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Chapter Text

The saying goes, it is rare to find two of a kind. However, Soyeon would beg to differ while watching her own two friends bickering endlessly over a shared ice-cream. These two are truly so similar that they can’t help but fight at every chance they get.

“Yah, I don't like strawberries.” Shuhua groaned loudly, glaring at the older girl sitting right next to her, maybe a tad too close, and also huffing like a mad dragon.

“And I said I don’t like red bean paste.” Miyeon retorted back, angrily pointing at the shaved ice cream flavour that Shuhua was about to order for them.

Soyeon looked at the waitress awkwardly smiling at them, waiting for their order for more or less 5 minutes now. She felt extremely bad for the poor part timer as her friends’ antics can seriously be a pain in the ass sometimes. (Not sometimes, every single damn time)

“How about Shuhua and I share one. Miyeon gets hers for herself.” Soyeon tried to pacify the unending argument but not to avail.

“No.”

“Never.”

There were both replies she got along with two very disapproving pairs of eyes directed at her for a split second before they refocused on the matter at hand : their shared shaved ice dessert.

Soyeon sighed before looking at the waitress who looked back at her, almost pleading with her eyes to save the situation one way or another. Which she did begrudgingly because it meant spending more.

“One strawberry and one chocolate. I’ll just get a coffee.” Soyeon ordered at last, finally freeing the poor woman from the torture that was Shuhua and Miyeon together.

The dessert arrived as the two hadn’t even stopped arguing, only brought back to reality when they saw their desserts placed in front of them, one each respectively.

“When did we order ?” Shuhua demanded in a very confused manner, eyeing the waitress who disappeared as fast as she could from their table.

“You didn’t, I did. Seriously though, I am inviting you both to eat dinner with me and you can’t even order properly.” Soyeon lightly scolded.

“But… we wanted to share one so the bill wouldn’t be too high for you.” Miyeon mumbled a little ashamed.

“I know it’s for a good reason, just eat up you both. I won’t go broke from paying for an extra dessert for someone.” Soyeon sighed before sipping on her coffee. Truth to be told, it did hurt her wallet a little since she was celebrating her very first pay as a self-working individual -Long gone were her days as a part-timer, now she had a real job-. She was already thankful that the rest of their friends couldn’t come tonight though they insisted on getting back at Soyeon and making her pay for their lunch some other day (which Soyeon will probably act like she never heard of to save her money from these hyenas called friends).

“Have some of mine-” the two said exactly at the same time before sending a glare at the other.

Soyeon prayed for it to be quick because she knew for a fact that when they start, it can last for a day. She knew she was in for a ride when she heard Shuhua speaking loudly in her broken Korean threatening to put a fist into Miyeon’s face.

There we go again.

____

Dinner ended (to Soyeon’s relief) on a brighter note. Well… not so bright but at least there were no threats anymore.The girls had taken turns to feed Soyeon a spoon full of their frozen dessert, almost making it a competition as the said girl could only wish for her brain-freeze to go away as she took yet another bite of the shaved ice. She may have eaten more of their desserts than they did themselves.

She’ll always be surprised at how peaceful they get once the competition is over. Usually with Shuhua claiming to win and Soyeon having to agree because she knew that out of the two, Miyeon was less of a sore loser. Moreover, it was also about time where Miyeon is reminded of her older age and therefore lets the younger win to avoid the big tantrum that would be incoming otherwise.

While sure, they had that bickering essence as the main defining trait, their loud mouth was a close second. Soyeon never felt as embarrassed before, especially when Shuhua had loudly wailed upon something Miyeon had said and the latter exclaimed just as loudly afterwards. Truly embarrassing.

Unfortunately, Yuqi -one of their friends- was just as loud or perhaps louder than them and therefore not making this as their common characteristic. Anyway, the newly working woman could only hope that her walking two steps ahead from the loud duo behind made it look like she didn’t know them. However a tug on her elbow and the younger girl running away from the older one’s grasp made her sigh… they were her two very embarrassing friends and she couldn’t hide it for the life of god.

“Soyon unnie ! Miyeon unnie is pinching my cheeks !” The younger girl had complained right in her ears, making her wince a little at the high number of decibels, probably ripping a hole through her ear drums. Her cute accent also came forth by the way she mispronounced her name, which Soyeon found unfairly cute despite the loss of her hearing capabilities.

“Miyeon unnie, keep your hands to yourself. I know you’re horny but no need to violate Shuhua.” And bam it was all settled. After a handful of years knowing both of them, she had learnt how to put the two under control as her sharp words were especially effective against the older girl who grew ten shades of red, sputtered a mess that should have been a coherent rebuke but ended up covering her face with her hands.

“Violet ?” Shuhua repeated confusedly, not knowing the intricacies of the language yet. Truthfully enough, it wasn’t the right term to use and Soyeon knew it but she didn’t find any better words to describe the obsession her older friend had to grope the poor Taiwanese girl’s cheeks and arms. Thankfully for them both, Shuhua, the innocent bean she is, was unaware of the implications behind Soyeon’s words.

“Oh, looks like we reached my place. Thanks for walking me home, I need to prepare for work tomorrow so I’ll leave now. Goodnight and get home safely ~” was Soyeon’s escape (she worked in her studio and didn’t need to prepare for anything, she was glad that the other two were too dumb to even notice that detail) as she awkwardly hugged Shuhua next to her and then Miyeon who was still red and probably rebooting the system that was her two functional brain cells.

____

It was surely a weird combo, they weren’t of the same age and all had different backgrounds yet they still found in themselves a semblance of family. How they met was a fortunate trick by dear Miss Destiny which thankfully brought together these 6 individuals despite their vastly different personalities and interests.

Of course what was the glue to their team, the force driving them together and the string tying them into a tight knit group : being broke asses needing money.

Soojin owns a bar in one of Kongdae’s many appealing streets, she had worked there all her life and it was as shitty as it sounds but it was enough for her to live a reasonable life. As the owner, she had decided not to work during the day, it being a bar made this decision easier since not many would get drunk during the day. The only time it would be open all throughout the day was during weekends or holidays. The bar was originally her cousin’s which he gave her full control of when he went to live abroad with his wife. So an 18 years old Soojin was in charge of the bar at night and also decided to become an instructor at a dance academy not too far during the day.

She obviously needed workers and she had plenty of part-timers under her care. During the first year of running the bar, a young music major flung the doors open and looked for Soojin who raised an eyebrow unamused. The bartender looked at the young intruder and gave a weird look at his boss before beckoning the young girl over.

“Are you of age to be in this place ? I can serve you orange juice.” The man asked, eyeing the short woman.

“Are you the boss here ?” The young woman questioned instead.

“Nope, that fine lady here is the boss though.” He replied while shoving a thumb towards a bored out Soojin wiping the counter.

The young woman approached Soojin and locked eyes with her, a determined glint in her gaze. Soojin didn’t falter however, firstly because she was exhausted and didn’t process most of the situation and secondly because she didn’t care much.

“Are you still hiring ?” The stranger asked while raising a paper, one that Soojin had stuck on a electric pole nearby when she was in search of a bartender.

“What’s your name ? I don’t hire strangers.” Soojin replied disinterestedly. She wasn’t in dire need for any workers but she didn’t mind taking in a new member to the crew.

“Jeon Soyeon, 18 and a music major. I’m looking for a part-time job.” The woman, Soyeon, introduced herself with a slight tremble in her voice and that was only when Soojin realised that the girl was gripping that paper a tad too tightly while sweating a little.

“I see…you can call me Soojin, we're the same age so no need for honorifics… But-” Soojin was about to speak before Soyeon cut her off.

“I’m sure I’ll fit well in this environment and will be an exceptional worker.” Soyeon reaffirmed her conviction and Soojin commended her determination.

“I’m sure of that, I just wanted to ask you why you want to work here of all places. I’m pretty sure the 7/11 next door is also hiring.” Soojin said with a small smile.

“Oh, I flunked the interview there. And I need to buy… books” Soyeon answered as if it were natural, trying to hide the fact that a tight knot in her stomach made it hard for her to speak loudly.

“I.. see. Well, I’ll give you the papers to sign which I would like to get back tomorrow, your shifts are from 5pm to 11pm and we’ll discuss which days you’ll work. I will see you tomorrow again at 5, so don’t be late.” Soojin finished and went to fetch some papers in the staff room. From her peripheral view she saw Soyeon raise her arms in victory while mumbling to herself with a smile.

“I will finally buy the next One Piece!” Soyeon muttered happily but soon composed herself when she saw her new boss walk back in and the bartender laughing at her under his breath which she returned with her infamous glare.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, have a safe trip home.” Soojin said at last while handing the few forms Soyeon had to fill.

__

Soyeon, despite her strong appearance, has a rather reserved nature to herself and has trouble taking care of the more chatty customers. However, she was a proficient financial manager and effectively thought of several marketing strategies to improve the bar's profits which worked to a tee. It was hard to tell if Soojin was the owner and not Soyeon. The real owner was pretty disinterested in all the marketing stuff and just thought of selling drinks while chatting with some of her customers, this was as simple as it gets. Her same aged coworker, however, didn’t think alike, Soyeon was oddly competitive and with her ideas and management skills she successfully made their humble abode an attractive place to the young passerby of the busy streets of Kongdae looking for fun and adventure.

“I can’t believe that changing the name of our cocktails would make such a difference.” Soojin had once said after Soyeon cleverly changed all the menus with more appealing names.

“What can I say, I’m a genius. You should call me captain.” Soyeon shrugged while looking at this month’s turnover. To her delight, the sales were 3 times higher than when she first joined the crew.

“Yes yes captain. However the boss is asking you to serve that man at table 3.” Soojin rolled her eyes and handed a glass of whiskey on ice to the grumbling shorter girl.

To their surprise, when it was almost closing time, the door opened showing a tall woman in a black hoodie with the infamous Disney character on it.

“Are you hiring ?” The woman said and Soojin looked at Soyeon’s guilty face.

“What ? We lost our last waiter and you know how much I hate serving people.” Soyeon shrugged, she really was a mastermind after all and if she could escape from interacting with people she would gladly do so.

“You do the interview then, captain.” Soojin said in a teasing manner, leaving a flabbergasted Soyeon to deal with her worst fear : human interaction.

And that’s how Nicha or more commonly known as Minnie joined the group. Her reason being that her parents told her to get hands-on experience before joining the family’s business. Basically, she was on her own as a broke university student having to pay for her living cost although coming from a fairly rich background which she didn’t mind strangely enough. She found the whole idea intriguing and felt like this was an adventure of her own.

This new addition to the team was a breath of fresh air for Soyeon and Soojin who both could live without having to interact with their customers, instead Minnie took care of all the social side of their job with glee and became a client’s favourite waitress as her amiable aura and easy going personality made the customers feel at ease. Something both Soojin and Soyeon had trouble with. She also opened social media pages and often posted on going sales, special limited prices and such which now attracted even more people to their small bar lost in Kongdae.

___

The fourth member to join the team was the loud and even louder Song Yuqi who was a year younger than Soojin and two years younger than Minnie. She was a student with an impressive record but just as impressive spendings. Therefore, she had decided to take on a part-time job to not only gain new skills but also because she thought that being a bartender in a famous bar was cool.

“Why do you want to work here ?” Minnie had asked her after both Soojin and Soyeon fled the place at the prospect of interviewing someone, leaving the newest member of the team to do all the talking.

“I needed a job and I always dreamt of making cocktails.” Yuqi had said with fire in her eyes which made Minnie chuckle.

“What is your experience with bartending ?” Minnie demanded next as the boastful girl in front of her flaunted her various skills such as singing, dancing, fishing and whatnot. So she expected her to have some sort of beforehand skills.

“I drank my first cocktail at the age of 3.” Yuqi had smiled proudly and they could hear Soyeon choking on her own saliva from the staff room as the other two were left stunned at the Chinese girl’s words.

“So am I hired ?” Yuqi inquired with bright expectant eyes.

“Uhhh…” Minnie looked over at the staff room and saw Soojin trying to pat Soyeon’s back as the latter was still coughing violently. But the energetic girl didn’t leave room for discussion.

“That’s a yes !? Oh my god, I’ll come tomorrow for work. Thank you Minnie-shi and see tomorrow.” Yuqi jumped up and down before gripping Minnie’s large hands in hers and shaking them while skipping her way out, leaving the girls dumbfounded. It was as if a hurricane had barged inside and exited the place just as quickly.

To their relief, Yuqi was a very friendly person though loud to no end. She indeed picked up the art of making cocktails quickly although god forbid she serves you one of her self made creations. Soyeon had drunk one of her concoctions before and, mind you, she spent the night in the restroom soon after. Apart from her cocktail creating skills that were left to be desired, she was the energy that the place was lacking and the bar became fairly animated with popular songs and several music bands playing there every now and then. She knew how to make a place lively and to turn up the music (and the amount of decibels too unfortunately). While regular working days were still the calm but fruitful shifts, weekends felt like a never ending party in the bar filled with young people unwinding from a weeklong pressure.

This was a change that wasn’t as bad as the rest thought it would be.

_____

On a rainy Thursday night, the bar was moving leisurely and it was what Soojin liked the most. It has now been 2 years since she became the owner of this place. The last customer today had left 10 minutes ago and she rejoiced in the feeling of emptiness surrounding her. Yuqi on the other hand has been pretty moody by the lack of action as the gentle and mellow sound of jazz music barely made it through the thick silence. She only gripped the broom in her hands tighter and imagined herself singing a rock hit song in the middle of a crowded stage.

Minnie had left earlier because of the rain and promised to take an extra shift the next day which Soojin had waved off and told her it was no use. After all, it was a slow day.

“Even you moving around is loud.” Soyeon had grunted as Yuqi stopped dance-brooming around the place.

“What do you mean it’s loud ?” Yuqi asked and suddenly Soyeon regretted ever saying her thoughts out loud because now the real loud was about to crash on them.

“Just watching you feels like I’m in the middle of a rock concert.” Soyeon explained without backing down, to hell her social anxiety, she was about to verbally annihilate Yuqi.

“Yah-” The Chinese girl immediately fell into the trap, she had never won an argument against the wity Soyeon in the past, it wasn’t today that this would change as she was about to unload a bunch of nonsense as a counterattack like usual. Soojin only sighed since for some reason the captain has taken a liking to annoying Song Yuqi and then bickering until the latter would grumble and whine like a child. (But compared to another pair, these two were far from true bickering and Soojin will learn this the hard way in the future.)

The thunder rumbled which muffled the younger’s words as a light beam illuminated the empty bar in blinding white rays through the windows. Simultaneously the door opened in a loud bang which startled everyone present inside and even stopped Yuqi from yelling at their captain.

However, this short pause was quickly followed by several screams of terror as a dark shadow appeared in a flash. White dress, black hair, pale skin. Soojin's cry echoed loudly along with Yuqi’s and Soyeon who actually ran straight to the staff room in fear. The broom fell down in a thud startling its holder as Yuqi jumped and almost twisted her own ankle in the process. Meanwhile, the bar owner closed her eyes, still wailing for dear life.

The light soon dissolved into black pitch night again and Soojin took a tentative look at the ghost. The said ghost that had stepped inside and closed the door behind her, drenched in rain as her even darker hair clumsily clung to her pale face while her lips trembled… wait trembled ?

It didn’t take much longer for the bar owner to regain her senses and soon understood that the ghost was drenched and cold from the downpour, shivering like a trembling autumn leaf in the wind. She also had her hands covering her front as Soojin saw that the white dress was … well, wet. After the realisation had hit her, she dashed to the pale maiden and pulled her inside the warm bar.

“Soyeon-ah, stop hiding like a rat in a hole and go fetch me a towel upstairs.” She yelled her order at their captain who was heard trying to dial the police in her fright.

“Yuqi, go fetch that idiot and tell her to get a towel and a spare oversized shirt as well as shorts. You go make hot chocolate afterwards.” Soojin shaked a still dazed Yuqi out of her trance who saluted and went to slap Soyeon out of it.

Soojin leant over the counter to grab a few tissues and tried to dry that poor freezing girl’s midnight hair. Soon Soyeon appeared with a warm fluffy towel and a pair of clothes which she placed on the nearest stool. With the towel in hand Soojin dried the girl as best as she could and she finally had a glance at her face. The speckless pristine white skin, dark brown pool eyes and cute baby fat under her equally cute cheeks greeted her and her previous terror was quickly replaced by admiration.

“Are you okay ?” Soojin asked worriedly as the girl’s cheeks were ice cold to the touch. She wondered how long the girl had been standing in the rain.

“Yes, thank you.” She had said in a small voice that Soojin could barely make out through the overwhelming sound of raindrops hitting the windows.

“You see the room there ? You can get changed in there.” Soojin pointed at the said room behind her, missing the way the girl had frowned and tilted her head. Nevertheless, the owner pushed the spare change of clothing to her and she slowly made her way to the designated place.

Soyeon was looking at the pale girl with her mouth still hanging low, a large red mark on her left cheek from when Yuqi had probably and literally slapped her awake. On the other hand a much more reactive Yuqi had placed two cups of hot chocolate, one in front of the malfunctioning Soyeon and another on the counter. Soon after the stranger came back in a way too big black shirt and shorts. It made her look unfairly small and definitely less scary.

“Come here and drink this. It’ll warm you up.” Soojin beckoned the girl over and pointed at the hot chocolate drink that Yuqi made.

“T-thank you.” The stutter made her pale skin turn a light shade of pinkish-red which she tried to hide by taking a sip of the warm beverage.

“How long have you stayed in the rain for ?” Soojin carefully asked after seeing the young girl release a sigh of relief once the drink slowly warmed her insides.

“R-rain ?” The girl repeated under her breath and frowned slightly as the bar owner could literally phantom gears turning at high speed inside that pretty head of hers.

“Ah fuck.” Yuqi’s voice cut through that awkward moment when she tripped over the broom she had danced with earlier, curse flying out of her mouth in her mother tongue by accident.

“You, what does ‘rain’ mean?” The pale stranger turned around as if suddenly revived and immediately spouted words in an unfamiliar language to poor Yuqi who was massaging her knees that had taken the brunt of her fall.

“Oh it’s like my name ! Yu just like Yuqi. It’s such a pretty name, I got it from my Mo- Wait ?! You speak Mandarin ?!” Yuqi had shrugged and started speaking mandarin until it hit her that… Well, she wasn’t speaking Korean anymore.

“Thanks. Rain, 3 hours.” The stranger turned back to a dumbfounded Soojin and showed three fingers while finally answering the previous question in a shyer voice.

“Song Yuqi bring your noisy ass here.” Soojin had said at last and left the stranger to speak with their Chinese worker.

“So basically, she comes from Taiwan and was visiting her future school nearby when the rain started pouring. She ran to the train station to get back to her hotel but her card was empty and she had no money on her… moreover everything was in Korean. Her phone died so she couldn’t do much but wait until the rain stopped. After 2 hours of waiting she thought it was all clear and she went to find somewhere to stay but well… it was still pouring so she ran around in search of an open shop.” Yuqi reported the tragic tales of the stranger who had now warmed up but still retained her very pale complexion. She was also pretty reserved and quiet, only talking short sentences to Yuqi’s unending ones.

“She has nowhere to stay ?” Soyeon demanded curiously.

“Apparently not. She has troubles with her university regarding the dorms and she has to check out from her hotel tomorrow.” Yuqi answered in a sad tone. She felt bad for her foreign compatriot.

“I’ll let her stay the night with me upstairs. I’m going to prepare a room for her so you two start closing here okay.” Soojin sighed and made her way to her small duplex just above.

That same night, little Yeh Shuhua from Taiwan earned a soft spot from the team as Soojin made her dinner and let her stay at her place despite Shuhua’s difficulties to communicate. Ever since that night, the Taiwanese often visited the bar on countless occasions and when she was in need of a place to stay (because her university didn’t have a room for her in their dorms) Soojin benevolently suggested she work part-time at the bar in exchange for a room in her duplex.

That’s how clumsy and quirky Yeh Shuhua joined the team and would start breaking a glass or two every now and then during her shifts. Despite all that, the others couldn’t help but grow fond of their little youngest even though she had an affinity to destroy everything in her wake.

___

Shuhua was 18 when she joined the crew and a year later she met her soon to be arch nemesis. The dreadfully beautiful Cho Miyeon with a charming smile. Soyeon had hired her out of compassion for a fellow broke student to which Miyeon couldn’t be more thankful.

Soojin had often questioned why that pretty girl even wanted to work in a bar when she was sure that the 7/11 next door was still hiring once again. Well, it turns out that Miyeon did work at 7/11 for a short time. Until she got fired for her tendency to trip over her own two feet and regularly messing up stuff with the cash register which she claimed was a complex piece of machinery to work with.

Nevertheless, Miyeon was a welcomed addition to the group and soon befriended the team… apart from the elusive Yeh Shuhua.

The young girl had developed a tight bond to Soojin after living together for a year now, she had improved her Korean drastically over time and was now a bundle of chaotic energy when excited. Yet, she would painfully avoid any interactions with Miyeon and it did break the poor woman’s heart.

Soojin had tried talking to her about at least being nice to Miyeon who did nothing to get this treatment out of Shuhua. The so-called ‘I don’t know you treatment’ that Shuhua was so adamant to give to absolutely anyone.

