»»---¤---««

It had been exactly two weeks, four days and fifteen hours since Hyejin had taken the seat beside her in chemistry class and therefore became her lab partner by default. Naturally, Wheein was thrilled but then that feeling disappeared very rapidly once it dawned on her that chemistry was definitely not her strongest subject and ultimately, her plan in eventually mustering the courage to talk to her about anything besides titrations flew out the window. Hell, even getting through a double period of chemistry without feeling flustered and blushing every damn time Hyejin even so slightly glanced in her general direction was proving to be a difficult task. This problem had been the reason why Wheein hadn't had a good night's sleep the last few days - it had occupied every bit of her mind leaving no room for other thoughts. 

"So how was your weekend?" 

Wheein jumps ever so slightly at the sound of Hyejin's voice and feels her cheeks tinge the slightest shade of red as she watches her sit down on the stool that was only a few centimetres from her own.

"It was good..." she says.

Hyejin stares at her for a moment before laughing lightly, "I think this is the part where you're suppose to ask me about my weekend."Suddenly her amusement fades, "But only if you want to, I mean - I don't want to force you into talking to me." She rushes before giving her a smile that had no feeling behind it - empty. It was there at that precise moment that Wheein deemed that smile her least favourite of Hyejin's and never wanted to see it directed at her again. 

"Oh sorry, I'm.." Wheein falters as she tries her best to concoct a coherant sentence without seeming like a fool . . . but alas, her efforts were futile. 

She starts again, "Usually no one speaks to me in this class so I guess I got use to that." 

Hyejin's face lights up in realisation, "Oh, sorry I just thought you know... it'd be awkward to sit in silence while everyone is chatting, but if you wanna just do your own thing that's totally cool." 

"What? No. . . I - "

"I just thought we should be friends considering we're partners for the rest of the school year . . ." She gives her an apologetic smile, "I guess I overstepped a bit. . . sorry I tend to be a bit too much when meeting new people so it can get a tad overwhelming."

"I want to be friends with you." Wheein blurts out.

Hyejin is taken aback for a few seconds before she gives Wheein a warm smile (a smile that the shy girl deemed as one of her favourites), "Okay, cool." She pauses and then asks, "Do you wanna know the first step in becoming friends is?"

Wheein nods.

With a deadpan look Hyejin replies, "Accept my friend request on facebook."

»»---¤---««

"You're looking suspiciously happy these days," Moonbyul says one day at lunch. She lifts her fork and points it accusingly towards Wheein, she narrows her eyes, "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" 

Wheein pushes the blonde's arm aside - so that she could get a better view of Hyejin's table. "I guess I was stressing over Chemistry for nothing." 

"You see? What do I always say?" 

"To never speak about the Star Wars prequels," Wheein replies in a monotonous manner.

"Besides that." Moonbyul says with a roll of her eyes.

This seemed to redirect Wheein's attention. With a tilt of her head, she stares questioningly at her friend.

"Never underestimate yourself. You're capable of so many great things, my friend." Moonbyul says with solemn look, "Trust me, I know. My sister is a fortune teller."

"How is that going for her by the way? I haven't seen her in a while."

Moonbyul shrugs, "She got fired."

"Your mom isn't going to be happy." She says

"Yeah well . . . that's her problem. I've got my own stuff to worry about." 

Wheein raises her brows, "Like what?"

Moonbyul starts to list off all her dilemmas on her hand, "For starters, I'm tutoring Yongsun the best friend of my potential soulmate yet this girl is utterly useless when it comes to math." She stares directly at Wheein with a look of desperation, "I'm not kidding, Wheein. If you ask me to solve the integral of log sin _{x ,} I can do that no problem but asking me to help this girl pass her math exam almost seems like an impossible task."

"A wise person once said, 'Never underestimate yourself. You're capable of so many great things.' " 

Moonbyul gives her an unamused look, "Ha ha very funny."

"Why did you even volunteer then?"

Moonbyul leans back in her seat and crosses her arms like a child on the verge of throwing a tantrum, "Because of that stupid creep."

"Huh?"

"Eric."

"What about him?"

"You should've seen the way he was looking at her. It was like watching a lion eye an antelope. Meanwhile, the dumb antelope can't run away or tell him to off." 

"I'm pretty sure an antelope doesn't have time to tell the lion to ' off' considering it's running for its dear life."

The blonde gives her a look, "You know what I mean."

"Right, yeah. Well on the bright side, at least you're doing something useful with your time. And I guess, you're one step closer in getting Irene to notice you so I guess that's a positive as well." 

Moonbyul perks up at the mention of her name, "Oh. She gave me a ride home the other day."

"Sorry what?"

"Yeah she hit me with her car." She grins

Wheein widens her eyes, "What? Oh my God, are you okay?"

Moonbyul dismisses her friend's worried questions, "Yeah I'm fine. You're missing the point here." She says almost annoyed.

"Which is?"

"Uh, the fact that Irene now knows of my existence and better yet, I had a ten minute conversation with her without tripping over my tongue." She says excitedly, "Now all that's left is for me to turn on my charm and she'll be mine for sure." Moonbyul stops for a moment before hastedly saying, "Uh, what I mean is that she'll hopefully fall for me and not that I'll own her or anything o-or that I view her as property. . . I mean - " 

"Chill, I know what you meant."

Moonbyul relaxes a bit, "Right. But anyway, I guess before I can focus on earning Irene's trust and affection I should focus on my duties to help Yongsun first . . ." 

"Sounds like a solid plan."

"Are you being sarcastic because I can never tell."

»»---¤---««

author's note: damn, it's been a while. hello.