She was six when she first met Seungwan.

Her family had just moved to Korea from Canada and the young girl found her way into Seulgi’s backyard. She remembers playing in her sandbox when the girl came up from behind. 

“Hi!”

Seulgi turns around to see a girl wearing a white dress and her hair pinned back with a red bow. The wind was blowing her dress lightly and her eyes were sparkling. She was a contrast to Seulgi who was wearing a t-shirt and shorts which were covered with brown stains from the sand. Seulgi didn’t quite understand the world ‘beautiful’ yet, but that’s exactly how she would have described her.

It was something out of a fairy tale.

“Hi.”

“I’m Seungwan. We just moved in next door.”

Seulgi looks over in the direction where Seungwan is pointing to a large truck and people moving furniture.

“I’m Seulgi.”

“That’s a pretty name. I wish mine sounded like that. People tell me that mine sounds like a boy’s.”

Seulgi scratches her head. How could anyone think someone this pretty could be a boy, “How about Wannie? That sounds girly.”

Seungwan beams, “Wannie! I like that.”

“So, what are you making?”

Seulgi looks down at the structure she was working on for the past hour, “A castle.”

“Can I help??”

Seulgi smiles, “Sure.”

The two spend the rest of the day playing in the sand, pretending that Seungwan was a princess and Seulgi was a knight coming to save her.

But just like all fairytales, they must come to an end and on that day, their ending came in the form of Seungwan's mom who came looking for the girl. 

“Bye Seulgi, see you soon!”

Seulgi waves back and watches the girl leave before her own mom calls her to come in for dinner.

She goes to sleep that night dreaming about princesses and castles.

--

“Why don’t you ask him out?”

Seulgi picks up a cherry tomato with her fork and grimaces at the sour taste before spitting it out into her napkin.

“One does not simply ask a guy out.”

“Why not? It’s the 21st century”

Seungwan scoffs, “Easy for you to say; half the school is head over heels for you.”

The two were in high school now and fortunately for Seulgi, puberty had been kind to her. Unfortunately for Seungwan, the same couldn’t be said. The girl was barely over five feet and was always self conscious about her weight, but Seulgi still thought she was beautiful. 

She shrugs her shoulders, “Not like I’m interested in any of them.”

“Who are you interested in?”

Seulgi stops eating and looks at the Canadian in front of her for a minute, debating on whether or not to tell the girl how she truly felt before deciding against it and changing the topic.

“I heard Somi likes him too, so if you don’t do anything soon, he’ll be someone else’s”

Seungwan gasps before going off about her plan on how to seduce Mark and Seulgi nods along as the words fall upon deaf ears.

--

“I can’t believe you’re not going to prom.”

Seulgi spins around in her chair, “Why not?”

Seungwan puts down the curling iron, “Because it’s prom. Once in a lifetime opportunity. Also, it’s not like you didn’t have anyone to go with.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jimin asked you and you turned him down.”

“He’s too pretty, would make me look bad.”

“Taeyong?”

“Too young.”

“He’s a year younger.”

“Why did he ask me to prom anyways? He should get someone his own age.”

“Sunmi?”

“Too tall.”

Seungwan puts her hands on her hips, “You want someone shorter than you?”

“If it’s a girl, yeah.”

Seungwan turns back to the mirror and picks up the curling iron again, “Should I ditch Mark and we go together?”

‘Yes’

“Nah.”

Seulgi picks up the teddy bear sitting on her desk that Seungwan got her when they were in middle school.

“You’ve been waiting for this day for awhile.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to go without my best friend.”

“I’ll be here when the party is over.”

“Are you sure you want me to come over after? It’ll probably be late.”

“Yeah it’s fine. I don’t mind waiting for you.” (I never do)

“Alright, I’ll text you when it’s over.”

Seulgi hums as she watches Seungwan finish doing her hair before putting on a thin layer of makeup then her dress.

“How do I look?”

She feels her heart skip a beat as the girl spins around and she barely chokes out, “Great.”

Seungwan smiles, “Really?”

Seulgi nods.

Seungwan picks up her phone to check the time, “Shoot, I should go home. Mark will be here soon.”

“Alright, see you later.”

Seungwan walks to the door before turning back around, “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, I’m going then.”

The girl holds the doorknob for a few more seconds and part of Seulgi hopes she stays, but when she blinks, the girl is gone and her door is closed.

She grabs her phone to check the time.

“Six more hours till she comes back. Midnight, just like Cinderella.”

Seulgi chuckles, “How fitting.”

She picks up her laptop and jumps on her bed before pulling up netflix. She settles on a Harry Potter marathon and begins to doze off during the second movie.

--

She’s deep asleep when she feels a warm body slide in next to her.

She sits up and rubs her eyes, “Wannie?”

“Hey.”

“What time is it?”

“Nine, your sister let me in.”

She yawns, “How come you’re back so early?”

“Wasn’t the same without you.”

Seulgi nods as she slides back under the covers, “Was it fun?”

Seungwan lays down, “Mark kissed me.”

Seulgi opens her eyes and turns to face the other girl. It's dark, but she ccould still see the girl's outline. Her cheekbones were more defined now and she had lost a considerable amount of weight, but she was still Seungwan.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t any good. Felt like something was missing.”

Seulgi turns to look at the ceiling, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, “Missing?”

“I don’t think I actually like him. I think I was just in love with the idea of him. Besides, you’re a better dancer than he is. Can’t be with someone who can’t throw down on the dance floor.”

Seulgi laughs, “Isn’t he on the dance team at school?”

“Yeah, but you’re still better.”

Seulgi doesn’t pry and tries not to think too much into the statement, but when Seungwan nuzzles closer and wraps her arm around Seulgi’s waist, she thinks maybe, just maybe, the girl might feel the same.

--

“I