Hi, I'm Desku.

Or, well, you might know me as Tablo. That old couch can be very persistent about my name, and the two weeks I have for the old couch to call me Desku has expired yesterday. But never mind that, it's not important. It's not like anyone else actively converse with me.

Except Chaewon. She does.

Kind of.

You see, as a table Chaewon always goes to whenever she's on her self-mission to spy on the Hitomi girl, I've always heard her muttering to herself, and at some point, she starts talking to me.

The first day I noticed her, she wasn't paying attention to anything but her works. Until she looked up. She looked up and paused for longer than she should, her gaze fixed on the occupant of the old couch across us. She returned to her work a beat after, of course, but not without a smile that wasn’t there before. Then when the library was about to close, she only left after the couch girl left, her steps lighter than when she came in.

And she started to visit again.

Her gaze would flicker regularly, taking glances at the occupant of the couch whenever the other girl was present too. Chaewon would tilt her head, a small smile starting to cross her features, as if she's regaining strength from observing the other girl alone.

I mean, to be fair, all things considered, maybe she really was.

"Don't you think she's beautiful?" she murmured, tapping the edge of my top, and it's the first time she's saying anything to me. "The girl over there. The one wearing a peach-coloured sweater? I wish I could go and talk to her. It's just... I have this urge to. I don't know why."

But Chaewon didn't go and talk to the peach sweater stranger. Instead, she softly smiled to herself again, and went back to her works.

It took Chaewon a month to utter the girl's name; Hitomi.

"I like it," Chaewon mumbled, and when I took a peek at her, her cheeks were tinted with red.

"I like saying it, her name. It sounds so pretty, and it makes my shoulders feel lighter. Does that even make sense? You're right, it doesn't."

For the rest of the day, I caught her muttering that name, Hitomi, several times, and I wished I would’ve been able to give her a mirror just so she would notice how tiny little hearts filled her eyes every time that name escaped her lips. A name shouldn’t hold that much power if you were no more than a pair of strangers.

It took Chaewon two months to consider that maybe, just maybe, she felt something for the couch girl.

It was when a girl started to frequently visit the Hitomi-couch (or so Chaewon called it), and looking at them interacting made it hard for Chaewon to smile.

"Why would I feel like this?” she wondered with a slump of her shoulders, “It’s almost like I—no. That’s not it. This has to be a joke. There's no way—"

A glance towards the oblivious girl on the couch made her pause, fingers curling and uncurling on top of me. Then she rubbed a palm over her face, sighing,

". This is going somewhere I didn't expect."

It was then that Chaewon started forcing her eyes to stay longer on her works. Ignoring the itch to glance, the tip of her ballpoint pressing against the papers a tad bit harder every time she surrendered to the curiosity, took a glance, and felt a sting of hurt tinged with confusion.

It wasn't easy to see her like that. I wished I could speak, then, if only to offer a word or two of reassurances. At some point, she started to stare at every guy that passed by us, with a growing frustration whenever all that happened was exactly that; a look. No spark of interest, no urge to stare longer, no invisible tug to draw her in like it had been with Hitomi. I could smell resignation from her by the end of her 'experiment', because—

"This is stupid. She’s with someone. She’s a girl. I’m a girl. This is stupid. I’m stupid—"

It took Chaewon two weeks to discover that the visiting girl was Jo Yuri, Hitomi's best friend, who had an interest in another girl whose name is still in question, but apparently—thankfully—is very much not Hitomi.

This good news was delivered by a loud-mouthed girl who had to help Chaewon do a project, which caused her to hang out around me too. “Yuri told me that she liked someone, last week,” the girl said, lips puckering into a pout. “She refused to tell me the name of this girl! And just cackled when I guessed Hitomi. What’s funny about that! She’s always with her—”

Chaewon only responded the ramble with a short hum, though the light in her eyes returned back, the tip of her ballpoint no longer threatening to accidentally rip her assignments apart. Yena, that's what the girl's name was, had asked then, if she knew Hitomi.

"Not exactly," Chaewon answered, pausing over her writings to glance towards said girl's direction. "But I like seeing her around," she added in a softer tone. I had a feeling it's deeper than that, but no one asked for my opinion, so.

It took Chaewon another month to entertain the thought that, maybe, she's falling.

"Yena-unnie, you insensitive meddling git—" Chaewon's eyes were misty with frustrations as she closed her laptop, and Yena, who had since then regularly visited us every once a week, blinked in confusion at the sudden insults.

