Today was one of the worst days of Yujin’s life. Of all the people she could pair up with, why did it have to be her. A Shen. The Shens and Chois have been at each other’s throats ever since she could remember. She has heard her father’s outburst of anger whenever the Shens were involved. She grew up listening to stories about how the only mafia group capable of rivalling the Chois are the Shens. 

Yujin arrived at her house later in the evening after finishing her classes and running a few errands as per her father’s request. She splayed a cloth over her table and arranged her several weapons on top. A knife, a handgun, a few throwing knives and a sniper rifle. She decided to clean the firearms first. She began disassembling and cleaning each part of the firearm before reassembling it back into place. 

Yujin knew of the Shen daughter who was roughly her age. For scouting purposes, she tried to gather information about the girl. Based on what people say, Shen was tall, smart, charismatic, athletic, a beauty and surprisingly a great dancer if the rumours were true. She remembered seeing her picture during the entrance ceremony a few years back. Shen had earned the highest score on the entrance exam among her peers. A perfect score. Yujin too got the highest score when she was a freshman but it wasn’t a perfect score. She would not be outdone by a Shen. Never again. 

“You’re distracted”

Yujin turned to the heavy voice to find her father leaning on the doorframe of her room. 

“That part is upside down”

True to his words, the part Yujin held in her hands was indeed upside down. No wonder it couldn’t go in. Damn, how could she make such a rookie mistake. 

“Father, I’d appreciate it if you’d knocked”

Yujin’s father chuckled at his daughter’s attempt to hide her embarrassment, “I did knock dear. You weren’t answering. Again, you were distracted. You know your gun by heart”

“It’s just stuff from school”, Yujin waved off her father. She quickly reassembled the firearm correctly this time and moved on to the knives. 

“Is it boy problems? Or maybe girl problems? You know I don’t mind”

Yujin flushed at the question. “DAD! It’s just homework, a project for psych class”

“Ah, so a project with someone who caught your eye”

“Oh my god”, Yujin buried her face into her palm. Wishing the ground would just swallow her. 

Yujin’s father laughed heartily, thoroughly enjoying teasing his daughter, “I’m just teasing. Don’t stay up too late and don’t forget to click the safety back on. You don’t want it going off at school”. He ruffled her hair and began walking away.

Yujin was quite close with her father. After all, he is the only parent she had left as her mom passed away when she was young. She barely remembered her own mother. Her father however she knew very well.  Her father was a playful man. Maybe that’s where she got her playfulness from. He knows all the right buttons to tease Yujin. 

“I meant what I said that I don’t mind either”. Yujin’s father popped his head back into her room. 

“I get it! You’ve said it already”

“Good night Jinnie. I love you”

“Love you too”

Trully, her father’s love was a little overbearing sometimes but Yujin’s glad she has a supportive father figure in her life. She finished up the maintenance on her weapons and put them back in place. With her phone in hand, she laid down on her bed to find Chaehyun had messaged her. Correction, the girl had spammed her. She did feel bad just leaving Chaehyun behind even if she had Dayeon with her. Yujin did have to rush but not so much as to leave without saying anything. Yujin finally replied to her friend and not a second later, a call was incoming. 

“Hello?”

“Finally! So you’re still alive”

“Yeah, I had to run a few errands for my father. Sorry for not telling”

“It’s fine. The one you should be apologising to is your partner. She was stressed out during lunch”

“Oh right. I don’t even have her number”

“Well lucky for you. You’re best friend here has the answer to your problems”

“You sure make friends quick”

“Actually, I was going to give her your number”

“Chae-”

“Before you get mad, she said no. In fact, Xiaoting asked me to give her number to you instead”

Yujin was taken aback. She thought Shen would jump at the opportunity to get her number. 

“Are you done fawning?”

“Shut up”

Chaehyun was laughing happily while Yujin could feel heat rising into her cheeks.

 After Chaehyun settled down, she began putting her plan into motion. “So me and Dayeon are going to go to Kep1er on Saturday”

“That place in front of the park near the highschool?”

“Yeah, You should bring Xiaoting along. We could do a study date”

“What? Why me? You have her number”

Chaehyun smirked at herself. Her friend hadn’t denied the date part. “That she asked me to give to you. I’ll see you Saturday. Bye!”

“Wait- Chae! Chaehyun!”

The line went dead. Chaehyun actually hung up on her. That rascal.

