“She’s pissed at me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“Oh. Well . . . I’m sorry to hear that.”

“That’s all you have to say? You didn’t even ask why.”

“Because I don’t care why. I want to sleep,” the taller girl grumbled.

Head submerged beneath the plush hotel sheets and pillows, the last thing Heeyeon wanted to be dealing with in her current state was a frantic Moonbyul pacing back and forth at the foot of her bed. Byulyi knew this, but she also desperately needed her friend’s help.

“Yeonie. Please. I’m being serious.”

“I’m hungover. Severely hungover. I don’t want to deal with your bull this morning,” Heeyeon barked.

“Bought you breakfast. It’s in the other room,” the athlete tried her last bargaining chip.

It did the trick. Grudgingly, Heeyeon rose from the bed, ignoring Byulyi completely as she passed to enter the living room area adjacent to the bedroom. Knowing that she was treading on thin ice, Moonbyul did her best to ingratiate herself with her friend.

“You’re not in your best condition, so I’m very thankful that you’re taking the ti–”

“Just tell me what happened,” the graduate student snappily instructed.

“Basically, after you left, I did something stupid because I was frustrated that Yong wasn’t answering my messages, then did something even stupider when she showed up at the afterparty.”

“This sounds promising. Go on,” the slightly older woman prompted as she unwrapped and arranged the haejangguk* and side dishes Moonbyul had treated her to.

Wasting no time, the athlete dove in, sparing no detail as she recounted the events of earlier that morning, from what happened with Jiah in the bathroom to up until an hour ago when Yongsun woke up and insisted on heading back to University Village on her own.

Reaching over to pull Yongsun closer, Byulyi’s fingertips grasped only onto loose bedsheets. Concern and alarm setting in, the athlete gathered all the strength in her body to pry her eyes open and scan the room. No Yongsun in sight.

“Yong,” she called out. Wincing slightly at the tinge of pain the action caused in , she sat up and grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand at the bed’s side. 10:00 am.

The worry that sat in the pit of her stomach ceased immediately upon hearing the pitter patter of steps coming from the living room—it had to be Yongsun—but confusion quickly replaced it. Why was she up so early? They’d only gone to bed about four hours ago.

Rolling out of bed, the carpeted floor tickled beneath her bare feet as she sluggishly trekked to the other room where she found Yongsun zipping about the place.

“Yong,” her hoarse voice halted the older girl’s movements. “What are you doing up already?”

“Hey, Byulyi,” Yongsun softly answered as she gathered her shoes.

“Why are you putting your shoes on?”

“I need to head back to UV.”

“Already?” She’d basically just gotten there. “Okay, I’ll put some clothes on and go get the car.” Before she could turn for the bedroom, Yongsun stopped her.

“No. It’s fine. I’ll take the train back. I need to think about some things. The alone time will be good for me.”

“Oh,” a crestfallen Byulyi responded. “I was expecting to drive you. Was looking forward to it, actually. Was hoping we could get breakfast and all that,” she chuckled nervously.

Each moment of silence that passed between them left the brunette feeling more and more unsettled.

“I have some things to take care of,” Yongsun finally broke the seal of silence. With that, she put on her coat and shuffled towards the door.

Moonbyul, who could only nod dumbly, racked her brain for a way to prolong the time they had together, if only for a few extra minutes.

“Take one of my sweatshirts,” she yelled suddenly. “It’s colder today than it was yesterday, and I don’t want you getting sick,” she trailed off as she scurried to the room to grab one from her suitcase. Jogging back, the athlete held an oversized sweatshirt out to Yongsun in the hopes that the graduate student would accept her offering.

Yongsun was upset. There was no way around that. Moonbyul knew that she was the one at fault and that it likely had to do with what happened before they’d fallen asleep. What she didn’t know was how upset the older woman was. If Yongsun took the sweater, Moonbyul would know she still had a chance to fix things.

A few beats passed with her arm extended, but Yongsun finally let out a sigh, rolling her eyes as she removed her puffer coat to grab the grey sweatshirt. After throwing it on over her head, Moonbyul watched as she wordlessly put her outerwear on and, once again, headed for the door. Scrambling, the senior held the door open for her, bidding her adieu.

As she brushed past the brunette, Yongsun simply said, “I’ll come back. We can get lunch.”

“Lunch. Yes. That works! That’s great,” Moonbyul beamed. For the first time that morning, she could breathe easily.

The way Heeyeon furrowed her brows and scrunched her face at certain parts of the story as she cleaned the containers of their contents, Moonbyul thought some sage advice would be coming her way.

“Yeah, you’re done. Give it up.”

