Description: Chaewon is just not that great at reading the signals.

There was something about Friday nights – for most it was the fact that they could finally take some rest and not worry about work or school for a while; for Chaewon it was a bit different. It was all about cuddling and watching movies together with her favorite junior now.

Minjoo was pretty insistent about making it a tradition and who was she to say no to such lovely brown eyes? Although she was wondering if she had made the right call at the moment.

No, the movie wasn’t so bad – she could barely pay it any attention anyway. The weather was definitely cold enough to justify some cuddles as well. Minjoo’s room was nice and cozy, small but well organized with plenty of pillows and just enough light to make it welcoming, and it smelt like…Was it a scented candle by the window? Who has strawberry scented candles for a movie night? Minjoo was surely so attentive.

Maybe too attentive.

Right now, Chaewon was curling her toes and keeping her eyes on the white ceiling, breathing in and out as she tried to make sure her face wasn’t burning hot like her ears were. You see, Minjoo was so attentive that ever since Chae arrived all the younger girl did was to keep her eyes – and hands – on her, what was a bit too much for the older Kim to handle.

Plump lips lingered on the skin of her cheek for a bit too long, long arms hugging her waist and pulling her closer, legs enlacing hers…Chaewon almost fainted when she felt Minjoo’s hot breath on her neck as the girl snuggled up to her, nuzzling into it as if was her own home. “Chae, you smell so nice! Just like a baby.” As to emphasize her words, she nuzzled again her face on Chaewon’s neck, hot breath now making a pleasant shiver run down Chaewon’s body.

Just why Minjoo had to be so affectionate?

Gulping down, she tried to compose herself before answering in her best nonchalant tone. “It’s baby powder. My mom sent me some soap, saying all my old clothes smell like mint and it was like cheap detergent.” Chaewon didn’t exactly agree about this mint slander, but she had to admit the smell of baby powder was rather nice and it made her skin extra soft.

Minjoo nodded slowly, still resting her face on the crook of her neck, and Chaewon felt another shiver as felt lips there this time. “I liked mint, but your skin feels really nice like this too.” Of course, the kiss was to justify her words.

Of course, it made complete sense. Minjoo wasn’t only affectionate but also very observant.

“Thanks.” Was all Chaewon managed to reply, conflicted between just enjoying this very odd yet pleasant moment, and just finding an excuse to run away before gay panic took over her.

“Chae,” Minjoo called, finally lifting her head so she could see Chaewon’s embarrassed red face. Her eyes were dark and alluring as she searched for Chaewon’s gaze, hands still hugging her as she asked with a tone that wasn’t like anything Chaewon was used to hear. “Don’t you think I smell nice too? I bought a new body lotion. Do you want to check it?”

Chaewon gulped down again as the other girl offered her neck for her to smell. She awkwardly moved to do as asked, blood filling her face as she tried to control a nervous smile and just do it quickly – she did, her senses being hit strongly by the sensorial overdose that was Minjoo being so close to her. The sun kissed skin was as smooth as it gets and it smelt like something between vanilla and paradise, making it hard for her to not take revenge on Minjoo and also present her with some kisses – and suddenly she knew how vampires felt, bloodthirsty aside.

Thanks gods for the loud ending song that played in the movie, ruining the moment before she could do anything she would regret later. As if it was her clue, Chaewon hurriedly separated from Minjoo and jumped off the bed with very little grace. “Oh my god! Look at the hour! The food we ordered should be here by now, I will just...Just yeah.”

Taking this chance, she left the room under Minjoo’s confused stare, hiding in the kitchen instead.

She was a coward, of course she was. But who wouldn’t be with Kim Minjoo being so adamant when they were just friends? Chaewon could handle some innocent skinship but it was a little too much, especially when Minjoo seemed so clueless about what it may look like. Maybe she should talk to her about personal space sometime, clearly the younger Kim needed a lesson or two on it.

Sighing, she heard the bedroom’s door open to reveal a disappointed Minjoo. “Chaewonie? Won’t you come back? The bed is cold without you.”

Chaewon had to blink twice, trying to remind her brain that Minjoo didn’t mean it like that. Not at all. Minjoo was a bit too affectionate with her friends and Chaewon just happened to be her favorite pal.