The Taiwanese was as social as a sea urchin and would not hesitate to show that she wasn't fond of you. On several occasions Minnie had to save Shuhua after the latter had upset a fairly rude client complaining about his drink or accidentally said something out of place.

“You know, Miyeon is kinda like you. Breaking stuff accidentally.” Yuqi had remarked once while watching the aforementioned girl collecting the pieces of glass on the floor from the cup she had accidentally dropped a few minutes ago.

Shuhua only spared a few seconds to watch Miyeon cut herself on a glass shard with a yelp before she made her way to the staff room. Yuqi only shook her head and decided to help Miyeon with the cleaning while Shuhua was probably huffing and puffing like the moody person she was.

It’s only after one night where Shuhua and Miyeon shared a shift together that the two actually started developing some sort of bond. It was a Tuesday night and the place was mostly empty apart from a few college students celebrating someone’s birthday.

“Three beers here !” One of the guys called and without a word Shuhua went to fetch three fresh bottles out of the fridge.

The younger one trudged her way to the table of 4 guys and 3 women all laughing loudly. She did like usual and opened the bottles with her bar blade with precise movements. She didn’t spill one bottle this time and she internally smiled at herself.

“Hey pretty, why don’t you join us ?” One of them had said as she was about to open the last bottle for them. His face was red and she recalled him drinking quite a lot before. Shuhua only stayed silent and threw a blank stare at the guy.

“Come on, have some fun with him. It’s pretty empty and your friend there can handle washing a few glasses.” Another one insisted but she was about to turn away and return to her place behind the counter when she felt a hand tugging at her wrist.

“Heyyy~ it’s his birthday and his girlfriend dumped him a week ago. Have some compassion.” The blonde man smiled drunkenly while pulling her closer to the bunch. The foreigner however didn’t back down and only slapped his hand away with her bar blade a tad too strongly, finally freeing herself from the rude man. This unfortunately didn’t help with the group's temper.

“Ouch you bitch !” He yelled, holding his hand in pain.

The whole thing escalated very quickly and Shuhua was now confronted with the 7 pretty mad customers. Oops …

“You dared to touch him ?” One of the girls, probably his girlfriend, said with anger.

“Well-” Shuhua was about to retort but she felt an arm wrap itself around her shoulder, pulling her into a protective hold.

“He touched her first, she had all the rights to remove his hands.” Miyeon replied, her voice drastically different from her usual sweet and princess-like tone. Shuhua looked at the girl that held her flushed against herself and to her surprise she was greeted with an ice cold expression adorning the normally smiley (and silly) face.

“He’s literally bleeding-”

“I advise you to exit this place if your goal is to throw a tantrum here. Pay and leave before I call the police.” Miyeon cut the birthday guy off while taking her phone out to prove her point.

“He is the victim here you bitch, call them ! Come on, let this crazy woman go to jail.” One of them stood closer, pointing his finger closer and closer to their face as he became redder by the second. He grabbed a glass from their table and threw it harshly on the floor, shattering in a loud clang that made his friends jump in slight fright.

“There is a camera here and I know the law, my parents have a law firm. If you really want you and your friends to celebrate in detention then sure, destroy another glass and we’ll see who’s the real victim between us.” Miyeon didn’t seem fazed by the sudden show of anger as she remained strong on her feet and didn’t even flinch. She only showed them the camera propped onto the wall that was directly filming their way.

“Hey, let’s go. These bitches are ruining the night. It’s not worth it.” One of the girls tried to be more sensible one of the group and pulled the birthday boy out while the others begrudgingly followed behind. The blonde guy being the last out and exiting while giving them a middle finger out of spite (how immature).

Shuhua felt more than heard Miyeon heave a sigh of relief, their bodies still glued together. It was the closest the two ever stood next to one another.

“You know the law ?” Shuhua had finally opened her mouth and for the first time she actually addressed her older coworker directly.

“Absolutely … not… But I can’t lie about the camera there.” Miyeon sheepishly answered while awkwardly scratching her neck.

“The camera has been dead since before I joined the team.” Shuhua deadpanned and had to suppress the chuckle threatening to leave her throat as she saw Miyeon’s face becoming sickly pale when everything downed on her. She was before all a true scaredy-cat.

“Oh my god I could have died and there would have been no evidence of it.” She heard the older one mumble out of belated fear and Shuhua’s walls cracked down just a little.

“I would’ve killed them if they even touched you. Nice acting though.” Shuhua offered her a grateful smile and a thumbs up which Miyeon immediately returned as a blush spread across her cheeks. Who would have thought that this clumsy and merry go lucky woman had it in her to confront 7 very outraged idiots.

Just then the door opened revealing the boss who had gone out on a family dinner. Soojin eyed them weirdly as they were oddly physically close, and by that she meant all over each other, and one was even suspiciously blushing for damn’s sake. The looks of deer caught in blinding headlights didn’t help their case either and Shuhua seemed to be the one to return to her senses first as she pushed a still dazed Miyeon who stumbled and almost broke her nose on the floor and broken glass shards.

“Okayyyy… so…what’s going on ?”

_____

After that, Shuhua was more inclined to interact with Miyeon through her favourite means of communication : physical contact.

It was obvious that the Taiwanese could be quite clingy as she often hugged Soojin or Minnie like a koala on a tree. Trying to kiss Soojin was also one of her favourite hobbies when bored and in the presence of her boss. However she was once again very different when with Miyeon. Everytime they shared a shift together, Shuhua would gladly push Miyeon around like a rag doll whenever she passed by her, which often sent the girl flying or stumbling. In return the older one would try to pinch her cheeks as a revenge.

Miyeon usually let it go quickly and even if she didn't get to pinch those cute cheeks, because Shuhua would put up a fight with her, she would almost always return to work as if nothing happened. This impressive feat had for sure impressed everyone. It didn’t mean that she was a monk though, and when she lost her temper it was like a cat chasing after a mouse. Shuhua running away from a fuming Miyeon who was so damn ready to squish her entire being became a common sight to the rest of the team. This often resulted in Soojin having to catch the younger one and scolding her while Minnie took care of her same aged friend that had gone wild.

Over the years, it was only natural that they would increasingly spend time together but the bickering never really ended. It was like a game for them and none were about to give up to the other.

The two were truly unusual and peculiar individuals (this what their friend’s all believed to be at least) and while they cared for one another, it seemed like they would be the death of each other. Especially when Miyeon was once again sent straight to the wall after being shoved by the one and only Shuhua.

____

(Back to present time)

Three years later, Soojin could hear Shuhua grunting from their shared apartment above, probably revising for yet another exam. As expected, things have changed a lot over the years and most had quit their job at the bar. Soyeon was now working as a composer (just recently celebrating her first ever pay as a professional) and Minnie graduated in Fine Arts not so long ago. The Thai woman decided to pursue a career in film making and producing after she had refused to work with her family’s business, claiming that her two brothers would already suffice and that she wanted to try something new which they agreed upon after several serious talks. The loud Chinese girl on the other hand had become an influencer but still had a degree similar to Minnie’s. Her YouTube channel was one of the most popular ones these days and everyone knew who Song Yuqi was (which didn’t improve the girl’s already overwhelming ego).

Shuhua was now in vet school and had yet to move out from Soojin’s duplex, meaning that she would stay at night helping around the bar whenever she had some free time. Miyeon had also graduated and started her own business which was small but promising.

Even though they all went their own ways, Friday night was their mandatory reunion at the bar. Chatting over drinks and laughing at whatever things one had said about her day. They were a team and although they weren’t working under one roof anymore, it was hard to dismantle their well oiled group. They had become some sort of family.

“Welcome- Oh hey Miyeon-unnie.” Soojin greeted her friend who had appeared at the door.

“Hey boss ~ how are you ?” Miyeon saluted like she used to when Soojin or Soyeon were around back then. Old habits were hard to forget.

“Good. She’s upstairs and upset. Have fun.” Soojin said while eyeing the plastic bags the young businesswoman was holding in her hands, already guessing the purpose of her visit. The latter only smiled sheepishly when Soojin’s hunch was proven correct and only thanked her before heading to the flight of stairs at the back as she made her way towards the apartment.

Miyeon knocked on the door out of politeness even though she had her own spare key which she would use whenever Shuhua was in a terrible mood (and purposely locked herself inside, not accepting visitors apart from Soojin who lived there as well). Today seemed like a case of grumpy Shuhua and so she fished out the keys from her bag before entering the apartment. The first floor was deserted as expected but she calmly walked up the second floor into the smaller part of the duplex where she knew she would find her.

It was pretty minimal, two doors leading to bedrooms and one was the bathroom. As simple as that. She made her way to a specific door with wooden letters stuck to it that read the name of her younger friend. She knocked twice and this time a disheveled head poked out from its lair. Shuhua’s face was typical of a college student with dark circles dipping as low as her cheekbones and eyes that seemed to scream to get some much needed sleep.

“Hello beautiful~.” Miyeon’s cheerfulness didn’t falter at the sight however and she entered the girl’s room without further words despite the frown on the latter’s face. Shuhua wasn’t exactly known for being the cleanest person in the world and it reflected in the state of her room. Books were haphazardly laying about as several empty cup noodles littered the floor along with dirty clothes and crumpled papers.

Miyeon simply moved by pure instinct under the unfazed eyes of the tired Taiwanese woman, it was ingrained in her muscles by now. She pulled a folded low table from the gap between the dresser and the desk and kicked some of the discarded unwashed garnements to the side to make space. As she settled it down and placed her plastic bags on it she also moved towards the purple bean bag not too far in a corner and picked two pillows next to it before putting them around the table with a satisfied smile.

“I bought dinner. Come on, you must be famished.” The older beckoned the younger one to sit down on the floor as she unpacked the meals she bought for them.

“Thanks for the meal.” Was Shuhua’s only reply before digging in almost instantly. Miyeon only smiled as she watched Shuhua wolfing down the pieces of meat at lightning speed.

They made small banter, mostly Miyeon asking about school and how it was going while Shuhua answered curtly as she was too focused on filling her empty stomach to hold a proper conversation.

“Are you done for today ?” Miyeon asked while sipping from her soda can once she finished eating. The other girl however was yet to be done with her dinner.

“I finished my papers for tomorrow but I wanted to study a bit more for the upcoming exam.” Shuhua answered with her mouth full, almost choking on some rice to which Miyeon handed her a drink.

“I told you not to speak with a full mouth. Anyway, how much did you sleep last night ?” The older woman warned before questioning the girl again.

“Hm 3 hours ? I accidentally fell asleep at my desk earlier too for maybe 2 hours.” The veterinary student replied while taking large gulps of her soda.

“And you’re the one studying a form of medicine between us all. Soojin also told me yesterday that she caught you studying all night lately. You should rest more !” The business woman shook her head in disapproval before scolding her lightly.

“It’s my first year in vet school though, I can’t fail.” Shuhua rebuked but her words were ironically drowned in a loud yawn that escaped her lips.

“Enough of that, you study enough and overdoing it won’t do you any good. You should take care of yourself. Now go take a shower while I clean this up. You stink.” Miyeon slapped the other girl’s shoulder several times before sniffing her scalp while pulling a disgusted expression for her to see. To her surprise Shuhua leaned in closer as well and shut her eyes, inhaling deeply in Miyeon’s scent…

“You’re stinkier, unnie.” Shuhua opened her eyes, revealing that playful glint that Miyeon liked to see so much. Talking of which, that said girl now adorned rosy cheeks as it took her a few seconds to process what had happened.

One, two…

“Yah !” Miyeon screamed and it was Shuhua’s cue to stand up and run for her life towards the bathroom before she gets caught in a dead embrace.

Miyeon only laughed at their antics, the cheeky Taiwanese never failed to put a smile on her face. After she heard the door to the bathroom close she started cleaning up the room, careful not to displace anything important (because Shuhua would probably fight her for that) and only throwing the trash away as well as putting the dirty clothes in the laundry basket outside the room and down on the first floor.

Once everything felt a little cleaner, she went to throw the trash bags downstairs, walking by Soojin as the latter only smiled, grateful that someone was taking care of the little gremlin living in her duplex. Miyeon went back upstairs to check one last time on Shuhua and to her surprise she found the girl completely passed out on her bed.

“Aigoo, what are we gonna do with you?” Miyeon shook her head and trudged closer to the sleeping beauty.

As expected, the young maiden still had wet hair and to this Miyeon sighed. She grabbed the towel that was hanging for dear life on the bed and tried to dry the long black locks as best as she could before resorting to using a hairdryer.

She’d rather have a grumpy Shuhua who would be mad at her for waking her up than a sick Shuhua. This was something her and all the team feared, sick Shuhua was a different beast and lord knows they didn’t want to ever experience this again. Being the heavy sleeper she is, Shuhua barely even moved while Miyeon blow dried her head and even if it wasn’t perfect it was still better than the drenched mop of hair from earlier.

She pulled the warm duvet over the younger’s sprawled body and let herself stay sited on the bed for a few minutes, simply admiring the peaceful look on Shuhua’s face. Looking at her watch, she saw that it was fairly late and decided to call it a night.

“Goodnight Shuhua.” She mumbled while standing up and heading towards the door after turning off the lights.

On her way out she accidentally stumbled upon Soojin who had just closed the bar downstairs and was going to take a well deserved shower.

“Oh you’re still here ?” The younger of the two remarked.

“Yeah, that idiot fell asleep without drying her hair so I had to do it.” Miyeon explained but her voice didn’t match her words.

“Typical Shu. Want to stay the night ? It’s quite late.” Soojin offered but Miyeon politely refused.

“It’s okay, I have a meeting with investors tomorrow in the morning and I need to prepare my papers.” Miyeon told, which was true.

“We always have a room for you here, don’t hesitate if you need to.” Soojin reminded her, as that said room was once Miyeon’s after all, she had used it when she had several issues with her landlord a few years back. This place was her second home and she appreciated how Soojin would remind her that she was always welcome anytime.

“I’ll take up on that offer some other day. I have to go now, Goodnight Soojin. I will see you next time.” Miyeon smiled and when Soojin gave her a small goodbye hug, she finally made her way downstairs and out the three story building into the dark of the night.

Soojin looked towards the room where Shuhua was snoozing the night away with a short smile. She knew that the Taiwanese had been awfully stressed lately regarding her studies and even if she wanted to, it was hard to get a wink of sleep. While she doesn’t show it, Miyeon’s presence was like a remedy that always without a fail cured her from overwhelming thoughts and countless sleepless nights, something that even Soojin had trouble helping with. If Shuhua could sleep soundly tonight it was all thanks to Miyeon. And as much as Shuhua liked to say that Miyeon was her least favourite amongst their friends, they all knew that what they shared was on a whole different spectrum than mere friendship.

It was a sort of relationship that was as confusing as blatantly obvious to everyone. Both were so alike in their fondness for each other even if it was expressed in a way that often led to being at one another’s throat. A strange mix between profound care and playful hostility that was only made possible because the two sharing it were indeed Two of A Kind.

Chapter Text

It was a regular day in Shuhua’s life, meaning that she had woken up slightly late which ended up with her running all around the duplex in her haste, probably knocking down a chair or two while rushing past the living room to the front door.

Once she made it to the fairly inanimate sun kissed streets she was already a heaving mess but still ran towards the bus station with hope. If she doesn’t catch that darn bus, not only she’ll have to walk to her university but also face the fact that she won’t be there as what one might consider early. (Just fancy words to say that she’s probably late without the bus)

Konkuk university wasn’t far from where she lived with Soojin, thankfully, but this didn’t mean that the walk was none the nicer. The morning was slightly chilly and she had decided to wear a one-piece dress, like she usually does, however this year’s autumn had decided to freezingly make her remember that nice summer was now long gone and the high temperatures along with it.

Her bag was not helping the back pain she had as well, sleeping while studying on her desk didn’t do her any good as expected and she could phantom Miyeon scolding her for it inside her head. The simple thought made a shiver run down her aching spine as the morning breeze blew her long black locks into the wind.

Anyway, this was not an unfamiliar morning for her, waving good morning to the nice grandma holding a discreet Chinese restaurant she liked to eat in with Yuqi every now and then, the woman walking with her dog and that cute cat perched up on a wall who greeted her with a stern meow. Yup, it was all part of the routine she had kept for the past four years.

Being a veterinary student was not easy, especially as a foreigner but she somehow made it work though it didn’t come without sacrifices. She had to bargain with the university to get a place in their program although she had no real language qualifications at the time, moreover, she also had to gain that scholarship through hard work and a lot of phone calls to the administration office. They ended up settling with 2 years in a language course before beginning the real vet studies.

Right now she had just finished the 2 years of the pre-veterinary program and was finally getting onto the real stuff. She had worked so much to get to this point and was determined to become what she always wanted to be, a successful and earnest vet. She had to prove to her family that she could do it and also return all the support her friends had shown her since day one by completing her studies with flying colours.

With that determination in mind she mentally cursed when she saw the bus coming although she was still a street away from the bus station and it didn’t take her long to decide to make a run for it. If she wanted to be a vet, she first had to go to class, even if it meant chasing after a bus like a madwoman with shoes on fire.

XXXXXXXX

It was a Friday and she knew that she’d have to see the crew tonight as per tradition but as the teacher gave yet another project and a paper to finish before next week, she started thinking of an excuse to slip away from her unnies’ dead grip. Soyeon and Soojin wouldn’t be too hard to convince as they understood that Shuhua needed space and time to study. Minnie would probably sulk a little but also come to the conclusion that studying was important. Therefore the real problem lied in Yuqi and Miyeon.

Yuqi would probably try to tell her how one night with them won’t make a difference and that working too much was counterproductive. Basically, she’d use her extremely loud voice to forcefully make Shuhua stay with her as the latter’s ear drums would be in such pain that she would comply with whatever the Chinese says just so she stays quiet.

As for Miyeon … Miyeon on the other hand would start with whining and trying to persuade her. This would be followed by them arguing nonstop until one relents, usually Miyeon (yes, she starts an argument only to lose it, just typical Miyeon if you ask me.). This, so far, was manageable, what was out of control though was that Miyeon would probably stay in her room while she’s working on her papers to ‘keep her company’ as the older one would say with such an innocent smile on her face.

And lord, how was Shuhua supposed to focus when Miyeon would not leave her alone for just one second. One time, she had to literally lock the older girl outside of her room by placing her desk chair under the doorknob so the business woman couldn’t even open her door. Needless to say, Shuhua’s back had hurt for weeks from studying on the floor and Miyeon had a sore butt after staying sited against that door for several hours on end. This goes without mentioning how much Miyeon was a champion of not being able to stay put, sure, she liked to take naps and had just one too many times fallen asleep in Shuhua’s room by accident, but she also liked to bother the younger girl by asking random stuff every once in a while, something that a frail shrieking door couldn’t possibly shut off. What a way to shatter Shuhua’s focus.

She could only sigh in despair as she will probably get her papers started after their meeting and once again disregard her sleep in favour of getting them done. That is if she doesn’t pass out after drinking with Yuqi. She didn’t have quite a good alcohol tolerance or at least not enough to entertain her friends long enough as she would usually fall asleep while the party was just getting started. Hopefully tonight will be fairly tame or else she’ll have to power though her weekend and rain check her schedules for Sunday.

Now back to reality, Shuhua was done with her classes today and had plans with Soojin, eating lunch together before meeting with her group mates to get their project started. Soojin had kindly offered to bring lunch to Shuhua so she wouldn’t have to go far away from her campus. Talking of which…

“Seooo Soooozin ~!” She screamed at the sight of her roommate walking her way. The latter only ducked her head in shame as many passersby turned their heads to look at the source of the commotion while she only grew redder by the second.

“I told you to not do this in public !” Soojin had slapped Shuhua on the shoulder when she finally reached the laughing vet student. To her dismay, Shuhua was not done with the teasing.

“What can I do ~ I just saw the love of my life coming towards me.” Shuhua replied with a cute voice that made Soojin roll her eyes.

“I honestly can't tell if you are talking about me or the seaweed soup I made.” The older one snickered and she regretted her poor choice of words as she heard another scream, something weirdly in between a wail and a shriek that reminded her of a choking rooster. For an introvert, Shuhua knew how to be loud and attract everyone’s attention when expressing her likes and dislikes. Especially when it involved her stomach (or a certain business woman).

“Seaweed soup !? YOU MADE ME SEAWEED SOUP ?!”

________

“-so I have to start the project with my group. I’ll probably be home by 6pm, maybe later if they decide to eat together.” Shuhua explained as she finished her last spoon of rice.

“Don’t be too late, the girls want to celebrate tonight. I heard that Soyeon’s song was approved and will become a title track for some big group.” Soojin said, eyeing the way the Taiwanese in front of her was already yawning.

“And just last week she had her first pay as a composer and song-writer. Meanwhile I’m still stuck as a student.” Shuhua sighed, all her friends had successful careers of their own except for her. She has a long way left until she graduates and an even longer one until she gets a proper job.

“But you’ll be the one earning the most. And also the one with such a prestigious job, don’t you know how rare and precious vets are nowadays.” Soojin reassured while moving to sit next to her younger friend. Placing a comforting hand on the girl’s lap as a means to cheer her up.

