"Hey, I have something to tell you."

Sakura looks up from her plate, mouth filled with her last bite of pasta. Now that she realizes it, Yujin doesn't seem to have much appetite that day with how she barely finishes half of her food. Something appears to be bothering Yujin's mind it seems, so Sakura places down her fork on the table to give her full attention to the girl sitting right in front of her. 

The bustling noise in the cafe was starting to die down since most patrons were leaving their tables to pay for their meals. It was past lunch time and they were one of the few customers left that decided to stay around a bit longer. Sakura props her chin on the table, prompting Yujin to proceed with whatever it is that was concerning her. "What is it? Why do you look so serious?" 

"...Eunbi-unnie is working at our school now," Yujin says abruptly, eyeing Sakura to see how the older girl reacts to the news and sure enough, Sakura's defense mechanism kicks in at times like this. Instead of her usual nonchalant and carefree response, Sakura's expression is frigid at first but she tries to mask it by pretending to get distracted by the sight of the waiter mixing up the orders for another table. 

Yujin knows Sakura a bit too much to be deceived by the older girl's attempt to look unaffected. 

"...Is that so?" 

"Yeah. I met her a few weeks ago, I didn't get the chance to tell you until now," Yujin feels somewhat guilty upon the revelation but sooner or later, Sakura will eventually find out about it anyway. It's better for Yujin to tell her now than later. Sakura may be frivolous at most times and wouldn't hesitate to flirt around but her past relationship with Eunbi is... probably the only one that she cherishes the most.

Until now, Yujin still doesn't know the reason why they didn't work out despite of being overly affectionate with one another back then.

Sakura refuses to tell her, no matter what. 

"How is she?"

"Good, I guess," Yujin replies and she hesitates for a split second before continuing her words. "I've never asked this but... Did you break up on good terms?" 

Another short answer from Sakura. "Not exactly." 

"Do you want me to steer away from her?" 

Sakura finally returns her gaze on Yujin. In a flash of the moment, Yujin notices something different in Sakura's eyes but it was long gone before Yujin could even decipher what it was. "Why should you? It's been a long time since we dated. I'm pretty sure she'd put the past behind her by now." 

"So you're cool with it?"

"Yeah. I'm fine with it," Sakura replies with a shrug and picks up the napkin from the table to wipe her lips, eyes roaming around the cafe. She waves her hand to catch the attention of the attending waiter, lips forced up into a smile as she calls him over. "Do you want any desserts? I think I'll go for a chocolate lava cake."

"...Nah, go ahead. I'll just finish the rest of my food." 

"Why do you keep on buying newspapers? Subscribing to e-papers is a thing now. Just so you know," Yujin says with a grunt, forcefully dragging her feet to follow Sakura into the bookstore just across the street, as soon as they left the cafe. For some reason, Sakura always insists on buying her physical copy of the newspaper when its available online for god's sake and when asked, her response is always the same. 

"Newspapers makes me look more civilized. Now shut it," Sakura quickly retorts as she glimpses at the stack of newspapers, picking one off the rack after a quick check on the date. The sight of a familiar face behind the counter however, stopped her on her tracks just as she was about to pay for it. "Well, well. The world really is a small place." 

"Huh?" Yujin's confusion kicks in when she accidentally bumps into the older girl - who stopped all of the sudden, after mindlessly following her around. "Why did you stop?" 

"That's Minjoo no? Behind the counter," Sakura points towards the said direction and she was indeed right. Minjoo doesn't notice them until they made their way to the counter. "Hey there." 

"Oh? What are you guys doing here?" Minjoo says while looking at Sakura with a hint of surprise before moving her gaze to Yujin, who was standing just behind the older girl. 

"We had lunch at that cafe just now, right across the street," Sakura replies as she slides her money across the counter to pay. Minjoo nods her head in acknowledgement, punching in Sakura's purchase into the cash register.

"Oh there? Their subs are pretty good." 

"Yeah, well..." Sakura's voice trails off as she rotates her head to look at Yujin and Minjoo back and forth, lips twisting into a grin. It irks Yujin even more because she knew what Sakura was implying with the look, so Yujin only glares at her in annoyance. "Anyways, I'll just browse through that shelf for now while I leave you guys at it." 

"...She's so annoying," Yujin says when Sakura finally leaves them alone to scuffle over to a nearby bookshelf.  

"And yet you're still friends," Minjoo replies with a fond laugh, causing Yujin to clear in denial. 

"Not by choice."

"Your tsundere-ness is getting worse by day." 

