A/N: i do my best trying to spot mistakes before posting but it's very common that one or two slip through. i'd like to apologize for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors that this chapter might contain.

*Jinsol's POV*

  It's late. Way too late to be standing outside in the hall, leaning against the door to Sooyoung's dorm yet it's exactly what I'm doing. I'm busy trying to keep my eyes open but even through droopy eyes, I can see Sooyoung is preparing herself for whatever she has to say. I hate to say it but I hope it's important because I don't sacrifice my sleep for anything.

  It takes seconds to realize that it is important because Sooyoung braces herself before blurting out the words, "I think I'm in love with Jiwoo."

  I've never felt so awake in my entire life when I say, "What? Sooyoung—"

  "I know I'm in love her," she corrects herself. She takes a deep breath and exhales, "I'm so in love with her, Jinsol."

  And I know that she's never said a statement as true as this one, otherwise she wouldn't have dragged me out here just to say it.

  "What do you plan to do about it?"

  "I don't know, but I know I have to do something," she says. "I'm just so scared of hurting her. What if I hurt her?"

  "You've hurt her before and she's always come back."

  "What does that mean?"

  "I mean that hurting her isn't the issue at hand. It's telling her."

  "What if I it up? What if she doesn't feel the same way?" she asks, sounding so absolutely scared that it starts to rub off on me.

  "You'll never find out if you let your fear control you," I respond.

  "So what are you saying?" she asks, eyebrows furrowed.

  "You are not your fear. You are Sooyoung, and Sooyoung is madly in love with Jiwoo but she's so scared of ing everything up that she might never tell her," I say, eyes locked on hers in order to get my point across. "Despite this, Sooyoung is going to confess these feelings to Jiwoo because Sooyoung can handle the outcome."

  She's silent for a moment, fiddling with her fingers. Then, she tentatively asks, "How should I tell her?"

  "It's on you."

  "Can you be there?"

  A part of me melts because she must want me there as support and I answer without hesitation, "Of course! Otherwise, what kind of friend would I be?"

  "One who doesn't want to see a ty confession," she replies and smiles when I laugh. "Thank you for hauling yourself out of bed. I know how much you value your sleep."

  "I do! Now you better hope that confession turns out well," I tease.

  "And if it doesn't?" she asks, worry lacing her words.

  I shake my head. "It will."

  "How are you so sure?" she questions.

  "Because everything will work out in the end."

*~*~*

  Is this what suffocating feels like?

  It must be because all the oxygen in the room has been replaced with shaky breaths that mingle with the obvious tension in the room. There never used to be tension between the two of them but since the kiss, it's always lingered in the air no matter the situation. Jiwoo and Sooyoung act as if it doesn't affect them even though it's evident that it does. And it's definitely affecting them because it's beginning to affect me as well.

  "What is it that you have to say?" Jiwoo asks, adjusting her position on her bed so that she's facing Sooyoung who sits on the opposite bed, my bed.

  "I've been thinking about something a lot recently," Sooyoung begins, slowly, as if she's walking on shards of glass. "And I've finally come to a conclusion."

  Jiwoo leans forward a bit, eyes filled with interest. "What is it?"

  Sooyoung holds up a hand as if to tell her to hold off before she becomes too intrigued. "Promise me one thing."

  Jiwoo nods her head eagerly, "Anything." Anything. Sooyoung doesn't even have to ask, Jiwoo would give her anything and everything in a heartbeat.

  "Promise me that after I say this, you'll say something in response. Anything you want."

  Jiwoo stares at her for a moment, before blinking and replying with, "Anything?'

  "Anything," Sooyoung says with a firm nod.

  A lifetime later, Jiwoo says, "Okay."

  Silence fills the room and both of them freeze in their places, one preparing to confess something huge and the other, sitting on the edge of her bed, unknowingly waiting for a confession. I watch Sooyoung from the corner of my eye, observing her as she takes deep breaths and tries—but fails pathetically—to stop the way her hands shake. I wonder what's going through their heads right now. Is Sooyoung's mind slowly overflowing with thoughts of Jiwoo? Is Sooyoung on Jiwoo's mind? Is Jiwoo's heart beating as hard as I know the older girl's is? Do they realize how smitten they are for one another?

