“Heads up!”

Jiwoo ducked her head hurriedly as Yeojin launched a book over her head, so Vivi could pack it. Scowling at her as soon as it was safely in Vivi’s grasp.

 

“Honestly Yeojin, you’ve gotta give me more warning than that next time,” Yeojin merely rolled her eyes as Jiwoo pressed on, “you’re gonna give me a concussion if you hit me.”

 

“Looks like I’ll be giving you less warning next time then.” Yeojin argued, sticking her tongue out at Jiwoo, before going back to rifling through Vivi’s closet.

 

“How about I throw this fist at your head, see how you like it.” Jiwoo began to lunge for Yeojin, who was already screaming, before Vivi placed a hand on her forehead and pushed her back.

 

“You know, I’m really not going to miss this when I go to university, you two are so annoying I swear.” Vivi scolded them both. “Can we please finish packing my suitcase and carry on? I want to have it all done before dinner so we can just watch movies and hang out after.”

 

Jiwoo and Yeojin just grumbled in response, exchanging pointed glares at each other.

 

“If you two start fighting again, I won’t hesitate to kick both your asses. Got it?” Yeojin and Jiwoo just exchanged looks, and then nodded solemnly at Vivi.

 

“What else do you want in your suitcase then?” Jiwoo asked, turning her attention back to the task at hand.

 

“Well, most of my important stuff is already in boxes on their way to Hong Kong, so I just need the rest of the clothes in my closet, some books, makeup and photobook.”

 

Jiwoo gathered all of Vivi’s many makeup products, gently organising them into her makeup bags and then into her suitcase. In stark contrast to Yeojin, who was just throwing clothes at Vivi for her to fold and then pack.

 

“Hey Chuu, can you pass over my photobook, I want to pack that next.” Vivi called over to her.

 

Jiwoo picked the photobook in question up off the desk, stopping to open it and flick through some of the pages. Hundreds of photos of little Vivi, Jiwoo and Yeojin growing up together. She stopped and stared at a particular photo of 2-year-old Vivi sat in their father’s lap ‘holding’ a baby Jiwoo. She smiled at the image as memories of them growing up together, Vivi teaching her so much of what she knew now and then them teaching Yeojin together. She hands Vivi the photobook, purposefully leaving it open on a photo of Vivi, Jiwoo, Yeojin and their mother all huddled together on the sofa. She watches as Vivi smiles softly at the photo, staring at it for longer than she’d expected.

 

Yeojin leaned over and spotted the photo and pouted at Vivi. “I still don’t understand why you chose Hong Kong of all places to study, it’s so far away. We’re barely going to set to see you, it’s not fair.”

 

“I honestly can’t imagine not seeing you everyday Viv, how are we going to cope without you?” Jiwoo quickly chimed in.

 

Vivi audibly sighed, turning to look at both of their grumpy faces.

 

“I know it’s hard for you two, it’s hard for me too, but I have to do this. It’s what mom would’ve wanted for me, she always wanted me to explore my Chinese heritage; and I’ve always wanted to as well.” Vivi sighed and carefully placed the photobook in the suitcase, before turning back to them both. “Growing up here with you guys was great, I love it here don’t get me wrong, but mom always told me she didn’t want me to forget where I came from. Why do you think I was so determined to learn Cantonese and become as fluent as I can?”

 

The two remained silent in response to Vivi’s question, exchanging looks as if daring the other to answer.

 

“I just always assumed it was because you thought it sounded cool.” Yeojin shrugged, taking the bait, Jiwoo shoved her shoulder in response.

 

Vivi just laughed at her brutal honesty and shook her head lightly. “I mean that was definitely part of it. But mainly because back then that was really the biggest part of my culture I could fully explore outside of Hong Kong. And now,” she paused to take a deep breath, “I have the chance to go to where my dad is from and live there, fully soak up my history y’know?”

 

Yeojin scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. “I mean you can do that on a holiday, or just read a book or whatever.” She grumbled.

 

Jiwoo smacked the back of Yeojin’s head at that, causing the girl to yelp out in pain and shock. “Shut up bean.”

 

Vivi rolled her eyes at them, fully prepared for the two to start fighting again.

 

“I mean I could just read a book or go on holiday, but if I do that I don’t get to experience the customs, the people or the food and- ” Vivi started, before Yeojin bolted upright in shock, shaking her head in disagreement.

 

“Hold on, hold on one second. Why the would you even want to experience the food? I bet Hong Kong food ain’t in comparison to Korean food” Yeojin mocked, rolling her eyes, clearly unimpressed.

 

“Oh my god.” Jiwoo sighed, already prepared for the all-out war that was no doubt about to begin. She watched as Vivi sat up straighter, raising an eyebrow – a tell-tale sign she was about to throw down and demolish someone. Jiwoo made the conscious decision to stay out of this as much as she could.

 

“Are you sure you want to argue about this Yeojin? You know you’ll lose.” Vivi asked, clearly being generous and offering an out for Yeojin before she went off. Yeojin just laughed, the offer only boosting her confidence.

 

“I think it’s you who knows they’ll lose. Korean food reigns superior.” Yeojin said, already exceedingly confident. “We have bulgogi and bibimbap. End of.”

 

“Hong Kong has sweet and sour pork, wontons and pineapple bread. Nice try, bean.” Vivi smirked, clearly prepared for this argument.

 

“Those all pale in comparison to gimbap, kimchi and mandu. Honestly Vivi, this isn’t a fight you can win.” Yeojin shot Vivi a dangerous look, and Jiwoo suddenly began to fear for her own safety as Vivi easily returned it.

 

“What’s that? I wasn’t listening sorry, was too busy thinking about how Hong Kong has dim sum, fish balls and shark fin soup.” Vivi quickly countered, maintaining her aura of cool.

 

“We have tteokbokki, buldak and ramyeon. I rest my case.” Yeojin smirked, ready to accept victory.

 

“Please, tteokbokki isn’t that great it’s way too spicy, so is buldak. They count as negative points for you.” Vivi scoffed, shaking her head at Yeojin disappointedly. Yeojin rose from her seated position in shock and walked over to Vivi.

 

“You have absolutely no taste, tteokbokki is a delicacy, it counts for like 10 points. Tell her Chuu.” Suddenly 2 heads turned to face Jiwoo expectantly, who had been trying her best to stay out of the argument, for her own safety.

 

Jiwoo was about bluff her way out of the argument, in order to save her own , when a voice from downstairs did it for her.

 

“GIRLS DINNERS ABOUT TO GO ON THE TABLE, COME DOWNSTAIRS!” Their father called up to them, and Jiwoo let out a deep sigh of relief. Truly saved by the bell.

 

“This is your last time enjoying good food until you head off to Hong Kong.” Yeojin jeered at Vivi as they made their way downstairs. “You’ll have to wait until you come back for Chuseok before you get real food again.” Vivi flushed at Yeojin’s statement.

 

“Actually, I’m not coming back for Chuseok this year, so I won’t be back until Christmas.” Vivi quickly corrected, causing both Jiwoo and Yeojin’s heads to snap back to look at her in shock.

 

“Wait what? You’re not back until Christmas? Since when was this a thing?” Jiwoo piped up, confused and frustrated with the sudden information.

 

“Yeah, what the Vivi?” Yeojin interjected.

 

“Language Yeojin, and it’s always been the case – you just never asked.” Vivi calmly replied, pausing to open the front door when there was a knock on it as they passed. It opened to reveal Haseul, Vivi’s long term girlfriend and one of Jiwoo’s best friends, standing behind it. “Hey babe.” She greeted her happily and kissed her briefly.

 

“HASEUL, did you know Vivi wasn’t coming back until Christmas?” Yeojin and Jiwoo aggressively questioned simultaneously. Haseul just lazily wrapped an arm around Vivi’s waist and chuckled at them.

 

“Hi Yeojin, hi Jiwoo, nice to see you too. I’m doing great thanks.” Haseul sarcastically greeted them, eliciting a giggle from Vivi, a scowl from Yeojin and a pleading gaze from Jiwoo. “But yeah, she told me ages ago.” Haseul calmly explained “Because I, and this is a wild concept I know but hear me out, asked her what her term times were.”

 

“Term times? Wait you don’t get time off for Chuseok?” Jiwoo asked, extremely confused

 

“Chuseok isn’t celebrated in Hong Kong so I don’t get time off for it at uni, besides its only like a month into term anyway.” Vivi shrugged as if it was common knowledge. “Would be stupid to skip uni for a few days so early into the first term.”

 

Yeojin and Jiwoo watched in shock as Vivi and Haseul casually strode from the lobby into the dining room together. They exchanged looks of mutual shock and upset at Vivi’s comments before traipsing into the dining room together, watching as Vivi and Haseul quietly spoke amongst themselves as if the previous conversation had never happened.

 

“Dad?” Jiwoo called out towards the kitchen.

 

“Yes, sweetheart?” their dad responded.

 

“Did you know Vivi won’t be back for Chuseok?”

 

“Of course, I did, we discussed it at lengths when she applied and when she was accepted to study in Hong Kong. It was my idea that she not come back, especially not in her first year.” He responded, his tone implying the response was obvious. “Coming back on such a long and expensive flight, so early in the term seems silly, don’t you agree?”

 

Jiwoo grumbled out an agreement, Yeojin shaking her head emphatically in disagreement, drawing a laugh from both Haseul and Vivi.

 

Their father easily glided into the room holding bowls of bibimbap and plates of chicken bulgogi – Vivi’s favourites, travelling between the kitchen and dining room until everyone had a serving of each. He took his seat at the head of the table, his wide smile easily eliminating any tension that remained. The 4 girls watched him expectantly, awaiting instruction.

