Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sooooo Yeseo you got-”

“No.”

Yujin pouts at the younger girl. She misses her cute and polite freshman girl. Yeseo was now a sassy sophomore, still cute though. Yujin had graduated last year and they were hanging out at her new (away from campus) apartment. The Magic Hour Festival was fast approaching, and it was highly anticipated by everyone at their university. Even those outside it and alumni.

Even students from other universities take time out of their week to attend the Magic Hour Festival.

The Magic Hour Festival lasts for five days, from Monday to Friday. It’s filled with music, food, dances, and all kinds of other things. During Yujin’s time in university, the festival had always been a blast, especially when going with friends, but it was always a special time if you had a partner.

And of course what comes with festivals is all kinds of superstitions and tales.

The most popular one was if you go on a date with someone to the festival, your relationship is bound to be great and prosperous.

And to be honest, it’s a silly thing, but it’s a cute thought. Yujin knows a good amount of dates that have gone very well during the Magic Hour Festival and some of the couples who formed then are still going strong. But with that tale, it comes a lot of people scrambling to try and get themselves a date in hopes of finding themselves a partner for life.

“That’s no fun, Yeseo!” Yujin whines. “Live a little, you’re young! Find a date or something, I bet you’ll have fun!”

“Going with you and everyone else is already super fun, unnie,” Yeseo insists. She’s already grimacing at the thought of guys and girls going up to her in hopes of a date.

“Awww- wait! That’s not the point!” Yujin exclaims. Yeseo snickers at her, she knows that being sappy with her oldest friend easily dismantles her and distracts her from the topic at hand. However, her Yujin-unnie seems pretty adamant on the idea of Yeseo getting a date for the Magic Hour Festival, “C’mon, you’ve been single since forever. Spread your wings! Branch out, reach new horizons!”

Yeseo holds back form rolling her eyes, “And get whoever I’m gonna take out lynched? No way, unnie. You know how it is.”

Yujin sighs.

Yeseo’s been popular ever since she had stepped foot onto their university campus. Her cute face and bright eyes, and even lovelier personality had taken the whole campus by storm. It doesn’t help either that she had easily risen the ranks in the theater department. By the end of her first semester as a freshman, she already was the top theater student of the first years.

And by association with their group of friends who were all well-known in their own right, Yeseo was bound to be in the spotlight.

“Boringggg,” Yujin groans. “At least find someone you think is cute to go with, it’ll be fun! Trust me. Plus, if you have someone with you like a date or something, it’ll scare off all those girls who’re crushing on you right?”

“Is that how it works…? Also, the festival’s always fun,” Yeseo retorts. “And, you went with Shiro-unnie and Ting-unnie last time! Of course you thought it was great, you literally have the worst crush on those two.”

She makes a face, thinking about how sappy her oldest unnies were with each other at the festival whenever she and the others passed by them throughout the festival. Those three went on a proclaimed date, leaving the rest of them to go hangout themselves. Which was fine and dandy, Yeseo quite enjoyed the company of her friends, whole or not.

Dayeon and Hikaru always knew how to banter and lighten the mood with jokes and play-fighting, Chaehyun loved doting on her, Bahiyyih seemed to have the best stories from her siblings, and Youngeun was always just so amazing to be around.

“Actually, had , we’re dating now,” Yujin corrects.

“Do you really love them if you still don’t have a crush on them?” Yeseo questions.

“Good point,” Yujin purses her lips in heavy thought. It took a couple of seconds for the older girl to shake her head and point accusingly at Yeseo, “Stop making me go off topic!”

Yeseo laughs loudly at the older girl. It was always so fun messing with Yujin and steering her off topic-

”Get a date!”

“ No !”

—

“Yeseo-sunbaenim, I-”

“If this is about the Magic Hour, I’m afraid I’ll have to reject you.”

The poor freshman girl deflates visibly in front of Yeseo and she feels a little bad. She was definitely one of the more shier people in the department, very quiet and reserved. Yeseo’s seen her a lot backstage during the plays and musicals they’d hold. She’d always be working in tech crew, and hardly talked to many people. The 

Hell, Yeseo doesn’t even know her name, that’s how quiet and reserved this girl was.

“I see,” the girl fidgets with her fingers. “I’m sorry for wasting your time-”

Yeseo shakes her head, closing her book. She’ll have to find her page back later, she can’t help but think. But she wouldn’t mind re-reading the Second Coming of Hypnotic Tranquility again.

Unlike what she had done with her previous admirers, letting this girl down like she had with overzealous guys and confident girls was not what she wanted. This girl deserved a nice let down at the very least, “No, no. I appreciate that you gathered the courage to ask me and that you admire me like that. But we don’t really know each other do we?”

“No…” the girl mumbles. “We could-”

“We can start off as friends,” Yeseo offers with a kind smile. “You’re a freshman, right? This’ll be your first festival, then. You should enjoy it with your friends; worry about dates and romance later.”

The girl pauses, not having expected this turn of events. Yeseo kept her kind smile, waiting patiently for a reply from the girl who was processing what she had just said. Yeseo knows that she’s been known for firm and sometimes harsh rejections, but honestly if she had a choice, she wouldn’t be so hard. But people just don’t know when to stop.

If chances to be nicer popped up more, like now, she’d be taking it like how she is now with this girl.

