I Like You

“I like you!” Hitomi confessed as she looked at Chaewon with her most appealing smile.

“Aww, I like you too, Hitomi,” Chaewon said and pulled Hitomi in so that she could rub her cheek against the younger girl’s cheek.

Hitomi sighed inwardly. Another day where her confession failed. She would have screamed with frustration, but Chaewon’s warm cheek felt really good against her own.

“Really, I’m feeling fine. You don’t have to cheer me up,” Chaewon said as she let Hitomi go.

“You don’t look fine. Your eyes are all puffy,” Hitomi said. Chaewon seemed to take this rejection harder than even her past breakups. “I thought you said you wanted to take it slow with this one. Why did you confess all of a sudden? You look like a mess.”

“It’s just allergies. And I don’t look like a mess!” Chaewon continued to deny being hurt emphatically. As if to prove her point she reached beside her for her purse and pulled out some eye drops.

“Okay, if you say so,” Hitomi said doubtfully as she watched the other girl administer droplets on her eyes. She looked around the bench where they sat for her backpack. She found it on the ground close to their feet and pulled out a clean handkerchief for Chaewon to wipe her face with.

“Thank-you,” Chaewon said gratefully as she wiped at the droplets that fell down the side of her face.

“N-no problem,” Hitomi stuttered as she stared at the beautiful scene before her. The droplets were like diamonds as they fell from Chaewon’s eyes and the afternoon sun glinted off of them. When she opened her eyes again it was as if the sun itself had come out. Hitomi did not consider herself to be a cheesy romantic, but even so, her heart skipped at beat as dramatic music rung in her ears.

“I’ll wash this and get it back to you,” Chaewon said as she carefully put the handkerchief away. She sat in silence while she stared out on the campus without really looking at anything in particular.

Hitomi waited patiently as she also stared out onto the campus. She’d been in love with Chaewon ever since she met the girl. However, she could never seem to get the timing of her confession to the girl at the right time. Chaewon always seemed to be in a relationship or interested in someone else.

“Say, if you did want to move forward with someone, what would you do?” Chaewon finally asked.

“How would I know?” Hitomi asked glaring at her obtuse friend.

“Ah, right,” Chaewon said, blushing. “You did say you weren’t interested in dating right now.”

Hitomi had only said that to subtly let Chaewon know that she was single. She didn’t get it of course. “Well, I would try and get to know the person more. I might approach their friends or something.”

“That’s a pretty good idea. Thanks, Hii-chan,” Chaewon said and pulled Hitomi in for another hug.

The hug felt amazing as usual. Hitomi almost wished that Chaewon was less touchy feely as it made her heart beat so crazily that she felt it would burst. Almost.

Taking Her Own Advice

Hitomi had a sudden epiphany. She could take her own advice and try to move things forward with Chaewon by getting to know more about her life and friends. They hadn’t really been in contact much since the girl entered university, so she didn’t know much about her campus life. “So, how’s your second year been?” Hitomi asked in what she hoped was a casual tone.

“So far so good. I’m not failing at least. How about you? How are things going with you?” Chaewon asked back.

“It’s been okay, I guess. I haven’t really made many friends in my department. I don’t really share many classes with a lot of people,” Hitomi lamented. She didn’t have to pretend that she was sad since there was a lot of truth in what she said. While she didn’t think she was overly shy, she also didn’t like to bother other people so tended to make friends only when others came to her.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Chaewon said, pouting while she reached over to rub Hitomi’s cheeks.

Hitomi had never had any friends that were this casual with skin-ship. Which in itself would be difficult for her to deal with, but when the person touching her was also her crush, it became impossible for her to handle. “Do you have many friends here?” she forced herself to ask and forget about the touch.

“I only have a few close friends. It takes time, but it’s a big campus. You’ll meet more and more people. Do you want to hang out with some of my friends in the meantime?”

“Sure, I’d like that,” Hitomi said, smiling.

“They know all about you. I’ve been telling them that one of my friends had entered the university this year. They’ve wanted to meet my kid sister. We’re going to be hanging out at my apartment tonight and watching a movie. You can meet my roommate and one of our friends.”

