***** A/N: Dialogue in ITALICS are spoken in Korean. 

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



(It was inevitable).



Across the garage stood Ahn Yujin. She stood tall, monolid eyes focused on the sheet of paper in front of her. They were usually bright and alert and when the sun shone on them there were sparkles inside those brown almond-shaped eyes. 



(It was inevitable). 



Jang Wonyoung was perched on a tattered green couch, surveying the room silently. Her cat-like eyes always found their way back to the girl with the almond eyes. It was something that happened regularly. 



At that moment, it was obvious to Wonyoung that Yujin wasn’t feeling as bright as she usually did. 



If the constant fidgeting with the piece of paper wasn’t a telltale sign enough, Wonyoung could tell that Yujin was feeling nervous by the way her eyes had glazed slightly. Usually they were coolly darting around the room, her dimple popping out while she had a small kind smile on her face. 



Occasionally, her eyes would crinkle. That was Wonyoung’s favourite. 



“This song really suits you, Yujin.” 



And there it was. The crinkling. Yujin’s glazed and nervous eyes showed the smallest hint of sunshine in them. The Ahn Yujin sparkle that Wonyoung adored so much. 



The Ahn Yujin sparkle that had Wonyoung free falling everytime she saw it. 



(It was inevitable). 



You see, Ahn Yujin was a builder. On a regular basis, while going along her everyday schedule, Yujin had unintentionally thrown blocks of dirt and concrete over the walls that surrounded Wonyoung. At first, it annoyed Wonyoung, especially when flowers started to bloom from the dirt. But gradually, it started to accumulate and Wonyoung soon realised that she could mould them to create a staircase. 



Over time, Wonyoung found herself building at that staircase until she was perched at the top of the wall. And there was Yujin at the bottom of the wall, searching and digging for something in the dirt. Yujin seemed to be searching aimlessly, as if not knowing exactly what she was searching for. 



And then Wonyoung fell off the wall. She didn’t know whether she lost her balance or whether she took the leap herself, but either way, she was falling closer towards Yujin. 



“Y-you really think so? Do you think I’ll sound good?” 



Unfortunately for Wonyoung, her fall was never broken by strong arms. Nor did she fall onto a bed of pillows. Instead she crashed right onto the concrete ground because no one and nothing was there to shelter her fall. 



Yujin’s eyes crinkled further at the compliment and Wonyoung could visually see the effect those words had had on her. 



And honestly? It broke Wonyoung’s heart. 



It broke Wonyoung’s heart to see Yujin’s special crinkled-sunshine smile because it wasn’t directed at someone else. The smile wasn’t because of Wonyoung. 



“Trust me, I think you’ll kill this song, Yujin.” 



“Thanks, Jihan.”



And then Yujin was beaming, her posture straightening and a new sense of confidence found in her soul. 



She fell onto the cold, harsh pavement and was stuck laying flat on the ground. 



(It was inevitable). 



But, she had hope that she could get up. That someone will help her up. She had reason to believe. 



And what was that reason? 



“Wonyoung-ah.”



 Yujin had come closer, her voice coming out like a whisper and warming up Wonyoung’s body. It was a contrast to cold pavement she had fallen onto. 



“Hmmm?” Wonyoung was broken out of her thoughts. 



“Are you feeling okay?” Yujin said. She was close now and Wonyoung couldn’t help but gaze into her soft, concerned eyes. “You’re glaring into the distance. What are you thinking about?” 



Wonyoung shook herself out of it, all thoughts of walls and dirt disappearing from her head. She was focused on one thing and one thing only. 



“Just thinking about potential outfits.” Wonyoung said. She unlocked her phone to show Yujin a pinterest page she was previously scrolling through. “I’m thinking punk rock princess. Do you want a dress or jeans and shirt?” 



Yujin chuckled, watching as Wonyoung was scrolling inquisitively through the variety of clothes ideas. 



When Yujin didn’t say anything, that was when Wonyoung looked up. 



And that was when Wonyoung knew. 



“What?” Wonyoung said. 



Yujin just shook her head in amusement. 



“I trust you.” Yujin said. “Surprise me, fashion genius.” 



Thoughts of the walls were back in Wonyoung’s head, but this time, Wonyoung saw herself sitting on the ground next to Yujin who was still searching. In her hand, Wonyoung was tightly clutching at a key. The thing Yujin was unknowingly searching for.



Wonyoung was debating on whether or not to offer the key to Yujin or not. 



And Wonyoung had reason to believe that Yujin would accept it. 



Because that smile, that special Ahn Yujin sparkle, would be directed at Jang Wonyoung, too. 



It regularly was. 



………………………………………




“I’m never getting that hoodie back, aren’t I?” 



It was evening and Wonyoung and Yujin were currently on a video call. Yujin shifted her phone so that the Facetime video had a more flattering angle of her face. She closed the door of her bedroom to avoid the prying ears of her family. 



On her screen was a freshly showered Wonyoung who was lounging atop her bed. Yujin noticed that Wonyoung’s baby cheeks seemed to be more prominent, probably because she was barefaced. 



