Jisu laughed as Chaewon made her way to the door, rushing out.

"Such a shame, I actually wanted to see them interacting," Heejin said.

"Same, and then make fun of her for the whole week." Hyunjin chuckled maniacally, Yeji elbowing her and joining in.

"You guys are bad." Jisu shook her head, taking a sip of her peach iced tea. "I'm happy they're getting along. Who knows where their relationship will go."

"I mean, Chaewon isn't discreet at all. I know she's happy with being friends with Hyeju, but I know the girl would die for more." Hyunjin snickered.

"Are they even friends at this point? Didn't they meet like... isn’t this the second time they're gonna meet?" Yeji asked.

"Let her be." Jisu waved her hand. "Let them get to know each other. Remember that this isn't something only from Chaewon's side. Hyeju knew her already too."

"Now, now, miss Jeon Heejin, doesn't your neck hurt from turning too much?" Hyunjin said, and Heejin faced her the same second. "I wonder what's there so interesting that you just can't stop looking."

"N-Nothing." Heejin took a bite of her chocolate cake.

Jisu had noticed how Heejin approached the cute girl right when they got to the café. And how they still didn't stop throwing glances at each other.

"What's her name?" Yeji asked.

"W-Whose name?"

"Come on, the cute girl that took your order."

"Finally, Haseul!" the random shout made the group look at their side.

"Quit screaming in here, Yeojin!" One of the employees, Haseul probably, looked around and approached her, setting a plate with a freshly baked chocolate bread on the table.

The girl sitting with a few books in front of her, Yeojin, stuck her tongue out at her.

"Be good, you don't want your sister to be upset with you," Haseul said, patting Yeojin's head.

"Why would Sooyoung be upset with me when I'm being such a good girl studying this hard?" Yeojin gave her a puppy-eyed look.

Haseul shook her head with a small smile. "Then keep working hard, and I will as well." She turned and walked back into the kitchens, while Yeojin bit her chocolate bread and focused on her books.

Jisu exchanged a look with her friends.

"That was interesting," Heejin said, and then lowered her voice tone. "Wait, does that mean that girl is also Hyeju's sister?"

"Yeah, I think she is," Jisu said. "I saw a picture of Hyeju with two other girls, her sisters, and I'm sure that was one of them.

"Yes, that's all very cute," Yeji butted in. "but we didn't forget about-"

The bell above the door rang, and Yeojin threw her arms in the air, waving frenetically. "Yerim!"

They turned again, and Jisu stopped breathing as her eyes landed on the three girls that stepped inside the café.

"Hey, girls!" Sooyoung greeted them as they approached the counter. "What is it gonna be for today?"

"The same," one of the girls said, probably Yerim, since she ran to sit in front of Yeojin.

"The same as well," the second girl, with long light brown and cute perky ears said.

"Alright, what about you, Ryujin?" Sooyoung turned to her, and Jisu was glad she wasn't seeing things.

Ryujin stuck her hands in her brown leather jacket's pockets and shrugged. "The chocolate bread smells nice. Get me one, please."

"They just got out of the oven!" Yeojin said, showing her the one she was eating.

This time, there wasn't a beanie on Ryujin's head or glasses sitting on her nose. She wore the same jacket, and black skinny jeans this time, and half of her hair was caught up in a ponytail, the rest falling down her shoulders.

"Hyeju is at the store, right?" Ryujin asked.

"Yeah, she is. Gowon was here just a bit ago, I told her to pay Hyeju a visit and bring her food." Sooyoung smirked.

"You didn't."

"I did!" Sooyoung laughed, placing the chocolate bread onto a plate and setting it on a tray for the girls. "She came with her friends, but she still left them here to go see Hyeju."

And as Sooyoung eyed them, the girls turned. Ryujin met Jisu's eyes.

"Jisu?" Ryujin irked an eyebrow.

Jisu's heart thumped on her chest, and all her friends stared at her now.

