Jingle jingle

The overhead bells on the pizza parlor rung out as Wheein opened the door. She scanned the room looking for someone.

“Wheein! Over here!” A voice called out

Wheein turned to the direction of the voice.

A slender, tall, girl with ash brown hair sitting in the far right back stood up and waved her hand.  

A grin automatically spread across Wheein’s face. She waved back and quickly rushed over to the girl.

“Byul unnie!” Wheein called back.

The slender girl opened her arms wide and Wheein went straight for the hug.

“ I missed you, Wheein-ah!”  Moonbyul gave Wheein a tight squeeze before she broke their embrace. She placed her hands on the shorter girl’s shoulders and stepped back, glancing her up and down. The girl wore a simple turquoise crop top and high waist rolled denim shorts with some white converse.

“How do you make such a simple outfit look so good?” Moonbyul asked all the while smiling.

“Really? You think so?” Wheein questioned. The brunette looked down at her outfit. Simple indeed, cute? Not exactly what she had in mind. To her, it seemed kinda plain.

“Of course! You look super cute.” Moonbyul replied, her nose crinkled as she smiled widely.

“The turquoise green was a nice choice of color for a nice spring day like today.” She reached down and poked the girl’s exposed belly.

“Ahh, unnie!” Wheein squealed, squirming away at the poke. “I’m sensitive there.” She covered her exposed midriff with one hand. “I think I may have put on a few pounds in the past few weeks from stress and finals. I’m gonna have to lose some weight.”

“Eyyy, nonsense! Your figure is better than ever!” Moonbyul retorted, lightly swatting the younger girl’s arm. “Lose weight? You wanna know how to lose weight?”

“How?”

“Like Hwasa says, just eat!”

Wheein laughs at the “advice.” She knew Moonbyul was right, as was Hwasa. She shouldn’t worry so much about some pounds. Besides, with the extra pounds, she was able to fill her shorts better which is always a good thing.

“C’mon, sit.” The older girl gestured to the  booth next to her.  Wheein took the seat as directly while Moonbyul sat directly across from her.

“Speaking of Hwasa, is she coming?” Moonbyul asked as she propped her elbows on the table,  interlacing her fingers together and rested her chin on them.

“Yeah, she’s on her way. She’s a little late since something came up at the last minute but she’ll be here soon.”

“That’s good. We’ll wait until she gets here to order.”

“Good idea.” Wheein looked around at the place. It was a decently sized pizza parlor. Antique-ish lights hung overhead.  Framed pictures of the town hung against the walls. Some of the pictures  dated back 30 years. Retro-Jazz music played softly in the background.  The place had a very comfortable feel.  

Moonbyul watched as Wheein turned back around and picked up the menu. She kept her eyes locked on the girl even when Wheein lowered the menu. When she did, Moonbyul gave her a creasing smile.

Wheein responded by giving her a goofy smile.

“Is the food any good here?” She asked, while closing the menu and placing it back in the stand.

“Well, I only ever get the pizza and that’s pretty tasty. I’m not really sure about the rest of the menu.”

“Oo, okay. We should try some of the other items on the menu today then. If the pizza’s good, the other stuff must be good too.” Wheein suddenly perked up. She leaned forward with her hands clasped together. Her eyes sparkled.

“Wait, Byul unnie, is this the place where…”

Moonbyul enthusiastically nodded and leaned forward too.

“Yeah, it’s this pizza place. She always comes here during the weekends around this time.”

“Ooo!” Wheein placed one hand over to cover her excitement. “Does that mean I’ll get to see her soon?”

“Mm. Probably.” Moonbyul leaned even closer. “To be honest, I kinda only go here just because I know she’s going to be here.” She whispered. “I don’t like pizza THAT much.”

“Wait..but don’t you have to order something? Or do you just sit here like a loner until she shows up?

“No of course not, silly! I order the pizza pie but then bring it back to Hwasa.”

“Ohhhhh!” Wheein mouth opened in realization. No wonder why Hwasa always had so much pizza in her fridge every time she visited. That girl loves pizza and yet somehow, she looks fine as ever.

“Hm...That’s weird...it’s already five minutes past the usual time…” Moonbyul muttered, checking her phone. “She’s not here yet..”

“Unnie, it’s only been five minutes.”

“But she’s always been on the dot.”

“Aish, really, unnie five minutes is noth-”

Jingle, jingle

The bells suddenly rung again. The girls both looked at the entrance way.

“Oh!” Moonbyul quickly picked up a menu and ducked behind it.

Wheein turned back.

“Ahh, unnie, is that her??”

“Yes, she’s here.” Moonbyul quietly replied.  She still hid behind the menu, occasionally lowering it slightly to glance at the girl that just walked in.

