---

 

“I like you, please go out with me?”

 

The crowd that gathers near the entrance of the school gates looks on in surprise at the bravery of the person confessing. Despite it being a quiet, dull Monday morning, a commotion was beginning to stir as the crowd increases in number watching on in slight anticipation on what the response would be.

 

“No.”

 

It was short and concise, and anyone watching would immediately think that the person confessing deserved something better than just a simple no, but knowing the person who did the rejecting, they weren’t surprised.

 

Confessing to Hwang Eunbi was pretty much the same as confessing to a rock after all.

 

She never gave any of her admirers a reason. Whether it be a private confession or one out in the public like this, the final words that any confessor would get from the woman will be a cold, short “no”.

 

And for them, this unfortunate soul wasn’t all that different from the rest of her victims.

 

“You won’t change your mind?” the person asks hopefully but all she gets is a glare in return.

 

Without another word, Eunbi walks past her, not even taking notice of the disappointment in the person’s expression, or the stares the people gave her as she remains indifferent to all of them. The crowd had mixed feelings about the whole exchange, but in the end, it was all a common occurrence. Hwang Eunbi just refuses to go out with anyone, that was the absolute fact of this school.

 

And so little by little, the crowd begins to disperse, most likely heading towards different classes for that morning. Having decided that the show was over, it wasn’t long until the rejected confessor was left standing alone in the middle of the school front gate, taking no notice of the looks of pity she was receiving from the people that passed by who heard of her unfortunate fate.

 

It was around a minute when one of the students approached her.

 

“I told you this was a bad idea.” she tells her friend, swinging her arm over her shoulders and taking the wasted bouquet of roses in her hands before throwing it to a nearby trash can.

 

“I think my confession was perfect, don’t you think?”

 

Despite what happened, the woman remained unfazed, even going so far as grinning along with her friend who just laughed at her current state.

 

“That’s just like you.” she shakes her head in mild exasperation and disbelief, “Are you really not going to give this up?”

 

“Nope!” she answers with the energy of a million suns, “I’ll do better next time, I’ll get her yes next time for sure.”

 

“Yerin…”

 

“Come on Hayoung-ah, we’ll be late for class.”

 

Persistent wasn’t even the word for it. Yerin was just plain stubborn, that’s what it was. That confession near the front gates wasn’t the first time she got rejected, she’d done it at the school’s rooftop, the school courtyard, the cafeteria, even the library. At that point, Hayoung was more than sure that Hwang Eunbi would have told her off by now with how persistent Yerin is, but the underclassman didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all, or perhaps that’s only the way she looks. With the way she keeps her face devoid of any emotion, Hayoung couldn’t really tell, but if it were her, she’d probably want Yerin to stop already and leave her alone.

 

And once more, they were currently out near the front gates of the school. Classes had ended and the students were beginning to thin out, all of them eager to get home or probably hang out some place outside the school, but Yerin refused to go home with her.

 

“I haven’t seen Eunbi yet, so I’m not going home until I see her.”

 

Yes, ridiculously stubborn was definitely the word for her.

 

Hayoung never did understand what brought this unnatural attraction on. She’s never known Yerin to be the type to fawn over anyone. If anything, she was the one who was fawned over because of her bright personality and looks, so she doesn’t understand why she would be simping over this… cold-hearted woman.

 

What she did know is that they’ve hung out before. She remembers it well because she would see the both of them going out to places together and just when she was about to ask Yerin about it, they suddenly stopped hanging around each other for about a week before Yerin suddenly began asking Eunbi out.

 

The sudden turn of events were so confusing to Hayoung that she feels there’s a story going on during that time. She did want to ask Yerin, but she looked like she didn’t want to talk about it, so she held back in doing so.

 

“Oh, there she is. Hwang Eunbi!”

 

She was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of Yerin’s loud voice and when she looked up, she sees the woman already running up to the object of her attraction while the underclassman just stood there and stared at her blankly.

 

Hayoung was trying her hardest to get a read on the younger woman, but there was nothing. Not even a hint of annoyance, or wonder, she just looked like she didn’t care in general.

 

“Are you heading home? Want to head home together?”

 

“No.”

 

And her response was as cold as ice as usual.

 

“Oh, okay. Then next time?”

 

Eunbi stares at her for a split second more before walking off without giving her any form of reply. At that point, Hayoung was more than sure that her friend would be dejected, but the bright smile on her face says otherwise.

 

“Hayoung-ah, did you see that? She locked eyes with me!”

 

That’s what she was focused on?

 

She can only blink her eyes in confusion. Yerin’s infatuation over Hwang Eunbi was kind of scary at the same time weird. How can she notice the smallest things and not look at the picture as a whole?

 

“Well, it looks like today’s no good either. Let’s go home?” Yerin asks her, grabbing onto her arm like what she usually does, Yerin is a clingy person after all, and begins walking side by side out the gates and towards their shared apartment that was only a few minutes walk from the university.

 

Oh, and for the record, Hwang Eunbi’s home was a train ride away, so for Yerin to even offer to walk home with her is…

 

“Why do you like that woman?” Hayoung couldn’t help but ask.

 

She’s already asked this question countless times, but Yerin always had the same response.

 

“I just do.”

 

---

 

“No.”

 

And so like every waking morning in the university, Yerin was once more attempting to finally get a positive response from the woman, only to get that hope shot down in a split second.

