Strands of thin light beamed through the clouds, a carnival of scents wafted through the beloved neighbourhood filled with elated families who are welcoming the new season of spring.

Couples could be seen paddling on bicycles, chasing each other as an escape from reality. A girl stares at them in envy, sitting behind a full glass cafe, taking in the scents of caffeine, cocoa and pastries the place offers, thinking about her very existence on earth.

That wasn't until she heard someone calling her. "Babe." The guy, Kim Sunwoo, waves his hand in front of his girlfriend. "Minju-ah," he calls again, gaining the attention of Minju who was stirring her coffee mindlessly.

"Your coffee's gonna evaporate." he laughs softly. She realised and snapped out of it. "Sorry, it's just..." Minju puts her drinks down and shook her head.

"I have a test tomorrow." she softly clears , leaning back onto the chair while the guy nodded. "Math?" Sunwoo asks.

Minju nodded, her mind altering to thoughts other than her boyfriend of two weeks that is sitting in front of her.

Thinking about a particular girl, a friend.













 

Minju opened her locker at the back of the class and dazedly took out her textbook for the next lesson, eyes staring at the notice board. After this, there's gym class.

As she was lost in her thoughts, hand closing her locker, a tall individual went beside her, seeming also taking some stuff from her locker. Minju glanced and blinked frantically, cheeks suddenly flushing red.

Yujin glanced at her and closed her locker with a book in her hand. She lightly nudged her using her arm. "Wrong book," Yujin said while Minju looked into her hands to see a novel.

"Ah." Minju quickly opened her locker, awkwardly swapping them out and heard a small chuckle coming from Yujin. "What's wrong with you today?" she asked while Minju looked at her, ears slightly red from embarrassment. Why is she acting as if nothing happened?

"Nothing." Minju slapped her arm and went back to her seat. Yujin laughed softly and walked behind her, sitting beside Minju who's conveniently her seatmate.

Minju inhaled deeply, opening her book and putting it upright, hiding her head inside, not wanting to interact with the taller girl. She let out a small sigh, glancing at the meaningless words within her textbook and felt someone lifting it away from her.

"Yah—" she kept quiet the moment she sees Yujin laying on her arm, looking at her from the side. "What are you doing?" Yujin asks.

Minju slowly trailed her eyes all over Yujin's features, bright eyes, the tall bridge of her nose till her deep dimples that were sunken into her cheeks, unknowingly staring at those soft lips of hers.

Minju sat up and hid her face away using her arm, confusing the girl. Why is she looking at me like this... the girl furrowed her eyebrows and battled with her thoughts, thinking about what happened the other day.

 

It was a typical day of the school's spring cleaning, students were seen scampering around the corridors, classrooms and basically every inch of the school.

Minju took a cloth, sprayed some cleaning solution onto it and started wiping the windows of the classroom.

"You would need someone to reach that." Yujin walked into the classroom with a broom to see Minju missing out on the top handles.

"Shortie." she teased and earned a flying cloth to her face. "Yah!" Yujin shouted and started chasing Minju around the classroom but got an immense amount of slaps to her shoulder.

"Okay! Okay! Stop slapping me already!" Yujin held onto her arms and saw her frowning. "I'll help you. Geez..." she said, taking the cloth from the table and settling the broom aside.

Yujin went towards the window and tiptoed but couldn't reach it either. "Still calling me short," Minju mumbled and saw the taller girl turn around.

Yujin roamed her eyes and pulled a chair along with her. "You, up." she gestured for Minju who reluctantly stood on the chair. "It's wobbly," she said, trying to balance while Yujin gave her the cloth.

"I'm here." Yujin held onto the back of the chair. "Are you coming with us later?" she asked Minju who hummed.

"The mall," she said. Minju thoroughly reached the corners. "I'm going out with Sunwoo." Yujin pouted slightly and nodded.

"Do you have someone you like? You've never told me whether you were interested in anyone after being friends with you since we've stepped into this school." Minju suddenly asked while the girl looked at her.

