The day before White Day, Namjoon walked right up to her table and began doing that thing where he fiddled with the rubber bands on his wrist like the biggest dork in existence. It wasn’t that he looked nervous to be on the receiving end of Byul’s level stare, but he didn’t exactly look pleased to be there either. The rest of his friends made encouraging motions from across the cafeteria, leaving no doubt in her mind what he was going to ask.

Yong was sitting to Byul’s right on the bench, eyes focused on the homework she was still cramming from last night. One of Byul’s hands was braced on the spot beside Yong’s left thigh so that the other girl’s back nestled comfortably against the lean stretch of her arm. Yong hadn’t noticed Namjoon’s presence yet, too busy mouthing the words she was typing into her laptop. Across from them, Wheein and Hyejin shared a knowing look. 

“What is it, Namjoon?” Byul drawled. At the sound of her voice, Yong raised her head and fixed Namjoon with a politely inquisitive gaze.

“Um.” Namjoon’s fingers finally stilled and he did his level best to match Byul’s stare, “You guys aren’t together, are you?”

“Well of course we are,” said Yong, head tilting just a bit.

Namjoon’s eyes lit up with the won signs of what had to be a substantial betting pool, given the way he was grinning like that. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Yong confirmed. She was grinning now too. All teeth and no mercy.  “We’re together right now. At this table. With Wheein and Hyejin.”

Byul coughed to disguise the snigger that bubbled up . Across from her, Wheein and Hyejin didn’t even bother with the pretense. The two were outright cackling into their lunches. Namjoon looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole, “I, uh--”

“Have a good lunch,” Yong said, already turning to her laptop. The dismissal was clear, and if it were any other person, Byul might’ve considered feeling sorry for them. Almost.

“Right. Uhm, enjoy your lunch ladies.” Namjoon slunk back to his own table, deflated by Yong’s own uncompromising nature. He shook his head at the other boys once he reached them, and a collective groan rose from the group. There was an audible thwunk as Taehyung let his head drop against the table. 

Serves all of you right, Byul thought smugly. She knew that the whole school was speculating about the particulars of her relationship with Yong, but she had no idea why they even bothered. People should just mind their own business.

When Yong shut her laptop and turned to her own lunch, she took one look at it and groaned. “There’s raisins in my salad,” Yong complained, poking mournfully at the overly damp leaves and dried chicken that their school considered a passable Caesar salad. “Byul-ah--”

She opened obediently and Yong fed her a couple of raisins speared onto her fork. Over at Namjoon’s table, Jin caught her eye and pantomimed the act of throwing up; she flipped him off. 

--

It wasn’t that Byul considered herself or her friends popular, as a matter of fact, she liked to think that the four of them were above such antiquated hierarchical notions. Still, there was something to be said about the shower of confession notes and love letters that fell at their feet when all four of them opened their lockers on White Day.

“I’m surprised Byulie-unnie still got some today,” Hyejin said, smirking at the pile of letters at Byul’s feet while completely ignoring her own. “It’s not like any of the boys received chocolates from her last month.” Her friend’s smile was knowing and mischievous.

She didn’t bother rising to the bait. Besides, of the four of them, her pile of chocolates and love letters last month was the largest. Instead, Byul made quick work of picking up the mess and jamming it into the farthest corner of her locker. She would deal with it later.

“You have to admire the consistency.” Wheein said, already stooping down to pick everything up and stack it neatly back in her locker. There was never a doubt in Byul’s mind as to why Wheein received so many letters and chocolates every year, both on Valentines Day and on White Day. There was a reason the applications for Wheein’s art club were some of the highest, and it wasn’t because of their school’s rising artistic populace. 

“I would have brought a paper bag if I’d known,” Yong said mournfully. Her pile of admirer gifts was the largest, as it had been on White Day last year. There was a reason for that too. Kim Yongsun, their school’s golden girl. Student Body President and Captain of the Track and Field team. Beside her, Byul couldn’t help but scoff, already slamming her locker shut.

“No need for the innocent act around us, Unnie, it’s not like this doesn’t happen every year.”

She was teasing of course, but there must have been something in her expression because Yong looked at her once and her smile grew a little wicked. “What’s wrong, Byulyi? Jealous?”

