//

subtle

[suht-l]

(adj.) so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyse or describe.

/

gazes.

kim minjoo stands outside the wooden beige door, letting an ineluctable silent yawn escape her lips before sliding the entrance open with a gentle pull. at once, she feels a gush of wind ruffling through her lustrous ginger locks and all eyes were briefly pinned on her upon her presence, before they subside and idle chatter began to fill the room once again.

amidst all of the buzzing, minjoo feels a pair of eyes focused on her appearance and instantly, she recognises the familiar warmth sprouting from her core as she reciprocates the tender gaze.

seated by the window is miyawaki sakura, leaning her cheek against the heel of her palm while looking (to most people) aloof and reserved with an unreadable expression. 

with their held gaze, the chattering of their classmates seemed to dissolve in the background, and all minjoo could focus on were those baffling brown pools of hers. 

minjoo’s lips drew up to a faint curve as a subtle greeting and despite sakura’s indifferent expression, she knew very well that through the prolonged eye-contact, sakura had conveyed the same message. 

and when she shifts her attention out the window nonchalantly, minjoo strides to her own desk which was placed two columns diagonally infront of sakura’s. 

placing her bag on her desk lazily, minjoo releases a contented sigh as she settles down on her seat. she tilts her head when she detects a small, teal envelope merely lying under her desk. peaked with curiosity, minjoo reaches a hand under her desk and clutches the said envelope, leisurely opening it before taking out a yellow piece of paper it had contained.

her eyes briefly scan the handwritten letter, whoever wrote it must have been nervous for the letters were poorly scribbled at some parts, but it was still readable. halfway through reading the letter (she didn’t manage to see who signed it off), a sly hand swiftly snatched the yellow sheet.

“what’s this, minguri? oh~ a confession letter! hm, isn’t this person from the other class?” 

“i don’t know, yena. just give it back, please?” 

minjoo tries to seize the letter (she fails continuously), cheeks gradually reddening as her eyes darted to her classmates. she always hated how yena has a loud mouth, the girl can barely keep things to herself or suppress her (boring) bragging. it was no wonder everyone avoids telling her secrets. yena could only keep shut for so long.

(she gives up trying to retrieve back the letter in the end.)

“you’re so popular, i’m so jealous! kidding. anyway, why don’t you just give this guy a chance? you‘ve been single for far too long!“

the first thing that entered her mind was a firm,’hell no’. minjoo isn’t about to get into a relationship with someone whom she doesn’t even know or harbour feelings for. who knew, maybe the person confessing only liked her for her looks. (she is popular for her stunning visuals.)

like all the others. the thought made her roll her eyes internally. will people stop merely looking at the exterior and maybe dig deeper about the interior? 

“no, yena. i don’t want to date someone who barely knows me and vice versa.” 

minjoo snatches the letter in yena’s hands successfully, shooting her with a glare before placing the letter back inside the teal envelope. she stares at it blankly, unsure of what to do with it right then. 

(even though she usually throws away confession letters while feeling apologetic to the people who probably wrote them with effort.)

“you got a point, i feel kinda bad for this guy though. he got rejected before he even got an answer.” 

yena shrugs idly, her lips jutting out like how ducks would exactly look like. behind yena, minjoo catches that familiar gaze again. before she knows it, there’s a sinking feeling settling inside her stomach. she grimaces at the thought of sakura possibly hearing their conversation. (who is she kidding, it’s yena for goodness’ sake.)

the moment minjoo’s eyes landed on hers, sakura promptly turns her head to place her attention outside the window yet again. even then, minjoo gazes gently at her perfectly sculpted side profile. she would have believed that sakura is a child of an angel, and minjoo is constantly grateful to be blessed with such a breathtaking sight.

confession letters aren’t something new to minjoo. she receives them on a daily basis (she’s getting tired of it, honestly) and when she does, she reads them in order to sincerely appreciate what was written in those letters. despite being appreciative, she thinks it’s quite unfortunate that she ends up throwing them away in the end. 

she doesn’t crumple them up and hurl them into the trash can (she’s too kind to do that). instead, she would fold them into miniatures before generously throwing them in the bin. she still feels apologetic but she can’t do anything. she isn’t about to keep every single letter in a secret stash (which would be deemed useless eventually).

no, not when she’s already taken.