It wasn’t the first time Yujin’s seen Wonyoung without makeup. After that day where they watched My Sassy Girl together, Yujin always found herself coming back to Wonyoung’s not-quite mansion to hang out. 



Most of the time it was Wonyoung asking her to come over, but lately it’s been Yujin asking because she couldn’t stand being in the same house as Yena and her girlfriend. Yujin loved her Yuri unnie a lot, she thought that she was perfect for her sister and it made her happy that Yena was always happy around her. But, she still had her limits. There were only so many times Yujin could walk in on them making out before losing her patience. Sometimes she didn’t even have to walk in on them. She could hear. They had thin walls. 



Anyways, the first time Yujin saw Wonyoung without makeup was when she invited her over to teach her how to make Filipino spring rolls. Lumpia, as Yujin recalled. 



Wonyoung had stated that since Yujin taught her how to make Kimbap, Wonyoung should return the favor and teach her how to make one of her favourite foods. Well, it was mostly Wonyoung’s Yaya that taught Yujin. But, Yujin would say that it was Wonyoung who taught her just to keep Wonyoung happy. Afterwards, they decided to make chocolate chip cookies and as cliche as it sounded, one thing led to another and next thing they knew, Wonyoung and Yujin’s faces were covered in batter and flour. 



While the cookies were baking, Wonyoung and Yujin both took showers to clean off the food. Yujin had finished showering first and was sat on the couch when Wonyoung had emerged from the first floor. 



Yujin had found out that Vicky Jang only looked like an intimidating person when she was wearing make-up. 



Without make-up? Well, Wonyoung just looked… squishy. And Yujin wanted nothing more than to poke at Wonyoung’s baby cheeks. 



(Which she did end up doing before leaving that day). 



Yujin had left that day with a new recipe under her sleeve, a new image of Wonyoung she had never seen before and a new grey hoodie. 



Said hoodie that belonged to Wonyoung was currently being worn by Yujin. 



“I like this hoodie.” Yujin stuck out her tongue. “I’m keeping it whether you like it or not.” 



Wonyoung rolled her eyes. 



“You’re lucky it’s not one of my favourites.” 



Yujin pulled at the strings of the hoodie. “You have favourites? Which ones? I’ll steal them from you next time you visit. Has anyone told you you have great taste in clothes?” 



Wonyoung shrugged. “I’ve heard about that once or twice before.” 



Yujin lay stomach down on her bed to mirror Wonyoung’s position. She propped her pillow underneath her chin and placed her phone against her bed’s headboard. She casually pursed her lips to bring out her dimples briefly. 



“So, why’d you call?” Yujin said. 



“I missed you.” came Wonyoung’s quick response. Yujin didn’t bat an eyelash. 



“And I’m a super popular K-pop singer.” Yujin said in a monotone. “You called me to ask about band practice, didn’t you?” 



Wonyoung shifted her head slightly to lean onto her arm as she kept her gaze on the Yujin on her screen. 



“Is it so far out there that I’d miss you?” Wonyoung said.



“I’m sure you do.” Yujin chuckled slightly. “But, you also have a set agenda that you have to attend to or else you’ll go crazy. Can I have a guess at what you want to ask me?” 



The ghost of a smile graced Wonyoung’s lips and Yujin took that as her cue to continue. 



“We’re making good progress on the songs.” Yujin said. “We finally figured out the style we want to do. You know how we kept trying to modernise it and sound trendy? Well, we found that we kept circling back to doing early 2000s pop-punk rock style so we thought, there’s really no point in forcing ourselves to try and do another style when its obvious that this is what we want to do.” 



Wonyoung opened  to say something but Yujin beat her to it. 



“See? I told you! Pop-punk princess. I’m such a genius.” Yujin said, her voice growing high in pitch. She fluttered her eyebrows bashfully and melodramatically swatted her hand in an imaginary attempt at flicking her hair.



Wonyoung narrowed her eyes at her. 



“Hey-”

“I don’t sound like that.” Yujin mocked her once again, her face contorting to try and tease Wonyoung.



Wonyoung just huffed and glared at Yujin who seemed unphased by Wonyoung’s expression. 



“You’re so predictable.” Yujin said. “Surprise me sometimes, Wonyoung-ah.” 



“Will do, Yujin unnie.” Wonyoung tilted her head forward slightly and pouted her lips. She looked straight at the camera with puppy dog eyes. She even lifted her voice a few pitches for safety measures.



Yujin almost choked on her own spit and she started coughing, her face growing red. 



Wonyoung laughed loudly, her head tilting back and  wide open. Honestly, it was more like a cackle. An evil cackle. But, a cute evil-cackle. 



“S-stop that. It’s weird.” Yujin said, her face still bright red. 



“Nah, don’t wanna.” Wonyoung said. “Everyone knows you like it.” 



“I d-don’t!” Yujin said. “It’s just weird and embarrassing. Nobody calls me that and hearing it from you is weird.” 



“Yujin unnie thinks I’m weird?” Wonyoung dramatically said in Korean. “Heol. Yujin unnie is so mean.” 