 

“What are you all waiting for? Come on tuck in, I didn’t slave away in the kitchen for you all to let it go cold.” He prompted and smiled as everyone began devouring their food.

 

“Thank you for having me over Mr Kim, everything is delicious.” Haseul said and bowed slightly at the him.

 

“It’s my pleasure, Haseul. And for the last time call me Heechul, I hate when people call me ‘Mr Kim’.” Heechul chuckled, waving off Haseul’s praise.

 

“How come you never make tteokbokki for me, dad?” Yeojin harrumphed, a faux pout on her face.

 

“He doesn’t want to feed a little demon too much spicy food, makes them more annoying.” Jiwoo teased, their father giving her a stern look to silence her.

 

“Simple, my little bean,” Yeojin frowned at the nickname, “You’re not leaving for Hong Kong in the morning.” Heechul pointed a chopstick at her, before making a shushing motion to get her to stop complaining.

 

“Well, at least we’ll get to enjoy your songpyeon at Chuseok, won’t we dad?” Yeojin continued and threw a frown Vivi’s way – who only rolled her eyes and continued eating. “I look forward to it all year long, truly is the best food ever eaten by anyone. Can’t imagine missing it for anything.”

 

“Shut up and finish your dinner.” Jiwoo grumbled at her sister through a mouthful of rice, receiving a silent glare from her dad as a warning for talking with full.

 

“Yes, you’ll get to enjoy my songpyeon Yeojin, same as every year, now stop trying to cause arguments.” Heechul warned her, Yeojin only muttering something inaudible under her breath and taking a long drink of her coke. Haseul suddenly cleared , causing everyone to turn to look at her.

 

“On the topic of songpyeon, my mom taught me how to make a pretty mean one. She says I’m as good as her now.” Haseul awkwardly interjected, voice wobbly as if she was nervous.

 

“Good for you.” Yeojin joked. “I mean weird flex, but okay. I doubt it’s any better than our dads.” She smiled smugly, Heechul merely rolled his eyes at her before turning back to Haseul – nodding at her, as if encouraging her to continue.

 

“No, I doubt it’s as good as… Heechul’s here,” Haseul chuckled quietly. “But it’s better than none at all, and I’m sure it’d act as a nice reminder or home.” Haseul reached into her pocket and produced a folded-up piece of paper. She unfolded it and placed it next to Vivi. It was a return ticket to Hong Kong, covering the duration of Chuseok. Vivi stared at it blankly, while Yeojin cooed, Jiwoo’s heart broke and Heechul smiled at Haseul proudly.

 

“Haseul, are these real tickets? Because if not that’s not funny.” Vivi calmly asked to everyone’s surprise.

 

“I mean… yeah of course they’re real.” Haseul scoffs. “Why would I present fake tickets, that’d make no sense at all?”

 

“Yeah you , Viv. Of course, they’re real.” Yeojin laughed loudly, eliciting a glare from Heechul and a slap on the thigh from Jiwoo. Vivi cleared loudly, an attempt to break the tension, before continuing to eat.

 

“Let’s just finish this lovely dinner, shall we?” She said before turning to Haseul, whispering in her ear. “We’ll talk about this later.”

 

-+-

 

“I don’t understand why you’re so mad at me though!”

 

“I just can’t believe you put me on the spot like that, in front of my whole family, Haseul – that was so embarrassing!”

 

“Embarrassing for you? How about me huh? You couldn’t have even TRIED to not be ing horrified at that thought of me visiting you!”

 

“Don’t say that you know that’s not true.”

 

“Then why were you so angry I bought the tickets? If you weren’t upset that I was planning on visiting you, why did you freak out?”

 

“This is the sort of plan we usually discuss Haseul, you know, as a couple.”

 

“Holy Vivi, am I not allowed to surprise my girlfriend anymore?”

 

Haseul and Vivi were arguing, very loudly, on the Jo’ front porch. Jiwoo would love to say she decided to respect their privacy, even though they clearly didn’t, close her window, and ignore their argument – she couldn’t. Because, she chose to do the exact opposite. She’d opened her window further and sat as close to her window as she could in order to hear better, whilst remaining hidden. She listened intently as Haseul and Vivi went in on each other, about what Jiwoo believed to be a genuinely kind gesture. She listened as Vivi berated Haseul for repeatedly making decisions without consulting her; as Haseul brought up Vivi’s commitment issues, and general fear of emotions – a common topic that was often brought up in their arguments.

 

“It’s just so far for you to come for such a short time. It’s not even like you’ll spend a lot of time with me, I’ll be in classes all day. You should spend it with your family Haseul.”

 

“Vivi you ARE like family to me, you’re the love of my life shouldn’t that count for something?”

 

Vivi remained silent. Jiwoo leaned closer to the window in an attempt to hear more clearly.

 

“Besides, I’ve already run the idea past my parents, and they thought it was a great idea. They encouraged me to do it, even offering to pay for my flights.”

 

“You shouldn’t have spent that much money on me.”

 

“You’re my girlfriend Vivi, I love you, if I want to spend money in order to see you, I really don’t see what’s wrong with that?”

 

“Maybe you should’ve thought more about whether I’d want to see you.”

 

“What?”

 

Jiwoo clasped a hand over , not expecting Vivi to come out with something so cold, that wasn’t like her at all. She listened, heart broken and powerless, as Haseul’s voice became less determined, more panicked and distressed.

 

“Why wouldn’t you want to see me Viv? I don’t understand.”

 

“You should be living your life here, your home, not chasing after me.”

 

“Don’t say that, don’t ever say that Vivi. You’re my home, you KNOW that. You’re my soulmate, Vivi.”

 

Jiwoo felt her heart selfishly break at that, her heart hurt for herself – not for the two scared girls arguing outside.

 

 “I don’t want to hold you back Haseul, I don’t want ‘us’ preventing you from enjoying your senior year and pursuing your dreams.”

 

“My dream is to be with you, it always has been – you’re taking that away for no ing reason Viv!”

 

Silence.

 

“Did these past 2 years just mean nothing to you?”

 

“No! Not at all!”

 

“Really ing feels like it, you’re throwing it all away before we even have a chance to make it in the real world.”

 

Jiwoo had heard enough now, she no longer had the desire to eavesdrop – it wasn’t fair on them nor herself. She was so angry at Vivi, and she knew the longer she listened the harder it’d be to pretend she never heard and wasn’t ready to scream at her sister to stop being an idiot.

 

“I’d have never left you for Hong Kong, never left you full stop.” She grumbles to herself, feeling her anger bubble through her body. Everything just felt so unfair.

 

She reached into her closet, pulling a penguin lunchbox off the top shelf and taking it over to her desk. Opening it to reveal several letters, 6 to be exact, all sealed and addressed. She rifled through them for a few seconds, before removing the letter addressed to a “Jo Haseul”, carefully opening it in order to prevent the envelope from ripping.

 

The letter was long, just over 3 sides, of Jiwoo just pouring her heart out to a Haseul who would never read it. She reread the letter as the girl in question pleaded with her girlfriend outside, both their hearts breaking. She flips over the 3^rd side, the letter itself remaining untouched for nearly 2 years – in a split-second decision, Jiwoo decided to change that. She grabbed a pen and began to write.

 

“Haseulie, I would’ve travelled across the world for you, to keep you in my sight forever; could’ve never left you, not for all the money in the world. I hope you know that. I couldn’t even imagine moving away from home, away from you – I’d have taken you with me, or never left at all, if you’d chosen me. But you chose Vivi, you chose my sister. After 2 years I thought I would’ve moved on and accepted it, but I suppose I haven’t. I really did try to, and I really thought I was over you; I suppose old wounds never truly heal. I love you, and I’m sorry.”

 

She stared at the amendment for longer than she’d like to admit, angry at her sister for letting her dream girl go, but mostly angry at herself for allowing herself to remain so hopelessly in love with her – to the point where she was growing to almost resent the very girl she grew up with.

 

A quiet knock on her door drew her from her thoughts.

 

“Just a minute!” She called out, desperate to buy herself time as she hastily resealed the letter, shoving it back in the lunchbox and chucking said box into the closet. “Okay, come in!”

 

The door opened to reveal a dishevelled Vivi, with mascara tear tracks streaming down her cheeks and bloodshot eyes. Jiwoo watched, stunned, as Vivi shuffled into her room and immediately flopped, face down, onto Jiwoo’s bed.

 

They remained in silence, Jiwoo merely watching as Vivi lay flat in the middle of her bed, before rolling over so she was facing the ceiling. Jiwoo’s felt her stomach turn at the sight of her, usually well put together and content, sister so distraught and broken. She didn’t know what to do, she very rarely saw Vivi upset, she usually just went to Haseul or their dad, so comforting her wasn’t exactly her area of expertise. So, she simply moved to lie next to her on the bed, they stared at the ceiling in comfortable silence.

 

“I broke up with Haseul.” Vivi’s voice was choked up, and Jiwoo wasn’t sure she’d ever heard her voice so small before. Letting the words sink in for a second Jiwoo frowned, confused and taken aback. She turned to face Vivi slowly.

 

“Why?” Jiwoo asked her quietly, both not wanting to pry whilst being equally curious.

 

“Because it’s the right thing to do for her.” Vivi simply explained. “She’s going into her senior year now, and I just know if we’re still together she’ll take fewer opportunities, have less fun, in favour of worrying about me, I don’t want that.” Vivi mumbled, fresh tears streaming down her face. “I wasn’t even 100% set on breaking up with her, and then I saw those tickets and I just knew she was going to sacrifice spending time with family and friends for me, and I just can’t have that, Jiwoo, I can’t.”

