Jeongyeon, Seulgi, and Jisoo—the most well-known group of friends in the entire school. Everyone knew them and everyone loved them, but nobody quite understood how they had come to be. They were all just so different from each other.

Jeongyeon was the popular one. She was confident and outgoing, not seeking attention but taking advantage of every moment she had in the limelight. People knew her as the softball team’s MVP and the powerhouse basketball star, and everyone liked that she wasn’t the stereotypically arrogant jock. Her athleticism and boyish charms easily made people swoon over her, and her flirtatious nature only fed the fire. She was the kind of person everyone wanted to have around, causing the phrase “The party don’t start ‘til Jeongyeon shows up” to be used by practically the whole school.

Seulgi was the quiet one. She was a bit of a loner and prefered her sketchbook and headphones over actual human beings, rarely talking to anyone but her two best friends. Despite the fact that she was a teddy bear at heart, her introverted nature caused people to see her as mysterious and unapproachable, but she didn’t mind. The majority of the time, she was too busy creating a new masterpiece to pay any attention to anyone anyway. She was the school’s artistic prodigy, somehow having mastered various arts and excelling at all of them. Whether it was singing, dancing, acting, or actual art, Seulgi shone above the rest.

And then there was Jisoo. She settled somewhere in the middle of the two. She enjoyed being in the company of others and was attentive and kind, but she had a tendency to keep to herself unless called upon. The whole school seemed to believe she was perfect, both in appearance and attitude. She was sweet and charming without trying, and undeniably beautiful. To say that the majority of the school was in love with her wouldn’t really be all that far from the truth. It was impossible not to love the girl, and nobody knew that better than her two best friends.

***

“Seul, I have a question,” Jeongyeon said, plopping down in the grass next to her sketching friend. Seulgi didn’t look up, engrossed in her artwork. Jeongyeon snapped her fingers in front of Seulgi’s face, trying to get her attention.

“I’m sorry, what? Were you saying something?” Seulgi asked, pulling her headphones out and shutting her sketchbook quickly, blinking at Jeongyeon in confusion.

“Yeah, you dumb bear. I need some advice. I’m having girl troubles.”

“You want advice from me about girls? You do realize that I haven’t dated anyone before, right?”

“You dated that Jimin kid for a while back in middle school,” Jeongyeon pointed out with a smirk. Seulgi scrunched up her nose at the memory.

“That doesn’t count. That was before I realized I was into girls,” Seulgi argued. “That’s not the point anyway. What’s your issue?”

“Well, there’s this girl I like,” Jeongyeon started.

“Yes, I figured that much out on my own,” Seulgi deadpanned. Jeongyeon glared at her, causing Seulgi to hold her hands up in surrender and motion for her to continue.

“As I was saying, there’s this really amazing girl that I like. I’ve liked her for a while, but I haven’t said anything because we’re friends and I don’t want to risk messing that up. But, like, I really like her and it’s driving me crazy. I don’t know what to do.”

“Yeah, I can relate.” Seulgi sighed. She cast a longing glance at her closed sketchbook. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Jeongyeon, and the blonde immediately snatched the book from Seulgi’s lap. The older girl was overcome with panic, her eyes going wide as she lunged forward and tried to get the sketchbook back. Jeongyeon jumped to her feet, holding the book above her head and out of reach of the slightly shorter girl. “Jeongyeon, give it back!”

“Why don’t you want me to see it?” the taller girl demanded, watching Seulgi’s futile efforts to retrieve the book. Eventually, Seulgi let out a huff of frustration, hands clenched at her sides.

“It’s… personal…” Seulgi replied carefully, her eyes shifting nervously to the side. Taking advantage of the moment of distraction, Jeongyeon quickly turned her back to Seulgi and opened the sketchbook to the last used page. Seulgi moved forward as if to stop her but it was already too late. Jeongyeon’s face scrunched up in confusion as she carefully turned a page, then another and another.

“Seulgi… what is all this?” The blonde’s voice held a strange, unrecognizable tone as she continued to flip through the various sketches. Almost every page was filled with lifelike drawings of Jisoo or adorable cartoon versions of the girl. Several pages had a few words scrawled on the bottom, saying things like “If only…” or “Love me, love me not” and other melancholy, poetic phrases. When Jeongyeon looked up, there was an unexpected flicker of emotion in her eyes. “Do you… do you like Jisoo?”