Lately, Wonyoung has been learning how to put together sentences in Korean. And she was getting good at it, too. She picked up the different sentence structures in Korean because she had apparently learnt Japanese briefly whenever she lived in Singapore for a few summers. She wasn’t extremely fluent but she could hold simple conversations. Wonyoung said that her father, on the other hand, was fluent because he had to be when communicating with global partners. 



(Yujin held her tongue when she wanted to ask about Wonyoung’s mom). 



“I will hang up on you.” Yujin grumbled. 



Wonyoung only stuck her tongue out in response. “You started it, you brat.”



“Yah! Who are you calling a brat?” 



“Do you not understand my english?” Wonyoung pointed at Yujin. “Neo... Yujin unnie... neo beu-ra-teu-yeyo.” 



“Yah!” Yujin grumbled at Wonyoung over exaggerating every syllable for ‘brat’ . “Annoying. Fine, I won’t tell you about the idea we got during practice today that could majorly change our setlist.”

“What?” Wonyoung exclaimed. “You changed the setlist? Battle of the Bands is next Friday!” 



“Calm down.” Yujin chuckled. “We didn’t change it completely. We just made one change that might give us an edge. If we’re able to pull it off or not.” 



Wonyoung sighed. “So, what is it?”

Yujin gestured zipping . “Not telling you.” 



“Yujin!” 



Yujin smiled mockingly, her entire face scrunching up while she smiled in a way that revealed all of her teeth. 



“Take back your comment about me being a brat.”

“No.” 



“Then I won’t tell you.” 



“You’re insufferable.”

Yujin paused at that, an amused smile on her face. 



“Me? Insufferable?” Yujin laughed loudly. “Oh, how the tables have turned. I’ve been hanging out with you so much that your traits are starting to rub off on me.” 



“I could say the same about you.” 



It was small but Wonyoung’s voice had shifted slightly to a more serious and lower tone.



And then the moment was gone, Wonyoung’s voice reverting back to its playful tone. 



“Fine. You’re not a brat, you’re just really annoying.” Wonyoung said. “Now tell me about this plan of yours.”



Yujin rolled her eyes and shook her head. Trust Wonyoung to still find a way to insult her. But, she decided to put Wonyoung out of her misery. Besides, she still wanted to know her opinion on the change. 



“Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne is a great song and Jihannie says it suits me, but something just feels a little… off about it.” Yujin said. “Like, not the performance but it’s like something inside me is telling me that I need to do something else.”



Wonyoung nodded, letting Yujin know that she was listening and that she understood her. 



“What do you think you should do, then?” 



“Well…” Yujin trailed off. There was some shuffling and the shaking of the camera while Yujin got off the bed to move to her desk. While she did that, Wonyoung changed positions so that she was sitting cross-legged on the floor. 



Yujin rested her camera against some books and positioned her guitar onto her lap.



“I’ve been working on some chords, and I think that maybe I might be able to write an original to sing as the finale instead.” Yujin fiddled with the guitar on her lap. “I have some rough lyrics that I’m not feeling yet but I’m sure it will come to me when inspiration hits.”



“That’s a really good idea.” Wonyoung said, “as long as you have the song ready by next Friday.” 



“That’s why we’ll still rehearse Girlfriend as a back-up, in case the song isn’t ready by then.” Yujin said. “But, I don’t know. What do you think I should do?”



“If it were up to me, I’d say go for it.”



“Easy. If you think I should then I’ll do it.”



“I said if it were up to me. But it’s up to you.” Wonyoung said.”Do you want to do that? Yes or no?”



“Yes, I want to.” Yujin said. 



“Well, there’s your answer. Do it.” Wonyoung said. “What does your band think?”



“They dig the idea.”



“Then it’s settled.” Wonyoung said. “Why do you have to ask me?”



“You’re the one in charge.”



Wonyoung wiggled her eyebrows. 



“Me in charge.” Wonyoung mused happily. “That phrase sounds so right to me. I’m dropping out of High School to become a CEO, right now. I think I’d be able to do it.”



Yujin looked at Wonyoung, a serious expression on her face. “No, you won’t.” 



Wonyoung’s eye twitched in the slightest and she tried to hide the slight hurt she was feeling from Yujin’s comment. “Well, obviously, I haven’t gone over the details yet-“ 



“No.” Yujin shook her head. “I mean, you won’t be able to do it because your cheerleading coach and team would never let you. Don’t you have cheerleading Nationals in Texas this weekend?”



Wonyoung groaned, her head leaning back onto her head rest. She secretly let out a sigh of relief that Yujin was just joking around with her. 



“Don’t remind me.” Wonyoung said. “I’m still so sore from the conditioning we did today.” 



“Aigoo, our baby Wonyoungie.” Yujin said, marvelling at the way Wonyoung looked annoyed. “Do they really have to have you training everyday?” 



“The competition is in four days, Yujin.” Wonyoung said. “It’s literally this Saturday.” 



“Exactly! Shouldn’t they be letting you rest?” Yujin said. “Won’t everyone be tired?”



“That’s the whole point of conditioning.” Wonyoung said. “So that we stay fit. Plus, we still have some kinks to smoothen out for our performances.” 