“I-I see…” the girl nods, understanding and Yeseo can’t help but beam at that. It’s such a nice breath of fresh air not to be convinced to go on a date by someone, “Thank you for your advice. I’ll see you later?”

“Mhm,” Yeseo nods. “Take care.”

And with that the girl leaves and Yeseo breathes out a sigh of relief. With the Magic Hour Festival approaching in the next week, she’s been getting more and more people coming up to her and asking her out on a date. The woes of being known, the pink haired girl can’t help but think. She seriously wishes sometimes she was dating someone so that she wouldn’t have to be dealing with this thing so much.

She knows that since Xiaoting started dating Mashiro and Yujin, the amount of girls asking her out have decreased significantly. And well, Yeseo thinks it helps that Yujin makes a point to be the loudest fangirl in the stands during softball games.

Suddenly, it’s so attempting.

The idea of getting a date for the festival.

Yeseo shakes her head and looks down at her closed book. She frowns, suddenly feeling like she doesn’t want to read anymore, which is a shame, it was getting really good. One of the leads had just confessed to the other while she was asleep.

Yeseo sighs, maybe reading romance while trying not to think about romance wasn’t a good idea. She seriously doesn't want to linger on that thought; the thought of getting a date to save herself. That was just plain selfish and terrible behavior. She couldn’t do that to someone.

Maybe she’ll get to studying now. It looks like Youngeun is running late for their study session (hence why that freshman girl was able to ask her out); it wouldn’t be so bad to get a little ahead.

“Starting without me?”

Yeseo knows that voice, it’s light and comforting, and never fails to brighten Yeseo’s mood. She withholds from rolling her eyes and turns around. Youngeun, of course, is looking at her with a light-hearted smile. 

“You were running super late, unnie,” Yeseo points out, matter-of-factly.

Youngeun laughs and sits down beside Yeseo. She makes a point of patting the younger girl’s head, “Sorry, I got caught up by one of the volleyball girls. You know how it is, Magic Hour and all.”

Yeseo gives a solemn nod of agreement. If Yeseo had it bad, Youngeun had it worse . Youngeun was one of their university’s star softball players, known for her consistent home runs and pretty looks. Yeseo can see why anyone would have a crush on the ginger, she was kind, funny, and sweet. Every moment with her was enjoyable, and it didn’t take long for Youngeun to gain a small cult following.

Since Xiaoting had been cuffed, Yeseo feels Youngeun’s fanbase has grown even more. And possibly gotten even more… insistent . 

Call her crazy, but Yeseo feels like Youngeun has been getting more girls and guys asking her out these days. Maybe it’s because of the Magic Hour Festival that’s fast approaching that so many people are asking Youngeun out, but Yeseo swears there’s been a sudden influx. No matter, Youngeun doesn’t let it affect her interpersonal relationships, shutting down her suitors firmly and kindly.

“The girls who confess to you are so pretty, though,” Yeseo points out and it’s true. Youngeun’s girl fan base are all very pretty- not to say Yeseo is jealous of anything! She’s just making an observation, is all. Youngeun laughs again and Yeseo stares at her, “I bet that volleyball girl that asked you out was super duper pretty.”

“Jealous?” Youngeun teases, grinning like a sly fox. Yeseo scoffs, as if Youngeun and just suggested something really stupid. And to her credit, she did suggest something really stupid.

“Of you?” Yeseo raises an incredulous eyebrow. “Not at all, you’ve got it waaay worse than me.”

“Eh… could be worser like… Ting-unnie’s,” Youngeun pauses, shivering at the thought of Xiaoting’s overzealous fans. Thankfully, due to the redhead’s relationship status, the amount of possessive fans have stopped, but truly, they were a nightmare to see and deal with. Yeseo wonders everyday how Xiaoting managed to deal with those girls for most of her university career. It must’ve been exhausting.

Yeseo was already exhausted with her admirers.

“And no,” Youngeun then adds, her tone light, “I was asking if you’re jealous of her.”

“Jealous of her ? Unnie, if anything I think she’d be jealous of me ,” Yeseo states, giving Youngeun a certain look. “I’m hanging out with her crush right now.”

Youngeun laughs, very amused. She pats Yeseo again, “Right, right. Anyways, shall we get studying? You are failing psych…”

“Am not!!”

It’s about two hours into their study session when Yeseo’s explaining her thought process about a study to Youngeun that her phone buzzes with an Instagram notification. She cuts herself off, picking up to look at it. It’s a DM from-

She puts it down.

“If someone else asks me out today, I’m going to jump through a window,” Yeseo groans. It was another one of her guy ‘friends’. It’s really disappointing honestly, becoming friends with someone but then only realizing they wanted to get close to her just to date her. It’s almost disheartening to Yeseo.

“There, there,” Youngeun pats her back. “Magic Hour’s coming up, so, you know… it’s gonna be like this for a while.”

Yeseo groans, face planting into her textbook.

It’s so tempting.

Yujin’s suggestion-

“Why don’t we just date?”

Yeseo immediately pulls herself up, her neck creaking in the process. She winces in pain, and Youngeun is quick to put a hand on the back of the younger girl’s neck, massaging into it to alleviate the pain. Yeseo is thankful for the gesture, but her face is heating up like a furnace right now, because did Youngeun just-?

