They met at a house party.

    Chaeyoung had pretty much been dragged there by her friends, despite the fact that she’d told them repeatedly that partying was the last thing she felt like doing that night. She had originally planned on perhaps going out around one o’clock in the morning, finding a nice quiet spot on one of the academic building rooftops, and getting high by herself. She wasn’t in a social mood, and being taken to a party against her will made her even more antisocial.

    Jennie, Lalisa, and Jisoo were all dressed up, swathed in beautiful outfits that made their already stunning appearances stand out even further. It’s not like they were wearing formal dresses or anything, but they had certainly put a lot of effort into their looks. Chaeyoung, on the other hand, wore a tank top and a pair of tattered jeans, not even bothering to put her contacts in, wearing those oversized, thick-rimmed glasses that Jennie mocked her to no end for. But she didn’t care. Her main plan was to hang out a little, maybe dance with her friends to keep them placated, wait for them to either find hookups or start puking from drinking too much, and then head home promptly at midnight. She found solace in the fact that they left her dorm around 10:17pm. She had to endure less than two hours of this bull.

Finals had just ended, meaning everyone was out and about that night. Meaning, everywhere the four girls went, they either ran into people they knew (which Chaeyoung honestly didn’t mind, as most of them were people she was on good terms with) or would be engaged by groups of guys who wanted to bring them to parties of their own. Jennie and Lisa usually humored them while Chaeyoung sat on her phone in the back, wishing that they’d hurry up and stop bullting; they never intended to actually go to these parties, but they enjoyed the attention from guys. Jisoo usually wouldn’t participate because she had a girlfriend, someone who she was very loyal to. In fact, the house they were going to belonged to Jisoo’s girlfriend herself.

The party was at a pair of off-campus houses, one of which was owned by Jisoo’s girlfriend and a few other girls, the other which was owned by about seven guys. It was only a fifteen minute walk from Chaeyoung’s dorm. Due Lisa and Jennie’s propensity to waste as much time as humanly possible, however, it took about a half hour. To be honest though, Chaeyoung enjoyed the extra time they were able to spend away from the party, as she usually got pretty anxious when dealing with large social gatherings. And this was no exception.

The two houses were absolutely filled to the brim with people. They overflowed onto the sidewalk and backyard. The sound of house music boomed throughout the whole street, punctuated here and there by the occasional yell or shout.

Chaeyoung allowed Jennie to lead the way in, aggressively shoving her way through the crowd and into the hot, cramped house inside. The younger girl reached out and took Jennie’s elbow in order to avoid being separated in the crowd; God, she hated this kind of . Brushing up against all these people, the gross heat of the air, the lingering smell of sweat and a thousand different mixed perfumes, the headache-inducing music… It was truly hell for an introvert like her.

“Where are we going, anyway?” Chaeyoung shouted to her friend, looking back to see only Jisoo behind her, “And where’s Lisa?”

“She went to talk with a boy she knew from some class,” Jisoo explained, rolling her eyes, “He wasn’t even cute!”

“We’re going to find Joohyun and them,” Jennie added without turning around, “She told me they were in the backyard.”

Chaeyoung felt herself relaxing as they exited through the kitchen door and back into the open air. The music was slightly more muted here, she felt like she could breathe, and she wasn’t jammed up against everyone. Plus, Joohyun and her friends had always been nice to Chaeyoung and not overly rowdy, so she enjoyed talking to them.

Jennie led the two other girls to the back corner of the yard, near a plastic table where four people were playing beer pong, surrounded by many others who were waiting to play next. Chaeyoung recognized the girls: the goddess, Bae Joohyun, her younger sister (who technically shouldn’t have been there, as she was still in high school) Yerim, Jisoo’s girlfriend, Kang Seulgi, and Joohyun’s girlfriend, Son Seungwan.

“Hi guys!” Jennie greeted as Jisoo wasted no time in wrapping herself around the bear-like monolidded girl, showering her with a series of kisses that made Chaeyoung want to gag.

“Hi!... ,” Yerim replied as she failed to get the ping-pong ball in their opponents’ cup, her usually giggly persona amplified by the obviously large amount of liquor she’d consumed.

“Watch your language, Yerim,” Joohyun chastised, giving her younger sister a soft slap on the arm.

“Take it easy on her, she’s at a college party,” Seulgi said, chuckling, “She fits in here more than you do anyway, Joohyun.”

The older girl responded by giving her housemate a disapproving look.

“So, Yerim, see any guys here you like?” Jisoo asked mischievously, but before she could continue, Joohyun reached out and pinched her, hard.