“kkura-ya! wanna go to the arcade after school? i promised hyewon to beat her in a racing game! she’s not going to be ‘unbeatable’ anymore!” 

yena exclaims with all her lungs as she jogs to sakura’s desk to annoy the brunette. minjoo giggles to herself when she sees a look of exasperation crossing sakura’s face as the duck approaches (to her demise). 

it’s not like sakura would turn down the invitation, she absolutely loves games that it’s impossible to decline the duck’s pleadings. 

minjoo realises that she hasn’t broken her stare when sakura looks back into her eyes. (yena is rambling and she isn’t paying attention.) heat started to embrace her when she’s caught staring, she feigns a cough and wanted to a look away but she sees sakura’s lips twitching up in a subtle smile. 

her small, shiny lips part and she mouths, ‘come with.’

it took minjoo a few seconds to comprehend her message but eventually, she understands. sakura wanted her to come along with them to the arcade. 

there’s something fuzzy emitting in the pit of her stomach upon sakura’s silent invitation and minjoo promptly nods once to affirm. 

sakura’s small yet delighted grin which came after remains etched in her mind throughout the first few periods of class.

/

touches.

sakura would have preferred having her lunch somewhere serene and secluded, somewhere which isn’t the bustling cafeteria. she would have preferred having her lunch in class; where it would be usually empty and still, or at the bench near the school field where an oak tree sat behind it, acting as an umbrella to provide people with relaxing shade. 

unlike the latter, minjoo is open to everything. she doesn’t mind the constant buzzing in the cafeteria, where joking, teasing and simple idle chatter can be heard from tables. in fact, she likes it because of the people she’s surrounded with, the conversations between themselves and especially the routine of seeing one another and making casual bonds. 

most of the time, sakura would follow her small circle of friends along to the cafeteria to have lunch. the reason is purely simple, besides her two noisy companions, it’s the girl sitting beside her right then.

“damn it, kwangbae! stop stealing my food, you freaking glutton! minjoo, petition to switch places!” yena angrily quacks as she hunches over her plate protectively, swatting the glutton’s hands that attempted to sneak and steal.

sitting opposite of them, sakura casually munches on her food, completely ignoring the imploration her rowdy best friend. meanwhile, minjoo firmly shakes her head to oppose yena’s entreat.

“petition denied. you’re just going to be all tom & jerry-ish with sakura.” minjoo states as a matter of fact, not doubting the (1000%) possibility of sakura and yena getting into a juvenile banter.

that and other reasons.

“well, bickering is better than having your food stolen.” yena grunts, wanting revenge so she attempts to take a piece of chicken wing from hyewon’s plate, only to be glared at too intensely. (she backs off immediately.)  

“you’re not moving, duck.” sakura deadpanned, sipping on her carton of chocolate milk idly.

yena gives her a look of betrayal (sakura is ruthless).

“not fair- oi kwangbae! not my mochi!”

(somewhere at another table, a certain honda sneezed.)

minjoo heaves a tired sigh, the sight of her rowdy friends weren’t unusual but just because she’s used to it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t make her head ache. she badly wants to whack the both them, especially a particular boisterous duck. 

her irkness abates, soon replaced with confusion as she feels something soft and delicate resting on top of her hand underneath the table. then the confusion dissolved into warmth and fondness as she realises the familiar hand gently squeezing hers. 

she steals a glance towards the cherry blossom beside her, her facial expression as nonchalant as usual but minjoo doesn’t miss the faint shade of scarlet on the tips of her ears.

during lunchtimes, when they would occasionally sit beside each other, such veiled skinship was imminent. to avoid suspicions from their friends, they would often sit separately. but minjoo likes it better when they sit beside each other, shoulder to shoulder, often grasping each other’s hands, fingers in secret underneath the table. 

so minjoo responds by squeezing back before grinning broadly, eyes fixated on the two children infront of her still fighting over food. anyone would easily assume that the grin was directed towards the hyena duo as a sign of amusement due to their good-natured banter. but in reality, the grin was much more of a suppressed bliss caused by a certain cherry blossom.

every touch from sakura generates sparks—fireworks to be more bizarre and cliché, in minjoo. every touch felt amazingly magical and sensational, no matter how subtle it is.

sakura doesn’t show it (she’s always calm and collected), but minjoo knows she feels the same way.

/

kisses.

as much as minjoo hates exerting herself to the point