Yujin thought for a while and nodded. "Who?"

"I'm not telling you~"

"Ahn Yujin!" someone shouted from outside. "Wonyoungie." Yujin recognised the voice. Minju looked in the direction where the voice came from.

The taller girl immediately released her grasp on the chair, thinking something bad happened but forgot how the chair was wobbly.

"Y-Yah!" Minju lost her balance, being her clumsy self which made Yujin widen her eyes, 5 feet away from the girl.

Everything slowed with Yujin's decision on which direction to go to. With her being insanely humane and a basketball player, her reaction instantly made her run towards Minju, catching her swiftly the moment her feet were off the chair, resulting in her falling backwards with a thud.

Her vision went slightly black for a second till she opened her eyes, feeling something soft landing on her lips, gaze meeting with Minju's gradually widening eyes. Her heartbeat started accelerating when she realises what was going on and felt Minju immediately pulling away, shakily standing up with Yujin still lying on the floor.

The girl brushed her fingers over her lips and stared at Minju who awkwardly stared at her before she sat up a little. "Are y-you..." Minju couldn't string her words together, not knowing why she wasn't able to do so.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Yujin quickly stood up with a small groan, ears turning slightly red with hands dusting her skirt. "I'll g-go...help Wonyoung." she awkwardly moved before walking out of the classroom.

The moment Yujin was out of sight, Minju managed to breathe as she lightly fanned her face. "What was that..." she shifted here and there, remembering what she was doing earlier.

 

From then on, this small little accident—her first kiss, has been floating through her mind like endless waves of ripples. The second she thinks about it, it'll start bothering her throughout the whole day. She couldn't get rid of the feeling—Yujin's lips landing on hers.

But what didn't settle with her was how her heart races the moment her eyes meet with Yujin's or when the latter was around her. If she thought about it long enough, it happens like leap years. Once, twice, a few times ever since she met Yujin in their first year of high school.

She didn't think much of it, accepting that those little moments would make anyone's heart flutter. Like, Yujin helping her open a plastic bottle, or Yujin teaching her with utmost concentration. The slightest care Yujin showed to her was all a form of friendship kindness to her.

Didn't hurt for her heart to be filled. But what she didn't quite accept was, those things filling that little heart of hers were feelings for the girl.

At that point of the accident, she was dating a fellow schoolmate who used to be her seatmate back in the last semester. She thought that maybe those fluttery, squirmy feelings she felt in her stomach was also felt through him. But it felt different.

The guy Sunwoo was good looking, totally her type. He was a sweet lad with nice manners and a respectful attitude. He does everything Yujin has done for her.

But she slowly realises, that stupid heart of hers didn't exactly feel a thing. She did go a couple of steps further. Kissing.

She feels bad, but he .

The guy was just wild with that tongue of his. It was awful, but he tried. Didn't quite feel like how her first kiss went that made her heart backflip a full round, sending shocks of electricity through her body.

Surprising that her first kiss was with Yujin even when she was already dating that guy.

After that mistake, she finds herself comparing her with Sunwoo, her current boyfriend. Yujin was nothing but merely a close friend of hers who has always been concerned.

Something shifted ever since those pair of soft lips merely touched hers.

But she still believes, it was all a mistake.

Ring

The bell startled the latter who was obviously not focusing on the class the whole time, couldn't when Yujin was right beside her.

The taller girl stretched her arms, reaching under her desk for a change of clothes, getting ready for a physical education class, probably her favourite lesson. "It's our turn to use the class." she tapped on Minju who was dazing blankly, handing her a set of clothes.

Guys and girls take turns to change in between these kinds of lessons.

Minju quietly took it without saying a word, moving a distance away from Yujin who found it weird. The latter usually just swiftly changes without hesitation, sometimes tickling the heck out of Yujin when she gets the chance to.

But this was all too awkward with Minju's quirky stance and Yujin's gaze landing on her. Minju's cheeks started to flare slightly before finishing up and walking out of the classroom. "Okay..." Yujin narrowed her eyes in confusion, hastily chasing after her.