“Unnie-” Yeseo takes a deep breath to calm herself. Youngeun’s hand on the back of her neck is not helping her case at all. In fact, it’s just adding more to her fast beating heart. The older girl is looking at her, awaiting an answer, and it really isn’t helping.

Oh goodness gracious, was Youngeun serious ? No way, right? They were just friends, friends! Sure, Youngeun was pretty and sweet and would make for a great girlfriend but- wait, that’s beyond the point! Yeseo feels her ears heat up alongside the rest of her face. Oh goodness gracious.

She can barely look Youngeun in the eye. The ginger looks horribly confused, like she didn’t understand the implications of what she had just said. Damn Youngeun and her pretty face and even pretty eyes-

NO BAD THOUGHTS-

“Can you just- uh… not look at me? Especially after you just asked me to date you!”

“Sorry- wait-” Youngeun’s eyes widened under the realization of what she just said. She immediately dropped her hand from Yeseo’s neck, and her cheeks too tint red. Yeseo stares at the older girl in disbelief, “No- I didn’t mean it in that way! It’s like…fake dating! You know…”

Youngeun, who the whole campus regarded as charming, charismatic, and well-spoken, is sputtering. Yeseo can’t help but be just a bit amazed at the older girl trying to form sentences yet failing. She’s known Youngeun for a little over a year now, but she’s never seen the ginger so… unable to form words.

It’s both endearing and funny to her.

“Like- well… we both have the same problem, right? We can just… go on a fake date to the festival!” Youngeun finally manages to explain as eloquently as she could, it makes Yeseo giggle and the warm feeling that blossoms in her chest is foreign but not unwelcome. Youngeun pouts, “Hey! Don’t laugh at me, it was a solid idea.”

“I’m not saying it’s not. I would go with you-” Yeseo’s mouth moves faster than her mind, and suddenly she’s agreeing to go on a fake festival date with Youngeun. However, the way that Youngeun seems to light up, is such an expression that Yeseo does not wish to take away, “-but, the way you went about it was funny.”

“But you agreed,” Youngeun grins.

“And I’m regretting it,” Yeseo jokes lightly.

Youngeun gasps loudly, offended almost and Yeseo can’t help but laugh at her shenanigans. She can’t help but laugh even more when she grabs Yeseo and pulls her into a tight hug, proclaiming,

“No take backsies! You’re mine! …Just for a week, but still!”

Chapter Text

“ YESEO ?!”

Yujin all but screams into her ear. Yeseo winces, covering her left ear which had been assaulted. It’s been a couple of days since Youngeun and Yeseo officially agreed to going on a fake date with each other for the festival duration. It was agreed upon that it would be a secret kept from their friends. Something about being more authentic that way so that the whole group doesn’t have to act. Not to mention, it’ll be fairly harmless when Youngeun and Yeseo ‘break up’.

But of course, Yujin is the first to find out about this fake arrangement (even though she thinks it’s real) when Youngeun messages her about the ‘date’. She was originally going to tell Yujin later but it looks like maybe not. Yeseo watches as Mashiro wrangles her girlfriend. She's thankful that at least someone has some sense. Xiaoting watches with affectionate amusement that reminds Yeseo of how she’s fourth wheeling the throuple right now. 

Alas, kill three birds with one stone, Yeseo will tell Youngeun about this later. 

And also apologize for letting it come out earlier than expected. 

They planned on telling their friends a day before the festival so there wouldn’t be much time to ask questions about their relationship development since… there really isn’t any. They barely have a story to tell. 

They should really get those details right soon after this. 

“Yujin-unnie, please,” Mashiro sounds horribly exasperated yet her voice is so full of affection it makes Yeseo want to throw up a little. Mashiro giggles at the face that the younger girl is making, “If all goes well with you and Youngeunie, you’ll be just like us.”

Yeseo’s expression worsens, “You’re insane, unnie. Insane. Crazy .”

“That’s what I said,” Xiaoting chimed. She crossed her arms with a sigh, “But look at me now, the sappiest thing around-” she points accusing fingers at her girlfriends, “-and it’s all their fault.”

“All her fault, actually,” Mashiro retorts, shaking a smug looking Yujin to prove her point.

Whatever god is out there, please save her.

“Trust me, Yeseo,” Xiaoting puts a hand on her shoulder solemnly. She acted like she was bestowing the insight of the gods to her. Yeseo gave the redhead a look, regretting her life decisions that led to these friendships, “Sooner or later you’re gonna be mushy with Youngeun and you’re gonna like it.”

Yeseo makes an even more disgusted expression, “Uhm- no-??”

She cuts herself off mid ‘no’.

For some reason, the idea of being all gross and mushy with Youngeun isn’t a bad thought at all. The idea of warm touches and sweet words doesn’t sound so bad when Yeseo imagines that it’s Youngeun giving her those. Hugs that linger a few seconds longer than usual, interlocked fingers, eyes full of adoration.

Yeseo finds that if it’s Youngeun, it doesn’t sound so bad-

Wait what?!

What is she thinking ?

She and Youngeun were just friends! Friends, really. This arrangement was just an arrangement, nothing more. This whole fake dating thing was just to help them get people off their back. So then why does Yeseo feel so warm at the thought of holding Youngeun’s hand?

They’ve held hands a bunch of times before! Whenever they didn’t want to get separated in crowds and whatnot, but suddenly, the idea of holding Youngeun’s hand with a heavier title than friends seems appealing to her.

