hands clenched into fists at her side. the plan was definitely working.

“thanks, babe! you’re the best.”

somi winked and pulled chaeryeong in for a hug.

ryujin’s hostility towards somi was threatening to boil over at this point. she couldn’t stand to see somi staring at chaeryeong with that coy glint in her eyes, or somi’s hands lingering on chaeryeong’s back, and how close their bodies were when they were hugging.

every bone in ryujin’s body wanted to do something, to stop what was happening, to charge in and rip somi’s hands off of her girlfriend-

but, no. ryujin remembered. chaeryeong wasn’t her girlfriend. and that meant ryujin had no right to get jealous or possessive of chaeryeong.

chaeryeong wasn’t hers to be protective of.

ryujin bit the inside of her cheek to temper her resentment, but envy still churned inside her. she wanted to be the only one who could touch chaeryeong. the only one who was allowed to hug her. the one who could call her babe. she wanted chaeryeong to be hers and hers only.

ryujin made eye contact with somi and sneered. oh, how she wished she could wipe that smug smile off of somi’s face.

somi smirked back, detecting ryujin’s obviously jealous demeanor, and decided it was time to take things further. she stepped closer to chaeryeong and put her arm around chaeryeong’s shoulders.

somi knew chaeryeong was staring at her, incredibly confused, but all that mattered was seeing ryujin tense and squaring up her shoulders, as if getting ready to fight.

“well, ryujin, i hope you don’t mind, but i kind of need to talk to chaeryeong in private now… dance club stuff, you understand.”

“yeah, right,” ryujin scoffed. “you expect me to believe you asked her to come an hour early just to talk about your club?”

“yeah. chaeryeong is our vice president, and seeing as i’m the president, we have important duties to perform together, right chaeryeong-ie?”

somi grinned and leaned closer so that her and chaeryeong’s heads were touching.

“uh, somi, i think-“

“plus,” somi cut in, ignoring chaeryeong. “chaeryeongie is so cute, who wouldn’t want to spend more time with her?”

somi then pulled chaeryeong’s face towards her and planted a quick kiss on chaeryeong’s cheek.

something snapped inside ryujin.

“jeon somi, get your hands off-“

“ryujin!”

chaeryeong quickly broke free of somi’s embrace and put her hands on ryujin, stopping her from charging further.

“ryujin, it’s ok,” she whispered in ryujin’s ear.

ryujin was breathing hard, her stare still fixed on the girl behind chaeryeong, who was almost snickering at the sight of ryujin so angry.

“it’s not worth it. i don’t know why, but can’t you see she’s trying to mess with you?” chaeryeong said, still trying to calm ryujin down. “just let me talk to her, ok?”

ryujin managed to tear her glare away from somi and turned to look at chaeryeong.

“and you’re not bothered by all of this?”

“of course i am. but you trying to get into a fight with her isn’t going to do any good. i’ll talk to her and find out what’s going on, ok?”

ryujin didn’t give an answer. she wasn’t satisfied, nor did she feel comfortable leaving chaeryeong alone with somi.

“but she’s obviously-“

“ryujin,” chaeryeong insisted. “you have nothing to be jealous of, ok? there’s nothing going on between me and somi.”

ryujin took one look at chaeryeong’s gaze and all of the anger left her body. she knew the red-haired girl was right, that getting into a fight with somi would do nothing, and that she was probably over-reacting.

“fine…” ryujin backed off begrudgingly and stopped glaring at somi.

chaeryeong peeked at ryujin and held her gaze warmly.

“i’ll see you after, ok ryujin-ah?”

“yeah, i’ll come pick you up,” ryujin stroked chaeryeong’s hair, tucking a strand behind her ears. “don’t miss me too much then.”

ryujin deliberately made sure somi was looking before she held chaeryeong’s face softly and leaned in for her goodbye kiss. chaeryeong reciprocated, melting into ryujin’s touch and threading her fingers into ryujin’s hair.

suddenly, somi coughed loudly, startling the absorbed couple.

“uh, sorry, i’ve got this tickle in my throat.”

somi clear her throat several more times, her coughs ringing throughout the wooden space.

ryujin could’ve sworn somi’s cough was way too fake and way too well-timed. but, chaeryeong gave ryujin’s hand a light squeeze, signaling that it was time.

“ryu, i’ll see you later, ok?”

“yeah.”

ryujin nodded. she brought their interlocked hands to her lips and kissed chaeryeong’s hand once before she let go and walked out of the room.

as soon as ryujin turned into the hallway, she hid just outside the door frame and put her back up against the wall. she couldn’t look inside the open door much — for fear of getting seen by chaeryeong or somi — but she could at least hear everything they were saying.

she didn’t want to leave, but she also respected chaeryeong’s decision. and chaeryeong was right, ryujin probably would’ve just made things worse by assuming and blowing things out of proportion. and she trusted chaeryeong to handle things.

back in the room, chaeryeong made sure there was sufficient space between her and somi before they started talking.

“so, hey, thanks for coming early, i appreciate it,” somi started out.

“seriously?” chaeryeong crossed her arms and put her hands on her hips. “are we not going to talk about how it was super weird how you kissed me just now?

“oh, sorry. that was probably a bit too soon, huh?”

“what? no, what were you even trying to do? make ryujin angry or something?”

“not exactly…”

“then what?”

“i guess you could say i was trying to test the waters?”

somi chuckled nervously, which caused chaeryeong to frown.

“what? what does that even mean?”

“ok, well, i’ve noticed lately, that you and ryujin have been getting closer…”

chaeryeong nodded, not seeing where this was going.

“but the two of us have also been spending a lot time together planning for the competition in april, and i’ve been wondering…”

chaeryeong held her breath as she listened. somi’s voice sounded a lot more hesitant than she had ever heard it before. like she was nervous and thinking hard about what to say.

“are you and ryujin actually dating?”

chaeryeong froze.

she and ryujin hadn’t discussed this yet, and chaeryeong had no idea what she was supposed to say. she wanted to say that they were, but that would be a lie and chaeryeong wasn’t comfortable with that.

but she also didn’t want to say no. ryujin and chaeryeong were something, weren’t they? or was chaeryeong just misreading that look in ryujin’s eyes whenever she looked at her? or worse, was chaeryeong just imagining it?

“i don’t really know,” chaeryeong decided to say quietly. “we haven’t really talked about it yet…”

somi made a look of confusion and indignation.

“well, you either are, or you’re not. which one is it?”

chaeryeong pursed her lips.

“it’s not that simple, you see-“

“really? it’s kind of a pretty obvious yes or no question.”

“well, i-“

“and it doesn’t count if you guys are just having fun. i want to know, officially, if you’ve agreed to be a couple or not. yes or no?”

and that was just it, wasn't it? chaeryeong didn't know what ryujin thought about what they've been doing for these past couple of weeks. it's entirely possible that all of it was just ryujin rebounding from her relationship with heejin. it's not like ryujin had ever brought up them actually becoming a couple.

it all had seemed like such a whirlwind to chaeryeong and she reminded herself it could all end as quickly as it'd started.

chaeryeong clasped her hands tightly, as if she knew that telling the truth would hurt. but somi was her friend so it should be fine to tell her the truth. chaeryeong trusted her, and if the time came that she and ryujin did become a couple, there would be no harm done if she said no to somi now. whereas if she told her that they were a couple and it turns out ryujin didn't feel the same, then she'd have to admit to somi that it was all in her head.

so, chaeryeong couldn't say yes.

but, it was still hard to admit it out loud.

"chaeryeong, please. i promise i won't tell anybody," somi pressed for an answer.

“ok, i guess… technically, no. we’re not dating.”

“great!” somi beamed at chaeryeong. “so that means you’re free to go out with me this saturday, right?”

“… wait, what?!”

before chaeryeong could even fathom how to reply, she saw a flash of dark blue hair and then heard the sound of someone roughly slamming open the old, creaky hallway door.

“ryujin?”

chaeryeong suddenly started worrying about how ryujin would react if she’d overheard their conversation. what chaeryeong said. what it must’ve sounded like.

“somi, look, i’m really flattered, but i’m sorry, i can’t go out with you,”

chaeryeong was speaking quickly and she tried to think of something else to say to soften the blow, but all she could think about was ryujin alone somewhere, upset and crying.

“even though ryujin and i aren’t dating officially, i still-“

“it’s ok, chaeryeong,” somi said with a lopsided smile. “i know.”

“wait, then why-“

“don’t worry about it. you should probably just go look for her and tell her how you feel,” somi cut chaeryeong off.

chaeryeong was so confused. somi’s eyes were sympathetic and, strangely, not at all sad given the fact that chaeryeong had just rejected her. but, she didn’t have time to think about that now.

she had to find ryujin.

“ok, um, i’ll see you later then, somi.”

chaeryeong sprinted out into the hall and took the stairs two at a time to get up to the lobby of the music building.

surprisingly, she saw yeji sitting at one of the tables by the window. she decided not to question it, thinking that yeji was probably just early to dance practice.

“yeji unnie!”

chaeryeong quickly ran over to yeji’s table, still panting from her run.

“oh, chaeryeong, what are you doing here?”

“never mind that, did you see ryujin come by here?”

“yeah, actually, i just saw her. she took those stairs over there,” yeji pointed to a door behind chaeryeong.

“thanks, unnie!”

chaeryeong sprinted to the door, yanked it open, and skipped up the steps as fast as she could. the thought of ryujin miserable by herself somewhere terrified chaeryeong. she needed to find her and make sure that she was okay.

back at the table, yeji opened and texted a specific group chat.

‘chaeryeong is heading up to the roof now’

yeji hit send and breathed out a heavy sigh.

she was relieved that the plan seemed to be working, but there also something that bothered her. when ryujin ran by, yeji could tell that her expression was dark and that she was on the verge of tears. yeji hadn’t actually thought about how distressed ryujin would be when she thought chaeryeong might be leaving her.

a knot started forming in yeji’s stomach. maybe their plan wasn’t the best idea after all…

Chapter Text

ryujin thought the worst thing that could happen was someone else asking chaeryeong out. that she would have to compete with someone else for chaeryeong and possibly lose.

but, actually, what hurt the most was hearing chaeryeong say no.

that no, they’re not a couple. no, they’re not dating. and, no, the last couple weeks have been like nothing to her.

like ryujin was nothing to her.

she couldn’t listen to somi ask any more questions that ryujin was afraid of the answers to. so, she ran away, as fast as her feet would carry her. she found herself on the rooftop of the music building. the cold january air blew relentlessly and chilled her to the bone.

she sat down on a pillar of concrete and hugged her arms around herself, trying to decide whether she wanted to sob or scream out the frustration in her stomach. maybe both.

she should’ve known that this was a mistake. chaeryeong clearly told her at that party that she didn’t want ryujin to like her. she was deluding herself to think that chaeryeong would ever want to actually be in a relationship with her.

ryujin should’ve known that after what she did to heejin, nobody in their right minds would want to date her. so, maybe this was how it was always meant to end. chaeryeong let ryujin dream for a couple days before she told her the truth.

that what she meant at the party was that she didn’t want to be ryujin’s girlfriend. that ryujin wasn’t who she was looking for. maybe a fling was all ryujin was fit to be and all that she was good for. nothing more.

hot tears pricked at the corner of ryujin’s eyes. she gasped, trying not to cry because that would be stupid, and sucked in the cold air. it was like filling her lungs with ice.

suddenly, the door to the rooftop swung open and in walked the last person ryujin wanted to see.

“ryujin!” chaeryeong yelled over the wind.

ryujin didn’t want to see her. she didn’t want chaeryeong to see her like this. and god, she didn’t want to see how good chaeryeong looked in that sweater.

ryujin quickly wiped away her tears and stormed towards the door to go somewhere else. anywhere that chaeryeong wasn’t.

“wait, where are you going?”

when ryujin didn’t respond, chaeryeong stepped in front of the door and blocked ryujin’s path.

“ryujinnie, what’s wrong?”

ryujin stared at chaeryeong as if she’d just grown a third head.

“what’s wrong?” ryujin said, her voice dripping with bitterness. “why don’t you go ask somi.”

ryujin tried to sidestep around her, but chaeryeong cut her off again.

“ryujin, stop, let’s just talk about this.”

“there’s nothing to talk about.”

“yes there is!”

ryujin made another move to open the door, but chaeryeong caught ryujin’s arms and held her in place.

“ryujin, stop, calm down,”

“don’t tell me what to do!”

“you’re being too irrational right now, let’s-“

“oh, i’m being irrational? i’m too irrational?”

ryujin huffed and broke free of chaeryeong’s grasp.

“tell me, how am i supposed to be rational when you just told somi that you and i aren’t dating?!”

“well, we’re not! not officially yet, anyway!”

