Chapter 2

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“And if it is natural to want to gain happiness, why aren’t we spontaneously and naturally more drawn to wholesome behaviors and thus become happier as our life progresses?”

Saturday. It was the first thing that popped into Yoojung’s brain as she felt Jieqiong’s elbow digging into her side. Yoojung groaned and moved her hair out of her face.

“Jieqiong, you’re stabbing me with your bone.” She mumbled as the other girl began to stir, slowing drifting out of her dreams. The older girl shifted her arm which only elicited a sharp squeal from Yoojung.

“That tickles!” Yoojung yelped.

“It’s too early for you to blow my eardrums out, Yoo.” Jieqiong complained, pulling all of the blankets to her side of the bed.

“Hey! Give me some!”

“No.”

Yoojung huffed her cheeks, “Jieqiong, please?”

“No.”

“Forget you, then.” Yoojung stood from the bed and walked out of the bedroom, leaving behind a laughing Jieqiong who was still in bed.

Trudging into the kitchen, Yoojung froze in her steps as she saw guests.

“Oh crap.” She hissed and turned around, ready to run away until her father’s voice rang out.

“Ah! Yoojung, you’re awake!”

“Dammit.” Yoojung mumbled under her breath, clumsily running a hand through her morning hair, attempting to make herself as presentable as she could. Placing a lazy smile on her face, Yoojung turned, “Good morning, who’s here?” She asked, walking closer.

She saw three unknown people in her kitchen, two of which Yoojung could identify as a middle-aged couple while the other person Yoojung could only see by the back of their head. Though, the long, black, silky hair and slim figure indicated that the person was a girl.

Out of politeness, Yoojung bowed to the elders, “Hello.”

The unknown teenage girl turned and Yoojung’s breath caught in . Yoojung scanned the girl’s face and undeniably, the girl was beautiful. She had sharp features, a visible jawline, dark, mysterious eyes, and plump, pink lips.

Her father spoke, interrupting the middle of Yoojung’s mini gawking session, “This is my daughter, Yoojung.” He introduced her. Yoojung caught her sister’s eyes and the younger girl merely shrugged her shoulders.

“Hello, Yoojung.” The lady smiled, “We’re the Kims, we just moved into the house down the street. I’m Jiyoung and this is Yujin. Our daughter’s name is Doyeon.” She introduced her small family of three.

Doyeon connected eyes with Yoojung and Yoojung found it hard to breathe again. It was just something about Doyeon’s dark eyes that struck her.

“Yoojung!” A loud yell came from inside Yoojung’s bedroom.

Yoojung’s mother looked at her, “Oh, is Jieqiong here?”

With a nod, Yoojung gave an embarrassed chuckle, “I’ll... just go shut my friend up.” She scurried out of there and rushed to her room. Yoojung nearly rammed into Jieqiong as she opened her bedroom door. Before Jieqiong could say a word, Yoojung shoved her back into the room, closing the door behind them.

“My new neighbors are here and they have a really hot daughter and - and my hair was a mess and her eyes are really pretty and she's really slender and - and - and - I don't know.” Yoojung got out all in one breath. Jieqiong blinked once.

“Sorry, what did you say?” She asked, pretending to clean her ear with her finger, “I have no idea what you just said.”

Yoojung rolled her eyes but repeated herself nonetheless. Jieqiong took a moment to let everything soak in.

“Wait, so they have a daughter and she’s really attractive. And you made a fool out of yourself.”

Yoojung nodded.

Jieqiong gave Yoojung a look, “How did you make a fool out of yourself?”

Yoojung remembered at how obvious she was when she ogled over Doyeon. At the thought, her cheeks warmed up, “That’s not the point. The point is that they’re in my kitchen right now and both of us are still in our pajamas with bed hair and morning breath.”

“Then let’s hurry to the bathroom! Go, go, go!” Jieqiong rushed Yoojung out of the bedroom and into the bathroom where they refreshed themselves.

-

“There you girls are. We heard you two bickering in the bathroom all the way from out here.” Mrs. Choi spoke immediately as Jieqiong and Yoojung entered the dining room where everyone else was seated. Jieqiong looked at the teenaged girl whose name she did not know.

