Just Friends?

Getting By, Just Barely

The late-night dinners continued. Became a custom, actually.

 

Hesitant, unsure “Would you like to get dinner?” text messages evolved into “Let’s do x pm tonight?” messages, which easily transitioned into “I have so much to tell you later” messages. It had only been one month since their first meal together, but Yongsun and Moonbyul had grown close. They reached the point where they texted every day from morning to night and when they met up, they talked about almost any and every thing. Almost, because although they were both aware of it, neither addressed the fact that they only met up for dinner at the Commons from Monday to Thursday—never for lunch, never at one of their apartments. They communicated via text during the weekend, but never made strides to actually hang out. That was another level of friendship that neither was sure they had unlocked yet.

 

It was a Friday afternoon in late September. As had become their routine, Wheein and Moonbyul joined Hyejin for lunch at the Food Court before her class at 2:00 pm. They sat at their usual table near the entrance to the food stalls, in their usual seats. The ’95 liners faced the stairs that led all visitors from the first floor of the Student Center to the second where the Food Court was located. Moonbyul sat across from them, her back to the stairs.

 

For the past five minutes, Wheein had been passionately explaining why it was she disagreed with her History of Modern and Contemporary Western Art professor on the significance of hip-hop.

“He’s completely fine with acknowledging Jean-Michel Basquiat as the genius that he is, but denies the importance of the role that Basquiat’s environment played in cultivating that genius. You can’t do that! It doesn’t make sense. All the inequalities that Basquiat used his art to critique were also being discussed in early hip-hop. Do you think he wasn’t influenced by that at all?!”

“Ohhhh. Good point, Wheein,” Hyejin cooed as she stealthily stole more food from Moonbyul’s tray. Her unnie’s glare did nothing to dissuade her.

“That’s what I thought, too! I said this in class and the professor completely shut me down. He didn’t even provide a counterpoint, just ignored everything I said and moved on to something else.”

“How dare he?”

“Right?! I was so upset for the rest of the class that I thought seriously about just walking out. He is so rude! And how are you a professor about Western art but know nothing about the context in which Western art was created?! That seriously makes no sense.”

“Mmm, none at all.”

 

Despite her annoyance with Hyejin stealing her food yet again, a snort escaped Moonbyul. Anyone with eyes and ears could tell that Hyejin was paying no attention to anything Wheein was saying. She had, however, mastered the art of offering well-timed statements of reassurance for her childhood best friend. Hyejin looked up from the tray full of food she stole from Moonbyul and mimed at the basketball player to be quiet before Wheein noticed her laughing. It was too late for that though.

“Is something funny, unnie?” The tone that the short-haired sophomore used alerted Moonbyul to the fact that Wheein was not in the mood for jokes right now. The correct answer to the question was no, so Moonbyul said no.

“Uhhh, no.”

“So what were you laughing at?” Wheein asked, furrowing her brows and staring daggers at Moonbyul. The latter looked to Hyejin for help, but the youngest discreetly shook her head before once again directing all of her attention to the tray of food in front of her. Looking back at Wheein, Moonbyul sighed. She’d have to sweet talk her way out of this one.

“I was . . . laughing . . . because . . . I, uh, couldn’t understand how someone could be so cute while upset?” She thought she did a decent job of pulling that together. Wheein stared at her for a few beats before speaking again.

“You’re gross.”

“Sorry.”

 

Luckily, Wheein’s annoyance with her faded and turned into annoyance with something else. A few more minutes passed before Moonbyul saw a brunette briskly walk past her table. Unlike a month ago, she was certain this time around that it was Yongsun.

“Yongsun-unnie!” It was relatively crowded in the seating area, but Moonbyul made sure to raise her voice loud enough to combat that.

The girl came to a sudden halt, aimlessly looking around for where the shout had come from. Moonbyul shot out of her seat to meet her confused friend. She approached from behind, placing her left hand on the grad student’s lower back before snaking her way to in front of Yongsun.

“Hey!” Moonbyul greeted enthusiastically. Yongsun let out a sigh of relief as she placed a hand on her chest.

“Oh, it’s you. I was so nervous. I had no idea who could be calling my name in this place. What’s wrong with you!” At that, fists began raining on Moonbyul’s shoulder.

“Ah, unnie, stop. That hurts,” Moonbyul laughed.