“Wait, what? I came to you for help, and you’re telling me to ‘give it up’?”

“I can’t help you because you’ve refused to help yourself. It’s been how long now that you’ve had a crush on Yongsun-unnie? Since January? That’s nine‑going‑on‑ten months, Byul.”

“She was in a relationship!”

“Yes, she was. She’s been single for three, almost four, months, though. And you’ve done nothing in that time.” Seemingly annoyed by Moonbyul’s heavy exhale, Heeyeon got harsher. “You know who’s been doing something during that time? That Seungyeon girl.”

“We don’t know that,” the younger rolled her eyes. That wasn’t the part of the story that she wanted to focus on. All she needed was help on how to get Yongsun to no longer be upset with her.

“We do know that. You just told me that unnie disappeared for hours this morning, not answering any of your messages. Where was she? With Seungyeon.”

Growing tired of her roommate’s know-everything attitude, Byulyi snapped a bit. “Okay, Heeyeon, forget it. I came asking for help and instead, you’re being a . Sorry I ing asked.”

“Don’t ing yell at me because isn’t going your way, Byul! If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she dismissively answered. It had already been decided that she wasn’t going to stay much longer. Saying nothing, she stood from the couch and walked to the room’s exit.

“Here she goes. Walking away. Like always.”

“Seriously, Heeyeon. Just drop it. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’m dead serious.”

“That is your problem,” Heeyeon threw her hands in the air in frustration. “You always want to ‘drop it’. All of the that you need to talk about, you avoid until it can no longer be avoided.”

“Maybe you should’ve become a psychologist,” Byulyi sarcastically remarked.

“Maybe you should become less of a smartass,” Heeyeon spat back. “You come here, waking me up to about Yongsun-unnie being upset at you. She has every right to be upset—all you do is stretch the truth about the women in your life.”

“That’s bull. I’ve been with one person since Yong and I have been friends.”

“You lied to her about nothing happening with Sunmi. Didn’t tell her about Haena-unnie until after she railed on you for bringing the girl to her birthday party. Now with Jiah, unnie showed up to hang out with you and ended up walking into yet another one of your ‘misunderstandings’. Come on, Byul. Get real.”

For most of their shouting match, the senior stood near the door, ready to bolt whenever the stress of Heeyeon ragging on her became too much. Now, though, at the pattern in her behavior being so clearly laid out in front of her, she needed a seat and some time to process things.

Granting herself a moment of complete honesty, she could admit that her actions made her look like a jerk. There was a valid—in her eyes, at least—justification for each of the situations that Heeyeon mentioned but taking a step back and assessing things from an outsider’s perspective, she looked . . . not great.

“Judging by the look on your face, you stopped being defensive and finally listened to what I was saying.” The voice startled Moonbyul as she hadn’t noticed when Heeyeon took a seat next to her on the couch.

“Whatever, Heeyeon.”

“At the end of the day, I want the best for you. You’re great at a lot of things, Byulyi, but unless it’s related to basketball, you at communication. It’s caused you many sticky situations, all easily avoidable if you’d open your mouth and say what you mean. Yet time and time again, you refuse.”

Yeah, she couldn’t dispute any of this.

“Now you’re making the same mistake again. Is unnie mad at you? The two of you know each other very well, so if you think she is, I’ll take your word for it. I just find it funny that instead of asking her, you came to me. Could have literally just asked her what the issue was.”

“It seems that easy, but it’s not that easy,” Moonbyul argued.

“It is that easy, Byulyi. Ask her what the problem is, apologize, and you’ll be fine. She’ll forgive you.”

“I don’t know,” Moonbyul hedged. “It was weirder this time. I think she’s really upset.”

“She’s been ‘really upset’ before and she’s always forgiven you. She’ll forgive you this time, too.”

Heeyeon’s flippant attitude about the current conflict with Yongsun rubbed Byul the wrong way, but she let it go since most of her roommate’s words were useful.

“What’s more urgent, is this crush of yours. You need to do something soon or else you’re done, Byulyi. I know you didn’t like me mentioning Seungyeon earlier, but you have to be realistic. People don’t just spend hours together at that time of morning doing nothing.”

“It’s possible.”

“It’s not. If they were physical, you’re screwed. If they weren’t, it means there’s an emotional bond there, which means you’re even more screwed.”

Face in her hands, a garbled sound escaped Byulyi. None of this was supposed to be as soul-crippling as things were shaping out to be.

“Why is this so hard?”