“Yeah, no,” Yeseo finalizes despite her heart disagreeing. “We’re just trying stuff out, there’s no way we’re gonna be as gross as you guys.”

Yujin leans in to whisper loudly to Mashiro, “That’s what they all say.”

“Yah! I can hear you, Yujin-unnie!”

“It’s true Yeseo-yah!”

—

“So… the unnies know?”

“I’m sorry!”

Youngeun laughs, it’s sweet to the hear and Yeseo is still bowing in apology. She can’t believe that not even a week after they agreed upon fake dating for the festival, she spoiled the plan by letting it out to Yujin, Mashiro, and Xiaoting. Thankfully, they don’t know that it’s fake, but they barely had even an idea of what kind of backstory to do, so Yeseo was just coming up with things on the fly.

“It’s okay,” Youngeun insists. She reaches and cups Yeseo’s face, forcing the pink haired girl to look up at her. Yeseo has to ignore the sound of her heart thumping in her ears. Youngeun’s hands are just a little rough, calloused from years of softball, but her touch is gentle and warm, and it’s borderline addicting.

“R-Right,” Yeseo swallows, pulling back. She feels the back of her neck beginning to heat up, rising up to her neck.

She cannot have a crush on Youngeun, they’re friends!

Youngeun smiles and it’s too pretty for Yeseo to look at with platonic thoughts. So she averts her gaze and looks down at her lap. She thanks the lords they were just hanging out on the empty softball bleachers. No practice today and no one around to overhear her and Youngeun’s plans. Oh lord, and with the way that she was definitely blushing right now, she’s sure some rumors will start up.

But that being said…

It’d get people off her back, wouldn’t it?

Yeseo has to shake off that thought. It was already enough that her and Youngeun had agreed to this arrangement, and it’s already enough that some of their friends know. Perhaps revealing it to their whole university before the festival wouldn’t be a very good idea.

“What did you tell them?” Youngeun inquires. Right, Youngeun would have to know what Yeseo said so that the details aligned.

“I said we were trying some things out…” Yeseo answered, picking at her nails. She can’t help her nerves. She messed up their operation a little, and it doesn’t help that suddenly she’s hyper-aware of everything Youngeun. How close she was sitting next to Yeseo, the way her body was leaned, putting her full and undivided attention onto Yeseo.

Good god, what was wrong with her?

This was normal Youngeun behavior! They were close enough to be affectionate, close enough to jokingly flirt around with each other, they were good friends .

“Uh, that’s all, really,” Yeseo states.

“That’s nothing we can’t work with,” Youngeun smiles. She pauses briefly, moving a hand over to Yeseo’s. She pries the younger girl’s hands apart, preventing her from further picking at her nails before interlacing their fingers silently. Yeseo ignores how warm Youngeun’s hand is, the rough yet soft feeling of the ginger’s hands. Her hold is firm but gentle, and the way that Youngeun’s thumb is rubbing over her knuckles has butterflies fluttering about in her chest.

“Mhm,” Yeseo nods dumbly, not trusting her mouth to speak anything coherent.

They discuss a coherent backstory to tell people if asked. Yeseo can’t think about how there’s so much effort being put into a week-long festival just to save them from confession problems. Main idea is that Youngeun asked her first while they were hanging out, Yeseo accepted and so now they were deciding to give it a try with dates during the Magic Hour Festival.

“Finally, next time I get asked out I can say I’ve got a date,” Youngeun grins. She lets go of Yeseo’s hand and throws an arm over her shoulder, tugging Yeseo closer to her. Yeseo tries not to be so surprised, especially when Youngeun is far warmer than she remembers, “And she’s really cute too.”

Yeseo lets out a sarcastic laugh, attempting to mask the way her heart races. She gives a playful eye roll, “Alrighty, unnie, whatever you say.”

“I’m being so real,” Youngeun makes a face, and lets go of Yeseo. The pink haired girl has to tell herself that she is not missing Youngeun’s warmth. Nope, not at all , “Sure, it’s not a real date, but you’re still super cute!”

“If you say so,” Yeseo replies simply. She purses her lips in thought. She thinks about Youngeun’s popularity, her admirers. And then that person comes into her mind and Yeseo makes a face. She looks back at Youngeun, “Do I have to deal with your ex?”

Youngeun pauses.

“Oh.”

Yeseo stares.

Youngeun coughs.

“Maybe.”

“Oh my god.”

—

“I already have a date.”

One of Yeseo’s guy friends, or well, was guy friend, she supposes depending on how this interaction goes, widened his eyes at the revelation. She doesn’t blame him, Kang Yeseo was known for rejecting people that came her way, but it was never because she had someone else already. 

“Really?” Ilsung blinks. “I- mean, not that I’m surprised someone’s already asked you out but… you have a date?"

He seems more surprised than offended if anything, which is a good sign. Even if Ilsung has a crush on her, she has hope that he’ll stick around after his rejection.

“I do,” Yeseo says firmly.

“Who, if you don’t mind?” he then asks.

Yeseo tries not to cough at that. Right, her date is Youngeun . Her Seo Youngeun-unnie, softball star, with all kinds of admirers trailing after her. With a pretty face and kind smile, and even prettier eyes. With a goofy yet sweet personality, and a laugh that rivals the best of music.