“No. She. Does. Not.”

The entire group of girls erupted into laughter, including Chaeyoung, who mainly preferred to remain silent and simply observe the conversation.

“Wannie,” Joohyun said pensively, clearly getting tired of the banter, “Maybe you should go check on your cousin in the bathroom. She’s taking forever.”

“I’m sure she just ran into a girl she thought was cute and is trying to chat her up or something.” Seungwan said offhandedly, tossing her own ping-pong ball and sinking it directly into one of Joohyun and Yerim’s cups, causing Seulgi to let out a loud, goofy cheer.

Yerim reached over to drink the can of beer she had, but Joohyun swiftly grabbed it before she could and took the drink for her. The younger girl pouted and grumbled under her breath.

“You guys talking about me?” a high, jocular voice inquired, and Chaeyoung turned to see what might just have been an angel, straight from heaven, come down to grace the Earth with her radiant presence.

She was tall and curvaceous, her stunning body accentuated by the form-fitting, rainbow-colored dress she wore. Her cheeks were strikingly chubby in contrast, though not in a bad way at all; paired with those big, thoughtful eyes, they made her look like the pinnacle of adorableness. Her lips were a luscious, y red, standing out against her flawless pale skin. Her dark hair fell down her shoulders, messily splayed out over her stark collarbones.

As the newcomer walked towards them, Chaeyoung couldn’t help but stare at her legs, at the way her quadriceps muscles contracted midway through each step.

Chaeyoung was only taken out of her trance when she felt Jennie reach over, closing for her and preventing her from gaping like an idiot for any longer.

“Thanks…” Chaeyoung mumbled, causing Jennie to fall into a fit of giggles that she had to tame using her fist.

“Took you long enough,” Seungwan said, “Hyun was starting to get a little antsy.”

“She’s always antsy.” the angel replied, smiling jokingly.

Joohyun, who looked thoroughly fed up at this point, merely kept shut and went to attempt her next shot.

“So,” Jennie cut in, suddenly grabbing Chaeyoung by the waist and guiding her over so that she wasn’t merely at the fringes of the group, “What’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry, I should’ve introduced you guys,” Seungwan said apologetically, brushing a few stray blonde hairs from her face, “Guess I’m a little more tipsy than I thought… anyway, this is my cousin, Sooyoung. She’s from Korea. She’s staying with my family over the summer so I decided to bring her here tonight. Sooyoung, that’s Jennie, Chaeyoung and Jisoo.”

“It’s nice to meet you guys!” Sooyoung said cheerfully, and Chaeyoung’s heart skipped a beat when the black-haired girl’s gaze fell on her specifically.

“You know,” Jennie said thoughtfully, pushing the terrified Chaeyoung fully forward now, “Chaeyoung was originally born in Korea.”

“Were you?” Sooyoung asked, “Where are you from?”

“Oh, I-I was born in Seoul. But I grew up in New Zealand, actually,” Chaeyoung could feel all eyes on her, a feeling that she hated with a raging passion, almost as much as she hated Jennie right now for throwing her into this situation.

“New Zealand?” Sooyoung questioned in amazement, stepping forward so that she was fully facing Chaeyoung, her eyes wide and doe-like, “That’s so cool! So you came to America for university?”

Chaeyoung noted that as soon as Sooyoung had fully engaged her, Jennie had sneakily slipped her way back into the group, and they’d gone back to their idle chat and drinking game.

“It’s not that cool, I mean like, it’s pretty similar to here except for the weather, and you know, the accents. But yeah, I came here for university. They have better nursing schools here.”

“I think New Zealand accents are so hot,” Sooyoung said, laughing lightly. Chaeyoung prayed that the younger girl couldn’t see the blush beginning to rise within in her own cheeks, “And nursing? Damn, you must be some kind of genius. I wish I’d done something like that.”

Chaeyoung smiled blankly as she attempted to think of a response. She wasn’t good in these kind of situations, especially ones where she was trying to think of things to say to ridiculously good-looking girls. She found herself trying to conjure up of Lisa or Jennie flirting with people, and the way they acted when they did so. It took her a moment, but she was able to form a complete thought.

“What are you doing now? Do you go to school?”

“Well, actually, no. I went to an Arts School… kind of the equivalent of a high school for people who want to do something art-related,” Sooyoung explained, “I’m technically an actress. But I plan on going back to school once I’ve saved up the money.”

“An actress?” it was Chaeyoung’s turn to be amazed, “Like in plays and stuff?”

