Byulyi still can't believe that she bought a new shirt for this.

She's literally just meeting Solar, Wheein and Hyejin in that cafe that she went to with the younger two previously. And it isn't even just a shirt that she bought, she'd even bought a blazer to go with it. A blazer. Was it worth the money she paid? She doesn't really know. But at least she can console herself by feeling cool: the white dress shirt, black blazer and black pants combo doesn't look half bad on her.

She'd sprayed perfume, checked and double checked her hair, and fixed her minimal makeup. Anyone would think that I'm going on a date or something. Gods. Then she'd gone out, telling herself that she's cool.

Walking along the streets dressed like she's going either to work or to meet the president is kind of weird, but she gets over it. It's even weirder when she walks into the cafe and sees Wheein and Hyejin giving her silent catcalls and fanning themselves dramatically and she doesn't know if she wants to be flattered or strangle them.

The café is peaceful for three in the afternoon, with slanting rays of golden sunlight filtering through the glass shopfront. The sounds of soft conversation, the whirring of coffee machines and the comfortable temperature makes Byulyi feel right at home.

She slides into the seat opposite Wheein, glancing around. “Solar isn't here yet?”

“Apparently Jaehyuk is driving her here since he has some errands to run, so she'll be a teensy weensy bit late.” Wheein says, pinching her thumb and index together and leaving a millimetre of space between to indicate the time. Her cheek dimples. “What's with the blazer, though?”

“Just thought I'd attract more ladies with this get up.”

“Didn't know you were a flirt, Byulyi.” Hyejin raises an eyebrow.

“I'm not. But it doesn't hurt to have some fangirls, maybe a fanclub. A Moon Byulyi fanclub.” Byulyi laughs. Hyejin shakes her head like she's done with life. Wheein looks fascinated by the blazer. “I was kidding. Solar and I kind of made a pact…uh, you'll see.”

“A pact. For clothes.” Hyejin sounds a little  disbelieving, but then again, she kind of sounds disbelieving in general.

“Yeah, like I said, you'll see. I don't know if she'll remember what she said.” Byulyi leans her chin on her palm and smiles casually, as though her palms weren't actually gross and sweaty. Her eyes flicker from the two women to the menu hanging above the counter. “You guys ordered yet?”

“Nah, actually, we were just waiting for you. What do you want? We have ours and Solar's orders ready. We always get the same things here.” Wheein slaps her forehead and perks up at the mention of ordering and of food, reminding Byulyi so much of those adorable shibes she saw on Twitter the other day.

“Uh,” she stops creeping on puppy Wheein and scans the menu. “I guess I'll just get-”

“Let me guess, white chocolate frappucino with one hundred percent sugar?”

Suddenly Byulyi’s entire line of sight is blocked by floral fabric, then the smiling face of Solar as she deposits herself on the chair with gusto, arranging her skirt neatly. Solar is wearing a floral dress patterned with a barrage of pastel flowers, cinched at the waist and ending just above her knees. She looks a billion golden dollars.

“Hey Wheein, hey Hyejin,” Solar smiles cheerfully, waving at the two sitting opposite.

“I see you have honoured your part of our hastily made promise, Solar.” Byulyi says as a form of greeting, trying not to think of how good Solar smells - damn feminine perfume and fruity peach soap. Solar turns her head to give her a quick once-over, then smiles slyly and wiggles her eyebrows.

“You're looking pretty good today too, Byulyi. Compliment. Did I raise your self esteem?” Solar’s dimples are prominent, and Byulyi feels her gut twist so violently she nearly winces.

“I think I raised yours.” It comes out as more of a question than a statement, and Solar laughs.

Their short conversation is halted when a waitress arrives to take their order, courtesy of an extremely impatient Wheein. She puts on her best professional face and says, “A chai latte, a caramel macchiato with extra sugar, two slices of cheesecake and one double chocolate muffin.” She speaks so eloquently that Byulyi is pretty sure that she's committed that order to heart already.

The waitress pens down her order. Byulyi notices that she's the same waitress that served them previously - slight, petite, with straight dark brown hair and neat bangs. She glances at her name tag. Yuju.

“Anything else?” She looks up attentively.

“Yeah. A cup of mocha, a cup of black coffee without sugar, and two slices of red velvet cake.” Solar says before Byulyi can speak.

“Uh-”

Solar flashes her another sly smile. “Ordered for you. Hope you don't mind.”

Byulyi’s mouth feels dry. “Thanks.”

“I didn't you two were so close that Solar even knows what kind of stuff you like, she didn't even know that I liked cheesecake until, like, six months after we became friends. And she didn't memorise our orders until then either.” Wheein says dramatically after the waitress left their table. She looks accusingly at Solar. “What makes Byulyi so special, huh?”

“I see her drinking black coffee every Saturday. Besides, black coffee isn't hard to remember.” Solar reasons.

“How long would it have taken to memorise chai latte and caramel macchiato?” Hyejin says in her usual disinterested tone, which makes Solar pout slightly. Hyejin sees it, and mimes scratching the pout off her face. “I forbid any of you to perform any kind of cute acts in front of me. I have my fatal image to uphold.”

“Lies, Hyejin’s a total tsundere,” Wheein whisper-shouts.

“Jung Wheein!”

