Yoonji carefully poured lemonade into two glasses before setting the glass jug down and turning around. "Here you go, one lemonade." Walking over to the couch, she placed the two glasses on the coffee table and slid one over to her best friend who was currently still preoccupied with her phone.

Haeri looked up from her phone and gratefully smiled. "Ah, gomawo! I'm parched." Greedily, she bit one end of a straw and swiftly pulled off the wrapping before sticking it inside her drink and taking a gracious sip. Haeri melted and let out a happy sigh. "Wah~ it's so good!" 

Yoonji giggled, before taking a sip of her own drink. It was a warm Saturday morning, and the two girls decided to hang out at Haeri's place to do some homework together. 

A soft buzz could be heard and Haeri set her drink down before glancing over at her phone. Yoonji watched as a smile broke out on her lips as she quickly typed back a response to the text message. Yoonji let out a small chuckle, raising a mischievous brow.

"And who may that be?" She lightly teased. Haeri pressed send before looking up and giving her a sheepish grin. 

"Ah, would you believe me if I said nobody?" Yoonji rolled her eyes while biting the tip of her straw. 

“No, I wouldn’t.” Laughing out loud, Yoonji leaned in curiously. “But, seriously, tell me~!” She put up a hand. “Wait, lemme guess,” Tapping her chin, she pretended to think really hard while Haeri giggled next to her. “Does it happen to start with an ’S’ and end with an ‘oppa’?” Yoonji playfully wiggled her brows.

Haeri burst in a fit of giggles. “Yah! Shut up!” A fist covered as she tried to stifle a laugh. Yoonji grinned and brought her legs up and under her while placing her drink back down on the table. 

“So, I was right? It’s ‘Sehun oppa~’” Before she could further, Haeri had grabbed a pillow from beside her and whacked her friend in the face. “Pfft—” Yoonji blew hair out of as she pushed the pillow away from her. “YAH!” 

Haeri stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms. “That’s what you get for mimicking of me, pabo.” 

Yoonji pouted while fixing her hair. Haeri chuckled before taking her pillow and pulling it close to her chest. “But yeah…you’re right…” 

Yoonji instantly straightened and looked at her friend with big eyes. “Chincha?!” She exclaimed excitedly. “Are you guys official?!” 

Biting her lip slightly, Haeri turned pink, but nodded. Yoonji’s eyes widened before she squealed out loud. “Kyaaa~!”

Haeri covered her ears instinctively. “Aish—Kang Yoonji, calm down will you?!” Yoonji grabbed both of her shoulders and shook her violently.

“HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! MY BEST FRIEND HAS A BOYFRIEND!” She continued and cheer up and down while shaking her until Haeri felt slightly dizzy. Abruptly, Yoonji stopped and put her hand on her hips, a frown on her face.

“Wait, when did this happen? Why did I only find out now?!” Haeri plugged her fingers in her ears.

“Yah! Can you be any louder?!” An unhappy frown broke from her lips as she massaged her temples. Yoonji’s eyes slightly widened and she covered .

“Ah, mianhae…” She took her hand off and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Haeri sighed and dropped her hands in her lap. Clearing softly, she wrung her hands together in her lap with a semi-serious expression. “It actually only happened yesterday. At the park, when we had our, er, ‘study date’.” She blushed lightly. Yoonji gaped at her.

“Bwoh?!” She said incredulously, blinking rapidly. Yesterday? On their study date!? 

hung open in disbelief. “Is that why you ditched me yesterday when I asked if we could hang out at the library?!” 

“No, but it was part of the reason.” Haeri bit her lip in embarassment. “Sehun texted me asking if I could help him with some math homework and well, I couldn’t exactly say no…and besides, I don’t really like the library…” She muttered the last part under her breath, but Yoonji still caught it and narrowed her eyes. Pouting, she slumped in her seat. Haeri saw her defeated expression and softened. “Mianhae, Yoonji-ah, I didn’t mean to ditch you…”

Yoonji huffed, crossing her arms cutely. “You owe me big time, missy.” She pointed a finger in her direction and wagged it. “By buying me some ice cream.”

Haeri rolled her eyes, but grinned amiably. “Sure thing, chingu.” Yoonji broke out into a smile too. 

Another buzz emitted from Haeri’s lap. She looked down and brightened instantly. Yoonji sat back, pulling out her notebooks and pencils from her backpack as Haeri typed back a response. Abruptly, Haeri shot up in her seat, startling Yoonji. 

