It's exactly noon. And Chaewon never gets late, not for that.

She asks her teacher to supposedly go to the bathroom and walks very carefully to the one-fifty-one cupboard decorated with a slice of rubber pizza, a black "H", and some serial-name stickers, every week. And so she does today. She looka around as if she's not doing anything — anything wrong, at least.

The corridor is empty and there is no sign of even a living soul — except, of course, for the shrill voice of the sophomore math teacher, a grumpy old man who had long since unlearned to speak in a normal tone. She slips the yellow paper through the crack of the closet and smiles, heading down the hallway to get back to her classroom completely satisfied.

Son Hyejoo is the owner of her sighs, her poetry and sender of her secret notes since she first saw her at school last year. Falling for the girl with the purple-tipped hair was immediate, and she has been following her platonic passion ever since, too distrustful to just confess to her. They don''t even talk to each other and that is, kind of, Chaewon's fault. She spends every day's breaks at the library, studying, sighing for Hyejoo heady smile and helping the less unbearable students in her grade, JinSoul and Haseul. They are best friends with each other, as well as being best friends with Olivia, the nickname Hyejoo gave herself, but they belong to sophomore B, while Chaewon belongs to class A. Olivia, on the contrary, is a third year student. And while Hyejoo dedicates her time to her many friends, breaks the hearts of alien girls and boys, and still watches every possible series, she is also the champion of some virtual game, as Chaewon heard so.

Coincidentally, they have favoritism for the same Netflix show: Sense8.

It's common for her and Chaewon to be so far apart. Hyejoo, being so popular and dear, and Chaewon, such a geeky and almost nonexistent. Of course they would be separated by the Destiny. But Chaewon feels bad that they are mere strangers to each other, yet having unreal courage like hers doesn't help. She doesn't even know what she would say in the girl's presence.

She waits five minutes with a silly smile on her face and her back against the wall next to her classroom door, as usual, trying not to arouse suspicion. Several times people tried to figure out who was sending Son Hyejoo love notes unnoticed, which caused Chaewon a lot of problems, and she had to bend over to deflect suspicion, so caution was very important.

"Everything ready, honey?" The voice startles her, making her jump and look in its direction. Jung JinSoul flashes her a wicked grin and sends her a wink.

This is the strangest thing that had ever happened to Chaewon throughout her high school period. She feels suddenly in a real scene from Glee, as if something bad was about to happen.

"Chaewon!" Exclaims the teacher whose class the blonde should be attending. "I thought you got lost", she jokes, wiggling her arm and drawing the student's attention to the folder she was carrying. "I had to finish class earlier today. You know... That's what having kids at home does to a person! But don't worry, I registered you!"

"Oh..." She sighs with relief. "Thank you, miss Ha! See you next week, then.”

Ha Sooyoung, a beautiful woman in her late thirties who Chaewon also had a certain crush, her teacher, walks away and she is prevented from entering the classroom by her colleagues, who rush out the door. She waits for them to disperse so she can get her backpack and heads for the cafeteria, already thinking of being one of the first in line. She could not be more wrong.

The cafeteria is on the ground floor, a large space full of round tables, a large canteen and sliding glass doors leading to the green area, where students used to skip class to talk or kiss. Chaewon never got a table there.

Coincidentally, Olivia's class had also been released earlier. Their teachers at that time are married, so she should have guessed. And Hyejoo looks gorgeous in her black sweatpants and the blue shirt, sitting at one of the center tables, next to Haseul, Kim Lip — Chae's best friend who was also a very good friend of hers and her acquaintances — and the boys, who ishe didn't know the names.

Kim Lip, Kim Jungeun, is a friendship she had conquered during her previous love affair, which was so bad that she doesn't even talk about it. They are different in many ways, starting with her taste for rock, her love for dead animals and her fixation on horror movies. She is someone Chaewon never, in a billion years, ever imagined she would be so friendly with.

After grabbing her lunch and placing it on the tray, she looks for a place to sit when Lippie meets and beckons her. She waves her arms, indicating for Chaewon to approach. From afar, the blonde can see Olivia frowning at Jungeun and looking toward her to find out who she was communicating with. Her face burns like never before. Did she really need to look at her? Did she really need to fix her eyes on her?

She walks very slowly and with her head down, as shy as ever. There is a safe, spacious place next to Jungeun where she would be at such an angle that she could barely see Olivia. The perfect place. But then JinSoul comes before her and takes it to herself, holding her girlfriend's waist and giving her a long kiss on the lips. Hyejoo, following the situation, pushes one of her friends by her side and calls her.

