Beep beep

Beep beep

Beep beep

Beep bee-

Dahyun turned off the alarm that woke her up. She then checked out the time which showed that it was 4:00 in the morning. Tired from yesterday's event, she slept earlier than usual. By this time of the day, the majority of the community is still asleep, but due to next week being examination week, she decided to wake up and study. So, the pale girl bathed and brushed her teeth after slapping her face twice and stretching.

She wore her round-framed glasses and an oversized brown sweater. For her bottom, 

Coffee...

It's never been her cup of tea... or should I say 'cup of coffee'. Either way,  the bitter taste of caffeinated water is not something she appreciates... but it helps. Same as sugar; sugar and creamer... it helps out... a lot. Probably a sweeter tinge? Nah, a good amount of sweetness and bitterness. 2 teaspoons full of sugar, and 3 teaspoons full of creamer. 

*sips*

...

...

*exhales*

"I should have just made some hot chocolate"

 

( * )

 

*Bzzzzz*

Dahyun raised her head upon hearing the vibration of her phone by the table. It gets noisy after awhile so her first move was to check who was calling. Once she was cleared 

 

"Chaeng-casso"

 

"Hello?"

"Dubs!~"

"Yes, Chae?"

"Nice slide"

"Slide?"

"Yup!~"

"Umm... Chae, what slide?"

"You know?! The slide!"

"I'm drawing a blank here Chae..."

"Yeesh, deep words... But what do you mean by what slide?! The slide you did in your school softball silly"

"huh?"

"It's all over social media buddy"

... oh no

 

Dahyun checked her laptop and opened up her social media accounts. There it was a video with her as a thumbnail, and a caption of "Highschool girl cute sliding fail". It has over 47k views and a good amount of reacts. The sudden realization after seeing the caption alone made her hide her face in embarrassment.

 

"Oh no no no no no!"

"Relax dubs, it ain't that bad"

"Ain't that bad?! This is a form of bullying Chaeng! I'm being bullied again"

"No you're not"

"Yes, I am Chae! You know about my past experiences, I don't like... I don't like this feeling!"

"Pffft, you're being hysterical Dubs"

"Hysterical? I'm gonna be the laughing stock in school"

"Dubs"

"Laughing stock? Cross that! I will be the talk of the whole neighborhood"

"Dubs"

"I'm gonna have to change my identity"

"Uhh... Dubs"

"Oh God help me"

"Dubs."

"And right after when I was planning to crawl out of my shell a bit more"

"Dubs"

"I know... I will change both my name and my Identity!"

"Dubs!"

"What?!"

"I don't think you will be the laughing stock, I mean... you looked rather adorable in the video"

"..."

"Pretty sure it will be a cringe vid in MeTube, but a lot of people will just watch it and appreciate your efforts... or something, I dunno"

"..."

"Plus the fact that they put in 'cute girl' as the cover made it better"

"..."

"You're basically a meme now"

"...I don't get how that helps me at all Chae"

"You will go down in History as the cute girl who fell on her knees trying to slide"

"..."

"But never mind that... repeat what you just said for me pls"

"I will change both my name and my identity?"

"No! the one before that!"

"Oh God help me?"

"After that"

"I will change both my name and my-"

"DUBS!"

"And right when I was planning to crawl out of my shell a bit more?"

-Dead air silence-

"AHHHHHHHHHH! DETAILS! SPILL ME THE DETAILS!"

"..."

"You know what? Never mind that. Where are you and what are you doing right now?"

"Home, studying"

"Any plans for the day?"

"Home, study... Shouldn't you be studying too? I mean, next week is ex-"

"I know it is, but I got bigger fish to fry. Now, come again with your plans"

"Home, study"

"Awesome! see you around Dubs! Love you and Good bye~"

 

( * )

 

"So, tell me again why you guys are here and what you are planning", Dahyun asked, pushing up her frames that slid down the bridge of her nose slightly, while holding the door open for her 'guests'. It was Jihyo, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu that was on the other side of the house's entrance and was wearing casual clothing.

Jihyo was wearing a light gray cardigan over a long white shirt; it's front hem tucked in over faded blue short shorts, and white sneakers.

Chaeyoung was wearing a white newsboy cap with a small hollow heart stitching on the upper right corner of its front, a white jacket over an oversized mint green shirt with a hallow red heart where the pocket is located; tucked in fully over white shorts that were folded twice, black sandals, and a silver bracelet to compliment the outfit.

