A/N:

So this is an Annyeongz spin-off from my Kwonchaeng story "there's certain dreams that you gotta keep". No, you don't have to read that one to understand this one, but there will be some things that are mentioned from the kwonchaeng story. Just know that this takes place in an AU world where they're just regular people and not idols.

Also, if you ship kwonchaeng, then definitely give that story a read if you haven't (it's already completed).

This is a chilhood friends AU and sort of friends to lovers,,, Hope you guys like this oneshot!! :))

 

---

 

The first time Wonyoung questioned the concept of Love was at the tender age of five.

 

Even at a very young age, Wonyoung was very observant. She supposes she had to be. When she was younger, she could only listen and watch her parents from afar and gauge if they were getting along, or if their tone meant that they were yelling at each other––to which Wonyoung had learned to just stay away.

 

Back then it just sounded loud, Wonyoung still hadn’t known what it meant.

 

Her auntie won-won (Chaewon) used to come by a lot and take Wonyoung away to play together, and when they’d come back two hours later, things would seem fine again between her two moms. But she learns that silence doesn't always mean something good just because it was the opposite of yelling.

 

Then, her mothers divorced. However, by that time Wonyoung still didn’t know what that actually meant. She only knew that her mama had to move to a different house.

 

The first night it happened, Wonyoung slept in her mothers’ room; mommy asked her to accompany her, so Wonyoung did. Only this time, she wasn’t snuggled protectively in between her mothers, instead there was a big space left untouched on the right side of the bed. And no matter how much Wonyoung sprawled about, it still felt empty.

 

She thought that when her mama moved out, the house would feel even emptier. Turns out, it didn’t change much.

 

Most of her days, her mommy would be working, doing grown up things. So, her auntie won-won would take care of her because mommy was always busy. Her mommy did try to bring Wonyoung everywhere, but just because they were together physically, doesn’t really mean they were together.

 

Wonyoung supposes she gets a little bit lonely at times.

 

The only constant in her life had been her auntie won-won and her best friend, Ahn Yujin.

 

But when she started kindergarten, Wonyoung realized that she really likes one of her teachers. Her name was Lee Chaeyeon, but the class calls her Miss Lee. Her teacher was really nice. She pays attention to Wonyoung a lot, is really interested in what Wonyoung is saying, drawing, what Wonyoung is thinking, what games she likes to play… 

 

Her teacher had become another constant in her life.

 

So, it felt just as devastating as her mama moving out when mommy told her that Miss Lee wouldn’t be teaching her anymore. 

 

Then, not even a week later, she saw her mommy kissing her teacher at her fifth birthday party. Suffice to say, Wonyoung was very confused.

 

From what Wonyoung knows, her mommy only kisses her mama. Though she hasn’t seen that in a while. Still, it took her by surprise to see her teacher and her mommy kissing. But then they’d explain it to her after that adult couples kiss each other. She didn’t fully understand why, but at that time she didn’t question it.

 

When they got married, Wonyoung still didn’t question it. She was just happy that her teacher didn’t leave. 

 

It wasn’t until Wonyoung had witnessed how her teacher and mommy acted so differently from how her mommy and her mama used to act before they separated, that she started to wonder why; why exactly did Chaeyeon and mommy hug and kiss all the time, why didn’t they have arguments that amounted to yelling, why were they so… loving?

 

“Mommy, why do some adults kiss lips with each other and some don’t?”

 

The dining table had become quiet. Chaeyeon and Eunbi just stared at each other for a while before looking back at Wonyoung.

 

“Well…” Her mommy started. “Some adults kiss because they’re in relationships and they’re in love, so they express it with kisses.”

 

“So, does that mean I can kiss Yujin because I love her?”

 

Chaeyeon had choked and started coughing. Her mommy tapped Chaeyeon’s back––again––lovingly. Mommy gave her a small smile. “It’s different, Wonnie. I kiss Chaeyeon because I’m in love with her. But mommy won’t kiss aunt Hitomi because we’re not in love.”