Jieqiong bowed, “Hello, I’m Cho Jieqiong, Yoojung’s best friend.” She greeted the new faces and she learned their names before Jieqiong and Yoojung sat down at the end of the table.

Jieqiong nudged Yoojung’s waist and leaned in to whisper, “Hey, Yoojung, you were right. She’s really pretty.”

Yoojung blushed and nodded, “Told you.”

“I call dibs.”

“H - Hey!” Yoojung hissed and shoved Jieqiong, making the girl nearly fall off her seat. Their little argument caught the attention of none other than Doyeon, who watched them with curious eyes.

“I was kidding.” Jieqiong rubbed the shoulder Yoojung had pushed her on, “Besides, I don’t even-” She paused abruptly as she noticed Doyeon looking at them from the corner of her eye, “Oh crap she’s looking at us. Act casual.”

But as soon as Yoojung heard Jieqiong say that, she turned her head and looked at Doyeon right in the eyes. Doyeon turned her attention away quickly.

“Yoojung, Jieqiong, why don’t you two give Doyeon a tour of the town?” Mrs. Choi suddenly spoke, making Yoojung and Jieqiong widen their eyes while Doyeon slipped a panicked look to her father. Mr. Kim was about to interject but Mrs. Kim held him back, “That sounds great! It’ll give her father and I more time to unpack. Besides, she needs some friends before she goes to school.” Mrs. Kim smiled brightly.

“Is Doyeon going to the same school as us?” Jieqiong spoke for Yoojung.

“Yes, she is.” Mrs. Choi answered.

Mr. Choi suddenly cut in, “Choi Yoojung, did you feed the horses yet?”

Yoojung jumped out of her chair immediately. How could she have forgotten? It was always the first thing she would do in the morning.

“Oh cra— I mean, oh snap!” Yoojung exclaimed and reached for Jieqiong’s hand, pulling the girl up, “Come with me, Jieqiong.” She ordered and dragged the girl off.

Reaching the horse stables with a box of wheat, Yoojung and Jieqiong began to feed the horses. After finishing, Yoojung brushed down half of the horses while Jieqiong did the other half. Being a bit biased, Yoojung spent a longer time with Haru.

Yoojung huffed her cheeks, “I want to take Haru out on a ride but we have guests.”

“Speaking of guests, let’s go back so we can see more of that beauty, Kim Doyeon.” Jieqiong waggled her eyebrows.

Yoojung clicked her tongue, “Alright, alright.”

When they both returned to the house, they were both slightly dirty from the walk to and from the stables - mud was splattered here and there on their bare legs.

All talking stopped when they walked into the kitchen before Mrs. Choi let out a laugh, “You two look exactly like you did when you were little teenagers. Go get cleaned up and then we can continue talking.”

Yoojung and Jieqiong looked down at their beings and noticed the mud stains and horse hair stuck on their clothes. Almost instantly, they both giggled before rushing off to the bathroom.

“They seem like close friends.” Mrs. Kim stated, a smile on her face.

Doyeon sat off to the side, watching her parents talk to this new family.

“Yeah, they are.” Mrs. Choi nodded, “They’ve known each other for seven years. There used to be another girl… but Yoojung doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Oh?” Mrs. Kim questioned.

“Mhmm.” Mrs. Choi hummed before changing the subject, “But Jieqiong and Yoojung are still the best of friends. I swear those two know everything about each other. I bet Jieqiong knows more about Yoojung than I do myself.” She laughed.

Doyeon kept quiet.

The conversation went on and on.

Footsteps entered the kitchen and Yoojung caught the attention of everyone, the lively conversation coming to a halt.

“Jieqiong left. Her mom was looking for her.” She stated, slowing her walking pace, “She needed to take care of her little sister.”

“Aww, is Chungha sick?” Mrs. Choi asked. Yoojung nodded, “Fever.”

“We should stop by and visit her later.” Mr. Choi turned to his wife, who nodded in agreement.

Yoojung stood awkwardly for a moment before she spoke again, “I’m going to go out for a walk so -” Before she even got to finish her sentence, Mrs. Choi spoke, “Why don’t you take Doyeon with you?”