There were other students milling about, headed off to first period or the school gym in the adjacent building. Byul spared them a glance before stepping just that bit closer to Yong. “No.” She said, lowering her voice just a bit if only to catch the way Yong’s eyes darted to . “Not at all.”

“Get a room, you two,” Wheein said, in the tone of the long suffering, already grabbing Hyejin by the arm so they could go to their first period class.

Byul stepped away from Yong long enough to wink in Wheein’s direction, “we’ll see you at lunch!”

When she turned back to look at Yong, she was staring at her expectantly, admirer letters already long out of sight.

They did end up getting a room. Well. The Student Council Room. Luckily for them, they both had first period free. Even luckier, the rest of the student council were all in their respective classes, so no one was around to see Byul push Yong up against the wall and start kissing her senseless.

They had been doing this for more than a year now. Always in secret, always where no one could see. If it were up to Byul, she would shout from the rooftops how much she loved this girl. How she would do anything for her. Cross the earth once and then once more if Yong asked. But it wasn’t just up to her. Yong wasn’t ready to be so out in the open. They had talked about it, which was why, this. Taking small snatches of time just for themselves. Just to be together. 

The beauty of it was, everybody already knew they were best friends. So what if now they were joined at the hip even more so than usual? So what if other students saw Byul walking Yong to her classes or Yong smiling directly at her whenever the student council had to meet with all the club presidents? It was easy enough to hide the relationship behind their friendship and call it a day. As long as the rest of the student body had nothing concrete to go on, Yong was happy.

Sometimes Byul let herself fantasize about kissing Yong out in the open. She tried not to dwell on those dreams if she could help it. She told herself when this started that she would be happy with whatever Yong gave her. And it was true. Still is.

At any rate, as long as she got to have this Byul wasn’t complaining. And neither was Yong by the sound of whimper that escaped her lips when Byul began kissing a line down , just barely skimming the area where her uniform was still buttoned up around her neck.

“Byul,” the other girl gasped, fingers tightening a bit in the material of Byul’s uniform, just above where it was tucked into her skirt.

“Still think I’m jealous?” She asked, pressing a kiss just below Yong’s ear before nipping at the skin with her teeth. Yong’s grip tightened some more.

“If you leave a hickey where someone can see I swear to God--”

Byul laughed, basking in sheer joy of having Yong in her arms, warm and pliant. She soothed the bite with a kiss, moving back up to kiss Yong’s cheeks, her nose, her eyes, and finally, when the older girl was giggling and whining beneath her, she returned to , kissing her slow and deep, just like Yong wanted.

It was a blissful eternity later when they both pulled away, clothes more than a little rumpled and lips kiss swollen. Byul knew there was a goofy grin pulling up at her lips but she was past caring about it. Not here. Not with Yong. 

The warning bell for next period hadn’t rung yet, so there was time enough to fix their clothes, comb down their hair where wanton fingers had run through it. When they were both presentable, Byul unlocked the door and checked the hallways, just to make sure there was no one around.  She felt Yong tug at her wrist.

“Goes without saying,” Yong said, “but you know you have nothing to be jealous of right?” She reached over to straighten Byul's school tie, “All I want is you.”

Byul felt herself go warm all over. She ducked back into the room, hand on the doorknob with the door ajar to kiss Yong again, softer this time, and with promise. “All I want is you too, Yong.”

By the time the bell for second period rang, Byul and Yong were already halfway towards their next class for the day and the hallway was still as empty as ever.

--

Sunlight spilled over the trees like an overturned lake of molten gold, warming the brisk spring air by the time the lunch bell rang. In the school courtyard, Byul’s friends were cast in a burnished gloss, blurry at the edges, almost, as they laughed and chatted and made half-hearted stabs at answering their homework.

Byul was sitting on the ground, school tie already pulled loose, grass stains on her socks. She rested her back against the bench on which Yong sat poring over social science readings as she absentmindedly fiddled with strands of Byul’s hair.

“Did you guys get invited to this KaTalk group too?” Wheein asked, staring intently at her phone and not the Math homework she was supposed to be helping Hyejin with, “The Insider?”

