It started as a simple curiosity of a nosy girl who couldn't mind her own business.

Dahyun was living her life peacefully and could never ask for a better one, she had loving parents, a girlfriend and was good a school. But, she was too nosy for her own sake thanks to her extroverted personality that made her too friendly to the point that some people found it uncomfortable because she acted like she was too close with them. Though, a few did appreciate it, for example, during parties when everyone gets awkward she's the one to set up the mood.

Then, it happened, she saw someone when she shouldn't have and... curiosity killed the cat. Sort of.

 

 

 

 

 

" Dahyunieee. " someone suddenly hugs Dahyun from behind, and the girl didn't even need to look to know it was Sana, her girlfriend " I missed you. " she said while kissing her on the cheek.

" Unnie! " Dahyun enjoyed having skinship with her girlfriend, but when the older made it so public she felt a bit shy since people would turn around and stare at them because well, it's Sana. Everyone likes seeing an eye candy first thing in the morning and Sana was probably the crush of half of the boys at school. Too bad she was into girls, or well, not bad at all.

" Sorry, it's just that we haven't seen each other in days. " the older pouts slightly before letting out a giggle, and that was enough to make Dahyun forget about the whole 'being mad because we told each other that skinship in public was a nono'.

" Alright fine, let's just go to class. " Dahyun sighs and holds the older's hand, walking her into the senior hallway since the girl was about 2 years older than her.

When she returns to her class, a few classmates starts to whistle and of course, they had to be Jieqiong and Eunbi.

" Wooow Dahyun, you never dissapoint us. Tell me, what's the secret of making the most popular girl of the whole school fall head over heels for you like that? " Eunbi teased.

" What are you two, schoolboys? " Dahyun laughs " You just have to be charming and cute like me. " she winks.

" Ah... why does Sana sunbaenim have such a bad taste. " Jieqiong sighs.

" Ya. Jieqiong, try and say that again! " she headlocks the latter before the teacher comes in and glares at the 3 of them.

Their trio was a troublesome one, it's not like they were bullies or they treated their teachers badly, but sometimes they would get so loud that at some point last year the teacher forced them to change seats so that they could have lessons in peace.

Once break time started though, they would all go their own way, Sana and Dahyun always had lunch together in the cafeteria, Eunbi always went to her childhood friends Umji, Yerin, Yuju ecc and same goes to Jieqiong, who was a popular girl that hanged out with equally as popular girls like Doyeon, Chaeyeon and just the 'pretty girls' crew.

 

 

 

 

 

Dahyun was running late for once, it was usually Sana who was like that, class ended late because the teacher was reviewing their test one by one with them by his side. The teacher always went from the worst grades to the best ones and, not to brag, Dahyun was quite smart. Loud, but smart.

She passed by the school track and field stadium, it was pretty much empty except for a girl with her earphones on that was eating some gimpab while sketching (studying?) something. Dahyun squinted her eyes to see if she knew the girl, but once she saw that the face wasn't familiar she decided to move on.

" YA! why are you so late?! " Sana pouted once the younger was on her line of sight. 

Dahyun panted breathless " I'm sorry, teacher's fault. " and kissed the older's cheek while smiling cutely " forgive me? "

" F-fine... " she blushed, Sana was an assertive kind of girlfriend, but whenever Dahyun was the one initiating the skinship then she would get all flustered, which Dahyun always found hilarious.

 

 

 

 

After that day, Dahyun decided that passing by the courtyard was the faster way, plus she enjoyed the nice breeze that spring had to offer. She made her way slowly, taking her time to admire the stadium, she never really took a proper look at it since she always had P.E. at a closed gym and she wasn't part of any sports club.

One thing that always made her curious was the presence of that girl. She was always there, with her cute short haircut, earphones on, still sketching ( Dahyun once peeked and saw that the girl was just casually drawing on her notebook ) but with a different meal by her side, this time she had a really nice looking sandwhich. That girl though, would never look up from her notebook. Never once they made eye contact, and Dahyun being Dahyun, started taking an interest in that girl.

" How do I approach her without seeming a weirdo? Maybe...Hey, I've been like, staring (more like creepily looking) at you for a few weeks and wanted to be your friend. " Dahyun thought out loud and sighed in frustration. And without knowing, she was sitting next to the girl, who still didn't spare her a single second of her attention.

Why the hell are you here Dahyun???'

