//

chatter chatter chatter, the class is rowdier than usual today. what a pain, sakura wishes she doesn't have big ears at this point of time. it can't be helped that it isn't something she could do anything about. as a matter of fact, she is the one responsible for the being the root of all the commotion. 

"not gonna lie, your new piercings plus that ponytail? you're just oozing out appeal right now because- i'm just gonna say it, you're real hot."

chaeyeon comes clean while she has her eyes glued to sakura's face, adding an unnecessary wolf-whistle to assert her point. even chaewon couldn't help but glance at her from time to time (she rarely expresses herself when she's charmed). a small victory for herself, but it isn't the sort of triumph she was aiming for initially when she decided to go through a minor change in her appearance.

"what, you don't think i was hot before?" sakura asks with a hint of smug in her voice, a brow arched to add on to her swelling pride. she twirls the end of her ponytail in a playful manner— something she's very proud of —because she's been growing her hair out due to her desire for long hair. 

she takes note of her sole target from her peripheral vision who's motionless as she sat in her place, arm folded on her desk. staring in secret isn't exactly yena's strong suit. any longer and sakura might just melt. after all, choi yena was the reason she grew out her hair and (painfully) punctured four holes in her ears— two in each. else, she actually wouldn't have done it.

yena's a bit quiet today. though it seems sakura is the only one who noticed, because the others are busy making a superfluous fuss about her trivial change in appearance. the same thing happened to chaewon when she came to school with her lustrous long hair chopped off one day. it wasn't trivial to them, it appears.

"oh you were, but at the moment, multiply that hotness by ten. so what's the siege? got someone to impress? have you finally got your hands on a girl? or is it some boy?" 

chaeyeon bombards her at once, jabbing her chest with squinted eyes in pure suspicion. she looks about ready to solve a case. sakura responds with an eyeroll and an amused grin, slaps away the provoking (naughty) hand.

she's sure yena's staring again, but when she turns to look, that not-so-sly duck trains her eyes somewhere else. sakura managed to catch her looking away late for half a second there. her lover's actions only caused her grin to widen.

"no way miyawaki, is it a committed relationship we don't know about?" chaewon nudges her arm with an elbow, surprisingly eager to know whoever sakura's secret lover might be, or if she even has one.

sakura looks down at chaewon who's chilling in her seat, keenly waiting for an unexpected answer to her query. 

finally, it's about time they know about us anyway. sakura thinks, excited to disclose that the two 'rivals' of this class are actually dating. because whenever they wanted to show and tell people, they get interrupted for no reason— people don't seem to believe they would anyway. hence, not having a chance to announce their relationship even though they've been going out for a long while.

well, she's got this chance.

she opens to say it–

"hey sakura! there's someone who wants to talk to you outside!"

interruptions like that. sakura doesn't even bother hiding her irked sigh. how unfortunate, she guesses it'll be another time before the school knows about them. 

"another one? it's only morning yet she's got everyone swooned just because she got piercings and a ponytail." chaewon shakes her head, placing her chin on the heel of her palm, a sign that she's back to her boredom state.

"on my way..." sakura waves a dismissive hand as she then makes her way outside, not really pleased with how her day has been going so far. 

she can decide to be a little bit of a rude, conceited by ignoring the incoming confessions by some strangers, but that isn't really who she is. she's definitely a tad better than that. (yena dislikes this part of her at this point of time.)

she takes the route which passes by yena's desk intentionally, sensing the girl's discontent because of the way she was sharpening her pencil— a bit too aggressive for something so effortless. 

sakura simply smiles, placing a hand on yena's head before ruffling her faded purple locks. yena looks up at her like she's deranged, evidently annoyed that someone messed up her morning effort, but doesn't utter a single word. even then, sakura's smile remains— her gestures posing as a reassurance. 

she walks off, yena's eyes trailing her back until she disappears behind the door.

and it seems her friends finally remembered of her existence.

"wait, i just realised yena isn't the one to start a racket this time. chaewon-ah, are we in a parallel universe?"

"beats me, didn't think i'd get my hair chopped off either."

yena gives them the eyeroll and groans as she sags against her desk, clutching her head with flushed cheeks. with pouty lips, she murmurs inaudibly.

"stupid..."

/// 

luck isn't always on everyone's side. this one guy from their class happened to be on the especially unlucky end today. 

it's badminton for p.e, everyone's assigned in a doubles match, they're playing at a match point of seven, and yena's particularly unhappy about said guy.

it's match point for yena's team, she's receiving a lobbed shuttlecock, perfect angle for a smash and–

"OH !" 

"that's gotta be nasty!"

true to its name, the shuttlecock collided with his nether region.

frankly, yena didn't mean that shot but now that that's happened, it sort of hits her with a wave of satisfication and vengeance because said guy is currently on his knees praying to whoever's up there that he would still be able to continue his family legacy.

oh, right. that's the same guy who asked sakura out just before p.e class. eh, no apology needed.

he'll live. unfortunately. 

yena huffs as she nonchalantly swings her racket, not moving an inch from her spot while some of her classmates gathered around him. then there were those who guffawed at his fortuity. (of course she sided with them.)

