Lee Kaeun. 22. Constantly Realising New Things About Her Preference In Women.

Miyawaki Sakura. 19. Part-Time Waitress. Full-Time Airhead.

Heo Yunjin, Jennifer. 18. Able To Catch A Cold Before She Catches A Break.

______________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm anxious without you. It hasn't been long since we last met, but I can't stop thinking of you."

"YOU WENT BOWLING?!”

Kaeun watched on with her hands folded neatly on the table and with the calmest demeanor possible as her beloved dongsaeng caused a ruckus across from her.

She knew Yunjin was going to freak out. It was part of the reason why she was so eager to tell Yunjin all about the date she had with Sakura in the first place, because seeing the younger girl freak out and losing her collective in front of her was hilarious. Of course Kaeun was only hysterically laughing on the inside. On the surface she was as calm and collected as she was known to be.

“Yeah.” Kaeun shrugged, giving a simple reply which seemed to only agitate her dongsaeng further, much to her increasing amusement.

“But you at bowling!” 

“I do.” Kaeun agreed easily, before a soft smile began tugging at the corners of her lips. “But so does she.”

Oh Sakura alright. She was horrible. Absolutely atrocious. Adorably atrocious. The way she would whine when the ball rolled into the gutter....or the way she would pump her fist in delight when she manages to even knock down a single pin as if she had just won the entire game....

“YOU—!” Yunjin gasped, bringing Kaeun out of her reverie. She turned to the giraffe just to see the other girl pointing an accusatory finger at her, as if placing fault on Kaeun for a sin she may or may not have committed.

“—You had one of those ‘we--at-this-but-it’s-okay-cause-we--together’ moments didn’t you?!” 

Kaeun blinked. Ok, if that was a sin she definitely did commit that one. “Is that what it was?” The older girl took a sip of her strawberry milkshake as the accusatory finger pointed in her direction began shaking disapprovingly.

“Unnie! I CALLED DIBS!” Yunjin whined, sinking into her chair and deflating by the second. 

“Would you like me to back off?”

Yunjin’s eyes snapped up to meet Kaeun’s and the younger saw no humour in them, or any evidence that suggested that the offer being presented to her was being said in jest. Kaeun loved Yunjin above everything else. She knew that if she asked, the older girl would easily throw her own happiness aside for her, abandoning her pursuit of the gorgeous Japanese waitress. 

“No...No it’s nice seeing you this happy.” Yunjin replied. She loves Kaeun too, and it’s been a long while since she’s seen her unnie wear that smile on her face. If the lights in this restaurant they were in weren’t playing tricks on her eyes, she would swear that Kaeun was blushing at the moment.

“Look at that dumb smile on your face unnie. Urgh. I’m not used to that.” 

Kaeun laughs brightly at Yunjin’s jab, and the sheer mirth and joy radiating from the older girl was infectious. Yunjin found herself laughing along, secretly praising Sakura for being able to turn her stoic unnie into this ball of bright energy.

It was like meeting Sakura had turned Kaeun into a miniature sun, standing as the brightest thing in the room while radiating positive energy at the same time.

“I’m in the mood for some Japanese tonight.” Kaeun had a faraway look in her eyes as she said that. Yunjin grimaced.

“Ew.”

“FOOD, Yunjin. I’m talking about FOOD.”

“Sure you are unnie. Food.” 

A ball of used tissues hit Yunjin square on the nose, who yelled in disgust before throwing it back and completely missing her intended target. Kaeun spent the rest of the evening laughing at Yunjin, who had to endure a 10 minute lecture from a random old lady in the restaurant about how wrong it was to litter.

*************

Kaeun sometimes feels like she spends too much of her time waiting on other people. Granted that they’re usually people worth waiting for, and maybe she should probably try to stop arriving 30 minutes early to every single one of her appointments (she couldn’t help it. She was responsible that way) but she’s been standing at the same street corner for the past 25 minutes and her feet were killing her.

Plus she was bored.