 

“So I can’t kiss Yujin?”

 

Mommy chuckles. “No, baby.”

 

“I’m confused, mommy.”

 

“It’s okay. You’ll understand when you’re older, Wonnie.”

 

++

 

At eight years old, Wonyoung thinks she finally understands what love is.

 

At eight years old, Wonyoung had a crush on a boy from school. It was during recess in her third year of primary school when she met him on the playground. They shared the same homeroom, but they haven’t talked much besides the occasional “good mornings” and “have you done the math homework from yesterday?”.

 

She sat on the swings alone today because Yujin had gotten into a fight with another student and had to spend recess inside the classroom. 

 

The boy had approached her shyly and Wonyoung gave him a small smile. (Mommy always taught her to be friendly). He sat next to her on the other swing, and pulled out a sandwich from his backpack. 

 

To Wonyoung’s surprise, he had offered Wonyoung his sandwich, and when Wonyoung questioned him, the boy said it was just because he wanted to.

 

When school ended, Wonyoung couldn’t wait to get home to talk about it with her mommy. But before that, she sprinted across the hallways to where Chaeyeon waited in the preschool teaching lounge. As they went home together, Wonyoung had told Chaeyeon everything that had happened in recess––all the while still blushing.

 

“Chaeyeon, I’m in love!”

 

“Are you now?” There was a humorous glint in the woman’s eyes.

 

“I think so.” 

 

Wonyoung told her mommy the same thing when she got home, and that she wants to kiss him.

 

Her mommy and Chaeyeon looked at each other amusingly, before her mommy said she wouldn’t get to kiss anyone (on the lips) until she was at least 20 years old.

 

That had put a damper on Wonyoung’s mood slightly.

 

But when she sees the boy in homeroom the day after, him taking over the table beside hers, Wonyoung says to herself that she could wait a few more years to kiss him. She was in love, after all.

 

++ 

 

Two months later, Wonyoung had her heart broken by the same boy when she saw him offer his sandwich to another girl. 

 

Wonyoung had been pouting all throughout the day. When they were packing their bags, getting ready to go home, her best friend Yujin asked what was wrong. Naturally, Wonyoung told her what happened.

 

Yujin got really angry and said she was going to punch him for hurting Wonyoung. “Don’t hold me back, Wonnie,” Yujin snarls. “I’m gonna make him pay!”

 

But Wonyoung doesn't believe in violence, and she tells Yujin he’s not worth getting in trouble for.

 

Surprisingly, Wonyoung got over it pretty quickly. Especially with Yujin having convinced her mom to let her have a sleepover at Wonyoung’s house. They had so much fun that Wonyoung already felt much better the next day. Although, Wonyoung couldn’t stop herself from yawning every once in a while. And it probably had something to do with them staying up late past bedtime to read a book together, in the dark, with a flashlight under the covers.

 

++

 

At 13, Wonyoung realizes that boys are starting to have a crush on her. Though, she doesn’t get why they were so... aggressive. It was nothing like how her mommy had described it. The boys didn’t do nice things for her, they didn’t write her any poems or notes, or bought her any flowers. They just went up to her with a stupid grin and asked her to “go out.”

 

Where was the romance that Wonyoung had so often seen in movies? Were they all just lies?

 

But her friends had told her she was so lucky. Especially that time when a boy from the soccer team, who was two years her senior, had asked her out. Before she even said yes, they all had started looking at her expectedly, nodding enthusiastically, convincing her to accept. All the girls on her table started squealing when the boy left after Wonyoung had (insincerely) said yes.

 

It happens routinely for Wonyoung. Every few months or so, she would go on “dates” (if you could even call it that) with boys that had asked her out––Though never with the same person twice, because Wonyoung finds out early on in those dates that they didn’t really care about Wonyoung beyond her looks, or trying to get her to do their homework, or just being able to say they had a girlfriend.

