“Can we talk?” Eric repeated. “I just need a few minutes.”

Confused, Yongsun let Eric lead her off the campus path onto a lawn, where he proceeded to sprawl like a starfish in a patch of sunlight. He patted the spot next to him. “Sit down, enjoy. I’m not going to do anything.”

Yongsun continued to stand. “You know, Eric-sunbae, when people say they’re not going to do anything, they usually are.”

Eric mulled over it, then nodded. “That’s true. Okay, sit down because I’m going to do something. Which is talk.”

Amused, Yongsun sat. “What did you want to talk about?”

Squinting in the sunlight, Eric sat up and propped his arms on his knees. He turned to study her face. “You know, you look very concerned about something.”

“I, uh, well… Not really.”

“Right, like it’s not obvious you’re really worried about something.” He stared out at students passing by, considering his next words. “Does it have anything to do with the money you owe?”

“What?” Yongsun froze in place. “What… How did you know about that?”

Eric grinned and ran his fingers through his hair. “Because the person you owe money - or rather, the employee of the company you owe money from - is my brother, remember? I don’t know much about it, he didn’t give me any details. But is that what you’re worried about?”

Yongsun pressed her lips together and nodded. “Look, Eric, I’m sorry.”

Eric blinked at her, baffled. “What for?”

“Well, um, your brother said…” This was not an easy subject for Yongsun to bring up, and the awkwardness was too much for her. “He said you were interested in me, like actually romantically interested. So, well, I’m sorry if I lead you on and gave you the wrong idea.”

Now Eric laughed, a deep-bellied chuckle that both confused and amused Yongsun. “Oh, Yongsun-sshi, there’s nothing to apologise for! I know our ‘relationship’ was fake, and I well understand that you never had any feelings for me. Oh, jeez.” He wiped away tears of laughter that had formed at the corners of his eyes. “Looks like I should have explained things to my brother.”

Yongsun narrowed her eyes. “But you weren’t actually interested in me, were you?”

Eric deliberately avoided her gaze as he shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. The thing is, I wanted to discuss this with you.” He leaned towards her and lowered his voice as if conspiring against someone. “I think I can help you with your issue.”

*

“So… you’re definitely not a rich mogul’s daughter?” Wheein asked with some disappointment as she leaned over the crepe stall’s counter. Laughing, Byulyi shook her head. “Dammit. Life would’ve been so much easier if you were.”

“That would apply to all of us, don’t you think?” Byulyi countered with a smirk. It was true, after all, especially now in Yongsun’s case. If her parents weren’t off gambling whatever little money they had, Yongsun and Yonghee wouldn’t be stuck in this situation. 

Wheein nodded in contemplation. She sighed, leaning back and stretching side-to-side while Byulyi took stock and wiped down the stall. She considered fund-raising, like those bake sales multiple university clubs seemed to hold everyday, although to be honest, she couldn’t bake to save her life. Byulyi had said Wendy knew how to bake, and although she initially wasn’t inclined to have to rope in Wendy, she was now half-considering it.

Now, a busking session, maybe. Considering Yongsun and her Hyejin were both majoring in music and had voices of angels (well, Yongsun did, Hyejin’s leaned towards those of sultry sirens), she wondered whether they would be willing to perform together with her and Byulyi.

She reckoned they would do quite well.

“Byul! Wheein!” Both girls turned to see Yongsun flying their way, her hair trailing behind her as she sprinted all the way from the other side of campus. Executing a leap not dissimilar from a long jumper’s, she crash-landed into Wheein. They spun around in dizzy circles until they regained their balance, arms wrapped around each other. 

Amused by the goofy smile on Yongsun’s face, Wheein cocked her head. “Someone’s happy,” she remarked.

“I guess something good happened, unnie?” Byulyi asked, popping out of the stall.

“Yes!” Yongsun extracted herself from Wheein’s arms and placed her hands on Byulyi’s shoulders. “What do you say - and I’ll ask Yonghee-unnie later - what do you think about a bigger, newly renovated crepe shop?”