  My questions come to a hard stop when Sooyoung says in a small voice, "I'm in love with you."

  Jiwoo stares at her with a blank expression, unmoving, and Sooyoung says in a voice much more firm, "Kim Jiwoo, I'm so in love with you."

  A few painful heartbeats later, Jiwoo responds with, "Sooyoung, you're an idiot."

  "Huh?"

  "You're such an idiot," Jiwoo says, loud enough for the words to bounce off the walls of this small dorm and ring in Sooyoung's ears.

  Her face falls. "I don't—"

  "—You're such an idiot for not realizing that I've had feelings for you this whole time," Jiwoo says, cutting her off. A soft smile makes its way onto her face as she watches Sooyoung (slowly) process what she's just said.

  "Wait, you mean...hold on," Sooyoung trips over her words, unable to form sentences.

  "I'll give you time," Jiwoo comments. Quietly, she adds, "Though if it'll help you process it more quickly, I'm in love with you too."

  Eyes wide in utter disbelief, Sooyoung sputters out, "You love me?"

  "Of course, silly! Isn't that what I just said?" Jiwoo lets out a gentle laugh at the other girl's foolishness.

  "But why do you love me of all people? Have you seen me?" Sooyoung questions and I roll my eyes, to which Jiwoo does the same.

  "Oh my God, Sooyoung," Jiwoo groans, "Please be quiet."

  "Why?"

  "Because you're spewing nonsense and I'll have to do something about it if you don't stop."

  Sooyoung's eyes take on a glint and she dares to ask, "What will you do?"

  "Something to shut you up," Jiwoo answers, unaware to how this must sound in Sooyoung's head.

  "Oh really?" Sooyoung asks, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

  Still, Jiwoo doesn't fully comprehend and says, "Really."

  Sooyoung doesn't miss a beat. "Show me."

  "What?"

  "Show me what you would do to shut me up," Sooyoung says, adding a wink that makes Jiwoo blush harder than I've ever witnessed in the countless years of knowing her.

  "Stop," Jiwoo whines, pouting her lips in a way that's nearly identical to how Yeojin does.

  "Or what?" God, if I was the one pushing Jiwoo's buttons, she would have already smacked me. It's because it's Sooyoung, I remind myself.

  "Sooyoung," Jiwoo says in an exasperated tone.

  "Jiwoo," Sooyoung mocks, earning a glare from the younger girl. She lets out a hearty chuckle and pretends to wipe tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. You're just so easy to tease—"

  Her sentence is cut off when Jiwoo lunges forward, pressing their lips together. Sooyoung's eyes widen before fluttering shut and she pulls Jiwoo against her. The kiss is reminiscent of the drunken kisses that they exchanged all those nights ago in the sense that they're both messy. This time, their kisses are messy in a different, much more pleasant way. Jiwoo is beaming so brightly that I'm glad that Sooyoung's eyes are closed or else she would be at risk of going blind. Sooyoung is smiling as well and it's more teeth than anything, but it's unmistakable the way they melt into each other as if they're falling for the first time.

  "Kim Jiwoo," the name rolls off her tongue more naturally than her own name does.

  "Yes?"

  "I love you and I'm sorry for not realizing it sooner. I know I must've hurt you."

  "You did," Jiwoo says softly. Gently, she cups Sooyoung's face in her hands and presses a kiss near the corner of , "But if you love me like you say you do, then it must've hurt you too."

  Sooyoung nods. "It did."

  "Why did you do it?" Jiwoo asks, swiping her thumb over Sooyoung's bottom lip.

  "I didn't wanna lose you."

  Jiwoo cradles the world in her hands a little closer. "Well, you have me."

  Sooyoung smiles and when she looks at the girl between her arms, it's as if she's finally figured out her future. Like she's found out what she wants to spend her life doing ten, twenty, thirty years from now. Until she's old and unable to remember more than her name and a couple of basic sentences. Until the day she dies. "And I'm never letting you go," she says, promises because although she's unsure of what she'll be doing decades from now, she knows she'll be loving Jiwoo when everything else in the world seems uncertain. She'll love her until she's left the world and even then, she'll immortalize Jiwoo with her final breath so someone else will breathe her in and breathe her out, ensuring that the universe will never forget her.

