It had been a long week for Hitomi. The long weekend of the Korean New Year was approaching so their boss piled the paperwork on to finish before the holidays. Needless to say, it was toxic. Nobody really needed an approval for a building permit before the holidays if they were to start construction in September, right? After hours of staring at computer screens and ledgers, Hitomi was finally done. She had been looking forward to the end of her shift not only because it was such a stressful day, but it was finally time to go to a dinner meet up with her friends...

Which included her work crush, Chaewon.

That sudden increase in heart rate caused by thinking about the older girl was enough to give her energy to pack her stuff up faster and walk to the restaurant in record time. She entered the restaurant and saw Yena and Chaewon already there at a corner booth looking at the menu, seemingly drawn to the long list of Chinese food choices in front of them. Hitomi tried to sneak up to them, but she was stopped by an angelic voice that echoed across the busy restaurant.

"Hiichan!" Chaewon exclaimed, her hands waving violently as if she hasn't gotten the Japanese's attention just by existing. Hitomi waved back and walked to the table as slow as she could, hoping to reach the table when her cheeks weren't as red as it was after hearing her name called in such a sweet manner (at least to Hitomi).

"Yo, Tomi-yah. Do you think the steamed buns here are good? There are some rumors that it's made out of cat meat--" Yena said after she acknowledged her presence with a curt nod, her eyes not leaving the menu. "You know that's not true, Yena. I tried it once and it's good, but now that I think about it, it could have been the whiskers that made it purrfect," replied Hitomi. Yena just shook her head in reply and went back to examining the menu like it was a textbook.

Hitomi looked at her copy of the menu, although she knew that she was going to order the Kung Pao chicken and the cheesy motchi for dessert again. She thought about trying something new, but she knew that her virtue of loyalty towards her crushes also carried over to her food. She knew that no matter how many times she was going to browse the menu, she was going to stick with what she’s had for five years now. Her thoughts were interrupted by the same angelic voice that made her blush after entering the restaurant.

“Hiichan, are you ordering Kung Pao chicken and cheesy motchi? I remember you saying that last week when you talked about how the food here was good and that you were a regular.”

Hitomi could only nod in response. She was shocked that Chaewon was able to remember a fact that she said last week over coffee in the break room. She didn’t even know if she was able to talk coherently since they were alone when it happened and her mind was distracted by Chaewon running around her thoughts like a kid in a playground.

“Cool, I think I’ll take that too. I respect your taste in food, well not just that but in everything.”

Hitomi could feel her cheeks flush again so she held the menu up to cover her face. The blood didn’t stop there though, it went to her head and fueled the neurons zapping and turning on light bulbs left and right. Each light bulb was saying the same thing:

THAT’S FLIRTING, RIGHT? DEFINITELY FLIRTING.

She was about to respond when the waitress arrived at their table to take their orders. Damn it, she thought.

---

Once they got their food, all three of them dug in and somehow the conversation wasn’t even interrupted at all. Yena was spouting random facts, Chaewon was talking nerdy (which didn’t help in taking out the color in Hitomi’s cheeks), and Hiichan chiming here and there trying to act normal. Hitomi enjoyed it, taking in the sweet laughter and the occasional contact between their hands when they hit the table at the same time. She felt like a bird soaring to the clouds with the wings a certain fairy had given her. It was the most fantastic feeling she has had in years.

But what comes up, must come down.

And it only took two hits to do it.

“You know, there should be something like tinder but for dogs! Like you start with a breed and swipe right and see how compatible and how cute the puppy would be!” Yena exclaimed, who seemed to think that this was the idea for the ages. Chaewon clapped her hands and excitedly replied, “That would be so cute! I’d download that if I had a dog."

Without missing a beat, Chaewon added, "Also, side note. I went on a date last Saturday.”

ONE.

“And,” Chaewon continued while lengthening the syllable,

“I’m considering going on a second one with her this weekend.”

TWO. 

Hitomi tried to control her expressions, but like a wounded bird, dropped in shock. She was completely blindsided by this turn of events. Everything came crashing down, but she knew it was her fault. She should have known better than to assume that Chaewon was flirting with her, let alone have feelings for her. She had been flying not because a fairy gave her wings, but because she had decided to cling to the fairy's wings. Now the fairy has shaken her off which led to this free-falling feeling that she's experiencing right now: her stomach felt like it had turned 10 times, her brain shutting down like it had been out of oxygen, and her legs were shaking like she wasn't on solid ground. Hitomi kept her head down to hide her glassy eyes, blinking slowly to stop the tears that were about to flow. She forced to close again and smiled.

“I’m happy to hear that, Chaewon-unnie. I hope you’re happy.”

And just like that, the heart that was tingling had stopped. The bird that was set on conquering the skies had crashed to the ground with a loud thud, where it should have been in the first place.

----

Hitomi tried to act normal and turned to Yena, who was thankfully oblivious to her semi-mental breakdown moment. However, she underestimated how dense Yena was regarding the situation.

"So... Will you tell us more about this girl you're dating?" asked Yena while chewing on her last piece of xiao long bao.

Hitomi could feel her insides turn inside out in anger, which was channeled through a glare that she thought could pierce any wall in their immediate vicinity, but Ye