“Do you like someone Yewon?” Seunghee asks Yewon suddenly. Woah woah there! How did we get here again? Yoobin shakes her head as her eyes widen. She rubs them and tries her hardest to focus back on planet earth and remember what is really happening. It’s another Saturday night. Hyojung has invited them once again to her place. Jiho has been complaining all the way there and even later at Hyojung and Seunghee’s about how she’s not spending an amazing night at the club, partying and having fun but instead she’s here doing boring stuff with her friends. The girls of course ignored her because that’s how Jiho is always and they all know she doesn’t mean a single thing. Mihyun and Shiah are still on… weird terms someone can say. It’s not like they bicker harshly at each other nor do they want to cut each other’s throats. No. They’re a bit distant, avoiding each other and having interactions or looking at each other but rather than that, they’re fine. They try to be subtle about it because they don’t want to affect the group of course.

 

So, here they are now, playing stupid truth or dare games, only this time, they decided to make them a bit more interesting. Losing in this game meant a punishment, which was either drinking too much, or kissing everyone, or stripping your clothes. Not all of your clothes, but the clothes the group would decide for you. So basically no one wants to lose. So right now… Yewon chose to play safe and picked the truth. Only for that to return like a boomerang back to her. She’s not slipping away. The question is one of the hardest things she has to go through throughout this whole stupid game. No one went through that much until Yewon’s turn. She’s having a really hard time to think of how to reply, what to say, how to say it to not make herself sound too interested and nervous in the topic, how to not mess up and make Yoobin think something weird or scare her off. She’s trying hard to not look at Yoobin or else she knows she will get even more nervous.

 

Yoobin on the other hand is nervously looking at Yewon, waiting for her answer as reality finally caught back up to her. She has mastered to hide her feelings but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have feelings and that she’s not panicking or freaking out or feeling nervous. Especially when it comes to Yewon. But right now she’s doing great, looking uninterested enough but at the same time not too suspiciously uninterested in the topic as she looks at Yewon, trying to seem just simply curious like some of her friends, Hyejin and Shiah if you’re wondering. Cause the rest are extremely curious, even though they already kinda know the answer anyway. Hyojung on the other hand tries her hardest to defend the maknae saying,

 

“Ya! What kind of question is that Hyun Seunghee! Let the poor kid live!” She almost pulls Seunghee by her ear but Seunghee manages to pout and slip away from her hold.

 

“I just asked ok? It’s just a game it won’t hurt!”

 

“I… I think I do.” Yewon answers softly, it’s almost like a whisper and by how loudly Seunghee is grumbling it’s almost not heard until Mihyun sushes the loud couple.

 

“Who is it then?”

 

“Yeah, who's the lucky one?” Seunghee and Mihyun both bombarded her with questions as they lean closer, almost as if they’re interrogating her. Yewon raises her plastic cup of beer and sips slowly from it as she tries to hide behind it. She mumbles a soft,

 

“Isn’t my turn supposed to have ended by now?” She almost sounds scared at this point. The two interrogators- erh I mean her two older friends retreat and pout.

 

“Ok next time then. We’re not letting this go kid!” Seunghee says and Yewon sighs.

 

“It’s supposed to be your turn now. Want my advice?” Jiho whispers next to Yewon as they both are sitting next to each other on the couch. Yewon leans closer to her and Jiho smirks.

 

“Play according to their game.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Ya Kim Jiho! What are you telling her there!?”

 

“Yeah! That’s unfair!”

 

“That’s cheating!” Jiho laughs. She whispers quickly at Yewon,

 

“Just ask Yoobin the same question.” Yewon’s eyes widen and she looks back at the clueless Yoobin who’s been into her thoughts again, thinking way too hard Yewon’s answer to Seunghee’s question. It has clearly affected her no matter how well she hid it.

 

“What? I can’t do that to her! It’s… going to mess up things!”

 

“Do you want your million question in your poor pretty head to be answered yes or no? If I were you, I would definitely ask that.” Yewon sighes. She feels like this is unfair and too bold for her. Yet she’s extremely curious and Jiho’s advice has been running in her head way too much. In the end, she just asks a simple question to Hyojung, to avoid anything else. She doesn’t want to make Yoobin feel uncomfortable nor have her questions answered just by forcing Yoobin to answer them cause of a stupid truth or dare game. After all, Yoobin for sure would have avoided answering by drinking instead, or something.

 

Soon though, the questions returned back to Yewon cause Seunghee definitely didn’t lose her chance to ask Yewon about her crush.

 

“Who’s your crush then?” This time, Jiho decides to save Yewon’s by taking a whole can of beer and drinking it in one shot.

