Arin liked to describe herself as an avid daydreamer. It slowly became a habit to fantasize grand scenarios in her mind all day long if her schedule wasn’t too hectic, or if she had dance practice. To give it a better feel, Arin would listen to whatever song that suited her mood through her earphones. If she was ever feeling sentimental, Taeyeon’s sunbaenim ‘ A Poem Titled You’ was the best choice. If she needed something upbeat to groove to until she broke her hips, then ‘Fancy’ by Twice was the only choice. Oh, how Arin loved doing nothing to pass the time.

But lately, Arin was caught up in something else far more important than her addictive habit. Ever since she discovered her little crush on Jiho, man was it hard to even think straight. She couldn’t even listen to one song peacefully without Jiho snatching her left earphone while exclaiming cutely, “Arin-ah! Let me listen to your music too!”. Usually, a normal, functioning human would pay it little mind and would not hesitate to decline. Arin wasn’t normal and she definitely couldn’t function properly whenever Jiho approached her.

Her lips would freeze completely. Her body became stiff. Her breathing would gradually become erratic and soon, the only moving part of her body was her pupils dilating around, not having a single clue on where to look. Yes, this was Arin’s gay panicking in final form and she sometimes wished she wasn’t so ing nervous around Kim Jiho.

Why couldn’t she be cool and girl crush in front of Jiho instead of having these sweaty hands?

Jiho doesn’t even have the slightest clue about Arin’s feelings, which Arin thought was better this way, because if the other girls found out, they would never let her live it down. Ever.

Binnie would the most, that’s for sure. She’s so cheeky that it would get on Arin’s nerves all the time, even though Binnie was two years older.

Arin wasn’t sure for how long should she keep her feelings hidden from Jiho. And it definitely didn’t help when the management agreed to a photoshoot with Naver, with only her and Jiho participating. Arin could only bury her face in her hands and ruffled her own hair messily while sighing deeply. Just great.

***                

“Arin-ah,” Jiho tapped Arin on the shoulder while she was scrolling through SNS, “They’re calling for you to get your makeup done.”

“Oh, alright then!” Arin didn’t spare Jiho a glance and got up from the couch in the waiting room and paced to the stylist waiting for her. She was still nervous around Jiho and it was hard to keep her cool in a natural way without the older girl noticing. Jiho was too perceptive in observing Arin’s actions so she could figure out anything bothering her in a heartbeat.

That simple and quiet way of Jiho taking care of her really made Arin’s heart clench with warmth. She was really deep in this love , huh?

Arin greeted the stylist happily and sat in silence so she didn’t disrupt the concentration of the stylist while preparing her for the photoshoot. After around thirty minutes, Arin was finally finished with her makeover. She had more mature clothes with slightly bold makeup that made her facial features stood out more than the usual light makeup during her performances. It was a new look and Arin loved it.

“Stylist-unnie, I really love this look!” Arin beamed at her stylist. 

“It looks good, right? I’ve always wanted to try this style of makeup on somebody as beautiful as you.” The stylist complimented Arin, which made her face go red. It was still embarrassing to receive compliments directly from someone, but Arin couldn’t help but feel shameless about it.

“... Ahahaha… thanks unnie!” Arin flipped her braided hair, prompting her stylist to chuckle heartily. The atmosphere was light and very playful, with no boundaries nor seniority present. 

“Jiho is also very beautiful too, my jaw dropped when she greeted me!” The stylist exclaimed and Arin stopped giggling. Why did the conversation have to shift over to Jiho when she was struggling to not think about her crush for a while???

“Ah… yes. She’s also very— “ Arin lowered her head, afraid to speak loudly in case she could be heard by Jiho, “Pretty.”

“Her eyes are so mysterious and big, like a cat! I feel like I could get lost in those beautiful orbs, don’t you think?” Arin nodded because she’s done that countless of times while observing their performances. Jiho was definitely the most eye-catching one in the group.

