Shuhua spent most of her nights at the bar, and it was only because Yuqi liked to drag her along with her whenever her friends hung out at their spot. On nights where they don’t hang out at the bar though, Shuhua notices that Soojin is always missing. Shuhua was curious, but she didn’t want to ask anyone because she didn’t want anyone to think that she was obsessively paying attention to Soojin’s whereabouts. 

It wasn’t hard to become comfortable within Yuqi’s group of friends. They were all nice, and easy to talk to, well, besides Soojin, but Shuhua’s never really had a genuine conversation with the older girl. The only times Shuhua would see Soojin was when they were hanging out at the bar, and Soojin would be working her shift. 

It seemed that everyone else grew a fondness for Shuhua, treating her like a little sister, more than she was a peer. Shuhua still thinks Soojin didn’t quite like her because they didn’t have the ability to even be civil with each other in their limited amount of encounters. They were all intense gazes and retorted mocks thrown at each other when they crossed paths. 

“Club soda, for the stray girl. And for her boyfriend?” Soojin slid the glass towards Shuhua, giving her a teasing look, before turning to Jeno who was quite surprised at the label Soojin had given him.

 “I-I’m not—,” Jeno looked at Shuhua with wide eyes, “—we’re not, w-we’re just friends.” Jeno clarified, a flustered laugh leaving his lips. Shuhua glared at Soojin, hoping to send the message that she wasn’t very fond of the older girl. 

“I’ll just take a beer.” Jeno gulped. 

Soojin smirked, nodding her head. She reached down from under the counter, grabbing a bottle and hitting the cap against the wood to open it up. There was no intent to slam the bottle against the counter so harshly, but the bottle slammed with a hard thud anyway, slightly scaring the poor boy into a soft flinch. 

 “U-Uh.. thanks… I’m just—I have to go to the bathroom..” Jeno excused himself, flashing Shuhua an awkward smile, before scurrying off and disappearing into the crowd. 

“What is wrong with you?” Shuhua grumbled between gritted teeth. Soojin only found her reactions amusing and kind of cute. “I’m just doing my job, kid.” The older girl shrugged, taking a freshly washed glass and wiping it with the rag in her other hand. 

“Oh, right, I forgot you’re just naturally a .” Shuhua sarcastically laughed, and Soojin chuckled, not phased at all. It annoyed Shuhua that Soojin’s words and actions had such an effect on her, but Soojin did not pay mind to her retorts. 

“Stop trying to ruin my friendship with Jeno. I’ve told you already he’s not my boyfriend, and it will never happen, so stop trying to push it. Why are you so obsessive over my relationship with Jeno anyway?” Shuhua huffed. Soojin leaned her hands against the counter, staring blankly at the younger girl as she sped through her words with annoyance. 

Soojin bent to Shuhua’s level, face inched dangerously close, causing Shuhua to freeze in her seat. “Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t give two s who you’re ing or who you’re dating, okay?” Shuhua gulped, gaze lowering to a growing smirk on plump lips. 

Soojin lingered for a few seconds, before straightening her posture, giving Shuhua one last look, before walking away to help another customer sitting at the bar. 

When Jeno came back, Shuhua was still stunned in her seat, and had to clap his hands to get Shuhua out of her little trance. “You okay?” Jeno chuckled, taking a sip from his beer. Shuhua blinked, “Y-Yeah.. I was just thinking… of something.” She trailed, eyes meeting Soojin’s piercing gaze again for a split second. 

“I’m sorry about… her... and if that made you feel uncomfortable...” Shuhua apologized, not really knowing how to approach the situation. Jeno chuckled, “that’s okay, Shu. She’s a bit intimidating, but I guess she’s just like that because she likes you.” 

Shuhua gave Jeno a horrified look, “Soojin? Oh god, no, we don’t even get along.” She waved off any suspicions Jeno might have about Soojin taking a liking to her. 

Jeno raised a brow, “hm, I think she definitely likes you… or wants to you… either one fits.” Shuhua covered her ears dramatically upon hearing Jeno’s words. The latter burst out into laughter seeing Shuhua’s reaction.

 “Oh my god. You Americans are so vulgar.” Shuhua shook her head. 

“You got this whole thing wrong, Jeno. She despises me, and the feeling is mutual.” Shuhua grimaced, and a part of her thinks she’s trying a bit too hard to deny it, but there was no way she was going to admit that she’s thought about it before. 

“I mean, I could just ask her right now to prove you wrong…. but she kind of scares me, and I’m not trying to get on her bad side.” Jeno avoided Soojin’s intense gaze from across the bar, hiding behind his beer bottle as he chugged it down. 

“Even if you were right, which you’re most definitely not, there is no way it’s happening.” Shuhua rolled her eyes, shaking her head. 

Before Jeno could respond, his name was being called from across the bar, where the pool table was at. “Jeno! Be my partner, my girlfriend at pool!” Lucas shouted, raising his hand for Jeno to find him. Yuqi gaped, slapping her boyfriend on the shoulder, to which Lucas compensated for by placing a sweet kiss onto Yuqi’s cheek, a love struck grin on his face. 

