//

viii.

Miyawaki Sakura has had plenty of questionable moments throughout her life; the time when she mistook another lady for her mother (a universal experience, she was seven!), when she unknowingly engaged in a game of hide-and-seek with a model scout because she did not want to be scouted, and the time when she had a pep talk in the mirror (she had a big presentation coming up!) of a public washroom thinking there was no one until a teen came out of one of the stalls and looked at her weirdly. There were... certainly many.

Today though, might just rival those among the many awkward experiences she's ever had throughout her lifetime. She's certain this one would constantly invoke utterly perplexing questions which even she wouldn't know how to answer without sounding like someone with a Guiness Record of being possibly the dumbest person alive.

"I'm telling you, it was an ACCIDENT!"

"How does your dumb  accidentally go on a blind date?!"

"Shut up! I don't know!" 

Within the four walls of the café's ladies' room, Sakura paces to and fro, frantically running a hand through her hair as the other tightly clutches her phone to her ear. She throws annoyed glances at the mirrors every now and then, even eyeing the little window and contemplates escaping this predicament she has somehow put herself in by miraculously shapeshifting to fit her entire being out that puny little man-made hole. 

It's hard to focus on the voice on the other side of the phone when embarrassment is clouding her head, she feels uncomfortably warm all over and hell, her feet is hurting and blistering from this sorry excuse of heels she has on.

She was just calmly in an interview a few hours ago and now it's ironic that she finds herself stuck in a washroom wanting to escape from an accidental blind date. God, she doesn't even know the dude but just spending nearly half an hour (out of kindness until realisation hit) with him is driving her up the wall. It also dawned on her that not a single woman walked up to them, which meant he got stood up in the first place. And she perfectly understood why.

The first thing that was simply enough to deter her was the fact that he mentioned he was a freshman in a university that she wasn't even in. 

"He doesn't know I'm a postgrad and thinks I'm a sophomore- Yunjin, I don't even go to his school!" Sakura shrieks, feeling out of breath until Yunjin panickedly tells her to take deep breaths to calm herself.

She does, halting her nervous pacing in the washroom and grips onto the edge of the sink to collect herself. In that moment, she thought about how the whole ridiculous thing started; it was comical just thinking about it and she definitely knows this would be one for the books in the history of Sakura's most embarrassing moments.

Perhaps it had been the way she was immaculately dressed— she had a job interview prior to this which was why she was formally dressed in a grey suit, a pencil skirt and killer heels. Killer heels— she had meant that quite literally because it was the reason she went to this café in the first place.

Since Yunjin had taken the car to campus in the morning for her lectures, Sakura settled for a cab to go for her interview in the afternoon. All was fine, she was content and excited to take the next step in her life until her heels started feeling too tight on her feet that it felt like it was choking her plantar veins. She couldn't care less for her interview after that (she thinks she did well though because they smiled too much at her while she maintained an amiable but pained smile), and walked out to find the nearest café because she had badly needed a place to rest.

When she did find one however, her heels were already stinging from the emerging blisters on her achilles. It was full and bustling when she entered but she couldn't bare to take another step to find another one and eventually, a lone seat in the far corner caught her eye— where another guy sat at the opposite. Sakura was merely happy to find a seat and did not think twice (when she should have) and practically trudged to the vacant seat with a relieved smile.

The oblivious dude had the biggest smile on his face upon her arrival and was weirdly eager to have her sit, and it was her immaculate dressing which also made the guy mistake her for his date. Then the rest is history as is. 

"Please, for the love of god, pick me up Yunjin. If I have to hear another narcissistic remark about himself, I will literally go in a self-induced coma." Sakura groans, curving into the sink as she unwillingly shifts her weight from one leg to the other.

"H-hold on unnie, but I have a lecture in five!" Yunjin sounds frantic on the other side, and Sakura could already picture the concerned look on the girl's face in her head. 

It was then she realised though, that she had been yapping nonstop about her predicament since the beginning of the emergency call that she hadn't stop to think about how busy Yunjin could have been today. She gradually stands upright, a nervous hand on her lip when she felt a sudden pang of guilt. 

