“I promise it’s not what it looks like!” Yujin said. “B-babe. Believe me.” 


“Don’t you babe, me!” 


“I’m sorry.” 


Jihan sat in the corner of the room on the couch, spectating the entire debacle with bated breath. Don’t get her wrong, she was feeling very embarrassed and apologetic for the situation, however she was quite curious to watch their dynamic. 


Jihan didn’t really know Yujin that well, she was always just a friend of a friend. A fellow Korean that she would acknowledge in passing. But, from what she had seen from her, she seemed like a morally upright person. Honestly, Jihan doesn’t know why she hasn’t approached Yujin yet to talk to her because she had a feeling they would be good friends. 


And then there was Vicky Jang. If Jihan didn’t know Yujin that well, she definitely had no clue about Vicky Jang. 


Whenever Jihan came across Vicky and her group of friends, she realised that Vicky’s friends were much louder and talkative than her. At first, Jihan thought that perhaps it was to do with the fact that Vicky always seemed to be glued to her phone, but then she realised that the rest of her friends were constantly on their phones, too.


Jihan wondered if Vicky was just the type of person who liked to listen and observe. Perhaps Vicky was just a girl of few words. 


“You’re unbelievable, Yujin! I can’t believe you actually have the nerve to stand me up in front of all my friends when we have been planning this since last week! Even worse, you don’t even give me a legitimate reason. Important things? Really? Important things like getting all close and cuddly with someone else, is that it?” 


Jihan felt like she just got hit by an avalanche. Perhaps she was wrong. Vicky was definitely NOT a girl of a few words. 


She snuck a glance at Yujin, the poor girl who had to deal with the full load of Vicky’s wrath. 


Yujin, the poor girl who was short circuiting because of how crazy this situation was. If she were to watch herself from Third Person point of view, she would merely laugh at the situation she was in. But, sadly for her, she was not. The only thing in her point of view was Jang Wonyoung with fiery eyes staring straight at her. 


“This morning, too!” Wonyoung said. “You barely talked to me all day and honestly I tried to be patient with you because I knew you were feeling nervous but then you went on to start ignoring me and now this!” 


Yujin said nothing, head spinning because Wonyoung was giving her whiplash again. Wonyoung? Trying to be patient for Yujin? That was new and very sweet, especially for someone like Wonyoung. 


“You.” Wonyoung turned her gaze towards the person sitting next to her on the couch. “Don’t think I forgot about you, too. I don’t know what is going on here but you should know better than to toy around with someone with a girlfriend.” 


“Hey.” Yujin finally spoke up. “Leave her alone, she did nothing wrong.” 


“Nothing wrong?” Wonyoung said. “She’s out here with  my girlfriend! That’s you, if you seemed to forget. What, with the way all those girls were all up on you during lunch today and you weren’t doing a single thing to make them back off! That’s the second time that’s happened, Yujin! I thought we already talked about this?” 


Yujin put her head down in shame. Wonyoung was right about that. 


“I’m sorry. I don’t have any excuse for that and we can talk about that more, later.” Yujin said. Then she put her head back up to meet Wonyoung’s gaze. “But, if you actually gave me the time to speak, I can explain to you what’s going on right now.” 


Wonyoung crossed her arms. 


“I’m giving you twenty seconds and then I’m out of here.” 


Yujin took a deep breath. 


“Jihan sprained her ankle today which means she can’t dance on Sunday for the Community Festival and their last full group rehearsal is tomorrow and it’s really hard to do the dance without the full seven-members because they use props and things so Jihan was teaching me the dance right now so that I can fill in for her!” 


When she finished speaking, Yujin let out a huge exhale, and then another inhale to catch her breath. 


Jihan was impressed. Yujin spoke very fast. 


Wonyoung on the other hand, did not seem amused. 


“So, does the choreography involve getting all up and cosy with each other? Like you were when I walked in?” 


“That was my fault.” Jihan finally spoke up. “I scrolled too far and found my baby photos and Yujin was wrestling me to see them.” 


“In my defense, Jihan looked really cute!” 


“Well, in my defense, Yujin should’ve just agreed to show me her own baby pictures so that she didn’t have to wrestle me!” 


Yujin glared at Jihan, though it was obvious that she was trying to suppress her laugh. In the end, the two of them couldn’t hold it and started to chuckle quietly to themselves. 


“Jihan?” Wonyoung said, eyeing the way the two were laughing together. 


“Yeah?” 


“Get the hell out of here.”


That got Yujin and Jihan to stop.


“O-oh.” The mood suddenly turned darker. Yujin blinked towards Wonyoung’s direction in disbelief as Jihan began to limp towards the door. “Sorry. I’ll go. See you later, Yujin.” 


Yujin kept her gaze on Wonyoung, watching as the other girl was scowling at her limping friend. Suddenly, Yujin straightened up, one of her hands tightening into a fist. 