“That’s if I even graduate and pass the national exam.” Shuhua grumbled a little disheartened, lately all that studying had taken a toll on her and it was slowly making its way to her head. No matter how much effort she puts in or how determined she was, even a hero has moments of doubt and insecurity and she was no exception to the rule.

“Come on, out of us all you’re probably the smartest one. I mean, it’s hard to even understand science and you do it effortlessly. Believe me when I say that being hardworking and smart is the key to success.” Soojin comforted her with a somewhat motherly voice, grabbing Shuhua’s hand as she knew that this sort of skinship often soothed the anxious girl. The gesture effectively made the Taiwanese relax just a little, her shoulders only slightly dropping but at least she wasn’t plagued by pessimistic thoughts anymore. Soojin was one of her mental support and like a sister, someone that would scold her when necessary but also be there when she wasn’t feeling well. After living together for so long and in the absence of her family, she was glad to be able to rely on Soojin when she needed a shoulder to lean onto.

“Oh by the way, Miyeon told me to get you this. She said that your back ached from falling asleep on your desk.” Soojin spoke up and pulled out a tube of cream out of her bag.

At the mention of that name Shuhua’s heart slightly trembled and she blamed it on eating a little too fast. Nonetheless, she took the cream and made a mental note to thank her later tonight, probably by shoving her.

“Oh and she even stayed to clean your messy room and dry your hair when you fell asleep. You’re lucky to have her seriously. I wonder why she cares so much about you when all you do is annoy her.” The older of the two lamented on the reality of things.

Shuhua simply pretended not to care but the way her heart stuttered slightly once more couldn’t hide how she was affected. Thankfully no one could hear her heartbeats or else they might bring her to a cardiologist to get it checked. All in all, Miyeon will get two shoves tonight.

Right, that’s what she deserved.

__________

“Oh I’m early ?” Yuqi exclaimed as she stepped inside the emptied bar, locking eyes with Soyeon who was already there in advance.

“Minnie is in the restroom and Soojin is fetching our dinner.” Soyeon told her while motioning for Yuqi to sit down with her.

“So we’re missing Tom and Jerry. Anyway, how’s my rich, wonderful and awesome composer doing ?” Taking the seat right next to their captain, Yuqi purposely placed an arm around her shoulders with a smirk.

“It’s on Minnie tonight. She invited us. I ain’t buying you even a drink, loser.” Was Soyeon’s harsh reply as she slapped Yuqi’s arm off of her, only earning a grumble in return.

“We all know that Soojin will end up saying that the drinks are on the house.” Minnie was heard coming their way and then plopped herself right in front of the duo. She first bumped Yuqi as a greeting before eyeing the two girls in front of her with a knowing smile.

“You can always sneak up money in her cash register.” Soyeon pointed out, successfully evading the Thai woman’s gaze.

“Aishh I ain’t risking her getting angry at me.” Minnie shook her head before laughing a little when they all agreed, after all an angry Soojin could be really scary.

“Anyway, are there any good things going your way ?” She then demanded. She herself was recently a little busy with her own project and had but little time to catch up on the group.

“Oh I learnt how to ride a horse, it was super fun. I’m still editing the vlog for it.” Yuqi eagerly exclaimed while showing a picture of the horse she rode earlier this week.

“oh my god it’s sooo cute. On my end I just started a project, a short movie that I wrote and is currently directing. I’m not even asking Soyeon, our superstar.” Minnie teased and chuckled when she saw the redness dusting their captain’s cheeks.

“I’m not a star yet…” she had mumbled in sudden shyness which was somehow cute coming from the usually intimidating woman.

“And to think that not so long ago she was rehearsing with me for her meeting with her co-producers.” Yuqi fondly added while playfully nudging Soyeon who was suddenly a puddle of flustered mess.

“Ohhh please ~ I remember her asking me if she could practice dissing when she was still an underground rapper. Now she’s a composer of her own. Next year she might hold her concert. Or better a world tour.” Minnie brought back some old memories from the time they all worked together and it made them feel a mixture of amusement and nostalgia, looking back at how far they came from up to where they are today while also looking forward to the years to come.

The door suddenly opened revealing Soojin and Miyeon carrying several bags of food in their arms. Minnie immediately stood up to help them out which was rewarded by two very thankful smiles.

“Wow, are we feeding an army or something ?” Soyeon commented at the sight, doubting that this was all for her.

“Nope, but we are going to feed an upset Shuhua.” Soojin answered and they all understood that the plethora of food was now mandatory to appease the fuming gremlin.

“Now that makes sense. By the way, where is she ?” Yuqi asked, looking through the window in hopes of catching her friend, instead, she did catch the older of the bunch’s attention when realising that Shuhua was indeed missing.

“That’s the thing, apparently something with her project went wrong and she’s still working on it. She said she’ll be back in less than an hour though.” The bar owner explained while placing down several plates before fishing her phone out in hopes of receiving some sort of updates from her roommate. It has been half an hour since she said she’ll be back soon and so far she was still missing.

“It’s kinda late though, is it okay for her to walk alone ?” Minnie voiced her concern and Miyeon nodded at that, her earlier worries filling her stomach in an uncomfortable knot.

“I mean.. it’s Shuhua, she’s probably fine on her own if that’s what you are worried about. But I can’t tell if she’s actually okay though, she seemed a little down when I saw her for lunch.” Soojin truthfully said, remembering Shuhua’s behaviour when they shared a meal earlier today. However this was probably Miyeon’s last straw who felt uneasy just at the thought of her younger friend being alone and sad.

“Do you know where she is ? I can fetch her so she isn’t alone in the streets.” Miyeon spoke up, probably not hearing the part when they said that the Taiwanese was perfectly able to walk back here on her own. She stared intently at Soojin who definitely knew where the younger woman was.

“Uhhh she’s at XXX, the coffee shop just next to her university.” Soojin replied quite unsure if saying this was the right thing to do.

Nonetheless, it didn’t take much longer before Miyeon was seen zooming past everyone and making a beeline towards the front door, effectively leaving the rest of them in the dust. As much as Miyeon was considered a slow person, if it was something involving Shuhua they could all expect her to go from 0 to 100 like a Ferrari. Miyeon Macqueen wasn’t so far from reality.

_________

Her empty stomach growled and she could care less if anyone heard it or if the poor staff eyed her with pity. She had to get this done now or else she could say goodbye to her peaceful weekend and hours of sleep.

Her tabs were filled with several online research papers regarding Distemper, a common disease often leading to dog fatality when infected. The homework was a simple presentation with a ppt that must last around 10 minutes, it must cover the origin of the virus, its symptoms and treatments and what to look out for as future veterinarians. It must be intelligible enough for other students to learn about it as next week they’ll have an exam on a few randomly picked diseases that were presented. So this wasn’t just work for herself and to impress the teacher with fancy knowledge but also the key to her classmates’ success on the next test. And that made the whole deal more complicated. Sure, Shuhua could just make a concise text and fly over more complex details but she didn’t have the heart to put her classmates in a bad spot.

Hence here she was, trying to figure out how to explain this without copy pasting the whole Wikipedia page. Her Korean, although much better, was not on a Shakespearean level and she had trouble making sentences that wouldn’t paraphrase her supporting documents but also make sense for everyone.

Her thoughts were cut short when a cup of what she can assume was tea was placed down right next to her laptop, followed by a delicious looking piece of cake that earned an impatient grunt from deep inside her guts. She didn’t have to look up to know who it was as she could recognise those perfectly manicured hands amongst a thousand others. Yet, her eyes instinctively locked with the pair of warm brown that held a pleasant glimmer of so many feelings that she had to physically pull herself together and return to the blinding screen of her laptop instead.

The silent greeting did little to the newcomer’s resolve and simply took the seat right in front of Shuhua.

“Aren’t you going to eat this ?” She could hear the honey voice breaking through the silent shop.

“Why are you here ?” Shuhua simply asked, pretty sure that she didn't by any means send a message to her older friend regarding her whereabouts.

“Everyone is already at the bar and I was the last one to come, you weren’t there so I asked Soojin where you were and she told me I could find you here.” The answer made her look at the time and she realised that it was later than she had expected.

“Ah why didn’t you just send me a message, I would’ve come.” Shuhua said, a little disheartened from making her friends worry about her (when in fact only Miyeon was worried).

“It’s late, I didn’t like the thought of you walking home alone. Where are your group mates ? I thought you were working on a group project.” The older of the two questioned as Shuhua was alone in the coffee shop, no one here apart from the staff and herself.

“One came here on time and we worked together while the rest bailed on me.” The college student revealed with a sigh, just remembering this made her anger boil. At that, she saw her friend handing her the cup of warm tea which she finally accepted by taking a sip of the beverage.

“Oh, where is your group mate now ?” Miyeon looked around but she was once again pretty sure that no one was there.

“She stayed with me for 2 hours before going on a date with her boyfriend. So I worked alone for the rest of the afternoon.” Shuhua explained and this time she was calmed down by Miyeon urging her to take a bite of the cake.

“How mean of them. How far are you in the project ?” Miyeon asked while silently putting away the few papers scattered on the table while Shuhua was busy eating the well deserved sweet treat.

“Halfway ? I did most of the research and the text for the group to learn before presenting. I’m not done with the PowerPoint though.” Shuhua said while slumping a little in her seat, the realisation that she was not even near completing the project was a hard blow to her already tired self.

“That’s good enough. Look, how about we walk home and tomorrow I help you with the PowerPoint. You can work on your other things while I do this.” Miyeon suggested with an encouraging tone, sincerity dripping from her oh so sweet voice.

“Unnie ! I can’t make you do my homework. Besides, I don’t know if you can do this.” Shuhua whined a little, not wanting to burden her friend that had already done so much for her. The little jab was only a way to mask her otherwise embarrassed self.

“Hey, I’m a business major ~ I’m pretty good at making quick and efficient PowerPoints. Trust me this is my speciality.” Miyeon stated proudly as she had 4 years of making presentations under her belt.

“But…-” Shuhua was ready to retort but instead the businesswoman took the laptop and looked at the content of the ppt.

“Let me see… it’s already fairly good, just one or two slides to add and make it all pretty. I can do this in 20 minutes.” Miyeon assessed the progress and truthfully claimed which did initiate a spark of competition in the Taiwanese disbelieving eyes.

“As if… it took me two hours to do this. How are you even going to finish that in less than one.” Shuhua challenged, not even trusting Miyeon’s abilities.

“Watch me… you eat your cake while I finish this.”

XXXXXXXXXXX

Shuhua was mind blown, no, even this was not enough to express how flabbergasted she felt when she saw the well organised ppt right in front of her two very wide eyes. Miyeon was only smiling smugly as she, for once, proved Shuhua wrong.

“Whoa Unnie, how- just .. What did you do ??” Shuhua only spluttered in a clumsy manner while looking at the slides one by one.

“Well, I figured you didn’t want something overly showy and complicated so I kept it simple. It was just a matter of finding good pictures and where to place the texts. I even corrected a few slides you made so it would look consistent.” Miyeon explained while showing her younger friend where she put the text boxes to fill in and what pictures she had chosen.

“Wow.” Was all that left the Taiwanese student’s mouth still not believing what she was seeing. What would’ve been an hour of work had been reduced to just a few minutes.

“Yeah I know I’m amazing, show stopping, incredible, never the same, totally unique… You can just repay me with an ice cream and a hug.” Miyeon proudly complimented herself but it seemed like Shuhua had regained her functional brain power by the time and quickly recovered her roasting capacities.

“D-don’t get too ahead of yourself. I never said I would pay you for this.” Shuhua stuttered which made Miyeon smile to her greatest annoyance before grunting out like a kid.

“Alright, enough homework and more walking. The others are still waiting for us.” Miyeon saved the homework on the latter’s laptop and placed it inside the bag. On the other hand Shuhua only stayed put as her heart just decided to beat a little faster unwarned, she convinced herself that all of this was because of the overly sweet cake that she ate earlier (and not because of an overly sweet person with an equally sweet smile in front of her).

When everything was packed, Miyeon took Shuhua’s hand and led them towards the front door into the dead of the night.

“stupid cake.” Shuhua muttered barely loud enough to be heard.

“Uh ?” Although she was about to ask what the younger woman had said she was only shoved in the shoulder, almost tripping over her own steps by the sudden action.

“Nothing, now hurry up I miss Soojin.”

_________

“Yaaah yaaah yaaah aren’t those our late comers ?!” They heard Yuqi’s booming voice as soon as they opened the back door (as the front one was closed.). Instead of greeting them both, the Chinese girl had disappeared behind the counter for some reason, not quite walking straight.

“What took you so long ~?” Minnie asked and the alcohol could be heard from the way her words were slurred out.

“Miyeon helped me finish my homework.” Shuhua answered while sitting next to the aforementioned woman as there was no other place left for her.

“They already started… we left you some food though so help yourself.” Soojin said with a pointed glance at Minnie whose head couldn’t stay still as it drooped and twisted every now and then in a form of messy head choreography. If they didn’t know better, they would think that she was possessed.

Miyeon didn’t pass up on the offer though, immediately grabbing a pair of chopsticks and digging in as soon as she sat her butt on the comfy couch. Shuhua followed soon after and aimed for a piece of particularly delicious looking beef that made her mouth water. Her roommate observed her with interest before her gaze fell on their older friend. How did she even manage to make Shuhua so calm ? They were all expecting a grumpy gremlin to barge in with fury in her eyes as she would wolf down the several dishes with rage. While, sure she was eating like no tomorrow, it wasn’t out of anger but just pure hunger. Soojin could only shudder at how powerful Miyeon could be against their fearless youngest. (Whether it was to enrage her or pacify her, like they say : choose your poison)

“Wooooh ~ look at those ! Late comers gotta drink up ~” Yuqi reappeared and successfully snapped Soojin out of her trance which was replaced by well justified concern.

“What is … this ?” Miyeon asked while eyeing the glass handed to her with suspicion.

“My new cocktail ! Girllll ~ I’ve missed bartending !” Yuqi said all fired up and definitely not sober.

“I see… Did someone test it ?” Shuhua looked around with some sort of fear plaguing her mind as she knew how deadly Yuqi’s cocktails can be.

“Of course our party girl did ~” Yuqi proudly stated with a thunderous laugh that came out of nowhere, earning herself two pairs of confused eyes.

“Soyeon was forced to drink one earlier.” Soojin clarified and this made them realise that the said girl was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is she ..?” Miyeon gulped down, who knew, maybe this drink was her ticket to the afterlife. Perhaps she’ll have the chance to meet Soyeon there and her pet fish that had died 15 years ago too.

“There she is, hihihi ~ passed out hahaha.” Minnie answered half choking and half chuckling while pointing at a hunched up shape at the back of the bar, completely slumped over a table.

“Come on weak ass ! Everyone is here to celebrate for you !” Yuqi had unceremoniously slapped Soyeon’s back who finally gave a sign of life with a big ‘oooof’ escaping her mouth.

“Mom, I'm sick.” Soyeon replied, feeling her stomach doing the not romantic type of loops.

“The party is just getting started !” Yuqi only grabbed Soyeon by the arm and brought her to the group who (for three of them at least) watched in horror.

“Drinkkkk it ~” Minnie reminded the duo who held the devil’s glass in their hands and it would not be too far of a stretch to say that Shuhua was literally trembling. Miyeon could only shoot a betrayed look at her Thai friend who started laughing again.

“Yah, you haven’t tasted it yet !? Are you cowards ?! Come on, try it !” The Chinese woman would have completely forgotten about the two if it wasn’t for their beloved Minnie’s intervention as she pointed at them with an accusatory finger.

“Here goes… nothing.” Miyeon whispered, resigning herself and hoping that she had written her last will as she took a tentative sip of the strangely purple coloured drink.

“How is it ?” Shuhua asked in fake curiosity, trying to mask how worried she was for Miyeon.

“Hmmm… it’s actually very good !” Miyeon complimented the Chinese woman with a thumbs up.

“It’s drinkable… unfortunately.” Soyeon finally uttered her first words ever since she was dragged back to their table. Slightly more conscious as the haze in her mind was clearing up slowly but surely.

“See !! I have such an innate talent for bartending-” Yuqi’s ego flared up at the praises but was promptly interrupted by Soojin.

“From drinking her first cocktail at the age of three ?” The bar owner snorted and it made the rest of the table laugh at the hilarious story of Yuqi’s interview with Minnie 4 years ago.

“Yah yah ! It’s a talent ! And you Yeh Shuhua, I can see you putting your glass down ! Drink up you stinky raccoon.” Yuqi diverted the attention to the youngest who had hopes of getting off the hook. Not to avail, she couldn’t run away now…right ? Sensing Shuhua’s flight instinct kicking in, Yuqi grabbed onto her friend’s shoulder, effectively rendering her last attempt at escaping out of consideration.

Soojin was about to intervene as they all knew that poor Shuhua had a pronounced distaste for alcohol, and the rare times she would drink only proved her low tolerance. Without any solutions left, Shuhua took a sip and frowned at the bitterness, ready to puke as it burnt her insides.

“And this will be mine.” Miyeon suddenly took the glass out of the black haired maiden’s hand with a smug smile. Diverting everyone’s attention back to her who had stayed quiet this whole time.

“You have your own glass- Yah did you drink it in one go ?!” Minnie sat up only to widen her eyes at the, indeed, empty glass that had once contained Yuqi’s deadly cocktail next to where Miyeon had put down her chopsticks.

“Hmm ! I was thirsty.” Miyeon simply reasoned and resumed her eating after placing Shuhua’s drink farther away from its original owner.

“Ohhhh ~ is that a black knight saving her sweet princess ?!” Yuqi hollered which was followed by several more teasing comments leaving Shuhua red despite Miyeon being totally unbothered and rather engrossed in filling her stomach.

When her heart skipped a beat, she blamed it on the alcohol this time. Because it was impossible that this was caused by the idiot stuffing her mouth next to her. The same idiot that had flushing red cheeks from the strong liquor and an unfairly pretty foolish smile. Looking back at Soojin who already had her eyes on her, she tried to ignore the way her chest felt oh so warm and fluffy.

It’s all because of that stupid cocktail.

XXXXXXXX

“Yah, Yuqi mastered the art of making drinkable stuff but not the dosing of her cocktails. What did you even put in those ?” Soojin commented as the Chinese girl scratched her neck in guilt.

“Hmmm I put whiskey, rhum, tequila, some leftover wine and vodka with several syrups and just mixed it all. Oh and some lemon juice too.” The wannabe bartender revealed to everyone‘s horror while raising another finger at each ingredient enumerated.

“No wonder that she is … like this.” Minnie stated matter of factly as everyone looked at Miyeon.

While Soyeon felt drunk quickly after ingestion of the deadly drink, the crash was pretty bad afterwards as seen when Miyeon and Shuhua came back although she had quickly regained her bearings soon after. Their oldest friend on the other hand was completely drunk out of her wits, which was to be expected when she first downed a glass in one shot and drank a second one afterwards. Miyeon was leaning on Shuhua’s shoulder now, awake but in a daze as she was completely depleted of all her energy.

She had joined in the fun and makeshift karaoke, almost falling down a handful of times as her head was pleasantly spinning, singing her head off when she recognised the song being played or danced like she was attacked by a horde of stinging bees when she didn’t. Basically, she was vibing like crazy along with an always hyped up Yuqi and a not so sober Minnie (who was at least not as drunk as Miyeon). They had been going strong for 2 hours, singing and dancing but as it was nearing the sandman’s working hours they all slowly calmed down.

It seemed that sleep was slowly catching up on everyone after they had partied so much. None were the type to frequent night clubs and those sorts of events but they liked drinking in their small committee of trusted friends. Either way, they still enjoyed something in between a celebratory dinner and a night out in the club (courtesy of Yuqi and her love for music). Everyone was now gathered around the table, lightly chatting and finishing whatever was left of their dinner.

Miyeon had taken Shuhua’s hand in hers out of the blue which caused the younger one to tense up. The older had brought their hands onto her own lap and Soojin almost laughed out loud at how comically stiff her roommate had become. After all, it wasn’t the first time they held hands, sometimes they would do this when walking next to each other but right now it was uncalled for. Shuhua was in a sort of sensory overload, her brain showing several 'error 404 page not found' notifications. Even more with Miyeon so close to the Taiwanese, her breath fanning the young maiden’s neck who’s central neuronal system had decided to yeet out of her skull.

“What’s up Shu ? You’re all red, did you drink ?” Yuqi asked and everyone’s attention fell on her and Miyeon.

“No I didn’t.” Shuhua’s high pitched voice made Soojin laugh under her breath. This must be the best soap comedy ever and she wished she had popcorn with her, instead she chomped on some crisps and snacks laying on the table.

“So, what did Miyeon help you with earlier ? Was she even useful ? It’s not like she can do anything that doesn't involve falling down or making things fall down.” Minnie demanded out of sheer curiosity. Lightly teasing her same-aged friend who was too drunk to retaliate anyway. Instead, Miyeon huffed in annoyance, the hot air directly in contact with Shuhua’s pale skin and she had to forcefully suppress a shiver running down her spine. She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and she hoped that no one saw her doing so. She was embarrassed beyond return. After her brain, might as well make her second central neuronal system leave her body too, she thought.

