my answer is you (if you ever ask me again) 

joy feels that something isn’t right a few footsteps away from her apartment unit. shooting a quick come over the house if i don’t reply back in 15 minutes text message to yeri, completely not caring if her friend pulls through or not, she pockets her phone and ignores the sudden chill of nervousness she felt when she walked up to her slightly opened apartment door. 

she holds her key in the middle of her dominant knuckle, squeezing her hand tightly as it’s her only weapon against a potential intruder. light on her feet, she swings the door a little to be able to let herself inside her place quietly. 

her squeezed hand relaxes by a bit and her nervousness is quick to replace itself with aggravation when she sees a very familiar figure, crouched by the bookshelf near her couch with her back turned, picking some of her stuff from a cardboard box, as if putting it in place. 

or back in its place. where it used to be. 

“just what are you doing?” joy breaks the silence, causing the other girl to jolt surprised, immediately turning to the source of the voice. 

the other girl is quick to change her expression into a dorky grin before standing up and shrugging her shoulders, and joy would definitely have to end this night of her life on a bad note as she answers, so casually “sorting my stuff. i live here?” 

just how can she have the gall to show herself after everything that has happened. 

“this isn’t your house. you don’t live here.” joy answers in annoyance, she throws her purse onto the small living room couch beside her.  it was a long day at work, and she still had tons of material to review for her bar examinations, and this person in front of her, who shows herself up out of nowhere — irks her more. 

she quickly walks over and reaches for the cardboard box, shoving it onto the other girl’s stomach. “take your things, and leave, wendy.” she orders. 

wendy raises a finger to put in a very important anecdote. “oh? but i do,” she says plainly. “i used to live here, you know.” 

taking in a sharp breath, joy closes her eyes. she opens them again to meet wendy’s. “used to.” she repeats in emphasis. “but you left, remember?” throwing the question like a dagger to wendy’s heart. 

wendy tries to mask what she feels by looking at the taller girl blankly, ignoring the heavy charge of her question — of her reminder. 

because joy was right. she did leave. and it was the most stupid decision she’s made in her life. 

she taps her fingers on the edges of the box, “i...just need a place to stay for tonight.” she answers half truthfully, almost mumbling as she looks down on the box she was holding. 

i wanted to see you and fix us, was the whole. 

but alas, joy’s walls was put up too high for it to be crumbled by anyone. she takes wendy’s guitar case and pushes her with it out of their—her apartment. “no,” she decidedly refuses. “get your stuff and go. i don’t even want to breathe in the same direction as you.”

wendy sighs defeatedly as she reaches for her guitar case and the rest of her belongings. “but where will i stay? i just got back here and i’m really tired. i haven’t even had a meal yet.”  

joy leans in to her, a little too close that it made her breath hitch. joy looks at wendy head to toe with her resigned eyes before answering, “i don’t give a .” and slamming the door closed. 

wendy’s mood turns downcast. she didn’t imagine their first meeting after a long time to be like this. not that she was imagining joy running to her arms and showering her with kisses either, but it could’ve been better. 

turning her heels as she begins to walk away, she reaches for her phone in her back jean pocket and dials another number.

“hi, seulgi? are you home? i kinda need your help.” 

//

“she’s back?”

“and blonde.” joy answers as she takes a swig from her can of high-calorie soda. with all the memorisation she’s gonna do, she needed the sugar rush to stay up for a few more hours. 

yeri opens the can of tuna and mixes it with her freshly-prepared cup of instant black bean noodles, “cute.” she mutters. 

the taller girl sitting across her gives her a dirty look. “not cute. terrible.” she slams her hand on her opened book. “why did she come back? what could she possibly want? she already ruined my life. was that not enough?” she questions, raising her legs to her seat and hugging them. 

“from what i’ve heard, a place to sleep in.” yeri answers wittily. she leans back to her seat and swats joy’s hand when she tried to grab her by her shirt. 

yeri was always supportive o