3 – paperplanes

 

 

Fingers hovering over her phone, Joohyun sighed as she put the device down on the table for the millionth time.

 

As Shakespeare had once said, “to text or not to text, that is the question”.

 

Well, somewhat.

 

At least that was the burning question permeating every corner of Joohyun’s mind. Ever since that day when she saved Seulgi’s number, her phone has been literally plastered onto her hand 24/7. She checked her phone almost every minute of the day for any form of communication from Seulgi.

 

It was only yesterday when her best friend slash Satan, Sooyoung, could no longer stand her lovelorn and pathetic self, as quoted by none other than the devil.

 

She cornered Joohyun during lunch and questioned her about her suspicious attraction to her phone.

 

“Joohyun, you normally don’t even reply my messages until I threaten to throw Beary away…” Sooyoung said as she walked even closer towards the brunette.

 

“But these few days, your eyes have been nowhere but on this device…”

 

Sooyoung stopped advancing when she successfully cornered Joohyun against the wall.

 

“Spill. What . Are . You . Hiding . From .  Me.”

 

Joohyun gulped as she trembled under the glare of her giant best friend. She could never hide things well from this devil, ever since high school the said girl has been exposing all her futile attempts at hiding information from her.

 

The brunette sighed again before looking to the ground.

 

“ImighthavemetSeulgiagain.”

 

Sooyoung stared at the incoherent brunette.

 

“Don’t make me throw Beary away!”

 

“Okay okay Sootan, I met Seulgi again last week…and I’ve been waiting to see if she would text me…”

 

Joohyun buried her face in her palms out of embarrassment and was about to leave when Sooyoung finally gathered her thoughts and spoke.

 

“Wow, sorry that came as a shocker. But judging from how whipped that dumb bear was for you only on your second meeting, wouldn’t she have texted you the minute you left the place?”

 

Joohyun thought about it for a moment.

 

Sooyoung was right.

 

Why didn’t Seulgi text her?

 

Then, it struck her.

 

Good ol’ dumb Joohyun.

 

“Oh my god Sooyoung…” Joohyun grabbed her friend’s shoulder as her face turned to one of absolute horror.

 

“I DIDN’T GIVE HER MY NUMBER!”

 

-

 

After literally spending the rest of the day cursing her dumb self for her stupidity, Joohyun found herself walking in the direction of a familiar café.

 

Excuse you Bae Joohyun where do you THINK you are going?!

 

Why am I walking to the café?!

 

It was as though Joohyun’s legs had a mind of it’s own, taking her to the café Seulgi worked at. Her heart was beating really quickly as she thought back to her previous encounter with the blonde barista.

 

“There you go, all better ain’t it?”

 

Why did that sound so familiar?

 

It was at the back of Joohyun’s mind for the past week, she dreamt of a blurred face and it irked her to no end. There was a longing sense of familiarity in this blurred persona, Joohyun felt strangely comforted to be in her presence even if it was only in her dreams.

 

And the fact that Kang Seulgi managed to make her feel the exact same warmth and familiarity that day scared her.

 

Joohyun was determined to find out why her heart was feeling this way and before she knew it, she was in front of the café once more.

 

She peeked in, looking for signs of a blonde haired barista, only to find herself disappointed.

 

Nonetheless, she still went in for her daily coffee fix, wouldn’t hurt to get some caffeine to sooth her confused self right?

 

“Can I have a Caramel Macchiato, Venti please?” Joohyun said as she dug her wallet for change.

 

“Oh hey Joohyun it’s you! I haven’t seen you in years!” The brunette cashier said when she saw Joohyun.

 

“Umm…Sorry but do I know you?”

 

Before the brunette had a chance to speak, a mob of blonde hair rushed in and pulled her away.

 

“One Caramel Macchiato coming right up!” Seulgi chirped before dragging her co-barista to the kitchen at the back.

 

Joohyun was left standing with her hand outstretched, bewildered.

 

“Don’t worry it’s on the house!”

 

She couldn’t help but break into a small smile.

 

-

 

“Yah Seungwan! You nearly got me into trouble…”

 

“I was just saying hi to Joohyun Unnie? I haven’t seen her in forever!” the brunette whined as she looked at her panicking best friend.

 

“Seungwan…Joohyun…she…doesn’t…remember us.”

 

“I don’t know why but she doesn’t remember us…me…” Seulgi sighed as she hung her head low.

 

Seungwan could only pat her bestfriend on her back comfortingly as she remembered how crazy Seulgi had been back when Joohyun left. She would never want a repeat of what happened back then, Seulgi didn’t deserve to hurt like this.

 

“Yah yah Seul, don’t look so down! You’re gonna win her back aren’t you!” Seungwan quipped, trying to cheer the downtrodden bear up.

 

The brunette danced dorkily to Red Velvet’s Dumb Dumb as it came on the radio, eliciting a chuckle from her best friend.

 

“That’s more like it! Go get her Seul!”

 

Seulgi looked at her best friend with grateful eyes.

 

“What would I do without you, Seungwan?” the bear said as she embraced the brunette tightly.

 

Seungwan broke away from the hug first and gently pushed Seulgi out of the kitchen to cater to Joohyun’s order. The blonde beamed at Seungwan and hurried out, confidence recharged.

 

Seungwan heaved a sigh of relief when Seulgi finally left the kitchen.

 

I don’t want to get used to your warmth.

 

Don’t smile at me like this please…

 

-

 

“Order Number 300!”

 

Joohyun went up to the counter to collect her drink, her heart beating wildly at each step she took.

 

She didn’t understand this unknown attraction to someone she only met twice, it confused Joohyun to no end.

 

“Caramel Macchiato with two additional cubes of sugar! You really should start cutting down on the sugar intake, Joohyun Unnie…” the blonde smiled as she passed Joohyun her beverage.

 

The older girl didn’t know what struck her, probably the fact that “Joohyun Unnie” sounded so natural and comforting to her, she suddenly cleared .

 

“Seulgi-sshi, would you like to get a dr