The date went fairly well, definitely better than she expected. Yongsun wasn’t able to dress fancy like she wanted to or else people would start talking, instead wearing a striped tee and white skirt. Byulyi thought she looked cute anyway and Yongsun grinned, shoving her playfully.

Walking side by side, the two checked out various department stores with Yongsun doing most of the shopping while Byulyi carried the bags. The latter whined about how she was being treated like a lackey until Yongsun interlaced their fingers and led her to their next stop. Yongsun filled up with pride when she saw that she managed to get the other girl to feel flustered.

They ate dinner in a restaurant outside the hub of the shopping district, fortunately occupied by only a few patrons. Yongsun’s cheeks grew sore, partly because of how much she stuffed herself with food and partly because she was elated that she was going out with Byulyi and for once didn’t have to question what this meant. Byulyi did an impression of Hyejin to lighten the mood and Yongsun choked as the water she drank went down the wrong pipe. Byulyi laughed and Yongsun nudged her again.

When they arrived at Yongsun’s apartment, Byulyi set the bags delicately on the wooden floor. Yongsun leaned against the open doorway, a soft smile tugging at her lips. “Thanks for helping me out,” she said.

“No problem,” Byulyi replied, dusting off her hands in a job well done as she sauntered towards Yongsun. “I mean, normally it would, but I’ll let it slide since I had fun on our date.”

Yongsun scoffed, shaking her head as she crossed her arms. “How thoughtful of you.”

Byulyi rubbed the back of her neck, her smile shy. “I do mean it though,” she assured. She reached forward to hold Yongsun’s hand. “I had a great time with you.”

Heat spread throughout her face despite the freezing air outside. “I did too,” Yongsun admitted.

Byulyi seemed to beam at that, her nose scrunching as her grin grew wider. Yongsun was aware of how close Byulyi was, of how warm her hand felt, and of how affectionate her stare was at the moment. Yongsun couldn’t picture a better moment. She closed her eyes and waited.

“Well!” Byulyi released her grip and clapped her hands together. Yongsun’s eyes shot open at the sound. “I should go before it gets too late.”

Yongsun blinked, dazed and not for the reason she was hoping for. “What?”

“We need to prepare for our comeback remember?” Byulyi asked. “You and I need to make sure we’re at our top shape for practice.”

Yongsun wondered if she somehow erased the last five minutes from her mind because she didn’t understand why the mood suddenly changed to something so professional and unromantic. “That’s true I guess—”

“Glad we’re on the same page!” Byulyi stepped out of the flat, her hand raised in a wave. “I’ll see you tomorrow, get some rest alright?”

“Wait—” However, Byulyi didn’t wait as she held onto the railing and hurried down the metal steps, leaving the other girl alone.

Frozen, Yongsun stared at the stairs as if Byulyi would come back and say she was just joking. She didn’t. “What in the world?” She put a hand over and huffed. Her breath wasn’t the problem. “Did I do something wrong?”

______________________________________________________________________________

Laughter was heard throughout the dressing room and a pillow was thrown, missing Hyejin’s head by an inch. “Guys, this is serious!” Yongsun argued. “I don’t know what to do.”

The two girls clutched their stomachs, their heads tilted back on the armrests of the sleek couch. “Are you—” Wheein struggled to hold back her snickering, her stomach aching and begging for her to stop. Yongsun pouted. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same Byul-unnie here? I can’t imagine that at all.”

“Yeah,” Hyejin wiped the stray tears on her eyes. “Didn’t she kiss you before?”

“But that was on the cheek,” Yongsun retorted. “Also, it was in public and not romantic at all.”

“Do you have any idea on why she would curve you like that?” Hyejin asked, grabbing the discarded pillow to support her head.

Yongsun frowned. “I wouldn't exactly say curving.”

Hyejin turned to her and lifted an eyebrow, a knowing expression on her face. The other girl bit her lip and looked away.

“Anyway,” Yongsun continued. “I don't know what went wrong. The situation was perfect.” She closed her eyes, remembering the events. “We were having a nice dinner, Byulyi made an uncanny impersonation of Hyejin to lighten the mood and I laughed.”

“Excuse me?”

Yongsun ignored her. “And we ended the date when she dropped me off at my apartment. We were staring into each other's eyes and I thought ‘wow what a perfect night’ but when I closed my eyes to kiss her—” She raised her arms in frustration. “She backed off!”

“Did your breath smell?” Hyejin asked.

