It’s a run-of-the-mill Friday lunch until disaster strikes for Jiwoo in the form of an unwanted guest.

“H-H-Hello,” the boy stammers, his hands stuffed awkwardly into his pockets. Jiwoo doesn’t pay much attention, absorbed in her usual incoherent conversation with her best friend Jungeun. So it’s particularly startling when Jiwoo is shocked out of her reverie by the uttering of a single word: “Sooyoung.” 

Sooyoung looks at the boy confusedly, nobody much noticing to Jiwoo’s sudden snap to attention. 

“Yes?” she drawls. He looks petrified, scratching at his nose and shifting from foot to foot. What a sad excuse for a high schooler, Jiwoo thinks.

“Well, ya see—“ he begins, trailing off and staring at the ceiling. Everyone waits expectantly. “Umm, do you want to go to the dance with me?” he finally manages to stammer out. There is silence at the table. Jiwoo finds herself unable to breathe as Sooyoung tilts her head at the request.

“Hmm,” she responds coolly, a stark contrast to the boy’s sweating palms and bright red face. “Mark, right? You sit behind me in chemistry?” Mark flushes even deeper, if possible, at the tiny recognition. His friends watch with rapt attention from a nearby table.

“Get it Mark!” one of them shouts. Jiwoo finds herself scowling, her heart suddenly beating twice as fast as normal as she anxiously waits Sooyoung’s response.

“Can I think about it?” Sooyoung finally asks, her eyes flickering to her own friends, who pretend they haven’t been watching the whole exchange. The boy nods and returns back to his table, apparently satisfied with the answer. The girls begin eagerly pestering Sooyoung about her suitor, but Jiwoo can only stare dazedly at her tray, feeling as if she is about to straight-up fall out of her chair. Well, it’s understandable, right? She thinks to herself. Sooyoung is your friend, and this annoying- boy wants to date her. Of course you’re concerned. Jiwoo pauses, glancing to where Sooyoung awkwardly giggles under Heejin’s onslaught of gleeful verbal abuse. It has nothing to do with how she’s been pining after the other girl for months, because that would be jealousy, and Jiwoo refuses to deal with that. No, this is simple friendly concern, that’s all.

Jiwoo must be even more off than she thought, because her friends worriedly corner on her way back to her locker after class. 

“Jiwoo, are you alright?” Haseul questions worriedly, her mom-instincts springing into action. Sooyoung and Jungeun move to teasingly hold her arms and prevent escape, and Jiwoo isn’t sure whether she’s pale from fear or blushing. She squeaks,

“Wha-t do you mean. I’m fine. Of course!” Curse her voice for betraying her, the girls look even more concerned after hearing her shaky response. 

“No way!” Jungeun says disapprovingly. “Jiwoo, you didn’t say anything in English class.” The cornered girl laughs shakily, feeling like she’s being interrogated by a pack of bubbly hyenas. 

“So? Not a big deal,” she says with faked nonchalance. Jinsoul rolls her eyes, obviously not fooled. 

“Yes, except this is you we’re talking about!” she explains. Everyone nods vigorously in agreement. “You’ve been warned seven times this month for chattering too much!” Jiwoo scrambles, looking for a last minute save. She yelps,

“Most of those were Yerim’s fault!” She looks to her pleadingly, but Yerim offers no help,     busy poking Chaewon in the side as revenge for something or other. Anyone else who might be of assistance isn’t around to save her. Defeated, Jiwoo slumps onto the wall of lockers, the girls exclaiming joyfully and releasing her arms. She rubs her wrists and scowls, her gaze unconsciously flitting to Sooyoung’s concerned face. The other girl is still standing uncomfortably close, her eyes fixed on Jiwoo’s face and her brow furrowed. She abruptly steps closer and rests a hand on Jiwoo’s shoulder, who has to fight off a shiver at the touch.

“You alright there, Jiwoo?” Sooyoung murmurs, her effortlessly deep voice sending unexpected shocks down the younger girl’s spine. Jiwoo gulps and nods, sure that her entire face is bright red by now. Jungeun must not be convinced, because she launches herself in a hug attack at the flustered girl, the rest of them quickly following suit. 

