It’s been a while since they’ve all seen each other. With work and university and whatnot, they’ve barely had any time to breathe. That’s why Wendy, being the planner of the group (more like the mom friend, but she doesn’t like being called that out loud), decided to call her friends up and arrange lunch at this cheap diner near campus they all used to hang out at when they were younger. They set up to meet at 3 P.M. All the girls confirmed their attendance through the group chat they had. They couldn’t wait to see each other and catch up with everything that was going on in their lives. Seulgi was very excited to see her friends, because they’re all majoring in different things, they barely see each other at uni except for the occasional collision at a hallway accompanied by a quick hand gesture of acknowledgement. 

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss them. While she was arranging her outfit, she was making predictions about the things they’d talk about. Most likely Sooyoung would talk about some modelling gig she has coming up, Yeri would share about some songs she’s been working on and Wendy would probably announce the release of her next pastry cookbook or something. Seulgi smiled to herself thinking about this. It’s amazing how their friendship hasn’t changed at all through the years; it’s the kind of friendship that even if they spend months without talking, when they meet up they just continue where they left off. It’s a precious thing.

While pulling up her tight skinny jeans, Seulgi heard a few consecutive dings coming from her phone on the desk. Reaching the phone with one arm, she touched the home button and the screen lit up showing a preview of her messages. It was from their group chat, of course. She opened them and read them.

KANG SEULGI WHERE ARE YOUUUUU? - Sooyoung

you better not ditch us, - Yeri

Is everything okay? - Wendy

Panic set in for a few seconds when she glanced at the digital clock. 3:21 P.M. She’s late, which is weird for her. See, the thing is that today hip-hop class ended a few minutes later than intended and that caused a chain reaction to her plans making her late to their meetup. She cursed internally and sped up the process. Texted a quick ‘omw’ and took a quick glance at the mirror. Black skinny jeans that accentuated her long dancer legs, a plain white v-neck t-shirt and some sneakers. Not even an ounce of makeup. She doesn’t have time for that, plus it’s not like she cares. Taking her hair out her ponytail, she quickly took her keys and bag and headed out. 

It felt almost nostalgic to take this route. They used to come to this diner almost every day to take a break after classes, or when they needed to talk, this is where they’d meet up. But now, with life getting in the way, with more personal projects they all wanted to pursue and with simply adult stuff, they couldn’t hang there that much. It’s incredible how fast time can go by. Seulgi felt a knot in her stomach when she pulled up in the parking lot of the diner. It’s like it’s frozen in time. 

She didn’t waste more time and got out of her car and into the diner. She saw them sitting at their “usual” booth. Wendy had her face turned towards her and when they locked eyes, a big smile painted across her face. The other two girls turned to see. She heard a squeal coming from them and didn’t even have time to sit down when she was being crushed by three pairs of arms hugging her.

“Seulgi! You’re here!” Wendy said gleefully. “We thought something had happened.”

“Yeah, what took you so long?” said Yeri. They all let her go so she could breathe. 

“Sorry I’m late, girls,” mumbled Seulgi awkwardly while sitting down besides Wendy. “It’s just that dance class ended later than expected.” They all nodded in understanding and that’s when Seulgi had a chance to really look at them. They all looked the same, maybe even prettier, like a glow up or something which made Seulgi feel a bit proud of her friends.

“It’s okay, unnie, what matters is that you’re here now.” Sooyoung said softly. She looked almost regal in the summer dress she was wearing, all color coordinated with her bracelets down to the nail polish. Seulgi always remembered Sooyoung being girlish like that. The self-proclaimed fashion icon of their group. “Shall we order? I’m starving.” she said rolling her eyes dramatically. Yeri nodded in agreement and raised her hand gesturing to a nearby waitress. 

Seulgi didn’t notice how hungry she was until they mentioned food. She has a knack for having something very light at breakfast and getting out of the house like that, she knows it’s not healthy but she claims she doesn’t have much time. She took a quick glance at the menu, which was unnecessary because she knew she was gonna order the same thing: a stack of waffles with crispy bacon and scrambled eggs. What? Who says you can’t have breakfast for lunch? Nobody, that’s who. When the waitress arrived, Seulgi looked up and almost froze in her place. Oh, my god she’s so pretty, she thought. 