"Hey, Ryujin." She waved at her.

Ryujin gave her a smile and returned her attention to Sooyoung, while Jisu also faced ahead, knowing how red her cheeks were.

"Who's that?" Hyunjin asked.

"Ryujin."

"Well, I got as much."

"She's helping me with my project while I'll help with hers."

"Oh, you found someone to help you." Heejin nudged her. "And what great help you found."

"Earth calls Yeji," Hyunjin said near her ear, startling her, who seemed so distracted she probably didn't listen to anything. "What are you looking at?"

"Just observing, like you were."

"I cannot believe y'all are falling in love at first sight today." Hyunjin shook her head, clearly judging. "Are y'all living in a fanfic?"

"You're the one making the fanfic in your head!" Yeji smacked her arm.

Jisu let them bicker all they wanted and peeked back again. Both Ryujin and her friend had their food already, looking around at the barely any empty tables by that hour.

"Ryujin," Jisu called, as if her vocal cords acted on their own. "Wanna sit here?"

Ryujin exchanged a look with her friend, receiving a nod. Shrugging, she made her way toward their table. Jisu scooted closer to Heejin on the long wooden bench, and Ryujin sat next to her, while her friend sat on the couch, next to Yeji, whose face had visibly gained a new shade of pink.

"There's not a lot of tables, and there was space here, so I thought you could join us," Jisu said.

"Yeah." Ryujin took a bite of her chocolate bread.

"Wanna introduced yourselves?" Jisu asked, motioning toward her friends.

Ryujin eyed them. "I'm Ryujin."

"And I'm Chaeryeong," the girl with the perky ears said.

Jisu's friends introduced themselves one by one, and Yeji, usually the most outgoing one, couldn't even look Chaeryeong in the eyes.

"Jisu said you're helping each other with your projects, that means you go to the same college as we do, right?" Heejin asked.

Ryujin nodded.

"Which majors?" Hyunjin asked.

"Photography."

"Dance," Chaeryeong said.

Yeji almost gave herself whiplash from how fast she turned to her. "Me too!”

"Oh!" Chaeryeong's face lit up as she pointed at Yeji. "Then I wasn't getting crazy. I thought I recognized your face from somewhere!"

"R-Really? I recognized you too. I've seen you a few times around campus."

"Me too!"

Jisu watched them like she was watching a rom-com, while Hyunjin and Heejin told Ryujin they were second years in acting and singing majors, respectively. They seemed like they didn't have anything to say to each other anymore, but on the contrary, Yeji and Chaeryeong were immersed in their conversation.

Ryujin turned to Jisu. "You're friends with Gowon?"

Jisu chuckled. "We all are, ever since high school. We're all second years."

Devouring the rest of her chocolate bread, Ryujin widened her eyes, as if she realized all the coincidences in her mind. "Wow. I was the one telling Hyeju about her channel, now they met, and we met."

"Exactly. When I saw your name in the flyer, I thought I knew a Ryujin from somewhere, but I wasn't sure. Then I remembered you're Hyeju's friend who participates in her streams a lot."

"Do you watch Hyeju's stream as well?"

"Not really, honestly. I'm not into gaming. But since Chaewon talks about it a lot, I knew you as well."

Ryujin irked an eyebrow. "Chaewon's her name, okay. Does she talk a lot about Hyeju? Because Hyeju does talk a lot about Chaewon."

Jisu almost choked on her drink. "S-She does?"

"Gowon is so cute, Gowon is so pretty, I love her voice, oh my god Gowon posted a new video!" she said with a different voice, mimicking Hyeju.

Jisu's chin could reach the floor. "Chaewon is the same! Hyeju is so pretty, Hyeju is so adorable, Hyeju's so funny, especially when she rages, Hyeju's so good at that game."

"I can't believe they're literally the same. I hope they know that."

"Highly doubt it." Jisu sighed. "It took so long for Chaewon to even come here. But let's give them time, who knows what's gonna happen."

