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Finally, they had survived the first week of classes. They decided to go to Subway as a little celebration for making it through the week. However, if Yerim were to be completely honest, she's been distracted ever since class ended. There was a thought in her mind that she's had since last school year, but she kept it hidden considering there was never a right time to address it before. But now that the game was over and everything had changed for the better, she can't keep it in anymore.
Suji and Jaeun are so obliviously in love with each another.
So the moment that Suji goes to refill her drink, with Jaeun expectedly following in after her, Yerim takes full advantage of it and says to Jaehyung and Jiae, "Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees it. Suji and Jaeun are so painfully into each other, and they don't even know it."
"Jaeun knows it," Jaehyung states, still focused on her food as if what Yerim just said didn't affect her at all. "She's so obvious about her feelings, it would be kinda pathetic if she wasn't so cute. Honestly, I don't know how Suji hasn't figured it out yet."
"It's kinda funny, isn't it?" Yerim chuckles as she thought about it. "The girl who destroyed the Pyramid Game can't figure out that her best friend is in love with her."
"I'm sure Jaeun will make a move sooner enough," Jaehyung stops to take a sip from her drink. "I swear, she's gonna explode if she doesn't get her feelings out eventually."
"Actually, I think Suji will make the first move. She's just taking a while to figure out her feelings, but once she does, for sure she'll confront it right away," Yerim says.
Jaehyung pauses her eating, her eyes slowly narrowing at Yerim. "Are you implying that my Jaeunnie doesn't have what it takes to make the first move?"
"I mean, Jaeun isn't a very confrontational person—" Yerim starts, but she quickly gets cut off.
"She's working on it!" Jaehyung defends Jaeun. She huffs and sets her food down on the table, but a smirk makes its way to her lips as an idea pops into her head. "I bet that Jaeun could and will make the first move. Loser pays for everyone's lunch. Hotpot."
Jaehyung puts her hand out for a handshake. Yerim thinks for a moment, staring at the hand in front of her. Just how confident was she in Suji? The girl might be genius on understanding everyone around her, but the case doesn't seem to be the same with it came to love. But now, Yerim's pride is on the line, so she shakes Jaehyung's hand firmly.
"You're on."
"What's going on?" Suji asks as she and Jaeun come back to the table. However, Yerim and Jaehyung both let go and said that nothing was going on. Suji knew that those two were headstrong enough to not crumble, so she averts her gaze to the more timid girl next to Jaehyung. "Jiae?"
She had been quiet the whole time, just watching and listening to her friends talk. She took in the newfound information, but when she really thought about it, it all made sense. But now, the attention was on her.
"U-uh, nothing, really," she stammered. "They were just talking about having a dance off." She doesn't know where that lie came from, but it seemed like she was telling the truth, right? She looks back at Suji to check for any reactions, but she accidentally makes eye contact with her, which resulted her to timidly look back down and focus on her food.
Did Suji believe her? No, not one bit. But if Jiae was willing to give a convincing enough lie, then she figured the girl wasn't going to budge either. She lets it go for now, but she keeps it in her mind for later.
—
If she wants to win this bet, she needed to make Suji aware of her feelings. "Have you ever been in love, Suji?" Yerim asks her, out of the blue, as they made their way to the cafeteria. She keeps her facial expression neutral but curious, just in case the other girl tried to read her.
And Suji does try, narrowing her eyes in the process as she looks at the other girl and dryly chuckles. "What's with that question?"
"Nothing, I was just curious," Yerim shrugs. "I mean, I have my relationship with Eunjeong. Jaehyung and Jaeun have their weird thing going on." That's when Yerim looks at Suji for any sort of reaction. She knows that trying to make her jealous probably isn't the best thing, but jealousy helps you realize a lot of things, and she can only hope that Suji will catch on.
Yerim dies get a reaction from Suji. The shorter girl turns her head sharply upon hearing that, but her face still tries to stay emotionless. "What weird thing?"
"You know, their weird little dynamic. Jaehyung being so clingy and Jaeun letting her, most of the time." She could basically taste the victory on the tip of her tongue, all she had to do was continue fueling the fire. "They'd be cute together, don't you think?"