“Aww, is Jiwoo distracted?” Jinsoul coos, clinging to Jiwoo’s arm. Yerim squeals,

“Maybe she has a crush!” As if this couldn’t get any worse, Jiwoo thinks, glaring daggers at her supposed friend. If only they knew that the person they were trying to guess was standing not two feet away. Yerim thinks she’s onto something and keeps pursuing the topic, the other girls only too happy to sniff out gossip. 

“Hey, Jiwoo, do you think Jackson is nice?” Haseul asks. Jiwoo freezes, not sure what to say. 

“Umm… Yes?” she responds truthfully, panicking. “He’s cute, I guess.” Yeojin excitedly interjects,

“Jackson totally likes you! Is he your crush? You should go to the dance with him!” Right, the winter dance, mandatory for their grade. Which Mark has asked Sooyoung out to. Her Sooyoung. Jiwoo pouts and blinks angrily at the reminder of why she’s upset in the first place. 

“Shush, Haseul,” Jiwoo whines. “Enough about boys! Anyway, I’m not the one who’s been asked to the dance.” She fixes a piercing stare on Sooyoung, mentally congratulating herself for changing the topic from the rather empty-headed jock in her math class. Everyone’s attention now shifts to Sooyoung, who squirms at the sudden change at subject.

“Why are you looking at me?” she mutters. Jinsoul complains,

“Because you refuse to talk about it!” Sooyoung just laughs.

“Yeah, whatever. Hey, Heejin, Hyunjin!” she shouts to the pair walking hand in hand towards the larger group. The girls been best friends for as long as anyone can remember, long enough that people have started to refer to them as simply ‘2Jin’ to save time. Unfortunately, the teachers don’t always have the courtesy to do the same, much to Hyunjin’s chagrin when she tried to piggyback off of Heejin’s science homework last year.

“Hi guys!” Hyunjin calls, amusedly looking at her friends swarming around Jiwoo and Sooyoung. “What’s going on?” 

“Jiwoo and Jackson!” Jungeun says.

“Should go on a date—” Jinsoul sings. Yerim finishes,

“A double date! With Sooyoung and Mark! To the dance!” Sooyoung glowers at her friends, her unfazed demeanor finally broken by their relentless teasing. She intones lowly,

“Jiwoo doesn’t like Jackson.” The tail end comes out sounding almost like a question. The girls pause at the sudden change in mood.

“You all are crazy,” Heejin jokes to ease the tension. Both Sooyoung and Jiwoo look at her gratefully. “If anything, Jiwoo has a crush on Irene Sunbaenim.” Jiwoo blushes furiously at the betrayal and Heejin laughs in delight.

“Heejin-ah, how dare you?” Jiwoo cries, slapping her repeatedly on the arm. “I harbor strictly admiration for Irene! I just asked her once or twice for help with a math problem!” Chaewon snorts.

“More like once or twice a day.” Jiwoo covers her face with her hands and falls onto Sooyoung, the one who seems the most sympathetic to her plight.

“Sooyoungieeeee,” she whines, boldly wrapping her arms around the other girl’s waist. “Make them stop!” Sooyoung pauses for a moment and then frowns, casually embracing her friend only to shrug her off a moment later.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” she says. “Why don’t you ask Irene Sunbaenim for help?” Jiwoo casts a betrayed look at her and stomps down the hallway.

“Ahhhhh I hate all of you!” Laughing, the rest of the girls follow her, chattering amongst themselves.

“Hey, Sooyoung, you never told us what you’re going to say to Mark!”

Jiwoo walks out of school at the end of the day in a daze, startled when Hyunjin calls out to her from across the street.

“Jiwoo! Sleepover at Haseul and Yeojin’s! Even Hyejoo’s hermit is going to be there!” Hyunjin winces as Heejin whacks her over the head.

“Hyun, language!” The girls stroll away from Jiwoo, who’s face slips back into its contemplative mask as soon as the two are gone. 

Yes, Jiwoo gets annoyed at the thought of Sooyoung dating Mark, or anyone for that matter. Yes, she wants to shower her with kisses and affection and hold her hand and cuddle with her at random times of day. Jiwoo liking Sooyoung is simply a fact of life. It always has been, and it always will be. But even conceding that, Jiwoo is reluctant to confront the real issue;

Often Jiwoo finds herself staring at girls a fair bit longer than is appropriate, but that doesn’t mean she’s gay, right? Finding out once and for all whether she likes girls or not requires kissing them, and, much as she might want to, Jiwoo doesn’t think she’s going to be doing that anytime soon. That being said, she’s not going to go to the dance with Jackson. ‘Cutest boy in the class’ status be damned, Jiwoo won’t even consider giving him the time of day. And no, she doesn’t want to think about why.

