In which Yerin falls hopelessly in love with Eunbi

Yerin exhaled a longing breath as her eyes followed a figure walking across campus with their group of friends. That certain someone was Hwang Eunbi. A fellow batchmate though Yerin never really dared to hold a proper conversation with the girl. The blonde beauty had caught Yerin’s eye during the freshmen’s orientation week and the latter would often see Eunbi around but that was as far as their interactions go.

“You’re drooling,” a voice snapped Yerin out of her daze. Hurriedly, she wiped but quickly realized her friend was teasing her.

“Ha ha, very funny, Sojung,” Yerin rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall behind her.

“You should just go talk to her. You see her around every day and have the same major,” Eunha threw in her two cents.

“But I’m too-”

“Shy, we get it,” Sojung finished her friend’s sentence. “We get it. But maybe start small like… Ask about homework or something like that.”

“But she’s always with her friends,” Yerin groaned exasperatedly. “I don’t wanna make myself look like a fool going up to them just to ask about homework and awkwardly walk off like that.”

“Maybe I can help with that,” Eunha grinned. “I’m friends with one of her friends so I could help you get her contact or something.”

“For real? You’re the best!” Yerin exclaimed.

“But! Whatever happens after that is all up to you. I am NOT about to play messenger for your love letters or pry about what Eunbi thinks about you.”

“You got it!”

“Ew, stop it Yerin. You’re rambling and it’s only your first message. Keep it short,” the girl chastised herself. She cleared the whole message bar and tried again.

As promised, Eunha had got her Eunbi’s number which earned her a rib crushing hug from Yerin. Now that she was home and lounging comfortably on her bed, she plucked up the courage to send the first text. Her courage was admirable but she wondered if she could even send out a text by tonight at the rate she was deliberating.
 

“Ugh, this makes me sound like I only talk about schoolwork…” Yerin frowned and deleted it again. “Come on, it’s not even that hard.”
 

Yerin grunted and frustratedly slammed her thumb on the backspace only to hear a pop instead of the characters being deleted. She blinked at the chat screen and realized in horror what she had done.

“Christ alive what have I done?” Yerin gasped and slapped her hand to her cheek. She racked her brain for a text to follow up with but before any ideas came, the little “1” beside her message disappeared.

God have mercy.

She dropped her phone onto her bed and grabbed a pillow nearby, clutching on as if her life depended on it.
 

Yerin felt an uncontrollable grin spread across her face as she read the message.

“She knows who I am!” Yerin hissed at herself. Grabbing her phone, she quickly typed a response.
 

Yerin smacked her forehead repeatedly.

“You’ve got to be the world’s biggest idiot,” she mumbled. Her phone chimed and she looked back at it.
 

Yerin flopped back onto her bed, spread eagle. She felt as if she had just disarmed a bomb. Hugging the pillow, she sighed deeply with a smile.

At least we’re friends now. Kinda.

"So, how did it go? If you even texted her at all," Eunha asked as she sat beside Yerin.

"I think we're friends now?" Yerin said though it came off more as a question than a statement.

"Why do you sound so unsure?" Eunha raised an eyebrow.

"Well I got nervous and I started rambling and I'm sure as hell she thinks I'm a weirdo now," Yerin sighed.

"Don't feel too bad, I'm sure she doesn't think that deeply into things. Besides, have you seen her today?" Eunha said as she gave her friend a few comforting pats on the back.

"No..."

"So you can't be so sure you're a weirdo to her till you see her."

As if on cue, Eunbi walked into the studio. The girl was focused on her phone as she made her way to her class which happened to be right beside Yerin’s.

“Say hi,” Eunha nudged Yerin’s arm.

“She looks busy,” Yerin whispered back. But fate seemed to mock her because Eunbi looked up just as Yerin finished her sentence. She caught sight of Yerin and gave a small wave to which the girl only grinned, too stunned to raise her hand. Eunbi took a seat and pulled out her materials for class.

“Did you see that? She waved at me!” Yerin hissed in pure excitement and shook Eunha by the shoulder.

“Woah okay, yes, I get it,” the girl said trying to get Yerin to stop.

“What’s got her so excited?” Sojung asked as she joined the pair at the table.

“Her goddess waved at her.”

“Wow Yerin, you’ve got game! It’s only been a night, I wonder what’s going to happen in a week,” Sojung grinned.

“Don’t get her started,” Eunha rolled her eyes but smiled when she saw how happy her friend was.

Unfortunately, nothing major did happen, unlike Sojung’s sly remarks. Yerin found the end of the semester drawing near and yet other than the occasional texts about school work and how their day was, there wasn’t much progress in their friendship. With interactions at such bare minimum, Yerin was beginning to wonder if they could even be considered friends at all.