“No.” 


It was only one word. But it was one word that Yujin had never said to Wonyoung before. One word that Wonyoung hasn’t heard before. 


The one word echoed around the room, causing Jihan to halt her steps and for Wonyoung to snap her head in Yujin’s direction. 


Wonyoung’s shocked face was quickly replaced with a darker expression. 


“What?” Wonyoung said. 


Yujin pursed her lips, gaze not faltering from Wonyoung as if to challenge her. “I said, no.” 


“Yujin.” Wonyoung warned. Usually, Yujin would cower a little at her gaze. But today, Yujin was exploring her new found confidence. Wonyoung flitted her eyes towards Jihan who looked an equal amount of scared and confused. “Leave, Jihan.” 


“No.” Yujin said, firmer than before. “Jihan can stay. If you want to tell me anything, you can tell me now.” 


“This has nothing to do with Jihan. This is about you and me.” Wonyoung pushed, her gaze fixated on Yujin once again. “I want her gone.”

“Or what?” Yujin challenged. 


There was a pause as Wonyoung’s nostril flared a little. 


“Either she leaves or you and I are over.” 


For the first time, Yujin’s stance faltered slightly and the fire in her eyes dimmed to a small flame. She searched Wonyoung’s eyes for any sign of weakness, a sign that she was bluffing or that she regretted what she said. But, what she got was nothing. 


“So?” Wonyoung said after Yujin didn’t say anything. “What’s it going to be?” 


Finally, Jihan spoke up. 


“I think I’m just going to go.” Jihan said. She shot a pitiful look towards Yujin. “I don’t want to get in-between your relationship.” 


It wasn’t until she had one hand on the door when Yujin finally found the courage to speak. However, nobody in the room expected what she had blurted out. 


“We’re not really dating!” 


Wonyoung, who was watching Jihan leave the room with a victorious smirk, suddenly snapped her head towards Yujin. 


“What?” 


“Yujin!” 


Yujin stepped towards Jihan, gesturing between herself and Wonyoung. 


“The two of us?” Yujin said. “We’re only pretending to date. We’re not dating for real.” 


“Yujin!” Wonyoung exclaimed. “Why would you tell her that?” 


“Because!” Yujin yelled back in the same tone. “I’m sick and tired of you getting angry at me all the time!” 


“Excuse me?” 


“You heard me. Stop getting angry at me over every little thing. I mean it. You always feel the need to boss me around and snap at me when things aren’t going how you planned.” Yujin kept going. She didn’t know what came over her but every feeling of frustration she had harboured up was being hurled out straight at Wonyoung. 


“Well, here’s an idea!” Wonyoung scoffed. “Stop doing things wrong?” 


“I’m sorry, Little Miss Perfect, I’m not like you. I make mistakes like a normal human being.” 


“No, you don’t listen to me when I tell you things! And you’re not a normal human being, you’re just acting like a whiny child!” 


“God, why are you so!” 


“So, what?”


“You’re so!” 


“Spit it out, Yujin.” 


Yujin’s fists clenched together, her lips pursed as she stared straight at Wonyoung. 


“You’re so controlling!” 


Jihan had had enough, and she bravely stepped in-between the two of them, two hands out. 


“Stop it, please.” Jihan said. “You guys are yelling.” 


Yujin sighed and forced herself to tear her eyes away from Wonyoung. She has never raised her voice like that before. Yujin often prided herself in the way that she was able to keep her calm and she was feeling kind of upset at herself for allowing her voice to escalate like that. 


But then again, it was time for her to finally stand up to Wonyoung. 


“I’m fine doing whatever you say, you know? I’ll follow you in doing whatever and I’ve even pushed myself out of my own comfort zone for you.” Yujin’s voice was lower and softer than before as she stared at a spot on the floor. “You know why? Because, I know this is important to you and I want to help you.” 


Wonyoung kept quiet, her head still spinning from their yelling match prior.


“Is it too much to ask that you do the same for me once-in-awhile?” 


Just then, a knock sounded on the door and Yena poked her head in, no doubt having heard the shouting from before. 


“Hiya.” Yena said with an awkward smile. “Jihan-ssi, I think your parents are here to pick you up.” 


Jihan gave Yena a strained smile. Then she turned her attention back to Wonyoung and Yujin who were looking anywhere but at each other. 


“Thanks for helping with the dance, Yujin.” Jihan said. “Sorry, for all the mess.” 


“It’s not your fault.” Yujin said. She forced a smile in Jihan’s direction. “Take care of your foot.” 


Jihan only nodded, waving goodbye. Before leaving, she briefly acknowledged Wonyoung with a small close-lipped smile that didn’t reach her eyes.


The door shut and then the room was left with two very awkward and embarrassed tall people. Both were tongue tied and were struggling to find the words to speak. 