 

“Wow! That was lit!” Mihyun exclaims excitedly. Jiho just shrugs her shoulders. She feels slightly tipsy but she’s used to drinking. She just knows she did the right thing. She still has a soft spot for Yewon and she would have never let Y ewon be exposed or whatever. Yewon thanks her softly and Seunghee can only pout.

 

“This isn’t fair!”

 

“I know darling. But I play with my own rules. So since I play unfairly, ask me anything you want. Go on. Dare me anything, ask me anything, I don’t care. I can take it all. If that means Yewon is fine and not answering your stupid questions then I’m more than fine.” Yewon looks at her with thankful eyes, Yoobin is amused too, while Hyejin wonders what Jiho truly feels. It looks like Jiho has a soft spot for the people she loves. It only makes her wonder, if Jiho has a soft spot for Yewon, her ex girlfriend, does that mean that she used to like Yoobin too? She indeed has a soft spot for Yoobin so… plus the topic has almost gone there once, but Jiho has skillfully avoided it and changed it.

 

“Did you like Yoobin?” The question leaves her lips before she can dwell on it more and think about it more. Jiho’s smile, happy and light expressions totally disappear, in an abrupt and broken way as her face becomes serious, and almost scared even. Yoobin has the same expressions on her face and now everyone is suddenly too quiet and too interested in the topic than they have ever been with the previous ones. Even Yewon’s crush looks like a too boring topic now.

 

Jiho slowly clears and stutters at her own words.

 

“I… well…”

 

“Knew it.” Hyejin can’t help but mumble to herself. Seunghee lets out an exclamation as she’s too shocked and surprised. SHe turns to look at her friends as she says loudly,

 

“Wow Hyejin you just hit the jackpot!” Jiho giggles. She giggles at her own mess too. Her eyes almost get glossy though and her face becomes dark and gloomy again. She looks at her hands as she fidgets with them. SHe tries her hardest to think of a way to start talking.

 

“Ah… this is actually… gosh.” She shakes her head at her own mess.

 

“I’m a mess.” She says and chuckles. It’s bitter, empty and hollow as it echoes in the silent room.

 

“Yeah… well actually no. I didn’t just like Yoobin.” She says and her eyes land on Hyejin as she stares at her hard.

 

“I loved Yoobin. Yoobin was… my first love.” Seunghee lets out a yelp and everyone looks at Jiho and Yoobin in shock.

 

“I thought I was your first love?” Yewon asks, her voice barely audible.

 

“You were. You really were. Cause it’s been too long since the first time I loved Yoobin so… it truly felt like a first time with you. It was. It truly was. With Yoobin… it was different.”

 

“That’s what you always say though. You know what? I don’t trust you at this point. I thought I knew you, unnie. But you are such a mystery to me. I always get to know a lot of new stuff about you, stuff that you never told me. Did you plan to do so? Or was I going to live in the dark forever? I’m not mad, because we’re not together and it’s fine. I just… I feel like I was with you and liked you… without knowing you at all. And… it’s scary…” Yewon tries to say, her voice coming out unsteady and her tone is hard to tell what she feels right now. Jiho looks at her with a soft, broken smile as she gives Yewon a pat on her head.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m… not good with sharing stuff. I got this from Yoobin. Or… Yoobin got this from me. I’m not really sure at this point. Soulmates tend to become one, at some point, right Bins?” Yoobin smiles and nods her head. Yewon glares at both of them, confused but also hella hurt.

 

“And you. Why didn’t you tell me?” She stands up as she asks Yoobin, looking at her straightforwardly. Yoobin opened and closed , trying to find something to say, how to say it.

 

“Hey, don’t put the blame on her.” Jiho says softly.

 

“No I will! She didn’t tell you that she liked me, but she didn’t tell me that you used to like her either! What’s wrong with you really? You like keeping stuff for yourself and see people suffer right?” She asks Yoobin. Yoobin lowers her head, feeling guilty once again. She’s done swallowing it in though. She raises her head and looks at Yewon coldy as she says,

 

“I wasn’t your girlfriend. Not your friend either. I was nothing but a toy for you. Why would I tell you? After all, all Jiho did was hurt her girlfriends. Didn’t you know that already? Then why did you get with her? How am I at fault now?” Yoobin says calmly.

 

“It looks like it’s a secret between you two though. Yewon has every right to be angry, you know. Her ex relationship is falling apart. It was all lies. And we’re kind of annoyed too. We have all been friends for a long time now yet neither of you two told us that? Why?”

 

“It was in the past. There was no reason to tell you. Plus… it’s a too hurtful story. We don’t like talking about it.” Yoobin says, trying to defend Jiho, who’s already looking near the point of breaking down just by the memories in her head. She looks at Yoobin and thanks her silently.