Plus it’s like, 30 minutes past the agreed-upon meeting time so Sakura better have a good explanation for being this tardy.

Seriously, Kaeun bought a car just for moments like this. She offered to pick the waitress up so that they could skip the hassle of transportation and spend more time walking around Garosugil instead, but Sakura had refused, giving a silly excuse about “needing to use the Metro” or something of the sort. The ditzy cherry blossom must have forgotten that it was a weekend, so public transportation was essentially hell today.

Another sigh left her. Did she get stood up? Did Sakura just stand her up? Was she not enough for the gorgeous waitress? Was it the car? It was the car wasn’t it? Yunjin did tell her that she wasn’t going to be able to pick up girls in that shabby Kia of hers when she was about to buy it but Kaeun of course didn’t listen. Maybe she should hav—

“I’m sorry I’m late!”

Kaeun’s head snaps up and suddenly all agitation she had in her just seemed to melt away. Sakura has a way of doing that somehow. Of course the flowy dress the waitress had on that was blowing in the wind as she ran up to Kaeun definitely helped in the agitation-melting. Sakura’s shoulder-length red hair bounced with each hurried step and wow. Just wow. 

This was a living, breathing dream. Sakura was beautiful.

And she was still breathing out her apologies as she neared Kaeun, intermittently chanting “I’m sorry” as she gasped for air. She must have been running for awhile, judging by the way she was clutching her sides.

“It’s okay.” Kaeun assures simply, because how could she stay mad at this girl? Her voice came out hoarse because felt weirdly dry. Sakura must have brought the sun along with her when she came because it’s suddenly gotten difficult to breathe or talk and heat was rising to Kaeun’s face just from seeing Sakura smile.

“Did you wait long?” Sakura asks, worry etched on her features.

“About an hour.” Kaeun tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal because although she wasn’t the one in the wrong, she actually felt guilty for making Sakura worry. It didn’t work though, because the shorter girl’s eyes bugged out upon hearing just how long she’s kept Kaeun waiting.

“Seriously?! Oh...Oh that’s not right....I’m so sorry...”

Now Sakura looked crestfallen. Mad at herself, probably. They haven’t known each other for very long but they’ve spent enough time texting each other for Kaeun to know just how harsh Sakura can be on herself. She was her own biggest critic, and Kaeun hated to see the smile fall from the younger girl’s face.

“Make it up to me.”

Sakura looked up at Kaeun, head tilting adorably in confusion. “How?”

Kaeun didn’t think that far. Honestly she wasn’t thinking much at all. She just dug her hand into her bag of tricks and managed to pull out a random solution that can preoccupy Sakura’s brain with something other than self-depreciation. 

She shrugs, smiling slightly because Sakura didn’t look that guilty anymore.

“I don’t know. We’ll think of something.”

Kaeun offers her hand, and Sakura takes it with no hesitation. She could almost smell the gears in the younger Japanese girl’s head turning as she tries to come up with ways to make up for being late, not realising that she’s already done so just by holding Kaeun’s hand and walking down the crowded streets of Garosugil with her.

**********************

The day was....eventful, to say the least.

If one were being honest, he/she might also replace “eventful” with “a huge ing mess”.

It all started with Sakura dancing along to a street performer’s acoustic show in a questionable attempt to seek forgiveness from Kaeun. It probably wasn’t the right choice to attempt breakdancing (or more like Sakura’s version of breakdancing) to Oasis’ Wonderwall but Kaeun wasn’t going to critique Sakura’s artistic preferences. Oh definitely not. Art was an expression of self. Kaeun shall just resign herself to critiquing the botched headspin Sakura had attempted to do which resulted in the dumb girl nearly killing herself.

And Sakura had the absolute gall to simply brush off the lump on her head with a “well I guess that didn’t work out” and a bright smile. The fool.