Suji only hums in response as the two enter the cafeteria. The other three have already found a table, and as if everything was working in Yerim's favor, Jaehyung was clinging onto Jaeun's arm. A smile makes its way to her face as she grabs Suji's arm and brings her to the line to get food.
"You know, you never answered my question," Yerim says as they grab trays and start to get their food. "Have you ever been in love?"
"No, I haven't. I've went on dates before, but it always ended with me deleting their number." Suji might be able to manipulate almost everyone, but she's not the type of person to play with someone's feelings.
They finish getting their food and go to the table where their other three friends are sat at. "My Jaeunnie invited us to come over to her house after school. She's going to cook for me." Jaehyung pokes Jaeun's cheek as the taller girl grimaces.
Then, out of nowhere, Suji breaks into a laugh. "Jaeun can't cook for shit," she says. It makes Jaeun laugh softly as well. "Last time we were making ramyun, she almost grabbed the hot pot with her bare hands."
"But at least you were there to stop me," Jaeun responds, a smile still resting on her lips. "You'll come over, too, right?"
"Of course," Suji answers. "Who else is gonna stop you from hurting yourself cooking?"
Could this be considered flirting? Yerim, Jaehyung, and Jiae seem to think so as all three of them share an all knowing look with one another. Jaehyung even has a proud smile on her face since Jaeun was the one who started the flirting. She's confident in Jaeun, always has been and always will be, and she would never try to hide it. In fact, she'd show it off smugly, just like she was doing now as she quietly teased Yerim by sticking her tongue out at her.
Yerim takes it lightly, giving a chuckle and a soft kick on the shin under the table. Then, she says, "I'll be a little late, I'm going to Eunjeong first, but send me your address, yeah?" Jaeun nods.
Yerim cannot wait to tell Eunjeong everything.
—
Jaehyung and Jiae watch as Suji and Jaeun cook ramyun for them. It was as if they were in their own world, talking and laughing about things they couldn't hear. It was hard to not notice the soft touches as well, mainly initiated by Suji in order to prevent Jaeun accidentally hurting herself. Jaehyung couldn't stop a sigh coming out of her mouth. "They're perfect for each other, why can't they see that?" she whispers softly, quickly followed by a mutter, "Idiots."
"How do you want your egg?" Suji asks the two girls, not bothering to look back at them.
"Raw!" Jaehyung exclaims.
"Fried," Jiae says, the slightest quieter than Jaehyung.
Suji doesn't say anything after that, she just starts to cook the two fried eggs. Two because Jaeun also liked her eggs fried. Suji considers herself to be a pretty good cook, having learned from when she was young and her dad couldn't make it for dinner. But there are still some things she can't control, like how oil reacts crazily to the combination of the heat and the egg.
Jaeun notices it quickly, how the oil kept flying and how Suji could get hurt. "Wear my jacket," she splutters out without really thinking of what she's saying at first. "I mean, you can get hurt, so you should wear my jacket."
"Wouldn't it ruin your jacket?" Suji asks.
"I don't mind," Jaeun says, already removing her jacket. She helps put it on Suji, one arm then the other. She stands back slightly, but still beside Suji. She watches intently as the shorter girl cooks, completely missing the oil flying onto her until she feels it burn her skin. "Shit!"
Everyone gets chocked by the curse, Suji turning her head quickly to check on Jaeun and instinctively turns off the stove. "Jaeun, what happened? Did you get burned? Let me see." Jaeun does what she's told and gives Suji her arm. There were two small round burns on her forearm.
Jaeun looks down at Suji, watching the shorter girl's slightly frustrated, but concentrated, look on her face as she inspects the burns, holding her arm softly. "Does it hurt?" Suji asks, looking up at Jaeun to meet her eyes.
If Jaeun were to be honest, nothing burns more than the warmth of Suji's hand on her arm, softly gripping with her thumb drawing circles on her skin. She shakes her head, saying no. Suji takes a moment, looking into Jaeun's eyes, then says, "I'll get some burn ointment, I'll be right back." Suji lets go of her arm and leaves, and Jaeun has never felt more disappointed about being able to breathe comfortably.