It’s a bit odd to consider Youngeun as a ‘date’, but the fluttering that fills her chest at the thought isn't bad. It’s not unpleasant, and Yeseo doesn’t necessarily mind the warmth either; the warmth that fills her heart at the thought of Youngeun. 

But don’t get it twisted!

They’re friends.

Yeseo does not have a crush on Youngeun.

Otherwise this fake date arrangement would not work at all.

“Youngeun-unnie.”

“Youngeun-sunbaenim?!"

“Why is that so surprising??” Yeseo quacks back immediately after. Ilsung laughs, putting a hand up as to say that he wasn’t laughing at that prospect.

“No! Just-” Ilsung takes a moment to recollect himself. “I was gonna say it was about time!”

Yeseo blinks, bewildered. Ilsung is smiling at her, looking amused. She'll take it as he’s not harmed by the rejection. But, what does he mean by ‘about time?’ Helplessly confused, Yeseo stares at him, “Huh???”

“Yeah, didn’t you have a crush on her?” Ilsung, himself, looks bewildered. Yeseo stares at him, why is he bewildered? She’s confused as to why he’s so supportive when he had just asked her out a mere minute ago. She guesses that means their friendship is more important than his romantic feelings; which is good, but this a turn of events Yeseo was not expecting.

“ No -” Yeseo cuts herself off mid-sentence. Well, if she was supposed to be going on dates with Youngeun, it’d make sense that she’d have a crush on the ginger, right? “I mean- y-yeah! Yeah… I, uh… I like her! I… have a crush on her.”

That was terrible acting.

“Nice!” Ilsung exclaims, maybe far too happy for a guy who just got rejected by his crush. He high-fives Yeseo, and she’s still so confused, “Y’all dating or?”

“Just testing the waters!” Yeseo blurts out a little too quickly. There’s already enough misunderstandings floating in the air, and Yeseo’s certain by the end of this there’s going to be far too much whispers about her and Youngeun. Perhaps this whole fake dating thing was a bad idea, but she’s far too deep in now to get out. But oddly enough, the admittance, as terrible as it was, didn’t feel foreign to Yeseo.

In fact.

It feels right .

But anyways.

Yeseo is sorely confused as to why Ilsung isn’t disappointed at the fact that she’s going to the festival with Youngeun. In fact, he seems insanely supportive of them going on a date. It’s baffling, yet relieving, “Why aren’t you… like, disappointed?”

Ilsung blinks as if the thought of disappointment never crossed his mind, “Huh? Why would I be disappointed?”

“Don’t you like me?” Yeseo points out.

“Yeah, but like we’re friends, right?” Ilsung states. “Rejection sucks, yeah. But I’ll get over it, and at the end of the day, we’re friends, feelings or not. Plus! If you’re happy, I’m happy!"

“You’re so weird,” Yeseo says, but she feels relieved. “You’ll be okay?”

“Yep,” Ilsung nods, and he’s being truly honest. “I’ll be okay, it wasn’t a big crush, I just wanted to shoot my shot before I had any regrets, y’know? I wish you and Youngeun-sunbae all the best!"

“ Wha - we’re just testing the waters!”

“If you say so, lover girl!”

Yeseo hates this.

—

“You two are leaving us?!”

Hikaru sounds sorely offended upon finding out that Youngeun and Yeseo were going on a date for the Magic Hour Festival and ditching her, Bahiyyih, Dayeon, and Chaehyun. She leaps over the table and grabs Youngeun by the shoulders, causing the ginger to drop her phone.

“ WHY ?!!!!”

“SORRY-!”

“I thought softball girlies were girlies forever!!” Hikaru wails loudly, garnering the attention from others in the student union. Bahiyyih and Yeseo looked at those who noticed them awkwardly, apologizing silently to them before turning their attention back to their two friends. Yeseo questions her life decisions that have led her into these friendships, especially when Youngeun is being shook so hard by Hikaru, it looks like she owes the shorter girl money.

“We are- grah - can you- like stop shaking me-??”

Youngeun pulls Hikaru’s hands off her shoulders, keeping the other girl still by the wrists. She takes a couple of moments to regain her breath before looking at Hikaru through squinted eyes, “Holy mother of Johannes Kepler, girl.”

“Ew, nerd!” Hikaru exclaims, borderline disgusted. Yeseo stares at her friends and it looked like Youngeun wasn’t about to let go of Hikaru’s wrists and Hikaru wasn’t about to drop her arms. This was an odd standstill and Yeseo is seriously questioning her life choices.

Bahiyyih sighs at her best friend and pats her head before looking between Youngeun and Yeseo, seemingly connecting dots in her head. Yeseo doesn’t have the heart to tell here that there are no dots to connect. In fact, Yeseo daresay there were no dots to connect to begin with.

(Just ignore the way saying she likes Youngeun feels so right.)

“So…” a grin that Yeseo does not like grows on Bahiyyih’s face, “you two?”

Youngeun gives an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of her neck. Yeseo averts her eyes, feeling her cheeks warm.

To anyone else, they seem like an awkward, cute, developing couple, but Yeseo knows internally that both of them are screaming. Despite having a backstory, answering questions about their blossoming ‘relationship’ was something that Yeseo was not mentally prepared for.

“Uh,” Yeseo knocks her knee against Youngeun’s; a cry for help.

