It wasn’t exactly a surprise in this point of time that the two had accumulated feelings for this girl - Yoo Jeongyeon. Both Myoui Mina and Hirai Momo were smitten at first meeting (in one way or another). The real surprise was the circumstance wherein both had confessed and the manner in which Yoo Jeongyeon had end up replying. Mina and Momo were actually extremely popular at their educational location - Sixteen University.

A lot of people - tons - never expected the two queens on campus to confess to such a loser like Yoo Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon's friends were not exactly popular and arguably hung at the bottom of the hierarchy at SU. Worse than the burnouts, geeks, nerds, weirdos, and even the homophobes. For what reason would anyone even slightly tolerate Yoo Jeongyeon? No one could fathom it. 

Maybe it started with a box. Yes, a box. 

Myoui Mina, fresh on campus, was carrying her moving boxes. Momo wasn’t a help at all. After all, the boys on campus were kind of cute in a bang-once-never-call way. Momo literally lives for those types. Mina herself has only had two or three boyfriends (there was this guy named Henry that gave mixed signals that Mina gave up on - hence the or) and not one of them has ever kept her or themselves happy. She had considered living like Momo, but alas, her introvert ways could never let her hit on a guy or even function in any cool way possible in a man's presence. Yes, Mina is hit on quite often, but can she do anything other than say thank you and awkwardly walk away? Hell no. Mina was jealous of Momo in that aspect. 

She sighed and walked in the girls dormitory. There she spotted an explosion of diverse groups. A hybrid of nerdy prep girls sat in what appeared to be the living room talking about crocheting. In the corner, a group of red sweatered girls were playing a computer game and laughing. Two sloppy-looking girls were playing chess rather well and carrying on a tightly knit conversation of the importance of same- marriage. Was this even the right place? It was not at all what she had expected. There are too many groups and too much of a variety of character. You'd think it would be a nice thing to have the stereotypical cast of University cliques scattered, but it rather frightened Mina in an odd way. 

Momo should be here, she thought. After the registry garbage, Momo had told Mina that she would go ahead to their dorm and mingle. Momo mingling with girls didn't seem likely as Momo was always distant when it came to her own . As to why, Mina didn't know. That was just Momo. 

She walked up the stairs to find her room. 
"'Scuse me," a tap came at Mina's shoulder. 
She turned around and had to look up to meet the eyes of a short-haired stranger. She wore a baggy green SU sweater and ripped blue jeans. Her shaggy blond hair was everywhere as if she had just woke up and her taped glasses were crooked. Mina felt the urge to fix her glasses. Then she realized that she was staring as the stranger started speaking Mandarin. 
"I'm Japanese actually," Mina smiled awkwardly as she set down her boxes. 

"That was my initial thought," she sighed, "but you do seem to be fluent in Korean, are you not?" 

"Of course," She would be at a Japanese college otherwise "I've been learning for years now." Mina said with a prideful smile. 

"If you didn't tell me you were Japanese I never would've guessed that Korean wasn't your first language," the stranger smiled at Mina in a proud-mom way that made Mina feel warm. 

"Thank you," she beamed at the compliment. 

"Any particular course you're taking?" 

"Freelancing for now." She legit had no idea of what she wanted to be, but Mina figured that graduating from a university would garner her a better job than a cashier. 

"Same here. I'm not the most ambitious when it comes to my future for whatever reason. My parents hadn't saved up money just to have fun, unfortunately, so here I am" the stranger smiled with a distant look filled with melancholy. 

"I'm envious: my parents wouldn't have even been able to save $5 for me," Just thank the heavens that they're rich. 

Mina and the stranger then got into an enjoyable conversation about parents, family, and pets. Apparently the stranger had named all of her pets the normalest American names. Her fish was named Bill before Patricia the piranha ate him. It was a dull humor that made Mina laugh. 

After awhile Mina couldn't help but think that there was a reason for this encounter. No girl would just come up and speak to Mina without wanting something. 

As if reading Mina's thoughts the stranger spoke, 
"Right, you dropped this," Jeongyeon awkwardly brought up a pair of Mina's "y, and bold" underwear - courtesy of Momo - that Mina had not noticed before. 

How the hell did this drop from my box?! she screamed internally as she burned in embarrassment. 
"Th-Thank you so much!" she bowed as she grasped the underwear tightly and thanked every higher power that some creep didn't get ahold of them. 

"No problem. Although, wrestling Chaeyoung for these was rather annoying," wait what. The stranger must've seen the alarm on Mina's face, "I mean I didn't want them as a souvenir like Chaeyoung! I just didn't want her to have your underwear like that! See, my circle is kinda full of girl-fiends, like erts!" 

Mina heard warning sirens in the distance. Quickly she picked up her boxes and thought of the whistle she got earlier. 
"W-well thank you, I better get going then!" the stranger frowned and nodded. 

The frown made Mina stop abruptly and hesitate. 
"What's your name?" she blurted regretfully. 

The stranger looked up surprisedly and spoke in an enchanted way, 
"Yoo Jeongyeon," she smiled and held out her hand before realizing that Mina had boxes and awkwardly playing it off as an arm swing. 

"Myoui Mina," Then she nodded and walked briskly to the end of the hall. 

Odd, but enchanting. 

"It's probably best to steer clear of that one, sis." Momo said lazily as she laid back on her bed and chewed on a Capris Sun straw. 