“Sooo, how are you and Baekhyun?” Haeri’s eyes sparkled with curiousity. Yoonji involuntarily blushed, but didn’t look up at her friend as she opened her workbook to the right page.

“Hmm, we’re okay.”

She yelped, dropping her pencil in the process, as Haeri jumped in her seat and exclaimed, “OKAY?! That’s all your going to tell me?!” She blew her bangs off her face in annoyance.

Yoonji picked her pencil up from the ground and chuckled at her reaction. “What’d you want me to say?”

“A little more than ‘we’re okay’! Gosh, lady. I thought you two were hitting it off, big time!” Haeri threw her hands in the air to exaggerate her point. Yoonji shook her head with a smile. 

“Aigoo, well we talk often and text almost everyday, but…” She shrugged. 

“But what? There are no ‘but’s! He hasn’t asked you out yet?” When Yoonji shook her head no, Haeri let out a frustrated raspberry.

“Aish, stupid Baekhyun.” She muttered under her breath.

“Maybe…he just doesn’t like me like that.” Yoonji couldn’t deny that that possibility made her heart sink. “I mean, nobody clicks as easily as you and Sehun.” Yoonji attempted to joke, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. It was true, her feelings for Baekhyun had increased over time. He made her happy and sent her heart on a roller coaster ride. But, she hadn’t noticed any signs from him saying that he had mutual feelings. Maybe he really doesn’t like me…

Haeri noticed her shoulders slightly droop and felt a twinge of pity for her. Reaching out, she lightly patted her shoulder while giving a warm smile.

“Yah, Kang Yoonji—” Before she could say anything, however, her phone buzzed in her lap. She inwardly groaned in irritation. Yah, Oh Sehun, can you not have better timing?!

She snatched her phone, ready to irritably yell at her boyfriend, when she read the text. Her eyes widened slightly and she gasped out loud. Yoonji snapped out of her thoughts and turned towards her. “Bwoh? Did something happen?”

Haeri squealed. “Omo, they’re here!”  

Yoonji gave her a quizzical look. “Um, who?” Just then, the doorbell rang and Haeri bounded up and raced to the door. Curiously, Yoonji followed suit. When they reached the door, Haeri hurriedly unlocked it and swung it open. Yoonji was startled to find both Sehun and Baekhyun at her door. 

“Oppa!” Haeri yelped in glee and ran into Sehun’s open arms. Sehun lightly smirked and picked her lightly off the ground. 

“Hey babe, missed me?” He placed Haeri down and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. Yoonji  glanced over at Baekhyun and locked eyes with him. He smiled and waved slightly, causing Yoonji to flush a tint of pink before returning the gesture.

“Hey.” He had squeezed through the entrance and was now in front of her.

“Hey,” She smiled. “What’re you guys doing here?”

“We decided to come by and hang out.” Sehun answered for him, his hand resting on Haeri’s hip. He lifted up a plastic bag he was holding. In it, Yoonji saw the outline of a rectangular box. “I brought over a couple movies to watch.” He cheekily grinned.

 

---

 

The next thing she knew, all four of them had gathered in front of the television watching a romantic comedy. The two lovebirds shared a seat on the armchair. Haeri was curled comfortably in Sehun’s lap munching on some homemade popcorn and the both of them had their eyes glued to the screen. Baekhyun and Yoonji had resorted to sitting side by side on the couch, Yoonji sneaking glances at the couple and chuckling every time Haeri abruptly burst out laughing and startling Sehun. She also stole a few looks over at Baekhyun, but every time she looked over his eyes were focused on the movie.

Unknowing to her, Baekhyun was constantly sneaking peeks of her as she grabbed popcorn out of a basket that was placed between them. He had secretly timed it so that a couple times, when Yoonji reached in to grab a popcorn, he did too, resulting in a small share of kinship between them. Every time that happened, Yoonji had embarrassedly snatched her hand back, placing it in her lap while Baekhyun secretly chuckled at her reaction.

Halfway through the film, Yoonji felt thirsty. Looking over, she saw that Haeri was fast asleep in Sehun’s arms and he was absently caressing her hair while still watching the movie. After making sure that Baekhyun was also watching the television, she crept out of her spot and into the kitchen. Baekhyun looked over at her retreating back in curiosity. Where was she going?

When Yoonji made it into the kitchen, she made her way over to the fridge and opened it up. She grabbed a bottle of lemonade before shutting it quietly.

