Jungeun had no actual intentions of being at the dance studio today but now she was more thankful than ever. It’s only one in the afternoon when Jungeun decides she’s done with dance practice. She still has an hour to burn before Yerim arrives and they go to the woods, so she just wanders around for a while. Maybe she can stop by the convenience store to grab something to munch on while she waits. She shudders at the thought that whatever snack she decides to have could be her actual last meal, ever.

Honestly, what if she steps into that forest only to never come out of it again. She’s not being dramatic, really, that’s totally possible. Like, it’s happened before. Jungeun’s hatred towards that damned spot is no secret. No matter how many people tell her that it’s not that bad and that she’s just being a coward, her perception of it will not be changed.

Those woods feel like a place that shouldn’t be there. They always have. It’s such a dark and abandoned space, filled with absolutely no evidence that humans reside anywhere near it. It feels vacant. Such a contrast with the town that it surrounds. It’s as if in that area the universe simply forgot to make stuff happen. Everything ceases to exist. Even sound. Everything feels like a background noise, even your own thoughts. Your own existence. It’s hollow and being there makes you feel hollow, too. It’s an emptiness that dawns upon you.

So, really, can you blame Jungeun for not liking being anywhere near it?

Sure, maybe she is a bit sensitive towards this type of stuff, and maybe after twenty years of living in this town she should be used to this type of feeling cause, honestly, it is always in the back of your mind. Every place feels slightly…off. Like it doesn’t belong there, but somehow it does. Like you shouldn’t be there, but somehow you are. Everyone knows that feeling, it’s always weighing you down, how could they not? No one ever mentions it, though. Isn’t that the way things are supposed to be? It’s all they’ve ever known, so they don’t really see anything strange in it. It’s the way life works there. It’s never occurred to them that this doesn’t happen to everyone else.

For Jungeun, though, there are some places that are the opposite of all that. They make her feel grounded, real. They’re very limited, though. This dance studio is one of them, for example. This place always feels right. When she dances, she feels like there’s no other place she should be at and her existence never feels quite as right as when she’s immersed in a choreography. It’s such a familiar feeling.

Jungeun is snapped out of her thoughts when she hears loud music coming down the hallway she’s passing through. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, of course music is always playing in a dance academy. But she feels something pulling her down there. Be it because of her curiosity, boredom, or just the sense that that’s exactly where she should go. Without even realizing it, Jungeun’s already opening the door to the room holding all that sound. She does so slowly, careful to not disturb whoever might be inside.

There’s a single person inside. It’s a girl. She doesn’t notice Jungeun and so just continues dancing and God, Jungeun thinks, it’s so beautiful. Suddenly a warm feeling takes over Jungeun’s entire body. There it is again, that sense of familiarity. Of belonging.

Jungeun’s not sure of how long she stares for and has no idea of when exactly it is that she notices that the dancing girl is Sooyoung. But once she does it only becomes even more beautiful. Sooyoung moves elegantly. So elegantly, she doesn’t even look like a person anymore, no physical being could ever be able to move like that. She’s one with the air that surrounds her, she moves along with it, not through it. It’s sharp, but soft. Captivating; just like her.

Jungeun is completely in a daze. She’s only shaken out of it when the music suddenly stops, and it feels as if her own source of oxygen has been cut, too. Sooyoung turns to look at her, in surprise. She’s out of breath, and her chest rises and falls violently as she tries to recover it. She’s covered by a thin layer of sweat too, it makes it seem as if she’s glowing. Jungeun doesn’t notice it or anything, let alone find it attractive.

“Jungeun?” Sooyoung asks, gasping.

Jungeun looks like a deer caught in headlights.

“How long have you been standing there for?”

Good question, she honestly has no idea.

“Uh,” Jungeun says, suddenly feeling dry, “Not much.”

“….I think” She adds very lowly as an afterthought, mostly to herself.

Sooyoung smirks knowingly for some reason and starts walking closer to Jungeun, who’s still awkwardly standing near the door frame.

“Like what you see?”

Jungeun blushes so furiously at that that it even reaches her ears. It’s so easy to get that response from her, and because she looks so stupidly adorable while at it Sooyoung sees no reason on why she shouldn’t make Jungeun feel embarrassed at least once every time they see each other.

“Uh, I mean,” Jungeun replies, smooth as ever, “You are a very good dancer. That was amazing, really.”

The honesty in the compliment catches Sooyoung off guard and she shyly smiles back.

