“Byulyi-nim, wake up! Wheein is bored, play with Wheein!” An obnoxiously high-pitched voice squealed into Byulyi’s ear, stirring her from her sleep. Reluctantly turning over in her bed, she fumbled for her phone. The bright screen seared an image into her eyes and she groaned before stuffing it back under her pillow.

“Wheein, what’s wrong with you? It’s only 7am…” Byulyi whined, feebly swatting pesky hands away. Rolling her eyes, Wheein threw herself on the sleepy girl and floundered around. “Jeez, Wheein, stop crushing my ribs! What are you doing to your unnie?”

Wheein whipped her golden-brown hair around, letting it tickle Byulyi neck and making her squirm. “It’s the 27th of June, unnie, it’s the Friday! It’s a super important day!”

Shoving her flatmate away, the older girl sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. “To you, maybe, but not to me.” Noticing that Wheein was staring at her expectantly, she asked in the most awake tone she could muster, “Can I help you with anything?” The younger girl sat silently, then gestured to her clothes. “What, so you’re wearing pyjamas. No big deal.” Those words got her a glare. “Fine, let’s go sort out your wardrobe for your big date, then.”

“It’s not a date!” Wheein pouted, her brows cutely furrowing. Poking the creases on the bright-eyed girl’s forehead, Byulyi only hummed in response, knowing that Wheein was unable to stay ‘angry’ for long. True to her knowledge, the smaller girl broke into a huge grin, her cheeks dimpling.

Despite what Wheein had said about her meeting today not being a date, Byulyi knew otherwise. She knew all about the girl who Wheein constantly chatted online with. She’d seen the pictures that they had sent each other via Kakaotalk, especially since the child named Jung Wheein would always bounce out of nowhere and showed off pictures of her online friend. But her excitement was understandable. Not everyday do you get to meet a woman who, according to the pictures, looked like the next Marilyn Monroe in the making. Her short and wavy hair, those thick thighs, that fatal mole on her left cheek… No wonder Wheein was infatuated with her.

“Unnie, should I wear this” — Wheein held up a simple yellow dress — “or this?” She took out a pair of short denim dungarees and a plain white T-shirt. Byulyi pointed at the latter, and Wheein rushed to change. “Ta-dah!” Jumping out of the bathroom, Wheein struck a pose. “How do I look?”

Grabbing a matching white snapback from the closet, Byulyi gently put it on Wheein’s head. “Wheein-ah,” Byulyi held back fake tears, her face scrunching up. “You look so adorable, your date’s going to die of cuteness. Papa’s so proud of you.”

This earned her a giggle from Wheein. “No, no, Hwasa_95 can’t die!”

“Hwasa_95?” Byulyi frowned. “You don’t know her name?”

“Well,” Wheein replied slowly while walking out of her bedroom. “It’s because we agreed that we should only find out each other’s names when we actually meet each other face-to-face. But that’s fine! She only knows me as Butterfly Fairy anyway.” Byulyi shook her head, trying her best to suppress her laughter. “Oh! It’s 10 already!” Wheein exclaimed. Snatching her little sling bag from under her bedside table, she hurried out the door to their flat.

Suddenly remembering, Byulyi shouted after her, “Wait, Wheein! Keys!” But the eager girl was already gone. Scratching her head, she shuffled back to her room, prepared to continue her blissful sleep. But alas, that was not what the day had in store for her. Wheein’s puppy-like antics left her completely awake, and Byulyi ended up scrolling through her KakaoStory, noting down pictures of delicious food and ridiculously pretty girls. Talking about pretty girls…

Dialling a number on her phone, she set it to loudspeaker and settled comfortably on her bed. “Hello… Who is this?” An irritated voice slurred.

“Krystal, it’s me. I’m bored.” Byulyi said loudly. She could hear shuffling-like sounds on Krystal’s end of the line, and soft giggles. “Who’s with you?” She asked, although the answer was quite obvious.

“Moon Byulyi-sshi, Amber and I were working really late last night, and we’re very tired now. Go bother someone else, please.” The voice on Krystal’s end was not amused.

Sure, Byulyi thought. ‘Working’. Krystal was Byulyi’s ultimate crush, but she respected her long-term relationship with her girlfriend from America. “Alright, I’ll call someone else. Enjoy each other, you two.” She hung up before Krystal could register what she had just said. Smirking, she ran through her list of contacts. Ah-hah! This one should be available.

“Are you exercising again, you health freak?” Byulyi’s first words into the call evoked laughter from the girl on the other end of the call.

