Minju sighed as she felt the breeze softly kiss her exposed skin as she felt the gentle waves of the sea crash against her feet. She stood alone, watching the sun succumb slowly to the darkness as shades of orange and pink hues painted the canvas of the skies. It was such a majestic sight, how the sun couldn’t always be there but when it’s time for it to leave, it shows off such a scenery that you would never want to let go. She was like that, too. As gentle as the waves of the sea, as beautiful as the combination of pink and orange hues. She, herself, was as majestic as a sunset. Well for Minju, she was the sunset. Not the sunrise nor the midnight sky. But the sunset of her life.

However, unlike the sunset she’s witnessing right now, Chaewon was a sunset that was hidden away. Hidden behind the billow of clouds; she was reserved, shy, and technically withdrawn. It was an adorable sight, but that was where it all went wrong for them. 

Chaewon was the head cheerleader of their school, the one that everyone adores; the one that everyone is head over heels for. And of course, Minju wasn’t an exception. Minju has had a crush on the cheerleader for as long as she could remember. But Chaewon wouldn’t want to be together with a stereotypical nerd anyway. Still, that didn’t stop the girl from leaving coffee or snacks on her desk and leaving post-its or those weekly letters inside her locker. Although she wasn’t sure if Chaewon actually ate, drank, or read those letters; it was the only way Minju couldn’t keep her feelings from bottling up and exploding in the end. However, after several months of acting like Chaewon’s one sided anonymous girlfriend, she had enough. If there was no hope from the start, then what’s the point of still holding on? Chaewon never noticed nor even looked her way even once.

From there on, she tried her best to keep her eyes off of the cheerleader, not looking at her when they crossed paths, not leaving snacks or drinks on her desk, and not slipping letters in secrecy inside the cheerleader’s locker. It was difficult not doing the things that you were used to. But she had no choice. Everything was going quite well until she was met with Chaewon leaning on her locker at the lobby. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at the girl, why was Chaewon still here? It was 9 in the evening, Minju was sure she was the only one left in the school. 

She breathed in deeply as she slowly walked towards the cheerleader. “Uh, hello? You’re leaning on my locker.”, she said with her head down; afraid that she might melt if she looked Chaewon in the eye. “O-oh, sorry.”, the older girl moved as Minju opened her locker and put her things inside quickly as she felt the cheerleader’s eyes boring holes through her back. Upon putting everything inside she closed her locker and immediately tried to walk away from Chaewon. “Why did you stop giving me food and letters?”, Minju immediately froze. Chaewon knew? She felt her hands grow cold and start to shake. “W-what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”, she said with her back still facing the older. Silence enveloped the atmosphere as the two didn’t talk further. “If you don’t have anything else to say then I’ll head out.”, Minju started to walk out again. “I like you too, Kim Minju.”

Minju smiled unconsciously as she reminisced about what she knew as the best day of her life. Who knew that Chaewon would like her back? It was the plot twist that she loved with every single part of her. Chaewon was the plot twist that she loved with her whole being. She wanted to boast and brag to the world about how Kim Chaewon was finally hers. But she couldn’t.

“I’ll be your girlfriend in one condition, Minju.”, the older one took a deep breath as she looked Minju in the eye. “Yeah, sure. What’s the condition?”, Minju couldn’t hide her excitement and happiness. If it meant having Chaewon as hers, she wouldn’t mind what condition it was. “In public, I want us to still be the strangers that we used to be.”

The waves gently crashed against her feet as if the sea was comforting and distracting her from the pain. Minju closed her eyes, drowning herself in her own thoughts.  

“Hey, Chae.”, Minju handed her now real girlfriend a cup of her favorite iced americano. Chaewon looked at the coffee in Minju’s hand before glancing at the girl with annoyance featured in her eyes. “I told you not to talk to me in public. What if rumors about us circulate? I have a reputation to take care of, Kim Minju.”, Chaewon glared at her girlfriend before leaving, not even taking the coffee Minju bought for her. 

Minju chuckled bitterly at the memory that surfaced from her mind. 

“Hi, Chae. Do you want to have lunch with me later?”, Minju asked her girlfriend who was sitting at the gymnasium benches along with her cheerleader and jock friends, the people Minju loathed. “Ew. You’re friends with this nerd, Chae?”, Minju’s forehead creased as she looked at Chaewon with a meaningful stare, hoping for the older to at least get Minju’s message of defending her. However, she shouldn’t have hoped. “I don’t even know this nerd, let alone be friends with her. Ew. Get lost, nerdy.”, Chaewon said as she laughed along with her friends. Minju could feel tears threatening to fall from her eyes, but she stormed out even before Chaewon could see them fall. She left with Chaewon’s words and laughs echoing through the walls of her mind. 

Minju with her red and puffy eyes, she walked out of her classroom and was about to leave the deserted school when someone beside her coughed. “Min.”, she heard a quiet and painfully familiar voice behind her. “I told you not to talk to me in public. We can hang out but we should do it in private. You may not have an image to take care of but I do. I just hope you’re a bit more understanding.”, Minju felt tears flow down her face again but instead of answering or looking back at Chaewon, she left without saying another word.