That's when Jaehyung and Jiae take the opportunity to stand up and check on Jaeun. "My Jaeunnie, are you okay?" Jaehyung worriedly asks, as she dramatically grabs at her face and turns it, checking everywhere for any other possible wounds.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Jaeun says.
That's when Jaehyung hits the taller girl's arm, though not painfully, still chocking Jaeun as she holds the part she hit. "Why don't you ever let me borrow your jacket? Do you like Suji more than me?" It was a question Jaehyung already knows the answer to, but of course she wants Jaeun to actually say it out loud.
Jaeun blinks. She's a terrible liar, everyone knows it. "I-I," Jaeun starts, stuttering. "N-no?"
"Are you answering or asking?" Jaehyung raises an eyebrow.
"Both?" Jaeun answers in the form of a question once again. Then, continues exasperatingly, "I-I don't know what to say."
"Just be honest, I promise I won't get hurt and hit you again," Jaehyung says, raising her right hand as the left one goes to her chest. "Do you like Suji?"
Jaeun sighs, her lips naturally going into a pout. "Is it that obvious?"
Finally, a confirmation! Jaehyung couldn't stop the happiness from showing as she grins widely and lets out a squeal. "You finally admitted it! Oh, my Jaeunnie, you're all grown up. You're in love!"
"Love?" Jaeun repeats with her eyes wide from surprise. "I don't think it can be considered love." A beat passes, then quietly, "Yet, at least."
"Fine, a crush, but a crush is still a big deal!" Jaehyung exclaims. "When was the last time you had a crush?" she asks, but the moment Jaeun opens her mouth to answer, Jaehyung cuts her off. "Never mind, that's not important. What's important is that you have a crush now, and on Suji! Do you know how long I've been dying for you to say that?"
"Was it really that obvious?" Jaeun cringes.
"Yes," comes from both Jaehyung and Jiae, then just the latter continues. "If it makes it any better, we all support you. We think you'd be really cute together."
"More than just cute, you both would be such an aesthetically pleasing couple, and the way she's a black cat and you're a golden retriever ," Jaehyung pauses to squeal, followed by a groan and a pout. "Okay, now I'm jealous."
She manages to completely miss Jaeun's confused expression. "Why are we animals?"
"It's based on how you act," Jaehyung explains. "You're all cute and soft but you're also big and strong, just like a golden retriever . You know what, you should download Twitter. Give me your phone, I'll make you an account."
That's what they do for the rest of the time that Suji is gone. Jaehyung makes a Twitter account for Jaeun. She purposely makes the username 'MyJaeun143', something she giggled about in her head when she first thought of it. She ends up having to explain that the 'My' stands for the first two letters of her last name and that '143' are totally just random numbers she thought of. She didn't mind, though. Jaeun's a good listener.
As Suji and Yerim — they met on Suji's walk back to Jaeun's house — enter the place, they were met with Jaeun posing, or at least attempting to, while Jaehyung and Jiae take photos of her. "I was gone for ten minutes, what is happening here?" Suji asks.
"We're trying to make the perfect profile pic for Jaeun's Twitter account," Jaehyung answers, not even bothering to look away from her phone as she continues to take photos.
Hearing that, Yerim jumps at the opportunity to capture the perfect picture. "Give me that, I'm amazing at taking photos," she says, taking the phone from Jaehyung's grip.
"That can wait," Suji says, walking over to Jaeun. She takes out a small box from her plastic bag and opens it, revealing the ointment she bought. "You should apply this two to three times a day and then cover it with a bandaid."
But as Jaeun raises her arm to try and grab the ointment and do what Suji just told her to do, Suji takes her arm and turns it slightly to see the burns. Jaeun freezes and lets Suji do whatever she wants, watching her through wide eyes. The shorter girl opens the ointment and applies it to the burns, her eyes scanning Jaeun's face to see if the ointment stung, but Jaeun didn't flinch. She just continued watching her. Then, Suji takes out the bandaids designed with cartoon puppies. She thought that Jaeun would like it. She covers the two burns.
Suji couldn't ignore how silent it got since they were so loud when Suji came back. She turns around to look at her three friends behind her. "Why are you all so quiet suddenly?"