 

Jiwoo sighed deeply, understanding Vivi’s concerns completely. Haseul was extremely good at putting her own happiness second in favour of others, especially Vivi. It didn’t stop her from feeling slightly bitter, and even a little bit cheated, though – but she’d never let Vivi know that.

 

“Do you still love her?” Jiwoo wondered out loud, causing Vivi to choke back a sob and in a deep breath.

 

“I do, god, more than anything in the world.” Vivi wiped at the tears streaming down her face, pausing to calm herself. “Which is why we have to break up. Because if we don’t, I’m being selfish and putting myself before Haseul’s future.”

 

Before Jiwoo even has a chance to respond, Vivi had risen from the bed and was bidding Jiwoo goodnight, before leaving the room – as if she was never there to begin with – leaving Jiwoo confused and conflicted.

 

-+-

 

Heechul, Yeojin, Jiwoo and Vivi stood together outside airport security, ready to bid Vivi goodbye. The three stared at Vivi sadly, unsure what to say nor who should be the one to speak first.

 

“Why are you all just staring at me?” Vivi giggled quietly, the latter 3 all breaking into smiles as she spoke. “Do I not look pretty or something?”

 

All three responded at the same time, all saying different things:

 

“Nah, you look ugly.” Yeojin giggled at the same time Jiwoo said “No way you always look pretty.” And Heechul said “You’re going to be the prettiest girl on that plane.”

 

The three of them shot Yeojin a teasing glare, who just laughed and shrugged.

 

“Don’t look at me, she’s the one who asked.”

 

“Shut up bean, c’mere you.” Vivi giggled at her antics, holding her arms out for a hug.

 

Yeojin essentially threw herself into Vivi’s awaiting arms, burying her face into her neck. She muttered something inaudible, with Vivi responding equally quietly. Yeojin just whined loudly at whatever Vivi said and pushed herself away from Vivi with a pout, causing Vivi to laugh loudly at her.

 

Jiwoo, as soon as Vivi was free, wrapped her arms around Vivi’s middle pulling her into a tight hug; her face safely tucked into Vivi’s neck as her eyes instantly welled up.

 

“How am I going to cope without you here Vivi?” Jiwoo wept. “I don’t know how I’m going to survive without you telling me what to do.”

 

“Don’t be so dramatic, Chuu, you’re going to be just fine without me.” Vivi pulled back and kissed her forehead gently. “Make sure to facetime me as often as you can though, I definitely won’t cope not seeing your chubby cheeks every day.” She grinned, squishing a cheek to make her point.

 

Jiwoo laughed and swatted her hand away, stepping back to allow Vivi to be swept into a bear hug by their dad, Vivi eliciting a shocked squeak as he lifted her off the ground, sobbing loudly.

 

“I love you so much by little deer, I’m so proud of you never forget that.” He returned her safely to the ground, placing a kiss into her hair. “Now, go kick in Hong Kong before I change my mind and make you stay.”

 

Vivi nodded at him, picking up her rucksack and slinging it over her shoulders.

 

“I love you all so much, and I promise I’ll be on the phone to you all as soon as I touch down” She blew them all kisses before turning around and walking towards security. “Joigin bāaibaai!” She called out to them, before disappearing.

 

Jiwoo finally let go of a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.

 

-+-

 

A week had passed since Vivi left for Hong Kong, Jiwoo keeping her promise to facetime Vivi every evening before Jiwoo went to bed, whilst texting throughout the day as well. It wasn’t the same as talking face to face in person, but it sufficed nicely for the time being.

 

They’d spoken for hours the night before about their worries for the start of the school year, the school year which began this very morning.

 

“It feels like everything’s going to start getting real this year Viv, everything is going to actually matter and every mistake I make will have real and dire consequences. I’m not ready.” She had groaned into the phone, listening to Vivi laugh at her being overdramatic.

 

 “The more you worry about it, the more you dwell on the negatives of junior year, the more likely it is you’ll hate it and have an awful time.” Vivi coolly explained to her. “Make sure you balance your social life with your studies though, because junior year is when you start going to parties. And I’m telling you now, if you don’t go to any, I’ll be so disappointed in you, Chuu. I raised you to be cooler than that.”

 

Jiwoo laughed at that, once again amazed and relieved at how easily Vivi had just eliminated any lingering worries she had about going back to school tomorrow.

 

“Are you excited to officially start classes tomorrow?” Jiwoo asked.

 

“Both yes and no, nursing has SUCH a heavy workload so I’m dreading that,” Vivi pulled an overdramatised grumpy face before cracking a wide grin, “but I also can’t wait. This has been my dream for years and it’s actually happening.”

 

Jiwoo stared at Vivi’s excited grin, her heart conflicted as she both missed her sister dearly and was so excited for her. She wanted so badly to continue this conversation as it was, but she had a question she had to ask.

 

“Have you spoken to Haseul at all since you got to Hong Kong?” She watched as Vivi froze and deflated at her question, shaking her head.

 

“No, I can’t bring myself to answer her calls or even look at her texts.” Vivi paused, looking contemplative yet sad, and Jiwoo suddenly regretted asking the question. “Have you spoken to her?”

 

“No, I haven’t, honestly I thought it’d be weird if I did.” Jiwoo laughed stiltedly, awkwardly playing with her hair.

 

“Please don’t cut her out for my sake, Jiwoo. You two were best friends before me and her started dating. Don’t let our breakup ruin that.”

 

Vivi’s words stayed with her, she couldn’t get them to stop ringing in her head. Jiwoo never expected to feel so guilty about someone telling her to not ‘cut out’ a friend, in fairness she never thought it’d be about a friend she was unbelievably in love with.

 

She traipsed downstairs, making her way into the kitchen for breakfast, finding Yeojin and Heechul already eating breakfast together, Heechul intently watching as Yeojin played a game on her phone.

 

“Hey sweetie, did you sleep well?” Heechul turned to her smiling.

 

“Yeah, was a bit nervous about going back to school but Vivi calmed me down last night, so I’m all good.” Jiwoo moved to grab a bowl and fill it with the most sickly-sweet cereal they had.

 

“That’s nice to hear, did you talk about anything else?” He asked, Jiwoo shrugging as she finished her mouthful of cereal.

 

“Nothing much, just talked about random stuff. She said she’s really excited to start classes today though.” Heechul smiled widely at that, whilst Yeojin whined loudly in the background. Jiwoo decided it was probably for the best that she didn’t mention they’d spoken about Haseul.

 

“Still can’t believe you’ve got to drive us to school today, Chuu.” She threw her head back dramatically as Jiwoo rolled her eyes. “You’re a driver with an even tier music taste”

 

Jiwoo rolled her eyes at the dramatic girl before her, who was sticking her tongue out at Jiwoo teasingly. In response, Jiwoo leaned over and squeezed Yeojin’s cheek teasingly.

 

“You better watch out then little bean, because you’re too tiny for me to see you in the rear-view mirror.” She released Yeojin’s cheek, leaning back in her seat casually. “Would be a shame if I accidentally backed into you and ran you over.”

 

“Alright you two, that’s enough for one morning. Yeojin, stop complaining or I’ll make you walk to school.” Heechul scolded them both, Yeojin huffed loudly at that, pouting emphatically. “And Jiwoo, be nice to your sister, she’s just nervous because it’s her first day of high school today.”

 

“Yeah, nervous I won’t make it there alive maybe.” Yeojin grumbled and Jiwoo made a point of lunging at her with her fist raised.

 

“Oi watch it, both of you.” Heechul glared at both of them. “Now go get ready for school or you’re gonna be late.”

 

 

The drive to school was relatively uneventful, Jiwoo managing to not crash into a single car, nor did she stall even once. Yeojin didn’t even complain about her driving, too distracted by the Blackpink Jiwoo had deliberately put on – she knew Yeojin would be too focussed on nailing all the moves to “DDU-DU DDU-DU” to find things in her driving to make fun of.

 

They pulled into the school carpark and parked up, just as “Forever Young” finished, and Yeojin grabbed her bag and started to open the car door when Jiwoo stopped her.

 

“Let’s run through a quick checklist, make sure you have everything.” Jiwoo proposed, Yeojin groaning loudly in response. “Come on it’ll be quick. Pencil case?”

 

“Check.”

 

“Notebook?”

 

“Check.”

 

“Lunchbox?”

 

“Check.”

 

“Phone and charger?”

 

“Double check.”

 

“Folders?”

 

“Yes, Jiwoo I have everything can I go now?”

 

“Wait one last thing.”

 

“What?”

 

“KISS?” Jiwoo asked and lunged at her sister, planting a sloppy kiss on the unsuspecting girl’s forehead before she could pull away.

 

Yeojin squealed loudly, flinging the car door open and clambering out. She shot a laughing Jiwoo a look of disgust and flipped her off before storming into the school. Jiwoo just continued to laugh as she watched the girl storm off, before grabbing her own bag and waltzing into the school.

 

She reached her locker, quickly entering her combination and opening it. She carefully took down her timetable from last year and stuck up her new one – beginning to sort out her books accordingly. She sighed to herself when she saw she had maths and then English first and second period. She was almost done sorting out her books when she felt two hands grab her shoulders and shake her, shouting “Boo!” in her ear as they did.

 

Instinctively, Jiwoo screamed and rammed her elbow backwards, it collided with the body behind her.

 

“Aww , Jiwoo, come on man.” She recognised that voice, and spun round to see her best friend, Kim Jungeun, doubled over in pain and clutching her stomach. She felt incredibly guilty until she noticed the unmistakable sound of her friends laugh.

