"yeah and you know that huge blue water slide? the one you ride with 3 other people? it was CRAZY," seulgi animatedly recounted as sooyoung widened her eyes in recognition and started slapping seulgi's hands. "oh my god i remember!! my friends and i took that so many times even though you had to climb like hell for it. it was just THAT worth it!!" 

amidst the chaotic screams of excitement that their two friends occasionally let out, seungwan's eyes found joohyun's and she smiled immediately.

"look at them planning for an outing that they know we won't wanna go for," seungwan laughed, shaking her head as she twirled her fork.

"knowing them, they'd find a way to convince us to go, and for me to bring yerim along," joohyun grimaced as she thought of her mischievous little sister who was still in middle school.

"i know they adore her but knowing knowing them, the main reason why they would bring yerim along is just so they get an extra pair of helping hands in bullying us. great," seungwan sighed.

"at least we're in it together. you've got my back right, seungwan-ah?" joohyun winked, almost causing seungwan to choke on her pasta. 

seungwan clenched her fist and quickly uttered in mock confidence, "that's right, you know it!" before clearing . "YAH, stop talking about the water park. we don't even like the water." 

"old ladies we're already talking about our plans after school. we're gonna get ice cream then shop for my new dress. keep up!" sooyoung replied in exasperation, snapping her fingers in front of seungwan and joohyun's faces.

seulgi laughed then beamed with an expectant gaze while asking, "you girls wanna come along? it'll be fun!" 

seungwan and joohyun both shook their heads, about to open their mouths to give their reasons when seulgi's smile immediately turned upside down as she gingerly took out her bear pouch to hand sooyoung 5000 won.

"HA i won the bet. told you they would rather be catching up on homework or housework or their drama shows. what other reasons could there be? hmm, zippity do da, zilch!" sooyoung happily received the 5000 won, inhaling its scent. 

"y'all bet on us?!" seungwan widened her eyes. 

"all the time, seungwan-ah," seulgi patted seungwan's head. "in fact, we just bet on an ice cream treat, that you would almost choke on your food then clench your fist when joohyun winked and said that cheesy line, and you did!" 

seungwan felt her face burn instantaneously as she stood up and pointed a finger at the two of them. "I DID NOT! LIARS!" 

sooyoung whispered to seulgi, "bet on a pretzel that joohyun would ask seungwan to sit down, and seungwan would immediately do so."

seulgi grinned and whispered back, "bet on a chocolate pretzel that joohyun would hug her afterwards and they would leave for class hand in hand, together." 

sooyoung and seulgi high-fived as they watched seungwan and joohyun's intertwined hands and synchronised footsteps leaving the canteen. ah, these two, so predictably cute.

"seulgi and i are gonna get some fried chicken, you guys wanna come along?" seungwan asked as she turned around, regrettably having to let go of joohyun's hand.

"you know how i am with chicken," joohyun scrunched her face. "you guys have fun!"

"i'm on my healthy diet this week for the wedding i'm attending on saturday, remember?" sooyoung wiggled an eyebrow. "gotta look y and catch myself a hot oppa, preferably with a thicc wallet and a thicc--"

"OKAY, THANK YOU. shall we leave, seul?" seungwan hid behind seulgi's shoulder and pushed her to quickly walk away from sooyoung.

"hey, so how's the crush going?" seulgi asked once they were a distance away.

"same old, i guess? and it because she probably knows how i feel about her by how flustered i get around her but-- what am i supposed to do? continue letting her hold my hand and caress my face and cuddle with me while pretending i don't feel anything even though i feel like i'm gonna explode every time she does those things?" 

"ask her out then."

"no! that's just weird and awkward and weird and going out with her, without you guys, is gonne be weird and i've said weird too many times but it's weird!! she's gonna..." 

"she's gonna?" 

seungwan groaned. "find me weird? i don't know but no! i'm not asking her out!" 

"i can't speak for her but i'm quite sure her feelings for you aren't platonic you know, seungwan. i see the way she looks at you, the way she speaks to you, the way she treats you differently from us, from other people."

seungwan hummed non-commitantly before changing the topic. "wait! chicken first! which restaurant? our favourite restaurant?"

seulgi nodded her head excitedly, the conversation at hand instantly thrown out of her mind. "YES! THAT ONE PLEASE! THEIR YANGNYUM CHICKEN OH MY LORD." 

so seungwan found herself wringing her hands while trying to look as casual as possible standing by joohyun's locker as usual. "you can do it, wan, you can do it. all you have to do is ask her--"

"ask who what?" joohyun's wide curious, blinking eyes appearing right in front of seungwan the moment she opened her eyes, causing her to fling her body against the lockers when she realised how close their faces were. sooyoung, who had left class with joohyun, let out a snicker. 

seungwan blinked her eyes before quickly pulling sooyoung by her side and putting on a cross expression. "i don't want this to affect our friendship but... i can't keep it in anymore, sooyoung-ah. you... d-did you steal my eraser? the one that looks like a salmon nigiri? i know you did sooyoung, come on, give it back to me!" she continued dragging sooyoung down the hallway and raising her voice shakily while looking back to check joohyun's reaction. "i'm gonna go to your house and make a real mess out of it if you don't return it to me, sooyoung. i love your family sooyoung but i also love my salmon nigiri sushi eraser! stop laughing sooyoung, i'm serious! it was from my cousin when he went on a holiday in japan! yes i have a male cousin who went for a holiday in japan! he went during the holidays, obviously not now, duh! don't pretend you don't know it! i saw you playing with it during lunch break! i named him nemo, my salmon nigiri sushi eraser! YES i know nemo from finding nemo is a clownfish, not a salmon fish, but that's not the point!" 

joohyun was left in the hallway, watching tiny seungwan trying to keep her hand around tall sooyoung's neck and while also trying to look as angry as she could, with an amused and affect