Finally. 

Summer. 

No more essays, no more requirements to cram, and no more Yongsun threatening her to get her together to comply punctually. Summer is free. Summer has no weight on her shoulders and Moon Byulyi can finally fly.

Fly and retain her great wall of Byulyi that the volleyball team needs. She's the middle blocker that her volleyball team relies on for defense. But to actually do her job, she needs to feel light and shutdown attacks like the wall she is. And summer is the only thing that makes Moon Byulyi lighter. 

So on her way to training, she passed by her comfort ramen shop and noticed a cafe she never gave a crap about. She only noticed it now because of the very bored and oddly familiar barista. As if Byul lost control of her body, she went in.

The cafe had a bell on the door, putting the Barista's attention on her. For once in her life, Moon Byulyi could not meet a person's gaze. 

It terrified her. She terrified her. 

That gaze, the undivided attention, soft, endearing and utterly genuine, was all too familiar.

It was so familiar it scared her. 

It scared her because it felt right. 

It felt right but she had no idea why. 

Like the awkward teenager she is she looked around, suddenly the cafe she gave no s about has the most interesting decor. 

It very wasn't.

Actually, everything’s pretty in this cafe. It felt alive and liberated. (As Byul disregards the very presence of the dreamlike woman behind the counter)

Moon Byulyi’s eyes landed on a cool painting she's gonna have to stare at later. 

Thank god the painting was interesting to be her scapegoat (to avoid her gaze) later. 

Just in case.

She coughs to calm herself and get her together. She can imagine Yongsun berating her to stop being an idiot and move. 

As if Yongsun was there, she did move and get her together. 

"Hey," Knowing her voice will come out the way she didn't want to, Byul decided that's gonna be how she plays her cards. She's gonna play shy and meek jock. The card she didn't know she had in her. "I- I don't know what to order but I could use a drink other than water?" 

Yes. This is what I want to be. Totally nailed it. Very believable Byulyi, good one.

The woman, her dimple, her smile, her eyes, they all softened so subtly but Byul saw it all as if she was the only one that could. 

Well, that's technically the case. This cafe felt like a deserted one yet her presence was already overwhelming Byul. 

"-would you like one?"

Ah, Yongsun will totally kill her for spacing out in a crucial moment. To save her , she took a dumb ing chance. A leap of faith that felt easy to do if it involved this woman. 

"Uhm, sure." 

Yes. Oblivious, shy, meek but a jock. That is very much who I am. Totally.

Byulyi paid and maybe overdid the tip for a drink that might as well be poison. 

. 

She won't poison her right? 

Was this a trap? 

Is this gonna be her end?!

Byulyi waits for her drink. At first she tried watching her work but when she saw her hands- delicate and soft- something felt missing and Byulyi just wanted to stop thinking about things she can’t name.

With the absence of her best friend no one really knew how to pull Byulyi from her spiraling delirium but this girl -apparently- is an exception.