“Unnie, do I look okay?”. The younger girl sitting next to Yujin pulled her hair to the front and adjusted her bangs.

“For the last time Chae, you look fine. Stop worrying already”. Yujin reassured her friend who was clearly nervous about meeting her supposed crush. 

Chaehyun had urgently banged on her door yesterday, desperately asking for help. She had been asked to hang out tomorrow by a certain someone. Yujin knew her best friend had a crush on Dayeon, a first-year at their university. It all began when Chaehyun tripped on the stairs one day and landed in the Dayeon’s arms before she could tumble the rest of the way down. Dayeon even helped her pick up all her scattered books that Chaehyun threw in a fit of panic. 

Needless to say, that day left a great impression of Chaehyun. Imagine her surprise when she found out that they had shared the same art class together. They exchanged contacts soon after and a few days of talking later, here they were. Yujin had agreed to accompany Chaehyun as Dayeon was also bringing a friend. 

The two were currently sitting at a cafe near their university, waiting for Dayeon and her friend to arrive. Chaehyun had insisted they come early, refusing the slight possibility of being late. 

The door to the cafe chimed open and workers offered their greetings. Yujin saw her friend tense up at the sight of the pair that just entered. She followed Chaehyun’s line of sight and froze. 

One of the pair had spotted Chaehyun and started to head over. That one must be Dayeon. As for the other, her reaction was nearly identical to Yujin’s. She had faltered slightly before making her way to where Yujin was seated.

“Did we make you wait long?”. Dayeon flashed a smile and took the seat across Chaehyun. Her friend took the seat across Yujin somewhat begrudgingly. 

“Not at all. We just arrived”. Chaehyun replied to them and glanced over at Dayeon’s friend who was staring at Yujin. She looked over to her friend and found her doing the same. She nudged Yujin’s foot with hers and gave her a quizzical look.

Yujin blinked a few times at the nudge. She politely smiled and introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Yujin. Third year business major. Nice to meet you”

“I’m Dayeon. Performance arts major. Nice to meet you too”

“Xiaoting. Second Year. Linguistics”

The air was starting to feel awkward after Xiaoting’s short introduction. Dayeon looked over at her friend who was unusually quiet. She found Xiaoting eyeing up Yujin. 

“Have you two ordered anything?” Dayeon turned her attention away from Xiaoting, saving the thought for later.

Chaehyun shook her head, “We were waiting for you all to arrive first. I’ll go make an order”

“I’ll go with you”, Dayeon started getting up from her seat.

“Yujin unnie, green tea latte for you?” Chaehyun asked as she also got up from her seat.

Yujin nodded at the question and watched as the two walked over to the counter. Her smile dropped and she glared at the person across from her.

“What are you doing here, Shen?”

“I could ask you the same thing Choi”. Xiaoting crossed her arms and returned the glare with the same intensity.

“Trying to plant a spy on people around me? That’s low of you to use teenagers”. Yujin couldn’t believe that Shen was trying to use her friends just to get dirt on her and her family.

Xiaoting scoffed at the accusation. “Please, are you sure that’s not what you’re planning? I’ll spare you the trouble. You won’t get anything out of her. Dayeon knows nothing about what we do. Leave her alone, I’ll take you on”. Xiaoting was no stranger to being tailed and spied on. After all, it came with the Shen name, no matter where she went. There would always be eyes watching her move.

“I’m not that low to extort my friends. If you do anything to Chaehyun, I’ll make you regret it”. Yujin wasn’t about to leave her friend off to fend for herself. As Chaehyun has no clue about the true nature of Yujin’s family, she would have to protect her discreetly.

The two broke their staring contest. Each finding the scenery around them more interesting but would occasionally steal glances at one another, just in case they tried to do anything. Unbeknownst to them, the pair of mischievous girls were watching them from the cashier. 

Dayeon spoke up first while they were waiting for their order. “Sorry about my friend. She’s usually not like that. She is really nice actually”

The pair by the counter saw how the ones seated keep stealing glances at one another but neither spoke a word.

“No problem. Yujin unnie is usually really friendly too”. Chaehyun was somewhat taken aback by Yujin’s antics. The older one was usually so outgoing and positive, not letting a moment of awkwardness slip past her. 