“Hi, what can I help you with?” the petite waitress said in a chirpy tone. It was almost as if she was bouncing in her place. It doesn’t come as a surprise to Seulgi that the staff has changed, after all, it’s been almost two years since she’s set foot in the place. Maybe she should come here more often. While the rest of the girls were ordering, Seulgi looked down in embarrassment as she felt her cheeks burn. Be cool, Kang Seulgi, it’s just a girl. She tried to look like she was looking at the menu or anything else in order to not look at the pretty waitress. Yeri couldn’t help but notice and almost let out a little laugh. When it was her turn, Wendy nudged her in the arm to bring her attention back. “And, what can I get you, miss?” Seulgi heard the waitress ask and she finally looked up. She felt closed up but nonetheless did her best to communicate her order. 

“Um, I’ll just have the w-waffles.” was what came out of . “Also, some bacon. And eggs.” she couldn’t sound more like a robot at the last few words. Sooyoung couldn’t help but smirk at the whole situation. It’s almost cringey but definitely entertaining to watch Seulgi interact in front of a cute girl. They all knew. 

“Good choice,” said the waitress and flashed a quick smile towards Seulgi’s direction before collecting all the menus and announcing that their food will be there shortly. Before turning away, Seulgi noticed that her name tag said Joohyun. Pretty name. 

Not even two minutes passed when Seulgi’s friends started to poke fun at the whole situation.

“I’ll just have the w-waffles,” Yeri said impersonating Seulgi while clasping her hands together and putting them against her left cheek, looking at the ceiling dramatically as if it was some sort of play. Sooyoung burst out laughing, and Wendy wasn't far behind to join. 

“Shut up!!!” said Seulgi, blushing even harder. She covered her face with her hands, not believing what just happened. Of course they were gonna make fun of me. 

“Jesus Christ, Seulgi, I didn’t know you still get that nervous around girls!” expressed Wendy with genuine shock in her voice.

“I do not!” the oldest girl exclaimed, trying to defend herself knowing it was useless against her best friends.

“Oh, please. You were giving that waitress googly eyes the whole time I’m surprised you didn’t just burst into flames from blushing.” said Sooyoung in a confident tone. She was always the best at reading body language, out of the four. 

“Yeah, and I couldn’t help but notice she was looking at you too, unnie.” corroborated the youngest. Seulgi didn’t believe her words.

“What? That’s not true.” 

“Yeah, she did, I noticed before she came over to us. I swear to God she already had her eyes on you.” explained Yeri. Sooyoung nodded in agreement, saying she noticed that too and because Seulgi and Wendy were sitting on the opposite side of the booth, they couldn’t notice the interaction. Sooyoung stepped in.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t found an excuse to come b-” Not even them saw it coming. The waitress returned with her little notebook and pen in her hands. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but,” she said quietly. This caught Seulgi off guard. Her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw the waitress was looking at her direction. “Miss, you didn’t tell me how would you like your eggs.” She felt her hands getting sweaty again. She’s gonna make me die of a heart attack, I swear.

“Oh, um I like them scrambled.” she said while looking at her. It was very hard to maintain eye contact because this girl was just so pretty. It’s like looking at the sun.

“Scrambled it is, then. Be right back.” the waitress didn’t waste the opportunity to flash another smile at the girl sitting and headed back behind the counter. When she left and Seulgi looked up at her friends she felt even more embarrassment because they were looking at her with smug faces. 

“Called it.” Sooyoung said proudly while inspecting her nail polish. 

“O.K., I kinda see what Yeri and Sooyoung are implying.” Wendy commented. Seulgi looked at her quizcally. “I mean, she is giving you a lot of eye contact and smiling.” She always tried to look at things with logic.

“Oh, c’mon she just... returned because there was some information missing from the order. It doesn’t mean anything.” Seulgi said crossing her arms. She always did this. Any time a cute girl would interact with her, two things would happen. One: she would panic because she doesn’t know how to talk to girls. And two: her mind would always go to a pessimistic place, thinking that the girl is just being friendly and that maybe she won’t have a chance. But whenever this kind of situation would happen in front of her friends, they would always try to encourage her to actually do something about it. Which is exactly what was happening now.

“You need to step up your flirting game, Seulgi.” said Sooyoung while crossing her arms. “We’ve always told you this. What’s happening now,” she said and made a wide gesture with her hands, “it’s an opportunity. Seize it.”

