The final rehearsal for the play finally complete, albeit with a few too many mistakes for anyone to feel truly comfortable, the drama club members begin to disperse, everyone departing in different directions until the hall is near empty.

As the director, Jeongyeon likes to stay until the room is clear, last minute advice and tips at the ready for anyone who comes near. As her self-designated best friend Nayeon, of course, feels the need to stay with her. It helps that she's the lead and nobody finds her extended presence abnormal, assuming she has her own things to discuss with the director. Pretending that they don't know each other, haven't been friends since they were three and lived in the same neighbourhood all their lives, has been one of Nayeon's most successful acting projects.

There's a reason behind it obviously, the two of them afraid the other members will accuse Jeong of being biased rather than just admitting to themselves that Nayeon keeps getting lead roles because she's just that much better than them. Drama kids can be awfully spiteful at times so sacrifices must be made and if those sacrifices means she gets to pretend to hate Jeongyeon and insult her at any given opportunity then… well isn't that just further proof of how great an actress she is?

Her performance today hadn't really showed that though, mind too preoccupied with the mark on her wrist, the flower that had begun blooming despite the fact she's still too afraid to even begin to converse with the object of her affections.

"You were distracted today" is all Jeong says when they're finally alone. It's a statement not a question but Nayeon feels the urge to answer anyway.

"I have things on my mind" (an understatement)
She does though, it's true, lines and cues and directions she's memorised overshadowed by the petals beginning to flourish on her wrist.

"Any reason?" Jeongyeon asks, tone lighter than she'd expected, genuinely curious eyes lingering long enough that she can catch the glint of worry hidden in them.

"Not much," she mumbles, scratching slightly at her wrist as she worries, fingers catching the edge of her sleeve and pulling it up cautiously, alert ears catching the small gasp from her friend as she shows off the newly bloomed bud she's been so busy bothering over, "just this."
Jeongyeon hums at this, hesitantly reaching out, waiting for the nod of confirmation before she presses cold fingers against the mark on her wrist, fingertips softly tracing the outlines of the barely protruding petals.

"You know who it is?"

Nayeon nods, turning away as she does, preparing to run, "Chaeyoung."

"My baby fave set designer Chaeyoung?" a nod. "Hmph. I see." Jeong crosses her arms, a fake stern expression settling on her face as she continues, "you better be good to her or else."

Nayeon laughs at the words, having heard jeong give the exact same line to several of her previous prospective partners, "Isn't this the wrong way around?"

"No. Chaeng is a good kid. I'm glad it's her." a tilt of her head and cheeky smile are directed her way as she continues, "Guess now you've finally got to actually talk to her."

"Hey don't mock me!" Nayeon's indignant response echoes off the walls in the empty room, "you're just as much, if not more, of a useless gay as me"

"You have no proof of that."

"Yeah I do! That time we were literally dating and you didn't even realise or when Jihyo confessed to you and you said you were glad she thought you were such good friends or when that girl in the cafe flirted with you and you spilled scalding hot coffee all over yourself or -"

 

☆

 

Jeongyeon is absolutely ecstatic at how well the play had gone. Nayeon especially had performed wonderfully, none of the mistakes she'd made during rehearsal daring to appear today. She hadn't even got distracted by Chaeyoung, who was sitting in the front row to watch her set pieces in action, which was truly an outstanding feat.

So yeah, maybe Jeongyeon claps a little louder for slightly longer than she should, the only thing stopping her from continuing forevermore being Nayeon's glare as she walks off stage. 
The light lilt of laughter to her left draws her attention next, eyes darting to catch sight of a girl who, even from the corner of her eyes, is so shockingly beautiful its hard to believe she really exists.

Then their eyes meet and Jeongyeon's jaw drops in awe at the sight of the gleaming bright smile that greets her, causing her to drop back into her seat, cheeks flushing brighter than she'd thought possible.

She's regained her senses, mostly, by the time the theatre hall is all but cleared out, only having to sidle past a few hovering patrons gushing praise in order to slip backstage in pursuit of the play's star.

She finds the older girl standing just to the side of the stage door, watching not so subtly as Chaeyoung directs the stage crew in correctly disassembling set pieces. It's all too easy to surprise her, a mere tap on the shoulder gaining a shriek in response that's more than worth the pain she receives in return from a heel jabbing into her foot.

"Congrats on not ing it up" she says when Nayeon's shrieking turns into a pouty scowl upon registering her presence.

"Don't you mean congrats on being the greatest actress to ever bless the halls of this accursed academy?" Nayeon replies with a shove.

"Nah, I don't feel the need to lie to you" Jeongyeon jokes, Nayeon ramming into her side in response, causing the conversation to devolve into a tussle that's all too common between the two of them.

Jeong has Nayeon in a headlock, spare hand messing up carefully arranged hair, when they're interrupted by a familiar sound.
It's the laughter from before, the girl it originated from lounging against the wall as Chaeyoung eagerly dashes over to greet her.

Jeongyeon, of course, lets go immediately, not wanting to cause Nayeon even more embarrassment in front of her crush than she'd already caused herself.

Chaeyoung notices Nayeon's presence almost right away, words of praise about her performance rushing forward instantly, incessantly, only interrupted by a stammered thanks in return.

Jeongyeon leaves them to it, sidling over to the wall and leaning beside the other girl as they watch on with shared expressions of amusement. The conversation before them runs in a circle of carefully exchanged compliments, a comfortable silence between the two observers.

That is until Jeongyeon remembers the project that she and Nayeon were supposed to hand in by midnight that was nowhere near finished, the two of them too busy preparing for the play to give it a second thought. So she rushes the two of them away, quick apologies spurted out to Chaeyoung for the interruption and nothing but a hurried "see you" said to the girl with the cute laugh.

 

☆

 

The only thing that could possibly make this terrible day any better for Jeongyeon is coffee.
She had stayed awake until 4 am finishing an assignment, only to realise wasn't even due for another week. Then her 8am class had been moved so, after walking halfway across campus to it she had to trudge all the way to the other side of the campus where the class was actually being held. The teacher had dared to get mad at her for her tardiness despite not even sending out a warning email about the moving and had given her an additional assignment. 
Due tonight.

That brings her to now, half eleven, standing outside her favourite cafe staring at a sign that say it's closed for renovations or some other reason.

Wonderful.

There's another cafe nearby, she knows this from her late walks on sleepless nights, but she's a loyal customer (mostly thanks to the cute barista with an adorable accent that always flirts with her) so has not visited it yet. But if betrayal is what it takes for her to get good coffee then she supposes it must be done.

It's not a long walk, only an additional five minutes away but the path is littered with lounging students conversing in the middle of the street that makes it hard to navigate. Once she reaches the shop she can tell even by the exterior that its slightly more expensive than she's used to. Cursive signs and shockingly clean black tables