“Because you’re not doing anything, Byul.” The words were critical, but the senior could sense that Heeyeon was attempting to handle her and the situation more gently this time around. “We’re always honest with each other, so I’ll continue being honest with you: you have it easy when it comes to women. They approach you. They chase you. They put in the work. You just sit back and choose who you’ll entertain and when. Unnie isn’t like that. If it weren’t tragic, it’d be comical how much of a run for your money she’s giving you. You have to do something. Say something. If you keep sitting back, there will be more Seungyeons. There will be more Jinyoungs. More people who like Yongsun-unnie, make it known, and do something about it.”

“I don’t even know if she likes me like that, Yeonie,” the athlete sighed dejectedly. It seemed that was all she could do this morning. The more Heeyeon talked this through, the more hopeless it all sounded.

“Does it matter at this point? Give her a reason to like you. Turn on your charms. Do whatever it is you do. Just . . . make it clear that you’re an option.”

“Am I, though?”

“Oh my gosh. Right now is not the time for a pity party,” Heeyeon scoffed. “Do we know if she likes you as more than a friend? No. We don’t. But even with other options around, she still makes time for you. She hung out with Seungyeon and then found a way, at five in the morning, to end the day with you. You said she’s upset with you and refused to get breakfast, but she still took your sweatshirt and agreed to the two of you having lunch.”

“Because we’re friends. We’re just friends.”

“You’re not just friends. The two of you are best friends. She means a lot to you and you mean a lot to her. Don’t take advantage of that, because that’s weird and creepy, but . . . like . . . use it to your advantage? I don’t know how exactly that works. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and talking when I need to be sleeping. You can figure the rest out.”

“Is that code for you are kicking me out now?”

“Yes. I’ve used much more energy than I planned to by being forced to fix your love life. We’ll meet up later. I’m going back to bed.”

“That’s fair. Thanks for helping me,” Byulyi shyly shared in earnest.

“Of course. You’re my girl. You’re useless half the time and clueless the other half, but you’re still my girl and I’m rooting for you.”

The two came to a natural end to their discussion before going their separate ways—Heeyeon, as promised, to her bed, and Moonbyul to the hotel’s gym. Just like Yongsun, she needed time alone to think things through. The facilities available to her didn’t have much of the equipment she typically used for workouts, but the treadmill would do just fine. For at least the next hour, she’d run off the stress that had seeped into her body and mind.

After quickly stopping at her room next door to change into workout attire and catching an elevator from the eighth floor, the brunette scrolled through her phone to pass the time. There were no messages from Yongsun. Not unexpected, but it still stung.

Heeyeon’s words instantly came back to her in that moment. Proactive. She needed to be proactive when it came to Yongsun from now on. Instead of waiting for a message, she’d send one, and if the older woman needed space and time, she could ignore communication and respond whenever was more appropriate for her. What Moonbyul needed to do, though, was show effort.

To: Yong

Hi! Going to work out. Lmk when you’re coming back

and if you want me to pick you up! 11:37 am

Quickly closing her messages, Byulyi enjoyed the calming jazz music that filled the elevator for the remainder of her journey to the lower level. Upon reaching her destination, she strode into the miniature gym, immediately finding the row of treadmills, but settled on first doing a quick ten-minute warmup on a stationary bike.

More interested in going through the motions than being mentally present and engaged, Byulyi let her legs do their thing as she scrolled through Instagram. The photos and videos that captured various parts of the previous night served as the perfect distraction. Mind drifting once again to her conversation with Heeyeon, Moonbyul’s fingers moved under their own volition. Before she knew it, she was on Seungyeon’s page, eyes locked on her most recent upload—a picture of her, Yongsun, and Chorong at the club they visited on Friday. They sat on a couch, bright smiles on two of the three faces. Instead of looking at the camera, Seungyeon had an arm casually slung around Yongsun’s shoulders, nose pressed against the blonde’s temple with a sentimental expression painted on her face. The display itself was much more intimate than anything she’d expected to come across, but the fact that this girl had posted it for the public to see . . . what did that mean? What was the nature of their relationship?

The comments helped naught in clearing things up.

_{127 likes}

seungyeon A great night with even better people.

_{View all 49 comments}

sirae Awww!

^{40m      10 likes  Reply}

          |seungyeon @sirae We need one with all four of us next time.

chorong We look good! You definitely had a great night 👀 @yongsun

^{30m      4 likes   Reply}

          |seungyeon @chorong @yongsun Expose me 😭

          |chorong @seungyeon You exposed yourself lmao

hs0401 You did well.

yongsun You *would* choose this one to post.

^{3m        3 likes   Reply}

          |seungyeon @yongsun Guilty. I wanted to show off a little, I’ll admit it.

^{Add a comment . . .}

^{1 hour ago}

No. Just . . . no. Not on her watch. No.