"But what did I even do? I only showed you a silly article, like... like the title is 'ten weird ways to tell that you're falling for someone', Chaewon, it’s literally—” and she blinked, suddenly having an epiphany. Her jaw dropped, first, and then she inspected the younger girl closer,

“Wait, really?"

Oh, but really. It was interesting to see Chaewon trying her best to whisper-yell to Yena, explaining that that's exactly what's wrong, because now I have to wonder why she's all I could think of when I read the list, and I was this close to burying that thought completely, unnie, but you just have to go and mess it all up—

Yena was confused. I was thrilled. Hitomi was meters away from us, oblivious, but maybe that was for the best.

"So wait, you have crush," Yena carefully said, voice just a little above whisper. I could almost hear the gears whirring inside her brain as she connected the pieces and assembled the puzzles, "You're... crushing on Hitomi?"

"Oh my, how did you figure that out?" Chaewon sarcastically shot back, fingers rubbing her temples in distress. "I'm not even sure. I just thought about her sometimes, thinking little scenarios of how we'd first interact. I just like to pause from works every now and then, looking up to catch a sight of her, and wondering, planning silly things, like... coming up and greeting her with a hairtie in my hand—she'd like the peach ones—or you know, just sitting there with her to read books together because it’ll feel warm, being next to her— "

A cough and one meaningful look from Yena later,

"." Chaewon laughed weakly, fingers rapidly thrumming against her closed laptop. "This is so much bigger than I thought it's going to be."

"So you are," Yena said. “Falling for her, I meant.”

"Are you going to keep a 10-meters distance from me for now on, or call an exorcism team just in case I'm possessed by a sinner spirit?"

"What good would that do to anything or anyone?" Yena muttered, expression souring slightly at Chaewon's words. "There's no sin in falling. You're falling for someone. This someone just happens to be a girl." And she continued, in almost a whisper, “You’re just like me.”

Chaewon blinked. Opened , and closed it back down, followed by a lot more blinking. And finally,

“Wait, what.”

“Honestly, why do you think I asked Yuri who she likes?”

“Because you’re a good friend…?”

“Well. Well, yes, let’s say that too, because I’m a fabulous friend—what’s that snort for, you little —anyways, yeah there’s that, but there’s also the fact that I’m very much gay and, like, in love.”

“Wait—wait, holy. What?”

And just like that, they talked. With hushed tones, with a start of smiles and a beginning of understanding and a long road of opening up to one another. It’s called coming out, old couch told me when I relayed snippets of the conversations happening. It’s like if a fifty shades of grey book approached an encyclopedia and began admitting that they don’t actually talk about colours, much less the many shades of one—and I tune the rest of that explanation out because the last time I eavesdropped on a conversation about said book I gained some mental scars, so no, thank you. Old couch can keep that one. Whatever this coming out was, I was just glad Yena was there for Chaewon, and judging from the gradual way the girl’s shoulders relaxed throughout the exchanges, Chaewon felt the same, too.

It took Chaewon two weeks to stop feeling grateful towards Yena and start feeling annoyed instead.

"I support you with her," Yena said for the umpteenth time, dramatically spreading her arms wide and inevitably drawing Hitomi's attention from the old couch. Chaewon quickly pulled her to sit and plopped a black plastic bag on her head, before quickly turning to her works, feigning normalcy. She glanced several times towards Hitomi’s direction to make sure the girl wasn't looking anymore, and when Hitomi had finally completely looked elsewhere, Chaewon finally sighed and pulled back the black plastic bag only to see Yena grinning at her.

"Did you prepare the plastic bag just for me?"

"Shut up," Chaewon groaned, folding the bag neatly and storing it back inside her pencil case. "Can't you just do that? Shut up? One day you're going to make Hitomi notice us and—"

"You two can finally talk to each other and my OTP sails!" Yena finished, striking a superhero pose. Chaewon stared at her, unimpressed, and ten seconds later Yena sat in silence with the black plastic bag over her head again.

It took Chaewon a wild Friday and a persistent shipper to finally have a reason to meet Hitomi.

Yes, it's about the fishing competition thingy. I didn't witness how Yena managed to land the deal, I was napping, but old couch relayed it to me when I woke up. I had to admit, I was impressed, not only because Yena actively supported her OTP, but also because I knew Chaewon would bring Hell upon her for agreeing to things on her behalf without her consent.

Three days later, Yena waltzed around me with the Yuri girl in tow, very much alive, and judging from the glow in her eyes, her OTP did sail. They settled on the old couch, who I should really give a name to call as, and old couch relayed their conversation to me. Old couch's information was always too much—like I didn't need to know what Yena's bottom smelled like, thank you very much—but other than butts, the details were appreciated.