Mina sat up on her own bed - not yet made as she had to make Momo's - and thought hesitantly. 
"Well, she wasn't weird at all until the underwear literally got brought up." 

"Simmer down. There's no need to defend this girl. Like you said, it seemed like her friends were the weird ones, right?" Momo's phone beeped and she lazily pulled it out and let out a sigh, causing the straw to flutter slightly. 

"Right," Mina laid back as Momo started typing away. 

There really isn't a need to stress about this girl. Just hang out with her, not her friends. Jeongyeon certainly didn't seem the crazy type. 

Although, most people she met said otherwise. 
"Ew, Son Chaeyoung? That took my retainer last month. Like, if she had a crush on me she coulda said so. She was cute until her personality showed up. Ugh," Mina literally never said Son Chaeyoung's name, but this Chaeyoung girl must be heavily associated with Jeongyeon. 

"If Jeongyeon were a boy, I might like her. She's just another follower though," Mina frowned at this plain girl, who usually stood clinging on to Momo's every word. 

"Yikes." 

"She seemed nice, but then her friends happened and her true side came out." 

"She's a loony [terrible word]." Mina walked away after that one. 

So Jeongyeon wasn't popular. Nothing wrong with that. 

Meanwhile, Mina occasionally bumps into Jeongyeon at the convenience store every other night. Jeongyeon usually walks back with Mina. 

"Easy Ramen is quite the demanded commodity at my place," Jeongyeon smiled at Mina while adjusting her baseball cap. 
"What about you?" 

Mina smiled and held her bag up, "Sweets," Mina doesn't really particularly like sweets, but after making a run for Momo several nights ago, she just seems to really be drawn to the convenience store. 

"Ah," Jeongyeon put her free hand in her pocket, "Didn't really figure you a candy person," Jeongyeon glanced at Mina from the corner of her eye. "Still don't." 

This made Mina grin for some reason, "You caught me," she giggled, "Roommate." 

Jeongyeon nodded understandingly, "My first roommate always made me run her errands," Jeongyeon frowned in thought, "I don't think I ever met your roommate." 

Mina sighed, "She's normally not very social when it comes to girls." Of course, she spends a lot of her time in the boys dorm with her current boyfriend. 

Jeongyeon then started coughing. 

"Are you okay?!" Mina quickly started patting her back in concern as Jeongyeon nearly kneeled. 

Jeongyeon nodded, "Just sick." she said between coughs. 

"You shouldn't be out here if you're sick," Mina frowned as Jeongyeon recovered her stature. 

"Someone needed to get the Ramen. Couldn't let Chae since its Thursday." 

Mina gave her a questioning look. 

"Chae wouldn't've been a better person to walk back to the dorm with than myself," She started walking again. 
"You usually go to the store Tuesdays, Thursdays, and the weekends, so I just figured..." 

Mina understood that this was Jeongyeon's way of protecting her and blushed. Why, she thought, am I blushing? The thought of that girl - Son Chaeyoung - walking her back made her shutter. "I hear a lot of things about your friend," Mina glanced at Jeongyeon cautiously. 

"Yeah, well, we can't all have good reputations in this world; there'd be no such thing as a good reputation otherwise." Jeongyeon stopped and looked at Mina. 

Mina stopped to returned her look, "Would that be such a bad thing?" 

Jeongyeon looked taken aback. Then she grinned. 
"Guess not," She started walking again. 

Mina hummed and followed. 


"I love you, Momo." The boy caressed Momo's cheek. 

Ah, . 

Momo knew it. She KNEW it. Why did she even come here? The Wise Tree at 9pm surely wouldn't be the perfect place to confess, Momo thought sarcastically. 

She pursed her lips and looked at the ground. 
"Um, well, thank you," 
As if she couldn't turn him down any awkwardly, he started tearing up. 

"You don't love me." His voice cracked. 

Momo flinched, "Nooo..." she trailed off and bounced on her heels. 

"I thought..." Tears streamed down his cheeks. 

Momo coughed awkwardly and cleared a few times, praying for a reason to leave. 

He sniffed. 
"W-was it me?" 

Obviously. Momo didn't have the heart to say that out loud though. So of course she stayed quiet. 

"It was," he croaked, "I can be... I'll... What can I do?" 

She conjured her most softest voice possible. 
"Move on," she awkwardly patted his shoulder and turned around and started walking away, wincing. 

Not the highlight of her life, no. Necessary? In her line of, uh, hobbies, yes. One boy was never enough to keep her happy though. Does she consider herself a for the stuff she does? Only in the most self-deprecating way. Deep down she had been carrying an ever growing dislike for males, but females make her... uncomfortable - not including Mina and a select few - and she can't stand it. So, the way she sees it, she can only find happiness in boys. Although she hasn't truly found happiness in a boy so far, she was sure she was to find that happiness soon. 

A low whistle of wow came a little ahead of the brick path. A tall person with crooked taped glasses and a sick mask was leaning against a lamp post. 
"Ouch. Poor guy," the person said with a hoarse voice. 

Momo raised her arms in a shrug. 
"Yeah, well, he wasn't my type." 

They made a tsk tsk sound. 
"They never are, are they?" they crossed their arms and shifted their weight to the other foot. 

Momo stopped in front of them. "Not really, no." She smiled sheepishly. 