"Hyeju can either be a tsundere, or super blunt. There's no way I can tell what could happen."

Jisu chuckled. "Let's hope she's blunt with Chaewon, then. And you seem to know Hyeju well."

"Oh, I do. I've lost the count of how many years I've known her."

"Childhood friends?"

"We were born in the same year, and our parents were already neighbors, so, I guess we’ve known each other basically ever since we were babies."

A warm smile appeared on Jisu's lips. "Oh my god, that's so cute. I'm glad you're still friends nowadays. There aren't many relationships like that anymore."

"I guess." Ryujin checked her phone and stuck it in her pocket. "It's getting late."

But before Ryujin could stand up, Jisu grabbed her arm, keeping her in place. "W-Wait." She looked outside and could see how the sky was turning darker. "Are you gonna watch the sunset?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Just a hunch.” Jisu shrugged. “Can I come with you?"

They held each other's gaze, and Jisu gulped. But then Ryujin nodded. "Sure."

And Jisu couldn't help but grin. She stood up after Ryujin.

"I'm leaving now. Nice to meet you all." Ryujin gave the girls a bow with her head.

"Likewise!" Hyunjin gave her a thumbs up.

"You're leaving too?" Heejin asked, frowning at Jisu.

"Yeah. Have a nice weekend, guys."

And before they could ask any further questions, Jisu urged Ryujin out of the café.

"Is it really okay for me to go? I don't wanna bother you," Jisu said.

"Yeah, maybe I can take a couple pics for my project. Sorry, I hadn't said anything all week about it."

"Well, I didn't either. I had other stuff to do, but I did some sketches of your possible outfit."

"You can show them to me if you want to."

"I do! Let's get to the riverside and I'll show you."

After a quick walk in silence, since Jisu didn't know what to say, and it seemed like Ryujin was the same, they got to the riverside. People sat on nearby benches or down on the grass, others walked, others ran with earphones on. Jisu followed Ryujin, letting her choose whenever she wanted to sit. But instead of a bench or the grass, she turned towards the river, sitting down on the ground, on the few steps that lead closer to the water.

"No one walks in front of me this way," Ryujin said, as if answering Jisu's silent questions.

"Makes sense."

And before an awkward silence could settle in, Jisu fetched her sketchbook and opened the page with several sketches, with little notes on what could the fabric be, or random details about the clothes. "Take a look."

Ryujin took it from Jisu's hands and observed each and every one of them, taking her time.

"Do you like them? Or one in specific?" Jisu asked.

"I like them all."

"For real?"

"Yeah. I could dress any, they're all pretty and cool."

"You really don't have one you like the most? Or maybe a thing you liked from one and something else from another one?"

"I really like the crop button-up shirt." Ryujin pointed to that one, one of the first Jisu did.

Jisu beamed. "I really like that one too. Should I go with that one, then?"

"If you want to, yes."

"Do you like the different halves look? Like, different colors, or patterns."

"You're the stylist, I'm just the model."

"But I can ask for an opinion, can't I?"

Ryujin handed her the sketchbook back and smiled at her. "Yeah. I like that."

A smile on Jisu's lips matched hers. "What are your favorite colors?"

"I like all." But when Jisu glared at her, Ryujin chuckled. "Blue. But really, I love all colors. You don't need to use blue just because I said so."

"I know."

Jisu stuffed her sketchbook back into her bag and faced ahead. The sun was almost hiding behind the tall building on the other side of the city, leaving the oranges and pinks and reds in a trail behind. The beautiful sunset Jisu knew so well, always so breathtaking.

A click of a camera made her turn her head. Ryujin leaned back, her expensive looking Canon in her hands, in front of her face, taking a few more pics the second Jisu looked straight at the lenses. She smiled, avoiding the camera still pointed at her, warmth spreading across her cheeks. A few more clicks, even though Jisu didn't know what to do or act around it.