Byulyi raised an eyebrow. “And why should I be thinking about it?”

“Well, okay. The thing is, Eric-sunbae had a quick chat with me just now about the, um, money problem.” Yongsun felt Byulyi tense up and squeezed her shoulders briefly in an attempt to relax her. “It’s not what you think… I think. You know how he’s doing a business management course?” Yongsun glanced at Wheein for confirmation.

Wheein nodded.

“Well, he thought that he could do a practical write-up using our crepe business as a foundation, and he’s even found a new shop, an actual shoplot, for us. And he said if we agree, then he’ll convince his brother Ed to give us an extension period on the payments or something. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds good,” Wheein commented. She was unsure of how Byulyi was going to react to Yongsun’s obvious enthusiasm and delight at this turn of events.

It seemed as if she was worried for nothing as Byulyi just grinned. “I think so too!” She patted Yongsun on the head. “Let me just pack up first, then we’ll go and find Yonghee-unnie, yeah?”

*

Yongsun glanced over at Byulyi as the couple strolled back to her small apartment. The younger woman was unusually quiet as she walked along with her hands in her pockets, brooding. Around them, workers and students alike were heading home as the sunset left a pinkish haze in the sky. It would have been a comfortable walk back, if not for how unnatural Byulyi was behaving at the time.

Yongsun cleared , breaking the silence that had settled around them. “Byul-ah,” she ventured. “I’m not used to you being this quiet, you know.” She tried a quick smile.

“Yeah, I was just… thinking,” Byulyi murmured. She took in a deep breath, let it out. “How do you know whether Eric-sunbae will keep his promise?”

Yongsun shrugged. “Well, I trust him.”

Byulyi gnawed at the inside of her cheek. “But what if his brother doesn’t agree? Or-”

Yongsun shifted in front of Byulyi, stopping her in her tracks. “Byul,” she said softly, taking Byulyi’s hands in hers. “This isn’t about the shop, or the money, is it?”

Instinctively, Byulyi started to deny the accusation, but stopped at Yongsun’s no-nonsense stare. She ran her tongue around her teeth, discomfited. “Well. No.” She sighed and looked down at her feet. “I just wasn’t too happy about Eric-sunbae meeting you so suddenly. I mean, he was interested in you, probably still is.”

“So?” Yongsun challenged. 

“So, if he starts to make a move on you, or he decides that just you helping him with a shop isn’t enough and he forces you to like him and go on dates with him-”

“Then I’ll kick him and refuse to acknowledge him.” Yongsun laughed, a little out of disbelief. “Really, Byul-ah, do you really think I’ll let him do anything like that? For goodness’ sake, Byul, I’m not interested in him at all, ever. I’m interested in you.”

A bemused smile tugged at Byulyi’s lips. “Ah,” she managed.

Yongsun continued on doggedly. “And now you know I still like you. I don’t know how you feel about me, I can’t read minds, and I actually quite like how everyone keeps teasing me about us looking like we’re dating but we’ve never actually said it or come to an agreement or anything-”

Now it was Byulyi’s turn to laugh, a loud chuckle erupting from within her. “Oh, jeez. Yongsun-unnie, you beautiful idiot. We’re both such idiots.”

She leaned forward and brushed her lips against Yongsun’s, effectively shutting up the older woman. “Miss Pretty Idiot, will you be my girlfriend?”

“Oh God, yes.” Yongsun pulled Byulyi against her, and this time, she leaned in for the kiss. Both hands cupped Byulyi’s face; a pair of arms s around her waist to hold her tightly. Soft and tender, Yongsun felt Byulyi smile against her lips.

They broke apart, grinning at each other like idiots. “About time, huh, Pretty Idiot unnie?”

“Yeah,” Yongsun agreed. “About damn time.”

_____________________________________________________________________

(Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays y'all)