There was love and there was hate. Miyeon was pretty sure she was familiar with the first one of the two, less so with the last. That until she met Shuhua.

It was hard to know sometimes whether the latter actually truly hated her guts but kept her facade in front of their shared group of friends or if she just liked to play with her feelings.

Probably the latter. 

University was tedious, that’s what she always heard from Shuhua and her own memories of going to lectures and handing in papers she had crammed the night before also supported the same thesis.

So, with utmost care and benevolence, she treated the younger girl to a coffee shop near her university. She would have driven them if she didn’t value her and Shuhua’s life, therefore she wasn’t taking the risk of firstly crashing the car her parents gave her and secondly getting them both in the hospital. So the small, badly lit coffee shop will have to do.

“Korean is so complicated.” Shuhua grumbled, reading one of the printed copies the teacher had handed her.

“Is it ?” Miyeon gently asked.

“Maybe not for you. But for me it is. Plus, you do at Korean too sometimes.” The youngest replied, not forgetting the jab at the end because it was Miyeon and for her she deserved all the roast she could come up with.

“Yah- I mean… you’re kinda right. Do you need help though ? 2 brains are better than just one.” Miyeon could only nod at the reality of things, she does slip up sometimes and it did cost her several embarrassing moments.

“Yours plus mine won’t be any better than mine alone.” Was Shuhua’s cold answer as she took a sip of her tea and gave her a mean look.

“Perhaps. Let me see.” The oldest didn’t pay any mind, she just let the offensive comment fly above her head and instead leaned closer to those papers. It was art theory, clearly something that is both as boring as it sounds.

“I want a waffle.” The Taiwanese suddenly said and Miyeon realised just how long she had been reading them, painfully close to Shuhua as she was leaning at a weird angle which her spine didn’t approve of as it expressed its anger with a painful knot in her muscles.

“I’ll treat you to one. By the way, why did you get those papers ? Do you have an exam on it ?” The blonde smiled softly ignoring the ache in her back.

“Not really, it’s complementary reading that he gave, he said it’ll improve our understanding. I regret it now, this is too hard to decipher.” Shuhua explained while pointing at the papers with disgust on her face.

“I see… Do you have class after that ?” Miyeon asked, already knowing the answer but asking felt more polite.

“You know my timetable better than I do. I’m free though I was planning on reading these… which will probably take me a few hours.” The black haired replied, eliciting a bashful smile from the older girl.

“Then, I suggest you give up on that as it won’t give you extra credits and spend the afternoon with me instead.” Miyeon’s voice was tempting, suggesting and borderline diabetes-inducing.

“You’re such a bad influence. Yuqi would scream at you for that.” Shuhua remarked, her straight face would have fooled everyone but the blonde just knew that she was more amused than anything really.

“You love me for that.” Miyeon winked which made the other roll her eyes before faking puking. Yet, she didn’t refute it.

“What do I gain from it?” Shuhua challenged with a raised eyebrow.

“Free waffles, some fun time relaxing… and … me.” Miyeon said in a deeper voice, each word lower than the previous and as she came to her last bit, she leaned in and batted her eyelash while cupping her own face.

“I’ll skip that but I do want free waffles.” Shuhua smiled at last, her words sharp but really she didn’t mean any harm behind those. Miyeon knew all too well, it was just her way of speaking and while it might have upset others, she easily let it roll off. Sure, she was known for her short temperament but she didn’t see Shuhua’s way of speaking as offensive, it was cute and funny rather. The only time she gets upset is when Shuhua truly intended her words and in a rude fashion. But in a matter of minutes she would have forgotten she was mad in the first place.

Miyeon stood up, gathered Shuhua’s paper and put them in the said girl’s bag under her scrutinising gaze. Extending her hand toward Shuhua once she was done and pulling her off her chair, never letting it go as she led them outside the badly lit coffee shop round the corner.

xxxxx

“Where are we going ?” The Taiwanese finally exclaimed after 5 minutes walking which was approximately two streets away from the coffee shop.

“Do you have anything in mind ?” Miyeon suddenly asked, revealing her lack of planning.

“Yah, you’re the one inviting me and you don’t know where to go ?” Shuhua stopped in her tracks which in turn stopped the oldest too as their hands were still locked in one another in a tight grip. 

“I mean, I thought of going to a street market, so we could go shopping and I will buy you some waffles as well… but if you have anything better in mind just tell me now, I don’t mind as long as you’re happy.” Miyeon explained with her usual sweet voice, her face never losing its smile whenever she was with the younger girl.

“I… no let’s go.” Speechless, the black haired woman let go of her hands and walked ahead leaving Miyeon grinning at her cuteness. She will not forget that shy blush adorning her pale cheeks.