“That's what I thought too, but I checked right after she left and it was fine.”

“Maybe she wanted to wait until the third date,” Wheein suggested. “I heard a lot of people say that's what you should do when pursuing someone.”

“But that was the third date,” Yongsun grumbled.

Wheein’s eyes widened. “Really?” she asked.

“Really,” Yongsun repeated miserably.

Humming, Wheein sat up and her foot jittered atop the carpet. She stopped and brought her fist against her hand, her face brightening like a lightbulb. “Maybe you need to make the situation more romantic.”

Yongsun tilted her head. “Wasn't our date romantic though?”

Wheein shook her head. “Maybe it was to you, but it possibly didn't sit right with her. Describe the scene to us again.”

“You want her to brag about her date more?” Hyejin whispered. Wheein shot her a glare and Hyejin lifted her hands, relenting.

“Okay…” Yongsun drawled, thinking. “Well, Byulyi walked over to me and I was leaning against the open door—”

Wheein suddenly pointed her finger at Yongsun, who jumped at the action. “There!”

“Huh?” Yongsun asked. “I didn't get to explain that much.”

Wheein shook her head. “You don't need to. I already see what went wrong.”

Yongsun’s eyebrows furrowed. “And that is?”

“The open door,” Wheein elaborated. “You always complain about being all lovey dovey in public. She might have not wanted you to get mad at her.”

“Even though you two do it all the time,” Hyejin muttered under her breath.

“Just have an indoor date in your apartment next time,” Wheein offered. “Watch a movie or something. She won’t know what hit her.”

Yongsun nodded, suddenly fired up. Telling the other members about her love troubles would be worth it, even if they wouldn’t stop poking fun at her about it. “You’re right!”

Wheein flashed a satisfied grin. A moment of silence passed. “By the way, I’m implying that your lips are going to hit Byulyi.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

______________________________________________________________________________

So far so good, Yongsun thought to herself as she huddled closer to Byulyi. She leant her head against Byulyi’s shoulder and she smiled when the other girl wrapped an arm around her waist. She snuck a glance towards Byulyi, who was invested in the movie that Yongsun insisted they watch. The room was dim, the only light coming from the flashes of the television in front of them.

The moment was simple, sentimental, perfect. She sighed as she watched Byulyi take some of the popcorn from the bowl in her lap. “Hey, Byulyi,” she whispered.

Byulyi hummed and turned to her, mouth still stuffed. Yongsun laughed and Byulyi swallowed whatever food was left. “What’s up?” she asked.

Yongsun shrugged. “Nothing,” she said. She took hold of Byulyi’s free hand, not minding the slight grease. “I’m just happy that we get to have time to ourselves.”

Byulyi blushed, her eyes darting to the side. “Oh,” she whispered. Yongsun gave a smug smile, taking delight in her reaction.Yongsun couldn’t think of a better sign than that one. She clung to Byulyi’s shirt and leaned forward, her eyes fluttering shut.

“Oh my god!” Byulyi screamed. The bowl was sent flying and popcorn rained down, a few kernels landing in Yongsun’s hair. What? Yongsun opened her eyes, not amused and if she was being honest, a little offended. She was about to tell Byulyi that she didn’t have to act so scared and could easily just push her away and say she didn’t want to kiss when Yongsun’s eyes darted forward.

The screen became bright red and the man in the movie seemed to almost jump out of the screen, his mangled hand reaching forward.

It was Yongsun’s cower in fear, her eyes squeezing shut as she shrieked and grasped onto Byulyi’s clothes tighter.

“Why are you so scared?” Byulyi asked, her voice shaky. “You’re the one that picked the movie out!”

“I didn’t know it would be this bad!” Yongsun countered.

Byulyi hid her face in Yongsun’s neck when the mutated man finally cornered the heroine and Yongsun hugged her tight. At least Yongsun was able to declare that she cuddled with Byulyi in the date. Kind of.

______________________________________________________________________________

Yongsun crashed face first into the couch, groaning. Hyejin sat on Yongsun’s legs and ignored the older girl’s grunt in disapproval, not bothering to move her body to make room.

“Why did you pick a horror movie of all things?” Hyejin asked. She received a muffled reply. She frowned, confused. “What?”

Turning, Yongsun spat out the stray hairs in . “I thought the movie was going to be boring and we would end up embracing and kissing instead,” she said. “But…” Her voice trailed off as she relived the moment.