Momo's mom had always warned her about talking to strangers, but this person was immediately just a nice person to talk to. 

"Ehh, we can't all be winners," The person sighed. 

A strong question came to mind. 
"What brings you out here so late?" Momo asked. 

"I'd ask you the same if I didn't already see why," Momo giggled, "I'm just... checking something for someone." 

An earlier thought came to mind. 
"Next to the Wise Tree?" Momo raised her eyebrows a few times. 

The person chuckled. 
"I wish," They sighed again, "More like past the Wise Tree." The person glanced a little down the path, presumably towards the little town. 

"Waiting for someone to walk by then?" Momo got the jist. 
"Making sure they're safe, I suppose?" 

The person's eyes flickered in realization. 
"Maybe so." 

"You talk like you don't even know why you're waiting on this person," 

"To be honest, I don't," The person admitted, "It was more like an uncontrollable urge to watch over her." The person looked at a smallish tattoo on their hand. 

Her. Hmm. 

Momo tried to get a look at the tattoo. 

"Curious, huh?" The person asked, seeing Momo in their peripheral vision. 

Momo glanced at their face, flustered. 
"I feel like a 3 year old asking so many questions." Momo looked away, embarrassed. 

The person laughed. 
"I don't mind, really," They glanced up the path again before turning back to their hand tattoo. 
"I got it when I was 16," Momo looked at the tattoo. It was several infinity symbols making up one infinity. 
"It means something like, infinity is made of smaller infinities. If you look closely, some of the smaller infinities are made of even smaller infinities." 
Indeed there were. 

"Is there a deeper meaning? Tattoos always seem to have them," Momo smirked and looked back at the person. 

The person looked away. "I suppose," Even under the mask Momo could tell that the person was smiling. 
"I'm not telling though." 

"Why?" Momo furrowed her brow and crossed her arms. 

The person held a finger to their mask and winked, 
"It's a secret." 

Momo feigned offense. 
"I've known you for all of 10 minutes and you don't trust me?" 
They both laughed and began a conversation about nothing in particular. 

It wasn't until the person coughed the 25th time that Momo took her phone out to see the time. It was almost 11. 
"Oh ." 

The person looked up in surprise. 

"It's almost 11." Momo gaped at her. 

"Huh, wow. Didn't even notice," the person seemed unbothered in a way that calmed her nerves. 

Momo sighed sadly. 
"I guess I have to go," Momo genuinely enjoyed this person. Who were they? After such a long conversation, you'd think that she'd have asked. 
"Before I go - I didn't even have the decency to ask your name." 

The person raised their eyebrows. 
"Oh yeah, me neither," They uncrossed their arm and held it out. "Just call me Yoo. It's easier that way." 

Momo took Yoo's hand and introduced herself. "I'm Hirai Momo. You can just call me Momo." She smiled. 
"You should get going too, dorms lock at 11:15. It doesn't seem likely that this girl you were waiting for is coming anytime soon. Not unless she already came back when you didn't notice." Yoo slightly deflated. 

Yoo waved a hand. 
"Nah, I'll just enjoy these few minutes and haul at 11:14." 

Momo laughed and said good night. 

That night Momo dreamed of carving infinities on the Wise Tree. 




"We really have quite enough sweets, Minari." Momo said as she sat cross legged on her bed and dug into a bag full of candy. 

Mina frowned. It was Saturday night and Mina hadn't seen Jeongyeon since Tuesday. She might not even be there, she thought, she might be getting tired of you anyways. Mina took her shoes off to join Momo. 

Momo's phone vibrated against her thigh. It was probably what's his face from that night by the Wise Tree, where she met Yoo. Huh. Momo wondered if Yoo was posed against the lamp post. 
"Mina," 

Mina hummed as she gazed at the opposite side of the room. 

"I gotta go," She put the bag of sweets in Mina's lap and stood up. 

Mina looked and her curiously, "Another unscheduled meeting with a lover?" She unwrapped a tootsie pop. 

Momo thought for awhile as she put her coat on. "We'll see," She smiled and walked out. 

Mina hummed in question. That's not normal, she thought, I don't know if I like that. 




"I'm sure you've heard about Son Chaeyoung once or Twice now. It's already been a month since you've been here." Yoo sat on the ground, leaning against the lamp post. 

Sure she had. That creepy ert that does drugs with the tall weirdos? Who hadn't heard of her? Not to mention she's supposedly gay. Momo didn't know how she felt about homouality. She knew she should believe that it's okay, but her heart just wouldn't form an opinion. 
"Yeah," 

Yoo sighed, "So you must have heard some bad things then." 

Momo nodded. 
"I heard she wrestled over my roommates with some nicer creep," 

Yoo cleared their throat, "R-right," 

Momo looked at Yoo, "Are you interested in that Chaeyoung girl?" 

Yoo shook their head. 

"You don't like her?" 

Yoo looked out to the grass. 
"Of course I do," 

Momo was bothered by this. "Oh. Well don't even bother," She huffed. Yoo looked at her in question. "I hear she's a lesbian." 

Yoo laughed, "I know," Momo furrowed her brow, "I am one too." Yoo smirked under her mask and looked out to the grass again. 

Oh. Momo didn't even think about that. Yoo was feminine, so it wasn't like she thought that Yoo was a boy. Yoo was just Yoo. It didn't really matter though. Did it? 