Wheein turned to look again. The girl had long brunette hair that cascaded down her back. She wore an off white sundress that paired with simple white flats.

Wheein turned back

“Wow, she’s really pretty!”

Wheein looked again and then turned again.

“Like an angel!” she brightly added.

“Moonbyul reached over and lightly smacked the girl’s hands.

“Stop staring at her. You’re being so obvious with your head turning.” She quietly hissed

Wheein leaned forward and whispered,

“Byul unnie, I’m not the one hiding behind a menu. And besides…”

Wheein looked at the angel again. “She’s just chatting with the people up front.”

“Wheeinnnn…”

“Oh, wait now she’s walking over to a table….now, she’s sitting down...oh, she’s looking at the menu now….wow her hair is gorgeous…”

“Wheein, stop staring.” Moonbyul swatted the young girl again. However, she did lower her menu to get a better look too.

“Now she’s closing the menu…” Wheein turned back to Moonbyul. “She probably picked out what she wanted to eat.” She informed her elder.

“Oh, really now? Thank you for that information. I would’ve never guessed.” Moonbyul snickered sarcastically.

“Sure, no problem.” Wheein gave her a thumbs up and returned to staring. “She’s ordering now….probably starting with a caesar salad with light dressing and then the shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta, not linguine…..Oh! Wait, she just held up two fingers.”

Wheein whipped her head back.

“Why is she holding up two fingers?!” She asked, raising her eyebrows.

“How am I supposed to know?! Maybe she wants two orders?”

“Or what if the two fingers means two people, as in “one for me and one for my date please.”

“Oh! Maybe, that could be it too.” Moonbyul pouted slightly. “Aww, well if she’s on a date…”

Wheein reached over and patted her unnie’s hand.

“It’s okay unnie. Maybe it’s not a date, like you said, maybe she wants two orders.”

The young girl looked back once more before turning around once more.

“Do you think she has someone? Like a boyfriend? Or girlfriend?”

“Hmm..I hope not...but she probably does...she’s so pretty..” Moonbyul replied a little too loud.

The girl suddenly looked up from her phone and diverted her attention to Wheein and Moonbyul’s table. She saw the blonde girl quickly hide behind the menu.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but didn’t think much about it and went back to her phone.

“What? What happened, why are you hiding again?” Wheein quietly asked.

“She looked at me,” Moonbyul muttered under her breath

“She did?” Wheein turned around again. “No, she’s not.” She commented.

Wheein had also commented a bit too loudly which prompted the girl to  look up again. She stared in their direction again.

“D’oh!” Wheein quickly turned back and grabbed a menu around while Moonbyul ducked behind hers.

The girl was puzzled. Were they talking about her? It felt like they were talking about her. Unless, they’re not. But their body language wasn’t very discrete. They’re kind of weird. Goofy weird. The girl smiled and shook her head and then went back to her business.

The two girls shifted the menus to create side fort so they could talk in private.

“Yah! Wheein! Why did you say that so loudly!” Moonbyul hissed

“I didn’t mean to!” Wheein retorted.

“She probably knows we’re talking about her now!”

“Maybe not!”

“Most likely! Now she knows I think she’s pretty and you think she’s not!”

“What?! I don’t think that!”

“I know you don’t but that was the comment she heard!”

“Ahh, really now!”

“What are you two doing?” A husky voice asked.

Wheein and Moonbyul both looked up. Standing before them was a girl with a short black bob, dressed in a loose off shoulder blouse tucked into denim high waist shorts.

“Hwasa!” Wheein and Moonbyul quietly squealed. Wheein quickly scooted over, grabbing her friend’s wrists and pulled her down into the seat next to her.

“Ah! Wheein, what was that?” Hwasa asked. “And what are you two doing with the menus?” She reached over and pulled Moonbyul’s menu down. “Sup, unnie!”

“Hey Hwasabi! Good to see you!” Moonbyul cheerfully replied before reconstructing their menu fort.

“What the-” Hwasa pulled down the fort again.

“No! Don’t! She might see us.” Wheein protested, hurriedly trying to fix the fort.

“What? Who? Who might see you?” Hwasa turned around and she saw the girl in white.

“Her?” She asked loudly, gesturing her thumb towards the front of the parlor.

“Shh! Not so loud!” Moonbyul shushed while Wheein pulled her friend’s hands back.

“It’s not nice to point!” Wheein added.

“Me? You two are staring! It’s not nice to-Ohhhh! Wait!” Hwasa looked again and then turned back. “Is that her?” She asked, pointing to Moonbyul. “The one you were telling us about?”

Moonbyul nodded and then lowered the menu again.

Hwasa’s eyes brightened and nodded. She turned again for another glance and then back.