Yerin only saw Eunbi again on submission day. The girl seemed to glow in Yerin’s eyes. Since they were just there to drop their work and go, Eunbi had dressed casually. A baggy white shirt french tucked into black sweatpants and a pair of white slides to complete the lazy but stylish look.

“You’re drooling again,” Eunha teased when she noticed her friend staring. “Come on, just go over and say hi. Or ask about her work. Or what she’s doing for the sem break. Don’t just stand here like a block of wood.”

Sojung nudged Yerin in Eunbi’s direction and the girl gripped the strap of her backpack. She ran a hand through her already kempt hair in an attempt to make it look as perfect as possible as she approached the girl.

“Hey,” Yerin greeted smoothly. Good job, at least you didn’t stutter.

“Oh, Yerin! How have you been?” Eunbi smiled at her, shoving a hand into the pocket of her sweats.

“Uh… Good? A little sleep deprived, but good,” Yerin managed.

“Right? I stayed up last night trying to perfect some of my sketches. Think I’m going to go home and crash.”

“I might do the same actually,” Yerin smiled nervously. She shifted her weight from leg to leg. “So uh… Any plans for sem break?”

“Hmm… I’m going overseas for a couple of weeks. How about you?” Eunbi asked as she combed through her blonde hair. Yerin found herself staring at the girl for a second too long and realized Eunbi had an eyebrow raised, still waiting for an answer.

“Oh… Oh! Uh… I’ll be overseas too,” Yerin blurted out. She could feel her cheeks beginning to flush.

“That’s cool,” Eunbi nodded. Her eyes shifted to look past Yerin and a small smile graced her lips. “I think your friends are waiting for you.”

Yerin turned to look in the direction that Eunbi nodded her chin to and saw her two friends looking away, acting as if they were busy with something else.

“Ah… Yeah…” Yerin said, hoping she didn’t let her disappointment show. If only Eunbi didn’t see them, Yerin would have been able to spend a little more time with her.

“Have a safe flight, Yerin. See you next semester,” Eunbi waved with a wide smile. The bright smile seemed to lift Yerin’s mood almost instantly and the girl waved back with a bigger grin before walking back to her friends.

“Looks like someone was really balling it over there,” Sojung wiggled an eyebrow. “Sorry we ruined your game.”

“It’s fine… Come to think of it, if that conversation carried on I might not know what else to say and we would just be standing there in an awkward silence so you might have unknowingly saved my there,” Yerin scratched her head.

“Welp, princess charming is leaving so I guess we should go get lunch before heading home. I’m starving,” Eunha said and Yerin turned back to see that Eunbi was already gone. Looking around, she saw that the girl was already halfway to the train station.

Oh well, I got to talk to her in person and see her face. Better than nothing.

Yerin quite enjoyed the semester break. The six-week break gave her enough time to work on her own projects, relax, catch up on sleep, meet her friends and binge-watch movies and cartoons. It also, however, made her miss and long for Eunbi even more. They did exchange more texts during the break as well as some photos of the interesting places they visited while overseas but what Yerin truly wanted was to see the girl in person and listen to her voice again.

She might not be the most studious or hardworking student but because of Eunbi, classes resuming didn’t seem that bad.

Yerin couldn’t focus. She was staring at the projector screen but nothing was going into her brain. Her leg was bouncing under the table and she would shift in her seat every few minutes.

“Could you keep still for like ten minutes? I’m trying to concentrate here,” Sojung whispered sharply. Yerin looked over at her annoyed friend and meekly apologized. “What’s gotten into you anyway?”

“I’m meeting Eunbi later,” Yerin explained as a foolish smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

“God, you’re hopeless,” Sojung rolled her eyes and resumed taking notes.

The moment their lecturer dismissed them, Yerin had already swung her bag over her shoulder, waiting impatiently for Sojung to pack up. Yerin practically dragged her to the bench where Eunha was waiting.

“Boy am I glad to see you. This kid wouldn’t stop moving in class from just the thought of meeting Eunbi,” Sojung sighed as she sat beside Eunha who simply giggled.

“So where is your girlfriend?” Eunha ribbed.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Yerin retorted, embarrassed.

“Yet.”

Yerin ignored the comment and checked her phone.
 

“She’s coming over,” Yerin announced and Eunha gave a sly smirk. Yerin had just sat down when she saw the blonde girl walking down the stairs with two other friends. Yerin quickly got up and met Eunbi a small distance from the table.