" U-umh... " she said, her tone low and as quiet as possible. The girl still didn't react, maybe the music was too loud. Dahyun decides to shake her lightly and the girl finally looks at her, it was the first time she actually got a good look of her face, the girl has this cute little mole beside her plumpy red lips. 

" Hey. " Dahyun smiles nervously and the girl looks at her before bowing and going back to what she was doing " ... or not I guess. " Dahyun scratches her head and stands up leaving the girl alone once again.

 

 

 

 

It started to become a daily routine, to somehow get the attention of that girl, if she reacted even just a tiny bit Dahyun was plenty satisfied, one time Dahyun sneezed and her snot was all over her face, the girl looked at her and the corner of herr lip moved up slightly. She had a beautiful smile. (or well, what little Dahyun saw was beautiful)

" Dahyun, you're not coming to see me these days... I feel lonely. " Sana hugs her girlfriend and buries her face on her shoulder.

" I'm sorry unnie, I'm just a bit busy, but I'll make it up to you, promise. " Dahyun doesn't know why she felt the need to lie, was what she was doing considered cheating? It's not that right? After all, she didn't have a romantic interest, she just wanted to be friends with her. And the fact that she kept ignoring her like she did made it more interesting and challenging for Dahyun.

The next day, she noticed from a far that the girl was actually looking for her. Occasionally glancing around to see if Dahyun was coming or not, which of course Dahyun found super adorable, and when she came on her line of sight she would pretend to sketch on her notebook.

Dahyun decided to bring her notebook too this time, she sat next to girl and started to scribble some words.

 

Hi. I'm Dahyun from 3A. We never introduced ourselves. ^^

 

The girl let out a smile and grabbed the notebook from Dahyun, if they were not going to talk ever, then might as well use this to communicate. Dahyun wanted to know at least her name.

 

Chaeyoung. 2B.

 

Dahyun frowned, the girl was really one of a few words, or well, not words at all.

 

Well, I have to go, see you tomorrow?

 

The younger looked at the older and nodded slightly and went back to eat her meal. Dahyun sighed and jogged to her class.

Once she got in, Eunbi looking at her with a frown, Dahyun sat down and was hit by a piece of paper, once she rolled it to see the content she froze on the spot.

 

Who was the one you were with today?

 

Dahyun panicked but forced herself to write a random excuse

 

I saw her eating alone all sad, and you know me, had to talk to her :P

 

When Eunbi got the paper back, she thought for a second before nodding and giving an okay sign to Dahyun. She was safe, for now.

 

 

 

 

Going to visit Chaeyoung everyday was not a good idea, so Dahyun decided that she would pass by the stadium only a few times per week but those few times were enough to 'get to know' Chaeyoung.

They still never talked, not even through the notebooks. Dahyun just enjoyed the younger's presence which was weird because if it was someone else, she hated the quietness and preferred talking about anything that came into mind. But with Chaeyoung... it was different. She enjoyed the sound of her pencil drawing on a piece of paper, the slight shifts she made when standing too still was uncomfortable and how she would let Dahyun snooze on her shoulder when she was tired.

It was a new way of making friends that Dahyun never experienced before, and she really enjoyed it. Instead of talking about stupid things all the time, they just enjoyed each other's presence.

Chaeyoung lightly shook her shoulder waking the older up, it was the first time that the latter was the one going away first. With an apologetic smile (probably because she woke her up) she handed over a folded piece of paper before running towards the school building.

When Dahyun folded it open she saw a portrait of herself, sleeping while leaning next to a tree and nature surrounding her.

" Chaeyoung is such a talented artist... " she smiled to herself before neatly putting it on her notebook and going to class herself.

 

 

 

 

 

2 weeks. Not a trace of Chaeyoung left.

Dahyun promised to herself that she wouldn't go there daily, but once those few times she went to the spot she didn't see Chaeyoung, somehow she ended up going there everyday. But the younger girl wasn't there.

Dahyun considered going to her class, 2B, but the fact that Sana's ex-girlfriend Tzuyu was there stopped her from going for that option.

" Are you okay Dahyun-ah? " said Eunbi, the trio were eating together since Sana was out to do some student council work and the two friends were kind enough to not leave her alone.

" Yeah... why? " Dahyun forces out a smile and goes back to eating her lunch.