“She’s really pretty.” She whispered.

“Yeah, we know. And apparently I commented too loudly when I said she’s pretty and Wheein commened too loudly saying she wasn’t,” Moonbyul whispered back.

“What? You did?” Hwasa turned to Wheein.

“No! I didn’t say that! That was a comment I made when Byul unnie told me she was looking so I turned around to check but she wasn’t looking,” Wheein explained. “Of course she’s pretty. Why would I say she’s not?”

“You two are being silly.” Hwasa shook her head and then took down the menu forts. “You’re making it even more obvious by hiding.”

“Awww” Wheein whined as the short haired girl took away their menus. “But what do we do now if she looked over here?”

“You do what normal people do,” Hwasa replied, “Act normal.”

“Yeah right, act normal. Pshhh. That’s no fun at all.” Wheein pouted.

“Well, you guys aren’t being very discreet so I say being normal is the best thing right now. But seriously though,” She lowered her voice. “She’s a lot prettier than you described, unnie.”

Moonbyul nodded. “I know right? She looks especially elegant today with that dress on.”

Hwasa glanced at the girl again. She turned back and nodded.

“Don’t I have good taste?” Moonbyul smugly asking.

“Mm, I definitely wouldn’t kick her out of bed.” Hwasa replied a bit loudly. She quickly covered when she realized what had spewed out of . She turned to check if the girl heard, hoping she didn't. But alas, the girl did hear. The girl had looked up again and made eye contact with Hwasa when the latter turned around. Hwasa hastily turned back around, grabbed a menu and pretended to read while Moonbyul and Wheein also grabbed their menus, covered their faces. The three of them tried to contain their laughter.

“Yah Ahn Hyejin! ,”Moonbyul said between her giggles, “Why did you say that so loudly?”

“I didn’t mean it to be so loud! Now, she probably thinks i’m a creep!”

“Ahahaha, omg, now, ahahah, now, ” Wheein couldn’t speak properly from the laughter. She laid her head on the table and continued to silently laugh at her friend. It took her another good 30 seconds before she could speak again.

“Ahhh, man” She wiped away a tear. “Well now she must officially know that we’re talking about her.”

“Yeah great,” Hwasa interjected, “Now she knows that Byul Unnie thinks she’s pretty, while you think she’s not and apparently now she thinks I want to sleep with her.”

Moonbyul and Wheein both covered their mouths and bursted into laughter again.

“Well, you’re the one who said it!” Wheein pointed out

“I didn’t mean it literally! You know what I meant.” Hwasa defended

Moonbyul winked at the younger girl, “Oh yes, we course we do.”

“Pretty! It meant she’s pretty! Aish, this unnie.” Hwasa broke out into a grin. She turned to Wheein, who was still heaving from the giggles. She lightly pushed the brunette on her right. “You too! What am I going to do with you guys?”

Suddenly Moonbyul stopped laughing.

“Girls wait,” She gestured with her head. “She’s gone.”

The two younger girls turned around and looked in the direction of the gesture.

“Omo, did we scare her away?” Wheein asked , turning around again.

“Probably.” Hwasa replied, turning around as well.

“Most definitely. Especially with Hyejin’s comment and our uncontrollable laughter. She definitely knew what was up.” Moonbyul sighed. She was slightly sad. They scared her away and now she probably won’t return here again.

Wheein noticed her unnie’s slight pout. She reached over and held the eldest girl’s hands.

“Aw unnie, we’re sorry. We didn’t mean to scare her away.”

“No, it’s okay Wheein-ah. It’s not anyone’s fault. I probably should’ve been more careful in the beginning and not been so loud with my comment in the first place.” Moonbyul assured the young girl

“If you want, Wheein and I can get her number for you,” Hwasa offered

“Yeah, totally. I’m down for that.” Wheein pipped

“Oh god no don’t!” Moonbyul protested. She held up her hands and made a large X. “Don’t even think about it. You know what happened last time you did that to someone I had a crush on.”

“Oh c’mon, unnie, that was like three years ago.” Hwasa reasoned. “Besides, we’re older and wiser, so we know what to do now.”

“Yeah, we’re not dumb high schoolers anymore. We’re in college.” Wheein continued

“No, no, no,” Moonbyul vigorously shook her head. “I don’t want you two running off with your antics and doing anything. I’ll ask her for her number myself next time.”

She pointed at the two girls before her. “You two stay out of it, okay?”

“Fineeee,”

Wheein and Hwasa both pouted but then agreed, nodding their heads.

“Okay good,” Moonbyul picked up the menu again. The two girls quickly exchanged mischievous glances and grinned. Oblivious to this, Moonbyul looked at the menu seriously this time.

“Now, what should we order?”