“Be right back, Shu.” Jeno grinned at her, before running towards the pool table in excitement. Shuhua chuckled, before taking a sip from her non-alcoholic drink. She wheeled around in the stool, resting her elbows onto the counter, a bored look on her face. 

“Hey,” a voice called her. 

Shuhua turned her head, confused as to how Jeno’s previous seat had been quickly occupied without her noticing. “H-Hey…” Shuhua greeted the girl back, eyes squinting slightly because she looked very familiar. 

“Have I seen you before?” The blonde girl questioned Shuhua, as if she read her mind. Shuhua blinked, “I don’t recall?” Shuhua tried her best to think of the small amount of new people she’s met so far in the city, and there was no name that came to mind upon seeing the blonde. 

The girl snapped her fingers, pointing directly at Shuhua, a look of realization on her face. “The photography shop. I saw you on my way out.” Shuhua gave her a confused look. Eyes wandering as her mind tried to grasp any memory of the girl. 

Shuhua gasped, “o-oh.. you’re…Soojin’s…. friend..” she didn’t know what this girl was to Soojin, but Shuhua did remember the blonde leaving the shop after fooling around with her. A very disturbing memory, as Shuhua recalled it. 

The blonde chuckled, nodding, “yeah! My name’s Lia, by the way.” 

Shuhua smiled, “I’m Shuhua. I’m surprised you remember me.” Shuhua doesn’t even know if they’ve been in the same space for more than three minutes, and Shuhua also didn’t think she did anything memorable to have had Lia remember her so easily. On Shuhua’s end, Lia was most definitely memorable, as one of Soojin’s “friends” you can say. Shuhua wasn’t going to assume, nor did she want to know what their relationship was. 

“I always remember the cute ones.” Lia winked, casually flirting with Shuhua. If Shuhua was being honest, she wanted to grimace at how cheesy the other girl was being. 

Shuhua in her lips, nodding awkwardly, “right…” 

Lia cleared , “so, are you here by yourself?” Shuhua anxiously tapped her fingers against her glass, her nails making rapid clicking sounds. “Um… no, I’m here with my friends.. actually…” 

Lia looked around, seeing a rowdy group of people at the pool table. “Why are you sitting here all alone? Why aren’t you with them?” Shuhua blinked, asking herself the same question. She met eyes with Soojin for a split second, before Soojin’s eyes shifted towards the blonde next to Shuhua. 

Before Shuhua could answer, Soojin was already making her way over towards the both of them. “What are you doing here?” Soojin asked Lia, and Shuhua noticed the way her face hardened at the sight of the blonde girl. 

“I came to see you, of course.” Lia sported her cutest smile, reaching over the counter to take a hold of Soojin’s arm. Shuhua looked away respectfully, sipping from her glass. 

“Why? We’re not friends, Lia. There’s no need to. You’re just wasting your time.” Soojin took her arm from Lia’s grasp. Shuhua wasn’t trying to be nosy, but it was kind of hard to keep their conversation out of her ears when she was sitting right there. 

“So what? I let you me, and that’s it?” Lia scoffed, eyes growing teary. 

Shuhua could hear Soojin sigh heavily, “I told you from the very beginning that it was nothing more, and you said you were okay with it. I don’t do relationships or… feelings, Lia. I thought I was clear on that.” Shuhua scoffed to herself. How could Soojin be so insensitive when the poor girl did nothing wrong but develop feelings for Soojin. Though, Shuhua didn’t know why, when Soojin was clearly very rude and heartless. 

Lia was close to sobbing, Shuhua could tell by the way her breathing grew irregular. “Yeah, but… I thought… I thought maybe I could have changed your mind.” The blonde whimpered. 

Soojin showed no signs of sympathy for the girl, and Shuhua didn’t know why Yuqi spoke so kindly of Soojin when she seemed so heartless. 

“No one can change my mind. It’s not you. I’m just not into that mushy stuff, Lia.” Soojin replied, and Lia let out a shaky breath, nodding her head in a defeated manner. “Okay… I understand.. I guess I misunderstood things..” Lia stood up abruptly, almost falling over and losing her balance, where Shuhua had to outstretch her arms in instinct just in case she did fall. 

“Lia.. wait, let me call you a cab.” Soojin called out to the blonde, but she was already making her way out of the bar on wobbly legs. 

Shuhua watched as Soojin cursed to herself,  taking off her apron in a haste, and running after Lia. 

Maybe Soojin did have a heart after all, Shuhua thought. 

_

Whenever Yuqi wasn’t over at Shuhua’s, she’d be over at the older girl’s place. It’s like they were making up for all the time that they’ve lost during their childhood. 

“Shu, can you model for me sometime next week?” Yuqi walked out of her room, holding an expensive looking camera in her hands. Shuhua sat up from her laid position on the couch, looking at her with a hesitant look. 

