At Energy High School there were particular steps that one had to take with the vending machine beside locker 841. More specifically, specific steps needed to buy a can of coke. 


Step one: place a two-dollar coin into the vending machine. 

You had to listen to the sound of the coin falling into the machine and if you were to hear more than 3 clacking sounds, reject the coin and try again. Failure to do this meant that the machine would gobble up your money and you would be cokeless and two-dollars poorer. 


Step two: press the button with the number ‘3’, followed by the button with the letter ‘b’. 

At this point, the coke should be attempted to be pushed out by the mechanical metals inside the machine. 


Step three: don’t fret when the coke gets stuck. 

The other vending machines don’t do this, but for some reason, this particular machine does. Maybe it just didn’t like coke. 


Step four: kick the coke machine. 

There is nothing else to it. Kick the coke machine and the coke can should slide out nicely. 


They were four simple steps and the Junior Ahn Yujin was a pro at this. 


Bang!


Yujin kicked firmly at the side of the machine, hard enough to make a thudding sound but not loud enough to draw attention to all of them. Perhaps step four was the hardest step, only because you needed the perfect amount of force. Yujin was probably the only one who knew how to do it properly every single time. 


So, why use this vending machine? There were others that worked better, only a mere three steps of: insert money, press button and drink the coke. 


Why did Yujin like to use this vending machine in particular when there was one a floor down next to locker 901? Her own locker?


It was a simple answer in Yujin’s mind. It was because locker 841 was right next to the vending machine. 


And 10 lockers down from 841 was locker 831. 


“Sometimes it feels like we’re stuck in a teen movie.” Yujin’s friend, Jiheon broke Yujin out of her thoughts about coke machines. She turned to see Jiheon staring down the hall with a scrunched up nose. 


The can of coke popped open with a slight hiss and Jiheon took a sip after some of the fizziness died down. 


Yujin followed her gaze towards Jiheon’s line of sight. 


“I mean, look at them! The football star and the cheerleader.” Jiheon grimaced slightly as the fizz was too much for her nose. “So boring and cliche. Give us something interesting for once.” 


Yujin turned her attention back to the coke machine, giving it a kick. As she leaned down to pick up her drink, she felt a pair of eyes watching her curiously from across the hallway. 


“Jacob! Think fast!” 


A football came flying through the hall, narrowly missing a few ducking heads and into the hands of a tall, muscular boy. 


Yujin popped open her coke and took a sip as she observed the way Jacob smirked at his friend and gave him a boisterous hi-five and slap on the back in greeting. If this were the teen movie Jiheon was talking about, the camera would definitely be on the boy, highlighting just how glorious he was. 


“Vicky Jang’s looking our way again.” 


It was then that Yujin remembered the pair of eyes that were watching her before. 


There were only a handful of other Asians in her school as Yujin was from a small suburb that was very white dominated. There was the senior, Shin Ryujin, (who went by Jin so it was easier to pronounce) another Korean like Yujin. There was Jiheon, Yujin’s best friend who was also Korean. And then a few Chinese, Taiwanese and Filipino students who probably only knew how to say a few phrases in their parents’ native language. 


‘Dammit.’ A voice huffed nearby, causing Yujin to spin around and look at the person. 


Han Jihyo (who preferred to go as Jihan because nobody could pronounce the ‘hyo’ properly) was another Korean student and was currently staring dejectedly at the coke machine. 


Yujin kicked the coke machine for a third time. 


‘Thank you.’ Jihan smiled brightly up at Yujin. 


Yujin only smiled and nodded in response, her eyes following the girl as she made her way down the hall. 


That was when she met eyes with the figure standing behind Jacob, arms hugging her books to her chest and leaning against the locker. 


Locker 831. 


As soon as Yujin locked eyes with the girl, she instantly turned her gaze away and Yujin could only sip at her coke. 


Vicky Jang; the last Korean girl in their grade and who could barely understand or speak Korean. She was basically full American, even if she was Korean by blood. 