“Do you mind if I have one too?” His voice caused her to jump slightly, letting out a small squeak. Turning around, she saw him trying to stifle a laugh. Narrowing her eyes, she put a hand on her hip.

“Yah, what’s so funny?” Baekhyun let a crooked smile slip. 

“You.” He replied, walking over to her. Yoonji backed up until she hit the counter, holding her lemonade to her chest. Baekhyun raised an eyebrow.

“Are you okay there?” He smirked teasingly. Yoonji inwardly gulped before replying.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine.” She tore her gaze away from him and proceeded to open up the lemonade. Baekhyun opened up the fridge and grabbed one for himself. When he looked back up, he saw that she was struggling to open up the bottle. He chuckled to himself. She’s too cute.

Yoonji attempted to twist the bottle open, but it still wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, she pouted. “Aish, stupid bottle, open already—”

“—Do you need help?” She looked up to see that Baekhyun had already opened his and was taking a sip. Blushing, she nodded, quietly handing her bottle over. Baekhyun took it and easily twisted the cap open, causing a quiet ‘tss’ to sound from the lemonade. He twisted it back closed and held it out for her, smiling. “Here you go.”

“Gomawo.” Yoonji gratefully took the drink back, opening it before taking a sip. The two of them were soon enveloped in an awkward silence for a few moments. Yoonji stared at the floor under her, kicking at the invisible dirt with the tip of her shoe. Omo, this is so awkward. Should I say something? But I don’t know what to say either! He probably thinks I’m a total weirdo now. Ugh, nice going Yoonji.

A clearing of the throat broke her form her thoughts, causing Yoonji to look up. Baekhyun was eyeing his bottle silently. “So, I was thinking…” Yoonji perked her ears up and listened.

Baekhyun scratched the back of his head awkwardly, at a loss for words. How am I going to say it?

Luckily, her voice piped up. “Yeah?” Baekhyun looked up and locked eyes with her. Instantaneously, he was locked in a trance. Her eyes were sparkling under the moonlight peeking through the kitchen’s curtain, illuminating half of her face, making her look like an innocent angel. Man, I could get lost in her eyes forever…they’re so beautiful…

“Baekhyun? Hello?” Yoonji waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention. Quickly, Baekhyun snapped out of his thoughts.

“H-huh? Oh, yeah. Um, as I was saying…what was I saying?” He nervously laughed, looking down at the floor. Yoonji lightly giggled at his reaction.

“You were thinking of something…?” She reminded him.

“Hm? Oh, right. Well, the thing is…I was thinking…um, about…us. But, only if there is exactly—an ‘us’—there could be, if—er—that’s what you wanted…but I’m not forcing this on you—I don’t want to force anything on you—not that I was going to force anything—ah, it’s just…” He started rambling, having no real idea what he was talking about. He instantly felt stupid and wanted to himself with a bowl of bricks. What the heck is happening to you?! You’re making a fool of yourself. Cut it out! He mentally scolded himself. Yoonji couldn’t help but bite back a smile at his flustered behavior. 

“Baek, are you alright?” She tentatively asked. Baekhyun stopped rambling and looked up at her. She looked at him expectantly. Defeated, he let out a huge sigh. You made a complete fool of yourself. Good going Baekhyun.

Straightening up, he decided to start over. “Well, the thing is…I kinda, um…” He cleared his throat, putting his drink down in the kitchen counter. Here goes nothing. 

“I wanted to ask you a question…” Yoonji’s curiosity peaked and she leaned in unconsciously. 

“Yeah…?” Her heart had started racing, pounding lightly against her ribcage.

Baekhyun’s palms had started sweating and he silently prayed that Yoonji couldn’t see them or hear the increase of his heart rate.

“I wanted to know if—” 

“YAH!” The yell startled both Baekhyun and Yoonji, earning a shriek from the surprised girl. The two turned to find a smirking Sehun and grinning Haeri. “What’re you guys doing here?” Haeri put her hands on her hips. Her short blonde hair was slightly disheveled, but she looked cute and innocent nonetheless.

“Um—”

“We were just—”

The two victims fumbled as they tried to find an appropriate response and Haeri secretly smiled at the two of them. Both were flushed and speechless, the pure image of innocence. Laughing lightly, she spoke again. 

“Come you two, let’s finish the movie, yeah? You guys left and it wasn’t even done.” She pouted slightly. Yoonji gained her composure and playfully rolled her eyes.

