Knock, knock, knock.

A brash knocking on the door stirred Moonbyul from sleep. Never being very alert right after waking up, she just moaned and rolled over in bed, hoping whoever it was would leave.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

Much to her dismay, the knocking turned into a pounding instead. As stubborn as always, Moonbyul just let out a loud, frustrated groan and smooshed her pillow over her head to block out the noise, hoping beyond hope that this sleep-terrorist would get the message.

Unfortunately for Moonbyul, her dreams rarely come true. “Byul-ah! Hwasa said I have to wake you up, so get up!”

Moonbyul didn’t know what she expected. Of course Hwasa would send Wheein to do the dirty work—her assertive nature made her almost impossible to refuse. Wheein could do this for hours if she had to, because she hated to give up and admit defeat.

Moonbyul wasn’t prepared for this type of torture, so she slowly dragged herself out of bed and shuffled to the door.

When the door opened, a sad sight greeted Wheein. Although Moonbyul was physically there, her eyes were barely open, her body swaying side to side as if she were rocking herself back to sleep.

“You look terrible, unnie. Remind me to get more sleep so I’ll never have to look like you.”

Moonbyul decided to ignore that insult. “Why are you here so early?”

Wheein cupped her hand around her ear, like she had trouble hearing her friend’s tired words. “Sorry, it’s just hard to decipher all that mumbling,” The younger girl mocked. “And I’m here because Hwasa wanted you to know that we’ll be keeping an eye out today in case that woman tries anything funny.”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary—“

“See you later!”

Moonbyul could only watch in awe as her own door was slammed shut right in front of her face.

“Isn’t it usually the other way around..?”

However, she didn’t stand around contemplating her misfortune for long, thanks to a certain furry monster that demanded her attention.

---

A nice long walk and a hearty breakfast later, Moonbyul was once again planted on the couch, trying to teach Lola to appreciate a sedentary lifestyle. Lola didn’t seem fond of it.

Moonbyul was in the middle of halfheartedly flinging a dog toy across the room for Lola to fetch when a knock at the door interrupted them. She tried to ignore the furious race that her thoughts are participating in as she heaved herself off of the couch.

She dutifully walked to the door, muttering something along the lines of “I swear if it’s Wheein again I’ll kill…” but her speech came to a stuttering pause as she saw who exactly was at the door. “…her.” Moonbyul finished lamely.

Her suspicions were confirmed. None other than her high school rival Yongsun (although Moonbyul was verbally abused many times for calling her anything other than her stage name, Solar) stood at the door.

Old feelings from high school came rushing back to her, and Moonbyul was met with the same frustrating desires that she’d done everything to avoid back then. The conflicting urges to both kiss and choke (figuratively of course) the other girl were once again fighting to be first in Moonbyul’s to-do list.

“Byulyi?” Solar asked hesitantly, almost disbelievingly as she stood frozen in the doorway.

“Yeah, that’s me. Solar?”

Solar gave a nod, and they would’ve stayed in the same position for longer if it were not for Lola who took the opportunity to rush out through the open doorway. Moonbyul grabbed the dog just in time and hurriedly invited her former classmate inside.

After a bout of Solar understandably gushing over Lola, it became increasingly awkward as they realized that the only known thing they had in common was hating each other in high school.

Solar figured that showing her gratitude would buy her at least a few seconds to think of something else to talk about. “I seriously can’t thank you enough for this.” She knew that they didn’t really have to talk at all—that she could just mumble her thanks and be out the door—but there was so much unresolved tension between them that she wanted to address. She’d (hopefully) matured a lot since high school, and wanted to apologize. Apparently, they both had the same idea.

“I just wanted to say I’m—“

“Sorry about how I acted back then—“

The reflexive halting of words when they’re being contested by someone else’s left the room in brief silence, before they both laughed.

“You go first.” Solar ordered, reminding Moonbyul fondly that even if she toned it down a bit, Solar still had the same base qualities that Moonbyul loved/hated her for. She was and always will be the true King Unnie.