Seulgi scoffed. “What does that even mean?”

“I bet she’s looking this way. Now. Don’t turn your head, just glance up and look for her.” Seulgi followed her instructions just to see what was her point. She still was in disbelief. She looked up and indeed, the waitress quickly turned away her eyes when Seulgi caught her staring. She’s right.

“Okay, she was staring at me. What’s your point? What should I do?” Seulgi asked, rather intrigued by the situation. It was actually kinda fun. It’s been a while since she’s been approached by someone like this.

“Just, try to talk to her at the end of the evening.” Yeri suggested, giving her a plan of some sorts. “Also, try to control the blushing and all. It’s even cringey for us to witness it.” Wendy and Sooyoung laughed a bit and Seulgi furrowed her brow and shook her head in a playful way.

While waiting for their food to arrive, the four of them were talking and catching up, the waitress and Seulgi would exchange looks across the diner in a subtle way. She couldn’t help but smile now when she caught the girl staring at her. Her cheeks still felt like fire, but in a good way. In one occasion, Seulgi saw how the girl mouthed ‘Hi’ across the room, and Seulgi did the same. At this point, the girls stopped teasing her just to see how far Seulgi could go. They were kinda happy for her, most of the time the oldest girl needs a push in order to venture herself and take risks, that’s why they encouraged her. 

After a few more minutes the food finally arrived. The engaging conversation was cut short by the waitress’ arrival. Seulgi’s stomach rumbled, she hoped no one heard that. After serving the plates, Joohyun proceeded to serve their drinks. She stumbled when she was serving Seulgi’s iced tea and the drink spilled on the table and part of the drink got to Seulgi’s abdomen and lap, the cold liquid hitting her skin. Because of the ruckus, the five of them gasped audibly. The waitress was quick to apologize.

“Oh, my god, I’m so sorry.” she said and passed her a couple of napkins, although it was kind of useless.

“It’s o-okay. Just, could you point me to the bathroom, please?” Seulgi said, standing up. Her eyes widened when she felt the waitress touch her hand.

“This way, come miss.” Joohyun led the way to the one-stall bathroom. Seulgi opened the door and kept it open, she then took the towel and squished it unto her shirt so that the liquid could get absorbed. “I don’t know what happened there, I’m sorry, miss.” the waitress continued her apology. The taller girl smiled.

“It’s Seulgi.” 

“Uh?”

“My name. It’s Seulgi. No need to call me miss.” she explained. It’s weird. All this time, while they were flirting across the diner, it was Seulgi who felt like a teen, all blushy and stuff. But, here they were, closer and it’s like the roles have been reversed. Seulgi didn’t feel embarrassed at all and she could’ve sworn she saw the waitress’ cheeks turn a tint of red. The tall girl hung the hand towel back in its place and turned towards the waitress. “Are you usually this clumsy, Joohyun?” her eyes glanced at her nametag and then at the girl’s face who was smiling a bit. She was enjoying this too. 

“Only around pretty girls.” Joohyun answered almost in a whisper. Seulgi’s heart skipped several beats and she saw how the waitress’ eyes glance a millisecond down to Seulgi’s lips. The tall girl did the same. The tension in the air was interrupted by some customer calling out, demanding for their order to be taken. The waitress had to go. They both jumped back.

“Sorry, don’t want to take more of your time.” Seulgi said scratching her neck.

“Y-yeah, I should go.” the smaller girl turned around and went back to work. Seulgi couldn’t believe how bold she was acting. It was a first. There was definitely something about the waitress that attracted her. When she went back to their table, the teasing continued as expected, but this time Seulgi admitted to flirting back. Sooyoung felt proud. 

After finishing their meals, they ordered the check and waited patiently. When it arrived, Joohyun put the check on the table, near the tall girl.

“Hope you guys had a good time and come back soon.” This last part of her sentence she said it glancing at Seulgi’s direction and when the taller girl looked up, Joohyun gave her a small smile and then left. When Seulgi opened up the check, she noticed there was a folded napkin alongside their receipt. She furrowed her brows and took it. The other girls were curious about it too, so they leaned across the table to look. When Seulgi opened it, she couldn’t help but smile. On the napkin there was a phone number with the girl’s name.

Would love to see you again, miss

Call me

xoxo