*

That Instagram post shook her up a bit, she wouldn’t lie. Yongsun had never hidden her friendship with Seungyeon, but that picture and those comments? Byulyi’s head was spinning, and it wasn’t as if she had an inordinate amount of time to process things either. By the end of her workout, Yongsun had messaged with the news that she’d be back at the hotel within a few hours. Byulyi had to quickly get herself together. And, to her credit, she did. Accomplishing everything on her to-do list, the senior even had a few moments before lunch with Yongsun to mentally prepare herself, to create a step-by-step plan for how she’d approach things and clear the seemingly foggy air between them.

“Are you going to eat that?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you were going to eat that,” Yongsun repeated, pointing her chopsticks at the noodles on Moonbyul’s plate.

Covering her plate, Byulyi jokingly rejected her best friend’s advances, “You ordered what you wanted and now you want to eat my food, too? Rude.”

“Yes. Move your arm, please,” she wrenched the athlete’s hand away before eating freely from the plate that wasn’t hers.

Sitting back, Byulyi enjoyed the scene in front of her. It was a relief, really. Her and Yongsun’s journey to a nearby restaurant wasn’t as tense as she thought it would be. They talked normally—a massive feat for Byulyi whose heart was pounding against her chest. The younger woman did not like conflict. That was one of the main reasons she tended to not address elephants in the room—doing so usually led to difficult conversations that she preferred avoiding. Her go-to for conflict resolution was allowing time to heal all wounds. It wasn’t as if she thought that to be a productive way of handling things. On the contrary, she knew it was an ineffective method of creating sustainable solutions. Handling things that way was easier, though. Much easier. Didn’t require vulnerability, didn’t produce more friction, didn’t lead to hurtful words. Well, it didn’t lead to hurtful words in the moment, and that was all Moonbyul cared about—things being fine in the moment.

As she had known for some time now, and as Heeyeon had confirmed earlier, this approach was lazy and more detrimental than confronting things head-on. If she was serious about ensuring a relationship with Yongsun, platonic or otherwise, she couldn’t be lazy. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for the potentially murky conversation she was about to initiate.

“It’s nice to see you in a good mood again,” she started timidly.

“When was I not in a good mood?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Moonbyul quickly scolded, before pouting and continuing, “To answer your question, this morning. You were mad at me.”

“Oh yeah? What makes you think I was upset?” The ominous tone with which she asked that question, coupled with the way she set her chopsticks down and, mirroring Byulyi, sat back in her chair, raised the hairs on the senior’s neck.

Yongsun was a fun person, very easygoing at times, but there was always something intimidating about her. It often felt as if she was a few steps ahead, as if she already knew the answers to the questions she posed, asking them as a formality.

“I thought you were upset because you were upset. Normally, when we wake up and I say good morning, you say, ‘Good morning, my most favorite person ever, light of my life. Did you sleep well?’ But today, I said it and you barely even grunted a response.” Humor. That was her secret weapon. No matter what, she could make Yongsun laugh, and Moonbyul would use the hell out of it right now to make things less uncomfortable.

“You are so annoying,” Yongsun rolled her eyes, but was unable to stop the way her lips curled upward in amusement. “Maybe I was tired.”

“Maybe, but even the way you walked around the suite was different. There was a lot of tension in your shoulders. You don’t normally walk like that.”

“Wow. You pay attention to everything, huh?” A hint of challenge was detected in that response. Internally taking a deep breath, Byulyi met that challenge.

“When it comes to you, yes. I pay attention to everything,” she held Yongsun’s gaze. Yongsun held hers back.

They sat there staring for a few seconds that felt like minutes, questions piling between them.

Yongsun broke first. Crossing her arms, she cleared . A sip of water later, arms crossed in front of her, she hummed an, “If you say so.”

There was no more avoiding it. The athlete had to be brave and jump into the mess she caused.

“Look, I want to apologize,” she leaned in, resting her hoodie-covered forearms on the table between them.

“For what?”

Heeyeon prepped her for this when Byulyi brought this apology up earlier.

“She’s going to ask you what you’re sorry for. A lot of people apologize for the sake of apologizing, never giving much thought to what they’re actually apologizing for. This is, like, your one thousandth offense. She’s probably going to call you out on your bull.”

“For this morning. For the thing with Jiah.”

“You’re a grown woman. You do what you want with whomever you want. Don’t justify your actions to me.” Her tone was cold, confirming to Byulyi that she had read the situation correctly.

“It’s not a matter of justifying things, it’s a matter of me being wrong. Whatever happened between me and her should have stayed between me and her. She shouldn’t have brought you into it, and I shouldn’t have created a situation where any of that could have happened.”

