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Jisung stares up at the tall white building. It is the peak time for dinner, which means that there are a lot of other people entering the building to eat, but none of them are wearing the pastel colors for Chaeryeong’s debut. She awkwardly continues to shuffle around in her green heels, sometimes accidentally stepping on the bows at the back. Finally, after a few more minutes of waiting, she spots a group of girls in pastel-colored dresses and internally cheers. She sweeps back her bangs — or tries to, anyway — and follows the girls into the elevator.
The first thing she sees when the elevator opens is a sign pointing to the debut venue. The corridor leads to a door with a woman beside it. Behind her is a table with a stack of papers and a pen.
Jisung lets the group of girls go first, then approaches the woman once they have entered the doors. “Hello!” the woman greets. “Are you here for Chaeryeong’s birthday?”
“Uh — yes! Yes, I am,” Jisung answers.
The woman turns to the papers. “What’s your name, dear?”
“I’m Han Jisung, ma’am.”
She quickly scans the list before landing on Jisung’s name. “There we are! Just sign here. You’re assigned to table 11. The tables are numbered, but just in case you can’t see the numbers, it is somewhere along the back right corner of the venue.”
Jisung grabs the pen to scribble on her signature then thanks the woman. She pushes open the door and is immediately met with flashing pink and blue lights.
“Oookay,” she grimaces, trying to blink away the black spots. “Where’s table 11?”
She eventually finds the circular table tucked neatly into the back right corner of the room, just like the woman said. Seated on one of the seats is Jisung’s best friend Felicia. She has her legs crossed and is currently scrolling through her phone.
“Feli!” Jisung calls when she nears the table, excitedly waving her hand.
Felicia looks up from her phone, spots Jisung, and beams. “Jisungie!” she yells back. “Damn, you really went all in for today, huh?”
Jisung laughs, trying to sweep her bangs back again and failing, again. “Thanks! You look really pretty today too, Feli.”
The debut’s theme is pastel colors. Jisung decided on a tea length pastel green dress and heels with bows that match the ribbons on her shoulder straps. She chose to wear a green cloth choker and matching bracelets on both wrists. Adorning her earlobes are dangling gold earrings that match the sparkles on her dark green fingernails.
Felicia stands to hug her, then leads her to the table of food near the entrance door. As Felicia fills Jisung in on her life in college so far, Jisung takes in her best friend’s appearance. Felicia’s blonde hair is curled and clamped up, leaving her bangs and a few longer pieces of hair to frame her face. She is wearing a light blue dress with a long skirt with ruffles on the hem and a dainty silver bracelet on her wrist.
“So, what gift did you get Chaeryeong?” Felicia asks.
Jisung blinks, momentarily forgetting the gift she brought. She almost smacks her forehead when she remembers she just bought the gift yesterday and it makes no sense to have forgotten it. “It’s just a bunch of hair accessories. She loves dancing, so I wanted to get her something to help keep her hair out of her face.”
(Not that Jisung knows anything about the troubles of untied long hair while dancing. In fact, she keeps her own hair layered and short enough that she doesn’t have to tie it. Besides, dancing isn’t really Jisung’s style. She likes the song and music production aspect a lot more.)
“Ohh yeah, that’s a good idea,” Felicia nods approvingly. “I wasn’t sure what to get, so I went the safe route and bought her a necklace and earrings.”
Their conversation naturally dwindles from there. They spend a couple seconds silently taking note of the food. The main courses for dinner are still covered, but in between all the metal containers are plates and bowls of finger food. Felicia says they’re allowed to eat the snacks even before the party starts, so the two help themselves to some biscuits, chips, bread, and even rainbow-colored candy.
Felicia is telling Jisung about a surprise she’s making for her girlfriend, Christina, when another group of people enter the venue. Jisung looks over at them with mild interest, trying to see if she knows anyone. Her gaze lands on Hyunjin, who is wearing a purple dress with flowy detached sleeves and a layered skirt. Her black bangs are styled like Felicia’s, but the rest of her hair is pulled into an artfully messy bun behind her head.