" You seem kind of down these days. Is it because Sana sunbae is too busy to see you? " Jieqiong smiles and ruffles Dahyun's hair " Aigoo uguu, our baby Dahyunie. "

" Maybe... " another lie and a forced out laugh. Dahyun wished she could actually blame it on Sana. But the fact that she couldn't made her feel even worse. She was feeling sad because she couldn't see a girl who she barely even spoke to. Her feelings got a point where she's not cheating phisically, but mentally. And it was tiring her, maybe the fact that she couldn't see Chaeyoung was actually a good thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another week of not seeing Chaeyoung passed, Dahyun gave up looking for her (she once even actually went to her class, Tzuyu was looking at her weirdly and the older was just awkwardly standing around and looking for the familiar face, but to no avail).

It was all back to the normal routine really quickly, she would spend most of the time with Sana and didn't even bother going to the stadium to see if the girl who got her attention was there.

Dahyun was glad, because Sana's smile was enough to make her think she shouldn't even look for the younger, and Sana was way too precious. Breaking her heart and making that kind smile fade away was not an option.

On a side note, Dahyun would always be tense when she HAD to walk by the stadium, the fear that she would see Chaeng there and she would have to either ignore her pretending they never knew each other or go back to the sinful mentally cheating side of her again.

So, when she does pass by and she SEES the younger there all she wanted to do was disappear, but her mind and her body were two different things, and while the mind wanted to run away, her heart made her feet walk and sit by Chaeyoung's side.

Chaeyoung looks at her for a second before looking down in contemplation.

" Where have you been? " Dahyun asks carefully and the latter does not reply " Hey... " she shakes her lightly.

The younger scratches her head and with a sigh she gets a notebook from her bag, once she opens it Dahyun's eyes spread open really fast and her look alternates between the girl and the notebook.

 

Im deaf

 

Now it was clear, the notebooks, the times where she talked and it felt like the younger didn't hear her but Dahyun blamed it on the music, the fact that they never ever talked. She should have seen it, it was so obvious yet she didn't notice.

" So you can't hear me...? " Dahyun asks curiously.

Chaeyoung shakes her head and gets the notebook quickly scribbling ' I can read your lips. '

Dahyun's mouth formed an O shape while she nodded in confusion " The reason why you didn't come these days was...? " she said really slowly so that the younger could understand

' Because I had a few visits, and the times where I was actually here you were nowhere to be seen >< ' 

" So you WERE waiting for me! " Dahyun smirked and chuckled when she saw Chaeyoung blush and hide behind her notebook " You should have told me sooner about this though, why did you keep it for so long? "

' I thought it was obvious... why would I not talk to you otherwise? '

" You have a point, but I thought you were just a quiet kid. " Dahyun chuckles " Well, class is going to start, see you tomorrow? "

Chaeyoung nods enthusiastically which Dahyun found so cute.

 

 

 

 

 

Call it curiosity, or just plain interest, but Dahyun found herself going back to the routine of going to see Chaeyoung instead of having lunch with Sana.

She kept asking the younger girl about her life, sometimes intimate stuff like 'why are you deaf' or 'how did you get through it', and Dahyun wanted to curse for not being too invasive with her questions. If she was Chaeyoung, then at some point she would blow herself away with all these private questions.

But. Instead, after a second of hesitation, the younger actually told her the whole story. And, it was not an incident or something like that. Chaeyoung lost her earing capability because of... music. The earphones she constantly had on, because she listened to them too loud all the time since she was a child eventually her ear gave up on her, this was too much of a shock for her at that time so it traumatized her a lot when her ears suddenly started to ring really loudly and next thing she knew, Chaeyoung couldn't hear at all. It was such a shock that she didn't even talk anymore, it's not like she couldn't but the trauma 'ate'  her voice.

While Dahyun was initially pitying the younger, after she learnt why the girl was never the first to start a conversation, it blew the idea of -maybe i'm bothering her after all- out of the way. And that's how she ended up falling in love with how the deaf girl would smile like the sun whenever she showed up in 'their place'. Or how the younger frowned everytime she was frustrated because she couldn't convey what she wanted to say properly and always had to have a damn notebook or phone by her side.

' This is why I didn't want to have friends... what if you get tired of me. ' she scribbles and as soon as Dahyun saw that, she grabbed Chaeyoung by the shoulder and mouthed.

" Don't worry. I won't get tired of you. Ever. "

 

 

 

 

 

" Dahyun... you would never lie to me right? "

Sana and Dahyun were eating ice cream together on a weekend, it was one of their favourite things to do. But today Dahyun did notice the older being less clingy, less talkative, less Sana-ish.