The important thing to note was, by the end of the conversation, Yena has successfully converted Yuri, and I personally thought old couch was converted, too.

It took old couch a day to confirm my suspicion.

It was chaotic, no lie. When Chaewon and Yena stopped by me, Yena was listing off reasons on why Chaewon should be ballsy for once and greet Hitomi. Hitomi herself was communicating with old couch, and I just had to inform old couch of the conversation going on around me. Old couch told me to tackle Chaewon, and I told myself that if I couldn't do that then Yena would do it for me.

And of course she actually did.

It led to Chaewon being dragged by Yena's shameless and unapologetic arse to Hitomi, them finally talking with Chaewon being an awkward squirrel trying to stop Yena from contributing unnecessary inputs to the conversation, and Yena dropping to the ground and rolling away overwhelmed with feels. Old couch gravely told me that there're too much rainbows and unicorns when Hitomi and Chaewon were talking, but I recognized a hint of exasperated fondness, like old couch was secretly spazzing too.

And then days after, until today, old couch keeps complaining that Chaewon hasn't taken Hitomi's invitation to sit next to her, so I stare at old couch long and unimpressed until old couch sighs and finally admits with a grumble that yes.

Old couch hearts them too.

Ha. I know it, their story will surely warm up old couch' ancient heart up like no one else.

(Because, honestly, same.)

***

Chaewon runs her fingers through her hair, palms clammy with nervous sweat and guts twisting with anxiety inside her stomach.

These past several days, she hasn't immediately taken Hitomi's invitation to sit next to her. Instead, she patiently waited until Hitomi looked at her direction, and waved. The younger girl would always wave back. Sometimes, Hitomi shifted as she did so, seemingly anticipating Chaewon to come over and finally sit next to her—but Chaewon's willing to dance around longer.

She merely smiled, and set up her belongings on the table again, preparing to delve into her works.

She looked up from her writings sometimes, glancing at Hitomi who would be concentrating on the book in her hold, lips pursing lightly and forehead crinkling in deep thought. Then there would be warmth settling in the bottom of her stomach, and Chaewon mentally laughed to herself, because really, with her like this even with the ever-present distance between them, wouldn't she just outright melt if she ever sat next to the girl?

Well, today Chaewon is going to find out the answer to that.

She arrives first, with a book she hugs tightly to her chest. The Hitomi-couch is still empty, as does the table Chaewon is usually hanging out at. She tilts her head, wondering if Fate will joke with her and make it so that Hitomi doesn't visit the library today, of all days, but she walks there anyway. She walks by the table, tracing its edge with a finger as a form of quiet greeting. It's silly, she knows, because it's not like the wooden being will ever answer, but Chaewon has felt like she finds a friend in the silent table, and so she will treat it as one.

"She's not here yet," she murmurs to herself when she arrives in front of the Hitomi-couch. She looks around once, before settling on the couch awkwardly. It feels a tad like—intruding, to be there when the other isn’t. The couch has always been Hitomi's space, maybe even Hitomi's little bubble of safe Heaven. Gaze dipping down to pause over the ground under her feet, Chaewon wonders if the girl occasionally talks to the couch. And if she does, what does the couch say to her? Maybe right now the couch is sniffing Chaewon's smell? Chaewon purses her lips, wondering if her smell would go well with Hitomi's—

Okay, no, that sounds way too strange.

"Oh—!"

Chaewon blinks, the single syllable spoken by surprise breaking her out of her reverie. She looks up, eyes widening slightly as Hitomi fills up her view. The latter blinks back, once, twice, thrice, before finally taking several tentative steps, then stopping right before Chaewon and the old couch.

"You're here, Chaewon-sshi." She sounds disbelieving. Adorably disbelieving, a voice inside of Chaewon’s brain quips, which she pointedly ignores.

Chaewon smiles, slightly raising her left hand up and waving a little. "I'm here. Hello."

Hitomi eyes the empty space next to Chaewon, and she shifts aside to make it bigger, wordlessly beckoning the younger to sit.

"I thought you won't actually come and sit here," Hitomi says, settling on the vacant space, "like ever."

"Why?" Chaewon asks. Hitomi heaves a sigh, as though Chaewon's being annoyingly oblivious, and she has a distinct feeling that one of the springs inside the couch is loosening suddenly, ready to catapult her off.

"Because it's been a while since my offer,” Hitomi softly replies. “And you keep choosing to sit by the desk, so…” she trails off.