The trainwreck of a date was then followed up with the restaurant that Kaeun had planned on taking Sakura to being closed down for renovation. And then it started raining. And then Kaeun had slipped in the rain and landed on her bum on the rocky pavement. And then—

....Kaeun had figured things would calm down somewhat the moment they were both seated down in a comfortable dog cafe, free of rain and free in wifi. Sakura was adorable as she played with a black corgi that was cuddling up to her and the coffee was good, so this was the epitome of “having a good time”.

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

The black corgi had it in for Kaeun. It would snarl and claw at her the moment she tries to reach across the table to hold Sakura’s hand. It would’ve been fascinating how quickly the corgi had grown attached to Sakura but Kaeun was too busy being annoyed to be amused. 

Jurina, as Kaeun later discovers to be the corgi’s name, has a tendency to grow attached to attractive girls. Which really should make Kaeun feel a teensy bit offended with how flippant it was being to her but no this was ruining her date and ARGH SHE JUST BIT HER! THIS STUPID LESBIAN DOG JUST BIT HER! WHY SHE OUGHT TO JUST—

****************

“How was it?”

“Hmm?” Kaeun makes a sound of acknowledgement, walking a few steps behind Sakura as the latter skipped on ahead of her. Flowy dress doing it’s job by billowing and flowing in the evening breeze making Sakura look extremely ethereal.

“Our first date. How was it?”

Kaeun tilted her head in confusion. “Wasn’t the bowling we did the other night our first date?”

“No, because we never said it was! We established beforehand that this was a date, so this is our first official date.”

Kaeun paused to contemplate that logic. It was true. They had never agreed that their first outing together was a date, but Kaeun just assumed it was because honestly speaking that night was pretty date-like. It’s actually weird to think that today was their first date, based on how long they’ve been texting each other and how fond Kaeun already was of Sakura. 

But if Sakura claims that this is the first, Kaeun wouldn’t be the one to argue about that. As far as first dates go though...she can’t say she’s never had any better. Sakura was still nursing a lump on her head and Kaeun looked down at the bandage wrapping her right hand, still tingling and stinging from when Jurina the Demonic Corgi had sunk her lesbian dog-teeth into it earlier.

It’s been a mess so far.

“It was alright.” Kaeun replies, lying through her teeth. It was nobody’s fault that the date was less than ideal.

Okay maybe Sakura should’ve have attempted that headspin but other than that....

“...just alright?” 

Sakura sounded disappointed, and it broke Kaeun’s heart. Maybe she should’ve said that it was fantastic instead. This hopeful girl lived in a hopeful world that Kaeun wasn’t used to being a part of.

“Well, I had to share you with a dog during lunch. And I got bitten. For no reason. My hand still hurts.” As if for emphasis Kaeun waves her bandaged hand in front of her, and is surprised when Sakura reaches out and clasps it in her own. It was warm, and it was weird how something as mundane as “holding hands” could get her heart racing like this.

“...Is this better?”

“...Not a medical professional, but this doesn’t seem right.” Kaeun tries to come off as standoffish, not wanting to admit the effect Sakura has on her.

Kaeun feels her injured hand being tugged gently by Sakura’s and her eyes followed the younger girl curiously. With a small smile, Sakura lightly pressed her lips against the bandages before looking up at Kaeun for reassurance.

“...Now?”

Those brilliantly bright doe eyes. She knew what she was doing to Kaeun. Guise of innocence be damned. She knew she was being adorably cute, and she knew just how to make Kaeun blush like a schoolgirl.

“B-better. Much better.”

Sakura never commented on Kaeun’s stutter. As a matter of fact, Kaeun has done a number of embarrassing things in front of the younger Japanese girl that the latter didn’t comment on. Sakura was polite in that sense. 

Either that or completely oblivious to Kaeun’s faults. 

Kaeun chooses to believe it’s the former, although she somehow suspects it’s the latter.

They walked, hand in hand towards Kaeun’s car (because there was no way she was going to allow Sakura to take the train. Not when she could drive. Especially, not when they could be spending more time together in the car on the way to Sakura’s place). It was peaceful. Quiet and serene, although they were walking through a busy street. They were in their own little bubble, and Kaeun found herself stealing glances at their interlinked hands because it was quiet unbelievable.

