---

 

She and Sejeong and Mina have been friends since the good 'ol stone age - so it's definitely disconcerting how their friends seem to think she and Sejeong are a "thing". Not that she could do anything about it either, since it's nearly impossible to curb their attitudes when they can out her in seconds. Especially that punk Heehyun.

As per usual Wednesday, it's just her and Sejeong and a 15-minute walk to school by commuting, since Mina has morning duties to do. Nayoung is the least talkative of their Trio Amigos, so she finds the absence glaring, especially when Sejeong looks like she's having a riot on her mind, lips pursed into a thin line, her grip on the grab handle is rather loose, so Nayoung keeps an eye on her in case their bus decides to pull a back flip.

Counting passing trees grows old fast, so she decides to burst her friend's bubble. "Sejeong?"

"Oh, uh," the reply comes a little bit too quick, and she sees the way Sejeong's reflection on the window blinks back at her, "I - yeah?"

"Something bugging you?"

"Um." Sejeong stares back at her reflection, face flat. "No bugs."

Nayoung sighs, thumb idly skating on the grab handle's slick smooth surface. "Lies. I've known you since forever, I could tell."

"Well... it's kind of stupid, and I know you're not all that jazz about stupid, youth things."

Nayoung laughs a small one, half-humorless. "You're a friend, so I'm willing to go listen to that stupid thing."

The bus skids into a halt as the light turns red and people bustle across the street. Sejeong's eyes are trained on a huddle of white-collar workers, presumably from the same company, judging from the striking crab-shaped nametags around their neck. Nayoung follows Sejeong's eyes. "You know how I got asked a lot by upperclassmen?"

"Yeah. You're attractive." She's elbowed on the side by the shorter girl. "Not trying to get on your good side or anything, just stating the well-established truth."

"Thank you. And, yes, back to the matter at hand. One of them is really... pushy."

"Elaborate?"

"I've rejected him, but he's the kind of guy who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, but a flat-out ' no' doesn't bid well for me, especially when he's one year my senior. What to do?"

Sejeong's popularity isn't a new thing. They grew up together and Nayoung has witnessed it firsthand, even though they've never been stuck in the same class even once. Her look stands out from the rest and makes her a victim of the "all the other reindeers" trope. As a part of "the other reindeers", Nayoung couldn't relate, but she has seen enough to conclude that being pretty enough for people to think you're Aphrodite personified isn't exactly a blessing.

Sneers from jealous female seniors. Bullying threats. Pushy upperclassmen wanting to pop her cherry. Some of the memories are hazier than the others because Nayoung doesn't record the details because she's leaving memory space for Sejeong's smile at the end of the rough day. In the end, Sejeong is smart enough to deal with it, but Nayoung always readies herself three steps behind Sejeong just in case the she needs someone to catch her fall.

Now that they're on Episode 639 of Sejeong's up-and-down life of being a "beauty with the appropriate amount of brain and heart", Nayoung braces herself for her friend's fall. "Just call the cops on him."

"So much for actually expecting a good advice from goody-two-shoes Kim Nayoung."

"I dunno, I don't have a hoarde of guys thirsting for me!"

"Do you want to?"

"What?"

"Have guys chasing after you."

This isn't the first time Nayoung gives the whole fantasy some five seconds of thinking, but she couldn't care less. It's the kind of thought that's better off as an idea, and she isn't exactly thrilled with the image of her with those sleazes. Some guys smell bad, too. At least high school girls acknowledge the technology that is artifical fragrances.

"No. Not my thing."

"Neither is it mine... but."

Truth to be told, if punching a guy in the face and kicking their family jewelry good bye won't net her a week of suspension, she wouldn't mind doing that for Sejeong. Society is less barbaric than it was some millenias ago and pushy guys aren't considered lower than cattle, so she needs to keep her claws to herself. That, and she's an honoured member of the student council (and also Vice Prez Chanmi's trustee coffee grabber and unofficial secretary).

She would drag these guys to Hell for Sejeong. She would do that for a friend. It's part of their deal - congealment, commitment, solidarity. It's her personal moral code of conduct.