"No reason," Jaehyung says with a wide smile. Then, she whispers through her teeth so only Yerim can hear, "I'm so winning this bet."
"No chance," Yerim whispers back.
"I can literally see you two whispering about something," Suji breaks their conversation.
"Don't mind us," Yerim says, grabbing Suji and pushing her back to the stove. "Just continue cooking, we'll just take Jaeun's pictures." But the moment she gets back to Jaehyung, she whispers, "Tell me everything I missed."
—
After eating, Jaehyung and Jiae were the first two that needed to go home. Then, it was Yerim. Then, Suji. She tried to stay as long as she could before her dad came home.
Jaeun let Suji keep her jacket that night, saying that she might get cold on the commute back home. Suji said that she would be fine, but Jaeun had insisted. She took it off once she got home and changed, but she put it back on before getting into her bed. She just feels colder than usual, that's why.
She's preparing to go to bed, about to set her phone down, when she gets a text. It's Jaeun.
—
Myeong Jaeun: [attachment]
Myeong Jaeun: It's us.
Seong Suji: ???
Myeong Jaeun: Jaehyung said that you're a black cat and I'm a golden retriever, so it's us.
Seong Suji: Okay, I think we should sleep. Good night, Jaeun.
Myeong Jaeun: Good night, Suji.
—
Suji goes to sleep wondering what the hell Jaehyung was teaching Jaeun. She doesn't know why but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips at the thought that Jaeun had messaged her because she saw something that reminded her of them. She felt that weird thing happening to her heart before she eventually fell asleep.
For some reason, her heart has been acting weird whenever it came to Jaeun. It felt like her heartbeat would slow down and beat louder than it should. Is she developing some sort of allergy towards the girl? Not like it would have stopped her from being near her. But that can't be it. Maybe she should just go to the clinic and get it checked. But really, it's something she can worry about another time.
The next day, she feels it again. Jaeun sits next to her at lunch and Jaehyung does something to make them all laugh. And Jaeun, she really smiles and laughs and for some reason, Suji can't look away. And when their eyes meet, and Jaeun's smile grew with her nose doing a little scrunch, that's when she feels it again. Now, she's starting to get concerned for her health.
She tries to search it up on her phone — Why does my heart slow down and get loud every time I'm around my best friend? — but the only results she found was that she could possibly have some sort of heart disease. So before she decides to actually get this checked, she messages a friend that's planning to be a doctor, Seo Doa.
—
Seong Suji: Hey, Doa. I know you're asleep, you can message me back when you're awake. I just have a question. Every time I'm around Jaeun, it feels like my heart beats slower and louder than normal. Why is that?
Seo Doa: Hi, Suji, I'm still awake studying for a test tomorrow. I'm actually quite surprised you still haven't figured it out by now.
Seong Suji: Figured out what?
Seo Doa: That you like her.
—
What?
Suji doesn't like Jaeun. Not like that.
Suji knows what it’s like to have a crush on someone and what she is feeling right now is nothing like that. In fact, this feeling is much worse than that, so it can’t be a crush. It just can’t be.
If what she was feeling was really a crush, then it should have faded by now. Her crushes have never lasted long and they went away in a month or two. But it’s definitely been more than two months that she’s been feeling like this, so it just can’t be a crush.
She puts her phone down on her desk and looks back at Jaeun, surrounded by empty seats since it’s break time and everyone is everywhere else. The taller girl, who was already staring at the back of her head apparently, has wide eyes at getting caught, but a soft smile still manages to make a way to her lips. Then, Suji feels it again in her heart.
No.
She doesn’t like Jaeun in that way.
She turns back and shuts her eyes. She tries to think of any other reason why she could be feeling this way. Maybe she really did have a heart disease with her symptoms getting worse as the days pass which will eventually lead to her unfortunate death. Or maybe that was just a huge exaggerated excuse, so that she didn’t have to admit the truth.
And the truth is that maybe, just maybe, over the months that she has known Jaeun, she has managed to garner romantic feelings for the taller girl. But she’s not going to admit, at least not out loud. She’ll just wait for it to go away like it should have months ago. It’ll go away, won’t it?