 

Thankfully, it was still early in the morning and there weren’t many students to begin with since their classes started much later but for Hayoung who has witnessed the same rejection over and over, she was getting tired and sad for Yerin’s sake. Nothing in Yerin’s actions made any sense to her and so she thinks it’s about time she got answers for her never ending questions.

 

“I’ll try again later!” Yerin suddenly exclaims, already rushing inside the building where their classes were supposed to be.

 

“Wh-- Hey Jung Yerin come back here, we need to talk!”

 

Hayoung never got the chance as lunchtime rolled in and Yerin was already out of the classroom before the bell even rang. She didn’t even stay long enough to hear the professor yelling out after her. In the end, Hayoung apologized for Yerin’s sake, telling their professor that her stomach has been acting up since the middle of the class as an excuse and managed to get her bestfriend out of trouble somewhat. She then proceeded to where she thinks Yerin might be, basing from the pattern that she’s practically memorized by heart already, and went off to the underclassman rooms where Hwang Eunbi’s class was supposed to be.

 

Yerin has the younger woman’s schedule memorized down to the minute.

 

Come to think of it, isn’t this already stalkerish behavior?

 

“Hwang Eunbi, let’s go eat together?”

 

Hayoung can only lean against the doorframe of Eunbi’s classroom tiredly as she watches the same exchange that she’s practically watched a hundred times. She had this urge to pull Yerin away and just keep her from doing all this in the first place, but the one time she did, Yerin sulked about it for the whole day and the last thing she wanted was to hurt her bestfriend’s feelings.

 

However, if she gets another rejection, she swears she will seriously put a stop to it.

 

Not many may notice since Yerin’s a bright sunflower by default, but as her bestfriend whom she’s been with since their high school days, she can notice that the rejections that she keeps on receiving affects her more than she lets on. The quick frowns whenever Eunbi tells her no, only to be replaced by bright smiles a second later, or the way Yerin will pause for a quick second in hesitation everytime she approaches Eunbi and then waves it off as she tries to attempt a confession one more time, Hayoung notices them all. And to be frank, she’s gotten sick of it.

 

Yerin was hurting, she can see that. And she doesn’t understand why she’s pushing through even if it’s hurting her.

 

Hayoung waits for the usual ‘no’ but was taken by surprise when Eunbi doesn’t even bother looking at Yerin and just gets out of her seat to approach a classmate who was just about to head out the room.

 

“Eunseo, let’s go eat lunch together.”

 

Said person seemed surprised by the sudden invitation, from Hwang Eunbi nonetheless, and just nods her head without a second thought, the surprise on her face visible even as they walk out the room side by side and leaving Yerin completely dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

 

Hayoung just thinks that it was about time she does something about this.

 

Eunbi didn’t just reject her. Even the typical no would have sufficed, but to invite someone else and blatantly ignoring Yerin was just too much.

 

“Come on.” Hayoung quickly approaches Yerin’s side and swings an arm over her shoulders, leading her out of the room, “It’s my treat this time.”

 

She looks over at Yerin for a second and immediately sees the dejection plastered on her face.

 

“So don’t be sad now, okay?” she pinches her cheek gently before heading over to the rooftop where they decided to eat lunch. The cafeteria was definitely a no go for now.

 

---

 

“So let me get this straight. You two dated?” Hayoung emphasized the last word, coupled by a tone of disbelief. The two were currently inside their shared apartment after a day full of classes and Hayoung had to drag Yerin home with her as the woman refused to leave without seeing Eunbi, as if the earlier encounter with Eunbi during lunch never happened in the first place.

 

“It wasn’t a serious relationship.” Yerin reiterates, hugging the pillow she was holding onto tightly while sitting cross-legged atop Hayoung’s bed with the other woman sitting on her desk chair while facing Yerin.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

Yerin pouts before burying her face in the pillow, “It was fake.”

 

“It was what.”

 

“A fake relationship.” Yerin repeats as she looks over her friend who stares back in disbelief, “It’s a long story...”

 

“I have time.” Hayoung tells her.

 

Yerin pouts, the hesitation visible in her expression but Hayoung stands firm in her decision, thinking that this has gone on long enough. It’s obvious to her that Yerin won’t be stopping in her acts anytime soon, so she might as well do something about it herself.

 

Finally, Yerin gives in, heaving out a sigh as she places the pillow to the side and faces Hayoung a little more properly, “Eunbi helped me out with a stalker before.”

 

Hayoung stares, waiting for when Yerin suddenly bursts into laughter and tells her it was a joke and that no relationship between them happened in the first place, but the silence that follows for the following minutes was not the response that she was expecting.

 

“You’re serious? That Hwang Eunbi that doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone? She helped you out?”

 

“Is that so hard to believe?”

 

“Uh, yes.”

 

“Eunbi’s actually pretty nice even if she doesn’t look like it.”

 

Hayoung can only heave out a sigh, deciding to accept that what Yerin’s telling her is the truth. She doesn't really have a reason to lie to her after all.

 

“Alright, what happened for things to turn into this?” she asks, folding her arms across her chest as she waits for further explanation.

 

This was definitely news to her. In the first place, she hasn’t heard of anything about a stalker, but that was just normal since Yerin had a bad habit of keeping problems to herself. If Hayoung wasn’t as pushy as she is, she probably wouldn’t even know anything in the first place.

