The Before

_____

When Hyejin pushes through the open door of Wheein’s apartment, she finds Wheein sitting on the floor with a pile of clothes surrounding her. It’s a Friday, which means it’s time for their weekly dinner date. It usually involves them eating take out in Wheein’s bed and her being kicked out when she inevitably spills sauce on Wheein’s sheets. 

“Hey,” Hyejin greets as she closes the door behind her. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning.” Wheein gestures towards the clothes scattered around the floor as if her actions are obvious.

“You know,” Hyejin starts as she puts down her bag and shrugs off her coat. “People usually put their clothes in a closet when they clean.”

“I’m sorting out what I wanna keep and what I can get rid of,” Wheein explains. She holds up a piece of clothing, examining it with a frown on her face.

“Hey, I thought I lost that shirt!” Hyejin yanks it from her hands. “What else have you stolen?” 

She starts digging through the pile of clothes, ignoring Wheein frantically trying to slap her hands away.

“I already sorted those, you’ll mess up the piles!” she huffs.

“There’s different piles?” Hyejin asks incredulously, but stops regardless.  

“Aish, I’m more organized than I look,” Wheein says as she throws another shirt over her shoulder.

“Oh how I wish that were true.” Hyejin dramatically throws her arms around Wheein’s shoulders and leans into her, causing them to fall on top of one of the piles. 

Wheein whines in protest for a moment, but when Hyejin doesn’t appear to be planning on moving any time soon, she allows her arms to encircle her waist.

They lay there for a moment, Wheein impatiently tapping her fingers on Hyejin’s arm trying to ignore the fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach. Hyejin just sighs and smiles into her neck in return. She eventually leans up on her elbows, freeing the girl pinned under her.

“Do you remember that guy from Daegu I told you about a couple months ago?” she asks, chin resting on her palms as she looks up at Wheein who has gone back to sorting her clothes.

“Ah, Sung-something?” Wheein says without looking up.

“Sungmin,” she nods. 

Wheein definitely remembers. It was a guy Hyejin had met a couple of months ago. It was no secret to her that Hyejin had liked him from the very start. She had made that clear to him too, but he seemed to keep his distance for some reason. Wheein remembers the text saying he wanted to just be friends and Hyejin’s disappointment that followed. Their ‘friendship’ withered soon after. 

“The text guy,” Wheein acknowledges.

“Yah,” Hyejin throws a shirt at her face. “I have a date with him tomorrow.”

Wheein freezes, using the shirt covering her face to hide whatever emotion crosses it in that moment. Hyejin going on dates or even dating for longer periods of time isn’t new to her, but the pain it causes her still takes her by surprise every time. 

She knows it’s unfair of her to feel that way. Hyejin is someone who loves fiercely, and while it may be painful at times, it’s always beautiful to see her that way. Wheein has had years to prepare for moments like this. She knows these moments are inevitable, but she’s not sure if having that knowledge makes it any easier to bear.

“But there’s one thing,” Hyejin hesitates.

“What?” Wheein finally yanks the shirt off her face.

“It’s a double date.”

Wheein already opens to protest, but Hyejin quickly continues.

“His friend is really nice and he has a lot of similar interests to you. He’s tall and he has cute curly hair and apparently he really wants to meet you,” Hyejin says.

“Absolutely not,” Wheein says, digging through a pile of clothes she has already sorted.

“But Whee—” 

“No.”

“He’s really—”

“No,” Wheein says again.

“Listen—” 

“Nooo,” Wheein drags out, only stopping when Hyejin lunges at her and puts a hand over .

“Why not?” Hyejin asks with a pout on her lips.

Hyejin having a date with a guy is one thing, but her having to be there when it happens will just put her through unnecessary pain. Her safest bet is staying far away from that date and mentally preparing to be bombarded with all the details after.

“Ask Yongsun-unnie,” Wheein says instead of answering.

“That’s your worst idea yet,” Hyejin scoffs. “Imagine how embarrassing she would be.” 

“Byul?” She suggests.

“She would get me friendzoned before we would even be able to order our drinks,” Hyejin whines. “You haven’t dated in so long, come on.” 

It’s true. Wheein’s last relationship had ended two years ago, shortly after Hyejin’s first serious relationship had ended. It had been a difficult period for her when it started, with Hyejin having less time for her because of her own relationship. It had started with friendship, but personal struggles and fears about her biuality had made her accept when he asked her to be his girlfriend. 

It had been nice for a while. He was funny, handsome, and kind. Their relationship sprouted from friendship, but she knew her feelings for him weren’t as strong as her feelings for her best friend were. When Hyejin broke up with her boyfriend, Wheein’s relationship had naturally ended not long after.

“Can’t you go on a date with just Text Guy?” she asks.

“I think Sungmin is too shy to go on a single date,” Hyejin pouts again. “Please come with me, I really want you there.”

“You just want me there because there’s no date without me,” Wheein grumbles. 

Hyejin gasps at that, grabbing a hold of the sleeves of Wheein’s hoodie and dragging her forward into another hug.

“I want you there because you’re my best friend and I love you,” she says. “You’re my Wheeinie.”

Wheein can’t help but giggle when Hyejin wriggles her fingers into her sleeves until they won’t go up any further. 

“So you really like this guy, huh?” she asks as she leans into the warm embrace.

“On a scale of one to ten? I’d say a solid eight,” she nods. “On a scale of one to Wheein? Probably a two.” 

She laughs at her own joke and proceeds to press a quick kiss to Wheein’s cheek, startling the girl for a moment. Before she can react, she pulls her arms out of Wheein’s sleeves and gets up.

“I’ll order chicken.”

___

Wheein restlessly pulls at the bottom of her dress where it has slightly risen up, revealing more skin than she’s comfortable with. She was planning on wearing a nice top with simple but classy dress pants, but Hyejin had somehow managed to convince her to wear a rather tight and short dress. 

Perhaps the “You look really hot,” whispered in her ear was what had swayed her decision. 

So now here she was, at the entrance of the restaurant they were meeting at for their double date. She fumbled with her phone while awkwardly looking around her, feeling oddly out of place. 

“Are you here yet?” she texts Hyejin.

A reply comes almost immedia