“oh yeah? and remind me, who’s fault is that!?”

“wha- what are you saying? how is it my fault?!”

they were both screaming and panting heavily, struggling to be heard over the wind.

“oh, please,” ryujin bit back. “don’t pretend for a second that you ever wanted this to be anything more than a friends with benefits situation.”

“wha- like you ever asked to be anything more!”

“that’s because i never got the chance to!”

“what do you mean!? nobody was stopping you!”

“oh yeah? then what about what you said at that stupid christmas party?!”

ryujin saw a flash of recognition in chaeryeong’s eyes. so, chaeryeong remembered. she knew exactly what ryujin was talking about.

“how do you expect me to believe that you want a relationship when you explicitly told me NOT to like you? huh?”

just like that night, that warm, alcohol-fueled night, ryujin could tell that chaeryeong still couldn’t find the words to respond. and ryujin didn’t have the energy to chase for an answer anymore.

“just tell me this one thing,” ryujin’s voice was now small and quiet. “did you mean it?”

“…mean what?”

“did you want me to stop liking you?”

“… yes.”

chaeryeong might as well have shot an arrow through ryujin’s heart because that’s what it felt like.

“but… “ chaeryeong continued. “that was only because i’d just gotten over liking you for an entire year.”

ryujin stopped dead in her tracks. her previous zeal and anger were all gone, replaced with shock and horror.

“you didn’t know, did you?” chaeryeong asked.

ryujin numbly shook her head.

“it’s okay. i never wanted you to know anyways, so it’s not your fault or anything.”

“since, since when? when did-“

ryujin was at a loss. she tried tried desperately to think of how she could’ve missed this, missed chaeryeong’s feelings, her best friend in the entire world.

“look, i promise i’ll tell you everything, but will you promise me that you won’t keep trying to leave?”

“… ok, fine.”

the two girls wordlessly found their way to the pillar ryujin was sitting on before. they sat side by side on the frozen concrete, neither of them touching the other.

they were only a couple of inches apart, but it was as if a huge chasm separated them.

“do you remember last winter break when i came over to your parents’ house and we had that sleepover together? just the two of us?” chaeryeong started.

ryujin nodded. it was the best winter break she’d had. before this one that is.

“well, it was the morning after, and your parents had to leave early, so it was just the two of us in the house. we made strawberry pancakes for breakfast and we were drinking coffee and drawing together by your window. remember that?”

ryujin nodded again.

“i don’t know what it was, we were just sitting there, and i looked up and you smiled at me. you smiled this huge smile, and your dimples showed and you looked so happy and i’d never seen you smile like that for anybody else. something about seeing you like that just made me realize that… i liked you.”

ryujin also remembered that morning. it was one of those perfect winter mornings where everything was white outside and the air was crisp. chaeryeong looked so beautiful in the sunlight and ryujin remembered her heart feeling warm and full.

“so then i started noticing things, or maybe i was trying to find things,” chaeryeong continued. “like how you would watch me dance a little too closely or lean on my shoulder on the bus or call me cute nicknames. they were just little things, but you never did them with anyone else, not even lia unnie. and i don’t know, i couldn’t help but get my hopes up that maybe, just maybe, you felt the same way about me.”

chaeryeong looked away. the words were stuck in her throat and she couldn’t get them out.

“and then…”

ryujin’s heart constricted. she knew what was coming. a couple weeks after last year’s winter break.

“and then, you and heejin started dating.”

ryujin closed her eyes and winced. she couldn’t bear to hear the hurt in chaeryeong’s voice, let alone see it reflected on her face.

“and i felt so stupid because of course, you didn’t feel the same way about me. why would you? you can have anybody you want, and it’s never been me. we’ve known each other since we were kids, and you were just being friendly, like you always are, and i was just imagining things.”

ryujin wanted to interrupt, to tell chaeryeong that she wasn’t imagining things, that ryujin had always unconsciously treated chaeryeong better than anybody else.

“but god, it hurt so much to see you with heejin…”

chaeryeong laughed coldly, recalling every time that her heart would plummet when she saw ryujin hug heejin or she would feed her bites of her food or when they would dance together at parties. they always looked so happy and in-love.

meanwhile, chaeryeong would always be dying on the inside.

"so, i forced myself to move on and ignore whatever it is that i thought i saw with you. i buried the memories of that sleepover and of my feelings and i spent time with other people. and i tried to not be around if you and heejin were together,”

that explained why ryujin felt like she never saw chaeryeong while she and heejin were dating. she’d always figured that chaeryeong was busy with school or dance club. it never occurred to her that chaeryeong might be avoiding her.

“and i thought it was working! it started to hurt less and less whenever i thought about you dating heejin because i knew i was just lying to myself before. that my stupid crush was completely one-sided and that you would never think of me as more than a friend. so, i stopped trying to project my own feelings onto you and let you go.”

chaeryeong took one final deep breath.

“so, that’s why i said i didn’t want you to like me at the christmas party,”

ryujin felt dizzy, but she was able to slightly nod her head. everything was starting to make sense.

“because after you and heejin broke up, we started hanging out more and more and those same stupid feelings came up again… yuna told me you tried to clean your room whenever i came over and we’d study together… then, at that party, you were doing those things again, like holding me when i got scared… telling me i looked pretty… calling me ‘jagi’,”

now that chaeryeong was spelling all of this out, ryujin couldn’t believe she hadn’t realize what she was doing.

after the breakup, it was like ryujin was finally free to show affection for other people — meaning chaeryeong — without having to worry about what it might look like or have heejin misunderstand.

but, she hadn’t realized what chaeryeong was going through. if she’d known, she wouldn’t have led chaeryeong on like that.

“i knew that if you kept doing stuff like that, i wouldn’t be able to stop myself from falling for you all over again… and just when i thought i’d gotten over you…”

chaeryeong was on the verge of tears, but she had to finish.

“so i told you to stop because i couldn’t go through that again, ryujin, i couldn’t. i couldn’t like you that much and watch you leave and be with someone-“

an impulse came over ryujin and she grabbed chaeryeong’s jacket and cut her off with a kiss.

chaeryeong was shocked, at first, but she soon melted into the familiar feeling of ryujin’s soft lips against hers. she wrapped her arms around ryujin, finally feeling some relief from the cold winds as they crushed their bodies together.

ryujin hoped the kiss could convey to chaeryeong everything that she couldn’t put into words. that ryujin did feel the same way and that she was sorry she ever hurt chaeryeong and that she should’ve realized her own feelings sooner.

ryujin pulled away first and just stared at her. the girl that she’s so enamored with, the girl that took her breath away. the girl that she’s so obsessed with.

“god, you’re beautiful,” ryujin said, the words coming out without her even thinking about it.

chaeryeong laughed, her eyes crinkling into crescents, and ryujin swore she’d never get tired of seeing this.

“that’s your only response?”

“no, but i should’ve told you that way back at that sleepover, and every day since.”

ryujin brought their interlocked hands to her lips and kissed the back of chaeryeong’s hand.

“you weren’t imagining things, chaeryeong. i remember that sleepover, and i remember getting closer afterwards. i just…”

ryujin tried to think of what she must’ve been thinking at that time, but it was all a blur. the nerves that came with her first relationship and the newfound responsibilities that ryujin didn’t know how to deal with. then the twisted breakup and the guilt that came afterwards.

“i just didn’t have time to think about what i was feeling back then. heejin and i had this class together and we were spending a lot of time studying together, and i could tell that she liked me, but i didn’t know how i felt. and then she asked me out and so much was going on, i wasn’t thinking about what was going on between us at the time, if there even was anything, and i didn’t know what to do-”

ryujin hung her head. even to herself that explanation made no sense whatsoever.

“i- i’m sorry, chaeryeong-ah.”

“no it’s okay. i understand.”

“no it’s not okay, it wasn’t fair of me to put all of that on you. i swear, i didn’t know that you liked me, and i really didn’t mean to lead you on, in any way,”

“i know, ryu-“

“and i know i must’ve seemed like such a jerk, and i was, you’re right. but i felt so confused and guilty about the breakup, i couldn’t think straight. although i know that’s no excuse, and i should’ve been more aware of your feelings,”

“ryujin, it’s-“

“and i should’ve been more clear about what i wanted when we started this whole thing, but i was scared and i knew i couldn’t forgive myself if i hurt you, and i didn’t want to be a terrible girlfriend again, not to you-“

“ryujin. stop.”

chaeryeong covered ryujin’s lips with her hand and used the other to turn the girl’s face towards hers.

“stop apologizing, ryujin. you’ve done nothing wrong. ok?”

with those few simple words, chaeryeong cracked ryujin open.

“oh my gosh, why are you crying? no, don’t cry!”

chaeryeong hurriedly started wiping the stream of tears rushing down ryujin’s cheeks.

ryujin sat there and felt all of the emotions she’d pent up suddenly all surge out. she dove into chaeryeong and wept into her shoulders. her guilt and despair and frustration from the very depths of her being surfaced and she let them all go.

chaeryeong hugged ryujin as the sobs wracked through her body. she murmured “it’s ok”s and “don’t worry” “i’m here” as she stroked ryujin’s head.

she understood because both of them had always been this way. they both kept stuff to themselves until they couldn’t hold it in any longer and, finally, it burst out of them.

she wasn’t sure what all had happened between ryujin and heejin, and ryujin had rambled very quickly so she couldn’t quite catch all of it. but clearly, it was more than ryujin had let on.

all she could do was hold ryujin tightly to let her know that she was there. that she wouldn’t be going anywhere. and that ryujin would be ok.

eventually the tears started slowing down, and ryujin breathing became more even.

“i’m sorry, your shirt…” ryujin sniffed and saw the places on chaeryeong’s clothes that had become wet with her tears.

“technically, it’s your shirt.”

ryujin let out a small laugh.

“oh yeah, you’re right.”

ryujin wiped her eyes one last time and left the warm embrace of chaeryeong’s arms to sit up properly. she almost couldn’t look at the other girl because she felt embarrassed to have cried for so long in front of somebody else.

“sorry, i didn’t mean to just let it all out on you like that.”

“no, it’s ok. i didn’t mean to tell you all of that to blame you or anything.”

“no, i know, i just felt so bad… this whole time, i’ve been scared to ask you out because i was afraid i would hurt you, but, turns out, i’ve still been hurting you all along.”

“wait, why would you hurt me by asking me out?”

“because i hurt heejin by going out with her when i didn’t actually love her.”

“wait what? wait, you- you were the one who dumped heejin?”

“yeah, i was the one who broke up with her.”

chaeryeong was dumbfounded. for obvious reasons, she’d never asked about why ryujin and heejin’s relationship ended, but when she saw how devastated ryujin was after the breakup, she’d just assumed that ryujin was the one who got dumped. not the other way around.

“so, wait, you were sad after you guys broke up because…”

“because i still cared about her as friend, and i hurt her a lot by breaking up with her.”

“so why did you go out with her if you didn’t love her?”

“because we were good friends and when she asked me out, i thought it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try,”

another piece of news for chaeryeong. she didn’t even know heejin had been the one to ask ryujin out. given how assertive ryujin is, she’d always thought ryujin had asked.

“and i knew how much she liked me,” ryujin continued. “so i thought given time i would start to like her back. but it just didn’t feel right. the the longer we dated, the more i realized that i only liked her as a friend, and nothing more. so i had to break up with her because i knew i couldn’t be the girlfriend that she deserved.”

“wow…” chaeryeong breathed out. “i never knew that’s why you guys broke up.”

“yeah…”

chaeryeong glanced over and saw the guilt in ryujin’s eyes and how heavy her shoulders looked. as if she’d been carrying this debt around constantly and was never able to let it go.

“you know… that doesn’t make you a terrible girlfriend.”

“why not?”

“because you never disrespected her or mistreated her. being a terrible girlfriend would be if you were mean or cheated on her or something like that, and i know you didn’t do that.”

“no! of course not, i would never do something like that.”

“exactly,” chaeryeong spoke a little softer. “and it’s not your fault that you didn’t love her. you still did the right thing by telling her the truth and not leading her on.”

“yeah, that’s what yeji unnie said too…”

“so stop blaming yourself. and isn’t heejin dating hyunjin now?”

“yeah.”

“and you two are on good terms?”

“yeah i’d say we are.”

“then you’ve really done nothing wrong." chaeryeong tucked her hair behind her ear. “if you treated her anything like how you’ve treated me these past couple of weeks, then you can’t say you were a bad girlfriend.”

ryujin was surprised by the sincerity in chaeryeong’s voice.

“really? you think i’ve been a good girlfriend to you?” ryujin asked.