After a few excruciating moments of silence, Yujin went to speak up only to be interrupted by Wonyoung. 


“I’m just going to go home.” Wonyoung said. “My driver is waiting for me. See you at school.” 


Yujin chose to wordlessly watch her leave. 


When Wonyoung left the room, Yujin collapsed onto the couch and leaned her head in her hands. Yujin tried to breathe to calm herself down but nothing was working. Her chest was hurting, squeezing as if something was trying to claw its way out of it. 


A yell of frustration. That’s what was bubbling in Yujin’s chest. 


And yell, she did. 


When Yena walked into the staff room after watching Wonyoung’s black SUV drive down the road, she expected her younger sister to be shedding tears, her eyes red and nose runny. A sight that Yena wasn’t too surprised by. Yujin cried over the littlest things like her pancake not flipping into a perfect circle. It was no doubt that Yujin would cry over this. 


However, Yena was shocked to find that when she walked into the room Yujin’s eyes were completely dry. Instead, she was breathing heavily, hands clenched tightly together into fists. 


It was her first time seeing Yujin so angry. 


………………………………….


(“Victoria, how was the sushi place?” Wonyoung’s housekeeper and Nanny greeted her as soon as Wonyoung came into the living room. She was seated on the couch watching a random show on television. “Are you still hungry? I have leftover adobo if you want.” 


“I’m fine, Yaya.” Wonyoung didn’t spare a glance at her. “I’m kinda tired. I’m going to bed.” 


When Wonyoung was finally safe in her own bedroom, she threw her bag onto her desk and fell onto her bed. 


It was only then that she let the tears start to slip from her eyes.) 


……………………………….


It had been two and half days since Yujin and Wonyoung last talked. 


On Friday, Yujin went through the entire day trying to find a way to get Wonyoung to talk to her but it seemed like Wonyoung didn’t want to be found. The only time Yujin saw her was when she was sitting with her friends during lunch, her back to Yujin’s table. 


Yujin did see Jihan, though. The girl had approached Yujin in private to let her know that she won’t tell anyone about what she knows. 


“So, can you explain to me the whole situation?” Jihan had asked afterwards. 


“I need her help to win Battle of the Bands and she needs my help.” Yujin shrugged. “That’s all there is.”

“But, why would she need your help?” Jihan said. “I mean, no offence on you! It’s just… she’s Vicky Jang, you know?” 


Yujin only nodded. She definitely knew. 


“Popularity.” Yujin said. It wasn’t really a lie, anyways. “Imagine if I, a nobody, were to win the Battle of the Bands against The Jacob White? Imagine how popular she would get for dating me in the first place.” 


Jihan didn’t look too persuaded by Yujin’s reasoning but thankfully for Yujin, she didn’t seem to push on the situation. 


“I see.” Jihan had said. Then she smiled a bright Jihan smile. She, like Yujin, had the cutest-dimpled smile that always lit up the room. If anything, Jihan was like a little mini version of Yujin. “Well, if the band thing still goes through, can I be part of your band? I play piano!” 


Yujin just chuckled. 


Saturday was no better, only because Yujin was super busy the entire day and wouldn’t have been able to find the time to have a decent conversation with Wonyoung. So, she decided to stop trying to text her. The mini spam from Yujin had enough material for Wonyoung to respond to, anyways. Though, they were just a string of passive aggressive texts trying to get Wonyoung to apologise or at the very least  up her ego and admit that she was wrong to an extent. 


Aside from the preparations for their food stall, Yujin had spent the entire day going over the choreography for the performance. It was especially hard because of the usage of props. They had let Yujin borrow the props, a yellow chair with wheels on the bottom, so that she could get used to wheeling it around everywhere and Jihan and a couple of her friends had kindly spent the afternoon with her helping her with everything. Thankfully, she didn’t have to learn how to longboard like some of the other girls in the dance. 


She ended up going to bed super late that night, because she was having a hard time memorising some of the dance. That and also because she had spent the entire afternoon grating bags upon bags of carrots to prepare for their stall the next day. Her hands were basically stained orange. 


She had considered texting Wonyoung before going to bed, but she was way too drained to even unlock her phone. Plus, they had to leave early the next day to start setting up. The Community Festival officially kicked off at 11am, but she and her parents had to get there at around 8 to set up their tent. Also, it was an hour and a half drive from their place to the Festival. 


The next morning, her entire family was squished in a truck for an hour and a half with a full trailer being dragged along behind them. 


“Ahn Yena, I am not letting you roll the Kimbap!” Her Mom had exclaimed to a whining Yena on the car ride there.


Yena was notorious for being absolutely terrible at rolling Kimbap. 


They were planning who would be in charge of what in the stall, and they soon realised that they were going to be pretty tight for time management. Honestly, having one more person would have been helpful, but all of Yujin’s friends were helping out their own parents with their stalls. And all of Yena’s friends lived in Korea. 


