“I- ice cream!”

Byulyi breaks the heavy silence with her yell. Wheein jumps a little at the sudden loud voice, and turns to look at her roommate. “Let’s go eat ice cream. Now. Ice cream right now?” Byulyi stands up and goes to take her jacket and wallet. “ You know, the you eat ice cream when you break up cliche?” She makes googly eyes at Wheein, trying to make the whole situation light. She is not ready yet for whatever is going to come. Ice cream, however, is what she knows she is ready for right now.

Ice cream is her short term plan.

To face this thing right now that is somehow scarier than job interview.

Wheein sighs. “Fine. Your treat.”

*

Byulyi tries to act normal on their ice cream date. IS THIS A DATE OH MY GOD she thinks while trying to not choke on her shared choco mint ice cream.

Oh my god we’re sharing a cup of ice cream.

Byulyi is panicking for no reason at all. They’ve always shared a cup of ice cream, it is not the first time. But everything seems couple-y now that Wheein is single and probably giving Byulyi hints that they can be together now. Is Byulyi dreaming or are Wheein’s legs slipping between Byulyi’s under the table and staying there comfortably, she doesn’t know either.

Wheein’s face is as straight as ever and so is her voice while talking about the weather, the goddamn weather. Funny, because none of the situation is straight at all right now. Their knees knocking, their fingers on each other occasionally because ice cream cup is small and two adults trying to hold it at the same time is a situation that will inevitably end up in fingers colliding.

“Unnie-”

“So how’s-”

They pause for a second and laugh. “You first.” Wheein manages to say it first. Byulyi doesn’t even remember what she was about to ask her.

Oh, right. The break up.

“Uh.. How are you feeling? Are you okay?” Byulyi asks carefully. She finds it weird that Wheein has been avoiding the topic until now. Talking about weather isn’t something they normally do.

Wheein fidgets in her seat a little. “Is it okay if I’d rather not talk about it right now?” She replies with her cutest puppy eyes that always hit Byulyi’s weakest spot, namely her uterus.

“No no no no no no no no no no. No no. No no no it’s okay.” She rambles.

“Fifteen nos, really?” Wheein breaks into laughter and collapses on the table. Byulyi can’t help but join her and burst into laughter as well. She figures they don’t have to talk about it right now. She should take it slow.

She sees Wheein dimples and tries so hard not to kick the table between them and kiss the out of her.

*

Byulyi goes to Wheein and her's text message archives that night. It has only been 7 months since their “mistake”, the kiss. Byulyi texted her a lot of “it’s okay”s and Wheein texted her a lot of “sorry”s in return. But Byulyi remembers the important conversation after and her heart is racing right now, trying to find the thing.

Wheein (｡ >‿<｡) Unnie.

You Yeah?

Wheein (｡ >‿<｡) If I break up with him someday, and you’re single, I will ask you out.

It’s been 7 months since the message but it still makes Byulyi dizzy. She didn’t believe it then and she doesn’t believe it now.

You You don’t have to force yourself. Seriously, it’s okay.

Wheein (｡ >‿<｡) It’s not okay. And I’m not forcing myself.

Wheein (｡ >‿<｡) I will definitely ask you out.

Wheein (｡ >‿<｡) I promise.

You Well, if you insist

You I better capture this, print it, and put it on your wall so you don’t forget

Wheein (｡ >‿<｡) You’re the worst!!

You LOL

Wheein (｡ >‿<｡) I’m sorry.

You It’s okay.

Byulyi rereads it a few hundred times until she suffocates herself and put her phone away. She lies on her bed and looks at the ceiling. She has to sleep right now, there is a job interview waiting for her the next morning. But she can’t will herself to sleep. She keeps thinking of Wheein. Wheein who is sleeping in the room next to her. Wheein who she likes a lot.

Wheein who promised to ask her out if she broke up with her boyfriend.

*

She wakes up a little late and scrambles to dress herself into appropriate formal wear, and runs out of her apartment to catch the bus. She manages to not miss the bus and once the morning rush passes and she gets a seat, she thinks again.