 

“Jungeun! I’m so sorry, if I’d known it was you, I would’ve never elbowed you. Are you okay?” Jiwoo apologised profusely, despite being annoyed at her friend she couldn’t help but be worried.

 

Jungeun waved off her apology as soon as it was uttered, trying to speak but laughing too hard, through the pain, to be able to formulate actual words. After a few seconds she stands up straight, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes.

 

“Jiwoo I swear I’ve made you jump a good 10 times now, you’ve gotta stop falling for it. And more importantly, you’ve got to stop injuring me every time.” Jungeun rolled her eyes at a pouting Jiwoo. “You know it’s me and yet you always elbow me.”

 

“Don’t blame me, you know my instincts kick in the second I’m grabbed – we go through this every single time Jungie.” Jiwoo huffed. “It’s not my fault my instincts tell me to lash out and fight instead of run away.” She said shrugging innocently.

 

“ sake, I keep forgetting you do taekwondo.” Jungeun groaned, “you know it really doesn’t match with your whole cute image.”

 

Jiwoo laughed as she closed her locker, pushing Jungeun lightly on the shoulder to get her to start walking.

 

“That’s the whole point dummy, that way people underestimate me, so I get the added element of surprise when I kick their asses.” She explained, before quickly adding, “and I’m a 3^rd grade black belt thank you very much.”

 

They continued down corridor giggling, discussing what they think they’ll do in maths when someone suddenly slammed their shoulder into Jiwoo’s – almost sending her flying. Jungeun gripped her other shoulder to help her regain her balance, and they both turned to glare at whoever she collided with.

 

It’s Minyoung, of course it’s Minyoung.

 

“Watch where you’re going, .” Minyoung growled at them, Jiwoo’s strong façade crumbling instantly. “You could’ve actually hurt me.”

 

“You’re the one who slammed into her!” Jungeun jumped to her defence instantly, gently moving Jiwoo out of the way so she could stare Minyoung down. “You’re the one who needs to watch where they’re going, because one of these days you’re gonna run into my fist.” Jungeun hissed, raising a clenched fist for effect. “Then you’ll REALLY get hurt.”

 

 “Are you ing threatening me, Kim Jungeun?”

 

“So, what if I am, gonna do something about it?”

 

“Umm, Jungie we should really get to class.” Jiwoo tried to interject, a fruitless attempt to distract Jungeun and stop her from starting a fight.

 

“Not now Jiwoo, we’re not going anywhere until this apologises for shoving you.” Jungeun snarled, eyes challenging Minyoung.

 

“And if I don’t?”

 

“We’re going to have a problem.”

 

“Okay, that’s enough you two. Time to shut the up and keep walking now.” Jung Jinsoul appeared out of nowhere, with Jeon Jungkook hot on her heels – both clearly tired of the situation. They shoved themselves between Minyoung and Jungeun, effectively breaking up the fight that was about to break out.

 

“If you really want to fight, do it outside where it won’t block the hallway and piss us off.” Jungkook interjected, receiving a nod of approval from Jinsoul.

 

“And why the would I listen to you two?” Minyoung asked, tone challenging the two, with an arched eyebrow. Jinsoul and Jungkook turn to stare at the girl, folding their arms over their chests.

 

“Don’t start with us Minyoung, just off. We’ve had enough of your .” Jinsoul told her, monotonously. Minyoung just grumbled to herself before turning and stalking off, her head held high. Jinsoul and Jungkook, seeing their work is done, walk away as well.

 

Jiwoo watched, in awe, as Jinsoul and Jungkook walk away; following them with her eyes. They end up sidled next to an exceedingly glum looking Ha Sooyoung, who in turn is watching Minyoung stalk off. Jiwoo has never seen the girl look so heartbroken before, and she watched as Jinsoul pulls her into a hug whilst Jungkook was talking to her with excited expressions – She can only assume they’re trying to cheer her up. Jungeun followed her line of sight to the trio, whistling lowly.

 

“I heard Minyoung dumped Sooyoung at the start of summer, apparently Minyoung decided she no longer loved her or some bull like that.” Jungeun explained to her quietly. “But I heard, she then immediately went off and ed Hansol at some party. move right?”

 

Jiwoo felt her heart break for the poor girl, shocked that anyone could do that to her, even Minyoung. Sure, the girl was a grade A , but what she did was a whole new level of ty. She watched the trio from afar, watching as they talk quietly amongst themselves whilst Jinsoul does some overexaggerated aeygo and Jungkook watches her with disgust. Jiwoo felt an involuntary smile grace her features as Sooyoung giggles at the pairs ridiculous antics.

 

“That’s so ty, poor Sooyoung.” Jiwoo muttered back, pulling her eyes away from said girl as they walk towards the maths room. “Can’t believe Minyoung would do that to her. I mean I knew she was evil, but I didn’t know she was THAT evil.”

 

“Minyoung is famous for cutting out people she’s bored with in the most horrific ways.” Jungeun shrugged. “Remember how spread that rumour that Kim Yoohyeon and Lee Yoobin were sleeping together because someone said Yoohyeon was hotter than her?”

 

“Yeah but they were actually sleeping together, so it doesn’t exactly count as a ‘rumour’”

 

“Not the point Jiwoo, she outed them to the whole school. Devil.”

 

“You’re right, still I always thought Sooyoung was different for her. I mean weren’t they dating for like 3 years?” Jiwoo said as they walked towards the maths room. “Honestly, I feel so bad for Sooyoung.”

 

“I feel bad for Sooyoung as well, but I for one am grateful they broke up; now she’s finally single after 3 years.” Jungeun grinned at Jiwoo, who simply rolled her eyes at the girl. “The whole school has a crush on her, so everyone’s about to be fighting for a chance to pull her – if you’re want to shoot your shot, you gotta move fast and beat out the competition.”

 

Jungeun nudged Jiwoo with her shoulder, wiggling her eyebrows at her, that annoying cocky smirk on her face.

 

“Thank you know taekwondo, ay Chuu, you’ll literally beat the competitions asses. Literally.” Jungeun mocked her lightly, Jiwoo shoving her through the classroom door in response.

 

“Shut up, Jungeun. I’m more interested in seeing you crash and burn trying to get in her pants than Sooyoung herself.”

 

-+-

 

Even as an outsider in the whole drama, Jiwoo could feel the tension as she entered the cafeteria for lunch. Despite the whole cafeteria being abuzz with hundreds of students talking amongst themselves, glances were still being stolen at Sooyoung and Minyoung, and anyone with a brain could tell you that they were the topic of conversation on most tables.

 

Minyoung was sat on a table in the far corner, with a select group of girls from her debate group, whilst Sooyoung was sat at their regular table dead centre of the cafeteria, surrounded by her friends – but ignoring them all in favour of staring longingly at Minyoung; said girl making a serious effort to pointedly ignore Sooyoung, however. It was a weird thought to think that before they’d gone away for the summer, they’d been sat at the middle table together, being disgustingly over-the-top with the PDA.

 

Jiwoo made her way over to her group of friends at their table, and took her usual seat between Jungeun and Yeri, surprised to see Chaewon sat with them – she usually sat with Sooyoung and the rest of their group. It was nice to see her though, she and Hyejoo had gone away to Jeju island with both their families for a month over summer, so she’d barely seen her. Especially seeing as any free time she had, she was with Sooyoung – Jiwoo now understanding she was likely comforting the girl.

 

Jiwoo listened in to the group discussion, they were seemingly engaged in a conversation about the current drama – comparing different rumours they’d heard and then all turning to Chaewon the second they need confirmation about what rumours were true and which were total bull. It was insane how this drama, that realistically involved none of them, bar Chaewon, was causing such a debate between them all.

 

“I’m sorry but there’s just no way that ‘Sooyoung walked in on her Jaewhan off’, Heejin, there’s no way that rumours true.” Yena scoffed.

 

“Yeah right, if that was true, she wouldn’t be moping she’d be tearing that apart.” Yeri chimed in. “Chaewon, that’s bull right?” They all turned to Chaewon expectantly, who was mid mouthful.

 

“It’s not true.” Chaewon simply stated, with a roll of her eyes for added effect, before turning back to Hyejoo and continuing their quiet conversation.

 

“Wow, can’t believe Ryunjin in’ lied to me.” Heejin muttered to herself, folding her arms over her chest.

 

“Hey Chae, surprised to see you sitting with us peasants instead of Sooyoung?” Jiwoo said with a joking tone and a smile, taking the moment of silence as her chance to finally speak to Chaewon who laughed at her comment.

 

“Well I thought I’d grace you with my presence, spend some time with my girlfriend.” Chaewon beamed at her, before planting a kiss on Hyejoo’ kiss – eliciting a blush from Hyejoo and a loud gag from Yeri – before shrugging over at Sooyoung’s table. “Besides I don’t want to smother Sooyoung any further than Yerim and Jinsoul already are.” Jiwoo looks over to see Yerim and Jinsoul snuggled up to Sooyoung as close as humanly possible.

 

“That’s fair enough, she does look pretty suitable comforted over there.” Jiwoo teased, and Chaewon laughed in agreement.

 

“Y’know I overheard Minyoung talking to one of her minions, I want to say her name was Yoojin?” Yeri paused, deep in thought for a second before continuing. “Not important, anyway I overheard them talking in biology about how Minyoung was seeing a college guy called Minhyun or some .” She shrugged, tucking back into her lunch immediately.

 

“No way, I overheard Yerim and Jinsoul talking about the same thing. Only Jinsoul said that they’d been seeing each other since before she and Sooyoung broke up.” Yuri suddenly piped up, removing her head from where it’d been resting on Yena’s shoulder to sit at her full height.