Wonyoung was meant to help them, and her helping hand would have been very useful, but Yujin was still mad at her and refused to ask for her help. 


So, good thing she didn’t have to ask, then. 


“Hi.”

Yujin had been putting money into the cash register when she heard a familiar voice that caused her to freeze. 


She looked up and there in all her glory was the person who had not left her mind the entire weekend. 


“What are you doing here?” Yujin said, a bitter scowl on her face.  


Yujin grew even more annoyed when Wonyoung’s expression remained blank. 


“I promised to help, didn’t I?” Wonyoung said. “Well, I’m here.” 


“Yujin-ah!” Yujin’s Mom came over. “Who’s this?” 


Wonyoung turned her gaze away from Yujin to land onto her Mom’s face. Wonyoung realised her resemblance with Yujin was strong. Yujin’s Mom had the same sharp eyes, eyes that seemed to be fully aware of everything going on around her. She was pretty tall, too, though Yujin was slightly taller than her. 


Her smile, however, was nothing like Yujin’s. She had a pretty smile, don’t get Wonyoung wrong, it was just that Yujin’s smile was way more brighter. Her mom’s smile was the type to put you at ease while Yujin’s was the type to brighten up your day. Wonyoung was able to catch a glimpse of Yujin’s Dad hunched over a grill and came to the conclusion that Yena looked more like their Dad. 


“This is my schoolmate.” Yujin said. “She’s here to help us.” 


“Oh, thank you darling!” Yujin’s Mom brought Wonyoung into a brief hug. Wonyoung stiffly returned the hug, not expecting the physical contact. “What’s your name?” 


“Vicky.” Wonyoung said. “Vicky Jang.” 


“I’m Suzy.” Yujin’s Mom introduced herself. She gestured for Wonyoung to follow her. “Come, I’ll show you what your job will be, we open up in a few minutes.” 


Yujin quickly returned to what she was doing on the cash register to avoid eye contact with Wonyoung. While she walked by, Yujin stiffened slightly when she felt Wonyoung softly brush up against Yujin because of the tight space in the stall. 


“Our stall sells two products, Bunggeoppang and Kimbap.” Suzy started to teach Wonyoung. “Yujin is in charge of taking Bunggeoppang orders and Yena is in charge of taking Kimbap orders. Me and my husband will be doing most of the cooking.” 


Wonyoung nodded. 


“You’ll be in charge of giving all the orders to everyone.” Suzy said. “We use a number system, so all you have to do is call out order numbers. Sounds good?” 


“Okay.” 


“Great.” Suzy smiled. It was a motherly smile and Wonyoung couldn’t help but feel a little warm inside. “Oh, I almost forgot, you’re also damage control for the grumpy halmeonis.”


“What’s that?” 


Something flickered in Suzy’s eyes, her smile faltering just the smallest. Not in disappointment, she was just caught off guard. It was very brief though and only Yujin caught it. 


“It means Grandmothers.” Suzy said, her smile now back to normal. “They get grumpy if we take a little too long.” 


Then she looked at Yena who was trying not to look like she was listening to the conversation. 


“Especially because one of my daughters, not naming who, gets distracted every once in a while.” 


“Mom, our system gets confusing sometimes!” Yena whined. 


“I never said it was you.” Suzy raised an eyebrow at Yena, who instantly pouted and returned to chopping up vegetables. 


Suzy just chuckled at her daughter. 


“Anyways, if you notice some of the halmeonis growing antsy, try conversing with them. They’ll adore you because you’re pretty.” Suzy said. “You sure you’re not a k-pop idol?” 


Wonyoung shook her head. “Nah, I’m not into that stuff.” 


Suddenly, Yujin’s voice broke both of them out of their conversation.


“Hello!” Yujin said in Korean. “How can I help you?”


“Two Kimbaps, please.” said the customer. 


“Sure, auntie. Unnie will take your order over there for that.” Yujin pointed towards Yena. “But, would you like Bunggeoppang, too?” 


Wonyoung stood awkwardly on the side, watching the exchange and not understanding a single word they were saying. Well, she understood the words Kimbap and Bunggeoppang, seeing how Yujin’s Mom just explained them to her seconds prior. She also recognised the word unnie, though she would have been able to guess by the way Yujin pointed at Yena. 


Wonyoung had to admit, Yujin was pretty cute when she was conversing in Korean with older people. Whenever she overheard her serving customers at the Convenience store, Wonyoung couldn’t help but want to tune in and listen. Something about Yujin’s voice got softer and politer and it was really interesting for Wonyoung to listen to. 


“Yena, for the last time, I am not letting you wrap the Kimbap.” 


“Please, Mom?” Yena said. “It’s only one customer, I want to try. Please please please? It’s not even that busy? Look! She’s even talking to Yujin, she won’t mind if it takes a long time.”  