“yes,” chaeryeong paused. "you've been wonderful."

ryujin couldn’t believe how good it felt to hear chaeryeong say that.

ryujin thought back to her and heejin before the breakup, before all of the guilt and tears. they’d been happy, right?

she could remember making heejin laugh, and smile, and blush. they went on dates in cafes and took cute pictures together and danced at parties to their heart’s content.

ryujin was happy to spend time with heejin. it just wasn’t the romantic kind of happy that heejin felt, but she was still happy nevertheless.

she had forgotten about those times. the good moments of their relationship. but hearing chaeryeong say that ryujin was a good girlfriend reminded her of all of it. of the fact that ryujin could make somebody else happy.

“thanks for saying that, chaeryeong-ah."

"you're welcome. it's really true, though. i've been so happy these past couple of weeks, it's almost been... surreal."

"yeah, i know what you mean," ryujin replied. "i feel like i've been living a dream that i didn't want to wake up from."

"same..." chaeryeong said softly. "and i'm sorry about what i said at the party, i didn't really mean to scare you off, i was just, dealing with my own stuff i guess."

"no, it's totally ok, i get it. i didn’t mean it when i said it was your fault, it's really mostly mine. i should've been more upfront, just, in general about my own feelings."

ryujin looked down at her hands.

“i think i’ve been avoiding the thought of us becoming… something more because i was afraid if we started dating the same thing would happen again. and i would have to end things because i jumped the gun or i couldn’t handle the commitment… or because…”

ryujin trailed off, but chaeryeong filled in the gap for herself:

‘or because ryujin only liked her as a friend’

surprisingly, the implication didn’t sting as much as chaeryeong thought it would.

ryujin had liked her as a friend for years, and it was one of things chaeryeong treasured most in this world. so there was definitely nothing wrong with ryujin liking her as friend.

what’s more, chaeryeong could understand and sympathize with ryujin’s feelings. even though she doesn’t know how it feels to have dumped someone, she can understand being overwhelmed and jumping into things too soon.

chaeryeong had always been the hesitant one when it came to relationships. she was never the type to jump head first and fall over the heels in love. that was way too scary and she knew her heart was way too fragile.

so, she could understand how a bad breakup could mess with ryujin’s ability to trust herself. she tried to think about what she would’ve done if she were in ryujin’s shoes and how it would feel and what she would ask herself.

“hm… well do you?” chaeryeong asked absentmindedly.

“do i what?”

“do you actually love me?”

the moment the words left her mouth, chaeryeong realized what she had said and immediately blushed a deep shade of red.

“wait, no! that’s not what i meant, i didn’t mean me, i was just, i didn’t actually-“

“no it’s okay!” ryujin laughed.

“i was just talking to myself, you don’t have to answer that. oh my god, lee chaeryeong, you’re so stupid, what were you thinking,”

chaeryeong started to chastise herself, which only made ryujin laugh harder.

“were you thinking about whether you love me?” ryujin teased.

“no! i was just trying to,” chaeryeong frowned at her own idiocy. “you know what, never mind, just forget that i said anything.”

“no, it’s really okay,” ryujin placated. “i think i get what you were trying to say.”

ryujin knows chaeryeong has a habit of talking out loud when she’s thinking, and that at that moment, chaeryeong was probably trying to think for her.

about whether her feelings were true enough to act on them faithfully this time.

it dawned on ryujin that what she felt for chaeryeong, even though she couldn’t decipher exactly what it was, she knew that it was nothing like what she felt with heejin, or with anybody else, for that matter.

her feelings for chaeryeong were distinct and genuine and, simply put, all-consuming.

she never had to force herself to treat chaeryeong differently, she just did. she couldn’t help but care for her, just like how she couldn’t help but eat or breath. and maybe even love was too little to describe it. it was like chaeryeong was inseparable from ryujin’s conception of what made life full of light and happiness.

all ryujin knew for sure was that she wanted to be with chaeryeong. and as a couple. definitely not just as friends.

“chaeryeong-ah,” ryujin said softly. “i definitely do like you and i want you to be my girlfriend, but…”

ryujin bit her lip, hoping that her next words don’t come out as badly as she thinks they will.

“but, i don’t want to rush into things by telling you that i love you before we’ve even started officially dating.”

to ryujin’s surprise, chaeryeong breathed out a loud sigh of relief.

“oh, good,” chaeryeong quickly turned to ryujin. “i mean, not good as in i don’t want you to! but good as in, i don’t want to rush into things either!”

“really?”

“yes,” chaeryeong reassured ryujin. “i’ve never been in a relationship before, so i don’t know what it means to love someone, and while the past couple of weeks have been amazing… i want the first time that i say those words to be when i really mean it.”

“yeah... me too,” ryujin replied.

ryujin felt something graze her knuckles and she looked down to find chaeryeong nervously playing with ryujin’s fingers again.

“look,” ryujin said, hoping to ease chaeryeong’s nerves. “we’ve always cared for each other as friends, right?”

chaeryeong nodded.

“but now we’re discovering a different kind of care and affection, and i feel like we should just take our time to figure it out and enjoy it instead of trying to put a label on it right now.”

“yeah," chaeryeong agreed. "and i don’t want to have the pressure of us trying to say stuff right now just for the sake of it saying it.”

“exactly, and we’ll have tons of time to figure out what we want to say, how we want to say it, and what it means to us, right?” ryujin asked.

“yes. that's exactly what i want,” responded chaeryeong with a shy smile.

ryujin smiled back. a wide, tooth-filled grin, complete with whisker dimples.

“so... does that mean you’re willing to be my girlfriend, lee chaeryeong?” asked ryujin.

chaeryeong blushed, although her cheeks were already red from the cold, and ryujin thought she looked ravishing.

“yes. yes i am, shin ryujin.”

chaeryeong leaned in and kissed ryujin’s cheek, right where her whisker dimples appeared. ryujin smiled even wider and hugged the girl next to her with all of her might, wrapping her arms tightly around her.

she could feel that there was no longer a chasm between the two of them anymore.

they were both on the same side now. together.

but then, a certain blonde, chasm-causing, loud girl with abs popped up in ryujin’s thoughts.

“wait!” ryujin broke their hug to look at chaeryeong. “but don’t you have a date with somi?”

chaeryeong raised one of her eyebrows.

“are you kidding me, shin ryujin?! after everything i just told you, do you really think i said yes to somi’s date?”

“well, i don’t know!” ryujin grumbled. “technically, you could’ve…”

chaeryeong shook her head softly and put her hand on ryujin’s cheek.

“obviously, i don’t like somi that way,”

chaeryeong glimpsed down at ryujin’s lips with a half-lidded gaze while leaning in closer.

“the only person i like that way is you, ryujin-ah.”

ryujin leaned in closer too and relished the look in chaeryeong’s eyes. their faces were now mere centimeters away from each other.

“good. because you’re mine now,” ryujin whispered.

they both closed the gap at the same time, lips crashing together, finally finding each other at exactly the right place and the right time.

Chapter Text

“when do you think they’ll be done?”

lia and yuna were not-so-subtly peeking into the staircase that led to the roof of the music building, trying to see when ryujin and chaeryeong would be coming down.

the four girls, including somi, were sitting together in the music building lobby.

“what if we made the wrong decision guys?” asked yeji. “what if they’re up there breaking up as we speak?”

“what makes you think they’d be breaking up?” asked somi.

“when i saw ryujin run by, she looked really upset…”

“yeah, but wasn’t that kind of the point? so she’d get jealous and ask chaeryeong out?”

“in theory, yes! but maybe what if she’s so upset that she can’t get over it and then ends up pushing chaeryeong away?”

the three other girls had no response because that was a possibility.

yeji put her head in her hands. even if she had good intentions, yeji couldn’t shake this feeling that she had done something wrong. she had deliberately come up with this scheme and hurt her roommate by targeting her worst fears.

lia noticed yeji’s expression. she sat down next to her and started hugging her to comfort the melancholic girl.

“don’t worry, yeji-ah, i’m sure they’ll be fine,” consoled lia.

“yeah, the fact that they haven’t come down yet is probably a good sign. chaeryeong unnie’s not going to leave ryujin unnie when she’s sad,” said yuna. “they’re probably just taking a while to talk things out.”

“exactly. i know they’re both idiots when it comes to this relationship stuff, but i have a feeling they’re going to work things out. they care about each other too much to just give up,” added lia.

yeji nodded and leaned into lia’s comforting embrace.

everything they were saying made sense. yeji just wished there had been a way to accomplish their goals without hurting ryujin’s feelings.

“you know,” somi said, noticing how close lia and yeji were. “i was actually surprised when i saw ryujin and chaeryeong get together.”

“really? why?” lia asked somi.

“because everyone i know has been rooting for you and ryujin to get together ever since she and heejin broke up.”

“me?! with ryujin?” lia exclaimed.

“yeah! remember that party when we were playing truth or dare and she chose truth and said that she would choose you over 30 billion won?”

lia did remember that party, but not because of what ryujin had said.

she remembered because she saw how upset chaeryeong got. then, later that night, lia decided to corner chaeryeong when she was tipsy and she found out chaeryeong had feelings for ryujin. lia had been surprised, but thought the two of them together was a good idea.

chaeryeong had sworn lia to secrecy, so lia never said anything and thought everything would just run its course. but then heejin asked ryujin out and lia felt terrible.

lia ended up being the only person who knew how badly chaeryeong was suffering.

chaeryeong would decline any invitation to go out and stay in her room for days on end. some of her friends noted the bags under her eyes and chaeryeong would just say that she was having trouble sleeping, but lia knew better.

one night, she had knocked on chaeryeong’s door to bring her a late night snack, only to find that chaeryeong had passed out at the dance studio, too tired to make the trip back to her apartment. apparently, to avoid ryujin and heejin, chaeryeong would often go to the practice room and dance for hours on end without eating or sleeping.

ever since then, lia made it a habit of hers to check the practice rooms and too often she would find chaeryeong collapsed on the floor, knees bruised and feet sore.

lia would be the one to bring chaeryeong back to her apartment and put her to bed. this continued for months, unbeknownst to any of their other friends.

lia had felt so stuck. she couldn’t tell anybody and couldn’t do anything to help. the only thing she could do was keep chaeryeong company and hopefully stave off some of the sadness.

so when ryujin and chaeryeong came back from winter break as if they were a couple, lia was beyond ecstatic (except for when she had to endure the pda at lunch). but when she found out that the two girls weren’t actually dating, lia couldn’t stand by and do nothing again.

she knew they were meddling, but she didn’t care. she felt bad ryujin would be temporarily upset, but it was a worthy sacrifice to lia. at least this time she could actually help chaeryeong and not just sit around twirling her thumbs.

“you know,” yuna said, rousing lia out of her thoughts. “i do remember that party! ryujin unnie has always had a soft spot for lia unnie, but lia unnie and yeji unnie like each other, so lia and ryujin would never happen.”

“what!”

yeji and lia both yelled at the same time.

“what, what?” asked yuna.

“i never said that i liked yeji!”

“and i never said anything about liking lia!”

the two girls yelled at yuna, but once they realized what they had said, they turned towards each other sheepishly and blushed.

“wait, i mean-“

“i don’t mean- of course, you’re my best friend-“

“and you’re my best friend! i just meant-“

“i know, i do like you, obviously,”

“i like you too!"

this went on for a while.

yuna rolled her eyes and shot a look at somi.

“see what i have to deal with?”

“yeah,” somi nodded. “must suck being the only emotionally cognizant one, huh.”

“tell me about it.”

yuna propped her elbows up on the back of the sofa where yeji and lia were still in the midst of explaining themselves to one another.

“look,” yuna said, her head between her two unnies. “don’t worry about it, ok? you guys will have your moment just like ryujin unnie and chaeryeong unnie had theirs.”

yeji and lia were confused as to what moment yuna was referring to, but the youngest quickly continued.

“it’s me we should be worried about! i need to find someone quick or else i’m going to end up being the 5th wheel!”

somi guffawed and held her stomach. so those were yuna’s true worries.

“yuna-yah, don’t worry!" somi reassured. "i’ll help you find someone. there are plenty of single people in the dance club if you want,”

“no! yuna, you can’t date yet!” said lia with an scandalized expression. “you’re only a freshman!”

“uh, yeah! a college freshman! lia unnie, you know i’ve been on dates before, right?”

lia and yeji gasped at the same time.

“you have!? with who? when? where?” yeji demanded.

"tell us now," lia added.

yuna bit her lip and realized that she said too much.

“oh wow! would you look at the time…”

yuna looked at her phone in an obvious attempt to avoid the question.

“yeji unnie, isn’t it time for you to go to dance practice? somi unnie?”

yuna made eye contact with somi in a silent plea for help. somi understood immediately.

