(Reminder: Flashbacks are italicized)

                          It was dark out when Chorong got a text from Hayoung. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was expecting if she were to be perfectly honest but something told her that it was going to be a long night. Cuddled up in a heavy coat and scarf, Chorong stepped out into the chilly breeze with her hands tucked under her arms. It took her longer than she thought to locate Hayoung sitting alone on a bench, her chin lifted up to the sky and her eyes gazing woefully at the stars. Chorong took a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever Hayoung would need her for.

                          “Hey.”

                          Hayoung turned slowly, a tear rolling down her face when she caught sight of Chorong standing with her arms swinging at her side. She looked flustered at the sight of Hayoung crying but was quick to embrace her before asking any questions. Perhaps this was the reason Hayoung had texted her. Sometimes it was easier to show your weaknesses to someone you were not as close to. But then again, Hayoung didn’t have much of a choice.

                          “Thank you for coming,” she sniffled, letting Chorong pull away from her and accompany her on the bench, “I didn’t know who else to talk to.”

                          “I’m here for you.” Chorong said simply, smiling warmly at Hayoung.

                          It was silent for a while as Hayoung gathered her thoughts and tried to figure out what to say. She yearned to tell the truth but the only truth she was certain of was that she had no idea what to do. It may not be a good start, but it was something.

                          “Namjoo told me she still loves me.” Silence. “I don’t know what to do. I’m so lost and alone.”

                          “You’re not alone. You have me and Bomi and Eunji and Naeun. Like it or not, you even have Namjoo.”

                          “Not anymore.” Hayoung said after another long pause, “I wish I can go back in time. Maybe then I would give Namjoo the response she deserves. Maybe then I could meet Naeun again. Maybe then I would not feel like I have wronged Eunji who has been nothing but a sister to me. Maybe then Bomi would understand why I did what I did. Maybe then you wouldn’t have to see my like this.” She sighed, feeling Chorong squeeze her hand comfortingly and gaze at her. She was ready to listen. With a final deep breath, Hayoung began the full story.

                          “I met Namjoo because of Bomi. It was summertime of my middle school days and I always wanted Bomi to take me places. She was the only high schooler I knew and with overprotective parents, I rarely got to go out. One day, after I begged Bomi for an entire month, she took me to the movies with her girlfriend. That was the first time I met Eunji–”

                          “Wait what?” Chorong interrupted, forcing Hayoung to backtrack in the story. She knew it wasn’t the time but she couldn’t help it. Eunji and Bomi? Dating? Hayoung chuckled nervously and nodded.

                          “She never told you?”

“Ack, never mind. You can continue.”

                          “Right, so Eunji knew Bomi was bringing me so she brought along her little sister. That was how I met Namjoo. We connected so quickly. Even when we had our differences, we knew each other so well. She could tell what I was thinking just by looking at my expression. We thought it was fate. We called it destiny. But things change quickly. I was always top of my class while she ditched almost all of hers and I think I’ve always wanted to graduate early. Namjoo knew that too but for the sake of us I think she never thought I would do it. I didn’t think I would too but it was my dream. It was bigger than just us. I don’t know why I was so scared to just tell Namjoo that. She would have understood. Instead, I left her without a word. I packed my bags and cut off contact because I hoped I would never have to face what I had done. Honestly, I never thought I would fall in love again especially in college... but Naeun. My god, Naeun.” Hayoung wiped a tear from her face and sat up straighter, turning to face Chorong.

                          “I know how special Naeun is to you. I’m sorry for putting her through this.” Hayoung looked down at her hands, “I’m sorry to everyone.”

                          “It’s not your fault,” Chorong said quietly, pushing her finger up against Hayoung's chin to stare at her sternly, “It’s not your fault. You were scared. Eunji forgave you if she still loves and cares for you like she does now. Bomi may not have understood you but she’s still always beside you. Namjoo is just as confused as you are if not more and Naeun… Naeun loves you.” Chorong pressed her lips together, letting her hands fall into her lap, “She would respect your decision.”