 

Pass.

 

She knows none of them are worth it. But Wonyoung just wanted to be nice. And she had gotten the impression that this is what it means to grow up. This is what teenagers do––heck, it’s what everyone around her is doing.

 

Obviously, nothing ever came out of it.

 

She’d go home feeling absolutely, mentally drained.

 

Wonyoung often went home from dates and took a shower to wash away the scent of those boys who tried to kiss her. She had said no almost every time. And when she didn’t say no, she’d usually regret it afterwards. When the boys would try to kiss her again, Wonyoung would turn her cheek and reject them politely, asking them to be friends instead.

 

She scrubs at her cheek until the skin feels raw, and until she feels less dirty.

 

Freshly showered, she’d go hang with her mom and Chaeyeon to forget about the date. When they’d ask her how her date went, Wonyoung would either shrug or say, “it was fine” and they would know that it clearly wasn't. Still, they didn't press Wonyoung to tell them.

 

Before she goes to bed, she would get a text from Yujin asking her if she was home already. Wonyoung would reply with something along the lines of, “Yep, where else would I be?”

 

Yujin would then proceed to ask her how her date went on a scale of Fine to Dying Would Have Been More Entertaining. They’d come up with that specific scale after Wonyoung’s third date that went horribly. (The boy hadn’t showered after his soccer match and didn’t bring money to watch a movie).

 

Wonyoung gave her best friend a variation of the same answer, “was horrible”, “sometimes I just wish I wasn’t pretty”, “what’s a synonym for bleghhh?” and proceeded to tell Yujin the details. Yujin was the only one who didn’t judge Wonyoung for how much she hates going on dates, unlike her other friends.

 

“You should’ve hung out with me instead,” Yujin would reply.

 

And yes, Wonyoung agrees completely. She’d much rather hang out with Yujin than any of those boys.

 

++

 

At 16 years old, Wonyoung struggles with the fact that she doesn’t like boys––that she’s a lesbian.

 

At first, she came out to her friends as Biual––because that, they could understand. Somewhat. She hated lying and misusing a label, but it was just easier. Liking girls and boys was acceptable.

 

Some girls are just that pretty, they had said.

 

But only liking girls? Her friends would have laughed at her.

 

(Maybe not Yujin. But then again, Yujin was different than those other girls).

 

“But you like guys too, right?” one of her friends asked.

 

“Of course.”

 

Of course, deep down, Wonyoung knew that that was a complete lie. Because when she’s in the cafeteria and her friends would unashamedly talk about the boy that just passed their table, Wonyoung doesn't get it. He has a nice face, Wonyoung could agree. His body was aesthetically nice to look at. But…

 

Was she attracted to them?

 

No. Not at all. Not a chance.

 

And when her friends talk about how they envy the senior girls in school, Wonyoung doesn’t get it either. Her friends would gossip about how the boys they were crushing on had girlfriends, and they would look at those girls with utter jealousy. Wonyoung doesn’t get it.

 

Wonyoung doesn’t look at those girls with envy. She just thinks they're pretty. Too pretty. Absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous.

 

But Wonyoung doesn’t dare admit that to her friends. She was scared of what they would think of her.

 

Yujin had pulled her to the side after lunch, taking her to the empty restroom when they were supposed to be in class. Yujin engulfs Wonyoung in a hug.

 

Immediately, Wonyoung started sobbing in her friend’s embrace.

 

“I don’t see you any differently, okay? You’re still my best friend, Wonnie. I still love you,” Yujin doesn’t let Wonyoung go, still hugging and rubbing circles on Wonyoung’s back. “I’m so glad you told us.” told me (it was implied).

 

And a part of Wonyoung wants to come out to Yujin. For real this time. With her actual label and not just a fake one that she used for her comfort. But for now, all she could do was say, “Thanks, Yujin. I love you too.”

 

She wasn’t ready.