"choi, that was some aim. i'm in awe but i'm also a bit on edge after that shot. regardless, come apologise, will you?" 

of course their teacher (who is also her soccer coach) tells her to do just that.

"my deepest apologies, my friend. hope you'll still be able to reproduce-"

"choi yena." 

now why does their p.e teacher have to be their coach? 

"dang, poor dude. to be him." from the sidelines, sakura grimaces, feeling a little sorry for the guy who had done nothing wrong. 

" to be a man." chaewon quips from beside her, her snarky remark has chaeyeon and a few others doubling over.

"woah, yena's on fire today. watch out since your team's next, she could smash that thing straight to your nether regions." yuqi says with a deep chuckle, patting sakura's shoulder for some luck as an exaggeration.

her lips curled up, removing her eyes from the painful sight to yena instead. she's already looking back at her.

"oh she's worked up alright."

/// 

"one more confession and i'm shaving my hair bald. can you believe that many people came after me in a span of a day? people are just so thirsty over looks, for christ's sake, my face is not a damn can of coke."

sakura rambled on with a hiss at the end, putting away the rackets rather aggressively in a container. she decides to leave it messy as it is, forget about 'arranging them properly.' if her coach doesn't see it, there wouldn't be a problem anyway. she's too irritated to organize things at the moment.

being p.e representatives, it's a must for both her and yena to clean up the equipment used and store them properly. 

after her babbling, what followed next was deafly silence. something she half expected. there was only the sound of yena moving the other container of rackets to the corner of the storage room. 

after tossing away the rackets carelessly, sakura turns to face the dull duck, hands placed at her hips. she lets the silence drag on for a little while. until yena finally stands up straight.

"jealousy looks extremely ugly on you." sakura jokes with a tilt of her head, yena's still refusing to look at her properly.

there's that duck pout of hers again, it's been stuck to her face since morning. 

"shut up and hurry, we've got biology after." yena bites back, unable to hide her annoyance. 

sakura is aware that yena doesn't like to speak up about these things. she denies everything and keeps them to herself. sakura wishes she would put aside her ego for once at a time like this.

yena gets blocked by her own girlfriend on her way out. 

"and since when do you care about science?" sakura questions with narrowed eyes, a crooked smile made its way on her lips.

and yena hates how her girlfriend is undeniably gorgeous right now that she just wants to kiss that smug right off her face. hard.

seeing how uncooperative yena was being, sakura releases a sigh.

"ugh you hopeless duck, you don't actually think i've got someone else do you? because i outright declined more than ten confessions today. besides, i'd rather be with an idiot who loves me for my soccer skills than some jackass who loves me for my face." there, she said it. sakura said it. however idiotic and embarrassing yena maybe, sakura would still choose her over anyone else.

because choi yena is so much better than anyone else. 

if yena says that whatever sakura just went on about didn't have any effect on her heart, that would be utter bull— clearly a lie. she doesn't have control over her heart at all. 

"i don't only love you for your soccer skills, stupid." yena mutters timidly, eyeing the dusty concrete floor. it's so stuffy in here, anyone could barely breathe. but her reason for not being able to is merely standing in front of her right now.

okay, that's just adorable. sakura promptly bites her lip to keep her emotions in check.

"see? you even love my stupidity! come here."

sakura's had enough of seeing her girlfriend looking so down in the dumps, that wasn't her goal for today. so she swiftly grabs yena's collar roughly with both hands and reels her in for a deep kiss. one that lasts for a while, one that causes yena's mind to be in complete frenzy and wide-eyed, one that makes her knees buckle, one that reassures her that she is sakura's one and only.

she doesn't even get a chance to catch her breath but sakura is relenting enough to release her in time.

"you know, chaeyeon was right when she said i wanted to impress someone." sakura smoothes out her collar as if the intimate exchange earlier never happened, she's wearing her proud smile. then yena, who is currently speechless, notices the light pinks on her cheeks.

she meets her eyes through her lashes. there's a hint of shyness but yena doesn't point it out, because it's hard to speak at the moment.

"so are you? even if you deny it, i know you've been ogling me all day. you at being lowkey." then sakura gently pushes her away, laughing upon exposing her girlfriend.

"n-no... you're horribly mistaken... i-i thought you were too much of a wuss to get piercings! you got that many piercings in one go? you crazy?" yena retorts in panic, changing the subject. 

sakura taps her chin, pretends to ponder. then shrugs, gazing at yena knowingly.

"when it comes to you, yeah i get kinda crazy," she takes another step closer, invading yena's space yet again, their faces just inches away. "i go insane too." 

she gives her a killer smile before pecking her cheek. then she turns, intentionally making her ponytail smack into yena's face, before coolly walking off just like that, leaving yena dumbfounded.

once sakura was out of sight, yena hunches over on the floor with her face buried in her hands, totally flustered and swooned.

"man, i've got it bad..."

—