Yuqi's idea for Soyeon to play her self-written song at the art school presentation hammered on her mind as well as Shuhua's question about when she would admit to Yuqi that she liked her. There were plenty of songs she could use for that, her notebook full of compositions about the girl, but she lacked the courage to show them to anyone. The fear of losing Yuqi's friendship was as great as the desire to know if that feeling was mutual, the way Yuqi made her feel was indescribable. Soyeon only felt like that once before, a long time ago when she met a certain giraffe girl on a family trip. What happened to her? Soyeon used to think whenever she reminded her childhood

- That was amazing, Minnie!

Soyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua applauded their friend, a day before the school festival. They decided to make a last rehearsal only between them to calm their nerves. After the talented Yuqi playing her guzheng beautifully they got a stunning, not to mention y dance performance from Shuhua.

- I didn't know you were so flexible, Shu.

Yuqi said as Minnie played a classic Chopin enchanting everyone. In Soyeon's turn, the 3 friends were quiet while listening to their friend sing. Shuhua nudged Minnie and pointed at Yuqi,who seemed to be in a trance watching the small blonde play. It was clear for all of them that Soyeon's feeling was matched by the other, they just needed to admit it to each other.

- Did I mention how incredible your voice is, Yeon? Because it is.

Yuqi said as she applauded, followed by Minnie and Shuhua's cheers.

- Yeah, Soyeon rocks!

- Jeon Soyeon Jeon Soyeon!

The guitarist heard the compliments shyly, the support her friends gave her made the girl confident about the performance. It would be the first time that other people besides her friends would listen to her singing, not even her parents had seen her play before.

- I still think you should play one of your songs, Yeon, but if you don't feel confident, move on to the next one.

Yuqi hugged her and messed up her hair while saying it and Soyeon couldn't help noticing the giddy smiles on her friends' lips. Later, Soyeon and Shuhua said goodbye to Yuqi and Minnie and went to the bus stop.

- You know, SoSo, I think you should tell Yuqi about your feelings tomorrow, after your presentation.

Soyeon was about to argument in the contrary bit Shuhua raised a hand, her expression more serious than Soyeon had ever seen.

- Hey, listen to me, I see the way she looks at you, it's reciprocal.

- What if it's not? What if I lose her friendship because of that?

- Did I ever tell you how Soojin and I started dating?

Soyeon shook her head.

- Soojin and I met in the most cliché way possible at school, in kindergarten, I had just arrived from Taiwan and barely spoke Korean, making me an easy target for the bullies. When one of them pushed me off the swing she came, throwing a punch on her stomach. She got scolded and I got a best friend. Since then we've always been together and when I found myself in love with her I had the same fears that you had and held on for years to declare myself. I only had courage when a boy asked her out and I had the biggest crisis of jealousy and fear of losing her. I ignored her for a week until she confronted me and when I saw her I was declaring myself to her.

- And what was Soojin's reaction?

- She smiled, told me that I was just jealous and pulled me to the best kiss of my whole life. After that she admitted that she liked me for years, but for fear of losing my friendship she never said anything. We lost years of delicious kisses and other things more, because of a silly fear.

- That was cute… and disgusting. But I liked it.

- Don't waste your time, SoSo. Declare yourself for her, I know you won't regret it.

Shuhua got off the bus and left Soyeon alone with her thoughts. What would be the ideal time to declare herself?

---x---

The school auditorium was packed, parents and students squeezed in to attend the performances of the students while chatting excitedly and trying to guess how the show would be.

Shuhua's hip hop group had been the first to perform. The dance had left some parents uncomfortable while a proud, if not excited, Soojin watched it standing up. Minnie had conducted an impeccable performance in the piano and only lost her posture when a radiant Miyeon presented her with a bouquet of flowers larger than she could carry. Minnie cried and hugged Miyeon so tight the crowd thought i