The next morning, Dahyun woke up with the sun. 

Thought she’s fine at first. Just a little dehydrated, and slightly weak. That is until a sharp, throbbing pain in and around her temples appearing around an hour later, made her remember how much she’d drunk at Momo’s. And how the quantity had already long surpassed the “fine” state. 

Regret tasted bitter, just like the alcohol she’d poured into herself mindlessly last night. Dahyun only remembered how disgusting hard liquors can be, after she’d gotten its searing remains out of her system. Puking out all the haunting memories, confiding to the gleaming toilet bowl.  

Attempting in eating breakfast was probably a bad idea to begin with, but the emptiness she’d felt inside was so unbearable, it was better to try than do nothing. 

Filling the void with food wouldn’t have worked even without nausea, she’d figured. Because it wasn’t the emptiness of her stomach that felt the worst. 

After Sana left her apartment that night, it became painfully obvious to Dahyun that her Japanese neighbour is avoiding her. At first, she was rather glad. Dahyun needed some time to recover from the embarrassment at the reminiscence of things she said (almost said) and done while drunk. Like... Asking for a dance? Really, Kim Dahyun? The said girl wants to start banging her head on the wall each time the cringe-worthy flashbacks resurface. 

To try and be romantic—as her advisor for the night had said. Only to appear as a complete moron after she’d taken that singular suggestion a bit too seriously. A little too close to her heart. Guess that's a side effect of discoursing with a drunk.

After a while, she couldn’t hide the disappointment whenever her greeting smile wasn’t reciprocated, or her eyes met not with the sight of that gorgeous amber ones, but Sana hurrying downstairs as to flee out of the condominium the moment she spots Dahyun stepping out of her apartment. And they’ve bumped into each other exceptionally often now. Even more so than when they were in better terms. It also didn’t help that people just kept on asking Dahyun about Sana. Chaeyoung with that teasing hint in her tone, Tzuyu with hope and worry reflecting in her eyes... Hell, even her dad made sure to mention the beautiful neighbour each time he called to check up on his daughter. It almost seemed like everything and everyone in her life led to Sana.  

As if the universe they’ve praised that night, is now making fun of them.  

Sometime ago, this would’ve been her biggest wish getting granted. Sana leaving her alone... It only looked that great as a solitary concept inside her head. Because now, when it looked like it’s finally coming into completion—Dahyun doesn’t feel relieved.  

Just hurt. Just lonely. 

Her insanely obtrusive, weirdly eccentric, flirtatious little next-door neighbour... Ignoring her. It even sounded completely absurd. Tongue twisting and leaving an unpleasant, bitter aftertaste. Simply wrong. 

Dahyun hated how quickly she got attached to her, despite trying to fool Sana, as well as even herself, that she’s not.  

It looks like both have this thing in common. Clinginess, that is. And although that characteristic evinces itself differently for each of them, it’s rather obvious that being away from Sana is slowly driving Dahyun into madness. 

She only hopes that the distance between them is bothering the other person as well, and that whatever she did wrong to deserve silent treatment, Sana would be kind enough to forgive her. 

She really hopes, since she’s standing in front of her door right now. 

“Do you really have to knock?!” a voice inside her apartment shouts, making Dahyun furrow her brows and stop the already hesitant movements of her fist. “Just come inside!” 

Dahyun blinks in confusion at Sana’s words. Was she expected? 

She hesitantly reaches for the doorhandle and lets herself in. Head first. Looking for the householder in this strangely spacious (considering the location) and well-furnished apartment, but only encountering her once the door behind her frame closed slowly. 

“H-Hey,” she stutters out when Sana stops in her tracks. Eyes widened. Mouth ajar. 

Deer caught in headlights look. 

“Oh. It’s you.” the Japanese mumbles. 

Dahyun squinted her eyes a little. Lost again. The air between them felt denser, thickening even more once she’d opened and tried to fill it up with a rather pathetic attempt in dialogue. It shouldn’t work like this, but the moment she did just that, it seemed like the breath leaving her lungs only added to the heaviness of the atmosphere. 

“Me? M-Me, yeah, umm... W-Were you expecting me?” 

Sana’s brows rise at the realization. “Ah! N-No, not you. I thought--” 

Before she could even finish her sentence, the door opened again. Letting a little furry beast in, hitting the floorboards with its little claws with every step as it quickly runs inside Sana’s apartment. Pulling in the owner that holds the other end of the red leash. 

Dahyun jumps up a little when the dog stops abruptly and starts sniffing her pants, nibbing at the material fiercely with its nose. Instantly reminded how she used to be very afraid of those animals as a kid, she freezes. Hadn’t completely let go of that fear just yet, it seems. But becoming well-acquainted with her old neighbour’s Pomeranian as a paid dogwalker in the past, definitely helped a lot.  Considering, she’s only a little shaken and not running away in terror by now.  

