“Hey, is Eunji single?”

Chorong has heard this question a thousand times. Okay, maybe not a thousand, but definitely a lot. Eunji has always been popular, but it wasn’t quite until high school that everyone seemed interested in her in another way. A dating kind of way. This has left Chorong to answer everyone’s dire question: is Eunji single?

Everyone comes to Chorong to ask because everyone knows she’s Eunji’s closest friend, right after Bomi. No one seems to ask Bomi, but Chorong chalks that up to the fact that Bomi has her own share of admirers too. Chorong gets asked if Bomi is single too, but it never really bothers her the way it does when people ask about Eunji. 

That doesn’t mean she’s jealous. Even if she is, it’s only a little bit.

The person in front of her is a tall third year boy with a nice smile and neat hair. Just the sight of him kind of pisses Chorong off, which okay, maybe she’s more than a little jealous. So what? Chorong has been with Eunji since they were eight. She thinks she’s a little entitled to being jealous when suddenly all of these people are interested in Eunji. They didn’t know Eunji when picked a fight with the biggest kid in class and had to be cleaned up by Chorong. They didn’t know Eunji when she was failing math and begged Chorong for help. They didn’t know Eunji when she got into this high school and hugged Chorong so hard that it was almost hard to breathe.

They don’t know Eunji like Chorong does.

Maybe that’s why it really pisses her off when the boy peers at her and asks, “So, is she?”

“No,” Chorong blurts out without thinking.

For a second, Chorong and the boy stare at each other with the same dumbfoundment. Chorong’s hands are clenched in tight fists, even as she blinks owlishly. Her mind is saying one thing, and her body is saying another. Chorong just isn’t really sure what either are saying. 

“No?” he repeats back incredulously. 

“Well, I mean,” Chorong fumbles over her words, panicking as what she just said sinks in.

The boy takes a step closer with narrowed eyes. He reaches out to grab her arm, barely missing it when Chorong steps back. He glares at her, unimpressed, and says, “You said no. Who is she dating then?”

Not liking his attitude, Chorong snaps, “Me!”

For the second time during this one conversation, Chorong finds herself staring at this boy in shock, completely in disbelief in what just came out of . Her fists have gone slack, and she can only stand there. She did not just say…

“You?”

Again, it’s his tone that spurs Chorong on. The way he says it. It’s almost like there’s no way Eunji would ever date Chorong, and even if that’s true, Chorong sure as hell doesn’t need to hear it from the likes of him. 

Chorong lifts her chin and replies, “Yes. Do you have a problem with that?” Even though she says this, she really hopes he doesn’t. She has no idea what she’ll say then.

To her surprise though, the boy just squints at her again. He rubs the back of his neck and says, “No, just surprised. Um, sorry for asking about your girl.”

“It’s okay,” Chorong replies cautiously. She’s still half-expecting him to swing at her or something. “We’re just… keeping it quiet.”

“Yeah, I get it. Thanks.”

With that, the boy bids her an awkward bye and scrambles away. Not that Chorong can really blame him. She probably would’ve done the same. Once he’s out of sight, she sighs and buries her face in her hands. Why did she have to say that? She could have just said no like any other time and acted like it didn’t bother her when she saw them confessing to Eunji the next day. But no. Now, there’s a guy running around the school who thinks she’s dating Eunji. All Chorong can really do now is hope he doesn’t tell anyone.

Chorong shakes her head and goes to class before she’s counted tardy. Her worry must be clear on her face because Naeun gives her a concerned glance when she takes her seat beside her. She sends Naeun a reassuring smile then focuses on class. 

For most of the morning, Chorong shoves her worry into the back of her mind. It’s easy enough to distract herself with lessons and classwork, but when lunch comes around, the nerves come back. Chorong grabs her lunch and follows Naeun down the hall to Eunji and Bomi’s classroom, where they always eat together. She tries not to fidget with her hands. 

However, as soon as Chorong walks into the room, she knows that boy from earlier told. He had to have told because every eye goes to Chorong while she walks over to Eunji. She tries not to squirm under their stares. She can only imagine what they’re thinking, wondering. She just prays no one bothers them during lunch.

“Hey,” Eunji greets them with an easy smile. She sits beside Bomi in a cluster of desks they move for them, watching as Chorong and Naeun sit down across from them. “Are you free after school? Hayoung said she’s got a soccer game at the middle school today. Namjoo is already going, but I figured we could go to show our support too. Bomi already said she can’t go because of dance practice.” Hayoung and Namjoo are their friends