//

to say that minjoo is extremely nervous is an understatement. the word ‘nervous’ doesn’t completely illustrate what she’s feeling right now. it’s beyond just being nervous that it’s almost inexplicable.

minjoo kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other, her hands were clammy and fidgety and her entire body quivered at the mere sight of kim freaking chaewon.

she doesn’t understand, she doesn’t understand at all. just the presence of the angel is enough to make minjoo’s knees feel wobbly. she swears she could collapse at any given time.

why am i shaking so much?

chaewon was just standing there idly, with her phone clutched in her small hands. from her spot, minjoo was able to see how slender and pretty her fingers were. there was no doubt that chaewon had a manicure. 

“should i? or should i not?” minjoo begins mumbling to herself, biting her lower lip.

she’s sure that every student that passed by her must have at least thought she was crazy. the sight of someone suddenly acting jittery and whispering to themselves was anything butnormal. minjoo resisted the urge to facepalm herself right then and there.

she had often hung out with chaewon for friendly (emphasise that) study dates or lunches, so why is it that every time she wants to ask, it seems like her body would malfunction?

it was supposed to be easy. her task was as simple as approaching the said kim and then asking if she wanted to have lunch together. whether chaewon would accept or not was another question (but minjoo begs for the former).

minjoo considers herself pathetic. it’s not like she wanted to confess or anything... god, no (she’s too unprepared for that). it’s just lunch, yet minjoo feels like digging herself a hole and hiding forever.

minjoo noticed how chaewon’s fingers swiftly glided along her phone. the corners of her lips curling up instantly as she continues typing away and minjoo can’t help but ponder who is the cause of that angelic smile.

a tinge of jealousy, minjoo brushes off the feeling. when chaewon finally pockets her phone, minjoo calls out to her before she could leave.

“ah- chaewon!” 

upon hearing her name, chaewon turns to the source and smiles immediately when minjoo comes jogging towards her. when minjoo comes to a halt, chaewon chuckles as she shifts her weight to lean on one foot.

dear god, she’s just standing but why does she look so hot?

“what’s up, minguri? you look like you ran a marathon.” 

(she didn’t but it felt like she did.)

chaewon helps to fix minjoo’s slightly disarrayed hair, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. minjoo could only stand completely rooted to the ground, frozen and unmoving. she doesn’t dare to move because chaewon is a little too close for her poor little (gay) heart.

she could only pray that chaewon doesn’t hear the cacophony of her erratic heartbeat— it’s pulsing even in her reddening ears.

“there you go, fixed you up a bit. so what’s the sitch?” alas, chaewon finally gives her mercy (space) and takes a step back once she was satisfied.

minjoo unconsciously swallows, tightening her grip on the straps of her sling bag. 

“oh i was just... um, wondering if you would like  to uh...” minjoo trails off, averting her eyes from chaewon’s captivating gaze.

chaewon tilts her head in confusion, waiting for minjoo to finish her sentence. 

why is this so hard? i‘ve literally done this before! minjoo’s internal conflicts doesn’t quite help. if anything, it only provides her more unnecessary panic.

“are you free for lunch?” minjoo sports a timid smile, tucking her hair behind her ear.

that sounded normal right?

she hopes it didn’t come out like a dying whale. 

“about that...” 

oh no. 

when there’s a pause, there’s rejection. 

chaewon brings a hand to scratch her cheek lightly, eyebrows furrowed. 

“sorry, minguri. but i already made a promise to hiichan... some other time maybe?” chaewon shoots her an apologetic smile, feeling guilty when minjoo’s shy smile dissipated like the wisp of smoke from a blown out candle.

hiichan. 

her heart is squeezing so tightly it’s getting uncomfortable (it’s slightly torturous). but somehow, she manages a reassuring smile to chaewon.

she understands, chaewon has other friends besides minjoo herself. it’s not like there was a hundred percent probability that she’d accept in the first place. chaewon has other things to do.

stop being selfish, kim minjoo.

maybe she should stop being so hopeful. maybe she should stop thinking that chaewon would say ‘yes’— because it’s hope that makes her anticipate too much... before it all comes crashing down. 

“don’t worry about it, chae.” minjoo’s voice came out soft, a little too soft but chaewon doesn’t notice. 

was this the first time that her heart was able to beat normally around the person she likes?  

maybe, she doesn’t know.

and honestly, she’s trying so hard not to overthink about chaewon’s promise with hitomi. 

(it’s sort of agonizing.)

///

the first thing that greeted sakura when she entered their apartment was a sulky minjoo staring blankly into space with a pillow in her embrace.

it isn’t a rare sight to the blonde but she would rather have the redhead shoot bullet holes through her head with her glare than looking like a kicked puppy (monkey? frog? llama?).

sakura sighs shortly, smiling a little at the sight of her favourite (motionless) redhead. she kicks off her shoes deliberately and sure enough, she could feel minjoo’s infamous glare from the back of her head. 