She is also, funnily enough, barely managing to squeeze several glittery pink paper bags in varying sizes through the venue’s doors.
“Hyunjinnie!” Felicia yells, bounding over to help her. Jisung follows along, already reaching for some of the paper bags.
“Feli! Jisung!” Hyunjin yells back with a smile, then grimaces as she looks over the state of the bags. “Wow, I sure hope they’re still okay. Chaebin insisted she had to get Chaeryeong at least ten different gifts for her 18th birthday. What am I going to do with that woman, honestly…”
Felicia and Jisung giggle at that. “Well, you agreed to be her girlfriend, so you have to deal with it, you know…” Jisung teases. They both know that Hyunjin is just being dramatic. In fact, it was Hyunjin who fell for Chaebin first, so the hard-to-get act is, in the end, just an act.
They begin walking to the table, Felicia and Jisung each holding a couple of bags. Hyunjin looks like a boulder has been lifted from her shoulders. They chat about their college courses as they drop off the bags at their table and go back to get more food. Jisung is currently giving Hyunjin a proper hug now that she is not holding anything. Unfortunately, hooking her nose onto Hyunjin’s shoulder means that she can see everyone who is currently entering the room.
Although she could barely see past Hyunjin’s ridiculously tall frame (because why is she wearing heels if she’s tall enough already?), she still notices the ankle length pink dress by the door that just so happens to belong to none other than Lee Minhee. She looks the same as always, with her dark red hair cascading down her back in waves and her brown eyes sparkling under the lights, but there is also something about her that seems unfamiliar. Maybe it is because Jisung has not properly seen Minhee in a year after the other girl started avoiding her.
It is just Jisung’s luck when Minhee looks to her left and catches Jisung’s gaze. Jisung notices pain in her eyes and wonders what she could have possibly done to hurt her former close friend so much.
“Jisung, girl,” Hyunjin says with a laugh. “I know you miss me but a five minute hug seems a bit much.”
Startled, Jisung releases her. “That wasn’t five minutes,” she mutters, embarrassed.
“You’re right,” Hyunjin muses. “It’s actually been an entire hour.”
Jisung glowers at her.
Felicia, meanwhile, starts laughing. “Damn, I can’t believe you two didn’t get along when you first met. You’re practically best friends already!”
It is at that moment when Minhee emerges from behind Hyunjin. “Hey guys,” she greets softly.
Hyunjin and Felicia turn to her with twin gasps. “Unnie!” they exclaim. Minhee gives them a tiny smile, even as they bury her in one big hug and begin firing off as many questions as they can. Jisung stays where she is, observing them awkwardly. Unlike the three of them, Minhee is in her third year and is swamped by all her major requirements, so it has been a while since they have seen her. It does not really matter, though, because whether Minhee is busy or not does not mean it will change her resolute decision to suddenly pretend Jisung does not exist.
Jisung turns to the food again and begins piling her favorites onto a plate, unable to watch her friends any longer without doing something with her hands. When she looks back at the trio, she cannot help but stare at Minhee’s sparkly, pink, off-shoulder dress. She also notices a simple flower necklace resting beneath Minhee’s collarbone, matching the flowers on her pointed high heels. Minhee’s skin also shimmers under the lights, but Jisung is not sure if it is because of body glitter spray or something else entirely.
Finally succumbing to the feeling of being unwanted, Jisung gives a vague nod in her friends’ direction and heads to table 11 to settle down. She places her plate on the table and sits down with a sigh. So much for having fun during Chaeryeong’s debut.
She settles for scrolling through her phone as she waits for the debut to start. Halfway through reading a detailed analysis on a recently released Kpop album, Jisung decides to plug in her wireless earphones. Maybe the music would drown all the anxious thoughts circling inside her head.
She is listening to a newly discovered playlist when she hears a throat being cleared over the speakers. Curious, she takes out one of her earphones and looks over at the center of the room. Standing there is a man with average height and a jolly smile. He is holding a mic and tapping a finger on it.