 

All heads spun to stare at Chaewon, egging her on to either confirm or deny the rumour, eyes wide and excited at the information. Chaewon looked up from her lunch and jumped slightly when she saw that everyone’s attention was on her.

 

“I mean, yeah it’s true, Yuri heard from Jinsoul – why do you need MY confirmation as well?” Chaewon looked confused, everyone shrugged and gestured for her to continue. “Well, all I know is that Jungkook caught the two hooking up and a college party he went to. He confronted Minyoung, threatened her that if she didn’t tell Sooyoung he would.” Her expression turned to one of frustration and anger instantly. “Obviously, Soo doesn’t believe Minyoung was cheating on her – but everyone knows she was.”

 

“Honestly I always knew Minyoung was a stuck-up , I don’t get why Sooyoung stayed with her for so long.” Hyunjin suddenly growled, FAR too loudly for their liking, and threw a hand in the air exasperatedly.

 

“Yeah right, god she’s such a self-righteous , no ing clue how she managed to pull Sooyoung to be honest.” Jungeun chimed in, gesturing with her hands wildly.

 

“She’s probably great in bed.” Yena offered, mouth full of rice. Yuri quietly scolded her to which Yena just shrugged and smiled wildly.

 

“Please, I’ve seen her in gym. She’s not that flexible.” Yeri calmly said, casually carrying on eating her lunch. Her comment causing Jungeun and Hyunjin to howl with laughter, whilst Yena choked violently on her rice and Yuri frantically patted her on the back.

 

“She’s not even that pretty either!” Jungeun piped up. “So that’s another thing going against her.”

 

“Exactly, so you’d expect her to at least have a personality that wasn’t based on tearing people down but NOOO.” Hyunjin agreed.

 

Hyunjin and Jungeun were getting too loud with their insults directed at Minyoung, and people were beginning to look their way. Jiwoo was beginning to be extremely aware of how small the cafeteria was, how excellent the acoustics were and how Minyoung’s table was not anywhere near far enough away for her liking. Heejin, Hyejoo and Jiwoo all shared looks and began to hurriedly try to get the pair to quiet down before they got too much attention. Heejin grabbed Hyunjin’s face by her cheeks, pulling her in for an extremely chaste kiss – it worked nicely, as it rendered Hyunjin a stumbling, blushing mess who couldn’t formulate words properly. It also stopped Jungeun from shouting, as she was too distracted by laughing at Hyunjin and Yeri, who had gagged so loudly everyone thought she was going to throw up. Jiwoo flitted her eyes between Heejin and Hyunjin, the latter was flushed bright red and looked stunned – as if it was their first kiss. Heejin just looked smug, extremely proud of herself.

 

“Hyunjin you’ve been dating Heejin a good year, she barely kissed you, how the has that rendered you such a gay mess.” Jungeun laughed out, wiping a stray tear from her eyes. Hyunjin glared back at her, purposefully ignoring the fact that Heejin was also laughing at her.

 

“ off Jungeun, she caught me by surprise that’s all.” She huffed, face still bright red. “I wasn’t expecting it, so I was a bit stunned. At least I have a girlfriend.” She sneered, sticking her tongue out at Jungeun.

 

“That’s cold, when I do get one you better believe I’ll be super obnoxious about it.” Jungeun stuck her tongue out at Hyunjin in retaliation. “Get ready for the PDA.”

 

“If.” Hyunjin coolly corrects, before picking up her kitkat. “If you get a girlfriend.”

 

“So, how’s Haseul doing? We haven’t seen her all day.” Yena interjected quickly, before Jungeun can lash out at Hyunjin. “Is she doing okay?”

 

“I haven’t really seen much of her or talked to her at all since her and Vivi broke up.” Jiwoo grimaced, feeling a pang of guilt and sadness in her heart.

 

“How come, weren’t you two like insanely close?” Yuri asked innocently, Jiwoo watched as Yena whispered something in Yuri’s ear as soon as she asked, and Yuri immediately tensed and shot Jiwoo an apologetic look.

 

Jiwoo sighed, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “It’s difficult, I don’t want to have to pick sides in this because it’s not fair. Vivi is my sister, she’ll always win even though Haseul is my best- ” Jiwoo heard Jungeun loudly clear and smack her thigh, she rolled her eyes and corrected herself “one of my best friends. I really should see how she is though, it’s not fair she’s all alone at the moment. Plus, I do really miss her.”

 

Everyone around the table nodded, followed by a chorus of “I hope she’s okay” and “I’m sure she’ll sit with us tomorrow.” Jiwoo’s heart felt heavy after talking about Haseul, and she quickly jumped to change the subject, choosing to tease Heejin and Hyunjin about how bad they are at Talesrunner; to which they avidly disagreed.

 

 

 

Yeojin was already waiting by the car when she got there, shooting Jiwoo the brightest smile and effectively eliminating any negative thoughts clouding Jiwoo’s mind. It really was a sight for sore eyes, making Jiwoo feel nothing but relief.

 

“Hey Chuu, did you have a good first day back?” Yeojin chirped, smile never leaving her face.

 

“I had a good day, yeah.” Jiwoo shot Yeojin a smile of her own. “How was your first day of highschool? You look really happy.”

 

“Classes were really boring, but I got to hang out with my friends from middle school which was really nice.” Yeojin shrugged, then startled slightly when she recalls something else. “Oh! I made 3 new friends today, they’re all really cool.”

 

Jiwoo waited for Yeojin to continue, tell her more about these new friends, but instead the girl just opened the passenger side door and got into the car without another word.

 

“Well, tell me about these new friends then. What are their names? What are they like?” Jiwoo pressed, unbelievably nosy.

 

“Their names are Lena, Kai and Taehyun. They’re all really nice, Kai recently moved here from China, and they’re all into singing and dancing like me, which is cool.” Yeojin puffed put a breath of air and shrugged. “I don’t know what else to say.”

 

“That’s enough, mostly just wanted to know their names.” Jiwoo laughed, moving to get into the car when a figure walking in the near distance caught her attention.

 

“Haseul? Hey Haseul!” Jiwoo called after the girl, trying to get her attention whilst waving her arms frantically.

 

The girl looked around to see where her voice was being called from, spotting Jiwoo and the pair locked eyes; each exchanged small waves before Jiwoo remembered her reason for calling after her in the first place.

 

“Do you want a lift home, Haseul?” Jiwoo offered, pointing at her car. “I mean, we’re going to basically the same place so… makes sense, right?” Jiwoo’s chest tightened as she watched Haseul’s face fall into a deep frown – sadness painting her features.

 

“No, thanks, I’m just gonna walk home today.” Haseul called back, waved and turned away.

 

Jiwoo would be lying if she said she wasn’t dejected by Haseul rejecting her offer, the way her heart thudded lowly in her chest was a dead giveaway of her disappointment, but she wasn’t going to force the girl into taking a lift. The last thing she wanted to do right now was upset the girl any further. So instead she settled for staring longingly as Haseul walked off with her head hung low and shoulders slumped.

 

“Why doesn’t Haseul want a lift?” Yeojin asked. Jiwoo wished she knew what to tell her in response.

 

“She’s just… really sad I guess.” Jiwoo sighed. “You’ll understand when you’re a bit older, Yeojin.”

 

“I miss her already.” Yeojin grumbled sadly, and Jiwoo’s throat feels as though it’s about to close as she supressed a sob.

 

“I miss her too.”

 

-+-

 

The drive to school on the second day was more exciting, for Yeojin anyway; Jiwoo was in a surprisingly miserable mood that morning, which she had a feeling was due to a certain brunette. She’d decided to play her Twice playlist this morning, their music often succeeding in raising a low mood – especially when Yeojin was so overexcitedly singing and dancing along.

 

“SIGNAL BONAE SIGNAL BONAE.” Yeojin passionately sang along, doing all the dance moves as she did. “JJIRIT JJIRIT JJIRIT JJIRIT”

 

Jiwoo laughed at her ridiculous sister as she tried to get Jiwoo to join her in singing along, Yeojin pouting at her when the song finishes. Ready to scold Jiwoo for not singing along when the opening to ‘Likey’ starts, and Yeojin is instantly distracted, too hellbent on killing her rendition to be too bothered by Jiwoo’s lack of participation. Jiwoo did have to admit that Twice catchy songs, coupled with Yeojin’s overexaggerated dancing, had definitely lifted her spirits – maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad after all. She pulled into the school car park, mood lightening once again when she managed to snag a parking spot so near the school entrance. Yeojin made an attempt at escaping the car before, once again, Jiwoo stopped her.

 

“Not so fast lil’ bean, checklist time.” Jiwoo smirked at her sister, mockingly. Yeojin just groaned loudly, looking at her sister with pleading eyes.

 

“Can we skip the stupid checklist?” She whined when Jiwoo shook her head. “Are we gonna do this every day?”

 

“Yes, we are. Don’t whine it’ll just take longer, pencil case?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Notebooks?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Textbooks?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Phone and charger?”

 

“Yes to both.”

 

“Water bottle?”

 

“s sake, Jiwoo I have everything can I please go?”

 

“Wait one last thing…”

 

“NO.”

 

“… a KISS!”

 

Jiwoo lunged at her, lips puckered and ready for attack. However, Yeojin was ready this time and swung the car door open, practically toppling out, before Jiwoo could land a kiss on her. Jiwoo pouted at her, to which Yeojin responded by flipping her off and briskly walking into their school.

 

“Have a nice day!” Jiwoo called after her, Yeojin purposefully ignoring her.