Hyejin leaned forward, jumping at this flimsiest of excuses to abandon her homework entirely. “I heard everyone in our year level was invited this morning, and people are starting to include some of the underclassmen too.”

Byul frowned, fishing out her phone from her bag and swiping over to the messaging app. Sure enough, there was a notification about being added to a new chat group waiting for her. When she tapped it, she found herself in a controlled chat group called The Insider . She couldn’t leave a message, but there was already a stream of messages from the same anonymous user. She breezed through a few, recognizing names from some of her classmates. 

Her eyes widened. “Are these true?” She asked.

“No one’s sure,” Wheein replied, “But after the message about the Student Council treasurer sleeping with a University student was sent, I heard she went home right away. ” The last part was directed at Yong.

Yong frowned, already putting away her homework to lean back into the bench until she was entirely horizontal. From this angle, all Byul had to do was turn her head, and Yong’s lips would be a hair’s breadth from hers. She tried not to let the thought distract her as she focused on the conversation.

“It’s horrible is what it is,” Yong said, disdain dripping from every word, not bothering to deny the rumor against her council mate. “People should mind their own business, and whoever this Insider is, they should shut down the chat room if they have even a shred of integrity.”

“Student Council President has spoken,” Hwasa announced to the courtyard at large, easily dodging the hand Yong waved in her direction to get her to stop. 

That sent all of them laughing, and soon enough thoughts of the chat group slipped from Byul’s mind entirely. 

--

On any other day, Byul walked up to school with Yong, Wheein, and Hyejin. Except Fridays. On Fridays, Yong had early morning training with her track and field team, Wheein had to do inventory for the art club’s supplies, and Hyejin had rehearsals with the drama club. So the Friday after White Day, felt just like any other when Byul entered the school and made her way to her locker. 

It became apparent how very not like every Friday it would be when a chorus of murmurs and whispers rose up as she was pulling out the textbooks she needed for the day. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t used to people paying attention to her and her friends when they walked past, but this was different. 

There was something insidious about the way the other students were staring at her. Before she could call it out, however, there was a commotion at Jin’s locker, all his friends gathered around him.

“Yes!” Ho Seok cheered, punching the air as he squinted at his phone. “It’s the week I picked! Love wins! Pay up, you bastards!”

Byul was starting to have a bad feeling about this. As if on cue, Hyejin and Wheein came running down the hallway, phones in hand and staring at her wide-eyed.

“Unnie.” Hyejin said, and that was all she really needed to say because Byul took one glance at their phone screens and fished out her own phone from her pocket.

When she opened The Insider chat group on KaTalk the latest message was a grainy picture. You could tell it was zoomed in by a lot but even the low quality image couldn’t hide what obviously looked like Byul and Yong, on White Day, kissing by the Student Council room door. Below it was a message:

GOLDEN GIRL KIM YONGSUN HAS BEEN HIDING HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ARCHERY CAPTAIN MOON BYULYI. SHE MUST BE ASHAMED. 

It felt like a bucket of ice had been poured over her. Her skin felt prickly and itchy and she hadn’t realized she had been trembling until Wheein was right in front of her, gently pulling the phone from her fingers. 

“Unnie,” Wheein said, softly, “I think you need to go find Yongsun-unnie.”

--

Byul found Yong in the Student Council room, hunkered down on the floor behind the tables.

“In hiding, too?” Byul asked, forcing a cheerful note into her voice, determined not to let this ruin what they had.

“The alert came in right after training,” Yong sounded dazed. “My teammates took one look and started congratulating me.”

“Jin and his peanut gallery apparently had a betting pool about when we would go public.” Byul agreed, sitting across from her, a good two feet away. “I’ll probably give him hell for it later.”

They were silent after that, and tried as she might, Byul couldn’t fight back the fear that she was about to lose her girlfriend because of a stupid gossip chatroom.

“I hate this,” Yong rubbed her eyes, looking exhausted. “I never should have--”

“We can just deny it!” Byul said in a hurry, the words spilling out of her before she could help it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what Yong was about to say, but there was a clawing fear that threatened to pull her heart out by and she was desperate to quell it. “The picture anyway, it could be anything. I could be whispering something to you. We don’t--”

We don’t have to break up, is what she wanted to say. Please don’t leave me. “We don’t have to own up to anything you don’t want to.” Is what she said instead. 