"I don't bite," she says, taking the tray out of Chaewon's hands and setting it on the table.

Oh God, what a woman... Chaewon feels that she can already be taken from this world after hearing her sweet voice. Olivia's scent melts her. It's sweet and sensual, just like her red smile. Damn it!

"Hye, look what I found", JinSoul takes something from her pocket and throws it on the table. Chaewon can identify it as her note. "I checked your locker before I came here."

There it is. Damn it. She knows she is so screwed. She saw her, JinSoul saw her. How did she not see her? Not possible, there was no one there! How did she not notice her?! Her blood freezes instantly and she stops where she is, with her hand around her juice's glass, her eyes down. Any sudden movement and she would be caught.

Hyejoo struggles a little with her friend — the one she has moved aside for Chaewon to sit and who is even by the blonde's side — to get the note, because he seems to be very curious. Chaewon always thought he liked her. In fact, she  knows  he likes her, of course.

"Read it to everyone, you rude,” Haseul complains as she types in her cell phone screen and Jungeun nods, looking meaningfully at Chae right after.

Apart from herself, clearly, Kim Lip is the only one who knows she's the girl who writes the notes. She reads them before Chae sends them.

"You are invading my privacy a lot lately. Who do you think you are?" Olivia teases, but does as she asked. “It says the following: 'Insecurity. One word. Eleven letters. Endless applications. Whispers. Twisted. Of a lady less. Why can't we do it? Well-known. Such love that makes me suppress in your presence. Inhibits my speech. And flutters my stomach. I could give it to you. Watered your sweet fragrance If only you let me Invade your dreams in the same way you invade me, coloring my days, with the the slightest mention of your name. Your colors make me, and I remember al of them’," she takes a moment to wet and carry on.

JinSoul takes the opportunity to .

"Someone wants to get married,” she jokes.

"Shut up, idiot," Olivia complains. Jungeun hits her girlfriend's arm and lets the taller girl continue. "'If you just let me dive into the depths of your soul's intensity. And water the decorative plants of the universe that you unfortunately keep only to yourself. Maybe that's true. Then you're too much for me. But my truck, its wheels so limp and worn, it can always go around twice or three or more. But if the feeling we leave on each other is good, then why not?’"

"That's it, Hye. If you don't marry this girl, I will," Haseul says. She seems to be melted by the message of love.

Chaewon moves restlessly, bothered to have her words exposed like that, still absorbed in Olivia's lips uttering each phrase. Her work. Made for her.

"Why don't you do this kinda thing to me?" JinSoul asks, scowling at Jungeun. The older girl rolls her eyes and pulls JinSoul's arm around her waist.

"Don’t you even start,” she replies. The Jung intensifies her expression and puts her arm around Kim Lip's shoulders, earning a look of hatred.

"What did you think of it?"

Chaewon almost gasps when she realizes that Olivia's question is directed to her . Straight and only to her.

"I..." She seeks Lippie's eyes, but she's talking to JinSoul, and Haseul is talking to the boys. She finds herself with no other choice, forced to respond. "It's... It's beautiful, I think. It's... Beautiful... Beautiful words."

"Yeah. I think so too. I've been getting one of these every week for over a year now. I thought it would stop after this summer, but it didn't happen. I admit I'd miss it! I like it very much, it's sweet. I'd like it even more if the author introduced herself." "

"Uh! Lost the war, hun?" Haseul teases the boy next to them, and, oh, Chaewon knew it! She should have bet Jungeun that he liked Olivia. But, instead of reacting, she breathes a in relief as she moves away from the center of the conversation.

"I only lost the battle!" He defendes himself. The blonde girl laughs weakly in confrontation. Jungeun notices it.

"What are you doing today, Chaewon?" She asks.

"What else do I do? I’ll be doing homework, of course."

Olivia looks at her with interest. She never got a bad grade, they all know that. Jungeun, JinSoul and Haseul are not that bad either. However, Chaewon's family charges her twice as much as their families charge them, so she always has to work harder than anyone else.

"The girls will join me at my house after school, why don't you come with us?"

Damn it. . Stop, heart. Stop beating so hard! So what if Son Hyejoo is inviting her to her house? She does this to all her friends, Chae thinks, and the girls will be there too. Don't do it to her, Destiny, her sweet little heart, you have to help her! Even though her stomach is already burning.

"That's if you don't worry about children", Chaewon swallows and frowns at her sentence, trying to look normal and relaxed. "I have a younger sister named Yeojin."

"Well... I have nothing against children."