 

“Back then there was someone from the same department hanging around me for days and Eunbi just happened to stumble upon me trying to tell the guy off.”

 

Hayoung just nods silently, understanding that despite appearances, Yerin was quite vocal to everyone if they annoy her in any way.

 

“Back then I just so happened to say that I already have a girlfriend because he wouldn’t get the hint and that was the only thing I could think of to get him to stop.” she continued explaining, “But he didn’t believe me and told me to prove it.”

 

“And that’s when Eunbi helped you out?”

 

Yerin grabs the pillow and buries her face in it again, nodding her head while doing so.

 

“She… sort of kissed me in front of him.” she says in a small voice, her face practically flushing to the roots of her hair, “And then called me babe in front of him, then pretended that she’s been looking for me. After that she told the guy to get lost.”

 

Hayoung was slightly speechless, finding it difficult to imagine Hwang Eunbi actually doing those, looking like a knight in shining armor who saves a damsel in distress, though the damsel in distress in question was fighting too.

 

Nevertheless, none of those sound like the Hwang Eunbi that the school knows about. As per her reputation, she just didn’t care about anything, so for her to go out of her way to help out someone she didn’t know, she wouldn’t be surprised if Yerin had mistook the woman for someone else.

 

“Are you sure it was Eunbi?”

 

“Of course I’m sure.”

 

Well, it was hard to believe, but Hayoung did see the two hanging out for a short while, so there may be truth in her words after all.

 

“And then what happened after?”

 

“Well, Eunbi suggested we fake a relationship just to make sure he’s gone for good.” Yerin says, “So… yeah. That’s basically it.”

 

“And she broke it off?”

 

Yerin nods.

 

“Then why are you chasing after her like this?”

 

“Because I like her?”

 

“After she dumped you?”

 

“Hayoung-ah.” Yerin levels a stern glare at her, surprising her friend slightly, “After spending one week with Eunbi, I got to see sides of her that people don’t and she’s not like how people see her as. She’s nice and sweet and just completely misunderstood.”

 

“But that doesn’t give her a reason to keep embarrassing you in public.” Hayoung retorts. No matter the reason, there are just some things that shouldn't be done to anyone. And no matter how she looks at it, their relationship was just weird. Hayoung still had a ton of questions regarding what happened between the two of them, unfortunately the person who can answer her questions was not there.

 

In the first place, why did Eunbi save her?

 

Why did she offer to date?

 

And why did she suddenly break it off?

 

“Wait a second, was it some sort of agreement between the both of you?” Hayoung asks, turning to Yerin once more who looked like she had gone off in her own bubble.

 

“Agreement?”

 

“A contractual relationship?” Hayoung put it down bluntly.

 

“Oh, uhm… just one week.” Yerin’s tone goes softer as she explains further, “But she did offer to extend if the guy won’t go away…”

 

Hayoung just nods, happy in getting that out of the way.

 

“Now why do you keep on asking her out?”

 

“Because I like her.”

 

“Yerin, she keeps on rejecting you every chance she gets, isn’t it about time you stopped?” she asks, “She clearly doesn’t want to go out with you and I can’t keep supporting this because it’s obviously hurting you too.”

 

Yerin frowns, “...But I like her.”

 

“And you need to move on.” Hayoung points out, “I think you’ve had enough rejections to last a lifetime, Yerin.”

 

“And how do I even do that?”

 

Her bestfriend doesn’t answer. Instead, she just smiles at Yerin, a plan already formed in her mind on how to help this helpless friend of hers.

 

---

 

Eunbi pauses in her tracks the moment she enters the university grounds, feeling something was off. She even waits for a few more minutes but nothing happens, to her disappointment.

 

Her morning greeting wasn’t there.

 

By this time, Jung Yerin should have jumped out from wherever and would probably ask her out, just like how she did the previous days, but that day felt different. She gives the grounds a quick sweep and confirms that the upperclassman was nowhere to be found. It felt strangely different, but perhaps Yerin decided to use a different approach today.

 

With that in thought, Eunbi proceeds to her class, ignoring the stares she was receiving when she was just standing immobile in the middle of the path.

 

Yerin’s pattern was simple to figure out. She would basically just appear out of nowhere during her break times, Eunbi was already convinced that the upperclassman practically memorizes her schedule by now and that’s how she knows when and where to find her.

 

And according to her pattern, the next break time should be during lunch since their schedules didn’t really coincide for that particular day and so Eunbi expects the upperclassman to swing by their room the moment lunchtime rolls in.

 

But to her confusion, 15 minutes since lunch had started and the upperclassman was still nowhere to be found. At this point, Eunbi was convinced that something was not right. Yerin didn’t look like the type of person who would forego her usual routine unless…

 

Eunbi sits immobile in her seat, ignoring the shuffling of her coursemates in the room as they head out to get their lunch. She thinks that if she waits long enough, Yerin might swing by and surprise her, or perhaps she was just running late due to reasons.

 

But 30 minutes passed and Yerin was still not there.

 

Now she’s sure something is wrong.

 

Is she sick? Did she not go to class? Or is she perhaps too busy?

 

The latter was highly unlikely though, Yerin always found a reason to see her despite her busy schedule.

 

So what was it?