“Sorry I’m late,” Eunbi apologized but Yerin waved her off. She smiled and nodded at the two girls that were standing a little behind Eunbi.

“It’s okay. So uh, here,” Yerin cleared as she handed a small paper bag to Eunbi. “A little something I picked up while travelling.”

“Oh thank you,” Eunbi nearly bowed as she took the bag. “You really didn’t have to.”

“It’s no problem. Don’t worry about it,” Yerin flashed a grin and two thumbs up.

“Thank you, Yerin,” Eunbi smiled. “Have you had lunch?”

“I’m about to go get it with those two,” Yerin said and pointed behind her.

“Oh, I see. I shall not hold you up then. Eat well.”

“You too!” Yerin grinned and waved at Eunbi and her friends before darting back to the table.

“What a flirt,” Eunha teased. “She looked happy about it though.”

“She did?”

“How could you not notice when you were right in front of her?” Sojung raised an eyebrow.

“Be nice, she was busy with something else,” Eunha bumped the taller girl’s shoulder.

“Which is…”

“Staring at Eunbi’s beautiful face.”

“Shut up!” Yerin screeched and grabbed her wallet. “I’m going to get lunch.”

“Hey! Wait up!”

“Two packs of gummies? Do you really need that much sugar?” Eunha asked as Yerin paid for the gummies.

“I’m keeping one. The other is for Eunbi,” Yerin smiled. She had recently found out from the girl her favourite kind of candy and was about to exploit her newfound knowledge.

“Whipped.”

Yerin replied with a -eating grin as they made their way back to the studio. Instead of returning to her seat, she stopped by Eunbi’s class that was on the other side of the studio.

“Sup,” Yerin said smoothly as she stood beside the girl.

“Oh, hi. Didn’t see you there. No class now?”

“Break. Here,” Yerin pulled the gummies from behind her back and her heart melted at the sight of Eunbi’s surprised smile.

“For me?”

Yerin nodded.

“Thank you so much!” Eunbi beamed and Yerin felt herself falling a little more. She noticed the way Eunbi’s eyes twinkled in delight as she gently took the pack from Yerin.

“Glad you like it. I’ll get back to class now,” Yerin said and suppressed her creepily wide smile. “Good luck with your class!”

“You too!” Eunbi waved the gummies at Yerin who began walking away.

As soon as Yerin got back to her seat, she did a little victory dance.

“You are one strange kid,” Eunha shook her head with a smile.

Somehow, this became a thing for Yerin. Whenever they had classes at the same timing in the studio, Yerin would always get Eunbi a little something during her breaks. It wasn’t just gummies though. Yerin was thoughtful enough to get something depending on Eunbi’s mood.

A can of coffee when she seemed tired, a lollipop when she seemed stressed, a small note when she seemed upset... Yerin had it all covered. Eunbi too would give Yerin a pack of gummies now and then because "I feel bad if you spend so much on me but I give nothing back and besides, gummies make me happy so I'd like to share my happiness with you too".

“You know, instead of giving each other physical diabetes, why don’t you just confess already and start giving each other mental diabetes instead?” Sojung spun her pen around her thumb.

“I don’t know… I don’t even know if she likes me that way. We’re good friends now and I really don’t want to risk making things awkward,” Yerin sighed.

“You never know if you don’t try,” Eunha piped in. “She seems to cherish you as a friend so I doubt she would let this friendship drift apart because of your feelings. She doesn’t seem that shallow.”

“I’m…” Yerin twiddled her thumbs. “You think so?”

Eunha nodded confidently.

“I think you need to believe in yourself more,” Sojung said and Yerin fell silent, letting the words sink in.

“Maybe I should.”

Yerin was wracking her brain for a confession. Okay, maybe she was in denial that she simply lacked the courage to.

“Why am I such a coward?” Yerin groaned and faceplanted the pillow on her couch, screaming into it. She didn’t want to make things awkward but neither did she want to keep pining from afar. But if Eunbi didn’t like her back…

A chime from her phone stopped her midthought. It was a text from Eunbi.
 

Yerin’s eyes widened at the offer.
 

“God Jung Yerin, you sound so desperate,” she chided herself and started getting ready. She took a shower and after nearly emptying her entire closet, she finally settled with a striped shirt to go with her blue jeans.

The girl found herself ten minutes earlier than expected. Not wanting to seem too eager, she opted to sit by the fountain to wait instead of texting Eunbi. She looked down at the coins that littered the base of the fountain and tried to pass time by counting them. Yerin managed to count halfway around the fountain before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She flinched a little and turned to see Eunbi standing beside her.

“Sorry I scared you,” she giggled.