“Is this thing on?” He speaks into the mic. Several heads turn at his voice. A couple of them nod, which makes him laugh joyfully. “Wonderful! All right, then. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Chaeryeong’s 18th birthday party! We will be starting in a few minutes, so please take this chance to go to the washroom and help yourself to some snacks.”
Jisung nods along to the announcement absentmindedly. She continues reading through the lyrics and connecting storylines between songs. Her other hand reaches for her food intermittently. Felicia, Hyunjin, and Minhee must still be talking near the snacks table. Jisung would check if she did not feel even just a little bit betrayed by her friends.
She and Minhee used to be very close friends back in the day. They first met as toddlers, then became friends again during their first year of high school. Since then, there would not be a day where they were not seen together. They would walk together, eat together, and were even once spotted exploring a nearby mall together. Along with them, over the years, have been Felicia and Hyunjin. Eventually, they were joined by Christina and Chaebin, who are unfortunately both too busy to attend the debut. Everything was going wonderfully. That is, until Minhee started avoiding her.
Jisung stops scrolling when she remembers the promise she and Minhee had made together. As a music producer and dancer duo, they once vowed to become professionals together and to always collaborate on their projects. Jisung wistfully reminisces on the half-finished song she has saved somewhere in her old laptop. As much as she wants to continue its production, her muse is gone, so the song will either be half-finished forever or will finally be continued and polished on the off chance that Minhee forgives her for whatever she did to wrong her.
Jisung almost does not notice the speakers crackle to life again. “Good evening again, everyone!” the same man from a while ago says. “Please go back to your tables and settle down, as we are now going to begin tonight’s program.”
Jisung sighs. She returns her earphones into its container and checks her appearance on her phone camera. So far, so good . She tries her best to avoid eye contact with her friends. It is easy with Hyunjin and Minhee, who are sitting on the opposite side of the table and are currently having a conversation with each other. It is not so easy with Felicia, who is sitting right beside her.
“Are you all right, Jisungie?” she asks.
Jisung gives a non-committal hum. “I’m fine,” she shrugs. “It’s just…you know…”
She trails off, but Felicia understands. Her expression turns a little guilty. “I’m sorry, Jisung. I know you miss Minhee unnie, but we still don’t know why she’s avoiding you. I tried to talk to her about it, but she would go quiet whenever we mention you.”
Jisung’s heart pangs against her chest. “She doesn’t even want to talk about me?” she whispers, distraught.
Felicia winces. “I still don’t understand why. You used to do everything together. I thought you would be together forever. What changed?”
Jisung could only shrug helplessly in reply. I thought we would be together forever, too, she thinks. Tears prickle at the corner of her eyes, but she cannot cry now. It will ruin the makeup she is wearing, and she cannot afford that right now. Instead, she tries blinking them away. Near the stage, she sees the man pick up the mic again.
“All right, then,” he says. “Now that everyone has settled down, we can begin. Let us first welcome to the stage…Mr. and Mrs. Lee!”
Jisung and the rest of the guests clap politely as Chaeryeong’s parents climb the stage and take the mics offered to them. They proceed with their opening speech for the debut. As much as Jisung wants to pay attention to their words, she keeps getting distracted by her thoughts. It does not help that Minhee is sitting right across from her on the table. The lights hit the glitters on Minhee’s body occasionally, drawing Jisung’s gaze to her. Her red hair is as long as Jisung remembers, but it seems that Minhee had her hair curled at a salon based on how strongly they are holding up. When they were in high school, Minhee’s hair would always be tied back, curls unruly. As much as she tries to brush them out, her hair will always be sticking up in various directions at the end of the day.
(Now that Jisung thinks about it, it might be because Minhee attends dance training every day. She would often sit by the studio, doing her homework or any current musical projects, as she waits for Minhee to walk out the studio door. Then, they would start the walk back to their homes side by side.)
