“So let me get this straight. We have to set a few things straight. Dani, you’re not straight?!”

“Yes, I’m gay. We’ve been over this the whole morning Yeonjung.”

“Okay, okay. You’re gay yes? You like girls?”

“Well yeah, naturally. I mean that’s pretty much what being gay is all about isn’t it? I’m a girl and I like girls.”

“Alright. Alright. You like girls. One more question then, if you don’t mind. Why is it that out of all the girls in this school, out of all the lovely single ladies in this town….”

“Hooboy. Here we go.”

“Why did you choose to date Cathy Ki, the She-Demon herself?!” Yeonjung shouted while sharply pointing at Heehyun as if she was more of an object than a person.

“Withdraw thy finger before I eat it for lunch.” Heehyun warned while glaring at the offending appendage.

“She’s a cannibal too! Dani please reconsider!” Yeonjung dramatically wailed while grabbing the amused Dani’s shoulders and violently trying to shake some sense into her.

“Get your filthy paws off my girl Yeonjung.” Heehyun breathed in slight annoyance before taking a long drag from the cigarette she was cradling between her fingers. It was in the middle of the afternoon but it was still far too early in the day to be dealing with Yeonjung’s .

“Paws! Paws Doyeon she says I have paws! I’m not an animal Doyeon why would I have paws??” Yeonjung whined while grabbing onto the brunette seated next to her who looked as if she had it up to here with the loud girl as well.

Doyeon yanked her arm back from Yeonjung’s clutches and shoved her lightly. “Oh shut up Yeonjung you’re going to alert the teachers that we’re skipping class up here.”

“I think the two of you look pretty cute together.” Jieqiong said to the Cathy/Dani couple with a smile before taking a few puffs of her own cigarette. “I mean Yeonjung acted the same way when I started dating Nayoung so I know what this is like.”

The Chinese girl was left rolling her eyes at Yeonjung’s retort of “You’re dating a statue Jieqiong!”

“I think Yeonjung-unnie just needs some loving of her own so that she gets off our backs.” Somi suggested, much to the delight of everyone there save for Yeonjung herself.

“Brilliant idea Somi! How bout that awkward girl you always spend time with in the library Yeonjungie? She’s kinda cute!” Dani suggested while clapping her hands in excitement.

“Who? Sohye? Naaaah. I’m not even into girls.” Yeonjung dismissed them all but a small yelp escaped her when she felt Doyeon suddenly pull her closer.

Yeonjung could only stare perplexed as the proximity between her and Doyeon gradually reduced. The taller girl brought her face within inches of Yeonjung’s, leaving the former loudmouth unable to utter a single coherent sentence as she stared transfixed at Doyeon’s beautiful face. They came so close until their noses touched and their lips were merely inches away from following suit, and the mischievous brunette only backed away once she noticed Yeonjung’s face turn an impossible shade of crimson, satisfied with having friend enough. It was barely noticeable, but Heehyun noticed that Yeonjung had leaned forward a miniscule amount to close the gap between them as Doyeon pulled away.

The confused expression on Yeonjung’s face as Doyeon backed away made everyone burst out laughing, leaving the girl even more flustered and embarrassed when she snapped out of the trance she was in and realized she was being made fun of.

“Dude, not into girls my !” Heehyun accused while slapping her knee.

Yeonjung looked as if she had the best comeback ever at the tip of her tongue, but before she managed to use it the door behind them flew open and in the doorway stood an annoyed looking Head Prefect.

“The rooftop again? Really? Can’t you guys find a better place to skip class cause you’re making this too eas—ZHOU JIEQIONG IS THAT A CIGARETTE?! YOU PUT THAT OUT RIGHT NOW! WHO GAVE HER THAT??”

Nothing really made Im Nayoung lose her composure. She was known to be stone faced, and she seldom let her emotions be known. If there was one thing that did set her off however, it was people breaking the rules in the school she was made in charge of. Even worse than that was when she catches her very own girlfriend breaking the rules because Zhou Jieqiong was an angel in Nayoung’s eyes. If the Chinese girl were to break any rules it was definitely because of somebody else. Usually that “somebody else” came with red hair and feline features.