“yeah! yeji unnie, c’mon, dance practice is gonna start soon. plus, those two are probably almost done, and it’d look suspicious if all 4 of us are just waiting down here for them.”

yeji stared forlorn at the staircase door for another moment before reluctantly agreeing with somi. the two girls gathered their stuff and starting walking back to down to the basement. the creaky old door again mading its deafening screech as they pulled on it.

once they were out of earshot of the others, somi tapped yeji’s shoulder.

“so, hey, do you really like lia?”

yeji blushed immediately and shrugged.

“i mean, i don’t know, i’ve never thought about it. she’s my best friend…”

somi stared at yeji and could tell that she was telling the truth. she probably really didn’t realize that what she and lia had was more than just friendship.

“well, to be honest, if it wasn’t for the whole ryujin choosing lia over money thing, i would’ve bet that lia unnie liked you.”

“wait, really?”

somi hummed in agreement.

“why?”

“that’s… a secret.”

somi winked and ran ahead of yeji to the practice room, leaving the black-haired girl hanging in suspense.

“wait! come back, tell me why!”

yeji chased somi down the hallway, desperate to know what somi knew that she didn’t.

somi laughed to herself in her head. there was no secret, but somi could tell that yeji was so dense and so obviously liked lia.

so… somi decided to give yeji a little push.

-

back in the lobby, yuna and lia were thinking about getting some snacks while they waited.

but, turns out, they didn’t have the time because ryujin and chaeryeong soon walked out of the staircase, holding hands.

“lia unnie! yuna! what are you guys doing here?” ryujin asked.

yuna didn’t miss the way ryujin abruptly let go of chaeryeong’s hand. the two of them immediately stepped slightly away from each other and started blushing.

“uh, we just happened to come by,” yuna responded.

“it was yeji unnie, wasn’t it?” chaeryeong noted, recalling how she had seen yeji sitting in the lobby before she went upstairs.

“what? nooo, i didn’t hear anything from yeji, did you, yuna?” lia responded.

yuna almost smacked herself in the forehead. chaeryeong had just given them the perfect excuse to be in the building and lia just straight up denied it. she should’ve known lia wasn’t going to be good at this whole lying thing.

“no, i haven’t heard anything. but hey, chaeryeong unnie,” yuna quickly changed the topic. “don’t you have dance practice right now?”

“oh, shoot!” chaeryeong looked at her phone and realized how late it was. “sorry ryujin, i have to go now, but i’ll see you after?”

“of course. i’ll come pick you up.”

chaeryeong grinned widely at ryujin but didn’t do anything more before she waved good-bye to everyone and hurried downstairs.

again, yuna carefully observed ryujin’s demeanor, which was already drastically different from before.

“wow, ryujin unnie. no kiss good-bye for chaeryeong unnie? no whining about her leaving?”

ryujin rolled her eyes and lightly shoved yuna’s shoulder.

“shut up, i wasn’t that bad.”

“uh, i hate to break it to you, but yeah you were,” yuna laughed, shoving ryujin back playfully. “but what’s gotten into you? did something happen between the two of you?”

“uh, yeah. i asked her to be my girlfriend, officially.”

“oh my gosh! that’s great, ryujin!” lia exclaimed.

lia and yuna squealed and tugged ryujin into a bear hug, earning a couple surprised stares from other students in the lobby. but they didn’t care, they were just happy that their friends were happy. and that their plan had worked beautifully.

surrounded by her friends and overwhelmed with joy about her and chaeryeong, ryujin felt so incredibly lucky.

“hey,” ryujin said, once the three of stopped jumping in excitement. “are you guys hungry? let me treat you guys to lunch.”

“please, unnie, do you know me? i’m always hungry,” yuna said.

“you’re right, i should’ve known,” ryujin laughed.

three girls linked arms and walked outside. even though it was still cold, all ryujin could feel was the warm light on her face, as if the sun was actually smiling down at her.

//

filled up on pizza and cake, ryujin returned to the music building a couple of hours later to meet chaeryeong.

as soon as ryujin arrived, it was as if a cold chill had settled into the practice room.

somi, who was sitting on the floor by yeji, started to shiver. she didn’t even have to look to know that it was ryujin who was shooting icicles at her.

“jeez, ok, i definitely did not sign up for this,” somi whispered to yeji.

“yeah… sorry,” yeji said, looking over to see ryujin glaring at somi. "i guess i didn’t think about how angry ryujin would be around you after you asked chaeryeong out.”

“but that’s so not fair! technically, i was the one that got rejected!”

“but she still thinks you like chaeryeong!” yeji shrugged. “i’d say just stay clear of them for a while.”

“and how am i supposed to do that? we have dance practice every day! i’m going to have daggers shot at me every single day!”

yeji felt sympathetic towards somi’s predicament. she was about to apologize again for getting somi involved, but then chaeryeong walked up to them.

“hey somi, here’s your phone back.”

they had been using somi’s phone to play music for their practice.

as somi took her phone from chaeryeong, she could feel ryujin’s glare get even more intense.

“thanks. and um, chaeryeong?”

“hm?”

“do you think you could tell ryujin to ease up on the angry stare? you did tell her you rejected me right?”

“oh!”

chaeryeong looked over and saw ryujin staring at them, her eyebrows set in a hard line. even though it must’ve looked intimidating to other people, chaeryeong thought it reminded her of a kitten trying to look angry.

“yeah, i did. i’ll, um, ask her to tone it down,” chaeryeong looked away shyly. “oh, and, i am really sorry about that, by the way, somi.”

“ah, seriously, don’t even worry about it,” somi waved her hand dismissively. “i’ll be fine. you should probably just go before ryujin starts plotting how to murder me and make it look like an accident.”

chaeryeong laughed softly and nodded.

“ok, bye yeji unnie, i’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

only when chaeryeong went over to her did ryujin’s scowl disappear, replaced with a wide smile and loving eyes. somi watched as the two left and she swore she’d just experienced whiplash.

“man, talk about split personalities,” somi muttered.

yeji felt bad for somi, but she almost forgot about it when she saw how happy ryujin looked.

when chaeryeong had joined them for dance practice earlier, yeji had approached her immediately to ask if ryujin was okay.

“yeah, ryujin’s okay now. we talked and everything’s good now.”

“good? like, what do you mean by good?” yeji asked, trying to be subtle because she remembered that she wasn’t supposed to know what ryujin was upset about.

“good like, she asked me to be her girlfriend.”

chaeryeong had whispered it, but as soon as yeji heard the magic words, she whooped and screamed and crushed chaeryeong into a hug.

“oh my god! that’s so great! i’m so happy for you two!”

yeji jumped up and down, somewhat strangling chaeryeong, but she was so unbelievable relieved.

their plan had worked. ryujin was happy and so was chaeryeong. they were finally together now.

yeji had been so nervous waiting for chaeryeong, but everything had seemed to work out. except for somi having to maybe endure some glares now and then.

yeji got up from the floor and patted somi’s shoulder.

“don’t worry, i’m sure ryujin’s anger will fade over time,” yeji said. “i mean, it’d fade faster if you got a girlfriend, but it doesn’t look like hyuna and dawn subae are going to break up anytime soon.”

“hey, wait, who told you i like hyuna!”

—

chaeryeong thought she already knew everything there to know about ryujin but she was learning something new that day:

ryujin had a shy side.

just earlier that morning, whenever she caught ryujin staring at her, ryujin would never be the first one to break eye contact. she would always continue to stare back, as if challenging chaeryeong to look away.

but now, ryujin still stared, but whenever chaeryeong caught her gaze, ryujin would get flustered and immediately looked away.

chaeryeong kind of liked it.

chaeryeong had always been the more shy one, and it felt surprisingly sweet that she could have this kind of effect on the usually bold girl.

after their rooftop fight/conversation, both of them could feel that something had shifted. other than just the fact that they were ‘officially’ dating, it felt like everything they did together meant something now.

before, they could hold hands and kiss freely by telling themselves that the other person didn’t actually think it meant anything.

now, the pretense of ‘having fun’ was gone because they knew that the other’s feelings for them were serious and immutable.

they spent the rest of the day together and to chaeryeong’s surprise, ryujin actually focused on her homework. there was still the staring, but nothing beyond that. neither of them were confident enough to make a move, so everything stayed relatively calm.

although, little moments did keep happening throughout the night.

for example, when they were cooking ramen together, chaeryeong asked ryujin to come over and taste the soup. then, as chaeryeong was feeding ryujin, their gazes met and they got so lost in each other’s eyes that the soup boiled over.

or when chaeryeong was changing out of her dance clothes in her bedroom, but the door was slightly ajar, so ryujin could see glimpses of her figure. ryujin was just walking by but she got so caught up in staring that she walked straight into a wall and smacked her head.

also, while they were watching tv, ryujin realized that chaeryeong had this habit of playing with ryujin’s hands when she zoned out. chaeryeong probably didn’t mean anything by it, but any touch from chaeryeong was enough to make her heart pound.

in the middle of the movie, ryujin even had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom and wash her face with cold water.

a couple of hours later, they had finished watching their movie and started cleaning up. while chaeryeong was finishing up tidying up the kitchen, ryujin quietly went around the apartment and collected her stuff to get ready to leave.

chaeryeong noticed ryujin lingering around the door, shifting her weight around awkwardly.

“um, so, it’s getting kind of late, i should probably be heading back now,” ryujin spoke sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck.

“oh,” chaeryeong put her hands together. “i see.”

“no, i mean, it’s not like i want to leave, it’s just…”

the two girls eyes met and saw the same uncertainty reflected in the other’s eyes.

“it feels weird to sleep together before our first official date, right?” chaeryeong was the first to offer what they were both thinking.

“yeah…”

ryujin sighed. she was relieved that chaeryeong understood, but her heart felt heavy at the thought of leaving.

neither of them liked the idea of spending the night apart, but both of them knew something was different. being an official couple should mean something and they needed to respect that and not go back to fooling around.

so, with burdened footsteps, ryujin made sure she had all her stuff and got ready to leave. chaeryeong walked her to the door and watched as ryujin put her shoes and jacket on.

“but… i’ll see you tomorrow, right?” chaeryeong asked shyly.

ryujin almost changed her mind when she saw chaeryeong looking at her with those hopeful eyes, weight on her tip-toes, her red-hair falling like a halo around her shoulders.

even her expression looked angelic.

but, ryujin was almost out the door, and she knew she could get it together for just one night.

“yes, of course,” ryujin stepped in closer and hugged chaeryeong tightly. “i promise.”

“ok.”

the hug lasted way too long, probably because they were both trying to memorize the feeling of being in each other’s arms, enveloped in each other’s scents and warmth.

eventually, ryujin had to break away because one of the bags on her shoulder was falling.

she left quickly and wordlessly, without even so much as a kiss on the cheek, and closed the door behind her.

chaeryeong felt it was a bit sudden, but she knew if ryujin had stayed for any longer, they probably wouldn’t have made it.

the sound of the door clicking back in place rang in chaeryeong’s ears for a while. it hadn’t actually been that loud, but after ryujin left, her apartment seemed so impossibly quiet.

chaeryeong doesn’t know how long she stood in front of the door, just staring. she didn’t know what she was waiting for since she had agreed that ryujin should leave.

it was late, though. so chaeryeong decided that she should just get ready for bed.

she cleaned up the living room and slowly went about her usual nightly routine: taking a shower, brushing her teeth, washing her face.

she tried not to think about how empty everything felt without ryujin.

chaeryeong didn’t mind being alone; in fact, she preferred it most of the time. winding down by herself at the end of a long day was something she cherished. but now, her heart felt unsettled.

she turned off all the lights in the apartment and got into bed.

the sheets smelled of citrus and chaeryeong’s body automatically sought out ryujin’s warm body beside her, but she only found cold, empty space. it had only been a few weeks of ryujin spending the night at chaeryeong’s, but chaeryeong had already come to expect it as a constant she could rely on throughout the night.

as chaeryeong lied there staring at her ceiling, unable to fall asleep, she thought of the first time that ryujin had slept over after the christmas party.

they had spent the day together snacking, watching movies, and drinking tea . it was one of those lazy and comforting days that chaeryeong felt was best done with ryujin because neither of them minded the silence.

the occasional brushes of their fingers, the cuddles on the couch, and the infatuated glances back and forth said more than any words could.

eventually, night came and chaeryeong wordlessly took ryujin’s hand and led her to her bedroom as a silent invitation for the other girl to stay over.

chaeryeong got a change of clothes from her dresser and got ready to take a shower like she always did at night.

surprisingly, she saw ryujin start to do the same with clothes from her overnight bag.

“don’t you usually shower in the morning?” chaeryeong asked.