“No,” Sooyoung said with a chuckle, her expression shifting to an uncharacteristically withdrawn one, “TV shows, movies, stuff like that.”

“Wow!” Chaeyoung exclaimed, her voice coming out much louder than she expected, causing her to cup both hands over and look around shyly. Sooyoung threw her head back, laughing heartily as the girls (and a few other random people around them) turned to glance over at the source of the noise.

“Don’t have too much fun over there, you two,” Seulgi teased, winking over at Chaeyoung. Fortunately, Sooyoung was too busy wiping her tears of mirth away to notice.

Chaeyoung wanted to die.

“You’re funny, Chaeyoung,” Sooyoung said when she’d recovered, moving a bit closer and reaching out to touch the older girl’s shoulder, sending sparks of electric heat out from the point of contact, “Why don’t I get you a drink? You seem a little tense.”

“Oh, n-no, I’m fine, I don’t drink much. It makes my stomach feel weird. I prefer to smoke,” she was so used to speaking these words that they came out automatically, before she could stop them.

“Oh, do you?” Sooyoung asked, her neatly groomed eyebrows shooting up, “A nurse that smokes weed? How scandalous!”

“Well, I plan on stopping before I actually go get a job, you know? And it helps me relax, cus I’m naturally pretty anxious.”

Chaeyoung nearly punched herself for the way she was speaking. Sooyoung probably thought she was a complete dork. Not that she wasn’t, but she didn’t want Sooyoung to know that.

“Hm, you do look like a pretty anxious person,” Sooyoung quipped, “But that’s okay. It’s cute.”

    There was no way Sooyoung couldn’t see the older girl’s blush now.

    “So how about instead of getting us a drink, we smoke?” Sooyoung propositioned, “If you have any weed, that is.”

    “Uh, I-I, ummm…”

    Chaeyoung was at a complete loss for words. Was she hearing right? No. She must have been going deaf. Or dreaming. Or simply losing her ing mind. Because there was no way this beautiful Korean actress had just asked to smoke with her.

    “It’s fine if you don’t want to,” Sooyoung said, looking slightly dejected, “Weed’s pretty expensive, and-”

    “No! We can smoke! I would love to smoke with you!”

    Again, Chaeyoung’s voice became obnoxiously loud, and the younger girl couldn’t contain herself. She laughed harder than she did the first time, leaving Chaeyoung standing there, awkwardly playing with her hands while she waited for her new friend to recover. In the meantime, she caught Jennie’s eye at the far corner of the pong table, and the older girl gave her a brisk thumbs up. Chaeyoung responded with a smile, admitting to herself that she was pretty grateful for Jennie’s propensity to try and get her laid.

    “As long as you’re sure,” Sooyoung said after a time, “Where do you wanna go? You know people will ask for some if we smoke here.”

“I don’t know. The weed’s at my apartment anyway, so we’d have to stop by there-”

“Inviting me over to your apartment?” Sooyoung’s voice took on an exaggerated tone of offense and she leaned back in mock bewilderment, “What kind of girl do you think I am?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant,” the older girl blundered, not realizing that Sooyoung was only kidding, “I’m not trying to, uh… like… that’s not what I-”

“Relax,” Sooyoung said sincerely, reaching out and rubbing the older girl’s shoulder again, “I’m just messing with you. We can go back to your apartment if you want.”

A wave of relief washed over Chaeyoung and she grinned.

“Okay. It’s like a fifteen-minute walk from here. Unless you wanna Uber.”

“Nah,” Sooyoung said, looking up at the sky, “It’s a really nice night. I kinda wanna enjoy it.”

    “Alright… let me just tell my friends where we’re going and-”

    “Oh it’s fine, they’ll know you’re safe. You’re with me,” Sooyoung said, taking the older girl by her hand and sending her heart back into its unhealthily quick rhythms, “And I can text Seungwan and tell her we went back to your place. Come on, we can cut around the side of the house so we don’t need to walk through that crowded kitchen.”

    Sooyoung practically dragged the bespectacled girl through the throngs of people that were milling about the backyard. Chaeyoung glanced back one time to see her entire group of friends staring shamelessly, all wearing bemused, yet proud, expressions. All except Jennie, who looked like she was celebrating some kind of massive victory of sorts.

***

    “So this is it,” Chaeyoung said, opening the door to her apartment and flicking the lights on, “Me, Jennie, Jisoo, and Lisa live here.”

    Sooyoung stepped in after her, gawking as if the place was some kind of magnificent palace.