Yujin turned to Jiheon who was staring at her with narrowed eyes, trying to study her. 


“Jiheon, for the last time I’m not telling you who I like!” 


“I will figure it out one day.” Jiheon said. “There’s only so much people on this floor, I will find who it is.” 


“Save your breath.” Yujin pat Jiheon on the head. 


…………………


I’ll keep you my dirty little secret 

Don’t tell anyone or you’ll be just another regret

My dirty little secret, who has to know? 


“Yujin, could you take over please? I need a little break.’ 


Yujin closed her phone, the sound of Jacob and his band practicing from a few hours ago halting as soon as she turned off her phone. 


“What were you watching?” Her older (but smaller) sister, Yena queried as she plopped onto the couch with a big sigh. Yujin chuckled a little while Yena overdramatically started to massage at her legs. 


“Jay3 wrote another song lately. Ryujin unnie was wondering if I would like to do back-up vocals.” Yujin said while placing her work jacket over her shoulders.


“Are you going to do it?” Yena said. 


Yujin shrugged. 


“You should do it, Yujin.” Yena leaned back coolly onto the couch. “You’re freaking awesome.” 


“I’m just a simple Asian karaoke girl.” Yujin said. “Anyways, I gotta go tend to the customers someone should be tending to right now but she just wants to be a big baby.” 


“Hell yeah you’re an Asian karaoke girl! Be proud of it!” Yujin heard Yena call out to her but Yujin just chose to ignore her. 


Yujin tilted her head down to try and place her ponytail into the cap. 


“Hi, welcome to Korea Mart how can I help--” 


Yujin froze when she saw who was there. It seemed that the other person was also just as shocked to see Yujin there, too. 


“Vicky.” Yujin said. “Hi.” 


“Yujin, right?” Vicky said. 


Yujin nodded. 


“Anything I can help you with?” 


“I’m uh… I’m looking for…” Vicky squinted at her phone a little, “uh… ee-oh-muck?” 


Yujin tilted her head. 


“It’s uh, a Korean thing. You know it?” 


Yujin just scratched her head. “I’ve never heard of it, sorry. Do you know how to describe it in english?” 


Vicky shook her head. “I’m just reading what my Mom sent me.” 


“Can I see it?” Yujin gestured to the phone Vicky was clutching in her hands, as if it was just another extension of her body. 


Vicky nodded, turning the phone so Yujin could see her next with her Mom. 


The first thing Yujin noticed was that Vicky’s Mom didn’t refer to her as Vicky, but actually called her by a different name. Her Korean name. 


The second thing she noticed was that Vicky had completely butchered the pronunciation of the food that her Mom was asking her to buy. 


“Oh!” Yujin chuckled. “Eomuk. That’s like Korean fish cakes.” 


“Oh.” Vicky said. “That’s what they’re called.” 


Yujin could only giggle. 


“Come, we have some by the freezers.” Yujin made her way from around the counter and gestured for Wonyoung to follow her. 


It’s a fairly crowded store and Yujin has to squish through the aisles and through some people to get to the destination. 


“I couldn’t help but notice, but your name is Wonyoung?” Yujin said while waiting for some people to leave the aisle. 


“That’s just my Korean name.” Vicky said. “Only my parents and my relatives call me that.” 


“Still your name.” Yujin shrugged. “I like it a lot.” 


She made a mental note that she will start referring to her as Wonyoung, in her head. 


“What about you? Why don’t you go by your english name?” Wonyoung watched as Yujin bowed slightly to the older couple that squished up against the aisle to let them pass. 


“I like Yujin.” Yujin said. “I’m Yujin.”


They reached the end of the aisle and rounded the corner to a bunch of freezers lined up next to each other. 


“Here you go.” Yujin tapped at a certain fridge. “Any brand you’re looking for in particular?” 


When she saw the blank look on the other girl’s face Yujin just chuckled. 