Before she knows it, Jisung has missed the entire introductory speech. Luckily, she comes back online just in time for Chaeryeong’s entrance.
“Now, the moment we have all been waiting for,” the man with a mic says with a large smile on his face. “Everyone, please welcome to the stage…our birthday girl…Lee Chaeryeong!”
The room erupts with applause. Phones are taken out of pockets and purses to film Chaeryeong’s grand entrance through the same doors everyone went through. And wow , Jisung has never dedicated herself to a girl before, but damn would she do anything Chaeryeong would like her to at this very moment. Chaeryeong walks up to the stage in her yellow gown and tulle scarf, a golden tiara shimmering on top of her black curls. At this point, Jisung does not know if she wants her or wants to be her.
All in a platonic sense, of course. Jisung has never harbored romantic feelings for her friends before. The last girl crush she remembers having is on one of her group mates before she graduated high school. It was just a silly happy crush though. She knew that a relationship with that girl would never last. She had always been more of an inspiration at that time to get Jisung through all their group works and research papers.
Chaeryeong and her dad are being called to dance together once Jisung snaps out of her thoughts again. The music playing through the speakers is a classical piano piece. Jisung watches as Chaeryeong and her dad sway together on the dance floor.
Her own debut focused more on the games and performances. She would have liked Minhee to perform, but the other girl had been avoiding her long before she turned 18. It is such a shame, though, because Jisung has admired Minhee’s dance skills for such a long time and will probably continue to do so even if they will never be on speaking terms ever again.
The next activity in the program is the first game. The man, who also happens to be the game host, shares the instructions for the game. “The first game is all about Chaeryeong. The teams are by table, and every time someone from your table gets an answer correctly, your team gets a point. The team with the most points wins! Are you ready to begin?”
Cheers erupt from the tables. Music blasts from the speakers, and the game begins.
In the end, the table of Chaeryeong’s friend group wins, to no one’s surprise. Although, Jisung’s table comes a close second, with Hyunjin gaining a lot of points for the team, her knowledge of Chaeryeong a side effect of being around Chaebin so much.
Then, the 18 treasures portion of the program began. Jisung knows that she and her friends were all invited to be part of the treasures, but she does not know what order they will be in. She also has not prepared a script to read from, but she trusts herself enough to come up with something on the spot. Besides, she believes spontaneous speeches tend to be the most genuine ones.
After each person says their piece, they bring their gifts to Chaeryeong and stand to the side of the stage. The host announced that there would be a picture taken of all of them when they all finish giving their gifts.
Jisung and Felicia laugh under their breaths as Hyunjin struggles to climb the stage with the many paper bags in her hangs. Hyunjin rests a couple of them on the floor once she successfully reaches the top of the stairs to take the mic from the host. She proceeds to talk about how Chaebin insisted on the multiple gifts and succeeded in making Chaeryeong and the guests laugh at her storytelling.
Felicia is next. Her gift is kind of the opposite of Hyunjin’s — just a small but fancy looking paper bag. She talks about being unsure of what to get but hoping Chaeryeong likes her gifts anyway.
Then, Jisung is called. She grabs her paper bag and spends a couple of moments of silence on the stage before she speaks. She talks about a number of specific memories wherein Chaebin had brought Chaeryeong over to hang out with them and brings up how she knows Chaeryeong loves dancing and so she hopes Chaeryeong finds her gift useful.
To Jisung’s surprise, Minhee is called after her. The girl takes the stage with a paper bag as well and gives a short message about dancers always looking out for each other. Jisung is calm as she watches Minhee speak with quiet confidence, then almost panics out loud when she realizes Minhee is walking towards her direction. Jisung tries to act as normally as possible, but barely manages not to show her hurt when she notices the large gap between her and Minhee. Not even the ends of their dresses were touching.
They are on their way back to their table after the group picture when Felicia matches Jisung’s pace and asks, “Are you okay?”