“Boo! Come here,” Momo called after the terrier, tugging at the leash a little. “And hey, Dahyun-ah.” 

The Korean waved with a tight-lipped smile. 

Once Boo seemed to get enough of Dahyun scent, he obediently came back to Momo’s side. Wagging his tail from side to side as he happily approaches his owner. 

“--I thought you were Momo.” Sana finishes with an exhale, looking at the frozen in her spot Dahyun. 

“Me?” Momo picks Boo up and raises her head at the sound of her name. The dog seemed to mimic his owner's mannerisms with great devotion. “What about me?” 

“Nothing.” both said in unison. 

For a moment, Boo’s panting is the only thing you’re able to hear. Maybe even Dahyun’s loud screams that echo in her head, because it’s suddenly so awkward it feels like they’re growing in volume with every passing second. Beyond just the inside of her mind. 

“Anyway...” Momo drawls, sensing the tension. “Sattang, I’m about to head out. Mina texted me she’s already waiting. Besides, it looks like you won’t be bored here if I bail.” 

Dahyun blinks her eyes a few times. “M-Mina-unnie? Can you tell her I said hi?” 

There she goes again... 

It was the stupidest of urges that led Dahyun to ask such thing from Momo. Talking just for the very sake of it. So she won’t be standing there in someone else’s hallway, mute and numb like a statue. 

But just as she opened and uttered that name (forbidden one, apparently), she felt daggers digging into her skin. Two to be more specific. One spiking the middle of her forehead, second just in between her bony shoulder blades. Shot her direction by two Japanese girls, that were now wounding Dahyun with just the sharpness of their gazes. 

“We’ll see,” Momo spat with a forced smile, making Dahyun gulp. “Bye, Sattang!” 

And with the final death glare, Momo walked out of Sana’s apartment. Door slammed shut and Dahyun exhaled a breath she held. 

“Does Momo-unnie hate me?” she asks Sana in a small voice. 

“Oh, no! She adores you, I swear,” the older is quick to reassure, shaking her head and palms as if to back up that statement with something more tangible than mere words. “It’s just... She likes Mina more.” 

Sana watches with amusement how Dahyun digests that information. How a wrinkle appears in the middle of her furrowed eyebrows, then how her eyes move left and right as she thinks only to, at last, widen greatly as the truth struck her. 

“Oh my god,” she gasps. “I smooched Momo's crush!” 

“Girlfriend, now,” Sana corrects. 

Dahyun inhales even more air through . 

Oh no. No, no, no. 

Now Momo must think she’s trying to steal her away. Great. Just great. 

A loud groan resonates behind two, pale palms. “Ugh, I’m the worst! ,” she swears. 

Sana laughs shortly seeing Dahyun this frustrated. Then remembers it’s Dahyun who’s inside her apartment right now... The Dahyun that never dared to make the first step when it came to approaching Sana. The one that swore on her life, she’s nothing but annoyed by her new neighbour. 

The Dahyun Sana hadn’t bothered to talk to for the past two weeks. 

“So, umm,” she bites her lip nervously. The Korean slowly lowers her hands at the sound. “Why are you here?” 

With that, the hardest part had just come. Explanation.  

Mainly because Dahyun has no idea what she wants to say in the first place. 

“I, uhh... I-I don’t know. I just wanted to check on you.” 

She blurted that out without even thinking. But, let’s be real here, Dahyun seems to do that exceptionally often while in the presence of Minatozaki Sana. 

Yet, just as Sana’s cheeks started to redden and to open, a response of some sort forming on her lips, Dahyun’s back at it again with her stupid way of dealing with social anxiety.  

Jokes and rambling. 

“I-I mean... Ramyeon! I wanted Ramyeon!” she exclaims. “Ye-Yeah, I’m craving some instant Ramyeon right now. A-And as I was about to turn the kettle on, I remembered you ate my favourite one some time ago. Remember that? Ye-Yeah, you’ve eaten it all. All of it. All my leftovers. Not a single cup left for me, nah-uh. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to financially recover from the loss of my precious noodles. Does that make you feel guilty? ‘Cause it s-should. You...” 

Dahyun stared at the floor blinking rapidly. She’s making sense, right? 

“Y-You... You ate my Ramyeon.” 

Sana’s laughter tickled her irresistibly on the throat for a while now. 

It grew and grew, the more Dahyun talked, taking a form of an amused grin, until it bubbled out of violently. She covered it up with her palm, but evidently it was still just as contagious.  

The two just stood there, giggling like maniacs. And Sana couldn’t even remember for a while, why she was ignoring the younger in the first place. 

