a/n: happy birthday to the most beautiful and talented bby ghei ever. i love you to the moon and back and your smile cures my depression. stay healthy and happy, and most of all, true to yourself, just the way you are.

also, special thanks to miss yenny for proof reading most of this and for being the uwu-est cute human ever, and to nojamdoodles for doing god's work.

“One to Zero, Son Chaeyoung!” Jeongyeon screams the moment she enters the apartment, instantly gaining the attention of her flatmate.

“You sly bear! What did you do?” Chaeyoung screams back, her playlist is a bit too loud for a background music.

Jeongyeon heads to the kitchen, putting down the grocery bags she was carrying, before walking to their shared stereo and turning the volume down.

“You might want to play a sadder song to celebrate your loss,” she teases, taking a seat right next to the younger girl.

“Just spill!” Chaeyoung snarls, forever a bit too full of anger for someone her size.

“I met her at the elevator-”

“So what? That doesn’t count as a point!”

“Let me finish, dwarf!”

Chaeyoung hops off, just to be able to glare Jeongyeon down, before she presumes her position on the couch. “Go on.”

“Anyways, we talked.”

“You what?” The smaller girl yelps.

“Geez! She could hear us through the walls if you keep being a loud , you know?”

“Sorry, your majesty. Please don’t let me hinder you from relaying the very important events that just took place.”

“We talk-” Jeongyeon starts again, only to be cut off by a sulking Chaeyoung muttering, “just for your information, if she could hear me through the walls, she sure as heard you scream One to Zero Son Chaeyoung .” She shakes her head from a side to another, before finishing, “not cool.”

“You know what’s not cool?” Jeongyeon barks back, “your three remaining brain cells cutting me off every other word!”

Chaeyoung smiles sheepishly, and Jeongyeon doesn’t know if she wants to tackle her in a headlock or ruffle her hair. She just ends up sighing.

“Okay, sorry.” Chaeyoung sounds more apologetic this time, and Jeongyeon unwinds, laying back against the back of the couch.

“She offered to help me with the grocery bags, -god is she so sweet-, and she insisted through my very polite refusal, so I let her hold the bag filled with yogurt bottles.”

“You didn’t,-”

“Yes I did,” Jeongyeon smiles smugly, and Chaeyoung jumps at her with light punches.

“I can’t believe you told our crush that I am addicted to freaking yogurt! You don’t even let me touch these damned yogurt bottles you yogurt monster.”

They stare at each other for a couple of seconds, nothing but the Hyukoh song playing in the background filling the silence, before they erupt in a fit of laughter.

Jeongyeon rolls down to the floor, holding her stomach, as Chaeyoung throws her head back, wide open, and her dimple in full display.

They don’t calm down until the next song starts, and they sit there, -Jeongyeon on the floor, and Chaeyoung on the couch-, smiling at each other.

“The poor girl just moved in a couple of days ago, and she probably wants to leave already because of her noisy neighbors,” the youngest of the two states, earning a nod from the older girl.

“That’s still a one to zero, Chae.” Jeongyeon insists.

“I acknowledge it. But the tables will turn, miss Yoo. Watch me.”

The older girl just laughs, getting up to her feet and walking to the kitchen, followed by her flatmate. They work in silence, a feature both appreciate in their friendship, as they empty out the grocery.

Chaeyoung holds the paper bag filled with yogurt bottles of all flavors, and hums. “You should stop telling people that I am the one addicted to yogurt, you know?”

Jeongyeon just hums.

“Your last girlfriend, who was it? Hm, Minatozaki?”

“Kim.” Jeongyeon corrects.

“Yes, Kim. She thought you were living with your 15-year-old cousin.”

“It didn’t help that the first time she came over you were wearing those yellow pajamas from when you were fifteen.” Jeongyeon teases.

“I wasn’t fifteen!”

“Chaeng, I bought these for you as a welcome to high school gift. You were fifteen.”

The youngest sighs in defeat.

“I just love them, hmph..”

Silence falls upon them once again; Chaeyoung is busy loading the small bottles in the fridge, as Jeongyeon picks out the ingredients for dinner, with the softest smile adorning her face.

-

“I think I like her.” Chaeng shrieks, walking into Jeongyeon’s room. The latter is on her stomach, putting together a number of colorful lego cubes.

“I thought you already did? I mean, we’re keeping points of our interactions with her!” Jeongyeon pinpoints, gesturing at the stick-it note hanging over her desk: head: 4 nuthead: 3.

“And I’m a point ahead,” she adds, smiling proudly.

(The smile doesn’t reach her eyes, and Chaeng is too busy fretting over her new discovery to notice.)

“No, no. It’s not the same.” The brunette mumbles, making her best friend abandon her legos and sit up.

“What’s wrong?” The older girl asks, concerned.

“It used to be this stupid crush, you know? That’s hyped up by our entire game of who wins her heart and sweeps her off her feet, but..”

“But?”

Chaeyoung sits down facing her.