“But?” Wheein asked, looking at her mirror to spot Yongsun’s defeated position.

“We ended up clinging to each other out of fear,” she said.

Hyejin snorted. Yongsun reached up and attempted to slap Hyejin’s anything, but only met air. She sighed, too lazy to get up and try to hit Hyejin, and her hand slumped to the ground. “How did you two do it?”

Yongsun watched Wheein’s eyes widen through her reflection. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Haven’t you guys been dating longer than Byulyi and I have? How did you guys first kiss each other?”

Wheein glanced down, as if the vanity asked her the question rather than Yongsun. “Well, um—”

“Never mind,” Yongsun breathed. “I’m probably going to mope even more if I hear about your special moment.”

“You know,” Hyejin started, changing the topic. “Have you tried simply asking her to kiss you?”

“No!” Yongsun’s head shot up and turned to face Hyejin. “Won’t I come off as needy?”

Hyejin leaned back, unintentionally focusing all her weight on one of Yongsun’s calves. “Maybe, but aren’t you?”

Yongsun opened to defend herself, but stopped. She huffed. “You’re right.”

Hyejin smirked. “See?”

“Can you get off me please?”

______________________________________________________________________________

“Can I ask you a question Byulyi?”

Byulyi didn’t look up as she continued to chop the carrots with ease. “Sure. Anything you need.”

Yongsun was silent for a moment, watching the broth simmer. “How come you don’t want to kiss me?”

The knife slammed into the cutting board and Yongsun jumped, almost dropping her ladle. She turned to Byulyi and saw that the sharp edge stuck to the wood.

“Um, what—” Byulyi coughed into her fist, adjusting her glasses. “What do you mean?”

Yongsun swallowed her pride, but then figured that she didn't have any in the first place. “I feel like you've been retreating every time I try to kiss you,” she admitted.

Byulyi’s mouth fell open. “You've been what?”

She rolled her eyes, settling her hands on her waist. “Haven't I been obvious?”

“I…” Byulyi glanced to the side and Yongsun knew the answer without her having to say anything.

Yongsun gave a thin smile and her arms fell to her side. “It's fine if you don't.” She dipped the ladle into the ladle and stirred the soup. “I don't want to rush you into anything you don't want to do. I just want to know why.”

“I do want to kiss you though, like a lot,” Byulyi said, her voice hushed at the end.

Blinking, Yongsun set the cooking utensil aside and stared at her.

“Ever since we started dating, I've been trying hard to not mess up by making you feel uncomfortable, you know? There were times where I thought you wanted to kiss me, but I decided that I was imagining things and I didn't want to force myself onto you.”

Yongsun held onto Byulyi’s hand. She didn't pull away. “Okay. Just so there are no misunderstandings, you do want to kiss me. Am I right?”

“Right,” Byulyi murmured, her eyes darting to the side. Yongsun placed a hand on Byulyi’s cheek, causing the other girl properly look at her.

“And you know now that I want to kiss you and have been wanting to for a while now.”

Byulyi only nodded.

“Then… how about now?”

She gulped. “If you're,” Byulyi hesitated. “If you're fine with that.” She barely finished the last word when Yongsun closed the distance between them. Byulyi closed her eyes and Yongsun wrapped her arms around her neck.

The kiss wasn't what Yongsun expected. It wasn't under the stars nor during a candlelit dinner like in the books she read. It wasn’t during a heat of the moment like all the movies she watched. But it was soft, it was genuine, it was Byulyi. That was enough for her.

______________________________________________________________________________

Yongsun finished the story with a big smile on her face.

“How sweet!” Wheein gushed.

Hyejin nodded. “It's about time.”

“Thanks guys,” Yongsun said. “I couldn't have done it without you two.”

“We know.” Hyejin crossed one arm over the other, making herself comfortable in the armchair. “You can repay us by not making out in front of us.”

“No promises,” Yongsun replied and Hyejin rolled her eyes, not looking forward it.

“By the way,” Yongsun piped up, twisting in her chair to face the other girls. “I never got to hear the story about your first kiss.”

Wheein laughed nervously and Hyejin frowned.

“Oh my god.” Yongsun gasped, covering with both hands. “Don't tell me.”

“Okay,” Hyejin said bitterly. “We won't tell you.”

“You two helped me when you two haven't even kissed yet!” Yongsun laughed. “That's so cute!”

Unlike Yongsun, Hyejin had no trouble aiming the pillow right at her head.