 

She grabs her bag from the car, locked it and made her own way into school. She was halfway through the doors when she spotted Haseul leaving the girls bathroom down the hallway. Jiwoo’s instincts kicked in and she dashed after her, calling her name to get her attention.

 

“Haseul, hey Haseul!” She sprinted after her, Haseul eventually turning around to meet her eyes.

 

Haseul’s eyes glinted with sadness, and Jiwoo almost missed the way she stiffened when they locked eyes. Yet she still waits for Jiwoo to catch up to her and allows Jiwoo to grab her shoulder, for support, as she caught her breath.

 

“Are you really so out of shape, you’re out of breath after running for 10 seconds?” Haseul mocked her, laughing loudly, and Jiwoo can’t think of a time she heard a more beautiful noise. She flushed despite herself, swatting at Haseul’s shoulder lightly in a half-hearted attempt to get her to stop mocking her.

 

“Stop making fun of me, you.” Jiwoo pouted at her. “But, seriously, we need to talk because I really miss you.” Jiwoo flinched at her own words, suddenly hating herself for how dumb and in love she sounded. “I mean I know it’s only been like a week and a half, but yeah.” She made an attempt to save herself, seem less desperate, but she’s 90% sure she just made it worse – even more sure when she saw Haseul’s shoulders slump, and her smile vanish.

 

“Yeah, you’re right we do need to talk.” Haseul sighed, nodding at her. “I miss you too.”

 

Jiwoo tried to ignore how her heart soars at the added comment, tried very hard not to read into it too much. She only said it because Jiwoo said she missed her. She pulled Haseul into a tight hug, both surprised and elated when Haseul readily reciprocated the hug.

 

“Lunchtime, our usual bench by the oak tree.” Jiwoo muttered to her.

 

Haseul nodded in agreement but made no attempt at pulling back from their tight embrace. Jiwoo tried very hard to ignore how aggressively and loudly her heart was beating, fearing that Haseul could somehow tell. They remained in their embrace until a bell sounded, and Jiwoo had to fight against every voice in her brain telling her to stay as she was and pull away.

 

“, I’m so gonna be late for class. I’ve gotta run, sorry Haseul; see you at lunch!” She told her as she started to bolt down the corridor in the direction of her locker.

 

Haseul just gave her a thumbs up and laughed as she watched Jiwoo sprint down the corridor, bobbing and weaving through students.

 

 

 

Jiwoo flung herself into her seat next to Jungeun, literally seconds before the teacher entered the classroom, panting loudly in a desperate attempt to catch her breath – she’d done way too much running today, and it was barely first period. She turned to face a confused, yet pissed off, Jungeun and tried to cool her off with her brightest smile. She looked down to glance over the piece of paper on her desk. Looked like they were doing poetry in English today.

 

“Dude where were you; you didn’t come to your locker like normal I was waiting for you?” Jungeun leaned over and hissed in her ear. “I was actually worried.”

 

“I’m sorry I was talking to Haseul and just lost track of time.” Jiwoo looked over apologetically, whispering her response. “I didn’t mean to make you worried, I’m sorry.”

 

Jungeun nodded and waved off her apology. “Don’t fret about it, I understand, how’s she doing?”

 

“No idea, she’s a closed book, I can tell she’s still really sad but beyond that I just don’t know.” Jiwoo shrugged. “We’re gonna talk properly at lunch, clear the air.”

 

“Poor girl, wish she’d just talk to us.” Jungeun sighed sadly.

 

They responded to their names in role call, before sharing knowing looks and turning to their work. Around halfway through the lesson, when Jiwoo was on a roll with annotating her poem, Jungeun suddenly jolted in her seat and turned to Jiwoo; aggressively slapping her forearm to get her attention.

 

“s sake, Jungeun, stop. What is it?” Jiwoo hissed to the girl, batting her hands away.

 

“You won’t believe what happened this morning Chuu.” Jungeun whispered to her excitedly, Jiwoo fully turned to face her then as Jungeun continued. “Head in charge Sooyoung is officially back, and better than ever.”

 

“What do you mean HBIC Sooyoung is back?” Jiwoo was not at all convinced. “She was so miserable yesterday?”

 

“That’s what I thought, but I was waiting by your locker and she was at hers with Jinsoul and Jungkook, and they were like all laughing. She looked really happy.” Jungeun paused, placing a finger on Jiwoo’s lips to shush her when Jiwoo tried to interject. “Wait, it gets better. And like all of a sudden Minyoung walks past, and, get this, Sooyoung just glares at her. Like all three of them shoot her this glare. Honestly Jiwoo, you should’ve seen it, was the coldest glare I’ve ever seen.”

 

“Damn, good for her.” Jiwoo whistled. “Really wish I’d seen that.”

 

“Yeah… it was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.” Jungeun winked at her

 

Jiwoo gasped and smacked Jungeun’s arm half-heartedly, chuckling at the girl’s shamelessness.

 

“Your desperation to get in Sooyoung’s pants will honestly never cease to amaze me.” Jungeun winked at her in response, Jiwoo rolled her eyes before continuing. “But good for her, I’m glad she’s no longer moping – I hated seeing her so sad.”

 

“Ooooo, maybe she’s seeing someone?” Jungeun said excitedly. “Maybe she’s finally getting her wet again, and that’s why she’s happier!” Jiwoo responded by slapping her across the arm. “Hey, stop hitting me! It’s not totally unbelievable, loads of people have already confessed to her and loads more are practically begging her to them.”

 

“Like you?”

 

“Damn right. I’m just saying it’s not unrealistic to say she’s getting laid again.”

 

Jiwoo slapped Jungeun across the arm again, frowning at her. “I sincerely doubt she’s dating anyone so soon. I’m sure she’s just in a better mood today.” Jungeun shrugged at her, then quirked her eyebrows at her suggestively causing Jiwoo to huff.

 

“You’re just mad it’s not you.”

 

“Shut it and read your ing poem Jungie.”

 

 

 

Jiwoo had been both looking forward to and dreading her lunchtime chat with Haseul, so when the time came for her to make her way to the meeting spot her mind was running rampant. She clutched her lunchbox with a white knuckled grip as she slowly made her way over to the bench. As soon as the bench was in her sight, she realised Haseul was already there – eating what appeared to be watermelon slices. Jiwoo stopped still at the sight of her, took a deep breath and walked up to the bench and sat down.

 

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, Jiwoo not having the courage to speak yet. She opened up her lunchbox, pulled out a small pot of strawberries and began to eat them slowly. She stared at the oak tree as she figured out what she was going to say, before turning to look at Haseul. The girl looked tense and sad.

 

It was a bittersweet feeling, a bittersweet moment. Then again, every second Jiwoo spent with Haseul felt bittersweet, every second for the past 2 years; being around Haseul made her feel so warm and excited because of how much she loved her, and also make her feel so cold and unlovable for the exact same reason. She could hang out with Haseul alone all she wanted, make pretend everything was as she wished, but then, at the end of day, she’d have to watch her return into her sister’s arms. Once again, she had Haseul to herself. But it was different this time. Vivi wasn’t here, and she wouldn’t be until Christmas, and even when she returned there would still be no more ‘Vivi and Haseul’. Now, she had a chance to be selfish and enjoy being with Haseul without having the tough part of seeing Haseul and Vivi together. Deep, somewhere, in her head she had still allowed herself to believe that they were a maybe, a possibility.

 

Only now that she had Haseul all to herself, she knew she still didn’t. Jiwoo knew in her head and in her heart that she would never have Haseul, at least not in the way she wished. The girl would always belong to Vivi – she would never be good enough for her, never be better than Vivi. It was a reality Jiwoo had never really realised, or just accepted, until she sat next to Haseul and saw the heart break and pain on the girl’s face.

 

Faced with two options, forced to decide how she wanted to approach the talk with Haseul. She could trash talk her sister, make her out to be a villain, or she could do the right thing and be honest. The former option would be being selfish, indulging her hopeless fantasy that they could eventually be together; the decision Jiwoo knew was the wrong one, deep down, and yet the words still threatened to leap out of . And still that option held no guarantee, it was reckless, wrong and idiotic – and yet that tiny voice in the back of her head pleaded with her to do it.

 

“How have you been doing?” Jiwoo questioned, quietly.

 

“I’ve been doing okay, I mean obviously I’ve been better but…” Haseul paused and gulped down a shaky breath, nodding gently as she spoke, “God, I just- I miss her so ing much, y’know?”

 

“I miss her too.” Jiwoo agreed softly. “I mean, we facetime every night, but it’s not the same.”

 

“At least she facetimes you.” Haseul scoffed lightly, rolling her eyes and ringing her hands out. “She won’t return my calls, or even open my messages, let alone respond to them.” Haseul stared at her lap, shaking her head as she choked out her words.

 

Jiwoo didn’t know how to respond, didn’t know if she could without crying – her heart constricting in her chest told her she couldn’t – so just nodded solemnly at Haseul. They remained silent for another few minutes, Haseul just stared at the tree in front of them and Jiwoo stared at Haseul.

 

“Did she tell you she was going to do it? Did she say she was going to break up with me?” Haseul asked quietly, as though if she spoke any louder, she’d burst into tears. “I just- I have to know.”

 

Jiwoo shook her head emphatically, turning to Haseul fully and grabbing her hand.

 

“I had no idea, none of us did, she didn’t tell anyone.” Jiwoo said, rubbing her thumb over Haseul’s knuckles soothingly. “I don’t think even SHE knew she was going to do it.”

 

Haseul nodded at her response, sniffed loudly and wiped at her eyes, before turning to face Jiwoo.

 

“Does she ever talk about me?” She asked quietly.