“yeah, but i know you like to only be in bed after taking a shower and you don’t like outside clothes on your sheets, so i thought i’d take a shower at night if i’m sleeping over.”

it was such a little thing, but chaeryeong was touched.

yes, chaeryeong was a bit of a neat freak, and not only did ryujin notice what chaeryeong did to keep her surroundings clean, but she didn’t find it annoying. she was willing to change her own habits just to make chaeryeong more comfortable.

she hadn’t even asked, or expected, ryujin to be so considerate, she just was. chaeryeong nearly swooned and stared at ryujin lovingly from across her bedroom.

not privy to how her gesture had moved chaeryeong, ryujin started to get anxious. several minutes had passed and chaeryeong was just standing in place and looking at her.

“uh… or i mean i could just sleep on the couch, i’m okay either way, i don’t have to-“

chaeryeong dropped all of her things and rushed towards ryujin, tugging the shorter girl into a firm hug.

ryujin was caught off guard by the force of chaeryeong's hug, but nevertheless, she wrapped her arms around chaeryeong’s waist in return. she just wasn’t sure what she did to earn such an overt gesture of affection.

“did i do something wrong?”

“no,” chaeryeong said into ryujin’s hair. “you did everything right. i want you to sleep in my bed.”

“okay… so i’ll shower after you then?”

chaeryeong simply nodded into ryujin’s shoulders, seeing no better way to thank the other girl than to keep her arms tightly wound around her. then and for the rest of night as they slept together for the first time.

that night had a special place in chaeryeong’s heart and thinking of it now made chaeryeong realize just how far the two of them had come.

growing up, ryujin and chaeryeong didn’t always gel perfectly.

they had met in middle school because they took lessons from the same dance studio, but they never got close. chaeryeong was only brave enough to talk to people from her school, and ryujin seemed to always have more friends than she knew what to do with.

when yeji and lia became close in high school, ryujin and chaeryeong had started to spend more time together. but chaeryeong sometimes thought ryujin goofed around too much and ryujin thought chaeryeong was too uptight.

they had their moments though.

sometimes chaeryeong would make a joke offhandedly and ryujin would laugh so hard that she started to cry. chaeryeong would then meet somebody in her class and they’d say “oh i’ve heard ryujin talk about you!” because turns out ryujin seemed to always mention her friend from dance. she then discovered ryujin had the same high standards and tastes in food so they would often go and eat together.

slowly but surely, chaeryeong understood that ryujin did care about her, just in her own unique way.

ryujin was definitely different from her and they didn’t always see eye-to-eye on things. but she was always by chaeryeong’s side. through the fights and the misunderstandings and the misplaced comments.

she always came back to chaeryeong.

but thinking of all this also made chaeryeong realize how lonely the bed felt without ryujin, and she started to feel disgruntled at the whole situation.

she contemplated whether it would be better to sleep on her couch; at least then ryujin’s absence might not feel so noticeable. plus the couch probably didn’t smell like ryujin and her bed definitely did.

she sighed and got out of the bed. it had just started to feel warm too, but the gnawing ache in her chest was hard to ignore.

she missed ryujin.

chaeryeong stood in front of her closet in the hallway. it was full of carefully organized pillows and blankets and comforters.

why did they agree not to spend the night together again?

chaeryeong brushed her hand along the velvety blankets and towels. it felt comforting, but it couldn't compare to how soft it felt to touch and hold ryujin.

everything in her apartment started to remind her of her girlfriend.

the blue blanket with little stars on it was the one that ryujin liked the most because it looked like the night sky.

the stool in her kitchen that ryujin always sat on when they ate because she said it was the shortest distance between the stove and the fridge.

that corner in the couch where ryujin had hugged chaeryeong during the movie at the christmas party and chaeryeong was secretly freaking out on the inside because of the way ryujin was holding her.

where was she supposed to sleep if every single piece of furniture in her apartment was littered with thoughts of ryujin?

chaeryeong groaned and raked her fingers through her messy hair.

“lee chaeryeong, get it together. it’s just one night.”

chaeryeong started digging into the closet for maybe an old blanket that she hadn’t used in a while and that didn’t remind her of a certain blue-haired girl.

“you can do this. you’re a strong, independent woman. you’ve slept by yourself for years.”

she reached the back of the closet and found a worn turmeric-colored blanket that she probably hadn’t ever used since moving to college.

“there. now you just need to find an old pillowcase. see, who needs ryujin?”

even chaeryeong knew that sounded like a lie.

but she kept going and sorted through another shelf of linens. with her arms full of pillows and blankets, chaeryeong carefully walked into her living room and dumped everything on her sofa.

“okay. now how should we do this…”

chaeryeong got busy and started to re-arrange everything she had brought into a more comfortable position. one blanket down as a bedsheet, a bigger pillow at the end of the sofa to prop her feet on, and adjusted the couch cushions.

just as she she was about to try lying down, she heard her phone ring.

calling: ryujinnie

chaeryeong picked up immediately.

“hello?”

“hey,”

chaeryeong looked around. ryujin’s voice sounded extremely close by.

“sorry, did i wake you up?”

chaeryeong heard it even more clearly this time.

chaeryeong didn’t even bother replying and opened her front door to reveal ryujin standing outside with her phone pressed against her ear.

it took less than a second for the two of them to pull at the other, locking their lips together.

ryujin tugged chaeryeong’s body flush against hers and chaeryeong’s hands tangled themselves in ryujin’s hair. it was like they couldn’t stand even an inch of space between them.

ryujin’s lips were cold from being outside and the door was still open so chaeryeong had goosebumps from where the wind blew against her thin pajamas, but she didn’t care.

ryujin was there and chaeryeong was kissing her again and everything felt so right.

after a while, the two broke apart and just savored the feeling of the other person being in front of them again.

“you came back,” chaeryeong said breathlessly.

“well,” ryujin stroked chaeryeong’s hair lovingly. “i tried, but i couldn’t sleep without you.”

“good, because i was about to sleep on the couch.”

“the couch?”

“the bed seemed too empty without you.”

ryujin grinned and chaeryeong could feel her heart melting when she saw those whisker-dimples.

“so, i guess, we’re gonna have to break that rule of not sleeping together before the first date, huh?” ryujin asked.

“i’m okay with it if you are,” chaeryeong’s eyes glinted mischievously.

“oh, i’m more than okay with it,” ryujin said.

ryujin drank in the feeling of the other girl so close to her, her body snug against hers in all the right places.

they kissed again, deeply and passionately, all of their previous restraint gone. they had skirted around this the entire day, and now neither of them wanted to be patient or polite.

ryujin kicked the door closed behind her and the two started to make their way into the apartment.

chaeryeong ripped off ryujin’s winter jacket, dropping it on the floor in the hallway. when ryujin took off chaeryeong’s pajama top to reveal just a tank top underneath, ryujin was left in awe at how good chaeryeong looked.

“wow you look... hot.”

chaeryeong smirked and responded by pulling away ryujin’s scarf and reaching her hands underneath ryujin’s sweater to reveal ryujin’s torso.

“and you're way too cold,” said chaeryeong, feeling the stark contrast between her warm fingers and ryujin’s cold stomach.

chaeryeong bent down and pressed warm kisses along ryujin’s abdomen, feeling the muscles ripple underneath her touch.

ryujin closed her eyes and moaned how good that felt. chaeryeong’s fingers gripping her waist, chaeryeong’s tongue, chaeryeong’s lips. chaeryeong. chaeryeong. chaeryeong.

it was like ryujin could finally drink after having no water for an entire day and now she was being handed the nectar of the gods.

once chaeryeong stood up, ryujin started kissing chaeryeong’s neck and heard the other girl moan softly. chaeryeong then captured ryujin’s lips and sucked on her bottom lip, earning a growl from ryujin.

“god, i missed you,” ryujin muttered against chaeryeong’s lips.

even though it had barely been a day of not touching her, ryujin’s body ached for the other girl. every touch, every kiss made ryujin come alive and a warmth ignited in her core.

she loved the way chaeryeong tasted of vanilla and how she arched her back when ryujin pulled her closer. everything about chaeryeong’s body felt toned and flexible and ryujin needed more.

euphoric didn’t even begin to describe how it felt for chaeryeong to have ryujin’s hands roaming her body, making chaeryeong’s skin feel as if it were on fire.

they simply couldn’t get enough of each other.

ryujin grabbed at the back of chaeryeong’s thighs and the other girl jumped onto her, wrapping her legs around ryujin’s waist. they continued to make out as ryujin carried chaeryeong into her bedroom.

the position reminded ryujin of the night of the christmas party and an idea flitted into her mind.

ryujin pushed chaeryeong onto the bed and got on top of her, pinning chaeryeong’s hands above her head

“ryujin,” chaeryeong panted. “what are you doing?”

“making my mark.”

ryujin nuzzled into the nape of chaeryeong’s neck. she bit softly, sucked, then licked the spot that was now becoming red.

chaeryeong sucked in a sharp breath, in pleasure more than in pain. her hands tried to escape ryujin’s grasp, but the other girl held firm.

“nuh, uh. not yet.”

ryujin then made her way down to a bit of exposed skin near chaeryeong’s collarbone and bit and sucked again, licking the wound afterwards.

“there, now we’re even.”

ryujin let go of chaeryeong’s hands and the other girl sat up in response.

“even for what?”

“so the first one was for giving me a mark at the christmas party…”

ryujin traced the spot lightly with her fingers, making chaeryeong shudder.

“and the second one was for staring at jeon somi’s abs today.”

“wha- i did not!”

“you did too! i saw you!”

“ok, but it was totally accidental, and it didn't mean anything!”

“mhm, sure.”

chaeryeong paused and took in the sight before her. ryujin’s hair was disheveled and her face was flushed while slightly pouting. it was both hot and adorable and chaeryeong found her irresistible.

“ok, come here.”

chaeryeong pulled ryujin down beside her and slung her arm the other girl’s midriff, turning their faces towards each other.

“tell me, why are you so jealous of somi?”

“because she’s obviously interested in you.”

“but i’m not interested in her.”

“i know that but…” ryujin looked down at her hands. “i just don’t like the thought of anybody trying to take you away from me.”

chaeryeong sighed and softly stroked the side of ryujin’s face.

chaeryeong knew ryujin was possessive, and she didn’t mind. the make-out sessions in the hallways, hugging her closely when they were in a shop or cafe, and glaring at strangers who stared at chaeryeong.

it was kind of hot and flattering sometimes.

but she didn’t want ryujin to ever doubt their now-official relationship.

“okay, i get that, but even if someone does try…”

chaeryeong pressed a kiss to ryujin’s cheek to get her to look up.

“i promise i'm not going to leave you, ryujin-ah.”

ryujin pouted again, but this time it was out of endearment for the girl in front of her.

she always knew just what ryujin needed to hear and could read ryujin’s thoughts even when ryujin didn’t know how to share them.

their actions spoke volumes more than enough. so, ryujin softly pressed her lips against chaeryeong’s, moving them slowly and tenderly this time to express her affection.

chaeryeong also loved this side of ryujin. the side that kissed her in the gentlest way possible, that cupped her face kindly and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. the ryujin who gave her back hugs and treated her like an angel and made chaeryeong feel as if there was no safer place on earth than in ryujin’s arms.

ryujin smiled as she thought how about immensely lucky she was to be able to hold chaeryeong. and how grateful she was to know that the other person would be there when she wakes up.

“thank you, chaeryeong-ah.”

curled up in each other’s arms with their feet tangled and sweet assurances warming their hearts, the two girls got the best night of sleep of their lives.

Chapter Text

“hey, did you notice anything weird about yeji unnie yesterday?”

it was the next morning and ryujin and chaeryeong were eating breakfast and drinking coffee together in chaeryeong’s kitchen.

they’d made strawberry pancakes. for old and new times’ sake.

“what do you mean?”

“i don’t know,” ryujin ate a strawberry. “i thought it was kind of weird how lia unnie and yuna were right there when we came down from the rooftop. it was like they were almost waiting for us. how did they even know we were up there?”

“i mean, yeji unnie did see you and i go up there together. maybe she told them to come check on us.”

“yeah, but they said she didn’t. remember? lia unnie said yeji unnie hadn’t told her or yuna about us. and if she did, then why would they have lied about it?”

“hmm,” chaeryeong put her chin on her hand. “i guess it was kind of weird now that you mention it. you know what else? i thought the way that somi asked me out was weird too.”

“you don’t have to tell me twice,” ryujin murmured, frowning at the memory.

“well, no, not because of that. but, it was like, she wasn’t even upset that i said no.”

“what do you mean?”

“she just said that it was ok and i should go after you. isn’t that weird?”

ryujin nodded.

“oh! and i could’ve sworn she liked someone else… who was it? oh, i can’t remember right now… ”

chaeryeong furrowed her eyebrows. it was on the tip of her tongue, but the name was escaping her. while trying to recall the perplexing conversation, chaeryeong thought of another confusing thing.