“Please don’t say anything,” Seulgi begged, indirectly answering the question.

“Well I can’t say anything now anyway,” Jeongyeon said sadly.

“What do you mean?” the older girl asked, the nervous edge in her voice refusing to disappear.

“Jisoo is the girl I was talking about before. I like her too,” Jeongyeon admitted.

“Oh…” was the only reply Seulgi could muster. Jeongyeon closed the sketchbook, holding it out for Seulgi to take back.

“You know we can’t tell her, right?”

“I know. We can’t put her in that position. She’d never choose between us and we can’t ask her to do it either.”

“This will be our secret.”

***

“How about we watch a movie?” Jisoo suggested a few days later. The three girls were gathered at Jisoo’s house like they always did on weekends.

“Fine, but I swear it better not be The Notebook again,” Jeongyeon said seriously. Jisoo rolled her eyes but obeyed, setting up one of the Mission Impossible movies instead. She turned to Jeongyeon, hands on her hips.

“Satisfied?” she asked.

“Very much so,” the blonde grinned.

“Good. Now scooch over, Seulbear.” Jisoo threw herself down on the couch next to Seulgi, nuzzling into the older girl’s side. Seulgi’s cheeks immediately warmed and she could see Jeongyeon look away. Seulgi quickly got to her feet, practically lurching away from Jisoo.

“Um, I’ll, uh… I’ll go make some popcorn!” the older girl blurted as an excuse. She was about to turn to leave when Jisoo’s voice suddenly made her stop.

“What’s the matter with you?” the purple-haired girl demanded. Seulgi gulped, turning back to find Jisoo on her feet, eyes blazing. “What’s wrong with you? Both of you. You’ve been acting so weird with me lately. You jolt away when I touch you and you practically run away from me when I want to get either of you alone. It’s like neither of you want to be around me. Did I do something?”

“No, of course not,” Jeongyeon quickly assured her, getting to her feet as well.

“Then what is it?” Jisoo questioned. Seulgi and Jeongyeon exchanged nervous looks, neither sure how to approach the situation.

“We just… we don’t want to make things weird,” Seulgi answered slowly. “We don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable position.”

“What are you talking about?” Jisoo inquired.

“We like you, Jisoo. Both of us,” Jeongyeon explained. For a moment, there was silence. Like, you-could-hear-a-pin-drop silence. Silence so intense that Seulgi and Jeongyeon held their breath. And then Jisoo burst into laughter. Again, Seulgi and Jeongyeon exchanged glances, this time full of confusion.

“What’s so funny?” Jeongyeon demanded. The laughter was making her feel self-conscious and awkward and she didn’t like it.

“You two are adorable,” Jisoo giggled, trying to get her laughter under control.

“Wh-what do you m-mean?” Seulgi stammered, uneasy and worried by the unexpected reaction.

“Come here.” Jisoo sat back down, pulling the two girls with her. She smiled warmly at the confusion on her best friends’ faces. “I like you guys too. I’d even go as far as to say that I’m in love with the both of you. I never said anything because I thought it was wrong for me to have feelings for both of you, but I couldn’t choose between the two people I love most in this world. I don’t love either of you more than the other.”

“So… what does that mean? What do we do now?” Jeongyeon asked, unable to believe the situation that was playing out. Jisoo shrugged.

“If I asked you both to be my girlfriends, what would you say?”

“Yes!” Seulgi and Jeongyeon replied in unison. Jisoo smiled, chuckling at the eagerness in the girls’ voices. She then leaned against Jeongyeon who responded by putting her arm around Jisoo’s shoulders. Seulgi wasted no time in curling up against Jisoo, resting her head on the younger girl’s lap.

“I love you,” Jisoo whispered after a short silence. Seulgi and Jeongyeon looked at their best-friend-turned-girlfriend, an immense amount of love and happiness in their eyes.

“We love you too.”

This was requested by Jung_Haemin a while ago. I'm sorry it took so long to write, but I hope I did a good enough job. I hope you enjoyed it!

~unsungpoet <3