In the middle of a sea of empty tables and abandoned chairs, a woman sat, mindlessly scrolling on her phone with her right hand on her chin and her lips pursed. Hwasa.

But Yuri has no idea what her name was, or who she is. All she knows is that she’s not entirely okay with Taeyeon’s dare. Not again, Yuri thought. But it’s either that or the remaining half of her monthly paycheck. .

“We don’t have all night, Yuri-yah,” Sunny said, her phone camera already placed strategically on top of the table facing the bronze-skinned lady’s back without her knowing. “Yeah, just give me a minute,” she replied, running her fingers through her hair, sighing loudly. She finally surrenders.

Her eight friends held their breaths in anticipation as she cautiously approached Hwasa sitting a couple of meters away from where they were at.

Yuri wanted to say a flirty and confident “Hello there” to announce her presence. But she was taken aback when she saw a suddenly exasperated Hwasa, pulling her body back on the sofa and sighing loudly. A timid and barely audible “Hi, uhm, excuse me” came out of .

She had to say that again for the woman to look at her and say, “What?”, an irritated expression spread across her face. It immediately softened upon seeing a tentative Yuri, not sure whether to back out or continue talking to her. “Sorry about that. Can I help you with something?”

“Uh, I’m sorry to bother you, but could you please give me a minute?” Yuri asked.

Little did she know, her mates were laughing at how she looks like right now standing there: hands clasped, feet together, as if about to invite someone for a bible study session. Hwasa was amused enough to sit straight; cue for Yuri to relax her stiff body and sit down. She breathed in before becoming a nervous wreck. 

“I have a favor to ask of you. My friends, they,” she chuckled uneasily in between, “um, dared me to, to....”

“To what?“ Hwasa asked, narrowing her eyes in the process.

A random spotlight turned its way to the equally-tanned woman, its warm light hitting an angle on her face that left Yuri agape. Wow.

“Wow indeed.” Hwasa is already interested.

Realizing she said it out loud, Yuri quickly closed and whispered, “Sorry.” She’s still at awe, not once leaving her gaze.

“Nah, it’s okay. I get that all the time,” Hwasa smirked. “So, about that dare?”

“They told me—no, it’s actually a spin-the-bottle thing, and the lucky comrade’s dare for me is to kiss someone who’s alone for 5 seconds,” Yuri abruptly replied, matter-of-factly, but deep inside she’s already panicking.

“Ah.” Hwasa leaned backward on the sofa’s armrest and propped her right arm under her ear. A pause, short enough to establish tension but long enough to make Yuri worry. Please don’t say no, please don’t say no.

“Just 5 seconds?” An eyebrow raise, then a smirk; this time letting Yuri know her engagement with the proposal.

Wait, did she just...? Oh. Yuri just wants to kick herself for being slow at times.

“Oh.” Good thing it came out as flirtatious, a ‘so you want to get it on?’ utterance, not a ‘wait I’m still processing this’ kind.

It was Yuri’s turn to place her hand under her chin. “It depends. How long would you want it to be?” Yuri met Hwasa’s gaze, a smirk of her own forming on her lips.

“How long would you last?” Another short pause before Hwasa giggled rather innocently. “I’m just kidding. I haven’t kissed a woman before.”

“Really?”, Yuri asked, honestly surprised. “I thought you’re type who gets on with women as well. No offense meant.”

“None taken.” Hwasa smiled. “Although, if you really have to do this dare, this will be my first. Not where I imagined it to be, but you’re much, much better than who I initially thought of,” Hwasa briefly cringed, “so this will do. You only live once, right?”

“Nope, you die once. You live for as long as you can. And I’m lucky to be living in the same life as you.”

A somewhat brief, awkward silence took over a while. Both women laughed afterwards.

“Ah, to hell with all this, yeah? I mean, this might be the first and last time you’ll see me, so, let’s cross this off your bucket list?” Yuri offered, realizing the gang has been waiting longer than expected.

Hwasa was about to say something when they heard someone shout. Her neck craned a bit over Yuri’s left shoulder, which made the latter turn her head backwards.