“plus, at the end of dance practice, i tried to tell her sorry for everything, but she seemed like she didn’t even want an apology.”

ryujin narrowed her eyes, her suspicions peeking more and more as she listened.

“hm… you know, i’ve always thought that somi was a weird one.”

chaeryeong snickered in disbelief as she took a bit of her pancake.

“that’s so not true!” chaeryeong said incredulously. “you and somi were really good friends freshman year!”

“well, that was before she asked you out!”

the sight of ryujin’s jealous little pout made chaeryeong all warm and fuzzy inside. she still couldn’t believe that ryujin could get possessive about her of all people.

chaeryeong went behind where ryujin was sitting on the bar stool and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s shoulders, giving her a back hug.

“ryujinnie~ you know don’t have to be jealous anymore, right?”

“i know,” ryujin sighed. “i just don’t like the fact that you have leave and go spend hours on end with her every day.”

“well, why don’t you just join dance club then?”

ryujin twisted her neck to look at chaeryeong with a raised eyebrow.

“me?”

“yeah! ryujin, you’re an incredible dancer. i don’t know why you never show it to other people. the team would be lucky to have you.”

the more chaeryeong thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea.

“plus! we have an even number of members and we’ve been wishing that we had one more person so that our formations would look better!”

“i don’t know…” ryujin pushed around a piece of pancake with her fork. “seems like a lot of work.”

chaeryeong imperceptibly rolled her eyes at how ryujin could be really competitive but also really lazy at times.

“ok, first of all, it’s not that much work. and, second, it won’t even feel like work! yeji unnie and i will be there, and you know a ton of the other members like nayeon unnie and jeongyeon unnie. it would be so much fun!”

ryujin did like those people. and she did liked dancing, but it’s always been more of a hobby, something to release her stress, not something she competed at.

“but then i’ll be so tired all the time,” ryujin whined.

“ryujin, think about it,” chaeryeong whispered in ryujin’s ear, her lips grazing ryujin’s piercings.

“if we were both on the team, then that’s just a couple more hours where we don’t have to be apart. and we could also get a practice room to ourselves… you, me… dancing, sweating…”

ryujin shivered as she felt chaeryeong’s breath on the side of her face, goosebumps appearing on her neck.

“… okay, you’ve convinced me, i’ll join,” ryujin said, a little too eagerly.

chaeryeong yelped with joy and wrapped ryujin in a tight hug.

“but only because i want to see you and because i don’t trust somi.”

“oh my gosh, i’m so excited! i promise it’s gonna be so much fun!” chaeryeong exclaimed and planted an enthusiastic kiss on ryujin’s lips.

ryujin realized then that there was little she wouldn’t do if it meant she could make chaeryeong smile like that more often.

so, a couple of hours later, ryujin was dressed in her practice attire, with her workout bag on her shoulder, and inside the dance club studio.

somi was the only other person there and she shuddered when the same frigidness descended onto the room as yesterday. she had anticipated this would happen whenever ryujin dropped chaeryeong off.

when she saw the two girls walk in, she tried to not even look at chaeryeong so as to not set off ryujin even more, but to somi’s surprise, the two girls approached her first.

“hi somi,” chaeryeong greeted.

“hi chaeryeong…” somi started carefully. “and ryujin… to what do i owe this pleasure?”

“oh trust me, this is no pleasure for me,” said ryujin, earning an elbow jab from chaeryeong. “ow!”

“anyways,” chaeryeong continued. “i was talking to ryujin about how we’ve been looking for one extra person to join the dance team, and she said that she’d be willing to give it a try. so we figured we’d see if you’d be okay with her joining?”

if somi had any water in her mouth she would’ve done a spit take right then and there.

but she didn’t, so her mouth simply gaped open. her eyes were the size of orbs as she stared at ryujin, who was trying really hard to look anywhere but at somi.

“so… what do you think?” asked chaeryeong.

chaeryeong looked between ryujin and somi, who were both dead silent. the former had her hands in her pockets and somi looked like chaeryeong had just told her she won the lottery.

“oh. my. gosh. shut up. SERIOUSLY!?” somi suddenly burst out into boisterous laughter. “what do i think??”

somi then slapped ryujin on the shoulder, causing the blue-haired girl to stumble and almost drop her bag.

“SHIN. FREAKING. RYUJIN. i’ve been trying to get you to join our club for months, years even! and one word from chaeryeong was all it took to convince you?”

“hey, that’s not true! it took more than one word,” ryujin griped, even though she knew that wasn’t true.

somi didn’t even hear it though. she was already clapping her hands together in excitement and jumping for joy.

“oh, this is so great! oh my gosh, this is so perfect, we’re gonna do so well! oh i knew this whole plan thing would pay off, yes, i have the perfect sequence planned, i know exactly what i want to do-“

“wait,” ryujin narrowed her eyes. “what did you just say?”

somi stopped, “what?”

“you said ‘i knew this whole plan thing would pay off’, what plan?”

“uh…” somi panicked. “the plan where i asked chaeryeong to ask you to join the team.”

somi winced internally. she just said the first thing that came to mind, but it so obviously wasn’t true.

“you never told me to ask ryujin to join the team,” chaeryeong now also narrowed her eyes. “i only just thought of it today.”

“oh! are you sure?” somi started sweating. “well, uh, i must’ve meant to, so that’s why i-, i said i had a plan because i thought it be a good idea to recruit ryujin and now that she’s joining, it seemed like that idea would pay off.”

somi had to stop herself from groaning at how bad that sounded.

“ok, first of all, that makes no sense,” ryujin pointed out.

somi really wanted to get out of there.

“and, if you like chaeryeong, why are you so glad that the girl she dumped you for is now joining your team? and why would you want me to join if you knew chaeryeong liked me?”

“um… i guess, because i put the team before my own interests?”

“no… i think you’re lying… i don’t think you actually like chaeryeong or else you wouldn’t be so happy about me joining.”

“and you weren’t at all sad when i rejected you,” chaeryeong added.

“so why did you ask her out?”

somi silently cursed herself for her accidental slip and ryujin’s sharp ears. she had no idea how she was going to get out of this.

“well, i do like chaeryeong, you see-“

“oh my gosh wait!” chaeryeong covered her mouth in shock. “i remember now! you told me that you had a crush on hyuna sunbae, didn’t you? that’s why i was so confused when you asked me out!”

“ah, well, see, i got over that because hyuna is dating dawn-“

“but, they only just started dating like last week,” ryujin countered, remembering their conversation at lunch a while back. “so, it took you less than a week to recover and to start liking chaeryeong?”

somi stepped back and held her hands out.

“ok, woah guys, slow down. what does it matter? it’s all water under the bridge now! chaeryeong rejected me, you guys officially got together, but i got a new dance team member! let’s just put all of this behind us and celebrate that it’s a happy ending all around!”

somi desperately hoped that would be enough to change the subject. sadly, it wasn’t.

“wait, who told you that we got together?” chaeryeong asked. “i didn’t tell you.”

“and i only told lia and yuna,” said ryujin.

crap.

somi wanted to slap herself for digging herself into an even deeper hole. she never was good at lying under pressure.

“it was yeji unnie wasn’t it?” ryujin concluded. “she’s the other only person you’re close with who would know.”

“okay, yes, yes. yeji unnie told me, happy?”

somi was thankful for the lifeline, but ryujin wasn’t done.

“not quite… why would yeji unnie tell you specifically? and she’s not one to just gossip behind people’s back. unless she had something to do with why you asked chaeryeong out.”

“no! yeji unnie told me because i asked her because i was curious about why chaeryeong said no to me.”

“but that still doesn’t explain why you asked chaeryeong out when you were still crushing on hyuna last week."

somi hung her head.

“ok, this is getting way out of hand, seriously, can we just forget about all this? i asked chaeryeong out because i asked her out, does there need to be any other reason?”

“yes! because if you lied to me and made me feel bad for rejecting you, then you owe me an explanation,” chaeryeong asserted.

“and i’m not joining the team until you tell us why,” added ryujin.

“wha-, ugh! okay fine! i’ll tell you!”

somi rubbed her face out of frustration. the tension she’d been holding in her shoulders completely dissipated and she breathed out a heavy sigh. she resigned to her defeat.

“just don’t get angry, ok?”

ryujin and chaeryeong looked at each other with confused expressions.

“yeji unnie, lia unnie, and yuna told me that they needed my help to get you to confess to chaeryeong. so, we came up with a plan for me to pretend to like chaeryeong and ask her out on a date. they figured that ryujin would get jealous if i did and that would make you stop dragging your feet about asking chaeryeong to be your girlfriend.”

chaeryeong’s jaw dropped in shock, but ryujin’s face remained expressionless. she already had an inkling that someone had forced somi to ask chaeryeong out. she was just surprised that it turned out to be her own friends.

“but hey look at it this way! they were just trying to help you guys out!” somi placated.

“by lying to us. no, scratch that, by paying somebody else to lie for them!” ryujin exclaimed.

“no! they didn’t pay me! i was just happy to help! plus, i thought it would be kind of fun. and, i didn’t think you’d actually get that upset about it or else i wouldn’t have done it!”

“really? so you’re telling me you did this purely out of the goodness in your heart?”

“okay, maybe that’s not completely true… no offense guys, but the pda was kind of getting out of hand, and yuna thought that if you guys were actually a couple, you’d stop all the kissing! so, for the sake of not having to watch you guys, we thought it this would be a good idea…”

somi put her head down apologetically.

“look, i’m sorry i lied. but, seriously, i thought i was just helping you guys realize your feelings for each other. i’m also sorry i made you feel bad chaeryeong, you shouldn’t feel bad at all.”

chaeryeong simply nodded, still absorbing the news.

both of the girls felt abashed at the memory of how public they were before their whole roof-top conversation. it was like they were different people back then, brazenly kissing in courtyards and shops, with no care in the world for how it might’ve made the people around them feel uncomfortable.

but, that didn’t excuse their friends’ lies.

ryujin and chaeryeong met each other’s eyes and reached a mutual understanding. they would need a plan to get back at their friends for this.

to thank her for telling them the truth, they reassured somi that ryujin would still join the team and chaeryeong forgave somi for lying to her.

in return though, they asked that somi not tell the others that they knew about their whole plan. somi relented, figuring that was the least she could do for meddling and was relieved that she was off the hook.

when yeji arrived a little later at dance practice, she was shocked but, of course, ecstatic to hear that ryujin was joining the team.

chaeryeong and ryujin were outwardly happy and celebrated the news with yeji as if nothing was wrong.

but in their heads, they were already plotting their revenge…

Chapter Text

“is it just me or is today a particularly beautiful day?” asked yeji.

“yeah, the weather is really nice,” lia commented, leaning back to fully bask in the sunshine. “i feel like we haven’t had a proper sunny day for months…”

“there’s just something in the air today… maybe it’s the sky or the sound of the birds…”

“it’s because there’s no annoying couple at our table making googly-eyes at each other,” yuna surmised bluntly.

yeji and lia paused for a second before bursting into laughter.

“jeez yuna, tell us how you really feel!” lia chortled.

“well it’s true!”

“ok, you have a point, but still!”

“what? i like being able to relax during lunch and to not have to worry about breaking those two apart if they start pouncing on each other.”

yeji and lia could only shake their head at their dongsaeng’s tendency to have no filter.

the three girls were once again sitting outside at a lunch table in their school courtyard. it was one of those rare january days when the snow had melted under the bright sunlight, making the cold grounds look almost warm and inviting. a slight breeze was blowing through their hair, but it felt pleasant and not at all harsh.

everything had seemingly returned back to normal ever since ryujin and chaeryeong had their roof-top escapade several days ago.

yuna could finally eat her lunch without wanting to gag at the sight of her friends all over each other. yeji no longer had to drag ryujin away from a make-out session to get her to go to class. and lia had her shopping buddy back now that ryujin wasn’t so possessive with chaeryeong’s time.

yeji couldn’t help but agree with yuna to some extent. any lingering guilt that she had about using ryujin’s insecurities against her and manipulating her feelings were gone, like the biting winter winds. she gave it next to zero thought once she realized how nice it was to have peace back in her friend circle.

as yeji’s gaze wondered around, looking for the chirping birds she heard, she caught a glimpse of dark blue and red near the edge of the courtyard.

“oh, i think i see ryujin and chaeryeong.”

yuna and lia turned towards where yeji was looking, and they gasped in shock at what they saw.

“oh my god…”

“are those-“

“does ryujin’s shirt say ‘MINE’?”

“oh my god, chaeryeong unnie’s shirt says ‘HERS’” yuna wheezed.

the three girls could only stare with dread as their friends walked towards them, ryujin with her arm around chaeryeong’s waist, and chaeryeong with her head on ryujin’s shoulders as they approached their table.