“Well, I feel bad for teasing you so much in high school. It was immature of me and I didn’t…well, I did mean it, but now I’m aware that I probably annoyed you a lot, so I’m sorry.” Moonbyul lamented, trying hard to convey the sincerity behind her words.

“It’s okay,” Solar answered, trying hard not to nervously giggle as she was so prone to doing. “I’m sorry too. For being all bossy and bragging all the time.”

Before Moonbyul could formulate a goodbye, thinking the obligatory apologies were over and her temporary misery was over, Solar continued her speech, “Do you…think we could try being friends now? Just to show we’ve changed and all. Wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to see if we can actually be nice to each other, right?” She says, quickly stifling a nervous chuckle that had gotten loose.

Needless to say, Moonbyul was shocked at this turn of events. Sure, she didn’t think that Solar still held a grudge against her from all those years ago, but she didn’t exactly expect an offer of friendship, either. But she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, no matter how hazardous to her health this new relationship could be.

“Okay. Sure. Of course. So, uh, how do we start?” This could take some getting used to.

Solar seemed just as stumped at this question as Moonbyul. “Well…” Moonbyul swore she could see steam coming from her new friend’s ears.

Suddenly, before Solar could complete her thoughts, the door to the apartment slammed open, startling Lola into a yelp. Preparing to defend herself at all costs, Moonbyul automatically deflates when she sees none other than her two idiot friends standing in the doorway. One glance at Solar showed that she still believed that her death was imminent.

“Guys, you scared Lola!” The blonde’s eyes gravitated to an eyesore that hadn’t been there seconds before. “And you put a ing hole in my wall!” The now fuming woman glared at the intruders, wondering who had the guts to speak first.

Of course it was Hwasa—Wheein too busy cowering behind her—who took it upon herself to explain their actions. “We were just making sure you weren’t getting murdered! This stranger was in your apartment for quite a long time, and we figured it was better safe than sorry.” She peeked around the edge of the door to get a view of the gaping hole that had made its home there. “I guess we used more force than necessary.” She shrugged.

“You think?” It was taking everything in Moonbyul not to murder her landlord and ruin her newfound acquaintanceship with Solar in the process. A drawn out sigh represented all the rage that hopefully left with it. “Anyway, this is Solar, from high school. She was in choir with us.”

At this revelation, and since she now deemed it safe to stop using Hwasa as a human shield, Wheein popped out from behind their friend. “That Solar? Why aren’t you actually dead, then? Did we intervene in time? I told Hwasa we needed to—“

“No, Wheein, your intervention was useless!” It felt good to remove the plug from her volcano of anger, at least for a second. She could calm down now. “She doesn’t hold a grudge anymore. We’ve both matured since then, and we’ve decided to try again as friends.”

Moonbyul wishes she could reach over and close their agape mouths in front of Solar without it being weird. There were acquaintanceship rules to abide by now.

Seeing as they weren’t going to speak anytime soon, Solar interjected, “Yep. I was thinking, actually, that a nice first time out together as friends would be better if all of you guys came. I mean, only if you want to. I just thought I should get to know Moonbyul’s close friends, since I’m kind of her friend now, I guess.” She flinched, waiting for the response to her noncommittal suggestion. Moonbyul personally thought she made a stunning amount of sense, but wanted to give Hwasa and Wheein a chance to confirm or deny.

“I think that’s a great idea! As long as she isn’t as scary as before.” Wheein stepped up to the plate first.

At her best friend’s excitement, Hwasa’s decision was practically made for her. “Yeah, sounds good. How’s tomorrow sound?”

After a resounding ‘good’ from everyone, Solar nabbed Lola up in mid-run. “It’s set then. You still have my number, Byulyi?”

“Yeah.”

Solar stood in the doorway, restless puppy in her arms, and they all exchanged goodbyes.

The minute the door closed, Wheein yelled “You have a date tomorrow!”

Moonbyul could only protest, “It’s not a date!” All while trying to ignore the growing blush on her cheeks.

A/N: I was actually in a strange flow while writing this, which almost never happens. Hopefully it’s this easy next chapter.