“Alright.” Yujin said. Her eyes were concerned and caring as they always were. “Try not to push yourself too hard, okay? You have to stay healthy. Make sure you drink enough water and don’t skip any meals.” 



Wonyoung was silent for a brief moment. 



“What?” Yujin said when she saw Wonyoung’s face soften. 



Wonyoung softly smiled.



“You’re cute.”



Yujin almost choked. 



“W-why are you saying that all of a sudden?” Yujin said.



“You care about me.” Wonyoung said as a matter-of-factly. 



“Am I not supposed to?”



Wonyoung shook her head. “It’s more like you don’t have to. But, you do, anyways.”



Yujin almost missed it because of the pixelation on her phone screen, but Wonyoung’s cheeks tinted pink.



“I like it.” Wonyoung grinned. 



Yujin was speechless. Luckily, she didn’t have to say anything because in that moment her door swung wide open, scaring the living daylights out of Yujin. 



“Attack!” 



“Rawrrr!”



Next thing Yujin knew, she was being run at by two people, one of them wrapping her arms around her neck in a choke hold and the other hugged at her waist to pin her to her chair. 



Yujin felt the person giving her the chokehold lean her chin onto the top of her head. She didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.



“Yena unnie!” Yujin said clawing at Yena’s arms that were around her neck. 



“We made cookies.” Was all Yena replied. 



Then she noticed the girl on the screen. 



“Oh.” Yena’s chokehold loosened up around Yujin. “You’re talking to someone.”



Yujin ignored the way Yena mumbled “that Vicky Jang girl.”



The girl that was holding Yujin’s waist let go to stand next to Yujin.



“The bean pole who doesn’t understand Korean?” The third girl in the room whispered towards Yena. “The one you don’t like?” 



“Right that one.”



“Unnies!” Yujin muted herself to scold them. “I’ve been teaching her some Korean, be nice. She’s better at Korean than you are at English, Yuri unnie.”



Yuri just huffed, a pout coming along. 



“You’re so cute, look at your pout. I want to kiss you so much.” Yena said, her heart melting at her girlfriend. 



"Jagiya~ you’re the cute one.” Yuri said back in the same tone.



Unfortunately for Wonyoung, Yujin had unmuted the call by then. 



“You’re so gross!” Yujin groaned. “Get out of my room!” 



Yena stuck her tongue out at Yujin. 



“Fine, no cookies for you.” 



“Great, I don’t want to eat anything that your crusty hands touched, anyways.” 



Wonyoung was silent, an eyebrow raised while she watched Yujin shoo her sister and her girlfriend out of her room. 



“Sorry about that.” Yujin said. “What were we talking about again?” 



“The song you want to write.” Wonyoung said. “Why don’t you show it to me tomorrow?” 



“Don’t you have practice tomorrow?” Yujin put the guitar back onto its stand and she made her way back to the bed. 



“Of course, I do.” Wonyoung said. Without skipping a beat she said, “wait for me after?”  



“After practice?” 



“No, after my AP chemistry class. Of course, I mean after my practice, Yujin.” 



Yujin chuckled at Wonyoung rolling her eyes at her. 



“Maybe afterwards we can grab dinner?” Wonyoung said, eyes darting away from the camera slightly to look at the floor. “We still need to go to that sushi place that you oh-so-graciously stood me up over.” 



“I said I was sorry about that.” Yujin’s cheeks flushed pink. “Besides, I had a good reason! Jihan needed my help.” 



Wonyoung stiffened at the mention of the girls’ name. Now that she knew about Yujin’s crush on her, she really had no clue how she hadn’t picked it up before. Yujin was always very… sensitive… when it came to Jihan. She was also extra awkward around her, too. 



(Kind of like how she was with Wonyoung, too).



Wonyoung shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. It’s past now. Just make it up to me tomorrow.”



“Aye aye.” 



“So, wait for me after cheerleading practice.” 



“I will.” 



Wonyoung grinned into the camera. “Great. It’s a date.” 



Yujin froze. She could see Wonyoung’s grin grow bigger when she saw the way Yujin reacted. 



“I-”



“Oh, and Yujin?” 



“Hmmm?” Yujin was still in a daze. 



Wonyoung paused, as if debating something. 



“Sometimes I don’t have an agenda.” Wonyoung said so softly that Yujin had to strain a little to hear her. 


Yujin stayed silent, observing the way Wonyoung was softly smiling. 



“At least, when it comes to you.” 



………………………..




“I thought you and Wonyoung were only pretending to date.” 



Yujin froze, not expecting Yena and Yuri to be waiting in front of her door. Yuri was just as surprised as Yujin was but Yena was standing with her arms crossed, a serious look on her face. 



“Were you eavesdropping on me?” Yujin had a hand to her chest in shock.



“Yeah, I was.” Yena’s tone was devoid of any of her usual joking tones. “Don’t change the subject. Yujin, are you two still faking it?”



“Yeah, of course.” Yujin said. “But it’s different now.”



“I can tell.” Yena said. “What changed?”



“We’re friends now.” Yujin shrugged. 



“Friends who ask each other out?” 