She opened the fridge and picked out a packet. 


“This one is my family’s personal favorite.” Yujin handed it over to the other girl.


However, the blank look didn’t leave from Wonyoung’s face. In fact, Yujin realised that the other girl didn’t seem to be paying attention to her at all, instead she was looking off into the distance. 


“Are you okay?” 


There was no response from the girl and Yujin’s eyebrows furrowed. 


Finally, she turned around to follow her gaze. 


Yujin’s heart dropped. 


Outside the window and across the street was a buff guy in a football varsity jacket, with his arm around a slim blonde girl who was looking way too cozy. When the guy placed a kiss on her cheek Yujin had to turn away and look back at Wonyoung’s expression. The other girl wasn’t looking at the window anymore but at the ground, eyes blinking back tears. 


It wasn’t just any guy across the street with a girl on his arm. It was Jacob. Wonyoung’s boyfriend. And the girl was definitely not Wonyoung. Not when Wonyoung was right in front of Yujin, turning her back on Yujin and the eomuk and beelining it for the exit. 


Yujin couldn’t help but follow after her. 


“Wait!” 


The other girl stopped at the door of the store, seeming to remember Yujin’s presence. 


She turned around, eyebrows down, lips in a thin line and long manicured fingers clenching at the bedazzled phone in her hands. 


“Not a word about this to anyone.” Wonyoung said in a low voice, eyes narrowing at Yujin. “Got it?” 


Yujin could only nod. 


As she watched her go, Yujin was bewildered. She was bewildered because even though every other sign was pointing towards Wonyoung being angry, Yujin couldn’t help but notice something else that could be seen in her eyes. 


Her eyes looked so empty. 


“Jang Wonyoung.” Yujin muttered to herself slowly as if testing the name on her lips. She made her way back to the counter. “That’s a pretty name.” 


…………………………………………………


“No coke today?” Jiheon whined while placing her books into her locker. It was lunchtime at school and Yujin had just said that they will go straight to cafeteria, instead of taking a pit stop on the 2nd floor. 


“Please, you need to control yourself! You’ve been drinking it almost everyday.” Yujin said. “I honestly only drink it a lot because you like to drink it.”

“You also use it as an excuse to be near your crush, so it’s a win-win for both of us, isn’t it? Also, I get my coke AND I get to try and get more clues to see who your damn crush is!” 


Yujin just rolled her eyes with a chuckle. 


“Are you okay, by the way?” Jiheon asked. “You’ve been off today.” 


“Just felt a little weird this morning, I worked longer than I usually do yesterday because unnie’s a lazy .” Yujin said. 


“You know what you need?” 


“Please, don’t say co--” 


“Coke!” 


Jiheon grabbed Yujin’s arm and dragged her to the staircase, earning groans and complaints from the taller girl. 


“You’re addicted. I think you need to go to therapy.” Yujin said and Jiheon just shushed her. 


They continued bickering up the staircase, it wasn’t a very smart and cohesive argument it was just a lot of back and forths of ‘no’, ‘yes’ and ‘i want to’ and ‘you shouldn’t’! 


However, their bickering was cut short when they saw that a crowd was gathering around the hallways. 


“That’s weird.” Jiheon said. “It’s not usually this packed. What’s all the commotion?” 


Yujin and Jiheon squeezed their way towards the coke machine when they heard a voice ring through the hallways. 


“It’s final, Jacob! We’re over, how many times have I had to tell you this today?” 


“Can’t we talk this over? In private? I really don’t understand why you’re doing this.” 


Yujin’s eyes widened. Over at Locker 831, Wonyoung and Jacob were arguing, attracting half the school to watch. Yujin thought that Wonyoung must have confronted him about the cheating. 


“I told you. Jacob, I’m not into you anymore. I’m tired of you. What’s there not to get about it?” 


“Everything! Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me about something? Why the sudden change?” 


Yujin raised an eyebrow. Did Wonyoung not confront him about the cheating? Why hasn’t she exposed him yet?

