Ten years. It's been ten years since Jungeun has met Haseul, and it's also been eight years since Jungeun has felt her heart going on overload every time she's around Haseul. 

 

The two girls were close, always attached to each other's hip when they were younger. Jungeun would always visit Haseul's house, and when they're not together, they're messaging and video calling each other all the time. But as time passed, the two drifted away.

 

Jungeun was always grounded, preventing her from meeting Haseul. They couldn't keep in touch with each other on social media too, for her gadgets were taken away from her. 

 

Occasionally they would meet; when Jungeun's parents and her other friends' (including Haseul's) get together and bond. But it just wasn't the same anymore. 

 

Time passed and Jungeun got ungrounded, and of course, she visited Haseul's village, where all of her other friends are too. When she went and met them again, she was beyond delighted. 

 

There was someone new in their friend group. Her name was Wong Kahei but preferred to be called Vivi instead. Jungeun could already see that she and Haseul vibed together, and Jungeun was thrown to the side. 

 

Jungeun considered Haseul as her best friend, yet it was unreciprocated. Turns out Haseul's best friend was Vivi and not her. Jungeun was heartbroken, but chose not to show it to anyone, instead, she avoided Haseul (sometimes; even at a young age Jungeun was whipped) and hung out more frequently with their guy friends. 

 

Fast forward to a few more years, Jungeun realised that she was into girls. She had that gay awakening at the age of 13. Jungeun has noticed before that she crushes on girls more than guys, but didn't really put much thought into it until she was educated on the LGBT+ community. 

 

But more specifically, she was into Jo Haseul.

 

Knowing all of her friends were straight, she hid the fact that she was biual and just rambled on about guys she found attractive just so they wouldn't be suspicious of her uality.

 

— 

 

Jungeun's parents enrolled her in the same school as Haseul. To say that she was happy about it was an understatement. It was far more than that. 

 

A day before school started, their friend group met up and just chilled at their frequented milktea shop.

 

"Ah, our Jungeun is growing up! Finally a high school student!" Haseul joked. "You're definitely not going to like the people there but hey, I'm with you." 

 

First month of school went by and Jungeun still had no one to call her "friend". After all, she was seated at the back, always on her phone with earplugs, ignoring all of her classmates' attempt to talk to her. The only thing she looked forward to each day was going home with Haseul. Despite their houses being quite far from each other, Jungeun always went home to Haseul's house after school just because she felt like it and that's where their friendship blossomed again.

 

It was also when Jungeun fell even more.

 

At one of their school retreats, Jungeun and Haseul were in the same group and of course, already being comfortable with each other, they were always together because the school prevented group members being with other group members until it was siesta time. It was silly, but Jungeun liked it. Why wouldn't she? They would eat lunch and dinner together, sit next to each other during seminars, pair up with each other when needed. 

 

"So based on what was taught to us during the seminar, can one of you share an experience with us?" Their group leader asked. 

 

"Uh, I have something to share." Haseul spoke up, raising her little hand.

 

"It was still way back when I was a kid. I'm sure you know this," she said, turning to Jungeun. "Ah the truth is, Jungeun and I have been friends with each other for a long time." 

 

Jungeun doesn't know why, but her chest swelled at being flexed like that.

 

Haseul's story wasn't really a happy memory for her. It was a memory full of pain, but she was strong enough to share it to the entire group, holding Jungeun's hand while she did. 

 

After the group sharing time, it was time for siesta. But Haseul, being extremely sensitive after her story, broke down into tears, and Jungeun was there to hold her. 

 

Haseul wrapped her arms around Jungeun's waist, and Jungeun held onto her with so much care. All the other students looked at them weirdly, but left the hall still, until it was just the two of them left. 

 

Haseul pulled away from the hug and sniffled. "I got your sweater wet." 

 

Jungeun chuckled and patted her head. "It's alright," She pulled Haseul into a hug once more. "You know, those people were es for letting you feel this way until now."

 

She heard Haseul laugh and the shorter girl pulled away once more, but still had her arms wrapped around Jungeun's waist. "You should've beat them up for me back then."

 

Jungeun smiled tenderly and planted a kiss on Haseul's forehead. "If someone fights you, I'm going to beat them up for real."  

 

They both walked back to their rooms, which were beside each other and took a rest. 

 

After that retreat, Jungeun was giddy. She was beyond happy about everything that happened. She got to hug her, kiss her forehead, hold her hand, and like that. It made her heart hurt, but in a good way. 

 

— 

 

One school year has passed, and Jungeun is a bit sad. It was Haseul's last year. But nevertheless, the two still spent their summer together with their other friends, attached to each other's hip once again, just like when they were kids. 

 

Jungeun would get jealous whenever Vivi would approach Haseul and take her away from her. But she knew she had no right to feel that way, so she brushed it off.

 

One day, Jungeun's parents and sisters went out of town and allowed Jungeun to have company over. Of course, she invited everyone in her friend group, but unfortunately not all of them could go. It disappointed her, but it was fine as long as Haseul was there.

 

They were going to spend the night in Jungeun's house and Jungeun was happy. 

 

Vivi tried to cook carbonara with the ingredients Jungeun had, but they later found out that the condensed milk they used was expired, causing the sauce to be sticky and... inedible. 