"You didn't even warn me." Jisu pouted at her. "Do you want me to pose in a certain way or something?"

"No." Ryujin checked the pics on the camera. "These are good."

"Really? Can I see them?"

Selecting one of them, Ryujin scooted closer and turned it to Jisu. She couldn't help but let out a quiet gasp. There wasn't a sunset in this photo, but Jisu staring ahead at it instead, the orangish glow reflecting on her side profile.

"It's beautiful," Jisu muttered.

"Beautiful, indeed.” Ryujin cleared . “D-Did you like it? The pic?"

"I loved it. Can you send it to me later?"

"Sure."

"The others too, if you don't mind."

"Do you like my photos that much?"

"They're great! And those are photos of me, aren't they?" Jisu flipped her hair, throwing her a smirk.

"You're right. Maybe I can use this one. But I’ll choose when I have enough pics."

Ryujin shifted her attention to the sunset now after putting her camera away, inside her backpack. But Jisu kept her eyes on Ryujin instead, admiring her side profile. That hairstyle suited her so well. She looked like a samurai or something.

A phone rang, and Ryujin reached for it in her jacket's pocket.

"Yes, Yuna? I'm still outside." Ryujin paused, listening to the other side, and then giggled. "Alright, I'll get mocha bread on the way home. See you later."

Jisu was curious, but didn't want to pry.

"My younger sister," Ryujin said, answering yet again the question Jisu wanted to ask.

"Oh, I have a sibling, too. A younger brother. But he's living with my parents back at home since he's still a high school student."

"Where do you live, then?"

"A small apartment close to campus."

Ryujin nodded. "Must be nice to live alone."

"It has its ups and downs. I get my privacy, but it also can get lonely. And I miss my dog."

"Not your parents or your younger brother, but your dog." Ryujin visibly contained a laugh.

Jisu let her chin drop. "I-I miss them too!"

Ryujin laughed, her eyes turning into little crescents, and it was the first time Jisu saw her laughing like that. And it was so adorable, so pretty, her laugh so pure it made her heart beat faster.

"I was joking. To be honest, if I lived alone, I would probably miss my cats more than Yuna or my parents, so I get you."

"See!" Jisu frowned, playfully hitting her arm. "And cats? You have more than one?"

"Three cats." Ryujin unlocked her phone and turned it to Jisu, showing her wallpaper. Three cats laid, nestling together, a Siamese one, another with white fur and grey spots, and the third one, significantly smaller than the other two, all grey. "This is Sarang, laying on top of Byullie and Dallie. Sarang is way more recent, we got her a few months ago. Well, Yuna did. She said she wanted to have one for herself."

"That's so cute! They're adorable. Let me show you my dog, then." Jisu chose a pretty picture of herself holding her dog. "She was still so small in here, but she's bigger now. Her name is Bella."

"She looks like a plushie. So cute."

"Right! She's adorable." Jisu stared a bit more at the picture, remembering how little she was when Jisu got her.

When she looked ahead, Ryujin was still gazing at her. But quickly she stuffed her phone back into her pocket. "Sorry, I need to go."

"Of course. Yuna's waiting for her mocha bread now."

"Yeah, she is." Ryujin chuckled as she stood up.

"Let's meet up next week? I'll try and decide on the outfit until then," Jisu said, following.

"Sure. Text or call me whenever you want to meet."

"Will do. Have a great weekend. And don't forget to send me the photos!"

"Don't worry, I won't." Ryujin took out her airpods and stuck them on her ears. "Have a great weekend too."

Jisu nodded and Ryujin walked away, hands in her pockets and head bobbing with the music she was listening to. She still didn't know what kind of music she liked, so maybe that was something she could ask the next time they were together.

Because Jisu was already looking forward to it, even though Ryujin left just thirty seconds ago.

---

A/N: For real, that specific hairstyle really makes Ryujin look like a samurai, I can't be the only one thinking that 😭

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