Hitomi had to use every ounce of her will to keep her smile from dropping. Sister-zoned. She shook her head to clear the thought from her head. She promised herself that she would try harder to make Chaewon see her differently. There was no point in giving up yet. “Are you sure they’re going to be okay if a first year crashes their party?”

“Oh, they’re pretty laid back. Yena is very outgoing and can make friends with anyone. Hyewon was quiet like me, but she’s opened up a lot because of her too. You’ll like them both, I’m sure.”

“Okay, I guess I can go over tonight,” Hitomi said while cheering on the inside. It would be the first time she went over to Chaewon’s place.

Chaewon smiled at Hitomi’s answer and did a cute little cheer. “Okay, I’ll see you tonight. I can’t wait! I’ll text you the address.”

Hitomi watched as Chaewon moved to pack up her things and leave. Her heart pounded as the girl turned around and gave her a jaw-dropping wink before turning back around. Hitomi found herself letting out the breath that she been subconsciously holding. Chaewon just had that effect on her; the girl left her breathless.

Hitomi?

Hitomi smiled dreamily as she watched Chaewon’s lithe form disappear into the distance. The last year had been great for the other girl. Chaewon had cut her hair since she was in high school and short hair showed off her pretty face even more. Her face had always been expressive, but it was even more so now. Hitomi really wanted to meet the friends that had made such an impact on the girl.

The year before, Chaewon had a slightly less boisterous vibe. The girl was friendly and popular with everyone but she didn’t really make any effort to standout. She could have easily been the center of attention everywhere she went, but she seemed reluctant to take the spotlight.

Hitomi could still remember the first time she met Chaewon. It was the most memorable moment of her life, but to Chaewon it was probably just a regular day.

“Oops,” Hitomi said as her tongs touched the last piece of cheesy bread in the basket. “Sorry, you can have it.”

“Don’t worry about it. I can get something else. You look like you were really looking forward to it,” the cute girl said with an impish smile.

Hitomi blushed and brought a napkin up to . She had been literally salivating at the thought of eating all that cheesy goodness. “Ah, thanks. I have some other pieces that I can share with you if you’re interested. I might have gone a little overboard.”

The girl looked at Hitomi’s tray which was piled high and then around the bakery and her eyes widened when she saw all of the empty baskets. “You can say that again.”

“I’m bringing a lot of this home,” Hitomi said defensively.

The girl laughed.

The laughter was like music to Hitomi’s ears as it washed over her. It was then that she knew that she had fallen deeply in love almost at first sight with the girl. The girl’s friendly smile and easy laugh resonated with her in a way that she didn’t think was possible. “Uh,” she could only say unintelligibly at the girl’s response.

“Sorry, I don’t know why I laughed so hard there. It was just that your expression was so funny,” Chaewon said as if realizing that her laughter might have come off as rude. “Sure, if you don’t mind, I’d love to eat with someone. My friends ditched me today so I’m kind of by myself.”

Hitomi found that she still hadn’t regained control and knowledge of how to use her voice, so she simply nodded like the idiot that she felt she had become.

“I’m Chaewon by the way. What’s your name?” Chaewon asked with a smile. It was a wickedly crooked smile which made Hitomi wonder how it would feel with her lips pressed against it.

“Ah, Hitomi?” Hitomi had enough brain power to at least respond with her name, but it came off as if she herself wasn’t sure. It would take a while for her to recover from her stupefied state. Fortunately, Chaewon would prove to be a very patient friend.

TA’s Pet

Hitomi sighed. It was her least favorite lab of her semester. The main reason was because she was sure that the TA had it out for her. “Yes,” she called out when she heard her name announced.

Kang’s face was impassive as she motioned Hitomi to come forward. In her head, she dropped the honorific, something that would have loved to do in real life. The other girl didn’t deserve any respect with how merciless she was towards Hitomi.

Hitomi sighed again when she reached Kang’s desk. “Yes?” she asked tersely.

“You got all of these wrong, Honda-san. I’ve written out a few extra questions that are similar to them. Please get them done by next lab if you want to get full marks.”

That’s not fair! Hitomi wanted to scream. The few questions that Kang had mentioned looked to be about a dozen pages of handwritten questions. She could imagine the TA staying up all night laughing evilly as each new and harder question came to her. “Thank-you, Kang… san. I’ll get them back to you next lab.”