"Oh—" Chaewon scratches her neck, and her subconscious starts to ramble inside her head, I'm afraid I'd disturb your time. I'm scared you'd find me intruding. I have a fear that you wouldn't enjoy my company, and I’d be better off never coming too close to your safe space.

How should she say all these without sounding like a paranoid squirrel?

"I accepted your invitation, though," Chaewon finally says, opting for a more general answer.

"I thought you were just being polite," Hitomi replies, shoulders rolling in a slight shrug. Chaewon turns to meet a gaze that quickly avoid hers, and she's surprised to find a flicker of sadness in them. Hitomi smiles slightly, fingers fiddling with the edge of her shirt. "I guess I'm… just a little bit sad about it."

"Why?" Chaewon asks again, feeling a little bit dumb for repeatedly saying the same question.

"Because—” a cough, with the avoiding gaze finally settling on an unimpressive spot on the ground, “I want to—know more about you?" The tip of Hitomi’s ear that's cutely peeking between her dark locks turns a shade of red, and Chaewon feels a smile tugging the corner of her lips.

"I'm sorry," Chaewon replies, genuinely apologetic. Sorry for making you sad. There's a light pang somewhere in her heart—because those eyes should never hold sadness like that, and yet here she is, being the cause. She swallows the guilt in and tries to give an explanation, "I needed to sit by the desk because the connection is faster over there. I needed it to finish my project."

Not a lie, not really. She just doesn't tell her that seeing her is actually her first priority, even from afar.

"It's okay," Hitomi nods, taking a careful, brief glance at her. "Is it done now?"

"It is," Chaewon beams at her, amused that instead of her avoiding Hitomi's gaze, what's happening right now is actually the other way around. She turns her attention back to her own lap, reminded of the book she has brought along to this meeting.

"I heard from Yena-unnie who heard from Yuri that you want to try out fishing for real?" she asks, glancing at the girl next to her.

"I do," Hitomi confesses with a nod. "But I'm not sure I'll be—"

"So I came up with this," Chaewon holds the brown book with a worn-out cover, gently cutting off Hitomi's answer. Hitomi looks at her, then to the book, her expression giving away confusion, so Chaewon starts to explain:

"It's my old blocknote. I scribbled things related to fishing on it the first years my dad got me to like fishing. I thought... maybe... you'd want to have a read—"

"Oh my," Hitomi gasps, a smile so wide stretching her lips. "Did it hurt, Chaewon-sshi?"

Chaewon blinks. "Hurt?"

"When you fell from Heaven," Hitomi promptly replies.

Chaewon laughs, surprised of the unexpected reply, and tries her best not to blush because that’s. That’s a pick up line what the —

"You know, the angel that fell from Heaven is the Devil."

Hitomi's mouth forms an o, eyes blinking owlishly at the realization. "You're right," she says, and at that moment, her expression is so innocent that Chaewon's fingers itch to pinch her cheeks. But she mentally shakes herself out of it and smiles instead,

"Anyway, here." She puts the book in Hitomi's lap. Their fingers fleetingly brush against each other's, and for an amplified moment Chaewon's heart dies at the tingles prickling from the contact. She coughs, hoping her cheeks aren't turning red, "I hope you'd enjoy it. My writings were a mess sometimes, so if some chicken scrawls are too unreadable for you, do ask."

"Thank you," Hitomi sincerely says, tracing the cover lightly with the tip of her fingers. Her eyes are bright, like they’re holding the same amount of stars a night sky would, and if Hitomi is the sky overhead, Chaewon doesn’t think she minds living in a house without a roof—

"What should I do for you in return?"

Chaewon blinks, registering the question a tad late. Hitomi is looking at her expectantly, and she just shakes her head in answer.

"But you've done so much," Hitomi pouts, "please?"

Chaewon shifts her gaze elsewhere, because the sight of a pouting Hitomi does wonders to her heartbeat. She pretends to be in a deep thought, although she already knows what she wants. She mentally counts to five, and then—

"What about—dropping the honorifics?" Chaewon suggests, looking at her again. "You want to know me more. Same with me. Let's do the first step."

"What's the first step?" Hitomi wonders.

"Kiss," Chaewon deadpans. Then a beat later, she laughs. "No, the first step is like what I suggested, dropping the—"

Her next words die in when Hitomi leans in and kisses her right cheek. A little below her eyes, a shy away from her nose, and Chaewon's brain short-circuits. The fleeting touch of Hitomi's lips against her skin lingers for three seconds before the younger pulls back and shyly smiles.

From a distance, there's a sound of something dropping to the ground.