Three minutes away from their stop, Nayoung voices out a fleeting idea. "If you want to subtly get rid of those buggers that bad, you could just fake a hook-up with someone. They'll probably back off, unless they're that thirsty, which means you should just dump them into the tar sauce."

Sejeong looks like she wants to voice a rebuttal, but her confused frown swerves into a grin lightning quick. "Perfecto!"

"No, um, I was kidding."

"What?"

"What what?"

"It was a joke?"

"It was!"

"But it was brilliant. You take responsibilities."

"By?"

Sejeong is really good at batting her eyelashes at the exact timing, and her sense of "classy-cheeky" is something to be miffed at. "By being my fake-date--"

At that exact moment, the bus comes to an abrupt stop as a citizen probably rushed in front of it with little to no given to the bus' passangers, and the third law of Newton applies itself as standing passangers stagger, grips on the pivoted hand grabs tighten, bodies bumping. Sejeong has been gripping on hers pretty loosely, so of course she falls forward and of course, Nayoung catches her, arm coiling around Sejeong's back as the shorter girl lands her head on the crook of her neck.

Sejeong smells really good, though. Her nose detects citrus and heady shampoo, and Nayoung's brains perform a convenient freeze.

They're off to a good start.

 

---

 

So far, the day went like usual, except: Sejeong texting her bull crap like “be my fake-dateeeeeeeeee” (the e’s varies from message to message), Chanmi assigning her to more paperwork for the upcoming club budget meeting, a random bird ting on her blazer for the third time this week, Seohyeong accidentally setting their chem project on fire, and her grocery list of minor misfortunes (like Juna letting her ten-kilogram bag fall on feet). At the very least, she lived through it all.

The last bell rang a good thirty minutes ago, but she’s currently on an errand asking for a senior student council member’s signature on a paper. The paper in question in one hand and a pen in the other, she’s on a good, peaceful way to the first floor… until she spots a crowd crowding over something.

As much as she wants to skip it, she catches the name of the senior she has to find murmured around and she springs back into the site, pushing into the crowd, paper in her hand folded by the pushing bodies to ruin.

“Hey, tiger!” Juna calls out, but she’s already auto-focused on the scene before her: a sleaze and a politely-smiling Sejeong.

And the gibberish the crowd has been chanting tunes into a language she speaks – “Accept! Accept!” – and it feels like they’re back to the age where sacrificing s was a thing. But, eh, signatures. So she steps into the center of the circle and walks up to the third-year, ignoring the crowd. “Um, sorry, but can I have a minute?”

And of course, she’s wholeheartedly ignored.

“Can you wait for the answer? I’ll think about it,” Sejeong lies through a smile.

The senior doesn’t look convinced. “Just a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, please?” And he does this thing boy group members do—the killer hair flip.

Suddenly, they’re back to the roaring 80s.

“Sorry for interrupting, but I really need you to see this paper—“

“Sejeong, please?”

“I’m sorry, but I think I might need the time…”

It feels extremely unsettling to be the third irrelevant hoe in the middle of a love confession, but she really needs the scrawl on the paper so she could pack home already!

Sejeong shoots her an eye signal she couldn’t quite translate into words, so she brushes it off with a shrug, and turns back to the guy – who’s glaring at her. Out of reflex, she clicks on the ballpoint rapidly.

“Can’t I do that later? Look, I don’t have the time right now.”

“Assuming that you have the time once that lady accepted your grand romantic gesture… sorry, I’m too mortal to wait for a lifetime.”

She hears a husky “SLAAAAYYGGH” from the people circling them and assumes it’s just Juna being an embarrassment. She notices how Sejeong is biting her lower lip like she’s holding back a chortle.

“Duty comes first,” Sejeong intercepts the tension rising between the two of them, “in the meantime, I’m going to think about it some more—“

As soon as Sejeong twirls around to leave, he grips her on the wrist, not too hard, but enough to put Sejeong in place. And that’s when Nayoung loses it.

In an attempt to win a signature, she clicks the ballpoint on the guy’s rump and hears a short, jerky yelp in response. He whirls around and lets Sejeong’s hand go and Nayoung considers it a success.

