The warmth of the sun crept onto the faces of the sleeping couple, slightly stirring the two as the morning light hit their closed eyelids. Jinsoul tugged Jungeun closer to her, embracing her a bit tighter. The blonde has always been clinging and even more so first thing in the morning. 

Jungeun groaned out. Her morning voice was hoarse and rough, regardless, Jinsoul loved hearing the brunette as the first sound to start her day off. "Soul, it's hot." The younger girl complained.

The blonde pouted as she snuggled her face into Jungeun's hair using her 'baby' voice. "But, I want to cuddle."

It was useless to try to refuse the blonde's wants and demands as Jungeun would always give in to her, and Jinsoul knowingly took advantage of every moment she could seize. Thankfully it was the weekend, and no one needed to worry about attending classes, so it was easy for Jungeun to laze in the locked embrace of her girlfriend.

After a few moments, a stomach growl broke the comfortable silence, and again, the same baby voice the blonde used previously complained. "I'm hungwryy."

"Ok you big baby, I'll make breakfast." As Jungeun started to roll out of bed, a tightened tug prevented her from moving.

"But it's cuddle time." The blonde pouted again.

The brunette let out a soft chuckle at her absurd girlfriend. "Well, which is it then?"

Jinsoul didn't take long to ponder, "I want to stay in bed." but her body betrayed her words as another loud rumble escaped from her stomach. 

Jungeun laughed and slipped from Jinsoul's arms. "Come on. You need food, and you can help me."

The older girl reluctantly let herself be pulled by the younger girl, the loss of warmth sending her a sudden chill to shake her sleepiness. She moved slowly and sluggish, as Jungeun had already walked into her bathroom to brush her teeth.

Despite being slower, Jinsoul managed to finish before Jungeun, as the younger girl was fighting her lion mane bed head to cooperate with her. "Do you think our plan worked?" The blonde asked as she watched her girlfriend struggle combing her tangled hair. 

"I hope so, and I think it did." The younger girl grunted out as she finally got the last stubborn tangle out of her hair. 

Jinsoul excitedly left the bedroom, ready to eat and satisfy her hunger. Jungeun followed behind, shaking her head in slight disbelief that just moments ago, how sleepy and lazy the older girl was earlier, and now she was bouncing off the walls with excitement to start the day.

As soon as she caught up, the blonde waved towards her to come over and motioned to stay quiet. Jinsoul pointed towards the sleeping couple on the couch, "Jungieeee, can we keep them? They are adorable!"

"They really are cute when they aren't each other's faces." Jungeun nodded in agreement, Heejin and Jiwoo were adorable together. 

The sleeping couple was wrapped tightly together, their legs intertwined, Jiwoo's arms embracing the brunette's small frame while Heejin's tiny hands rested over the redhead's hands.

Jinsoul disturbs the serene moment by taking photos of the two sleeping. The synthesized shutter clicks stir the sleeping couple up.

Heejin opened her eyes by the beaming smile of Jinsoul holding her phone, and she was a bit shocked to find the blonde blatantly snapping photos without shame. "Yah!"

Jiwoo fluttered her eyes open, gripping a bit tighter around Heejin, "Babe, you're too loud." the redhead softly whined.

The younger girl's face heated up, she felt embarrassed that Jungeun and Jinsoul were witnessing the intimate position she was in. "It's rude to take photos of a person sleeping, Jinsoul!"

"Send them to me!" Jiwoo announced as she grew more aware of what was happening. 

The blonde nodded happily, deciding to move into the kitchen to help Jungeun.

As soon as the other couple was distracted, Heejin tried to escape Jiwoo's embrace, only to stumble onto the floor as Jiwoo did her best to keep her planted. The brunette turned and glared at Jiwoo, and the latter shrugged innocently.

"Why do you want those photos?!" Heejin whisper-yelled, making sure the other's couldn't hear her, yet wanting to sound demanding. They weren't dating, and it's not like they posted on their social media of each other, especially not sleeping together. Oh god, is Jiwoo going to post them?!