“She did my PowerPoint. She’s pretty good at it, surprisingly.” The younger one replied feigning nonchalance but she couldn’t help but feel more than see the smile slowly etching itself on Miyeon’s face. (It would take literal nukes aimed at her to admit that she felt Miyeon’s lips trace a semblance of a smile against her neck which may or may not have almost made her own cheeks rise up even just a little.)

“Whoooa our unnie ain’t so much of a lost cause after all~ how will you repay her for helping you out?” Soyeon teased her but Shuhua was more than taken aback by the sudden question. Even more when she felt Miyeon even just slightly shift in her seat in what she could guess was anticipation.

Repay Miyeon ? Well, she was indeed very nice and helpful these past few days. Not just lately but since they’ve known each other. Always caring for her whether it was about her health or simply checking on her every once in a while. She couldn’t recall spending a week without seeing Miyeon in the last 3 years. Self reflection be damned, Shuhua knew that she was pretty unfair toward Miyeon as she would always tease or provoke her into a fight.

She could maybe treat her to some ice cream, but it was herself that liked eating the frozen desert more than Miyeon did. Thinking of it, it was always Miyeon buying her stuff and desserts when she craved some sugar after studying for hours on end. Therefore she scratched that idea out of the two she could think of and went onto the second one.

She could always give her a hug, Miyeon was an affectionate person and liked hugging people but ever since they met Shuhua never let the latter hug her without putting up a fight, despite her well known liking for physical affection herself. Miyeon was her friend, just like Yuqi and Minnie, Soyeon and Soojin, so why was she always pushing the girl away.

When Soojin leans her head on Shuhua’s shoulder, the youngest doesn’t feel as… warm and stuffed inside as she did with Miyeon. Rather it felt like she was suffocating under a dangerous feverish sun as the scorching air made her lungs prickle and her skin tingle. This only happened with Miyeon, like right now, her hands felt clammy and she cringed at the thought of it. Her neck was in a sort of numbness that reminded her of a 3rd degree burn where the businesswoman’s hot breath hit the area just between her neck and collarbone.

Why was it only with Miyeon that it felt like this ? Her thoughts ventured dangerously far into a zone she didn’t even want to acknowledge and she reacted before her brain could process whatever was going on. (Like said previously, her brain had yeeted itself far away and left the sinking ship that was Shuhua to drown like the Titanic once did. It was tragic to say the least. A real tragedy.)

“Why would I repay that dumbass ? She’s like a nice neighbourhood unnie helping me. Anyway I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.” Shuhua stood up and bumped her knee against the table’s corner but ignored the sharp aching pain in favour of running away. Her mouth was faster than her thoughts and before she knew it it was already out in the open. Everyone looked at her with surprise and wide eyes but she was focused on Miyeon who had fallen down on the couch at the loss of her support, nothing too serious as she was thankfully cushioned but it seemed like she still landed too harshly back to reality.

Their eyes met and Shuhua couldn’t understand the look in Miyeon’s eyes in this instant, so many emotions flashing by in her ever so expressive honey orbs as she mainly looked a mixture of pain and betrayal. But Shuhua didn’t want to acknowledge it, simply making a run for the flight of stairs, leaving behind the questions she wanted to erase so badly out of her head.

Because Miyeon wasn’t just a friend. But she wasn’t more than a friend either. Instead of going further that train of thought she only ran away. Questions that weren’t asked don't need an answer and as long as she didn’t ask them herself she was okay. She wasn’t going to shoot herself in the foot … or so she thought.

“Wow.. that was … something.” Minnie’s voice finally replaced the buzzing silence following the youngest’s abrupt exit.

“I guess it’s time to call it a night. It’s fairly late after all. You aren’t driving right ?” Soojin said while standing up and cleaning their tables, with Yuqi and Soyeon’s help.

“I’m going to call a cab.” Minnie reassured while fishing her phone out.

“I’m walking home, you know it’s not that far anyway. Soyeon will probably crash at mines tonight.” Yuqi answered as she lived only a few streets away. The composer just agreed with a mute nod of her head. Leaving just one person left to answer. Unwanted eyes fell on Miyeon who hadn't moved from her spot on the couch as if paralysed.

“What about you Miyeon-unnie ? You can always sleep here, your room still has a few spare clothes in the dresser I believe.” Soojin suggested with a comforting smile but nothing could be done.

“No it’s okay, I’m staying with Minnie tonight.” Miyeon had finally regained her senses, shortly turning down the offer only to stand up and silently help everyone with the cleaning.

The daze she was in was long forgotten. Sobered up at lightning speed as if taking an ice cold shower, the voice was still repeating in her head and not leaving her mind anytime soon. It stung badly and it sucked just as much.

“Oh Uh.. yeah.” Minnie stuttered as Miyeon looked at her with pleading eyes.

After all, she couldn’t just sleep here when all she would do was bother Shuhua who certainly didn’t need a friendly neighbourhood unnie babysitting her everyday. Right, she wasn’t even a friend. The thought hurt even more and lord does she regret drinking so much as she couldn’t even differentiate her nausea from her heartache. Not friends… they were just acquaintances all this time ?

Soojin only looked at Miyeon's pitiful state, Shuhua really had a knack for choosing the worst wordings ever. Knowing her roommate, something must have happened in her head to make her panic so badly that she’d sputter a lot of nonsense and she had a vague idea of what it was all about. Nevertheless, even though she loved Shuhua (platonically) with all her heart she couldn’t pardon the girl for accidentally hurting their older friend. All Soojin could think of was that between admitting that Miyeon was special or even lying that she was just a friend, the Taiwanese really fell in between two stools.

Shuhua really screwed up big time.

Chapter Text

A week. That’s how much time has passed since Shuhua last saw or heard about Miyeon. Not that it bothered her, absolutely not, in fact it was much more peaceful without the pestering older woman always around.

Soojin however didn’t think the same way about the current situation. “Your room looks like a war field. A biochemical war field.” She scolded by the doorstep with a clear look of disgust. Well, she wasn’t so far from reality because that room looked like an elephant had a whole rave and invited the jungle along to party inside with him.

“I don’t have time to clean.” Shuhua rebuked from her spot on her desk. The only thing that was pretty clean in that mess, if you don’t take in consideration that all the papers and stationary that were supposed to be on it were thrown in the midst of dirty clothes, empty snack wrappers and even some unwashed plates along with cutlery.

“And you don’t have time to sleep too ?” Soojin retorted with a piercing gaze, clearly not having any of Shuhua’s behaviour.

“What do you want unnie ?” Shuhua turned to face her housemate who crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe.

“You’re too stressed.” The older simply pointed out, she would have had a one on one talk with Shuhua if she didn’t fear stepping on something not very sanitary. Last time her room was this dirty, Soojin accidentally stepped on a dried and sticky patch of spilled soda. The younger woman spent an hour cleaning it after receiving an earful from Soojin.

“Unnie, that’s how I keep up with my grades. Fact is, I had the highest score in both the presentation and the test this week.” Shuhua smiled a bit, trying to hide how tired she was. Sacrifices are to be made if she wanted results, and those results are worth the price.

“Shuhua.” Soojin warned with a stern voice. She hated this kind of discourse and the frown up her face did little to show how disappointed she was.

“Unnie.” But a stubborn kid she was, retorting with the same tone the older one used and with a raised chin to match up.

“I’m kicking you out.” Soojin said at last, breaking their sudden staring contest and finally delving inside that room. She pinched Shuhua by the ear which made the latter contort her body at an odd angle as she was dragged outside her lair.

“Ouch ouch ouch unnie- That freaking hurts !” Shuhua cried while being pushed into the corridor.

“You are going to stay outside until dinner. No buts.” The apartment owner said with finality and before Shuhua could even think of talking back, she had thrown a few clothes and the younger’s bag outside as well, closing the door behind her.

And for once, the gremlin has been defeated. Shuhua reluctantly trudged towards the bathroom to at least not look like someone who had just been in a car crash and made her way outside the complex. The place’s owner felt victorious and looked back at the mess she was going to clean because there was no way in hell that she would let such a health hazard inside her duplex.

“Alright, can’t be too bad …” Soojin whispered and took a first step, scrunching her nose when she felt something crunch under her foot.

____

Okay, maybe she did deserve this childish punishment. Or maybe not. Shuhua was still fuming and stomping her way through the streets, clenching her teeth to stop her anger from rolling out of her tongue in a loud ramble of nonsense. She didn’t understand why she let Soojin kick her out, she was a 22 years old fully grown woman and yet she was treated like a whimsical idiotic teenager that didn’t have human decency.

She didn’t know where she was heading nor how long she had been power walking for but she soon came to the conclusion that she needed music. A gateway from the stress and anxiety eating her guts, her hand delving into her bag with a mission but only coming back empty handed. There, she allowed herself to wail, a high pitched cry surprising the people around.

Her AirPods were missing and she was about to go mad because the raging thoughts inside her head screaming at her that she needed to study were far from dying out. She didn’t even know where she was and by the looks of it, she walked far enough to be considered lost.

Taking her phone out she was about to dial a certain number, her finger itching to press it but she forcefully pulled herself to call the number just under. She didn’t even consider contacting Soojin because she was stubborn and sulking.

Ring… ring…

“Oh hello ? Shuhua ?” She heard the familiar voice and she smiled. Finally a woman that wasn’t upset with her, this was a change of scenery.

“Minnie unnie~~” Shuhua cried out loud and she didn’t care if she sounded downright childlike because she was so ready to sob right here and there.

“Oh what’s wrong ? Are you okay ? Where are you ? Wait, let me video call !” The Thai woman’s voice sounded urgent and worried, immediately requesting to see her younger friend face to face.

She quickly accepted the request and her pout was the first thing Minnie saw. “Aww, Shu, what’s wrong ?”

“I got kicked out by Soojin and I can’t find my earphones.” Shuhua explained with her signature puppy eyes, the ones that never failed her before against very temperamental older women (her friends).

“Kicked out ? From your place ? Where are you right now ?” Minnie looked at the Taiwanese maiden with worry dripping from her voice. It never happened before, Soojin was a real monk with her roommate and she would never do something like this to the person she considered like her younger sister. However, Shuhua was persistent in testing Soojin’s patience and it was just a matter of time until she got a real scolding from her. Seemed like today was the day Shuhua had struck the wrong nerve.

“I don’t know where I am… Soojin told me to go out and not come back until at least dinner.” Shuhua replied, taking a look around her and definitely not recognising any of her surroundings.

“Oh come over then, I’m going to send you my address. Do you have money on you ? Nevermind, just hail a cab and I’ll pay for it okay.” The older woman instructed and surely enough the text containing her address quickly popped up on her screen. Before she could thank her a voice was heard from somewhere on Minnie’s side making Shuhua freeze.

“Oh who are you talking to ?” A familiar figure sat next to Minnie and looked at the phone screen before stopping all her movements. Quite literally becoming a statue next to the Thai woman. “Ah, Shuhua got kicked out by Soojin and she doesn’t have her earphones.”

“W-why is Miyeon-unnie there ?” Shuhua asked with a stutter, trying to compose herself.

“There’s a water leakage at her place so I’m letting her stay here until it’s all fixed up.” Minnie said before looking at Miyeon who seemed to have forgotten how to breathe and discreetly nudged her knee with her own but not to avail.

“Hey where do you think you left your earphones at ?” Minnie questioned which brought the other two back to their senses.

“I don’t know… it was supposed to be in my bag.” She replied.

“Maybe on your desk ? If not, it could be somewhere on your bed.” Miyeon finally spoke up for the first time, surprising everyone while doing so.

“I don’t think so, I haven’t used them in a while… I haven't gone out much lately.” Shuhua admitted in a slight sheepish voice. The only person whom she actually spent time outside with was currently avoiding her. This truth settled slowly into the two women’s mind but none were about to say it out loud

“Maybe in your sock drawer.” Minnie butted in, successfully cutting through that awkward silence.

“Why would it even be in there ?” Shuhua grumbled indignantly, she was messy for sure but not that messy.

“Third drawer of your desk, under the few papers with a pink post-it on them at the far back.” Miyeon added with a certain confidence in her voice. Thinking of when she last cleaned that room she was pretty sure that it was in there.

“Whoa, how do you know such details Miyeon-ah ?” Minnie exclaimed, impressed by the girl’s attention to details, especially when it involved Shuhua.

“I-Uh… it was obvious. A-anyway I need to get ready.” The oldest stumbled over her words and quickly bolted out of the scene, leaving Minnie alone on her couch.

“Okay…. Shuhua-yah, come here quickly. If you don’t show up in 30 minutes I’ll call the cops and for supposed kidnapping.” Minnie ended the call, a speechless Shuhua still holding her phone looking as dumbfounded as one could ever be.

The Taiwanese would definitely continue this game of hiding but Minnie was someone who would really start a search party if she didn’t show up soon. Shuhua thought of what to do but only came to the conclusion that she’ll have to avoid Miyeon inside Minnie’s house.

_______

It was exactly like how she remembered it to be. An uselessly grand house painted in white and a nice front that screamed wealth at her face. The mailbox read ‘Nicha (Minnie) Yontararak’ in a pretty font and the grey door mat had the typical ‘Home sweet home’ idiom written on it. It was a nice house but certainly too big for only one person.

She rang the doorbell and sure enough here stood the tall owner of such a (not so) humble abode. “You’re finally here !” Minnie greeted and stepped outside to hug her. Shuhua let herself melt in the embrace, one that she didn’t know she needed as it unleashed some of her exhaustion that she had stuffed far, far away from her thoughts.

It didn’t take long before she was pulled inside, Minnie truthful to her words had paid for the cab and played the role of the sweet host she was. The interior was well decorated, somewhere in between minimalistic and stuffed with hazardous objects. Minnie liked to collect items from all over the world and different eras, hang pictures and souvenirs which clashed with the original mood of the interior. Yet, it didn’t feel out of place, it looked homey and lively, enough to cope up with the lack of inhabitants.

Shuhua crashed on the white couch, it had a brownish stain on its surface that looked like a sore thumb in the perfect picture, courtesy of Yuqi and her messy eating habits. Minnie promptly joined her with two cups of warm tea which she placed down the low table made of glass, looking at her younger friend with hints of worry swimming in her eyes.

One thing for sure, Shuhua looked bad. Not ugly, absolutely not, she was as stunning as ever. This girl could wear a plastic bag and dye her hair an absurdly eye-burning colour and still make it look fine. No, by bad, Minnie meant troubled and unhealthy. The frowning eyebrows had not left the younger woman’s complexion and the eye bags seemed to have taken on yet a darker shade again. Her cheeks have sunken a little and long gone was her cute baby fat that made everyone pinch her cheeks in absolute adoration. Her pale skin that always left everyone to gasp at how pristine it was now harboured a sickly-tint that made Minnie worry even more.

All in all, Shuhua looked bad in all her glorious gorgeous self. It has been maybe a dozen of minutes since they’ve sat down together and all Minnie did was observing Shuhua and noticing more tiny details while mechanically replying to Shuhua with curt Yes or No-s whenever she would ask her something.

Despite the lack of real conversation the living room was far from silent, soft jazz music emanated from a vintage turntable near a wooden shelf full of vinyls, one of Minnie’s most priced collections inside this expensive house. Nearby was a Bluetooth speaker that followed the same vintage mood, this one was Soyeon’s birthday gift from last year and to say that Minnie absolutely loved it would be an understatement.

The house was never silent, there was always some music playing somewhere, pop or jazz, rock or soul. Minnie was not one to stand in pure silence which Shuhua was extremely appreciative of. Because right now, silence was her number one enemy and music was one of her very few protective shields from intrusive thoughts she’d rather not have inside her head.

Footsteps resounded against wooden stairs and accompanied the background jazz in rhythmic thumps, just like this Miyeon appeared all dressed and beautiful. Shuhua even forgot about her when she sat down, her mind was a little hazy and she desperately wanted to stay here with the nice jazz doing absolutely nothing.

Her heart pinched at the sight however and she wanted to curse herself for feeling this way. When it wasn’t her head it was her heart. She just wanted a moment of not feeling suffocated but apparently it was not part of her near future.

“Going somewhere?” Minnie spoke up to Miyeon who had stopped in front of them even though she kept a sizable distance from the duo on the couch.

The oldest seemed to ponder for a bit, unsure on whether to speak or ignore them all. Her choice was made after a hot minute as she didn’t want to appear rude. “I have a dinner date with Sana.” Miyeon answered, her head snapping towards her newfound roommate.

“Oh that pretty girl I saw last time ? I thought she was out of town.” Minnie inquired and made a sign for Miyeon to join them on the couch.

Miyeon looked hesitant at first but still moved towards them and plopped herself next to Minnie, the farthest away from Shuhua who was suddenly very engrossed with whatever stupid show was on the all too big tv in front of her. “She came back recently and called me this morning. She wanted us to catch up and all so yeah.”

“Lookin good Uh ~” Minnie joked while eyeing Miyeon up and down. The said woman had upped her game and wore a thin black top that showed bits of her collarbone with a matching coloured blazer and a checkered skirt. The golden necklace that hung around her neck beautifully contrasted with her dark coloured clothes while her meticulously brushed hair brought an air of maturity around her sharp features.

Shuhua would be lying if she said she didn’t find her stunning or gorgeous, a stark contrast from the comfortable hoodies and large cargo pants the older woman liked to put on when dragging her outside on an impromptu night walk around the streets. Her mind was telling her that she should voice out her opinion, tell her that she looked too good and that it did things to the stubborn pump inside her chest but the woody smell burned her lungs and she could recognise this perfume in between thousands of hundreds.

It was earthy but delightfully fresh in the air, an intricate scent that reminded her of the goofy woman. The same woman who now looked sophisticated and elegant, now this perfume complimented the mature aura way better. It was rare for Shuhua to see Miyeon looking so formal, even after work, the older woman would always sport a sheepish smile with a bubbly laugh always out of her lips before she knew it. But that woman was gone. This time Miyeon's hardened face greeted her, a look void of any emotions, guarding herself up and her arms crossing her chest in a protective stance. Eyes that weren’t the ones she was used to seeing. That was when Shuhua realised that she had been staring at her, she didn’t even know she was until she felt her own breath escaping her lips when familiar honey met her eyes. But no, it wasn’t honey but Ebony wood. Hard and cold. Distant and protected.

She unconsciously gulped down the uneasiness that was painfully clawing inside her chest and averted her gaze. She felt like crying suddenly but at the same time her eyes remained dry. It felt like years, decades before the world around her returned to her mind, the jazz was back in her ears and she immediately took her glass of lukewarm tea up to her lips to chase down the perfume with the herbal brew’s scent, inhaling in her cup and taking a gulp to soothe the scratchy feeling inside her throat.

“Do you have any updates on your apartment?” Minnie curiously asked, pretending not to feel the tension in the air around her.

“They said it’ll take 2 more weeks at most and I still need to replace the furniture that didn’t hold up with the water.” Miyeon sighed, reminded of her other issues.

“Are you okay though ? My place is pretty far from your workplace.” Minnie added, trying to subtly point out the elephant in the room (probably the same one that destroyed Shuhua’s room : an elephant of pending untold feelings).

“I’m okay.” Miyeon answered shortly as if in a business meeting, suddenly guarded and aware of her own emotions she’s desperately trying to keep at bay.

“Soojin’s place is closer to your workplace though. Wouldn’t it be better to stay there ? You have your own room at her place too.” Minnie continued like a woman on a mission. She didn’t like it when everyone was upset.

“If my presence here bothers you I can always ask Sana to let me stay at hers later. After all, she’s a good friend of mine. I need to go now, she wanted us to hang out before dinner. See you later.” She struck the wrong nerve, Miyeon’s words brought more pressure to the already unbearable tension around them and she stood up, fleeing the scene while grabbing her bag. The Taiwanese was not even mentally there anymore, her mind was running miles and she had no control over its outcome. Nor could she help the fire burning in the pit of her stomach, the unwanted anger starting to boil and slowly making its way to her mouth.

“It’s not like you asked to stay at ours anyway.” Shuhua mumbled out loud and this brought two pairs of eyes on her.

“That’s true… I didn’t ask.” Miyeon replied with a questioning gaze, perhaps waiting for something more, something else.

“I-... have fun with you friend.” Shuhua barely stopped the angry rebuke that was about to leave her lips but she bit her own tongue, preventing herself from saying it out loud, a little more and iron would flood her taste with how hard she was biting. Yet, the ugly thoughts inside her head were deafening and successfully drowned out the ones urging her to go study. The pain is merely an afterthought. Revisions be damned her brain was not sound of mind when emotions she couldn’t comprehend were overwhelming her.

“Oh that I will.” Miyeon’s voice held a hint of spite that was masked with her business tone but it made Shuhua flinch in her seat nonetheless.

The door was heard slamming shut and after a few seconds Minnie finally dared to look at Shuhua who sported a look in between anger and absolute horror. She was livid to say the least and it was like all the colours had been drained out her face (if that was even possible to begin with.)

“Shuhua.” She called out once but it was like talking to a wall, unresponsive and inanimate.

“Shuhua-yah.” She repeated herself and this time accompanied it with a small pat on the girl’s thigh.

“Uh ? Yes, Unnie ?” Shuhua looked up but it was pretty obvious that she was doing her best to bottle up her emotions.

“Wanna learn how to play the piano ?” Minnie suggested, hoping it would help her younger friend feel better. Shuhua had asked her several times in the past but they never really had the occasion to play together and for Minnie to teach her.