“Wonyoung? S-she wasn’t asking me out.” Yujin said. “I just owe her sushi from a while ago. Nothing else. We’re just friends.” 



Right?



Yena raised an eyebrow, her serious face unchanging. 



“Ah. Makes sense.” Yena said. Then she finally grinned, nodding her head in the direction of the kitchen. “Come get your cookies.”  



“Yay!” Yujin smiled and dashed towards the kitchen. 



Once she left, Yena watched her go, her face falling again to a serious face. 



"Not asking her out? No way.” Yena mumbled in Korean towards Yuri. She felt Yuri’s hand wrap around her waist and pull her closer. Yena just let her, too preoccupied with thoughts of her little sister to really pay attention to what was happening. 



Yuri followed Yena’s gaze towards the direction that Yujin had walked through moments ago. She chuckled to herself. 



"Why are you so upset?” Yuri said. She planted a soft kiss onto Yena’s jawline to get her attention back. “If Yujin says they’re friends, then they’re friends. And if they start dating later? Then they’re dating.” 



Yena finally slipped her arms around Yuri’s waist and Yuri took that as her cue to grab either sides of Yena’s face and turn her head so that they were now face to face. 



"Now, are you going to kiss me?” Yuri giggled. “Don’t worry about your sister. She’s a smart girl. One of you two had to inherit enough smarts for the both of you.” 



Yuri laughed when Yena yelped out a ‘Yah!’ and she leaned in to plant a kiss onto her girlfriend to shut her up, smiling against her lips. When they pulled away Yena chased after her to leave a chaste kiss onto Yuri’s nose. Then she snuggled her head into the crook of Yuri’s neck. 



"You know, they’re acting like us when we were still in the almost dating phase.” 




……………………………………..



Wonyoung was exhausted. 



They had been running through the same section of the dance over and over again because everybody couldn’t quite get the timing of the leaps right. This was not something to be perfecting a mere two days before the competition and yet here they were, running through it over and over. Wonyoung was scared that they’d drill holes in the floor because of the amount of jumping they’ve been doing for the past 40 minutes or so. 



In the middle of their latest run through of the section, Wonyoung stopped moving altogether and stepped away from the group to survey the routine alongside the captain, Ashley. She sighed when she saw more timing and execution issues. 



With a shake of her head she and the captain met eyes and Wonyoung took that as her cue to pause the music. She looked towards their captain who nodded for her to speak her mind. She knew that Wonyoung was probably dying to clean up the details. 



“I’m sorry for being so picky, girls.” Wonyoung said. “But, I’ve seen us do way better. What’s going on with everyone today? We’re not as clean as we usually are. We can’t even get the timing right half of the time. I know this routine is more complicated than usual but it’s not impossible!” 



Nobody said a word. Some out of exhaustion. Others because they were too nervous to speak up. Others just had nothing to say. 



All except for one, at least. 



“You’re just being pretentious.” 



Wonyoung raised an eyebrow at the girl who spoke up. She had said it quietly but Wonyoung definitely heard her. 



“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear your mumbling. Would you like to repeat that?” Wonyoung stared at the girl challengingly. “Mikayla?” 



Mikayla faked a smile. “I didn’t say anything?” 



Ashley looked between the two, coughing slightly. 



“Take a 5 minute break, girls.” Ashley said, eyes flitting briefly from Wonyoung to Mikayla. “Make sure you stretch a little bit. Afterwards we’re going to run through the entire routine one more time. I want you to give this last run through your all, as if it’s the actual competition. This will be our last time we’ll do the routine until the actual competition itself.” 



“Yes, captain.” 



Wonyoung sat on the bleachers and sipped her now almost empty water bottle. She took a small towel and dabbed at the sweat on her forehead. 



The gym was soon filled with hushed chatter. Even though they were tired, these group of girls would not miss the opportunity to talk. 



But then, the unexpected happened. 



The gym went quiet. 



Wonyoung looked up from her soft stretching and that was when she saw her. 



There, walking shyly into the gym in a plain white tee tucked into light blue boyfriend jeans was Yujin looking as pretty as she always did. 



And just like that, Wonyoung felt lighter. 



Feeling the entire cheerleading team looking at her, Yujin felt super self-conscious and her cheeks instantly grew red. Wonyoung saw her eyes searching the entire gym until her eyes landed on the girl she was looking for. 



When Yujin’s eyes met with hers, Wonyoung suddenly felt unable to move. Unlike before where she couldn’t move out of exhaustion, now she was frozen under Yujin’s soft and familiar gaze. Wonyoung couldn’t help but smile softly at her. 



“Hey.” Yujin said in a hushed voice so that the rest of the team wouldn’t hear her. Though, no matter what she did they would. They couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the hot topic couple of the school. “Did I come too early?” 



Wonyoung checked her phone to reveal that they were running 17 minutes over practice and that she had a few unread text messages from Yujin. 



“No, you’re on time! We’re just running late. I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting.” Wonyoung said. “I lost track of the time, I didn’t know it was this late already.”



“It’s okay.” Yujin said in a voice that Wonyoung trusted enough to know that whatever she said she meant. “Your competition is coming up really soon. You should focus on that right now.” 