 

“Yeah but now it’s out, and we know too. Don’t you think we need an explanation? Yewon? Doesn’t she need an explanation?” Mihyun tries to defend her friend.

 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea-”

 

“Yoobin liked me first.” Jiho starts the story and everyone suddenly becomes silent all over again, focusing on Jiho and Jiho only.

 

“It was around the start of middle school, right Yoobs?” Yoobin nods her head.

 

“I… We… we were best friends for so many years.” Yoobin decides to take that part of the story since it’s her point of view for now.

 

“We were only getting closer, and crazier. We had other friends, of course. But no one was as close to me as Jiho ever was. Jiho is my soulmate, guys. Not just because we used to like each other, but because we’re best friends. We are meant to be best friends. We’re soulmates and soulmates can’t live apart.”

 

“Jiho was my savior. She looked like a heroine to me. She was always there for me, to brighten my day. I was… I was exactly how I am now. A silent kid, who only knew how to tidy her room perfectly and get the perfect marks and listen to her parents and only. I wasn’t really expressive or crazy. Jiho was and still is and will alway be… my endorphin.” Yoobin says softly as she looks at Jiho with happy eyes. Jiho smiles back at her softly, trying her hardest to not cry just yet.

 

“I woke up everyday, to a crazy Jiho waiting for me outside of the tree house, greeting me with stupid phrases from movies or just phrases that has just come up to her head. She always found something stupid for us to do and so… our days were always filled with laughter, activities and having fun. I never got bored. Never ever. Not even a single day. Even if I, myself, was and still am, a really boring and quiet person, Jiho was always there to make me so happy. That was the reason I fell for her…” Yoobin takes a breath and looks at her hands this time.

 

“In middle school though… Puberty struck… and so the problems started… Jiho is a really hard person to deal with, so of course her puberty was harder than mine. She always got herself into trouble. The Principal always chased her around and gave her countless of detentions. She always made her parents sad and fought with them endlessly of how she wasn’t going to follow the system and start studying however everyone wanted and be however everyone wanted. I always got worried about her, but her free soul was what made me fall for her harder. No one could overpower her. She was who she wanted to be and I loved that for her since I couldn’t stand out for myself… But… as much as I loved her… and as much as my own puberty was filled with unstable and emotional breakdowns… I got stronger by this. And I managed to get over her. Because I knew that she didn’t like me. I mean, think of it clearly. What would you do Mihyun if you started liking Seunghee for example? And forget that you two have girlfriends now. Wouldn't it be awkward? Liking your best friend? Of course I had to get over her!” Mihyun and Seunghee both nod their heads in agreement.

 

“And so I did… It wasn’t that hard. And that’s mostly because before my feelings, we have always been best friends. So I managed to start having friendly feelings towards her all over again.Of course, my feelings towards her never faded away. Not even till today if I have to be honest cause first love is first love. It’s so special and it never fades away… but I started thinking of her in only friendly ways, I got used to her and her messy . I swear everyday she got in trouble at least four times! It was always so hard to get her out of trouble! I always felt like I had to babysit her so it wasn’t that hard to start seeing her as a best friend. We had no romantic interactions after all so there was nothing to feed my love for her more. So it just got faded away as I got used to her presence and her friendly attitude towards me all over again. But as I stopped liking her… she…”

 

“I started liking her. So as you do realize… our problem was always time. Time it was…” Jiho says as she smiles painfully.

 

“I swear I will never regret liking you, Bins. Never in a million years. You’re the only one that completes me perfectly and could ever take the best care of me.” Jiho says and Yoobin laughs.

 

“I started liking her in the worst timing ever. At the end of middle school. And I’m saying this because not only she was over me, but also because after that summer, high school was going to start.” Jiho says and lowers her head.

 

“Right! High school! You moved out of town back then, right?” Seunghee exclaims as it finally clicks in her head. Jiho can only nod her head. Suddenly Seunghee is pouting as she feels so sad and sorry for them.

 

“Gosh! Their love story is so tragic! I hate it when there’s wrong timing!”

 

“Nah. It basically means we’re not meant to be Seung.” Yoobin explains.

 

“But still! It’s so tragic and sad!”

 

“I told you so.”