 

Maybe it was a bit hypocritical, considering she has lesbian parents, and obviously no one should have a problem with that. But Wonyoung just doesn’t think she was ready to be really out. At least not right now, not in highschool.

 

Wonyoung comes home and tells her mom––the full truth this time.

 

Her mom hugs her so tight and doesn’t let go until Wonyoung does. “Will it ever get better? How long will it take for me to accept myself?”

 

“As long as it takes, Wonnie.” 

 

Wonyoung hugs her mom tighter, burying her face in her mom’s chest like she would many years ago to make the bad things disappear. It didn’t really disappear, but at least Wonyoung felt better in her mother’s embrace. Thankfully Chaeyeon was happy enough to sleep in the guest bedroom to let the mother-daughter spend the night together in each other’s comfort.

 

“You’re growing up so fast,” Her mom whispers into her hair.

 

Wonyoung nods, agreeing

 

She wishes time would stop.

 

Or maybe even turn back to when she was fearless and blissfully unaware of what could hurt her. When she was still playing in the playground with Yujin. To a time when everything was simpler and it was just the two of them against the world. 

 

++

 

When she was 17 years old, Wonyoung finally admits to herself that she’s in love with her best friend.

 

She remembers the realization down to which day it was. She remembers because it was raining. 

 

Yujin and Wonyoung were walking home from school. For some reason they wanted to take the longer route to Wonyoung’s house. Maybe it was because they were talking about their future with how highschool was ending, and the unknown was scary.

 

Wonyoung had clung to Yujin’s arm the same way she did for all the years they’ve known each other. She was too busy enjoying their walk to notice that the sky had darkened slightly.

 

Suddenly, a small droplet of rain fell on her lips as she was talking. Wonyoung stops abruptly.

 

“Why are you stopping?” Yujin asks curiously. Then, droplets of rain started to fall a little more frequently. “It’s drizzling,” Yujin realizes.

 

“We better head home before it––” A lightning struck in the distance, the crackle of light and the accompanying booming sound of thunder that came after stunning Wonyoung to silence.

 

The rain poured. 

 

Sharing a look, the two girls knew what to do. The both ran through alleyways that only they knew, through shortcuts that they’ve discovered together. All the while, their hands interlocked together like puzzle pieces.

 

By the time they reached Wonyoung’s house, they were sopping wet from head to toe. Wonyoung thought she must’ve collected a whole pond in her shoes. Finally catching their breaths, the two looked at each other. Once again, they shared a look. This time, their first instinct was to laugh at each other.

 

“You look like a wet rat!” Yujn had sputtered in between her laughter.

 

“Well, you…” Wonyoung had given her friend a once over, trying to think up an insult, but had nothing to say. Even wet to the bones, and her hair tousled in every which way, Yujin still looked gorgeous in Wonyoung’s eyes. She always has.

 

And Wonyoung finally understands then that love, like rain, comes slowly, creeping silently, and then suddenly, and all at once. It was like a wave of water washing over her, she takes a deep breath and looks around, trying to figure out what came over her. And the clearing comes to view, and she realizes then...

 

Wonyoung is in love with her best friend. She’s in love with Yujin.

 

++

 

A few months after highschool ended, Wonyoung was 17 when she moved out of her mom’s house and into a small, 2 bedroom apartment. Yujin became her roommate, and Wonyoung couldn’t be more glad to know that she doesn’t have to start this new adventure in life by herself.

 

Although, by the time university orientation week had ended, Wonyoung realizes that she and her best friend might go into different paths. Yujin is majoring in media broadcasting, while Wonyoung is studying to be a lawyer. They wouldn’t share any classes together, so they won’t see each other except when they’re home.

 

Wonyoung is a bit bummed at that, but she’s just happy she still has Yujin all to herself.

 

That is, until a few months into her first semester.

 

Yujin had her first ever boyfriend.

