A few hours passed after Jiyoung's meet up with Sulli. She was sitting in her room, books and papers were scattered all over her desk, even on the floor. There was still the essay that needed to be written and Jiyoung figured, the faster she'd get behind the task the better. Well, easier said than done.

After one hour, only two paragraphs were written down on the paper and Jiyoung already had a major headache. Better get a break before I rage quit this essay and university. She went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed herself a bottle of water. It was already 5PM and her parents still weren't home. Not that Jiyoung would mind, she enjoyed being alone at home because then she could think about Gyuri without getting disturbed from her mother. Mrs. Kang tended to check on her daughter often, always wanting to know what Jiyoung was up to and if she did her university stuff. You could say it's just something that worried mothers do but Jiyoung felt burdened, if not overly controlled and this lead to distancing herself off from her mother. Probably another reason why the young girl depended so much on Gyuri, who never forced her to do anything when she wasn't comfortable with it.

The ringing of her cell phone brought her back to reality. She expected another message from Sulli but surprisingly, it was from Gyuri.

"Hey Jing, would you mind coming over for a visit? Or maybe a sleep over? I'm feeling kinda lonely."

Jiyoung's heart stopped for a moment. Gyuri rarely calls her by that nickname, only when she really needs something. Or when she needs her, to be exact.

"I'm on my way." Jiyoung answered, not wasting any time. She packed some clothes and other necessities, stuffed her unfinished essay in her bag and wrote a note for her parents:

"I'm sleeping at Gyuri's place, she helps me with an essay. See you tomorrow."

With that, she left her home and walked to the next bus stop.

Only 15 minutes later Jiyoung reached Gyuri's house. The older girl was sitting on the steps in front of the door, already waiting for her friend.

"Were you sitting here all the time while waiting for me?" Jiyoung asked with a smile.

"Of course not... Just enjoyed the weather. Wow, I didn't know you're that conceited." Gyuri retorted. The younger girl's smile turned into a frown.

"Is that so? Might as well go back home then." She was about to turn around but Gyuri grabbed her arm.

"I was just joking! Please accept my apologies and let's go inside, I prepared a meal for us."

"You're an Park Gyuri but I'll forgive you. Let's go." Gyuri carried her bag and together they entered the house.
 

Together they sat at the kitchen table, enjoying Gyuri's freshly cooked dinner.
 

"So, what did you do today?" The older girl started the conversation.

"Well, I've met up with a friend of mine. We were in a coffee shop in Hongdae and had a little chat, to catch up because we haven't seen each other for a while. And then...hmm....ahhh yeah, I went home and tried to get my essay done." Jiyoung recited today's events, of course leaving out the Dongwoon part. Not like it was of any importance, she thought.

"You tried to get your essay done...sounds like you didn't finish it. Am I right or am I right?" Gyuri grinned.

"As I said, I've tried...but yeah, of course you're right. I couldn't finish it but I'm here with you now so I thought you could help me."

"Let's finish our food first and then I'll have a look on it, okay?" Jiyoung nodded with a happy smile. They gobbled down the last bits from their meal, cleaned up the kitchen and went to the living room. Jiyoung pulled out her essay and handed it over to her friend.

"It's not much but I've given my best." she tried to justify her weak attempt. Gyuri knew that the young girl had her problems so she never lost a bad word on any of Jiyoung's works.

"The beginning is not bad, we just need to add more things and balance everything out. It's not that hard, with my help you'll finish it in no time." Gyuri encouraged the insecure girl.

It took them about an hour to finish the essay. Jiyoung looked it over and over and was satisfied with the outcome of their hard work.

"Now that your essay is done, we can finally relax and enjoy the rest of the evening...." Gyuri stood up suddenly and left the room but came back a moment later, holding two green bottles and shot glasses in her hands. "...with some Soju!" she put them down on the coffee table and switched on the TV.

"Uhm...just so you know, I can't handle alcohol very well. I don't drink Soju that often." a nervous Jiyoung admitted.

"Don't worry. We're at home and not in a restaurant, so nothing bad can happen. And I'll keep an eye on you, young lady." Gyuri assured. And with that, she poured the first round of Soju.

Five rounds later, the two girls were already tipsy. Their mood got better with every shot, everything they saw in TV, every little thing they blabbered in their drunkenness made them laugh. Gyuri could hold her alcohol well but Jiyoung was about to get smashed. Unfortunately that didn't stop her from taking even more shots and her friend didn't keep an eye on her as she promised.

It got late and the happy mood suddenly switched into a serious mood, the jokes changed into deep talk.

"You know Jiyoung...if you weren't always there for me...I wouldn't know what to do. Like...I would've dropped out of university. I wanted to run away sometimes because everything was too much. I'm still young but people already expect me to act like an adult because of my mother's illness. It's hard...but every time I'm with you, I forget all the stress, I forget all the worries. I can't tell you often enough how grateful I am to have you." Gyuri babbled.

"You're the older one but I have to admit, I like taking care of you. Just know that you can always count on me. You don't have to play the strong girl. When you're feeling weak, just lean on me. Like I told you some time ago, I only need you to be happy again." Jiyoung couldn't hold back anymore. The alcohol in her system blocked her anxiety, it made her confess all the things she wanted to tell the girl she crushed on for a year. Only one thing was left to be revealed.

"Gyuri...I love you." Jiyoung confessed, looking down to the floor, not able to face her crush after telling her what she kept as a secret for such a long time.

Author's note:

Hello my dear readers! I finally updated this fic which took me a long time. I'm really sorry about that, but real life has been a big pain in the...you know what I mean :D
I wanna thank everyone who is still with this fic and patient enough to keep up with such an writer like me :) I'm really sorry about that but I hope this chapter makes it up. I actually wanted to write a longer chapter but I figured it would've gotten too long with the things I have already planned. I'm already working on the next chapter and I can assure you, it's going to be a minder! Don't know when I'm going to finish it tho, I can only ask for your patience.
And as usual, greetings to my friend CrazyReaper! I love your loyalty <3
(And I love all the other readers too of course, I LOVE YOU ALL :D)

BUHBYE :)