 

“Anyway. So… I started liking Yoobin because… oh please! You can’t just not love Yoobin! She’s too perfect for this world! She always came to save me when I got in trouble, she was always there for me, we always spend so much time with each other, we always did everything together, she always followed my crazy plans no matter what, she cared for me, she knew me the most, she… she is everything. I just ended up loving her so much but we were running out of time… She was over me and… and I was moving out. That time came faster than I'd ever thought it would. And so… with a half and broken heart… I moved out of town. Four hours away from her house, to be exact. We never sold the previous house. We just made it a house for the holidays. Or the weekends. But that meant… that I never got to see Yoobin. Not as often as I used to see her. It hurt me so bad. I was used to seeing her every second of my life, only for that to be gone so abruptly now. I went to a different school, of course… and it was hard for me to return only for the weekends. Of course we kept in contact but… it truly was hard for me. There were really depressing periods of my life where I ever avoided her. After all, I still loved her. I also made friends there and I just… tried my hardest to get over her. Fortunately Yoobin is a really patient person so she waited for me no matter how many times I disappeared or acted weirdly. Eventually, after high school was over… I came back for summer holidays and… that’s when we first talked about everything. We both knew that something was going on. We have noticed each other changing. We weren’t blind. And that’s also why I knew something was wrong with Yoobin when she started avoiding me when I was with Yewon. I knew something was up. I just… couldn’t force her to tell me. It wouldn’t have been right and fair for her. She never forced me to tell her so why would I?”

 

“Anyway… so… that summer was the first time we talked about it. About our crushes on each other… and how hard it has been. For the both of us. Fortunately for me, I got over Yoobin quickly too. In fact, in the first year of high school. It was just… I was still insecure and… and it was hard getting used to my new reality, going to school and living too far away from her.”

 

“That’s not that old you know. It’s technically only three years before you loved Yewon.” Seunghee says. Jiho glares at her seriously.

 

“Three years are long time, Seunghee. You almost forget how it feels like to be in love. I, myself, at least, forgot. Ok? And you’re talking with Kim Jiho! Kim Jiho never falls in love anyway!” Yoobin laughs hard at that.

 

“Trust me. Half of the times she got in trouble was because she has broken another poor girl’s heart.”

 

“Ya! Don’t expose me like that!” The girls can’t help but look at the two laughing girls with sad but also happy smiles on their lips. It’s a messed up situation, and they can only have mixed feelings. But they appreciate it that their friends have finally found the courage to tell them. They also try their best to be happy because after all, their friends are happy too. It’s a story that’s in the past anyway.

 

“Damn you idiots! Now I love you both more!” Seunghee exclaims as she hugs them both. They all feel lighter after this heavy and sad story because the girls are laughing so they made them feel better. They’re all fine, except from two girls who are awfully quiet.

 

“Kim Jiho, you’re such a mystery to me…” Hyejin mumbles to herself as she watches Jiho laughing and groaning at Seunghee’s hard hold on her and how she messes up her hair by rubbing her fist on them. She’s not sure of how to feel. It looks like those two broken people are fine now, but this story still affects them. They both have a thing for each other, because they were both each other’s first love, yet again… it’s in the past and they’re both over each other. In fact, they have even fallen in love with new people. It just makes Hyejin wonder… what if she will lose the timing with Jiho if she keeps avoiding her feelings and lets it be just friendly between them?

 

Yewon on the other hand shakes her head. She can’t handle all the info she’s getting. She tried her hardest to stay quiet and listen to their whole story but now it truly ruins her and she just can’t stay there for more. And she doesn’t care that much about Jiho because after all she didn’t know a lot of things about Jiho. Jiho kept a lot of things a secret from her and she’s not in love with her right now anyway! But Yoobin… it’s just… messes up things even more. It puts another weight on her shoulders. What is she going to do with this now? How is she supposed to feel? It feels too weird and too painful and she only knows that her eyes are getting glossy. She just stands up, grabs her jacket and rushes towards the door, not really caring what the girls will think or do. They don’t pay attention to her anyway. All except one…

 

“Yewon! Wait!” Yoobin yells on the top of her lungs as she runs behind Yewon, trying her hardest to catch up with the girl. Yewon keeps on running though. She doesn’t give up even though she’s tired and she just wants to break down into tears. She doesn’t even know why Yoobin is running after her after all.

 

Well, I can answer you that. Because Yoobin is exactly like Yewon. SHe can’t let Yewon leave from her sight. Not at this point. She will follow her everywhere and never let her be alone.

 

Yewon gets tired at some point. She stops and tries to catch her breath as she hides her face behind her hands. Her face is already wet, filled with countless of tears.

 

“Why are you following me?” She mumbles, trying her hardest to sound normal.

 

“Because you always do the same.” Yewon scoffs.

 

“Just leave me alone. I want to be alone, Yoobin unnie.” Yoobin sighs. She’s standing behind Yewon, leaving some space between them. Yewon has her back her and Yoobin can already tell the girl is crying by how much she’s shaking or how hard she tries to muffle her cries.