“Thank you, that means a lot,” Sooyoung’s voice sounds incredibly soft.

“So, what are you doing here?” Sooyoung extends her hand for Jungeun, who takes it almost involuntarily. It’s so soft. Sooyoung drags her to the middle of the room and makes them sit on the floor. “Did you come just to spy on me? Cause I’d be super flattered but like it’s also getting creepy how I always run into you.”

“You wished,” Jungeun, replies “I was just doing some practicing, it's just a coincidence…a lucky one…”

Jungeun doesn’t know what came over her when she said that last phrase, but suddenly she feels really hot and is extremely self-aware of her hand being in Sooyoung’s. When did they even start holding them? Should she let go now? There’s really no reason to be grabbing each other’s hands like this. But…it feels so nice. She wants to keep doing it.

“Maybe it’s fate,” Sooyoung suddenly says, and even adds a corny wink to it. It makes Jungeun freak out even more. Why can’t she stop freaking out? She thinks she even squeezes Sooyoung’s hand by accident as a response, and- was that Sooyoung squeezing back?

“Or…” Sooyoung smiles, “Maybe it’s just the fact that I come here literally every day but that’s less exciting, isn’t?”

“Whoa,” Exclaims Jungeun, impressed, “Everyday?!”

Sooyoung nods.

“You must really like it, huh?”

The girl nods again, evidently more excited this time, “It’s my favorite thing, it always has. It’s just…my thing.”

Suddenly it dawns on Jungeun how lucky she had been to witness Sooyoung’s routine earlier. Without even knowing it, she had caught the girl in her most vulnerable and personal moment. It almost feels like a privilege. She can only hope she gets to experience it again sometime.

“It shows,” She says, fondly recalling how much in her element Sooyoung had seemed while dancing.

“You know,” Sooyoung speaks in such a delicate manner. It feels as if the entire world pauses for a moment just so Jungeun can listen to her, “I’ve always liked dancing, but I only started taking it seriously during high school.”

Jungeun has a tough time believing that. “Really? I would have imagined you’ve been doing it your whole life.”

Sooyoung shakes her head, but Jungeun doesn’t miss the way her lips curve and the shy laugh that escapes , “I only mustered the courage to really get into it during high school. Plus, my parents wouldn’t let me join any dance lessons, they only wanted me to concentrate in studying. So, I had to wait till I could find a way to pay for my own lessons.”

Jungeun listens attentively and says nothing in hopes that Sooyoung just continues talking.

She does.

“When I entered high school I started tutoring, I made enough to pay for my own lessons and the rest is history!”

Of course she’s the type of person to risk everything for what she loves and work hard to get it.

“And how do they feel about it now?” Asks Jungeun, genuinely interested in the story.

“They found out eventually, but my grades were better than ever, and I was making my own money, so they had no reason to not let me. They noticed how happy it makes me, so when I decided that I wanted to dance for the rest of my live; for a living, they had no option than to fully support me, really.”

“Wow,” Jungeun says under her breath. There are practically stars in her eyes and Sooyoung just officially became the coolest person she knows, “That’s….amazing.”

“Yeah! I’m glad it all worked out,” Sooyoung seems bashful, and it totally clashes with the perception that Jungeun had of her. She thought she’d be cocky and completely unfazed by compliments, but she seems to have been awfully mistaken. It’s cute.

“If it’s meant to be, its meant to be, you know,” Jungeun’s eyes land on the clock in the wall, she winces when she notices she should probably get going.

“Ah,” She doesn’t mean to sound so disappointed, it just happens naturally, “I’m supposed to meet a friend in a bit…”

Sooyoung frowns for a while, but then gaps, as if she just remembered something, “I was also supposed to meet with someone near the entrance fifteen minutes ago….” She quirks her eyebrows, and makes the best out of the opportunity, “Wanna walk together?”

Jungeun lets out a laugh, “Sure.”

Their hands brush when they walk, it's completely unintentional, but what isn’t unintentional is the fact that none of them move to make more space between them.

They walk extremely slow even though they probably have people waiting on them, but who cares about other people. It is only Sooyoung and Jungeun right now.

Sooyoung candidly asks Jungeun about how she got into dancing. It’s not half as exciting as Sooyoung’s story. She just picked it up as a hobby during middle school, and really liked it.

Soon enough, they’re already near the entrance of the academy.

Sooyoung looks around and her face softens when she recognizes Jinsoul, waiting on her as she sips on some milk inside the convenience store.