Nor how the hell she’d survived the past two weeks without the dorkiness of Kim Dahyun.  

“So,” Dahyun calmed down first. in a breath through her teeth slowly. “What do you say?” 

Sana pressed her lips together and raised both of her eyebrows. Anticipating. She badly wanted to hear it for some reason. 

“Would you go for a Ramyeon with me?” Dahyun asks. Pleads, almost. “I badly want to,” ...hang out with you. “Eat some Ramyeon right now.” 

Amber eyes, that Dahyun loves so much, glister in a way she couldn’t witness in what seemed like ages. In fact, it was only a matter of a few fleeting weeks, but the longing felt just as if they’ve parted for, at least, months. 

Subsequently, Sana pouts her lips. “Why do you want to hang out now, suddenly? You weren’t paying attention to me the last time!” she talks in a sulky, baby voice. 

Normally, Dahyun would cringe. Gag, even. With a twitchy eyelid and disgusted frown across her lips. But then she’d remembered she owes Sana, and the things she’s saying, while embarrassing, are nothing but true. 

“I know and I am really sorry for that,” she says sincerely. “I was just excited to see MIna-unnie after such long time... B-But I am willing to spend the whole day with you in compensation!” 

Sana’s beam at the younger’s words slowly falters into a little smirk, while she gently sways her body left and right. Hands behind her back. Eyes glued to Dahyun. Watching her. Admiring. 

The Korean started feeling nervous under such stare.  

“Whole day?” Sana ponders aloud. “It’s nearing evening, though.”  

“I-If you don’t have t-time, then--” 

“Jesus, Dahyun, calm down,” she breaks into giggles again. “I’m just teasing, stop panicking.” 

Dahyun pushes away the urge to scold her for fooling around with her poor heart like that. 

“So your answer is...?” she inquires once more. 

The Japanese lets the question hang in the air for a little. Then meets Dahyun eyes with a small smile and the simplest “I’ll get my coat”. 

 

*** 

 

“I almost thought you meant it the other way when you offered me Ramyeon.” 

Dahyun looked at her in disbelief. Dropped the cup of spicy instant noodle soup inside the shopping basket harshly and ostentatiously. This girl really is nuts. 

“What?” Sana asks, playing innocent. 

“Really now?!” 

“Can you blame me? You were so eager.” 

“I am not trying to invite you to have !” she hissed through gritted teeth. And although she tried to make it sound as hushed and low as possible, she still felt the hole-burning, judging looks of some ajummas that passed by the instant food aisle. 

Dahyun could almost hear them cursing her sinful soul to hell. 

Sana just laughed. “Easy, cutie. I’m joking,” 

“Out of us two, I think it’s you who wants to get into my pants,” Dahyun sighed, grabbing two more cups for reserves. Led the older to the drink section next. “With how much you mention it...” 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” 

Silence. Freezers buzzing. 

Dahyun’s right eye twitches rapidly. 

“I’m living with crazy,” she mumbles while putting some soda inside the basket aggressively. “She’s insane. One day she’s avoiding you and the next she starts to flirt. Ah, what should I do?” 

“What should you do?” Sana cuts in, stepping in between Dahyun and Sprite on the shelf. The Korean takes a step back and turns embarrassed seeing the latter had heard her ranting to herself. “For starters, I’d recommend not ignoring me when there are other girls beside you. Unless you want to get a certain message across.” 

Dahyun took time with answering. Partially from discomfort, partially astonishment. 

“Me-Message?” she repeated, the pout on her lips affecting the sound of it. The one, Sana would’ve most likely swoon over, finding absolutely adorable, if she wasn’t so frustrated right now. 

She folded her arms across her chest. “Was I so boring you had to entertain yourself with others?” 

“No--” 

Maybe it was just Sana being petty. After all, Dahyun had already apologised and explained why was she behaving in such way to begin with. Maybe she’d failed to recognize it soon enough, because now, it seems like the part of her that’s still not letting go of that grudge is taking the absolute control over her tongue. 

“You took advantage of every opportunity to be alone with Mina, and refused to be alone with me, how else am I supposed to interpret it?” Dahyun opened to give a response, but Sana wasn’t done yet. Her rant reaching the deepest place of her rancour. “And the sweet way in which you were calling her?” 

Dahyun’s brows furrow in puzzlement within seconds. “Why-- What way?” she asks, genuinely lost. 

“Unnie~, unnieee~” Sana mocked. 

It took great amount of self-control not to respond with laughter at Sana’s amusing mimicking manner, mixing oddly with that angered state she was in. It was sort of adorable. 

She restricted herself from chuckling and only patted her head a few times with a smile tugging at her lips. “Aish, you’re really sulking over this? You should’ve just told me.” 