 

"Vivi, I never knew your cooking was this bad." Jinsoul, Vivi's girlfriend laughed. 

 

"Are you sure your course is Culinary Arts?" Haseul jokes, still managing to eat the pasta. 

 

"Hey! It's not my fault the condensed milk Jungeun gave to me has expired!" She pouted. 

 

"Anyways, we still need to finish this." Jungeun said, looking at the pan full of carbonara. 

 

"We're going to get indigestion." Gowon muttered. 

 

Everyone tried to finish their plate of carbonara, Jinsoul getting the most servings because Vivi wanted her to savour her cooking.

 

Jinsoul was suffering, but it only brought laughs to the entire group. 

 

After everyone finally finished their plates, Jungeun and Haseul cleaned up, while the others headed upstairs to watch Netflix where there was aircon. 

 

Vivi's house wasn't very far from Jungeun's so her mom asked her to go home after dinner. Jinsoul would take her home, but return after.

 

The two were left alone, the atmosphere silent and comfortable. While Haseul washed and rinsed the dishes, Jungeun was responsible for drying and putting it back where it belongs. 

 

They joked around every now and then, and when Haseul was done with the last plate and handing it to Jungeun, she wiped her wet hands on Jungeun's cheek and Jungeun scrunched her nose in disgust.

 

"Hey!" She pouted, kicking Haseul slightly on her thigh. Haseul laughed in response and waited for Jungeun to finish. 

 

"Do you mind if I borrow a shirt and sweatpants?" Haseul asked. "I'm all sweaty and I didn't bring a change of clothes."

 

"Uh sure, wait a sec. I'll bring a towel for you too." Jungeun rushed upstairs to her room and picked the best and her favourite shirt and sweatpants. She also grabbed a towel that was hanging on a rack and gave it to Haseul. 

 

"Thanks, I'll just take a bath." Jungeun hummed in response, taking a seat on the dinner table, waiting for Haseul to finish. 

 

Jungeun had already taken her bath earlier before her company came, so it was fine, she didn't have to take another shower. 

 

After Haseul finished her bath, she sat in front of the fan and dried her hair. "Your shampoo's nice," She commented, using the towel to dry. "It smells good and makes my hair lighter." 

 

Jungeun grinned, but didn't reply. She just took in the sight of Haseul being cute and small in her oversized tee. "Cute," Jungeun thought to herself.

 

When Haseul was done drying her hair, Jungeun grabbed a few chips from their container and went up together. 

 

Their friends were watching a horror movie, and there was very little space left for Jungeun and Haseul because they were 10 people, and Jungeun's room was small.

 

Despite that, their friends made space and now Jungeun and Haseul were huddled up in a corner, sharing a blanket and cuddling each other. It was warm. 

 

Jungeun's heart was warm. She wished she could stay this way with Haseul forever. 

 

After two movies, all of them felt hunger again, despite the carbonara being a heavy meal, being cooked like that. A few of them stood up to prepare a midnight meal, some staying and continued watching a movie.

 

Jungeun decided it was just the right thing to stand up and assist her friends who were cooking and give them the proper ingredients, making sure they aren't expired now. 

 

Haseul followed her downstairs and just watched everyone, sometimes going on her phone and chatting with her school friends. 

 

They had made various food, Gowon experimenting with eggs and almost burning down the entire kitchen, good thing Hyunjin was there to save the day. 

 

They ate and enjoyed their food, and a little while later they heard a knock on their door. It was Heejin, coming with a gallon of ice cream and some Pocky sticks for herself.

 

“Sorry I’m late, I got caught in traffic.” 

 

They enjoyed the rest of their stay like that, just lazily watching movies on Netflix. At around 5AM, everyone felt drowsy and decided to sleep. The room had three beds; a bunk bed and a slightly bigger bed on the floor, so they just fit themselves however they want. 

 

Jungeun and Haseul lay side by side on the bottom bunk, with Haseul snuggling closer to Jungeun’s side, hugging her. 

 

Jungeun smiled and hugged her back, and they fell asleep like that. 

 

At 7AM, Haseul woke up due to Jungeun’s movements, and desperately tried to get out without making much noise but failed. Since Jungeun was on the inner part of the bed, she had to step over Haseul, which caused her to slip and fall noisily. She didn’t harm Haseul which was good, but her attention was caught with Haseul laughing at her.

 

“Good morning Jungie,” She greeted with a smile. “What are you doing?” 

 

Jungeun sat up and rubbed her knees that came in contact with the floor. “I was about to make breakfast.”

 

“Let me help you.” 

 

So they both made breakfast for everyone while they were still asleep, acting like a married couple now and then when Haseul back hugged Jungeun while she was cooking. 

 

Haseul puts her chin on Jungeun’s shoulder, making her tiptoe because Jungeun was slightly taller than her. Jungeun could feel Haseul’s breath on her neck, and it didn’t help that Haseul tilted her face and kissed the side of Jungeun's neck. 

 

Jungeun tensed after that, but still continued to cook. 

 

“You smell good.” Haseul comments, sniffing Jungeun’s t-shirt.

 

“Thanks.” Jungeun replies. 

 

“Mhm.” Haseul hummed and pulled away, setting the table and waking everyone up.

 

Jungeun let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in. 

 

God she was in deep.