There was a warm weight on top of her when she woke up, her eyes struggling to open as she tried to relish in the last few minutes of sleep she could. It was still dark out, but it was likely very early in the morning. In her half-awake state, she thought she had her arms wrapped around a pillow but when the "pillow" shifted and moved, Ryujin shot her eyes wide open. 

Looking down, Ryujin saw Yeji buried under her blanket, her head resting over her chest while her back rose up and down slowly as she continued sleeping. Ryujin only hoped that the sudden rapid beat of her heart wouldn't wake Yeji up. 

She absolutely couldn't get herself to move—not that she wanted to really—but she didn't want to wake Yeji up especially since she was sleeping so soundly. 

So she laid there, unmoving as she tried to shake off the remaining drowsiness she still felt, content to simply lie motionless until Yeji would wake herself up. It gave her time to think back on the night as she pieced together everything she witnessed during her high, but it was all a jumble and she didn't want to think about that movie ever again. 

All she wanted to remember was how cute Yeji was when she fell into her arms after the heartwrenching scene, how easily she gave in to let Ryujin wrap her arms around her so she could be comforted, the way she remained like that even as the scene was coming to a close. Just thinking about it made a smile form on Ryujin's face. 

A groan sounded out from below her—it wasn't Yeji since she was immobile on top of Ryujin—so she cast her gaze downward as much as she could and saw movement from the ground.

Then she saw Hyunjin shoot up into a sitting position, nearly scaring Ryujin less at the sudden movement—causing her to subconsciously grip Yeji's shirt reflexively. To Ryujin, Hyunjin looked like one of those cliche movie scenes where a zombie rises from the dead dramatically. 

Quietly, she watched as Hyunjin simply sat there for a moment and, if Ryujin was being honest, she wouldn't put it past her to be completely knocked out in that position—it wouldn't be the first time.

Except then she turned over and shook Heejin next to her who, in response, groaned and meekly pushed her hand away. 

But Hyunjin was relentless and she kept prodding Heejin until she released a frustrated grunt and sat up as well. After some hushed arguing—which surprised Ryujin considering Hyunjin was a walking bullhorn whenever she wanted to be—the two got up, stretching and yawning before they began making their way over to the hallway. 

Right as they were about to pass by, Yeji let out a quiet whine—momentarily making Ryujin tense up—before she shifted and positioned her face right in the crevice between her shoulder and neck, her hands briefly grabbing at the hem of Ryujin's hoodie before loosening again. Her even breaths fanned over Ryujin's neck, causing her cheeks to heat up from the close proximity. 

Rather than being able to do something about her situation—she wasn't even sure what she could have done in the first place—Ryujin heard a sharp gasp from behind her, making her snap her head over as much as she could without straining it much. But Hyunjin must have heard Yeji, making her already nosy self all the more curious, and she must have seen the position Ryujin and Yeji were in. 

All Ryujin could do was lie there as she watched the absolute, annoyingly joyful look on her face in the dim lighting. She already knew what was coming—even if she knew Hyunjin wouldn't make a scene immediately, Ryujin knew she would never hear the end of it later. 

Behind Hyunjin—who was still looking irritating with her jaw dropped and eyes wide—Heejin came up to peer over her shoulder, her eyes still half-lidded with sleep, taking a moment to look down at Ryujin before her eyes widened just as Hyunjin's. A similar gasp escaping her as her hand shot up to muffle it just as quickly, pointing down at Ryujin and Yeji as if they were celebrities they managed to spot walking by.

But there was nothing Ryujin could do to alleviate the situation without risking waking Yeji up, all she could do was try and ignore them—in which, she turned her head back around and squeezed her eyes shut—hoping they'd just disappear off the face of the earth. While not going to such extremes, Ryujin did hear their footsteps as they made their way out of the living room, whispering quiet enough so that Ryujin wasn't able to comprehend what they were saying, but at least they were leaving her alone.

When she heard the door to Hyunjin's room shut close—the notorious squeaky hinge only on Hyunjin's door never failing to make its presence known—Ryujin released a short breath of relief out and opened her eyes. She looked down at Yeji, or as much as she could with her head buried in Ryujin's neck, letting the stillness of the room settle around her as she gathered her thoughts, letting her hands rest comfortably on Yeji's back as her eyes drifted slowly close. 