It seems to have worked like magic for now as life returned to those tourmaline black pupils and soon enough Shuhua regained her original cheery state of mind. Even if the slight pain could be seen, Minnie would still consider this a win while dragging Shuhua to where her grand piano was placed.

______

Dinner was going great and she was definitely having the time of her life catching up with her friend who she hadn't seen in a year or so. Right, tonight she was completely delighted and pleased with everything.

“Still single ?” The question hung in the air for a second too long, Miyeon not quite paying attention and making her friend reach out to her hand in hopes of bringing her back to the land of the living.

“Uh ? Sorry, you were saying ?” Miyeon apologised for her lack of reaction and squeezed the hand in hers with a sheepish smile in mute apology.

“I was asking if your hopelessly romantic self has found its perfect half ?” Sana kindly repeated herself with a more teasing tone this time around.

“I’m still single, thank you very much.” The older of the two answered with a pout, not appreciating the teasing.

“How come your all too loving heart still hasn’t found its precious other ?” The Japanese woman was relentlessly rubbing salt on the wound and to her delight she saw Miyeon take a sip of her wine in annoyance.

“I forgot how nosy and irritating you were.” Miyeon mumbled out, the alcohol warming her chest a little.

“That’s a given… but honestly, you’re pretty and nice. Too nice even, if I could say. People were all over you in college so I don’t believe that you are lacking suitors. So, what’s keeping you from giving a chance at love ?” Sana turned slightly serious, having known Miyeon since their college years she had seen how popular she was. She witnessed countless people getting turned down by the sweet person that was Miyeon and yet she never understood why.

“It’s just.. I’m waiting for the right person.” Miyeon shortly said, unable to form a good reasoning for herself let alone one to give her annoying friend, she was lost too for God’s sake.

“What about that girl ? The one you visited each week. You didn’t even bother seeing me every week in the past nor did you call me when I was in Japan for more than a few months. Is she the right one ? Because otherwise, as your best friend, I’d get upset by that blatant favouritism you have going on with her.” Sana inquired with a raised eyebrow while leaning back onto her chair and challenging Miyeon, a playful smirk etching itself.

“Shuhua ?” Miyeon immediately demanded in confusion.

“Yes her !” Sana nodded, remembering the name that she had heard so many times in the past from the very girl in front of her. She had listened to all the stories Miyeon had to tell, from that said rude and mean coworker that happened to be very cute too to the adorable girl that had the tendency to lead Miyeon to her impending death. Shuhua was a recurrent subject of their long and unending discussions back then.

The older of the two took a moment to think about it. Like Sana had pointed out earlier, Miyeon’s attitude regarding Shuhua was different from how she treated a friend. She couldn’t tell why though. Nor did she want to find out as a surge of unwanted negative feelings crept up from deep within her chest.

“She’s not even considering me as a friend.” Miyeon breathed out, her voice lacking its usual warmth.

Sensing the change of mood, Sana quickly sat herself straighter in her chair and stared at her friend who avoided looking back at her. She raised her own glass of wine and left it hanging over the table before speaking up.

“Okay, you have to tell me what’s this about. But first, drink up.”

XXXXXXXX

“That’s… quite something.” Sana frowned, taking a bite of her steak. Hearing everything from Miyeon sure shed some light on why her best friend was so gloomy when it was supposedly their long awaited reunion (she knew from the very moment she met with her that something was going on with Miyeon).

“You tell me about it.” Miyeon sighed, her gaze dropping towards her plate of half eaten pasta that she was now playing with with the tip of her fork.

“But… I think you should confront her and ask her what she meant.” The Japanese woman suggested, she didn’t have quite a full picture of the situation but from what Miyeon told her, it was quite a touchy predicament they were in now.

“I think that she was pretty clear with what she meant.” Miyeon grumbled, finally having another bite of her now tepid dish.

“You know, sometimes people say things they don’t mean. Or maybe she didn’t mean it in that way. However I believe that communication is the key to solve your problem.” Sana calmly said.

“There’s no way she meant it any other way… trust me, I know Shuhua too well.” The Korean woman looked her friend in the eye, trying to convey how sincerely hurt she felt.

“And I know you well too, you clearly dearly treasure her… it would be a shame if everything ended just because of this one possible misunderstanding.” Sana explained, returning the saddened gaze with her own comforting one.

“I’ll… think about it.” Miyeon’s voice was vulnerable, like it always has been when talking with her friend. One of the few people she let in her deepest secrets and thoughts.

“Now come on, cheer up. We’re here to have some fun like in the old days.” Sana exclaimed while holding her wine glass up again, prompting Miyeon to cheer with her.

“You make it sound like we are old.” Miyeon laughed.

“Oh that we are. But we are old together at least… though you’re still older, granny.” Sana teased with a bubbly chuckle.

“Yah !”

And just like that the night went on its regular course. It felt funny seeing her best friend from college again but oh lord did she miss that high pitched tone and the contagious laughter so characteristic of Sana. Talking about work and travels, what they have been up to and the future plans they wish to accomplish.

Miyeon’s phone vibrated from the corner of the table and her hand instinctively came up to see what it was all about. Her eyes slightly widened in surprise from seeing an array of Soojin’s texts, the girl rarely sent any messages let alone a dozen of them.

Soojin (boss) : Hey

Soojin (boss) : sorry to disturb you but it’s kinda urgent

Soojin (boss) : have you heard from Shuhua ?

Soojin (boss) : she doesn’t answer her phone

Soojin (boss) : I’ve called her many times now but she doesn’t answer it

Soojin (boss) : it rings tho so she does receive the calls

Soojin (boss) : I told her to come home by dinner but it’s been hours now and no news

Soojin (boss) : maybe she’s still mad at me from kicking her out

Soojin (boss) : Yuqi and Soyeon can’t reach her either and they haven’t heard about her at all.

Soojin (boss) : can you please try and call her ? She might answer if it’s you

Soojin (boss) : please Miyeon, I'm worried.

Miyeon : She’s at Minnie’s place.

Soojin (boss) : She answered you ??

Miyeon : No but I saw her there earlier today. I’m staying at Minnie’s.

Soojin (boss) : That’s a relief. Do you know how long she’ll stay there ?

Miyeon : I don’t but if she isn’t home yet she may stay there for the night

Soojin (boss) : did she eat dinner yet ?

Miyeon : no idea either. I’m out rn

Soojin (boss) : Omg Minnie can't cook for shit. Hope they won’t starve.

Soojin (boss) : thank you Miyeon, tell that idiot to come back soon. I trust you

“Was that Shuhua ?” Miyeon looked up and met Sana’s mischievous eyes on her. She realised that she had been completely ignoring her friend in favour of answering those pretty urgent texts.

“Sorry.. it wasn’t her, but it was about her at least.” Miyeon replied but her focus was lost in an endless sea of thoughts. It was past dinner by now and she knew for a fact that Minnie was not proficient in the kitchen, if the all too clean unused kitchenware was of any pointer at how useless the Thai woman was in terms of cooking. Shuhua was a little better but it would be a miracle if there was anything they could cook in the fridge to begin with. Her mind gravitated back to the image of Shuhua, her sunken cheeks and her tired look was alarming in a way. Moreover she wasn’t answering her phone at all. For all they know maybe Shuhua had passed out of hunger, the girl was pretty strict on her eating schedules and would never skip a meal.

“Earth to Miyeon.” Sana waved a hand in front of her friend whose mind was far from this reality.

“Sorry, give me a minute.” Miyeon stood up and walked towards the counter where a staff member stood with a practiced smile. She requested the staff for something before pulling out her card to pay for the meal while she was at it.

“Oh sorry, your friend already paid for your dinner tonight.”The kind woman replied while handing the card back to its owner and Miyeon’s head turned to Sana who was already eyeing her with amusement. The latter smiled and waved her own credit card, clearly mocking her.

Thanking the woman, Miyeon walked back to their table and glared at Sana who was already laughing out loud. “When did you even pay for us ?”

“You were so concentrated on your cute little friend that I sneaked to pay without you noticing. You’re getting old my dear, or perhaps you’re whipped.” Sana explained in between chuckles but doubled over at Miyeon’s priceless face painted in a mix of embarrassment and annoyance.

“You bi-”

“Here is your order to go, Miss.” Miyeon was interrupted by a nice waiter who placed a plastic bag on the table.

Looking back at Sana who sported perhaps the most annoying smug smirk ever, a chuckle threatening to leave her lips as she watched Miyeon turn 10 shades of red from embarrassment, she had to physically restrain herself from punching the laughing woman lest she screams bloody murder. Sana was that dramatic and right now Miyeon wondered why she missed her friend sometimes.

___________

Opening the door she was greeted by a pitch black entrance where she left her shoes while proceeding further inside the darken domicile. With practiced movements she placed her plastic bag onto the kitchen’s marble counter and found the light switch to the living room before analysing the situation in front of her tired eyes.

The living room was a little messy, not too much to her delight, with only a few pizza boxes lying about on the floor and the low table made of glass. She sighed, of course Minnie would have bought take out for them. She felt stupid for even worrying about dinner when her Thaï friend was a fully grown-up adult capable of taking care of herself and Shuhua too in the process. Speaking of which, at first glance she couldn’t find either of them and despite scolding herself for being such a worry wart, she couldn’t help herself from looking around in hope of finding them both well and alive.

Taking careful steps closer towards the low table, she took the oily paper box on the floor into her hands and placed it on top of the other one, making it all cleaner suddenly. When standing back up her eyes fell on the figure slumbering on the couch. Pale skin, plump lips and dark hair sprawled over the white of the fabric she was sleeping on. Here she was, as peaceful as she could ever be, completely oblivious of the world around as she was probably inside a bubble made of sweet dreams and reveries. Miyeon couldn’t help it, the smile slowly making its way towards her face and she shook her head at how silly she felt. She was ridiculous.

Nevertheless, she bent down to retrieve the blanket that had slipped from the younger’s body onto the floor and slowly put it back on its right place, snug against the maiden’s figure.

Miyeon took her phone out and snapped a picture, justifying the act by sending it to Soojin and absolutely not keeping it just for herself to see. Right, it was not to satisfy the little demon on her left shoulder whispering desire into her ear. After all, a sleeping Shuhua was no rare sight (at least not in the past) and she had several similar pictures in her camera roll. Yet, the view was still so cute that she couldn’t stop her heart from doing a little flip.

Her mind drifted back to the pain and soon her smile, arms and heart dropped. She was ridiculous and it showed. One last glance is all she let herself have, at last, before making her way towards her provisory room upstairs.

Along the way she came across a well lit room, the music was low but still audible and she walked there, opening the door before closing it behind her. Minnie was on her computer, probably editing something for her work and didn’t really register Miyeon behind her.

“Still working ?” Miyeon spoke up with an apologetic smile when Minnie turned around in a jump at the sudden interruption.

“Oh my god, don’t scare me like that. You’re back ?” Minnie exclaimed while holding a hand over her chest to calm her panicked heartbeats.

“Well yeah.. how would I be there otherwise.” Miyeon pointed out which earned a snort out of Minnie.

“Still as grumpy I see. And here I thought that Sana would have helped you out of this sulky mood of yours.” The Thai woman scoffed while crossing her arms around her chest.

“I’m not sulky nor grumpy.” Miyeon defended herself.

“You act like a teen who had an argument with her boyfriend… or should I say girlfriend in your case.” Minnie said. As much as she liked Miyeon as a friend, her being this moody was getting a little boring.

“W-What?! What are you on about-” Miyeon stuttered, not expecting this from the woman in front of her. First Sana now Minnie. She wondered if it was national bully Miyeon day today because she was not getting any time to breathe tonight.

“Oh but if it can help, Shuhua is having it worse than you. She’s literally like a heartbroken kid who had her first breakup.” Minnie shrugged before turning back to her monitor. From the pending silence she could tell that her older friend’s mechanical gears inside her brain were malfunctioning pretty badly.

“... What do you mean by that?” Miyeon shyly asked, the curiosity getting the best of her slightly butthurt attitude.

“When you left she looked like she was about to cry. She was also pretty inattentive today and kept asking about you and Sana. I had to go far and beyond to keep her entertained so she would be distracted enough to not ask about you. Plus… I don’t know but I feel like she’s sad over something but hides it.” Minnie explained with a sigh, she was worried of course and she knew that out of the two, Miyeon was probably the one who could resolve this situation. Sure, Shuhua put herself in this mess but the younger girl tends to either be too prideful or stubborn to confront it, putting herself in an unending cycle of negative thoughts.

“She kinda asked for it…” Miyeon mumbled.

“She did… not that what she said wasn’t wrong or anything but… Shuhua needs you to confront her about it. Otherwise she’ll stay mad at herself for as long as she physically can.” The owner of the house said and threw her head over her shoulder only to see her friend biting her thumb in deep thoughts.

“Hey look… we both know you care about Shuhua as much as Soojin cares about her, which is a damn lot if you ask me. I know you were hurt too but if you don’t initiate something, this won’t get better anytime soon.” Minnie added while standing up and walking towards her temporary housemate, placing her hands over Miyeon’s shoulder in an encouraging way.

“.. I don’t care that much about her.” Miyeon uttered with a frown.

“Yeah yeah and I’m not the owner of this house.” Minnie rolled her eyes.

“I just don’t get why I should always be the one to take the first step…” Miyeon sighed. Tonight everyone kept urging her to do something but last time she checked she was the one getting hurt.

“Look.. you do you. I’m just trying to say that if you want to save whatever you have going on with Shuhua, just confront her. I’m not even asking you to apologise or accept her apology as a matter of fact. She needs someone to tell her that what she said is wrong and you are the one that should scold her for it.” Minnie reassured, a soft smile grazing her lips in hopes of easing the frown over Miyeon’s features.

“I’ll think about it… I’m still hurt and upset.” Miyeon concluded while moving closer to hug her friend.

“Good, you can take some time to ponder over it okay… but don’t take too long, Shuhua won’t hold up with so much pent up stress.” Minnie returned the hug and said quietly.

“Hm.. I’ll get going, I’m tired. Goodnight Minnie and don’t stay up too late.” Miyeon mumbled out.

“I will. Goodnight Miyeon-unnie.”

___________

The morning came along with the singing birds and the sunshine seeping through the thin fabric of the curtains. Yet, she could overlook this detail. What came as a bummer was the unending sound coming from the phone underneath her pillow. Turning the perturbant device off she took three seconds to simply inhale deeply and stretch her slightly sore limbs in an embarrassing fashion. A groan escaped her lips and she opened her eyes to the grey walls of the room she was sleeping in. For a second she forgot that she was staying over at Minnie’s place but soon enough the silk bedding against her skin reminded her of her current predicament back at her place. This was just one of her many problems but she chose to ignore everything and stare at the ceiling for a second too long as her phone regained its previous vigor and startled her once more with its frightening ringing.

Miyeon took this as a sign to finally get up, her feet meeting the cold wooden floor sending a shiver down her spine. The house was quiet for once, like every morning here. It was a welcomed contrast to the later hours of the day where music or movies could be heard from the living room, if not those then the soft melody from the grand piano filled in the buzzing silence.

The warmth of the shower shook off the chilling air of this late autumn morning and let her regain her consciousness slowly. She was no morning person, or more like she was not someone who enjoyed waking up. It was always a hard task to overcome and she had suffered from several complaints due to her tendency of sleeping through her alarms. Nevertheless, it took her a few minutes under the hot water to feel awake once and for all, ready to start her day.

Wearing a white and navy striped knitted sweater and a pair of jeans, she made a mental note to bring more clothes back here later today. Now it was all about her breakfast, her stomach had let out a long drawn out growl to make itself known and it didn’t take much longer for her to trudge down the stairs, being careful not to trip over her two feet.

In the morning, the living room looked vastly different, the sun illuminated the place in a whole different manner, it felt warm just looking at the brightness that seemed to accentuate the white walls and wooden furniture. She could see some specks of dust floating in the air, drifting like dandelion seeds in the wind, and yet the room was glowing like nothing she had seen before. It was something she admired. Minnie's house, despite being empty due to lack of inhabitants, retained a bright and inviting aura that made her appreciate her stay here even more than she would have imagined.

Her eyes drifted towards Shuhua, still curled up on the couch and sleeping like a dead log. Miyeon unconsciously moved closer until her legs touched the edge of the white couch, crouching down to be on the same level as the Taiwanese woman and she simply observed the younger girl. Shuhua looked just like yesterday night, peaceful and unbothered while slumbering away. The lighting accentuated the paleness of her skin contrasting with the pinkish pair of lips and the mole under her left eye. She was beautiful and even that would be an understatement. Her frowning brows however told another story as the bright light hitting her face probably was disturbing her sleep and so Miyeon did what she deemed was natural to do. Her hand hung just over the pale face, effectively blocking the rays coming from behind the windows. The older woman smiled when she saw the frown diminishing and soon enough it was back to its original look.

She stayed like this for a moment longer, watching quietly but without noticing how close she was getting. She was leaning in until her face was just mere inches away from Shuhua’s. Just like a practiced move her lips found their ways to the pale skin and planted a gentle kiss upon the sleeping beauty’s forehead, barely touching it and yet she could feel the warmth of her skin against hers. It wasn’t the first time she had kissed Shuhua, she had tried many times to smooch her cheeks before which often ended in a brawl. Yet, it felt almost illegal to do so while the latter was unaware of her presence. But every crime has its appeal and Miyeon could tell that if she didn’t pull herself back for good she would have given her another one and perhaps another again. This was wrong and she knew it but she couldn’t do anything about something that was already done.

A noise coming from the kitchen startled her and when looking at the source of the commotion she found a freshly woken up Minnie leaning against the doorframe, looking at her with a pointed gaze. If she didn’t know better, the Thai woman would think that Miyeon looked like a deer caught in the headlights or a criminal caught in the act. Trying to act less suspiciously, Miyeon stood up and walked over the curtains to draw them close, ending this magical moment all together.

“I made a bowl of cereal for you.” Minnie announced once her temporary housemate made her way to the kitchen.

“Thanks.” Miyeon genuinely replied, suddenly remembering her hunger from earlier. Thinking that this was the end of their short-lived conversation, she heaved a sigh of relief for not having been called out on the stunt she pulled earlier but she might have celebrated a little too fast.

“You’re up early today.” Miyeon commented, disliking the silence (she will soon learn that silence was the better option).

“Well, your second alarm woke me up. By the way, good job for getting up after the 5th one.” Minnie sarcastically bit back.

“For your information I was up by the 4th.” The oldest retorted as if it was an extraordinary feat to be celebrated -in her defence it kinda was- earning a mocking applaud from Minnie. She could tell from the way her phone was already under her pillow instead of its original spot on the bedside table that she must have turned off at least one alarm and delved back to the comfort of her warm duvet. Fact is, she didn’t even remember the three other alarms before the one that actually got her up and the fifth that had startled her.

The kitchen was back to its buzzing silence, both choosing to eat there instead of the table in the living room. The kitchen was spacious enough and the counters were all deserted anyway, it’s not like it was being used very often to be fair. If Miyeon squinted hard enough she could swear that a slim layer of dust was forming on top of the microwave.

“That’s not what I call not caring.” Minnie suddenly blurted out once she placed her empty bowl in the dishwasher, alluding to that whole scene earlier in the living room, sending Miyeon to choke on her cornflakes.

“I-I was just making sure she slept okay.” Miyeon rebuked after downing a whole glass of water to calm the burning feeling of the cereals going the wrong pipe.

“You spent 15 minutes covering her face from the light. An additional 5 minutes to stare at her and a forehead kiss. Ma’am if that’s not caring, I don’t know what is. Moreover it’s Shuhua we’re talking about, she’s as bad as you in regards to being a sleepyhead, trust me she is sleeping just fine.” Minnie lifted a finger at each of her points made and she would have laughed out loud at her friend’s blush but decided against it.

“How long have you been watching exactly?” The older grumbled in annoyance, looking at her cereals with murderous intents. She had been caught and she didn’t like this at all.

“Long enough I believe. I must say… you were pretty focused back there, you didn’t even hear me walking down the stairs and getting myself a glass of water. If only you were half as focused back when we were working at the bar, it might have saved the life of a couple of glasses.” Minnie joked earning herself a painful slap in the arm from none other than her very pissed older friend.

“Then you shouldn’t have let Shuhua sleep on the couch. As far as I know you have more unused rooms than guests.” Miyeon argued although deep down she knew that the couch was so comfy that she’d fall asleep on it too if she was asked to do so.

“My couch is comfy, thank you very much. And did you seriously expect me to carry Shuhua upstairs ? She might be a baby but damn she is a big baby. If I tried to bring her up I might have sent us both to the hospital.” Minnie bit back and that’s when Miyeon knew that she lost this argument. No matter how much Minnie liked to baby their younger friend, reality has it that she was too big to be carried around like an actual child though it didn’t stop them from trying from time to time. If anything, it was Shuhua who liked to lift them up or push them around when she felt like it.

“Whatever. I brought you something for your lunch yesterday. It’s in the fridge.” Miyeon changed the subject in hope of surviving this morning without dying from the incessant teasing.

“Oh I saw, thanks… but are you sure it’s not for the gremlin sleeping just there ?” The Thai woman nodded and pointed a thumb towards the living room.