—
Jiae had asked Jaeun to meet her at the swing set that they once met up at before. Ever since Jaeun admitted that she did have a crush on Suji, Jiae couldn’t stop thinking about that moment they met up here. So she sits at the swings, waiting for her friend to arrive.
When she does arrive, just like before, Jaeun misses the swing completely and falls on her butt. But for her sake, Jiae ignores it, looking away as Jaeun fixes herself on the swing properly. “Do you remember the first time we met here?” Jiae starts. “Suji had said something to hurt my feelings and we met up here and you said things about her.”
Jaeun didn’t say anything, so Jiae continued, “I just really wanted to tell you that I think you should take the chance and make a move.” Now, she isn’t choosing Jaehyung’s side over Yerim’s, but realistically speaking, she does think Jaeun would make the first move. She knows that Suji doesn’t act on her feelings, and she doesn’t expect that to change now.
“I don’t think she likes me back,” Jaeun says quietly. “ I think she only sees me as a friend and that’s how it’s going to stay, and I can be okay with that.”
“I don’t think that’s true, Jaeun,” Jiae says. “When we first met up here and you defended Suji that night, I realized just how much you meant to her. It was like you understood her better than anyone else could, but that’s because she let you understand her.” Jaeun looks to Jiae and listens intently. “I’m not usually the one giving advice, but trust me on this, Jaeun.”
And she does.
The next time she sees Suji ends up being later that night. While she was gone, Suji apparently decided to come over. She stood outside on the stairs, waiting for five minutes after the first set of knocks, then another five after the second set. She decided to leave after that. But as she was walking down the street, that’s when she bumps into the person she was waiting for.
Imagine Jaeun’s surprise when she sees the girl she was just having a heart-to-heart conversation about near her house this late at night. “Suji, what are you doing here?” Jaeun asks.
“I came to bring this back,” Suji says, revealing Jaeun’s jacket that she’s holding. “I was waiting outside your place and knocked a few times, but I got no answer. Where’d you come from?”
There’s no use in lying, Jaeun sucks at it, anyways. “I was at the playground with Jiae. She just wanted to talk about something.” Then, she puts her focus on the jacket in the other girl’s arms. She’d be lying if she said that she wasn’t disappointed in seeing it being held rather than worn by Suji. “I have tons of jackets, you don’t have to give it back. But, uh, do you want to stay for a little bit? You came all this way, so…”
“I shouldn’t,” Suji says. “I should get home.”
Jaeun remembers what Jiae just told her, to take the chance and make a move. “Is there any way I can convince you? I’ll make you ramyun.” That’s bold enough, isn’t it? She’s never flirted with anyone in her life, at least not on purpose. She can’t help but worry whether she’s doing okay or not.
Suji tries to stop the smile from making its way onto her lips, but she fails. “You mean, I’ll make us ramyun? You still suck at cooking, Jaeun.”
“Whatever makes you stay a little longer,” Jaeun lets herself smile, feeling relief at the fact that her flirting was taken well. “What do you say?”
“Fine, I’ll stay for ramyun.”
—
Suji just couldn’t resist Jaeun. This can’t be a crush. With all her crushes before, she’s always wanted to avoid them, but why does she always want to be near Jaeun? Why does being around make her feel a sense of peace that she’s never felt before? It was like the other girl knew everything about her, but she still wanted her around despite all that. It couldn’t be a crush because a crush has never been this strong.
Suji should have went home after finishing her bowl of ramyun, but she found an excuse just to stay longer. She didn’t want to go home on a full stomach since being full made her a little drowsy. It wasn’t true, but who was Jaeun to deny to extend her stay? Then, it started to get too late and she just sent a message to her dad that she was staying over at a friend’s house.
And that leads them to now, with the two girls lying down on their back and staring at the ceiling. A comfortable silence fills the air as Suji studies the ceiling and Jaeun steals glances of Suji. She can feel Jaeun’s gentle eyes on her from time to time, but she doesn’t say anything about it. She never says it out loud, but she likes it. It brings her comfort.
“I like your ceiling,” Suji says out of nowhere. She doesn’t know why she said that, either, but for some reason, she was thinking it and it just slipped out. She even continues, “If I were to die right now, I wouldn’t mind your ceiling being the last thing I see.”