The bell soon rings and she realizes she has barely touched her food, so she hastens to push it to her stomach as she waits for the cafeteria to disintegrate so that she wouldn't get crushed by hormone-laden kids. Not that she is not a hormonal girl.

With her actions, Olivia looks at her with a funny expression and she knows she's embarrassing herself in front of her. No one would look at her cheeks full of food and feel attraction. Chaewon is a disaster!

She's lucky to finish well in time, though. When Olivia gets up, making everyone imitate her, she's chewing on the last bite of food, her cheeks still swollen and red, just like those of Theodore, Alvin's brother.

"Ownt, what a cute thing!" Haseul squeezes her arms – she wouldn't be crazy to squeeze the blonde's cheeks when there’s food inside them – and she hugs her. Chaewon knows her quite well because she was Jungeun's first crush.

"You're not from any of the girls' class, are you?" Hyejoo asks in her ear. She is behind her and her height – beyond Chae's lack of height – makes her voice huskier than usual. It is not fair.

"No, I'm from class A," she puts her hand in front of to answer. She had swallowed much of the food already, but you never know when saliva can unpleasantly pop out.

"Okay. Then we'll see you when class is over. Don't forget to meet us in the red square as soon as the bell hits!" Olivia leaves a kiss on her cheek and takes alone the way to her classroom, taking a different course from Chaewon and the girls.

No longer are butterflies moving warmly in the girl's stomach. It is the whole damn zoo.

(...)

Chaewon can't focus on anything after Son Hyejoo has kissed her cheek on her own free will for more than three seconds! Her mind goes back to how soft her lips are, no matter how hard she tries to focus on Jeon Heejin's biology class.

The feeling of anxiety is unsettling and all she does in three class hours is look at her phone's screen every five minutes to check the time, which doesn't help much. The Spanish teacher, Kim Hyunjin, almost took her phone off and the philosophy teacher, Kim Jiwoo, stared at her evilly. But she's cute, so it had no effect.

When the bell finally strikes, she doesn't wait until everyone has left as she always does. She's actually the first to get up and leave the class! And finds JinSoul and Jungeun standing in the hallway. Jungeun is taking the books out of her backpack and stuffing them into the locker, and JinSoul is standing beside her, waiting like the good watchdog she is.

"Hi, love. Hi, JinSoul," she greets them and takes the time to get her cell phone and text her mom to tell her that she would go to a friend's house and would let her know when she got there.

"Why is she ‘love’ and I'm just me?" Complains the taller. Kim Lip rolls her eyes and ignores her speech.

"Chaewon? Breathe, buddy," Lippie jokes, after noticing how anxious her friend is. It's not everyday things like that happen to her!

"Come on, my loves! Let's move," Haseul comes up excitedly and puts her hands around their waist.

If Chaewon was shy? Of course, but she's one of the best friends of the greatest and strongest platonic love she has ever had, so it's ok.

With Haseul's encouragement and her body pushing hers forward, they all arrive at the school entrance, where they met Olivia and the guy friend and they all start talking. Chaewon won't lie: she doesn't have a good feeling about him. Rare are the boys she likes. However, she still manages to keep a smile on while JinSoul complains about having to walk and is soon teased for being so lazy. Chaewon is just too afraid to say anything about her sedentary practice.

"Don't you mind, okay, Chaewon? Olivia's house is a zoo, there are dogs, cats and even chicken!"

"But I do not have chicken,” Hyejoo, who had remained secluded until then, counters Haseul's speech. She had tried to keep up a conversation, but apparently she was tired of talking or keeping her concentration. And then she was all quiet.

"It's because the chicken is you!"

Chaewon laughs not to cry, following the girls' laughter and admiring the scowl Olivia adopts. Not surprisingly, Son Hyejoo is a player. But she definitely finds it unnecessary to remember her that.

"Idiot”, she mumbles and pushes Haseul, throwing Chae away from her accordingly. They were still holding on.

It doesn't take long for them to arrive Olivia's home. It's fifteen minutes walking to the sound of the voices of JinSoul, Haseul, Jungeun and the boy, who she discovered is called Taeyong; she has always been more a listening than a talking person.

The house is large and has high walls, with a thick door and pastel walls. It is beautiful and has a lot of green present, Chaewon likes this part more than anything there. Olivia unlocks the door and waits for them all to get inside. She is the last to do so by pure coincidence. She blinks at her and closes the door.

Chaewon can't count how many times her heart beats in that single second.

"Olie, there’s how many people!" A high, thin voice sounds in the spacious room.

