"Where in America are you from, anyway?"

"San Francisco," Soojung says, and she takes remarkable pains to pronounces it the Korean way, more so that even a Korean person who grew up on in Korea would say. Seulgi can see the way she has to stutter the 'F' of San Francisco down to a 'P' even though she knows well enough how to make that sound. Is it because she's thinking to hard? Is it because Seungwan is around? Is one the cause of another? 

"I can still see the California sun on you," Seungwan says, with a causal flick of Soojung's collar where there's a trace of a tan line across the back of her neck, maybe from a swim suit or something. Seulgi wouldn't really know.

Soojung's smile is polite, if a little hesitant, but it melts into something more real the longer she looks at Seungwan's honest smile. The tanner kids in elementary, especially the girls who liked to play soccer out in the fields with the boys at lunch, used to get teased for being so dark. Did Seungwan ever do that, or was Seungwan one of those girls who'd run around slowly turning brown until people told her she'd look prettier if she stayed out of the sun?

(Seulgi always stayed in the shade and read, mostly because it was too hot to move. They used to say she cooled cool, though. Smart, reading her books. They tease Seohyun-sunbaenim about it sometimes now, but Seulgi can tell it's tinged with admiration. Seulgi doesn't read in her spare time anymore. Seulgi doesn't even feel like she has spare time.)

Seungwan's smile is, of course, disarming as always. Soojung relaxes a little more into her chair and fixes her collar where Seungwan flicked it up, a smile of her own on her face. Seungwan seems pleased

"You're Korean is great," Seungwan says, a complement, and Seulgi knows it's the inevitable that the ground as to be stepped on here. 

Soojung actually has gotten to know Seungwan, though. Seulgi wonders if that makes the moment more awkward (because they really should have better things to talk about) or less (because she knows it's, probably, not coming from a bad place).

Of course, it's then that Seungwan, being Seungwan, totally changes the pace of the conversation. "How's my English?"

She says it in, of course, English. Seulgi's surprised by how fluent the accent sounds. (How many Hollywood movies does Seungwan watch and where does she find the time to do it? Does she bootleg them and watch them off her phone when she's stuck on the bus?)

"It's great. Your accent's perfect." Soojung replies and, oddly, it's in Korean. Seulgi doesn't even want to contemplate what mental hoops everyone is jumping though.

Seungwan grins again, from ear to ear. "I know right? Actually, I lived in Canada for a while when I was younger. The whole of middle school."

That might explain Seungwan burning desire to recreate every embarrassing middle school-aged experience she can when everyone else is trying to bury any memory of their fourteen-year-old selves.

"Oh. Did you live in a dorm or with a host family?"

"No, my family came too. My older sister needed some English practice too, so my mom took care of us while were there."

"Your dad stayed in Korea then?"

Soojung is alright at the small talk. She's very stiff at it, though. It's very proper, very polite. On first appearance, it seems totally cool and composed.

"Yeah. He was a total goose dad having to fly out and see us."

"And yet your English test scores aren't anything to write home about," Seulgi interjects, noting Soojung's palms and the way they're curling tighter and tighter around the seat of her chair.

"I'm gonna kill it at TOEFL!" Seungwan insists. "Just wait. I'm just reserving my power. Anyway, school isn't teaching English as much as it is making you memorise English."

Seulgi frowns. She's quite aware how futile all of this work is going to be but she doesn't need sunshine and rainbows Seungwan of all people rubbing salt into the cynicism.

Soojung changes track before she can complain about it. Since it's Soojung, she might just be trying to stop a fight. Seulgi doesn't blame her. She only knows two people here and picking sides would be a trek through a bloodbath, especially as far as the average high school girl is concerned.

Soojung is saved by having to mediate between an argument, however harmless, by the signal that it's time to start classes again

Their break ends pretty quickly. Everyone's chair, dragged here and there into impromptu arrangements for conversations, scatter back to their respective desk with better coordination than most of the rookie idol groups on TV these days.

The classes drag on. Seulgi's mechanical pencil runs out of lead, but she doesn't refill it. She wouldn't know what to make notes on anyway.

Soojung has to hurry home tonight and cook dinner because her mother is working late. Instead of walking her bicycle to the station with Seulgi, she'll be riding it, full steam ahead, up and down hills and across overpasses. Soojung apologises in a way that's aegyo only inadvertently, two hands clapped together as she winces. She doesn't want to set a bad precedent. She would like to talk to Seulgi, yes, especially since it's been so soon from when they were first starting to get to know each other and it's unfortunate, but would she not mind if she just went ahead?

Of course Seulgi doesn't mind.

For once, Seungwan doesn't bolt out of the door the moment the last bell of school rings. She lingers, instead, taking too long to put away her things, arranging and rearranging the clutter of personal items on her desk and the pillow she brought in for the seat and back rest.

"Don't you have some kind of music class to be going to?"

"It was canceled for today. Want to go back together?"

"Your bus stop and my train station aren't close to each other."

She glances out the window. Soojung's bike, distinctive white rimmed tires shining out against the dark frame, soars out into the distance. As expected, Soojung really is athletic. Or maybe the bike is very well made. She deftly weaves her way through the throng of students slowly leaking out from the gates.