Wonyoung bit her lip.  



The truth was, she wasn’t focusing on the competition as much as she’d hoped she would. Of course, she was putting in a lot of time and effort into co-leading the team and perfecting the routine, the problem was that a piece of her heart always seemed to be thinking about something else. Someone else. 



She realised that she had been deep in thought because she looked up to see Yujin studying her. 



“Why are you looking at me like that?” 



Yujin smiled at her, soft and caring, as she normally was.



“Your makeup is running, Raccoon.”



Everything she said was so sweet and- 



“R-raccoon? Wha- Yujin!” Wonyoung shoved at her shoulder. She quickly opened up her phone camera to check her face. “You’re so annoying.” 



Sure enough, some of her eyeliner had smudged due to her sweat. Wonyoung took out some makeup wipes from her bag to try and rub at the eyeliner. While opening the bag, she saw the so-called ‘waterproof mascara’ and scoffed. 



After a couple of moments, she was finally able to get the smudge off. Wonyoung sighed in relief taking one last glance at herself on her phone screen. 



“Is it all off?” Wonyoung said, turning to Yujin. 



However, she was surprised by the look she saw on Yujin’s face when she met her gaze. Apparently Yujin had been staring at her the entire time, the corners of her lips curled and eyes sparkling. The type of smile one would have when they weren’t conscious that they were actually smiling. 



Wonyoung looked away quickly. She knew what would happen if she kept looking her way while Yujin was looking at her like that. Wonyoung knew that she wouldn’t be able to resist the urge just to lean in and kiss her softly on the cheek. 



Lately, thoughts of kissing Yujin have been plaguing her mind. And lately, it’s been harder for her to try to fight the urge. Wonyoung can’t help it! Yujin was the prettiest girl in the world and sometimes Wonyoung just wanted to kiss her cute dimple. 



Of course, Wonyoung knew her boundaries. Which was why she knew it was best that she tried to distract herself before she got too lost in thoughts of kissing Yujin. Not that she had them often. At least, that’s what she would say if she were the one telling the story. 



Then, Yujin’s phone started to buzz and the thoughts Wonyoung was having was interrupted the moment she saw who had texted Yujin. 



Jihan. 



Wonyoung took note of the way Yujin’s cheeks tinted pink and the corner of her lips curled upwards upon reading the message. 



Wonyoung looked away, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t bothered enough to intrude on Yujin’s privacy and read the message Jihan sent. She was bothered enough to steal a glance at Yujin’s giddy expression as she typed something back. 



“Something up?” Wonyoung said, looking anywhere but Yujin. 



“Hmm?” 



“Something up?” Wonyoung repeated. She turned to face Yujin once more. “You look very happy. Your cheeks are red, too. Is it too hot in here?”

At Wonyoung’s words, Yujin immediately went to touch her cheeks. “Am I red? I didn’t notice.” 



“Who are you texting?” Once again, Wonyoung looked away from Yujin, opting to glance at a spot by the bleachers directly across from her.


“Jihannie.” 



And then Yujin giggled. 



If it were any other day, Wonyoung would have let it pass. She would have diverted the conversation elsewhere. She would have changed the subject to something else, until she was completely ready to discuss it with Yujin. 



But, today was not that day. Today, Wonyoung was exhausted and stressed over the competition coming up in a mere two days. 



"I know. I know about her.” 



Wonyoung didn’t have to look to know that Yujin had frozen up next to her. 



“W-what?” 



“Want me to say it in english?” 



“In Korean.” 



“I figured.” Wonyoung chuckled. "You like Jihan. I know.”



“H-how did you-? Who told you? Nobody knows." 


Wonyoung shrugged. “I just figured it out myself.” 



“Come on, girls!” Ashley called out. “One more time through! I want you all to put your all into this last performance.” 



Before Yujin could say anything else, Wonyoung was already standing up and preparing to get back into practice. 



“Duty calls.” Wonyoung mustered all her energy into smiling. "Look at me, Jagi." 



“No mistakes. We don’t want to embarrass Vicky in front of her girlfriend, right, girls?” 



Wonyoung, who was in the midst of zipping up her bag, froze upon hearing Ashley’s words. Her entire face grew red as her eyes flitted to Yujin who was equally as red and was avoiding her eyes. Seeing Yujin looking so embarrassed brought giggles to Wonyoung’s lips.



“Yeah!” Wonyoung giggled along. “Not in front of my girlfriend.” 



God, it felt so right calling Yujin that. So what if it wasn’t entirely true? Wonyoung saw an opportunity and went for it. 



And just like that, the cheer squad absolutely crushed their routine for the first time that day. 



(Probably had something to do with the fact that the vice captain who rarely smiled was sporting an extra large smile during the entire routine). 



……………………….



“Hey, Yujin, right?”


Yujin looked up from her mindless scrolling on instagram to see a blonde girl heading towards her way. But, not just any blonde girl. 



Yujin tried to resist the urge to blatantly scowl at the girl. 



“Yeah.” Yujin said. “Mikayla. Right?” 