A little voice in the back of Chaewon's still-working-subconscious bets that it's Yena, spying on them quietly and spontaneously combusting because of the kiss. But Chaewon's main consciousness is still flying up and away to the cloud nine, her heartbeat vigorously skipping steps and then rolling down the mountain while being set ablaze.

Hitomi's still smiling at her, murmuring something that suspiciously sounds like 'Chaewon-unnie', and her hopeless brain fixates on that, turning the sound of that inside of her head over and over and over—

Wouldn't Kim Chaewon melt if she ever sat next to the sweet, beautiful Honda Hitomi?

Yes.

Yes, she would.

(Hell, she is in the middle of melting now.)

***

Getting to know someone, going from awkward greetings to finding out each other's favourite things, starting from only memorizing face and then voice—to slowly recognizing how the other's drag their feet against the ground...

It's a fascinating feeling.

Sometimes you don't feel like knowing more, and so the relationship stops growing after it reaches a stage both of you feel comfortable with. There's no new thing to try or new feelings to explore upon, and both of you draw the line, knowing the place you're standing on.

Then sometimes, though rare, you feel like you want to keep going.

When you've opened the first layer, you wonder about the second. When you've seen their smile, you entertain the thought of their laughter. When they've called you a supporting hand they won't ever let go, you start wanting to be their pillar of strength that will always be there even when they're not looking.

When you meet such a person that can evoke such desire in you, it can be exhilarating...

But it can also scare you less.

"Hey."

Hitomi blinks, thrown off from her train of thoughts. The opened book in her hands has been staying still on page 247 for minutes, the tip of Hitomi’s index finger resting on a sentence somewhere in the middle, unmoving from the first moment her mind started to drift off out of the regaling tale the letters posed. Hitomi shakes her head and looks up, taking in the sight of the girl before her. Smiling, because it’s always easy to smile whenever she sees her,

"Hi, Chaewon-unnie."

A shift. The couch dipping and a weight settling. Thigh pressed against thigh, a smile meeting a tired smile—though it doesn’t lose any of its usual warmth, never that.

"You look tired today," Hitomi says, observing the smile that doesn't quite reach Chaewon’s eyes. She absently marks the page she's on and closes her book, setting it aside, paying full attention to the older girl.

"Mmh," Chaewon hums, agreeing to the observation and leaning back. She lets out a groan as though her joints are screaming at her for her every little movements. "Well, I don't really sleep last night..."

"That's too bad," Hitomi comments, worried. There's a book she has read about the bad effects staying up at nights has on your body, but she stops herself from citing it out loud when she looks over the older girl, whose eyes are starting to flutter close. There’s no laptop on sight, nor some books, and—hold on.

Hold on.

"Unnie," Hitomi softly calls, leaning back against the couch and shifting a little to face the older girl fully, unashamedly staring at Chaewon's peaceful face.

Chaewon hums, signalling that she’s listening, the uptick at the corner of her lips a sign that she’s aware she’s looking, and Hitomi swallows.

"Are you here just to see me?"

Chaewon doesn’t immediately answer. When she finally does, however it’s not really an answer to her question.

"It's okay," Chaewon murmurs, eyes staying close. "Next class isn't for another five hours... maybe..."

Hitomi nods, although Chaewon won't see her. She feels a little guilty, because Chaewon could've gone somewhere else more comfortable to sleep, could’ve gone back home or crashed Yena’s apartment to steal some nap on a bed instead of a library couch, but there’s—there’s warmth, too.

An amount of warmth that she can't easily ignore as her hand reaches up to gently sweep the strands of hair covering Chaewon's forehead, tucking them gently behind her ear.

"Take a nap, unnie. I will wake you up later."

She watches as a smile works its way across Chaewon's face, gentle and beautiful, this time well into her closed eyes. There’s a subtle press against her touch, like the older girl’s leaning into the contact, and Chaewon makes a soft, agreeing voice,

"Give me three hours..."

"Three hours," Hitomi softly repeats. She makes to retract her hand—but pauses, fingers hovering closely near Chaewon's face, and Hitomi really, really wants to graze her fingertips against the older girl’s cheeks, perhaps attempt to brush away a bit of the tiredness that is pulling her shoulders down, but Chaewon’s lips part slightly, and Hitomi's hand stills.

Chaewon’s lips are parted, seemingly to produce a reply, but no words ever come, only a soft snore that almost escapes Hitomi’s hearing. She stares, unblinking, and it's not until Chaewon's fifth faint snore that she’s finally sure that the older girl has drifted to sleep.

