Sweat covered her palms and beaded her forehead and she couldn’t sit still. Every second that passed the more she felt her nerves building. It was a new experience. An experience that she eagerly looked forward to for a good part of her life, but also dreaded. 

A date.

Pacing in the entryway, Wheein nervously waited. She always told herself that she would not be this nervous. Afterall, it was just spending time with another person. It was just like what she did with Hyejin last weekend. So why did this feel so different? What changed? It was just spending time with Hyejin. The Ahn Hyejin. But, they're friends now so it’s just Hyejin. Nothing is intimidating about her now so why? Why all the nerves? Maybe it’s an omen. But what kind of omen? Hopefully a good omen. But, what if it’s a bad omen? What would that mean? It’s probably a bad omen. Most likely a bad omen from her calculations. Wait, calculations?

“You’re overthinking again, Wheeinie.” Her mother’s voice calmly interrupted her thoughts

Wheein stopped her pacing for a brief moment to look at her mother. Her mother was calmly leaning against the wall, watching her daughter slowly lose her mind. 

Wheein blinked, “I’m not overthinking.”

“Mmmhmm. So, what do you call this pacing then?” Her mother raised an eyebrow. But, she already knows the answer Wheein will give.

“I’m just waiting.” Wheein stated matter of factly. As if she hasn’t been pacing for the past hour.

“Wheein,” Her mother gently shook her head, “She’s supposed to pick you up in the next forty-five minutes. You don’t need to be up here.”

“At least wait in the living room.” Her mom yelled from upstairs.

“But what if--” Wheein started before her mother cut her off.

“Breathe. Relax.” Byul went over to her daughter to reassuringly pat her nervous daughter’s shoulders. This is going to be interesting. She never really saw Wheein like this. Well, technically she has but those were performance nerves. No, this was something else. Nerves of a different variety. The nerves of spending time with someone you see in a different light. 

As much as she wants to daughter, she knows better. She knows what it’s like to go on that first date. Especially if you never went on one before. She knows the feeling, and she can only guess what is going through Wheein’s mind. But she can guess. Afterall, the look in her daughter’s eyes tells her everything she needs to know. She can see the wheels turning. But the wheels in Wheein’s head were complicated.

But, despite their complexity, Wheein still had her wits about her. So, she took her mother’s advice. With a deep inhale, she tried to relax. Try to silence her loud mind. Which worked. After a couple of seconds, Wheein felt her heartbeat relax. 

Feeling her daughter’s shoulder fall, Moonbyul gave Wheein a soft smile. A smile that Wheein returned.

“Thank you.” A statement that ended with Wheein hugging her mother. Despite their teasing, Wheein wouldn’t know what she would be doing, or even handling things, if her parents weren’t around. They are chaotic, but they have her best interest at heart. And that’s something Wheein will forever be grateful for. Afterall, she’s heard enough stories about how some parents treat their children. 

Moonbyul gave a reassuring hug back before breaking the hug and faced her daughter, “Now, go to the living room and doodle something. I’m sure Hyejin would love a one of a kind art piece from you.”

Wheein only groaned but she followed her mother’s advice anyway. Might as well do something to pass the time. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She paced her room as she could feel her nerves building. The countdown clock on her wall was slowly mocking her with each passing second. Thirty more minutes. Thirty minutes till she has to go pick up Wheein. Thirty minutes until their date. Thirty minutes.

And so she paced. Well, paced and talked to Ji Yeon.

“God, what if I up?”

A long sigh flowed through the phone, “Hyejin, I swear to God, if you being you hasn’t scared her off already, then I don’t think anything can. Besides, how is this anything different than last saturday?”

“Because, Ji Yeon, it’s officially a date!” Hyejin exclaimed while gesturing. She needed to release this pent up energy somewhere.

“You’re such a mess. Fine, what makes this date different from the billion other dates you’ve been on, huh?”  Hyejin couldn’t see Ji Yeon, but she just knows that Ji Yeon was rubbing her temples at Hyejin’s internal chaos. 

“I don’t know!” Hyejin stopped pacing. That was the same question she has been asking herself. What makes this date any different?

All dates are the same in their very core. You take a liking to someone and you ask them out. If they like you back then they’ll say yes, or if they don’t then they’ll say no. Or, if anything, they’ll say yes out of courtesy and then you find out that it’s not going to work so no harm done. So, what is it about this date that is making her so nervous? It’s not like she can’t take rejection. Maybe---

“Oh.” Hyejin stopped pacing the moment revelation hit her.

“Oh? Did it finally hit you that this is the first time that this is a date with a person whom you have genuine feelings for, and therefore you aren’t treating this like a fling?” Ji Yeon stated calmly. As if she knew the answer to Hyejin’s problem but let Hyejin figure it out for herself. 

“I--Uh, yes.” Hyejin sighed and sat down on her bed. Of course this was all new to her. 