Dayeon was confused at her friend’s sudden change. Xiaoting was fine on the way to the cafe. The girl was even excited to tease Dayeon about her date. Sure, Xiaoting wasn’t the most outgoing person but she was always friendly and most definitely not this awkward teenager who’s stealing glances at a stranger. Then a thought came to Dayeon, “Say, you don’t think. They like each other, do you?” 

Chaehyun’s face lit up like a lightbulb. “That could be why they can’t take their eyes off each other. Dayeon, you’re a genius!”

“We should set them up”. They said almost in unison. Chaehyun smirked mischievously at Dayeon who returned the same smile back. This was going to be fun. Not only would she spend more time with her crush but also get Yujin a girlfriend in the process. It’s killing two birds with one stone.

The cafe worker handed them their order on a tray. The pair thanked the worker and walked back to their seats. Both smiling widely. Yujin glanced up at their arrival. She raised her eyebrow and eyed her friend suspiciously. Whenever Chaehyun smiles like that, it could only mean trouble.

 

 

---

 

 

A few weeks have passed since the hangout, a new semester has begun at the university. Yujin was currently on her way to the psychology class she shared with Chaehyun. She found the girl sitting next to Dayeon and behind them was her. 

“Hey, guys”, She tried to greet them cheerfully despite her reluctance to share the same space with her supposed rival. The younger pair greeted her back while she just raised her brow at her.

“We saved you a seat unnie”, Chaehyun pointed at the seat behind her, next to Xiaoting.

Yujin stood still, glancing between the empty seat and Shen. Sitting across from her at the cafe the other day was nerve wracking enough. This time she had to sit next to her. It didn’t help that Shen was sitting at the seat near the aisle. Yujin would have to walk around the tight space behind her rival. That was a little too close for comfort.

Xiaoting glanced at the Choi daughter for a moment. She shifted her items to the seat next to her and moved to the seat over.

“Well? Sit down. You’re blocking the aisle”, Xiaoting pointed out to the people waiting behind the Choi as the girl wasn’t moving from her place.

Yujin was caught off guard by the gesture. She looked back and true to her words, there were people waiting behind her. She quickly sat down at the seat offered to her. She didn’t like it one bit. She was about to say her piece when the teacher entered and started taking attendance.

Xiaoting was jotting down notes while listening to the lecturer talk about the psychological side of love. She started to wonder why she chose to even take this class since this wasn’t related to her major. Ah, that’s right. She lost a bet with Dayeon. It was either this or eat a bottle of those random flavour gummy beans. She was confident she could ace any class and she didn’t want to puke out of disgust, so the choice was easy. 

Xiaoting should’ve guessed it had something to do with Dayeon’s crush. Her friend walked up to her one afternoon and said that she had caught an angel falling from heaven. Xiaoting was slightly concerned about her friend’s well-being. She was either dying or she just saw a really pretty girl at school. It was probably the latter. 

It was actually Xiaoting who messaged Chaehyun to hang out. She had enough of Dayeon fawning over the girl. Every single time Dayeon opened it was about Chaehyun. It nearly drove Xiaoting mad. So she took Dayeon’s phone and sent a message to ‘Angel <3’. Dayeon would have ran away if Xiaoting didn’t drag her to the cafe. The so-called angel was pretty and seemed like a nice person. She however didn’t expect to see Choi.

The hangout that day ended somewhat awkwardly for Xiaoting. She couldn’t just stand up and walk away from the Choi. She couldn’t just casually say that the person sitting across from her belonged to the mafia and was probably out of her neck. Also surprise, she’s also part of the mafia. There was no way she was explaining all that on her friend’s hangout with her crush. Thankfully, Choi was more civil than she thought. She was definitely not the cold blooded murderer Xiaoting thought she was. Choi looked like your average university senior. 

A piece of paper sliding to the centre of the table caught Xiaoting’s attention. She glanced at the sender. The sender kept a poker face and was writing down notes, not sparing her a glance. Xiaoting took the note.

I don’t need your help

After a few seconds of pondering, it finally clicked to Xiaoting. Choi was referring to when she moved seats. Xiaoting scoffed. The girl thought Xiaoting did it out of concern for her. Choi was quite full of herself. Xiaoting did not move seats out of the kindness of her heart. She did not want her rival behind her back. If they were going to be in the same space, Choi's hand had to be where she could see them. Never turn your back on your opponent, or in Xiaoting’s case, her rival. 

I didn’t do it for you, princess

Yujin would be lying if she said she wasn’t ticked off by the answer. Who did Shen think she was to call her princess?