Yerim seems nowhere to be found, so Jungeun just makes company to Sooyoung as she goes to meet her friend.

Jungeun notices a text in her phone, it’s from Yerim. “Im on my way!” She had sent that about fifteen minutes ago, she should be here soon enough.

The bell in the door rings as Sooyoung and Jungeun enter the store. Jinsoul turns towards them and squints her eyes at Sooyoung.

“Dude, finally!” She says, her tone attempting to be harsh, but failing miserably, “I’ve been waiting for at least an hour!”

Sooyoung just laughs and rolls her eyes at the girl.

“Sorry, got…distracted,” She says, looking towards Jungeun, who awkwardly waves her hand at Jinsoul.

Jinsoul looks at her in a questioning manner, and then back at Sooyoung, raising her eyebrows curiously.

“Jinsoul, this is Jungeun,” She signals to each girl respectively as she says their names, “And Jungeun, this is Jinsoul!”

Realization draws upon Jinsoul, and a smug look appears in her face, “Oh!” She says a bit too loud, “So you’re Jungeun! Nice to finally meet you, Sooyoung has talked soooooo much about you!”

That earns Jinsoul a smack in her shoulder from Sooyoung, “Don’t listen to her…”

Are Sooyoung’s cheeks….blushing? Jinsoul giggles in the side and Jungeun feels very…confused. But, still endeared at how shy Sooyoung has been acting.

“Sure,” Jungeun flashes a smile, “Nice to meet you, too.”

Just as they’re done with the formalities Jungeun’s phone starts ringing, she quickly excuses herself before answering. It’s Yerim.

“You’re here? Ah, yeah, there should be a convenience store somewhere to your right, come meet me here.”

After that she hangs up, and just before she can say anything to the other two girls Yerim is already walking through the doors.

“Hey!” She says cheerfully as her eyes land on Jungeun, “Ready to- oh, Jinsoul? Hey, there!”

Jungeun looks questioningly towards Sooyoung and Jinsoul. Sooyoung seems as puzzled as Jungeun feels. But Jinsoul looks a hundred times more confused than anyone present in the store.

“Wow….” Jinsoul’s words are slower than usual, and the puzzled expression on her only intensifies by the second. She looks at Yerim, then at Jungeun, and now back at Yerim again. She looks completely astonished; even Yerim seems taken aback by the blonde’s behaviour.

“You know each other?” Jungeun asks.

“Kinda,” Says Yerim.

“No,” Jinsoul answers at the same time.

Great, that doesn’t make things any more confusing at all, or anything.

“Why are you here? How-” Jinsoul looks scandalized and shakes her head, gathering her thoughts, “Nevermind.”

“What’s going on?” Sooyoung snaps.

Jungeun and Yerim both shrug. Jinsoul is the only one to speak, “I don’t know…Sooyoung, let’s get out of here.”

In record time Jinsoul is already exiting through the door, dragging Sooyoung along with her by the sleeve.

“What?! Bye! I’m sorry about thi-” Sooyoung barely manages to sputter those words before she’s forced out of the store.

Jungeun and Yerim stand in the middle of it now, complete dazed by what just happened.

“…”

“…”

“Well…” Jungeun is the one to break the silence, “That was…”

“Something,” Yerim completes the sentence for her.

It definitely was more than something.

Yerim seems to recover rather quickly and moves to check the time, “Hm. We should get going.”

*

Jungeun and Yerim walk the route towards the woods silently. At least they do so for the first five minutes until Jungeun can’t hold her curiosity any longer without feeling like she might actually explode.

“Hey, so, what was all that about?” She tries to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“What was what about?” Yerim completely avoids eye contact and Jungeun just knows she’s playing dumb, for whatever reason.

She doesn’t want to jump to any type of conclusions, especially now that she’s decided to fully trust Yerim -she wouldn’t even know where to start, anyway, but something is definitely up between her and Jinsoul.

Yesterday Yerim had managed to affirmatively eliminate any suspicions of her being involved in Yeojin’s disappearance. For some reason it seemed very hard to believe that she would harm her best friend. But, she sure is acting weird right now.

“You know what I mean,” Jungeun’s tone is slightly sharper now, “The thing with Jinsoul, what was that?”

Yerim’s signature smile faltered for a few seconds, until she spoke again, “Honestly, I don’t know? I have no idea why she reacted that way…”

“But how do you know her?”

Yerim takes her time with that one. She seems to be considering all her options. Jungeun waits, she doesn’t wanna pressure her but she’s also becoming a bit impatient. It shouldn’t be a hard question…

“I just do,” Yerim shrugs.