"Oh... then- ... nevermind sorry Yunj, I'll figure this out-"

"I'll be there!" 

A sudden flutter in her chest, Sakura stares at herself widely in the mirror. She overhears quick footsteps from the call, probably Yunjin moving with haste wanting to save her damsel in distress. Sakura grimaces at the thought, knowing the trouble she's putting her roommate through. 

"A-are you sure? I don't want-"

"Stay in the washroom until I text you I'm near, then you'll go out, say you... took a massive  and have diarrhoea then sprint out or something I don't know!" Yunjin rambles, sounding a little out of breath— probably sprinting to the university's parking lot now and Sakura suddenly feels sorry and thinks about treating her to delicious food for a whole week.

She deserves at least that (and more).

"That is literally so embarrassing..." Sakura sighs in defeat, rubbing her face with her hands. This is every introvert's nightmare. Her face flushes in embarrassment just thinking about the execution, she's going to turn heads and the other customers (who are nosy enough) are probably going to label her as the villain not knowing she wasn't the guy's intended date.

"It's either embarrassment or an unwanted man asking you to be his girlfriend, unnie. You choose." Yunjin says, and immediately her body cringes. Sakura's face contorts in disgust, feeling a cold shiver creeping down her spine.

"Fine, be quick!" Sakura relents, throwing anxious glances at the door, not like the guy could barge in or anything. She just really doesn't want to step out to face him again. 

She whimpered, pulling her lower lip between her teeth, wishing she had some sort of invisibility cloak so she could simply walk out of this suffocating washroom and save her own . Alas, God didn't favour her enough to make her a supernatural.

"Of course! I don't plan on letting you spend another minute longer with that dude! What if he gets upset, jabs your pretty face, or... or kidnaps you?! You know how some men and rejection are!" Yunjin freaks out by herself on the other side of the phone, Sakura overhears the car door close and the frantic clanking of car keys.

"Too far Yunjin, too far!" It feels like there's a blackhole forming in her guts, she feels nauseous and with Yunjin filling her head with unnecessary thoughts, Sakura walks up to one of the stalls in case her stomach had plans to empty itself on its own.

"SORRY! But I'm on my way! Do you wanna stay on call? I'll accompany you while I drive." Yunjin suggests, and as much as Sakura badly wants her to stay on call, to hear her voice to calm her nerves, she really didn't want her roommate to end up on the news for a tragic reason.

"No, I don't wanna distract you. Just... come quick," Sakura clutches her phone with both hands, "and don't freaking crash worrying too much about me!" 

At least Yunjin laughed at that, she reassures her after, jokingly telling Sakura that her knight in shining armour would come to save her soon. The brief moment of silliness made her smile a little, before she tells Yunjin to be careful once more and ends the call.

Her waiting time consists of going back to her frantic pacing in the washroom, checking her phone every minute for the time and Yunjin's message. Her mind was in a state of hurricane, a few times, she poked her head out to see if the guy had grown tired of waiting and probably left, only to see that he in fact, is still there much to her dismay. Sakura couldn't see how he looked because he had his back to her, she catches him hitting on another girl in her absence and it gives her relief knowing she would be ditching a ty guy. 

(Is it ditching when she wasn't supposed to be there in the first place?)

Whoever his actual date was, definitely made the right choice to stand him up.

It's only about 15 minutes later that Yunjin's text comes in, telling her that she's arrived. Sakura quickly but quietly pokes her head out the door again— ignores the barista giving her a look of disdain behind the counter— and sure enough, she spots her car parked outside through the big windows. 

Her heart speeds up, adrenaline surging in her veins, she huffs and promptly texts Yunjin her acknowledgement. When the time comes, she pretended to fix her hair as she walked out and cleared when she arrived at their (his) table.

The guy looked at her in disbelief at first, his thick brows creasing and his hands about to gesture wildly but Sakura doesn't even let him talk, face reddening as she basically shoots out her next words like rapid fire.

"I'm so sorry but it looks like we misunderstood each other, I'm not your date and I think you got stood up but by the time I realised, it was too late and I genuinely didn't have the heart to tell you so I went to the ladies' to escape- please forget about whatever happened and I hope we don't run into each other on the streets ever!" 