“She kinda does seem like a tsundere. Sorry, Hyejin, but Wheein makes a good point.” Byulyi grins.

“What's a tsundere?” Solar asks.

“Bye.” Hyejin stands up, but Wheein grabs her wrist and pulls her back onto her chair with force that she doesn't look like she possesses, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Hyejin’s degree of done with them is so high that Byulyi begins to feel a bit bad for acting like a kid.

“What's a tsundere?” Solar repeats, her tone more demanding.

“Google it, Princess. That's why you have data connection.” Byulyi says wisely. “And damn, it's getting really warm in this blazer. I knew I should've gotten another colour.” She proceeds to carefully shed the blazer, folding it neatly on the back of her chair.

“Whoa whoa, don't strip in front of me!” Wheein covers her eyes with her hands, peeking really obviously through parted fingers.

“Please kindly remove yourself to the next country, Wheein.”

“Only if you pay for my air ticket.”

“I-”

“Food’s here!” Hyejin interrupts, effectively shutting the both of them up. Yuju the waitress balances two trays on her hands, both of which she places on the table. She unloads the trays with the ease of experience and within seconds she's picked up the empty trays, bowed and left. Byulyi glances. Solar's staring at the waitress.

“Why’re you staring?” She doesn't know why her voice sounds so rough.

“That waitress kind of looks like you, Byulyi. Doesn't she, guys?” Solar looks back at her friends, who are all now looking at the Byulyi - lookalike waitress.

“Wow, she kind of does.” Wheein looks vaguely impressed. Hyejin nods.

“I remember that once when I was at the park sometime ago, I saw someone walking their shiba inu and I immediately thought of Wheein. Bless.” Hyejin says seriously, placing a hand over her heart as Solar and Byulyi snigger. Wheein directs a slap at her arm.

“Honey Candy, I will chop you.”

“It's okay. Go on. I've already felt more pain at birth, when I climbed out of hell.”

Solar laughs so hard she nearly spits out her mocha and resorts to burying her head in Byulyi’s skinny arm, slapping Byulyi on the shoulder repeatedly. And Byulyi also laughs, except she feels like her entire body is about to combust and her arm is so rigid a soldier would be envious of her.

Solar only resurfaces a full minute later, her face red from laughing and her hair messy. Hyejin looks proud of her accomplishment.

“Solar, your hair.” Byulyi says.

“Hm?” The eldest pats her hair down at the crown of her head, which doesn't help at all. Byulyi swats her hand aside and fixes it for her, guiding the strands back to their original places.

“There.” She gives Solar's hair a final pat and turns back to her plate of untouched cake. She picks up her fork and presses the prongs down into the cake, watching the metal sink through the soft layers.

“Thanks. Also, you're welcome, because you're totally going to be glad that I ordered red velvet for you.” Solar says expectantly.

Byulyi doesn't reply, instead shoving a forkful of cake into . Her eyes widen minimally, eyebrows rising. “That's some good stuff. I'm not a fan of cake normally, but - damn, this is pretty good.”

“See!” Solar smiles triumphantly, cutting a portion of cake for herself. “I have good taste.”

“You just like sweet things. Like Wheein. I think you two have so much sugar in your bodies, you're basically walking lollipops or something.” Hyejin snorts, dangling her fork with the handle pinched between thumb and index.

“That's probably why I'm such a sweet person,” Wheein bats her eyelashes, pursing her lips so that her dimple appears bold and proud on her cheek. Hyejin adopts the most deeply disgusted look Byulyi has ever seen grace a human’s face in her life, raising a hand and pushing Wheein's cheek, turning her head away.

“If you do that face again I will push your cheesecake onto the ground. No lie.” Hyejin threatens.

“Where's the popcorn?” Solar asks in a hushed voice, nudging Byulyi with her elbow. Byulyi tears her gaze away from the live drama still going on in front of her, looking confused.

“What?”

Solar rolls her eyes, leaning closer and saying, “Where's the popcorn?” and all Byulyi can smell is perfume and peach soap and see the porcelain complexion of Solar's face.

“Uh, we have cake.” Byulyi says stupidly.

Solar's about to reply, but apparently Wheein and Hyejin have already patched up their friendship and Hyejin has fished a pack of Monopoly Deal cards from her bag. She smiles devilishly. “Anyone keen for a round of Monopoly Deal?”

“Since when did you like bringing card games around to cafés, Hyejin?” Solar looks amused.

“Hey, Monopoly Deal is a necessity. I just want to assess your skills at Monopoly, because Wheein fantastically at this game and it's fun watching her lose.”

“I'm in,” Byulyi grins, fist bumping Hyejin before drinking a mouthful of her coffee.

“You two,” Wheein grumbles.

“Okay, I guess I'll play too. I don't think I've played Monopoly Deal since years ago, so I can't remember how bad or good I am at this. It'll be fun, right?” Solar’s eyes shift from Hyejin’s devious smile to Byulyi’s grin and to Wheein's displeasure. She fidgets with her fork. “Fun?”

“Yeah,” Hyejin dumps the stack of cards out and shuffles the deck expertly, the smile never quite leaving her face as she deals the cards out. “Fun.”

It wasn't fun.

At least for Wheein and Solar. Turns out Byulyi is some sort of Monopoly Deal god or something - she somehow manages to wrack up a fine of a hundred and sixt