Yena and Yujin’s Mom just sighed and stood aside, gesturing towards the unrolled Kimbap. Yena clapped her hands gleefully and made her way over. 


It was then that Wonyoung overheard a word between Yujin and the customer that made her perk up her ears. It was a word that she’s overheard Yena use all the time. 


She turned to look in their direction, only to find that both of them were already staring at her. 


Wonyoung and Yujin met eyes. It was only a split second because as soon as they met eyes Yujin quickly turned away to talk to the customer again. But it was enough to make Wonyoung realise something. 


She had missed Yujin. 


The two and a half days without Yujin was strange to Wonyoung, to say the least. 


At first she was upset. She was angry that Yujin would go as far as to blurt out their secret. She was angry that Yujin was angry. 


But then, on her way home, she started feeling something she hadn’t felt in awhile. A heavy feeling in her chest that made her wish as though she could turn back time and redo everything again. Was it sorrow? Or loss? 


As the tears slipped its way out of Wonyoung’s eyes for the first time in years, she realised that it was regret. 


The anger then turned into frustration at herself. She was mad at the way she handled things with Yujin. If it wasn’t for her, Yujin wouldn’t have lost her patience with her. But, Wonyoung had no clue what was going on. The random spurts of feelings she was getting was so confusing to her and there was nothing she could do but act out of impulse. Jang Wonyoung was never the type to act without thinking everything through carefully. She was precise and always planned. 


That was until Ahn Yujin came along. 


She would tell her what to do and Yujin would follow through with little complaint and to the best of her abilities. And that really pleased Wonyoung, a girl who always liked to have everything done to how she wants it. At least, it pleased her until Yujin would do the same thing for others. 


The anger and regret soon turned into embarrassment. Embarrassment because Wonyoung knew that she was mostly at fault for this. Embarrassment because she was too much of a coward to tell Yujin what she had to say. She knew what to do, why couldn’t she do it? 


Wonyoung had spent an abnormal amount of time just staring at herself in the mirror, telling herself just to apologise to the girl. 


And now, here she was, watching Yujin walk towards her and the aching feeling had returned.


“Unnie, I’m a pro at cutting Kimbap.” Yujin passed by Wonyoung without sparing her a glance. Wonyoung felt as if she was invisible. 


Wonyoung watched as Yujin smirked at Yena. 


Then she took out a knife and lined it up onto the Kimbap. 


The first slice was fine. So was the second. However by the third it was starting to get wonky until she reached the last quarter of the Kimbap and when she went to slice it all the contents started spilling out. 


Yena and Yujin spared a glance at each other, the latter’s cheeks incredibly red. 


Then the two burst into laughter. 


“It’s only because your roll was wonky! How did you manage to wrap the seaweed diagonally?” 


Meanwhile, their Mom was on the side, shaking her head and preparing a new Kimbap. She already had two lined up, all ready to be cut. 


“Lucky for you two, I already made that roll, so you two can eat that yourselves.” Suzy said, with a shake of her head. 


Then she nodded in Wonyoung’s direction. 


“Here you go, Vicky.” Suzy said while cutting the food. Once she had finished, she handed it towards Wonyoung. “The order numbers are on the side of the box.” 


Wonyoung nodded and took the food in her hands. 


“Order number one?” Wonyoung said in a soft voice. She looked towards the lady who she knew had ordered it. 


The lady had said a phrase in Korean, which Wonyoung had guessed meant ‘Thank you’. She had heard the customers say it to Yujin a lot whenever she served them back at the store. 


Wonyoung bowed slightly and albeit quite awkwardly. She was just trying to mimic the way Yujin had done it. 


The lady smiled, murmuring that word that Wonyoung recognised so well. Perhaps it meant goodbye? 


“Stop goofing around.” Wonyoung heard Suzy say towards her daughters who were munching happily on the ghastly Kimbap roll the two of them had made. 


Suzy smiled affectionately at her daughters, one arm being placed around Yena’s shoulders to rub at her arm while Suzy leaned forward to place a soft kiss onto Yujin’s forehead. It was then that Wonyoung realised just how much love was in their family. 


Wonyoung felt her heart clench. 


Suddenly, Suzy turned to look at Wonyoung, catching the girl staring at them. 


“Do you want to try the Kimbap? Before the pigs eat it all?” Suzy said. She slapped slightly at Yujin’s arm. “Give some to your friend, don’t be greedy.” 


And there it was, their second eye contact of the day. 


“Sorry.” Yujin said, offering her some of the food. 


Wonyoung took it slowly. 


“N-no.” Wonyoung said. “There’s no need for you to be sorry. Don’t say sorry. It’s all good. You’re good.” 


Yujin could only stare at her in confusion. 


“Um, okay?” 