“It feels different. I was on my way out this morning, and met her at the front door, downstairs. She looked sleepy but still as expensive as ever, and she smiled at me. And, my heart did this thing, like it’s about to drop down to the pit of my stomach. It was beating faster than usual and my ears were all red and hot in a second. I somehow managed to smile back at her, though I bet it looked weird,” she giggles humorlessly, “and I’ve been thinking about it all day. I think I really like her.”

Jeongyeon silently pulls her in for a hug, patting her head gently. She doesn’t have an explanation for the lump in , other than worrying about her small friend.

“Like, really?”

Chaeyoung just hums.

“And what’s wrong with that?” Jeongyeon coos, trying to get a grasp of where the problem lays.

“So many things.” The girl in her embrace mutters, without further entertaining the idea. Jeongyeon thinks she understands. Their entire little game, for instance.

-

Their neighbor, who now has a name to her pretty face —Mina, stops by one day to ask if they have an electrical malfunction too.

Jeongyeon opens the door, slurping on a strawberry yogurt. She chokes on the dairy product, and has to run back to the kitchen, tripping on a shoe that she assumes is Chaeyoung’s, for a glass of water.

Chaeyoung peeks from the living room, blushing the moment she sees who the intruder is; and she shyly invites her in.

“Don’t mind jeongyeon. She’s weird.” She jokes, ushering Mina to the couch. The place is lit up with a couple of candles, and there’s indie rock music playing from one of the roommates’ phones. Mina recognizes the song, having heard it multiple times through the thin walls separating their apartments.

The coffee table is occupied with what looks like a sketchbook, a dozen of pencils, and an open book turned upside down not to lose the page. Mina tries to link each of the abandoned objects to their owners, all the while amazed by how they are immersed in such activities in the candle-lit darkness.

She quirks an amused eyebrow when she discerns the outline of the unfinished drawing on the sketchbook. Squinting a bit more, she succeeds in recognizing the features of the pretty face in the picture, and she nods to herself.

Jeongyeon comes back with a sheepish smile, apologizing for the misoccurance. They assure her that it happens every now and then, the electrical malfunction, -and Jeongyeon’s malfunction as well. Nothing to worry about.

“It usually takes an hour or two to fix it. You can stay with us if you’re afraid of the dark.” Jeongyeon teases, while Chaeyoung suffers silently next to her, sneakily pinching her on the side. How can I survive an hour or two?

They offer their neighbor a drink, and she politely tells them she’d come back some other time for that.

“Ray is the one afraid of the dark, actually. I bet he’s freaking out home alone,” she jokes, “I have to go keep him company.”

Chaeyoung heaves a sigh once she leaves.

“Ray?” Jeongyeon asks from across the room, and Chaeyoung can’t help but chuckle at the look on her face.

“Her dog. A really sweet old pup if you get to know him.”

-

“We don’t even know if she’s into girls!” Jeongyeon blurts out one night, in the middle a movie the younger girl has picked.

She's nestled in the warmth of Chaeyoung's embrace, who's subconsciously playing with her short locks as her eyes are trained on the t.v. screen.

The question comes out of nowhere, and Chaeyoung finds herself wondering if Jeongyeon has been thinking about their pretty neighbor the entire time. Is the movie she picked that uninteresting?

“We don’t know if she’s not.” She answers calmly.

She can feel Jeongyeon looking up at her, but doesn't look back.

-

The stick-it note in Jeongyeon’s room has the numbers scratched off, replaced with 6 to 8 .

She has lost a point for choking like an idiot in front of Mina. Chaeyoung gained 5 due to what her best friend loves to call pure luck and good timing .

“ Call it what you want, head. I’m two points ahead, and you’re just jealous. ”

“ You’ve got all that game from me, Chae. Don’t deny! ”

“ I won’t deny that I’ve learned from the best. Or better say, who was once the best. ”

-

Jeongyeon catches up with the points when Mina asks her if she wants to join her and Ray’s walk in the park.

The girl, who was coming home from her part-time job, giddily accepts.

The stroll around the park doesn’t last long, for Ray is a bit too old and gets tired quickly. At some point, they just sit down on a rusty bunch and watch the old pup lazily bump heads with a newly made friend, -a tortoise which Jeongyeon mentions has been living around the park for a couple of years now.

She comes home to a Chaeyoung hitting the books. She’s wearing her round specs, some ugly Christmas sweater, and a pair of shorts that surely shouldn’t be worn in February. But Jeongyeon doesn’t ask, because she knows Chaeyoung works better when she’s feeling cold. Still, she secretly turns on the heater, hoping it would save the younger one from catching a cold.

“You’re home?” Chaeyoung states more than asks, not looking up from her textbook on the kitchen countertop.

“Caramel macchiato. Your favorite, princess.” Jeongyeon poses the cup of steaming coffee next to Chaeyoung, before she disappears into the shower. The younger girl takes a glance at the plastic cup, pretty positive that she didn’t ask Jeongyeon to get her coffee on her way home. She doesn’t catch herself smiling like an idiot for the following five minutes.