 

Unsettled, Eunbi stands up from her seat, gathers her things and heads out the door, her destination being the cafeteria. Perhaps Yerin had gone there and was looking for her. After all, it was already minutes past lunch and she normally should have gone there to eat something.

 

But upon arrival there, the bubbly sunshine that is Jung Yerin was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Where is she…?” Eunbi couldn’t help but ask herself, curious and slightly worried. The only thing for her to do now was to look for Yerin and to see if she was okay, but she didn’t even know where to find her in the first place. Unlike her, Eunbi doesn’t really know her schedule by heart. She could be anywhere or even at home if she’s sick. Either way, she finds it unsettling that she doesn’t know how the older’s doing.

 

It feels weird. This is the first time that Eunbi has taken her eyes off her.

 

The only logical method for her was to go and ask someone who might know but of course there was no way she was going to do that.

 

She has a reputation to uphold after all.

 

And the last thing she wants is to have her reputation ruined.

 

Still, she didn’t like this at all. Eunbi doubts she can focus on her other classes if she won’t be able to see Yerin for that day.

 

“Maybe the rooftop?” she asks herself, beginning to head towards that direction. She remembers seeing Yerin and that friend of hers usually hang out there so it would only make sense to find them there if she can’t find them anywhere else and it was lunchtime so she couldn’t be in class already, could she?

 

It wasn’t until she got close enough to the door that leads out the rooftop that she hears Yerin’s familiar voice along with another’s which Eunbi assumes to be Hayoung. The roaring laughter brings a small smile to her face, but the words that follow it immediately erases that smile completely.

 

“Hayoung was right, you’re funny Sooyoung-ssi.”

 

“I think you’ll find me more fun to be with Yerin-ssi.”

 

Sooyoung? She’s never heard of that name and she doesn’t remember anyone with that name hanging around Yerin during the past days. Eunbi’s brows furrow as she leans on the wall beside the door of the rooftop, eavesdropping on the trio’s conversation as much as she can. She wants to know more about this Sooyoung Yerin is talking to, and basing from the way they still use honorifics around each other, it seems that they’ve just recently met.

 

Still, it doesn’t sit well with her how another woman is the reason why she hasn’t seen hide nor hair of Yerin around her for nearly half the day.

 

“It’s great you two are getting along well.” Hayoung says, a smile noticeable in her tone, “Just don’t go start flirting around me, alright?”

 

“You’re exaggerating my fellow young person.” Sooyoung says, “I’ll make sure to save the flirting when you’re not around.”

 

Hayoung sighs, “It’s just like you to be like this."

 

"A fair warning to you Yerin-ssi, I'm quite the clingy person so you better be prepared to have your personal space invaded more often."

 

Yerin just laughs at the small warning, "I like clingy."

 

"Really?" Sooyoung remarks, "We'll definitely get along well then! I'll leave myself in your care~"

 

Eunbi’s brows furrow further. Yerin? Clinging onto someone else? That’s not her? Somehow that makes her blood boil, but then again, Eunbi did keep on pushing away her advances, rejected her more times than she could count, seemed to ignore her existence entirely, but it wasn’t as if Eunbi wanted to do it. Contrary to everyone’s beliefs, Eunbi cares for Yerin more than anyone ever will.

 

And it’s for that reason that she pushes Yerin away. It’s undeniable that she likes Yerin hanging around her, but she has a reputation, and that reputation is the one preventing her from being with the woman she likes.

 

It’s not because she wants to defend it, it’s because she’s made many enemies with it.

 

It’s not just Yerin after all, she’s had a lot of people confessing to her and she rejected them because she didn’t like them, but Yerin, Yerin is different. She badly wants to be with her, however, she fears that not many people would be as accepting of it as some would, especially the ones she rejected without a second thought. Some of those people have quite the influence in the school, have the power because of their parents, and the last thing she wants is to have them targeting Yerin because Eunbi likes her over them.

 

It happened one time, when Eunbi went out with Yerin on the guise of a fake relationship just so they could get the annoying stalker off her back, however, a week after, Eunbi received a letter about the threat to Yerin and warned her that they will do something that she wouldn’t like if they see her hanging around the older woman again. On that same day, Yerin almost got hit by a car. She’s never told anyone. Yerin assumed it was a reckless driver and was just happy that she was unharmed but that incident was ingrained in Eunbi’s mind and she definitely doesn’t want a repeat of it.

 

“You two just inform me when you start dating so that I can stay away from the both of you from then.”

 

“Aren’t you too excited over this…?”

 

“I’m just desperate to see Yerin get over that Hwang already.”

 

“Hayoung…”

 

“I said what I said, I prefer seeing you with Sooyoung over that woman.”

 

Eunbi’s heart twists painfully within her chest as she directs her gaze to the floor while biting her lower lip in an attempt to keep any emotion from seeping out of her blank expression, however she understands that she is failing miserably at that.

 

After all, it was true wasn’t it? After everything that she’s made Yerin go through, she doesn’t deserve Yerin in the slightest. A woman like her who causes Yerin pain like this can’t be with her. That’s the undeniable truth. It would be better if Yerin finds happiness with someone else in the end. In the first place, she was never meant to be with her.

 

Gripping her left wrist with her right, Eunbi takes a few minutes to calm herself down before once more assuming the same blank and cold face that she’s gotten used to wearing before heading down the stairs and leaving the rooftop.