It was unbelievable just how happy Sakura makes her.

And Kaeun notices Sakura’s shy smile playing on her face as well, and she allows her curiosity to take control.

“What? Why’re you smiling like that?” Kaeun laughed, nudging the younger girl’s shoulder and hearing her giggle in response.

“It’s...I’m just so happy right now.”

The warmest feeling begin to blossom in Kaeun’s chest, realising that what ever it was she was feeling, it was mutually shared between the both of them.

“Mmm.” Kaeun squeezes Sakura’s hand tighter, as if afraid that Sakura would slip away if she didn’t do so. She looks down and stares into the younger girl’s eyes, meeting Sakura’s smile with one of her own. Equally as bright.

“Me too.”

**************

Another day of class done with, and Yunjin was just about ready to collapse. They call her a genius. She got accepted into this prestigious international private school filled to the brim with the richest, most spoilt brats money could nurture just based on her academic accomplishments alone. 

Heo Yunjin was intelligent. Always ahead of the class, but lately her head has been drowning in an overload of work. Her mountain of school assignments were becoming more and more imposing, and coupled with Kaeun being too busy with her new Japanese playmate Yunjin was in serious need of relaxation.

And the only way she knew how to do so by her lonesome was to draw up a nice bath, maybe throw in a few bath bombs or grenades or whatever else she could steal from her mother’s bathroom stash and soak herself for maybe a few years—

“Yunjin-ah. Could you please help me water the plants before you leave?”

No.

No no no no no.

Bath time is waiting. What—the classroom has plants?! Since when did they have—It wasn’t even her turn to do the classroom cleanup! Why should she say yes?!

“Sure Mrs. Bae. No problem.”

Why did she say yes??

Sighing at/to herself, Yunjin walks up to the corner of the classroom where all the sciencey stuff takes place and lo-and-behold, there were flowers carefully and lovingly arranged in tiny pots. How long has this been a thing, Yunjin wonders? She didn’t know they had flowers. Judging on the condition of the flowers though...it was quite apparent that nobody else seemed to know they had flowers either.

“...They’re already dead.”

Mrs. Bae laughs brightly, as if in challenge. “That may be so, but a teacher never gives up on her students!”

“....This is a Hydrangea. Not a student.”

“I see somebody knows her flowers!” Mrs. Bae’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

“Please ma’am. I don’t need another nerdy characteristic attached to my name.” Yunjin sighed, before grabbing the tiny water bottle placed by the Hydrangeas and headed towards the restrooms to fill it up.

She was already an outcast in this school. The last thing Yunjin needed was for the entire student body to find out she watched too many episodes of Wild Nature on National Geographic. That wouldn’t help her reputation one bit. Do you know who knew a lot about plants? Neville Longbottom. Was Neville Longbottom popular? Nope! Neville was the loser who had to eat lunch in the greenhouses.

And why the heck does Mrs. Bae Yoonjeong, fierce and feared Korean History teacher have such a green thumb anyways? Is that why the teacher couldn’t connect with the rest of the student body? Was it because she spent too much time connecting with plants? Was her husband a plant?

Yunjin chortled at her own sense of humour. Anything to keep herself entertained. Now that Kaeun was too busy, she needed a new friend anyways. Might as well be herself. 

She finished watering the flowers in record time, waved goodbye to her teacher and skipped out of class and all the way out the building. Her bathtub was waiting for her. Finally. At long last! Yunjin puffed out her chest in pride for having successfully gotten through another day of school and nothing is going to—

—is that...screaming, she hears?

Frozen in place, Yunjin looks around and hears the scream again. It seems to be coming from around the corner, not too far from her. She was about to begin investigating when she suddenly remembered the rumour Yiren told her about the school being haunted and noooo Yunjin ain’t messin’ wit no supernatural—

....the screaming sounded...sad though. And the raucous laughter following closely behind it sounded oddly familiar somehow.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Yunjin slowly walks towards the cause of the sound and peeks around the corner, eyes widening at what she saw.