    And it really wasn’t. It was just a standard, shared apartment that most university students had. In fact, the place was a bit messy, with a few beer cans and opened bags of snacks littered about the living room.

    “What are you so impressed with?” Chaeyoung said playfully, “It’s just an apartment.”

    “I don’t know… it’s just so cool to me to be living in the same space as all your friends. The place I live in is really small compared to this, and I live alone. Plus, it looks so homey. Like you know, such a relaxed environment. If my managers caught me drinking...” Sooyoung visibly shuddered at the thought, and Chaeyoung found that a little sad.

    “Well,” Chaeyoung said, beckoning slightly for Sooyoung to follow her down the hall, “At least for now, your managers can’t stop you from doing anything. Like getting high as .”

    Sooyoung giggled and followed the older girl.

    “You know, you’re a lot more comfortable now that we’re not at that party,” she observed, “I noticed that on the walk home, too. You don’t like big social things like that, do you?”

    Chaeyoung had to bite back a sigh. Sooyoung read her like a ing book.

    The walk home had been fun, actually. Normally Chaeyoung would have felt awkward spending a whole fifteen minutes walking alone with someone she barely knew, but this was different. Sooyoung kept the conversation smooth, commenting on things they passed, such as a brawl going on in front of one of the frat houses, waving off the advances of drunken men (without indulging them like Jennie or Lalisa would have), and talking about her life as an actress (at Chaeyoung’s request, of course). The foreign girl talked about the TV shows that she’d been in, what it was like working on set, and how insanely busy her schedule was. She seemed to have picked up on Chaeyoung’s quiet tendencies from the start, and as her personality was the exact opposite, it was easy for her to talk at length. Sooyoung wasn’t without her own insecurities though; she seemed unwilling to go to deep into what her actual life was back in Korea, purposely avoiding the subject of family and friends, focusing more on her job and the physical aspects of it, rather than the emotional ones. Chaeyoung noted this and made a point not to press too hard for information. If Sooyoung wanted to share something, she would.

    “And this is my room. My weed and wraps are under the bed, just gotta grab them real quick...” Chaeyoung said nervously, gesturing to the small living space she was afforded. She’d taken the smallest room, not because it was the cheapest, but because it was the most comfortable for her. She enjoyed small spaces.

    Sooyoung was again unjustly impressed with what she was seeing.

    “It’s such a nice room!” she nearly squealed, “All the black and pink colors, and all these stuffed animals… It’s so cute! It really suits you.”

    “Thanks,” Chaeyoung said, her voice muffled as she reached under her bed, feeling for the shoebox where she kept all of her paraphernalia.

    The older girl emerged from beneath the bed, hair now spread in messy wisps around her head. To her horror, Sooyoung was holding an old photograph of her, the only one that she kept in her room; it was a photo of her and Jennie as kids, from many summers ago, their faces smeared with ice cream. Chaeyoung immediately dashed over and tried to take the picture from the younger girl, but Sooyoung evaded her by running to the other side of the room.

    “Holy , you were adorable!” Sooyoung said, holding the picture behind her to prevent Chaeyoung from grabbing at it, “So your natural hair color is black, like mine?”

    “Yeah,” Chaeyoung muttered, struggling to grab the photo out of the surprisingly nimble Sooyoung’s hands, “But my friends say I look better with the scarlet…”

    Sooyoung stopped moving all of a sudden, causing all of Chaeyoung’s weight to fall directly on top of her, sending both girls crashing down. Luckily, they were positioned directly over Chaeyoung’s bed, so they fell harmlessly onto the mattress, Chaeyoung managing to catch herself so that she wouldn’t completely crush Sooyoung.

    They lay there for a moment, both girls out of breath, Chaeyoung’s hands pressed on either side of the black-haired girl’s head, her scarlet hair forming a curtain that surrounded them both. Their exhausted pants mingled with each other, and Chaeyoung could smell a cool mintiness to Sooyoung’s breath, mingled with just a small hint of alcohol.

    “I think your natural hair color would look great on you,” Sooyoung said breathily, a stray hand moving to brush at some of Chaeyoung’s locks.

    “Th-thank you…” the older girl said nervously, suddenly very aware of the position they were in, how close they were, how tightly together their bodies were pressed…

    Chaeyoung shot up from the bed, reaching out to offer Sooyoung a hand in getting up. The younger girl had the ghost of a smile on her face, as if she was mildly amused by Chaeyoung’s actions.

