CH. VI (PART 1)

 

‘Hyunjin!’ 

 

Hyunjin feared for her life when she saw Yujin come barrelling towards her. She feared mostly for her guitar, hoping that Yujin wouldn’t crush her precious when she went to koala hug her. 

 

She opened up her arms, preparing herself for the weight of Yujin as the younger girl wrapped her arms and a leg around her smaller frame. That was Yujin’s infamous giant puppy hug. 

 

Behind her was Ryujin, trying to look like she wasn’t too excited to see Hyunjin. But the truth was, Ryujin missed Hyunjin a lot. But she was way too cool to admit that. 

 

‘Hyun.’ Ryujin held out her fist for Hyunjin to take. ‘Missed you. I guess.’ 

 

‘I feel so welcomed back.’ Hyunjin said with an eye roll, although she knew Ryujin’s true feelings towards her. She always acted cool around Hyunjin but the three of them knew that when push comes to shove, Ryujin loved Hyunjin with all her heart. 

 

Which is why, she couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty inside. She was having an inner battle with herself. 

 

I should tell her now. 

 

Or later. 

 

I just got back, maybe I should wait until we’re alone. 

 

But, getting it done as soon as possible is the right thing to do. 

 

‘You okay, unnie?’ Yujin said, an eyebrow raised at Hyunjin’s sudden quiet behaviour.

 

‘Huh?’ Hyunjin said. ‘Oh right, right. Actually-’ 

 

Her sentence was interrupted by Ryujin clapping her back. 

 

‘There’s Heejin,’ Ryujin said, a small smirk on her face, ‘I’m gonna go talk to her about our date, I’ll be right back.’ 

 

‘Go get her, unnie!’ Yujin cheered her on. Hyunjin just watched Ryujin go and tap Heejin on the shoulder. 

 

‘Look at her,’ Yujin said once Ryujin and Heejin started talking. Yujin and Hyunjin were just watching them from a distance, ‘going to secure a future 3jin girlfriend. She’ll probably be the first because Wonyoung isn’t really going too well, for me. By the way, there’s stuff with Wonyoung we have to catch you up on. Like I said, doesn’t look too good at the moment but I have faith that she’ll come around.’ 

 

‘That’s good.’ Hyunjin said, turning her head to look at Yujin. 

 

‘What about you, unnie?’ Yujin said, ‘anyone you’re interested in?’ 

 

Before Hyunjin could stop herself, she turned her head to gaze at a certain backpack with a new yellow guitar keychain hanging from the side of it. 

 

A lot had happened in Japan. 

 

Four Days Ago

 

Hyunjin breathed in the fresh air of Japan. They had just gotten out of the bus and were about to check into their hostel they would be staying in for the next few days. 

 

She had her headphones in, blasting the playlist she specifically made for Japan. When Hyunjin goes to new places, she tries to listen to particular songs on repeat, that way, after the trip whenever she heard the songs she would be reminded of certain parts of the country, depending on where she was when she listened that song the most. It was just one of her quirks. 

 

As they waited in the lobby for one of their teachers to do their administrative stuff at the reception, some of the girls excitedly talked about all the places they want to visit. Which mostly included shopping at Shibuya. The girls had a few hours of free time before they had to make it back by 9pm, which meant that a there was time for them to take the tram to the city centre, with teachers, of course.

 

‘I can’t wait to visit the VANS store.’ Minjoo said. ‘They have all these limited items that are ONLY available in Japan.’ 

 

‘Really?’ Chaewon said which earned a soft smile and a nod from Minjoo. 

 

On the plane ride there, Minjoo and Chaewon had bonded most of the time over books. Minjoo had stated that she had read the book Chaewon was reading, and started to recommend a different book that instantly got Chaewon perking up, because she had actually just finished reading it and she enjoyed it a lot. After that, they started getting to talking about their favorite things and getting excited because they liked the same things. And poor Hyunjin was sitting between them, watching as their conversation carried over her, as if she wasn’t there. She didn’t mind though, she was just chilling with her headphones in, anyways. Noise cancelling headphones, too. 

 

‘Let’s all go shopping together!’ Choi Yerim smiled excitedly as to which the group of girls started to murmur excitedly. 

 

‘Are you coming with us, Hyunjin?’ One of the girls said, a lovesick look in her eyes. 

 

Hyunjin shook her head. ‘I’m feeling a little tired. I might just stay around this area and explore.’ 