Jiwoo wanders into Haseul’s basement to find the girl sprawled on the ground, her sister trying to throw popcorn into from across the room.

“Jiwoo!” Jinsoul exclaims, already situated comfortably in Jungeun’s lap. “We made popcorn, but we don’t know what movie to watch!” Jungeun shies away from her self-consciously when Jiwoo raises an eyebrow at the two only to be pulled back by a whining Jinsoul. “Don’t you dare move, you’re warm!” Jiwoo laughs and continues to make faces at them, making a mental note to tease Jungeun about it later. Now, though, her attention is pulled magnetically to the door, and right on cue two pairs of footsteps come noisily running down the stairs. Yeojin screams,

“Kahei! You actually came!” But Yeojin’s noise is drowned out by the roaring in Jiwoo’s ears, the girl much too focused on the other newcomer to listen. Her gaze flits to the object of her attention’s arm, casually slung over Kahei’s shoulders. 

“Hi, Sooyoung!” Jiwoo squeaks, mentally cursing herself out for sounding like such an idiot. It doesn’t seem like anyone else notices, but Sooyoung makes eye contact seemingly before she can stop herself. Jiwoo smiles as brightly as possible, drawing on her ever-present stores of cuteness and watching Sooyoung’s harsh expression melt slightly under the barrage of mental rainbows. However, Sooyoung says nothing, sitting down next to Kahei and flat out ignoring the greeting. Jiwoo’s face crumples, her brain frantically going over what she might have done wrong. She looks around for Jungeun, the ever-reliable best friend, but she looks so content curled up on the couch with Jinsoul that Jiwoo stays where she is, instead opting to watch the rest of the girls trickle in. Hyejoo and Chaewon scamper through the door and immediately commandeer the television to play Mario Kart, soon joined by a very exited Yeojin and Yerim. Everyone arranges themselves in a loose semicircle on the carpet, Heejin and Hyunjin walking in to complete the group of non-gamers. Jiwoo’s attention can’t help but wander back to Sooyoung, who’s leaning against Kahei and talking to the rest of them in the center of the cluster. Jiwoo’s heart clenches painfully. Sooyoung’s smile is cutting in its brightness when it’s not aimed at her. Looking at Sooyoung is like looking at the sun; she feels so very distant, but Jiwoo can’t survive without her warmth.

Things started to change between the two of them at an undefined point in the last few months. Jiwoo couldn’t help but start acting strangely—or was it Sooyoung who did it first?—their interactions tinted by some unfamiliar hostility. Sooyoung had always been hard to read, but she was behaving differently, hot one moment and cold the next, the frequent embraces and cuddles they’d been sharing for years turning uncomfortable. Jiwoo worries Sooyoung knows how she feels about her. How she feels about her? What is that supposed to mean? Jiwoo herself isn’t brave enough to put a label on it. You like her, Jiwoo. You like Sooyoung. Romantically. Because you like girls, you like girls, you like— Jiwoo slaps herself lightly and tries in vain to direct her thoughts elsewhere. Her turmoil apparently doesn’t go unnoticed, though, because Kahei calls to the forlorn looking girl.

“Oh my god, our baby looks sad! Jiwoo, come here this instant!” Jiwoo weakly smiles and crawls over to rest her head in Kahei’s lap, completely ignoring Sooyoung the way the other girl has been doing to her for the past hour. Jiwoo feels Kahei’s fingers run through her hair and discreetly stares with satisfaction at Sooyoung, who stops leaning on Kahei, irritated. Jiwoo tries to look away, fails, and wonders why Sooyoung has this unexplainable effect on her. Jiwoo may be hyper, but she’s usually in excellent control of herself; there’s just something about her close… friend… that renders her unable to function. Being with Sooyoung doesn’t just give her butterflies and make her skin tingle and rob her of intelligent thought—no, she can handle those typical crush symptoms. It’s the feelings that really get Jiwoo. The warmth in her chest when she sees the girl after a long day, the way Jiwoo relaxes just by being near her and sitting in comfortable silence, the unquenchable yearning to wrap her arms around the older girl and never let go. She doesn’t think any amount of time with Sooyoung will ever be enough.