She really didn't mind having this moment with Yeji. 

⊗⊗⊗

"Rise and shine, lovebirds!" Hyunjin's booming voice seemed to fill the entire room with its presence, ultimately startling Ryujin so much that she jolted awake and fell off the couch. Groaning when she felt the dull pain flair up her back, Ryujin could only lie there in agony as Yeji propped herself up on her elbow with eyes half-lidded and the blanket draped over her shoulders. "Let's go, Ryujin, we gotta soccer game to get ready for!" 

Bringing her hands up to rub frustratedly at her eyes, Ryujin grumbled, "In the afternoon." 

"It is currently," Hyunjin trailed off, leaving Ryujin with muddled, half-asleep thoughts until she continued, "twelve-ish?" 

Ryujin sprang up immediately, expecting it to be much earlier than she thought

"What?" she looked at Hyunjin leisurely eating a banana at the kitchen counter with her soccer bag slung over her shoulder. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" she asked as she frantically got up. 

"And separate you two? How could I!" Hyunjin remarked teasingly as Ryujin sprinted by in her haste to get to her bedroom—nearly stumbling into Heejin as she walked out of Hyunjin's room—but Ryujin had to ignore her and get ready as soon as possible. 

She had bigger issues to worry about than trying to pummel Hyunjin to the ground.

", , , ," she mumbled as she dug through her drawers for her uniform, growing more resentful of Hyunjin the more she was rushing to get ready for their game. She knew that if she was just a couple of minutes too slow, Hyunjin would ditch her and get to the field on time. Leaving Ryujin to face their coach's wrath and be forced to run extra laps before the game only to then be benched at the start of it.

After clumsily getting her clothes on, she rushed out to the bathroom, squeezing a little too much toothpaste on her toothbrush before she jammed it into , running right back out to start shoving things into her bag. 

Everyone else was lounging around the kitchen, standing by as Ryujin made her rounds in record time.

When it seemed like everything was said and done, Ryujin reemerged from her room with her bag strewn over her shoulder and her hair messily tied up. She sped her way around Heejin and Yeji to the counter where Hyunjin (thankfully) had placed her water bottle and a banana out for her. 

But Hyunjin was already walking out the door, ready to leave Ryujin behind like it was nothing. Ryujin was just about to go after her—struggling slightly to adjust the strap on her bag as she tried grabbing the water bottle and banana with one hand—but before she could even walk out the door, she was stopped when there was a tug on her shirt. Spinning around a little too quickly, she was met with Yeji sporting a very tired—but also very amused—grin on her face with Ryujin's blanket still wrapped around her shoulders.

(And for a moment, Ryujin felt herself buffer at such a sight.)

"Slow down," Yeji said, speaking slowly and with a huskier voice from just waking up. "You'll make it, you got time. Hyunjin was just messing with you." When Ryujin looked at the time on the clock in the kitchen, Yeji's words rang true; it was only 11:30 a.m. and the team had to be at the field to warm up a quarter after 12. She had plenty of time to get there. 

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ryujin nodded mutely, trying to slow down and not go into a frenzy like how Hyunjin intended. 

"And your jersey's backward," Yeji said with a giggle, Ryujin feeling the embarrassment flare up to her cheeks the moment she looked down and saw her number right in the middle of her shirt rather than her school's logo. 

"Jesus, me," she mumbled as she shrugged her bag off her shoulder and put the other two things in her hand down. 

"Hold on, let me help you—tuck your arms in." Yeji held the blanket with one hand as Ryujin followed her instructions, helping her turn the shirt back around. 

Then it shot through her mind just how close they were, the status of her mind beginning to short-circuit and fizzle when she started to feel her whole face flame up. Except Yeji looked unperturbed, simply focused on making sure Ryujin's shirt was set up correctly. 

Ryujin could only wonder how she ended up such a mess at such a small, insignificant action. 

(But even Ryujin couldn't fight that lingering, giddy feeling she felt at the thought of Yeji looking out for her so she didn't look like a fool in front of her teammates.)