Yes, definitely. No need to delude herself with useless thoughts.

“I will just call the pizza place first.” She fished the phone out of her pocket to make it believable.

But Minjoo didn’t seem any less disappointed as she pouted her lips and nodded. “Just don’t take too long.”

One would think Chaewon was mistreating her girlfriend – only that Minjoo was not her girlfriend, and would never be. Actually, she would never date anyone who wasn’t a dude – Chae was far from being a dude, albeit she probably resembles the guy Minjoo was flirting with the other day, only it could explain why the girl was using her to train her methods of flirting.

A grim made her expression dark as she huffed to herself.

Why are hetero girls so weird?

Chaewon was supposed to be studying for her calculus test – and she really could use some studying considering her terrible grades –, but instead she was sitting at the library with her eyebrows furrowed and a lips forming a concentrate pout as she watched Minjoo talking to some guy a few rows ahead. She wasn’t jealous, just…just very annoyed.

The guy leaned in to whisper something to Minjoo and the girl laughed. Chaewon’s hand grip on the pen grew a little stronger, maybe imagining it was the guy’s neck – just maybe, of course she wouldn’t have such violent thoughts.

Again, she was just very annoyed. People aren’t supposed to flirt in the library. Especially people who were acting so damn clingy with her yesterday.

Huffing to herself, she let go of the pen before she accidentally broke it and let her head rest on her crossed arms on top of the table. Minjoo and her odd behavior was giving her a headache.

Yesterday she made Chaewon stay until it was almost too late to go back to her own dorm, and if she didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought that Minjoo was not so subtly asking her to stay the night. ‘Come on Chae, don’t you want to, you know, watch some Netflix and…maybe we could chill a bit?’ The girl had asked, in what sounded like a very reductant thing since as far as Chaewon knows all they did that night was indeed watching TV and relaxing – so she just said her goodnight and went home.

But then this morning Minjoo was at her door with some of their favorite drinks and good morning hugs – is that even a thing? – too excited to tell Chaewon about a weird dream she had had about a hot female ghost and how Minjoo had called for her help there…She wasn’t sure why the girl seemed so happy about it either.

Minjoo had dragged them all the way there under the excuse that they needed to study – they did, but clearly no studying was getting done today. First, they actually tried, but Chaewon was still a little sleepy and Minjoo got bored quickly, bothering her with random questions for a while – why did she ask them to measure hands out of the blue? Chaewon was pretty sure this was like their third time doing it and she wasn’t pleased her hands didn’t grow any bigger meanwhile.

Min had eventually wandered off to get some books, but clearly got a detour to flirt with guys – and it was so damn annoying.

The older Kim wasn’t exactly hyped with being used as a testing subject and then dragged here in the early morning just to watch this event sitting in the front row. She wondered how accurate her aim would be if she were to accidentally throw a book at them.

As if she could hear her thoughts, Minjoo turned around with the brightest of the smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners as she locked eyes with Chaewon. Apparently things were going her way with the guy to explain this sudden happiness.

Chaewon looked away with an annoyed huff, trying to ignore the girl – only to feel soft, warm hands, massing her back and she didn’t even need to hear the voice to know it was Minjoo, back from her flirting time.

Chaewon sat straight, shrugging Minjoo off with the natural glare her eyes seemed to produce without her noticing it – Min was immune to it by now, but it might have scared away one or two clueless students nearby.

“Hey, sleepyhead!” The younger Kim greeted with a grin, her eyes sparkling as she sat by Chaewon’s side. “I was talking to-”

Chaewon raised a hand to stop her from continuing. “I don’t care, go back to studying.”

“But you would like to know.” Minjoo huffed, sulking as she noticed Chaewon’s gaze was back to her text book. “You are so moody in the mornings.” She complained, lowering her voice to add. “Wouldn’t be if we had chilled at my place.”

“What?” Furrowing her brows even further – she would get wrinkles at this point – Chae nudged her shoulder. “Study. We came all the way here because you said you needed to study.”