 

It all happened so suddenly that Wonyoung barely had time to process how it all happened. She does know that she doesn’t like what she’s seeing.

 

Yujin was in the university’s track team, and Wonyoung, of course, came to her first ever competition during sport’s day. Although she did have to sit way back in the bleachers––she didn’t realize that sport’s day was such a big deal in their university.

 

It was there that Yujin met her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was on the soccer team, so he’d been there too. He saw Yujin compete and asked her out immediately after she won the race. Wonyoung had to watch all that happen before her eyes, from a distance. (She felt sick).

 

Everyone around her cheered. (Wonyoung had to fake a smile when Yujin looked her way).

 

They’re both sporty, tall, and gorgeous... so everyone says that they must be a match made in heaven. (Wonyoung wants to barf).

 

++

 

It didn’t get any better for Wonyoung as the semester went by, and as the year rolls by too.

 

Wonyoung was 18 now.

 

She notices how Yujin spends time with her boyfriend a lot. Yujin goes out on dates and sometimes (a lot of the time) stays over at his place. The apartment that used to feel cluttered and small had become empty and way too clean.

 

They still hung out––just not as much as before.

 

Still, they’re best friends.

 

If Yujin had a competition, Wonyoung would still cheer for her best friend. Even if the competition was somewhere out of town, Wonyoung would tag along with Yujin’s other friends just to cheer for her best friend..

 

But Wonyoung hates that she was sitting next to Yujin’s boyfriend, especially when he yells a very loud “YOU GO, BABE!!” over the shouting of the crowd. Wonyoung wants to die in that moment because she knows that he was the only one who gets to say that. And not Wonyoung.

 

Surprisingly, when they were waiting for Yujin to change, a girl from Yujin’s track team asked out Wonyoung. Some part of her wanted to just say yes. But Wonyoung was in love with Yujin and this somehow feels like a betrayal. Wonyoung was about to decline. But when Yujin finally shows up, she immediately ran into the waiting arms of her boyfriend.

 

Wonyoung said yes to the girl.

 

The dates they went on were good, and the girl was funny, kind, and really charming. Everything was good. For a while...

 

Wonyoung always thought that girls were different, and in a way they were. They were softer, gentler, but 6 months later, and same as that boy from the playground, her girlfriend gave her sandwich to another person.

 

Only this time, it was more than just a sandwich.

 

Even though Wonyoung was upset, still, she couldn’t help but think that maybe it had been partly her fault. She never really gave herself fully to her ex girlfriend. She was still too in love with Yujin to do that. Throughout the 6 months relationship, Wonyoung never said those three words. Not even once.

 

It just felt like a lie to say it when she didn’t mean it––when she’s already in love with someone else.

 

Wonyoung was definitely fond of her ex-girlfriend, but she definitely wasn’t in the relationship fully. If anyone asked for the specifics… Wonyoung gave her sandwich to Yujin long before she had even met her ex girlfriend.

 

It doesn’t mean that Wonyoung wasn’t upset though. Wonyoung was heartbroken and she had wept all night after the breakup.

 

Same as before, Yujin was furious. Hell––Yujin wanted to kick her out of the team, but Wonyoung had convinced her otherwise. So, instead, they stayed up eating a bucket of ice cream while watching funny cat compilations on Youtube.

 

It was two weeks later, and only from a mutual friend, that Wonyoung found out Yujin had filled Wonyoung's ex girlfriend’s locker with shaving cream.

 

++

 

A few months before her 19th birthday, Wonyoung decides it’s time for her to move on.

 

She decided that she can't be in love with someone unavailable anymore. She can’t be in love with her best friend who’s in a 2 year relationship. She can't put herself through this heartbreak everyday, just wishing for Yujin to love her back the way that she does.

 

And Wonyoung thinks she was on her way to succeeding this task. 

 

She repeated to herself a small mantra of she’s not yours so many times that it wasn’t as hard to accept it as a fact when she saw Yujin’s boyfriend pick her up at their apartment to go on a date. It wasn’t much, but it was progress.