“Mmm.”

“Yeah . . .”

She wasn’t expecting a round of applause or anything, but the athlete did think she’d get more to go off of than a “mmm”.

“What are you thinking?” She prodded.

“So you only apologized for that because you thought I was upset at you?” Head tilted to the side, eyes squinted. Byulyi felt as if she was being cross‑examined. Yongsun was seriously no joke sometimes.

“No. I apologized because the whole thing was a mess that I handled poorly. Also, because your opinion matters a lot to me—you matter a lot to me. The possibility of you thinking poorly of me? I didn’t like that. It made me reflect on my actions and I realized I have a lot of room for improvement. I reached out to Jiah after my workout and we met up. I apologized for how I treated her. She was skeptical, which is completely understandable and fair. I’m not entitled to her forgiveness, but at least I put it out there that I know I was wrong.”

“That’s . . . very mature of you.”

“You sound surprised.”

“Because I am.”

“Not one to mince words, are you?”

“Not anymore, no. I’m working on being more direct from now on.”

“You were plenty direct before,” Byulyi laughed nervously.

“Not with everyone,” the graduate student’s eyes bore into her own. By “everyone”, Yongsun meant “Moonbyul”.

“Got it. Well, I realize I haven’t been the best at communicating, so . . . I’ll be working on that from now on. Feel free to hold me accountable.”

Getting no verbal response, Byulyi directed her energy towards cleaning up the scraps of food Yongsun left her.

“Thank you for the apology,” she heard out of nowhere. A wave of relief washed over her when she looked up and saw a smile. It was small but pronounced enough to bring about the cute dimples at the corner of Yongsun’s lips.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled back.

“I don’t know if ‘upset’ was the correct word, but I was thinking about a way to address last night’s events with you.”

“Is that what you needed space to think about? What happened to being direct?” Byulyi joked.

“It was one of the things I needed to think through. And that’s why I said I’m working on it,” she nudged the younger woman’s leg under the table. “Stop being annoying.”

“I was joking. It shouldn’t be on you to always address any issues we have. I need to start pulling my weight. As for me being annoying, I can’t help it. I was born that way. Ask my mom.”

“How is she? It’s been forever since I talked to her.”

“It’s been forever since I talked to her.”

“Horrible daughter.”

“I’m just at everything, huh? Horrible friend, horrible daughter. What else can we add to the list?” She joked at her own expense.

“Stop. You’re not a horrible friend. You’re a great friend,” Yongsun softly reassured her. “There are some things you can be better at, but there are things I need to be better at, too. No one’s perfect.”

“Aww. You’re defending me again. That means I’m forgiven, right?”

“Aren’t you always forgiven? I always let you off easy. I need to stop that.”

“No, you need to keep doing that. I deserve it because I’m the best. But just me. No one else gets that special treatment, okay?”

“Whatever, Byul,” she chuckled.

“Do you want more food? Or dessert? Get whatever you want. Everything’s on me,” she boasted.

“Listen to you bragging!”

“A little,” she blushed. “Seriously, though, when we’re together, I got you. Okay?”

“Okay,” Yongsun accepted.

The air between them felt lighter. Moonbyul could breath easier. There were some topics that needed to be addressed that neither brought up throughout the duration of their meal—Seungyeon being a big one—but their interactions were no longer stiff, their words no longer cautious and clipped. They felt like them. Moon Byulyi and Kim Yongsun.

*

After lunch, Byulyi and Yongsun didn’t see much of each other. The former took a nap, the latter went to spend time with Wheein and Hyejin. The two youngest were asleep well into the afternoon but woke up to receive the food Yongsun made Byulyi purchase for them. When Byulyi woke up, Wheein and Hyejin reported that Yongsun had fallen asleep in their room. Figuring the graduate student would be knocked out until the party later that night, Moonbyul went back to Heeyeon’s suite. Their tension from earlier long forgotten, and with Byulyi’s distress over Yongsun resolved, the two gossiped for hours about the stories they’d heard from the previous night. For Moonbyul, it was both a relief and slightly concerning that her debacle with Jiah was child’s play compared to some of the other shenanigans SNU students had gotten into. The night ahead was bound to be even messier.

Time passing quicker than anticipated, she and Heeyeon hurriedly got dressed for night two and joined the rest of the Women’s Basketball team at a pregame happening a few floors below. They later migrated to Club Octagon and secured a private room for them and their friends.

*

Almost midnight, no sign of Yongsun, Wheein, or Hyejin. By now, Byul felt she should have known better than to leave the three of them to their own devices.