  In the afterlife, she will continue to speak her name until she's beside her once more because their love is too great to exist in just one place. Sooyoung's never been much of a believer and if you were to ask her to name an angel, I can guarantee she'd say 'Kim Jiwoo'. Whether or not an afterlife truly exists isn't very important because, with the way Jiwoo makes Monday feel like Friday, she's capable of making a place like Hell feel like Heaven.

*~*~*

  "I hate to interrupt your make-out session for the second time," I say, cringing at the memory of walking in on them after walking Jungeun back to her dorm, "but since you both confessed, I think it's only fair that I tell you something as well."

  They break away from each other long enough to look at me. "What is it?" Sooyoung asks.

  "Jungeun and I are dating."

  Jiwoo is on her feet in the blink of an eye. "When did that happen?"

  I shrug. "Two, almost three weeks ago."

  "And you never told us?" Jiwoo asks incredulously.

  "I dropped hints but you were both so caught up in your own little worlds, moping over the other, that you didn't notice," I say, holding my hands up in a defensive position.

  "What hints?" Jiwoo questions, to which Sooyoung nods her head.

  She chimes in with, "I don't recall any of these hints."

  I roll my eyes, letting out a sigh. I figured they were out of it at the time but I didn't know it had been that bad. "Last Saturday I told you that I was going to go out on a date and Jungeun said she told you the same thing. Since you were both aware of our situation, we figured you'd piece it together," I say, watching them as the gears in their heads attempt to turn. I crack a smile, "Apparently both of you combined share a grand total of two brain cells."

  "Hey!" Jiwoo exclaims, lunging at me. I'm slow to react and she grabs ahold of me, wrapping an arm around me tightly. She uses her free hand to smack the top of my head, laughing every time her palm makes contact with my skull while I try to pry her off. Sooyoung is absolutely no help as she only laughs and watches as her girlfriend abuses me.

  "Sooyoung," I grunt. "Get her off me."

  She smirks. "But I'm not quite finished watching the brawl."

  "This isn't going to be the only brawl if you don't get off your and get your girlfriend off of me," I say through clenched teeth, though I've stopped trying to fend Jiwoo off.

  She doesn't look intimidated in the slightest but she says, "Fine." She's barely placed her hand on Jiwoo's shoulder when the younger girl melts into her hold, leaning into her touch. It's cute but it'd be much cuter if it weren't for the fact that I can still feel the imprint of Jiwoo's tiny hand on my head.

  "Better?" Sooyoung asks in a mocking tone as she pulls Jiwoo against her.

  I pat the top of my head, fixing the hair that's begun to stand up. " you," I growl.

  "No thanks, I believe that's something that should be reserved between you and Jungeun," she counters, her smile growing even wider when I blush a deep red.

  "Don't," I warn because just the idea of that is making me hot all over. My body temperature rises several more degrees at how embarrassed I am at something that shouldn't be that embarrassing. If Jungeun were here, would she be blushing too? Would her ears be as red as my face? I sure hope so because it'd make me feel a little better if it affected her as much as it's affecting me. Jeez, I feel like an oven set to 375 degrees Fahrenheit whenever I'm kissing her so I'll probably be turning to ash when—

  "Fine, fine. I'm sorry," Sooyoung apologizes with a smile that doesn't match the sincerity in her tone. "Where'd you two go on that date?"

  I smile at the memory of that night. "She drove us out to a relatively secluded area and we had a nice picnic."

  "Cheesy," Sooyoung mutters. I glare at her but that's what I had (jokingly) said as well.

  ("You drove all the way out here just so we could have a picnic?" I asked, eyes wide as I examined the area we were currently in.

  "You don't like it?" Jungeun had asked, head whipping around to look at me.

  I shook my head. "No, no, I do," I told her and smiled when the uncertainty in her eyes vanished. 

  "You think it's cheesy, huh?" she asked with a fond smile.

  "Maybe," I answered and she let out an offended gasp. "But who's to say I don't like cheesy?")