Smiling in amusement, Hitomi quietly retracts her hand and pulls out the old blocknote Chaewon gave her. There are some empty pages nearing the end, and since Chaewon refused to take the book back, Hitomi is determined to fill the last pages with every little Chaewon facts she manages to collect day by day.

She jots down the date, darts a glance towards the sleeping girl, and writes—

When she's really tired, she can fall asleep in a speed of light, indicated by a snore so soft you have to strain your ears to catch it.

She adds, in tiny letters inside a bracket, about how cute she finds this quirk. She then taps her chin with the end of her pen, glancing towards the sleeping girl who radiates exhaustion more than anything. She frowns slightly, feeling sorry. It's rare for her to see Chaewon being anything other than smiling, focused, cheeky, sarcastic, or thoughtful.

It's rare for her to see Chaewon with her energy completely depleting like this.

She doesn't like seeing an exhausted Chaewon, Hitomi decides. But—well, on the flipside, she likes that she’s able to observe her like this, noticing the rise and the fall of her chest, pausing at the soft snores and smiling at the innocence Chaewon's sleeping expression gives off.

The tapping of her pen stops, and Hitomi returns to the old notebook again.

I don't like seeing her exhausted and lacking sleep, she writes sincerely. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes, and she rarely laughs.

But she's cute, even when she doesn't have the energy to do cute things like this. I like it.

A thought fleetingly slips into her mind, and Hitomi's eyes widen. The scratching of her pen against the paper pauses as she carefully reads the words she has written again. She knows, scientifically, that time doesn't stop, but it sure as Hell feel like it when a recognition washes over her, yanking her down into a little conclusion.

There’s—a flutter.

There’s an unnamed flutter in her heart when she finds herself drawn to the little details of one Kim Chaewon. An unnamed flutter when she writes these little details down, an unnamed flutter that evokes warmth and makes Hitomi want to seize it, have it grow, have it stay like that forever—

Chaewon mumbles a string of incoherent words, shifting around, crashing Hitomi's thoughts—not only by the noise, but also by the added weight from her side. Chaewon snuggles up, head pressing down Hitomi’s shoulder, hair warmly tickling the slant of her neck, and Hitomi freezes.

Sometimes, you get to know a person who fits just right. Every corner you bring up, they seem to click with you without a fight. The moment you stumble into difference in opinions, they handle it in the way that doesn't hurt you.

Every moment with them leaves you wanting to know more, and at one point, when you hold their hand,

you start to wonder if they will also let you hold their heart.

When you meet such a person that can evoke such feelings in you, it can be exhilarating,

but it can also scare you less.

(And right now, Hitomi realizes, she is the latter.)

***

Desku—no, I mean Tablo, I think Tablo's gone mental.

He’s starting to say insane things, like oh I think Hitomi feels the same, or haven't you seen the look in Hitomi's eyes whenever Chaewon is around? or some conspiracy that supports his belief that Hitomi and Chaewon actually have mutual feelings for each other, and they're just trying their best to not acknowledge it.

It's silly.

I know that Chaewon has had some deep feelings about Hitomi, but the other way around? Hah. Even though their smells go well with each other, I don't buy it, and that's why I'm totally not a shipper.

Tablo keeps insisting that it's because I always napped when their moments happen (see, even his vocabulary has started to resemble Yena's. Moments, really?) So I feel compelled to keep my... metaphorical... eyes and ears open for today, especially because Hitomi has been lying around me since morning, not reading anything, and Chaewon has just walked into our view.

I brace myself as Chaewon arrives in front of us, because going by Tablo's words, Chaewon would probably start the day by going down on one knee and proposing to Hitomi to have babies with her. Yes, it's that dramatic.

"Sleep," Chaewon says the moment she settles next to the younger girl.

Hitomi blinks.

I blink.

Tablo groans from across the room.

Sleep. It’s the first thing Chaewon said to Hitomi today. That's right, we all heard that, not even a hi.

Very romantic.

"Huh?" Hitomi answers, befuddled. I echo the questioning word, because I'm befuddled too. The request comes so sudden, and Hitomi doesn't even look sleepy. If what Tablo meant by 'the look in Hitomi's eyes whenever Chaewon is around' is a constant befuddled look, then I need to have a word or two with him later because that's not what falling in love is supposed to look like.

Chaewon scoots closer to Hitomi, until they can sense warmth from each other's side. I pointedly ignore Tablo's frantic gestures at their sitting arrangement as the conversation starts again.

"Well, it's to repay that one time I fell asleep," Chaewon explains, cheeks colouring slightly. "Now it's your turn."

Sleep? What sleep?

Hitomi laughs softly, shaking her head. "I don't think it works that way, unnie."