 Yujin looked at her phone and saw that Chaehyun had texted her Shen’s phone number. Yujin was still confused on why Shen did what she did. Wondering about whys would not do good for her right now. She should focus on the project instead. As much as she hated having to do the project together with Shen, Yujin was not about to let personal feelings get in the way of her responsibility. She already let her emotions take control earlier but not again. She’ll finish the project with flying colours with or without Shen. 

 

 

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Weekend finally arrived. The dreaded day where Xiaoting had to see Choi again. She wanted to have a nice relaxing Saturday but Choi had ruined her plans. An unknown number had texted Xiaoting the same day she gave Chaehyun her number. 

Meet me at Kep1er on Saturday at 11am. Psych group project. 

Xiaoting could tell just from the sass who the sender was. Choi wasn’t asking. She demanded. Lucky for her, Xiaoting was kind enough to follow through. Xiaoting couldn’t wait to get the project over with. The sooner they finish, the sooner they won’t see each other anymore. 

Xiaoting was nearing what she hoped would be the right place. Choi didn’t exactly give her the exact address or any details about where they were supposed to meet. Xiaoting had to ask Dayeon if she knew what a Kep1er was. Apparently it was a study cafe, quite popular in the area too. 

Xiaoting stepped into the purple themed cafe and looked around for a certain Choi. She found the girl sitting at a booth in the corner of the room. 

“Choi”. Xiaoting may not like the girl but she still had manners.

Yujin turned to the newcomer at her table. “Shen, glad to see you could make it”. 

Xiaoting sat down across from her. “Well, no thanks to you of course. I only had the name of this place to go by”

“You’re smart enough to figure that out on your own”. Yujin waved her off. 

Xiaoting reached into her bag and pulled out her iPad. “Are we going to do this or what?”

“We’re still waiting for the others”

Xiaoting raised her eyebrows. Before she could ask who was coming, the answers arrived at their table. 

“Sorry we’re late. Chaehyun took forever to get ready”

“We would have been fine you didn’t make us take the wrong turn”

The pair bickered even as they took their seats. Chaehyun next to Yujin and Dayeon next to Xiaoting. 

Xiaoting shot Choi a look. “So it wasn’t just us”

Dayeon nudged her friend. “Why? Disappointed it’s not just the two of you? We can move tables right Chae?”

Chaehyun nodded aggressively. 

“That’s not what I meant”. Xiaoting tried defending herself but was cut off. 

“Ah it’s Dayeon unnie!”

Four girls had entered the cafe when one of them shouted. Behind them was Mashiro?

“Hey don’t shout!” Mashiro scolded one of the girls and went over to greet her friends. 

Apparently Mashiro was accompanying her sister, Yeseo and her friends. The gang decided to sit together and get to know each other. Yeseo and her friends were still highschool but they were going to graduate next year. The four of them managed to get accepted to the same university which was the same one Yujin and the others were attending. Hikaru was going to take computer science, Hyyih and Youngeun were aiming for linguistics while the youngest, Yeseo wanted to go into architecture.

After introductions were finished, the oldest two of the gang were more or less forced into treating everyone’s drinks that day. How could they refuse the cute puppy eyes the youngest members were giving them. Mashiro was worried that the order might get too expensive. Dayeon and Chaehyun reassured her that both their friends were loaded. Money was definitely not an issue for them. Noting everyone's order, Yujin stood up from her seat and made her way to the counter. Xiaoting followed close behind. 

While the oldest two were getting their drinks, Dayeon huddled everyone together. “All right guys. Our mission is to make the Xiaojin ship sail”. 

“Xiaojin?”. Hikaru turned to Dayeon.

“Xiaoting and Yujin. I know some of you just met them today but trust us. They definitely have something going on between them”, Chaehyun answered quickly.

Mashiro looked at the pair at the counter. “I can see what you mean”

The rest of them followed Mashiro’s line of sight. 

 

Yujin gave the staff their order of various bubble tea drinks and smoothies. Nine custom orders were going to take a while. She was about to give the employee her card to pay but Shen was already going for it. Yujin held Shen’s wrists and tugged it down under the counter. She gave the employee her card with her other hand and a smile. The employee processed the order and went behind to work on the orders.

“I could pay for half of it, you know”. Xiaoting faced Choi.

“I don’t doubt that but you’re still younger than me. As the oldest I’ll pay for it”. Yujin wasn’t about to let her underclassman pay for her, even if it was Shen. Turning to the younger, Yujin was prepared to fight for it.