With a sigh, the younger nodded. “Not exactly what I had in mind, again, but okay.” Giving up, she lifted a hand to touch Chaewon’s forehead, smoothing the wrinkles on it and undoing her frown. “Just because I love you.”

Chae tensed up before nodding stiffly, refraining from sighing. “You can love me while learning about contemporary languages.”

It would be a long – and very boring – day at the library as Chaewon tried to focus on studying while Minjoo, very persistently, tried to get her attention instead of focusing on her own books. Well, at least that dude didn’t show up again and eventually Chaewon managed to boil down her anger enough to give up watching out for him in the hopes of hitting the guy with the heaviest book she could get.

Exams week passed like a breeze – a wind of terror and an ocean of tears if you didn’t study, but thanks to Minjoo’s insistence they had pretty much camped at the library. Not that it had any effect over the younger girl’s grades, that looked less than stellar while Chaewon’s reflected her anger induced studying mood.

Needless to say, Chaewon’s anger came back when she noticed Minjoo’s grades – of course, the younger had been too busy thinking about that small-headed idiot to study properly.

“You should focus on your grades. Crushes come and go.” She nagged as they sat by the trees that covered the green plains of the college’s campus – students official napping, eating and even making-out, spot.

Minjoo crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks in clear, and slightly childish, annoyance. “Well, maybe I could have got better grades if my crush wasn’t as dense as a rock and made me spend so much energy trying to get noticed.” She replied with a hint of a bitterness that was unusual to her melodic voice. “You know, I don’t mind being rejected but this is…” With a deep sigh, she rested her back against the tree and kept her silence.

Chaewon made a face, she had to agree that Minjoo’s crush was indeed an idiot. Maybe even an . Perhaps she should really have thrown that huge math book at him when she had the chance.

“Why would you crush on someone like that to begin with? Dense people are the worst!” She also happened to find him short, bad looking, annoying and another 81948 things she wouldn’t bother mentioning to not hurt Minjoo’s soft heart.

Minjoo sighed again – only the gods knew how hard she had to try to not scream her head out at the very cute, yet incredible clueless creature in front of her. “Yes, dense people really are the worst.” And sometimes the younger Kim even wondered why she insisted so much on someone who seemed to be completely blind to her feelings – but it was just looking inside the sharp chestnut eyes that looked at her with such protection and care, that she was reminded that she had some great reasons to not give up. “But still, dense is not everything they are. They are kind, gentle, so considerate and charming and, even if in their own weird way, very smart…” Giving her a small smile, she looked down before completing. “They are also pretty good looking, with cute eyes and nose. Just like a baby cheetah you know?”

Chaewon had to use all her inner strength to not frown too much and show how displeased she was with such a sappy description of that annoying guy…Wait, baby cheetah? She was pretty sure that weirdo didn’t look like a cute cheetah cub, actually she was the one that was often called like that.

“Wait, but Hyunjin doesn’t match the description!” She argued before she could help it.

“No, he does not.” This time Minjoo couldn’t help but sigh. How dense Chaewon could even be? “A ‘he’ will never fit my type. Why would you think that?” Now she was a little angry, one thing was to be overlooked by her clueless crush, another was Chaewon thinking she was crushing on that skinny rat that kept hitting on her the whole semester.

Standing up, she gathered her stuff while a baffled Chae watched her, giving the older girl a piercing look. “And for your info, I don’t think he is cute at all! I said baby cheetah, you dumb cub!”

Minjoo stormed out, leaving the place before Chaewon could utter a single word. The older Kim’s sharp, feline eyes, big and round as she blinked in confusion, agape – a very confused baby cheetah was later found by her upperclassmen friends at the lawn.

Hyewon looked at her as if she was the dumbest creature to ever walk on Earth – what was pretty offensive, but not as much as having Yena looking at her like that as well. Her friends had been facepalming her for a while now, ever since the two of them arrived and Chaewon hurriedly told them about the weird conversation she had with Minjoo earlier.

Apparently, everyone seemed to be aware of the situation – except her.

Maybe she was the dumbest person on campus.

“So, you are saying that Minjoo is not into guys? At all?” She finally said, her lips protruding as she furrowed her eyebrows, dark chestnut eyes filled with seriousness as she tried to understand everything properly – Hyewon sighed, rolling her eyes, as Yena hit the back of Chae’s head.

