15th April ’16 (Spring)

………………………………

“If people were bugs you’d be a cockroach, unnie.”

A snort echoes off the lined shelves, followed by a quick series of ‘shushes’ and poorly concealed giggles. Joohyun’s fingers momentarily pause their clacking, proceeding instead to curl in on themselves, nails digging into calloused palms. The chair creaks beneath her weight as she spins herself around.

Some days were just more tiring than the rest.

“You have exactly 10 seconds to explain yourself.”

“Uhm, well by definition that means you’re a common household pest that’s uh,the most primitive NepToterAn-“

The next few seconds that follow are what Joohyun would describe  in her journal as ‘unbridled chaos’.

Seulgi’s phone ends up being knocked out of her hands by a cackling Yeri's flailing arms. Sooyoung pushes off her chair, diving in the most dramatic yet unsurprisingly Sooyoung fashion, in an attempt to salvage the only phone that somehow manages to connect to the school’s spotty wi-fi. Unfortunately, the booth is too small and Sooyoung’s theatrics aren’t enough to keep her lanky frame from colliding with a very unamused yet petrified Joohyun. Joohyun screams, as is the only valid response to the situation, before pushing off Sooyoung and gasping for breath.

“ -“

“YAAAH!!!”

Seulgi rushes over to help a groaning Sooyoung up while Yerim sits back and cackles even louder. Joohyun’s frown deepens. She settles back down on her swivel chair, legs shaking in the aftermath of what she deems an ‘attack’. The minute she reclines back though, she remembers what had conspired before the ‘diving’.

“A great use of the 10 seconds. You’re out of time”

Before she can rise to her feet to challenge the taller girl, though, Sooyoung’s hands push down on her shoulder. Inspite of her fall (courtesy a very startled Joohyun) the girl sports a victorious grin as she clutches Seulgi’s phone.

“Now now, Unnie, let’s not be hasty.”

Seulgi grabs at her phone, before closing the naver search on cockroaches lest it pop up during one of her midnight search marathons. She turns around to chide Yeri for her explosive cackling, but is interrupted by a far more pressing issue.

“5 minutes and counting. Make. Haste.”

Sooyoung owes Joohyun an answer. And a standoff between Joohyun and Sooyoung is worse than any near-loss of a treasured device. Seulgi clutches her phone tighter and gulps. Yeri meets her eyes, fingers tapping on the desk in  nervous anticipation. Sooyoung merely proceeds to smoothen out her skirt, drawing her hand away from Joohyun’s shoulder.

“What I was going to say BEFORE a certain someone decided to pull out their naver-“

Seulgi decides at that moment that perhaps her sheepish, guilt-ridden smile is indeed, her most charming feature.

 “- was that while yes, you’re a common household pest, you’re also pretty much immune to nuclear fallouts.”

Joohyun’s gaze narrows for a minute before her eyes widen in a sudden panic.

“You’re planning on causing a nuclear fallout now?!?!? PARK SOOYOUNG-“ 

Yerim cackles wildly. Seulgi eyes her two friends warily, still unsure of whether or not Sooyoung did indeed wish to potentially end the world to prove her buzzfeed-insect personality quiz results.

“WHAT?! NO GEEZ UNNIE, I meant that you’re resilient like a nice roach!”

“NAURRRRRRRRRRRR -‘A NICE ROACH’ ”

Joohyun’s frown eases out. She allows a slight smile to cross her lips before schooling her features to emulate her standard blank expression.

These girls would be the death of her.

In lieu of a response, she opts for closing her eyes in mock contemplation before opening them to address a triumphant Sooyoung, cackling Yeri, and befuddled yet smiley Seulgi.

“Okay let’s take this step by step. First up, Kim Yerim, enough with those ‘naurs’. I donot know what they are but a simple ‘no’ can suffice. Secondly, Seul? You might’ve mispronounced Neopterans. Lastly, thank you for that much-needed comparison, Sooyoung. “

Yeri responds by sticking out her tongue and going on an unheard rant about some vague post she came across on twitter. Seulgi frowns before pulling out her phone to check up on the  word, and Sooyoung? Her sickly-sweet grin irks Joohyun enough for her to dig her nails into her elbows.

"Seulgi unnie's a cricket, Yeri's one of those irksome beetles and me? Well, I'm a caterpillar- soon to be butterfly"

"Caterpillars with big heads end up dead, might wanna look out"

"Shut up, squirt. Beetles eat , what bout that?"

Joohyun frowns. She knows for a fact that not all beetles are coprophilic- she'd read a great deal about beetles at 9, back when the library only stocked encyclopedias.  She's about to correct a peeved Sooyoung before Seulgi decides to intervene. 

