Ryujin watched with a huge smile on her face as Chaeryeong happily posed for the camera after getting a kiss from their youngest member, Yuna. She looked on, and did not realize she was staring until Chaeryeong looked in her direction. 

That was when it dawned on her that she was the next person to give Chaeryeong a kiss.

It was something they did for the first time on Yeji’s birthday not too long ago. At fans’ request, they decided to do it again on Chaeryeong’s birthday, although she remained suspicious of Yuna.

Her gut feeling was telling her that their youngest member suggested it herself, and that she only pretended to have read a comment about it.

It was very plausible that it was planned. After all, the girls knew about her small crush on Chaeryeong. They even made sure early this morning that she would be the one to hold and give the cake to the birthday girl.

The sight of Chaeryeong leaning in snapped her back to reality. She felt her ears grow hot all of a sudden. It did not help that the girls were all eyes on her, not to mention quiet, save for Lia who would not stop talking.

She tried to play it cool by pointing at the skin just a little below Chaeryeong’s lower lip. “Right here?”

She did not think it was a bad idea to suggest until Chaeryeong, without so much as a warning, tilted her head back. It took every ounce of self-control within Ryujin not to stare at the expanse of her neck. 

Before she lost all sense of control, she poked at the younger girl’s cheek. “I’ll just do it here.”

“Okay!” Chaeryeong said as she faced sideways.

Ryujin took this opportunity to admire Chaeryeong’s side profile as she tried to still her rapidly beating heart. She did not miss the sight of her cute ear peeking out of her hair.

She wished Chaeryeong would stop feeling insecure about the way her ears looked. They were honestly the best thing in the world, next to her smile.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned in. She was going to kiss Chaeryeong’s cheek when her eyes darted to her nose. Then to her lips. 

And that was when she backed away, much to the disappointment of the onlookers in the practice room. Dammit.

There was no way she could do this. Not when the girls and their fans were all watching.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yuna passing a lipstick onto Lia. She snatched it out of Lia’s hand, and turned away from all of them. It was so quick the two girls did not have the chance to react.

She needed to buy herself time so she could steady her nerves before her face turned into a tomato, she thought as she put on lipstick. 

Come on, Ryujin. 

Just get it over and done with.

It’s just a kiss on the cheek, and it’s not like it’s your first time doing it either.

She blushed as she thought back to the time she playfully stole a kiss or two from Chaeryeong when they were still trainees. Often, she would wonder whatever happened to that Ryujin, but then again, if she thought about it, this all happened way before she realized she might have a bit of a crush on the younger girl.

Now, she could not do it without her heart feeling like it was going to beat out of her chest. Hell, she could not even hold her gaze for more than a second. It also did not help that Chaeryeong looked extra beautiful today.

She closed her eyes as she came to the realization that stalling for time was not a good idea. If anything, she only became even more nervous.

“Oh my God, Ryujin. What’s taking you so long?” She heard Lia say with a hint of tease in her voice. She rolled her eyes.

Very slowly, she turned around to face Chaeryeong again, but not without reminding herself to give Yuna a smack on the head later for this.

At this rate, she would not be surprised if Chaeryeong already knew by now that she was harboring a crush on her. If not, the younger girl was either too oblivious to notice the teasing, or she was just plainly ignoring it.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she said finally after going back and forth several times. She gently put a hand around the younger girl’s neck before leaning in. 

Her lips were an inch away from touching Chaeryeong’s cheek when she suddenly heard the sound of a camera shutter. But before she could chicken out again, she threw caution to the wind and pressed a kiss to Chaeryeong’s cheek.

She had never pulled away from someone so fast in her life.

She had a hand over , her heart still pounding in her chest, when Yuna showed them the photo that she took. Her heart instantly melted upon seeing it—both of them had their eyes closed as she had her lips pressed against Chaeryeong’s cheek.

Before anyone could notice the blush she felt creeping up her face, she scooted back to her seat and busied herself with her phone. This was one of the moments where she was thankful that she was good at holding in emotions. 

She shot a quick text to Yuna, asking her to airdrop the photo to which Yuna responded sure ;).

She could not stop smiling to herself as she stared at the photo. She was holding her phone in a way no one could take a peek at her screen. The next thing she knew, the girls were already getting up from their seats to say goodbye to the fans.

Instinctively, she stood next to Chaeryeong. Not that she thought any of the girls would steal the spot from her. In fact, she was sure the girls would be more than willing to give it to her anytime. 

It was just that she wanted to stay beside Chaeryeong as much as she could on this special day.

They ended the V Live right after posing for the camera and saying goodbye to the fans. 

“I still have something to finish. You, girls, can go ahead and start without me,” Yeji said after hugging and wishing Chaeryeong a happy birthday again. 

“I’m still full. I’m heading back to the dorm,” Yuna said as she walked out the door, but not without shooting a wink in her direction.

Lia and Chaeryeong were the only ones left with her now, and before Lia could open to speak, Yuna came marching back into the room and stopped in front of her roommate. “Unnie. You, too, aren’t hungry, right?”

There was silence for a split second before Lia’s laugh cut through it. “Oh, right! I just realized that I’m still full. We’re heading back to the dorm now. You two can have dinner together,” she said to Ryujin in particular before leaving the practice room with Yuna.

Ryujin slapped a hand to her face. She was stunned by the extent to which the girls had been so cooperative for the sake of her and her stupid crush.

She glanced over to Chaeryeong, and observed her reaction. When the younger girl did not say anything, she mustered up the courage to ask, “Uhh, are you up for that? If not, we can just order takeout and eat in the dorm.”

“A dinner date sounds good,” Chaeryeong said.

“Okay, where do you want to—wait.” Her eyes shot wide open. “Dinner what?”

“Dinner date. Why?” The younger girl asked.

“Nothing.” She pouted. She could not believe this girl was throwing the word around like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You should go wash up now before you forget.” She chuckled as she tapped a finger on her cheek to mean the kiss marks.

She was going to clean up after the girls when a hand stopped her. “Ryujin-ah.”

She glanced at the hand before looking up to meet Chaeryeong’s gaze. Her heart stopped when she heard what the younger girl had said next.

“I like you, too.”

Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She beamed, and placed her hand over Chaeryeong’s only to have her hopes crushed. Again.

“You wrote that you liked me, right? Well, I like you, too,” Chaeryeong said, a shy smile adorning her pretty face.

“Oh.” She hung her head down. Of course, Chaeryeong was referring to the letter she wrote for her birthday. Dammit. “Thank you.” I mean it was what she wanted to say.

But she had to admit, hearing Chaeryeong say she liked her back was not so bad. It still made her heart flutter, even if the younger girl did not mean it that way.

She was going to remind Chaeryeong to wash up when she felt a pair of lips on her cheek. It was so quick that by the time she was able to react, it was gone.

“That’s for your birthday two months ago,” Chaeryeong said.

Ryujin stood rooted to the ground as she watched the birthday girl head out the door. She could not believe that she just had a series of heart attacks in less than five minutes.

When she was sure the latter was out of earshot, she hid her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream.

It was not her birthday, but it definitely felt like it was. 

Maybe she had the girls, especially Yuna, to thank for this day after all.

Outside the practice room stood the three girls who previously left on purpose.

“Oh my God, she’s so dense. When will she realize Chaeryeong unnie likes her, too?” Yuna asked as she pressed an ear to the door. “Can’t we just tell her? Because I don’t think any of these two will confess at this point.”

“Don’t. Let her figure it out herself,” Lia said as she took off her blue cap.

“Oh shoot. I think they’re coming this way. Let’s go,” Yeji said before taking off running.