“Baby, baby blue eyes

Stay with me by my side

’til the morning, through the night

Can’t get you out of my mind . . .”

—“Baby Blue Eyes”

“I ordered pizza,” Jihyo announces as she and Jeongyeon walk into the kitchen where Sana and Dahyun are rearranging some jars and utensils, to make way for Sana’s own (which isn’t that many, Sana admits, but it’s the principle of the thing, you know).

(And this shouldn’t really thrill her; this being the fact that her stuff is going to be right alongside Dahyun’s, like puzzle pieces going together. She glances at the shelves, with her coffee beans and Dahyun’s canisters, with Swiss cocoa and green tea, and she supposes that should strangers come in here and observe their space, they wouldn’t be able to tell apart which is whose. And this thought shouldn’t be as appealing as it is to Sana, but. It is.

It so obviously, painfully is.)

“That should have been my part, right?” Sana asks, shaking herself out of her musings. “I mean, it’s usually a social courtesy for the person who needed help moving to get everyone pizza and beer.”

Dahyun tilts her head to the side, and Sana is acutely reminded of a very adorable puppy. “It is?”

“Yeah,” Jihyo confirms. “But we don’t trust Sana’s taste, as a general rule.”

“Yah!”

“True,” Jeongyeon agrees, completely ignoring Sana’s indignant gasp. “She still can pay the pizza guy when he arrives though.”

“Really?”  Sana crosses her arms. “After you insulted my taste, you’re gonna make me pay?”

 Jihyo shrugs. “We provided manual labour,” she reminds. “Fair is fair.”

Sana huffs, staring at Jihyo as Jihyo stares back, and she knows it’s a lost cause, because Jihyo is Jihyo and everyone relents to what she says, sooner rather than later. “Fine, but only because I refuse to be the girl who doesn’t provide proper compensation.”

“Well, if you want actual proper compensation,” Dahyun says, grinning, “then maybe you can work on that beer you mentioned.”

“Ha!” Jeongyeon exclaims, pointing at Dahyun. “Good call!”

“No getting pissed drunk though,” Jihyo warns.

“Of course not, of course not.”

Sana sighs, but shrugs anyway. “Well, I guess that’s fair too.”

“There’s a convenience store around the corner,” Dahyun says. “Let me just get my hat and I’ll go with you to pick stuff up.” Before Sana can react, Dahyun has run off to her room, Sana’s gaze helplessly following her.

“Well,” Jihyo starts as soon as Dahyun’s out of earshot, “I guess this is your chance, huh?”

“My—” Sana blinks, turns to Jihyo, eyebrows furrowed. “My chance?”

“To talk to her, silly. You haven’t been alone together ever, is that right?”

Uh. Yeah. Sana hasn’t ever been alone with Dahyun, and this is by Sana’s own design. She refuses to think about why she’s so wary of the prospect. “Yeah?”

Jeongyeon hums. “No time like the present to test your control around your crush.”

Sana’s cheeks grow warm. “I don’t—”

“Remember that time Sana tripped on, like, air because Dahyun suddenly appeared and then Sana speed-walked her feelings away without even saying hi?” Jeongyeon grins. “Good times.”

Sana narrows her eyes at her, though she feels her cheeks grow warmer. Jeongyeon seems to be in much higher spirits today than yesterday, and Sana wants to pick apart the subtle nuances of her transformation from distraught to mischievous, but now is so not the time. Jihyo is also chuckling beside them, amusement pure and clear, and Sana knows when to pick her battles.

So instead of saying anything biting, she just groans, her shoulders deflating. “Does everyone know about this?”

Jihyo giggles. “If by this, you mean your crush, then yes. It’s getting too painful to watch, honestly, how you pine after her from afar when you have the chance to, like, talk to her.”

“I do not pine,” Sana objects.

“Sure,” Jeongyeon says, deadpan. “You don’t pine at all.”

“Try to be a bit more convincing than that.”

“I can’t, which is sort of the point.” Jeongyeon looks at Sana pensively. Sana feels like she’s being examined on a petri dish, and she fidgets. “It’s sort of interesting to watch, you know. You’re so clueless around her, which is so unlike you. I’ve seen you seduce girls in like, three languages, and one of those you don’t even speak fluently.”

Sana has no response to that, and frankly, that terrifies her too.

Thankfully, she’s saved from saying anything else when Dahyun emerges from the room at last, smiling and apologising.

“Sorry about that, I looked for my phone,” Dahyun says, waving said phone in the air. “Let’s go?”

“Okay,” Sana automatically says, and follows her unthinkingly.

She doesn’t even register Jeongyeon and Jihyo’s soft laughter as she and Dahyun walk out the door.

(And perhaps this should have been her first clue, that her life would be really never be the same.)

Sana cannot stop freaking out. Then she remembers that she probably should properly thank Dahyun, you know, for taking her in.

Or maybe say something else, something that isn’t so trite and boring.

But Sana is screaming internally, and she can’t remember how words work, can’t remember what words are. And it’s a nuisance, because she really wants to talk to Dahyun.

Dahyun, who agreed to live with her. Sana sighs, steals a glance at the girl in question.

Dahyun, who is staring at her carefully, as if she’s trying to figure Sana out.

Oh.

Sana clears , and this startles Dahyun. She doesn’t stop staring, though, and this intrigues Sana. “Is there something on my face?” she asks, in as gentle a tone as she can manage.

Dahyun . . . well, she laughs, and Sana is confused. “No, no.” She looks forward, and Sana immediately misses the warmth of her gaze. “Mina-unnie is right about you, is all.”

“Mina?” Sana repeats. “What’d she say about me? Nothing bad, I hope.”

“Nah.” Dahyun grins at her again, and Sana stops walking because Dahyun is radiant like this, with the afternoon sunlight bathing her in a soft glow. “It’s just that, you really are beautiful, unnie.”

With that she continues on her way, as if she hasn’t just rendered Sana’s heart a confused mess, yet again.

“Shall we take our time?”

“Yeah, let Jeongyeon and Jihyo wait.”

Dahyun laughs. “Still bitter about the pizza?”

“Something like that.”

“Is the beer enough? Or do we get some soju too?”

 Dahyun looks at the two six-packs Sana is carrying. “Jihyo-unnie doesn’t want us to get wasted, though.”

“She doesn’t want Jeongyeon to get wasted,” Sana says.

Dahyun frowns thoughtfully, before understanding. “Ah.” She picks up the soju, adds it to their basket. “More for us, then.”

“I like the way you think.”

By the time they return with the beer, the pizza guy is just about to ring the bell. Sana hurries over and gives him the cash, while Dahyun proceeds to open the door.

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung are inside, as are Jennie and Jisoo.

“Rosé and Lisa are on their way,” Jisoo informs them.

Dahyun regards the bottle Jisoo is already opening. “Should have bought more beer, then.”

Jennie snorts, leaning against her girlfriend. “Told Lisa to bring some over,” she tells her. “We’re not amateurs.”

Dahyun laughs. “Of course not.” She looks at Sana. “Hey, maybe you can invite some of your friends too? Let’s make a party of it!”

There’s already enough of them gathered for a small party, but Sana supposes having some more people over won’t be too bad. Still she’s hesitant; she’s only been here a few hours, after all. “Are you sure?”

Dahyun nods enthusiastically. “Yes! This is your welcome party, you know.”

“It is?” When did that happen?

Dahyun just laughs again, and Sana can drink that sound forever. “Unnie, you’re too cute,” she says, with that distracting smile and those distracting eyes, and yep.

Sana is in big, big trouble.