“Oh, by the way, unnie, when are you gonna meet up with Wendy? It's been over three months already, don’t you atleast wanna say hi once? She doesn’t bite you know? Not that I know of anyway.”

The room falls silent for the first time since the “what insect are you” buzzfeed quiz, taken 20 minutes ago. 

Seulgi means well, she always does, but Joohyun’s isolation sprees have increased in frequency over the past few weeks, and she’s not the most pleasant person when she’s cooped up in her booth. Part of the reason the three of them dropped by together, uncanny as it was ever since Yeri started at their school, was to provide some much needed company to the homebody. They’d barged into ‘Joohyun’s nook’ – the corner most booth of the town library that the older often inhabits after school- with the excuse of ‘nothing to do on a boring spring evening’.

The thing was, you see, Bae Joohyun had been acting extra stand-offish and ‘hidey-holey’ ever since the new transferee showed up. The girls hadn't noticed that though, thank god, they liked the girl far too much to hear someone slander her. Not that there was anything wrong with their unassuming trust in the girl, no. It was nice to see the trio relying on someone they all enjoyed being around. Joohyun just had a different perspective on the things that she'd seen transpire ever since the transferee's arrival.

 Seulgi had been quick to befriend Shon Wendy. Being the same age as her, sharing the same infectiously bright energy and love for singing, the two had forged a nearly-infallible friendship in the span of a mere three months. Sooyoung had been weary of the sophomore initially-no one knew where or how she’d landed up here, minus the fact that she lived in the big house next to the Kang’s restaurant- but had warmed up immensely after a series of conversations by locker-rooms and shared theatre class improv. Yeri had fallen for the transferee's charms over a single conversation centered around music production during recess, and hadn’t looked back with skepticism at the mousy-haired girl since.

Joohyun, though, hadn’t come into contact with the girl yet, according to what she told them. The girls didn’t believe her. Shon Wendy was an instant hit at their school, approaching everyone with a smile on her face and a pep in her step, comparable only to Seulgi’s own established amicability. And for her to not have tried to approach the resident ‘broody-beauty’, Bae Joohyun? That was most improbable. Joohyun would have to meet Wendy sooner or later, the trio reasoned, given the fact that she was well on her way to becoming an integral part of their lives. It was with that thought in mind that they’d stopped bugging Joohyun about it for the past month. It was that very fact that Joohyun took solace in- she had time.

Until now.

“I’ve told you before, Seul, spring is a busy time, you know that. And I appreciate that you’ve found a friend in the transferee, but I’m sure she’s not running away. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet.”

Seulgi’s resigned pout stirred a fire within Yeri.

“Gosh why’re you so stubborn, unnie? You’ve been cooped up in here for months and years and I don’t even know how long, doing what? Typing ? Flipping through a book? Would it kill you to meet someone outside of the three of us?”

Sooyoung’s eyes drift towards Yeri’s hands, eyes widening the slightest as she notices the younger’s nail beds reddening due to her nervous picking. She swats at the younger’s hands before proceeding to level her gaze with the oldest in the booth.

“She’s right. Just cause Yeri’s literally your cousin and you’ve known Seulgi Unnie , and by extension me, since you were in diapers doesn’t mean we need to be all you got. We barely see each other half the time these days anyway, what’s the harm in stepping out a bit?”

The air grows tense and Joohyun finds herself wishing, for the first time, that Mrs.Jung would take her role as the peacekeeping librarian seriously instead of sleeping at her desk after a round of online poker. The oldest rises from her swivel chair, refusing to spare Sooyoung a  glance, before calmly packing her things up and turning the library computer off. She turns around on her heels and begins to walk towards the exit, hoping to get away from this situation before anymore can be said. Running is always the safest bet, if you ask Joohyun-  safe and easy. She’s been doing it since before Yeri moved in with her mother and her. She’s been doing it since before Sooyoung’s first fistfight, and Seulgi’s first win at the local art contest.

Bae Joohyun runs away like no other when the situation demands for it. And she’d run away a million times before talking about the new bright-eyed, annoying transferee, or her ‘hidey-holey’ nature. Call her stubborn but this is how she’s survived for so long- the cockroach in her, if you will.

Of course, certain people can be just as stubborn as her when they want to be.

“We’re meeting up before cram-school tomorrow, at Kim’s. Be there. It's not a choice.”

Joohyun grits her teeth. If there’s anything she loathes more than having to talk about herself, it's having someone tell her that she has no choice in a matter. Sooyoung knows as much, and yet she chooses to rile her up. Caterpillars are hard to remove from leaves once they latch on.

She attempts to muster out a gruff ‘no thank you’ but Seulgi’s shaky voice cuts through the air before her refusal.