“Y-Yeah!” Youngeun responds awkwardly and so unconvincingly. Thankfully, Bahiyyih doesn’t seem to catch how awkward the response was, “Just…” the ginger swallows, “…we’re trying it out.”

“Trying out, huh?” Bahiyyih looks far too invested and it’s borderline concerning. “That’s what they all say, but look at Dayeon and Chaehyun! Super into each other.”

“They aren’t even together- together ,” Youngeun points out, which is very true. 

For as long as Yeseo’s known those two have been dancing around each other's feelings since the end of dawn. It’s both hilarious yet painful. Whatever Dayeon and Chaehyun have going on makes Yeseo want to rip her hair out, and she’s sure their other friends share the same sentiment. Yeseo recalls Youngeun and her late midnight snack run where Youngeun spilled the latest news about Dayeon and Chaehyun.

“They’re in a situationship now.”

“WHAT-??! You’re kidding me.”

“Nope, it’s actually really terrible. Like seeing what Chaehyun texts her is insane- mmmrmf-”

“Please don’t tell me any further details, I want to claw my eyes out.”

“Situationships save lives,” Hikaru chimes, earning a more than disturbed look from Yeseo. Hikaru responds to this expression with an overly exaggerated pout and makes a point to turn her body to face Yeseo, “Now you ! Why didn't you say that you liked Youngeun earlier?!”

“What do you mean- I- well…” Yeseo coughed awkwardly, hoping to play it off as a girl who’s in love and just a tad bit pathetic. God, for someone who’s one of the best actors in the theater department, she’s terrible at this pretend game of Youngeun and hers, “It just… never crossed my mind?”

Youngeun is shaking, trying to hold back a laugh at Yeseo’s horrible acting.

Yeseo kicks her ankle.

“Ow-” Youngeun pouts. She looks at Bahiyyih and Hikaru, “She’s so abusive to me.”

“It’s okay, Youngie,” Hikaru reaches over the table and pats Youngeun’s hand in a comforting fashion as if she hadn’t shaken the life out of the ginger a couple moments ago. “Hiyyih does the same to me-”

“You like it!”

“ HUH ??? WHO WOULD LIKE THAT??”

Yeseo and Youngeun look at each other.

—

“Am I the one with the big crush or are you?”

Yeseo is lounging in Youngeun’s room, later that day. Some more details to iron out in their story, Yeseo thinks. So much effort going in for one week worth of something, it better be worth it.

Well actually, it’s pretty worth it, Yeseo daresays. Since Ilsung found out news of her and Youngeun ‘ dating ’, as it now is instead of going on a date , has spread like wildfire. Youngeun had rejected a couple girls using Yeseo as the reason, leading to more spread, and slowly but surely, Yeseo could see that more and more people were being steered away from asking her out. Which is good, less disturbances in her day and less people to reject.

She’s very happy with these results.

“You,” Youngeun says without missing a beat. She’s looking at her phone, sitting on her bed with Yeseo beside her, laying down and staring up at the ceiling. Yeseo pauses, stopping herself from finishing the count of Youngeun’s glow-in-the-dark stars. She sits up and squints at the older girl.

“Why me?” she makes sure to sound overly offended. “Why not you?”

The words leave Yeseo’s mouth without much thought and they make her feel warm when Youngeun laughs. The idea of the older girl having a crush on her didn’t seem like a bad thing, Yeseo wasn’t opposed to that thought- in fact, it made her rather happy-

Wait .

What?

“Who wouldn’t have a crush on me?” Youngeun smirks and Yeseo groans, shoving Youngeun away. The ginger laughs, clearly entertained by the reaction, and the sound is almost like music to Yeseo’s ears, “I mean- look at me!”

Yeseo grumbles.

She has to admit.

Youngeun is very pretty.

Delicate yet sharp features. Pretty eyes and a bright smile. It’s not a shocker that Youngeun is a head turner. Yeseo feels her cheeks warm, having to admit to herself that yes, Youngeun is very pretty. And yes, Yeseo totally gets people having a crush on Youngeun- wait . What is she saying? 

They’re just friends… who are fake dating. But that’s besides the point! Just friends. Youngeun is Yeseo’s good friend, her trusted unnie, her very pretty fake girlfriend- okay, that’s enough. She needs to stop. They’re just friends, nothing more nothing less, and this annoying bubbly feeling in her chest means nothing. Especially when Youngeun reaches with her hand and interlaces her fingers with Yeseo’s absentmindedly.

It means nothing when Yeseo sputters and Youngeun chuckles, saying she just felt like it.

It means nothing when her hands tingle at Youngeun’s touch, the vibrations traveling up her arm and hitting her straight in the heart, warming her throughout.

It means nothing -

“Yeseo-ah?”

Yeseo snaps out of it, “Y-Yeah?”

“You look cute.”

It doesn’t mean nothing.

Chapter Text

“Hey, newly-wed!”

“ Unnie !”

Yeseo whines at Dayeon. 

It’s day one of the festival, and Yeseo has barely managed to revel in the fact that yes, maybe she does actually have a crush on Seo Youngeun. It really doesn’t help that she’s been spending more time with the older girl than usual these days, having to get used to the motions of being a ‘couple’. Because suddenly, going on a fake date has turned into fake dating and Yeseo is seconds away from shooting herself.