“oh, hey guys. beautiful day out right?” said ryujin with a wicked smile.

yeji nodded timidly. something about ryujin’s smile made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. she had a gnawing sense that something wasn’t quite right.

just as yeji was about to ask if everything was okay, the sight in front of her made her throat close up.

ryujin had sat down at the table, but instead of sitting next to her, chaeryeong had lifted her leg up and was basically straddling ryujin, with their chests facing each other, right in front of everybody in the courtyard.

ryujin hands found their way to chaeryeong's waist, and the two of them started making out, passionately and with no abandon.

everybody at the tables around them had taken notice and was starting to whisper among themselves. some of them had scandalized expressions, others were blatantly disapproving, and some just couldn’t look away.

yeji thought she might die of second-hand embarrassment.

“yah! lee chaeryeong! shin ryujin! what are you guys doing!?”

lia was the first of the three to recover from the shock and started shoving the two girls apart.

“stop. kissing. there. are. people. watching!”

lia tugged with each word until ryujin and chaeryeong stopped kissing, but they remained steadfast in the same position, seemingly unaware of how compromising it looked.

“so? we’re a couple now, isn’t this what couples are supposed to do?” asked ryujin innocently.

“not when your friends are literally right here and you’re in broad daylight!” lia argued. “lee chaeryeong, get off of her, for god’s sake!”

chaeryeong relented with a frown and got up, settling for sitting very close to ryujin with her legs tucked on ryujin’s lap. their arms were still very much wrapped around each other.

“better?” ryujin asked.

“only slightly, but yes. thank you,” lia replied curtly.

yuna was the second person to recover from the shock. just yesterday she had been hanging out with the couple and they were still almost too courteous around each other — occasionally their hands would brush together, but otherwise very minimal physical contact. and that was even when they were pretty much alone in chaeryeong’s apartment.

she wracked her brain to think if anything had happened between yesterday and today, but nothing came to mind. she looked at yeji and lia and saw the same confusion reflected in their expressions.

“ryujin unnie, i thought you guys were past all this."

ryujin shrugged and started to unpack their food. it was an assortment of small finger foods — grapes, tangerines, mini donuts — that chaeryeong had organized into a cute bento box. each food was in their own separate compartment, all in different pastel colors. ryujin laid out everything in a neat line so that both of them could easily reach.

“i don’t know, i guess we’ve just hit our honeymoon phase, right babe?” concluded ryujin.

chaeryeong nodded and smiled sweetly back, her face so emotive that it was a near perfect copy of the heart eyes emoji.

“but, you- you guys,”

“but what?”

“but you guys already had your gross honeymoon phase!” yuna’s frustration leaked into her voice.

“so? who says we can’t have two honeymoon phases?” ryujin brushed her nose against chaeryeong’s as she hugged the other girl closer. “god, ryeong, you smell really good right now.”

“so do you,” chaeryeong replied with a seductive smirk.

just as the their lips were about to meet again, lia and yuna forcibly pulled at each girl, managing to get them a couple of inches apart.

ryujin whined and chaeryeong pouted at having been separated, but they settled for holding each other’s hands.

“ok fine, we’ll stop,” ryujin said. “but, hey, what do you guys think about our new shirts?”

the matching sweatshirts were in a hideous shade of pink. the words “mine” and “hers” were written in large, black cursive lettering and was dotted with tiny hearts. chaeryeong was wearing a beige skirt with tights and ryujin sported tight black jeans on the bottom.

“uh…”

yeji and lia looked at each other to see which one should deliver the bad news, but yuna beat them to the chase.

“they’re terrible."

“really?” ryujin continued completely unfazed. “well, i think they’re cute.”

ryujin straightened the shirt so that they lettering was even more visible, as if the message wasn’t already burned into everyone’s mind.

“do you get it? it means chaeryeongie’s mine.”

“and i’m ryujinnie’s!” chaeryeong chirped.

“we get it,” yuna quipped, rolling her eyes in contempt.

yuna didn’t know how their friends could bear to wear such embarrassing outfits. it was one thing to act like a couple, but it was another to wear cheesy outfits like they were in the weirdest valentine’s day commercial ever. the sickeningly sweet phrases made yuna’s skin crawl.

ryujin and chaeryeong tilted their heads, as if they couldn’t understand what was so off-putting about their clothes, but decided to not pursue it any further.

the three other girls simply resigned to their fate and moved on to their regularly scheduled programming: yuna was thinking about going on a date with jisung from dance club, lia was doing well in her vocal lessons, and yeji had managed to not fail her math exams.

but try as they might to talk about other things and ignore ryujin and chaeryeong, they kept getting distracted by the ridiculous sounds coming from the other end of the table.

yuna watched with disgustedly as chaeryeong peeled a tangerine and held up a slice with all its white fibers carefully picked out.

“here, ryujinnie, open up~”

ryujin gleefully ate the slice of fruit and gestured for more.

chaeryeong kept feeding ryujin little bites of food and after every bite, ryujin would kiss her on the cheek. then, ryujin would feed chaeryeong a bite of food, and chaeryeong would reply in kind by giving ryujin a kiss on the cheek. they kept this routine going for a solid 10 minutes, pecking each other giddily and giggling every time.

yuna wanted to leave, so badly, but it was like she was watching a really terrible movie — you just had to keep watching because it was so bad.

yuna wondered if she was a masochist.

at one point, chaeryeong had taken a bite of a jelly donut, and a little bit of jam was stuck on her chin.

“ah, babe, you have a little something…” ryujin noticed.

to everybody’s horror, ryujin then leaned in and playfully licked the jam off.

“ah! ryujinnie, that tickles!”

chaeryeong started giggling and ryujin laughed too and before the rest of them knew it, the two had locked lips again.

lia and yuna quickly took action and pulled the two apart before chaeryeong got a chance to climb on top of ryujin again.

“ok, seriously, what is going on!” yuna asked after she had managed to drag ryujin back down into her seat. “did something happen yesterday between you two? why are you guys acting so weird?”

“nothing happened! and i don’t think we’re acting weird. do you, ryeong?”

chaeryeong shook her head in response, her red wavy hair bouncing around her face.

“see, nothing’s wrong,” ryujin said with an unreadable gaze.

yuna pursed her lips together and simply hummed in response, clearly unconvinced.

she didn’t believe for one second that ryujin and chaeryeong weren’t doing this on purpose. yuna could tell they were putting on a show, but she couldn’t figure out why.

could something have happened to make ryujin insecure again? like did someone else ask chaeryeong unnie out? but that wouldn’t make any sense. not even a potential admirer would approach them with a 10-foot pole once they saw their pda.

did ryujin just get over her shyness with pda? but then why were they so conservative yesterday when it was just the two of them and yuna? what if they more comfortable with each other because they just sleep together for the first time? but there was no way they’ve spent all of those nights together without anything happening until now.

which meant there was only one explanation for why ryujin and chaeryeong were acting this way:

they knew about the plan. and this was their revenge.

yuna was almost positive that was it because it was the only thing that made sense. but what if she was wrong? should she risk revealing their plan? what if this really was just ryujin and chaeryeong having a second wave of the love bug?

she tried to discreetly catch yeji and lia’s attention. luckily, ryujin and chaeryeong were too busy arguing over who would take the last grape. once she caught lia’s gaze, she gestured subtly to ask if she had any idea what was going on.

lia gave a slight shrug, indicating that she was just as lost as yuna.

yuna thought lia was the most likely to accidentally spill their secret, but if she had, she would look guilty and not confused, which was how she looked now.

then yuna glanced at yeji, who had been surprisingly quiet the entire time. she didn’t look guilty at all, but she also didn’t look at ease either. in fact, yeji had her hands clenched into fists and her knee was constantly bouncing up and down.

so yeji didn’t spill the secret, but something was definitely about to spill out of yeji.

yuna started plotting how she was going to get yeji and lia alone to tell them about her suspicions, but before she got a chance to ask, chaeryeong cut her off.

“i have to go to the bathroom, babe, i’ll be back in a bit.”

“aw, babe, come back soon, i’ll miss you~” ryujin whined.

“i’ll miss you too, babe~”

“no, i’ll miss you more~”

“no, i’ll miss you more-“

“OH PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST LEAVE ALREADY,” yeji cried out, smacking her hands onto the table with a thud.

silence descended upon the courtyard as every single person around them turned their heads to their table. an awkward tension filled the air. the only thing you could hear were yeji’s heavy breathing and the sound of flapping as nearby birds flew off their branches, frightened by the loud voices.

ryujin and chaeryeong exchanged a look.

“think they’ve had enough?” chaeryeong asked.

“i don’t know…” ryujin contemplated. “we could just keep going. how long did we think that somi liked you?”

“hm, i’d say like a good day and a half.”

“so, it seems only fair that they have to watch us and suffer for the same amount of time, don’t you think?”

“hm, that’s true-“

“oh god i knew it…” yuna dropped her face in her hands. “you unnies know, don’t you?”

lia gasped and covered her mouth as the realization dawned on her.

yeji’s eyes widened and she pointed a finger at the couple. she half mumbled to herself “oh my god…” in astonishment as she felt like fainting at any moment.

“know what?” ryujin fumed. “know that you guys told somi to pretend to like chaeryeong and ask her out so that i’d get jealous?”

somehow ryujin and chaeryeong crossed their arms at the same time and glared at their friends.

“yeah, we know.”

“who told you!” yuna gasped.

“somi.”

the other three girls collectively winced. they knew at that point that there was no point in pretending anymore. they’d been busted, plain and simple.

yeji was mostly frozen in shock and guilt. the look of betrayal in ryujin’s eyes made her stomach churn and her mouth go dry. the full weight of her actions now fell on her shoulders; she knew she had let her friend down.

“we’re really sorry we had to lie to you,” yeji professed. “and we’re sorry for trying to manipulate you.”

“yeah, we didn’t mean any harm,” yuna affirmed.

“i promise we were just trying to help,” yeji said.

“except you guys made me think that chaeryeong was gonna go out with somi!” ryujin shot back. “what if she had actually said yes?”

“no, i knew she wouldn’t have!” lia explained. “you see, i knew chaeryeongie liked you, so i knew there was no way she would go out with somi.”

ryujin slowly turned her head towards lia.

“unnie… you knew chaeryeong liked me?”

lia nodded.

“and you didn’t tell me!?”

“it wasn’t my secret to tell!”

“but you wanted me to ask her out!” ryujin argued. “if i had known she liked me back, then i would’ve just done it! you didn’t have to get somi involved and make this whole elaborate ruse!”

“but i wanted to respect chaeryeong’s feelings!”

“but-“ ryujin groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. “ugh, why couldn’t you have just told me something instead of getting somi to lie to us!”

behind ryujin’s back, chaeryeong sent a small smile to lia. she was secretly grateful for the way that lia had safeguarded her secret, even until the very end. she just felt bad that ryujin had to pay the price.

“and you, yeji unnie,” ryujin now turned towards the eldest girl. “were you the one who told them about me and chaeryeong?”

yeji wrung her hands underneath the table and bit her lip. she could feel ryujin’s intense stare, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet her gaze. she dug her fingers into a small dent in the lunch table, nervously trying to muster up the courage to face her friend.

“yes, i told them.”

“unnie…” ryujin’s voice quivered. “why would you do that? i thought that stuff would stay between you and me.”

“i’m really, really sorry, ryujin-ah,” yeji uttered quietly. “in hindsight, i know what we did was wrong. but i just wanted to do something to help you.”

“by lying to me?”

“by getting you to realize that you deserve happiness too, ryujin-ah.”

ryujin’s anger and indignation vanished in a flash, as if her entire being had just deflated. she was suddenly transported back to all those late nights where the only things that soothed her sorrows were bottles of soju and yeji’s soft, reassuring voice.

“you were punishing yourself over what happened with heejin even though it was never your fault and she’s already forgiven you. and when you told me about you and chaeryeong, i could tell you were going to keep denying yourself the chance to be happy,” yeji continued.

“i couldn’t keep watching you torture yourself over and over again. yes, what we did was mean and dishonest and cruel, but i was willing to do anything to make you see that you’re not the bad guy in this story.”

chaeryeong reached out beneath the table to still ryujin’s shaking hands.