 

“If you’re upset about me not telling you-”

 

“It’s not that!” Yewon says louder but her voice trembles so much. She sounds so fragile and small. Yoobin is really tempted to hug her but she’s afraid the girl will get angry by that move. Yewon on the other hand really needs a hug from Yoobin but she’s afraid to ask that, not wanting to sound too desperate or stupid. Crying over Yoobin but wanting her hugs anyway.

 

“Then? Is it about me and Jiho liking each other? I assure you it’s in the past. A story from too long ago. We’re over each other. She doesn’t like me that way anymore… I don’t like her like that either.” SHe mumbles the last part.

 

“But you said you will always like her even just a bit because it's your first love and first love is special!”

 

“I didn’t say that. She’s just… always going to be a very special person to me. She was going to be anyway since we’re soulmates and best friends, Yewon. What do you want me to do? Push her out of my life?” Yoobin shakes her head. She doesn’t understand why Yewon is like this.

 

“After all, why do you care that much? Should I start being worried about you and Jiho then? Jiho has a soft spot for you too, you know. If she ends up liking you again then you-”

 

“How dumb can you be? Really!” Yewon finally bursts as she turns around and faces Yoobin, almost annoyed.

 

“She doesn’t like me and is not going to be! She likes Hyejin unnie and we both know that!”

 

“Then? What about you? Is she the crush you’ve been talking about?” Yoobin is slightly taken aback by how Yewon talked to her but she gets it. Yewon is hurt. The question is, why is she hurt? Yewon on the other hand acts too fast for her own mind to process what she’s saying or doing. She takes a step closer to Yoobin as she says,

 

“You! You are the one I like, ok?”

 

“You…” She mumbles once again and more tears roll down her face. She never thought she would confess to Yoobin like that, under so much pressure and feeling so hurt but here she is doing it because she’s tired of keeping it in, she just can’t take it anymore. All her dreams of confessing to Yoobin in a romantic restaurant or after going to the movies or just hanging around at her dorm or whatever else are just gone. This is the most uncool and random confession but she’s too tired and fed up to care about that. She somehow could feel that it would end up like that. She’s been so patient with Yoobin that of course she would have ended up exploding like a bomb and saying it all so blankly.

 

Yoobin looks at her shocked and surprised. She’s too shocked to react to this. Yewon likes her? She still does? Gosh Yoobin is in so much trouble! Why is Yewon still liking her? What is she supposed to do with that? What should she tell her? She’s so unready for that and she’s still so insecure and conflicted! She doesn’t want to reject her but at the same time she’s not ready…

 

“Forget it…” Yewon mumbles after staring at Yoobin for a couple of seconds and seeing no reaction coming from the girl. She turns around and walks away, but Yoobin is still frozen on her spot, not knowing what to do, or how to react, or how to take this whole new info. Yewon likes her… Yewon likes her! Yewon likes me too! Oh holly mother of what-?

 

___

 

"Ok Cinderella where are we going now?" Jiho says in a playful tone as she walks down the hallway of their campus along with Hyejin. Is this surprising at this point? Not at all. Jiho is all about Hyejin, she's always around Hyejin, she's hanging out with Hyejin the most, well of course she doesn't forget Yoobin. She hangs out with Yoobin too. Amd a lot. She doesn't want to repeat the same mistake again. But seriously, she's around Hyejin so much, she's texting Hyejin the most, she thinks about Hyejin the most, she talks about Hyejin the most, well she tries not too because her friends will definitely mock her but if she could she would have definitely done that. It's all about Hyejin to the point that… her friends are wondering… what will she feel or do when Hyejin isn't around?

 

Hyejin chuckles loudly at that comment. She turns to look at Jiho as she raises an eyebrow playfully and asks,

 

"Cinderella? My goodness. You never stop coming up with new nicknames don't you?" Jiho laughs.

 

"Ah no. That's my speciality! Making new nicknames! I think I made the most for you. Feeling special enough?" Hyejin laughs and shakes her head as she keeps on walking and looking straight ahead. She smiles softly.

 

If you're wondering, she's affected by the latest news she got to know. It took her a bit of time to get back to normal. She has been way too quiet and careful with her actions and feelings too. But Jiho is proving her every single day, every single moment, that she doesn't have to worry about a thing.

 

"For real though. Where are we going?"

 

"Just… somewhere peaceful."

 

"Where?" Jiho asks her curiously as she keeps on pacing basically around Hyejin, almost hoping on her every step. She's too excited whenever she's around Hyejin and today is no exception.

 

"You'll see." Hyejin answers her with a stupid happy girn as she keeps on walking and ignores Jiho's countless of questions.

 

They reach the vocal room and Hyejin enters it first. Jiho follows her from behind slowly as she looks around her curiously.