That makes Jaeun turn her head and take a good look at her ceiling. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Suji says. “Maybe it’s because I know that this ceiling is yours.” Then, she turns her head to watch Jaeun study the ceiling this time. “Does that make any sense?”
Jaeun turns her head to face Suji and they both wish that they were closer. Jaeun smiles, and Suji feels her heart do that weird thing again. “No,” Jaeun says, letting out a small laugh.
She laughs with Jaeun, putting her hands over her face as she does so. “Maybe we should get some sleep,” she suggests, sitting up first.
“You can take the bed,” Jaeun immediately says as she sits up quickly. “I don’t think my bed can fit the both of us.”
“I can take the floor, it’s fine,” Suji assures her, but it’s useless. Jaeun can be quite stubborn and they both knew it.
“No, I’ll take the floor, you take the bed,” Jaeun insists, as she gets up and helps Suji up as well.
Suji sighs, there’s no point in arguing this late at night. But there was still one point she could make. “Why don’t we just try to both fit on the bed, then?”
Jaeun just blinks at her, mouth slightly agape. “Uh, yeah, I guess we can try that, too,” she somehow manages to say.
Then, she leads her to the bed, which was quite small and really only intended for one person. But Suji was determined to make both of them fit. She goes in first, then looks to Jaeun to enter after. But she seems to have been frozen. Her eyes are still moving, though, switching between Suji and the small space next to her. Suji couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Come on, Jaeun, I think we can fit.”
Jaeun takes a deep breath in and holds it even after she laid down on the space next to the, almost tauntingly, smiling Suji next to her. The really beautiful, yet almost tauntingly, smiling Suji next to her. And she lets that breath out slowly and quietly as she seems to have calmed down in the presence of Suji.
“See? We fit,” Suji says before turning around, accidentally making contact with Jaeun due to how small it was. “Good night, Jaeun.”
Jaeun almost misses the Suji’s words because all she could think of at that moment was where to put her arms. Suji had the space near the wall, so she just put her arms in front of her, which did result in her being pressed up against Jaeun. And it was not helping her already shambled mind. She had no choice but to wrap it around Suji, and so she does just that, as softly as she could. She doesn’t even dare to breathe, hoping that Suji won’t feel a thing.
But she does, and with a small smile, she thinks to herself as she falls asleep that she’ll let it happen for just tonight. She’ll let herself be held by Jaeun because she knows that it won’t ever happen again.
—
The next week at school, Jaeun just couldn’t keep it in anymore. The moment she saw Jaehyung and Jiae together in the classroom, she let out the words, “Suji and I slept together.” And immediately, regret fills every portion of her body as she realizes how it comes off as. Seeing the identical shocked look on the faces of her friends, wide eyes and a hanging open mouth, she quickly follows up with, “In the same bed, I mean. We did not sleep together like that, okay?”
“Damn, I thought I was about to get some free hotpot today,” Jaehyung says disappointingly, but switches up to an excited smile quickly. “Anyways, tell us everything.”
Jaeun just decides to ignore the first thing that Jaehyung said since she had no idea what the other girl was talking about, and proceeds to explain everything that happened. Bumping into each other in the street. Convincing her to stay for ramyun. Her ending up staying the night. Sleeping in the same bed. Cuddling. “The next morning, Suji was the one who woke up first, but she didn’t wake me up or move and try to get out of my grasp. She just stayed until I woke up.”
“And then?” Jaehyung asks with anticipation, having listened to everything with her head resting on her fists and ready for more information.
“That’s all,” Jaeun states.
Jaehyung frowns. “Boo. I wanted more. Anyway, just make a move already.” She says it like it was the easiest thing to do in the world. She just really wants some free hotpot. And for her friends to stop being idiots and just be freely in love already.
Jaeun pouts. She would have already if she could. But still, something stops her. It’s her worries that maybe she was just making a fool of herself over something that isn’t even reciprocated. But she reminds herself of what Jiae told her and she tries her best to trust it, even though it’s really damn hard. “I’m trying,” she says, cowering her head slightly.