Sure enough, everyone else on the rooftop didn’t hesitate to direct Im Nayoung’s wrath towards Heehyun by pointing to her. Everyone including Dani. Dani, Heehyun’s girlfriend. Looks like fear of Nayoung trumps everything else.

“Oh wow. you guys too.” Heehyun muttered before she cowered in fear slightly as an irate Im Nayoung stomped towards her bringing hellfire and brimstone.

“Cathy Ki Heehyun, I suggest you get on the phone with a moving company to let them know where to deliver all your belongings because you’re going to be spending the rest of your life in detention!” Nayoung seethed and now it was Heehyun’s turn to whine and complain as she cried about the injustice of it all while everyone else watched fascinatedly as the mighty Cathy Ki groveled at Nayoung’s feet.

***********************************************************

Word travels fast in a small town like theirs, so it didn’t really take long at all for the entire school to find out about Heehyun and Dani. It was slightly annoying to have people talking about her behind her back again, but she vastly preferred it over the looks of pity she used to get. Her and Dani went into the groove of being a couple a lot smoother than Heehyun would have expected. Everything felt natural, and although Heehyun was usually in a rush to leave school because the building/institution was probably the embodiment of what a Demon would consider “a good time”, she would always stay back to watch her girlfriend go through basketball practice.

Time passed, and before they even realized it they have already been dating for more than a month, and Heehyun learned a lot more about Dani that she never knew before. For one, Dani was a big fan of basketball, which is why Heehyun is currently sitting in the bleachers at 7am pretending she cared about the sport.

She really didn’t. She also didn’t care for waking up early, but that’s what she did in order to give her girlfriend moral support for today’s morning practice. Heehyun loathed sacrificing her sleep. Heehyun disliked basketball.

She did however, enjoy walking back home with Dani after her girlfriend had just gone through an intense practice session because Dani’s hair would always do that impossible thing where it got ier as it got messier and Heehyun would always look forward to dropping by her girlfriend’s place and running her fingers through that unkempt hair as her lips attached themselves to Dani’s—

“CATHY LOOK OUT!!”

Heehyun snapped out of her erse thoughts and whipped her head towards the court just in time to see nothing but orange hit her square in the face. The impact caused the redhead to topple backwards off her seat and Heehyun felt the back of her head hit something hard before everything faded to black.

************************************************************* 

“Oh my gosh Chae what on earth happened?!”

Heehyun was in a panic when she opened her front door to see her girlfriend sporting a dumb, proud grin on her face and a large gash on her knee.

“I fell! While playing badminton with Dani-unnie!” Chaeyeon proudly answered while flashing the older girl a V-sign.

“What! Dani?! And she just left you to bleed?? Urgh. Come in, come in. Can you walk okay?” Chaeyeon tried to stifle her laugh as she walked into the Ki household’s kitchen while her older girlfriend began fussing about her, running around her house in search of a first aid kit of some kind.

“It’s really not as bad as it looks. Dani wanted to help, but I told her I’ll come here instead.”

Heehyun paused her search and poked her head out of the cabinet she was currently rummaging through to give her girlfriend a questioning look. Dani was the domestic one among the trio, so Heehyun was sure that their best friend would be the more capable one when it came to nursing injuries.

“…why come here? I’m not even confident that we have band-aids in this household.”

“Because you can kiss it better.”

That innocent, blank expression coupled with the mischievous glint in Chaeyeon’s eyes threatened to be the end of Heehyun. Oh gosh her girlfriend was so adorable, even when she’s getting blood all over her mother’s favourite floor mat.

“That’s unsanitary Princess.” Heehyun finally answered as she walked towards Chaeyeon with a first aid kit in hand. “That kinda stuff is for storybooks and movies. You’re gonna get an infection if I kiss your knee. Bacteria and all that.”

“But I’m already infected with your love unnie!”