    “So, are we just gonna smoke here, or…”

    “We can’t. The fire alarms will go off. I usually go to the roof. It’s a little chilly up there, though, so...”

    Chaeyoung turned and began fishing through the her closet, quickly producing a denim jacket and tossing it over Sooyoung’s shoulders.

    “So chivalrous,” Sooyoung said with a radiant smile, “Thank you.”

    The two girls then departed from Chaeyoung’s apartment, taking the elevator to the uppermost floor of the building before walking up a small flight of stairs, leading to a cordoned-off ladder with a trapdoor at the top.

    “Oooh, we’re being naughty, huh?” Sooyoung japed, “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

    “Shut up,” Chaeyoung grumbled, lifting the thin chain that “blocked” the entrance to the ladder so that Sooyoung wouldn’t have to bend as much to get under it, “This is hardly that crazy of a thing to do.”

    The two girls emerged at the top of the building, and for what felt like the thousandth time that night, Sooyoung was awestruck. Although, Chaeyoung had to admit, the view from the apartment rooftop was pretty magnificent; naturally, as it was one of the tallest buildings in the area. You could see pretty much the entire campus from here, and in the distance, the adjacent city, all covered with sparkling lights and dots and rectangles that represented cars and people as they moved about their nightly lives. It was Chaeyoung’s favorite smoke spot, and more often than not the place she’d come here to get high with one of her roommates on nights when they both decided to stay in.

    “This is awesome!” Sooyoung said giddily, skipping over to the edge of the roof and looking out at the view, her arms spread out to either side of her, “You can see everything from up here!”

    “I see you’re still easily amused…” Chaeyeon mumbled, earning her a playful smack on the arm from the black-haired girl.

    “You can’t deny that this is pretty cool though.”

    “Oh, I know. I just like messing around with you.”

    Sooyoung’s cheeks suddenly took on a deep crimson hue and she looked away. Chaeyoung immediately realized what she’d said and attempted to backtrack.

    “That’s not what I meant, I meant like joking, like-”

    The flustered redhead was cut off when Sooyoung stepped close to her, wrapping both arms around her slim waist and pulling her close so that their bodies were pressed against one another again. Chaeyoung felt her breath escape her as she looked into those heavy-lidded, sparkling eyes that threatened to consume her entirely.

    “Maybe I want you to mean it in the other way…” Sooyoung whispered, her tone becoming husky and low.

    They remained in that position for a second more before the younger girl released Chaeyoung and jumped back, letting out another round of her trademark high-pitched laughter.

    “You should’ve seen the look on your face!” she guffawed, “You’re so easily flustered, it’s great!”

    Chaeyoung blinked in shock, trying to clear her head. She had no idea how to feel. There was no chance at all that Sooyoung’s actions just now were a simple prank. They felt too real, too emotionally charged to be a mere joke.

    “Anyway, if you’re done trying to seduce me,” the older girl tried to recover her previously unfazed demeanor, but she knew Sooyoung could see through it, “Let’s get to smoking, shall we?”

    Chaeyoung had made sure to bring extra papers, along with one of her old notebooks so that she could have something to work on top of. The two girls sat cross-legged, Sooyoung using her hands to shield Chaeyoung’s intricate work from the wind as she crafted a perfectly rolled joint.

    “You can do the honors,” Chaeyoung said when she was finished, handing the joint and a lighter over to her rainbow-dress-clad companion.

    Sooyoung took the two items uncertainly, looking utterly lost on what she was supposed to do. She tentatively placed the cigarette between her lips and flicked the lighter a few times in front of it, any attempts to fully light the thing being impeded by the wind. Eventually, Chaeyoung took over, holding the joint in place with one hand and lighting it with the other. The older girl was able to get it lit almost immediately, and Sooyoung took a long, deep drag.

    As expected, the younger girl rapidly succumbed to a fit of wild coughing, so much so that she doubled over and pressed her hands against her knees. It was Chaeyoung’s turn to laugh now as she took three similar-length hits from the cigarette, smoothly exhaling large clouds of smoke that were whisked away by the warm breeze.

    “Don’t smoke often, do you?” the redhead asked, patting Sooyoung’s back, trying to ignore the fact that the younger girl’s back muscles felt divine beneath her palm.

    “No, I do not,” Sooyoung choked out, taking a seat so that she could enjoy the view, “It’s a pretty serious crime to smoke the ‘Devil’s lettuce’ in Korea.”

    “I forgot about that,” Chaeyoung said, joining the black-haired girl, “That’s really depressing for you guys. Sometimes I swear this ’s the only thing keeping me sane.”