Jaehyung sighs, not liking it when Jaeun is discouraged. “You know, Jaeun, I think you should just confess.”
“Confess? Already?” Jaeun asks worriedly. Not only is she scared of moving too fast when she’s this inexperienced, but she’s also scared of ruining everything just because she caught feelings. She didn’t mean to.
“Yes, confess!” Jaehyung exclaims. “With how obvious you are, I’m sure Suji is bound to find out anytime soon, so at least assert some dominance and confess before she finds it out herself.”
Jaeun thinks about it, but her thinking was cut off by the subject of their conversation walking up to them. “What’s going on here?” Yerim says as her and Suji walk up to the three of them. She especially gives Jaehyung a knowing look with a smirk and wiggling eyebrows.
“Oh, nothing, just making plans of going to this hotpot place nearby,” Jaehyung lies easily, looking straight into Yerim’s eyes, challenging her. “Next week, maybe?”
“I should be free,” Suji says, completely ignoring the whole interaction her two friends were having.
“I’ll have to check my schedule,” Yerim says, not breaking eye contact. It’s obvious that they are reaching the end of the bet, where one of them will be deemed the winner and the other the loser who has to pay for everyone’s meal. Yerim can tell that her chances of winning is decreasing as the days pass, but she won’t go down without a fight.
“Uh, Suji, do you wanna come over after class?” Jaeun manages to ask. That makes Yerim break the eye contact. She’s conflicted; she’s happy that there’s development between her two friends, but she’s not happy about possibly losing the bet with her dignity on the line.
Suji thinks about it. Is it really a good idea for her to come over to Jaeun’s house? Not to mention the fact that Jaeun specifically only asked her, so it would be the two of them alone. She can’t do it. She needs to think of an excuse.
“I can’t,” Suji says. “I have to go to lunch after class. With my dad.” It was a terrible excuse. If Jaeun knew everything about her, then she would know that she was lying. It shows on Jaeun’s face that she knew, a pout resting on her lips and her eyes looking down. It hurt Suji seeing Jaeun like that, but she knows it’ll be better for the long run.
—
It was becoming impossible for Jaeun, or any of them for that matter, to not notice that Suji is avoiding her. At first she was giving reasons as to why she couldn’t hang out after class, all excuses that Jaeun could tell weren’t true. But then, she would just say that she was busy, not even trying to make a believe excuse anymore.
It is driving Jaeun crazy.
So she does what any sane person does when her best friend is avoiding her. She follows Suji home. The others asked them if they wanted to eat out after class, but Suji, expectedly, had already said no. Jaeun also ends up saying no, which was more surprising for the others. It made them suspicious, so they do what any good friend would do. They follow Jaeun.
Jaeun had to be careful, not only because she was incredibly clumsy, but also because Suji keeps looking back as if she knows that she’s being followed. Unlike Suji, Jaeun doesn’t seem to have the same intuition and doesn’t ever look back, which is fortunate for the three of them. Though, Yerim does intend on having a talk with Jaeun about strengthening her intuition, for the sake of her safety.
Then suddenly, Suji just disappears. Jaeun swears that she was right there, but as she walks forward more freely and looks around for any of sign of her, it’s as if she vanished into thin air. She stops, standing there confused for a few seconds until she feels someone grab at the back of her jacket.
“Jaeun? What the fuck? Are you following me?” She turns around to see Suji, the one grabbing the back of her jacket and somewhat yelling at her.
“No?” Jaeun says unconfidently. But she feels Suji’s stare harder than before and she breaks. “Okay, yes, I was following you.” That’s when Suji finally lets go of her and lets out a scoff. “But what do you want me to do, Suji? You’ve been avoiding me for days now.“
“You could have just texted me.”
“You started to text dryly recently.”
“Then, you could have came over to my house.”
“I don’t know where you live, you’ve never brought me over.” That’s seems to stump the shorter girl, not knowing what to respond after that. “This has been the only way that I’ve been able to get you to properly talk to me in days.”