Right, Wheein still hasn’t asked her out.

Byulyi shakes her head and concentrates on not missing her stop. This is no time to think about such things. She is going to an interview she didn’t prepare for, that is the bigger issue at the moment.

*

She butchered the interview, as expected. Her head isn’t in the right place at all. Her priorities aren’t right.

Sitting on a cafe near her campus, she keeps looking at her phone and at the cafe’s old wooden clock. Anyone with eyes will know she’s impatiently waiting for someone.

“Noona!” A white haired boy makes a beeline to her table and sits across her.

“Wonsik.” She nods. The guy is Wonsik; her junior in the dance class, as well as Sanghyuk's roommate and close childhood friend. “Tell me everything.” She cuts to the chase and demands to the very confused guy in front of her.

“Nice to meet you too..?” He hesitates. Byulyi glares at him. “Is it about Sanghyuk and Wheein?” He mumbles.
 

Byulyi snorts. “What else could it be about?” She demands. “Did he tell you anything about the break up?”

“Look.” Wonsik sighs. “I don’t know anything about it. As far as I knew, they were in love with each other.” Byulyi winces at that. Wonsik doesn’t notice. “I just heard something about how it ended in good terms? I don’t know. Hyukie was slurring through the night. He was drunk and continuously bawled about how he was the worst, and stuff.” Wonsik stutters. “It was just yesterday, honestly, none of us knows anything.” He looks terrified of Byulyi, and she feels a little bit guilty.

“Okay. Don’t look like that. I won’t bite you.” She grunts.

“It would help if you'd said it a little bit nicely, and without that furious expression of yours.” He mumbles.

She kicks her shin under the table and he releases a yelp. “You said you won’t bite!!!” He cries.

“Yeah, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t kick.” She sneers cynically.

Wonsik whines. “Is that all? Because I have a class in 10 minutes.” He probably doesn’t, but Byulyi pities him. She’s not being civil right now, poor guy would rather be in class than hang out in a cafe with her.

“Yeah. Thanks. Here, my treat.” She gives him the neglected cup of iced coffe she’s been meaning to give him.

He looks relieved. “You’re not that bad.” Byulyi hisses and he runs with the coffee before she changes her mind.

That has been a useless conversation and Byulyi is not enlightened at all.

*

She flops on the couch as soon as she reaches the apartment. A familiar situation she finds herself in more than she’s supposed to.

“Why is he the worst?” She mumbles.

“Why is who the worst?”

.

Wheein is hovering around her head and Byulyi curses inwardly. Of course Wheein is home. She needs to be more aware of her surroundings.

Byulyi buries her face in the couch pillow and decides she will ask without looking at Wheein, because she’s so mature.

“Why does Sanghyuk think he’s the worst?” She whines to the pillow, but the words are still as clear as today’s sky.

Not long after her question, though, Wheein speaks. “Because he knew I’ve been in love with another person but he didn’t say anything because he wanted to keep me?” The tone is so casual, as if the words that come out of aren’t important. However, it is what Byulyi has wanted to hear, and also terrified to hear.

Byulyi lifts her face from the pillow and looks at Wheein’s face. The girl looks very honest. Her eyes pierce through Byulyi’s whole existence.

Byulyi goes to hide her face in the pillow again. “Why haven’t you asked me out yet?” She mumbles into the pillow, again. But there is no confusion or fear in her words now. Just shyness, and childish impatience.

Wheein laughs. “You know, the you wait 24 hours after you break up until you ask another person out cliche?”

Byulyi looks up and pouts. “There is no such cliche.” She finally manages to look at Wheein’s eyes. Their eyes meet and Wheein’s gaze is no longer piercing. Instead, it makes her melt, as if her limbs aren’t functional body parts, but just two huge gelatin based jelly like candies pasted on her torso.