                          Hayoung could only nod weakly. She still felt so helpless.

                          “You’re stupider than I thought, Hayoung.” an all too familiar voice popped up from behind them and Eunji strode into the scene with her hands stuffed in her pockets. She swung her backpack off her shoulder and took a seat next to them, pushing roughly against Chorong to take up more than half the bench. “You’re making it way more complicated than it should be.” Eunji grinned randomly, her eye smile flashing brightly even in the darkness.

                          “How long were you listening?” Chorong hissed in her ear, trying to get her to stop breaking the mood.

                          “Long enough to know that you two are both queens of drama.” Eunji ignored the sneer that Chorong gave her and continued casually, “You don’t owe Namjoo anything but an explanation. Just don’t make the same mistake with Naeun and push her away because you feel guilty. If you’re going to dump her, give her a real reason.”

                          “But–”

                          Eunji cut her off, a bored look on her face. “Hayoung. Love can be twisted but in the end, you love who you love. And if they feel the same way, game over.”

                          Chorong felt tingles run down her spine when Eunji shrugged, grabbed her backpack effortlessly by the straps, and stood up from the bench.

                          “Follow your heart.” She waited for Hayoung to sigh and lugged Chorong from the bench, forcing her to leave Hayoung in her thoughts.

                          “You were better with that than I thought you would be,” Chorong said as she strolled with Eunji back to their dorm. Eunji peered at her curiously, then threw her head back in soft laughter.

                          “I surprised myself too,” there was a slight pause when she stopped in her tracks and drew Chorong into a tight embrace. “Thank you for teaching me.”

                          “What do you mean?” Chorong inquired, pushing against Eunji's stomach to get her to release her.
                          “Thank you for teaching me love.” Eunji pressed her finger against Chorong's nose, smiling brightly as she gave her final words. “I love you, Park Chorong.”

                          “Game over.”

“Aw, come on! You have to say it back.” Eunji protested, throwing her hands in the air as Chorong giggled wildly.

                          “It was implied!”

                          “I want more than an implication. What’s it going to take for you to say you love me?” Eunji pressed, staring Chorong down teasingly. 

                          “Take me to the movies.” the small girl stuck out her tongue and responded haughtily, trying not to laugh when Eunji tilted her head with a bewildered expression on her face.

                          “A movie? Why a movie?”

“A perfect place for high schoolers to date,” Chorong glanced up at her, “I’m sure you and Bomi know all about that.”

                          “How did you– What–” Eunji stammered, taken aback at Chorong's new knowledge of her past.
“It’s okay. I used to date Naeun too.”

                          “WHAT?” Eunji tried to wrap her head around how beautiful the two of them probably looked. Her mind was swimming with jealousy and nothing seemed to blur her mind as she rapidly pulled Chorong in for a kiss. She yelped in surprise, relaxing only when Eunji began to soften her kiss and lower her hands to her waist. Chorong pulled away first, the taste of Eunji's tongue still lingering in as she grinned slyly.

                          “I was kidding. Naeun and I were always just neighborhood friends.”

                          Eunji groaned at her own guilliblity and stomped off into their dorm building with a pout written on her face. It didn’t take a second for Chorong to go chasing after her, hollering at the top of her lungs, “I LOVE YOU JUNG EUNJI!”

.....

                         Hayoung finally got up from the bench, wobbling slightly as she tucked her hair behind her ears. It was now or never. She couldn’t let anything stay the way it was any longer. With her heart caught in , Hayoung made her way to Naeun's dorm building. She had plenty of memories there already; in fact, she had one only a couple nights before.

                          It was a warm midnight. Hayoung had shown up in front of Naeun's house with her hands tucked in pockets and soft whistles escaping as she looked up at the second floor balcony. Just as she expected, Naeun was standing with her arms hanging off the side. She was gazing into the distance, her hair blowing elegantly in the breeze. Hayoung stopped whistling and examined quietly, wondering what was going on in Naeun's mind. Maybe she was thinking about her? She giggled at the thought of it but immediately clamped shut with the palm of her hand when she realized that Naeun had noticed her presence.

