The following week was the most inappropriate time to mull over matters of the heart, and yet Eunbi could find no better time to do so. It was unavoidable, really, considering how it was the week leading up to the fashion show, which meant that the models would be filtering in and out of the office at odd hours. Naturally, this meant she would be seeing Hyewon a lot; and naturally, Eunbi could not get her mind off the foreign concept of her potentially liking Hyewon.

This, of course, meant that she started to act extremely strangely around the model, who was no doubt absolutely bewildered by the sudden change of behaviour.

It was even worse when Eunbi started to make rookie mistakes in her work, such as her spacing out one day during a final fitting, resulting in her poking Hyewon in the side with a very sharp needle. “Eunbi!” Hyewon yelped, twisting away from the offending object.

Eunbi blinked and shook her head. “, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

Hyewon gingerly rubbed her side. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. It was more surprising than painful.” She frowned down at Eunbi. “Are you okay?”

“Of course, why do you ask?”

Hyewon tapped a finger on her chin in thought. “Well, for starts, I’ve noticed you staring blankly at nothing at random times, sometimes with really strange expressions on your face. Half the time you don’t respond to questions, or even just stop a sentence halfway through without any explanation. And,” she pointed at the needle in Eunbi’s hand, “you literally just poked me. With a needle. This is literally the first time you’ve done that in the history of ever.”

Eunbi’s lips twisted into a smirk. “Sounds like you’ve been paying a lot of attention to me.”

“Maybe I have,” Hyewon said dryly, but her face softened into a look that melted Eunbi’s heart like butter in a microwave, with heat suddenly coursing through her veins and gracing the tips of her ears. “Are you very sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah. Just, you know…” Eunbi trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“Is the stress of the fashion show getting to you?”

Eunbi scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, this isn’t my first rodeo.”

“Then?” Hyewon’s fingers absentmindedly plucking the needle out of Eunbi’s hand and placing it on top of a spool of thread. “What’s going through that talented mind of yours?” she asked, brushing away loose locks away from Eunbi’s face.

Was it even a surprise that Eunbi’s brain immediately short-circuited at Hyewon’s touch? Her entire being froze, her hand hovering mid-air, reaching for something already forgotten. She stammered and stuttered, eyes darting everywhere in avoidance of Hyewon’s gaze. “I need to use the washroom!” she blurted, quickly getting to