For Steph and anyone else who feels this is relevant.

Just a little break from the norm. 

~ ~ ~

There was no reason for the two of them to be friends in high school. Kwon Yuri just wasn't good with people. Her brother was a senior, two grades above her and he was fine. Friends, social life, grades. Pretty much as standard as a person still in high school could get. Kwon Yuri looked up to her brother, not because he was any sort of outstanding role model, but because he was average. It was a strange thing to admit, but Kwon Yuri wanted a little average in her life. She was still too cute to be called attractive, or hot, or y. Kwon Yuri had a cousin, who was in the grade below her, but she was popular and the only time they talked was at home. In the hallways, her cousin would flash her a smile with "Hey Yuri" and keep walking past her.

Kwon Yuri was none of the above. All things considered, there wasn't anything particularly wrong with her; she wasn't bad at making friends, she just didn't seem particularly good at keeping them. Many years from now, she'd look back and realise that it was just because honestly, she was kind of boring. A boy she dated broke up with her because she never really had opinion. She did, of course, but she enjoyed it more watching him plan out where they would go, what they would eat and when they would kiss.

So every time he asked her "where do you want to go next time?" she would reply "I don't know" which was a lie, or "I don't mind" which was true. He'd fake a smile which she didn't notice was fake and offer an idea. It was a comfortable cycle until instead of asking where she wanted to go, he left instead.

So when Kim Taeyeon came around and acted like a friend, she didn't understand why. Kim Taeyeon was one of those people who could have been popular if she wanted to be, and Kwon Yuri didn't understand why she wasn't.

Hi, are you lost?

Umm...

Kwon Yuri right?

Yeah...

You're looking for your roll call classroom right?

Yeah, it changes every year and I don't know where it is this year.

I'm Taeyeon.

I know.

We're in the same roll call.

Oh...

How about we walk there together?

Ok.

In a blouse and skirt - the school's uniform, Kim Taeyeon was attractive. Outside of school, in sweats and lazy t-shirt that was too big for her, she was girl-next-door attractive. When she did her make up, threw on a dress that was just perfect for her petite stature and waved her blonde hair, she was dazzling. She couldn't play sport but her voice was stunning, even when humming. Kwon Yuri didn't consider herself out of Kim Taeyeon's league, but that was only because Kwon Yuri didn't believe in hierarchal leagues. If she had, she knew that Kim Taeyeon would have her own.

But Kim Taeyeon wasn't popular, despite everything going for her. She was amazing, but she wanted to be friends with Kwon Yuri. Kwon Yuri didn't buy it until Kim Taeyeon showed up on her doorstep at 11pm the night before an exam with sports drink instead of coffee because Kwon Yuri didn't like coffee, they had a math final the next day and Kwon Yuri at math. That day, Kwon Yuri stopped calling her Kim Taeyeon and called her Taeyeon instead, because friends didn't call each other by full names. It never occurred to her that Taeyeon had only ever called her Yul or Yuri.

Then one day, they weren't friends anymore and it was stupid. Yuri had opened up about her ex and Taeyeon had explained that boys in their society got bored of girls because of two reasons. They either didn't put out or they didn't have an opinion, and Yuri was both. Yuri commented that if that was the case, she didn't think Taeyeon would ever have a problem with her boyfriend. Taeyeon smiled, but it was the first nervous smile Yuri had ever seen on Taeyeon's face. Taeyeon told her she was a lesbian and that she had a girlfriend.

Who?

Does it matter?

Is it someone I know?

Yuri...

I-I'm sorry.

Yuri didn't know what to say or think, so she went back to calling her Kim Taeyeon, and then she went back to being Kwon Yuri. She stood up, told Kim Taeyeon she needed to rest for a final she had tomorrow, even though it was in two days. Kim Taeyeon had the same final as her so she knew it was a lie, but she said nothing as Yuri scrambled to gather her things and bolted from her room. Kwon Yuri wondered if Taeyeon had cried after she left, but it never occurred to her to turn around and check.

Kwon Yuri failed that final too.

Six months later, she had was preparing to take another exam, cramming whatever she could the night before, not because she was unprepared - she was basically topping the class - but because she couldn't sleep and didn't have anything to do. But it was a math exam and she was an idiot.

Kwon Yuri didn't have a licence so she walked 10 minutes in one direction, bought two hot chocolates because she still couldn't stand caffeine still, but no one drank sports drink at midnight, ran 5 mins, carefully balancing the tray holding the drinks, and kicked the door the door she had left many months ago, with her foot because her hands were full.

There were no lights on inside, but one flickered on and a girl answered the door. Kwon Yuri didn't know her but the girl took one look at her and pulled opened the door wider before retreating.

Baaaaaabe. She's here.

Kim Taeyeon appeared before her, her hair in a bushy mess and rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes. She didn't say anything, just looked at her sadly. So Kwon Yuri offered the tray holding both hot chocolates because she didn't know Kim Taeyeon had company. Kim Taeyeon took them but still didn't say a word.

Kim Taeyeon, I'm Kwon Yuri and I'm an idiot.

I'm Taeyeon, you're Yuri and I don't care and neither should you.

Yuri sighed and gave Taeyeon a hug and it didn't feel strange at all. Then she turned to the girl who she didn't know and held her arms out. The girl smiled and practically leaped into Yuri's arms as if they had known each other all their life and that didn't feel strange either.

I'm Yuri.

Steph! Taeyeon's told me all about you.

Taeyeon heard her name and walked to the embracing pair. Steph turned her head and they shared a chaste kiss in the lips, and Yuri still didn't find it strange. Because at the end of the day, friends didn't call each other by full names, so she was just Yuri, Taeyeon was Taeyeon, Steph was Steph and nothing else mattered. What they had wasn't the normal, average life that Yuri spent all her life searching for, but if she could learn to love what she had, even a fraction of how she could see Taeyeon loved Steph, then normal was overrated anyway.