A sparkle.

A first year student, walking around with a camera slung around her neck. 

She always noticed her in the same area after class, focusing on the landscape their campus provides. 

Chaewon remembers her. 

A funny coincidence.

She left it as such.

The second week, she saw her again. The younger was still focused on her task. Snapping pictures of the sky, flowers, birds, anything that piqued her interest.

Chaewon finds herself attracted to her.

How her expression brightens every time the pictures came out the way she wanted.

The little dance of her shoulders, the small dimple of her cheeks, and the way she smiles through her adoringly soft eyes. 

It was a tiny sparkle.

She ignored it.

Weeks have passed. 

She's there again.

But now she's with a friend. 

Her timid laughs felt like music to her ears. It was addicting. 

She snapped another picture.

She looks so serious behind that camera of hers. Compared to her usual quiet and shy demeanour, it felt different.

Chaewon was intrigued.

But she let it be. 

Weeks have passed.

Months following after.

The tiny magical sparkle keeps appearing.

It never seemed to disappear. 

She tried ignoring it.

She tried.

But she couldn't.

She grasped the peculiar sparkle in her tiny hands, and slowly, she held it to her heart. 

Slowly, it seemed to grow.

So much that it hurts. 

She needed to let it go.

She threw it.

She tried to forget.

But it kept following her. 

A bright light.

She hated it so much.

She let it be.

But suddenly, the light vanished.

She couldn't see it again. 

She couldn't see her again.

The cheerful first year student she remembered walking around the campus with cute little bounce in her steps was nowhere to be seen.

Like how she let the light into her heart, wishing it would go away, it disappeared in a blink of an eye. 

It's good.

It's what she wanted. 

So why does it hurt?

Why does it hurt way more compared to when she let the sparkle near her?

She wanted to see her again. 

For the first time, Chaewon searched for her.

She blindly searched for that sparkle again. 

There it was.

There she was.

Crying in a small corner of her own little space. 

Chaewon stood afar, in great distance, wishing she could hold the sparkle again in her arms, wishing she could hold her comfortingly like how she imagined herself to be.

She never did.

She wasn't brave enough. 

Chaewon stood in her own little space, wishing she could leave. 

She returned home with a heavy heart. 

She then poured her soul in a song, wishing she could hear it.

Please cheer up.

This light she felt, the light you gave, it's important. 

If you can hear her, please, know you're not alone.

To that first year student, who she came to love.

She wishes someday, her heart will warmly welcome that fragile sparkle once more.

Even if it's faint, she hopes you can be happier than when you were hiding in that little space of yours. 

Even by just a little. 

A small song, to cheer you up.

Chaewon holds the sparkle again in her heart, carefully. 

Softly, she whispers, 

"Please, be happy."

ー

Chaewon sat by the window, her fingertips hovering above the keyboard of her laptop. She's been in a troubled state ever since she started her weekly… office chores. It's starting to drag her down. She needs a break. A student such as herself shouldn't be drowning in the realities imposed by selfish adults. 

She really doesn’t have any choice, being born into the position she's in will, with no doubt, limit her freedom to an extent. Even from pursuing the things she loves the most. 

A sigh left , as she retracts her hands defeatedly to her sides.

She can't just quit, can she? 

Chaewon then turned her head away from the confusing string of digital texts to her lovely girlfriend behind the counter. 

Ever since she learned Minju works here during weekends, she decided this is where she will spend most of her time in. Either by just hanging out, do her assignments, or work related matters, like what she's doing right now.

Despite being a homebody, Chaewon likes it here.

Warmth crept to her cheeks as she observed Minju in the corner of her eyes. 

An angel, is what Chaewon would describe the younger. 

A shy angel, that will to no end once she sees her chance. 

It's been a good handful of weeks since the last time Chaewon professed her honest, genuine love for the other. And she never missed a day showing how much she cares for her. 

If it's not verbal then she would try to show it through her actions.

A hand within her own, and a hug she shown to love.

Chaewon doesn't remember who initiated it first, everything was a blur. It might be Minju, considering her playful nature. 

Oh yeah, it definitely was Minju, she started it.

"Aww you're shy, does me being this close make you fluster?" Minju wiggled her eyebrows as she leaned closer. 

"Ugh, I hate it when you're like this," Chaewon mumbled as her eyes avoided the younger, heat rises up to her head. She hates how easy she is to her teasing. It always made a mess out of her without fail.

Both of them were left alone in the cafe after closing hours. Her sister had some other schedule to attend to and Chaewon made sure to not leave Minju by herself in such hours.

It was pretty awkward. It can’t be helped.

There’s no one around, and it’s pretty dark.

The usual calm and collected Chaewon (at least that's how Minju sees her most of the time) were caught panicking over the obvious intimate atmosphere.

And the younger definitely will not let this chance pass by.

"Please you're enjoying this," Minju chuckled, her hands clasped together behind her back as she leaned even closer, looking playfully at the older from a slightly lower angle.

"... Since when are you this confident?" She pouted, still looking away. 

"Oh? I think I've always been confident? Remember during your fansigns?" 

"You call that confidence?" Chaewon broke out a laugh, remembering Minju's failed attempt at delivering her cheesy pickup lines that she probably found on the internet. 

"I-I think I did well!" The younger blurted, slightly embarrassed. 

“Well if you were trying to be confident then maybe don't stutter–" She jokingly poked but stopped halfway. Their eyes met and Chaewon forgot how to function anymore, her eyes were lost within the other’s.

Their faces were so close, so close that Chaewon can easily catch a whiff of her vanilla scent that she loves so much. 

Minju grinned, "you were saying?" 

"–Not too close,” she gulped, backing away. 

“Oh,” Minju grinned as she leaned nearer. “Like this?”

She’s definitely enjoying this.

"I–"

The older couldn’t take it anymore.

Something in her snapped