Jiwoo pouted as if she was being scolded, "I bet they will be cute."

Heejin scoffed in response. "They need to be deleted!"

The older girl turned to look away, faking being upset. 

Before Heejin could make her case about deleting any evidence of their fake relationship, more so that Heejin didn't want to cry over what could have been. Jungeun called out to them. "Come on, girls! Breakfast is ready!"

~ ~ ~

"Good job, everyone!" The coach bellowed, applauding his team's hard work after another exhausting practice. 

The team weakly responded with a "hoo-rah" as they all made their way to the locker rooms, escaping the beating rays of the sun. 

The two sole girls of the baseball team entered the locker room together. They weren't sure when they stopped avoiding each other when they changed, but it was routine now. Just as routine as their fake relationship and dates. They were more comfortable with one another, used to each other's company and presence. Even their teammates noticed but feared if they said anything they would shatter whatever replaced the bad vibes between them would only return. 

Jiwoo was content with the relationship with Heejin, as they were finally improving. It only took long to do so, but better late than never she supposed. Though she wasn't too happy that Heejin was avoiding her a bit ever since the party, they went to last weekend. It wasn't in-your-face obvious, but it was there. They were subtle actions, like how Heejin would slightly avert her eyes to avoid direct eye contact whenever they spoke. The usual confidence in the younger girl seemed to falter bit by bit. Whenever Jiwoo would close the distance between, she could see Heejin tense up slightly, her shoulders squaring up, her posture straightening out a bit as if her body was rigid from her normal graceful movements. 

The older baseball player was scared that because they kissed and were incredibly intimate, their improving friendship would slowly crumble. It's not like it meant anything to Heejin, right? They had no strings attached, and they knew their original purpose to be 'together.' Though, she wouldn't mind if the younger girl decided to- Jiwoo shook her head, her mind was wandering again.

After shaking herself from her reverie, she realized the somewhat awkward atmosphere that brewed between them. This wasn't the usual comfortable silence she had grown acquainted with whenever they were alone together. It felt as if the younger girl was dreading in her thoughts. She was doing it again, the subtle notions of avoidance that Jiwoo quickly caught onto and disliked. 

Wanting to break this aura around them, hoping she could somehow comfort her younger teammate, Jiwoo began suddenly. "So, are you looking forward to our next double date?"

Heejin almost choked, startled by the declaration. She cleared to compose herself. "O-Oh, yeah. I guess." She cursed herself in her head from her voice cracking.

Jiwoo carefully observed the younger girl. It seemed like Heejin was avoiding her more, instead of the slight avoidance in her eyes, her head was completely turned away, making it hard to read the brunette's face. The redhead decided to continue. Maybe sounding more positive and bright about their next date will make her cheer up. "Well, I am looking forward to it. I promise we will have so much fun!"

The younger girl turned her body away from the latter. Making it so that Jiwoo couldn't see the fluster and frustration in her face. "I-I can't do this anymore."

"What do you mean?" Jiwoo's smile instantly turned into a frown at the statement, knowing their conversation was turning south.

"This fake dating, the lying." Refusing to look at the redhead, Heejin faced the lockers before her, her eyes casted down at her feet. "I can't do it anymore, Jiwoo."

Jiwoo didn't want to sound desperate, but she couldn't restrain herself and outbursted immediately after Heejin declared throwing in the towel. "You can't just quit."

Turning to face Jiwoo, Heejin wanted to make herself clear. Her decision was final. "I am telling you right now that I am Jiwoo."

She wasn't sure why but hearing Heejin wanting to quit disappointed Jiwoo. "And all this time I thought you weren't a quitter." It was one of Heejin's strong points and Jiwoo observed how hardworking Heejin was. The older baseball player knew how much extra time the younger girl would put in, practising for hours on her own. That no matter what her shortcomings were, Heejin accepted it and would find ways or at least make attempts to better herself. Even if the progress was slow and tedious, Heejin would never let up once her mind was set on a goal. It was truly admiring, even Jiwoo grew a bit jealous of how determined and dedicated the younger player could be towards obtaining her goals. But that wasn't the real reason she was disappointed. She has grown accustomed to their weekly dates. They had become closer, and being with Heejin was so much fun, more than she could have imagined. Most of the time, she would forget they were on a double date and would only have eyes for Heejin.

