Part 2

 

Minjoo would have been lying if she said that she wasn’t constantly thinking about Kim Chaewon. 

 

It’s not her fault, really, Chaewon looked incredibly attractive in a cap, hoodie and some jeans. Especially when her hair was up in a ponytail, Minjoo would lose it. 

 

They exchanged numbers that night of the party, Minjoo claiming that just in case Hyunjin had questions about her new cat. Minjoo had been dying to text the girl seeing as they only shared one class together, but she had no idea what to say. 

 

It was a wonder how they were in the same general studies class, those two had the most contrasting schedules. With Chaewon’s double major in engineering and music, Minjoo studying psychology and both of them working their part time jobs it seemed there were no other times for them to overlap. 

 

So, Minjoo was quite shocked when she saw Chaewon on Wednesday afternoon leaving the bubble tea place. Minjoo thanked the heavens she agreed to join Kriesha on her craving run. Kriesha when she was craving things were a nightmare but it meant Minjoo would be treated to all of the food Kriesha wanted, so really it wasn’t that bad. 

 

‘And I told James, I really don’t think it’s a good idea if we went out to dinner together, especially if it was 1-on-1.’ 

 

At this point, Minjoo was half listening to Kriesha at the time. 

 

Maybe she was a little weird staring directly at Chaewon, but Minjoo was just hoping the girl would look up. .

 

‘And I—‘ Kriesha began to say but Minjoo drowned her out. 

 

Minjoo beamed at Chaewon when she was closer. She was in her signature cap, hoodie and jeans but this time she also had a mask. Minjoo swore when she looked up and met her eyes Minjoo almost lost her balance. 

 

Wait, that was a lie, she didn’t almost lose her balance… 

 

… she lost her balance completely. 

 

Who could blame her though? Kim Chaewon looked incredibly attractive she’d rather look at her than the small step from the street to the pavement. 

 

‘Jusko!’ She heard Kriesha exclaim while her whole world flashed before her eyes. Kriesha tended to revert to her native language whenever she was surprised even though you’d think she was used to it by now seeing how clumsy Minjoo was. 

 

Minjoo closed her eyes and braced herself for the fall and the humiliation of face planting in front of Chaewon. 

 

Except it didn’t happen. 

 

Instead Minjoo felt a firm hand grabbing her arm and pulling her closer, an arm wrapping around her waist. 

 

And when she opened her eyes, Kim Chaewon was right there in front of her face. 

 

‘Yah, Kim Minjoo.’ 

 

Minjoo didn’t say anything back. How could she when Chaewon was over here being incredible girlfriend material? 

 

Suddenly, Kriesha cleared from next to them and just like that, Chaewon let go of Minjoo. Of course, Minjoo was disappointed. 

 

‘Watch where you’re going,’ was all Chaewon said before walking past Minjoo and crossing the road. Minjoo could only watch her leave.

 

‘What was that?’ Wendy Willi— *cough* — I mean, Kriesha said once Minjoo turned back around and shook herself out of her daze. 

 

‘Nothing.’ Minjoo said, even though both her and Kriesha knew that it was definitely something. 

 

Or at least Kriesha could guess what that was, it didn’t take a genius to know what was going on. 

 

…….. 

 

‘We missed you last Thursday.’ Minjoo’s seatmate sat down next to her. ‘I missed you the most.’ 

 

Minjoo was rewriting some of her notes from the class before, as she forgot that she had the dinner shift at Burger House. 

 

‘Sorry,’ Minjoo said even though inside she definitely wasn’t sorry she missed out, ‘hope you guys had fun, anyways.’ 

 

‘It was.’ Her seat mate said, ‘you should join us tomorrow night, we’re going to do it again.’ 

 

Minjoo laughed awkwardly. ‘I um, I have to baby sit my cousin’s girlfriend’s cat. It’s their date night tomorrow.’ 

 

‘Bring the cat with you.’ Her seat mate laughed. 

 

‘Ahaha.’ Minjoo said, ‘good idea. We’ll see.’ 

 

Just then, her eyes caught Chaewon entering the room and Minjoo felt herself lighting up. She felt overjoyed when Chaewon was the one who ‘smiled’ at her first. Minjoo noticed that Chaewon rarely smiled with , it was mostly her eyes. And those eyes were definitely happy to see Minjoo. 

