I felt kinda awkward having told her the truth. She smiled and laughed it off. “Anyone I know? Is that why you didn’t want to call them?” I nodded shyly.

“Krystal” she looked blank while she thought about the name “She goes to our school, you might have heard her name floating around already, she’s usually involved somehow with whatever gossip or scandal is going around… but she never used to be like that, at least, not when I knew her” she started to smile, in a really cheesy way. “What? Was it something I said?”

“No,” she shook her head laughing “it’s not what you said, Byul, it’s the way you said it. While you were talking about her, or who she used to be, your eyes lit up in a really cute way. You obviously liked her a lot. What happened between you two?”

I shrugged my shoulders “We used to be really close, best friends even- this was before I was proper friends with Hyejin and Whee In- and she was nice, sweet, cute but also amazingly pretty, smart, and a really nice person. We used to hang out all the time and I began to develop a crush on her, but I spent months denying it to myself because I couldn’t have a crush on a girl, it isn’t right, it would ruin our friendship. Eventually I gave up denying it and admitted it to myself, and months later to her. At first she was sheepish around me, she kept her distance and no matter how many times I apologised she was still avoiding me-“

“Why did you apologise? It’s not like you did anything wrong. It isn’t wrong to have a crush, Byul, you should never apologise for your feelings. If she couldn’t accept it, then she wasn’t worthy of your affections. Love is love, Byul, no matter what form it takes- whether its loving girls, loving guys, loving your cat- it shouldn’t matter.” I sighed

“You make it sound so easy, unnie. In theory I understand what you’re saying, but in reality it doesn’t really work like that; people are judgemental, people pick holes in one another, people look for reasons to hurt each other, it’s just the way it is” now she sighed

“What happened next?”

“Well… after a couple weeks she started talking to me again, and we were closer than ever. She never liked me like I liked her, but she started acting like my best friend again and we were happy- we told each other everything, and we were always there for each other. Eventually, she met this guy, he was sweet in the beginning, and eventually they got together. She actually asked me what she should do after he confessed his feelings to her. Eventually we began hanging out less and less because he didn’t like the way that I liked his girlfriend. She tried to hang out with me whenever she could, but it just wasn’t the same. He changed, and then so did she. They became talk of the school and there were rumours going around about things they’d done together- she was only just fifteen at the time. They broke up eventually because he changed completely for the worst: he stole from her to buy drugs, he cheated on her, he lied to her about so much- she just couldn’t take it anymore and their relationship ended. She was broken. We weren’t really talking by that point and we still don’t really talk, but we’ll talk in passing and it’ll be like it used to be if only momentarily. She got over it, eventually. She’s with a new guy now, Kai, he’s genuinely a really nice guy and he makes her really happy- I can tell, they look good together too so I’m happy for her. But yeah, that happened.” I scratched the back of my neck as I found something to stare at on the floor. I felt warmth at my waist and then weight against me. I looked up to see her hugging me, I smiled.

“It’s okay, Byul-ah, I’ll take care of your heart and make sure you don’t get hurt again, you say you’re happy for her, but your eyes are saying something else.” I started laughing at the cute bundle of fluff clinging to my waist, burrowing her face into my shoulder.

“That sounds like a confession if ever I’ve heard one, Kim Yongsun” she burrowed deeper into my clothes and started whining incomprehensibly about something which made me laugh harder. “What am I going to do with you?” she looked up, she was pouting.

“I’ll only stop if you hug me back” I heaved a huge sigh and turned around in her grip, pulled her into my lap and hugged her properly. I buryed my face into her neck and sat there absorbing her warmth. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my nose, her scent comforted me. She fit perfectly in my lap, in my arms, it’s like we were made for each other, I thought to myself. I grinned against the skin of her neck as I could feel my cheeks heating up at that thought. She wriggled out of my grip and to the other end of the sofa and said, “that was an intense getting to know each other session. What do you wanna do now?” she giggled softly, and I could feel the corners of my lips pulling up into a grin for the millionth time this afternoon. I checked the time, it was almost 6pm.

“I’ve got a lot of homework to be getting on with, so I think I might need to go home and do it before it gets too late. Thanks for this afternoon, unnie, I’ll see you tomorrow” I bowed a little after standing up and smoothing the creases out of my uniform.

“Oh, um, okay, Byul-ah. I’ll show you out. Thanks for coming over today, I really enjoyed your company” she said walking towards the door, she handed me my bag once I’d finished tying my laces and hugged me again before I left. “Text me when you get home, let me know you got there safe” she blushed a little at the request

“But I don’t have your number” she giggled and grabbed a pen off the shelf and scribbled her number up my arm, it was only when she put it down did I realise it was a Sharpie- well this’ll be fun to scrub off, I thought. “Thanks, Byul.” She giggled shyly and hugged me again, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and whispered goodbye into her ear, which escalted to me running a finger down her cheek and giving her a quick wink before I left. She stood there with wide open as I closed her door behind me.

It didn’t take long to get home, and when I did I let myself in threw my stuff on the floor and flopped down on the sofa in my room. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and started to text Whee In when I realised the red writing up my arm- I’d forgotten that I said I’d text Yongsun! I saved my message to Whee In as a draft and moved to save her number to my contacts before texting her.

To Yongsun 6:28pm

Hey, I got home okay. Thanks again for this afternoon I had a nice time relaxing with you. I’ll see you tomorrow unnie. Don’t forget that we’re doing practical in chem tomoorrow, so remember to bring your practical book. ;)

From Yongsun 6:34pm

Im glad u had fun, I did 2 J

From Yongsun 6:35

Practical book???? Is that the 1 she gave me 2day????

To Yongsun 6:36pm

Yeah, don’t forget it.

From Yongsun 6:40pm

I wont x

From Yongsun 6:43pm

Don’t forget 2 eat dinner x

The conversation carried on all evening and I just knew I wasn’t going to get any work done so I gave up trying. Eventually I fell asleep before I received a reply from Yongsun, so I figured that she must’ve fallen asleep too.

Author's note: Hey guys. This chapter is mostly background and filler, but I hope you enjoy it. Thanks as always for reading, commenting and subscribing. I'll try to update next weekend if I can, but school is about to get crazy busy. I'll do my best, but please bear with me if I'm late with updates.

Thanks again, everyone. Stay happy, healthy, try not to work too hard and have a great week. :)