Yoo chuckled at Momo's realization, "Yep, just one of those weirdo dykes," Yoo's eyes glinted for a second, "If you leave, I won't be upset, okay?" 

Momo was offended though, "I am not so close-minded that I would leave the company that I enjoy best just because she's the way she is," she scoffed and crossed her arms. 

Yoo looked away, "Sorry," she rubbed her tattoo, "I'm kinda used to being treated like I never existed after people figure out I'm gay." 
A moment of heavy silence passed when Yoo smiled to herself, "You enjoy my company that much?" 

Momo blushed, "D-Did I say that?" 

Yoo laughed again, "I must be a pretty fun person," 

Momo smiled and pushed Yoo who laughed harder, "Hardly." 

After they stopped laughing and the mood settled, Yoo brought Chaeyoung up again to Momo's dismay, "I'm actually..." Yoo struggled with her words, "I'm in her group," 

Momo's eyes widened a bit and she blurted out, "The erts?" Then she put a hand to and reddened. 

Yoo sighed, "Yeah, that's... that's us..." She rubbed her tattoo for the hundredth time (Momo figured it was a nerve thing), "We aren't even like that," Momo looked at her in question. Yoo went on, "It was a mishap in the campus laundromat with some of the preppy girls last year," Yoo looked distantly to the wet grass across the sidewalk, "It was about 2 months into our first year. Laundry day. Me and Chaeyoung were looking for our washer that we left earlier to go get a drink from the machine. When we found it, it wasn't even our clothes. We looked at each other and we wondered 'Whose are these?'. We pulled out one of the clothes and it happened to be an upperclassman's . Chaeyoung gasped and placed them back in there 'Jeong, they're !' she said," Yoo chuckled and shook her head, "Then more clothes fell out. All of them were . The owner, a witch named Hinazuko, came rushing over yelling 'erts! erts!' in every language ever. It didn't help that we both were just holding up . 'Jeong, these are cute.' she had told me as she held them up. . Anyway, campus police were called. Witnesses say they heard Chaeyoung enthusiastically shout about to me. It was all terrible luck. Well, to an extent. It was just campus police, not official uni police. If it were SU police, we would've ended up in court or something. No, we just got campus ert watch and an unflattering campus news story. I actually had some friends that backed us up, so it wasn't bad - the persecution and whatnot. At least not until Chaeyoung was ganged up on by some jock ers," Yoo scowled, "She wasn't even doing anything. Just sitting on a rock in the park, sketching the Wise Tree. She used to do that a lot," Yoo smiled sadly, "Didn't even hear them. She had her earbuds in. Then she got pushed off the rock. 'You really have the indecency to sit there and ignore me while you sketch those poor girls?' he said to her. Unfortunately, there were girls in bikinis sitting a few feet from the Wise Tree. Chaeyoung was always too scared to explain herself in these situations, so I'd always help her. Except I wasn't there. So a wide-eyed innocent girl got dragged to a secluded location and got beat up. No one felt for her, let alone believed her when she tried to stick up for herself and say she was sketching the tree. In their eyes it was justified. It was disgusting," Yoo sighed, "One day she broke. I was there right with her. 'Yes. I'm just the biggest damned ert!' she screamed. She told me she wanted pay back. The biggest prank that was meant to be harmless was the downfall of our reputation. In the end, all of us, our friends, remained together. As long as we were together we didn't care if the whole world thought we were the most disgusting erts, because we knew it wasn't true. And that was enough for us," Yoo smiled under her mask," Nowadays, we like to joke about it. 'Chae, it's laundry day.' I'd say out loud. The looks on people's faces were priceless," Yoo stopped smiling and looked  at her tattoo, "Chaeng was never the same though. They broke her innocence. All the beauty she once saw in the world was... gone," Yoo made a gesture with her hands, "She picked up 11 months ago and hasn't been the same. I didn't do anything since I knew it was better than the alcohol. It still hurts to see her like this though," Yoo looked up at the sky. "She's never getting that beautiful vision of the world back and it depresses her." 
Yoo frowned under her mask. 
"So, yeah," Yoo rubbed her tattoo once again, "That's the story I wanted to tell." 

Momo took it all in and felt horrible about the way she would look at Chaeyoung whenever she was in class with her. "I'm sorry," She said. 

"You didn't do it, don't be." 

"No, it's just, I would always throw her the dirtiest looks," 
Momo said guiltily. 

"Don't tell me that: tell her," Yoo brightened up, "It'd really make her feel good." 

Momo nodded resolutely, "I plan to." 

Yoo smiled under her mask, "Thank you, Momo. It means a lot." 

Momo smiled back at her, "Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you." She poked Yoo who feigned an offended expression. They both burst out laughing. 

After awhile athought popped into Momo's head. "Yoo, why'd you tell me this if you didn't care what others thought?" 

"Ah. Why did I?" Yoo pondered on it as if she didn't know herself, "Because only my closest friends know the truth. I guess I must consider you close." Momo felt her cheeks redden as Yoo evaluated herself. 




"It wasn't a love thing at all, Mina," Momo laid on her bed while Mina laid on hers, er in mouth. 

Mina raised her eyebrows. "Wow. So you really did just go out there and make a friend." 

"Why are you so surprised?" Momo asked. 

Mina shook her head. "No reason." 

Momo scoffed and turned her head to look at her decorated ceiling. These boygroup posters weren't as appealing as they used to be... 