Dahyun grabbed one four-pack of soda and moved on to the cash registers, seeing that she already has all the groceries she intended to buy. But she’d only managed to take a few steps towards that area without noticing the person she came here with isn’t following. 

“Let’s go, unnie!” she nudged her one time and started walking again. 

Sana caught up with her, this time. All bubbly out of the blue. 

“I forgot you grant wishes.” 

Dahyun groaned at that. “You’re still not letting this one go?” 

Sana smiled widely. “Not a chance, Genie.” 

“I’m pretty sure you’ve already used all three wishes, so don’t get any ideas.” 

Dahyun carefully placed her basked on the counter, reaching for her wallet. But instead meeting with the material of her coat, her fingertips brushed upon soft skin of a hand, that undoubtably wasn’t hers. 

She flinched a little upon feeling Sana grabbing her palm.  

“Wh-Why?” 

She eyed the idea in her amber gaze, that shone especially bright when met with Dahyun's questioning look. 

“Let me pay,” Sana offered. 

“What?” 

The older wasn’t waiting for her approval, as she already stood there with her wallet in hand. 

“I’m your unnie too, I should treat you,” Sana explained. “If Minari could do that for you, so can I.” 

Dahyun scratched her ear, confused little thing. Is Sana really still jealous over her? Despite knowing that she’s dating her best friend? And why does it make her feel certain things she’s unwilling to name just yet? 

“Yah, it was more so unnie’s family that her. You don’t have to prove--” 

Sana reached forward as to flick Dahyun’s helix suddenly. Her earing moved up, and flopped back down after meeting with Sana’s unforgiving forefinger. 

“Stop it already,” the Japanese ordered firmly. Dahyun only pouted as she massaged her reddened earlobe. It stung like a .  

“I’m your special unnie, therefore I’m treating you specially.” 

On the other hand, the shopping assistant, scanning their groceries thoroughly, couldn’t help but eavesdrop the amusing conversation happening in front of her. Not that the two were particularly slick with it anyway. A smile forming the more she’d listened to the young girls, bickering in front of her. 

After a final beep coming out of the machine, she announced:  

“That’d be 13104.78 won.” 

Dahyun’s gasp outran Sana’s card in a race for the swiping machine. 

The Japanese’s hand stilled in the air immediately, while she sent Dahyun a questioning look. “Ah! Wait, I might have some unused coupons,” she announced with such urgency, opening her wallet as if she’d be charged twice as much if she wouldn’t. 

Sana eyed how bunch of colourful cutout scraps almost fly out of Dahyun’s purse as her fingers rummage through its content. Then she smiles, because Dahyun can behave like such an ajumma sometimes, while still having this petty, childish kind of persona. 

So she’d let her scan all those coupons for products that would cost just a few won less afterwards. Paid for the rest with a fond little smile and while shaking her head fondly. 

Really now, how the hell had she survived those past weeks without this dork? 

 

 

 

 

“Blow on it, it’s hot.” 

And so Dahyun did as told. Too hankering for Sana’s affection to argue, and too baffled with her odd wishes to protest.  

Add remorseful after everything that had happened into that mix of emotions, and you’ll get a laughable image of Kim Dahyun being babied by her neighbour in front of a grocery store. 

She’d pushed her lips forward and let her breath blow the leisurely floating steam away. Forced to make an ‘Ah!’ sounds as she’s later on fed by Sana with the noodles out of her own cup of Ramyeon. Slim hand standing sentry underneath the chopsticks, catching the soup droplets that drip from the wood, while her eyes watch the younger with focus and satisfaction. 

Dahyun tries to chew the humiliation away, pretending not to see that cashier’s eyes, still glancing at them from inside of the shop. Smiling to herself at the scene unfolding at the table in front of the building she’s in, engrossed in the odd occurrences as if they were shooting some sappy k-drama. 

The girl swallows then, hoping the embarrassed feeling would go down with the food as well. 

“Say ah!” the older tries again. 

Only this time, her hand is gently pushed away. 

“Sana, I still have mine to finish,” Dahyun objects through a chuckle, pointing towards her own cup of noodles, basically untouched form the very moment she tore its lid off. 

The Japanese drops her chopsticks back into the cup and folds her arms across her chest. “You wanted to hang out with me, why aren’t you letting me then?” she pouted. 

“We are hanging out, what are you talking about?” Dahyun raises her brows. “You want to roll a huge tofu ball back to its apartment?” 

Sana huffs out a laugh at the image. Then sulks again, almost immediately. 

“I bet Minari had fed you at some point too.” 

Dahyun’s forehead hits the back of her hands, folded in front of her on the table with a thud. “Ughh, you’re killing me!” she whines. 

“Am I wrong, though?” the Japanese quirks a brow at the younger, a pointed look all over her features. 

Dahyun slowly