“That is the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said. You should feel ashamed of yourself. Now sit down.”

Chaeyeon happily obeyed, plopping herself down onto the nearest seat, which so happened to be a wooden dining chair. Heehyun got on her knees and began fumbling around with a bottle of disinfectant and some gauze, trying to figure out where to begin. First aid kits should come with an instruction manual because not everyone was well versed with basic first aid knowledge (aka not everybody was Dani). Cursing underneath her breath, Heehyun began muttering about how sports was the devil’s favourite pastime and the negative benefits of trying to ‘stay healthy’.

Catching onto what her girlfriend was grumbling about, Chaeyeon giggled and playfully poked Heehyun’s temple, which caused the redhead to look up at her with an annoyed expression. “Yah unnie! I was playing badminton because I didn’t want to be a lazy bum like you.”

Heehyun scoffed in response. “Hey, do you see me with any sports related injuries? Nope. Do you know why? Because I avoid sports.”

“Yeah, but you scraped your elbow making a sandwich two days ago.”

“I’m a fulltime couch potato. Scraping elbows while making sandwiches is part of the job hazard.”

Chaeyeon could do nothing but laugh at her girlfriend’s logic, as Heehyun finished up cleaning and bandaging her knee. Heehyun placed two hands on Chaeyeon’s thighs and looked up at her girlfriend with a rather cheeky grin.

“So, Miss Jung Chaeyeon. I’ve managed to prevent you from bleeding to death and I’ve cleaned all the blood off your porcelain skin. Do I get a reward?”

Pulling her girlfriend closer, Chaeyeon’s voice dropped a few octaves so that it was husky when she whispered into Heehyun’s ear. “You know… I think I know of a physical activity that you wouldn’t mind taking part in.”

A shiver ran down Heehyun’s spine as she felt small hands move to pull on the hem of her t-shirt. Heehyun’s eyes fluttered close when the lips that was next to her ears found purchase on her neck instead, starting a journey along her jawline.

“You’re going to be the death of me one day Princess.” Heehyun groaned as she got up and headed towards her bedroom, pulling a grinning Chaeyeon along with her.

********************************************************************* 

Everything seemed to swim around her as Heehyun opened her eyes. She was completely confused as to why she was lying down on a bed when the last thing she remembered doing was sitting in the gym watching Dani do her basketball thing. There had to be an explanation for this, just like how there has to be an explanation as to why her head felt like the venue of a Slipknot concert.

Trying to make sense of her surroundings only served to confuse her even more because 1) why the hell was everything around her white? 2) Why were all these wooden shelves that Heehyun doesn’t remember owning all filled with glass vials and finally 3) Why does everything smell like antiseptic? It was almost as if she was in—

“The infirmary. Why am I in the school’s infirmary?”

“You injured your head.”

The sudden voice to her right startled her because she didn’t expect the question she just randomly blurted out loud to be answered. Heehyun whipped her head sharply in the direction of the voice and almost immediately regretted it because everything started swimming again. There was something oddly familiar about that voice though. Something oddly…soothing.

Heehyun clenched her eyes in order to force her vision to reset itself, before slowly opening them again. She wasn’t ready for what she saw once her vision had readjusted though. Absolutely nothing could have prepared her for this and she was sure she was imagining things. Great. Now her dreams are taking over her reality. Is nothing sacred anymore?

“Clearly I did.” Heehyun could only reply dumbly, blinking several times in disbelief. She was still there. No matter how many times Heehyun blinked the vision of beauty sitting just a few feet away from her won’t disappear and even if her eyes were playing tricks on her, the childish giggle that floated into her ears was unmistakable.

“It’s kinda nice to see you’re still as clumsy as ever unnie. Is it mean to say that?”

“Are you real?” Heehyun breathed out the question, and the girl in front of her just tilted her head cutely at the question.

“The last time I checked, I was definitely real.”

The girl stood up and walked towards Heehyun’s bedside. Nay, walking didn’t seem to do the action justice. Everything that the black haired girl standing beside her did was done with so much effortless grace that she didn’t seem to walk, she glided. Her subtlest movements looked like a dance. There was no mistaking her. There was nobody else in the world that screamed elegance and beauty like the porcelain doll currently at her bedside.