With a skip in her step the blonde woman caught up with the younger one and linked their arms together as they cruised along the way.

___

The street market was bustling and though Shuhua was not so fond of the crowd, the protective grip that Miyeon had on her arm was enough to reassure her amongst the sea of people.

“Yah Shuhua ~ !” Miyeon suddenly exclaimed as she hastily navigated them towards a stand. Cheap waffles with choco toppings greeted Shuhua’s vision and she could already feel her stomach grumbling at the treat, a smile blooming on her face.

“Unnie ~ I want one !” The younger said in a higher pitched voice, jumping up and down like a kid in front of a toy store. 

“Yes yes, I promised you anyway.” Nothing was as satisfying as seeing Shuhua so excited for something, especially if she was the one granting her wishes. Miyeon didn’t mind spending her money on her since Shuhua was her source of happiness.

“You’re the best unnie !” Shuhua said loudly which caught the attention of a few passersby but they didn’t care, one totally engrossed in the prospect of sweet dessert and the other drowning in her blinding smile.

They had settled somewhere a little calmer on the side, Miyeon didn’t get herself one as she wasn’t that hungry but she felt full watching Shuhua wolfing down the choco waffle. 

“Unnie, don’t you want a bite ?” Shuhua had demanded, half the waffle gone in her stomach and chocolate painting the corner of her lips.

“Hm, I’m fine, thanks… I’ll have that though.” Miyeon shook her head no, a satisfied smile on her lips as she bent down slightly, her right hand grazing the corner of Shuhua’s mouth as she cleaned the spot from the messy chocolate with her thumb. When pulling back, that said thumb ended in , it clean as the younger one stopped functioning, perhaps not even remembering how to breathe for a second as her face went three shades of red.

“Hm sweet.” Miyeon commented with a sly smirk and wanted to burst out laughing when the usually pristine pale skin was mimicking the red of the tteokbokki sauce from the stall closest to them. 

“Y-yah, if you wanted a choco waffle you should have b-bought one yourself- and W-what happened to the sanitary meashures, you didn’t even wash your hands !” Shuhua said at lightning speed, stumbling over a few words and mispronouncing some in her haste. 

“Measures.. it’s measures Shushu.” Miyeon corrected her softly, earning a glare from the younger one.

“I know that ! I can speak Korean too !” Shuhua half yelled, avoiding eye contact with the older who enjoyed her flustered state a tad too much. Seeing the lack of response she returned to (not so) angrily biting down her waffle.

“Seeing you eating it… makes me suddenly hungry too, let me have a bite.” Miyeon said in her mischievous streak… one thing leading to another she received a headbutt, an earful and a strong shove from Shuhua who huffed in discontentment. The older one on the other head felt three things : pain, happiness and slight annoyance too. Overall, she only laughed the ache on her forehead away, promising herself that she’ll get back to her later today… She still had plenty of time ahead.

___

While walking along the streets they had stopped through various shops. Miyeon had spotted a particular dress she knew Shuhua would like. The latter was looking through another rack while she quickly asked a staff member to put it aside (knowing the younger girl’s size) and paid for it while she was still very much engrossed with a few other dresses which in Miyeon’s opinion would not fit her taste. The younger woman rummaged through the store under Miyeon’s intense gaze and when she finally got the bag containing her present for Shuhua, she went and met the girl.

“So, my Shushu, did you find something you like ?” Miyeon said after committing her crime.

“Hm… well there’s that dress over there that I like but… I don’t have the money for it. Otherwise not really. But that dress though, when I get more money from my part-time job I’ll be sure to get it. What about you, bought something ?” Shuhua explained while eying the white dress with envy.

“Hmmm well. I’ll show you later, let’s keep going. It’s getting late, we should get dinner.” Miyeon grabbed Shuhua’s hand in an attempt to mask her own smirk knowing that she did something that would owe her lots of yelling but also affection.

XXXXXXX

The night slowly set itself, both agreed that they were too tired to eat out and instead chose to order at a restaurant nearby to go. The place was around 15 minutes away from the younger’s university and pretty close to the company where Miyeon worked. 

“Home sweet home.” Shuhua said as she crashed on the couch tiredly under the eyes of Miyeon full of admiration for the latter.

The neighbors were their shared friends which added to the awesomeness of the shared apartment. Technically speaking it was Miyeon’s place but after Shuhua complained about the University’s provided dorm and how much the bathroom stunk, it didn’t take more than 2 weeks for Miyeon to move the younger one here. Sure they had argued but Shuhua relented after insisting on paying half the rent. A rent that, even halved, would still be too costly for her, so Miyeon made sure to make it ⅓ instead, a price more accessible for a foreign struggling university student. She was a businesswoman for a reason. In any case Shuhua had taken upon