Ah... Sakura had forgotten her initial script and ended up spilling the cold hard truth out. She felt like exploding right then and there but she couldn't bare to spare herself another second in that godforsaken café and ultimately sprinted out, leaving curious and dumbfounded customers and baristas behind. 

The guy was probably in pure shock now but Sakura couldn't care less, only setting her mind on running towards her car and quickly hauling her in the passenger seat before Yunjin drives off in record time.

She lets out the longest sigh as she melts in the seat after buckling up, her messy locks of hair covering her entire face as she lets her head hung low against the seat, letting Yunjin's amused laughter drown her ears.

She spends the first few minutes of the drive groaning and grumbling nonstop as she thought back about her unfortunate embarrassing afternoon, Yunjin just laughing airily every now and then at her sudden bursts of self-lament.

"Okay but like... you have to tell me the whole thing now. Spill it." Yunjin grins with a hint of tease, pushing Sakura's shoulder playfully. 

Sakura grumbles for the umpteenth time that day, but starts her story nonetheless, hating the fact that she has to relive the moment in her head again as she recalled what transpired in the last hour. 

"He just kept talking, I wanted curl into a ball on the floor and cry." Her storytelling comes to a stop and Sakura's lips curl in distress, she pinches the bridge of her nose when the unwanted image of the guy flashes in her head.

"Unnie, you're too kind. You should have just bolted from the beginning." Yunjin says after chuckling, Sakura grips her seatbelt and suppresses her intrusive thoughts of putting them around her neck.

"I KNOW!"

"Yeah... let's not show your face in that café ever again." 

"You know what, I'd be happy if I got rejected for my interview, I won't look at this street the same way again." 

"Yup, totally blacklisted." Yunjin nods firmly, and pats Sakura's shoulder in comfort just as they stop at a red light.

Sakura huffs, lifts her head to look out the window before glancing back at Yunjin.

"What about your lecture?" She asks, lightly scratching her cheek with a finger as guilt slowly emerges again. 

Noticing this, Yunjin takes her fidgety hand in hers and flashes her a crooked smile. Sakura internally swoons, looking at the long fingers playing with hers so casually on her lap.

"Don't worry 'bout it, it's just a one hour credit module, but I do have a major one after." Yunjin says, fixing her gaze forward and stepping on the gas when the light turns green.

"When?" 

"About... couple of hours later?" Yunjin shrugs, Sakura hums in acknowledgement. 

They settle into silence for a while, the radio's volume almost nonexistent but neither bothered to adjust. Sakura fixes her gaze on their joined hands in her lap, squeezes them before intertwining their fingers. It still astonishes her to this day, that the difference between their hand sizes were utterly conspicious that Yunjin's is basically engulfing hers. Maybe she liked it better that way, how it sort of felt like a blanket of solace.

"...You want KFC? My treat." She chirps out of the blue, it surprises Yunjin a little bit but the girl goes wide-eyed almost instantly at her offer.

"Wait, seriously?" 

Sakura giggles when Yunjin whips her head towards her so quick before turning back to the road, making a smooth right turn.

"You saved my back there and I made you miss class so..."

"Deal!"

She holds Yunjin's hand for the rest of the ride.

. 

They park outside the shops lined up far into the distance, the streets thankfully free of crowds despite nearing peak hours. Too eager with food in her mind, Sakura had forgotten the root of her preceding predicament— the abrasions on her achilles heels.

"Ow! Damn it-" She leans onto the car before she could lose her footing, the sudden stinging on her heel bones triggering her every senses. 

"Hey, you okay?" Yunjin jogs over to her side in a rush, holding her elbow as she looks down at her unusually pair of reddening feet. 

Sakura grunts as she slips one of her aching feet out of the heels, lifting them slightly to get a better look at the damage those cursed heels have done. She winces when she sees the slight peel of her reddening skin, seeing the way it already clotted, it probably had been bleeding for a while.

"No... forgot my feet were hurting like hell. It's why I went to the cafe in the first place." Sakura exhales, gritting her teeth.

