Authors note: haha love u guys we r almost through this bit of angst. :] 

Still nothing. Sana thinks to herself as she parks her car in a parking lot near the cafe. It’s been a couple of days since her birthday party and she’s been texting Dahyun a little, hoping for a response. 20 or so texts still counts as a little, right? Said texts consisted of apologies for forcing Dahyun to kiss her, that she didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable, that she wants to meet up and talk, and asking Dahyun to please text back or call her. 

She’s been met with nothing but silence so far. Which is why she’s at Sunset Pastries right now. A chill runs up her spine as she opens the door and walks in, but no one is looking at her. There’s only a few customers in the shop right now, and Sana spots Dahyun and Jihyo on shift behind the counter. Neither one has noticed her yet. There’s movement next to her and she turns to see Chaeyoung wiping down tables. Sana gives her a look of worry and confusion, assuming maybe Chaeyoung knows what's going on. The girl just avoids her eyes and shakes her head before moving to a table farther away. Weird.

The princess makes her way to the counter, feeling the air grow thick with tension the closer she gets. She clears at the counter, but Dahyun doesn’t even flinch. Jihyo, however, moves to stand in front of the register and glares at Sana while crossing her arms. Sana her lips, suddenly dry as she's confronted with the reality that something is terribly wrong. That she didn’t see wrong at her birthday party, that Dahyun really is upset at her and ignoring her. She feels an ache in her chest, and decides she should just order something and go. 

When she’s about to speak, Dahyun walks over to Jihyo and whispers something in her ear. Jihyo gives Dahyun a look of concern, before glaring at Sana again and walking away. Dahyun faces her but refuses to make eye contact, choosing to look at the countertop instead. 

“What do you want.” If words could hurt, that alone would have transported Sana to an icy wasteland. 

“I want you to talk to me.” Sana gently puts a hand on the counter, making sure it's in Dahyun’s view. 

Dahyun seems to flinch at the hand and makes eye contact with Sana seemingly automatically, but she doesn’t break it right away. There’s something in her eyes, an inkling of vulnerability, and Sana wants to reach out and grab for her to comfort her or get through to her. It quickly glazes over to be stone-faced again, and Dahyun gestures for Sana to follow as she leads them to the employee break room door. 

Sana goes in first, noting the lockers lining the walls and shift schedule on the wall. She hears the door shut behind her and sees Dahyun leaning against it with her head down. The princess tries to get closer, since she sees Dahyun’s shoulders shaking slightly, and reaches out an arm to touch Dahyun. It’s pushed away and Sana lets it fall, standing only a few steps away. 

“Is there anything you need to tell me?” It sounds like Dahyun is about to cry, and Sana’s heart breaks just a little at the idea. 

“I’m sorry about the kiss, I texted you but you didn’t respond and I thought maybe it’d be better if I apologized in person.” 

“No, not that. Sana, please.” Dahyun pleads with the princess, locking eyes with her. “Do you have anything else you need to tell me?” There’s a silent fury in the teared up eyes, and Sana’s brain stops working.

“I - I don’t know. If I -” Sana stutters out, “If I hurt you I’m sorry, I -” She cuts herself off as the gears of her brain start turning again. Does she know? She has to know, she must know. Oh god, she knows, oh I have to come clean NOW. Her voice fails to form the words in time. Dahyun’s eyes turn cold again, a few silent tears falling down her cheek as she straightens her back.

“Then we’re done here, Your Royal Highness. Don’t come back here again.” Dahyun practically spits the words out at her. She turns on her heels and leaves the room before Sana can form even a syllable in response. 

. Said princess thinks to herself, left alone in the break room. I missed my chance, and she knows and I didn’t even apologize. I didn’t even think about telling her just now, oh I royally screwed up. 

She takes a closer look at the lockers while she’s still in the room and finds Dahyun’s rather quickly. It’s not hard since her name is on it, along with a sticker of an open book. Sana pats down her pockets, certain she has a piece of paper in one of them, upon finding a ripped receipt she searches for a pen. 

For Dahyun: please call me later, I want to explain -S

After the note is placed safely in the locker where it can be easily spotted, Sana walks back out into the dining area. She dares a glance at Dahyun on her route to the door, but the other girl refuses to look in her direction and seems to be actively ignoring her again. With a heavy heart she gets in her car and drives back to the castle, regretting every choice she’s ever made regarding one Kim Dahyun.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dahyun rubs her temple as she walks into the break room. She’s emotionally exhausted from seeing Sana, and isn’t in the mood to do anything but go home now. She just wants to grab her stuff and leave, but standing in front of her locker is Chaeyoung. She’s clearly on the phone with someone.

“We’ll go over tonight then.” Chaeyoung speaks into the phone, looking down at something in her hand. Dahyun really isn’t in the mood for whatever this is, but she takes a peek at the note in her friend's hand. It’s from Sana. To her.

“What are you doing?” She tries to keep her voice neutral, frustrated at the princess for leaving a note somewhere other people could see it. Her friend lightly jumps at the sound of her voice, she assumes Chaeyoung hadn’t heard her walk in.

“I’m calling Tzuyu.” She casually recovers from the jumpscare, but Dahyun stays silent. Watching her friend like a hawk, with her eyes narrowing just a little. Enough for Chaeyoung to get the message. Chaeyoung squirms for a minute before Dahyun decides to speak again.

“Throw that away.” She looks at the note in Chaeyoung’s hand, sneering at it. 

“I’m not on call with her.” By her Chaeyoung must mean the princess. Dahyun already knew that though, she doubted her friend would have the princess’s number anyways. “It’s Tzuyu, I promise. Here, check.” Chaeyoung puts the call on speaker mode and holds it between them.

“Dahyun unnie, we’re gonna spend the night at your place tonight.” Tzuyu says it so casually. 

“No.” She practically growls out. “I want to be alone.” 

“Dahyun,” Chaeyoung puts a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off. Ignoring her friend for the locker holding her stuff. “I can’t leave you alone with this info.” 

“What info?” She asks, fully absorbed in grabbing her stuff. “You mean her lying and being the -” Dahyun freezes, she hasn’t told her friends what happened. Nayeon and Jeongyeon had promised not to say anything until Dahyun did. So then how?

“Did you . . . Did you know?” She turns to look at Chaeyoung, feeling a little ache in her heart. Searching her friend's eyes, she looks for any sign that she’s wrong and Chaeyoung had no idea. The serious look of her best friend tells her the truth. She knew. She knew and she didn’t tell her.

“I’ll explain everything, if you let us stay over tonight.” Chaeyoung reaches for her again and she smacks the hand away. 

“What’s the point? You lied too!” Her anger doesn’t know where to go, and she tries not to cry. 

“Dahyun, you trust me don’t you?” She looks away from Chaeyoung, the floor suddenly grabbing her attention. 

“Unnie.” Chaeyoung says, softer than her voice was before. “Let me explain, let us stay the night and I’ll tell you anything you want to know. You can take all your anger out on me, just let us come over.”

“Fine. At six.” Her voice wavers as the tears threaten to overcome her. She can’t take another betrayal. “Bring food, I’m too mad to feed anyone right now.” Sh