Anticlimactic answer. It honestly offends Jungeun how the younger girl thinks she’s gonna get away with just saying that.

“Okay, but where from?” Jungeun insists.

Yerim huffs, “I don’t know…from around town, I guess? We just happen to see each other around a lot and have talked a few times.”

Jungeun eyes her carefully, looks at her through squinted eyes, “And you don’t know what her freak out was about?”

Yerim shakes her head slightly and frowns, “It surprised me as much as you.”

“Hm,” Jungeun contemplates Yerim’s words for a minute. She did look pretty confused back then, and even now, as she answers, “You swear?”

Yerim nods, and dramatically lifts her right hand, “I swear!”

She sticks her pinky out and signals Jungeun to do the same, “Here,” She says as they intertwine their fingers together, “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise,” Jungeun repeats, fully convinced.

*

Jungeun and Yerim are the last ones to arrive. Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul and Vivi are all already gathered near the entrance to the woods. It is a ridiculously narrow path that no human could ever fit through but somehow, they all manage to stand in it.

Jungeun feels fatally unprepared, shouldn’t they have a plan? A map? For the love of God how did no one think of bringing some flashlights?! She had been so busy worrying about feeling scared that she totally forgot to actually prepare for it. It’s still not too late to back out, right? But, ugh, she still has a pride to take care of and honestly, there’s a tiny spark of curiosity about what could possibly be in there and that might be enough to light her courage. That’s a fire that she does not want to get burnt by.

“You guys ready to go?” Asks Hyunjin, still sounding too eager for Jungeun’s comfort.

They all look so at ease…how.

A chorus of yeses is heard and Jungeun can barely manage to nod in response. She’s definitely not ready and she never will be. No one seems to notice her uneasiness, and they all start walking deeper into the woods.

It’s not that bad at first, it really isn’t. Sounds from the city can still be heard for a while. The engines of cars passing by, some honking here and there, if you look behind you and over the trees, the huge sign that sits on the roadside can still be seen. It’s an advert for the local church. “Jesus saves you” It writes in huge red letters; someone had vandalized it and spray painted it into becoming “Jesus can’t save you.” Such a welcoming sight...especially considering that’s the first thing that can be seen when entering the town.

To no one's surprise Yerim is the one that ends up leading the group. They seem to be walking aimlessly, but everyone’s too busy looking at where they step to care about that. It’s mostly quiet for a while, except for the occasional grunting and a high pitch scream from Haseul when she thinks there’s something climbing her leg. She gets laughed at when they realize it’s just a branch that got caught up on her shoe.

They’ve made it deep enough to the point that humanity stops existing. There seems to be less light in this area and maybe it has to do with the trees getting taller and thicker the more they advance. All that can be seen is endless green and some foggy mountains in the horizon. They seem so dull and somber. Jungeun is convinced the world occurs in black and white over there.

It’s so quiet now, Jungeun can hear every single breath each girl takes, she can even hear the wind that passes by. There are voices hidden in it, she’s not sure she wants to know what they’re saying.

Her whole body gets covered by goosebumps and she really can’t take the silence anymore.

“God, I’m so creeped out by this place,” Her voice sounds unfamiliar to her own ears, it cuts like a sharp knife through the silence. It’s not that loud but the noise leaves her ears ringing, “I swear I must have like, died in this place in some past life or something.”

“That’s sad,” Vivi’s voice sounds slightly uncomfortable, too. She’s walking right behind Jungeun, but her voice sounds unbelievably far away.

“The dying or the being here for a second time?”

“Both,” She replies almost automatically.

“Yeah, well. There’s no escape to this place.”

Before Vivi or anyone else for that matter could give any type of respond, Yerim stops walking all of a sudden. The abrupt stop makes Hyunjin and Heejin, who were walking right behind her, crash against her back. This produces a domino effect and suddenly everyone is bumping against each other.

“What the hell, Yerim?!” Screams Hyunjin.

The youngest girl turns around and faces the rest of the group. She seems distressed and makes a whiny noise.

“What is it?” Asks Haseul, slightly worried over the girl’s behaviour.

Jungeun peeks her head and has a direct visual access to what made Yerim stop in her tracks.

Oh.

It’s police tape.

It can’t be, right? There’s no way that’s related to Yeojin…right?

“Is that-“ Heejin starts but isn’t able to finish.

They all notice what’s causing the commotion. No one says anything.