Jiwoo still kind of feels like sulking, but she won’t give Sooyoung the satisfaction, so she snuggles into Kahei’s shirt and rests for a while. She can feel the heat of Sooyoung’s gaze on her neck, yet still the confusing girl says nothing. Drowsy and a bit hurt, Jiwoo drifts off to sleep, dreaming about the way Sooyoung’s eyes crinkle when she smiles. 

Kahei shushes everyone, fondly the head of a sleeping Jiwoo in her lap. Haseul fends off Yeojin and Yerim, who would otherwise immediately set to drawing on the girl’s face in marker. 

“Should we move her?” Jungeun asks. Having been observing her best friend’s weird behavior for the entire day, Jungeun suddenly has a hypothesis to test. Jinsoul perks up excitedly when she recognizes Jungeun’s scheming voice, and Jungeun gives her a wicked look before saying, “We should move her to the couch.” Kahei nods agreement and helps lift the sleeping girl onto the couch so she can nap peacefully. There’s only one problem: Sooyoung is already sitting there. She splutters indignantly as a small body is unexpectedly laid on top of her, distracting her from her brooding.

“What the hell, Kahei?” Sooyoung complains, only to be shushed by her and Haseul.

“She’s sleeping, you numbskull! Sit still or move!” Sooyoung rolls her eyes, trying to shift around without waking the girl propped against her. All the other chairs are already taken. Sighing, Sooyoung decides she doesn’t want to sit on the floor. Besides, Jiwoo looks really cute right now, murmuring incomprehensibly with her fingers clutched ever so slightly onto the fabric of Sooyoung’s shirt. Sooyoung carefully moves the younger girl’s head to a more comfortable position on her shoulder, not noticing the the triumphant look on Jungeun’s face. “Cute,” Sooyoung murmurs to herself, looking around self consciously as if someone could have heard her. She’s not entirely wrong: Jungeun sees the anxious glance and grows even more suspicious. Sooyoung is too busy to notice, though. After an eternity staring at Jiwoo’s face, she begins to absentmindedly the girl’s head, tentative brushes of her hand turning to bolder caresses once it becomes clear the sleeper won’t wake. Finally letting some mysterious tension depart her body, Sooyoung exhales, nuzzling her cheek against the top of Jiwoo’s head and letting her eyelids close for a moment.

It takes a while for anyone to notice the adorable situation the two have somehow ended up in. A passed out Sooyoung is curled around the other girl’s smaller body; Jiwoo is snuggled into Sooyoung’s side, her head pressed into Sooyoung’s neck and her arms half wrapped around her waist. Sooyoung leans against her protectively, her hand lightly resting on the curve of Jiwoo’s back. Jungeun’s eyes eventually widen, the sight distracting her from the card game she’s playing with Heejin. She quickly whisper-yells at the other girls to pay attention. Kahei whips out her phone to take pictures of the two, squealing in delight. The photos will be perfect blackmail for the future if Sooyoung ever gets on her bad side, and Kahei is already looking forward to exposing her friend’s now undeniable soft spot.

Jiwoo wakes up to a soft embrace and stifled giggles and a warm hand on her knee. Eyes still closed, she burrows closer against the unknown but welcome shoulder she’s resting on, tightening her arms around the sturdy presence next to her. 

Wait a sec—

Jiwoo’s eyes shoot open, but its too late, and she only catches a glimpse of Sooyoung’s back as the girl flees the room, awakened from her slumber. Kahei and Haseul are rolling on the floor laughing but Jiwoo is panicking too much to notice. The lap she was basically just sitting on was Sooyoung’s. The neck she was nuzzling into was Sooyoung’s. The hand settled possessively on her knee was Sooyoung’s. Jiwoo doesn’t know whether she’s about to squeal or pass out.

“What the heck just happened?” Jiwoo mumbles dazedly. The eleven girls left in the basement gaze at the door Sooyoung just fled through. Unable to contain her joy, Kahei proclaims,

“Our HaSoo has gone soft!” Everyone else chatters in agreement. “Jiwoo, she was hardcore cuddling you!” Apparently the sight of a sleeping Jiwoo and Sooyoung was too cute to handle, because the girls are in various states of disbelief. Hyejoo seems relatively unaffected, but Jinsoul is now giggling into the carpet. 