“Says the one who was comfortably snoozing in her boyfriend’s lap.” Yoonji raised a teasing brow. Haeri stuck out her tongue, but grinned. Finding Sehun’s hand, she lightly pulled him back to the living room. Sighing resignedly, she turned to Baekhyun. “I guess we’ll talk later…?” She followed the couple into the living room. Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. He had wanted to ask Yoonji an important question, but he didn’t know how. He gulped, reluctantly walking back to where the movie was.

They all sat back down in their respective seats and Haeri pressed the play button to the paused movie. It automatically played back to where it had left off.

Baekhyun shifted in his seat, thinking silently to himself. How was he going to ask her?

Without even thinking, he looked over to Sehun and was surprised to see that the younger one was staring back at him. When they locked eyes, Sehun’s eyes quietly said the words that he couldn’t speak. 

What are you waiting for? Go get her.

At that, Baekhyun’s determination bloomed. He was going to do it. He was going to ask her. He gave the girl beside him a sideways glance only to her her focused on the movie. His eyes quickly scanned the vicinity around him until they laid eyes on an abandoned notebook sitting on the counter. Yoonji hadn’t cleaned up her earlier mess before they had arrived so her open notebook and pencil were still sitting on the table. An idea suddenly popped into Baekhyun’s head. 

Secretly, he took the notebook and pencil off the table. He could see from the corner of his eyes that Sehun had given him a confused expression, but had decided against commenting on it and looked away. Baekhyun inwardly smirked before scribbling something down on the paper.

Yoonji felt something light fall into her lap. Bewildered, she looked down to see that it was a folded piece of paper. Her eyes widened slightly in confusion and she looked over at Baekhyun instinctively. He openly stared back before flicking his gaze down at the paper at her lap and then back at her.

“Um…” Did he want her to open it?

Still befuddled, she opened the note, careful not to make too much noise. She read it and her eyes slightly widened in surprise:

 

Kang Yoonji,

 

I was going to ask you a question earlier, but we were rudely interrupted.

 

I couldn’t wait until this movie ended so I’m going to ask you now.

 

I know this probably isn’t the way you wanted to be asked, and I’m sorry for the circumstances. 

 

But here goes…

 

Suddenly, a hand clasped her own and she let out a tiny gasp. Looking over, she saw that Baekhyun’s face was literally inches away from hers. In the dark room, the images from the screen reflected distorted images on one side of his face, but up close Yoonji couldn’t deny that she was momentarily blown away by his gorgeousness.

Baekhyun leaned in a little closer so that his lips were by her ears and Yoonji held her breath, feeling her body heat rise in reaction. His hot breath sent a tingle down her spine as he whispered quietly but firmly,

“Kang Yoonji—would you be my girlfriend?” Once the words left his lips, Yoonji was frozen in shock and disbelief, but felt her heart race anyway. Baekhyun wasn’t done, though.

“Would you accept me and my heart, fulfill my wish and hope, and finally be mine?” His words sent a thrill through her, causing her to be momentarily speechless. Baekhyun pulled away slightly, only to see her face and was slightly disheartened to see that she was staring at him blankly with agape. He grew worried. This wasn’t how he should’ve asked her. She’ll reject him for sure.

Baekhyun dejectedly sighed, and leaned back to pull away when he felt a hand grasp his arm. Shocked, he looked up and locked eyes with her.

“Yes.” Was all she said, and truthfully it was all she could muster because she was still in disbelief, feeling it to be too surreal. He just asked me out. Byun Baekhyun just asked me, Kang Yoonji, to be his girlfriend…I’m dreaming, I must be dreaming…

“W-What?” His stammering brought her back to her senses. She realized that she had unconsciously answered him, but didn’t change her answer.

“Yes,” She repeated, and this time a shy smile broke form her lips. “I’ll be your…girlfriend.”

The next thing she knew she was lifted off the couch and into the air as Baekhyun hugged her tightly to his chest. The lights were suddenly and Yoonji blinked trying to get used to the unexpected brightness.

“Finally!” A voice exclaimed behind them. Baekhyun carefully set her down and she saw a wide smile plastered on his face. He still had an arm wrapped securely around her waist as she turned to face Haeri who was beaming at her. The taller girl placed her hand on hips with a smirk. “You guys are finally together. Sheesh. What the hell took you so long?!”

Yoonji flushed for the umpteenth time that night and when she looked back at him, her heart automatically fluttered warmly in her chest. Baekhyun looked back at her lovingly, not a single drop of regret evident on his face.

Finally, you’re officially mine.