Don’t ever do it again and don’t call me princess

Xiaoting was appalled. Choi was the one who started this and she had to deal with her attitude?

You don’t tell me what to do

Yujin glared at the girl sitting next to her. She found brown orbs looking her way with the same intensity. Their staring contest was interrupted when the teacher called for attention before finishing the class.

“Attention everyone! Before I need the class today, I need you to partner up with your seatmate. You’ll be doing the final project for this class together. I want you to write a report about topics we’re covering in this course. Even better if you can include your own personal experience regarding the topic. The finer details you can check the school website, a file regarding the format and submission date should be written there. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them after or before my class. That’s all. You’re free to go”

Yujin looked at Shen. Xiaoting looked at Choi. You’ve got to be kidding me.

 

 

---

 

 

“What’s up with her?” Mashiro pointed at Xiaoting who was banging her head on the table.

“Oh, it’s nothing. She just got partnered with Yujin unnie for psych class” Dayeon continued to munch on her sandwich. The trio were in the mess hall for lunch break. They usually take this time to catch up with one another.

Mashiro had heard about Choi Yujin. The senior was quite well known among the juniors as she had made an appearance at their entrance ceremony a few years ago. She was confused as to why that would cause their Chinese friend to act like that. She looked quizzically at Dayeon for more details. 

“She’s just worried that she’d focus on her partner rather than the project”. Dayeon wiggled her eyebrows teasingly.

Xiaoting’s head shot up at the comment. “I am not. Well, yeah sorta-”

“See! You should’ve seen them in class earlier. They were exchanging little notes and staring at each other”

“Hold on! It wasn’t like that!”. What Dayeon said was somewhat true. Xiaoting was more worried about how in the world they could ever finish the project without going at each other’s throats. She tried to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t lead to her leaking her mafia heritage. Her friends were still waiting for her to continue. In a panic Xiaoting blurted out, “I- I had reasons!”

Dayeon and Mashiro gave her a look.

“Sure, whatever you say Ting”, Dayeon waved off Xiaoting’s answer while Mashiro grinned in amusement at her friend's expense.

Great. That was an excellent answer. Even Xiaoting herself had to admit that answer was weak as hell. She was just only fanning the fire. She groaned and slammed her head back on the table.

“Dayeon!”

Three heads turned at the voice calling. It was Chaehyun walking towards their table with her lunch. “Can I join you guys?”

“Sure!”. Dayeon scooted over to make space for Chaehyun. She introduced her to Mashiro and Mashiro to her project partner. 

The four of them chatted together throughout lunch time. Time flies when you’re having fun. Soon lunch time was going to end, and they started to clear their table. 

Chaehyun suddenly blurted out a question, “Say, Xiaoting, did you manage to get Yujin unnie’s contact?”

Chaehyun had noticed that Yujin bolted out of the room as soon as the class ended without sparing a glance back while Xiaoting just watched her figure from her seat.

Xiaoting scrunched up her face and shook her head. She doubted that Choi would even give Xiaoting her actual number. Choi would practically be leaking her own personal information to her rival. Even Xiaoting wasn’t sure if she could give Choi her number. Perhaps they could just use fake email accounts to contact each other. That seemed like a more favourable option.

“I can give it to you if you want” Chaehyun had her phone outstretched to Xiaoting with Yujin’s contact information on the screen.

That was an interesting offer. Xiaoting almost said yes but then she remembered the words they shared in the cafe that day. Somehow it felt wrong to get Choi’s number like this. It’d look like Xiaoting did use Chaehyun to get information on Choi. 

“Thanks but could you give her mine instead?”

Chaehyun was surprised at the answer. She was prepared to face the older's wrath for giving her number to ‘strangers’. Xiaoting was more considerate than she thought.

“Sure”, Chaehyun changed the screen on her phone to new contacts and handed it over to Xiaoting.

Xiaoting entered her number and gave the device back to the owner. She murmured a quick thanks.

“Oh shoot! I need to get to class. See you guys!”. With that Xiaoting was off, leaving the trio behind.

“I gotta say I didn’t believe you at first but seeing that just now… ”, Mashiro was a little star struck. She honestly thought Dayeon was teasing. But it seemed that Xiaoting wanted to do this properly.

“Wow, that was really smooth of Xiaoting”, Dayeon turned to Chaehyun. They locked eyes and nodded at each other. They definitely need to get the two of them together.