  Jiwoo slaps her arm then turns to me with an excited smile, "And then what?"

  "We talked for a bit—well, for a while—and then we watched the stars together."

  "Did you actually or did you just make out?" Sooyoung asks.

  "We did," I insist yet the knowing smile on Sooyoung's face continues to dance it's way across her lips.

  We didn't.

  In the beginning, we actually did look at them, even pointing out constellations if we knew the names of them. Somewhere along the way I stopped looking at them and starting staring at Jungeun and God, she looked amazing. It felt like we were outside of that party, leaning against the wall, as the moonlight made all her features so much more prominent. 

  I wanted to tell her that I love her but the words died in my throat when she turned to look at me with a smile that made me forget everything but my name, her name, and where we were. And so I interrupted her rant about how stars have always been her favorite, to kiss her—it was a lousy substitute but I didn't want those three words to pressure her into anything else.

  The stars were long forgotten and soon enough, I was on top of her (had she been on top of me?) and my heart was pounding in my chest so hard that I'm surprised it hadn't left any bruises on her, considering the lack of space between us. We kissed for so long that I forgot how to breathe in oxygen properly and my lungs were filled with more Jungeun than there was air. When we pulled away, a familiar feeling bubbled up in my chest and I tried to suppress the words climbing up my throat, only to fail.

  ("Jungeun."

  "Hm?"

  "You know I care about you, right?"

  She smiled. "Yeah," she answered before looking at me, "Why do you ask?"

  I smiled back and simply shook my head. "Just wanted to make sure you knew."

  "Of course I know," she said, her voice soft. She leaned against me, whispering so quietly that I barely heard, "I care about you too, you know."

  "Really?" I must've sounded like an idiot but it still hadn't fully sunk in that she reciprocated my feelings.

  "Really," she nodded. "I care about you a lot so don't you ever doubt it."

  "I won't.")

  Her plan all along had been to end the night gazing at stars together, but I had found more of them in her eyes than I did in the sky.

*~*~*

  "Kevin," I say, pulling his attention away from his phone.

  "Hm?"

  "You keep looking around and you're a little jumpy, everything alright?"

  "Yeah," he says, though there's an underlying tone of hesitation in his voice. I almost open my mouth to question it but he drops his head, letting out a sigh, and says, "Jacob's coming. Or at least he says he is."

  I raise an eyebrow at him. "Why the emphasis?"

  He shrugs his shoulders lazily. "Jacob says a lot," he answers in a surprisingly bitter voice.

  I wonder what that means.

  "Oh, uh, okay," I reply, torn between changing the subject or very cautiously asking what he means by that comment.

  "Sorry if this is making you uncomfortable," he apologizes. He lets out a puff of air, "It's just that I'm fed up."

  "With Joonyoung?" I ask, scared to ask anything else.

  "Yeah," he nods. "He's just so confusing, you know? He says one thing and then does something that contradicts it. God, I'm not sure if he genuinely doesn't know what he wants or if he takes pleasure in watching me suffer."

  "Kevin..." I say, softly, leaning into him. I'm not in his shoes but I know what it's like to yearn for someone so much it hurts. I know exactly how it feels to want someone but not know if they want you back. It's torture and it's something I wish he wasn't experiencing.

  "He said he wanted to kiss me," he whispers. "I wasn't going to but he said he wanted to. I should've never listened to him, Jinsol. I feel like an idiot."

  "Don't say that. You're not an idiot, Kevin," I say, meeting his eyes so he knows that I mean it. 

  "I just want to be happy," his voice breaks when he says it and there's a tug at my heart.

  I'm wrapping my arms around him when I say, "You will be."

  "When?" he asks, hugging me back. "He makes me happy. It's not just that I have feelings for him, he's my best friend. I'm so scared of losing him. I can't lose him."

  "You won't."

  "Then why does it feel like I already have?"

  Desperately, I try to think of a response but I'm unable to form one. "I...I don't know."

  "You haven't lost me," a voice says from a few feet away. 