 

"The vocal room? What are we doing here? Are you planning to serenade me? Aw that's so sweet JinE ah!" Hyejin can only laugh. She always laughs at Jiho's teasing comments, compliments and flirting cause she feels fluttered and doesn't know how to respond really.

 

"No airhead. I was planning to tell you something though…" Hyejin says as she walks around the room and stops by the piano. Jiho laughs.

 

"Wait, did you just call me airhead? Wow there! You are learning from me well! You even make nicknames of your own now! That's the spirit Jin!" Hyejin giggles. Her hands caress the black hard wood of the piano until they reach its keys. She sits down on the stool, in front of the piano as her fingers keep on caressing the keys softly, almost as if she's not touching it, or actually touching it with so much care and love. She looks at Jiho with a sheepish smile before she turns her attention back to the piano.

 

"Woa there. Don't tell me you know how to play this big piano?" Hyejin laughs and brings her hands to her knees, away from the piano. She rubs them as she smiles shyly.

 

"Kind of?" Jiho can't help but widen her eyes in surprise as she smiles at Hyejin proudly.

 

"Play something for me then. Serenade me Mozart!" Hyejin laughs. She takes in a breath and brings her hands back on the piano's keys. They hover softly for a few seconds as she moves them lightly and soon, she's actually tapping them, making the piano make so many beautiful sounds. A beautiful song is being played and Hyejin gets more lost in the moment. She's not passionate about it though. Her hands are moving casually on it, as if she's just playing for fun, her fingers are pressing on the keys so lightly as if she's not touching them at all. She has so calm expressions on her face and only a small calm smile on her lips proves that she's really enjoying this moment. She's so humble though and it shows in her every move as she plays. Humble and calm. And it drives Jiho crazy, seeing Hyejin playing so good the piano, as of she's just playing for fun, as if she's playing a stupid game on her phone or something. As if it's that easy or not important at all.

 

Hyejin ends up the song slowly and turns to look at Jiho with a shy but happy smile on.

 

"I'm not that good though…"

 

"I'm not that good though!" Jiho imitates her tone of voice.

 

"That's bull girl! You were on fire! What was that!?" Hyejin laughs at Jiho's loud reaction.

 

"Thank you. For being so supportive. Really. It means a lot."

 

"You're welcome. That's what… friends do, right?" Jiho says, pressuring herself to say the word friend. It hurts her heart but she ignores it for now.

 

Hyejin nods her head. She looks at the piano once again before she stands up and heads towards Jiho.

 

"Ok so… I wanted to tell you… that… remember how I'm not really into a team on campus?" Jiho nods her head.

 

"Pretty boring if you ask me."

 

"I just haven't found any interesting team. Until…" Hyejin smiles.

 

"Until I found the vocal team. I wasn't that brave at first and didn't have that much confidence in myself but… I only kept on liking that idea more and more plus I really wanted to share my love for singing so… here I am! I'll join the vocal team!"

 

"Wait. Are you for real?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Really?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"That's awesome Hyejin! Wow! Congrats! Am I the first one to get to know the news?" Hyejin smiles shyly.

 

"Kind of?"

 

"That's a yes or no question dummy." Jiho says as she leans closer to Hyejin and rubs her hair.

 

"Ok fine. You're the first one. And that's because I knew you would be so supportive so I wanted a good reaction to give me some more confidence and-" Jiho laughs. She can't help herself and hugs Hyejin. She brings her close to her chest as she wraps her arms around Hyejin's shoulders.

 

"What?" Hyejin mumbles but it's muffled cause of Jiho's chest. Jiho laughs again.

 

"Nothing. Just… thank you for telling me first. I hope I boosted up your confidence."

 

"Thank you for supporting me." After a few minutes of silence and still hugging Jiho mumbles,

 

"This feels nice doesn't it?" Hyejin snorts and laughs but nods her head softly. It truly does. Her fluttered and hard beating heart can tell…

 

___

 

Mihyun walks slowly in the familiar hallway. She’s slowing down her pace as she gets closer to her destination, her nervousness only getting bigger and bigger. She sighs, she scratches the back of her neck and pushes the door of the dance practice room open. As soon as she does, loud music can be heard, coming from the speakers. She doesn’t walk further in the room. No. She stands a bit awkwardly by the door, not wanting to disturb the petite girl practicing in the middle of the room. She just stands there, quietly, resting her right shoulder by the door frame as she looks at Shiah, practicing. Her nervousness fades away for now as she can only focus on the girl and her unbelievable amazing, powerful but also elegant movements. She always adored looking at Shiah while the girl practiced. She was an amazing dancer and it was always very entertaining, in many ways, to watch her practicing.