 

Then, things started to change between Yujin and her boyfriend. Yujin doesn’t exactly say it, but Wonyoung sees it anyway.

 

It was a few months after their second anniversary and, oddly enough, Yujin started going on dates less. And that meant Yujin started hanging out with Wonyoung a lot more. 

 

More than that, Yujin actively looked for excuses to cancel on dates. Yujin kissed him less. Yujin doesn’t quite beam at the sight of him, and Yujin doesn’t run into his arms anymore.

 

Wonyoung notices all of this. Of course she does. Because for the longest time, Wonyoung always wished to be at the end of those affections.

 

Something has changed.

 

Even so, they're still together and Wonyoung doesn’t want to be wishful, and she doesn’t want to continue to pathetically pine for her best friend.

 

++

 

A day before Wonyoung’s 19th birthday, Yujin tells her that the latter was trying to find ways to avoid her boyfriend. 

 

Wonyoung’s heart leaped.

 

And it shouldn't—because it doesn't mean anything. It doesn’t, Wonyoung has to repeat that to herself for a few times before she starts to believe it.

 

Wonyoung’s heart leaped again when Yujin told her that it was getting harder for the latter to say I love you back to him.

 

It still shouldn’t mean anything because Wonyoung knows that she can't start hoping. She can't do that to herself anymore.

 

Wonyoung’s heart literally skipped a beat when Yujin said it'd be so much easier to date Wonyoung.

 

And Wonyoung laughs a little too loudly in reply.

 

She really wishes Yujin didn't say that, because now her heart hurts, and the butterflies in her stomach are returning in tenfold, and her mind is so, so foggy. But still, Wonyoung tells herself that it’s not right, that she can’t be in love with her best friend anymore.

 

She just can’t.

 

++

 

A few hours before Wonyoung turns 19 years old, Yujin ditches the plans she made with her boyfriend for the fifth time in a row so she could celebrate “with Wonyoung and Wonyoung only” (Yujin’s words), and Wonyoung has to stop herself from feeling special.

 

They got drunk.

 

They called it a girls night, but it was just the two of them.

 

Two bottles of soju later, Yujin tells Wonyoung that she’s been trying to find the right time to break up with her boyfriend.

 

Wonyoung has to actively fight off her feelings because it’s only intensified in this state of drunkenness. (she blames Yujin for pouring her the last two shots that got her into this mess).

 

Looking at Yujin being her stupidly beautiful self and on the verge of being single gets a little bit too much for Wonyoung to handle, and the urge to confess bubbles in her stomach. There’s an intense kind of feeling that causes her heart to race and her eyes to drop to Yujin’s lips.

 

With all her might, Wonyoung forces herself to look back up into Yujin’s eyes, but only finds herself getting lost in them, and she thinks, I love you… She nearly says it out loud, but the logical side of her is saying:

 

The right time to confess is not when your best friend is about to end a relationship.

 

...and Wonyoung repeats it to herself over and over.

 

But—(Wonyoung has been in love since kindergarten, and her mom was wrong, because she did love Yujin as a friend, but she was also in love with her in all the other ways that love can be defined. Every time Yujin fought the bullies for Wonyoung, and everytime she defended Wonyoung’s honor from an admirer or an ex, Wonyoung was in love. Everytime they ditched their other friends or their significant others to hang out and have a night to themselves, where they would just make each other laugh so hard—oh god yujin’s melodious laugh—she’s so in love. When Yujin forgets to flush or is too lazy to take out the trash, and Wonyoung yells at her because, gosh, Yujin can sometimes be so frustrating, and still Wonyoung is in love. When Yujin is crying after a fight with her boyfriend and Wonyoung wants nothing more to dry those tears and she contemplates her no-violence rule for each and every tear Yujin sheds.)––Wonyoung loves her.

 

She loves Yujin so much that it hurts.