The tape actually covers a huge portion of the area. It’s like the police had secluded the whole track that Yeojin took the day she disappeared. They had unknowingly been walking right next to it the whole way through.

“I had never come across it,” Yerim speaks calmly, but there’s an edge to her voice that hides much more.

A few beats of silence pass by before there’s any sound again.

“There is a thousand ways you can go about in this forest and this my first time-” She slightly chokes up, and unless Jungeun is imagining things, it seems as if Yerim is blinking away tears, “Seeing it, it’s my first time seeing it.”

The atmosphere feels significantly heavier than a minute ago. Jungeun is inclined to think that the shift has nothing to do with seeing the police tape; there’s something off with this specific spot, the air simply feels different. It’s even colder, and she can feel the hairs at the back of her neck standing up. But that makes no sense. It’s just her being emotional. Of course it has everything to do with their finding of a crime scene.

Initially they had no idea of what they were looking for, of where they were going. They just knew they were walking into the forest cause that’s where Yeojin was last seen. So presumably, something must come out of that, right? But, oh wow, had they found more than something.

Jungeun is about to suggest that maybe they should turn back around. There doesn’t seem to be anything else for them to do, they’ve apparently found what they came here for and she doubts they’ll found anything else. She really has every valid reason and intention to tell everyone it’s time to go back but for some inexplicable reason, when she opens to talk, words that are completely different from all that are what come out.

“Let’s look closer,” Jungeun says, to everyone’s surprise, included her own.

The rest of the girls look at her almost like she’s crazy, no one dares to move a centimeter closer. No one but Jungeun.

“Jungeun wait-“ Haseul tries to stop her, but it’s useless as Jungeun is already trespassing the police tape.

It’s like something clicks when she steps into the secluded zone. The tape doesn’t go any further into the forest, so this must be exactly the last place where Yeojin stood. She’s sure of it. She can feel it.

Suddenly there’s rush running through Jungeun’s veins. A desperate desire to do something but she has no idea what. She feels like this place has been waiting for her. No, more like she’s the one that’s been waiting to get here. And now, she’s finally arrived. It took so long, but now she’s here.

She feels like she’s floating all of a sudden. It’s a dreamy sensation. Everything around her feels like a blur and for a second, she forgets about everything. About where she’s at, what she’s doing, who she’s with. There’s a force pulling her somewhere. She doesn’t know where, but it wants to take her away

“Jungeun!” A voice calls her out. It sounds so far away, it almost doesn’t sound real.

“Jungeun!!!” It sounds much more forceful now. She can recognize it. It’s Haseul’s, “Get back here!”

The feeling disappears almost faster than as what it appeared. Jungeun feels dizzy as her surroundings become clearer. It’s almost as if she just nosedived back into reality. Disappointment fills her entire body.

Everyone is looking at her wearing worried expressions. Haseul is extending out her hand for Jungeun to take it, “We should go,” She says.

The walk back is silent until Yerim sneaks next to Jungeun.

“What got into you?!” She murmurs, it’s as if she doesn’t want the rest of the girls to hear, “You were like, gone. You looked hypnotized or something. It was insane.”

Jungeun only hums in acknowledgement. She doesn’t know what to say.

“Bet now you can understand Yeojin, huh?”

Jungeun rises her head to look directly at Yerim, but the other girl is looking straight ahead, avoiding Jungeun’s eyes. Yerim rushes to catch up with Hyunjin, who currently walks in front of the group, and leaves a very confused Jungeun behind.

Jungeun groans.

What in the world is happening here?

*

They’re more than a block away from the dance academy when Sooyoung grows tired of getting dragged by Jinsoul.

She shakes Jinsoul’s grip off her wrist and refuses to move a centimeter more unless she gets an explanation from her friend.

“Jinsoul, what the hell?!”

Jinsoul tries to make Sooyoung move but the brunette is practically nailed to the ground and considerably stronger than Jinsoul. There really is no point in trying. Jinsoul accepts her defeat and lets out a loud sight, “Ugh, Sooyoung, let’s go! I need to get home! Move-”

“No,” Sooyoung cuts in quickly, “I’m not moving until you tell me what’s happening.”

Jinsoul rolls her eyes, she definitely doesn’t have the patience to deal with this right now.

“Nothing's happening!” Jinsoul says in a pathetic attempt to escape the conversation. Sooyoung only replays by making a face that shows both disbelief and annoyance.

“Whatever,” Jinsoul says, “Stay here, then. I’ll just go alone!”