“Please, unnie? Y-you can’t keep pushing us away. We’re worried. You can drop by after your grocery run, it’ll just be 20 minutes without books or a screen.”

Joohyun bites her lips before turning around to face the girls properly. The thing about running away is, you see, sometimes you end up running away from the things that you promised you'd stay for. 

Bae Joohyun doesn't believe in making or keeping promises. Promises are risky.  She made the mistake of making a promise once- when she was young and reckless- and now? All she ever does is break it over and over again. Her mind has reasoned her out of making promises ever since then, alongside convincing her to forget the one she made . And yet, she keeps dialing back in hopes of sewing together the pieces of her sole promise. Against all logic and reason, Bae Joohyun doesn't run away when her promise is involved.

 Maybe it's because she’s seen Seulgi attempt to eat ramen through her nose, or Sooyoung and Yeri attempt to glue every teacher to their desk for one semester straight; but all her resolve shatters when she sees them look at her as they do now- with pity and concern pooling behind otherwise bright eyes.

 

She calls it an exception. Her mind calls it a risk. Eitherway, she gives in. 

Perhaps they’re the pest-spray to her cockroach, her mind attempts to reason- futiles in the wake of a buried 'pinky-promise' - before Joohyun immediately puts a stop to it. Anymore 'reasoning' and she’d have a head full of cockroach analogies instead of the salt analysis equations she’d spent all night memorizing. She feels a heavy exhale escape her lips. If she was going to go through with this forced interaction with Shon Wendy, she owed the girls an explanation of sorts at the very least.

Some days were just more tiring than the rest.
 

“I’ll be there. To meet your Shon Wendy, I’ll be there.”
 

Yeri’s grin rivals Seulgi’s as she leaps into the older girl’s arms, her hands pawing at Joohyun’s jacket in barely concealed glee. Seulgi joins in, as is natural for her when she sees someone initiate a hug, her tall frame enveloping both the shorter girls. Sooyoung stares at the scene with a triumphant smile before deciding to join in- group hugs with dwarves are quite the self-esteem booster, after all. Joohyun yelps as she feels the weight pile on top of her. She doesn’t try to conceal her grin this time around- she makes an exception.  

"Ugh, Sooyoung-unnie you're crushing us, get off."

"Not my fault you're squirt-sized."

"You know, Wendy called those clovers at the park the exact same thing the other day-"

Her grin fades slightly when Seulgi begins to enthusiastically recount her precious outing with Wendy-  She still hasn't told the girls. Joohyun clears as she pulls away from the hug-pile, her fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of her jacket. Seulgi whines at the immediate loss of contact while Sooyoung merely raises an eyebrow at her in question.

"You remember that girl I was telling you about last week? The one who steals my booth every weekend?"

Yeri snorts in amusement. "The one who disappears behind the shelves the minute the clock strikes twelve like some sorta thrift store Cinderella?"

"The one you dumped coffee over because she refused to leave and waxed poetic about Peter Pan instead?"

"The rude, obnoxious and selfish one whose nasty smile haunts your dreams? The one who never even told you her name, and you claim has never been seen leaving or entering the library?"

 

An unsettled expression crosses Seulgi's face as she utters the last word of her sentence. Joohyun gulps. She might not come off as the nicest person after this. Maybe it'll help her get out of the rendezvous tomorrow, who knows.

"I may have exaggerated a bit- the Cinderella bit is true though, and Mrs. Jung hasn't technically ever seen her enter- but uh, yeah. She did tell me her name.”

Joohyun quickly proceeds to cover her ears in lieu of the squeals and chants of 'SPILL THE BEANS' that follow, accompanied by strong hands shaking her back and forth, demanding an explanation. She also catches quiet murmurs of 'Why would you lie to us, unnie?' that churn the stagnant pot of guilt she keeps hidden away in her gut.

 

Bae Joohyun doesn't always know why she does the things she does, contrary to popular belief. She's stubborn and good at running away  but she's never been known to lie. Her mind always reasons her out of ever needing to lie. Sure, she has an exception to her logic, but she does well relying on it in every other facet of her life. Her mind reasons well, that's the bottom line, even though it hasn’t exactly been the most reliable recently. And she knows exactly who, or what, to blame. 

"Shon Wendy."

Some days were  just more tiring than the rest.



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A/N: Aha so, its true- I treat AFF as a dump/permanent storage of sorts for my writing. That being said, if anyone does end up reading through this, my sincerest apologies for the un-betaed & un-edited text you've just consumed. Think of this chapter as a filler of sorts- I live for fleshing out the Irene/ YeJoyGi dynamics. Next chapter? (Hopefully out in a few days) we meet the elusive thrift-store Cinderella ;)

If you wanna chat/yell at me or otherwise: Twitter- @PearlyKrys