“You’re the second weirdo that I’ve talked to today, unnie,” Wendy’s enormous vocals erupted from the tiny speaker on Byulyi’s phone. “You won’t believe what happened this morning. I caught the cabbage sleeping with her legs wide open in a split, and when I was going to leave the bedroom she suddenly decided to grab my and make conversation… All while she was still sleeping.” The singer often referred to her roommate, Irene, as a cabbage. Why exactly, Byulyi hadn’t the faintest.

“Anyway, Seulgi’s still asleep because if I’m not mistaken you two don’t have any classes on today, but unnie’s gone out to hang out with some girl called Yongsun already.”

The last name caught Byulyi’s attention. “Wait, hold up. Did you say Yongsun?” she interjected.

“Yup! She’s Irene’s friend, apparently that Yongsun girl and her are the same age. Sometimes unnie helps her out with her music, like when she needs a rapper to feature in her songs,” Wendy replied. “Why, do you know her?”

“I know of her,” Byulyi thought aloud. “Didn’t realise that Irene unnie and Yongsun were friends with each other, though.”Inside, she wondered, maybe I can ask Irene about her when I see her. Modern dance class is near hip-hop, I think. Pity that isn’t until next week, though. Until then…

After chatting for a while, she glanced at the clock hanging on her wall. “Ah, Wendy, I’ve got to go, bye!” Scrambling off her bed, Byulyi took a rushed shower and changed into a sweater and some comfortable leggings. Berating herself for almost forgetting, she tied the shoelaces on her trainers and shrugged on her backpack before jogging out to the dance studios located past the green police box. Sneaking a quick check of the crêpe stall, she was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t open yet even though lunchtime was approaching. Just then, she heard the faint yet familiar ding of a bicycle bell in the distance, and she grinned. Speak of the devil.

Upon reaching the dance college, Byulyi found the room she booked to be empty as promised. Putting her backpack on the floor in a corner, she placed a camera on precariously stacked boxes, preparing to film her newly-created choreography. Lately, she had been caught up in the Youtube craze, where she would upload videos of her dancing to popular songs. Connecting the music player on her phone to the speakers via Bluetooth, Byulyi played a song that she couldn’t get out of her head for a while, a song called “You’re The Best At Everything” by an extremely talented girl group.

Byulyi was a perfectionist when it came to performance, restarting at every little mistake. She couldn’t wait to show off her new choreography, and there was one subscriber of hers that would always leave positively admiring comments on every video. Byulyi was sure that @SolarTaeyang would love this one, too. But for now, she had somewhere to go.

Skipping brightly, she stopped and groaned at the sight of the immensely long queue that s down the pedestrian walkway from the crêperie. Looks like this is going to be a long — but definitely worthwhile — wait.

After what seemed to be decades later, Byulyi rested a hand on the countertop of the stall, tired from the wait. As usual, Yonghee was flipping crêpes, while her sister was busy distributing various ingredients on the waiting flat discs of batter. “Oh, Byulyi! Do you want to order something?” At the sound of Byulyi’s name, Yongsun turned her head around with such force that she almost broke her neck.

“Yeah, can I have an apple and cinnamon crêpe, please?”

“No problem,” Yonghee said distractedly. “You’ll have to wait for a while more, though. Our hot plates are all full.” Tapping her younger sister on the shoulder, she whispered, “The girl you’ve been waiting for is finally here. You’re making her food, darling.” Out loud, she informed Byulyi, “Yongsun’s going to make your crêpe, is that okay?”

The delight on Byulyi’s face was apparent.“I’d love it, thank you.”

While waiting for her crêpe to be prepared, Byulyi started dancing mildly on the spot, bopping her body to her internal radio. A smile unconsciously spread on Yongsun’s face as she watched, almost burning the pancake, so distracted was she. “Byulyi-sshi,” she called out. “Your crêpe.” Yongsun held out Byulyi’s order.

This time, Byulyi didn’t even hesitate to reach out, firmly enveloping one of Yongsun’s hands in the process. Pretending she didn’t realise they were in contact, Byulyi said, “I’ve got it, thank you!” She stared at the crêpe, and then looked up at Yongsun’s expectant face. “One can only hope that this will be as sweet as you are.” 

Hearing that cheesy line made Yongsun cringe, but inside she felt her heart swell with joy, and she watched affectionately as Byulyi walked away cheerily. “Dear God, that was just too much,” Yonghee muttered under her breath. Glancing at Yongsun, she rolled her eyes. “This one’s a lost cause.”

Slowly savouring the harmonious blend of cinnamon and apple, Byulyi could not be happier. She perfected and recorded her choreography, and not only did she see Yongsun but also had her crêpe prepared by her possible crush. 

Could life get any better?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guys, 넌 is 뭔들 is actually so good. Heck with it, every song on the album is great. I especially love Emotion, and Words Don't Come Easy sounds just so sensual in my opinion. Your thoughts?