Wonyoung bit her lip. Since when did she start word vomiting like that? And stuttering? That was 100% out of character for Wonyoung. 


Yujin returned to her original post for the stall and Wonyoung could only watch her walk away. With a sigh she ate the food. It was pretty good. 


“Order two is ready.” Suzy said.


Wonyoung quickly chewed and swallowed her food. 


“Order number two?” Wonyoung held out the food. A young looking couple took the food from her with a small smile. They seemed like Yena’s age. 


Speaking of Yena, the girl had made her way over to Wonyoung. 


“Vicky.” 


Yena refused to look at Wonyoung, only looking out in the distance at the handful of people that were starting to arrive. Since the festival only just opened five minutes ago, the people there were only starting to trickle in. Most of the people they had served were other workers there. 


“I don’t like that you’re here.” Yena said, her voice deep and cold. Wonyoung’s breath hitched in  at the sound of it. 


Wonyoung didn’t dare to utter a word. 


“I don’t like people that hurt my sister. So, I’ll be straightforward. I don’t like you at all, Vicky.” Yena said. “If you hurt my sister again, you’re going to have to deal with me. You got that?” 


Wonyoung nodded, refusing to look in Yena’s direction. 


“Good,” was all Yena said. 


Then she walked back to the cashier to tend to an approaching customer. 


When Yena had left, Wonyoung released a breath she didn’t know that she was holding. Then she turned to her right where Yujin was. 


She never noticed before, but Yujin had a really pretty side profile. Her nose was very pretty, upturned with a high nose bridge and round tip. Her lips were quite plump, too, and Wonyoung could make out the outline of where it protrudes from her face. She liked how Yujin had a defined rounded jawline, a soft structured jaw for a relatively soft looking girl. 


It was her eyes that held the intensity. Eyes that seemed to stare into Wonyoung’s soul whenever she looked at her. But not in a judging way. No, they were eyes that just seemed to  know. 


And then Yujin was smiling at the customer. Saying things in Korean that Wonyoung couldn’t comprehend yet again but she enjoyed the way Yujin’s tone would change. She enjoyed the intonation of Yujin’s voice, how it seemed to bob up and down. 


“Yujin?” Wonyoung suddenly blurted out. Her voice seemed to shock not only Yujin but herself, too. 


“Yes?” Yujin raised an eyebrow at her. 


“Um.” Wonyoung stood there, fidgeting with her fingers. 


It was at the tip of her tongue. 


-- Sorry. -- 

-- Just say it! It’s only one word. -- 


“What do you want?” Yujin tapped her foot impatiently.


-- Sorry. -- 

-- I’m sorry. --

-- What’s so hard? -- 

-- Come on, just say it -- 


Wonyoung took a deep breath, and opened  to say the words she was dying to say inside. 


“Can you teach me Korean?” 


Wonyoung cursed herself for being a coward, yet again. 


“You-” Yujin was speechless. “I mean, sure?” 


Honestly, Yujin was going to try to go through the whole day without having to talk to Wonyoung. She was still angry at her, mostly angry because it had been this long and Wonyoung hasn’t apologised yet. Half of the reason why Yujin didn’t want to text her first was because she wanted Wonyoung to be the bigger person and confess that she was the one in the wrong. 


Only once in the entire time they had spent together had Yujin heard Wonyoung apologise to her, and that was when Wonyoung tried to force her to kiss her (on the cheek) in the cafeteria. 


Yujin just wanted to hear it again. She was tired of always feeling like she was the one in the wrong. 


But, right at that moment, seeing the way that Wonyoung was looking at her with so much sincerity, Yujin couldn’t help but want to help her. 


“Of course. I’ll try to teach you Korean.” 


And then Wonyoung smiled and Yujin couldn’t help but smile at her, too. 


Perhaps for now, Yujin didn’t mind waiting a little longer for that ‘sorry’. 


…………………………...


One and a half hours later and the stall had gotten busier as the Ahn family had expected. Good thing they had prepared a large supply of ingredients. The first year they had done this they had run out of food halfway through the day because they didn’t anticipate how many people would buy their food. 



Yena had thankfully not let herself go into dreamland and was keeping up with the long lines of orders, even conversing with some people if she saw that there might be a little wait time. 


And of course, Yujin was just enjoying the way she got to spoon red bean paste into the Bunggeoppang. It had become a routine for her. Spoon the paste and take orders. And again, spoon the paste and take orders. Try not to make it seem like she was watching the way Wonyoung was working. 


“Order 72?” 


Yujin was quite impressed. Wonyoung started to get into the flow of things once everything got busier and hectic. She remembered that Wonyoung said she has never worked a part-time job in her life, so this was a new experience for her. 


Wonyoung was enjoying it though. She liked the way she got to shout things at people. 


Business went smoothly up until lunch time. 


“Agh!” came a voice from the back of the stall. 