 

And , Wonyoung knows just how untimely this is, but it doesnt change the fact that she wants so badly to kiss Yujin.

 

++

 

At age 19 and 2 hours, while drunk, Wonyoung finally kisses her best friend.

 

And it feels like a gasp of fresh air after drowning for so long. And whatever her mom told her about love became mere words on a page because it didn't compare at all to what she was feeling in this single kiss.

 

And it was only then that Wonyoung realized that they’d been kissing, more importantly, that Yujin was kissing her back. And it was tender but passionate all at the same time, and Wonyoung broke her own heart when she had to pry herself away from Yujin.

 

It killed her to do it because every part of her is screaming yes, finally, and kiss her again.

 

In this moment she wonders why she can't just be selfish for once in her life. But that kiss was selfish enough as it is, and she only ever wants to be selfless for Yujin.

 

“You have a boyfriend.”

 

Yujin looks a bit dazed, then she looks confused, and then horrified as she realizes what they’ve done.

 

The kiss itself was intoxicating but it also sobered Wonyoung up pretty quickly.

 

And Wonyoung’s heart is telling her to confess to Yujin, to tell her best friend that she has waited to kiss her for the longest time, and she wants to tell Yujin to break up with her boyfriend because Wonyoung loves her and she wants just one chance to prove that they could be happy together.

 

But Wonyoung retreats into her bedroom and locks the door.

 

++

 

Wonyoung was 19 years old and 7 hours when she finally found the courage to leave her room. She thinks the stupid amount of overthinking the past few hours has sobered her up enough that she was ready to speak to Yujin. But her best friend isn't there in the apartment and Wonyoung thinks she’s really ed it up now.

 

She goes back to her room to sleep off the hangover and the overwhelming feeling of guilt and dread.

 

++

 

When Wonyoung finally woke up, she was 19 years old and 13 hours.

 

Wonyoung orders food because she’s too sad to cook for herself. 

 

The doorbell rings and she walks over to open the door, thinking that it was her food, only to come face to face with the one person she couldn’t stop thinking about.

 

“You’re not Chinese.”

 

Yujin was taken aback but says, “I’m Korean.” She tells Wonyoung that she forgot her keys when she left the apartment last night.

 

A sudden flash of memory crossed Wonyoung’s mind, and she was reminded of the kiss that they shared, and all she wanted to do was to run away again, and Wonyoung must've been about to do just that, but Yujin quickly grabs her forearm and keeps her in place.

 

“I broke up with him.”

 

Wonyoung almost jumps for joy but manages to stop herself. “Yujin, if it was because of me, I'm so sorry. I know you were waiting for the right moment… I didn't mean to just kiss you out of the blue––”

 

“––You didn’t?” Yujin cuts her off.

 

If there was a hint of disappointment in Yujin’s voice, Wonyoung pretends to not catch on to it.

 

In the grand scheme of things, Wonyoung knows that she means to do it. She wanted to kiss Yujin more than anything in this world. Even so, “I wasn’t supposed to,” Wonyoung says, an unmistakable bitterness laced her tone.

 

“So, why did you?”

 

Why else?

 

“Because I'm in love with you.”

 

This time it was Yujin who kissed Wonyoung first.

 

And when the food that Wonyoung had ordered finally arrived, the impatient knocks on the door still wasn't able to separate them. Neither girl heard, let alone answered.

 

(Or maybe they collectively ignored it).

 

They were too busy indulging in the high that was each other.

 

Wonyoung thinks after this she could finally let Yujin know that this is what she’s dreamed of since she first met Yujin in the playground all those years ago, and every moment after. She wanted to tell Yujin that she was the most beautiful girl Wonyoung has ever seen and that her heart is hers and only hers.

 

From the very first moment, Yujin has been the only one.

 

But for now, she keeps kissing her best friend and takes comfort in this perfect moment, reveling in the prelude of what is more to come.