"Oh my gosh, unnie it's freaking bleeding! Your skin-" Yunjin abruptly pauses, suddenly hitting a brainwave and helps Sakura to move aside to open the passenger door. "I have bandaids, wait!"

Sakura tilts her head, now leaning against the hood of the car and watching Yunjin with curiosity written on her face.

"You put bandaids in the car?" She asks, trying to figure out how and when her roommate had done so but to no avail. And she uses the car the most.

"For emergencies! I was hoping we wouldn't have to use them but someone decided to wear ty heels so here we are." Yunjin says, half of her in the car as she opens the compartments one by one in search of the bandaids. She swore she put them in the car somewhere.

"I'd lend you my shoes but those heels are waayy too small for me." Yunjin continues, moves on from the driver's compartment onto the one in the center. 

Sakura chuckles at the image, looking at the maroon heels with a pointed stare. 

"I'd carry you but I have the decency to be embarrassed and the whole thing just seems ridiculous so that's definitely not an option." Yunjin admits, eyes twinkling when she catches sight of the few bandaids hidden under a stash of receipts. She shows them to Sakura from the windshield, grinning victoriously before exiting the car.

"Thank god." Sakura smiles, referring to her previous statement, she wouldn't have said yes anyway.

"Oh! My Crocs are in the trunk, you wanna wear the that?" Yunjin jabs a thumb behind her, but Sakura grabs her by the bicep before she could walk away.

"No, just no. Crocs with formal wear? I'll look dumb." Sakura deadpans, shaking her bead. 

"What are you talking about? I think you'll slay!" It's almost automatic, Yunjin never stops singing praises when it comes to Sakura, but really, the older girl has had enough of being in the tight grasp of embarrassment today and wants no more than to avoid its encounter again for the rest of the day.

"It's alright I'll just, walk-"

"No."

"What-"

"How 'bout this," Yunjin sidesteps the door and grabs her hands, carefully pulling her around and gently shoves her in the passenger seat, not forgetting to pass the bandaids over. "you wait here and fix up your feet, I go order sushi as takeout and we'll eat here in the car. Then we'll get KFC for dinner?"

Yunjin finishes, waiting for her roommate's confirmation with raised brows. Sakura looks at her blankly before responding. 

"Um... sounds tempting, wow not a bad idea actually." Sakura nods slowly, tucking her leg that was outside into the car. Yunjin beams, smile lines and all, and begins to close the door.

"Okay cool! You just sit here and wait prettily. Be right back!"

"Yunjin-ah, use my card-"

"I'll pay!" Yunjin pushes away Sakura's purse before she could reach out, earning a frown.

"Fine, then I'll pay for our dinner." Sakura says, more like declares, because Yunjin knows there was no arguing about it when it comes to the stubborn cherry blossom. So Yunjin merely nods.

"Awesome! Lock the door unnie, don't want you going on another blind date accidentally."

"Alright alright, enough about it." Sakura rolls her eyes, cheeks painted pink already. Yunjin laughs, closing the door, then Sakura's eyes trail behind her as she walks a few meters ahead before turning to enter a sushi restaurant.

The Japanese sighs, long and jaded, body succumbing to the cool seat. She pursed her lips, knowing today would be one of those iconic stories to be passed down like a heirloom. There was no doubt that within the next few hours, her other friends will know of it and for days to come. 

.

"You look good in a suit by the way." Yunjin says mid bite, left cheek filled with a grain of rice on her lower lip. Sakura releases a short sigh, reaching out to pick it off her lips before putting it in her own mouth. She does it so casually and naturally that she only realises what she's done after swallowing.  

"I know, you said that in the morning..." She replies, eyes flitting up in ponder. "...like a hundred times." She murmurs the last part, feeling her ears heating up as she recalls Yunjin's neverending praises of her immaculate beauty that morning when she was trying on her blazer.

Yunjin's mouth forms an 'o' shape upon her comment, "Damn... wanna hear it again?"

They break into soft laughter, the car filled with their giggling and tittering as they ate, chopsticks in one hand and a small bento of an assortment of sushi in the other. Sakura forgets about the stinging in her heels eventually, because Yunjin is a lovely distraction, captivating her in hearty moments like these. 