 

Minjoo continued writing, smiling to herself when she felt Chaewon position herself in the seat directly behind her. Minjoo was thankful that she washed her hair the night before. And she may have curled it briefly that morning so that it was wavy and shiny. 

 

‘Shoot.’ Minjoo said, ‘I think my pen ran out of ink.’ 

 

Truthfully, Minjoo had another pen in her bag, she just wanted an excuse to talk to Chaewon. It was totally a high school school girl move, and Minjoo couldn’t care less. 

 

But right before she could turn around to ask Chaewon, her seat mate suddenly came in to save the day. 

 

‘You can use mine.’ He said, handing her a pen. 

 

‘O-oh.’ Minjoo said trying to hide her disappointment. ‘Thanks.’ 

 

She reached her hand out to grab the pen when the boy moved it out of her reach. 

 

‘As long as you promise to come join us tomorrow night.’ 

 

Minjoo couldn’t believe her ears. She already told him she wasn’t available. Couldn’t he get a hint? 

 

‘I gotta take care of Bbangjinnie. She gets lonely easily.’ Minjoo said. 

 

‘The cat will be fine. Cats are like, independent and hate people, anyways. It’s probably happy to not have humans around them.’ Her seat mate said.

 

Minjoo resisted the urge to get mad. It made her sad to hear people refer to cats like that. 

 

‘That’s not true.’ Minjoo said, a smile still on her face but she was angry inside. ‘Can I please just use your pen? I’m almost finished with my notes.’ 

 

‘Just promise you can come tomorrow night.’ 

 

Minjoo shook her head. ‘I really can’t.’ 

 

‘Yes, you can.’ Her seat mate said. 

 

Suddenly, Minjoo heard a voice call from behind her. 

 

‘Kim Minjoo.’ The voice said. ‘Yah, Kim Minjoo.’

 

Minjoo turned around immediately, knowing exactly who it was. 

 

‘You can use mine.’ Chaewon said, her hand offering Minjoo a pen. Today, Minjoo had to admit that Chaewon looked incredibly soft. Even though she was wearing all black, she had on a hoodie and simple makeup and Minjoo thought that she looked incredibly cuddly. 

 

But then, her incredibly soft demeanour turned into a stone cold glare that was directed straight at the guy sitting next to Minjoo. 

 

Most people, just like Minjoo’s seat mate, would have been terrified by the glare. But for Minjoo? Chaewon looked INCREDIBLY attractive. 

 

……..

 

‘Hey, Chaewon!’ Minjoo called after Chaewon when they walked out of the classroom. 

 

Chaewon turned and stopped about two metres away from Minjoo. 

 

‘Are you free tomorrow night?’ Minjoo asked. 

 

Chaewon raised an eyebrow and took a step closer, ‘... don’t you have to look after the cat?’ 

 

Minjoo smirked and also took a step closer. ‘Yes and don’t you like cats? If I remember correctly your work is looking after rescue cats and dogs.’

 

Chaewon didn’t say anything, only staring amusedly at Minjoo in close proximity. 

 

‘I might be free tomorrow.’ Chaewon said as she began to turn away. But not before Minjoo missed the small smile come onto her face. 

 

’I’ll text you!’  Minjoo called after Chaewon. 

 

Chaewon didn’t have to turn around for Minjoo to know that she still had that little Chaewon smile on her face. 

 

……. 

 

(Later that day, Honda Hitomi, walked into the dance studio to see a pile of outfits on the floor and Chaewon glaring intensely at all of them. 

 

‘Hiichan, I’m freaking out!’ Eunbi whispered to Hitomi while Chaewon excused herself to the bathroom. ‘Chaewon has a date with Kim Minjoo. Who would have thought?’ 

 

‘What? Seriously!’ Hitomi’s eyes widened. ‘We have to tell the others—‘ 

 

‘No.’ Eunbi said. ‘This is the most Chaewon has opened up to me, you cannot tell anyone or else she’ll never trust me again and as the captain of this dance team I want everyone here to feel like they can rely on me.’ 

 

‘Okay, I got it, I got it.’ Hitomi said. 