Still embarrassed by her little mixup and her jumbled thoughts slowing her brain down, Ryujin gave a meek 'thanks' to Yeji as she started getting her things back in order. When she happened to peer over Yeji's shoulder, she was met with Heejin's knowing eyes and her eyebrows jumping up and down from where she sat at the counter. 

Not having the energy or patience to deal with whatever Heejin was trying to imply, Ryujin tried to ignore her and asked the two of them after clearing , "Both of you will be there, right?"

Yeji nodded eagerly, seeming to wake up a bit more while Heejin replied with a loud, "Yes, ma'am!"

"All right, I'll see you guys there. Lock the door when you leave, too," Ryujin said as she began opening the front door. 

"We will! Good luck!" Yeji cheered. 

Heejin followed quickly after with, "Have fun!"

Ryujin felt more at ease by her friends' encouragement, but all of that washed away the moment she closed the door behind her and saw Hyunjin leaning on the wall next to it. She looked up from where she was examining her nails, failing miserably to hide a grin while Ryujin glared up at her. 

"So—" 

"You in' !" Ryujin cut Hyunjin off, trying to swing her bag to hit her, but—to her annoyance—missed when Hyunjin hastily stepped away with a laugh. 

"What do you mean?" she had the audacity to ask and Ryujin actually felt her eye twitch. Before Ryujin could even try and refute, Hyunjin waved her hand dismissively and adjusted her own bag before turning and gesturing for Ryujin to follow. "C'mon, let's go before we're actually late."

Huffing a breath in frustration and scowling at Hyunjin's back, Ryujin reluctantly followed as they exited the hallway and scaled down the stairs. 

Soon after, they were right on their way to their soccer field to warm up with their team. 

Ryujin was expecting Hyunjin would take the hint and just remain quiet on their trek while she ate her banana, but, of course, Hyunjin liked to poke the bear with a stick every chance she got. 

"So," Hyunjin began, making Ryujin want to shove the remaining rest of her banana into Hyunjin's mouth to shut her up. "You and Yeji were, you know, cuddlin' it up, huh?" 

Hyunjin tried to nudge her elbow toward Ryujin, but she was having none of it; taking a different, less joking approach, Ryujin jammed her own elbow into Hyunjin's side. 

There was no denying that hearing Hyunjin's grunt of pain and seeing her body fold from the impact was extremely therapeutic. Acting as if nothing happened, Ryujin walked on as she continued eating her banana, leaving Hyunjin to catch up just like she did to her before. 

"God!" When Ryujin gave a mere sideglance to Hyunjin, all she saw was her friend rubbing the area her elbow had hit and an overexaggerated pained expression on her face. "You're mean, man! Straight up mean."

"Says you!" Ryujin shot back, feeling the need to defend herself. "You literally tricked me into thinking I was gonna be late! in' hypocrite."

"You two were never gonna wake up. Y'all were out, I swear," Hyunjin retorted with a scoff. 

"Really?" As they passed a trashcan, Ryujin tossed the banana peel in it, wiping her hands clean and giving Hyunjin a quizzical look. 

"Really!" Hyunjin exclaimed and nodded her head. "Heejin's clumsy accidentally dropped both our cups when she was getting water and you two didn't even flinch!" 

"Well, whatever," she waved off dismissively, adjusting the strap on her bag right after. "Let's just get to the field before coach throws a fit."

⊗⊗⊗

"I swear, if you hadn't held her back, Ryujin, Hyunjin would've decked that girl on the spot!" Heejin laughed, swinging her and Hyunjin's hands from between them. 

"Didn't you see her slide tackle Ryujin?" Hyunjin remarked. "Blind ref didn't even card the ," she spat, kicking a pebble out of her way angrily. 

"Doesn't matter," Ryujin interjected, trying to calm the raging storm brewing inside her friend. "We won the game, so easy there, tiger."

Hyunjin scoffed but remained silent, clearly still bitter over the circumstances but Ryujin knew she would get over it. 

The four of them had just departed from a restaurant after Ryujin and Hyunjin were nearly going rabid from hunger and dragged them all to go eat somewhere when their game ended. Deciding to take a stroll for a bit as evening slowly rolled in, Hyunjin and Heejin took up the front while Ryujin and Yeji tr