 

Many of the girls pouted, all visibly deflating after hearing Hyunjin wouldn’t be joining them. But it didn’t last long because they were perking back up after remembering that they were in actually in Japan.

 

A couple minutes later, they were able to go up to their rooms which was divided into pairs by alphabetical order. Hyunjin was rooming with Minjoo. Minjoo had just put her stuff down, and she was already raring to go. 

 

‘Bye, Hyunjin.’ Minjoo said. ‘You sure you’re not coming with us?’ 

 

‘I’m sure.’ Hyunjin smiled. ‘Have fun!’ 

 

Two seconds later after the door slammed shut, Hyunjin walked to the window to stare out at the view that was Japan. It was honestly incredible and she sat there for God knows how long just admiring the view while listening to her playlist. 

 

Hyunjin loved basking in pretty views, they were some of the best things the world could offer. Whether it be nature or a series of buildings, Hyunjin loved to sit and watch these things, getting lost in her thoughts and getting ideas for songs. She was listening to ‘Lowkey’ by an Indonesian artist called NIKI, and something about the music made the view even more perfect. 

 

Hyunjin got to writing in her notebook. 

 

Her writing consisted of random lyrics that she came to her mind. Sometimes it would be the same lyric over and over with one or two words different every time. Sometimes she would scribble out a line, just to realise she liked it and rewrite it again. 

 

After awhile, her stomach growled. 

 

‘Sorry, forgot about you.’ Hyunjin said. She giggled happily to herself when she remembered that she was in JAPAN, the home of amazing pastries and cheesecakes and… bread. 

 

Oh, God. Hyunjin wanted bread so bad. 

 

Playing ‘Lowkey’ again, Hyunjin got ready to go out and explore the shops around the area. She remembered passing by a few bakeries and watering as soon as she saw the things. 

 

Making her way downstairs and into the lobby, she caught sight of Heejin talking to one of the chaperones. It seemed that she was begging their chaperone for something. Being the nosy person she was, Hyunjin paused the song and ventured closer to them to try and eavesdrop on the conversation. 

 

‘Please, teacher.’ Heejin said. ‘I promise I won’t venture too far and I’ll make it back by curfew. Japan is really safe!’ 

 

‘I’m sorry, Miss Jeon. But rules are rules. You can only go out if you have a buddy or a group of more people.’ 

 

‘But, all of my friends are already in Shibuya.’ Heejin said. ‘If I go out by myself, nothing bad will happen and I have my phone and there’s tons of places with wifi.’ 

 

‘Even if Japan is quite a safe city, if something bad were to happen to you both of us will be in big trouble, and I can’t take that risk.’ 

 

Heejin pouted. Hyunjin had to admit her pout was kind of cute. If she were the teacher she would have caved immediately. 

 

‘It’s not working.’ The teacher said, shaking her head. ‘You have to find someone to go with.’ 

 

Hyunjin didn’t know it at the time, but she was about to say something that was going to change everything. 

 

‘I’ll go with her.’ 

 

…………………….

 

‘Thank you for telling Teacher that you’re coming with me.’ 

 

Hyunjin and Hyunjin had been walking around the area, exploring to their hearts content. They had only made one stop and that was at the bakery as Hyunjin’s tummy would not stop growling. Between the two of them, they almost ordered the entire shop. Heejin was honestly kind of terrified over how much bread Hyunjin had eaten. She was also shocked when she saw how much of a kid Hyunjin was acting like when she saw all the bread. It was kind of weird, Hyunjin got so excited she started meowing. Safe to say, Heejin had been staying at least a foot away from the girl after that.

 

They had been walking for a few blocks, half hoping they’d find their way back to their hotel, also half winging it. Heejin had just been following Hyunjin’s steps, thinking Hyunjin knew where she was going. Heejin found out that later Hyunjin actually had no clue, she was just walking wherever.  

 

‘It’s okay.’ Hyunjin said, holding her satisfied tummy. ‘I would have gone through the same thing, I was trying to go out, too.’ 

 

‘Why didn’t you go with the others to Shibuya?’ 

 

Hyunjin sighed. ‘They’re too loud. And I don’t really like shopping. For myself, at least. What about you?’ 

 

‘When I go to other countries I don’t really like to shop. Maybe towards the end of the stay.’ Heejin said. ‘I’m kind of a hippie, I like to roam around the streets and sort of, become one with the city, or whatever.’ 