When Mina got out of her evening art class, she didn't really feel like going to the dorm. So she decided on going out to... do university kid things. Whatever those might be. The cafe is fairly popular, Mina thought as she set out. 



What a horrible mistake that was. Just a bunch of douche jock bros hitting on her. You'd think the jocks would be hanging out at a gym or something, but this whole social reform wave must've washed them to this poor peaceful cafe. 


Her parents always told her to try new things. "Maybe you'll like it! You weren't born loving ballet, you know?" Obviously. I'm just not to thrilled at the idea of change when everything is functioning so fine, she thought. She was never really worried about not liking something - food for example - she just thought it was troublesome liking something and adding another thing to her life. While she loved ballet, she wondered what would've happened if she just chose not to go to that show. Would she have lived a quiet life without everyone's expectations weighing in on her? Would she have had made more friends? Would she have been that preppy or that arrogant know-it-all? Would she be able to stand like a regular person rather than a penguin? So many routes opened up to her with the introduction of new things, it just makes her regret her past decisions even more. 


"Myoui Mina in the flesh," A rather cute, but obviously jerkish boy sat across from Mina as she genuinely tried not to sigh. Who knows, this guy might actually be nice, "You're as y in real life as they describe you." Never mind, he's just a gross as his predecessors. 

"Sorry, but can I be alone?" Mina said as she averted her attention to the now opening front door. The boy moved dejectedly to his table, and into Mina's line of sight came Yoo Jeongyeon. 

She took her bucket hat off and put it in her pocket as she walked up to the front counter, much to the other customers' dismay. "Excuse me, Miss," she said to the cashier. 

The woman at the counter turned her attention to Jeongyeon and said, "Ah, okay, one second," then she went to the back. Mina was curious. Yoo Jeongyeon, unfortunately, had no good rep, so why would she even step foot into a pompously hip place such as this wannabe Starbuck's? Several others looked on at her in disgust and others just chose to ignore her presence. It was arrogance such as this that made Mina despise the crowd. Or maybe it was just because she considered Jeongyeon a friend? Either way, Mina was getting more and more pissed at how everyone looked at Jeongyeon, especially now that Jeongyeon looked uncomfortable. 

Mina couldn't take it anymore: she finished her drink quickly and rushed up to Jeongyeon. 
"Jeongyeon!" She said enthusiastically. This wasn't acting, she just really missed Jeongyeon. 

Jeongyeon turned her head hastily with a tense demeanor before relaxing and brightening up at the approaching goddess. 
"Mina. Been a while." She smiled warmly at the girl. 

Mina ignored the murmur of the watchers and spoke, "Yeah, I guess my roommate has enough sweets," They both exchanged soft chuckles. 
"Never thought I'd see you in a place like this," Mina said. 

Jeongyeon hummed, "I could say the same," She raised an eyebrow at Mina. 

Mina giggled nervously and pushed her hair back with her hand, "Yeah, I still don't know what I'm doing here, actually." 

Jeongyeon sighed, "Me neither." The counter lady came up with a baggy and a drink. 
Jeongyeon and the lady exchanged an odd glance as Jeongyeon slid her a bill. 

Mina raised her brows at Jeongyeon as they both started walking out of the cafe. 
Jeongyeon glanced at Mina and contemplated, "It's... for my pal." 

Mina only blinked. 

"Inside the bag," Jeongyeon lowered her voice and bent a little close to Mina as they walked, "." 

Mina gasped and reddened, "Sorry," she said as she covered , "I've never been around such things." 

Jeongyeon smiled, "I figured." Jeongyeon took a couple of big gulps of her drink before throwing it away. 

Mina cleared and glanced at Jeongyeon, "I didn't know you smoked." 

"I don't. It's for my pal." 

"Sounds like something the perp would tell the cop." 

Jeongyeon laughed. 
"I'm being honest." 

Mina smiled. 
"I know." 
Jeongyeon was hard to read, but she wasn't hard to know when she's being sincere. There's always a sign when someone's lying and Mina knew all of them. Jeongyeon's happened to be blinking - the most advanced sign as it shows that the person is rather accustomed to hiding their emotions and secrets. What secrets did Jeongyeon have? It is a question that always seems to poke at the back of Mina's mind. She's already accepted her fascination and admiration with Jeongyeon, but why did she have so much interest in this girl? A question that burns within her daily. 

"I absolutely don't encourage smoking either, it's just a better coping 'skill' than alcohol." Jeongyeon said making air quotations with her free hand. 

Mina scoffed, "I could imagine you endorsing cigarettes or something like in those old western commercials, 'Remember its better than beer!'" Mina held up an invisible pack of cigarettes to an invisible camera. 

Jeongyeon laughed and bumped Mina with her shoulder. 
"I'm trying to be sincere!" 

Mina laughed and surrendered. 
"Okay, okay." She said in English. 

Jeongyeon smiled at Mina's cuteness before continuing. 
"I feel like I've just been trusting more and more people," She said to herself, "So, you know how I don't care about what others think?" 

Mina glanced up, "To an extent, sure." 

"Well, that's not entirely true." 

Mina raised her eyebrows. "Oh?" 

Jeongyeon hummed. "When it comes to people who I come to care about, I feel like I need to... look good for them. It's hard to look good with the reputation I have." Mina shifted her hand into her pocket. Jeongyeon never really talked about her reputation. 