 

(And she did get it until Valentine’s Day when she let the fact slip to her best friend. In her defence, Yuri was kinda heartbroken. As in, she was SAD sad). 

 

‘I’ll go practice in the other practice room,’ Hitomi said, loud enough so hopefully Chaewon can hear her. ‘I think that either the outfit on the right or the one in the middle will be the perfect costume for our showcase.’

 

Eunbi smiled endearingly at Hitomi’s comment and the Japanese girl sent her a playful wink). 

 

……….. 

 

Some may say that was Chaewon’s and Minjoo’s first official date. Though Minjoo liked to think their actual first date was the night of the December 1st party. 

 

But one thing was for certain, Chaewon and Minjoo were going to go on many more dates after that. Movies, late night dessert cafe dates after shifts, work dates where Minjoo would randomly visit Chaewon’s work claiming she had to buy whatever for Bbangjinnie (like a new name that wasn’t so corny but then again, it wasn’t her car, it was Hyunjin’s), they went on a date almost every 3-4 days. Unofficial dates, of course, but both of them knew they were on the same page. 

 

Minjoo didn’t have to be a genius to know that Chaewon liked her too. 

 

She had noticed that Chaewon was a bit awkward when it came to any sort of affection, especially in public, but there were times that Chaewon really couldn’t hide it and things would slip out of . Those were Minjoo’s favourite times. 

 

Take Wednesday night, for instance. Minjoo had the slow shift at Burger House because for some reason they thought having the shop open until 1am on Wednesdays were a good idea. Minjoo had no idea why but who cared about her opinion? She was just the part time worker. 

 

She had resorted to texting Chaewon which was now one of her favourite past times. Chaewon’s messages were always short and concise while Minjoo would double, triple and quadruple text because God forbid she was given the wonderful gift of rambling. Minjoo knew Chaewon didn’t mind though. She was always good at remembering all the word vomit Minjoo would talk about. 

 

Unfortunately for Minjoo, it had been 15 minutes since she sent Chaewon a text, and there was no reply. Chaewon never took that long, nor did she leave randomly. She always said when she had to go or when she was busy. Disappearing for 15 minutes was quite unusual for the girl. 

 

Minjoo looked up when the door to Burger House opened up. 

 

‘Hi, welcome to— oh, Chaewon!’ 

 

Chaewon took off her huge puffer jacket to reveal a long black t-shirt and some shorts and Minjoo wondered how the girl was able to make anything look incredibly attractive. She was curious as to what Chaewon would look like in a garbage bag. 

 

‘Hey,’ Minjoo beamed, ‘what are you doing— ow!’ 

 

In the midst of her brightening up because her crush was there, she sliced her ring finger against the open cash register.

 

Chaewon made her way to Minjoo with furrowed brows, while Minjoo watched the blood slowly seep out from her finger. 

 

‘Not again.’ Minjoo whined. 

 

She grabbed the first aid kit with other hand and opened it up. 

 

‘Where is the—‘ Minjoo began but she cut herself off when she saw Chaewon pick up the alcohol and cotton balls already. ‘Ah. You got it.’ 

 

‘Hold out your hand.’ Chaewon said and Minjoo did as she was told. 

 

It was cute, watching Chaewon clean her cut. Her eyebrows were still furrowed and if anyone were to look at them they would think Chaewon was mad at Minjoo, but feeling the way she was holding her hand so delicately, Minjoo knew that definitely wasn’t the case. 

 

‘Your ears are red.’ Minjoo noted. ‘It’s cute.’ 

 

Chaewon brought a hand to her ear. ‘You’re seeing things.’ 

 

Minjoo giggled and pushed her hand away from her ear. ‘Oh I’m seeing things, and it’s your ears going red. I noticed they do that a lot.’ 

 

‘Whatever.’ Chaewon said and she went to unwrap the bandaid. 

 

‘Don’t worry.’ Minjoo said as Chaewon went to wrap the bandaid around Minjoo’s finger. 

 

She went to tuck a strand of hair behind Chaewon’s red ears.

 

‘I think it’s cute.’ 

 

And just like that, the bandaid slid straight off Minjoo’s finger. 

 

Minjoo looked at the bandaid in Chaewon’s hand, then her finger. 

 

‘You know, some might call you a clumsy for that.’ Minjoo said, referring to all the times she’d been called clumsy by other people. 