“I was so scared.” She knew she shouldn’t, but with the way Yongsun was pouting, Moonbyul couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re so cute,” she responded adoringly. More fists connected with her shoulder. “Yah! Stop that.”

“Who are you talking to like that? Remember that I’m older than you.” Moonbyul suddenly descended into a deep bow.

“My apologies, ajumoni. You are correct. I will have more respect for my elders from now on. Please forgive me.”

“Clown.”

 

Yongsun rolled her eyes before brushing past the still-bowing athlete. Moonbyul took a few more seconds to laugh at everything that had taken place. In the month that they had known each other, she had irritated Yongsun more times than she could count. She was just as good, though, at digging herself out of self‑created holes and getting back on her unnie’s good side. Yongsun hadn’t covered much distance since abruptly walking away from her, so she jogged lightly to catch up, hugging the brunette from behind and swaying her from side to side.

“Don’t be mad, unnie. It was a joke. You’re not old. You’re young and cute.” Her right hand left from around Yongsun’s waist to poke the brunette’s right cheek. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning Yongsun around to face her. Lowering her head to stare sincerely into a pair of dark brown eyes, she repeated, “I’m sorry.” Just as Yongsun seemed to be warming back up to her, Moonbyul poked her nose.

“Yah. Get off of me. You always have to ruin everything.” A new fit of laughs erupted from Moonbyul. Tired of standing, the basketball player found an empty table nearby to sit on. Yongsun followed.

“Why are you here anyway? I thought you worked from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Fridays.”

“I do, but I hadn’t had lunch yet and Kwon Jihun sunbaenim didn’t have much for me to do, so he gave me an hour for lunch.”

“He’s a cool guy,” Moonbyul added. She was familiar with Kwon Jihun not only because of her being a basketball player at SNU, but also due to her participation with the Korean Women’s National Basketball Team. He was a tremendous help when it came to balancing her university and national team duties, specifically managing training and nutrition. “Wait, why didn’t you tell me you were getting lunch? We could’ve eaten together.”

“We never get lunch, so I assumed you already had plans.”

“So? You could always join. I’m here with a couple of friends now, do you want to join us?”

“It’s okay,” Yongsun refused, “I’m actually supposed to be meeting a couple people here.” The surprise at that must have been evident on Moonbyul’s face because Yongsun further clarified, “Some of my classmates. They’ve been inviting me out a lot, so we’ve been hanging out here and there. I mentioned lunch to them and they said they’d be here, so . . . here I am.”

“Ohhhh. And here I am talking your ear off. Do you see them anywhere?” Yongsun took that opportunity to search the Food Court for her fellow graduate students.

“Ah! Yes! They’re over there.” Following the direction of the pointed finger Yongsun had extended, Moonbyul saw a dark-haired guy and girl sitting at a table not too far off. The former waved his arms frantically to get Yongsun’s attention, while the latter eyed her cautiously.

“Mmm. Okay, I’ll let you go then. Talk to you later though?” she asked optimistically while pushing off of the table.

“Of course. I’ll text you.”

“Cool. Make sure to walk safely to the table.”

“Shut up. You’re so annoying.” They shared a couple giggles before going their separate ways.

 

*

 

“Who was that?” Hyejin was never one to beat around the bush.

“A friend.”

“Everyone’s a friend until they’re not.”

“Well.”

“Is that the girl you eat with every day at the Commons?” Wheein decided to chime in.

“Wait, what? She eats at the Commons every day with some girl?”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard.”

“Why didn’t you mention it before?”

“I only heard about it a couple days ago during Archery.”

“How exactly did that happen?”

“One of my classmates came up to me during warmups and asked me if Byulyi‑unnie was dating someone. I asked her why she was asking, and she said because she lives in Commons and whenever she goes down to the dining hall for dinner, she sees unnie with a brown-haired girl.”

“Is that true, unnie?”

 

For the first time in that entire exchange, Wheein and Hyejin allowed Moonbyul a moment to speak. And she had no idea what to say.

“Uhh . . .”

“So you are dating her?! And you didn’t tell us?!” Hyejin was devastated.

“I’m not dating her!” Moonbyul defended herself from these rumors. She looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. Stories about her and her personal life always seemed to take on a life of their own. “We’re just friends. I swear.”

“You looked a lot closer than friends during your little chat.”

“Hyejin, come on. Stop. We’re just friends.”