“Chaeyeon.”

The name left her lips like a song, but it had it’s own weight. That name always had a profound impact on Heehyun whenever she uttered it, either in irritation, as a gasp, a moan, a mirthful laugh, a strangled cry, that name never failed to shake her to her very core but it was a beautiful name. So beautiful that despite herself Heehyun had repeated it again, just to be able to taste it on her lips once more.

“Jung Chaeyeon.”

“Yeah, that’s my name. Don’t tell me you forgot about me already unnie?” Chaeyeon teasingly laughed, and the sound of it evoked memories in Heehyun that she would rather keep repressed.

 “I wish I could.”

The laughter died down after those words. Maybe it came off a little harsher than she intended it to. Maybe Heehyun was still bitter about being dumped, and the fact that her head felt like the aftermath of a landslide wasn’t exactly helping her be tactful. She tried sitting up, but it appeared to be a bigger struggle than she initially thought. A small hand lightly rested on her back and supported her as she sat up, and Heehyun muttered a small thanks in return.

Heehyun cleared in a horrible attempt to ease the tension. “So uh, do you have any idea why my head feels like Brock Lesnar’s punching bag?”

Obviously oblivious as to who Brock Lesnar was, Chaeyeon answered anyways. “From what I heard, you got knocked off your seat by a basketball to the face, and to quote Doyeon unnie, you ‘hit your head on every sharp corner in the gym on the way down’.”

“Oh. Sure feels like it.”

“You got stitches in, by the way. Near your brow.” Chaeyeon had reached out to trace her fingers on the bandage above Heehyun’s right eyebrow, and the redhead instinctively leaned into the familiar touch. More than half a year, and Jung Chaeyeon was still capable of reducing the often feared Ki Heehyun into pudding.

“There was quite a lot of blood. You shouldn’t move around a lot in case the stitches pop ou—“

“Why are you here?” Heehyun asked, pulling away from Chaeyeon’s caress. No. Don’t get comfortable.  She isn’t your girlfriend anymore. She left you, remember?

“I’m sorry?”

“Why are you in this infirmary? Actually, why are you even back in this town? Isn’t Seoul missing their favourite little Princess?”

Something flickered in Chaeyeon’s eyes at those words and for a moment Heehyun thought that the girl in front of her was going to retaliate at the shade Heehyun just threw her way but instead Chaeyeon just sighed.

“I came back to submit my application to the school because…because I’m dropping out. Being an idol is taking a strain on my academics so I had to choose one or the other. The other students got a bit excited to see me though, so my manager sent me to hide out in here while he settled the documents. They brought you in on a stretcher a few minutes later.”

Heehyun nodded in understanding. That means at one point, Dani must have met Chaeyeon as well. She wondered what they talked about.

“Doesn’t surprise me that you chose the idol life Chaeyeon. Some thing’s never change.”

“Are you still mad at me?” Chaeyeon suddenly asked, causing Heehyun to look up and the older girl was surprised to see the tinges of hurt in Chaeyeon’s expression.

“Mad at you for what?”

“For leaving you. Here.”

Heehyun had pondered that question for half a year now. Was Heehyun still mad at her ex-girlfriend? Was Heehyun ever mad at Chaeyeon? She knew the answer to that question, as ridiculous as the answer may be. It took a lot for Heehyun to admit it out loud to Chaeyeon though.”

“No…. I was never mad at you Chae. I can’t be mad at you. Believe me, I’ve tried. I had every reason to be mad at you, to hate you, to curse you out at the top of my lungs and make voodoo dolls of you but I… I just can’t.”

Heehyun’s gaze softened as she confessed those words and she could feel the tears of frustration welling up fast in the corners of her eyes. Here in front of her stood Chaeyeon, the girl whom she loved with all her being. The girl who had broken up with her to chase her own ambition. The girl who she was seeing for the first time in half a year. The girl who was one of her closest friends. There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things she wanted to ask but the one question that escaped her was the very one that was bothering her since they first laid eyes today.