“so i’m sorry that we lied. and i’m sorry that i told other people stuff you told me in confidence. but i’m not sorry that for first time in months, my best friend has let herself be loved again.”

ryujin jutted out her bottom lip in a frown, barely holding back the tears that were threatening to spill out. she ducked her head so that nobody else could see the mix of pain, gratitude, and regret on her face. yeji’s words had truly shook her to her core.

yes, yeji had deceived her and broken her trust, but ryujin knew that she would never hurt her intentionally. never once did ryujin doubt that yeji truly cared about her. yeji had always been the one person she could be her most vulnerable self with and she did that for one reason and one reason only:

yeji would go to hell and back for her friends.

and maybe that meant she was even willing to play the devil sometimes.

at her core, yeji was loyal and ryujin knew that. she could be really dense, but ryujin believed her when she said that she had their best interests at heart.

all that could be heard was the breeze slightly blowing through the girls’ jackets and scarfs as the conversation seemed to reach a standstill. a car drove past in the distance, making a whoosh sound as it drove away. quiet laughter from friends walking in the courtyard traveled to their table, a reminder of happier times.

“ok, i admit,” yuna softly started, sensing that someone needed to say something to bring this to a close. “we may not have taken the kindest path, but didn’t everything work out in the end unnie?”

ryujin turned towards yuna as she felt the younger’s hand on her shoulder. she then looked around and saw all of her friends staring at her with apologetic gazes.

“i guess…” ryujin conceded.

“so would you be willing to forgive us?” yuna ventured. “we swear that we’ll never do anything like this ever again.”

“same here. and i really am sorry ryujin-ah… and to you too, chaeryeongie,” lia said, giving her utmost sad puppy-dog eyes while putting her hands on chaeryeong’s shoulder.

chaeryeong could tell that their friends were sorry. their plan didn’t exactly have bad intentions, and they could’ve done without all of the lies, but then again… she always did know that her friends were a little dumb.

“okay, fine… i forgive you guys,” chaeryeong relented first.

the three girls let out a small sigh of relief, but ryujin was still frozen in thought.

chaeryeong waited, giving ryujin the time she needed to reach her own resolution. she rubbed the back of ryujin’s hand with her thumb patiently. ryujin had suffered much more as a result of the plan than she had.

ryujin took a deep breath and looked at chaeryeong, who gave a comforting and reassuring smile in return.

“ok, i’ll forgive you guys too…” ryujin stated, but as soon as everyone started to celebrate, she raised her hands.

“but i have one condition!”

“you name it. i’ll do anything,” yeji asserted, stamping down her fist on the table.

“all of you guys have to get us a gift for our anniversary.”

“done!”

“and it can’t be something small either!” ryujin added. “i don’t mean just like a box of chocolates or a gift card, i want to see a proper present, got it?”

“jeez, greedy much?” yuna muttered.

“or would you rather i keep feeding chaeryeongie-“

ryujin made a grab for the remaining grapes.

“ok! ok!” yuna cried out, stopping ryujin in her tracks. “i get it, unnie, we’ll get you guys something good!”

ryujin took her hand back and smiled smugly, “good! then, i forgive you guys too.”

the three girls let out a huge sigh of relief. any remaining tension or discomfort left the group of friends as their individual burdens disappeared and all of the misunderstandings were swept away with the winter breeze.

“thank god, it’s all finally over,” yeji breathed out.

she felt so relieved as all of the pressure that had built up over the past few weeks now slipped off her shoulders.

it was only then that ryujin noticed just how tired and weary her friend looked. with determination, she lifted herself up from her seat and walked over to the other side of the table to yeji.

wordlessly, ryujin tugged yeji to her feet and pulled her into a tight bear hug.

“unnie, who told you you could say all that soppy stuff about wanting me to be happy? what, are you trying to make me cry?” croaked ryujin.

yeji laughed into ryujin’s jacket and brought her arms up to hug ryujin back.

“hey, i’m the one that’s about to cry! i was so scared that you wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore after you found out what we did!”

“never, unnie. i’ll always be your friend, you’re never getting rid of me.”

“good,” yeji’s cheeks hurt from smiling as as she buried her face even further into ryujin’s hood. “i wouldn’t want it any other way.”

on the other side of the table, lia had moved into the empty spot next to chaeryeong after ryujin left and the two friends were also hugging.

“hey unnie, thanks for not telling ryujin,” chaeryeong whispered. “especially about, you know, all of those nights…”

“shh…” lia shushed, patting chaeryeong’s head. “don’t you worry about it. i was only doing my job as your guardian.”

chaeryeong lightly chucked, “my guardian? i’m 20 you know.”

“i know,” lia said softly. “but no matter how old you are, you’re still my precious dongsaeng, and it’s my job to make sure that you never get your heart broken again.”

chaeryeong could only smile in response as her heart swelled with gratitude.

“i love you, unnie.”

“i love you too, chaeryeongie.”

yuna propped her chin on her hand as she watched her unnies hug, cry, and laugh together. this was the way things were really meant to be. it had been long road to get here, but yuna had no doubt they would’ve all found their way back to each other eventually.

their bond was too strong to be broken because they were a family, and families were forever.

after she and yeji had hugged until both of them were satisfied, ryujin pulled away and started heading back to her seat. as she passed lia, she suddenly remembered what had tipped her off about yuna and lia being in the music building.

“oh, by the way, lia unnie, you’re a terrible liar,” ryujin commented as she sat back down.

“what! am not!”

“yes, you are,” all four girls said in unison.

lia puffed her cheeks out in anger, and all of the girls couldn’t help but laugh at how hopelessly funny she looked. their merry laughter rang out into the winter air and the mood finally lightened as the five of them looked at each other with love and affection in their eyes.

for the remainder of lunch, ryujin and chaeryeong acted like a normal couple again. they ate their food by themselves and refrained from any more flirting. they all even had a good laugh about how ryujin and chaeryeong had to custom order their ridiculous sweatshirts.

in the meantime, yeji couldn’t help but notice these little things happening between the couple sitting across from her.

like how chaeryeong would instinctively lean into ryujin’s shoulder whenever she was laughing at something. or how ryujin would look at chaeryeong like she was her entire world and saw nothing else. and how whenever their eyes met, both of them would smile, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

all of these things — albeit small — showed how much the two cared about each other way more than any act of pda ever could.

it warmed yeji’s heart to see her friends so happy.

yeji’s thoughts were interrupted by a slight nudge from her right. it was lia.

“they look good together, don’t they?”

turns out, lia had also been observing ryujin and chaeryeong from afar. the couple were joking around with yuna at the moment, and their smiles were almost brighter than the sunlight.

“yeah,” yeji agreed. “they do look good.”

and, maybe, just maybe, as yeji turned her gaze toward the brunette next to her, she would someday find the same kind of happiness that ryujin and chaeryeong had.

but, yeji had time. it wasn’t like anybody was going to ask lia out any time soon… right?

-

after a while, the five girls finished their lunch happily, and ryujin and chaeryeong excused themselves so that they could change out of their cringey sweatshirts.

they bid the other girls good-bye and started walking back to chaeryeong’s apartment.

sunlight glinted off the nearby windows and shined onto patches of grass that were now uncovered by snow. as they passed school buildings and restaurants filled with people, ryujin’s hand naturally slipped into chaeryeong’s. their steps were light and in unison, as if they were on a cloud, moving forward as one.

which was appropriate because chaeryeong did feel like she was on cloud nine.

she glanced at ryujin, her cheeks rosy from the cold and her short blue hair framing her face handsomely. she got the urge to take a picture, so that she could remember this moment forever. how it felt to be with a girl who made her insecurities disappear and feel more wanted than anybody else in the entire world.

“hey, ryujin-ah…”

“hm?”

“have you really already started thinking about our anniversary?” wondered chaeryeong softly.

“… of course."

chaeryeong raised her eyebrows in surprise, a slight blush spreading on her cheeks.

“really? but we’ve only been dating for like a week…”

“yeah, i know. but, i can’t help it.”

ryujin squeezed chaeryeong’s hand and motioned for the other girl to stop walking so that they could face each other.

as she stared into chaeryeong’s eyes, ryujin never felt more certain about her feelings than when she said the following words:

“lee chaeryeong, unless you want me to, i don’t think i’m ever going to stop liking you.”

chaeryeong’s blush got even deeper, and she smiled warmly back at the girl in front of her, a wave of affection surging up inside of her.

“good,” chaeryeong said. “then please don’t ever stop, ryujin-ah.”

Chapter Text

one day, ryujin, chaeryeong, somi, and yeji were sitting on the floor in their practice room after rehearsal. now that ryujin knew the truth about somi, the four of them hung out regularly and got along quite well.

somi was describing a recent facetime call she had had with heejin, who was studying abroad in spain. apparently, heejin had drank way too much sangria one night, and had somehow gotten herself lost.

“so, she said that she was trying to find someone to ask for directions, and she asked this waiter at this random restaurant, but they didn’t know a single bit of english! so they apparently misunderstood and thought she was trying to order and they got her to sit down and heejin doesn’t remember what she said, but a couple minutes later, this huge hunk of steak just shows up at her table!” somi was nearly gasping for air. “but thing is, heejin’s freaking vegetarian, so she can’t eat any of it!”

yeji and ryujin laughed so hard that they were doubled over and holding their stomachs.

“so, she waits until the waiter isn’t looking, and she just runs out of the restaurant! she just runs! but she’s so drunk and it’s so dark outside that she can’t see where she’s going, so she falls into this random field and she passes out! the next morning, she wakes up and the first thing she sees is a freakin' cow!”

chaeryeong’s mouth turned into an ‘o’ in surprise as she listened.

“and heejin got so scared because she thought god was sending a cow to eat her as a punishment for trying to eat steak!”

somi slapped her thighs and the sound rang out into the room, mingling with ryujin’s guffaws. next to her, yeji was doing that thing where she was clapping like a seal and barely making a sound as she scrunched her face in laughter.

“oh my god, that’s so funny, i can’t believe that actually happened to her,” gushed yeji, tears coming out of her eyes.

"but it's such a heejin story though!" somi exclaimed.

“seriously! oh my gosh, heejin is so funny, i love her,” ryujin sighed.

“you. what.”

chaeryeong’s sharp tone ripped through the air and the room became dead silent.

although chaeryeong was sending daggers at her girlfriend, somi and yeji also felt an ominous chill run down their backs.

somi thanked all the gods and saints that she wasn’t ryujin in that moment.

“no! babe, ryeong, that’s obviously not what i meant-“

“then what did you mean.”

“i- it was just a saying! i don’t actually love heejin,”

“but you said it.”

“well, yeah, but i didn’t mean it, it was just-“ ryujin tried to explain, but chaeryeong huffed, clearly having none of it.

chaeryeong stood up from the floor and looked down at her girlfriend with cold indifference.

“you know what? maybe you should sleep back at your own place tonight.”

“wha-, but babe, lia unnie’s hanging out with yeji unnie at our dorm tonight…”

ryujin glanced towards yeji for help.

seeing as how steam was practically coming out of chaeryeong’s ears, yeji knew there was no way she could get involved and come out alive, so she stayed silent and pretended to be preoccupied with her shoelaces.

“fine, then go sleep at yuna’s,” chaeryeong continued angrily. “or better yet, go sleep at heejin’s for all i care!”

“but babe… heejin’s in spain.”

“so what, you’re saying if she wasn’t in spain you’d sleep with her?”

“what? no! that’s not what i-“

“you know what? forget it, there are plenty of benches on campus, go sleep on those!”

chaeryeong then stormed out of the practice room with ryujin in tow, trying desperately to explain herself to no avail. somi could hear ryujin’s calls echoing down the hallway as the couple continued to bicker up the stairs and out of earshot.

“yikes…” somi grimaced. “and here i thought ryujin was the scary one when she got jealous.”

“i know right,” replied yeji. “chaeryeong’s probably the only person i know who could make ryujin scared like that.”

somi shook out her body, still shivering from chaeryeong’s glare.

“man, relationships are such hard work…”

she then peered at yeji.

“speaking of relationships though, so you and lia are ‘hanging out’ tonight? something special?” somi wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

yeji quickly shook her head, her ponytail thrashing about vigorously.

“no! well, yes. kind of. we’re celebrating that she got the main part in the next musical.”

“i see… and you need it to be just the two of you?”

“yes, but it’s not what you’re thinking!” said yeji. “i wanted to cook dinner to congratulate her, so i needed the kitchen, nothing more. we’re still just friends.”

“still? so you haven’t gotten up the nerve to ask her out yet?”

“yes… no… i don’t know! it’s all really confusing. i don’t know if i actually like her because she’s my best friend and i like her or because seeing ryujin and chae make me want to have something like that too…”

“hm…”

somi furrowed her eyebrows and brought her chin to her hands in a contemplative stance. she quietly surveyed yeji, who was now frowning and drawing circles on the wood floor.

“i could help you out, you know.”

yeji looked up with a confused expression.

“i mean, i’m not doing anything this weekend. lia unnie is pretty cute,” somi explained. “so, if you want, i could ask-“

“don’t even think about it.”