 

“Sometimes,” Jiwoo answered honestly, Vivi occasionally asked how Haseul was doing but would always quickly change the subject matter after Jiwoo responded, “she mostly likes to talk about Hong Kong and ask how the family are. But she was really worried your breakup would ruin our friendship, she really didn’t want that to happen.”

 

“I just wish she hadn’t done it y’know?” Haseul whispered. “We could’ve made the distance; I know I love her enough – and I know she loves me enough. I would’ve done anything to make the distance easier, anything.”

 

Jiwoo just nodded, her heart breaking with every word Haseul spoke.

 

“We could’ve made it through, I just wish she wasn’t so scared to try.”

 

“You’ll be okay Haseul, I know you will.” Jiwoo spoke softly. “This pain will pass, and you’ll be able to move on.”

 

“I don’t know if I will, Jiwoo. Vivi… she was the one. IS the one. I can just feel it in my heart, I knew it was true the first time we kissed, and I know she felt it too. She always said she felt it too.” Haseul took a deep breath before continuing, tears rolled down her cheeks. “And she just threw it away like it’s nothing. And now I’m stuck here mourning while she’s off in Hong Kong starting a new life. A whole new life without me, and it was just so easy for her to do that.”

 

Haseul doubled over, head in her hands as she sobbed. Here it was, her chance to force a spike in their relationship, ruin her sisters good name for the miniscule chance Haseul would fall for her. Everything in her was screaming at her to be honest and do the right thing, but that tiny voice was so distinctive. There was only one choice really, she knew that. Jiwoo rubbed Haseul’s back gently, fighting her own tears as she felt her heart break as she spoke.

 

“I believe you two are meant to be Haseul, trust me, I know how much she loves you – I have faith you’ll end up together.” Jiwoo spoke softly, trying to hide her own heart break. “I know Vivi, I know how miserable she is without you. This is just a rough patch, and I know you two will make it through. Don’t lose hope yet, Haseul.”

 

“Do you really think so?” Haseul whispered, removing her head from her hands as she watched Jiwoo closely.

 

“I know so, Vivi is still so in love with you, she’d be a fool to let you go.” Jiwoo’s heart splintered into a thousand pieces, she swallowed down the sobs that threatened to sound and just wrapped Haseul into a hug. How cruel must the universe be to have your soulmate be destined to be with another, and then make that girl your sister who lives thousands of miles away.

 

A part of her felt really proud for doing the right thing, but it didn’t stop her heart from breaking, and her whole body feeling cold and empty. That was it, that was the nail in the coffin – Jiwoo knew in her heart she’d ruined any chance she’d ever have with Haseul. She really wished she could say she was happy, proud of herself even. All she felt was jealousy and regret.

 

 

Yeojin is, once again, waiting for her when she gets to the car. She watched as Yeojin points emphatically at her wrist, as if a watch was on it, then placed her hands on her hips.

 

“What took you so long Jiwoo, I’ve been waiting like 5 minutes?” Yeojin asked, tone laced with faux annoyance as she tried to joke with Jiwoo – but Jiwoo really wasn’t in the mood today.

 

“Not now Yeojin, I’ve had… a day, and I just want to get home without you getting on my nerves.” Jiwoo grumbled out, quickly getting into the car and Yeojin frowned but caught her drift quickly, and hurriedly followed suit.

 

Unfortunately, in her haste to leave the car park, she began to reverse out of the parking space without checking her mirrors. She brakes hard, and puts the handbrake on, when she hears a sudden shout in protest from outside the car.

 

“ sake.” Jiwoo muttered to herself, as she went to check the rear-view mirror. “! Oh, you’ve got to be ing KIDDING me.”

 

As if today hadn’t already been ty enough, of course it had to be the one and only Ha Sooyoung staring back at her through the back window, a mixture of shock and amusement painting her features. Jiwoo pressed her fingers to her temples, rubbing circles, in an attempt to calm herself. She spotted Sooyoung making her way round to the driver’s side, so wound the window down and prepared to have the head in charge rip her a new one. Sooyoung sidled up to her window, rested one hand on the roof of her car and her other arm in the space where the window was. She leaned into the window, a smirk on her face, as she looked Jiwoo up and down.

 

“You know Wooming, before you reverse, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to check your mirrors. Generally, people do it to make sure no one is standing behind their cars.” She said, a mocking tone evident in her voice. “I don’t know what they taught you when you learnt to drive, but that was one of the big things they taught me.”

 

“I know I know, I’m really sorry. I’ve just had a really ty day, and it just completely slipped my mind, I was so distracted trying to get out of here quickly.” Jiwoo whined, covering her flushed face with her hands.

 

Sooyoung just outwardly laughs at her apology, moving the hand that rested on the window to sit under her chin.

 

“Don’t sweat it, Wooming. My pretty face remains undamaged,” she said with a wink, “so I’m not mad. Just be more careful.”

 

Jiwoo nodded, removing her hands from where they covered her face. She risked a guilty look Sooyoung’s way and was met with Sooyoung’s signature smirk, so she whipped her head to face straightforward and gripped the steering wheel tightly. Sooyoung laughed openly at the sight of a flustered and stressed Jiwoo clutching her steering wheel.

 

“Are you gonna be able to drive home now?” She lightly. “Or are you gonna want a ride, Wooming?”

 

“Yes, I’ll be fine thank you, goodbye Sooyoung.” Jiwoo waved her off, already starting to wind her window up. Sooyoung just laughed at her once more.

 

“Okay, later Wooming and Wooming Jr!” She shouted to them, saluted, and then her heel and walked off towards her own car, shaking her head gently as she did.

 

Jiwoo just groaned loudly and face planted her hands gripping the steering wheel, just staying in that position for a few seconds before Yeojin finally spoke up.

 

“Who was that, she seems cool?” She questioned innocently.

 

Jiwoo just sat up, throws a semi-serious glare her way before taking the handbrake off and reversing once more, making sure to check her mirrors this time.

 

“Shut up Yeojin.”

 

Yeojin began to protest but decides against it immediately when “TT” by Twice blasts out of the speaker, choosing to sing along instead.

 

-+-

 

“This movie is so stupid.”

 

It was their customary girls’ night tonight, which occurred every other Tuesday night, where they would take turns picking a movie to watch and then the other(s) would make popcorn and get snacks. It was Jiwoo’s turn to pick the movie this time, and they were watching ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ on Netflix – it was one of Jiwoo’s favourites. Yeojin wasn’t too impressed.

 

“Shut up, bean, this movie isn’t stupid.” Jiwoo pouted at her younger sister. “The movie is great; now pipe down, I’m trying to watch.”

 

“I’m sorry but their whole fake relationship is just not at all believable, it makes no sense that everyone would just immediately buy into it.” Yeojin continued, clearly not done.

 

“What do you mean it’s not believable? They look cute together.” Jiwoo sent an inquisitive frown her way, waiting for her to elaborate. Yeojin moved to pause the movie, and Jiwoo knew then to prepare for a monologue.

 

“I mean, for starters Peter has quite literally just broken up with his long-term girlfriend – literally just, I mean on the first day of school they’re clearly still together – and yet he doesn’t seem at all sad about the break up. And that is especially weird as SHE’S the one who broke up with HIM.” Yeojin looked to Jiwoo, clearly expecting some sort of reaction, before continuing. “And then they expect the whole school to just believe they’re dating, what, 2 days post breakup? It’s not like they even act like a couple at all either, off with that no kiss bull – I’ve been in high school 2 days and even I know that couples never stop face.”

 

Jiwoo took a long, angry sip from her drink, really not enjoying Yeojin picking holes in one of her favourite films. Especially pissed off she’s making great points. She moved to un-pause the movie, believing Yeojin to be done with her critique, when Yeojin suddenly sat bolt upright in her seat again.

 

“And another thing, the whole ‘jock falling for the quiet invisible nerd girl’ is so played out and stupid. That doesn’t happen in real life, people stick to their own social circles. Highschool kids are way too shallow and fixated on reputation. Dating someone who no one knows or likes, that’s gonna up your reputation.” Yeojin pressed on, and Jiwoo grumbled loudly, just about at the end of her tether. “Oh, and the whole ‘writing a letter to your crush but never mailing it’ is literally so ridiculous, like no one does that in real life – nothing in this movie makes any sense.”

 

Jiwoo flushed bright red, nearly choking on air at that comment, painfully aware that she herself was very guilt of the aforementioned trope – even more embarrassed by the fact she’d gotten the idea from the movie they were watching. She cleared loudly, desperate to get Yeojin to stop talking.

 

“Stop poking holes in the movie, they’re not supposed to be realistic, dummy. Just try to enjoy it please.” Jiwoo watched as Yeojin rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “And just saying, people deal with crushes differently, I think her writing the letters is similar to someone writing about them in a diary – I think it’s a pretty cute idea to be honest.”

 

Yeojin laughed loudly at that comment. “No way, she wrote those letters because deep down she wanted them to know she liked them,” Jiwoo shook her head at her, ready to counter when Yeojin continued, “why do you think she addressed them?”

 

“Maybe she just wanted them to feel more authentic?” Jiwoo muttered quietly, knowing full well her sister was right.

 

“Nope, no way, she wanted those guys to know she liked them. She just didn’t have the guts to tell them, and at the end of the day she managed to land Peter – who is definitely the hottest of them.”

 

Jiwoo gasped loudly at that. “Firstly, how do you know she’s going to end up with Peter? The movie isn’t over yet.”

 

“Please, this is a teen romance movie, I wasn’t born yesterday, she’s obviously going to end up with Peter.” Yeojin interrupted before Jiwoo could continue. “These types of movies aren’t clever enough to throw in a curveball like making Josh suddenly fall for Lara, and then having them end up together instead.”

