I've been a fool

But strawberriess and cigarettes

Always taste like

"So, did it work?"

Joohyun looked up from her pancakes and saw Wendy, rubbing her eyes as she stumbled toward her.

"Um.. Yeah."

The sleepy girl raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you seem so flat about it?"

The truth was, Joohyun was happy. She was happy that Seulgi finally stopped rejecting those wonderful things called love. But after their talk Joohyun couldn't sleep a wink. She tossed and turned but miserably failed to fall asleep.

Hearing Seulgi's words, she felt like crying and hugging her at the same time.

She wanted to cry in her arms and wanted to caress her face at the same time.

Was that even normal between friends?

If it wasn't, did she like Seulgi in a different way?

Was she in love with Seulgi?

Joohyun shook her head while the girl beside her got more confused.

That could never happen. They were both girls. And it was all too.... sudden.

Or was it?

All those feelings overwhelmed her and yet she didn't feel that unfamiliar about them.

She tried to remember when she felt that kind of feeling.

At first, she felt warmth seep into her when Seulgi comforted her and urged her to get out of her small world.

Then ever since the cherry blossom festival, she felt more attached to the girl and it was clear Seulgi wasn't just a friend after she cried which she hadn't done in front of anyone for a long time.

The cherry blossom festival. That's it.

Her mind drifted off to that day, when Joongi's car being locked, they had to stay in a near hotel for the night after having their dinner.

"You sure Joongi didn't say anything weird, right?"

Joohyun rolled her eyes as she sat on the bed in her nightclothes(thank god for the convenient store which is open for 24 hours) ready to just fall into endless sleep.

"What are you so worried about?"

Seulgi scowled as she wiped her wet face with a towel, wearing the same nightclothes as her.

"Because that moron is such a blabbermouth."

"Aside from what I told you I don't know anything."

"That's a relief."

"Why? Is there something you're ashamed of? Like wetting yourself?" Joohyun gave her a mischievous smirk.

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Well then, I guess I should just ask blabbermouth Joongi about it."

Seulgi gasped and dropped her towel. "You wouldn't dare."

Joohyun stuck out her tongue and smiled playfully. "Try me."

The bunny almost burst out laughing seeing Seulgi so frustrated. Her brows ceased as if she was thinking whether she should tell her or not. She looked so helpless yet so endearing at the same time.

"Fine." Seulgi sighed thinking she was sure she was going to regret this. "I had friends in middle school. But.. only a few. And I was kind of a .. a... How should I put it.." 

"A loner?" Joohyun suggested carefully when she saw Seulgi's eyes getting watery.

But the girl shook her head grimly.

"No. More than that. I was an outcast."

The bear bit her lip, waiting for Joohyun to back away, waiting for Joohyun to be disappointed. But the older girl remained expressionless as she gestured her to sit beside her. "Tell me more."

"They had some... misunderstandings about me."

"Go on."

"And I couldn't fight for myself because.." Seulgi let out a shaky breath. "You know when you feel like you're wrong when everyone else says you're wrong? That's how I felt my whole life."

Joohyun didn't know what to say. All she could think was how cruel it was for Seulgi to endure all this time alone. She even wished she had met her sooner.

"I don't even remember why I had a fight with them. And yet I know we both had faults. But it was always me who ended up being alone."

Joohyun saw Seulgi's tears falling down from her face but the girl didn't even seem to notice.

"Everyone else treated me like I was wrong. And so when I left my school I was so relieved. I thought I could move on and start anew."

Joohyun reached out to take her hand. She still didn't know what to say and she felt she shouldn't.

"But I know I'll experience that all over again if anything similar happens." Seulgi placed her finger on her cheek, finally realizing she was crying. "Now I'm being a baby."

"You can cry if you want. I did that in front of you anyway. And it helped."

Seulgi shook her head as she wiped away her tears. "No. I don't want to cry. I'm tired of letting my sadness take me over."

"But to make them gone is to let them out."

The bear managed a sad smile. "I know. But I failed to make them gone until today."

Seulgi will never know how much Joohyun wanted to do something, anything for her that day.