"Thanks Yunjin-ah, really." Sakura says, playing with the last of her sushi as she smiles almost shyly.

"Oh it's fine, the thought of you with a stranger worried me. Especially one you didn't intend to meet. Like he could've been a serial killer-"

"Okay, I might have to ban that crime documentary you've been watching." Sakura narrows her eyes at Yunjin, who frantically shakes her head and waving her chopsticks in disapproval.

"Noooo but it's soo interesting..." Yunjin whines, her chewing slows down and Sakura couldn't help but chortle at the sight.

"I don't think you realise," Sakura puts away her bento back into the plastic,"but you really do go all out for those you care about, huh?" she stares at it blankly with curved lips, before slowly turning to Yunjin with a sweet smile plastered on her face.

"Being one of those people, I just want to tell you that I notice these things, Yunjin-ah." Sakura adds, tone gentle and full of affection, and it's only reserved for Yunjin. "And in case no one told you yet so I'm telling you now, that you're someone who gives a lot and I appreciate it. You deserve just as much, more even."

Sakura looks away, unable to fix her gaze into piercing brown eyes, the same ones that give all the attention to her, the same ones that refuse to leave her most of the time and the same ones that gaze at her with overflowing fondness. She fixes her hair out of timidness, mindlessly looking at the passerbys crossing the empty streets ahead.

Yunjin gives and gives, and sometimes Sakura wonders if she's worth all of it. Wonders if she is enough. But it's Yunjin, someone who knows her own worth and would never bat an eye to those she knows who aren't worth her time. And the thought makes her smile, and Sakura thinks, yes, she's so lucky. 

"You shouldn't be, like ever, taken for granted. And you deserve to know that I'm grateful to be a part of your life." Sakura avows, raising a hand to fidget with her ear piercings. 

God, how does one handle the onslaughts that transpire in the chest? 

"Sorry, I get sentimental. You only picked me up from an accidental date- EH?!" Just as she was about to make a sheepish apology for sounding sappy, she was met with a teary-eyed Yunjin, stunned seeing the stains of already dried tears on her cherubic cheeks.

Poor girl stopped eating the moment Sakura uttered out the first of her many heartfelt words, gawking in silence as she let the cherry blossom speak her heart out, eventually forgetting the bento in her hands.

"You're crying- oh no your tears are falling into the soy sauce, it's gonna be extra salty now!" Sakura hurriedly leans over to her seat to wipe the tears flowing down her chin, smiling when Yunjin laughs (while sobbing) at her statement.

Sakura doesn't even bother to hold back her laughter when Yunjin all but shoves the last piece of sushi into despite recovering from her tears. It was an endearing sight— but so Yunjin— that Sakura just smiles and continues wiping away the tears that kept coming while Yunjin chewed in the midst of choked sobs. 

"Does this mean I get to ask something from you?" Yunjin asks a little while later, voice thick and sticky from shedding so much tears prior to this. Her eyes are red and a little swollen and Sakura feels sorry that Yunjin would have to turn up to her next class looking like a beautiful mess.

"Yes," Sakura says, albeit reluctantly, throwing nervous glances at her roommate who then looks at her with anticipating eyes. She gulps.

"I want to go to your hometown." Yunjin doesn't even wait to say it, eagerness taking over and now she's looking like someone who watched too much romance dramas and got too in the feels.

Sakura bites her tongue, "...I knew I dug my own grave."

It's not that she doesn't want to— it's a cute thought really— but her family... well, they're a little too welcoming that it gets super embarrassing sometimes. So she tries to dodge-

"H-how about the Sony headphones-"

"Unnie..." 

Well, it was worth a try. Yunjin giving her the (teary) puppy eyes with her lower lip jutting out like that— refusing would be a felony.

"At least think about it?" Yunjin pleads, tapping Sakura's forearm and she thinks it won't stop unless she gives in.

"Of course..."

So she does. The winsome smile and the hug that she earns after is so worth it. In the back of her mind, she already knows that her family would absolutely adore Yunjin. So many warm scenarios pop up in her head, Yunjin in every single one. It makes her conclude a definite decision.