Xiaoting was about to retort back but when she glanced down at her hand, their hands, whatever comeback she had in mind left her mind. She looked away, “Fine, can I at least have my hand back”

Yujin immediately let go of Shen’s wrist and found the menu board very interesting. That was embarrassing. She couldn’t believe she let her guard down like that. 

The oldest two waited for the order in silence. The others by the table however were far from silent. They all saw the exchange. They glanced at each other and nodded. The seven of them came to a silent agreement. The ship had to sail.

 

 

---

 

 

The nine girls ended up spending the entire day together. After finishing their drinks at the cafe, they went to an arcade and played games. They ate ice cream and had dinner together. Yujin and Xiaoting were again fighting over who would pay for the meal. Mashiro joked that the pair looked like divorced parents fighting over custody over their kids. The comment made them stop in their tracks. They eventually decided to do rock-paper-scissors, the winner gets to pay. In the end Xiaoting, the game goddess, won. She paid for dinner and everyone went separate ways. 

The day that Xiaoting dreaded became one of the memorable days of her life. Even if they didn’t make any progress on their project, she had made wonderful friends. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Choi wasn’t as bad as she thought she was. The girl was smart, had a great sense of humour, very responsible, definitely cheerful, liked to smile and was actually cute. Xiaoting might have not liked her in the past but she wasn’t blind. She knows beauty when she sees one. Yujin was definitely one. 

Xiaoting and Yujin had passed their psychology class with A+. The teacher even praised their work. They had made a good pair. Just like that the semester was over and holidays were here. The youngest of their little group wanted to go on a camping road trip. Yujin and Xiaoting made that wish come true. Yujin offered them to stay at a villa by the mountain and Xiaoting lent them an SUV. 

As the oldest and the only ones with a driver’s licence, Yujin and Xiaoting were the designated drivers for the trip. Yujn would drive them to the villa while Xiaoting would drive them back home. They decided to stay at the villa for 3 days, giving them plenty of time to play in the pool, roast marshmallows, have a barbeque party and play games.

Those three days were the most fun Xiaoting has ever had in her life. It was almost a shame that they had to leave. They were on their way back home now with most of the members knocked out from having too much fun in the evening. The only one awake was the person sitting in the passenger seat. Xiaoting glanced at the girl and chuckled. The girl was barely able to keep her eyes open.

“You can sleep, you know. I’ll wake you up when we get there”

“It’s dangerous to drive alone at night”. Yujin was really struggling to stay awake. She might have had a little too much fun chasing Yeseo around with a water gun earlier.

“I’ll be fine just sleep, Yujin”

“I’m older than you”

“Get mad at me later. Just sleep now”

“Just 10 minutes. You better wake me up Xiaoting”

Yujin nodded off to dreamland and Xiaoting wasn’t planning on waking the girl up. The days they spent together has made their relationship turn for the better. Xiaoting considered Yujin a friend now. She liked her enough and decided to call her by her name. Sure, they belong to rival mafia groups but they could still be friends right. They weren’t clashing for territory right now nor was there a war going on between them. Recently there were only minor scuffles here and there. Maybe she and Yujin could make their friendship work and perhaps they could even put an end to their family feud.

They were already close to the city now. Xiaoting decided to stop by the last rest stop before continuing the drive. Some of the girls woke up when the car stopped.

“Are we here?” Hyyih rubbed her eyes.

“Not yet. We’re at a rest stop. You can buy some snacks or go to the bathroom if you want”. Xiaoting pointed to the rest stop to the side.

Chaehyun and Dayeon went out to buy snacks for the group. Hikaru and Hyyih went to the restroom together. That leaves Yeseo, Youngeun, Yujin who were all still asleep and Xiaoting. Xiaoting decided to step out a while and stretch her legs. She got herself a coffee from a vending machine nearby before climbing back into the driver seat. 

Xiaoting looked at the passenger seat. She took off her jacket and draped it over Yujin. She knew the girl would get cold easily. Xiaoting tucked Yujin’s hair behind her ears and admired the girl’s features. How could someone be that pretty even while they were asleep.

“I know you’re my friend but consent is a thing you know” Dayeon raised an eyebrow and smirked at Xiaoting.

Xiaoting leaned back and glared at the girl she called her best friend, “I was just making sure she was comfortable okay”.

Dayeon waved her off and got back into her seat. Once everyone was gathered, Xiaoting started the car and continued their journey. Xiaoting found herself occasionally checking up on Yujin whenever the road got a little bumpy or when they stopped at a red light. She didn’t know what she was checking for. She blamed the coffee for making her hyper aware of her surroundings.