“Why the hell do you still look like the most beautiful thing in the world Chaeyeon? How am I supposed to get mad at you when…” Heehyun couldn’t finish her question because she started to get choked up. The frustration trickled down her cheeks and dripped onto the sheets she was clenching tightly in her fists.

How was she supposed to get mad when all she wanted to do was hug Chaeyeon until neither of them could breathe?

“I’m not beautiful…” Chaeyeon wasn’t looking at Heehyun anymore. She was looking at the floor, and already Heehyun missed seeing that face.

“I’m ugly and a mess of broken things on the inside, but you just never realized it.”

Heehyun chuckled to herself at the response. Why do people keep telling her that she doesn’t realize things? She wasn’t that oblivious was she? “I guess for you I chose to be conveniently blind.”

Heehyun could see the small smile that played on Chaeyeon’s red lips, and she noted how they started to quiver. Even after all this time, Heehyun didn’t like to see Chaeyeon cry. It was like splashing paint on the Mona Lisa, the way tears seemed to ruin the artwork that is Jung Chaeyeon’s face.

“Yah. Chaeyeon. Are you gonna cry?”

The girl in question looked up as her name was called to meet watery green eyes. Chaeyeon’s own eyes widened in surprise when Heehyun reached over and playfully tapped her forehead, causing the younger girl to whine slightly in pain.

“Don’t you dare cry. You’re going to steal my spotlight. I’m doing all the crying.”

Shaking her head at her ridiculous unnie, Chaeyeon roughly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand while muttering “I wasn’t going to cry you pabo.”

“Good.” Heehyun responded and she laid back down on the bed, fixing her eyes onto the ceiling of the infirmary. She felt the tears on her cheeks start to dry as the room was enveloped in silence, neither knowing what to say next.

“Hey Chae. Tell me about Seoul.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything you want to tell me. I want to hear about your Seoul.”

And at that, Chaeyeon went on an animated spiel about the big city, telling Heehyun all about how loud it was, how tall the buildings were, how busy the streets are at 6pm and where the best places to eat jjampong was. Heehyun listened, because she missed hearing this side of Chaeyeon. She missed hearing this girl talk so happily. Chaeyeon must really love the city, Heehyun thought.

“You know, I thought it would be easy to leave this town.”

Heehyun’s eyebrows raised at the statement. “It wasn’t?”

“Physically it was very easy. But I think I left a big part of me back here with you.”

Sighing at the confession, Heehyun turned to look at Chaeyeon. Life wasn’t making it easy for them. She knew Chaeyeon still had feelings for her. Somewhere deep inside she always believed, but she also knew that they couldn’t be together so it was best for the both of them if they didn’t even try. Chaeyeon was happy as an idol, and Heehyun was happy with Dani. Why ruin a perfect thing?

“Life as an idol isn’t easy is it Princess? You’re doing super good though. I spent a stupid amount of money voting on your last comeback song to win number 1. I’m so proud of you Chae.”

Chaeyeon’s smile upon hearing that was the brightest yet, and Heehyun swore the room seemed to light up with it. Chaeyeon playfully poked the redhead in the cheek, and Heehyun tried to swat her hand away in annoyance.

“I heard from Somi you’re dating Dani now.”

Aah. So she knew. Also, stay outta her business Somi.

“Yeah I am.” Heehyun confirmed. “2 month anniversary coming up soon.”

“She’s always been the best out of the three of us.” Chaeyeon stated with a bitter laugh, slowly tossing her head back and looking up at the ceiling. “God I really ed up didn’t I?”

Heehyun felt a pang of hurt in her heart when she heard such coarse language come from Chaeyeon. The cold city has changed the once innocent angel it seems. Who knew such ugly words could come from such beautiful lips?

“Yeah, you did. But given the chance to turn back time, you probably would have still chosen this path anyways.” Heehyun answered back with a small smile and Chaeyeon laughed at that and nodded in agreement.