“You’re just boring.” Wonyoung said. “I realised there’s better people and you’re not worth my time.” 


Yujin punched in the numbers 3b into the coke machine, finally turning away from the debacle. She was honestly very confused. Was this Wonyoung’s way of getting back at him? 


“Like, who, Vicky? Who could you have possibly met that made you want to break up with me?”


The whole hall went silent. Right as it happened, Yujin kicked at the coke machine, watching as the coke fell with a clack. She bent down and handed the coke to Jiheon, who was staring at her with a shocked expression. 


“What?” Yujin chuckled. 


“Her?” Jacob’s incredulous voice rang out through the hallways. 


It was then that Yujin turned back to the arguing duo, only to realise that every single eye in this hallway was on her. 


Not only that, but Jang Wonyoung was pointing directly at her. 


“I like Yujin, now.” Wonyoung glared at Jacob. “So, please leave me alone from now on.” 


Yujin was frozen into place. It felt like something was pinning her to the floor and restricting any of her muscles from moving. The only muscle moving was her heart which had started to race at an abnormal pace. 


She met Wonyoung’s gaze, the same blank look from yesterday on her face. Only this time, Yujin couldn’t unsee the emptiness hidden in Wonyoung’s eyes. 


“Who’s to say she likes you, too?” Jacob scoffed. 


Yujin didn’t know what it was, but time seemed to freeze and her brain started moving at a mile a minute that she couldn’t even comprehend what was going on. 


Before she could stop herself,  opened. 


“I do.” Yujin said. “I like her, too.” 


…………………………………………..


“Yujin!” Yena burst into their living room and scared the living daylights out of the youngest sister. 


“What do you want?” Yujin groaned. 


“Come down to the store now!”

“Unnie, I am not taking over your shift again! You’re the one who actually works full-time there!”


“No, Yujin, you don’t understand.” Yena struggled to yank Yujin off the couch. “There’s a pretty girl asking for you!” 


Yujin sat up at Yena’s words. 


“She said her name is Vicky.” Yena wiggled her eyebrows. “She is so pretty, if you’re not into her can I date her?” 


Yujin scrunched up her nose. “Don’t be a pedo, unnie, she’s my age.” 


At Yujin’s words Yena gagged, “nevermind, she’ll be my daughter instead.” 


Yujin just shook her head and made her way downstairs into the convenience store. 


Sure enough, Wonyoung was awkwardly standing there, a Gucci bag slung across her body. When she saw Yujin, she gave her a slight wave,  twitching into a forced smile. 


“You come back for the eomuk?” Yujin awkwardly joked, not enjoying the weird mood between them at the moment. 


Unfortunately for her, Wonyoung’s expression remained the same. 


“Can I talk to you in private?” Wonyoung said. 


Yujin nodded and gestured for her to come into the staffroom. Yujin coughed and pointed towards the couch, signaling for Wonyoung to take a seat. She closed the door and cautiously sat down next to her, on the other side of the couch. 


“So…” Yujin said after Wonyoung stayed quiet for a bit. “That was quite something at lunch today.” 


Wonyoung ran a finger over her long nails, stopping briefly at a nail with a small chip in them. 


“Yeah.” Wonyoung said. She sighed. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry.” 


Yujin just nodded, her lips pursing into a flat line to bring out her dimples, something she did whenever she was feeling self-conscious and awkward. 


“Thank you, for playing along.” Wonyoung said. “I just threw you in the deep end without thinking. I just panicked.” 


“Why me, though?” Yujin said. 


Wonyoung exhaled through her nose. “You’re the only one that knows the real reason why I broke up with Jacob.” 


“Why, though?” Yujin said. “If I were you, I would have confronted that cheater right away. And then I would have let everyone know what he’d done. Why did you make it seem like you grew bored of him?” 


“It’s embarrassing, okay?” Wonyoung said. “Everyone will think something is wrong with me if Jacob had to cheat on me with someone else.”