“No, you’re not!” Sooyoung quickly holds both of Jinsoul’s arms so tight that they could probably leave a mark or two.

Once again Jinsoul sighs in defeat, knowing that there’s no way she can outsmart Sooyoung with some lie or try to force her way out.

“Just tell me what’s going on,” Sooyoung’s grip gets softer and she delicately starts caressing the  faint red spots she had left, “You know you can trust me with anything…”

No longer being held back, Jinsoul could easily get away from Sooyoung and her curiosity, but that just feels like the wrong thing to do.

“It’s not that,” Jinsoul finally replays,  “I trust you.”

“Then?”

“I just…I can’t explain it to you right now because I can’t understand it myself”

Sooyoung frowns, feeling even more lost now, “What are you talking about?”

“Sooyoung, please. Let me figure this out and I promise that as soon as I find out, I’ll explain it all to you.”

Sooyoung takes a few breaths before figuring out what to say, “Is this about your dim-”

“I don’t  know,” Jinsoul stops Sooyoung before she starts speculating because she really sees no point in that, “Maybe. I’m not sure…”

“Fine,” Sooyoung mumbles, “But as soon as you know, you tell me or else…”

“Of course I will,” Jinsoul doesn’t need for Sooyoung to finish her threat before she’s agreeing with her.

She just hopes things don’t get too messy.

*

It’s not long before Sooyoung forgets about the whole Jinsoul ordeal. It goes to the back of her mind and is almost immediately buried by different and ‘more important’ things. Number one being Jungeun. Sooyoung feels slightly guilty about how they didn’t get to say a proper goodbye earlier and how weird the mood got because of their friends. So, of course, she has to text her now to excuse Jinsoul’s behaviour. Yeah, that’s definitely the only reason she’s dying to text her.

Sooyoung opens her messaging app and thinks of a dozen different ways in which she can redact her text. Why is she even overthinking this so much? She, more than often, is the decisive, confident type that doesn’t think twice before acting. But now, she can’t even hit send and her hands are shaking for some dumb reason.

“Ugh. Whatever, anything’s fine!” Sooyoung mumble to herself right as she hits send.

‘hey sorry for earlier!! i dont know what got into Jinsoul :/ shes usually super nice and…normal..”

The squeak that comes out of when the text gets sent is almost pathetic. It gets even worse when the message is read incredibly fast. It takes three seconds for it to get marked as read and for Sooyoung’s phone to be thrown with outstanding force to the other side of her room.

Sooyoung is left dumbfounded by her actions. Acting like a 15-year-old girl texting he first crush is definitely not her proudest moment. She runs to her phone and feels her soul return to her body when she notices the screen of it completely free from cracks. She notices the notifications from Jungeun and that calming, relieving feeling is gone.

Jungeun: hii. you’re sweet

Jungeun: don’t worry about that!

Jungeun: yerim is pretty weird herself haha so it’s fine

Okay, Sooyoung thinks. That wasn’t bad; that was easy. Texting is so easy. She relaxes after the nervousness of sending that first text is gone and starts easing her way into a normal conversation. She asks Jungeun what she did for the rest of the day –which prompts a long story about how she had to venture into haunted woods and Sooyoung founds it completely ridiculous but in the adorable way.

It’s adorable not only because a scared Jungeun ranting about how much she hates forests is the cutest thing Sooyoung has ever seen; but also because of how far Jungeun is willing to go just to investigate and quench her thirst for answer. How passionate Jungeun is over the things she loves just officially became Sooyoung’s favorite thing about her.

After that they talk about college and what they’re studying and Jungeun tells Sooyoung why she chose journalism and she seems so excited while talking about it that Sooyoung can perfectly imagine the stars in Jungeun’s eyes shining brighter than ever as she rants about her passion in life.

“I just think there’s something so special about journalism cause it is constantly reminding you about how delicate life is,” Jungeun’s text reads. “I think we forget that. How easily it can all disappear with no seemingly obvious reason. And when I get to cover story after story about rather awful  things happening, that reality becomes really hard to ignore.”

Sooyoung reads the girl’s words and becomes fascinated by them. She had never thought about it from that perspective. “The biggest things are always the most delicate,” Sooyoung replies.

“It’s like a balloon,” Jungeun ads and Sooyoung can’t really catch what she’s trying to say, but it makes her laugh a little.

“???”

“You know,” Jungeun writes, “How balloons can become so big, but then the bigger they are the more easily they pop…”

Sooyoung chuckles at the absurdity but yet considers it as a great metaphor. “Oh, yeah. Life is a balloon.”