What? What doesn't work that way? I blink, failing to follow this conversation. Maybe Tablo is right, a lot has happened during the time I took my naps. Though I shouldn't let that young desk now about my admittance so soon.

There's an exasperated sigh slipping from Chaewon's parted lips. "Hitomi, I insist—"

"Besides, you're cute," Hitomi teases. "So it's okay."

Chaewon pauses. My jaw drops.

Did I hear that right?

Was Honda Hitomi flirting just now?

"I bet you're cuter when you're sleeping," Chaewon retorts, recovering from her brief fluster.

"It's not a competition,” Hitomi sighs, before breaking out of it to add, “but even if it is, you're the winner in my heart." She winks at the end of her sentence, lips twisting into a smug grin when Chaewon gapes in response.

My metaphorical jaw has officially dropped to the ground.

Honda Hitomi is a flirt now.

Chaewon covers her face with her palms, complaining with her voice muffled about how nothing in her life ever works—not even when she just wanted to let Hitomi sleep or call her cute—and Hitomi laughs lightly, patting the distraught girl's shoulder.

"If it helps, unnie, I will sleep if I'm sleepy, so don't worry."

"What can I do to make you sleepy now?" Chaewon asks, lifting her head to pout at the younger girl. Hitomi pauses at the pout, gaze lingering for a beat before she closes her eyes and pretends to think.

"Hmmm, you can always do a story-telling."

Chaewon tilts her head. "Will Pinocchio suffice?"

Hitomi opens her eyes, a pleased smile on her lips. "I want a story with you as the main character—"

"You can just tell me that you want to hear my childhood story," Chaewon replies, staring at the younger with narrowed eyes

"You got me!”

“No.”

“Tell me, unnie.”

“No—”

“Please?” Hitomi hopefully pleads, making tiny little tugs on Chaewon’s sleeve, which is honestly an overkill because Chaewon is nothing but weak against her—

"When I said I want to make you sleepy," Chaewon theatrically sighs, fingers moving to wrap around Hitomi's and stop the insistent tugs, "I didn't mean on my expense."

"Why, were you a walking embarrassment when you're a child?"

"A snowball of embarrassment rolling around from the top of the hill with maximum speed," Chaewon corrects in a deadpanning manner. Then she arches a brow, feigning a second thought, "But if you promise you'd sleep..."

Hitomi nods, solemnly giving her promise to sleep by the end of the story. I stare at their interlaced fingers, none of them seem willing to let go. As though she can read my mind, Hitomi's gaze flickers down for a beat, pausing over their entwined hands, and when she looks back up, her smile is broadened as though Christmas has come early.

"Please lull me to sleep with your Oscar-winning story-telling skills, unnie."

Chaewon sighs a long, exaggerated, I know I’ll regret this later kind of sigh, but she proceeds to nod and pat her shoulder. Hitomi immediately inches closer, arms snaking around Chaewon's and head lightly leaning on the older girl's shoulder. None comments about how they seem to fit perfectly like pieces of puzzle falling into their right place, but I can see it. I don't even need Tablo's haughty 'look at your expression' to know that along with the ticking clock, my metaphorical heart skips a beat.

Chaewon clears ,

"Okay, here we go. Once upon a time, there's a girl who disliked her cousin's plushie because he paid attention to it more than he to her—and to be fair, she was only, like, five and he's her best partner in crime, so—"

I only half-listen to the story, because my mind is in frenzy. Does Chaewon like Hitomi? Yeah, for sure, girl has it bad, everyone pray for her. Does Hitomi like Chaewon? See, if she doesn't, then I really need to grab a dictionary and re-evaluate what the word 'like' really means. Am I a shipper? Well judging from my non-existent heart turning mushy at the moment happening on me, then—

Yes.

, but yes.

(I blame everything on that Yena girl.)

***

"Ya ya ya," Yena yell-whispers as she drags Yuri towards old couch, “Yuri-ah, the ship! The ship is sailing!”

"What ship," Yuri mutters, trying her best to not lose her arm to the excited puppy.

"The one you lowkey ship like crazy," Yena says, pulling her to sit on the old couch. The momentum of the both of them sitting causes old couch to creak, but that’s fine, no problem, I know old couch will forgive them as a fellow shipper. Same ship is the new ohana, and ohana means family.

Ah, that's right, it's me again, Desku—or Tablo, fine—at your service.

I don't see Hitomi nor Chaewon today, but the shippers are there, and I'm ready to gossip.

I grin as old couch generously relays the conversations between the two girls to me.