On the couch, surrounded by five cats — one black, one white and three striped — is who she presumes to be Yeojin, Olivia's younger sister. She is extremely cute and makes Chae want to hug her and give her all the love possible. Her chubby cheeks make her sensitive. She's not the kind of kid-like, unlike what she said at the break for Hyejoo, but she usually gets along well with them. It's like honey to bee.

The girls talk to her and Taeyong does it too. Chaewon approaches shyly, even though, hey! , it's just a kid over there. She realizes that something is wrong with that scene because one of her legs is a metal leg. That's when she understands why she didn't get up, and automatically feels guilty for not talking to the little girl before.

One of Olivia's hands grasps her waist and pushes her forward, pressing against her skin. God, the last thing she wants is for her to take her hand away.

"Yeojin, this is Chaewon”, she presents them and Chae hugs the girl carefully, kissing the top of her forehead. She smiles beautifully, demonstrating her liking for the act, and takes one of the cats from her side.

"You’re so pretty! Sit here with me, Chaewon!" The child asks. The older girl can't deny a request from a princess as beautiful as her. "Did you know you have the same name as my cat? It's this one," Yeojin puts the white kitten on her lap. She looks the youngest of all the other cats.

"Really? What a coincidence! I think it's because of the color. We're so pale we look like paper," Chaewon joke and Yeojin laughs. She feels good for making her laugh. Still in front of her, Olivia follows them.

"Olie, you named Chaewon because of her?”

Chae shudders again. She hadn't thought of that possibility, but now that Yeojin has mentionated it... She looks at Olivia and waits for the answer. Yeojin's eyes are as bright and dreamy as her.

"Maybe. But maybe not. You'll never know," she  anwers, pretending a mysterious air and walks away laughing. Chae can swear she saw her cheeks flush.

And each time she finds myself bad in love with this girl...

"How old are you, little princess?" She asks.

"I'm seven, but I'll be eight soon. Can you believe it? Mom says I'm too big for my age,” she comments, wanting to look quite mature. Her face suddenly brightens. "You know what? You can come for my birthday! And then we could play a lot and eat a lot! Mommy said she'll have food stalls. Do you want to come for my birthday, Chae?"

"Oh...", she can't help but sigh. She's surprised by the ask and doesn't know how to answer it. What would Olivia say about this? She has no idea. But Yeojin is as charming as her sister. In a very different way, she is in love with that little girl, and she says what she deserves to hear. "Anything, little princess. I would love to come to your party, Yeojin."

“Chaewon, can you get me some water?” From the other couch, Haseul pouts. "Please."

"But I don't even know where the kitchen is!" She defends myself. She would never be so bold.

"It's right there,” she points to the rectangular doorway next to a large family painting. "No one will kill you for taking some water."

Chaewon sighs  because she doesn't have the courage to deny her request. "Will you want it too, Yeojin?" 

"No thanks. I've had a lot of water already. I can't fill my tummy with mtoo much water because then I can't have dinner. My mommy said so,” her eyes sparkle again and her red cheeks are there. She tells the blonde like it's a secret. It is lovely.

"It’s fine, little one."

She leaves the kitten on the couch and gets up, taking a good look at the table near the kitchen. There's a photo there, it is in great definition and there are five people in it. She recognizes Olivia and Yeojin together, next to a boy a little older than the youngest, whom she assumes to be their brother, and two adults behind them. She also counts eight cats and seven dogs. Chae would never understand how the house was still standing with so many animals inside.

There is no one in the kitchen and it makes her more comfortable to move. She hates doing things in the house of people she's not intimate with because she doesn't know what they might be offended or upset about, so she avoids it pretty often.

She grabs a glass from the sink's metal dryer and sets it under the strainer tap. Big, cold hands touch her waist again, causing a small thermal shock in her body, and she freezes immediately, internally begging to be taken at once for whatever sensation it was that trying to kill her.

Olivia slides her hand to Chaewon's belly and the blonde sees that no, it's not empty. The brunette grabs her thigh with her other hand and kisses her neck. Chae lets out an involuntary moan as her soft lips touch her skin that, at that moment, boils like embers.

"I think this is yours”, she mumbles next to her ear and leaves.

Her skin leaving Chaewon's behind gradually. Her reluctance is almost palpable. The girl opes the note.

 

" 'You're sweet. So sweet it makes me dry. And my lips ask for saliva once yours took it from me.'

A pale bird with fluffy cheeks wrote this to me in its first note. She doesn't know that I know her true identity, so don't tell. I make your words mine. Let me take it out of you.

From your secret admirer. "Let