It’s the day before Valentine’s.

As soon as Chorong so much steps foot on school grounds, she can physically feel it - the excitement practically buzzing off each and every student, unspoken but there, hearts worn on their sleeves. She almost laughs at the sight of it; she never understood it, really, the point in it all. Never understood why people even bothered with such a silly event where the gifts of chocolates and flowers could even come close to representing such a complex—

“Wow,” Chorong turns at the voice, only just realising that Eunji had been walking right behind her. Her hands unconsciously pat at her skirt in a nonchalant manner, before quickly tucking a (nonexistent) loose strand of hair behind her ear - an action she doesn’t even have to think about. 

“Hi.” The younger girl sends her a smile that makes her stomach churn a little uncomfortably, “What a bunch of saps, am I right?”

“Right – tell me about it.” Chorong nods in agreement, but suddenly she doesn’t feel so certain about it as she did a couple seconds ago. “Did you just get here?”

“Yeah, with Hayoung.” Eunji says, head pointing to the said girl a distance away. “Seungwan too, but I think she ran off as soon as she saw Joohyun by the gates.” The older girl feels her chest lighten at the mere sound of Eunji’s laugh while trying to stifle her own giggles, and the younger girl would do anything to see the reaction again. 

It’s then that Chorong decides she takes it back.

Sure, it all may be undoubtedly sappy and stupid – and she doesn’t know if it’s the collective optimism she’s been picking up all day or the way Eunji stands a little too close for comfort, shoulders brushing as they walk to their lockers – but something tells her that maybe, just maybe, it won’t be so unbearable this year. 

Not too far away, Seungwan is walking alongside Joohyun, cheeks raised high from smiling too much.

“Wait. Something’s different,” Joohyun pauses, a few minutes into their conversation, taking in the other girl’s entirety. “You cut your hair?” She asks. It was actually the very first thing she noticed today, but something about asking right away didn’t settle too well in her nerves. 

“Oh, right – I did,” Seungwan says, sheepishly running a hand through her hair. “It was a... spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.”

“Well, it’s pretty.” Joohyun mutters, but it’s so quick and she looks somewhere else as she says it. Seungwan beams widely when she hears it, and Joohyun, like her friend Chorong, never particularly liked Valentine’s nor its traditional festivities; never participated in the childishness and the boldness, but the way the younger girl is smiling at her, eyes curled and a little shy, makes her think otherwise. 

(Maybe, just maybe, tomorrow won’t be so bad.)

They don’t see it themselves – too busy enjoying each other’s company, Eunji initiating small talk with a e and there and Chorong getting flustered and countering with her own, Seungwan cracking a (really lame) joke and Joohyun laughing like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever heard – but their friends watch with a look, all too knowing.

The four are just like the rest of them – too afraid to admit it, to ruin something or make things even the slightest bit awkward, neither willing to cross the very thin line between them and the other, but naturally settling well into the romantic aura all around them.

Unspoken, but very much there.

“God, just when I thought I was free…” Sooyoung deadpans, appearing behind Hayoung. “This is what I have to see first thing in the morning?” 

Hayoung groans, “They don’t even realise it, do they?”

“...Nope.” 

It’s the day before Valentine’s.

A day before the universe (disguised as two mischievous tall girls) proves to Chorong and Joohyun that their maybe’s won’t go unheard. 

But, it isn’t without the cost of a little... exchange.