 

‘I’m not clumsy.’ Chaewon pouted.

 

‘Mhmm.’ Minjoo said. ‘Sure.’ 

 

She watched as Chaewon retried wrapping the bandaid again. To her joy, she was successful this time. 

 

‘You just make me nervous.’ Chaewon said quickly, her ears growing red again. 

 

Before Minjoo could even react, Chaewon spoke again.

 

‘So, can I order the chicken meal for two? I was hoping you’d join me.’

 

………….

 

(‘So, Kim Chaewon, huh?’ 

 

‘And what about it, Kriesh?

 

‘She’s pretty and all and I’m glad you’re happy, but just be careful with her, please? She’s been known for being kind of rude. 

 

‘Because she has a resting face? Trust me, she’s nice, you just have to get to know her.’ 

 

‘Fine. Then I will.’ 

 

‘Huh?’ 

 

‘Let’s hang out tomorrow, you, me, Chaewon and Eunbi so I won’t feel like a third wheel. I need to see if this girl is good enough for my best friend.’ 

 

‘I-I— I’ll ask Chaewon.’ 

 

‘Perfect.’ 

 

……….

 

Sitting in the dessert cafe (that Eunbi worked at so they got a discount) with Kriesha, Chaewon and Eunbi, Minjoo learned a new lesson that day.

 

If people said Chaewon’s glare was categorised as scary, well, then Kriesha’s was absolutely terrifying. 

 

She could see Chaewon trying her best to ignore the glare, but Minjoo could still see that Chaewon was feeling a little uncomfortable. 

 

Eunbi coughed a little. ‘So uh, what should we order?’ 

 

‘I heard they make nice cream bread.’ Minjoo said, shoving the menu in front of Kriesha’s face so hopefully she’ll look away from Chaewon, even for a little bit. Thankfully, it seemed to work as Kriesha directed her attention to the food. 

 

‘The taro bread is a favourite among the dance team.’ Eunbi said. ‘Our motto is that if the person doesn’t like it, they shouldn’t be allowed to join the team.’ 

 

‘What if they’re an amazing dancer but hate taro bread?’ Minjoo asked.

 

Eunbi narrowed her eyes, leaning forward as if she were whispering the world’s best kept secret. ‘There are some things that’s better to not know about. Especially the police.’

 

Eunbi leaned back and took a sip of water. Then she broke out into a smile. 

 

‘I’m just kidding.’ She chuckled. ‘There’s only one person with a police record in our group.’ 

 

Minjoo saw Chaewon raise an eyebrow. 

 

‘Is it you?’ Kriesha asked Chaewon when she saw how she reacted. Minjoo nudged her in the ribs.

 

‘Yes.’ Eunbi said.

 

Minjoo gulped nervously, throwing a side glance at Kriesha who seemed to be smiling victoriously. 

 

‘Chaewon has been convicted of stealing many hearts around the campus.’ Eunbi laughed. She threw finger guns. ‘I got you.’

 

Minjoo and Chaewon both let out a sigh. The former letting out a sigh of relief while the latter couldn’t help but sigh at how embarrassing Eunbi was. 

 

‘So, why are you single right now?’ Kriesha asked. ‘Relationships never lasted long? Or are you into those no strings attached, no commitment kind of things?’

 

Minjoo gave Kriesha a warning glare.

 

‘I wasn’t into anyone…’ Chaewon said and Minjoo didn’t miss the way Chaewon shot a glance her way, before adding, ‘... before.’ 

 

‘Did you think they weren’t good enough for you?’ Kriesha laughed, though Minjoo could tell she definitely didn’t mean it. It was far from a real, friendly laugh. 

 

Chaewon laughed the same way back. ‘It seems that way, doesn’t it? Anyways, shall we order? I can go.’ 

 

‘I’ll go with you.’ Kriesha jumped straight up. 

 

Minjoo and Eunbi exchanged a glance at each other. 

 

‘Uhhh… I’ll come with, too.’ Minjoo started to stand up but Kriesha shot her a stern look. 

 

‘No, you stay here. Chaewon and I can handle it, right Chae?’ 

 

Chaewon nodded. 

 

‘We’ll be back.’ Kriesha said. 