 

“Hwang Eunbi?” Sooyoung asks as she munches on her food.

 

“You know her?” Hayoung asks, “But then again, who doesn’t?”

 

“Of course I know her, everyone in my class does.” Joy answered matter-of-factly, “But what’s this about Hwang Eunbi?”

 

“I’m trying to help this hopeless friend of mine,” Hayoung says as she swings an arm over Yerin’s shoulder, “to get over that sick crush of hers.”

 

“Which is Hwang Eunbi?”

 

Hayoung nods while Yerin just pouts.

 

“Is that why you introduced us?” Joy gestures to the both of them, “Hayoung, as much as you’re one of my good friends, I don’t like being made into a rebound.”

 

“And Joy-ssi isn’t really my type to be honest.” Yerin inputs, only to be silenced by their other same-aged friend.

 

“We’ll work more as friends.”

 

“I agree.”

 

“For some reason I feel like both of you are ganging up on me when I’m just looking out for both of your well-beings.” Hayoung grumbles, letting go of Yerin and begins sulking on the side.

 

“Still, it must be that serious if you got involved. Do you like Hwang Eunbi that bad?” Joy turns to Yerin who nods her head vigorously at the question.

 

“Apparently, even a thousand rejections won’t change her mind.”

 

“Wait, you’re the one who keeps on stirring up a ruckus at the entrance every morning?” she asks, eyes wide with surprise, mouth agape in amazement when Yerin timidly nods her head in confirmation, “Wow…”

 

“So now you know why I’m doing this.” Hayoung recovers from her sulking and sits by their side once more, “Now help me convince her to stop.”

 

Joy blinks for a while, pausing for a short moment before finally saying, “Why should I when I can just help her get her girl?”

 

“What.”

 

“Really!?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Yerin jumps from her seat and practically throws herself at Joy who just reciprocates the gesture with a laugh, meanwhile Hayoung can only watch the two of them tiredly.

 

“I regret introducing the two of you.”

 

---

 

Joy’s plan wasn’t exactly what Yerin had in mind. She was expecting that she would be undergoing a major glow up in order to finally gain Eunbi’s attention but Joy’s thoughts were the complete opposite, and it certainly wasn’t something that Yerin was all too fond of doing.

 

“Ignore her entirely?” Yerin repeats as the three of them finally leave the school after their classes had ended. After lunch that day, the three of them agreed to meet by the entrance so they could walk home together, at the same time formulate a plan to help Yerin out.

 

“Yep.” she grins as she responds.

 

“What for though?”

 

“Just to see how she would react to your absence.” Joy answers, “Even though I’m sure that she won’t be giving herself away that easily, but I’m thinking if we continue doing it for the next days, then we might get some results.”

 

“And if we don’t?”

 

“Then we go with Hayoung’s plan and find you someone else.”

 

“...You make it sound so easy.”

 

“Yerin-ssi.” Joy stops in her tracks to face Yerin, placing both her hands on her shoulders as she looks at the woman straight in the eye, “Do you have any idea how popular you are?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“A lot of people actually like you.” Hayoung clarified, “But you’re too focused on Hwang Eunbi to notice.”

 

Joy pats Yerin’s shoulders as she nods her head sagely, “And when they see that you’ve stopped chasing after her, they’ll start thinking they have a shot and the confessions will start coming in.”

 

“...Are you actually trying to make Hwang Eunbi jealous?”

 

“Why not? If she really cares, she definitely won’t sit still knowing Yerin might end up with someone else. And if she really doesn’t care, at least Yerin gets to move on with someone else. Two birds with one stone. Easy.”

 

Yerin seriously doubts it would be that simple.

 

For one, she’s never seen Eunbi be jealous of anything. In fact, she was never the kind of person to display any type of emotion. During the one week that they’ve spent together, it’s true that she’s witnessed sides of Eunbi that no one has ever seen, like how caring she actually is or how patient and kind she is, but she’s never shown these through her expressions, and so Yerin has found Eunbi completely difficult to read.

 

She never really understood what makes her tick, what makes her happy, or what makes her sad. Eunbi has never given herself away no matter how much she tried to squeeze something out of her, be it a smile or even an angry remark, but none of this ever happened.

 

Eunbi’s just indifferent to everything.

 

However Yerin knew better. She might not be good in showing how she feels or thinks through her expressions, but her actions proved otherwise. Yerin found herself fascinated with Eunbi’s behavior, her way of expressing herself through her body language, like how she would hop slightly in place when she grew excited about something, how she clasped her hands together when she was happy, how she would clench her wrist with her hand when something hurt her or made her sad, how she would seem restless and fidget in place whenever something made her nervous. All of these Yerin noticed and took note of and she understood then that despite being the best at hiding how she feels, she could never lie about them.

 

And that’s why Yerin pursues her consistently.

 

Because Eunbi asking her out was not something she would do for the fun of it. Amidst the one week they were together, Yerin understood that everything Eunbi showed her was real.

 

That despite the lack of words between them, despite the lack of emotions in Eunbi’s expressions, she genuinely cared for Yerin, and that everything Eunbi did for her expressed her honest feelings towards her.

 

She just didn’t know what those feelings were. Their time together was cut short before she could understand completely. She wanted to know, that’s why she’s pursuing her incessantly.