“I’m glad you’re happy now unnie. Really. I’m glad there’s Dani to take care of you.”

“And who’s taking care of you Chae? Are you happy?” Heehyun asked, concern etched on her face and Chaeyeon fell silent for a moment before lightly slapping the older girl’s shoulder with an answer that sounded pretty well rehearsed to Heehyun’s ears.

“Of course I am.”

Heehyun didn’t question it further. More like she couldn’t, because the door to the infirmary chose that moment to swing open and in walked a very composed Kim Dani while a flustered man shouted out after her at the door while struggling to hold back a legion of screaming girls.

“Oh babe you’re awake! How are you feeli—Chae could you please be a dear and tell this man to settle down he’s making too much noise.” Dani said while pointing to the frazzled man behind her with her thumb.

“It’s okay Joon oppa. They’re my best friends. They can be here.” Chaeyeon told her flustered manager and the man immediately calmed down.

“All the paperwork is settled. We have to leave now Chaeyeon. You have a show in an hour and the rest of your members are already at the venue waiting for you.” The manager informed Chaeyeon while checking his wristwatch for the time.

It’s time for Chaeyeon to go, and Heehyun couldn’t help but feel sad. This chance encounter was amazing though, and it was more than she could ask for. Based on the dismayed look on Chaeyeon’s face, the idol didn’t really want to leave either.

“Well, it’s time I go back to work. I’m not a student anymore.” Chaeyeon laughed meekly and Dani moved in to give her best friend a tight hug.

“Don’t be a stranger you hear? Congratulations on wining the trophy on Inkigayo last week. You deserve it.” Dani said and Chaeyeon laughed into the hug. There was an awkward moment then when Chaeyeon approached Heehyun for a hug, but both sides hesitated slightly.

Heehyun was about to extend her hand out for a handshake instead when the smaller girl leaped forward and enveloped her in a bone-crushing embrace and suddenly Heehyun’s senses was a mess of black hair and strawberry scented shampoo. She closed her eyes to savour the moment as she reciprocated the hug, not knowing when would be the next time they would get to be this close.

“Don’t take from anybody alright Chae? Any idol messes with you, let me know and I’ll give them a good time.” Heehyun said with a wink as they broke apart, and Chaeyeon laughed and promised.

Dani and Heehyun watched as their friend walked out of the infirmary with heavy footsteps, her manager carving a path through the sea of screaming students and when the door closed and the screaming moved away, the couple was left alone in the infirmary.

“Wanna head home early and skip the rest of classes babe?” Dani asked, extending her arm out to help Heehyun stand.

“Yeah. Yeah lets do that.” Heehyun replied with a smile.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So.... What do y'all think? Please let me know! This wasn't an easy chapter to write becauSE SO MANY EMOTIONSS!! I'm actually conflicted, because I have a lot more to write plot-wise but as I read this chapter I kinda felt like the story would be okay if it ended this way. After deliberating for a few days I decided that I want to continue with the original plot I had in mind so I'm continuing this till the end. 

I haven't begun writing chapter 4 though, so the next update might take awhile since each one of my chapters are pretty long they take a while to write hahaha! All this angst is getting to me though. I'm not used to writing angst. I'm used to writing happier stuff, so that's why I included a little bit of Cathy & Friends at the start to balance things out. 

Also, please pardon the various stupid music references. I have a music degree and I had to research a lot of songs for my assignments and some of 'em just...stuck.

HUUUGE shoutout to watashiwalydia, astaga1990, Mnetruinedmylife (Great username!!), Kushpop and newauthor for the upvotes! I really appreciate all the comments and I love hearing your opinions on the story!

Keep the comments coming! :D

P/S: PLOTHOLE ALERT!!! So I just noticed I never mentioned where Dani was when Heehyun was in the infirmary. Dani was in class. Like a good student. She came into the infirmary to check on Heehyun during recess, and decided to skip the rest of classes. Sorry for that error. I had it in my head but I forgot to write it down.