" Of course not unnie, what's going on? "

" Are you... seeing someone else other than me? "

Dahyun puts down her ice cream and looks at Sana in the eyes " I'm not. Why do you ask? "

" I happened to pass by this place at school, and I saw you happily chatting with this girl... and when you came back to me you told me you had important things to do. " Sana smiles, but Dahyun can see the hurt in her eyes.

" I... I'm not seeing that person. It's true that I lied to you about my whereabouts but I'm not cheating on you. " Dahyun grabs Sana's hands and interlaces their fingers, Sana looks down and bites her lip.

" Is it bad if I was actually glad you were doing so? " Sana slowly removes her hands while still not looking at her girlfriend.

" What do you mean? "

" When I saw you there, I thought... ' ah I'm not the only one ' because... all the time I spent in the -student council- was actually because I wanted to see Tzuyu as much as possible... I still... I s-still have feelings for her. "

Dahyun frowns and keeps quiet, she did suspect it. After all, the two have been dating for the longest time. She was even once friends with Tzuyu but because of how the younger broke up with her unnie, they stopped talking and while she comforted Sana the older stated that she had fallen in love with her. And Dahyun liked the thought, but deep down in her heart she knew she was just a replacement, someone that could help her get over Tzuyu.

" I was not cheating on you though. I actually love you Sana unnie... "

" I love you too, but I don't wanto us to stay together when we both know we have feelings for other people... I saw the looks you gave to that girl. You never gave me those, it was just pure admiration and respect, but with her your eyes sparkle and your smile reaches your ears. "

Sana had a point, even Dahyun herself sometimes felt like she was cheating mentally because of how much she thought of the younger girl.

"... I'm sorry. "

" Don't be, we both sort of used each other, but one thing I'm sure of is that we do love each other, just not as... girlfriends, I guess... " Sana pats her now ex-girlfriend on the head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' You look down ' Chaeyoung shook the older by the shoulder lightly

" Ah... my girlfriend broke up with me. "

The younger nods and hugs the girl, Dahyun confirmed once again that she liked the silence. Instead of asking stuff like -what happened- or -are you okay- Chaeyoung would instead just hug her silently and simply made her feel warm and comforted through such little gesture.

" Feeling sorry for me? " Dahyun breaks the hug and smiles in a bittersweet way.

Chaeyoung shakes her head and grins, then she scribbles something quickly ' I'm actually glad you two broke up, sorry :P '

" Huh? " the older quirks an eyebrow up at the girl who wrote something down again but quickly shifted closer and kissed her on the cheek.

' At least now I can have you all for myself ' she shows the note while she smiles sheepeshly and Dahyun can't help but blush so much that she ended up looking like a tomato.

Dahyun coughs and grabs a book from her backpack " I got this earlier, you know sign language right? "

' Yeah, but there's no need to, I can read your lips '

" But... I want to communicate with you better, and understand you without using notebooks. "

' Why? '

" Because you're my friend now. "

The younger pouts, and Dahyun started to think that the latter was actually pretty straight forward in contrary of what she first thought. And even though Dahyun was a slow one herself, she was quick to notice the little crush that Chaeyoung had developped for her. After all, who says ' now I can have you all for myself ' to a friend... right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" It's the other way around. You like her. " Eunbi snorted, the three friends were together afterschool just chilling by the stadium to watch the sports club since Jieqiong's crush was in it and the other two just tagged along. Jieqiong was just smiling the whole time as her crush noticed her and turned around in their direction to smile at the girl. Eunbi was casually going through her facebook while Dahyun kept contemplating her feelings.

" H-huh? I don't! I mean, not in that way I think. " Dahyun shakes her head and pouts.

" You think. That's the keyword. " Eunbi puts down the cellphone and smirks at the girl.

" Does it look like I like her? "

" Girl let me tell you, you don't just like her, you're head over heels for her. I mean, who would kind of cheat on Sana after all? People would kill to date her! Plus, me and Eunbi once passed through here and saw you two... damn the looks you gave her were just... it made my heart skip a bit too. " Jieqiong screams teasingly and high-fived the other friend.

" You were spying on us!? "

" Correction, happened to pass by and saw you. Seriously how many times did you think of kissing her? You were staring at her lips so intently t