 

And so, Yerin’s not really sure if Joy’s plan will work, because she doesn’t know how Eunbi is when she’s jealous.

 

Nevertheless, her advances haven’t really done much to make the underclassman budge, so she may as well give it a try.

 

She just hopes it won’t backfire on them.

 

---

 

The more that Eunbi monitored Yerin’s movements, the more she felt her suspicions were becoming real. Yerin hasn’t pestered her for another day ever since she met that Choi Sooyoung and when she did catch a glimpse of one, the other was always there. For a lack of better terms, the two were practically stuck at the hip and needless to say Eunbi wasn’t really happy about it.

 

But what can she really do in her situation? All she’s done to Yerin was push her away for the past days. It’s obvious to her how much she’s hurt the older woman by doing so and what’s worse is she doesn’t even know how to make it up to her. She hasn’t even approached her in any way so what’s the point in doing so now? Yerin’s currently happy isn’t she? Barging into her life like that would no doubt be the worst decision she would make.

 

But still…

 

Every single part of her wants to be with Yerin.

 

But she fears that she’s lost that chance a long time ago when she repeatedly told her not in front of so many people.

 

At the moment she can do nothing else but watch Yerin from afar, making sure that no one notices. She’s currently situated at the rooftop of the school building where her classroom was. The trio of friends were currently in the school’s yard most probably going over some of their classes with the way they had their notes and books out while enjoying some snacks they bought from the cafeteria.

 

Yerin was currently sharing a funny personal experience with the two and with the way she grinned ever so happily as she narrated her story, Eunbi almost feels the corners of twitch into a smile at the sight.

 

She missed that smile. She remembers the way Yerin would always greet her with that same smile everytime they met, all the more when they were ‘dating’. That same smile that never failed to make her heart flutter whenever it was directed at her.

 

Eunbi sighs silently to herself as she realizes that she won’t be seeing Yerin smiling that way for her any longer.

 

Seeing that it was almost time for the janitor to come up and check on the rooftop to make sure it was locked, she leaned away from the edge and was about to descend the stairs but took one last look at the trio’s direction before heading down.

 

What she witnessed while doing so made her stop in her tracks.

 

Approaching the edge and leaning against the railing to get a better look, her eyes narrow considerably upon seeing an unfamiliar figure that has joined the trio. Their attention was solely focused on the person and she watches as they interact for a short while. The stature was enough of an indicator that it was a male, but his back was turned to her so she couldn’t get a clear look of his face, but a part of her feels like she recognizes that particular hairstyle.

 

To her alarm, she sees Hayoung and Joy urging Yerin to stand which she does and the next minute, Yerin was already walking away with the guy. Eunbi can only blink in confusion, not understanding what was going on. Perhaps it was just a classmate that needed help? But the guy didn’t look like anyone from her classes.

 

Yes, Hwang Eunbi also takes notes of details like that.

 

Based from the direction of where they were heading to the back of the school building that she was currently on. She remembers how that area is quite isolated and devoid of students, and if he was a classmate that needed help, they didn’t have to go to such a place, would they?

 

Just the thought of Yerin being alone with that guy made her feel uncomfortable all over. Still, she didn’t want to rush to conclusions and felt it would be best if she asked Hayoung and Joy what was going on. Though she didn’t want to be interacting with anyone in general, but she hated being clueless, she hated not knowing what was going on with Yerin.

 

“Hey! Classes in this building are over--” the janitor had caught her and was about to scold her but Eunbi didn’t bother listening to the rest as she bolts past him and basically jumps down all the flights of stairs to the first floor and sprints to the courtyard where Joy and Hayoung were.

 

Thankfully, they were still there when she arrived and they seemed surprised when she suddenly approached them.

 

“Hwang Eunbi--?” Hayoung began to say but she cut her off.

 

“Who was that with Yerin earlier?” she practically demanded, “What did he want?”

 

“Why do you want to know?” Joy asked instead, but was caught off-guard when Eunbi practically stomps up to her, her expression not like how she usually looked.

 

To make the long story short, she was angry and Joy could see how deadly her glare was. If looks could kill, she’d be butchered right now.

 

“It was just another guy wanting to talk to Yerin.” Joy explained, “Though if you ask me, he’s obviously planning to confess.”

 

“Confess?”

 

“You know, like what Yerin’s been doing the past days to you.” Hayoung couldn’t help but interject, trying to keep her annoyed tone at the minimum.

 

“What’s his name?” Eunbi ignores her words and turns to Joy again.

 

“What was that guy’s name again…? Was it Han Gyeol…?”

 

“Yang Hangyeol?” Eunbi questions, her demeanor suddenly changing and her body completely frozen in place.

 

“Oh, you know him?”

 

Eunbi breathes out shakily, “You two… you two are idiots…” she tells them, already turning her heel and bolting after the direction Yerin and the man just went off to. Dumbfounded, the two just watch until Joy manages to regain her senses and follows suit, dragging Hayoung along with her.

 

“Hey! What’s wrong with that guy!?” Joy calls after Eunbi as they try to keep up.

 

Eunbi spares her a quick glance before answering, “There’s… a lot of people who hate Yerin, some women in particular.” she huffs a little as she jumps over a tree root in the way, “And Yang Hangyeol is the boyfriend of one of those women.”