Jungeun repeats Sooyoung’s text, restating that life is indeed a balloon.

“But hey,” Sooyoung writes, “Balloons are pretty. They can be kinda fun, too.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I’d totally share a balloon with you,” Sends Sooyoung, adding a smiley face in the end.

Sooyoung notices that Jungeun reads the texts but takes longer than usual to reply.

A bubble with the girl’s reply finally pops out, “Yeah, i’d let you inflate my balloon.”

Sooyoung can’t help but laugh out loud when she reads Jungeun’s words, she sends her a keyboard smash hoping that those letters convey her feelings perfectly.

Jungeun replies with a what accompanied by several exclamation points.

“Blow my balloon? Really? That sounds...” Writes Sooyoung.

Jungeun replies rather quickly with two big capital letters: “NO.”

“Wait. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just- nevermind.” She then adds.

“Trying to be cute?,” Sooyoung replies, “Yeah, don’t worry, you’re good at that.”

The topic of the conversation moves on from that quickly, much to Jungeun’s wish. That doesn’t do much, though, cause Sooyoung finds a way to no matter what they’re talking about.  

Their conversation goes on for hours and it’s so nice and not nerve-wracking at all. It flows so naturally and right and Sooyoung feels silly for being so anxious to text her.

She feels as if she could say anything and uses that newly found confidence to do what she’s been wanting to do since she first met Jungeun.

Sooyoung obviously asks Jungeun if she can call her cause if she’s gonna do this, she’s gonna do it right and asking this over text is anything but right.

Jungeun sounds sleepy and Sooyoung feels slightly bad for keeping her up late with her texts.

“So, what do you wanna tell me?” Jungeun asks.

“Go on a date with me.”

The line is silence for a minute. Sooyoung hears shuffling on the other side and she can’t even begin to picture what Jungeun might be doing. She hears her breathing, so she knows she’s still there.

Jungeun is too quiet and for some reason Sooyoung’s heart start to drop to her stomach.

“Jungeun?” She insists.

“I would love to. Of course I will.”

The biggest sigh of relief leaves Sooyoung’s mouth, “Great. Is tomorrow night okay for you?”

Jungeun hums, “It’s perfect.”

Sooyoung’s heart is beating faster than ever. She could scream for hours and that would still not be enough to express all the feelings going through her right now.

Perfect.

That’s definitely a way to describe how this feels.

*

Jungeun spends the first half of her day in Vivi’s house. She’s telling her and Haseul about the conversation she had with Sooyoung last night. She also tells them about the date that she’ll be having later in the day. Jungeun fails terribly at hiding her excitement and her two friends don’t miss the opportunity to poke fun at her. Jungeun tends to be more than discrete with her feelings, so of course they won’t miss the opportunity. Jungeun doesn’t seem mind, though, nothing could ruin her mood right now.

As much as Haseul and Vivi love to clown the younger girl, they also make sure to give her advice on what to do in the date. It’s honestly pretty pointless cause Jungeun has had plenty of dates in the past; but somehow the anticipation and nervousness of a first date is present, so she listens to Haseul and Vivi’s every word with much attention.

The other half of her day is spent in getting ready for the date. She tries on at least twenty different outfits. Her judgement is based on whether it’d be Vivi approved or not. She wastes way too much time finding something to wear and finally settles on some skinny jeans and her favorite off-shoulder top– “you have to show off your shoulder area” Vivi had said.

“I feel good so I look good. I feel good so I look good,” Jungeun started using that as a mantra after Haseul told her that being comfortable is key.

Hours pass by before she finally feels ready to head off. She smiles as she glances at her reflection in the mirror one last time, and then starts walking towards the restaurant. She should be there in not more than ten minutes and for the first time she’s thankful for living in a tiny town where she can get anywhere by foot. Jungeun is not dramatic or anything but as she walks she does a couple of breathing exercises.

Walking alone when the sun goes down has never been her favorite activity. It’s always way too eerie for her liking. The wind whispers in your ear and the dark watches you with way too much attention. Right now, though, Jungeun dares to say that the night is lovely and even the air feels nice. The flickering street lights don’t bother her in the slightest and she just knows that nothing could go wrong right now.

She’s oblivious to it all and she’s also very, very wrong.