After a round of runs, it was down to free play where students are allowed to play any sport they wanted whether it's football, basketball or badminton.

Some of them took a breather, sitting on the ledge, having a thirst quench whilst watching other classmates play amongst themselves.

Minju struggled with the water cooler, the machine seemingly having a weak stream that had no way of entering a person's mouth.

Yujin came out of the bathroom and noticed, walking up to Minju as she passed her bottle to her instead. "This thing never works," she said, knowing that fact since she trains nearby for basketball.

The girl hesitated, seeing Yujin wipe the sweat off her neck using her sleeve as she took the bottle from her. "Thanks..." Minju softly spoke, weak hands being unable to open the bottle.

Yujin took it back and opened it, passing it to her. Minju didn't say anything and drank with Yujin staring at her. Seemed a little weird. These prolonged stares of hers have become quite frequent with Minju now noticing every little move of Yujin's.

A soccer ball was seen flying in their direction while Yujin quickly stood behind Minju and acted as a shield, letting it hit her back instead. The girl flinched and turned slowly to see Yujin smiling as if nothing happened. In actual fact, she was forcing the pain down .

Before Minju could say anything, Yujin says. "I'm good." she quickly took the ball and threw it back on the field where the guys were playing.

Yujin then glanced at Minju who was utterly quiet. She let out a sharp sigh. "Why are you like this?" Yujin flicked her forehead slightly, wondering why Minju has been so off these few days and earned a frown.

Minju shoved the bottle back into her hands. "What do you mean? I'm always like this." she quickly replied and escaped the scene with Yujin being all confused.

Is it because of the kiss? Yujin wondered and got slapped by someone on her back. "Yah—unnie? Why are you here?" Yena looked at her. "I'm having gym too," she said.

"Who are you looking at?" Yena asked while Yujin let out a small sigh. "Can you ask Hyewon and Chaeyeon unnie to go to the room later?" she inquired while the older girl raised her eyebrow.

"Why?"

"I need to tell you guys something."

Yena puckered her lips. "Can I bring Yuri?" Yujin frantically shook her head. "It's about..." she gestured at Minju using her head.

Yena gave her a slight smirk and got slapped on the shoulder. "Just meet me there. Don't bring Yuri," she warned since Yuri was Minju's best friend, coincidentally Yena's other half.

Yujin started walking towards the indoor stadium, joining her classmates for a round of basketball.

Minju who was sitting on the bench with Yuri spotted Yujin throwing that same bottle towards Wonyoung who was getting ready for a game.

"You've been dazing a lot lately," Yuri mumbled, looking at where Minju was looking. "Yujinie? Why?"

The moment that name slipped out of , Minju widened her eyes and snapped out of it. "Come to think of it. Why aren't you guys talking as much?" Yuri looked at Minju who shook her head.

"We do...talk." she scratched her head and waved her hand. "Don't think too much about that. Why did she fail me?" Minju asked.

"I literally got all the right answers." Yuri laughed softly. "That means you didn't use the right methods to solve them, stupid." she smacked Minju's head lightly.

"You must have things bothering you huh. You never fail a math test." Yuri looked at her weirdly while the girl leaned back against the bench.

"Did he do something weird again?" Minju shook her head, eyes instinctively staring at a particular person. "Then what did he do? Did he ask you to go to his house?!"

Minju smacked her shoulder. "No...it's not about him."

"So there is someone bothering you, not something." Yuri configured and nodded. "Then who is it?" she asked while Minju looked at her.

She thought, maybe Yuri should know what happened that very day. That's the least she could tell her best friend.

Minju cleared and asked Yuri to sit closer. "Spill the tea." she urged while Minju let out a small sigh. It's nothing much to care or think about anyway. But why is her heart racing?

"So..." she started, crossing her arms. "Remember when we had cleaning the other day?" Yuri nodded.

"I was in charge of the classroom..."