She wished Seulgi could see from her point of view and realize how precious she was.

"You're so much more Seulgi Kang." Joohyun whispered softly. "So much more than you can ever imagine."

The room's atmosphere became quiet and Joohyun almost jumped by the sudden contact of Seulgi's head on her shoulder.

"Seulgi?"

After a short silence she heard a light snore and Joohyun laughed quietly.

"I guess you didn't hear me."

Knowing the bear was a heavy sleeper, she helped the sleeping bear lie on the bed and flopped down beside her.

"Oh well." Joohyun mumbled as she rubbed her tired eyes. "I guess I should say that again next time." 

But Joohyun wondered if she could. Unlike Seulgi who spoke such wonderful words, she was always the listener. She wasn't even good at writing. It was the most difficult, maybe even impossible, thing for her to describe exactly how she feels.

"But I guess I could try," The bunny muttered, closing her eyes.

"Because I love you."

Huh? Joohyun's eyes shot wide open and jumped out of her bed, surprised from her sudden confession she had no thoughts of saying or even thinking.

Then she remembered the sleeping girl beside her and prayed all her might she is still asleep.

Thankfully, the god listened to her prayers and let out a sigh of relief seeing the bear turning sideways while mumbling some gibberish and started to snore again.

Bless Seulgi for her hibernation.

"What was that?" Joohyun muttered to herself, her heart still thumping madly.

She had never said 'I love you' to anyone. Not even to her parents.

Why did she say that? How could she say that?

"It must be a friendly 'I love you' kind of thing." She muttered, trying to calm herself down.

There was no way she was in love with a girl.

There was absolutely no way she was in love with her best friend.

Because she knew that will definitely change everything.

And she didn't want to change for as long as she could.

"Hello? Earth to Joohyun?"

Joohyun blinked a few times and saw Wendy with Joy and Yerim seated beside her, all looking at her with weird looks on their faces.

"Uhh.. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Sure."

"Seungwan told me our plan was a success." Joy puffed out her chest proudly, smiling her signature cocky smirk. "I guess I saved the bear."

"Technically, auntie Mia saved the bear."

"It was my idea!"

"You just wanted to go to the beach!"

"Still it helped!"

"Will you two stop arguing?" The three shocked seniors turned to the junior who was making a face. "We all saved the bear. And I'm just happy that the bear is finally making a progress, don't you?"

"Yeah." Wendy mumbled as she looked down, ashamed. "Sorry."

"Then I guess she could now go see romantic movies with me."

Joohyun scoffed at Joy's sudden suggestion. "Why on earth would Seulgi go to the movies with you?"

"Hey, just because you met her first doesn't mean I can't spend some time with her."

"Since I'm her closest friend I should be the first one who gets to see a romantic movie with her!"

Wendy silently watched the two bickering duo and finally pipped up.

"You guys know this conversation sounds weird, right?"

The two scowling faces turned to Wendy. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you two look like you're fighting over a guy arguing you should go on a date with him first."

"I'm just an affectionate person." Joy defended and Joohyun nodded in agreement. "So am I."

"You? Affectionate? Please." Joy snorted and even Yerim didn't seem to agree. "You're just affectionate to Seulgi. You never show that kind of 'affection' to us and I've known you since elementary school!"

Before Joohyun could think of her defense, a voice that seemed to be still asleep made all the four girls turn.

"Good morning."

"You mean afternoon." Joy interrupted as she laughed at the sleepy bear. "You sure are a very heavy sleeper."

Yerim rolled her eyes. "Have you met Seulgi or..?"

Seulgi, with her eyes still closed, managed a smile. "I get that a lot."

"Have some pancakes, Seulgi." The bear thanked her as she sat beside Joohyun and she pushed the dish piled with pancakes to her friend.

"There right there!" Joy shouted. "Look at her! She would never do that to us, right Seungwan?"

"Stop being dramatic, Sooyoung." Wendy scolded. "She's just being nice to Seulgi because she's like a little sister to her. Isn't that right?"

All eight pairs of eyes looked at the girl who was having trouble talking.

Just when things were about to get more complicated, they managed to make it even worse. For some reason she couldn't even look at Seulgi.