 

Jiwoo rolled her eyes at Yeojin. “Whatever, not important. Peter is definitely not the hottest guy. Of the two, Josh is definitely better looking, but,” Jiwoo quickly fished out her phone and searched a photo up on google, “John Ambrose-McClaren is WAY hotter than both of them.”

 

Yeojin whistled at the image. “He’s definitely hotter than Peter and Josh, I’ll concede that for sure. But there is no way in hell, Josh is better looking than Peter.”

 

“What do you know, you’re like 11 – you have no taste.”

 

“Shut up I’m 14, I do have taste, and am not ing blind – Josh just looks like every other white boy out there.”

 

“Oh, and what, Peter looks like a special white boy?”

 

“More special than Josh that’s for sure.”

 

“I’m not arguing with you over this, Yeojin, because realistically their both average at best.”

 

“Okay fine, you’re definitely right there.” Yeojin conceded taking large handful of popcorn. “But Josh is below average.”

 

Jiwoo raised her fist and began to lunge for Yeojin, but Yeojin started squealing and running away, before she could land a hit, with a pillow as a shield.

 

 

 

Jiwoo fell asleep around 20 minutes after they’d unpaused the movie, leaving Yeojin to finish it by herself. Which allowed her to continue her commentary, without complaint or pillows being thrown at her, albeit a bit quieter than before, in order to not disturb her sleeping sister.

 

“So really the hero of this whole movie is Kitty, because without her none of this would’ve happened. She basically fulfilled Lara’s secret wish and got her the guy.” She turned to Jiwoo, she was slumped across the sofa and curled around a plushie and had an epiphany. “What if I acted as your Kitty, and mailed off your letters? I literally can’t think how that wouldn’t end positively.” She took Jiwoo’s lack of response as her giving her the greenlight. “Glad to see you’re onboard, Chuu.”

 

Yeojin silently snuck off the sofa and made her way upstairs to Jiwoo’s bedroom. She navigated the mess of clothes, plushies and books littering the floor and opened the closet, grabbing the little penguin lunchbox off the floor of it and took it over to Jiwoo’s desk. She ran her fingers over the lid, suddenly doubting her decision, wondering if this was the right call. Her curiosity eventually getting the better of her, and she opened the lunchbox to reveal 6 letters staring at her.

 

“Damn Jiwoo, you’re really playing the field here. 6 letters? Even more than Lara Jean.” Yeojin chuckled to herself as she sifted through them, “These ones can be delivered by hand, I’ll get dad to take me, I am gonna have to mail these 3 though.”

 

Yeojin stared at the letter to Haseul, feeling extremely conflicted.

 

“I don’t know if I should send this one, that could really a whole lot up.” She groaned, hating having to make a moral decision. “ it, Kitty sent the one to Josh and it worked out fine. It’ll be good for Jiwoo to finally confront her feelings, and stop being a about them.”

 

-+-

 

The drive to school on the third day was calm, the two gently singing along to her boy group playlist, today Yeojin wasn’t doing her typical overly dramatic dance moves today – she seemed to be deep in thought. It was a beautiful morning though, and Jiwoo had a really good feeling about today. Despite the day before ending so poorly, she had faith that a day couldn’t get any worse than that, so Jiwoo had high hopes today would be a good day.

 

“’Love Me Right’ is by far the superior EXO song.” Yeojin suddenly exclaimed, forcing Jiwoo out of her thoughts. Jiwoo turned to Yeojin, expecting her to continue, only to find the girl looking straight ahead, no indication she was going to finish her thought.

 

“What? Where did that even come from, we’re listening to ‘Growl’?”

 

“I’m just saying, it’s the best Exo song. Not only does it slap but Lay got good lines and Sehun wasn’t paid dust.” Yeojin explained. “’Call me baby’ goes hard, and it’s the last song with Tao BUT Sehun, Tao and Xiumin got no lines. And all of the new songs don’t have Lay in them so, ‘Love Me Right’ is the best song.”

 

“Look, I’m not denying it’s a good song, just where did that come from?” Jiwoo laughed.

 

“My mind amazes even myself sometimes.” Yeojin shrugged, turned to Jiwoo with a smug grin.

 

“Sure thing, bean” Jiwoo chuckles, pulling into the school carpark and parking near the school entrance.

 

“Please stop calling me ‘bean’, I hate beans and it’s not a cool nickname.” Yeojin grumbled with a pout.

 

“I shall do no such thing, bean.” Jiwoo winked at her. “Now, lets go through the checklist- ” Jiwoo started, but Yeojin was faster; she’d already flung her car door open and was halfway outside, before Jiwoo could even finish the sentence.

 

“Nope, no checklist today! It’s dumb, so I’m going to meet my friends instead.” Yeojin said, before walking towards the school. “Later!” She called back before disappearing into the school building.

 

Jiwoo smiled to herself, shaking her head at her sister’s antics, before grabbing her stuff and making her own way into the school. She weaved through the waves of students to make her way to her locker, being accidentally shoved by a couple students, but her smile stayed plastered on her face. Like clockwork, Jungeun was already by her locker waiting for her, glued to something on her phone. Jiwoo strolled up to her, a wide grin on her face – extremely unusual for a Wednesday morning.

 

“Heya Jungie!” Jiwoo chirped happily. “I don’t know why, but I’ve got a really great feeling about today. What have you got first period?” Jungeun eyed her sceptically, a single curious eyebrow raised.

 

“Get ready to have that smile wiped off your face, we both have gym first.” Jungeun sighed, heaving her gym bag over her shoulder, as if making a point to Jiwoo.

 

“, you’re kidding me, right?” Jiwoo’s shoulders slumped, smile falling into a pout.

 

“Nope, and wait it gets worse. We’re going to be doing track today, they want to find more people for the team.” Jungeun grimaced at her. “Trust me, Hyunjin asked the teacher.”

 

“Oh, .” Jiwoo whined, head in her hands.

 

“Still got that ‘really great feeling’ about today, huh?”

 

“Wipe that stupid smug grin off your face, Kimberly Lippington.”

 

“You promised you’d never bring that nickname up again!”

 

 

 

Track was by far her kryptonite, she could fake her way through most sports - make everyone believe she knew how to play, but not playing well enough to make her target for the competitive people’s teams. But she was so painfully unfit that she couldn’t as easily run 5 laps around a stupid field. Thankfully for Jiwoo, Jungeun was a true friend and would always slow down to match her pace, even though she knew full well the girl had the stamina and speed to be near the front. They weren’t at the back of the pack today, surprisingly enough it seemed there were people in their gym class that were more unfit than Jiwoo – which did wonders for her self-esteem. She turned to look at Jungeun, only to find the girl scowling at someone on the bleachers, she followed her line of sight to find her staring at a short blonde.

 

“I’m still not over Chaewon getting out of gym, like I just can’t believe it.” Jungeun puffed out, brows furrowed even more when Chaewon waved at the pair. “There’s no way having a sore throat prevents her from running.”

 

“She’s so lucky she has such a tiny and crunchy voice, or the teacher would’ve never believed her.” Jiwoo giggled in response. “Plus, the way she can just naturally autotune her voice, she could get away with always having a sore throat.”

 

Jiwoo turned her attention back to the track, trying really hard to regulate her breathing and focus on running because there was no way she was coming last today. She looked up and watched Heejin and Hyunjin practically sprint around the track after each other, the only two in the whole class taking track seriously. Jiwoo laughed as she watched Hyunjin pass Heejin, sticking her tongue out at her as she did.

 

“There’s no way Heejin is going to beat Hyunjin, Hyunjin is basically on every sports team. Including track.” Jiwoo laughed. “Plus, I’m a good 99% sure Heejin spent her entire summer inside playing Mario Kart whilst Hyunjin was at the gym.” She turned to Jungeun, expecting her to respond, only to find her gaze once again locked somewhere else.

 

“Hey, is that Sooyoung over there?” Jungeun asked. “Looks like she’s talking to Chaewon.”

 

Jiwoo followed her gaze, leading her back to the bleachers where two figures were talking, one was Chae and the other looked undoubtedly like Sooyoung. Jiwoo’s stomach clenched, she really didn’t want to see Sooyoung today, especially after their incredibly awkward encounter the day before. She had something in her hand, it looked like a piece of paper, but Jiwoo and her ty eyesight couldn’t quite make it out.

 

“Yeah, I think so, I mean that’s not so weird; I’m pretty sure they’re like best friends.” Jiwoo muttered, trying to stop her mind from racing and tricking herself – there was no way she was here to see her. “Dude stop thirsting after her! You’re slowing way down! C’mon pick up the pace miss Jungeun.” Jiwoo rolled her eyes at the girl as she flushed and sped up to match Jiwoo’s speed.

 

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll stay focused. Last thing I want right now is to be given more laps for going too slowly.” Jungeun huffed out. “I’m sure she’s just here to see Chae, or one of the track team members.

 

They continued their way around the track, Jiwoo doing her best to shut out any thoughts about Sooyoung, and why she was there. They passed by the bleachers, making sure to wave at Chaewon as they did, and made their way up the start line, signalling the start of their fourth, the penultimate, lap – this hell was nearly over.

 

Jiwoo nearly toppled over when she heard a sudden voice calling after her, taking her completely off guard.

 

“Hey Wooming, wait up!”

 

------------

 

Thank you for reading, please subscribe and upvote if you enjoyed and give me some feedback either in the comments or on the cc I'm gonna set up for this! I'm about half-way through the next chapter, but I can't make promises about when it'll be done as I am working a lot next week, but I'm really motivated to write atm so hopefully it'll be up by next monday!!