To: Faves

I get it. Fashionably late and all that

but when are you 3 getting here?!

I miss you all. 11:30 pm

Ahnyonce

You miss “us” or you miss unnie? 11:34 pm

Wheeinie

🤣 🤣 🤣 11:35 pm

Yong

We’re coming 🤣 11:35 pm

Wheeinie

* 🍹 11:36 pm

Ahnyonce

** 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷 11:37 pm

Byulyi

You’re all drunk 😒 11:38 pm

Yong

I’m not! They are. 11:39 pm

Wheeinie

You are! 11:39 pm

Yong

🤫 11:40 pm

Byulyi

😩 I’m coming to get the three of you. 11:40 pm

There were no dull moments with her friends. Even with the stress of trying and failing to imagine the trouble they were causing in the halls of the New Hilltop Hotel, Moonbyul was excited.

Excited might have been an understatement. The four of them hadn’t partied together in some time. This going to be a night.

“I’m gonna get the girls. They’re . . . somewhere. Drunk.”

“Already? Geez. I need to party with them!”

“Don’t encourage them,” Moonbyul laughed.

“Why not? It’s the last night of Midnight Madness parties. We’re supposed to act reckless. They have the right idea.”

“They can act as reckless as they want once they get here. I just need them in the same room as me.”

“Wish granted,” Heeyeon pointed to the entrance of their private room.

Following the direction of the pointed fingers, she saw her '92 Club friends leading Wheein, Hyejin, and Yongsun into the room.

“Look who we found!” Sandeul exclaimed over the blaring music.

The first feeling that overtook her was relief. Her friends were safe and she managed to avoid making a trip through the growing mosh pit on the lower level.

That was quickly replaced with panic because damnit if Yongsun didn’t look breathtaking.

“Oh my goodness,” Heeyeon uttered. “Yongsun-unnie looks . . . wow. Oh my goodness. Good luck, friend.”

Tousled, blonde hair. A thin-strapped, black leather minidress. Knee-high, black fishnet socks.

“Close your mouth,” Hyejin giggled as she waltzed by to claim a spot on the couch.

*

Admittedly, the night thus far had been the most fun Moonbyul had had in months. Genuine fun. Surrounded by her closest friends, she couldn’t have asked for anything better. The sound of laughter traveled from every inch of the room as her teammates, best friends, and '92 Club members chipped away at the degrees of separation between them. She, too, worked the room and joked around with everyone, but Byulyi always had a read on where Yongsun was.

The graduate student was at the sweet spot of intoxication, if there were such a thing. She wasn’t as drunk as when first arriving, but she wasn’t sober either, and it showed. Not in any sloppy movements, but in the way she interacted with others. This was a Yongsun different from any other Byulyi had encountered, more carefree. Expertly initiating and terminating conversations, the blonde sauntered around their private room and the section of the balcony in front of it as if she owned the place. Looking the way she did, it was possible.

About an hour after the trio arrived, they were spread out on the couch having a conversation with Heeyeon. Moonbyul joined them after receiving a stern reminder from her roommate only a few moments prior:

From: Hee-yawn

What happened to making yourself an option?

You were mad last night that she wasn’t here.

She’s here tonight. Come on. Turn on the charm. 12:50 am

That was the encouragement she needed. Unlike the rest of her friends, Byulyi wasn’t drinking—someone in the group had to have their wits about them. Heeyeon’s text became the shot of liquid courage she needed.

“Look who it is,” Hyejin announced from the couch as the athlete approached, “You said you missed us and then avoided us for the entire hour we’ve been here so far.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you. The three of you were making your rounds. I didn’t want to cramp your style.”

“Excuses, excuses.”

Scanning the area, she noticed there was no space on the couch for her.

“Yong, get up.”

“What? Why?” The graduate student at the far right lifted her head from her cell phone.

“Because there’s no space.”

“So where am I supposed to sit?”

“On me.”

It was comical watching the blonde act as if she was annoyed. For all the rolling of her eyes and kissing her teeth she did, Yongsun obediently stood, allowing Byulyi time to situate herself before descending onto the athlete’s lap and wrapping her right arm around her neck. It felt right. Being like this with Yongsun felt right.

“Hi,” she smiled at her best friend.

“Hi,” Yongsun rolled her eyes.

Grabbing hold of the older woman’s chin, Byulyi gently caressed it. “Why are you always rolling your eyes at me? I thought we were back on good terms?”

“We were never on bad terms. I was just annoyed with you,” Yongsun, yet again, rolled her eyes.

“Well . . . don’t be annoyed with me.”

“It’s that simple, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s that simple,” she grinned.