 

Shiah on the other hand, as much focused as she is on dancing, of course she noticed that someone has opened the door. She also saw, through her peripheral vision, that a very familiar girl who had made her extremely sad the past few days was standing by the door, watching her with her hands crossed to her chest. Of course she ignores her. She’s dancing right now, so she has to keep on practicing and not just abruptly end her dance practice just because Mihyun is here. Especially since they aren’t on good terms. Of course Shiah is going to play it hard to get!

 

The song ends and Shiah heads towards the radio to play another one. She’s not in a good mood, obviously, and seeing Mihyun just standing there with a stupid grin on her lips as if they’re on good terms is making her even more annoyed.

 

“Love seeing you dancing.” Mihyun comments aloud, before Shiah has the chance to play another song. Shiah sighs. She scowls slightly and grabs her bottle of water from the bench. She hears Mihyun dragging her legs on the wooden floor as the girl heads towards her. She feels slightly uneasy as she knows Mihyun is walking towards her yet she still tries to remain strong and annoyed. She’s about to play another song when Mihyun talks again,

 

“Aren’t you tired? Your team’s practice ended an hour ago.” Shiah just shakes her head.

 

“No. I’m not tired. I want to practice a bit more. I don’t even get why you’re here but you should better go and do your stuff. I’m not coming home any time soon.” She says coldly. Of course now that it’s just the two of them, they’re both being harsher than how they try to be in front of their friends. When they’re with their friends, they try their hardest to act normal, not too talkative or affectionate of course but just… normal, so they wouldn’t worry their friends or make the group feel awkward. So there’s no reason to pretend or try to be nicer.

 

“It’s ok. I’ll wait. For as long as it will take you.” Mihyun says softly. Shiah clenches her fists. She’s annoyed. Mihyun is suddenly acting as if things are alright between them and it gets on her nerves because things are definitely not fine!

 

“You don’t have to. Just go hang out with Nayeon.” She spits out, totally annoyed and jealous. Mihyun smirks as she can hold herself any longer. She moves closer to Shiah and back hugs her, her hands wrapping around Shiah’s waist and her head resting on her right shoulder.

 

“I wanna hang out with you though.”

 

“Well I’m busy. Go now.” Shiah says harshly as she tries to move away from the hug and finally puts on another song. She heads back in the middle of the dance practice room and glares at her reflection through the mirror in front of her. She starts dancing, not minding Mihyun and her stupid smile or her hard staring. Mihyun walks closer to her once again and wraps her arms around her, making Shiah slightly mess up the next moves. She doesn’t stop though so Mihyun only hugs her tighter and closer, making Shiah basically freeze and trapped in between them. She groans and yells,

 

“What do you want now? Can’t you see I’m practicing!?”

 

“I’m sorry.” Mihyun says softly.

 

“Yeah as you should! You cut me off from dancing!”

 

“Not for that. For hurting you and making you feel jealous, insecure and alone.” Shiah sighs. She looks away from the mirror, not wanting to face Mihyun at all.

 

“Whatever.” She says.

 

“It’s not whatever. I hurt you. I know I did. And I’m so sorry for that.” Shiah sighs.

 

“Look, Mihyun… just forget it. I’m tired. I’m going home.” She says as she pushes Mihyun’s hands away and walks towards the bench to take her stuff. Mihyun can only smile happily as she walks towards her and takes her stuff instead. Shiah turns off the music and the lights and they both leave the room, heading back to their dorm in silence.

 

“Why are you following me again? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

 

“I wanna spend my time with you, what do you mean?” Shiah scoffs but doesn’t push her away this time. They only keep on walking in silence until they reach their dorm.

 

Mihyun pushes the door open as soon as they reach it and Shiah walks inside first. She tosses her stuff somewhere after grabbing them away from Mihyun's hands and plops herself on her bed tiredly. Of course she's tired but she refused to admit that to Mihyun when she asked her earlier. She's stubborn and she knows it, but that's because she always wants to look good, nice and strong in front of Mihyun. Even after dating for a while and being close friends for a long time, Shiah is still being stubborn and trying to keep her image still. Even if Mihyun clearly knows her by now, Shiah just can't stop trying to hide her emotions sometimes and pretend to be tough or whatever. And Mihyun knows that by now so it truly is unnecessary but meeh… Shiah is used to doing that no matter how well Mihyun knows her.

 

"So… how was your day?" Mihyun asks her as she sits down on her own bed, across from Shiah and looks at her.

 

"Tiring. Lonely." Shiah can't help herself but answer. Even if she wants to play it sulky, she can't help but feel comfortable and nice whenever she has such casual talks with Mihyun so even if she didn't want to answer her or ignore her, she just can't…

 

"I see…" Mihyun says awkward and rubs her hands together. She feels guilty for making Shiah feel lonely again. But her schedule truly was a bisy oke this day.