“For gods’ sake, KimChae! There is only one baby cheetah and you are still doubting?” Yena said with a nagging tone, very untypical of her – even the duck loses her patience sometimes. Actually, everyone had lost their patience around six months ago when Minjoo asked Chaewon on a date and the girl proceeded to ask everyone else to tag along.

“Just think. I am pretty sure even you would have noticed the signals, at least some of them.” Hyewon encouraged, and Chaewon pretended to not notice the little jab she received.

Of course, she was dense, but not so much.

Ever since they met, she recalled Minjoo smiling at her a little too much, red cheeks and cute dimples that were hard to miss – but she had thought Minjoo was just a very warm and gentle person. She could also recall the constant skinship that started with little playful slaps on her arm and gentle touches on her hair whenever Minjoo was kind enough to fix it for her – she did find it a bit odd that Minjoo always seemed to be so worried about helping her to remain presentable, but it wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate the gesture. After a while, as they grew closer, she just dismissed it as part of Minjoo’s overly affectionate personality. Of course, there were still the weird sentences and how Min always asked her to hang out at her house alone but that…

Sighing, she facepalmed herself. Chaewon was right when she said that dense people are the worst – she surely felt like it now. “I screw it up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, sort of…Like totally.” Yena was the first to speak.

“It was funny in the first few months, but it’s just tragic now.” Hyewon said with her usual blank expression, as if she had been waiting to say it for a while.

Chaewon sighed again. Her friends didn’t even hesitate before roasting her and maybe she deserved it.

“If you want to be with her, you shouldn’t waste even more time. And even if you don’t, you should at least give her a proper reply.” Hyewon dusted off her hands, finishing her bag of chips before adding. “So, what do you want?”

“Minjoo.” The answer came easily, after all it was a no-brainer. She may be a little dense about others feelings, but hers were pretty clear from the start and the very own reason why staying beside Minjoo in that weird friendship was driving her crazy. Being friends was never what she wanted.

Yena patted her back, a little too hard, encouraging her to move. “Go ahead and get your girl, Sammu.”

Chaewon was armed with all her courage – that wasn’t much – and some spare chocolate she had on her backpack just in case Minjoo wanted a peace offering. The walk to Minjoo’s room wasn’t very long, yet she took double the amount of time needed, stopping every once in a while to talk to herself, rehearsing what she would say to the girl.

So far, her best line was ‘Hey, I know you like me, I like you too! Want to go on a date?” And it didn’t sound particularly clever, but it was better than ‘Hey, babe. Do you want to chill at my place?’ that was the line Yena recommended to her.

She stopped in front of Minjoo’s room, her hands closed in fists as she tried rehearsing her lines one more time, whispering to herself. What was the line Hyewon suggested again?

“MinMin, if you were a burger at McDonald's, you'd be named the McGorgeous!” The door wasn’t very impressed with her compliments – Hyewon was even worse than Yena at pick-up lines.

The target of her love wasn’t impressed either.

“What did you say?” Minjoo asked, appearing from behind her with a confused expression.

Chaewon was startled, turning around quickly and nearly bumping into Minjoo as the words just left before she could help it:

“I just said I like you too much!” There it is. The least romantic confession ever – no wonder Minjoo looked even more confused now as they just stared at each other in the middle of the hallway and Chaewon started to feel her body slowly melting in pure embarrassment.

At least she didn’t use the McDonald’s line.

Minjoo acted first, opening the door and pretty much dragging her inside, so they could have some privacy. The dorm she shared with Yuri was a mess, but the hamster-like girl was nowhere to be seen and they could talk alone.

“You do? Since when?” Minjoo asked without even bothering to hit around the bush, she had her own reasons to be mad at Chaewon for all the months the girl made her wait like a fool to get noticed – but this awkward, weird confession, was still enough to send her heart running inside her chest and fill her body with hope. She silently prayed that finally Chae could really see her.

“For a while now.” The older said, a hand coming to cover her red ear that was so hot to the touch now, she looked at her own shoes and tried her best to not stutter too much. “I just thought you were, you know…” Hesitating, she gave Minjoo a yellow smile. “Playing for the other team.”