Right arm s around the older woman’s waist, left hand resting on her stomach.

Lips to Yongsun’s ears. “You look beautiful,” she whispered.

“You always say that,” Yongsun scoffed despite shivering slightly.

“Because you always look beautiful. Anyway, how has your night been?”

“All of it has been great! Except the part where I came to this party and my best friend was too busy with other people to spend time with me.”

“Sounds like the worst best friend. Where is she? I’ll go give her a piece of my mind for you.”

“You’re so annoying!” A hand still on Yongsun’s toned stomach, she felt the way it contracted from how hard the blonde was laughing. A smile of her own formed in response.

Background chatter increased exponentially as an influx of guests made their way in and out of the room throughout the night. Out of sheer necessity to contend with the noise, the pair were forced physically closer. Byulyi spoke directly into Yongsun’s ear, Yongsun held onto the side of Byul’s face, pulling her closer whenever she had something to say. If anything, the younger of the two began intentionally asking open-ended questions that required long responses. She craved the feel of Yongsun’s soft fingers on her face, grew addicted to gentle caresses Yongsun didn’t realize accompanied each of her animated stories. The end of the couch transformed into their own little world, both content with being the other’s only company for the night.

“I have to pee,” Yongsun suddenly announced. Reaching across Byulyi, she tapped Wheein. “Wheein-ah, I have to pee.”

The senior watched as both women held tightly onto each other, slowly and carefully making their way through the bodies that filled the room. Once out of sight, she checked the couch to see who she could talk to for the time being and was met with a fierce pair of squinted eyes locked on her.

She scooted closer.

“Hi, Hyejin. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Leave it alone, unnie,” the youngest declared, warning in her voice.

“Excuse me?”

“Leave it alone.”

“Am I that bad of an option? You always sound so against the idea of me and her.” She attempted to make a joke out of it, but that fell flat, exposing how hurtful Hyejin’s constant objections were.

“Unnie. Look at me,” she urged. “It’s not a matter of you being a bad option for Yongsun-unnie. You’re wonderful.”

“But?”

“But . . . I don’t think she’s ready for anything serious, and I don’t know how serious you are. I’ve said it time and time again: a relationship between the two of you would affect all of us, and if neither of you are serious, then you’d be sacrificing our friendship for nothing.”

“How are you so sure that I’m not serious?”

“The last time I asked you why you liked her, you said, ‘Because she’s pretty.’” Sensing a rebuttal, Hyejin stopped the athlete. “I know you were lying, but still, that in itself was telling. You couldn’t even be honest with me about how you felt for her.”

“That was months ago, Hyejin. She was still in a relationship at the time.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll give you that. What have you done since then, though? I haven’t seen anything convincing on your part. You just mope around and get fussy when she hangs out with anyone remotely attractive.”

Heeyeon had said almost the exact same words earlier.

“I’m trying, Hyejin. I’m trying. If you want to hear me say it out loud, I’ll say it. I like her. A lot. And it’s been eating me alive to sit back and do nothing about it, but I’m trying. I just . . . I’m trying.” It was embarrassing how inarticulate she had been. There were thousands of reasons she felt the way she did for Yongsun. Roughly scrubbing her face with her hands, Byulyi felt a soft hand halting her actions.

“Unnie,” Hyejin regarded her softly, “I’m not against it, and at the end of the day, you don’t need my approval. You can do whatever you want. I’m simply worried for you, worried for her, and worried about our friendship.”

“I doubt you’re this worried about her and Seungyeon,” the statement came with an appropriate amount of bitterness.

“If you want to know about her and Seungyeon-unnie, then ask her, don’t try to secretly get information out of me.”

“Seriously, Hyejin? For once, be on my side with this. I know she talks to you about this stuff.” Just like that, her great night was turning sour. “I don’t get it. I’d do anything for her. You know that. Why can’t you just help me out a bit?”

Moments of silence passed, the club’s rhythmic beats filling the space between them.

“Fine,” Hyejin conceded. “I don’t know if she likes you the way you like her.” Moonbyul’s heart dropped to her stomach. “If I had to guess, I’d say she feels something, but that would be me guessing. She hasn’t talked to me about you, so I don’t know. The thing between her and Seungyeon, from what I know, they just hookup sometimes, it’s nothing serious. Not on Yongsun-unnie’s end, at least. I suspect Seungyeon-unnie likes her a bit, but, again, that’s me guessing. I don’t know for sure.”

The athlete’s stomach turned inside out at the thought of Seungyeon holding Yongsun the way she held Yongsun. Hyejin sensed her discomfort.

