Moonbyul played absentmindedly with the spoon and the leftover crumbs of the piece of cheesecake she had finished minutes ago. It was so good that for a moment she had considered the plate, but she guessed the people around her wouldn’t appreciate it and she controlled herself in the end. Such a pity.

She looked around trying to come up with ways of entertaining herself. She shouldn’t have to, after all she wasn’t on her own, but her companion was too busy to pay attention to her. She glared at Krystal, but when the other girl didn’t even bother to take away her eyes from the phone screen, Moonbyul let her head fall on the table and whined loudly. She really was too bored.

She went back to glaring –from her new position- when she felt a hand softly patting her head.

“Have you decided to stop ignoring me? It’s been ages.” Moonbyul grumbled.

Krystal rolled her eyes and fought a smile. Moonbyul looked like such a cute kid like that.

“It’s been 5 minutes at most, stop exaggerating.” She stopped playing with Moonbyul’s hair and leaned back on her chair. “You just like having all the attention on you.” Teasing each other was a normal occurrence between them because they knew where to stop and never crossed the line. It was always harmless fun.

“Who wouldn’t want a pretty girl focused on them?” Moonbyul exchanged her sad pout for one of her greasy smirks, ready to put her flirting skills to a good use.

“Don’t make me pour my coffee on your head.” Krystal warned her.

“Oh… Feisty. I like that.” Moonbyul wiggled her eyebrows, not wanting to give up so soon.

“And I like your mouth shut.” Krystal retorted back, mimicking a zipper over her lips with her fingers.

“You should like my mouth, I can do pretty great things with it.” Moonbyul shot her a suggestive look, curious to see how Krystal reacted and prove her recent theory. When instead of blushing and muttering something she let out an annoyed groan, Moonbyul knew she was definitely right. It was time to take another step and get closer to the truth. “So tell me, what girl are you texting?” To hell with subtlety.

That did get the reaction from Krystal she was expecting.

Krystal coughed and sat up straight, suddenly finding the napkin holder very interesting. She didn’t meet Moonbyul’s eyes as she replied.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I was texting Kai.”

Moonbyul snorted. Krystal was extremely bad at lying when she felt nervous. It was kind of funny how someone who had such a cold demeanor could also be so transparent at times.

“C’mon, you know you aren’t fooling anyone. Or not me at least.”

Krystal frowned cutely and glowered at her. “I hate you.”

“I already knew that.” Moonbyul beamed. “Now tell me.”

With a sigh, Krystal accepted her defeat. She was going to tell her anyway.

“Remember that night we went out and met that group of girls?”

Moonbyul nodded excitedly. What a great night.

“I do, Hani and her friends, right?”

“Yes. One of the girls asked for my number and I didn’t think about it for some time but one day she texted me out of nowhere and we started and talking and… you know.” Krystal explained shyly, her cheeks becoming redder with each word.

Moonbyul’s smile widened after hearing the story. She suspected Krystal had something going on, but the confirmation made everything better. Krystal deserved someone by her side and knowing that after being in the closet for so long she finally seemed to have found someone made her extremely happy for her friend.

“Who is it? I want more details!”

Moonbyul’s enthusiasm made Krystal laugh. She appreciated how supportive Moonbyul was. They had bonded for real, and both were grateful for the friendship they had formed. It would definitely last for a long time.

“Her name is Jinri. Pretty smile, pretty eyes…” The way Krystal was clearly daydreaming about the girl showed how smitten she was.

“Oh! I know who you mean. With black hair over the shoulders?” When Krystal nodded Moonbyul pumped her first. “That girl was stunning! I can’t believe you guys are dating. Wow.”

At the word ‘dating’, Krystal quickly leaned in and waved her hands. “No, no, we aren’t dating. We are just… getting to know each other.”

Moonbyul wiggled her eyebrows at that.

“Not like that.” Krystal deadpanned. “Ugh, why do you have such a dirty mind?” Krystal scrunched up her nose in disgust, but Moonbyul merely shrugged.

“It’s a gift.”

“More like a curse.”

“Whatever you want to call it. I expect you to keep me updated on this.” Moonbyul looked at Krystal with a proud smile. Then she feigned cleaning a fake tear. “Kids grow up so fast.”

Krystal laughed and smacked Moonbyul’s arm. “Stop being so embarrassing or I won’t tell you anything more!”

Moonbyul grinned and raised her arms as a sign of surrender.

“Seriously though, I’m happy for you.” Moonbyul told her with honesty, being serious for a moment. “You really deserve it.”

Krystal smiled warmly at her words and grabbed one of Moonbyul’s hands. “Thank you. Really.”

Moonbyul squeezed her hand. “That’s what friends are for.”

Slowly, they changed the subject and started talking comfortably about another topic, but something wouldn’t leave Moonbyul’s mind. She tried to ignore it and focus on the current conversation, but that little voice that came from the back of her mind wouldn’t let it be. Even though she tried to hide it, after a while Krystal picked on her distraction.

“Okay, stop pretending you are listening to me and tell me what’s on your mind.” Krystal was aware Moonbyul wasn’t being rude and that she was trying, but something was clearly troubling her.

Sulking for being caught, Moonbyul let out a sigh. There was no way she could avoid it now, although maybe saying it out loud would help putting her thoughts in place.

“I was just… wondering why it feels so different.” Moonbyul took a napkin and started tearing it up slowly just to have something to do with her hands.

“What feels different?”

Moonbyul didn’t answer immediately. She took some time to choose the words to explain it.

“Thinking about you being with someone makes me happy. You are my friend, I care about you and I want to see you smile.” Moonbyul cleared with her eyes still on the pieces of the napkin. She didn’t have to look up to know Krystal’s attention was totally focused on her. “But when I think about the possibility of Solar meeting that guy her parents want to set her up with and liking him… It just feels wrong.”

Moonbyul had told Krystal about what had happened and about how she would go to the wedding as Solar’s girlfriend, so she didn’t have to explain about what guy she was referring.

“You mentioned those feelings before.” Krystal spoke when Moonbyul didn’t continue.

“Yes, and you laughed.” Moonbyul sent Krystal a quick glare.

Krystal bit her lip for a few seconds before sighing.

“C’mon, come closer.” She asked.

Moonbyul raised an eyebrow but complied. She placed her elbows on the table and leaned in. She frowned when Krystal held her face between her hands, unsure of what the girl pretended.

“First of all, I’m sorry for laughing. But honestly, I thought you were just playing around.” Krystal chuckled and shook her head. “I didn’t want to believe you were this dense, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Hey!” Moonbyul complained.

“Don’t ‘hey’ me. Listen to me, okay?”

“Okay…” Moonbyul still felt a bit suspicious, but she decided to trust Krystal.