                          “Hayoung? What are you doing here?”

“What’s the gate code?”

                          Naeun's expression changed to a look of boredom as she checked her watch and turned to walk back into her dorm.

                          “You better be going back in so you can let me in too!” Hayoung yelled after her, even while knowing that Naeun was merely telling her to go home. No way was she letting the girl in at this time. It was true that Hayoung visited often but that was always during the day in between their classes or with other people. Hayoung took a sweeping glance at the gate, calculating how high she would have to climb to get inside. Or maybe… She pulled out her phone knowing just who to contact.

Hayoung: Do you know the gate code for Bomi’s dorm building?

                          It was discreet enough. Good thing Bomi and Naeun lived in the same building.

Eunji: Yeah, it’s 2934. 

       Trying to break into Naeun's dorm?

Hayoung: How’d you know?

Eunji: You’re a high schooler. What else would you be trying to do?

                          Hayoung laughed weakly at Eunji’s statement, unsure if she really wanted to be hearing that from a person Bomi calls a half the time. Still trying not to think too hard about it, Hayoung hopped into the building with her newly found information and sprinted up the stairs to Naeun's room, straightening out her hair while she had the chance.

Hayoung: You should open your door.

Naeun: Go home.

Hayoung: Just open the door or I’ll sit in front of it until the dean comes.

                          She waited for what seemed like an hour, but just as Hayoung had promised, she was sitting cross legged against the hallway wall. She kept herself busy refreshing her phone screen in hopes of Naeun answering again. Click! Hayoung's eyes fluttered open, scrambling to stand up when the door opened just enough for Naeun to peek outside. Her eyes widened when she saw that Hayoung was really still there and before she could close the door again, Hayoung had stuck her foot between the wall.

                          “Thanks for letting me in,” She drawled sarcastically, dodging Naeun's attempts to swing her back outside.

“How’d you even figure out the gate code?”

                          “You’ll never gues–”

“It was Eunji, wasn’t it?”

                          “Could’ve been Bomi.” Hayoung argued, whining just enough for Naeun to know that she had hit the target, “Anyway, you should be glad that I’m inside now because the dean would’ve caught me and gotten you in trouble.”

                          “I think I would be in more trouble for letting my girlfriend inside in the middle of the night.” Naeun plopped onto the couch where she had left her book open and began to flip back to where she was moments before Hayoung interrupted. She was trying not to look up again, but an odd silence had filled the room. Hayoung was never quiet like that, especially not with her. Her eyes slanted to a concerned angle, Naeun brought her book back down to her lap and peered over at Hayoung. The girl wore an unreadable expression, her eyes twitching slightly and her hands fallen at her sides.

                          “What’s wrong?” Naeun asked.

“N-Nothing. I just didn’t know we were dating.”

                          “Oh.” Naeun murmured, more awkward than ever. She had thought Hayoung would be more ecstatic about it even if Naeun had said it so casually, but instead the girl looked almost... uncomfortable. Like a brick had hit her in a spot that she was running from this entire time. Was something holding her back?

                          “We don’t have to be,” Naeun added, retreating into a more known territory, “Dating, I mean. We don’t have to be dating. We could just take it slow.”

                          There was a long pause. Neither dared to move from their spot until Hayoung finally whispered into the stillness. “We’ll get there.”

                          “Definitely.” Naeun said, smiling when Hayoung came and cuddled up against her. She felt complete.

                          She knocked. She could feel her heart beating faster against her chest when the door opened with a soft click. There she was. Naeun, with her long hair placed perfectly on her shoulders, her slim eyes and thin lips too familiar for Hayoung to bear. She blinked blankly and stepped inside before Naeun could say much, knowing that the girl wanted to talk just as much as she needed to.

                          Either way, Hayoung was ready for what came next.

A.N.: As expected, this chapter was heavy with HaJoo/HaNa problems but I still made sure EunRong had at least one moment hehe. Who do you think Hayoung will choose? Comment your predictions or other thoughts and thanks for being patient with this fic!