It was stupid, Suji knows, to avoid Jaeun like she has been. She just wants to get rid of her stupid feelings, but every time she’s around Jaeun, they’ve only amplified. And if she were to be honest, being away from Jaeun only made it worse, as she has been constantly feeling a sense of longing to be around her. She just doesn’t get it. She can’t be around Jaeun because it makes her want her, but being away from her makes her need her, and it just didn’t make any sense to her.
She sighs, tired of thinking of this. “I’m sorry, Jaeun. I’ve just been having a hard time about,” she pauses then continues, “something.”
“You didn’t have to avoid me because of that,” Jaeun says. “You know you can talk to me about everything.”
The way Jaeun is looking at Suji at that moment, she’s never felt anything softer than her gaze on hers. For a moment, she stops thinking for once and ends up doing something stupid. She grabs Jaeun’s hand and presses it against her heart that’s beating louder and harder than it ever has before. “Can you feel that? My heartbeat?” Jaeun nods. “This is because of you. My heart only ever beats like this because of you. And that scares me so much, Jaeun.”
Oh.
Is this a confession?
Did Suji manage to confess before Jaeun did?
Jaeun couldn’t tell whether she was supposed to be happy at the confession? Was it even a confession? Suji did confess her feelings, kinda. She said that she was scared. “I’m scared, too,” Jaeun admits. “I like you, Suji, and that scares me, too.”
They’re hit with silence afterwards. Suji still kept Jaeun’s hand on her heart as they stare into each other’s eyes. “What do we do now?” Suji asks.
They just confessed, apparently. It’s never really gotten this far with her past crushes or past dates. If she liked someone, she just waited until they faded, she never made a move or anything. And with her past dates, they were mainly interested in her rather than her being interested in them. She tried to give them a shot, but she just couldn’t feel the same way. This has never happened before where her feelings are reciprocated to the point that it leads to a confession.
“If you’re up for it, we can be scared together,” Jaeun starts. “We can be scared until we figure out how to stop being scared. Together. Does that make sense?”
Suji smiles, “No, but I understood it.” She takes a step closer, holding Jaeun’s hand even closer to her heart. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe she’ll let herself stop thinking and just act on her feelings instead. Maybe she’ll take a chance at this with Jaeun. “I’m willing to figure it out with you, Jaeun.”
It’s such a cute moment as they stand there and smile at each other, because of each other. But the three people that were following and now, eavesdropping on them couldn’t hold back their excitement. “Oh my God, finally!” Jaehyung exclaimed as she ran up to her friends. “Do you know how long we have been waiting for this moment? Also, I can’t believe Suji was the one who confessed first. I can’t believe Yerim actually won.”
“I can’t believe it either,” Jiae admits. “I really thought Jaeun would confess first.”
“I always believed in Suji, even though my hope did falter every now and then,” Yerim says, side-hugging Suji.
That’s when Suji drops Jaeun’s hand. “Wait, were you guys betting on who would make the first move?” Then, a pause as the realization comes late to Suji. “Wait, were you three also following us?”
“Yes to both questions,” Yerim answers. “But don’t focus on that! Jaehyung is going to treat all of us for lunch today at that hotpot place nearby. This is a good celebration for your newfound relationship.”
Suji sighs with a roll of her eyes, but a smiles rests on her lips. “Well, who am I to deny free food?” She grabs Jaeun’s hand again and looks to the girl who is still in shock. “Let’s go?”
Jaeun nods, letting out a small, “Yeah. Though, she still seems confused. Suji couldn’t help but giggle at that. She steps on her tippy toes and gives Jaeun a kiss on the cheek, which didn’t help unfreeze the other girl. Instead, their three friends let out a mixture of a squeal and groan. “Hey, save that for when we’re not here, yeah?” Jaehyung says. “You’re making me feel really single.”
“Same,” Jiae adds.
“Sucks to be you guys,” Yerim says, raising an L to her forehead for the two to see.
Everyone lets out a laugh as Yerim gets pushed by both girls. Even Jaeun laughs, though she’s not fully there. She’s still processing everything that just happened. Suji is kinda her girlfriend now, and she just kissed her on the cheek. She doesn’t know how any of this happened, but she’s never been more thankful for her friends’ antics. She looks back to Suji to see the shorter girl already looking back at her and smiling and she feels her hand get squeezed slightly.
She’s never been happier.