“K-Kang.. Seulgi?”

Yeri repeats as her jaw went slack, the whole words Seulgi had just said not sinking in.

At this point in her life, she would do whatever she could just to get out of the position she’s in right now. The universe must’ve been mad at her, and this was its way of giving her a taste of her own medicine. Sure, Yeri’s quite a little demon, being completely carefree in life and pulling a couple of pranks here and there. But never had she thought of the consequences to be of this degree.

Seulgi’s hand was still in front of her, her face expecting a handshake in return. Yeri could only stare at her hand, refusing to meet the monolid woman’s gaze. She couldn’t move a single muscle in her body, because the guilt was eating her up.

Now that she’s met the woman that was supposed to be her date, she couldn’t necessarily come up with an excuse to why she refused to show up. She knew that both Wendy and Irene had told her the truth, so why was she still deciding whether she’d introduce herself or not? Should she just use an english name? Why was she so bothered?

Maybe it was because she didn’t want to be that girl; the “hi, I’m the girl who ditched on you” type of person.

But she knew that the truth would set her free.

An awkward silence follows them as Seulgi continues to set her gaze towards Yeri, the short haired girl overthinking every possible thing that might happen next.

“Hey, earth to barista? You there?” Yeri’s thoughts were cut off by Seulgi’s honey-like voice, the older woman trying to wave a hand on Yeri’s face.

“O-oh, yes. Sorry, I was thinking,” the short-haired girl could only blush, realizing she kept on embarrassing herself in front of Seulgi as each moment passes by.

“Thought I lost you there,” Seulgi says. “Seems like there’s alot going in your mind, huh?” the tall woman uses her unstretched hand to make a knuckle, knocking it lightly on her head.

“...Right, yeah.”

“So... Your name? I noticed that you didn’t have a name tag on, which is pretty weird if you ask me.” Seulgi smiles at her.

That was too close for Yeri.

Oh well, she might as well tell the truth.

Yeri sighs in defeat. “I’m sorry. I’m the—“

“Yah, Squirtle! Last time I checked, you work here,” Sooyoung yells, not filing her nails anymore. It seemed like there was a customer who had entered the café without Yeri being aware, the barista distracted from the conversation she was having with Seulgi.

There are times where Yeri just wants to thank the tall girl for her perfect timing.

Not to mention the nickname she had for Yeri.

“Coming!” Yeri yells back while shooting an apologetic gaze to the woman in front of her.

“I guess I have to go back now,” Yeri looks away from Seulgi, connecting both of her hands together as she plays with it out of nervousness.

“I see. I have to go as well, see you soon then?” Seulgi nods, the taller woman moving her stretched hand back to place them inside the pocket of her oversized coat.

Seulgi’s reply surprises Yeri, but the girl maintains her composure. Trying to be casual, she says an “I guess”, receiving one more laugh from Seulgi.

“I will see you, Squirtle.” Seulgi turns back to walk away. Yeri blushes at her nickname as she watches the woman push the café door to exit, the tiny bell hung above ringing.

Yeri sighs, tired of the events that had just unfolded a few moments ago. She turns back to Sooyoung who looked like she was impatiently waiting for her. Yeri walks back to go behind the counter, returning to her usual tasks. Sooyoung tells her the customer’s order as she nods to start brewing the coffee.

It was definitely a long day for her.

-

Yeri’s finally back in her apartment, sliding off the bag from her shoulders down to the floor. She slips off her shoes and throws them near her door, walking towards her brown couch to slump on it. She releases a long sigh, recalling the events from moments ago.

“Maybe it’s meant to be.”

“What do you mean “meant to be?”” Yeri asks.

“I mean, I did get stood up. That really ,”

“But here I am, in a coffee shop with an interesting cashier, a barista who says yikes, while being served with a damn good cup of coffee.”

Yeri pulls the pillow beside her onto her face, groaning at her actions from earlier.

“Idiot,” she mutters, smacking her face with the pillow repeatedly.

Yeri’s usually pulled together; she doesn’t get distracted by anything, nor by anyone. For some reason, Kang Seulgi ran marathons inside her thoughts like the woman didn’t get tired in the trackfield that was Yeri’s mind. She lies on her couch, staring at the ceiling above her. She ends the continuous circling of the monolid woman in her mind by calling her out loud.

“Kang Seulgi,” Yeri rolls out her name, testing it herself.

She continues to stare at the ceiling, thinking about what was happening to her. Maybe it really was the fact that she’s the one who turned her down (but technically, she didn’t since it was planned by Wendy and Irene without her consent). She thought that she should’ve just told Seulgi earlier, but she became a stuttering mess for some reason. Other than that, she’s a bit ashamed to reveal her name, just because.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut by the ringing of her phone inside her bag.

Yeri scurries, reaching for the item to check who it was, the phone displaying “Wendy-unnie” with a hamster emoji beside the name. She immediately swipes the screen to answer the call, placing it beside her ear.

“Yerimmie! Hello?” Irene’s voice comes out from the other line.

“Irene unnie, is that you? What’s up?” Yeri replies, only to hear a messy line in return.

“Wendy-ah, how does this thing work again? Hello? Yerim?” Irene, still oblivious as to how modern things work, asks her girlfriend while Yeri sighs at her friend’s lack of wit.

“Unnie, I’m right here,” Yeri softly laughs.

“Irene, just hand me the phone, I’ll talk to her.” She hears best friend from the other line.

“Hey, Yerim! Did Irene give you a hard time from earlier?” Wendy snickers, Yeri hearing a “Yah!” that sounded like Irene’s voice.

“Unnie, shouldn’t that question be directed to you right now?”

“Kim Yerim, you’re lucky that you’re not with us right now,” Irene divulges as the woman’s girlfriend’s gulp was audibly heard.

“I kind of forgot to tell you that I put us on speaker mode,” Wendy says, laughing along with Yeri.

“Anyway, the reason why we called you is because we wanted to assure you that Seulgi’s completely fine with what happened,” her best friend informs her, continuing her story.

“I mean at first she sounded disappointed about it, but she messaged us earlier about her finding someone interesting!”

“Oh, really? That sounds great!” Yeri says in her happy voice, relieved that the weight on her shoulders has finally been lifted. Maybe now the weird stuff that Yeri felt inside would be gone for good. Thank God for whoever it was that caught Seulgi’s eyes.

Should she tell them that she’s already met Seulgi?

“I know, right? I’m actually happy about the outcome. I know you tend to o