Everyone stopped and turned to see Suzy holding her hands with a grimace. 


“Are you okay, Mom?” A concerned Yujin suddenly rushed over. 


“Did you cut yourself?” Yena looked on with furrowed eyebrows. 


Wonyoung remained silent, opting to watch from her spot near the front. 


Suzy shook her head, chuckling a little. “My carpal tunnel is acting up again. Old people things.” 


“You’re only 52, Mom.” Yujin said. 


“That’s old.” Yena murmured under her breath as to which Yujin nudged at her sister. 


“Do you want to swap jobs with me, Mom?” Yujin said. “I can’t make the Kimbaps as pretty as yours but at least it’s not like Unnie’s.” 


“Hey!” 


Suzy nodded, ignoring her oldest child. “I think that might be best.” 


Yujin gave her Mom a thumbs up and snapped on some disposable gloves. 


At the counter, Suzy watched as her daughter carefully laid out the rice onto the seaweed. Then she added bits of beef and the pre-sliced carrot, egg and yellow radish. Yujin and also Yena were always good at filling the Kimbap. It was the rolling that was the hard part.


Watching her roll was a struggle for Suzy because though Yujin could get it done to a decent extent, she wasn’t very fast at it. 


For a few orders, it was fine. However, after awhile, customer after customer started to pile up and it was on the verge of becoming hectic. It wasn’t bad enough that they couldn’t handle it but it was not organised enough for poor Wonyoung. Especially since Wonyoung could see more efficient ways they could be working. 


“Suzy.” Wonyoung said once there was a short break between customers. 


“Yes?” 


“Would you like me to scoop instead? So, Yena can help Yujin with the Kimbap?” 


Suzy smiled at Wonyoung. 


“You’re such a dear.” she said. “I don’t trust Yena with the Kimbap, though. Do you want to try helping Yujin with making it, instead? We have an extra rolling mat.” 


“I’ve never done it before.” Wonyoung bit her lip. 


“Yujin will teach you.” Suzy said. Then she called out to her daughter. “Yujin-ah, there’s a spare mat in the box. Teach Vicky how to roll them up, she’ll help you.” 


Yujin looked up from her work to glance at Wonyoung. She nodded slowly and bent underneath her workstation to grab the extra rolling mat her Mom had pointed out before. 


Wonyoung made her way over to Yujin and cautiously took the gloves that Yujin was holding out to her. 


“So, uh....” Yujin said, her voice a little croaky. She cleared  slightly. “You just like, do this? I don’t know how to describe it. Just roll it and try to add pressure.” 


She gestured to Wonyoung the finished product. 


“Ta-dah?” Yujin said. Then she grabbed the knife and cut into 6 pieces. “And then, yeah. That’s it.” 


“Okay.” Wonyoung said. She looked at the side of the box. “Order 83?” 


“Here, I’m making one for you to try.” Yujin said as soon as Wonyoung came back. 


Wonyoung watched intently as Yujin placed all the ingredients onto the seaweed, patting it down with care and focus. When she was done, she pushed it closer to Wonyoung. 


Wonyoung placed her hands onto the mat trying to mimic the way she had seen Yujin (also, Suzy) do it before. She rolled slightly, then looked to Yujin in confirmation. 


“How hard do I squeeze?” Wonyoung said. 


“Not really squeezing,” Yujin said, “just applying pressure.” 


Then she gently squeezed her fingers together in front of Wonyoung’s face, trying to give her an idea of how hard to do it. But to Wonyoung, it just looked like Yujin was trying to imitate tiger claws. 


Wonyoung chuckled slightly and proceeded to try rolling the Kimbap. 


“Order 84?” she heard Yena say from behind them. 


Once the mat had fully wrapped around the sushi, Wonyoung realised that there was still some seaweed sticking out, so she tried to push it out with one hand but Yujin shook her head. 


“No, wait.” Yujin quickly brought her hands out and placed them over Wonyoung’s, squeezing them slightly. “Keep the pressure a little longer.” 


Wonyoung shot a glance at Yujin. She was close, really close. Yujin, however, didn’t seem to notice.


“Okay, now you can unwrap the mat.” 


Once Wonyoung had unraveled the mat, she looked at the Kimbap. Her very first Kimbap. 


She couldn’t help but smile to herself.


“I did it!” Wonyoung grinned, her eyes crinkling and her voice going a tone higher than Yujin has ever heard before. 


Yujin had to pause for a moment. Not only did Wonyoung’s voice sound higher in pitch but it was somewhat softer than how she usually spoke. Almost like a baby. 


It was… really cute. 


“What?” Wonyoung said, the pitch of her voice returning back to its normal state but the softness still there. Yujin’s heart almost burst when she saw the way Wonyoung had tilted her head ever so slightly to the left as she looked at Yujin in confusion. 