It appears her favourite bullies had found a new target. Yunjin was sure that the helpless girl being pushed around by the three girls surrounding her was a substitute for Yunjin herself. The bullies must have been waiting for her but Mrs. Bae’s horticulture errand had bought her some time, causing the bullies to direct their ire on a new target.

This was good. She wasn’t the target anymore. She should just walk away from this. It wasn’t her problem.

Maybe Nako and her cronies would find more pleasure in bullying this new girl instead, and choose to make it a permanent thing. Maybe Yunjin was now off the hook. 

God...that new girl does look frightened doesn’t she? Yunjin bets she doesn’t even know what was going on. Three girls suddenly jumping her...this wasn’t her problem. This wasn’t Yunjin’s problem. This WASN’T Yunjin’s problem.

“HEY!” Yunjin yells out, getting the attention of all four girls in front of her.

Welp. It’s wasn’t her problem before, but it sure as hell is now.

“Oh it’s the giraffe. What do you want? Got lost on the way to the zoo?!” The shortest of the three bullies, Yabuki Nako, jeers from a distance. 

Her taller lackeys, known as Ahn Yujin and Jang Wonyoung guffaw after their leader. It was quite a sight. Imposing and frightening but Yunjin looks at the girl on the ground behind the three girls, eyes wide and watery as they stare back at her. 

It was odd being in this position. No wonder Kaeun always rushes to save her.

“She looks scared. Leave her alone.” Yunjin commands, trying to emulate every comic book superhero she’s ever read.

“That’s the point! She’s supposed to be scared! We’re bullying her! You expect her to be laughing?!” 

“Are you going to do something about it giraffe-face?!”

“I just might!” Yunjin yells back, and the three girls begin walking towards her. Oh. Oh dear. She didn’t think this one through did she? Where was Kaeun when she needed her? Nako was only a few feet away from her and closing in fast. How can someone THAT SHORT be THAT INTIMIDATING?!

“Yeah?” Nako jeers, shoving Yunjin in the shoulder so that the girl lost her balance. “Well don’t keep us waiting then! If you were gonna do something you would’ve done so all those other times we pushed you around! Is that all talk then, you stupid beanpole? Is that why you’re so dumb? Does it take awhile for oxygen to travel to your brai—ACKK!”

Yunjin blinks. What had just happened...? She was just starting to feel overwhelmed by how close Nako was so she tried to push the girl away but Nako was so short she had accidentally misjudged the distance between them so....

Did she just PUNCH Yabuki Nako?!

“Nako! Nako are you okay?!” Wonyoung shrieked, checking her leader’s face as Nako seethed. All 5 feet of her shaking in fury.

“My nose—I can’t feel my nose—lemme go! I’ll teach her to nARGHK!!” 

Yunjin cuts Nako off with another punch to the latter’s already injured nose, this time on purpose. Nako lands on the ground in a heap, eyes rolled back and unconscious. It...i-it really wasn’t that hard of a punch. A cockroach would probably have been able to shrug it off. Was Nako, the girl that had been giving Yunjin HELL for the past few years really that weak...?

“You—we’ll come back for you! Mark my words! Nako! Nako stay with me!” Yujin cries as she and Wonyoung carries their unconscious leader away, running as fast as they could into the sunset.

Yunjin winced when she realised just how sore her right knuckle felt. Either she had punched Nako harder than she thought she did, Nako’s face was really that hard, or she was a lot more fragile than she’d like to admit. A small part of her knew it was the last one though.

Out of the corner of her eye Yunjin spots the bullied girl getting back up to her feet, dusting her clothes of the dirt that was now finely coating it.

“Hey. You okay?” Yunjin calls out, walking towards the girl to get a closer look. Just to make sure she wasn’t injured or anything.

“That wasn’t very nice of you. You shouldn’t have hit them.” 