 

‘Really?’ Hyunjin said, an excited smile on her face. ‘So do I! I just kinda like vibing with the city, you know?’ 

 

Heejin smiled her pretty eye smile towards her and Hyunjin felt happy just from seeing it. 

 

‘What other secrets do you have, Kim Hyunjin?’ Heejin said, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘I thought we would clash with our interests since you don’t like Naruto but except for that, we seem to have a lot of similarities.’ 

 

‘Yeah.‘ Hyunjin hummed to herself. ‘I guess you’re kind of right.’ 

 

She thought for a moment. 

 

‘Wanna come vibe with me in Japan, Jeon Heejin?’ Hyunjin winked, a cheeky smile on her face. Her tone was half teasing because of her choice of words, but the other half was really hoping that Heejin would agree to go on a short adventure with her. 

 

‘Never heard anyone say that to me before.’ Heejin said. 

 

‘Especially someone as cute as me.’ Hyunjin winked. Again. 

 

‘And just for that comment, you’re paying for my dinner.’ 

 

‘Not if you don’t catch me.’ Hyunjin said. 

 

Heejin looked at her in confusion. All Hyunjin did was smile mischievously, her eyebrow raising briefly in amusement. 

 

‘Can’t catch me!’ 

 

Then Hyunjin dashed off down the street, giggling gleefully to herself. She didn’t sprint too far knowing Heejin probably wasn’t as fit as she was. As she glanced back to see the flailing excuse of Heejin running, Hyunjin knew that she was right. But the huge smile on Heejin’s face urged Hyunjin to keep going. 

 

She turned right, slowing down slightly so that Heejin could catch up to her a little bit and not lose her. She made sure to take note of Heejin’s expression, just in case the girl was actually starting to get annoyed, but Heejin didn’t seem to mind.

 

It was when Hyunjin turned a corner when she stopped running. She had turned her way into a crowded street, with lots of street food, singing, dancing and even games. She cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out where she was. 

 

Suddenly, she felt a figure hit her back. 

 

‘Got you!’ giggled a voice behind her. Hyunjin didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Heejin. She’s never met a girl with a voice this low since, well, Ryujin.

 

‘Look at this.’ Hyunjin said. ‘This is so cool.’

 

She turned to her side to see Heejin had made her way next to Hyunjin again. She had the same look of awe that Hyunjin had, or at least Hyunjin thought the way Heejin looked mirrored the way Hyunjin felt at seeing the street. 

 

There were cute decorations of colorful paper mache balls dangling in the air, as well as yellow fairy lights around a lot of the stalls and on the street lamps. 

 

‘I wonder what it is.’ Hyunjin said, moving a little bit as to not get barrelled by some children running her way. 

 

‘You should ask!’ 

 

Hyunjin looked at Heejin, a fearful look on her face. ‘No! My Japanese is terrible. You know that.’ 

 

‘But mine isn’t.’ Heejin said, a smirk on her face. ‘You know that.’ 

 

Hyunjin pouted. 

 

‘Come, just stand next to me and look pretty.’ Heejin said which prompted Hyunjin to stick her tongue out at the girl, mumbling something about how she didn’t need to be told to be pretty because she was always pretty. 

 

They decided to approach a nice lady, who had just scolded what looked like her son for running around too much. Though, the slight blush on Heejin and the way she could barely look the pretty lady in the eyes caused Hyunjin to raise her eyebrow slightly. 

 

‘Hi, what is going on here?’ Heejin said in Japanese. 

 

‘It’s our neighbourhood party.’ The lady smiled excitedly to Heejin. ‘Are you from here?’ 

 

Hyunjin shook her head. ‘We are from Korea.’ 

 

Heejin shot her an impressed look for trying to speak Japanese. She had spoken it well, she just had a slight accent. 

 

The lady clapped excitedly. ‘Ehhhhhh?' 

 

The expression caused Heejin to fangirl a little bit and Hyunjin couldn’t help but want to roll her eyes a little bit. She really was a weeb. Heejin sort of reminded her of some girl called Lana she met from Russia. Except Lana was a Koreaboo instead of a weeaboo. 

 

Suddenly the lady had an arm around Heejin and held onto Hyunjin’s arms, dragging them over to a stall of what looked like fish on a stick. 

 

‘Shioyaki.’ Heejin gasped. 