Yuqi rolled her eyes, “c’mon, you’ve modeled before in Taiwan. And it’s for my next project for class. Help your favorite person out?” She looked at the younger girl pleadingly, sitting down on the couch across from Shuhua. Shuhua groaned, plopping back down onto the couch in a lazy manner. 

“Fine… what do I have to do?” Shuhua gave in, knowing Yuqi could be very persistent if she disagreed. Shuhua smiled seeing Yuqi clap excitedly in her seat. 

“I don’t know what my theme is yet, but I have a few ideas.” Yuqi said, pulling up her phone to show her a few of her picture ideas from Pinterest. 

Shuhua’s eyes widened, “I am not getting in the bathtub for you.” 

Yuqi looked at the picture that Shuhua was looking at and shrugged, “that wasn’t my first option anyway. I kind of want to do an outdoor shoot, but I think Soojin was thinking of doing that one, so you’ll probably have to get for her—,” Shuhua jumped from her spot on the couch, giving Yuqi a look of disbelief.

“Wait, I only agreed to model for you. Not Soojin.” Shuhua pointed out, and Yuqi froze in her spot, a guilty look on her face, “well… I kind of already told Soojin that you were going to do it.” Yuqi blinked, sheepishly grinning at her cousin. 

“But you literally just asked me five minutes ago.” Shuhua stated, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Yuqi shrugged, “I knew you’d say yes.” 

Shuhua scoffed, “yeah to you, not Soojin.”

Yuqi rolled her eyes, “c’mon, Shu, it’s just a photoshoot. And Soojin has asked other people, but no one was available after midnight.” 

Shuhua gaped, “no one asked me if I was available after midnight?” Yuqi raised a brow at her, a knowing look on her face, “I didn’t have to ask. You literally don’t sleep till 3am because you’re up all night reading whatever new novel you’re checking off your nerd list.” 

Shuhua groaned, crossing her arms. “I’m sure Soojin won’t have a problem finding someone else. It seems like she has a lot of girls around her that don’t have a problem with her concept of .” 

“I mean… that’s true…” Yuqi hummed in agreement.

“But I already said you’d do it.” Yuqi stated, and Shuhua glared. “No.” 

Yuqi raised her hands in defeat, “fine, but you’re telling her that you won’t do it.” 

“Why do I have to, when you’re the one who agreed on my behalf without even consulting with me.” Shuhua grumbled. Yuqi raised her hands in defeat, “okay, okay, I will. Don’t make such a big deal out of it, drama queen.” Shuhua scoffed, throwing one of the couch pillows next to her to aim directly at Yuqi’s head. 

“Ouch, you brat!” Yuqi winced, holding the side of her head where the small pillow had softly hit her, “I think I just lost a brain cell.” 

Shuhua mocked a sympathetic look, “oh no, wasn’t that your last one?” 

“Shut up, before I deport you back to Taiwan.” Yuqi threatened with no malice at all. 

Shuhua laughed, “girl, please. Like you have the power to do so.” 

Yuqi smirked, “I’ve got resources.” 

“You love me too much to send me away.” Shuhua smiled to herself, hugging another pillow and closing her eyes for a quick second. 

“Do I?” Yuqi playfully questioned, eyes softening in adoration as she watched Shuhua doze off. 

A tiny hum came from the younger girl, “mhm, you’re the only one in this whole world that loves me.” 

Yuqi’s heart clenched at Shuhua’s words. The worst part about it was Yuqi couldn’t deny the truth to Shuhua’s words, no matter how much she wanted to disagree and give Shuhua comfort. Yuqi was the only person Shuhua had, and because of that, Yuqi was a bit overprotective of the younger girl. 

“Are you about to take a nap on my couch?” Yuqi asked, and Shuhua shook her head lightly, eyebrows furrowing in disagreement. “No, I’m just closing my eyes for a few minutes.” Shuhua weakly said, her body drifting off slowly. 

“How long did you stay up reading your book last night?” Yuqi rolled her eyes, knowing how much of a bookworm Shuhua was. 

Shuhua crinkled her nose, eyes still closed. “Mm…. not long… only till four…” she raised four fingers up in the air, before drifting off completely into deep slumber. 

Yuqi shook her head, “of course you did.” She stood up from her spot on the couch, walking into her room to grab the throw blanket from her bed. 

Yuqi draped the blanket over Shuhua’s body, tucking her in like a mother would to her child. “I guess you’re sleeping over.” Yuqi whispered to herself, bending to place a soft kiss on her cousin’s forehead. 

“Wait…” Shuhua clutched onto Yuqi’s shirt before the older girl could straighten her posture. “If I’m sleeping over… can we have pizza for dinner?” Shuhua requested, eyes never opening. 

Yuqi chuckled, “you got it, kid. Marco’s?” 

Shuhua grinned, “yeah, Marco’s.” She unclutched her hand from Yuqi’s shirt, sighing with a small smile on her face. 

“Love you, biggie.” Shuhua whispered, calling Yuqi by