“Not to mention how hilarious and light-hearted her personality is… I thought she’d be cold at first when I saw her cool demeanour but boy, was I wrong!” The stylist kept going on with her compliments and Arin couldn’t stop agreeing because Jiho was undeniably all those traits. She was cool yet warm, feminine yet so handsome at the same time and reserved but so sociable as well. Kim Jiho was a gift box that would make anyone happy if given as a present.

Arin’s soft sighs made the stylist question herself, wondering if she said anything wrong.

“Arin-ah? Is there something to be the problem?”

“What?” Arin shook her head and smiled sheepishly. “Ah… I was just spacing out—“

“You really looked like a lovesick child just now.”

Arin was caught off guard by those words coming out from the stylist’s mouth. It’s as if she could read her mind, and honestly, it was scaring her quite a bit.

“Unnie wha— “ Arin laughed nervously, “I really don’t know what your talking about…”

The stylist raised an eyebrow and gave Arin a questionable look. “I used to look like you whenever I had a hopeless crush, Arin-ah. You’re not as convincing as you think you can be.”

Arin’s face reddened in embarrassment. Oop, there goes her plan of hiding her feelings for Jiho.

“I can only give you one piece of advice!” The stylist held out her index finger and placed it super close to the bridge of Arin’s nose. Arin gulped nervously, waiting for the next string of words the stylist-unnie would say to her.

“Confess your love to your crush. Since you know right? YOLO.” The stylist held up a hand gesture and Arin had never felt so inspired and touched before.

“... Alright, stylist-unnie!” Arin wiped the stray tears forming at the corner of her eyes, “I’ll definitely follow your advice!”

The stylist gave Arin a proud-mom look. It felt as if watching a baby chick hatching from its egg. Ah. How they grow up so fast.

The photoshoot went on smoothly than Arin had initially thought it’d gone. Which, was a good thing of course. Arin didn’t freeze up whenever Jiho touched her by the shoulder for a pose of some sort. What Arin didn’t notice however, was by how reserved Jiho became throughout their time in the studio. She didn’t know why Arin had been so cautious around the older girl and although it was itching her like crazy to know the reason behind it, she was too chickened out. Maybe Arin finally found out that Jiho would always stare at her sleeping face for 10 minutes and snap a few hundred pics of it that was stashed safely in her photo gallery. Jiho felt very dreadful. She didn’t want Arin to hate her.

It would be the end of her world if a time comes when Arin would despise her for God knows what reason.

Jiho was too absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice Arin calling her name out after the photoshoot. The younger girl had to crouch down in right in front of her to gain her attention. Arin’s beautiful face in 1080p within a few inches from Jiho’s eyes almost made her stumble backwards.

“Whoa—?”

“Ah— Jiho! I’m s-so sorry oh my god—“ Arin was as shocked to see her crush almost falling, “I was calling out for you but you couldn’t hear me clearly so I thought about appearing right in front of you but I never expected for you to almost stumble and—“ Arin blabbered so fast that she could easily surpass Mimi’s rapping skills with that kind of speed. Jiho was probably red in the face like a tomato but Arin was the whole tomato farm. It was sorta adorable and Jiho regretted not snapping a pic to keep as a memento.

“Arin-ah…” Jiho gripped onto Arin’s shoulders to get her to snap out of it, “Relax. I’m fine, see?”

Arin’s eyes finally met Jiho’s and her pupils were wavering about frantically.

“Gosh… I’m so sorry—“

“Stop apologising or I’ll really get mad at you.” Jiho pouted and that made Arin shut up at last. Jiho Arin’s head softly and wrapped her arms around the younger girl. She was missing Arin’s warmth these few days. Arin nuzzled into her chest and Jiho’s head felt lighter. This was just pure ecstasy.

“Now. Did you say that you wanted to tell me something?” Arin nodded, not taking her head off Jiho’s chest. Cute.