"Uh-huh." Yuri leaned in closer to her. "And I had to clean the windows..." she started getting softer, and softer with cheeks growing pinker.

Yuri went even closer to her. "And then?"

"Why are you sitting so close to me?" Minju saw how Yuri was almost on top of her. "You have to speak louder. I can barely hear you with them shouting." she gestured at the people playing basketball.

"Yujin came into the class when I couldn't reach the top of the window," she said. "Yujinie? The person bothering you is Yujinie?" Yuri raised both eyebrows.

Minju sighed. "What did she do?" Yuri asked. "She couldn't reach it either so she asked me to stand on a chair. Turns out one of the screws on the chair was loose. And then I fell." the girl started laughing while Minju frowned.

"Why are you laughing??" she pinched Yuri's shoulder. "Okay, okay. Sorry, you're just always clumsy." she giggled and calmed her laughter.

"So what? Why does that bother you?" Yuri got a little impatient. "I landed on her," Minju said.

The girl widened her eyes. "Is Yujinie okay? Yah Ahn Yu—" Minju quickly covered and shook her head.

"Why? She'll hurt way more," she spoke against her palm while the girl released her. Minju sighed for the nth time. "That's it? You're being like this because of falling on her?" Yuri asked while the girl looked away.

"We might've accidentally..." she spoke, cheeks heating up the moment she recalled what happened. "Kiss?" Yuri completed her sentence which made Minju look at her.

She started laughing. "That's what's bothering you? A kiss? This is not some drama Kim Minju. Why are you overreacting?" Yuri shook her head and watched the others play basketball.

She slowly turned to look at Minju. "Unless..." she points at her. "You like her!" Minju slapped her hand away.

"But you have a boyfriend." Yuri met with reality and put her hand down. Minju shook her head and just leaned onto the bench, not wanting to think about it.

She looks at the court to see Wonyoung defending Yujin from the ball, looking elated with each other, somehow inflicting weird feelings into her.













 

"YOU WHAT?!" Yena stood up from the little couch they have in their secret hideout while the other two older girls widened their eyes.

"You kissed her?" Chaeyeon asked while Hyewon pushed her shoulder. "She said it was an accident."

Yujin sighed and leaned onto the couch, hugging the small pillow.

"What do I do? She's not talking to me." she said, looking at the older girls for advice. "Why would she talk to you about that? It's not that big of a deal."

Yujin tilted her head with an uneasy expression. "She's distancing herself from me like I have covid or something." she held onto her head and pouted.

"Why would she? She has a boyfriend." Yena said while Yujin agreed. "Why are you telling us this? You have Wonyoung to care about, not Minju." Hyewon asked and all of a sudden, Yujin went silent.

"I don't like Wonyoung that way..." she softly spoke while the three girls sat closer to her. "What did you say?"

"I don't like her that way. Wonyoungie." Yujin frowned slightly and got slightly irritated. "Why does everyone think I like her?" she asked the three while they blinked a few times.

"You don't like her? Then why are you sticking to her 24 hours a day? We assumed you did."

"Oh god..." Yujin groaned softly and let out a sharp sigh. "She's just my best friend from kindergarten. Of course, I'll stick with her whenever I can. She'll get lost without me and she's currently still trying to survive on her own." Yujin explained while they nodded.

"I can't let anything happen to her or my mom will murder me. She's basically my litter sister who is somehow taller than me." Yujin added, pressing her lips together.

"Wait then. Who do you like?"










 

Minju walked towards the guy's dormitory area, going to the back of the building where there was a basketball court and sat on one of the little benches.

After thinking about the incident, going round and round in circles, she came up with a conclusion.

Yujin was the person she liked all along. She was the only person who could inflict those feelings into her that no one else can. After that small, almost nothing kiss, those feelings just took over her mind the more she didn't want to think about it.

She came to realise, there's no more cheating her way out in these kinds of things. But first, to be able to come on par with her feelings, she has to settle someone else first, hating that she has to do this.

"Babe?"

