It hadn’t been easy to be just the two of them. Inside the school they were always surrounded. By their comrades, by their teachers, by their friends. Minji had to play the card of the busy president of the Student Council to get her and Gahyeon away from the crowd.

She knew for a fact that no one was in the Council’s room during this period due to other club activities. That was why she used to study there before exams. Her hoobae walked behind her, she didn’t say it, but she didn’t understand what Minji absolutely needed to talk about.

“Unnie, couldn’t this wait until the other members are here?”

The remark got a shy smirk from the sunbae. It was one of the things she liked about the Council’s secretary. Even though she was a first year, she always said what was on her mind. The president let out a shaky breath, hoping that her anxiety wasn’t too apparent.

“Actually, it’s not about the Council,” Minji admitted.

The other stared at her, silent, with her brows knitted. It was the second thing her sunbae liked about her: she knew how to listen. And when she did she had that cute pout, the same she had when she resolved math problems. “Damn it, Kim Minji, now isn’t the time to admire the view.”

“Gahyeon,” Minji started.

Why was becoming so dry all of a sudden? It was as if no word could come out, meanwhile the younger girl was staring at her quizzingly, only adding more pressure for her sunbae.

“I like you,” the third year blurted out, finally.

Her junior blinked, the little gears between her ears turned full speed to analyse the situation. Each second brought Minji closer to passing out. Her heart was pounding in rhythm with her impending doom, even covering Gahyeon's answer partially.

“What are you saying all of a sudden, unnie?” the girl said with an awkward laugh. “Of course I like you too, we're friends.”

The last word stopped time. Minji could turn away now, play it awkwardly and pretend this was what she meant, of course, what else could she mean?

“Not in that way, Gahyeon,” she heard herself say.

Her hoobae's uneasy smile turned upside down. It was more than just a shock, there was anger in her eyes when she answered coldly:

“Do you think this is funny?”

“What? No! Gahyeon, I…”

“You want to try things so you thought you could ask the first lesbian girl you knew. Siyeon wasn’t available, so you chose me?”

Minji stared dumbfounded in front of such an aggressive answer. She had doubts about the other girl's reaction, but not like that. She had the normal kinds of worries: Will she like me back? What if it breaks our friendship? not: “what if she flips out and thinks I'm using her?”

“This isn't what's happening at all. Can you just listen to me?” the third year stuttered, still in shock.

“You're straight, Minji,” Gahyeon stopped her. “I'm sorry things didn't end well with Taehyun, but that doesn't mean you get to use me as a distraction.”

“You're not a distraction. I'm trying to tell you I have feelings for you!” Minji cried out.

The two stared at each other, both surprised by the sunbae's reaction. Her shout came from deep inside her heart, even Gahyeon in her denial could hear that. The youngest bit her lips, trying to contain the sobs that were threatening to leave.

“Please don't,” she pleaded in a shaky voice.

“Why? Why shouldn't I like you?”

“You can't just say that to me,” the younger girl replied. “Not when I've been hiding my feelings for so long.”

Minji's eyes widened, she tried to find the other's gaze but Gahyeon was staring at the floor to avoid looking at her.

“What?” the third year blurted.

“You heard me,” the other mumbled shyly.

“You like me?” Minji squeaked in disbelief. She closed the gap between them and made the other look at her with two fingers under her chin. “Gahyeon, is that true? Do you like me?”

“I thought you were straight,” the girl protested. “It was supposed to be just a stupid crush. And you were so oblivious to everything anyway, I didn't stand a chance.”

The sunbae pressed her trembling lips together. It really was her fault for being such a mess about her feelings. Yes, she thought she was straight or more like she convinced herself she was. Everytime it didn’t work with a boy, every time she had this obsession over a girl in her class or an actress on television, she just kept telling herself that it didn’t mean anything. He wasn’t the right one. Women are allowed to admire other women, it’s not a crime.

Minji’s eyes started to shine with tears as well. How much time had she wasted while Gahyeon was right there, torturing herself not to fall in love with someone who couldn’t give it back. She made one step closer to the smaller girl.

“It wasn’t a stupid crush, Gahyeon. I’m the stupid one. You know, I've had those feelings for a long time. I think I was just too afraid to really call them out, until I talked to Siyeon about it. I don't know if I only like girls or if I like boys and girls. All I know is that, right now, I like you. Do you want to go out with me?”

“Yes,” Gahyeon let out like a cry. “I really want to.”

The taller girl opened her arms to swallow her into one big hug. The first year wasn’t that small, but in Minji’s arms, somehow, it felt like she could never be hidden enough. The older one wanted to keep Gahyeon like that just for herself and feel her breath against her skin and her heart beating against hers forever.

“Can I do something I always wanted to do?” she whispered in the youngest’s ear.

She felt the other student hold her breath. Their hearts were basically begging to pound out of their chest at that point. But Gahyeon was still in her arms, still clinging to her.

“Y–Yes.”

Minji’s face traveled down slowly, her warm breath tickling the other’s skin. was at the base of the girl’s neck, stopping there just enough seconds to make Gahyeon anticipate and then she pressed her lips, slowly, the wetness made the younger student shiver, but not in a bad way. The oldest stilled for a brief instant, just to hear the moan humming from the throat she was kissing.

Yeah, she definitely liked Gahyeon a lot.