"Oh, yeah," Yuri half-heartedly answers, eyes scanning her surrounding to make sure they’re not drawing unwarranted attention from outside. "Where are they, anyway? Why are we here, instead? This is supposed to be, what did you usually call it, ah, The Ssambbang’s Love Field."

"Because Chaewon is our Ssam princess and Hitomi is our Bbang princess and their love grows here," Yena nods vigorously. "To answer your first question, both their classes ended early so right now they're going over to Hitomi's house."

Yuri an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly. "Already?" she hums, "But Hii-chan doesn't really invite people to her place."

"I knoooooow!" Yena spazzes, shaking Yuri’s shoulders. "They’re progressing so nicely, my shipper heart is happy!"

"You drag me just to spazz about them?" Yuri quietly says, trying her best to stop Yena from causing her to have motion sickness.

"Of course not," Yena quickly says, releasing Yuri's shoulders all at once and crossing her arms instead, feigning a professional pose. "I’m here to propose that we make a plan. To make them official. We should."

"No," Yuri flat out denies, glaring at Yena. "They need to come to it on their own, Yena-unnie. Stop."

I nod. It's not like they're as frustrating as k-dramas lead who act oblivious until it's near the final episodes. Hell, going by the way they act around each other, they have to realize each other's feeling soon, right?

Right?

"But Yuriiiiiii," Yena whines, professional aura broken—not that she really has it down in the first place—and hello excuse me, is that a blush on Yuri’s cheeks—

Yena clears . "I've thought about this very carefully. Look, I'll even drag Hyewonnie into this operation. I'll go with the codename Duck, you with Hamster, Hyewonnie with Glutton—"

"But Yena-unnieeeee," Yuri whines back, grabbing the older girl’s cheeks and squashing them so that Yena turns into a duck version of herself and is rendered unable to interrupt, "for the love of God, don't do this. You could just mess things up and make things awkward from them, just when they finally have no awkwardness around them. Let. Them. Be."

Yena falters. "Bfwuh—"

"Let them figure things out on their own," Yuri continues in a softer tone, releasing her hold. "Okay? Give them time. Look, you said Chaewon-unnie has always liked Hitomi. Then give it time. I know it's exciting to play cupid, but don't, unless it's very prudent for us to do so.” Yuri sighs, looking away,

“Things could go bad. You might break a very beautiful bond and turn a very sweet thing sour."

Yena deflates. "Okay... fine. But—"

"Yeah?"

"Has it ever happened to you?" Yena hesitantly asks. “Having a very sweet thing turned sour?” She sounds unsure, like she doesn’t know whether she wants to hear the answer or not.

Yuri smiles slightly, returning her gaze and shaking her head. "Not myself. More like I've ever witnessed one. It's not really a pretty sight."

Yena swallows. "Oh."

"Now, unnie, tell me if you have seen any moments I didn't know of."

The matter is instantly dropped, then, replaced with Yena proceeding to animatedly tell Yuri the stories that she knows of our beloved not-couple couple. Old couch and I have known that sometimes Yena spies or eavesdrops on the girls just to see the progress they have made. Of course, her cover is blown sometimes, whenever she drops to the ground, fails to contain her squeal, or accidentally chokes on her own spit every time she's overwhelmed with feels.

And we are aware that Yena treasures Chaewon a lot. She does. Despite her boisterous attitude, the things she has done so far to push Chaewon to interact with Hitomi have good intentions, because Chaewon does need the nudge (or the sudden game deal, or the surprise trip, or the shameless dragging).

But it’s also a good thing that there’s Yuri to hold her back when she’s too focused on trying to get the two together.

Idly, I wonder what Yuri’s story is, what kind of tales she has seen unravel, for her to be able to say things like these. Though, really, digging out people's story is the hobby of the old couch, not mine. I'm invested in Chaewon's story because she treats me like a friend, and I treat her as one, too.

Things could go bad. You might break a very beautiful bond, and turn a very sweet thing sour.

I… don't want things to go bad between them.

Because just by seeing them, witnessing how smiling is easier for them when one is with the other, I know that what they have is something so precious. It makes me want to be a human for a day, if only to have a chance in experiencing those feelings too. I don’t want that to go, I don’t want either of them to lose that—

The old couch is looking at me now, arching a metaphorical brow and asking me yah are you brooding?

And I smile slightly, telling old couch to go back on eavesdropping to Yena's stories. I'm not brooding. I'm just feeling a little sensitive, like there's a storm going ahead and right now we're experiencing the deafening calm.

(I really, really wish I hadn't jinxed it on us.)