Tzuyu was wearing a white blouse; tucked in a denim skirt that was being held in place by a brown belt, and a pair of triple black sneakers.

Usually, it didn't bother the girl when they come over almost unannounced, but since it was exams week and Jihyo was with the two, the visit turned a bit suspicious in Dahyun's eyes.

"Well, we heard the news from Chaeyoung and we were curious is all", Jihyo said in a friendly manner.

"Curious? of what?", Dahyun replied

"Your sliding fail", Tzuyu blatantly stated

Dahyun deadpanned at this and closed the door saying, "Goodbye", but was stopped when Tzuyu held the door and said, "Joking, we're here to celebrate your 'moving on process'".

"My what?", the pale girl asked while maintaining eye contact.

"The day when you finally decided to open up a bit", Chaeyoung happily stated, holding both of the girl's hands while looking straight to her eyes.

"Just a bit...", Dahyun replied.

"A bit more than what we could wish for~", Chaeyoung added.

"So you're telling me... that instead of studying for exams, you would rather crash my place to celebrate", Dahyun huffed out a tired breath.

"Yes!" all three cheered at the same time, making Dahyun let go of Chaeyoung's left hand and scratch the back of her head.

"We also brought our textbooks, so we will also be studying" Tzuyu stated.

"I see" Dahyun replied.

"Yes, and it's not every day that you get to see me. Or at least, not in the office" Jihyo happily added.

Dahyun looked at the eyes of the older girl before looking down, "Yeah... but..."

"Oh come on Dahyun, don't you want to spend some time with your Jihyo unnie?" Jihyo said while giving the girl a big warm hug.

Hug... A hug that stirred something deep inside of her soul. A warmth she has missed for quite some time now. Now that she looked back and gave herself time to think, the three girls were the closest thing to family she got. Most especially since the only time she sees her real family is when they drop by. Her brother is with their aunt overseas for his scholarship, while her dad is almost never home. She grew up with the warmth of Jihyo being there in her hardest of times. The person who gave her good advice and the person who is her closest mother figure now that her mom left the land of the living. Chaeyoung is her best friend, no matter how noisy she is or how bad her jokes seem to be, she was always there making the heavy situation light--and when needed she will definitely be there. Tzuyu, on the other hand is a good listener, her presence is calming and she has a way to spread smiles just by being there.

"Unbelievable you three..."

"HAHAHA! Come, let's order pizza"

 

( * )

 

The four girls were hanging out on Dahyun's living room, and like what Tzuyu said, the three came in to review. The pizza was long gone by now and everyone was reading their textbooks. There will be moments where one will ask the other on how the certain solution works, and there are times where the other recites what they know about the subject. Tzuyu was reading by the bed, a spot she has claimed while they were still eating. Chaeyoung was planted on Dahyun's bed, lying down on her belly. While reading, she was balancing a pencil above her lip. Dahyun, on the other hand, was sitting beside Jihyo next to the door.

It has been quite some time since they have started, and Chaeyoung felt the need to break their session. So she did, saying, "So, Dubs... what kind of change are you looking for?", after taking off the pencil.

"Errr, I'm not sure...", Dahyun replied.

"I see," Chaeyoung said in a low voice.

The room was silent for some time until Dahyun decided to speak up, saying, "Hey Chae, how was I... back then...".

Chaeyoung looked at Dahyun before looking back up. She then took the pencil and spun it on her fingers. "Well, you were the type to turn situations around, one who finds a way to lighten the mood up by doing random things".

Dahyun raised a hopeful brow. She cleared and said, "I was?".

"Yeah, in fact, that's how I became close to you unnie, you would always cheer me up when I needed it" Tzuyu added, never forgetting to maintain eye contact for sincerity.

Chaeyoung nodded her head in agreement. She then used her pencil to point excitedly at Dahyun and said, "You also love to look at the positives of everything".

Dahyun looked at the pair and tried her best to absorb everything, but she couldn't get it in her head that she was 'like that'. She then sighed, and said, "That doesn't sound like me at all".

The room fell silent once more, they were all waiting for Dahyun to add something or anyone at that matter, but only silence followed. When the silence was getting too long for their liking, Jihyo raised her hand and pet Dahyun's head. She then gave her a sincere smile, and said, "Maybe not now, but that's who you were. And I am sure that that's who you will become as well. Maybe even better"

Dahyun looked at Jihyo then back down to the floor, before saying, "Or worse".