 

All Minjoo and Eunbi could do was watch them leave. 

 

Kriesha and Chaewon went up to the front and got in line. There were a couple people before them.

 

‘I don’t know what you’re up to with Minjoo, but I hope you know that I am keeping both my eyes on you and if you ever hurt her I will not hesitate to hunt you down.’ 

 

Chaewon didn’t say anything. remained completely shut, she didn’t even spare a glance at Kriesha. 

 

‘Are you ignoring me?’ 

 

‘No.’ Chaewon answered quickly. 

 

‘Then why aren’t you answering me? I’m talking to you, it’s kind of rude.’

 

There was a pause as Kriesha waited for Chaewon to reply. 

 

‘I’m a believer that I shouldn’t waste my time talking to people like you.’ Chaewon said after a couple seconds. 

 

‘People like me?’ Kriesha scoffed. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ 

 

‘Judgemental people who believe anything they hear. You don’t know me, nor do you want to see how much I care about Minjoo.’ 

 

Chaewon has stopped staring straight ahead, this time she had turned her whole body so she could look Kriesha straight in her eyes. Kriesha could basically see the fire sizzling in her pupils. 

 

Kriesha couldn’t believe her ears. ‘I do want to see it, that’s why I organised this.’ 

 

‘Then open your eyes.’ 

 

Kriesha opened to say something, then closed it again, thinking over what Chaewon said. It didn’t make any sense to her. 

 

Meanwhile, Minjoo and Eunbi sat tensely back at the table, sipping  frequently on their water.

 

Eunbi cleared .

 

‘I’m going to cut to the chase, do you like Chaewon?’ Eunbi said. Minjoo stiffened in her seat, not because of the question, she was just startled at how straight forward Eunbi was.

 

‘Of course.’ Minjoo said.

 

‘No, I mean, do you like her?’ 

 

Minjoo smiled shyly to herself.

 

‘Yes.’

 

Eunbi sat back comfortably, a satisfied smile on her face. 

 

‘That’s very good to hear.’ 
 

Minjoo bit her lip shyly and Eunbi understood why Chaewon was so enthralled with this girl. There was no way you couldn't fall for someone like her.

 

‘By the way, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Chaewon’s a bit iffy about physical contact.’ Eunbi said. ‘Don’t be too offended when she pushes you away, she does that with everyone.’ 

 

Minjoo tilted her head to the side. ‘What are you talking about? She lets me link arms with her all the time.’ 

 

It was Eunbi’s turn to be shocked. ‘Oh?’ 

 

‘Yeah.’ 

 

Eunbi turned her head to the side, glancing at Chaewon who was making her way back with some drinks. ‘Interesting.’ 

 

……

 

‘You know, I think she really likes Minjoo.’ Eunbi said to Kriesha.

 

The four of them were walking back to the dorms as it was a nice day out. (Also because Chaewon wanted to spend more time with Minjoo). Eunbi and Kriesha were trailing behind while Minjoo and Chaewon walked ahead. 

 

‘I don’t trust her.’ Kriesha said. 

 

‘Fair enough.’ Eunbi said. ‘But maybe you can try and trust me?’ 

 

Kriesha glanced at Chaewon walking stiffly by Minjoo’s side, imagining her hard glare as she passed strangers on the street. 

 

‘How do you know?’ Kriesha said. 

 

‘Because in all the time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her like this before.’ Eunbi said. 

 

‘Like what?’ 

 

Eunbi nodded her head towards them. ‘Like that.’ 

 

When Kriesha looked up at the two, she saw Chaewon stop quickly to pick a flower from the bush. She twirled the flowers between her fingers as she slowly caught up to Minjoo. 

 

Once Chaewon was next to her, she gently tucked the flower behind Minjoo’s ear. 

 

Then she continued walking as if nothing had happened.

 

Kriesha saw the bashful smile Minjoo gave her. 

 

She pursed her lips. That was cute, she had to admit.

 

Maybe Kim Chaewon wasn’t all that bad.

 

And maybe… Kriesha owed her an apology. 

 

………..

 

A/N: part 2!! I just finished the last part this morning uwu I just need to proof read it and I'll post it tomorrow night around the same time I post the next chapter for my 3jin au!! Thank you for all of your comments, I try to reply to them all