    “Ah, for me, that’s alcohol. You know how Korean culture is. Pretty much everyone drinks their problems away.”

Sooyoung took another hit of the joint, this time much slower and much shallower, and thankfully, she only coughed a little.

“But you’re the famous actress Park Sooyoung,” Chaeyoung ashed the cigarette over the edge of the rooftop, “What problems could you possibly have?”

Sooyoung merely sighed in response, causing Chaeyoung to look over at her. The younger girl’s eyes were already pretty bloodshot. Her low tolerance for the drug made her feel its effects much quicker than the seasoned veteran beside her.

“I was just kidding… I didn’t mean it seriously…”

“No, no, that’s fine. It’s just that, sometimes I wish I could live like you do. I’m not belittling your problems at all, don’t worry, I know nursing school can be a . But being an actress wasn’t my first choice at all. I just did it because my family needed the money. I wish I could go to university and be a normal person, sometimes. And do like this. Go to parties without fear of being seen, smoke weed on rooftops at one o’clock in the morning…”

“I didn’t know you had so many restrictions, honestly,” Chaeyoung mused, “I always kind of thought actresses just made a load of money and partied all the time.”

Sooyoung chuckled.

“I wish it were that easy.”

The two girls were silent for a time then, staring at the city skyline as the ’s effects worked its sweet magic on them. Chaeyoung had finally gotten to the point where she was feeling pretty good; that level of high where just the act of breathing was a pleasant experience.

Sooyoung, on the other hand, put her face in her hands and began to cry. Chaeyoung took a moment to notice what was going on, and when she did, it took her an extra three seconds to think of what to do. She carefully wrapped an arm around the younger girl’s shoulders, and to her relief, Sooyoung leaned up against her as she sobbed.

“What’s wrong?” Chaeyoung asked.

“N-nothing, I’m really enjoying myself,” Sooyoung wailed.

“Wh-what?” Luckily, Chaeyoung was used to being confused.

“You’re an awesome person,” Sooyoung said, looking up, their faces only inches away once more. Chaeyoung swallowed, locking gazes with the younger girl, “You’re so genuine, and easy to get along with… not like all the people I normally have to deal with. They’re all so fake and vapid. You never know who’s actually your friend or not, even people you think are your best friends can stab you in the back at any minute. I have to pretend I’m all prim and proper all the time, as if I’m not a ing human who does the same goddamn everyone else does. I… I just wanna be normal. But I can’t. I have to do it for my family. They need the money. Maybe once I get them enough to get back on their feet, maybe then I can live a normal life, move to a country where no one knows me, and just be a regular person for once…”

“Sooyoung… I’m sorry,” the redhead whispered, unconsciously reaching over and pushing a couple of windswept hairs away from Sooyoung’s face, “I know what it’s like to feel like that. To feel like you’re the only person who’s real, like everyone around you is just faking who they are, and that they’d do anything they could to get ahead of you, in any way possible. To feel like you’re constantly being manipulated… Nursing school is like that, if you’re willing to believe it. Maybe not on the same scale as your profession, but there’s a reason I’m not good friends with anyone in my graduating class. I’m just lucky I have Jennie and all them.”

“I didn’t mean to make the conversation all serious,” Sooyoung said ruefully, wiping her tears away, though she remained leaning on Chaeyoung, “I’m sorry… I’m really high.”

Chaeyoung laughed and squeezed the younger girl tighter.

“It’s cool, I like getting to know you. You’re an interesting person.”

They sat like that for a time, Sooyoung idly cuddling Chaeyoung’s shoulder. The older girl could feel the tenseness of her own body. Although the weed had relaxed her a bit, she was still in mild shock about the position that she and Sooyoung were currently in. So close together… almost like lovers.

“Hey, Chaeyoung?” Sooyoung questioned, causing the older girl to turn and look at her again.

Chaeyoung was unable to respond, as there seemed to be a pair of lips pressing against her own. They were warm and moist, with a small taste of cherry on them. Sooyoung wrapped her arms around Chaeyoung, pulling her closer, capturing her in a tight embrace that Chaeyoung happily returned. The kiss deepened then, Chaeyoung prying open the black-haired girl’s lips and allowing their weed-flavored breath to intermingle before their tongues met. The two girls raked their hands through one another’s hair as they kissed, swaying back and forth gently as they increased the intensity of their intimate conjunction.

They stayed on the rooftop for about another hour, intermittently kissing and talking, until they decided it was about time they retire to the older girl’s bedroom.