She looked up from the floor to see Sunwoo smiling. He sat down next to her. "What is it that you want to talk about in person? Did you miss me that much?" He clasped his legs together and looked at her adoringly from the side.

This was hard, she realises. To end things with someone you thought you liked and might come to love.

Minju took in a deep breath. "Sunwoo-ah." she started, looking at him while he hummed, an evident smile on his face. Silence and cricket hummings were their only audience, along with the night sky dawning over them.

"What is it? You can tell me." he calmly urged and saw how there weren't traces of happiness on her face.

"Let's break up."

Those three words made his heart drop. For all this time, all he thought was how well they were doing with no signs of things getting in their way. His mind immediately scanned through all the guys that has approached Minju and there was not one that caught Minju's attention other than him.

"W-Why?" Sunwoo asked, swallowing the pain after having to chase Minju for the past few months. Getting her to accept him was by far the happiest thing that ever happened in his life. She was perfect. He imagined a perfect, no mistake relationship with her that would last throughout their school years till they graduated.

He did everything he could to please Minju but slowly felt like it wasn't enough. That's probably why she wants them to break up now.

"I hate doing this but I don't find myself liking you anymore." Minju looked at him, seeing how his big doe eyes quivered under the lamp post. "It's just...you're a great guy, anyone could tell that. But no matter how I weigh it out...I can't keep on cheating with your feelings any longer. It's not fair for you or me. I know I may be selfish to break this off but it's the only thing I can do instead of blindly having you look out for me with you not getting anything in return."

The guy suppressed his tears but his lips had a mind of their own, curving downwards slightly.

"Who's h-he?" Sunwoo softly asked while a tear slid down his cheek as he hastily wiped it off. "No matter how much I think, there was no one...no one going after you when I did." he looked into her eyes while Minju bit down on her lip, fingers fiddling with each other.

"It's okay, I understand." he sniffed, brushing his nose. "Can you j-just tell me? That way I know how to change. Whoever that has your heart probably treats you better than I do, that's the only reason I can think of if you're willing to let me go." Sunwoo inhaled deeply.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything. I'm f-fine." I'm not. "Really?" Minju asked.

"Yeah." No. "But it's okay as long as you're happy. Like they say, there are many fishes in the sea." he tried to be positive. But no matter how many fishes there are in the sea, I'd still want to go for you.

"I'm sure I can figure out things on my own." he exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry." Minju sincerely told him while he shook his head, lips trembling slightly.

"You have been the best thing that has happened in my life," Sunwoo confessed, reminiscing that smile on Minju's face whenever they hung out. "I honestly d-don't...know if I can find anyone else like you." He gave up and broke down softly.

"Now you're making me feel bad." Minju hugged him while he embraced her tightly, not wanting to let go but had to since it was Minju's wish. He has no choice but to let her go if there's someone else out there who gives her what she desires.

"I'm s-sorry..." He choked on his saliva while the girl patted his back. "Don't be. You'll definitely be able to find someone else way better than I am." Minju gently spoke, on the verge of breaking down because of how excruciating his cries sounded even after 2 weeks of dating.

"Who i-is he?" Sunwoo asked again while Minju released him and gently wiped the tear off his cheek. She could tell how painful it is for the guy who did absolutely nothing but try to make her happy.

Minju softly caressed his head. "It's not a he," she said and saw his expression go blank. "It's n-not a he—He's not a guy?" Sunwoo asked and faced reality.

He slammed his face onto Minju's shoulder. "It's a g-girl?" he pitifully cried while Minju hummed and patted his back, letting him cry. "A girl..." he mumbled and sniffed with Minju caressing the back of his head.

"I lost to a-a girl..."












 

A few days went by and Minju's currently lying on her bed, thinking about what to do, staring at the empty ceiling. Yuri knocked on her room door and came in, closing the door behind her.

"What are you thinking about?" she sat on the edge of the bed, slapping the latter's leg. "I'm gonna tell her." Minju spat out while Yuri tilted her head.

"Tell who what?"

"Ahn Yuj