"You don't have to worry about that, Jeongyeon, I don't think you're a ert." 

Jeongyeon smiled again rather smugly. "I know," The way she said this made Mina flustered for some reason, "I just feel the need to tell you this." Jeongyeon's eyes brightened as she spotted a bench. 
"Perfect. Shall we sit?" Jeongyeon made a silly bow and gesture to the bench. 

Mina laughed at her and sat. 

Jeongyeon sat down flamboyantly. "So here begins a sad tale of- it lemme just say this already," Mina smiled at the dork as she took a breath. Then Jeongyeon told Mina the story of the innocent girl who was taken away by a mishap. 

Jeongyeon let out a hard breath and slumped against the back of the bench. 

Mina let this all process as she sat there, frozen. It was such a dark story - no one knows the truth but people close to Jeongyeon... It was sad. 
"So when you said smoking was better than alcohol..." 

Jeongyeon pursed her lips. 
"Yep. It's for her." She lazily shook the bag that she held in her left hand. It was a melancholic sight in a way. A friend who, out of love for another, has no choice for the best but to acquire for a suffering loved one... The loved one only wants to escape the wrong reality that was so cruelly placed upon her by the assumptions of one person. 
"I'm sorry," 

Jeongyeon smirked. 
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault," Jeongyeon had a strong deja vu. 

Mina stayed silent and thought it over. 
"What about you?" Jeongyeon looked at Mina. "How are you after all that?" fell open a bit and she turned her head forward as she thought. 

How was she? She shrugged. 
"I dunno. I never really thought about it." 

Mina frowned. 
"You..." 

Jeongyeon seems like she hardly worries about herself. She was too busy worrying about others that she didn't have time for herself. She's been living the life of a middle-aged parent of 5. She puts others before herself. Jeongyeon was a truly selfless woman. Beautiful inside and out, Mina thought. 


Mina felt something bloom in her that made her look at Jeongyeon with such admiration and care that it caught Jeongyeon off guard. 
"W-what?" Jeongyeon blushed. 

Mina smiled warmly. 
"You should worry more about yourself, Jeongyeon." 

Jeongyeon's eyes widened as she stared at Mina. 
"I don't think that's..." 

"You're worth the worry, you know that?" Mina held Jeongyeon's shaken gaze. 

Snapping out of it, Jeongyeon smirked and looked away. 
"I should be the one saying these things..." She mumbled. 

Mina hummed in question. 

"Nothing," Jeongyeon stood up and stretched. "Hey, you wanna meet Chaeng?" 

Mina blinked. 




- Then - 

A bell rang. 
"Alright, class, let's all settle down!" The new homeroom teacher demanded silence from his new batch of 9th graders. 

In the back by the window, a black-haired girl with glasses wore a male's blazer and black shorts under her skirt - not common, but also not against any dress codes. She was leaning in her chair, tying up her medium length hair into a tiny ponytail. 
The teacher could already tell that she was going to be trouble. There was one every year. Just one. What surprised him was the addition of another trouble maker who was sitting near the back door, one who dressed like the other but had longer hair and no glasses. This one was doodling rather intensely. 
He sighed and spoke to the now quiet class. 
"Hello, everyone. I am your new homeroom teacher, Mr. Woo," He wrote his name out on the board. "So, this period of class shall be where you all introduce yourselves. Let's start at the back," He looked towards troublemaker #2 who was still doodling. "Picasso, you're up." He pointed at her and the eyes of all 60 of his students looked at her. 
She remained immersed in her doodling. Students giggled and whispered. 
"Hey! Michaelangelo!" He banged on his desk and the girl slowly looked up in fear. 

"Y-yes, sir?" She trembled out. A couple of students giggled at her. The attention gave her anxiety and she suddenly wished that she was never born an artist. 

"Introduce yourself and give me a hobby of yours." He said sternly. 

"R-right, sir," She stood up and spoke. "I'm Son Chaeyoung and I like to-" 

"Draw in class? I've noticed." The teacher interrupted, gaining laughter. 

"I'm sorry." She bowed in shame and sat down swiftly. 

"Next kid." The teacher said. 

One by one the students introduced their selves until the last student, troublemaker #1. 

"Next kid." He said in monotone. The class gave attention to the silent girl in the back who looked out the window as she leaned in her chair. 

She didn't respond. 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that she's either sleeping somehow or listening to music." Mr. Woo grumbled, the class laughing once again. 

Chaeyoung sweat nervously. If she hadn't sat across the room from that poor oblivious girl, she could've saved her. 

"I'll give her a chance to come to her sense then. If I see anyone help her, I'm giving you both detention." He crossed his arms and started counting down from 10. 

Chaeyoung rambled her brains for a solution. Then it hit her. She's across the room, so nobody would expect her if she, say, threw a pencil, right? 

She acted quick and nonchalantly whipped the pencil at the dazed girl and then coughed slightly. 

The pencil hit the girl who promptly stood up and bowed, "Yoo Jeongyeon, age 14, hobbies: cleaning, the acoustic guitar, Japanese, and family. Thank you for having me." She sat back down. 

Mr. Woo, who had frozen at the number 3, scoffed. "What was the delay? Couldn't remember what age you were?" The students laughed. Then Mr. Woo started talking about what they should be expecting this year. 