All of her previous dates happened because they asked her out. Not her asking them out. And she only answered yes because what’s the worst that can happen? You can’t have hurt feelings over a relationship that was one sided. Unless you were the one that was pining, but that wasn’t Hyejin’s role. But she did have standards. So she didn’t date everyone that asked her but that’s besides the point. The point here is that this is actually the first time Hyejin asked someone out. 

Ji Yeon hummed. She has the urge to tease Hyejin, but she knows better. Hyejin may look and act like a fierce lion, but behind the scenes, she’s a soft lion cub. That every emotion Hyejin feels is intense, and sometimes suffocating. So it’s only natural that Hyejin's feelings for Wheein are frightening. Afterall, it’s a new experience for Hyejin. 

“Hyejin-ah, I wish I could tell you to just calm down and be yourself but--” Ji Yeon started but couldn’t even finish without Hyejin immediately interrupting.

“Calm down? How can I be calm?! This is the first time, in my life, that I’m praying that I don’t up! I know how I can be….” Hyejin started off intensely but by the end her voice was a whisper. As if accepting defeat before the battle has started. A tone that Ji Yeon doesn’t like to hear in Hyejin’s voice. Time to do something. Anything.

“Hyejin, think about it. Would Wheein have said yes if she didn’t like you?” 

“She could’ve said yes out of courtesy. We both know she avoids conflict.” More defeat. Further and further into doubt. An abyss Hyejin swore to never look into again yet here she was. Looking into it. Doubting herself. Doubting if she’s even worth Wheein’s time. 

“ing,” Ji Yeon let out a deep and tired sigh, “ I swear to God, Hyejin. Yea, she avoids conflict, but she also avoids things she doesn’t like. Hasn’t the past week evident enough that maybe, just maybe, she has feelings for you too?”

A small grunt was the only response Ji Yeon heard.

“For the love of,” An exasperated sigh, “Hyejin, everyone and their mother know that she has feelings for you.”

“But does she? We can’t read her mind.” The abyss was slowly swallowing her. The more she thought about it, the more she was doubting herself. 

A muffled, stressed scream came from the other side of the phone, “Hyejin I’m going to beat your if you don’t get it through your thick, self-doubting, skull. She. ing. Likes. You. You. ing. .” 

Ji Yeon wished she could reach through the phone and whack some sense into her. 

“But--”

“Don’t ‘but’ me!! Yea, we don’t know what’s in Wheein’s mind, but action speaks louder than words. And you want to know what I saw this week? After y’all’s date last time? And don’t fight me about that not being a date. That was totally a date.”

Hyejin could only hum the affirmative for Ji Yeon to continue. This is the first time she’s hearing Ji Yeon become this agitated. And it was quite frightening to be in the receiving end of it.

“I saw how much she likes you. I saw how she pouted when you removed your arm around her. I saw how her face brightened up when she saw you. I saw her smile whenever you say anything funny to her. I saw how she clinged to you. I saw how her hand would naturally try to find yours whenever you two were near each other. I also saw her asking our friends about you. I saw her trying to get to know more about you.  And dammit, if that doesn’t count as liking someone then I don’t know what is.”

By the end, Ji Yeon gave a little huff. She doesn’t know what else she could tell Hyejin that would put her at ease. She can tell Hyejin that Wheein likes her, but what good is that if Hyejin won’t accept such a simple truth? Contemplating such a dilemma, Ji Yeon heard Hyejin chuckling. Chuckling that grew into laughter.

“Damn, I’m really a aren’t I? I thought all of that was platonic.” 

Ji Yeon felt her soul transcend this mortal plane.

“How in the world is that platonic? That’s, like, the opposite of platonic! What the Hyejin-ah.”

Ji Yeon’s ears were met with more laughter. A laughter full of glee. A bright laughter. She couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the sound of it.

Eventually Hyejin’s laughter died down just enough for her to extend her gratitude, “Thanks Ji Yeon. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

Hyejin’s voice was full of sincerity and love. So much that Ji Yeon could feel her heart skip a beat. 

“ You’ll probably be a mess. As per usual.” Ji Yeon said in a haughty tone. 

Hyejin laughed again, “Well, it’s time to pick up my date. Thanks for the pep talk, Ji Yeon. Love ya!”

Hyejin ended the call with a determined smile on her face. A determined smile that wouldn’t leave her face as she doubled checked to make sure she had everything and that she looked amazing. As she went to her car, she mentally gave herself a pep talk. A pep talk that just consisted of everything that Ji Yeon listed earlier. Basically a confidence boost. Such a confidence boost that she couldn’t help but be a little prideful that Wheein felt the same. But she won’t let this pride get to her head. She doesn’t want to risk her chance with Wheein. But she can’t deny her pride either. So she gave herself a little pride, as a treat.

Eventually she made it to her car and did one last check before she was satisfied. Safely securing and hiding her gift in the back, she finally drove to her destination. To where her heart is.