“What? That’s not true at all. I don’t think anyone will change their view on you.” Yujin said. “Jacob is the one at fault and people are going to see him as a terrible person who can’t commit and can’t stay loyal to a pretty cheerleader.” 


For the first time, Wonyoung turned her gaze to look at Yujin. Yujin was shocked by what she saw. 


Wonyoung was looking at her with so much pity. 


“What’s that look for?” 


Wonyoung was silent for a moment. 


After a while, she spoke. 


“You have a lot of faith in the world, don’t you?” Wonyoung said. 


“What’s that supposed to mean?” 


“You’re quite optimistic.” Wonyoung said. She turned back to look at her nails and mumbled to herself, “I wish I had your fantasy.” 


The last part was only Wonyoung thinking out loud to herself but Yujin was able to hear it. Sensing Wonyoung’s discomfort, she chose not to comment on it. 


“Well, what now?” Yujin said. “You don’t actually like me, do you?” 


Wonyoung shook her head quickly. “Oh, no, I’m not even into girls.” 


Yujin couldn’t help but laugh softly at Wonyoung’s quick reaction. 


There were a couple moments of silence while Yujin tensed and untensed her legs. 


“.... do you?” 


“Do I like you?” 


“Yeah.” 


“I’m on the same boat as you.” Yujin said. “But, I am into girls.” 


Wonyoung nodded and Yujin was quietly thankful that Wonyoung’s expression didn’t seem to change at the statement. 


“Can I ask a selfish favor?” 


“It depends what it is.” Yujin said. 


Wonyoung pinched at the bridge of her nose. 


“The reason why I didn’t tell Jacob that I saw that he… that I saw him… is because I wanted a bigger plan to get revenge on him.” Wonyoung said. “I’ve been doing some thinking, and I think I know what I want to do now.” 


Yujin nodded and gestured for Wonyoung to continue. 


“I want to make him so jealous to the point that he’s begging me to get back with him.” 


“And how do you plan on doing that?” 


It was a stupid question to ask, because Yujin could already guess what the answer was. And she honestly didn’t know how she felt about it.


“Let’s pretend that we’re dating.” 


And there it was. 


Yujin knew it was coming, but the phrase still made her palms start to sweat. Fake dating Wonyoung would come with a lot. For one, Wonyoung is one of the most popular girls in their grade, maybe even in the school. If Yujin and Wonyoung were to announce to the school that they were dating, no one would leave Yujin alone. She’d be under everyone’s scrutiny every time she walked through the halls and everytime she would be sitting in the classroom, wishing that no one knew that she existed. 


Not to mention that they are fake dating. As in, Yujin will have to act like she liked Wonyoung and they had to act like they were a couple. Yujin’s never acted before! 


“I know it’s a lot to ask but I promise, I won’t make you do much that you’re not comfortable with. We’ll just hang out and I’ll make sure to post stuff of us hanging out on my story and we’ll be good.”


“Even if I did say yes, what do I gain from it?” Yujin said. “Because, as much as I want to help, I don’t see a lot of reasons to say yes. There are other ways you can make him jealous, you know?” 


Wonyoung turned her body to face Yujin. It was the first time Yujin had seen her so set and sure of something. 


“Battle of the bands.” 


Yujin swallowed. 


“What?” 


“If you, Yujin Ahn, agree to pretend to date me, I’ll help you win the Battle of the Bands. I’ll help you to beat Jacob and his band.” Wonyoung said. 


The clocked ticked. A slight breeze shook the window ever so gently. And then, a ray of sunshine shone onto the side of Yujin’s face and her body instantly warmed up. 


She turned to Wonyoung, one hand out in front of her. 


“Deal.” Yujin said. “I’ll pretend to date you.”



.....................


A/N: Ngl everytime I wrote Vicky I had to give a little giggle. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! See you at the next update and if you wanna drop in and say hi just message me on twitter @yurigetic :)