She sees Wheein hands going to the sides of her face and Wheein’s face closing in on her, so she shuts her eyes and waits until a pair of smiling lips crash into hers. Their lips barely graze before Wheein leans back. Byulyi whines outwardly, which she regrets later because she is just downright childish right now. But she doesn’t really care about that when she should be jumping into Wheein as soon as possible.

“Will you be my gir-”

“Yes oh my god get over here” She cuts Wheein’s words and yanks the collar of Wheein’s shirt and maneuver her position so she’s lying down on the couch with Wheein on top of her on all fours.

Their lips easily find each other. It’s a bit rough at first, mouths knocking into each other hungrily, since they both have been waiting for this for seven months. But then Byulyi opens and Wheein’s tongue enters it slowly. She explores the inside of Byulyi’s mouth and savors the moment, learning and remembering the back of Byulyi’s teeth feel carefully, as if she will get a whole exam on it the next day. It is so slow and eager at the same time that Byulyi can’t help but release a low moan.

She puts her hands on Wheein’s hips and moves it up and down tentatively. She doesn’t know if she should go farther. Byulyi has been patiently waiting for this for months, but they just “officially” became girlfriends. She doesn’t know if it’s polite to put her hands someplace else.

Moments later, Wheein flops onto her body completely, unable to prop her body on her hands and knees anymore. The contact makes Byulyi jerk her hips instinctively. They both moan at that. Byulyi thinks she definitely can put her hands on Wheein’s back pockets, at the very least.

Sure enough, Wheein lets out the cutest whimper when Byulyi puts her hands on her back pockets. Wheein whines and buries her face in the space between Byulyi’s neck and shoulder, while giving Byulyi small kisses there. That tickles Byulyi a little bit but she can’t even feel ticklish, when she gets all the butterflies in the world inside her stomach.

Byulyi pants. She can’t take it anymore. “Can we go to my room?” She insists.

Wheein nods. So she gets them both to stand up and half sprint to her room. She pushes Wheein to the wall and starts kissing her neck hungrily, her hands lifting Wheein’s shirt and touching the skin of Wheein’s stomach teasingly.

“Unnie..” Wheein whines. She pauses for a bit and looks up. Wheein looks uncomfortable. She almost retracts her body from the younger girl before she is stopped. “No. It’s just.” Wheein hesitates. “I’m not sure I can do anything while being stared at by the huge Krystal Jung poster in your wall…” She mumbles.

Byulyi almost falls on the floor but she decides to fall on Wheein shoulder, laughing uncontrollably. Wheein puts her head on top of Byulyi’s and laughs, they stay like that for a little while.

They put on puppy stickers on Krystal’s eyes in the poster before they cuddle themselves to sleep.

*

Byulyi wakes up with two hands around her lower torso and soft chest on her back. She turns around immediately, and kisses the crown of the shorter girl’s head. It smells sweet, she should start using Wheein’s shampoo.

Wheein’s eyes start to crack open after the kiss, and when they are fully open, they are faced with the widest grin that ever takes place in Byulyi’s face.

Wheein giggles. “Good morning to you, too.”

Byulyi reaches her face with her hand, leaning in to kiss Wheein, but Wheein stops her. “Morning breath. Gross.” She covers with her hand.

But Byulyi takes her hand out of the way. “Nothing about you is gross.” She says it so fondly and matter of fact-ly, that Wheein can’t help but chuckle. Byulyi’s face gets red. “I admit that what I just said was a little bit gross.”

“Nah, it was cute.” Wheein winks at Byulyi and, damn, Byulyi is glad her job interview today is scheduled after lunch. Because this morning will last as long as she wants to.

*

Byulyi realizes she’s been applying to the wrong jobs, the wrong positions, the wrong companies. A dance academy just opens near her apartment and she applies right away. She nails the job interview and gets the job as dance instructor.

She celebrates her new job with Wheein in their regular ice cream place.

All this time she’s been struggling to find the answer to the million dollar question, but the answer is in front it her the whole time.

Her five year plan; dance, ice cream, and Wheein.