“I have something to confess, unnie.” Oh no. It was finally time. Arin was going to confront her about the 567 pics of her dozing off and drooling in the bed, in the car, in the waiting room, on the couch, on her lap… Jiho embraced herself for the ugly truth. 

“I have a crush on you, Jiho-unnie!”

Jiho wondered when the words “I hate you!” was about to escape from Arin’s lips but it never appeared. Wait, did Arin just say what Jiho heard she did?

Arin had a crush on her? Unbelievable. Jiho needed to confirm it or she’ll go crazy.

“... Could you repeat that for me…? Arin-ah?” Jiho pleaded but Arin couldn’t handle much more embarrassment than this. She kept shaking her head and Jiho was about to lose her mind.

“Please… Tell me this isn’t a dream…” Jiho shook Arin’s wrists to see the younger girl’s red face and finally, Arin gave in.

“I— like you. A lot.” Arin shut her eyes tightly because she was afraid of Jiho’s reaction. She was puzzled when her lips were met with an unfamiliar warmth. Curious, she opened her eyes and almost fainted when her field of vision was filled with Jiho. Kissing her. On the lips. 

Oh.

Jiho stopped to see Arin’s reaction and was overwhelmed by the sight of the younger girl’s flushed cheeks and lost expression. She dove back right in, cupping Arin’s cheeks this time and kissed her with more fervour. Arin responded this time and was overjoyed by the fact that Jiho felt the same way too. She also discovered that the peach chapstick Jiho wore was very fitting for her and quickly established it as her favourite taste. Soon, her legs felt very weak to even stand any longer and she felt like falling when Jiho swiped her tongue across her bottom lip. Maybe Kim Jiho would be the death of her and Arin wouldn’t mind it one bit.

Jiho restrained herself after seeing Arin losing her breath and was unable to keep up with her pace anymore. , she got too ahead of herself and didn’t even stop to think about Arin.

“Arin-ah! Sorry, I-I didn’t realise—“ Jiho apologised in a regretful tone and had Arin sat down on the floor. She followed right after, putting her whole head on the floor and kneeling. Arin was flabbergasted by Jiho’s drastic actions because sure, Jiho can be quite peculiar at times but this was too ridiculous.

“Unnie? Are you okay?”

Jiho sighed deeply. “All this time I thought you were avoiding me because you found out that I saved so many sleeping pictures of you in my phone and suddenly you confessed to me out of nowhere… with that goddamn cute and shy expression… how could you expect me to still be sane?!” 

Arin wasn’t sure if Jiho was genuinely asking her that and was expecting an answer of some sort. “I’m sorry..” Arin trailed off and Jiho hushed her.

“No. Enough. Ugh, just don’t avoid me anymore please, I can’t handle you being cold to me even though it was kinda hot..” Jiho pinched the space between her furrowed eyebrows and Arin nodded in response. Jiho wrapped her arms and legs around Arin’s slightly smaller figure and whispered back her answer in the younger girl’s ears. 

“I like you too. So ing much. Go out with me?”

Arin nodded and felt as if she was on cloud nine. It still felt like a dream. Jiho liking her back was a dream come true. She was about to continue cuddling her girlfriend when she backtracked Jiho’s earlier words and finally remembered—

“Jiho-unnie, you have pictures of my sleeping face?”

And that was the story of how Kim Jiho got screwed over by her girlfriend. But it was definitely worth losing a few pics for her relationship. Well, at least Arin hadn’t found out about the multiple files on Jiho’s laptop. If Binnie doesn’t tell on her, that is.

“Arin, did you know about Jiho’s laptop—“ Binnie nonchalantly spoke to the two in the living room while playing with her phone and Jiho had never felt so betrayed before in her life.

“What kind of friend are you—“ Jiho raised her voice at a snickering Binnie but was stopped by Arin’s stern tone.

“Jiho-unnie.” Arin’s disappointed expression was more than enough to make Jiho delete all her files of Arin’s funny faces.