"Tch," Yujin clicks her tongue, not knowing how to refute Minjoo's argument because part of it is true anyways. "What are you doing here working by the way? Your foot is not even healed yet." 

"Ah that. Well, my aunt needed some help again at her store so..." 

"This is the bookstore that you mentioned last time?" 

"Mhm. Wait, hold on for a sec," Minjoo replies distractedly, eyes shifting towards the landline ringing on the counter. She motions for Yujin to wait for her, before picking up the call. "Yes, this is K's Bookstore, how may I help you?" she pauses. "Ah yes, we do have that in stock right now."

The next few minutes went by with Minjoo tending to the customer on the other line, jotting down the necessary details on her pink post-it. Yujin's eyes naturally follows Minjoo's movements when she gets up from her seat as soon as the phone call ends, slowly making her way to one of the shelves.

A small frown appears on Yujin's face because honestly speaking, it's too soon for Minjoo to overexert herself over such things, as menial as they may be. 

Yujin had to try her best to stop grunting at the sight of Minjoo struggling to reach the upper shelf.

Hasn't she learn her lessons yet from the incident last time?

Sighing, Yujin briskly walks over to where Minjoo is and quietly brushes her hand past Minjoo's, causing Minjoo to look up to the other girl closing up on her from behind. "I'll get that for you."

Minjoo was caught off-guard at first, though she did nothing but to stare at Yujin quietly.

Yujin's height that towers over her slightly. Yujin's other hand that is casually resting on Minjoo's waist for support. 

It's not that Minjoo hadn't noticed before. She did. The little things that Yujin does to her. While it didn't trouble her as much before, it does now.

Just how is she supposed to stop herself from falling?

"Hey, have you gotten taller recently?" Minjoo suddenly comments out of the blue to distract herself from the growing warmth on her chest. Her eyes darts around the shop, refusing to be caught red-handed with the way that she was looking at the younger girl. Yujin turns to look at her upon the question, lips curling in thought.

"Maybe. I haven't measured my height in a while," Yujin answers, tapping on the thick novel that she had taken out from the row. "Is this it?" 

"Yes. Thank you," Minjoo doesn't respond for a moment. "Shouldn't you get going?"

"Well... I have nothing better to do so I think I might stay," Yujin merely blinks, shrugging as if it's no big of a deal.  

"What about Sakura-unnie?" 

"We were about to head back home anyway. I can tell her to go first."

They spent the next hour helping out around the store until one of her aunt's employees arrives for his shift. It was Yujin who then suggested for them to spend some more time at her home right after, under the pretence of wanting Minjoo to rest first before sending her home since Yujin's house is not that far off from where they were when really, she just wanted to spend more time with the older girl.

Regardless, it doesn't take much for Minjoo to agree.

One thing led to another and now, Minjoo somewhat has to deal with Yujin sulking over the fact that she had just lost three times in a row in Mario Kart despite of being an avid player of the game.

The fact that it was Minjoo's first time too in playing the game was a double blow to Yujin. She had never lost to anyone before so just how is it possible for Minjoo to beat her every single time?  

"Why are you even this good at the game? You said that you've never played it before!" 

"I'm just good at everything," Minjoo flips her hair flamboyantly, much to Yujin's mild irritation. 

"Ugh. I've always won whenever I play against Sakura." 

"Should I just let you win once then?" Minjoo an eyebrow at her as she falls back to the comfort of the bean bag that they shared. A wry smile stretches across her lips and strangely, just the sight of it was like a mental slap to Yujin's ego so Yujin crosses her arms in a futile attempt to save her last bit of pride.  

"You're going to hurt my pride if you do." 

Minjoo bites back a snicker. "Well, I don't think sticking with pride would be a good thing for someone who keeps on losing." 

"Whatever."

Maybe it's the way Yujin was puffing out her cheeks sulkily.

Maybe it's the way that Minjoo comes to a realization that one of her favorite things about spending time with Yujin is on how their conversation flows out smoothly, like a missing puzzle piece coming together, something that had been absent in her life for a while.

But if something were to be blamed for what Minjoo was about to do next, it would most definitely be herself. 

And her wavering feelings. 

"Is it bad that I want to spoil you so badly?" 

Yujin's heart almost jumps out of her chest at the way Minjoo was looking at her. There was something different with Minjoo's gaze this time. Minjoo didn't even have the patience to let Yujin think about her question and rather, she leans in dangerously close to Yujin and cups her cheek to get Yujin's attention solely on her. 

Minjoo's dainty fingers were cold, in contrast to her burning cheeks.

It was