Who thought this was a good idea?

Right .

Youngeun did.

And she agreed .

Stupid, stupid, stupid !

“We’re just testing the waters!” Yeseo exclaims defensively when Dayeon throws an arm over her shoulder. The older girl takes to ruffling her hair affectionately, “Seriously, unnie!”

Yeseo looks at Chaehyun who’s watching from the side with great amusement. She gives a look at the older girl, pleading to be saved. She knows that Chaehyun has a major weak spot for her. Puppy-eyes always works on the older girl, especially if they’re from Yeseo.

“Now, that’s enough, Dayeon-ah,” Chaehyun laughs, moving to pull the softball player off Yeseo. The pink haired girl internally cheers at her savior who is fixing her hair. Chaehyun then pulls Yeseo into a tight hug right after she finished fixing her hair, “Ahhh our baby’s all grown up! She’s left the nest and found herself a lover!”

Nevermind, Yeseo thinks she’d rather handle Dayeon’s teasing than whatever this is from Chaehyun.

She swears all her friends have it out to tease her.

“And it’s our Youngeunie that she’s bagged!” Chaehyun makes a show of acting like a proud parent. She squishes Yeseo’s face, “We knew you always had it in you to confess!”

Yeseo sighs, rolling her eyes, “Yeah- I mean- WHAT ?!”

“Yeah,” Dayeon looks at her, confused. “Confess. Didn’t you confess to her?”

“No-?” Yeseo cuts herself off immediately. Bad, bad , she was supposed to be pretending. “I mean… Youngeun-unnie confessed first so…”

“Ohhhh,” Chaehyun nods, understanding. She pulls back, “Man, I thought you did something about your crush on Youngeun, finally.”

Yeseo flushes.

It’s terrible to admit that she’s finally just realizing she might just have a crush on Youngeun. But can you blame her, Youngeun was just so… admirable. Everything about that girl was just amazing. Hardworking, kind, friendly- Yeseo admired Youngeun greatly. And maybe.

Just maybe .

She really does have a crush on Youngeun.

But details.

“What?!” Yeseo squeaks. “How-” she’s grasping at straws in her head to think of a rebuttal, “-I never told you guys??”

“ Please ,” Dayeon rolled her eyes, making sure to enunciate and speak slowly like Yeseo was a toddler learning words for the first time. She waves Yeseo away, “You were so damn obvious, anyone could see from a mile away you had the hots for Youngie.”

Yeseo blinks, aghast, shook , gaping like a fish out of water.

WHAT?!

“Yeah,” Chaehyun agrees, nodding, and Yeseo holds back the remark that those two are really meant for each other. “You went to all the softball games with the biggest poster for her-”

“Like you didn’t for Dayeon-unnie?” Yeseo rebutted, earning a deep frown from Chaehyun and a cackle from Dayeon. Chaehyun is just as guilty, if not even more than Yeseo if you compare what the older girl’s done for Dayeon to what Yeseo’s done for Youngeun. 

“Shush, we’re talking about you, not me,” Chaehyun stated, recovering immediately from the attack. “And don’t get me started with the way you look at her too.”

As if it could get anymore.

She feels her neck heat up, a red tint making its way back to her cheeks. She’s really really wishing that their other friends arrive like right about her now to save her from this. More specifically, she needs Youngeun to arrive right now so that she can share the suffering. 

“Awww, you’re so cute,” Chaehyun coos, arms wrapping around Yeseo. She pats the younger girl’s head and Yeseo huffs at her, pretending like she doesn’t enjoy the affection. Could you blame her? Chaehyun gave great hugs.

“Hey!” Dayeon is quick to protest. “Where is my hug?!”

“You’re so demanding,” Chaehyun states. “This is our maknae right here, how can you not hug her?”

Dayeon paused, “True.”

And then she joined them, hugging Yeseo and Chaehyun as well. Yeseo let out a sound that was between a grumble and a whine. She did not know where she was going with that sound, but she does know that she’s trapped and people were probably looking at them weirdly. 

Goodness gracious, what’s even taking the older girl so long to arrive? Yeseo did her makeup, spent thirty minutes picking out a dress (Mashiro was timing her), and everything and still got here rather earlier. She wonders what the hold up is, maybe she’s waiting on Bahiyyih with Hikaru, they do that a lot. Or maybe she got caught up by some fangirls? But that doesn’t make sense, the amount of people asking Youngeun out has dropped by significant numbers since it got out that she and Yeseo were ‘dating’.

Dating .

That never seems to feel natural to Yeseo. Saying it feels weird; it feels weird, foreign but in a good way? Her heart beats a little quicker at the thought, her knees just feel the ittiest bits of weak, and her face feels just slightly hotter.

Haha.

Dating .

“AYOOOOO!!!!”

It’s Hikaru that comes practically barreling at them.

Chaehyun immediately leaves the trio hug and grabs Yeseo with her to save them from Hikaru’s ambush, leaving poor Dayeon to be hit right on with Hikaru. The black haired girl slams right into Dayeon, and Yeseo is very surprised that Dayeon is still standing upright when Hikaru has both feet off the ground and is holding onto Dayeon lest she falls.

“GREAT CATCH DAYEON-UNNIE!!” Hikaru shouts right into Dayeon’s ear. The dark brunette makes a show of being in pain because of the shout right into her ear, her face contorting into all kinds of expressions of pain. Yeseo can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. 