 

The lady then began to speak excitedly in Japanese to the man behind the stall who had aimed a kind smile towards the two girls, one of them not knowing anything they were saying. Except she was just able to make out the lady telling the man that they were Korean. 

 

‘Eat!’ The man said. ‘Try this. We always give this to foreigners. Only the bravest can eat it.’

 

He pointed to the whole fish on the stick and Hyunjin stared at it, its beady eyes seeming to stare back at her. 

 

She glanced towards Heejin who seemed kind of nervous but also kind of excited. She could tell Heejin wanted to eat it so bad but at the same time she was also kind of scared. 

 

‘Want to share one?’ Heejin said, reverting back to Korean. ‘And if we like it we can ask for another one.’ 

 

Hyunjin eyed the fish uneasily. ‘I don’t know… Heejin.’ 

 

‘Please?’ Heejin clasped her hands together and pouted. It sounded funny because Heejin’s entire demeanour was adorable but her voice was incredibly low (and kind of attractive). 

 

‘I’ll eat it after you try it.’ Hyunjin said. 

 

‘What? No!’ Heejin said, ‘you eat it first.’ 

 

‘No, you.’ Hyunjin said. 

 

‘No, you.’ Heejin shot right back.

 

‘No.’ Hyunjin said. She pointed at Heejin dramatically. ‘You.’ 

 

Heejin sighed. ‘Okay, fine!‘ 

 

Hyunjin smiled in victory. 

 

The man behind the stall picked up a stick and gave it to Heejin who took it excitedly in between her fingers. She stared at it, turning it around in her hands. The smell was quite nice, and if it wasn’t an entire fish staring back at her she probably wouldn’t have hesitated to eat it.

 

‘God.’ Hyunjin crinkled her nose. 

 

She shivered even more when she saw Heejin stare at the fish hesitantly, before taking a huge bite of it. 

 

She watched Heejin chew on the food, along with the Japanese lady and man who were watching her excitedly. 

 

Heejin nodded, her eyes widening a little bit. 

 

‘This is delicious!’ Heejin said cutely in Japanese, causing the lady and the man to coo at how adorable she was. 

 

Hyunjin only raised an eyebrow and amused smile on her face. 

 

‘Your turn.’ Heejin said to Hyunjin. 

 

Hyunjin stared at the fish (which now had a bite mark) uneasily. It honestly didn’t look that bad she just couldn’t handle the eyes. 

 

‘Just don’t look at it.’ Heejin said. 

 

‘How can I not look at it?’ Hyunjin said. She looked at the fish that was staring right back at her. ‘Stop that. Didn’t your mother teach you it’s rude to stare?’ 

 

‘Don’t be so dramatic.’ Heejin rolled her eyes. 

 

‘Do I really have to eat it?’ Hyunjin whined. 

 

Heejin nodded. 

 

Hyunjin grimaced and scratched the back of her head. 

 

‘Here.’ Heejin said, stepping closer. ‘Close your eyes and I’ll feed it to you.’ 

 

Hyunjin looked at her unsure. 

 

‘Come on, the smell is really good!’ Heejin said. ‘It’s just the look of it.’ 

 

Hyunjin shivered. ‘Okay fine.’ 

 

She closed her eyes, opening with an ahhhhhh. 

 

Heejin was right, the fish did smell really good. Hyunjin enjoyed the charred smell of the fish from being fresh off the grill which overpowered the fishy, ocean scent of the fish. She had to admit, it was much better with her eyes closed. 

 

Now that she thought about it, without her sight, her other senses had heightened and Hyunjin could especially hear everything that was going on. She could hear the muffled sounds of a performance from down the street and she could feel more than hear the sound of the bass coming from the speakers. She could hear the sizzle of the various delicacies being fried, harmonising with the excited chatter of all the children. Hyunjin smiled to herself. This was the best music for Japan. 

 

Then one sound cut through all of the noise. 

 

‘Ready?’ 

 

It was one small word. 

 

If anyone else had said it Hyunjin would have been indifferent. It was a simple word that everyone says on a daily basis, and its meaning wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. 

 

And yet that one word was enough to shatter Hyunjin. 

 

Because it wasn’t the word itself. It was how the word was said. It was the voice. That tantalising voice. 

 

It was Heejin. 

 

Heejin’s voice was beautiful on top of the music Japan had made. It’s like Heejin was the main singer of the song. Just that one word echoed throughout Hyunjin’s not because of what Heejin said, but because of Heejin. There was something about Heejin’s voice that made Hyunjin’s heart beat a little faster. She couldn’t explain it. But it was absolutely glorious. Hyunjin felt like she was floating.