“Uh no.. why would you think so ?” The older one couldn't even look Minnie in the eyes.

“Because it's all Shuhua’s favourite.” Minnie grinned a little, this morning was starting off fabulously great for her, less so for her poor housemate.

“It’s not ?” Miyeon retorted.

“It is.” Minnie’s insistence was to be applauded there.

“Look, it’s food and you eat food. Are you going to eat it or not ?” Miyeon finally got annoyed and Minnie now knew that she was walking on a thin thread. It could be said that she liked extreme sports, if teasing Miyeon until the latter got pretty annoyed could be considered a sport. Nevertheless it remained extreme because who knew what Miyeon would do in return.

“I’ll eat it, geez.” Minnie said with a chuckle after hearing Miyeon huff.

“Where are you going today ?” Minnie asked, trying to ease Miyeon up a little. Maybe she did too much teasing for such an early autumn morning.

“Going to check on my apartment and see if the leakage has been taken care of, though I’m positive that no progress has been made.” Miyeon explained as she finished her bowl of cereal.

“Ah I see. When are you going ?” Minnie demanded while faking a curious tone.

“In about 15 minutes… why ?” Miyeon answered with a questioning look.

“Nothing. Just thought that you’d be staying longer to look at Shuhua’s sleeping face for another 20 minutes or something.” Minnie said with a straight face.

“Yah- I’m not- you know what ? I’m going now. See you later.” Miyeon angrily exclaimed, totally at a loss of words. This morning was already starting off great apparently and dear lord did she miss the comfort of her pillows and soft beddings.

Just like that she exited the kitchen only to hear her housemate finally burst out in laughter definitely directed at her. It took this amount of teasing to get Miyeon to her limit and oh did Minnie have fun in the process. She was already putting her shoes on when she faintly heard a voice calling her out and before she knew it she had already slammed the front door in pure embarrassment mixed with some kind of fury.

“Stay safe my favourite simping noodle ~ !”

(Minnie stared at her front door then back at the girl snoozing on the white couch with a deep sigh. These two idiots are playing a game of who’s the most miserable and yet none are willing to make a move, it was like someone had pushed the ‘pause’ button and everything came to a stop. It was a stalemate but unfortunately for them it looks like it was Miyeon’s turn and in this emotional game of chess : two can play the game.)

Chapter Text

On this rainy Friday, Shuhua was wondering just how badly this day could possibly go for her. For once she had finished all of her assignments and no exams were in sight for maybe another week. So far, it seems to be every students’ dream life. But Shuhua is built differently. Not having anything to do anymore she barely had a moment of peace with her mind going back and forth to the person she had tried to avoid so badly. Yet it seems like destiny had it another way because they somehow always ended up running into each other. 

When Soyeon brought her to a coffee shop one fine morning before her classes, everything was well until a familiar business woman entered the vicinity and ordered herself an Americano. As expected, Soyeon also spotted their friend and asked her to come over to their table. That’s how Shuhua had to make up an excuse of being late to her classes as a way to escape this awkward situation ending with her being at least 40 minutes too early and having to wait inside her campus all alone. Needless to say, the aimless roaming inside her institute had frightened a poor janitor who had mistaken her for a ghost that day. 

Another time she was grocery shopping with Soojin. The latter had gently offered her to come along -more like forced her to join- so she had no choice but to willingly comply and with a pleased smile to top it off (future her would have given a thumbs up at that, especially after getting kicked out). Shuhua had mindlessly pushed the half filled cart around the long aisle of sauces, not really paying mind to the people around and utterly bored out her mind. At some point she bumped into a woman clad in a pretty suit and as an apology was about to leave her mouth she felt the world fold onto itself. Lo behold here was Cho Miyeon in front of the refrigerated instant meals holding a box of tasteless microwaveable cream pastas. It didn’t take Shuhua much longer to tighten her grip on the cart and dash away leaving the older girl in the dust. She was no good Mario kart player but after that day she was sure that she’d never lose a market cart race in her life. 

What stole the show however was that improbable chance of Minnie housing Miyeon the very day Shuhua was kicked out of hers by none other than Soojin. Thankfully Miyeon didn’t stay long but it didn’t mean that she felt any better. Out of all the other accidental encounters this was by far the worse and it left a sour taste in her mouth along with a heavy heart that seemed to have dropped all the way down to her stomach. This was also accompanied with even more tormenting memories which she couldn’t process in the slightest, sometimes she wished they were just a fever dream and forget them all next morning. So that’s what she did, all those times she accidentally bumped into her faded away. She hasn’t seen nor heard about her for the past week. She convinced herself so. 

The soft pit-a-pat of the raindrops hitting the window pane lulled her into a state of trance, swimming in her thoughts that threatened to drown her in waves of unwanted feelings. A little more and she would be breathing in emotions she couldn’t even understand, sinking further down in its bottomless pit that dragged her deeper and deeper. Her mind ceased to float adrift of everything and she was falling, spiraling, forgetting how to breath for a split second.

A hand fell onto her shoulder and while it startled her awake, she was glad that this same hand pulled her up back to the surface. “You okay there ?”

She could breathe again.

“Yeah.. just.. thinking.” Shuhua looked away from the window and the grey streets to pay attention to her best friend. 

A frown greeted her view and she avoided it, returning to the window and the raindrops softly falling from the sky, the people running under the rain and the sunshine lost behind the clouds. “Talk to me.” She heard the low husky voice, feeling like thunder despite the calm drizzle on the outside. 

“What do you want to talk about ?” Shuhua asked and this time she dared to lock eyes with Yuqi. After waking up this morning on Minnie’s couch running late for her classes, she had decided to spend the remaining afternoon at Yuqi’s place to have a change of scenery and distract herself a little. She could have gone back to her Thai friend’s oh so large house but the thought of running into she-who-must-not-be-named made it suddenly way less appealing. So there she was supposedly having fun although it felt more like a pity party with more pity than party with a nice addition of a free interrogation service by yours truly : Song Yuqi.

“You and Miyeon.” The Chinese woman's grave voice did little to hide her seriousness, ever so straight to the point.

Alas, it seemed like she couldn’t run away forever. Upon hearing the name she flinched remembering the last time they talked, that one encounter yesterday at Minnie’s house. The cold eyes and even colder voice that froze her to the core and she was glad that she didn't see her in the morning. “When will you two make up?” Yuqi demanded, arms crossed over her chest. She was slightly upset with her younger friend here who, as usual, ran away from confrontation and problems like her life depended on it (for Shuhua it did feel like a life or death situation though).

“I… what’s there to make up for anyway.” Shuhua mumbled, hugging her knees closer.

“Your friendship for one ! You two seriously- What was even going through that thick skull of yours last Friday ?” Yuqi expressed with frustration seeping through her voice, hands coming up to mess up her beautiful blonde hair.  

“I don’t know ! I don’t know…” the younger one exclaimed, stressed beyond measure, her voice growing fainter at each word. 

The influencer sighed deeply, she knew how stubborn Shuhua was and how she was extremely bad at handling her own emotions when given time to ponder on them for a little too long. “Look… since you two fought, if we can even call this a fight, you’ve been feeling under the weather. Look at you ! It’s not just a simple argument and you should do something about it.”

“I.. want to. Trust me, I want to but- …it’s hard. I don’t even know why I said that in the first place. I don’t even know what to tell her !” Shuhua finally shared bits of her worries, the heavy weight slightly lightened over her heart but remained still. Her voice was more vulnerable, a little raw and incredibly sincere. 

Yuqi calmed down at the sight, seeing Shuhua in such a state was rare, the younger never let her distress show and always had this put-together act when in reality, she was like any other ordinary human with feelings and all. She was just as lost as she could be. 

“Hey… first just tell her you’re sorry. You know Miyeon, she'll never stay mad at you for long.” Yuqi tried to reassure her, voice less stern and more empathetic. 

“She was mad.. really mad yesterday.” Shuhua’s voice nearly broke, the admission bitter on her tongue. 

“I would be too if I was her. Trust me, I would’ve slapped you right there and then if you ever said this to my face.” Yuqi playfully blurted but almost felt guilty when she saw the pouting woman in front of her. She immediately offered a sympathetic pat on Shuhua’s shoulder hoping it would comfort her. “Okay okay, but seriously now. Talk to her tonight. This has been going on for way too long now.” 

“I’ll …try…” Shuhua said a little unsure. 

As much as she’d like to say that this was all just the product of her stupid self saying something she didn’t even mean in the slightest, it was unfortunately much more complicated than that. Deeper feelings were involved and the day before spent at Minnie’s place didn’t help her in that regard. It was a mess in her head and a mess in her chest that constricted painfully at two vivid memories playing again and again. Both extremely different but just as painfully hard to remember for vastly diverse reasons. 

She was a mess.

xxxxxxxxx

Spending time with her friend has helped in easing her nerves for what was to ultimately come tonight. Yuqi had begged Shuhua to record a video together with the promise that the influencer didn’t post it without showing her the final product beforehand. It was a silly video of them playing some video games which ended up in a brawl. Of course, Shuhua won. Both the games and the fight that ensued, earning her a very sulky Chinese woman trying to argue back that she had let her win because she was the oldest one here. Truth was, Yuqi had lost fair and square. 

For a second she had almost forgotten about everything going on in her life, focused on the present, turning a blind eye to the future coming for her at a threatening fast pace. A future that she could never avoid despite her best efforts. 

“Did you know that Soyeon had produced a new song ? Apparently another big group has claimed it already.” Yuqi said with a proud smile.

“Oh really ? That’s amazing !” Shuhua exclaimed happily. Soyeon had always worked hard and it warmed her heart to hear that she was successful in her dream job.

“I know right !” Yuqi agreed. 

The moment was cut short by the ringing of a phone. Like an alarm signaling of the dreaded reality to come. “Talking about her. Yes, darling ? Already ? Alright, we’re coming then. See you soon.” Yuqi said before hanging up.

“Soyeon just called saying she’s already at the bar. We should go now, come on.” The Chinese woman pulled her up from the wooden chair and went to fetch her bag, urging Shuhua to get ready as well. 

Her temporary escape has come to an end and she felt grateful for the hand in hers pulling her down the building and into the streets. If it was just her, she wondered how long she’d stay with her feet glued to the ground, unmoving and hesitant. Stop thinking, she told herself. 

The drizzle had not receded and Shuhua found pleasure in the fresh air filling her lungs, mentally preparing herself to talk with her. She had to do it. The small raindrops hitting the umbrella above her head like a soft buzz that accompanied her throughout the walk, calming her thumping heart. Inhale, exhale. Repeat. As easy as that. 

Everything would come easily.

_______

“Hi, darling !” Yuqi said as soon as she opened the front door to the bar, confidently locking eyes with Soyeon who beamed and rolled her eyes at the playful nickname. The two sat at a table, animatedly talking about something that Shuhua couldn’t hear from her spot next to the entrance.

“Welcome back, Shuhua.” Soojin greeted her housemate from behind the counter, still in her working attire and cleaning a glass or two. She was still on the clock, some customers were scattered across the inside, chatting and laughing. 

“Do you need help unnie ?” Shuhua asked while eyeing the bar and slowly approaching the older woman. 

“Hm, if you want to, I don't mind.” Soojin shrugged but retained that grateful smile from the kind offer. Just like that Shuhua disappeared inside the staff room to put on the shirt she used for work only before taking an order from a group sitting at the back. 

Friday night was always lively here, students and workers alike often stayed at the bar to enjoy the end of the week. On special occasions Soojin allowed herself to close business earlier when she and the crew would celebrate some important event such as birthdays or meaningful accomplishments. However today was just like every other Friday, the group would come one by one and stay until closing hour and more to catch up on each other. 

Shuhua was still technically working under Soojin although by now, it was more like contributing sporadically in reducing the older’s workload every now and then. It didn’t bother Soojin much anyway, she knew that the girl was busy with her studies and the few free time she had would make for a well deserved rest. Hence why she never really pressured the girl into working regularly unless she needed a helping hand behind the counter.

“Here’s for you.” Shuhua placed down two beers in front of her friends who were visibly playfully arguing together. 

As if on a cue, Minnie appeared from behind and gave her a tight hug which startled her a little but soon a smile made its way onto her face. “Hello everyone !” The Thai woman said loudly while waving at Soojin who returned it with her own acknowledging nod.

“How come you are all so early today ?” Minnie remarked, taking a seat next to Yuqi and bumping her fist with hers. 

“I just felt like coming here. What about you ? Aren’t you supposed to be at the filming site until 7pm ?” Soyeon replied with a shrug.

“The recording was postponed due to the bad weather.” Minnie explained with a small sigh, her project was lagging behind due to these unforeseen situations but she wasn’t really worried per say, just slightly tired.

“Ah that sucks.” The music producer commented while handing the movie director her beer out of empathy. 

“It’s fine. I believe we will wrap everything up by next week.” Minnie waved off the negativity, taking a gulp of the beer she had been graciously given by none other than their captain.

“The rain is kinda annoying.” Yuqi frowned while eyeing the window with a form of distaste. 

“Funny hearing that from you Miss Rainy Season, though I’m glad that you finally admit that you’re annoying.” Soyeon joked which made Minnie giggle at the now red Yuqi who was fumbling for a comeback. 

“Y-yah you- I meant the feeling ! You know, when it rains it just feels bad !” The blonde stuttered while pointing a very vexed finger at Soyeon. When the latter only raised a curious eyebrow Yuqi sat down with an angry huff and drowned the rest of her sentence in her glass.

“You think so ?” Shuhua, who was silently listening, blurted out in a calm voice. A sheer contrast from the Chinese’s indignant tone from earlier.

“Well, maybe not for you since the rain makes you work less.” Yuqi answered back while motioning to the calmness of the bar, still a little grumpy with her eyes shooting daggers towards the smallest one of the group who had a pleased smile on her lips. One thing for sure, there were less customers than usual due to the drizzle that threatened to turn into a downpour at any moment.

“I kinda get what she means though. It’s the vibe of the rain, you know, like it dampens the mood a little.” Minnie agreed with a nod which Yuqi used to her advantage to get back to Soyeon.

“Anyway, it’s not because it’s raining outside that you can laze around. One beer for me, pretty please.” Soyeon said, diverting the attention back to Shuhua while faking a scold before ordering herself a drink. 

“Yes, yes captain.” Shuhua giggled at the pet name, one leaving her mouth as a reply before heading behind the counter to fetch the beverage. Throwing a look behind her shoulder she saw them arguing again and she could only shake her head at their silliness.

Time went by with laughter and drinks. The trio of producers haven’t stopped talking for the past hour with Yuqi insisting on putting music to, in her words, elevate the mood. After much begging Soojin relented and the bar was now animated with a nice playlist blaring from the fairly expensive speakers in the corner. 

“So ? How’s our gremlin doing ? You spent the afternoon with her right ?” Soyeon demanded curiously.

“She’s being an idiot like usual.” Yuqi nonchalantly answered, her gaze drifting to the said younger woman cleaning a table on the opposite of them. The two other women nodded in understanding, in the few years they have spent with Shuhua all of them agreed that emotion-wise she was as good as a soaked paper bag. Utterly useless.

“Shuhua is emotionally constipated I fear. Worse than Miyeon.” Minnie added which made the others chuckle a little.

“Ah right ! She’s staying at your place ? How is she ?” Yuqi clapped her hands remembering that piece of information.

“Do you want the long or short version ?” The oldest of the three challenged with a playful tone. 

“Surprise us.” Soyeon said, anticipating the answer.

“She’s a simping noodle in denial who is too whipped to actually stay mad. She was all mad at her but the next thing I know she spent 15 minutes watching Shuhua sleep on the couch this morning.” Minnie offered to make everyone laugh, she debated whether or not telling them about the full story of that fateful morning but decided against it. Despite her love for annoying their older friend, she’d rather divulge this information when the latter is there to actually be embarrassed about it. True friendship she’d like to call it.

“Speaking of which, she’s awfully late today.” Yuqi pointed out after taking a look at her phone to see what time it was. 

By now Soojin was closing up the bar with the help of Shuhua. They had agreed on ordering take out for dinner and waited for it to arrive. With some luck their favourite businesswoman would appear before their large sized meal. It was no secret that Miyeon was a tardy queen, having just as much of a feud with her morning alarms as with being on time for her appointments. It was a wonder how she survived as a businesswoman up until now to say the least. Her being late was not really surprising but normally she would have texted them by now or at least given a head up. 

“Guess she’ll be the one paying for dinner tonight then.” Minnie shrugged totally unfazed by the lack of punctuality coming from her temporary housemate. 

Shuhua who had been organising the now clean glasses heaved a relieved sigh, she was done with work for today. Glancing at the table where her friends were still talking she decided to approach the bunch, wanting to make sure they didn’t need anything else. “Everything is okay ?” 

At her presence Minnie suddenly sat up and a light bulb went off next to her head, a mischievous smirk up on her lips. “Oh, Nong Shu, come here ~” Minnie greeted and pulled the younger one to forcefully sit next to her. 

“What is it ?” Shuhua inquired with a raised eyebrow, a little taken aback by the suddenness of everything.

“Since our dear Miyeon is late, dinner will be on her tonight.” The oldest explained while looking pointedly at Soyeon to play along with her. It seems like the girl caught on the act and immediately butted in.

“Right, poor Miyeon will have to empty her wallet for us. What do you think, Shuhua ?” Their captain nodded with a slightly exaggerated pitiful tone.

The youngest took a few seconds to think of an answer. To be fair, she was late and by their rules it meant that she’ll have to treat them all for dinner. But at the same time she felt bad for her as she has been buying their meals several times in a row now due to her tardiness. “Hmmm.. won’t it be the third time this month ? Won’t she go broke at some point…” Her voice was a little weak but everyone heard her loud and clear.

“Unless ! Someone takes the fall for her and be her knight in shining armour tonight.” Yuqi very discreetly suggested. 

“Oh ! Who, in between us, could be so chivalrous to save our silly tardy princess in distress ?” Minnie emphasised with an absurdly excessive set of large hand movements that nearly ended up slapping the Taiwanese girl next to her who didn’t flinch. Shuhua had stayed quiet, pondering on the situation.

What better way to apologise than to do her a favour. The idea fitted nicely in her head. She could imagine Miyeon smiling at her with that goofy smile and hugging her way too tightly, thanking her with a high pitched voice that was a mix in between a squeal and a squeak. Then, she would forget about their fight and be back to their original dynamic. 

“Shuhua-yah ! I’m gonna freshen up upstairs, don’t you want to take a shower before dinner too ?” Soojin called out, standing next to the door leading to their shared duplex upstairs.

“I’m coming ! Be right back Unnies !” And it’s with a grin up her lips that Shuhua skipped her way to her housemate ready to both take a shower and fetch some money in her room. 

Tonight she will make things right. 

________

As expected, dinner was quicker than Miyeon, not very surprising to say the least. Everyone was sitting around the table and didn’t even wait for her to arrive before digging in, all famished and impatient. The three producers couldn’t stop grinning like old weirdos when Shuhua had jumped in to pay the delivery man before anyone could even move a finger. Soojin only looked at her friends with a curious raised eyebrow only to shake her head knowing that it must be one of their many schemes. Either way she gently patted Shuhua’s head when the former boasted about treating them today with a proud smile and smug look. 

“Aww, our Shuhua is now treating us for dinner. She grew up into such a fine woman.” Yuqi teased her after one too many beers.

“Eww don’t speak like this… you sound like my grandma.” Shuhua gave her a very disgusted face.

There was a knock coming from the back door and everyone stopped the banter to throw a confused look towards the said door. “Did we order something else ?” Soyeon questioned and held back her chuckle when she saw Shuhua going pale at her words, she had spent half of her allowance just tonight and she’d like to have enough left to buy herself lunch for the next few days. 

“I’ll go see about it.” Soojin announced before making her way calmly, she already had an idea on who was knocking at their door so late in the night. It was no forgotten fried chicken take out but rather a bowl of very late night soaked ramen. 

“Oh hello ma’am ! I’m sorry but I don’t think we ordered noodles tonight.” Soojin said loud enough for the girls inside to hear her.

“Oh really ? I was told to deliver this very pretty noodle dish here though.” The woman replied, playing along with Soojin.

“Ah but we didn’t order and we already ate dinner.” Soojin added and pointed behind her.

“Please ma’am, the noodles are getting cold and mushy too.” The woman begged putting her two hands together in front of her in hope of softening the stern bar owner. 

“I guess some extra noodles won’t do us harm.” Soojin smiled and finally stepped aside to let the late woman in.

As they approached the group at the back Soojin called them out. “Who ordered late night noodles ?” 

Everyone turned their head at the pair and laughed at the sight of a soaked businesswoman, hair damp and raindrops clinging onto her coat and skin, if she wasn’t smiling sheepishly under their gaze one might think that these were tears on her pale face. 

“You’re late, I’ll give a bad review for these cold noodles.” Minnie joked as she let Miyeon slip in the seat next to her.

“I think I deserve some good reviews for being good looking and tasty even though I’m cold and soaked.” Miyeon jested with a semblance of a wink which made the others snort.

“Good looking… maybe but tasty ? Ma’am I’d rather not take a bite of something looking like a wet dog.” Yuqi faked a frown while moving a hand in Miyeon’s overall direction. 