They were absurd, this group was insanely absurd.

“YAH KARU-AH!!” Dayeon yells loudly, shoving Hikaru off her. “THE HELL?!”

“Concussion averted!” Bahiyyih cheers with an amused grin. “Hey, Chaehyun-unnie, Yeseo.”

“Sorry we took so long,” Youngeun apologized. She pointed at Bahiyyih with narrowed eyes, making sure to poke her cheek while she was at it, “Took forever picking an outfit.”

“Yes, but I look good, don’t I?” Bahiyyih retorted and the ginger rolled her eyes in exasperation at her friend. Bahiyyih grinned in triumph before looking around, “Where’s our old unnies?”

“Making out,” Yeseo blurted. “…Probably.”

“How do they do that with three people?” Youngeun murmured.

“Take turns,” Chaehyun answered.

Bahiyyih, Yeseo, and Youngeun took their turns, staring at Chaehyun.

“What?”

“Weirdo,” Yeseo mumbles.

“Yah!”

They settle down a little, Dayeon and Hikaru have finally stopped yelling at each other, and they’ve stopped being the main attraction of the Magic Hour Festival. Yeseo breathes out a sigh of relief when they return to some kind of normalcy, or rather… as normal as they can be. They really were just a group of weirdos, but she doesn’t think she could trade them for anything else.

Or maybe, when Hikaru threatens to shove a carrot up Bahiyyih’s nose for some reason.

Yeseo laughs-

Oh, there’s a weight on her shoulders.

“Miss me?”

It’s Youngeun in all her pretty fashion. She’s got a white sleeveless crop top on and light wash jeans and Yeseo thinks it’s so unfair that she can make such a simple outfit look so good. This is unfair, Yeseo will claim, it’s impossible to be this pretty yet Youngeun seems to make the impossible possible and she doesn’t know if she hates it or not.

(Spoiler alert: she doesn’t.)

“As if,” Yeseo lies through the skin of her teeth. It’s odd, it’s so odd; the gravitational pull she has to Youngeun. Maybe it’s just because they’re closer in age that makes her seek out the ginger more, but she swears she didn’t miss the girl this much until now. Perhaps it’s the notion that they’re ‘dating’ that’s making her feel this way.

Oh, who knows?

What Yeseo does know is that Youngeun is a friend , so don’t get it twisted.

Youngeun laughs, amused and Yeseo pretends it isn’t the best thing she’s heard all day.

The older girl leans in a little more to whisper, pressing against Yeseo. She’s warm to the touch, and Yeseo is all too hyper aware of just how close Youngeun is to her and how her arm is wrapped around her shoulders, “How ‘bout we ditch?”

The pink haired girl feels her heart race a little and her face heat up. She blames it on the weather, it’s a little hot out, that’s all. It has nothing to do with Youngeun and how close she is. 

Not at all.

“Already?” Yeseo raises an eyebrow. “The other unnies aren’t even here yet.”

“Why not?” Youngeun wears a sly grin. “Can’t I have some alone time with my girlfriend ?”

It takes everything in Yeseo not to push the older girl off her just for that statement.

Whatever Youngeun is doing and her spells, or whatever, are not good for Yeseo's heart. Not good at all. This girl is lethal and she’s also Yeseo’s friend, and she has to remind herself that this is for the greater good of humanity (her sanity) but she thinks

“ Fake girlfriend,” Yeseo clarifies for her sake.

“Still a girlfriend!” Youngeun rebuts. “Plus like…” she looks at their friends and Dayeon and Chaehyunu have started butting heads about something, “…I kinda wanna leave before they start interrogating us about all this.”

Yeseo thinks about it for a second.

(She doesn’t.)

“So?” Youngeun pulls back and Yeseo finds herself missing Youngeun’s touch.

Insanity, she thinks but she can’t help the smile on her face when Youngeun offers her a hand. She’s smiling innocently at Yeseo and they really are in their own world, aren’t they?

“Hey lovebirds!”

Dayeon yells, whipping around, a scary look on her face.

Yeseo takes her hand.

“Let's go!”

Youngeun pulls her along lest they get caught and interrogated about their relationship, or rather, lack thereof by their friends.

Yeseo can’t help the laughter bubbling in her chest. Youngeun’s hand is warm in hers and the ginger leads her right into the festival away from their friends. They’ll definitely meet up later, there’s no harm to any of this really. Once the coast is clear, they slow to a casual walk, and Youngeun makes a point of interlacing their fingers.

The gesture sends a pleasant buzz right into Yeseo’s heart.

“Whew,” Youngeun huffs. “We are totally good to go now.”

“They’re sooooo gonna be on us later for lunch,” Yeseo says, but she’s smiling either way. Youngeun shrugs, like it doesn’t matter, and it really doesn’t.

It doesn’t when they’re right here, together with each other, in this crowded festival and-

Oh.

Maybe Yeseo does have a crush on Youngeun.

“Yeseo-ah?” Youngeun calls out, waving her free hand in front of the younger girl’s face.

“Y-Yes?” she manages to squeak out pathetically.

“Wanna watch me totally win that milk jug game there?”

“Those are rigged, unnie, you’re gonna lose.”

“Watch me!”

“Oh, I’ll watch alright.”

Oh, how easy it is to smile with her.