-

There is a good reason why Chaeyoung skipped a grade back in high school, and that’s because she is a hard-worker, and a small genius. She has her weird techniques, -like studying in the kitchen when she’s home alone; or even wearing shorts in winter-, that’s for sure, but she manages. And Jeongyeon is forever proud of her.

They didn’t grow up together. Jeongyeon is three years older, and they don’t even come from the same neighborhood. However, they went to the same elementary school, and Jeongyeon might’ve had to physically restrain 6-year-old Chaeyoung - forever a bit too full of anger for someone her size -, from throwing hands a couple of times, often tending to whatever bruises she had obtained.

When people ask them about how they became friends, Jeongyeon would answer damned luck and bad timing. She’d still do it all over again if she had a choice.

-

“You’ll catch a cold, going around the house in just towels at this time of the year.” Chaeyoung scolds Jeongyeon, who’s standing by the fridge, downing a bottle of yogurt. She only catches herself staring a bit too long at Jeongyeon’s bare collarbones when the latter sneers, “says you.”

Chaeyoung looks down at her shorts, her glasses sliding down her nose as she does. “I’m wearing a sweater.”

“Which is ugly, by the way.”

“I lost a bet!”

“The bet didn’t include you wearing it, genius.”

The younger girl scoffs, ignoring her best friend to focus back on studying.

“At least go dry your dumb blonde hair.” She finally says after moments of silence.

Jeongyeon complies almost immediately, but she halts in her tracks to ruffle Chaeyoung’s short brown locks, who puffs her cheeks in passive protest.

“Mina says hi, by the way.”

“You saw her?”

“Yeah. We took Ray for a walk around the park. I guess that means 2 points to Gryffindor.” Jeongyeon sticks her tongue out, pointing at herself.

“Correction! Slytherin, you snake.”

Jeongyeon clutches her chest and gasps in mock offense.

-

She is home alone when the bell rings, echoing through the emptiness that the absence of Jeongyeon has created. The older girl has went back home for the weekend, and Chaeyoung wasn’t expecting any visitors.

She gets off the kitchen stool, and heads to open the front door, expecting an angry neighbor ready to complain about the loud punk music she forces the entire floor to listen to, instead she’s greeted by Mina smiling shyly at her.

And that’s how Chaeyoung ends up babysitting Ray for two days, thanking whoever is up there that the pup is too old to make a fuss and distract her from studying.

It is also how Mina asks her out for lunch, as a thank you for taking care of her dog while she was out of the city for some group project.

-

“I go away for two days, Son Chaeyoung, two days, and you’ve already got yourself a date!” Jeongyeon howls at the news.

“First! It’s not a date; just a friendly ‘ thank you for looking after my dog’ lunch. Second! You’re just mad cause now I’m taking over your girl crush title, huh?” Chaeyoung counters back, full of the kimchi Jeongyeon’s mother has sent.

The blonde doesn’t answer, and Chaeyoung gestures for her to elaborate. She’s looking down, scratching the back of her neck nervously, and the younger girl recognizes this too well.

“You like like her!” She chokes on her food. Jeongyeon just laughs, a blush spreading up her neck and onto her cheeks.

-

“You’re wearing these for your date?” Jeongyeon leans against the door frame, watching Chaeyoung stack her books in her backpack.

“It’s not a date.” Chaeyoung tells her for the nth time, sounding a bit down for someone who’s going to have lunch with the girl she likes.

“Are you okay?” The blonde asks, concern laced with her words.

“Maybe we should stop this,” Chaeyoung mumbles, before one of us gets hurt .

“Shut up and go get the girl, Chaeng!” Her best friend responds with a sense of finality, “also, put this on!” She hands Chaeyoung her black leather jacket, - the black leather jacket-, tapping her a couple of times before walking out of her room.

Chaeyoung watches the reflection of her retreating figure on the mirror leaning against her wall. She just sighs.

-

“Don’t you have classes today?” Chaeyoung asks, putting on her boots.

“Just a lecture that I’m surely skipping. I hate Mondays, and I'm still tired from yesterday's trip back from home.” Jeongyeon screams from the couch.

“You hate every weekday.”

Chaeyoung thinks she hears the older girl go into a coughing fit after she closes the front door.

-

Jeongyeon gets up from the couch, and with heavy steps, she shuffles to her room.

She stands by her desk for a couple of seconds, eyeing the stick-it note pinned to the wall. She faintly smiles, before ripping it off and throwing it in the trash bin.

She feels her knees giving up on her, and Chaeyoung’s words ring in her head as she starts coughing again, “ You’ll catch a cold, going around the house in just towels at this time of the year. ”

“You’re not my mom,” Jeongyeon responds to the voice in her head, slumping down her bed and pulling the covers tight around her body.

It’s around noon when she wakes up, sweating profusely, and her skin burning hot. She doesn’t find any strength in her to leave her bed, and barely m