Under the Japan night sky would she then tell Yunjin to be hers. She fantasizes about how right it would feel— the two being her home.

—

ix.

"Did you know?" Sakura suddenly asks, voice low yet silvery, laced with fatigue. It's the dead of night, and sleep beckons her with every second that passes. She doesn't succumb to it, however, the warmth that's pressed on her side feels too pleasant for her to sleep now, wants it to linger much, much longer.

Yunjin's room is often colder than hers, the AC is full-on blasting bonechilling breezes and Sakura wonders how they haven't frozen over. She can feel the lacerations (now healed) on her heels— which were from the flustering incident days ago— aching, it's dull and irksome. 

At least Yunjin's sheets are soft, cushioning her feet just the right way.

"I'm not Akinator, spill it." Yunjin replies, casting her a side glance, her brows slowly drawing together, before returning her gaze to Sakura's iPad on her stomach where Netflix was on. Her index finger hovers over the screen, ears waiting for her roommate to speak while her eyes are trained on the show, volume absent since she turned it down to listen.

Sakura notices this and smiles inwardly, because Yunjin is really attentive when it comes to her. It leaves tingles in her chest when she picks up these things about Yunjin. 

She raises her hand that was resting on her stomach and taps Yunjin's forearm once, gentle and knowing. Another glance, Yunjin pauses her show this time, turning her head to lock into big brown eyes. 

Even exhausted, Sakura's beauty persists. Her eyes dart to bare lips (like they always do), although stripped of its usual gloss, Yunjin finds them enthralling. Lately, she's been able to look at them in such a close distance.

Sakura had found some sort of comfort in her bed— perhaps that had been the reason— because lately, Yunjin finds the girl in her room more often than usual. When had it started? It didn't matter, she likes her presence that would make itself home by her side, most times in silence, other times, they talk until they pass out on each other's shoulders. 

"You do that thing." Sakura says and then pauses, hands mindlessly gesturing to her face. Her brain doesn't function well when she's tired, her words on the tip of her tongue.

"What thing?" Yunjin intercepts her pondering, a little bit impatient and curious as to what could be so crucial for her needing to pause her show. She gets a pointed look and immediately bites her tongue.

"Let me talk," Sakura utters, Yunjin makes a zipped gesture on her lips and gives her all the attention once again. The iPad that once stood upright, now lay flat on her stomach, show forgotten.

Yunjin's extra reaction causes her to chuckle lightly, until she remembers that she had been wanting to say something. She stalls for a bit though, looks to the end of the bed where their feet are, and playfully knocks hers against Yunjin's. Just something to distract her from something cheesy she's about to say.

"When you find something amusing, or let's say... when you get shy for a bit," Sakura pauses, eyes shifting to the ceiling. Yunjin has her head tilted now. "sometimes, you smile widely and you close your eyes for a bit." 

Recalling Yunjin's habits evokes a small smile on her face, Sakura nudges her elbow against Yunjin's. She takes the silence as a cue to continue.

"Your eyes wrinkle because you shut them tight, your nose scrunches a bit and your smile lines seem more prominent." At this point, Sakura has reached out to hover her index finger over Yunjin's mouth to assert her statement. It grazes her upper lip and Yunjin unconsciously swipes her tongue across her lips after Sakura retracts her hand. 

"And you dip your head a little. You do it for like a second or two." Sakura nods, affirming the fact by herself and then looks at her roommate for her reaction.

As she had expected, Yunjin's eyes had widen slightly, eyebrows arched almost to her hairline as opens and closes in disbelief. Somehow, it felt like a secret of hers had been disclosed. But she dwells more on the fact that Sakura knows her, even though it didn't look like it, she pays attention in subtlety.

"Woah... that is so detailed..." Yunjin breathlessly trails off, opting to stare blankly in front. It didn't end there though, because then Sakura tugs her shirt a few times and flashes her a lopsided grin, teasing and playful.

"And you do it a lot around me." She states, and what exactly was Yunjin supposed to do with that information? She turns beet red at that observation, digesting the information internally and wonders if she had been so utterly obvious, if even the object of her affections was able to notice that.