Yunjin was taken aback by the response. “What? Were they your friends or something? Sure didn’t look like it.” Yunjin even scratched her head to sell her look of utter confusion. She was the bad one now??

“No...they were picking on me. I wouldn’t be friends with people like that.” The girl replied, further adding onto Yunjin’s confusion.

“So I saved you, yea? They’re not picking on you anymore.”

“Yes, but by resorting to violence you’re just as bad as them.”

The stranger busied herself with fixing her unkempt clothes while Yunjin battled an inner dilemma caused by the stranger’s words. She...she had a point. The three bullies always pushed her around but they never actually got physically violent with her. There was a moral high ground here somewhere, but as she notices the scrapes and bruises on the stranger’s knees and palms from having fallen onto the ground earlier (no doubt caused by the bullies), Yunjin found it difficult to feel guilty for her actions.

“...they had it coming to them. I’ve been taking it for so long, I guess I just lost my cool when I saw them picking on somebody else. It doesn’t look nice from this perspective. No wonder unnie is always so pissed at me...”

The stranger eyes her curiously. Yunjin could tell she was being judged, so she just stood there and took it. 

“Thank you. For saving me.” 

Yunjin takes a second to digest the words of gratitude, and when she finally does she couldn’t help the bright grin spreading across her face.

“It was a pleasure—“ Yunjin pauses to read the silver nametag pinned to the other girl’s uniform. “—Miss Takeuchi Miyu.”

It was the other girl’s turn to smile, and it wasn’t one out of politeness. It was demure and sincere. She had the kind of smile that completely brightens her features, and Yunjin found herself smiling even wider at the girl. It was infectious. 

“Just Miyu is fine.” Miyu offers, and Yunjin had a feeling that this wouldn’t be their last conversation with each other.

**********************

Pigeon feeding.

Lee Kaeun, a 22 year old Fashion Design student at Ewha University (who by right shouldn’t have the time to do anything but study and sleep), was feeding pigeons in a park with an all-too-jolly pink-haired Japanese girl who she may or may not have secret plans to marry within the next 5 years.

Plans are tentative.

Said Japanese girl just made the cutest whining sound when a pigeon pecked her on her garishly pink head, and Kaeun gripped the arm of the bench she was sitting on harder because holy wasn’t that the most adorable sound she’s ever heard?! Trick question! It WAS.

She couldn’t believe she was dating someone with pink hair. Granted as a fashion student she sees a vast assortment of people with eclectic tastes in fashion, but she never thought she would date someone like that. To Sakura’s credit, her newly-dyed tresses weren’t even that bright a shade of pink. It was dark pink. Twilight Pink, as Sakura tells her. Still, pink is pink.

Only Miyawaki Sakura could make her fall in love with anything pink.

“Sakura-chan.”

“Yes, Kaeunnie?” Sakura looks up, a pigeon perched on her head. It was a hilarious sight.

“C’mere. I want to hold you.” Kaeun pats the space next to her on the bench and Sakura bolts up at the command, making a beeline straight for Kaeun. The cherry blossom skips onto the seat, and immediately rests her head on Kaeun’s shoulders while allowing the older girl to wrap a possessive arm around her waist.

Kaeun-chan. Kaeunnie. The honorifics were interchangeable, and Sakura does so often. Probably still not used to speaking Korean, although she’s lived in Seoul for the past 4 years. Kaeun made it easy for her when she revealed to Sakura that she could actually speak fluent Japanese, much to the latter’s delight. They converse in multiple languages, sometimes unintentionally, most times when the situation calls for it.

They make it work. 

“Now what?” Sakura asks, amusement evident in her voice. She cuddled closer to Kaeun, fitting herself perfectly against the taller girl’s side.

“Now we stay like this, until one of us gets hungry.” Kaeun jokes, but knowing full well that that was probably what they would end up doing.

Why does Sakura smell so good anyways? It drove Kaeun mad. She smelled just as good as the flower of her namesake. The taller girl tilted her head down to plant a kiss against the crown of Sakura’s head, and she could feel the girl in her arms melt into the embrace.