“Too bad for you. I’m a high quality noodle and trust me I'm as tasty, dry or wet.” Miyeon shrugged, already stuffing her mouth with whatever was left on the table.

“I didn’t know that noodles could be so shameless.” Soyeon said, a dirty joke on the tip of her tongue but she’d rather keep this dinner family friendly. 

“It’s a charm of mine.” The late woman with a smug smile.

“Yeah, it would be better if you were on time too. No one likes late delivery.” Soojin scoffed.

“Ahhh about that, I was busy with my apartment then I had several meetings at the company. My phone died too so yay me.” Miyeon explained while showing her phone which indeed refused to light up despite the incessant clicking on the power button.

“For once you actually have an excuse for being late Uh ?” Yuqi remarked with a playful raised eyebrow, nonetheless, she offered her a powerbank.

“I’m always late for a reason. Also, who do I have to pay for dinner tonight ?” Miyeon looked up, eyeing Minnie and Soojin who usually orders for everyone, when both gave no sign of having done so she glanced at Soyeon who had a sly smirk on her face.

“You ain’t going broke tonight. It’s already paid.” Soyeon said while crossing her arms across her chest, already enjoying the scene.

“Eh ? What do you mean ?” The businesswoman demanded in confusion.

“A knight has decided to save your tardy ass tonight.” Minnie explained with a smile that could rival the Cheshire Cat.

“Stop messing with me, you all are hungry hyenas.” Miyeon frowned, feeling the impending prank that they are pulling on her.

“Have more faith in us ! We only want your well-being.” Yuqi feigned being hurt by Miyeon’s unfounded accusations when in reality they all knew that those words couldn’t be closer to the truth.

“Uh-Uh … and who paid for me then ?” The oldest challenged them totally unconvinced. 

“Of course ~”

“Our dear,”

“And lovely”

“Yeh Shuhua !” As if they had rehearsed this, Minnie and Yuqi exclaimed in unison, hands dropping on their youngest‘s shoulders who stilled at the sudden attention on her. She had remained extremely silent ever since Miyeon entered the room and she didn’t even dare looking at her either. A nudge in the ribs made her flinch and immediately look up only to accidentally lock eyes with the person she had avoided since last Friday. Her breath caught in her throat and for a second she could feel the chair slip under her butt. 

The room became silent, unfamiliar and cold. As if the rain has decided to come inside and dampen everyone in a drizzle of unspoken words. While Shuhua appreciated the buzz the raindrops created against her umbrella when she was outside, she finally understood what Yuqi meant by the mood induced by none other than the rain. It was there, all around them, like the uncontrollable weather as the sun hid itself behind the clouds. They all stood under a tension as heavy as the downpour outside, soft drizzle turned into a storm.

“I-isn’t she so nice ? Treating us all tonight !” Yuqi tried to save what was left of their sunny dinner. 

“Right ! We were just talking about how she grew up into a gentlewoman.” Minnie added with an exaggerated nod. 

“Miyeon-unnie …  what do you think ?” Soyeon addressed the oldest here, the one who remained silent as she observed the youngest’s face.

“I think it’s nice.” Miyeon simply answered while averting her gaze back to her chopsticks and resuming her paused and belated meal. Simply eating while the rest tried to understand the current situation.

Shuhua felt it again, her earlier confidence crumbling down as she was met with the same cold eyes as yesterday. Her stomach churned painfully and it was like her mind went somewhere else for a split second, a habit of hers when problems were too much. Thankfully the hands on her shoulders remained there, keeping her from drifting away and dissociating from her issues and emotions. 

Clearing her throat to divert the attention, Yuqi stood up and masked her awkward smile with a grin. “Should I make us some drinks ?”

Immediately everyone turned to their not so favourite ex-bartender with terror in their eyes. “Yuqi No !” They all screamed.

“Yuqi fuckin’ Yes !” Yuqi challenged but quickly gave up when 5 pairs of very disapproving eyes stared at her, she only shrugged and made her way behind the counter defeated. “You bunch of haters, I’m just going to get us some beers.” 

It worked wonders as the conversation flowed easily from then on, with the exception of Shuhua who remained quiet. Sometimes reacting with one liners when she felt like she had to say something but other than that she was as silent as a tomb. Even the dead were more expressive, nonetheless, she tried her best not to let her thoughts invade her head and kept herself focused by playing with her fingers, when it wasn’t enough she grabbed Soojin’s hand in hers. The latter simply let her be, understanding that the youngest was trying her best to gather back whatever confidence that had been pulverised into dust a few moments ago.

It was nearing the end of their weekly reunion, Yuqi had been yawning for the past hour and Minnie couldn’t deny the exhaustion slowly creeping up in her body. But as if she was suddenly revived, she stood up making the table shake by the sudden movement. 

“Girls ! I almost forgot !” Minnie suddenly called them out which woke up a slightly dozing off Yuqi.

“What is it ?” Soojin questioned.

All eyes fell on the Thai movie producer who had a proud look on her face, no one would have thought she was about to fall asleep on her chair minutes prior to her outburst. “Are you all free next weekend? Friday afternoon until Sunday evening to be precise.” 

Several answers filled the place, a mix of “yeah” and “I guess I am”. Her eyes fell on Shuhua who was yet to reply. “I don’t have much to do for the next few weeks… I guess.” Minnie beamed at that.

“What is it for anyway ?” Soyeon, who was the most reluctant to the whole ordeal, demanded. 

“As I’m wrapping up with my project next week, my parents gave me and the crew a free weekend in one of their partnered hotels. They rented several houses there and told me I could invite my friends along. So I was wondering if you would all be free to come with me.” Minnie finally exclaimed a little too hyped up all of a sudden.

“Woah seriously?!” Yuqi stood up as well and started jumping up and down excitedly. 

“Yes ! So are you coming ?” Minnie said and sat back down to look at the rest of them in the room. It was a no-brainer for Yuqi to come but the others were the unpredictable ones here.

“Do we really have to go ?” Soyeon asked, being the most homebody-ish here she didn’t know what to think of both a trip far from the comfort of her apartment and sharing so much time with people and humans alike, even if they were her closest friends.

“Yes ! And you are coming with us !” Yuqi left no space for discussion and immediately glared at Soyeon when the latter was about to argue back. It’s with a defeated sigh that Soyeon nodded her agreement to the invitation.

“What about you ?” The movie producer glanced at her former boss.

“If Shuhua comes then I guess I can close business for the weekend…” Soojin replied, it would serve as a well deserved day-off for her staff too. 

“I could use a rest I suppose…” Shuhua answered a little unsure.

“Will we have noodles during the trip ?” Minnie finally turned to her temporary housemate of the past week. However she frowned seeing Miyeon’s pensive face.

“I’m not sure.” Miyeon replied, taking a bite of whatever she found nearest to her.

“Why so ?” Minnie questioned, already sensing where this was going.

“I wouldn’t want to bother. My presence could be too imposing.” The voice was laced with pain. Miyeon’s words were pointedly directed at someone and if it wasn’t clear enough, her eyes fell right on Shuhua who froze at them.

“Why would you be a bother Miyeon-ah?” Soojin said in hopes of somehow diffusing the arising tension in the room.

“I don’t know but I may just be a neighbourhood unnie. Who knows, my presence alone could be bothering someone.” Miyeon explained, not letting this one go. She was not going to spend a weekend with Shuhua if the latter was still going to avoid her like she was doing these last few days. 

Everyone stopped moving at this but the paused scene regained its liveliness when Shuhua suddenly stood up, her legs bumping the table which trembled and gave the sharp metallic melody of cutlery shaking in clanking noises. This was it, it was her cue to finally make things right. No more turning back. Inhale, exhale and repeat. As easy as that… it was just that easy.

“I… Unnie… I just…” Trying to articulate whatever was on the tip of her tongue, it was suffocating and the more she tried the less she could breath. Her hands shook and felt clammy, her eyes prickled a little and she wondered if she was about to cry there and then. That would be embarrassing. “I wanted to-” 

But before something could leave her mouth, the sharp inhale she took made her choke on her own saliva and she started coughing. Once her coughing fit subsided, she glanced at everyone’s worried look directed at her, Soojin’s hand that had come up to soothe her burnt against her back and now she was sure of it. She was about to cry.

Cold eyes bore holes into her head, the ones she couldn’t stand to look for too long. This was the last drop and just like last week her legs did all the talking. Her hand tried to keep her body from tripping over her chair as she made a sudden run for it, a glass falling onto the wooden surface of the table. words muffled in her ears like a blanket of white noise that she couldn’t process with the drizzle following her every step, each raindrop slowly filling her lungs.

“Shuhua-yah.” 

The name hung inside the room void of the said college student who had fled the vicinity and disappeared in the flight of stairs, leaving the door agape. The five of them stayed shook and unable to process what just happened. 

Soojin collected the glass that was tipped over, which was thankfully empty. She tentatively looked at the dark staircase “I-” 

“I’m going to talk with her.” Miyeon suddenly cut her off and wordlessly walked away. 

No one questioned it. 

_________

Finding Shuhua was easy, if not in the living room, the girl was probably inside her room. That’s where Miyeon was headed to, not even thinking about what to say or do. She had done what the others wanted of her, to confront the younger woman. Now that she had done it, she intended to get it settled once and for all. 

She didn’t even bother to knock on the door that was left ajar, silently stepping in and closing it behind her with a soft click that broke the deafening silence. Shuhua was there, standing and facing Miyeon. Her eyes were strained on the floor and maybe if she wished hard enough she would wake up and realise that everything was just a fever dream. Like she had done the past week. Wishing again and again that this wasn’t real, that there were no fights, no awkward feelings and no Miyeon before her. But each dream has its end and this was it, the end. 

“I was hurt, I still am. Your words were pretty mean, you know.” Miyeon said to Shuhua who refused to look at her, her voice was lacking any betraying emotions. She hated this voice, she hated those eyes but she hated herself even more now that she had to face them.

She wanted to run away again, her earlier confidence had crumbled down like a sandcastle under her thumping heart and left nothing of it but waves of insecurities and anxiety inside her mind that left her bare and empty. A splendid landscape of raw thoughts with a tide of vulnerability crashing on the shore in a rhythmic motion, shaking her world each time. 

“I did my half. Now your turn.” The oldest urged, leaving no space for doubts anymore, it was now or never. 

“I… I’m sorry for what I said last Friday.” The words left Shuhua’s mouth while her eyes remained closed and her fists clenched on her sides reminding her that this was real. It was as easy as that after all, but that wasn’t what she feared most. What she desperately ran away from were the questions which she didn’t have answers for, the same ones that made her falter each time over and over. But It seemed like they caught up to her before she could even find an answer to them. Bracing herself she could count each second passing by, all being one second too many in her opinion. 

“Hm.” Was all she heard and she finally dared to take a look at Miyeon. The sight was probably what she regretted the most, it was the same one that she kept seeing in her head for the past week. The face void of its usual silly smile, eyebrows frowning a little as sadness swam in her warm honey eyes. She hated this, especially knowing she was the cause of such a pained expression grazing the oldest features. 

“I’m really sorry.” Shuhua repeated but it was fainter, a hush in the silent room and if Miyeon didn’t have her attention strained on the Taiwanese she would have missed it for sure.

“Can I at least know why you said that..?” Miyeon asked at last, the one question she couldn’t shake off her mind. She desperately needed to know even if the truth could hurt her more than she already had been. What she didn’t know was that this was exactly what Shuhua could never answer.

Shuhua considerably paled, here it was, the thing she had been running away from. She tried forming a good explanation in her head but none seemed to fit nor be enough, they never were enough no matter how hard she tried. What was she even thinking back then ? Why wasn’t Miyeon a friend ? She had spent so much time with Miyeon in the past and after spending a week avoiding her she could feel the obvious hole in her heart, the one that Miyeon always filled up with her overbearing presence. The emptiness that she had tried to ignore, burying herself into school work and distancing herself from the thoughts screaming at her to see the truth just in front of her. Miyeon wasn’t just a friend… she immediately stopped that train of thought and it all started again because for her this wasn’t the right answer. So she had to try harder until it satisfied her, slowly forgetting about the world around just to ask herself the same repeated questions. 

At the silence, Miyeon felt two conflicting emotions, one that was glad to see the troubled face in front of her that indicated that the latter took this seriously and the other that was worried about the actual answer she was searching for. She took a step forward, Shuhua didn’t even notice her, totally engrossed inside her thoughts but was quickly brought back by the soft hand that fell on her shoulder. Looking up at Miyeon she was surprised to see the smallest of a smile, one that was warm but still showed the pain she was feeling. 

“Shuhua-yah… am I really not a friend to you ?” Miyeon demanded instead, voice raw and vulnerable. Screw the reason for such words last week, she needed to know this first. She needed to know where she was standing.

“I.. you’re my friend.” Shuhua affirmed, eyes fixated on the floor in between them. That’s what all her intensive thinking led her to, or rather all she allowed herself to admit because more would mean something she didn’t want to acknowledge and to that she couldn’t answer. As if sensing the confusion coming from the businesswoman she quickly added in a whisper. 

“You’re my precious friend.”

One, two… the time was ticking away and Shuhua felt how clammy her hands became, how heated her cheeks suddenly felt and how her heart seemed to be imitating the tempo of the latest trendy EDM song that Yuqi fancied listening to. It was loud, quick and painful in her chest. The hand on her shoulder tightened its grip a little and she finally took a glance at Miyeon.

“Can you repeat it, I didn’t quite catch it.” The oldest woman demanded innocently. A lie. She had heard it loud and clear if the wide grin up her lips was of any indication.

“No.” Shuhua felt way too flustered all of a sudden and immediately deadpanned much to the businesswoman’s disappointment.

“Please, say it again !” Miyeon repeated, poking Shuhua in the ribs making her jolt at the sharp pain. 

“I said no !” Shuhua reflexively pushed Miyeon who tumbled face first onto her bed. She could only stand there with her mouth a little agape and her cheeks dusted in pretty pink watching the scene. 

Miyeon sat up and glared at Shuhua with an indignant finger pointed at her. “Yah ! That’s not how you treat a precious friend !” She scolded childishly, face red and a strand of hair clumsily dangling in front of her face, hair disheveled from the fall and in all honesty she simply looked funny. 

“So you heard it !” Shuhua loudly exclaimed, trying to not falter at the comical sight.

“No I didn’t !” Miyeon immediately retorted even though she was caught in her own lie already, she couldn’t even uphold her frown for long as a goofy smile soon replaced the pout.

“Yes you did.” Shuhua rebuked and threatened to fight Miyeon who was still on her bed, her fist hanging in the air in false anger. 

As she approached the older woman, the two just glared at each other’s face, silence covering them in a blanket of privacy. It was just Miyeon and her, in their own world and before she knew it, a chuckle left her throat which was soon accompanied with Miyeon’s own giggles. They laughed for several minutes at their own silliness, missing this all too much as the previous tension dissipated into thin air like it never existed in the first place. Shuhua took the final step forward and sat herself next to the smiling older woman, both of them leaning against the wall saying nothing more, simply basking in the fact that their very first big fight ended once and for good. 

“I meant it… you’re a special friend. I’m sorry for saying you weren’t.” Shuhua apologised again, sincerity dripping from her voice even though her cheeks were hurting from their laughing fit, head dropping onto Miyeon’s shoulder like it was meant to be there. 

“Hm… it’s okay. I was mad but you made it up to me, thanks to you my wallet will survive one more week.” Miyeon replied and although she couldn’t see it, Shuhua was sure that the latter was grinning like a fool. The youngest only playfully nudged the older one’s knee with her own as she let out an amused snort.

“It was a one time thing unnie, don’t place your hopes on me.” Shuhua said.

“I’d say you should pay another 2 times to be completely forgiven but I’ll let it pass since you’re cute.” The older one made a move to pinch Shuhua’s cheek but was quickly swatted away by a defensive hand making her laugh again.

They stayed silent like this, Miyeon had settled on holding Shuhua around her shoulders, her arm fitting nicely there despite the disapproving grunt the latter let out. “Oh right ! I saw a pretty plant yesterday, I think you’ll like it.”  The businesswoman suddenly blurted out while fetching her phone from her back pocket but still left her arm draped over the college student’s shoulder. 

Immediately they fell back into their typical long conversations, talking about nothing and everything and forgetting about the people waiting for them downstairs. They had too much to catch up on to care about them anyway. It felt right again, everything in their rightful place. Shuhua’s heart was lighter but she couldn’t shrug the slight discomfort in the back of her mind. The one saying that this was just a temporary solution. Even though it felt like a weight had been lifted, the way her chest constricted when she heard Miyeon’s voice right next to her ear and the hand comfortably brushing her hair told a whole other story. 

But Miyeon was just a friend. A precious friend that she treasured. That was it, the simplicity of it all should have satisfied her overthinking brain but why did it slightly hurt to admit this out loud. There were so many more questions popping up but she forcefully shoved them away, deep deep in a far, dark corner of her head. Like the Pandora box that lured her to delve into uncharted territories, she forbade herself to ever give in that temptation. Curiosity was a ruthless temptress but she won’t give in even if it meant never understanding the piercing pain in her heart or the heat inside her chest in the presence of her favourite businesswoman. She’ll turn a blind eye to it all. For now, she was content. The finger threading through her long midnight locks, the soft voice lulling her and the warmth radiating from her side. This was all she needed to feel at peace.

Yes, for now, she was happy.

_________

The door opened and Soojin could only smile at the heartwarming sight in front of her. Eyes fell on the pair sitting next to each other on the bed, their backs against the wall and peaceful expressions adorning their faces. Shuhua’s head was on Miyeon’s shoulder, soundly asleep and lost into dreamland’s sweet illusions. Probably the best sleep she has had in a while. Meanwhile the older woman was fighting her sleep away, her head slowly drooping before she jerked up barely awake and blinked her exhaustion away only to repeat the same pattern again and again. Miyeon was so sleepy that she didn’t even notice Soojin at the doorstep, observing them with a warm expression on her face. 

At last, the bar owner stepped in to offer Miyeon some respite. “Hey there. You two made up ?” 

Miyeon looked at Soojin, suddenly more awake and she smiled remembering what had happened earlier. She glanced at Shuhua before answering “Yes, we did.” A smile that could rival any sunny day peeking from behind the clouds after a storm. 

“I’m glad to hear this. I hope she apologised to you without being too much of a brat.” Soojin joked earning a soft chuckle out of Miyeon.

“Shuhua not being a brat wouldn’t be Shuhua. What about the others ?” Miyeon demanded, suddenly remembering that the two of them had left everyone in the dust in the midst of dinner.

“They went back home already. So ? Friends ?” Soojin replied before her curiosity got the best out of her. She pointed at Shuhua and then back at Miyeon, the question leaving her lips with a hopeful tone.

“Yes… friends. I’m her precious friend, she said.” Miyeon nodded with a happy voice, eyes crinkling a little with how hard she tried to contain her ever so wide grin.

“I see.. wanna stay the night ? It’s a little late.” Soojin tried to hide her slight disappointment, changing the subject while reminding her older friend of the moon hanging high in the sky.

Miyeon took some time to think about it, looking at the sleeping gremlin on her shoulder, the fluffy feeling inside her chest. Her answer was out before she could process anything else but how cute Shuhua was right now.

 “I think… I’ll take up on the offer.” 

After they made Shuhua lay down on her bed without waking the beast out of its slumber, Miyeon headed towards the bathroom to shower, leaving Soojin alone to assess the situation. She could only shake her head at the reality of it : they were idiots. But she wouldn’t blame them for it, she didn’t quite have that ‘talk’ with either of them yet although a small part of her had hoped that this argument would serve as an eye opening event in their relationship. Wishful thinking, she thought.

While they may have settled this fight, it didn’t mean that the tension would be resolved altogether. If anything it will only worsen over time, especially now that they fixed this problem with the pretense of a mere precious friendship.

How long will this double edged sword of a relationship last before one gets hurt all over again. 

A/N : Hey there !

Second update of the month. Who's proud of me ? Half was already pre-written as a scene that I wrote in the airplane a few months back so I merely added more things to it and voila ! 

Thanks for all the warm comments I’ve gotten so far and to those who worried about both my health and my studies. I’m sorry to announce that both are doing terribly, worse than before if I may add. But oh well, I reached the point where I don’t rlly care anymore so welp. 

I wanna give a big big thank you to @ahealthyscalp who kindly offered to read over my work and give me some pointers as well as beta reading this chapter and encouraging me. 

Nxde has dropped and oh lord I’m in love. I’m yet to receive my albums but when I do I’ll definitely share my pulls on my Twitter: @Mew21kilou. 

If you bought one, tell me who’s card you got and who you wanted to have ! I’m also curious about your fave b-side. If you feel shy you can send it to me on my cc: https://curiouscat.me/Mew21

Hope you liked it and I wonder which scene you liked best ! 

That’s all for me so stay safe ~ kisses <3

(This is a work of fiction that is in no way and means portraying reality and therefore not intending to force an idea upon the characters I created. I won't take criticism that isn't constructive and blind hatred. It is a work made for people who enjoy reading fanfics as shipping doesn't mean seriously believing that the individuals used as inspiration are truly in a romantic relationship.) 

And of course feedbacks are highly appreciated.!!!

Thanks for reading and supporting the story. 