*

Sooyoung gets there unreasonably early. At least fifteen minutes before the accorded time, maybe twenty. It’s not that she’s nervous, Ha Sooyoung doesn’t get nervous (the whole freaking out over texting Jungeun doesn’t count). She just happens to be really impatient and, honestly, staying home too long after getting ready would only make her second doubt the way she’d done her hair, makeup and outfit. So, no thank you, she’d rather wait for Jungeun at the restaurant feeling as pretty and confident as ever.

Sooyoung had told Jungeun that she’d pick her up at her house, but Jungeun insisted to just meet at the restaurant. Sooyoung had gasped so ridiculously loud when Jungeun said that cause, please, she has manners and there’s no way she’d ever let a pretty girl get to a date all on her own. She had already planned the scene in her head: Sooyoung would pick Jungeun up with her older sister’s car that she totally did not ask permission to use, she was even thinking of buying some flowers cause she’s just romantic like that. Then, she would ring the doorbell to Jungeun’s house– she refuses to be the type that just sends an ‘i’m outside!” text. And, finally, if it all went according to plan, Jungeun would open the door and instantly swoon over how charming Sooyoung is….who wouldn’t, honestly.

A perfect start for a perfect night!

But….her plans were ruined. An amazing, detailed and flawless plan had to be thrown to the garbage just because Jungeun insisted she’d be much more comfortable if they just met in the restaurant. Sooyoung respected that, of course, but she made sure to express her immense disappointment when agreeing to it. Jungeun had giggled and called her reaction cute.

“Maybe some other time you can come pick me,” Jungeun had said. The mention of a next time instantly cheered Sooyoung up.

Sooyoung doesn’t have a plan now. She’s just gonna let the night flow naturally and just do whatever feels right at the moment. She feels very confident over that premise. Sooyoung knows that things just go well when she’s with Jungeun and nothing ever needs to be forced. They fit perfectly together, or whatever.

As she waits for Jungeun to arrive, a couple of waiters approach her, asking if she’s ready to order. With the biggest smile ever- she literally can’t control it, she tells them that she’s waiting for someone.

As the time of their meeting gets closer, Sooyoung’s hearts starts beating faster and faster, but only slightly. She’s totally in control of her emotions right now. Her shaking legs have nothing to do with the anticipation, she’s just cold.

She feels like she’s been waiting forever, it’s definitely been more than thirty minutes by now. She checks her phone and confirms that it’s ten minutes past eight, the agreed on time. She softly laughs to herself cause Jungeun didn’t seem like the type to be fashionably late or anything like that.

Then ten minutes turn into fifteen, and then twenty.

Thirty.

Okay...maybe Jungeun is just running late for whatever reason.

Sooyoung sighs as she looks towards the entrance of the store, feeling slightly disappointed to not find jungeun anywhere near it.

A couple more minutes go by and again, a waiter approaches her.

“Miss,” He says very politely, “Ready to order?”

Sooyoung forces a smile, “Ah. Mind coming back in a few minutes? She’ll be here soon...Traffic, you know.”

The man nods, he grimaces in a way that shows compassion for Sooyoung.

She scoffs cause this isn’t what it looks like and there’s no need to feel sorry for her. Jungeun will be here soon…

Sooyoung, more than upset, is worried. What if something bad happened to Jungeun? She decides that she’s waited long enough and that a text asking Jungeun where she is is well appropriate in this situation and has no reason to sound desperate at all.

Her head is down looking to the screen of her phone which steals all her concentration. For this reason, she completely misses someone approaching her table and only notices once they’re already seated right in front of her.

Finally! She thinks. Her date is finally here and she can’t wait to show that dumb waiter how wrong he was for thinking Ha Sooyoung would ever get stood up.

She raises her eyes to meet Jungeun’s except she finds someone else…

“Jinsoul?!”

The blonde girl in front of her says nothing.

“What are you doing here?! When I told you about my date I didn’t do it so you could crash it!”

Jinsoul looks slightly uncomfortable, or is it worried?

She’s just sitting there, she grabs a lose napkin and starts fidgeting with it.

Sooyoung guesses Jinsoul is just here to spy on their date or some other dumb thing like that, she honestly doesn’t give whatever reason brought Jinsoul here much thought. She just wants her gone.

“Ugh, Jinsoul!” Sooyoung’s voice is louder this time, “Go away,” She drags that last word for longer than necessary, making it sound like a whine, “She’s gonna be here any time soon and found you here and-”

“Sooyoung,” Jinsoul sounds so serious that it’s unnerving.

Sooyoung’s breath hitches.

“Jungeun’s not coming.”