 

‘Hyunjin?’ Heejin’s voice cut through again. 

 

Suddenly the smell of the fish disappeared. It was replaced by something much sweeter to Hyunjin. 

 

Cinnamon. Like that ski trip she took to Switzerland when she was 8. Vanilla. Like the essence in her favorite chocolate crinkles. Home. It smelt like Hyunjin was home. 

 

‘Are you okay?’

 

Hyunjin felt a warm hand on her bicep. 

 

She opened her eyes to Heejin. Only Heejin.

 

Heejin was the one standing in front of her. It was Heejin’s voice she was hearing. Heejin’s scent that was engulfing her in a feeling of comfort and familiarity. 

 

Heejin was smiling at her ever so softly, laughing a little, her eyes crinkling and the weird cheek dimple under her eye popping out, the one Hyunjin had noticed before. 

 

For some reason, Heejin looked even prettier than before. 

 

Hyunjin shook her head to get rid of all her thoughts. She was going insane. 

 

‘Right!’ Hyunjin said, ‘I’m good. I’m good.’ 

 

Then she grabbed Heejin’s hand that was holding the fish and brought it to , hastily taking a bite. 

 

Just like Hyunjin thought, it was pretty good. 

 

‘This is delicious!’ Hyunjin imitated Heejin’s Japanese cuteness from before which caused the two Japanese adults to giggle at her. 

 

Heejin just smiled proudly at her and Hyunjin’s stomach flipped. 

 

When Heejin turned away to talk to the Japanese lady again, Hyunjin frowned. 

 

That was weird.

 

She shrugged to herself. She thought it was probably just a one time thing, 

 

It wasn’t. 

 

As Heejin dragged her to every other food stall, excitedly pointing at all her favorite foods, Hyunjin couldn’t shake that weird feeling. She couldn’t help but notice that Heejin looked different. Hyunjin thought that maybe it was the fairy lights. Or maybe it was the way Heejin was glowing because of being in her favorite country. 

 

Hyunjin learnt a lot of new things about Heejin that night. How when she’s happy she does a small victory dance by balling her hands into fists and shaking them quickly, her neck crinkling as she smiled upwards into the sky. Or how she would constantly say 'are you serious?’ when things didn’t seem to go her way. 

 

The weirdest thing that she learnt, was that Heejin’s voice always seemed to stand out in the crowd full of noise. Hyunjin couldn’t understand how but she could always hear Heejin perfectly. 

 

After they made it back to their hotel thanks to the help of a kind lady from the neigbourhood party (who insisted she walked them all the way home instead of telling them directions) Heejin and Hyunjin stood outside their respective rooms. Apparently, their rooms were right across from each other. 

 

‘Thank you for tonight.’ Heejin said, her voice sending shivers down Hyunjin’s spine. ‘That was the most incredible night of my life, you know, exploring  Japan like this.’ 

 

‘No big deal.’ Hyunjin said. 

 

Heejin nodded and Hyunjin couldn’t help but feel like she looked sort of expectant. As if she were waiting for Hyunjin to say something. Hyunjin didn’t have the capacity to think properly, she’d been floating ever since that moment at the neighbourhood party. 

 

‘Well, um, good night, Hyunjin.’ Heejin said. 

 

‘Good night, Heejin.’ 

 

Heejin hesitated for a second, before nodding at Hyunjin and then finally turning around to place her room card onto the scanner. She opened the door with a click, giving Hyunjin one last glance before going inside. 

 

Hyunjin stared at the closed door, her feet slowly returning to the ground after feeling like she was flying for so long. 

 

………………

 

A/N: me thinks Hyunjin is falling in love but idk what do you guys think? 

 

I find it cute how three jin have different ways of falling in love and loving people. There’s Ryujin who needs constant action and physical touch and follows a feeling, Yujin who is lead more by conversation and her head rather than her heart and finally, Hyunjin, who’s kind of a hippie and goes on some spiritual experience with her senses JSJSJSJ. Anyways, I hope 2jin stans enjoyed that! I’ll post part 2 of this chapter next week and hopefully Chapter 7 will be done by then so y’all can get your cute annyeongz and ryuryeong. (Spoiler: Chapter 7 you’re going to get some j*alous W*nyoung and fl*ffy ryuryeong).