"I don't know what to say to that..." Yunjin responds anyway, blushes even more when Sakura lets out a pretty chuckle and wraps her pretty little fingers around her wrist as she does so. 

"But I think I noticed it myself a few times, just didn't know it happens most around..." Yunjin's eyes move swiftly to her roommate, "...you." Then she looks away, embarrassment creeping up her cheeks.

A tired hum, Sakura turns to her side briefly and presses herself against Yunjin, arms tucked against her chest as she hooks a leg over Yunjin's. She let herself bask in the comfort of Yunjin's addicting warmth, breathing in her calming scent. She doesn't stay long though and detaches herself a second later. 

"I'm going." Sakura stretches and then swings her legs over the edge of the bed, not wanting to prolong her stay, like she just remembered that she had a room of her own.

"Where?" Yunjin asks almost instantly, now sitting up, when Sakura turns back, there's a look on her face that tells her to stay. A corner of her lips curl up ever so slightly, of course she would have loved to, but she's knows how far she's fallen into the rabbit hole, a little worried that she might deviate from her plans of unbottling her feelings before they even visited her hometown.

It's something she wants to adhere, but often being in Yunjin's arms in her room is a stimulant hard to resist, because god forbid Sakura would have uttered love poems and 'i love you's in the form of her own lips trailing on Yunjin's flawless skin, desiring no more than to have those plump lips against hers— the same one that speak of her name so full of tenderness like she's never heard.

"I'm kinda hungry." Sakura swallows thickly and blinks rapidly out of her reverie, unconsciously rubbing the shell of her ear which is now red at the tip.

She rises, and so does Yunjin. 

"Want me to slice you up some fruits?" She had offered, there's a soft smile on her lips as she moves around the bed and towards her. 

It takes all of her to not throw her arms around Yunjin's neck and kiss that smile over and over until they widen and kiss her back. She applauds her will power mentally when Yunjin naturally reaches out to brush away the stray hair from her cheeks, the tips of her fingers linger on her skin a little too long. 

"I'd like that, just... don't be so loud, please?" She says and takes up the offer, the idea of something cool and fresh for supper stimulating her appetite now. Either that or she's hungry for something else... she doesn't dwell on the latter for too long.

"Can't promise that!" Yunjin chirps, trails after her as she saunters out into the kitchen.

"Then I can't promise that your paring knife won't go missing." Sakura throws her a warning look, Yunjin backs away almost immediately, the thought of her favourite and iconic paring knife going missing haunts her actually.

"Jeez, did you graduate at the top from school of comebacks? It's kinda scaring me." Yunjin jokes, strides towards the fridge with her impressively long legs. Sakura rolls her eyes, although she smiles in amusement.

"A valedictorian actually, Chaewon's the principal, Yena's the teacher." She plays along and settles on the barstool landguidly, eyes watching her roommate like a hawk.

"And Yuri? Those three come together." Yunjin says as she takes out fruits after fruits, her back to her. Sakura thinks about how domestic they have become, no longer two different individuals who could barely utter each other's names in the beginning. She thinks about the awkward encounter she's had with Yunjin in the kitchen past midnight back in the days, waking up to her loud cutting.

"She's a runner-up, her cuteness overpowers her feistiness." Sakura shrugs and smiles fondly, although she agrees with the view about how the three of them basically came in a package. Like three peas in a pod, it's surreal how they weren't literal sisters. 

"Your type?" Yunjin abruptly says jokingly, curious eyes meeting hers promptly before cutting the apples with dexterity. 

"No, I prefer mine tall and blonde." Sakura answers without missing a beat, and she revels in the moment when Yunjin curses under her breath when she accidentally cuts the apple wrong in her moment of falter, too slanted for her taste.

She doesn't ask anymore questions after that, channeling all her focus on the fruits and ignoring how her face probably mirrors this godforsaken red apple. Sakura merely watches on in silence, cheek on her palm, eyeing how strands of gold would curtain Yunjin's face every now and then, the smirk never leaving her lips.

She looks so pretty when flustered, Sakura thinks and keeps that lovely image ingrained in the back of her mind.

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