Mr. Kim was about to speak yet again before Mrs. Kim beat him to it, “That’s a great idea. Go on, Doyeon.”

Doyeon did not even respond. She stood and waited for Yoojung to walk.

“Oh, okay.” Yoojung mumbled and proceeded to walk out the house with Doyeon trailing behind her. In all honesty - as much as she thought Doyeon to be good looking, Yoojung wanted to be alone.

“I was going to go ride horses, but I guess I can show you around for a bit before I go.” Yoojung explained, looking back and seeing Doyeon stare at her blankly. She waited a moment for Doyeon to speak but no words came out of the girl’s mouth.

“Okay...” Yoojung trailed off, finding the girl odd for not even giving a response, “Well, there isn’t much to the town. It’s about as normal as every other town.”

“C..”

“Pardon?” Yoojung paused in her steps as she thought she heard Doyeon say something. Turning on her heel, she watched as Doyeon looked down as if she were really embarrassed.

“Did you say something?” Yoojung asked. Doyeon didn’t respond. Not even with a shake of the head. Nothing.

Clearing , Yoojung began to walk again, “Well, this is the main shopping center where you can get foods and clothes and pretty much everything. Down that way is a small cafe and even further down is our high school.” Yoojung pointed.

Doyeon lifted her head and watched as the girl in front of her spoke mindlessly, pointing to various places and naming what they were. It seemed quite silly if you happened to be an onlooker. Doyeon was so far back from the smaller girl that it looked like Yoojung was talking to herself.

After a while, Yoojung seemed to notice the lack of a presence behind her and she turned, only to see Doyeon half way down the street from her.

“Seriously…” Yoojung mumbled and hurried back, “Why’d you stop walking? What are you looking a - Oh.”

Doyeon was staring at the town fair.

“If you want to go, I could take you there.” Yoojung began to talk. Doyeon looked over and it was the first time Yoojung actual saw real emotion in her eyes, she looked so excited. Yoojung’s heart skipped a beat as Doyeon gave a nod - an excited nod.

“But we’ll have to go later, I didn’t bring any money with me.” Yoojung spoke slowly and she watched the fire of excitement in Doyeon’s eyes diminish.

“We can go at night.” Yoojung said. “Besides, it’s much prettier at night. The ferris wheel lights up and everything.” Yoojung attempted to make Doyeon excited again. It worked slightly.

“So, tonight?” Yoojung proposed and Doyeon gave a nod. Yoojung nodded, “Okay, cool. Just come over my house later.” She smiled, “Let’s keep going with this little tour of mine.”

The brunette spun on her heel and as she continued to ramble on about her town. Doyeon smiled.

-

“So basically you asked her out on a date.” Jieqiong spoke as she fed Chungha a spoonful of porridge.

“It’s not a date.” Yoojung denied, cheeks already beginning to warm up.

“Right. Then why are you blushing?” Jieqiong raised an eyebrow, wiping Chungha’s mouth with a napkin.

“Because you assumed it’s a date.” Yoojung placed her hands on her cheeks, squishing them together in hope that the blush would go away.

“Well, isn’t it?” Jieqiong responded.

“It’s not. Besides, she hasn’t even said a word to me at all.”

Jieqiong turned and looked at Yoojung, “Are you kidding me?” She asked in surprise.

Yoojung shook her head, “I’m not even kidding you. I’m serious. She hasn’t said a word to me.”

“Wow. I knew people didn’t like you but I didn’t know they’d go to that extent.” Jieqiong scoffed.

The younger girl shoved her roughly and Jieqiong laughed, “Hey! Don’t make me spill the porridge.”

“I want you to spill the porridge.” Yoojung retorted in a bitter tone.

Jieqiong laughed as she fed her little sister again, “I was kidding.”

“And it’s getting late, shouldn’t you go get ready for your little date now?”

“What time is it?” Yoojung asked, already getting up.

“It’s seven.”

“Oh crap!” Yoojung rushed out of Jieqiong’s house.

Jieqiong scowled, “Watch your language! There is a sick three year old in the house!”