Jiwoo needed to convince Heejin otherwise, and maybe she could set a goal for the younger girl. "But we don't know who is the better girlfriend."

"Again, your plan is dumb since the beginning. And who is even judging this pretend competition?" The brunette huffed out in frustration.

"Jungeun, duh!" Jiwoo ignored the insult. 

Heejin shook her head at how difficult the redhead was making this. "She doesn't even know we are competing. She honestly thinks we have an authentic relationship."

"Then, we just have to keep going on dates together," Jiwoo stated as if there was nothing wrong with what they were doing. 

"I'm sorry, but I can't stand any more of this." The younger girl begins to pack her stuff so she could leave. 

The redhead smirks, trying to help surface the competitiveness out from Heejin. "So that means I win."

"Win what? You don't win anything." Heejin pauses, crossing her arms to look at Jiwoo dead in the eye. 

"It means I'm a better girlfriend." Jiwoo nodded to herself, still trying to provoke Heejin. 

The brunette let out a heavy sigh, "In case you have forgotten, the point of your plan is to win Jungeun over. So what. Now that you 'win,' Jungeun is supposed to come crawling to you? Face the facts Jiwoo! You won't win her over. She's with Jinsoul, and you aren't going to change that. It's obvious that they love each other at this point. You are wasting your time."

Jiwoo shrugs in response, "Then I can just say we broke up and still try to win her over."

Heejin's eyes started to gloss over, tears threatening to break her composed mask. She knew she shouldn't be this emotional. It's not like they were in a real relationship and the break up was fake, but that's not how it felt. It was a terrible feeling being rejected before she was even at the starting line. Now that Heejin realized her newfound feelings, it became painful that Jiwoo wanted someone else. Heejin was done hearing this nonsense, "Stop, this conversation is over."

"What do you mean?" Jiwoo was perplexed at the younger girl's reaction. "You don't want to talk about the girl we are crushing on?"

"I don't- just stop talking about her." Heejin started yelling to hide the despair in her voice. 

Jiwoo was taken aback from the outburst from the smaller girl and raised the volume of her voice. "Why? We are both interested in her. For crying out loud, we are fake dating so we can get closer to her."

"Jiwoo, I don't think you even thoroughly thought out your plan. It doesn't even make sense; us pretending to date will never work!" Heejin desperately tried to convince Jiwoo that they were foolish even to start this whole charade.

The redhead was irritated that Heejin was starting to blow upon her. "Then why did you agree to it? Why did you even stick around this long?"

The brunette raised her voice at Jiwoo. "You started it. I didn't ask to become a part of this!" 

"If you didn't want to do this, you could have left at any point! You could have easily told Jungeun we weren't dating." Jiwoo didn't understand why Heejin was suddenly so worked up about their situation; everything was perfectly fine. "So again, why did you go on all those dates? Why do you still pretend to date me?!"

"Because I like you! I like you, Jiwoo!" Heejin clasped , eyes widened. Her hidden feelings and affection had slipped out.

Heejin was planning to confess at some point, but not like this. She already knew what Jiwoo's answer would be, but she had hoped that maybe, just maybe, there would be a sparkle or hint of brightness in Jiwoo's eyes. But lack of those features crumbled Heejin's hope. Why would Jiwoo ever look at Heejin like that?

All Heejin could find was the mixed expression in Jiwoo's face of bewilderment and anger? She wasn't sure, but she has never seen the redhead's face furrowed so tightly before. It was like she was trying to voice out, 'What in the actual ?'

Of course, Jiwoo wouldn't like her back. Why would she? Heejin has only been a to her since the beginning, and she'