 

“Wait, so you mean--”

 

“You just lead her to a trap. You two are idiots.”

 

“Hey, we wouldn’t be doing this if you were just honest about liking Yerin in the first place.”

 

“What?”

 

“I see her!”

 

The two’s attention focused in front of them and true enough, they could see Yerin trying to get away from the man from earlier, seeing him being too close for comfort. And when he suddenly grabs her wrist in an attempt to drag her off someplace else, Eunbi put on a burst of speed, hoping that she could get to her in time.

 

“Stop struggling and just come with me!”

 

“Let go of me! Why the heck should I listen to you?” Yerin tried to pull her wrist from the man’s grasp.

 

“You stubborn little--”

 

“Hey!”

 

The male turns to see the three of them approaching quickly and doubles his efforts in trying to drag Yerin away with him, but of course Yerin wasn’t one to go without a fight.

 

“I said…” Yerin huffs as she slams her free fist down the man’s hand that was grabbing her wrist, “Let go of me!”

 

Yelping in pain, he loosens his grip and Yerin takes that as an opportunity to tear his hand off her and at the same time stomps on his foot, making him crouch down reflexively. Managing to land one solid hook on his cheek, the man slumps down the ground in pain and seeing stars as he tries to keep his bearings with him.

 

Yerin just stares down at him annoyedly with a huff and straightens herself.

 

“Uh…”

 

She finally seems to notice that they weren’t alone and freezes in place when she finds herself staring at Eunbi’s dumbfounded look.

 

“Yeah… she definitely didn’t need our help on that one…” Joy mumbles, finally managing to catch up with the underclassman.

 

“Joy? What’s… going on?” Yerin shifts her gaze from her to Hayoung and then back to Eunbi who looked like she didn’t know what to do anymore. She looked like someone whose momentum just got robbed from her and now she looked a little lost.

 

Adorable.

 

“Well, someone was trying to be a knight in shining armor, but apparently the damsel in distress was actually a strong independent woman who can throw a solid punch.”

 

“What?”

 

“Whatever. Just ask Hwang Eunbi. We, on the other hand, are out of here.” Hayoung waves her hands dismissively and drags Joy away, leaving just her and Eunbi as well as the unconscious Hangyeol by their feet.

 

Not knowing exactly what to say, the two were just silent, the atmosphere slightly awkward as the two of them didn’t know what topic to bring up in the first place even if there were many things they wanted to say to each other.

 

Surprisingly, it was Eunbi who first spoke after what felt like a century of silence.

 

“It- It looks like you don’t need my help here, so I’ll also go…” she mumbles and makes a move to walk away when she’s held back by a hand on her wrist.

 

“Eunbi.” Yerin calls out to her gently that makes the younger’s skin tingle at the mention of her name. It’s been a while and admittedly, she misses Yerin calling her. However, just like how she usually is, she doesn’t answer, “Can we talk? Please?”

 

Eunbi can’t find it in her heart to say no.

 

---

 

The two find themselves in a nearby empty playground, sitting on two adjacent swings while eating some snacks that they bought on the way there. Despite Yerin’s request, they haven’t spoken a word to each other and they have been there since half an hour ago. To Yerin’s defense, she didn’t exactly know what to ask. She just thought that Eunbi was finally there, addressing her even though it was just a sentence and she knew that if she let go of that opportunity, she may never have it again in the future.

 

Still, she should have thought it over. She feels a little guilty, wasting Eunbi’s time like this.

 

“You…”

 

Yerin snaps her head up at the sound of Eunbi’s voice and abruptly turns to her in mild surprise. Eunbi wasn’t looking at her, but she was obviously talking to her.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“...Are you okay?”

 

Eunbi then turns her head, her gaze falling on Yerin’s slightly bruised wrist.

 

“Oh. This? It’s fine.”

 

“You really bruise too easily.” Eunbi mumbles, tearing her gaze off her again, “You were like this last time too.”

 

“Last time…?” Yerin mulls it over for a bit, trying to remember when she got hurt, and then remembers that one time when she bumped into a pole. It wasn’t that bad of a bump, but her shoulder did get bruised back then.

 

Yerin blinks. That incident happened when she and Eunbi were still dating.

 

“You remember that?” she can’t help but ask and Eunbi nods her head in response.

 

“Of course.”

 

“Ypu remember after all, then… then why do you keep acting like I don’t exist?”

 

Yerin stands up from her seat on the swing and stands in front of Eunbi, causing the underclassman to look up at her.

 

“I like you.”

 

She says this with all the sincerity she can muster and despite the many hundreds of times that she’s told Eunbi the same sentence for the past days, she’ll never get tired of saying them, and showing that she meant every single one of them.

 

“I like you a lot Eunbi.” she says, “And I can tell you don’t mean it when you keep on rejecting me, so why? Why do you keep pushing yourself to say no?”

 

Yerin can see the inner struggle in Eunbi’s expression, seeing her look so unsure.

 

“I can’t be with you.” Eunbi tells her, but Yerin could just tell that she was struggling to say those words.

 

“Why?”

 

Eunbi falls silent again and at this point, Yerin has gotten tired of waiting.

 

“Tell me why.” she practically demands

 

Eunbi sighs, “What happened earlier,” she begins to say, “I don’t want that to happen to you again.”