“Yah, get on it already!!” It was Sooyoung, who was immediately pulled down by Tiffany and slapped her arm. Tiffany gestures Yuri to go on. The rest was just glued to watching the two tanned ladies interact.

“Aish, that fool. She’s probably hungry already,” Yuri explained laughingly, then turns back to Hwasa.

“So those are your friends?”

“Yep. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. We meet every year to celebrate our friendship, and spin the bottle has been our tradition. No one has ever not done a dare, so, yeah.” Yuri was briefly startled at Hwasa who waves at Taeyeon’s direction rather enthusiastically.

She suppressed a smile. Cute.

“They look like they’re nice people. I might have to thank them soon.” Hwasa looks Yuri at her eyes. “Tell me the consequence first.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, it’s either you really like girls or the consequence is making you do this. At least I know.”

Yuri chuckled. “You have a point. I’d ask, too, if I were you. It’s both, actually. But If I don’t do this, I’ll be paying everything we’ve spent tonight.”

“Ooh. That’s nasty. I’d do the dare, too, if I were you,” Hwasa said, her face slightly disgusted at the thought of paying everything on a night out.

“Yes! That’s the exact same face I made when Taeng told me her dare. Ugh.”

Both women shared a laugh with each other.

“Come on, what are we waiting for?”

“Okay, 5 seconds. I’ll tap your shoulder five times, and all of this will be over, filed under weird- club stories,” Yuri laughed. “Okay, here we go.”

The two women inched closer. Both closed their eyes when their faces were mere centimeters apart, and their lips crashed with each other.

Like what Yuri promised, she proceeded to tap Hwasa’s shoulder five times. After the fifth time though, her left hand clutched Hwasa’s neck instead of breaking away. The latter grabbed Yuri’s waist simultaneously.

“Oh my god,” Jessica said, breaking the group’s silence. Hyoyeon automatically raised her hand to cover Seohyun’s eyes, but the maknae brought it down with a whine (“Unnie, I’m old enough for this!”). The rest of the girls remain dumbfounded.

The kiss lasted for one unforgettable minute.

They pulled away from each other, catching their breaths, grinning like idiots.

“Hwasa.” She held out a hand, in which Yuri shook slightly with hers.

“Yuri. Let’s see each other again.”

“Actually, you can call me Hyejin, if you’d like....”

“Okay. Next Friday, same time. I’ll see you, Hyejin.”

“I’ll be here.”

“Okay.” Yuri still sat there, her eyes not leaving Hwasa, who’s looking at her as well with a rather admiring stare.

“I think you should go back to your table. Your friends are waiting for you.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you. So, next week?”

“Mmm-hmmm. See you, Yuri.”

“Okay. Bye,” Yuri waved before heading back. She smiled at herself. Maybe I’m the one who should thank Taeyeon for this.

Her mind returned to the present situation soon enough to catch the small throw pillow Yoona hurled at her, laughing. While the rest of the group welcomed Yuri with hoots and cheers, Sooyoung leaned over to Sunny and asked, “Did you get all of it?” Sunny leaned back and whispered, “Yep. You can have revenge on her now.” Both ladies high-fived each other.

A few seconds right after Yuri turned her back, Solar, Moonbyul, and Wheein arrived at Hwasa’s table, looking rather puzzled seeing Hwasa in a daze, looking at Yuri.

“Yah, Hyejin-ah,” Wheein tapped Hwasa’s shoulder, pointing at Yuri. “Who was that?”

“A friend of yours?” Solar quipped in right after. The three looked at Yuri’s table, where they can see the woman being cheered on and slapped playfully by her friends.

“Looks like it,” Moonbyul added with a grin. “Look at how she’s staring at her. Not gonna lie, she pretty though. And so are her friends...ouch!” She rubbed the spot in her ribcage area where Solar hit her with her elbow.

“No, seriously, you know her?” Wheein asked Hwasa again.

Hwasa, still smiling like an idiot, replied, “Yeah, ten minutes ago. We made out three minutes later.”

--

Chapter OST

Emma Bunton  - We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight (Radio Mix)

Hayley Kiyoko - Girls Like Girls