The sophomore was about half a head shorter than Yujin, but the way her grey eyes were trained on Yujin with a mysterious glint in them made the taller girl feel a little uneasy. 



“So cute of you to come watch Vicky practice.” Mikayla said, a smile on her face. Though, Yujin could tell that the smile was anything but friendly. “You’re such a sweet girlfriend.” 



“I’m just here to pick her up.” Yujin fidgeted with her phone in her fingers. She took a peek at the time for no particular reason. 



“Oh, you drive?” 



Yujin shook her head. “My sister.” 



“Oh.” Mikayla said, smile unwavering. “That makes everything make perfect sense, then.” 



“What makes perfect sense?” 



Mikayla bit her lip in (fake) shock. 



“Oh?” Mikayla said. “Nothing, nothing. It would be out of line for me to say this.” 



Yujin remained silent, trying to read Mikayla’s expression. She knew that it looked like Mikayla was fishing for something and as much as Yujin didn’t want to bite the hook she just couldn’t help her curiosity. Besides, Yujin was well aware of Mikayla’s potential game she could be playing, which meant that whatever it was might not bother her as much as Mikayla would hope for. 



“If you have something to say, you should say it.” Yujin said, taking another uneasy glance at her at the time on her phone. Wonyoung was taking longer than the other girls to freshen up. Then again, it was Wonyoung. She was probably working on reapplying her make-up or something. 



“It’s nothing.” Mikayla laughed to herself. “It’s good that your sister can give Vicky a ride. Jacob got his license suspended for a couple weeks for speeding.” 



“Poor boy.” Yujin said, not knowing what in the hell to do with that information. 



Mikayla looked unsatisfied with Yujin’s answer, looking at her as if waiting for her to ask more questions. She didn’t get what she was looking for however and eventually the blonde girl had to follow up herself. 



“Yeah, no wonder Vicky keeps you around, huh? She can get free lifts.” 



Yujin didn’t react. Instead, she spoke without a pause. “She already does. She has a private Chauffeur that takes her around. Honestly, I’m usually the one that gets lifts from her.” 



Mikayla looked surprised at the answer. Her cheeks tinted a little bit pink when she realised that this wasn’t going as she was planning.



“Oh.” Was all Mikayla could say.



Yujin just nodded, her lips pursed together in a straight line. 



“Anyways, hope Jacob gets his license back soon. So, he can drive you around, I guess.” 



That got Mikayla looking at Yujin with one eyebrow raised. She had a smile on her face that looked as if she had just discovered something useful.



“You didn’t hear? Jacob and I broke up a little while ago.” 



Yujin froze. She could tell that she must have been giving Mikayla the reaction she was looking for because her smile grew a little wider. 



“Vicky didn’t tell you?”



Yujin shook her head. 



“Why would she have to?” Yujin said.



Then Mikayla’s face did something that Yujin didn’t expect. She looked at her with… pity. 



“You seem like a nice girl. So, I want to help you.” Mikayla said. “Prepare you for what might be coming.”



Mikayla paused to gauge Yujin’s reaction. When Yujin didn’t say anything, Mikayla continued. 



“I know Vicky. She loves to feel wanted. To feel needed.”

Of course. Yujin knew that already. And doesn’t everyone want to feel that way? Even Yujin liked it when she felt like she was wanted. 



“I think she might be using you.” 



Mikayla’s words shot straight through Yujin and she felt something red hot firing through her body. 



If Yujin was in the right state of mind she would have taken a bit of time to think through what she was feeling. She would have been able to pinpoint that this was a feeling that Yujin rarely felt. She felt her muscles tensing up, her fingers slowly curling into a fist by her side. 



“Excuse me?” 



“I’m just saying.” Mikayla said. “Vicky is just that kind of person, you know? She likes playing with people, making them do what she wants for her own ego. It’s obvious that she’s just using you to make Jacob jealous.” 



Yujin was stunned. Never has she heard someone talk about Wonyoung this way. 



“You don’t know  about her.”



The moment the words left , Yujin was stunned at the aggression behind her words. 



Mikayla shot her another pitiful look. Then she placed a hand on Yujin’s arm, taking a step towards her. She was way too close for Yujin’s comfort. Like, way too close for someone with a boyfriend to be towards someone with a girlfriend. 



“You’re such a sweet person, Yujin.” Mikayla squeezed at her arm, getting even closer to her. “That’s why I just want to warn you.” 



Yujin didn’t notice it because her mind was going a mile a minute, but she had trained an intense glare towards the blonde girl. 



“Also,” Mikayla bit her lip, grinning slightly and getting so close to Yujin that her perfume started to overwhelm her senses, “if you ever need someone?” 



Yujin stiffened up when she felt Mikayla move towards the side of her head, her lips ghosting Yujin’s ear. 



“Call me.” 



That was the last straw for Yujin as she finally regained her senses and pushed Mikayla off of her with a scowl. 



“You’re a .” Yujin said, glaring straight at Mikayla. “I don’t ever want to hear you talk about her like that ever again. She’s a way better person than you ever will be. Especially when you’re out here blatantly flirting with someone you know has a girlfriend. Do me a favor, and leave the two of us the hell alone.”