 

“What?”

 

“You’ll only get hurt if you’re with me.”

 

Yerin’s brows furrow, pressing Eunbi for further explanation and it was only then that she finally understand what’s been going on behind the scenes. Many people didn’t like them being together which is why Eunbi chose to stay away. Eunbi doesn’t ignore her because she wants to, but because she needs to.

 

And to be frank, Yerin didn’t like it one bit.

 

“Who told you to decide for me?”

 

It was Eunbi’s turn to furrow her brows, “What do you mean?”

 

“You thought it was for the better good but what about what I think?” Yerin glares, “Why did you decide on your own as if it’s the only solution to the problem?”

 

“You’re not listening--”

 

“I am, that’s why I’m saying this.” she cuts her off, “How sure are you that they won’t do it anyway even if you stay away? Look at what happened just earlier.”

 

Eunbi was at loss for words, knowing that she had a point, “That’s…”

 

Yerin sighs, feeling that she’s being too hard on the woman. She could tell that she was struggling too. They both were.

 

“If…” she mumbles, “If you just told me you didn’t like me in the first place, I would have stopped pursuing you.”

 

Yerin had been waiting for it for a long time, for Eunbi to say that she wasn’t interested in her, for Eunbi to have had enough of her daily confessions and to just tell her straight out that she didn’t want anything to do with her. Perhaps then, Yerin would have stopped, because she wanted to hear Eunbi’s honest thoughts herself. If Eunbi told her stop, she would have, but she didn’t, she never told her to and so she didn’t stop.

 

She understood that she was probably just being stubborn about it, but to her, as long as Eunbi hasn’t told her to leave her alone, then she won’t.

 

“It’s not like that…” Eunbi answers, causing Yerin to turn to her and notice how she was fidgeting uncomfortably as she fiddled with the chains of the swing.

 

“I like you.” she adds and Yerin feels like she just got punched in the gut, “But… I just thought I don’t deserve you when I’m putting you in danger like this. In the end, I turned out to be the idiot.”

 

“Then forget all of that.”

 

Eunbi raises her head to look back into Yerin orbs, finding them shimmering slightly under the rays of the sun that was soon setting over the horizon.

 

“Forget what they want you to do and focus on what you want.” she continues, “Go out with me?”

 

The underclassman finds herself being speechless at the sudden confession, her brain trying to keep up with what her ears just heard, and when she finally does, she couldn't help but breathe out a laugh and for the first time since Yerin’s begun asking her out, she finally offers her a smile.

 

“Yes.”

 

---

 

The following day didn't feel all that different for the students. It was the same sight as always: the swarm of students entering the gates, some rushing past the others in hopes of getting to class before their professors arrived and of course, the main attraction for that morning...

 

"Good morning Hwang Eunbi!"

 

Was Yerin's loud cheery voice that never failed to gather everyone's attention and were already gathered around the two, preparing to witness yet another rejection. They did wonder why Yerin stopped doing the same thing for a short while and initially thought that she had finally given up on Eunbi, but it didn't seem to be the case for that morning.

 

The upperclassman was carrying a small bouquet of flowers in her hands and stood just a mere couple feet away from where Eunbi stood. The underclassman had on the similar expression that she always had and was no longer a new sight for the crowd around them.

 

"For you." Yerin tells her with a grin, holding out the flowers for her to take.

 

Now if the crowd had actually paid attention, they would have noticed the change in Yerin's words so the surprise etched on everyone's face when Eunbi receives the flowers with the smile was not unexpected. Yerin then takes that opportunity to slide over to her side as she watches the younger woman admire the flowers for a bit, completely oblivious to the murmurs of the crowd around them.

 

Eunbi sighs, "You've wasted enough flowers on me, it's supposed to be me giving you something this time.”

 

“I wanted to. Now let me walk you to class.”

 

“I don’t want to.” Eunbi stops in her tracks, turning to face Yerin properly, “I’ll walk you to class, let’s go.”

 

“But your classroom is closer?”

 

“Then that’s less time walking with you.”

 

“...You have a point, okay let’s go.”

 

Hayoung and Joy can only watch tiredly as Yerin hooks her arm around Eunbi’s as they talk on the way to their destination. Needless to say, it was hard for them to believe that the two had acted like there had been an invisible wall built in between them and now it was as if they had a rope tied around them that made them inseparable.

 

“I can’t believe your plan actually worked.” Hayoung couldn’t help but remark.

 

“I can’t believe it worked either.” Joy agrees, “If only I knew, I would have used it on me first.”

 

Hayoung just laughs, to her friend’s annoyance, “No use sulking about it now, better act on that crush of yours if you don’t want to be left behind.”

 

“Shut it.”

 

The trip to Yerin’s class wasn’t all that long, to the two’s disappointment, but they had promised to meet up again later during lunchtime.

 

“Oh, and Eunbi?” Yerin calls out to her before she leaves for her class which is on the floor below.

 

“Yeah?”

 

She watches as Yerin smiles and suddenly leans in, causing Eunbi to frozen solid in her spot as she vaguely registers the soft lips of the upperclassman pressing gently against her cheek.

 

“Thanks for saying yes.”

 

---

 

I HAVEN'T WRITTEN STUFF LIKE THIS IN A LONG TIME. i dunno if it's any good TT^TT

but anyway, HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!