"Worse? what can be worser than you?", Chaeyoung replied.

"There's no such thing as worser, Chae, it's not a word", Tzuyu added

"You know what I mean!", Chaeyoung retaliated

As the bantering continued, Dahyun's face became downcast while looking at the empty space by the corner of the room. Jihyo noticed this, and held on the pale girl's hands, all the while rubbing it with her thumb, and said, "You won't", in a reassuring tone.

After a short pause, she looked up as to think, then down to the girl's eyes. "How can you say?" she asked.

"Cause we will beat you up when you do" Jihyo replied instantly while pumping a fist up. 

"Well said Jihyo Unnie", Chaeyoung said while pointing a thumb up. While Tzuyu nodded, and said, "Couldn't agree more".

Dahyun smiled, and said, "Or I could get you out of my house before that happens".

The room fell silent for a while. The three girls looked at each other before giggling at each other, which soon turned to laughter. This continued for a while, with a good exchange of jokes and childish banters. In the midst of laughter, Dahyun asked, "Why do you guys trust me this much?". In which they replied instantly, "Cause we love you!~".

That comment made Dahyun smile. The girls that were in front of her weren't just friends or acquaintances, they were family. A family that grew from their trust and camaraderie. "Alright, so where do I start?" Dahyun happily stated. The three girls then looked at each other and gave an approving nod, and said, "We thought you would never ask".

 

( * )

 

Exam week has finished and the following Monday has arrived. Like all 'start of the week after the exam week',  the school's bulletin is filled with names of students who topped their exams. Students were praising their friends and classmates who made it in honors, some were a bit sad about their grades, and some left after a fast check. Only the top 10 students names were posted, while the others are graded by the student numbers on their I.D.

Dahyun checked the list and among the names that are present, she only recognized a few--including Park Jihyo, Mina Myou, and Chou Tzuyu--literally the only people she actually knew. After seeing her name be part of the top 10 of her class, she nodded to herself and smiled, thinking, "Hard work pays off", and, "I should reward myself later". She then went on her way heading to her classroom, when she bumped into someone making the girl fall on her .  The pale girl then apologized to the recipient of the little accident and helped her up. The girl was way smaller than Chaeyoung, about 148 cm and had a nice cute high pitched voice.

The small girl then shook the dust off her skirt and nodded, saying, "It's fine, it's...". She stopped as she looked up to see the person responsible for hitting her and screamed internally. "You... you're Kim Dahyun right?!", she stated, looking starstruck.

Dahyun looked at the girl as her eyes sparkled. It took her a good few seconds to reply, saying, "Uhmm... yes, why?"

"Ohhh! I'm Yabuki Nako, a big fan!" She stated happily, coupled with a few bows of respect.

Dahyun watched as the girl took her time introducing herself, and after a while decided to stop the girl from bowing, saying,  "I see, well...". She stopped herself mid-sentence, remembering what Chaeyoung told her a week before.

"Well, first of all, you were a  happy-go-lucky kid. Try adding puns or be a bit more energetic. Wittiness is something you were always good at as well. But really, just be a bit more positive and happy~"

"Witty huh?" Dahyun thought to herself, before nodding and saying, "Nako... Nako Nako Niii~", with matching hand gesture. She soon regretted her decision to do so, since a good amount of the student body was looking at her. Then came laughter. She then squatted down and covered her face with the ends of her hair. Regret, she was filled with regret.

The petite girl in front of her then stopped laughing then helped the pale girl up. With a beaming smile, she said, "That's funny, I actually like Love Live~". This gave Dahyun a little bit of courage. They ended their meeting with a handshake.

"So... this is the start," Dahyun thought to herself as she continued her days in school.

 

[tbc]

 

A/N: Holy shiz, did you guys wait too long? monthly updates and all :P Anyways, I've been uhmmm... Places hahahaha!~ But, I will be doing my best to try and update (or not). I do love writing this during my free time and whenever I get a hold of a laptop/pc. Plot writing was fun. And as sad to say, this story is about to end soon. It will be a fun ending though :P 4-5 chapters I think?

Yeah, soon. Short update this month, could do it longer, but I might just do an extension or something? Then merge it hahaha!~ Let's see~

Anyways, like always, thanks for picking up this story, and I hope you all have a blessed day~