And with that, Yujin turned right around and beelined it towards the gymnasium, anymore that was away from the blonde sophomore who obviously had nothing better to do with her life. 



“It’s not just me!” Mikayla called after her. “The entire team is thinking that. I’m the only one nice enough to tell you.” 



Yujin just completely ignored her words.



Flashes of Wonyoung started to cross Yujin’s mind. 



First she saw a bare faced Wonyoung, happily munching on the lumpia they had just made together. She saw the proud glimmer in her eye when her Yaya tasted it and said that it was delicious. 



Next, Yujin saw a flash of Wonyoung keeping her company at the convenience store. She recalled the way she had been absentmindedly staring at the customers while both of them sat next to each other in comfortable silence. Suddenly, Yujin heard the smallest voice-- no, the tiniest voice-- utter out a single word that melted Yujin’s poor heart. “Eotteokhae.” Wonyoung had softly muttered, her voice going higher in pitch. Honestly, it was so soft that Yujin wouldn’t have heard it if the store wasn’t so quiet. Yujin remembered looking to the side and seeing a dollop of yogurt had fallen onto the counter and a dejected Wonyoung was staring at it, eyebrows furrowed and the cutest pout on her lips. 



But, last of all, Yujin saw a flash of the first time Wonyoung had looked at her with so much vulnerability. The way Wonyoung lips had moved slowly, enunciating every word with the utmost care. “Yujin, I don’t want to keep hurting you, anymore.” Looking back on it now, that was probably the first time Yujin really learnt to appreciate Wonyoung. Something about Wonyoung saying those words switched something inside her, and it was then that Yujin started to realise how much of an importance Wonyoung’s presence had become. 



Once she was in the gymnasium she leaned against the door and started to breathe heavily. 



That was the Wonyoung that Mikayla was talking about. That was the Wonyoung that the rest of the team was creating stories about. Yujin hated it. This was Wonyoung and she did not deserve that. Because, Yujin knew what kind of person Wonyoung was. 



Or do I?



Then again, Wonyoung knew how other people think. She was good at calculating what to say and when to say them. Yujin had witnessed it from the front row seat whenever Wonyoung was talking to her friends and when Wonyoung used to tell her exactly what to do when they first started their agreement. 



“I don’t have an agenda. At least when it comes to you.” 



Wonyoung was many things. But, she had never lied to Yujin before. That was one of the things that Yujin appreciated the most about her. 



So, if she said she doesn’t have an agenda with Yujin, then Yujin believed her. 



The sound of a door opening and closing echoed through the stadium and Yujin looked up towards the direction of the noise. And there was Wonyoung, in real life and not in Yujin’s memory. She saw Wonyoung leaving the change rooms, albeit rather slowly and lethargic, and Yujin felt herself calm down. 



It was when Wonyoung got closer that all signs of anger had washed away. Instead it was replaced with a new feeling. 



“Wonyoung-ah.” 



Yujin thought that perhaps she wasn’t loud enough because Wonyoung didn’t seem to react. She was walking across the gymnasium, both hands clinging to the strap of her gym bag and eyes trained on the floor. Yujin took notice of the way that Wonyoung seemed to be dragging her feet across the floor, too.



Yujin couldn’t focus on being angry anymore. Instead all she could feel was concern for obviously exhausted Wonyoung. 



The last time she’d seen Wonyoung like this was early in the morning when they were waiting in line for the bakery. 



Yujin immediately walked over to Wonyoung, gingerly taking her bag from her. Upon reaching the girl, Wonyoung looked up in surprise. Never had Yujin seen the girl so out of it before. 



“Yujin.” 



It was one small word. One small action. Yujin could see that just by uttering that one word, her own name, Wonyoung felt a sense of peace, a sense of relief. It was obvious in the way that Wonyoung’s tired eyes still found a way to crinkle slightly when they met Yujin’s gaze. 



It was then that Yujin decided that she trusted Jang Wonyoung more than anyone else in the world. This was the real Wonyoung. Not the made up image that Mikayla and the cheerleading team had concocted in their head. 



And it was then that Yujin made a promise to herself that she will do anything to make sure she was okay. Because that’s what Wonyoung deserved.



Wonyoung glanced at Yujin slinging her bag over her shoulders. Yujin was also sticking close to her so that she could lean on her side. The little things Yujin was doing for her didn’t go unnoticed by Wonyoung. 



“Thanks, unnie.” 



Like Wonyoung, Yujin also liked feeling needed. And something told her that Wonyoung needed Yujin in a way that was different from how they first started out. When the two of them were just mutual business partners.  



This was the real Jang Wonyoung. 



……………………………………………….



A/N: HI IT'S BEEN SIX WEEKS I KNOW. 

Sorry for all the slow updates, I was in my exam period and I just wasn't feeling the stuff that I was writing. I changed and deleted parts a few times. 

Anyways, hope everybody is staying safe and healthy. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!! Thank you for all of your comments, upvotes and all of your support! It really means a lot! 

What was your favourite part? Mine was the facetime call. I love how casual and comfortable they are with each other now. Also, the small Yenyul moments. I'm a er for my ult ship.