Chaeyoung looked at Jeongyeon, who was now on her phone, hidden in her desk. She was probably pressing play on her playlist. Chaeyoung saw how smooth and quickly the girl had reached into her desk as she automatically stood up. A true con artist, Chaeyoung thought as she smiled slightly and turned forward. 




After that period, Chaeyoung took out her schedule, walking out the classroom. Music, room 101. Great, she thought, loud noises this early in the morning. 

In room 101 sat a handful of students she recognized from her homeroom, including Jeongyeon, and a few more students. It was a small class and Chaeyoung could understand why: it was 1st period and literally everyone was tired. 

There were chairs set up around instruments. Chaeyoung noticed that there was no one station at the piano. Did no one else play? Maybe it was a teacher instrument. She decided against sitting next to some boys and sat in behind a metal stand that held the triangle, which happened to be next to Jeongyeon. She didn't have an instrument in front of her. 

Jeongyeon glanced at Chaeyoung who took hold of the triangle with a smile on her face. She held in a laugh and played it off as a cough. 
“Passionate about the triangle, are you?” 

Chaeyoung turned to Being held with a chuckle. 
“Not particularly. It’s just something that the kids with no skill play.” 

Jeongyeon smirked and crossed her arms. 
“You fancy yourself a good musician?” 

“Of course.” 

“Really?” Jeongyeon smirked widely and turned her head away from the shorter girl. 

Chaeyoung scoffed. 
“As if you’re any better: you don’t even have an instrument in front of you. What do you think that says?” 

The taller girl reddened slightly. “I hardly think that’s any of your business.” 

“Can’t even play an instrument,” Chaeyoung sneered. “Yet here you are trying to come for me for being amused with a lowly triangle.” 

Jeongyeon scowled. “Oh just you wait.” 


Many moments later, an elderly woman in purple came in with an acoustic guitar. She smiled in Chaeyoung's direction. 
Then it hit her. She recalled Jeongyeon's hobbies and dropped as she looked at Jeongyeon. As expected, the tall girl smirked at Chaeyoung before standing to greet the woman who gave her the instrument. 

The woman then too center of the front of the class and called for everyone’s attention. 
She introduced herself as the music teacher and had everyone introduce their selves as Jeongyeon stood next to her, tuning her guitar. 
“Ms. Yoo, if you’re ready?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Then she the strings as if she were scared of it. Maybe not scared of it, but scared of what her touch might do to it. As if guitar strings are fragile. 

Chaeyoung couldn’t deny that she had skill. The whole class – all 16 of them – were harmed with her delicate strumming and skillful chords. 

“Thank you,” Jeongyeon bowed and returned to her seat, modestly taking in the applause of her classmates. Then she met Chaeyoung's awed face and she smiled the most smug smile that the short girl had ever come to dislike. 
“Amazing, huh, Triangle?” She whispered. 

Chaeyoung scoffed. 
“Whatever.” 

The rest of the day dragged by. Chaeyoung had classes with Jeongyeon all day, much to her dismay. By the end of the week, the entire school knew about the two girls' rivalry. They both thought that it was rather pathetic that they were the talk of the school. It was quite dull, really. Chaeyoung outdid Jeongyeon in art and Jeongyeon out her in music and they grew a mutual disliking and that was that. 

Two months in and both girls had been socially stuck into cliques and groups. Jeongyeon ended up joining the dance club – which kept Chaeyoung highly entertained – and she, herself, joined theatre. Why? Acting was one art that she rarely ventured through and she was up for it. 

Within months, Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon’s group had a fiery rivalry. No one wanted to fight physically, they just wanted to show off their respective skills and one up each other. 
Jeongyeon had become rather well at dancing and Chaeyoung had been deemed a prodigy in acting.
Both were rather popular in school. Then something was revealed.

"Yeah. I'm gay. So what?" Jeongyeon stood up from the ground that she was pushed upon. She had barely just gotten out of denial a little after her 13th birthday a year ago and somehow her being gay had already gotten out.

"God hates gays! My dad told me that!"
"Yeah! Rot in hell!"
"Filthy dyke!"
The 3 boys from the glee club had taken Jeongyeon into an alley after following her from school.
She knew something like this was bound to happen sooner or later.

"Guys, can we just not?" Jeongyeon sighed and adjusted her glasses.

"Shut up, you disgrace! I can't believe they allow faggots into a school like ours!"

Jeongyeon's nose twitched.
"Eh? Come again?" She glared and gritted her teeth.

"Are you deaf too?"
"He called you a ." The smaller boy spit on Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon snarled.
"Seriously." She took her glasses off shakily and chuckled, making the boys glance at each other nervously.

"She's just a girl, she can't take all 3 of us on." The boys told each other.

Not only do they ridicule me for being gay, but they also criticize me for being a female, Jeongyeon thought, what scum.
Then she hit the tallest boy with her left fist and the smallest boy with her right. It was a blessing that she was ambidextrous.