"I can catch my bus from a different stop, you know." Seungwan looks out the window too, trying to trace whatever it was grabbed her attention. It's too late. Soojung's bike is long gone. "There'll be plenty by the station. And considering how late music practice usually finished, it won't be any different."

"Your parents don't know your music lesson got cancelled, do they?"

"Nah," Seungwan says with a lopsided grin, presenting her phone with a flourish. It's just a text message. From her music teacher, Seulgi assumes. The golden girl isn't so golden after all. "Wanna get something to eat while we're at it?"

Stupidly and because it's Seungwan who's asking, Seulgi agrees.

Because Seulgi has to scrape through the coin compartment of her wallet and then every pocket in her school blazer to scrounge up even a serviceable amount of money, she manages to haggle down Seungwan's request for food into a quick trip to a cafe for drinks. It's one that Seungwan has been itching to visit for weeks, though, which means it's trendy and the the drinks are, accordingly, overpriced.

Seungwan assures her that the drinks will be great and Seulgi thinks they had better be, especially after they got caught in a spring shower on the walk over. The clouds today were scattered in heavy clumps across  the sky today. By the time Soojung got going, she could have dodged most of the rain, but Seulgi still wonders and resolves to get Soojung's number the next day so she can ask her questions about the weather whenever she likes.

Seungwan pushes her deeper into the cafe. They trickle stray drops of water from their shoes onto the shiny wood-looking floors. (Seulgi doubts they're actual wood when cafes here come and go like fireworks disappearing into smoky skies.) None of the staff glare at them, at least, as they walk over to the main counter.

She can see Seungwan's eyes flicker down the lefthand side of the menu, just looking at the item names, while Seulgi skims down the right hand side, looking at prices before what it is she's going to end up ordered. 

(It's a stereotype, she knows, to think that people from abroad have a lot of money so she wonders which part of the menu Soojung would look at first if she was out with them.)

Seungwan nudges her forward in the line. Traitor, just wanting to get more time to perfect her order. Seulgi just gets a coffee she can't pronounce. She points to its number on the menu. It's warm and cheap and the outside air is chilly with rain. Seungwan orders some fancy iced tea drink she doesn't want to think about.

There are places to sit down so they do. Seulgi puts her bag on a spare chair. The place is empty enough that no one should ask for it to be used. The place is mostly empty in general, barring the tired looking university students who are camping there with empty drinks for the wifi and shelter as they sigh into laptop screens and hang their heads in their hands. There's not even background music playing. Maybe that aggravates the student clientele.

"I like her," Seungwan says, carrying over a tray with their drinks. She takes her iced tea and then slides the whole tray over to Seulgi's side of the table, opposite from her. Seulgi warms her fingers on the sides of the cup.

"Who?" Seulgi knows who she's talking about, but there's nothing else she can do to make the conversation keep going. She shouldn't feel self-conscious about niceties around Seungwan, but the silences around her always feel like their vibrating with some energy or tension that makes her skin itch if she doesn't break them with words. There's not even a steady background noise, like the chain clicking against the gears of Soojung's bike as they walk up offensively steep hills, to set a gentle pulse.

Seungwan stirs the rest of the sugar syrup from the tiny pitcher on the tray into her drink. "Soojung."

Sometimes it's good that Seungwan has such poor self-awareness. Seulgi wouldn't be able to keep a whole conversation going with bland and obvious set phrases otherwise. She takes a sip of her drink. It's bitter. "That's nice."

Seungwan puts down her spoon on the table. The metal rings, sharp against the table, and Seulgi winces. Seungwan, of course, doesn't notice. "Do you like her?"

"Who?"

"Soojung."

"What about Soojung?"

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah, I guess. She's nice." Seulgi swallows. Back to the set phrases. "I hope we'll get along."

Seungwan chews on her straw, wiping the beads of condensation from her drink on the her fingers and then from her fingers on the napkin. Seulgi's hands feel wet and cold and clammy and caked with sweat and she realises Seungwan just took the last napkins so she has nothing but her clothes to wipe her hands on. Her clothes are, of course, still damp from the light rain they got caught in. Seulgi doesn't bother with an attempt.

Something in Seungwan's smile makes her wonder if the absence of napkins on their table is Seungwan's usual inability to grasp the mood of a room or something else.

"Yeah. That's good," Seungwan says. She wipes the puddle of water that's formed under her drink from the table and soaks the napkins the rest of the way through. How considerate. (Not like the waiters don't have towels for that exact purpose.) "I hope we'll get along too."

The drink she bought is overpriced, but Seulgi doesn't really feel like having any more of it. The room's too warm. Seulgi takes off her blazer and hangs it on the back of her chair. Maybe it will dry faster that way.

"Don't worry," Seungwan says. Her smile is just as it always is, and it's accompanied by a shot at subtle aegyo, a tilt of her head in lieu of a wink. "I still like you too, Sseul."

Seulgi remembers strong coffee gives her a stomach ache. How much milk did they put in hers? Not enough, probably.

Maybe she feels one coming on already. Or maybe it's a headache. Coffee is dehydrating too, right? Her mother's always scolding her father when he's going off to work and forgets to bring along his tumbler of water.

"Do you like me too?"

"Yes, Seungwan," Seulgi says, rubbing her temples. "That's why we're friends."

Seungwan giggles. "Yeah. I guess it is."

A/N: Thanks for reading so far! Comments are always appreciated, even if it's just "uwu"