  I detach myself from Kevin and look in the direction the voice came from. Kevin's head had snapped up almost instantaneously and his eyes are already on the owner of the voice. I'm not very surprised when I see Joonyoung staring back at us, looking more tired than usual as he runs a hand through his messy hair.

  "Jacob?" Kevin asks, seemingly caught off guard.

  The other boy smiles at the mention of his name. "I'm right here."

  Kevin seems to be buffering, feet frozen in place, unable to say a word. I decide to help him out and say, "You've got some explaining to do."

  Joonyoung's eyes flit to the ground, a look of guilt settling into his boyish features. "I know," he answers. He glances between Kevin and I, "That's why I came here."

  "Do you know how worried I've been?" Kevin asks, finally having snapped back to reality. "You've been ignoring me since the party. I thought you hated me. Do you think I'll give you a second chance?"

  "I don't think I deserve a chance to explain myself, but you're the one who gets to decide that," Joonyoung responds. "Just know that I don't hate you. I've never hated you in my entire life."

  "You sure have a funny way of showing it."

  Joonyoung sighs. "I deserved that," he mutters. "If you give me a chance to explain myself, I can show you that I don't hate you."

  "Show me?" Kevin asks, the curiosity in his eyes glaringly obvious.

  "Yes," Joonyoung nods, "I'll show you."

  Kevin stares at him, silently deciding on whether or not he's going to give him a chance to talk. The pain in his eyes is hard to ignore but there's a fondness in them that I've seen enough to notice from a mile away. It's a look of unwavering love, reserved for Joonyoung. "Okay, you can explain," Kevin says, causing Joonyoung to smile. 

  His eyes drip with honey as he watches the older boy launch into his explanation.

*~*~*

  "Can we start over?" Joonyoung asks when he's finished explaining everything.

  Kevin must be preoccupied with what Joonyoung said beforehand because he says, "Huh?"

  "Can we start over?" he repeats. "I know I've been an who has cared too much about his own confusion to even think about what you might have been going through, but I want to try again. You can turn this down, but I want to be more than just 'best friends'. When people ask about you, I want to tell them that you're not only my best friend but also my boyfriend. I want to have dates where we do nothing but sit around and talk. I want to play the guitar with you. I want to listen to Sam Kim with you and listen to you rant about how much you love Beyonce even though I've already heard every reason a thousand times."

  "You don't care about what other people will say?" Kevin asks.

  "I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried about the types of things people might say but if I'm with you, it'll be okay," Joonyoung says. "They can say all they want and it still won't matter because when I'm with you, I feel like I'm breathing for the first time."

  "Wow, you're feeling exceptionally cheesy today, huh?" Kevin asks with a smile. "If I say yes, will you shut up?"

  "Depends," Joonyoung says. "Is it a yes?"

  Kevin's sunny disposition vanishes. "How do I know you won't hurt me?"

  "Can you trust me?" Joonyoung asks. When Kevin nods, he asks, "Do you trust me?"

  "With my life," is Kevin's answer.

  "So trust me with your heart," Joonyoung says.

  Whether or not he realizes it, Kevin has trusted him with his heart for a long time. Maybe that's what lead to everything that happened. Maybe that's why Kevin looks at me, seeking an answer because he's so worried about being hurt again. After some time, he finalizes his decision with a quiet, "Okay."

  "I won't hurt you again," Joonyoung murmurs, slowly embracing Kevin, "and I'll make up for every time I did."

A/N

  ahhh, i'm sorry about taking so long to update. i started writing this days ago but i didn't get very far as i had writer's block. it's not lipsoul focused but i felt like i finally had to clean up the messes i had made. i'd also like to mention that sooyoung doesn't confess to jiwoo until days after she's already admitted how she felt to jinsol, so there's a bit of gap between those two scenes even though it might not look like it. the part where kevin and jacob finally talk it out doesn't take place the same day as sooyoung and jiwoo's confession either. it sounds messy but i promise that it's not.

   i wanted this to be longer but i just couldn't write anything fitting enough to end this chapter. next chapter i hope to have more direct lipsoul moments and touch on the growth of the other girls' relationships. your comments are greatly appreciated so let me know what you think of this chapter :) please look forward to the next update!

  twitter: @allhailhyejoo