 

"Look, I don't know what you're trying to do, but it's clearly not working. Haven't we made a deal? Then stick to the plan, ok?" Shiah saya tiredly. She stands up, about to get changed into pajamas when Mihyun stands up as well and holds her by her hands.

 

"Please Shiah, let's talk about it. Like… a real talk. No deals and these bull ok? It's our ego that's talking there, not us, and what we truly feel." Shiah sighs heavily.

 

"You wanna know what I feel?" Mihyun nods her head.

 

"Ok…" Shiah mumbles and Mihyun makes her sit on her own bed instead. She sits next to her, her oke hand still holding onto Shiah's hands while the other is now wrapped around Shiah's waist. Shiah feels warm and loved and almost smiles at how much she's been taken care of.

 

"I feel jealous. And guilty. Because you've said that if someone feels jealous in a relationship…"

 

"That means they don't trust their partner enough. I know what I said but that's not the case here. I know you trust me. Really." Shiah shakes her head.

 

"How can you be so sure?"

 

"Sha, if you didn't trust me you would have been always asking me where I was, with whom I was outside, you would have always been so suspicious and mad whenever I'm not with you or the girls, you would have always searched my messages you-"

 

"Stoooop. I already feel guilty and now you make me feel worse! I literally do all those!" Shiah exclaims sadly and buries her head in her hands. Mihyun laughs.

 

"Ok fine. You tend to be insecure. But that has nothing to do with your trust in me." Shiah raises her head and looks at Mihyun.

 

"How do you know?"

 

"I just… do. I can feel it. We have always been so honest with each other. You trust me and I see it in every action you do every day. Even now that you were mad at me."

 

"Were? I still am just to remind you!" Mihyun chuckles and it brings a smile to Shiah's lips.

 

"You're insecure of yourself Shiah." Mihyun says. She took Binnie's words to heart and took a bit of time to fully think what Shiah thinks and feels and why she is like that. And she finally has the answer.

 

"You're insecure of yourself." She repeats.

 

"You're afraid that you're not enough for me, that at any moment soon, someone else, better than you, will get my attention, that even if you'll try hard to keep me by your side, I'll be gone, I'll get tired of you and bored of you because at some point you won't be enough for me." Shiah doesn't react. She lets Mihyun's words echo in the room as she silently thinks of them.

 

"You're right. I'm afraid. So afraid…" she mumbles weakly at the end.

 

"But you don't have to. I mean… I can't convince you not to be. That's something you have to do. You can only fix yourself. But I can help. I wajt to make you feel safe with me Shiah because you really don't have to worry about a thing. I only have eyes for you and only. I only love you, I only trust you, I only care about you, I only think of you, dream of you, wajt to be with you, hang out with you, hug you, cuddle with you, touch you, kiss you…" Shiah's cheeks are already burning by now and at the mention of a kiss at the end… her head perks up way too fast as she looks at Mihyun. Oh gosh. The idea of a kiss from Mihyun can't leave her head now. Oh how she missed those lips…

 

Her eyes fall on them. How tempting they look. How beautiful, looking so glossy underneath the warm light coming from Mihyun's desk. So soft and Shiah could already taste them in her mind. She knows she shouldn't be doing this right now because Mihyun is talking to her, saying something important but here she is dreaming of her lips instead of responding to her. She sees Mihyun smiling and giggling softly and that's what breaks her away from staring at the girl's lips so hard. She looks away embarrassed and now she's pretty sure she's blushing, is she wasn't already.

 

"Sorry I… got distracted…" she mumbles shyly and bites her lips, the thought of kissing Mihyun's lips coming back to her mind again. Mihyun chuckles softly.

 

"It's ok."

 

"It's not. You were saying something important and comforting and I swear I paid attention I just… got distracted and it's really not nice, plus the timing isn't good either and…"

 

"It's ok Shiah. If you want to kiss me, you can go ahead. We're girlfriends." Shiah blushes mkre but shakes her head. She looks back at Mihyun and says instead,

 

"Help me feel less insecure with myself. Help me love myself for who I am, and stop pressuring myself." She looks at Mihyun seriously, and she just… gives in to her eyes, finally fully letting go of her hurt ego and jealousy and just… giving in, into Mihyun and her endless love for her. She's all hers and she wants Mihyun to know.

 

Mihyun fully wraps her arms around Shiah's waist as she brings her closer to her.

 

"I will. I'll take good care of you." Mihyun says seriously as well.

 

"So, since I just promised to take good care of you, I think I have to act on that now, right?" Mihyun says and giggles as she leans closer to Shiah.

 

"Now?"

 

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