“Why’d she just run away like that?” Haseul questions. “I think we embarrassed her. She got out of here quicker than Hyunjin when she wants bread.” Maybe napping in such close proximity to Sooyoung has fried Jiwoo’s brain, because she starts to freak out, second guessing every action she’s made since she’s met the girl. A multitude of sort-of-flirting moments from the past few months spring unbidden to the front of her mind… has she finally weirded Sooyoung out? Of all the places Jiwoo expected to end up after her nap, in Sooyoung’s arms was not one of them. Why is it, though, that even the few lucid seconds spent there made Jiwoo’s heart flutter? Part of her wants to go back to how she used to feel around Sooyoung, easy, without the uncertainty and coldness. But a larger part of her can’t bear to let go of even that. When the older girl walks into a room, Jiwoo’s attention snaps to her, no matter how unobtrusive her entrance. When Sooyoung laughs, Jiwoo’s own lips curl into a smile. When Sooyoung looks at her, Jiwoo finds she can no longer breathe. Like clockwork.

“Why did she leave?” Jiwoo blurts out before she can stop herself. Her voice betrays distress even she didn’t fully know about until it was voiced. Her nails dig painfully into her palms as she stares somewhat tearfully at the empty spot Sooyoung has left behind next to her on the couch. Oh my god, did she drool on her—

“Jiwoo!” Jungeun says forcefully. The room is dead silent, though Jiwoo fears everyone else can hear the blood thundering in her ears. A bit softer, she continues, “I think you should go talk to her.” Even the younger girls nod solemnly in agreement. Jiwoo can’t help but smile at the sight of such an earnest Yeojin and Chaewon. When she swings her feet over the side of the couch and stands, she plants them with a fragile strength that surprises even herself. Most of the girls have gone back to their own business—or have pretended to, anyway—but Jiwoo and Jungeun share an understanding glance before Jiwoo steels herself and leaves the room.

Jiwoo finds her in the kitchen, back turned and staring into the sink. Sunlight streams in through the window and falls across the tense curve of her back, her elegant fingers gripping the edge of the counter.

“Sooyoung?” she whispers, but the girl is already turning around. Her smile is light, but her eyes are dark with tension. She’s poised uncomfortably on her toes like a bird on the verge of flight. opens, but she says nothing. Daring to step closer, Jiwoo asks, “What’s going on, Soo?” She extends a hand to rest on the slightly taller girl’s shoulder. Sooyoung finally breaks her silence.

“Oh, nothing,” she says. curls bitterly. “Boy trouble, you know.” It’s scary how fast Jiwoo’s heart plummets. 

“Yeah, I do,” she says harshly, thinking about Mark’s appearance earlier that day. It’s hard to believe that just a few hours ago that scumbag had sent her into this mood just by speaking to her friend. Logically, she has no real reason to hate him; he’s nice enough, polite, and a suitable candidate for her friend. The same way Jackson is, in theory, a suitable candidate for herself—one whom she should consider dating. Jiwoo snorts.‘Who am I kidding, I’m super gay,’ she thinks. It gives her more than a little satisfaction to think the thing outright which she usually bottles up in the outskirts of her consciousness. 

Jiwoo’s hand is still placed on Sooyoung’s shoulder, forgotten there in the intensity of their conversation. It’s Sooyoung’s turn to move closer, mirthlessly laughing at whatever’s going on in her head. Jiwoo’s breathing falters and she finds she can no longer look the other girl in the eye. She focuses her gaze on where her hand touches Sooyoung, gripping there in what is intended to be a comforting gesture.

“Please talk to me, Soo, I can help.” Sooyoung outright giggles at that comment, albeit helplessly. 

“No, actually, you can’t,” Sooyoung mumbles. “You most of all.” Jiwoo’s suppressed emotions snap. She pushes Sooyoung backwards, unleashing the frustration that’s been building in her for months.

“Not if you don’t let me, you idiot! Can’t you stop being confusing for once and talk to me normally? You’re not the only one who’s going through stuff, you know.” Jiwoo kind of regrets the comments the moment she makes them, hating the pain that flashes across her friend’s face, but she’s too fired up to stop.