“Ah no it’s okay, I was just uh counting the coins while waiting,” Yerin said lamely.

“Oh? How much did you get to?” Eunbi asked, amusement evident in her eyes.

“A whopping two bucks and fifteen cents,” Yerin grinned.

“That’s a fortune,” Eunbi said, mirroring her grin. “Come, I’ll take you there.”

The darker hair girl nodded earnestly and stood up, falling in step beside Eunbi. She noticed that the girl was also in stripes and she felt her heart burst with glee. The walk to the noodle place was a short one and they seemed to be the only ones there. Yerin got Eunbi’s recommendation and offered to pay but Eunbi shook her head, insisting she should pay.

“I asked you out so i’m paying.”

“But I’ll feel bad,” Yerin pouted.

“You being here is good enough payment for me,” Eunbi smiled and handed the bills to the staff. “Were you doing anything before I dragged you here at such short notice?” Eunbi chuckled.

“Not really. If you didn’t ask me out I would have just cooked some ramyeon and watched a movie or something,” Yerin shrugged. “But it’s always nice to have company for dinner.”

“Glad to know I didn’t interrupt anything then,” Eunbi smiled.

Dinner passed over Yerin telling Eunbi more about her friends which prompted the latter to share some stories about her group of friends too. When they were done, Yerin suggested heading to the common area at school where they could sit and talk for a little more.

They settled down on the synthetic grass and sat in silence for a moment. The atmosphere at night was vastly different from the day. It was quiet and the cool night breeze made it all the more relaxing.

“I think this is the first time we’ve spent time together, right?” Eunbi asked and Yerin hummed.

“I quite like your company,” Yerin admitted. It wasn’t because she had a huge crush on Eunbi but she was genuinely comfortable to be around with Eunbi. The girl’s down-to-earth personality gave her a trustworthy vibe which made Yerin very tempted to just spill the beans because she had a gut feeling that nothing extreme would happen.

“I like your company too. You’re a good person, Yerin. I wish we could hang out like this more often,” Eunbi said candidly as she leaned back against the metal border.

“You… You do?” Yerin asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I wish we got to spend more time knowing each other.”

Yerin bit back a scream.

Hwang Eunbi? The blonde goddess wants to know me better? 

“Don’t look so shocked,” Eunbi laughed when she saw that Yerin had the look of utter disbelief on her face. “Did you not think I wanted to be friends with you?”

“I don’t know… I mean we don’t really hang out like this and well… I was just trying to read your emotions from texts…”

“I’ve actually wanted to be your friend since I saw you around in the middle of sem one. You seemed really nice but you seemed really shy and quiet.”

“Well… I saw you at orientation but I was to shy to say hi…”

“Looks like we’re both timid souls huh?” Eunbi laughed at Yerin’s confession. “But honestly… How do I say this?”

Is she going to…

“I like you. As in, like like. Romantically. Wow, my speech is all over the place today,” Eunbi laughed at herself and rubbed her face. She pushed herself to sit up straight and face Yerin. “What I’m trying to say is that I find you attractive. And that I’d like if we could just go out and grow closer. I know it’s a bit strange coming from someone you barely interact face to face but I think you deserve to know. You might not swing that way or maybe you do but just don’t like me back, whatever it is, I want you to remember that the most important thing is that to me, this friendship is something I genuinely value. No matter what happens, us being friends on talking terms is the most important thing.”

Yerin stared at Eunbi, mind completely blanked out at the girl’s long confession. Eunbi likes her too? That she truly treasured this friendship even though they weren’t that close yet?

“I’m sorry, I think I overstepped my boundaries,” Eunbi bit her lip, not knowing what to make of Yerin’s silence.

“What? No! No no no, you didn’t!” Yerin waved both her hands. “I’m just… really shocked that you would like me,” Yerin her lips. “I mean, have you seen yourself? You’re charming and pretty and hardworking… Never in my wildest imagination would I have seen this coming. I’m not dreaming am I?”

Eunbi shook her head, still waiting on Yerin’s answer.

“I guess you beat me to it. I had been working up the courage to tell you the same but I was afraid it would affect what we have now. I’d rather have you as a friend all my life and keep my feelings a secret than possibly ruin it and never be able to talk to you again but I guess you solved it all.”

“So… You’ll go out with me?” Eunbi’s eyes twinkled in delight.

“Any time you want. Just text and I’ll drop everything.”

“No no don’t do that. I’ll text you but you should only come if you’re free,” Eunbi corrected.

“Deal,” the dark-haired girl beamed.

Miracles do come true after all.

[A/N]  This was inspired by my friend's real-life events but unfortunately not the last bit so let's all pray for her :P