"You're all different." She said calmly. "So I treat all of you differently. That's all."

Joy snorted, obviously not convinced and Wendy tilted her head in awe at her neutral answer. Yerim just shrugged as she reached for an apple and Seulgi was the only one who agreed with her.

"That's true, and."

The bear smiled turning her eyes crescent and said with her giggly voice,

"I'm lovable. Lovable enough to make even Joohyun Bae fall for me."

Yerim gagged and Joy laughed so hard she almost choked on her pancakes. Wendy laughed along and Joohyun couldn't help but finally look at her friend with a big smile on her face.

"I don't have any objection about that." Joy agreed.

And Joohyun couldn't agree more.

.

Time seemed to fly by after their trip.

Only one month was left for their midterm exam and Joohyun was almost going insane thanks to all the student council works and her own preparation for the exam.

But still having lunch with her friends surprisingly helped. She still felt a little uneasy and nervous than usual when Seulgi was too close or right in front of her however it was true Joohyun also found comfort when she spent time with the bear. Even though her head was aching from trying to figure out what she was feeling.

It got worse when Seulgi often came to thier classroom to give them all kinds of sweets to cheer them up. She once brought strawberry candies for the three seniors and Joy complained when she handed Joohyun another one.

"I'm the one with the big appetite right after you!" The tallest girl complained.

And Seulgi always blushed trying to make up an excuse that Joohyun needs more sugar.

Meanwhile, Seulgi was more relaxed compared to Joohyun. She did study of course but being the first grade and all she felt less pressure compared to the juniors.

And since Joohyun was too busy these days to spend time with her, and she was even afraid that Joohyun might think she was bothersome, she decided to be adventurous.

Yes. Seulgi wasn't joking when she said she was going to get a part time job.

"You were serious about that?"

Seulgi chuckled seeing Joohyun so suprised which was quite a rare event but she couldn't help but notice how tired she looked with dark circles on her eyes.

"Why not? I also volunteered for the school library assistant. I need to volunteer at at least something for my school record."

Joohyun shook her head in amazement.

"You always seem to surprise me even though I think I know you better than anyone."

"I like to live life at its fullest." The bear said cheerfully. "It's the only life I have after all."

The bunny beside her smiled in amusement, glad that Seulgi wasn't upset by the fact she was too busy to spend time with her other than after school and lunch time.

"Well then I guess I should visit the library more often."

So after school, instead of walking home with Joohyun, Seulgi rushed toward a posh restaurant for her interveiw.

It was her first part time job interview so it was no surprise Seulgi was shaking with nervousness. Even with Joohyun's 'Good luck!', Seulgi's legs were shaking as she stepped into the restaruant.

It was a posh Italian restaurant with all kinds of pastas and pizzas. A girl about her age was pulling a cart filled with delicious dishes of food. She noticed the teenage girl and thinking she was a customer, bowed at her politely. Seulgi clumsily bowed back.

"Table for one?"

"Ah, no. Actually, I'm here for the interview."

The blonde girl nodded as if she was expecting her. "Follow me."

She handed the cart to another girl and gestured Seulgi to follow her. The atmosphere seemed so quiet and tense it made dry.

"Don't be too nervous." The blonde girl reassurd her when she noticed the girl behind her looking pale. "Miss Kim is a very sarcastic person so all you have to do is to be polite and show how much you want this job."

She opened the door and gestured Seulgi to go in. "Good luck."

The bear bowed again to thank her and stepped inside. Her nose instantly scrunched up at the dusty, disgusting smell of cigarettes. If she manage to work here, she definitely should carry some perfume for work. A very strong one.

"So you're Kang Seulgi?"

She turned and gulped when she saw a pretty woman wearing a black suit. She looked very young and yet Seulgi wasn't so sure when she met her eyes. She seemed mature yet young at the same time.

"Umm... Yes. It's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed and the owner waved her hand. The golden name tag carved 'Kim Taeyeon' gleamed.

"You don't need to be that polite. But I appreciate it. Please, have a seat."

The nervous teenager sat in front of the owner and handed her resume.

"So yo