“What’s your problem?!”

“Um, well, we need this paper signed and approved for the upcoming club budget meeting—“

“I know that. I mean. What the hell are you doing here?”

Nayoung raises her voice. “Asking for your sig. What else?”

“By sabotaging my love confession, seriously?!”

“It was doomed to fail anyway. Good thing I didn’t Van Gogh my ears.” She taps her pen on her ear. The gesture is enough to flick the guy’s switch, full stop.

“Oh, that’s it – “

Sejeong interrupts in hope to salvage this situation, “Um, don’t mind her. She’s kinda…”

“Committed to work ethics! Now please sign this paper here, upperclassman.”

“You’re pretty much sabotaging my love confession.”

“Your fourth love confession this month to the very same girl. Now, sign, please,”

Feeling like he’s losing the argument, he turns around to Sejeong once more, but Nayoung is already waist-deep into this to refrain herself from burning the bridge. So she stabs her pen on the senior’s bum once more. “We have business here, upperclassman!”

“You know what,” he growls, red flashes over his eyes, hands flailing animatedly, “if you’re against me snatching her away from you, just tell.”

“Oh, um, no, no, I’m just in it for this,” she waves the paper in front of him to emphasize, and it’s the truth anyway. Him signing the paper means she could pack up and leave.

…but somehow the public is buying the whole jealousy plot, judging from the murmurs she’s forced to listen. She looks over his shoulder to ask Sejeong for a hand, and she’s met with a shrug. That witch!

“Just ‘fess up so we could settle this once and for all,”

“No, seriously, can’t you just sign this for me—“

“I’m different from the bunch, okay. I just – I really like her. Sejeong. I really like her.”

She could smell the bull even miles away. The stink is stronger than a gunpowder mixed with Mina’s three-year old unwashed socks.

“Um, well, you can’t, cause…”

He looks unamused. Nayoung racks her brain for a cool one-liner to end this once and for all. She comes up with nothing.

“…cause, um, we’re totally g-going out with each other. Yeah.”

The audience lets out a high decibel gasp, mostly in unison. She looks over his shoulder to have an eye-to-an-eye consultation with Sejeong (and signals a HELP with bright red letters) but Sejeong is already skipping to her side and has an arm wrapped around hers.

She’s making things worse. In hope of Sejeong getting the message, she tries to pull her hand away from Sejeong’s death grip but Sejeong only holds them tighter.

“But, um, no I was just – kidding, for the shock factor, you know—augh!” Sejeong cuts her off by impaling her foot with her heel and that hurts like a . “N-never mind, we’re dating.”

And just like that, the murmuring transforms into a huge cheering as if she just won a lottery or even a gold bullion trophy. She turns to Sejeong, relays shy eyes. Sejeong flashes a grin and turns back to the baffled upperclassman.

“I didn’t know how to crack this news but… I guess it’s out already. I’m sorry, I can’t go out with you.”

Nayoung opts to stay quiet. Until she feels Sejeong pinching her arm hard and that’s her cue to speak up. “Y-yeah. I—I love her. So much. Go poof.”

Half of the crowd begins to disperse as the upperclassman walks away clicking his mouth and muttering some curses in a way villain’s weak henchmen do and Nayoung receives back pats and giggly applauses. She doesn’t share the sentiment, so she whispers harshly just for Sejeong’s ear. “We need to clear this up, okay.”

“Clear what up?”

“I don’t wanna date you!” And she turns away, speaking in a louder voice, “Um, me and Sejeong aren’t actually—“

Another pinch, this time harder and Nayoung thinks at this rate, Sejeong might as well skin her alive. That would save all the troubles. “You can’t just announce how we’re in a relationship then “break up” with me all in five minutes!”

“I can. We can. We should—“

“No!”

And that’s how Nayoung accidentally got herself a girlfriend, paper still yet to be signed.

 

---

 

 

---

betadine: this is a mess lmao also someone teach me HTML please eeeeee i guess this is the universe telling me to finish TBL sighs
also big thanks to Sixteenruinedmylife for pointing out the numerous mistakes i made! o7