“Is that your doing or hers? Because you looked super into it.” Moonbyul scoffed.

“Are you serious right now? Wheein, please tell her she’s being ridiculous.” When Wheein didn’t immediately jump in to save her, the blonde looked up to see her friend’s lower lip trapped between her teeth, face pensive.

“Unnie. The two of you did look really close,” she reluctantly admitted.

“Not you, too, Wheein-ah.”

“Sorry, but it’s true.”

“Well, we’re just friends. It’s really not like that with her. At all.”

“You say that like it’s unfathomable. She’s cute. Very cute. That’s your type, isn’t it?” Hyejin took a sip of her drink, eyes assessing Moonbyul.

“Can you stop staring at me like that, please? And I didn’t know cute was my type.”

“It’s definitely your type,” Wheein added.

“You two are ridiculous. Yongsun-unnie and I are just friends.” Hyejin continued to eye Moonbyul speculatively before a mischievous smile slowly crept onto her face.

“You don’t know if she likes girls or not.”

“Ohhhhh,” Wheein joined in.

“So? What’s your point?” Moonbyul asked defensively.

“You’re not making a move because even though you like her, you don’t know if she’d be into you or not.”

“Hyejin, your mind!”

“No. Not her mind. She’s not right. Unnie is my friend. That’s it. I’m allowed to have friends that are simply friends.”

“You are,” Wheein agreed, “except, other than your teammates and me and Hyejin, there are no women that you’re simply friends with.”

“Until now. Her name is Kim Yongsun. I’m done talking about this, by the way.”

“Boooo. You’re no fun, unnie,” Hyejin whined, cheeks puffed out.


“I’m going to get some food. Yongsun, you want tteokbokki, right?” She nodded in the affirmative. “Cool. Chorong, what about you?” The latter answered, eyes still glued to Yongsun’s face.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having, Changsub.”

“Got it.”

“Thank you, Changsub,” Yongsun added softly before he walked away. Chorong staring at her was slightly uncomfortable, but she figured the girl would say what she needed to say when she was ready. In the meantime, she scrolled through her email on her phone.

 

Unlike with Moonbyul, Yongsun had become acquainted with these two by them approaching her first. It was the wildest coincidence. They were all ’91 liners that took a year off before attending graduate school, and all three studied Educational Counseling. After a week of seeing each other in every class, Changsub approached her, asking if she wanted to join him and his friend for a late lunch. She had declined the first invitation, but he was persistent. Eventually, her resistance was worn down.

 

Changsub and Chorong had both attended SNU as undergraduate students. They grew close during their four years together, gradually adding more members to their “‘91 Club,” but they were all guys. It never worked out with any of the girls that they approached. Changsub felt bad for Chorong initially, but she later joined a sorority, so he felt comfort in the fact that she had female friends.

 

Watching Yongsun always by herself during the first week of classes made the Cs feel for the brunette. They both agreed that it was worth a try to bring her in to their friend group. Neither of them had regretted the decision since. Yongsun was introverted—similar to Chorong—, but there was an edge to her that gradually became revealed to the Cs as they spent more time with her. She was pleasant and kind, but also sarcastic and very honest. They enjoyed hanging out with her during the week for lunch and were ecstatic when she’d accept their invitations to go out on weekends with the rest of their crew. She fit in perfectly. Everyone loved her.

 

“How do you know Moon Byulyi?” Chorong’s face had softened from the hard expression she wore earlier. It encouraged Yongsun to swallow the sarcastic remark she had ready. She had a feeling that Chorong’s sour mood had to do with Moonbyul and she didn’t like the idea of her same-year friend harboring hostility towards the basketball player.

“We’re friends.”

“Just friends?” Yongsun’s mouth fell open at that before scoffing. “I’m just trying to look out for you. Be careful with her.”

“Noted. What’s your issue with her?”

“I don’t know her personally; I wasn’t around last year when she got here. From what I’ve heard from my sorority sisters, though, she’s a big-time athlete that’s unbelievably charming. That’s a dangerous combination. She talks to every girl like they’re the only girl in the world and when they fall for her, she acts confused as to how that happened. Be careful with her, Yongsun.”

 

Changsub chose that moment to rejoin their group. “What are you two talking so seriously about?” he asked as he carefully placed all of the food he bought down on the table.

“Moon Byulyi,” Chorong replied tautly.