Yong’s frown deepened. “Is that what you want?”

No. Byul clamped down on that word too. She shrugged. “I know you aren’t--weren’t--ready to go public about…” She gestured vaguely between the two of them. “Just because this stupid Insider jumped the gun doesn’t mean we have to give them the satisfaction of taking something like that away from you. Besides, it’ll be our word against some anonymous troll’s.”

“Sure,” Yong mumbled, a bit resentfully. And, okay, that stung in its own way too, because even though this whole situation was ten kinds of messed up, Byul couldn’t help but think about being able to be with Yong in the open. The urge was stronger than ever. 

Yong pulled out her phone and stared at it, as if mulling the option over. Finally, she looked up, “Do you think I’m ashamed?”

“What?” That was not was Byul was expecting.

“What The Insider said,” Yong clarified, gesturing toward her phone before shoving it back into her bag, “do you think I wanted to keep us a secret because I was ashamed?”

The truth was, the thought had occurred to her, more than once. Especially when they first started out. Every time it came it was a dark whisper that pulled Byul under until she felt wretched for even entertaining such a thought. Still. 

When she didn’t reply, Yong scooted over to her. When she was close enough for their knees to touch, the other girl leaned forward to press her lips to hers, a soft, dry kiss that nevertheless made a warm and pleasant thrill go down Byul’s spine. It was earnest and sweet, but most of all, it was sure. The smell of Yong’s perfume was all around them. When she pulled away, Yong nipped a bit at her lower lip, her eyes turning playful and Byul couldn’t help the breathless little laugh that escaped her.

“I was never ashamed of us, Byul.” Yong said, “I just didn’t want other people sticking their nose into something that was just meant for you and me.”

“You and me,” Byul echoed, grinning so widely and so knowingly that Yong rolled her eyes.

“You are right about one thing though,” Yong said.

Byul raised both brows inquisitively. 

“I don’t want to give The Insider the satisfaction.” Yong said, and her eyes were twinkling mischievously and god, Byul thought, bolstered by the realization that she just got everything she had ever wanted, I really love this girl.

--

The steady stream of whispers still followed her all the way to the cafeteria at lunch. Hyejin and Wheein were at their usual table, and Byul held her head high, the picture of nonchalance as she walked over.

The two looked up in surprise when she sat down.

“We thought--” Hyejin began, then closed immediately after Wheein nudged her hard with her elbow.

“Hmm?” Byul poked at the tteokbokki she had bought, and contemplated getting a second serving.

“Unnie,” Wheein said, reaching out to place a hand over hers, “you know we’re here for you and Yongsun-unnie, right? Whatever that chatroom says, we’re your friends first.”

Byul smiled, touched at the sentiment. “Thanks you two, but we’re fine. More than fine actually.”

“Where is Yongsun-unnie, anyway?” Hyejin asked, craning her neck towards the exit to see if she could spot the last member of their group. 

“Oh she’s--”

Byul was cut off by an audible gasp from the one of the tables nearer the cafeteria entrance. Sure enough, Yongsun was there, except her usually unstyled hair was held up in a high ponytail atop her head, her long hair swishing elegantly behind her. That wasn’t the reason for the gasp though. It was, undoubtedly, the very obvious hickey Byul had left on her neck just thirty minutes ago, clear as day for everyone to see.

“Hey guys,” Yong said, when she reached their table, totally unbothered. Without warning, she cupped a hand on Byul’s cheek and leaned down for a kiss. One that was eagerly returned. The entire cafeteria had gone deathly silent.

When they pulled apart, Yong plopped down beside Byul, their shoulders brushing, before stealing the tteokbokki cup from her. “Did I miss anything?”

Wheein and Hyejin blinked at both of them, warring expressions of shock and amazement on their faces. Wheein recovered first, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the two of them. “Just like that, huh?”

Byul shrugged, slinging an arm around Yong’s shoulders just because she felt like it. The Insider would pay for what they did, she would make sure of that, but right now Byul was with her friends and her girlfriend, enjoying lunch together like they did every Friday.

It felt like the best kind of victory.