When the final bell of the day rang, Yerin started heading in the direction of her home before Sowon reminded her they were hanging out with everyone. Of course, how could she forget? Her head swam with thoughts of SinB as Sowon tugged her outside to meet with everyone else. Should she pursue her? SinB certainly acted interested, but for all Yerin knew she could be straight as hell and just really friendly. But was anyone that friendly?

“There you are!” Eunha exclaimed as Sowon and Yerin approached the group. “We were beginning to think you forgot.”

“Just Yerin-ah,” Sowon teased.

Yerin rolled her eyes. “It’s been a long day with this giraffe.”

“Aw, you love me.” Sowon wrapped her long limbs around Yerin, engulfing her in an inescapable hug that had Yerin squirming. “Yah, accept my affection!”

“Take it elsewhere, unnie!” Yerin huffed. “I can’t breathe!”

Sowon released her reluctantly and went over to Eunha to sulk. Eunha easily fell into the older girl’s arms as Sowon gave her a back hug, placing her hands over hers.

“Okay, let’s go before all the good snacks are gone!” Umji spoke up, relieved there was finally a pause in their bickering. Next to her, Yuju snickered and reached out to squeeze her hand in sympathy. “Besides, look at the impression you’re leaving on SinB-ssi.”

SinB! Yerin had completely forgotten her. She looked to the suspiciously quiet girl. Even during lunch with her tenure as new girl, SinB had been loud and unapologetically herself, meaning she also took part in the playful fighting. Now, SinB seemed to just be observing them with her head tilted to the side, a fond smile toying at the edges of her lips.

“You’re friends are weird, Umji-yah,” was all SinB said before she grabbed said girl’s arm to tug her in the direction of the convenience store. As they walked ahead, the girls heard SinB add, “Didn’t I tell you to call me SinB-ah?”

The other girls looked at each other but found their weirdness undeniable, so they shrugged and trailed after the younger girls.

Once their snacks were procured, the girls headed to a nearby park. Umji and Yuju immediately went to the swings while Eunha and Sowon wandered over to the last of the flowers to see them before autumn came to claim them. This left Yerin and SinB at a bench that gave a great view of the entire park.

Yerin was nervous to be alone with SinB because even if she was more comfortable with the girl that didn’t erase the butterflies in her stomach.

“Your friends are nice.”

The comment caught Yerin off guard, making her look at SinB in confusion. “I thought we were weird?”

“You can be weird and nice.”

It was when SinB did this random proclamations that Yerin found herself utterly off-kilter. Just when she thought she had SinB pinned as this sarcastic brat, she goes and says something some wouldn’t agree with in such a matter-of-fact tone. Yerin’s definitely be called weird in earlier years with none of the affection SinB held for the word.

“So, tell me more about Eunha and Sowon,” SinB said for lack of better conversation.

“What do you mean?”

SinB quirked an eyebrow at Yerin. She gestured vaguely in the said girls’ direction. “Are you kidding me? Why was Eunha so upset Sowon called me cute? Why was Sowon so panicked that Eunha thought she thought I was cute? And yes, I heard the four of you talking about me after lunch. Besides that, they’re that much in each other’s personal space and you’re telling me they don’t want each other?”

Yerin flushed when SinB said she overheard them talking about her (thankfully she didn’t address how she was Yerin’s ‘cafe girl’) and looked at her best friends and saw them hand-in-hand, occasionally brushing closer with their faces mere centimeters apart as they talked. She’d always wondered if something was up with them, and she was surprised that SinB picked up on their chemistry in just a day. The two were always so off-and-on about their affection that it was hard to tell.

“I don’t really know,” Yerin said honestly. “Some days it feels like they could start dating that night, but other days it feels like they’d rather date a rock.”

“Sounds complicated,” SinB hummed.

“Most things are.”

“Are they?”

SinB’s hand covered Yerin’s, fingers intertwining with each other. Now, SinB was staring into Yerin’s eyes like it could give her an answer she was searching for. It made Yerin feel bare, vulnerable in a way she wasn’t used to.

Yerin wasn’t sure how long they sat there, just staring at each other, but she would’ve happily done so for hours. Then SinB cracked a smile to break the sudden tension between them and said in unbelievably adorable aegyo, “Yerin-unnie is so pretty. She’ll find someone.”

Yerin was sure her heart was going to melt, leaving her as an unfunctional pile of goop. Somehow she found it in herself to ask in shaky aegyo that was not up to its usual strength, “What about my TinB-ssi?”

SinB’s cheeks turned bright red, but Yerin wasn’t sure if it was from the aegyo or… Wait, did she say my SinB? Yerin felt herself blush, making her cheeks match SinB’s rosiness.

Laughing awkwardly, SinB let go of Yerin’s hand and turned away, fanning her cheeks. “Unnie, your aegyo is too good. You’ll find someone who’ll catch the stars for you when you use it.”

Someone who’ll catch the stars for you. What a romantic choice of words. Yerin eyed SinB so as to not startle her, really looking at the younger girl who was busy yelling at Umji to give her a turn on the swings. SinB was beautiful and clearly knew she was attractive. She even knew how to flirt, obvious in the way she’d acted at the cafe and at lunch. Yet when real affection or feelings were brought up, the girl immediately shied away and laughed it off.

Yerin could work with that, but she’d need some help.

“Hey.”

Yerin blinked and focused, but SinB wasn’t looking at her but instead at Sowon and Eunha.

“We should set them up,” SinB said. She smirked and elaborated, “I’m not a big romantic or anything.” Now that seemed like a lie, but Yerin wasn’t going to call her out on it… yet. “But if I’m going to hang out with you guys, we’ll have to do something about those idiots’ tension. We’ll do them first. Yuju and Umji are easy enough that we can set them up later.”

Yerin nodded along with the logic, but when she heard Yuju and Umji’s names, she exclaimed, “Wait, what?!”

SinB looked at her, completely unimpressed. “Yerin-unnie, you’ve really gotta pay more attention.”

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading! Also, a big thank you for everyone who subscribed and left comments. Reading your comments makes my day. Feel free to drop a comment and tell me what you want to see happen in the story! I have a plot outlined, but it's pretty flexible. Also, tell me what you think of the title... I can't deicde what this story should be called. Until next time!