“What would you know?” Sooyoung scoffs. “You and your boy trouble.” She hasn’t moved from the spot where Jiwoo shoved her, looking on all accounts like a wounded and cornered animal looking for a way out. Alas, she can’t find one, and Jiwoo is suddenly way too close for comfort again. Against her will her shoulders slump, her emotional defenses razed by Jiwoo’s accursed persistence. 

Sooyoung’s eyes looking more vulnerable than she’s ever seen them, Jiwoo decides they’ve both calmed down enough to talk.

“What do I know?” Jiwoo murmurs. “I know that you’ve only been ignoring me for a couple of hours, but it feels like an eternity, and we’ve been acting strangely for a lot longer than that.” She pauses to look into Sooyoung’s unreadable face and gather her courage. “I know that that boy who asked you to go to the dance doesn’t even deserve to look at you. I know that I’m desperate for you to just talk to me. God, when you didn’t even look at me, you were so preoccupied with Kahei… Sooyoung, please, do what you want, but I’d take anything over this sudden lack of existence. I need you as a friend.”

The unspoken things hanging in the air between them unfurl into convoluted shades neither is able to understand. Jiwoo hopes against hope, but what she’s said terrifies her, dangerously close to the line she has drawn in her mind regarding Sooyoung. She knows she won’t be able to say anything more even if she tries, so is thankful when Sooyoung finally speaks again after a pregnant pause, her warm breath registering against Jiwoo’s cheek.

“God, Kim, how can you complain about my admirer when you were positively fawning over Jackson after English class?” Jiwoo looks confused. If Sooyoung weren’t so frustrated, she might find it adorable.

“What are you talking about?” Jiwoo asks. Sooyoung rolls her eyes. 

“Oh, come on, don’t give me that,” she says. “Jackson is so nice, Haseul. He’s cute, too, but let’s not talk about that because I’m positively bashful.” Her tone is so aggressively bitter that Jiwoo is shocked into silence for a moment. Taking it as confirmation, Sooyoung retreats into herself further, having to be physically blocked by the other girl from fleeing the kitchen.

“Look at me,” Jiwoo finally manages to instruct her. Sooyoung does after a moment with some difficulty, skittish on eye contact. “First of all, I never said that. Second of all, it’s called being nice, you should try it some time! And I’m sorry, alright? I got flustered. But when your friends, whom you love but are entirely clueless, are interrogating you about boys for the nth time, and all you want to do is crawl into a corner and hide because you can never come up with the desired response, I’d like to see you explain to them that you crush is actually standing right in front of you.” 

Jiwoo’s explosion manages to get Sooyoung shut up for a second, forgetting her anger in her surprise. 

“Wait, standing right in front of me?” Sooyoung asks confusedly. “Who do you like, then?” Jiwoo isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” she snaps, “who am I so sickeningly nice to every minute of the day that it makes me want to slap myself just because I would do anything to see her happy?” Both of them flinch at the pronoun. “Who do I volunteer to give a presentation first for in every class when she’s nervous about hers? Who do I bring an apple for every single day at lunch because I know they’re her favorite?” Sooyoung looks like she’s about to have a , but Jiwoo’s not done. “No, Soo, I don’t hate apples, and my mom hasn’t packed me one in my lunch every day for a year.”

“But Jiwoo, you’re nice to everyone…” Sooyoung mutters. Jiwoo buries her head in her hands. 

“I was especially nice to you, you idiot!” Sooyoung reaches out hesitantly to comfort her, but Jiwoo shrugs off her hands. 

“Just don’t, Sooyoung, you’re only making it worse! You give me a heart attack. Making me feel like the most amazing girl in the world one day and then flat out ignoring me the next, entertaining Mark just because it’s fun for you! God, now you want to go that stupid dance with him and pretend everything is okay, when we haven’t really talked in weeks and I had to chase you up here after I woke up literally on top of you…” Jiwoo trails off, peeking through her fingers to gauge the disgust in her best friend’s response. She’s taken aback when she only sees a small, rueful smile.