If Kang noticed Hitomi deliberately drawing out the honorific she didn’t show it. Instead, Kang simply nodded and went back to calling out the next name.

“Teacher’s pet.”

Hitomi paused as she heard a snicker and the snide comment as she walked past Jo Yuri, who sat in front of her. She paused and stared at the girl from Busan.

“Whatcha looking at?” Yuri asked while frowning at Hitomi.

“Sorry, did you think I was looking at you? I wasn’t looking at anything,” Hitomi said sweetly with but a hint of menace behind her smile. She was rewarded with Yuri backing down and looking away from her.

“She’s just jealous because she has a crush on Kwangbae,” Minju, the girl who sat beside Hitomi, said when she got back to her seat.

“Ugh, how? Why? She’s so devoid of anything other than the solitary desire to make my life a living hell,” Hitomi said and groaned again when she looked at all the questions she got. “She has absolutely no reason to be jealous of me.”

“She picks you to answer questions the most often,” Nako, the other girl who sat beside her, piped up with a loud whisper. “Yuri always puts her hand up, but she almost never gets called.”

“She’s always looking this way,” Minju added while nodding her head. “She definitely smiles when she looks over here I’m pretty sure.”

“She’s just looking for me to pick a fight.” Hitomi looked towards the front of the class and found herself looking at Kang square in the eye. She managed to avoid flinching and stared straight back. She won a small victory when she got Kang to look away first. It was only a small victory however. When she looked back down at questions she still had to do, she couldn’t help but feel that Kang still got the better of her.

Cute Avengers

Hyewon looked back down at the homework she’d been marking. She could feel heat flowing up towards her head. Ooh, she’s mad, Hyewon thought giddily. Somehow she held the laugh that was threatening to escape out of her.

Hitomi puffed her cheeks out when she got annoyed and it was the cutest thing ever. Hyewon normally didn’t act this way around girls that interested her, but being the girl’s TA, made it difficult for her to act on any of her feelings as she held a position of authority. Hyewon knew that her teasing was childish and was probably something she might have done in elementary school, but she did it anyway.

“Jo Yuri,” Hyewon called out as she looked up. This one was another cute one, but she seemed to the complete opposite of Hitomi in terms of their affection towards her. Yuri blatantly pursed her lips and looked at Hyewon cutely as she skipped up to the front of the class. Skipped!

“Yes, Kw… Kang-san,” Yuri almost let slip the nickname that Hyewon knew most of the students in the class called her by behind her back.

Hyewon said nothing and handed the girl her homework back and waved her off. She could feel the disappointment radiate off of Yuri as she stood there for some time before finally turning and going back to her desk. Hyewon did not want to give the girl the wrong impression at all and maintained as much indifference as she could muster.

“Kim Minju,” Hyewon called out in a slightly gentler tone than with the others. This one was a little timid and needed extra care.

“Yes,” Minju said as she slowly dragged her feet to the front of the class.

“These were answered well,” Hyewon said simply and could hear Minju’s audible sigh of relief. “You should review the questions from the previous quiz.”

“Yes,” Minju said with a squeak.

“Yabuki Nako,” Hyewon called out next. The last of the quartet that she knew all the other girls called the Cute Avengers with Nako at their center. She could already hear the whine in Nako’s voice before the girl even spoke. “I didn’t dock extra marks for unanswered questions this time.”

“Thank you,” Nako said gratefully.

Hyewon gave Nako a slight nod. When the girl walked back to her desk, she looked up to watch her as she sat down next to a still fuming Hitomi. The cute girl was head down, cheeks puffed out, furiously trying to answer the questions that Hyewon had given her.

If Nako was the center of the Cute Avengers, Hitomi was their defacto leader. Although she was quiet and kept mostly to herself, she still stood out. Her glower was enough to cow Yuri from speaking back at her. Minju always spoke quite differentially to the shorter, younger girl. Nako also seemed to gush over the seemingly reticent girl. The rest of the class seemed to have noticed how three of the most popular girls in the class acted around her and as a result she was looked upon with awe and amazement.

Author’s Note

I thought I would release a few of these since it was just Ssambbang Day. I’ll try and release these weekly as they’re pretty short scenes and I have thought a lot about how it will progress. I hope you enjoyed it!