“Yeppeo.” Yujin whispered. Then she closed  quickly as if she didn’t mean for the word to slip out. 


Wonyoung’s eyebrows furrowed and her lips pouted slightly, similar to how Yena had been doing all day. Or more specifically, her whole life. 


“What the hell does that word mean?” Wonyoung said. “I hear it all the damn time and I really can’t figure it out. The customers have been saying it all day to me.” 


Yujin just grinned. 


“ for you, then.” Yujin said. “Now, get back to work.” 


Wonyoung just glared at Yujin. 


“The customers are waiting.” Yujin sing-songed. “Go cut up that Kimbap you just made.” 


Wonyoung narrowed her eyes at Yujin who was smiling to herself as she made the next roll. After a while, Wonyoung simply rolled her eyes and picked up the knife. 


Suzy was watching them from the cashier, one eyebrow raised as she glanced at her husband. He too, seemed to have the same expression. A knowing look. 


Every roll Wonyoung made got better and better and by the 102nd order she was rolling at a speed that was 2x as fast as Yujin. 


Wonyoung and Yena’s roles in working the stall had changed with the shift in Yujin and her Mom’s positions. At first, Yena had to travel back and forth between scooping the bean paste and taking orders for the Kimbap, both being on opposite sides of the tent. Eventually, as Wonyoung got faster at rolling, she let Yena know that she would be able to take the orders as well. 


Wonyoung actually had the most jobs out of everyone. She would roll the Kimbap, slice them and then serve them right away. Then afterwards she would take 2 or 3 more orders. By the time she’d get back to her station, Yujin would have two mats ready for rolling and then the cycle would start again. 


Wonyoung and Yujin worked wordlessly side by side. They were able to fall into a nice routine and the two were honestly lost in their own world, working like parts of a machine. 


Only once, did Wonyoung and Yujin halt their routine. And even then, it was just a brief stop. 


“Vicky Jang.” Wonyoung heard Suzy say from the counter. She stopped briefly to look at Suzy, only to realise that the lady wasn’t looking at her but was talking to a customer. 


The customer, however, was staring straight at her.


Wonyoung could only give the customer a small smile, she was a nice looking grandma, kind of like a teddy bear. 


It was when she turned back to her work that she heard the grandma say something. 


“Yeppeo.” 


There was the word again! 


Wonyoung froze slightly. What in the world could that word possibly mean? And why was everyone saying it so much?


“Pretty.” came Yujin’s voice.


Wonyoung looked at Yujin who wasn’t looking at her. 


“What?” 


There was a slight pause from Yujin while she focused on her work. 


“That word.” Yujin said. “It means pretty.” 


Wonyoung’s mouth made an o-shape. Everything made so much sense, now!  


“I see.” Wonyoung said. Then she left to go to the front of the counter. “Orders 143, 144 and 145?” 


She gave the orders to the respective customers and took the next people’s orders with a smile. Then she returned back to the workstation next to Yujin. 


“Yujin is yeppeo.” 


Yujin froze, one hand hovering the container of grated carrot.


“Was that right?” Wonyoung smiled proudly. 


Yujin pursed her lips to try and suppress the blush that was coming onto her cheeks. But, judging from the way Wonyoung started giggling she knew that she had not succeeded. 


“No flirting with the coworkers.” Yujin said. 


Wonyoung scoffed. “Bold of you to assume I’m flirting with you. If I called your Mom pretty, does that mean I’m flirting with her?” 


Yujin narrowed her eyes and Wonyoung just smiled victoriously. 


It was then that Wonyoung realised that shy and embarrassed Yujin was cute. 


Just then, Yujin’s phone started ringing from her pocket. It was her alarm. Yujin’s eyes widened. 


“I gotta go!” Yujin said. “I have to prepare for our dance!” 


She threw off her gloves and her apron. 


“Mom! Dad!” Yujin said, “I gotta go to the dance now!” 


“Good luck, baby.” Suzy kissed her daughter on the temple. Wonyoung observed that Suzy seemed to do that with Yujin a lot, but not with Yena. She always hugged Yena, instead. 


Wonyoung watched as Yujin bounced her way out of the stall. She could still see her bouncing even the distance as she made her way towards the backstage. 


Wonyoung chuckled to herself. If she wasn’t so sure before, she was definitely sure now.


She had missed Yujin. 


………………….


A/N: Wow, I'm on a roll with writing these chapters HAHAHAHA. Our baby Wonyoungie is getting cuter and cuter nawwww. Also, looks like we're starting to get glimpses of her personal life back home. (BTW any Filos that are reading I want to ask do you prefer adobo or sinigang? I love adobo sm but sinigang is my one true love).

 Wonyoung is learning some Korean, too! Nawwwww. So cute. 

Again, I hope everyone is safe and healthy and I wish everyone the best with their exams, assignments or just things that are going on in their life!