Jisu had lost track of time. Had ten minutes passed, or two hours since she was sitting on her bed, back against the wall, and Ryujin's beanie in her hands? She had rushed outside in such a way she left it behind, and Jisu held onto it like it was the last thing she would ever have to remember her.

Dramatic much?

The sun had set way long ago, and it was at times like this she was glad she had a tiny apartment just for herself. The silence, the way no one bothered her while she processed what happened an hour, or two or three ago. She couldn't help but bring Ryujin's beanie closer to her face. It smelled just like her. Not a specific perfume, just... Ryujin's scent. Not too sweet, but somehow fresh, like berries.

For god's sake, Ryujin wasn't dead or something!

Jisu let her head hit the wall, sighing and stopping her tears to fall for the third time since Ryujin left.

Her phone rang, and she picked up the same second, bringing it to her ear.

"Jisu?" Chaewon said on the other side.

"Hey, Chaewon." Jisu sniffed.

"What happened?"

"I ed up real bad. Before something could even happen."

"How so?"

"I..." Jisu took in a deeper breath. "I misunderstood the situation. I almost kissed Ryujin and she bailed on me. She just... ran away."

"Wait, you what?!"

"Everything feels like a blur, like it actually didn't happen. Like I just dreamed it instead. It all happened so fast I couldn't react."

"Just explain it to me. Everything, slow and detailed."

"I was taking her measures, you know, for the outfit. But then she took off her sweatshirt, because it was getting in the way and I couldn't take them properly, and oh god, I was freaking out. , Chaewon, what the got into me?!" It was as if reality was dawning on her.

"I don't know, Jisu! You panicked because she took off her sweatshirt, and then you tried to kiss her?"

Jisu took a hand to her parted lips. "Yes. Yes, Chaewon, it was... exactly that. But I didn't just throw myself at her, I'm not a creep! We were really close, and I swear to god it looked like she wanted the same. The way she looked back at me and didn't move an inch when I... was going for it. But suddenly, she just took a step back, grabbed her things, and left without a word!"

There was silence over the line.

"... Jisu, I'm sorry."

"Do you think... she thinks I'm a creep?"

"No! Misunderstands happen, Jisu. Like you said, it's not like you grabbed her and forced her to kiss you. Maybe she got scared. Or... wasn't sure. Have you tried to talk to her?"

"No. What am I supposed to say?"

"Whatever's on your mind. I don't know if this helps, but Ryujin called Hyeju when I was with her."

"She did?" Jisu leaned forward. "What did she say?"

"She wanted to talk with Hyeju. And Hyeju said she didn't seem well. I'm sure she wanted to talk about that."

Jisu let her back hit the wall again, fighting back more tears. "... Funny how I was the one telling you to not assume stuff about Hyeju, but then I was the one assuming and ing everything up."

"You didn't anything up, Jisu. Talk to her. Or give her time for now and then try and talk to her. And you're assuming you ed up when you don't know why she left like that."

Jisu let out a low chuckle. "You're right, I'm assuming again. What a hypocrite, Choi Jisu..." She sighed at herself. "Enough of this sad, ed up situation. Tell me about Hyeju. Did you give her the dock?"

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk more about it?"

"No, I need something else to distract me. And all be happy if you tell me happy news."

"Alright. Yes, I waited for her after her shift, and she looked all happy that I was there. And then we grabbed food and sat, and I gave her the dock. She was so happy. You were right, she was hesitating to accept it, but she did. And you have no idea what she told me next."

"See, I told you she would love it." Jisu smiled. "What did she say?"

"She said she wanted me to be in her first Switch stream, this weekend!"

Jisu widened her eyes. "Oh my god, that's amazing, Chaewon! I'm so happy you're getting along so well."

"She even told me about her family and why she holds so many jobs and all. You were right, it was not about her not wanting to be with me. She works so hard to help her family out, Jisu, you have no idea. She's so... selfless and hardworking. Really, everything she does is for her family."

"You're so in love, Chaewonie."

"W-What? No, it's not like that!"

Jisu laughed out loud. "The only one you're fooling is yourself, really. It's okay, go for it! I think you might actually have a chance."

Chaewon's gulp was loud enough for Jisu to hear it over the phone. "She did hug me when I gave her the dock... and then I hugged her when she was talking about her family... it was cute. And she complimented me and my voice again."

"See!"

"But I don't know. And we were talking about how cute it could be if the four of us met. You know, because Hyeju and Ryujin are bffs, and we are bffs, and we met under these weirdly coincidental ways."

Jisu didn't say anything, but a small smile appeared on her lips as she imagined the scene. Hyeju and Chaewon were totally dating in that scenario, but she and Ryujin... Why was she even thinking about Ryujin that way? Wasn't it too early?

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said this." Chaewon sighed. "You wanted to distract yourself, and I'm here talking about Ryujin."

"It's okay. It's not like I can just snap my fingers and forget about her, anyway. She left her beanie here, and I've been holding it ever since she left. Lame, right?" Jisu chuckled at herself.

"Do you like her? I mean, stupid question, you wanted to kiss her."

"It's not a stupid question. I don't know it myself. I barely know her, Chaewon. We've been together just a few times to work on our projects and talked about very trivial things like our music tastes. She freaked out when she saw my LP player. She's so cute..." Jisu mumbled the last part.

"You're still getting to know each other, and that's okay. There was a lot I didn't know about Hyeju, but she opened up to me. Maybe Ryujin will too. Give her time."

"Yeah. Thanks, Chaewonie, for listening to me."

"Of course."

"Tell me then the time of your stream with Hyeju. I wanna watch it."

"Will do. Hey, speaking about her, she's starting her stream. Wanna talk more?"

"No, it's okay. Go watch her. I'll try and study a bit before going to sleep."

"Alright. Sleep well, and I'm here if you need anything."

"Thank you. You too, and have fun watching Hyeju's stream."

"Always."

Jisu smiled and hung up, but kept staring at the phone in her hands. She didn't know if she should give Ryujin space or text her. But saying what? She didn't actually want to have a conversation now, just... apologize.

And that was exactly what she was going to do, after typing and correcting and typing again, but in the end, she kept it as simple as she could.

[Jisu]
I'm sorry.

She was also not going to expect an answer. She just wanted to let that out of her chest, and now, she would give Ryujin the time she needed.

---

A/N: small chapter but I promise the next one if big BIG and another huge dose of fluff!!!!!!!!!

Twitter - @itzloonatic
CuriousCat - curiouscat.me/itzloonatic