unrequited moonsun/wheesa/wheebyul

~1000w, angst

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The bell on the cafe door chimes.

“,” Byulyi breathes. She stares at something over Hyejin’s shoulder, and Hyejin doesn’t need to turn around to guess who has just walked into the cafe.

She can tell by the way Byulyi’s expression changes, the turbulent mix of emotions washing over her face, struggling to stay beneath the surface. Her jaw trembles and sets, and Hyejin sees how hard Byulyi tries not to look. But her eyes are always drawn back to her, with the kind of gaze that has stopped hoping but can’t stop wanting.

“Oh, Byul.”

Hyejin stands and moves to the seat beside Byulyi, places a hand on her knee for some small comfort. She follows the line of Byulyi’s sight, to a table by the window where Yongsun is sitting with her boyfriend. Even at this distance Hyejin can see the adoration in the older girl’s eyes, the warmth and glow of her smile.

For all the ups and downs they’ve been through together, Hyejin has never seen Yongsun so happy before. She can’t help but allow the corners of to lift, despite being on the outside of the bubble that the couple is enclosed in. Yongsun’s laughter has that effect - radiant, warming everything it touches.

“I’m sorry - where were we? Your new apartment.” Byulyi looks at her with a pathetic excuse for a smile, and Hyejin’s heart goes out to the girl.

“Hey, it’s okay.” she says gently, wraps an arm around Byulyi’s skinny frame. “It can’t be easy, seeing her like this.”

Any trace of false bravado crumples from Byulyi’s face. She’s always been soft, Hyejin thinks, always so open. Even while waiting for that fleeting, perfect moment to confess her feelings to Yongsun, she would pour out the intensity of them to Hyejin, hopefully, helplessly. Byulyi has never described Yongsun as anything less than beautiful.

“I feel terrible for feeling this way. She’s so happy, Hyejin, and I keep thinking that if I really love her, I should be happy for her too. Instead…” She bites her lip, struggling to find words, her gaze flicking to Yongsun again and again.

Hyejin watches her fingers tighten around a cooling cup of coffee, the hiss of coffee machines and the murmur of conversations around them filling the silence.

“I wish I’d said something earlier.” Byulyi says, quietly.

Hyejin swallows, wishing she could say something reassuring, l