Jisung shrugs. “It’s fine,” she answers, but it sounds like she herself does not believe what she is saying.
Jisung’s stomach starts rumbling, so it is a nice coincidence when the host announces that dinner is the next part of the program. She and Felicia start a conversation about music to hopefully get Jisung’s mind off the whole Minhee situation as they wait for their turn to get food. Although the wait is kind of long, it is still worth it when Jisung discovers just how delicious the caterer’s food is. She even makes small talk with her other seatmate, a girl named Junhee, who shares her sentiment of how good the food is.
Unfortunately, right as they finish their food, Felicia invites Jisung to go to the photobooth with her. Now, it is not the idea itself that makes Jisung’s stomach turn. It is just that Hyunjin overhears them and invites herself and Minhee along with them.
Their photos end up looking great. If someone who does not know their friend group looks at the pictures, they would think everything is all right. Jisung knows better, though. If everything were okay, she and Minhee would be stuck together in the middle instead of being on opposite sides and trying to escape the photograph’s edges.
When everyone is more or less done with their dinner, the host calls Lia and Yuna to the stage for the first performance in the program. Jisung drifts, focusing on their voices and taking note of their vocal tones. Maybe she should invite them to sing in one of her songs one day.
The 18 candles also go by in a bit of a blur. Jisung does not really know anyone who was part of it, so she did not pay much attention to them. Felicia did not seem to be paying them much attention either, too busy furiously typing something on her phone. Maybe she’s talking to her group mates or something , Jisung muses.
She is snapped out of her thoughts when the host announces the next game — a Kpop dance challenge. Everyone is free to go to the dance floor and dance if they know the choreography for the song that is currently playing. Jisung’s heart leaps in her chest when Hyunjin, Felicia, and Minhee stand from the table to approach the dance floor. Felicia sends Jisung a silent invitation with her eyes but Jisung shakes her head. She only knows one or two Kpop dance choreos, so it is probably better to stay in her seat.
As the songs start playing, Jisung watches as Minhee dances to every single song as though the street-style choreos are natural to her body despite mainly being a contemporary dancer. She is once again reminded of how much she loves watching Minhee dance.
There is a round of applause when the game finishes. Since the game itself is mostly so the guests are able to have fun, there is no overall winner. As everyone walks back to their seats, the host announces the next performance — a dance duet by Yeji and Ryujin. Jisung is so focused on watching the two girls dance and interact on the stage that she does not notice that Felicia and Hyunjin have not gone back to the table.
She only notices when she turns to Felicia’s seat when the performance ends and the AVP presentation begins and finds out that her best friend is nowhere to be found. She lets out a huff and turns to the other seat instead. Junhee looks up from the chips she is eating and gives her a questioning look. “Do you need something?” she asks.
Jisung half-smiles. “Not really,” she answers. “I’m just looking for my best friend.”
Junhee nods in understanding. “The blonde girl beside you a while ago? I think she said something about going to the bathroom to fix her makeup.”
“Ohh,” Jisung says, then promptly gets distracted when Minhee stands from her seat and walks toward the direction of the bathrooms. She is still watching the other’s pink dress disappear from view when Junhee speaks again.
“Do you have a crush on her or something? You’ve been staring at her the entire debut.”
Jisung startles, her eyes growing wide. “I’m not — what? I don’t have a crush on her! We just…we just used to be really close friends, that’s all!”
Junhee gives her a disbelieving look. “Are you sure? Because I’ve seen those longing gazes before. I’m sorry to tell you, but it sure seems like you have a crush on her.”
“No — I —” Jisung shakes her head. “We don’t even talk to each other anymore! We used to be really close, but I think something happened and she started avoiding me. This is the first time I’ve seen her again in a while.”
“And you don’t know what happened to make her avoid you?”
“No…” Jisung trails off. “Well, maybe it was Hyejin?”
“Hyejin? Who’s Hyejin?”
“She was my groupmate in high school. I had a crush on her and that was around the time Minhee unnie started avoiding me. I talked about her a lot, especially to unnie, but I knew a relationship with her would never last.”