“If you think the dance is stupid, does that mean you don’t want to go with me?” Sooyoung asks quietly. Seeing the thousand questions standing starkly in the other girl’s eyes, she continues, her hands placed on Jiwoo’s shoulders just to hold her steady. “I rejected Mark immediately afterwards, I just thought it would be kinder not to tell him in front of everybody like that. And yes, I’ve been ignoring you today—for longer than that, if we’re being honest—and I’m sorry. Hearing you talk about Jackson hurt more than I wanted to admit, especially with you looking so nervous gossiping about him with the rest of the girls, like some sort of schoolgirl crush out of a drama… I guess I panicked, it was stupid, I know, but I couldn’t bear to be close to you while feeling so damned far away.” The kitchen is silent save the shallow breaths of the two girls, high on adrenaline from the confrontation. Jiwoo’s anger has been replaced by sadness, a deep longing for the wonderful and beautiful and comforting girl in front of her to be hers. Unable to help herself, she throws herself into the other girls arms, every second bracing herself for the rejection. It was one thing for Sooyoung to know about her crush, and to graciously avoid her accordingly; with this out in the open they will have no such option. Of course Sooyoung turned down Mark when she could have anyone in the entire school; she’ll offer the same discretion to Jiwoo, but nothing will ever be the same.

For now, though, Jiwoo shakes lightly in Sooyoung’s arms, burying her head into the taller girl’s neck and clinging to her waist for dear life. 

“Hey, hey, why are you crying?” Sooyoung asks gently, rubbing Jiwoo’s back. Even in the midst of her distress Jiwoo internally swoons, then curses herself for doing so.

“I’m sorry, just forget this happened, alright? I’ll, I’ll leave—” 

Sooyoung firmly grasps her jaw and and kisses her, lingering for a moment afterwards in the space between them.

“Shut up,” she mutters, and kisses Jiwoo again. This time she makes sure to properly savor the feeling of the other girl’s soft lips against hers. Jiwoo’s arms tighten around her waist, refusing to let go though her mind is currently incapable of coherent thought. All she can register is Sooyoung cupping her jaw, her other hand moving to rest on her ribs, brushing over the fabric there, Sooyoung’s chuckles as she tilts her forehead to rest against Jiwoo’s own. Their lips remain a millimeter apart and Jiwoo can feel the other girl’s breath on her cheek, her skin tingling in an explosion of alarm bells and electricity and buckets of confetti. Unable to say anything, Jiwoo surges forward again, somewhat desperately nipping at Sooyoung’s mouth before the more composed girl takes control once again. She turns them around so that Jiwoo is the one against the counter and cradles the girl’s head in her hands, opting for more tender pecks in between words. “I like you too, okay?” Sooyoung murmurs, interspersing her quiet confession with kisses at the corner of Jiwoo’s mouth. “So please don’t cry. I don’t think I could handle it if you cried.” Jiwoo lets out a shaky laugh, finally releasing her death grip around Sooyoung’s torso. She is struck suddenly by how purely angelic Sooyoung looks right now, her eyes shining and smile unrestrained. Entranced, Jiwoo reaches out a finger to trail it oner the lines of Sooyoung’s face as she leans comfortably against the counter, enjoying the way Sooyoung’s body follows to curve solidly around hers. They both laugh when she stops to bop Sooyoung lightly on the nose.

“So…” Jiwoo says, a bit nervous despite her light tone.

“So…” Sooyoung echoes, ducking her head shyly. She nuzzles against Jiwoo’s collarbone, sighing with joy fingers massage her scalp. Jiwoo can’t make out her next words with how smushed the girl is against her.

“What did you say?” Jiwoo questions. Sooyoung forces herself to raise her head a few inches so that she can address her properly.

“You smell really good,” Sooyoung mumbles shyly. It takes all of Jiwoo’s willpower not to burst into laughter at the cute sight, but Sooyoung is likely to run off to protect her tough reputation if she realizes how sweet she’s being. 

“Thank you, Sooyoungie,” Jiwoo coos. Both of their cheeks are by this point lightly dusted with pink. Sooyoung looks kinda starstruck right now so Jiwoo figures it’s her turn to make the next move.

“Be my girlfriend?” she requests. Sooyoung nods silently.

“Go to the dance with me?” she responds. Jiwoo flashes her a sweet smile of acceptance, grasping Sooyoung’s hand and gently pulling her back down to the basement where their friends await them. At the bottom of the stairs, Sooyoung tries to unlink their hands, but Jiwoo refuses to let go. Sooyoung asks,

“Are you sure?” Jiwoo nods.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” Sooyoung giggles, making a face at Jiwoo and brushing the back of her hand across her cheek.

“Well, thank god for boy trouble.”