Minjoo blinked, torn in between just ignoring Chaewon’s weird words and focusing on the fact that she was no longer in a one-sided love, or asking what in the world the other girl was talking about. Luckily, Minjoo wasn’t as dense and it only took her a moment to understand what Chaewon meant.

With a chuckle, she shook her head in a negative. “You see me talking to a guy once and I’m straight, but you thought it was just girl pals being girl pals when I’ve been trying to date you for the last six months?” It was funny, and a little annoying, how Chaewon who was the only one in her mind since she put her eyes on her, could even think she ever wanted someone else – and not just anyone, but a guy who had hit on pretty much every single girl on campus.

Chaewon was lucky she could overlook this clueless side of her, too focused on how cute she looked now, like a guilty cheetah cub.

“I just thought you were a clingy person.” Chae tried to excuse herself, a nervous hand coming to scrape her nape. “I’m sorry for being late.”

Min just chuckled once more, her chest light now. Chaewon looked adorable, but she would look even better inside her arms – and she made sure she was there as she marched closer to the girl to involve her neck with her arms and bring her into a hug.

“You weren’t wrong about one thing.” Her smile turned into a grin as she snuggled up to Chaewon, feeling her warmth and familiar scent as she nuzzled into her neck – as usual she could feel Chaewon reacting to her and it only made her smile grow. “I’m very clingy, but only with you.” She said in a secretive tone, just close enough to Chaewon’s ear to make the girl’s breath hitch.

Backing away a little bit, she got to see the glorious sight of a flustered Chaewon, with bright feline eyes looking at her with a bit of surprise and also something more, and she just knew it was the right time.

She didn’t kiss Chaewon first, it wasn’t the other way around either – they just met in the middle, both eager to concretize this moment they had been waiting for a long time.

Minjoo’s smile disappeared as she hugged Chae tight and the older girl pulled her closer, lips against hers with just enough pressure to make her sigh in content, hands touching just enough for her to know she wanted this moment to go on forever, heart beating just fast enough to make her body light and warm, just enough for her to know she was safe and sound in Chaewon’s arms.

It was definitely worth the wait.

Even if a sleepy Yuri caught them making out half an hour later, and suddenly it was like watching the human version of the surprised hamster meme as the girl backed away while Chaewon tried to apologize and Minjoo laughed.

A very smug Chaewon was happily hugging her girlfriend to her chest, the younger woman busy with her usual activity of leaving small kisses on her neck – the reason behind Chaewon’s smugness and the vibrant red in her ears.

Who would know she would end up just like one of those annoying couples that dates on the campus lawn and is the target of every single person’s hatred? She wasn’t complaining though.

Turning her head a little, she greeted Minjoo with a smile before capturing her lips in a long kiss, pulling the brunette closer to deepen it as her girlfriend smiled and grabbed her nape.

It was a bit too much to be honest. Luckily, their friends were too busy with other stuff today to bother complaining about their excessive PDA.

In fact, Hyewon was sitting on the lawn a few steps away, accompanied by Yuri, as the duo share some snacks and watched today’s campus show: Yena hitting Hyunjin with a ridiculously big frying pan as the boy tried to run away from her.

They didn’t know what exactly he had said, or even done, but they were sure he deserved it.

“Hit him harder! He can’t report you if he’s got a concussion.” Was Hyewon’s wise advice, one that Yuri echoed.

Later, when Yena was done hunting men, Hyewon and Yuri had finished their snacks, and the Kim couple finally stopped eating each other’s face, they would all sit in this very own spot and listen in as Yena told them about the worst pick-up line she had ever heard.

“What does “you are not ice but I can make you melt” even mean?!”

Yeah, he deserved it.

A/N: Hello, in case it’s not obvious, it was supposed to be a comedy…Somehow. The first scene is a homage to the all-time classic movie ‘Clueless’, while Chaewon’s character here was inspired by a friend and fellow author, who-shall-not-be-named, who happens to be slightly dense.

As usual, thanks for reading. I’m on twitter at @uncreativeacc and you can contact me there for commissions. See you soon, next up is probably with TYE’s update.

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