“None of that matters though. Unnie isn’t looking for anything serious right now. She has a lot on her mind and is trying to have fun and get comfortable with herself. Contrary to what you may believe, I’m a fan of the two of you being together. Just not right now. I believe you when you say that you’re going to put more effort in. You’d be great for her and she’d be great for you when you are both ready. She’s not there yet.”

Things sounded dismal. Not great. But something Hyejin said earlier came back to mind.

“So . . . you think she feels something for me?”

“That is what you held onto?” The youngest laughed a bit.

“Yes, it is. I liked her before with no chance of hope. Now there’s something to hold onto. A chance. That’s progress, right?”

“Yes, it’s progress.”

“Why do you think she might like me?”

“Look at the two of you. It’d be weird if you were that close and she had zero feelings. The way she is with you is different, I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, who knows?” Having received no response from the athlete after a few moments, Hyejin announced her departure, saying she was going to find Wheein and Yongsun.

Heeyeon had texted her that she and the rest of the '92ers left to find food before they’d call it a night. Byulyi was left alone with her thoughts, and she had plenty of those. There was no correct way of going about things. After their lunch and the time spent together in the club, it felt like she and Yongsun were back on track. Their rapport was good, they were clicking. Right now, it was either she went back to pining in silence or she proceeded full speed ahead with amplifying her efforts to be considered as a viable romantic option.

At that moment, Byulyi caught a glimpse of Wheein, Hyejin, and Yongsun on the balcony outside the private room she sat in. The three were in their own world, dancing seductively to a sensual R&B tune. Yongsun, though . . . Byulyi could only let out a deep exhale at Yongsun’s actions. Oblivious to the eyes attentively on her and her every action, the graduate student shook her hips in sync with the music, a dangerous smile adorning her face. Byulyi would be damned if she left her out there alone looking that good.

Quickly abandoning her seat, the senior joined her friends. With Wheein and Hyejin dancing together, the brunette confidently grabbed a hold of Yongsun’s hips from behind, feeling slight trepidation as she felt the shorter woman freeze.

“Don’t stop because of me,” Moonbyul laughed, voice husky. Loosening her grip slightly allowed Yongsun to turn around in her arms.

“Excuse me, ma’am, I was dancing alone,” she cheekily told the athlete who stood there with a dumb smile on her face.

“Dancing is meant for two,” she leaned down and whispered into the older woman’s left ear.

Even though, Yongsun rolled her eyes, Moonbyul thanked the heavens when she turned back around and, with the athlete pressed closely against her back, resumed her hip gyrations.

Unsure of where the confidence came from, Byulyi rested her arms on the banister in front of them, caging Yongsun between them as she pressed against the blonde’s back. Engrossed in the moment, she tucked her face in the nook behind the shorter woman’s right ear, breathing heavily against the area. Every breath expelled against the area elicited goosebumps.

The tension between them was palpable, both seemingly content with—for this one song—doing and not thinking. Moonbyul was more than fine with that. As a hand snuck back and grabbed hold of her head, pulling it lower and closer to Yongsun’s neck, the athlete figured Yongsun, too, was okay with just doing and not thinking. She didn’t fight it. In fact, she pushed a bit further, slowly skimming her nose along her best friend’s neck as she enjoyed the sensation of Yongsun grinding on her. It was sublime. It was also too short.

Before she knew it, a more upbeat song cut through their bubble, effectively ending the moment. Byulyi backed up, giving Yongsun space, but never removing her eyes from the woman in front of her. When Yongsun turned around, their eyes met for a moment, the older playfully grabbing the brim of Moonbyul’s baseball cap.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Yongsun smiled shyly.

“Okay,” Byulyi laughed. “Ready to go?” There was no point in staying any longer. She was already too worked up and didn’t think anything further would be helpful.

“I don’t think she’s ready for anything serious.”

“Unnie isn’t looking for anything serious right now.”

“She’s not there yet.”

Their dance was a good point at which to end the night.

“Yeah. I’m tired.”

“Okay. Let’s see what Wheein and Hyejin want to do then we can go.”

“Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, who knows?”

Maybe it was wishful thinking on Byulyi’s part, too, but it felt like, for those few minutes their bodies were joined, Yongsun let her guard down. And it felt like there was, in fact, something there. It felt like she had a chance.

She’d try. She’d throw her hat into the race and see what happened.     

Note: Look at Moon Byulyi!

Thank you to all those that have left comments, subscribed, upvoted, read silently, bookmarked, etc. Could have never imagined this level of support. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve received a lot of feedback these past few chapters, all constructive, so thank you for so freely sharing your thoughts! I read all comments and think seriously about how to continue improving.

*haejangguk: Korean hangover soup