Past 5 in the evening, the last crêpe was sold, and Yongsun heaved a sigh of relief. Her sister patted her on the back, grinning tiredly. “Now you know what I go through, huh?” Yonghee laughed. “But seriously, thanks for taking time to help out. Luckily you only had half a day of classes today, or else I’d be overwhelmed by everything.”

Yongsun shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine. But it is always this busy?”

“Not really, just that today’s a Wednesday, so quite a few courses only run for half the day, just like yours,” Yonghee explained. “So that means I expect you to be free to help me on Wednesdays, alright?” She winked at the girl, snorting at the flabbergasted face staring back at her. 

“But…” Yongsun began her sentence.

“Nope, stop. I’m invoking my rights as the older sister, which means you have to listen and follow whatever I say,” Yonghee insisted while packing up the rest of the leftover ingredients, sorting them for dinner use.

Rolling her eyes, Yongsun just continued dropping bags of vegetables into the ice box that her sister attached to the back of their bicycle, determined to convince her sister otherwise once they were home. Taking out a small speaker from her bag, she attached the cord to her phone. She didn’t like working without music, which kind of explained why she was majoring in Music in the first place, really. The first song, Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’, blared out. Without even realising it, Yongsun started humming the song under her breath, which led to undertone singing, and she proceeded to belt out the high notes, all the while cleaning the inside of the crêpe stall. 

Once the song ended, she heard clapping and whistling behind her. Whipping her head around, she came face-to-face with Byulyi. Ah, Yongsun thought to herself. Really, how can someone look so good in such a simple pair of shorts and T-shirt? Not to mention that ash-brown hair of hers tied up in a ponytail… 

Wait. She was clapping. For me? Yongsun stifled a gasp, and then quickly looked at her sister. Yonghee nodded, mouthing the words “you” and “singing”. Turning back to look at Byulyi, feeling those quiet, dark eyes on her, she ended up blushing furiously. 

Before she could say anything, however, Byulyi opened , hands still casually stuck in her pockets. “Sorry, Yongsun-sshi, I was just passing by, and I couldn’t help but hear you singing. As expected, such a melodious voice could only come from a pretty lady like you.” 

Upon hearing that bold compliment, Yongsun started to turn tomato red. How can someone say something so cheesy like that?

“Moon. Byul. Yi. Are you hitting on my baby sister now?” Yonghee piped up. “And how can you be so greasy around someone you’ve never properly met?” Fumbling over her words, Byulyi immediately shook her head. Her hands shot up, palms open in defence.

“A-anyhow, I’ll be going home now! Bye, Yonghee-unnie, Yongsun-sshi!” Sensing danger, Byulyi quickly made her escape, her bag carelessly flung over her shoulder. Yongsun was stunned speechless for the second time that day.

Over dinner, Yongsun ventured the topic of the tall girl who complimented her that evening. “Oh, her?” Her sister said while munching on a lettuce wrap. “That’s Byulyi. She’s a regular customer of the crêperie, and if I’m not mistaken she studies at the university as well. Why?”

“Just curious, that’s all,” Yongsun muttered. Grabbing a lettuce leaf, she raised her chopsticks to attack a piece of beef that was oozing its savoury juices.

“Are you interested in her?”

A loud clatter echoed in the silent room as Yongsun dropped her chopsticks in surprise. “W-what? No, that’s ridiculous!” She exclaimed, hurriedly picking up her chopsticks before they were superheated by the meat grill.

“Um, your actions say otherwise,” Yonghee pointed out, earning her a glare from the flustered girl. “Anyway, I was going to say that if you were interested in her, you could ask your colleagues about her. I’ve seen her around with that senior of yours, Krystal Jung, and that kid’s always mighty excited when they’re together. Maybe Byulyi has a crush on her or whatever, I don’t know.” Tilting her head, Yongsun raised an eyebrow. 

Interesting.

In her room, Yongsun laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling, and let her mind wander. Unsurprisingly, she ended up thinking about Moon Byulyi again. She was tempted to ask Krystal about Byulyi, but she wasn’t close to the woman commonly referred to as the Ice Princess. But if she was close to Krystal, then she should be close to the other seniors in my course, right? As she debated whether to ask someone, anyone, about that the girl who piqued her curiosity, Yongsun’s phone started buzzing next to her.

“Yes, Hyejin?” Her classmate, Ahn Hyejin, was a natural at music composition. She churned out melodies and lyrics at an astounding rate, although her lyrics were rather questionable at times. One of her completed songs, Pink , remained as the class’s anthem for quite a while. Hyejin never felt the need to call Yongsun up, unless it was for a collaboration, or…

“Unnie, cover for me next composition class, will you? I’m going somewhere with someone. Tell the facilitator I’m deathly sick or something,” a sultry voice drawled out from the phone.

“Are you going to skip the tutorial, Hyejin?” Yongsun asked, incredulous. This was not the first time the younger girl did this. Sure, maybe she was smart and talented — she did skip a few grades in school, making her four years younger than Yongsun and the youngest in the cohort — but that shouldn’t mean that she could always skip classes.

“Yep,” Hyejin drew out the word. “So I’m counting on you, unnie.” And with that, she hung up. Yongsun squinted at the display screen on her phone, exasperated. Honestly, that girl really can’t be kept on a leash at all, she’s just so irresponsible. Who is she going to meet now, among her huge crowd of acquaintances?

Oh! If she knows so many people, then… Flipping over to lie on her stomach, Yongsun quickly typed out a message to Hyejin. 

“Do you know someone called Moon Byulyi?”

“I’ve heard of her, sure. That girl who majors in Dance. Why?”

“No reason.”

“Want me to find out more about her?”

“…”

“Tell you what, I’ll do it as thanks since you’re covering for me next lesson. You’re welcome!”

“Ah, yeah, um… Thanks!”

Yongsun couldn’t wait for the next time Hyejin contacted her about the girl who made her heart flutter. 

Well, that girl can really be reliable sometimes.