The huskier boy kicked her and she stumbled back. The taller boy took off his bag and threw it at her. She caught it and swung it at the small boy on the ground. The husky boy ran at her and she dodged him as the taller boy landed a good hook at her jaw. She scrambled at the ground for a second before hopping up and kicking the husky boy in the groin. The small boy was now up and grappled Jeongyeon to the ground. The taller boy kicked her as she laid under the boy. The small boy punched her in the face several times and she considered submitting to the white stars but knew that she must not give up, in the name of her pride. She headbutted the small boy as hard as she could and he yelped and grabbed his forehead. Jeongyeon took the opportunity to throw him to the side and she used her leg to trip the taller boy who had his leg up, ready to stomp her. The husky boy groaned but got up slowly. Jeongyeon jumped up and kneed the husky boy in the face. The small boy ran to her and Jeongyeon quickly thought of her 4th grade MMA lessons and did a spinning back kick and as soon as her heel made impact with the boys wide jaw she knew that he was out and that she sprained her ankle by the way it ached. She made a mental note not to try anything she saw on TV and was only taught once. The tall boy hit her in the stomach and she fell on her knee, gasping for air. He kicked her in her ribs and she fell over with a yell.

"Maybe we underestimated a dance dyke," He breathed out. "I'll give you that since you seemed to have got them two." He coughed. "I can respect that. However, I respect my father and our beliefs more." He clenched his fist and Jeongyeon closed her eyes tight and braced herself for the hit.

The boy let out a grunt and Jeongyeon heard a thud.

She opened her eyes. The tall boy was laying on the ground, holding his head and groaning and a figure was standing above her.
"Hey? Are you alright, Jeongyeon?" An out of breath familiar voice asked her.

Jeongyeon groaned in response. The figure pulled her up and gave her her glasses.
"Come on. Let's get you home." They put Jeongyeon's arm around their shoulder and began walking.

Jeongyeon was close to blacking out, but she tried as much as she could to stay conscious and walk - well, stumble more like - with the person. She must've passed out eventually as she didn't remember walking into her own apartment.

She woke up to the feeling of warm water on her face.
She groaned as she opened her eyes reluctantly.

"Don't sit up, Jeongyeon." She was in bed and the figure from before sat on it with her.

She groaned for the thousandth time as she looked at her rival, Chaeyoung.
"So, you saved me."

"Barely. All I did was swing a backpack at the lanky guy. It looked like you did with the big one and the tiny one yourself." Chaeyoung had a hint of admiration in her voice.

Jeongyeon sighed.
"I suppose," she closed her eyes to ease the pain of her throbbing head. "Is it bad?"

Chaeyoung hummed.
"Your eye is a bit swollen but it went down. Some cuts on your face, nothing too bad. A few bruises on your stomach but I'm certain you didn't break anything. The worst is probably your ankle. It's sprained and puffy. I wrapped it up and there's ice on it right now."

"God."

"What did you do this time?" Chaeyoung rolled her sleeve up and stood up, stretching.

Jeongyeon scoffed.
"I didn't do a thing. Just some hateful people who came with their religious self-righteous bull."

"What do you mean?" Chaeyoung tensed up.

"They dragged me to some alleyway and tried to jump me because I'm- I'm- gay." Jeongyeon had worked herself up and told her secret to her biggest rival. Great. A real good time for persecution, Jeongyeon, good job.

Chaeyoung clenched her fists.
"Really? Isn't that just..." She clenched her jaw and shook her head.
"I really hate society..." She mumbled.

Jeongyeon grumbled.
"Yeah so don't be a now that you know I'm weird or whatever."

"Weird? What? Being gay?"

She nodded.

Chaeyoung made a tsk sound.
"There's nothing wrong with being gay, that's for sure."

Jeongyeon whipped her head at her rival in surprise, making her head ache.

"Yep. I've known I was gay for awhile," she smiled proudly. "Not without the denial phase, of course. My aunt helped me with that, though. No matter what she went through with being open about it, she remained proud. Her house was burned down when she and her wife moved to a small town a few years back. The things people do to others just because of who they love is ridiculous." She sighed and rubbed her nape.

Jeongyeon had never met anyone who was so positive about homouality. Whenever she talked to her family about the topic, she only heard negative things. That's why she couldn't accept herself for years. Once she did finally accept herself, she felt great. Coming out was the worst though. Kicked out at the age of 14 and moved to an entire town over hurt her. Her mother said she still loved her, but she just couldn't bear to accept her as her daughter and gave her some cash before giving her the boot. It's been a rough year to say the least. Chaeyoung's positivity was like a hand pulling you out of the water you were drowning in. She stared at Chaeyoung as she talked about her aunt and let a tear roll down her cheek.

"The way you talk about gay things... it's beautiful..." Jeongyeon mumbled.

Chaeyoung hummed in question.

"I-I've never heard such positive things about how I am..." Jeongyeon's voice cracked. "It was always, sin this, sin that. Never was being gay a "good" thing..." Her voice shook and Chaeyoung frowned.

Chaeyoung didn't expect her night to end up like this. First she seen her rival about to lose a fight, then she nursed said rival, and now, her rival is sobbing out all of her heartache and pain that she went through with being gay. Nevertheless, Chaeyoung hugged Jeongyeon. She let her sob into her school blazer that night and she never looked back from then on.

That night, Chaeyoung lost a rival, but gained the greatest friend she would ever have.
 

  - Now- 

Momo lay on her bed after her classes. She had just taken her boy group posters off of the ceiling after deciding that they had grown dull and that she'd rather stare at the grainy, plain, endless white void of a ceiling.

[End]

Yeah kinda dropped this one on Christmas srry :( I liked this one a lot, it was really entertaining to write. I just kinda ran out of motivation to write it.