“Kaeun-chan...”

“Mmm?” Kaeun responds lazily. Eyes already half-lidded, she could probably fall asleep right here on this uncomfortable wooden bench in the middle of this park, all the while unable to discern Sakura’s scent from the flowers surrounding them.

“If...I saved your name in my phone as ‘My Girlfriend’...would you mind it?”

Kaeun’s eyes snapped open. 

She takes a moment, before she smiles in understanding. It was Sakura’s way of asking for confirmation as to the nature of their relationship. Of course, leave it to Sakura to ask it in such a roundabout way but Kaeun wouldn’t have expected anything conventional from the cherry blossom. Several weeks of dating were plenty long enough for Kaeun to get used to the younger girl’s little approaches to life.

They’ve also been dating long enough for Kaeun to have her answer ready on the tip of her tongue.

“Of course I won’t mind. I should change your name in mine too, then?”

Sakura’s head whips upwards so that she was looking up at Kaeun and Kaeun smiles at the disbelief in her now girlfriend’s eyes. Really now. What was with the surprise? Was she really expecting Kaeun to say no? Was there even a possibility of Kaeun rejecting her? Never in a million years. Never in a BILLION yea—

“OW!” Kaeun yells out in pain when Sakura suddenly slams the top of her pretty pink head against her nose. She sees stars in the corners of her vision and she was preeeetty sure Sakura had just come dangerously close to knocking her out, moments after asking Kaeun to be her girlfriend.

“SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! I DIDN’T MEAN TO—“

“What WERE you trying to do?! You just headbutted me out of nowhere!” Kaeun yells, still clutching her nose. It wasn’t bleeding at least. She might need a new nose though after today. Sakura might have just knocked her current one several millimeters off it’s original position on her face.

Sakura looked sheepish, ducking her head down and mumbling something that Kaeun couldn’t quite catch.

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch that.”

“....was trying to kiss you.”

Kaeun blinked. That...wasn’t the answer she was expecting. Actually she wasn’t sure what answer she was expecting because there probably weren’t ANY good explanations to suddenly headbutting your girlfriend but that answer was definitely not on the list of possibilities.

“Well you missed.” Kaeun answered flatly, and Sakura whined.

“I’m not good at it okay!”

Adorable. 

Good gosh Miyawaki Sakura was adorable.

Kaeun placed a finger under Sakura’s chin, coaxing the cherry blossom to look at her and meet her eyes.

“I guess...I could show you some pointers.”

That might have been the cheesiest thing Kaeun has ever said but regardless Sakura nodded excitedly in agreement. Not needing anymore of an invite, Kaeun leaned down and pressed her lips against Sakura’s.

This wasn’t Kaeun’s first kiss. Not by a long shot, but it was her first kiss with Sakura. Everything she’s learned and experienced before seemed to go down the drain because Sakura....Sakura was something else. Her lips were...impossibly soft. Kaeun’s eyes fluttered closed because it was just so overwhelming. The scent of Sakura’s perfume...or was that her shampoo? That flowery fragrance was intoxicating. So was the taste of Sakura’s lips. She needed more. 

She placed a hand behind Sakura’s head, gently bringing the latter closer so that she could deepen the kiss and Sakura didn’t need much coaxing. The cherry blossom willingly surrendered herself to Kaeun’s ministrations, falling perfectly in step as their tongues danced with the older girl in the lead. Kaeun wasn’t sure if those sounds of appreciation were coming from Sakura or herself, nor did she care because she was starting to get too lightheaded to think.

Blame it on human limitations, they had to separate eventually due to lack of oxygen. Sakura literally took her breath away, and vice versa. They stared at each other, panting, before they both started laughing in unison.

“Wow.” Sakura exclaimed breathlessly, letting her body go limp as she leaned against Kaeun’s. She took the words right out of .

“...You lied about not being good at it.”

“I’m really not! But...I guess when the person is right...it’s just instinct?”

Kaeun chuckled. “Tell me more about this kissing instinct of yours?” 