“Do you still talk to Hyejin?”
“Nah, we kind of lost contact when we graduated. I think the last time I talked to her was on the last day of our finals week.”
There is a moment of silence before Junhee says, “I think your feelings aren’t so unrequited after all. It sounds like she was jealous of your crush and didn’t think you would ever like her back.”
“But…that doesn’t make sense! She never told me she likes me in that way.”
“Maybe she was too scared to? You said you were really close friends, right? I think she didn’t want to ruin your relationship so she never said anything about it.”
“It still doesn’t make sense,” Jisung sighs. “I already know that I’ll spend the rest of my life by unnie’s side, so she doesn’t have anything to worry about. That crush on Hyejin is nothing compared to my feelings for her.”
Junhee levels her with another look, this time mildly teasing. It takes a while for Jisung to realize what the look is for as she processes what she just said.
“ Oh ,” Jisung breathes. “Maybe you’re right. I think I do have feelings for Minhee unnie.”
Junhee smiles. “See? I told you.”
Jisung spends a few moments reveling in the discovery of her feelings for Minhee when reality crashes onto her like a tsunami. “Junhee! What do I do?? She doesn’t even want to look at me! How am I supposed to tell her I like her??”
Junhee places a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, I think you two just need to talk it out, okay? When my partner and I get into misunderstandings, we would sit down and just talk about it. We try to see the situation from each other’s point of view. Just try to explain your situation to her. Always remember, though, that the next step is up to her.”
Jisung nods, not knowing what else to do. Junhee turns back to her food.
When Jisung looks back up to the stage, Chaeryeong is delivering her speech. She is thanking all of the guests for the gifts, the well wishes, and simply for attending the debut. The birthday song and blowing of candles follow. Jisung sings and claps along as Chaeryeong blows out her candles. When the applause dies down, the host announces that the official program is finished and that everyone is free to go to the center of the room to dance. The lights dim and the music starts up again.
Junhee meets Jisung’s eyes and nods. Taking a deep breath, Jisung stands and starts looking for Minhee. Instead of finding her, though, she sees Felicia on the dance floor.
“Feli!” she shouts over the music. “Have you seen unnie?”
“Unnie?” Felicia asks, then her eyes gain a mischievous sparkle. “Yeah, yeah , I know where unnie is!”
“Nice!” Jisung cheers. “Where is she? I have to tell her some—”
Before she finishes, though, Felicia has placed her hands on Jisung’s shoulders and has pushed her forward. Jisung thinks she hears a whispered, “ I’m so sorry for this ,” from her best friend, but she isn’t so sure. As she stumbles through the crowd, she mentally plots a way to get back at Felicia. Before she can come up with a concrete plan, though, she falls into the arms of none other than Minhee.
“Unnie!” Jisung beams. Minhee, however, spends just enough time to help Jisung back onto her feet before hurrying away. Jisung stares at her quickly disappearing back and chases after her. She can always get her revenge on Felicia after talking to Minhee.
“Minhee unnie!” she shouts as she tries to keep up with the girl. “Unnie! I need to talk to you about something!”
Jisung follows Minhee all the way out of the doors, down the stairs, and even into the open air parking lot. “LEE MINHEE-SSI!” Jisung screams, a final act of desperation. Surprisingly, that makes Minhee stop in her tracks.
“Do not call me that,” Minhee says, voice harsh. She keeps her back to Jisung so she could not see her face.
“I just—” Jisung starts to say. “I just want to ask you why you’ve been avoiding me. Did I do something wrong?”
Minhee sighs, exasperated. “Listen, I’ve just been very busy, okay? I have a lot of requirements due all the time and I also need to take care of the coordination within the dance team, that’s all.”
Jisung feels her patience wearing thin. It had been an exhausting day. “ No, unnie,” she says. “There’s no way that’s all. Back then, we always used to make time for each other no matter how busy we got, no matter how far away we were from each other. What changed?”