“Ohhh, the ladykiller! I hear she gets all the girls. Do you know her, Yongsun? The two of you were talking for a while. You looked close.”

“I know her, yeah,” Yongsung answered in a subdued manner.

“Nice! Could you ask her to give me some tips on how she does it?” Changsub was never great at reading a room. “Actually,” he drawled out, “I’ll ask her myself.”

 

Chorong’s eyes were no longer on her, but on something behind her. Changsub was doing the same. Before she could turn around to check out what was attracting their attention, a uniquely deep voice directly behind her made Yongsun pause.

“Unnie.” Yongsun turned to face the supposed ladykiller her friends were just discussing.

“What’s up, Byulyi?”

“Sorry to interrupt. Oh.” She acknowledged Chorong and Changsub by giving them quick bows before introducing herself. “I’m Moon Byulyi, nice to meet you. Again, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I needed to ask Yongsun-unnie something real quickly."

Chorong stared at her blankly, while Changsub smiled cordially at her. “Don’t worry about it,” he kindly reassured her.

“Cool, thanks.” Moonbyul took the empty seat next to Yongsun. “Uh, my friends are upset that I haven’t introduced you to them, so they sent me over to invite you to hang out with us tonight. Nothing big, just the group of us eating, drinking, and talking. There’ll probably be more drinking than usual though. My days of freedom are winding down.”

“I forgot official practices start for you on Monday,” the brunette rolled her eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”

“I need support in difficult times like this, unnie.”

“Anyway! Text me where the get-together is happening and what I should bring.”

“No need for a text. It’s happening at my place tonight at 8:00 pm. You only need to bring this pretty face of yours.” Moonbyul reached over to gently grab Yongsun’s chin.

“Yah!” Yongsun slapped Moonbyul’s hand away. “What is wrong with you? Why are you like this?” She was met only with Moonbyul’s hearty laughs.

“It’s because of your reactions! I can’t help it. It’s so easy to get you to react, unnie.” A moment later, she stood up, “I’m heading to the gym now. Gotta go lift. Text me, okay?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Perfect. It was nice to meet you both,” she bowed once more towards Chorong and Changsub before leaving.

 

Their table became engulfed in silence.

 

“I get it now. I fully understand why girls flock to her. She’s so smooth. Moon Byulyi is a legend. Yongsun, how can I become friends with her? I need her to teach me.”

“Shut up, Changsub,” both Chorong and Yongsun responded in unison.


Note: As always, I’m here to thank all of you that continue to support this story. It’s unhealthy how quickly my day improves when I get a notification that someone left a comment. I am grateful!

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Saluhmander
Have not forgotten this story. Slowly making progress on the next chapters.

Comments

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brokecorgi
#1
Chapter 51: Hope you've been doing well. It's been 3 and a half years. I had left aff and my account here in dust when suddenly one night I remembered about this wonderful story. Re-read it today and realised how much the characters resonated within me. Also moonsun's dynamic gave me a deajvu of my relationship which I ended 3 months in. The reason was similar to Byuli's here in the last chapter but it was way too late for damage control in my case. The time was not right. I had pined on her for a long long time and she was new with everything and needed time to be in ease with the affection. I needed more but knew that this was not something that any of us could improve on so I quit. It's been 1.5 years. It did not hurt as much to lose a lover than it hurt to lose the my bestfriend of life.

Apart from that I hope you're having a blast and everything at your home is fine. Wishing you all the happiness in life.
walayu #2
why do the good ones all left unfinished
lovemammoo #3
It’s been 3 years. I guess there’ll be no update for this story😔. Since today’s my birthday I still feel like reading it again
_quietmoo_
#4
Chapter 51: "we should take a break"
it was meant for the author and the readers i guess :')
TennoujiMegumi #5
Chapter 51: i’m still putting on my faith that you’ll come back and finish this story… i love this story so so much 😞
Mmmmoooo #6
Authornim i hope you’re doing well. Please come back soon 🥹
Mmmmoooo #7
Chapter 51: This was the best fic I’ve read. I couldn’t stop reading from 8pm to 8am. I just wish the story wiuld continue 😭
Mmmmoooo #8
Chapter 51: Authornim please comeback 😭
Ctucker47 #9
I come back every now and again still hoping it's updated! The best fic I've ever read nothing compares.
iodizedseult
#10
Chapter 51: authornim please come back 😭 but wherever you are, hope you’re doing okay 😭