She placed a finger against Sakura’s chin again, and the latter weakly shook her head.

“Hold on. My head is still spinning. Wow. Your lips are so soft...” 

Sakura had the dreamiest, stupidest smile on her gorgeous face that didn’t look like it was going anywhere anytime soon. 

“You are such a dork.” Kaeun chuckled while tapping her girlfriend on the nose, who could only scrunch her face up in retaliation.

How was it possible for Kaeun to be so...so goddamn infatuated with a girl whom she’s only known for a month? She never gets attached to anything or anyone easily, something that Yunjin always made fun of her for. The giraffe would say that her unnie was “emotionally detached”, but that was until Kaeun met Sakura. Now her emotions were very much attached. Too attached. Attached at the hip. She couldn’t fall asleep at night without Sakura wishing her goodnight.

Kaeun has fallen hard. It scared her, but it was also thrilling. There was a very real possibility she’s fallen in love with the small Japanese girl currently snuggling her on this tiny wooden bench.

“You will be the death of me, Princess.” Kaeun whispered, letting her honest thoughts dance through the air just loud enough for Sakura to hear.

“That’s a nice nickname.”

“Princess Sakura? Ruler of kittens and poorly made headphones?”

Sakura pouted. “I like cheap headphones.”

“I’ll buy you some better ones. Then you tell me if you still prefer them cheap.”

Sakura laughed. It was bright. It was magical. It was a happy thought that Kaeun could hold onto whenever she needed a pick-me-up or to conjure a Patronus. She’s been hanging out too much with that nerd Yunjin hasn’t she? Making Harry Potter references in her head.

“You’re so smitten by me.” Sakura states proudly, kissing Kaeun on the cheek and it was the older girl’s turn to laugh.

“I’m not ashamed of it. Not one bit.”

Denial was pointless anyways. She could already hear Yunjin making fun of how whipped she was, but she could take it. She could take Yunjin’s teasing, if it meant she could cry about it in Sakura’s arms. 

They’ve just kissed and Kaeun was already looking forward to the next time they’ll kiss again.

Oh no this is going to be an addiction, isn’t it?

___________________________________________________________

Hello! 

Well, I really didn't expect the gap between updates to take this long. I always meant to update, but I wanted this fic to be filled with happy thoughts, and it was kinda hard to do so when I was still upset about Kaeun not making it into IZ*ONE. It's been weeks, nearly a month and during that time, the wounds have healed for me.

I managed to go to Seoul and I managed to pay Kaeun's support message near the Pledis building a visit, and just the thought that she has fans that will continue to love her despite her not making the final 12 is enough to set my heart at ease. She'll do fine. She'll do great.

**EDIT** I JUST REALISED MY FACE IS FULLY VISIBLE AND I FORGOT TO BLUR IT OUT. ANYWAYS HELLO THIS IS ME. IM SORRY FOR THE FACE.

About this chapter!

I tried to write parallels between Kaeun and Yunjin, how similar things can happen to them and them reacting the same way to certain situations. It occured to me that Yunjin, who is new to this celebrity thing and is an English speaker, probably reads up on anything and everything to do with her.

Which means there is a chance she might be reading this fic. 

Which means she's uh....she's in for a ride. 

Hello Jennifer! If you're reading this! I'm sorry I'm going to make you kiss girls in this, if you're not into that! If you are, then I'm sorry I'm making you out to be such a loser in this fic! Hey, shoot me a message and we can talk further about how I got your personality wrong or something. But hey, it could be much worse! Like the time I wrote about Yeonjung and I couldn't look her in the eye when I met her. Eeesh.

Also, Miyu is now in the fic. Yay!

Yo thank you so much for all the subscribers and comments and upvotes! They really mean the world to me! You guys are awesome! Continue leaving the comments though! I love to hear your opinions on my writing. I'm sorry for all the comments that I didn't have time to reply to! Work has been badddd

Till next time! Oh, and you can contact me on twitter for anything, I guess.