Minhee tenses. Jisung can see all her back shoulder muscles in detail under the street light. “Jisung,” she says. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now. What if we have this conversation on another day? You know, when we aren’t tired and worry about all our project deadlines?”
Jisung purses her lips. “Unnie, if we don’t talk about this now, nothing will change. You’ll go back to avoiding me and I might never see you again.”
A moment of silence passes. When Jisung realizes that Minhee is not planning to say anything, she continues.
“Unnie, I need you to be honest with me. Was it because of Hyejin? Did you not like her? Or did you not like me for liking her? If you hate me, just tell me, because I can’t live without knowing why you hate me so much anymore!”
Minhee turns around just then, a pinched expression on her face. “I don’t hate you, Han Jisung. I love you,” she whispers. “And that’s the only time I will ever say it. Now that you know I don’t hate you, you can go back to your girl and leave me alone.”
Jisung freezes, her jaw dropping open. Junhee was right!
“I haven’t talked to Hyejin since I graduated,” she says, matching Minhee’s volume. “And I don’t have feelings for her anymore. It was just a silly happy crush type of thing anyway. Besides, I like you too, Minhee unnie!”
Minhee sighs. “Jisung, this really isn’t the time to be joking around.”
“But I’m not joking!” Jisung exclaims. “Listen, I only found out I like you romantically, like, ten minutes ago, but that doesn’t make my feelings any less true!”
Another moment of silence passes. Minhee takes the time to assess Jisung. After a while, she sighs and begins to explain her part.
“When you got that crush on Hyejin, I noticed that you were so happy all the time. You would always tell me and anyone who would listen about the smallest interactions with her You got so much inspiration for new music and new projects…and that’s when I started to realize that I have never been able to bring that out of you, no matter how long we’ve been friends.”
Minhee laughs self-deprecatingly. Jisung almost wants to hold her as support, but she does not think they are quite there yet.
“At that time, I’ve had a crush on you for, what, at least two years. But I didn’t want to tell you just in case it ruins our friendship. I know I ruined it anyway by avoiding you, but I didn’t want to see you and Hyejin become a thing.” Minhee shrugs halfheartedly. “All your past crushes, including Hyejin, have similar facial features and personalities. Your type in girls is so different from who I am and what I look like. So, I figured you would never return my feelings and decided to leave to spare the both of us.”
Jisung lets that sink in before approaching Minhee until they are standing face to face. “It’s okay, unnie,” she says. “I forgive you.”
Minhee’s face crumples as she begins to cry. This time, Jisung places her hands on her shoulders reassuringly. “Did you know what it was like for me, unnie?” she asks. “It was terrible. All of a sudden, you were avoiding me when we used to do everything together. Our friends didn’t know what to do around us anymore. I lost one of my closest friends at the time I needed her the most…”
Jisung feels tears start to trickle down her face as well. “But it’s okay, unnie. At least we talked. At least now I know why you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”
Minhee moves forward and buries herself in Jisung’s arms. “I’m sorry, Jisungie,” she sniffs. “I’m so sorry.”
Jisung holds her tighter. “It’s okay, unnie,” she says, voice cracking. “Just…don’t leave me like that again, okay?”
“Of course, jagi, I promise,” Minhee says as steadily as she could. “For now, let’s just stay here and rest. I think we both deserve it after everything that happened.”
Jisung lets out a wheeze, throat protesting when she tries for a laugh. Just like Minhee suggested, they remain in their embrace for a little while longer. Jisung feels her tears dry up before Minhee lets go. They stand in front of each other again, waiting for the other to speak. In the end, it is Minhee who says, “So, can we give this another shot?”;
Jisung smiles. It is still a little wobbly, but it will have to do. “Yes, unnie. Let’s give this another shot.”
Minhee’s face may be a mess, makeup faded and smeared and her hair sticking up in random directions again, but when she gives a smile back, Jisung could not help but think that this is the most beautiful version of Minhee she has ever seen.