“oi,” 

“i bought lunch. bet you’re hungry.” sakura waves the plastic bags in her hands with a crooked grin, completely ignoring minjoo’s roaring glare.

“your shoes- nevermind. forget it.” minjoo grunts, pressing her lips tightly and ignoring her roommate.

sakura gently places the bags on the coffee table and minjoo expected her to move afterwards but the blonde remained immobile. the redhead looks up, annoyed. she isn’t really up for any of sakura’s silly antics right now.

“move, you’re blocking the screen.”

“the tv is not even switched on, min.” 

realising her slip-up, minjoo turns her head away from sakura. 

“i’m not hungry.” minjoo claims and when she did just that, her stomach abruptly releases a low growl.

minjoo is burning from neck and above now out of embarrassment. she cursed internally for the moment of contradiction. looks like nothing is going her way today.

sakura hums in a mocking manner, folding her arms as she snickers. 

“come again?”

“leave me alone.” minjoo states firmly, shutting her eyes as she calms herself.

there was a few seconds of deafening silence, then minjoo opens her eyes to see sakura bending down to meet her eye level. the smile she had on her face was dubious (to her), unreadable.

“chaewon rejected your lunch offer, i saw it.” sakura reveals, not even skipping a beat.

minjoo’s eye twitched, did she have to rub it in her face? she groans, why did sakura have to witness such a shameful sight? there goes her confidence, down the drain. 

“i know a way to cheer you up. only if you’re up for it though.” the smile on sakura’s face is wider now, doesn’t her cheek muscles hurt?

“and how do you reckon?” minjoo deadpanned, deciding to just go with it since she didn’t plan on dwelling on such an insignificant matter all day.

getting out of this dreading mood would be really nice right now. she might as well take up the offer. 

“for starters... my kiss is guaranteed to brighten up your day!” sakura declared shamelessly, an index finger up in the air to be assertive.

of course, what did minjoo expect? sakura would take any opportunity knocking right on her door. 

“pfft, sounds stupid.” yet minjoo smiles, she did say she would take up the offer.

she cracks up when sakura’s eyebrows knitted together, gasping dramatically as she felt offended. the blonde huffs through her nose and flips her hair out of the blue. minjoo could only give her a weird look.

“you won’t know if you haven’t tried. it’s always fun trying out something new, am i right?” sakura tries to make a point.

there’s something wicked behind that incredulous smile and minjoo knows it. minjoo eyes her in suspicion.

“i’ve literally kissed you two times, what fun are you rambling about?” the redhead monotones, jestering around a little.

she suppresses her giggles when sakura heaves a long groan, flailing her arms in exasperation. when it comes to comebacks, minjoo never loses. 

“ugh come on, i’m trying to help you here! i promise it’s going to cheer you up, how ‘bout it?” 

the fact that sakura sounded so confident about it made it even more skeptical. minjoo knows sakura is being sly right now, she is hiding something up her sleeve and minjoo is going to find out what it is.

what has she got to lose? her confidence is already evanescent ever since chaewon turned her down. she might as well take a shot of sakura’s promising kiss which is supposed to ‘brighten her day’ as mentioned. anything to  dispose of her disquietude. 

minjoo stares blankly at sakura, shrugging nonchalantly. 

“sure, i guess.” 

then sakura gives her a benign smile that somehow eases her worries. minjoo doesn’t move when sakura closes the distance between them, stopping just a few inches away from minjoo’s inviting lips.

minjoo catches her gentle gaze, unknowingly entranced by sakura’s chocolate orbs. the soft smile never left her pink lips and minjoo’s grip on the pillow tightens just the slightest bit.

“i never go back on my promise.” sakura murmured before gently placing her lips onto minjoo’s, their eyes automatically closing shut.

if there was one new thing minjoo had recently learned about sakura, it was that she is a good kisser. great, even. there’s a hint of strawberry on sakura’s lips, minjoo realises that it must have been the flavour of her lip balm. 

she wonders if sakura was feeling... what was it? butterflies fluttering in her stomach? or did it feel like her stomach did a somersault? or was it fireworks? minjoo is curious.

sakura’s lips were soft (another new piece of information ever since minjoo first kissed her), the kiss felt so slow that minjoo didn’t even realise she was so caught up in the spur of the moment that she feels fingers suddenly sneaking up her sides, causing her to break the kiss as sakura mercilessly begins tickling her.

so this was sakura’s mischievous plan veiled behind the kiss.  

minjoo laughs out loud uncontrollably as she attempts to escape sakura’s ruthless fingers albeit to no avail. she ends up lying on her back on the sofa, shrieking in between laughter and pleading for sakura to stop. 

sakura‘s lips stretched across her face to form a wide grin. minjoo’s melodious and infectious laughter, that uncontrollable grin plastered on her fa