Don't hesitate to vote and comment. 

Mew21 

Ps: sorry for all orthography and grammatical errors.

Chapter Text

The late autumn was fairly mild for its generous amount of sunlight flowing through the naked branches of the treetops outside. Only the chilly breeze could remind them of the winter nearing closer each day but for now it was the least of their worries. Especially when Soojin sighed for the nth time while waiting for Shuhua to be ready. 

“I swear I’m going to leave without you if you’re not finished in the next 5 minutes.” Soojin warned as she glanced at her watch yet again. 

“You could help me pack instead of standing there, unnie !” Shuhua growled back as her hands moved in haste to shove more necessaries into her messy suitcase.

“Nah-ah, I’ve told you many times to prepare your stuff before d-day. Now you face the consequences young lady.” Soojin deadpanned, still crossing her arms over her chest, leaning against the doorframe for support and looking at the younger woman dead in the eyes.

“Well ! I didn’t expect you to ask me to help you clean the bar after classes. If I knew, I would've done it yesterday night.” Shuhua huffed as she sat on the stubborn puffed up luggage that refused to close itself, the zipper getting caught in a stray piece of garnement that protruded clumsily. “Why-won’t it… close !” 

Soojin watched with exasperation and a sliver of fondness bubbling up from the pit of her stomach at the way Shuhua was down right wrestling her poor black luggage like she was part of the WWE, battling for dear life in a rather theatrical fashion. “What would you do without me, geez.” she said at last, finally stepping in to stop that intense baggage abuse. Pushing the red faced girl off, she opened the luggage and started arranging the items inside in a more organised way, leaving Shuhua to only glare at the offender and pout in defeat.

Luggage 1 - 0 Shuhua 

After settling that suitcase fiasco the both finally made their way downstairs with Shuhua almost tripping over her large baggage which she kicked in revenge once she reached the ground floor. Stupid thing. 

Luggage 1 - 1 Shuhua 

“We are going to fetch Soyeon first, Yuqi is already tasked to drive the two oldies.” Soojin informed while loading the trunk of her car. 

While Soojin and Yuqi lived relatively close to each other as they could meet up after a few minutes walking, Soyeon’s and Minnie’s place were on the polar opposite of this city. Miyeon lived near the bar too but since she is residing with their rich Thai friend for now, she’ll have to ride with Yuqi. 

Sure, Minnie could have just driven the two of them but they wanted to save some gas and the planet too in the process. So they settled with 2 cars for the 6 of them, they could have tried to fit everyone in a single car but none were owners of a SUV and they weren’t really hyped at the idea of being inside a cramped engine for 2 hours straight. The last time they all tried to fit inside a car Yuqi had been forced inside the trunk because she was moving around too much in the backseat and made everyone else even more squished than they originally were. The latter had yelled and trashed around so much from her spot inside the trunk that Soojin feared they might get pulled over by some cops suspecting them of kidnapping. The Chinese influencer didn’t mind her experience there but she was dramatic enough to make it known that she’ll have her revenge on them, particularly directing a nasty glare at Soyeon who was the one orchestrated the whole idea after Yuqi had accidentally elbowed her. 

“At least she’s not riding with us.” Shuhua muttered while taking her seat behind knowing that their captain liked riding shotgun the best. 

After a 15 minutes ride they were in front of Soyeon’s place, the said woman already down her building wearing what Shuhua would call a scandalous outfit with her back exposed to such breezy weather. Nevertheless she hopped in after putting her small luggage behind and gave everyone a small smile. 

“Why the sunglasses ?” Soojin demanded as she started driving again.

“Didn’t sleep much.” Soyeon replied curtly, exhaustion catching up on her.

“You’re lucky the loud ones aren’t with us then, catch a nap cap’.” Shuhua snickered, earning a little approving giggle out of the music producer. 

“I’m rightfully frightened just thinking of them in the same car.” Soojin shuddered at her own thoughts before focusing back on the road.

The ride was mostly silent, the radio was on but left at a reasonable volume. Only the soft buzzing of the engine could be heard as they already reached the highway along with the robotic voice from their trusty friend Google map to make up for the lack of conversations. “Hm. If you’re tired I can drive the rest of the way.” Shuhua offered noticing her best friend yawning before taking a gulp of her iced Americano. Soyeon was long passed out in her seat which didn’t really help Soojin’s slight drowsiness. Sleep was contagious and she reminded herself to be careful on the road. 

“Maybe later when we stop at a gas station to buy some snacks.” Soojin nodded, she wasn’t declining the help Shuhua was gently giving her. Though she was the youngest amongst them, it was no secret that she was probably the best driver. If it was someone else suggesting to drive in her stead she’d have refused right away but she trusted Shuhua not to crash her precious car. The only person she could think of that could be a real danger behind the steering wheel suddenly popped up inside her mind and she suppressed a chuckle… 

She hoped that the other 3 would arrive in one single piece, alive and well. 

XXXXXXX

“Lord forgive me for I WILL commit a sin.” 

These were the first words Soojin heard from the newly arrived trio. Minnie walked towards the awaiting woman who smiled at the sight of the girls still in one single piece after a 2 hours ride. They, themselves, only arrived a moment ago, just enough to put the luggages inside and have a look around the fancy looking building.

“Hi everyone, how was the ride ?” Soojin opted to ignore Minnie’s first comment and demanded gently.

“Terrible.” The Thai woman sighed while pinching her nose bridge in exasperation. Just the memory of it brought an overwhelming migraine. 

“Well you do look jade-” The bar owner could barely finish her words before she witnessed something akin to a volcanic eruption. Minnie’s face got so red and tense that it would have been comical under normal circumstances.

“See ! Even Soojin says it !” She heard Yuqi yell while collecting her belongings from the trunk.

“NOT YOU TOO ! THAT’S IT ! I WILL BURN THE NEXT DICTIONARY I SEE !” Minnie’s voice was so high that some might have mistaken it for a crow choking on something or perhaps a not so happy sheep with a sore throat, her hands furiously coming up in the air before she power-walked towards the opened front door and disappeared behind. Anyone else would have found the sight worrying, some might even call her a madwoman, but Soojin simply shrugged like it was a regular Friday evening. Which it technically was, disregarding the fact that she wasn’t working behind the counter for once. Following behind the enraged movie producer, a dejected businesswoman also made her way inside, barely sparing a look at Soojin. 

“Okay… what’s up with Minnie and Miyeon ?” She demanded the only other one who lived through that car ride, the driver.

“Miyeon didn’t get to drive.” Yuqi explained shortly while struggling to pull all of her baggages.

“Well that’s a given. Bless her soul, she didn’t drive. But what about Minnie ?” Soojin nodded in approval, a safe choice she thought. 

“Minnie is semantically-discriminating.” Yuqi vaguely replied only leaving Soojin to wonder what the hell happened in those 2 hours. But before she could ask more Yuqi shot her an innocent and sheepish look “Help me with these please ?” She pointed at the 5 overly packed luggage. 

Soojin sighed, well, it was just another regular day befriending those embarrassing and weird dorks. What happened in that car will remain in that car it seems. 

__________

Shuhua was on the couch, phone in hand and texting her friends back in Taiwan while the others busied themselves with their own activities. Soyeon was asleep in one of the empty rooms, resuming the nap she had had in the car. She didn’t really notice Soojin leaving her side, engrossed with whatever tea happened in her home country and giggling whenever silly stories were brought up. 

She didn’t even acknowledge the stomping woman barging in and disappearing somewhere in the depth of the large interior. But her little bubble was easier to break than it seemed, one moment she was tapping her fingers across the screen and the other she froze at the weight leaning on her side as a pleasant familiar scent filled her nostrils. That’s really all it took to bring her back to the reality around her. The change of perfume didn’t go unnoticed either, it’s strong but feminine, on the more floral end of the spectrum but it retained a more mature tint that screamed importance. Rose and jasmine, musk and woody hints, prestige was what she would describe this charming bouquet. The perfume of a young director in a rising company. 

She felt a head nuzzling into her neck and that’s when she remembered the world and realm that she lived in as heat slowly blossomed inside of her chest and spread into a lovely rose upon her pale face. Regaining her bearings and turning off her phone to pay attention to the clingy woman next to her. “Unnie.” She let out in a stern voice.

“Hm.” Miyeon merely hummed back, the vibration felt on her neck almost making Shuhua shiver. 

“Let go of me.” She simply commanded and surprisingly enough the businesswoman complied right away, no questions asked. Weird.

“Okay.” Miyeon eyed the younger woman with tired eyes and the latter gulped down the knot forming in her throat.

“Your perfume.” Shuhua worded, disliking how silent her friend was. Usually it would be impossible for her not to blabber her ears off but today it seemed like she had no mind to talk and that was quite worrisome in a way.

“What about it ?” The oldest questioned with a confused frown, still shy of words but definitely intrigued as she took a tentative sniff at her own sleeve.

“It’s not the same as last time ? Did you change your perfume again?” Shuhua demanded instead, trying her best to make a conversion out of something and that something just happened to be the nice fragrance that she could recognise in a heartbeat. Playing dumb in her fake ignorance, she knew all too well this scent and all the ones that Miyeon enjoys wearing and parade around. 

“Oh, well it’s usually the one I wear when I go to work. I wear another one when I hang out.” Miyeon nodded as she explained her change of perfume. Shuhua just blinked and bit her lower lip at the lack of small talk. She imagined the former going on a long tirade about her fascination for luxury fragrances but was met with only 2 sentences, 21 words, a coma and two periods with just one onomatopoeia -she definitely wasn't counting- but still no chatty businesswoman. 

Now, thinking of it, both were familiar to her and had distinctly different effects on how she views her silly friend. This one was mature and was a reminder that she was a successful working woman in society, someone that she admires, focused and independent. The other was gentler and fresh, gone were the overbearing flowers and strong aromas, it was like a sea breeze, faint and pleasant. The only thing that remained similar were the woody hints that held a certain strength to them because Miyeon was just that, a strong person. 

“No wonder it felt familiar.” Shuhua mumbled unconsciously. She had seen both sides, the businesswoman and the goofy friend, while she should be able to differentiate the two with ease, to her they were the same exact person and Miyeon was to blame for that. Especially when she has taken a liking to hang out with the younger one right after work, not bothering to change attires or take a rest. For someone who valued separating her work and her private life, Shuhua seemed to fit perfectly in the middle of it all. 

“What did you say?” Miyeon asked, seeing more than hearing her younger companion.

“You had work earlier.” Shuhua lied, slightly embarrassed that her thoughts have slipped out of her lips. Her faux passive attitude seemed to have worked as Miyeon didn’t question further and only entertained her again.

“I had a meeting, boring as usual but what can I do when I’m the best at presenting and making a PowerPoint?” The oldest smugly replied, slightly regaining her cheeky persona. Shuhua would never admit that this was better than the silence from before, but her heart would agree with ease.

“Stop bragging like that, it makes you look pretentious.” Were the harsh words that left the younger’s mouth to mask the tremor deep within her chest.

“Yahhh ! I’m only stating facts ! Not only did I come up with a genius idea, I also sold my idea so well that everyone agreed on the project in a heartbeat.” Miyeon huffed, cheeks puffing with air and lips pouting ever so slightly.

“Yeah yeah, what was that genius idea of yours anyway ?” The pale maiden asked away with a defiant tone, her eyes only holding the smallest hint of curiosity.

“I suggested a joint collaboration with Sana’s company, she works for a very famous modeling agency. Since I’m now managing the fashion department, I discussed the possibility of an exclusive photoshoot showcasing our products to Sana and she said that it was a great idea. I brought it up to the board and they were all in for it.” Miyeon gently explained, eyes closing as she spoke lazily but still a proud expression upon her delicately carved face. 

“Oh … Sana again.” Shuhua blurted out before quickly covering her mouth. What was with her and her word filter lately ?

“Hm ?” Thankfully for her, the older woman was as drowsy as one could be.

“Go to sleep. Soyeon is also completely passed out in the other room.” Shuhua sighed before motioning to a door on her left.

“Join me in my nap ?” Miyeon offered with a tired smile, making herself more comfy on the couch and opening her arms to Shuhua who blinked in return. With some luck the latter would agree and they would cuddle for the rest of the afternoon. Everyone knew that their (not so) little youngest could fall asleep, everywhere and anytime but best in between someone else’s arms. An affection and cuddle hungry gremlin.

To her delight Shuhua leaned in closer and for a split second she thought that it was all a dream… 

Her face was close and if Miyeon just made the move, she’d trap Shuhua in a dead grip, pressing her body against her own like a comforting weight that would fit nicely in between her arms, face nuzzled against her neck and sweet fragrance of well-cared for hair lulling her into Morpheus’ embrace-. “In your dreams. Now move your ass and go to sleep for a bit. Idiot.” 

“Oof-“

And that’s how Miyeon was unceremoniously pushed off the couch and rolled down onto the floor in a muted grunt. Her eyes snapped towards the black haired maiden who just had the slyest and nastiest smug grin etched onto her beautiful face, looking down on her. A single thought crossed her mind.

What a brat.

XXXXXXXXX

Saturday came quicker than they had expected. The day prior Minnie and Yuqi had gone to visit the movie producer’s coworkers who resided in two cottage houses nearby. Miyeon and Soyeon lounged around after their nap, reading books and keeping themselves entertained in this calm environment that was hard to find back in the big bustling city. At some point in the late afternoon, Soojin and her favourite employee slash housemate decided to do some groceries for dinner (It was easy to tell who dragged the other into this chore). They all shared a hearty meal before calling it a day as they all felt the tiredness seeping into their bones from the trip and weeklong grinding also called adulthood. 

Soyeon’s alarm was the first one to blare through the whole place, waking Soojin in the process. A grunt from Minnie could be heard but no further movement was to be seen. None were morning people and it certainly wasn’t today that things would take a change for the better. It took another 45 minutes and Soojin rhythmically hitting against a frying pan with her spatula to get everyone to move their bum and gather for breakfast. 

“Morning Gremlin.” Soojin greeted Shuhua who, despite being awake, looked two seconds away from hitting the hay again. It might have something to do with how her face still had the pillow marks from her peaceful night of sleep or the way her hair stuck out in the most unnatural way known to this world. 

“G’morn-awhhh” was what left the youngest's mouth as her words were swallowed in a big yawn.

“If I didn’t know better I would think that you all fought in a war.” Soojin commented while eyeing the whole lot in front of her. As much as Shuhua was shining in her morning glory, the rest of them were no better, if not worse. All sat half awake around the table, eyes barely opening and brain not registering a single damn thing. Their cumulative IQ here would be equal to the one of an NPC at best. 

“I fought with my bed. It didn’t want me to go away.” Miyeon said in a serious voice, making the ordeal twice as amusing. She could have said anything with that tone and it would have taken anyone a double take to understand the ridicule of her words.

“I can see that… you have a dried up trail of drool down the right corner of your lips, darling.” The bar owner playfully pointed out which seemed to have started the cold engine that is Miyeon’s few functional brain cells and prompted the businesswoman to run to the bathroom and wash her face. The words sunk in their mind, more awake than ever, resulting in them, except Shuhua and Soyeon, running for their lives to freshen up. 

“You’re not going ?” Soyeon asked the black haired maiden who opted to indulge in her breakfast calmly and unbothered. As if there wasn’t a tornado of women running past her just a second ago nor an ear piercing shriek coming from the bathroom. 

“Hmm ?” Shuhua looked up from her bowl with her cheeks puffed out from the food she was munching on so enthusiastically, having regained her wits in the form of hunger.

“To wash up.” The music producer explained while pointing at where the other three had bolted out, though the muffled out noise and screams were already enough to attest to their presence there. 

The younger one simply gulped down her mouthful with some water and looked back at the two women presently at the table. “I look perfect as I am.” She replied which elicited two snorts out of them considering the state their dear youngest was in at the moment with a black mop as an unfortunate morning hairstyle.

“Confident much ?” Soojin uttered in sheer disbelief, putting some more meat onto her housemate’s bowl, the endearing sight was bringing out her sisterly side. 

“It’s the key to success.” Was Shuhua's answer, followed by a grateful smile at the sight of her now refilled bowl. “And I get to eat more.” 

“Stomach over visuals.” Soyeon shook her head at the silliness, it was too early for that kind of shameless boldness but she wasn’t complaining, it was somewhat really cute.

“Always.” The young woman spared her a look with a proud grin showing making her look unfairly adorable above all.

___________

“Hi Qiqis all around the world, it’s your favourite flawless woman Yuqi ! Today I’m on a trip with my best friends in-“ The loud voice reverberated inside the car, a camera in hand and using a theatrical tone of voice to narrate this seemingly epic journey. 

“Shut it Woogs ! I can’t hear the GPS because of you !” Someone had interrupted with no mercy from her spot on the driver’s seat, not hiding the murder in her voice one bit. She would have saved herself from the hassle that was driving but she was NOT willing to stay at the back with the rest of them. Sure, she could have sat shotgun but it was Soojin’s car and by the rules of politeness she left it to her ex-boss to use. So she only had one escape left, it being driving.

“Qiqis ! I’m presenting to you one of my favourite people on this whole earth, the star producer, composer and lyricist JEON. SO. YEON !” As if deaf to the threat thrown at her, the Chinese influencer simply shoved that handheld camera straight into Soyeon’s face who glared before softening up in an instant. She might want to punch Yuqi right now, she knew for a fact that the girl would use that footage against her and she was not going to deal with the thousands of fans being on her ass for being mean to their oh so sweet, sweet Yuqi. That girl had an astounding number of devoted followers and there’s no way in hell she could survive them all. Her red cheeks had nothing, the emphasis being on the nothing, to do with the words that her loud idiot screamed so proudly as if showing her off like a hard earned trophy. Nope. Nopes. Definitely not. She was simply… camera shy… right. 

“Hi Qiqis.” Their cranky music producer said with a tight lipped awkward smile, eyes still on the road ahead which made Soojin next to her snort a giggle. The way the influencer smiled after seeing some form of cooperation from her dearest captain would blind anyone, the sun was clearly put to shame here and it sure did as Shuhua cringed when she unfortunately glanced at the reflection of it on the rear-view mirror for just a split second.

The two went on a tangent with Yuqi ranting about a future secret project involving Soyeon to which the latter groaned in faux-annoyance. However, Shuhua could care less about the ‘super duper hyper very very very enormous secret project’ of theirs, it didn’t even register in her head for what it was worth. With her slightly older friend adamantly filming their designated driver, the backseat got more cramped with Miyeon being pushed onto the young maiden’s side to accommodate the half standing Yuqi and her nice bum in the middle of the two front seats. The vlogger obviously didn’t give two hoots about how her single presence was equivalent to 3 hyperactive kids in terms of noise, agitation and sheer amount of space she filled in that confined area.

The artificial breeze from the A/C reminded the future vet of the car’s air-freshener that was changed just the day before but Shuhua could only breathe in the sweet perfume that made her heart pinch a little at how recognisable it was. Not the same as yesterday for sure, it was the private life dedicated one. Fresh and light but yet it felt so strong compared to the all too clean lemon of that dangling green paper tree. 

The skin touching hers felt hot and while she shouldn’t even feel conscious about it, for some reason she just couldn’t tear her eyes away from the hand on her bare thigh. Miyeon was clingy by nature, it was not something extraordinary to her and it showed with the way she was oh so busy scrolling through her phone completely unbothered. It was almost upsetting how Shuhua felt so much, her brain running miles and marathons over something so mundane and common while Miyeon was entirely unaffected. 

A sharp turn made Yuqi trip a little, pushing their oldest friend even more onto the Taiwanese woman who could only pray for this ride to come to an end very quickly or she might burst in a flurry of butterflies and hot steam. She instantly regretted not accepting Minnie’s offer to go with her and her crew in that black shiny SUV. Even more now that she felt just the tiniest, faintest, smallest squeeze of the hand upon her milky skin at the sudden tumult. It was just a reflex but it only sent Shuhua precisely six feet and nine inches deeper. Just a fleeting scream at the back of her mind stood out from the rest of the panic but it was only digging her own grave further and further. The simple question being: Since when and why was she so affected ?

Her prayers must have been heard because right at that moment the car pulled up and she could see Minnie talking to some random guy -probably someone part of her crew- nearby in the parking lot. Soyeon didn’t even turn off the engine that Shuhua had already flung the door open and stomped away towards an unsuspecting Minnie, the warm blush upon her face hidden behind a curtain of black hair. 

“Miyeon ? You okay ?” Yuqi asked, tapping on their silly businesswoman’s shoulder which pretty much shook the latter awake. 

“Uh ?” Miyeon uttered, lost and disoriented. Her empty hand still hovering over what used to be Shuhua’s leg as if frozen in time and place.

“Are you fine ?” The influencer repeated, filming Miyeon who looked like she just awoke in another dimension.

“Y-yes.” The oldest finally answered, not without a stutter though.

“Are you sure ? You’ve been scrolling through… the google map app for the past 20 minutes.” The camera followed each word, not missing the sight of said phone’s screen showing an overly zoomed-in island of the East China Sea named Kumejima. 

“I w-wasn’t ?!” Miyeon rebuked and immediately turned off her phone before shoving it deep inside her pocket. She really wished she could also hide in there. “We’re here right ? let’s go !” She said instead and exited the vehicle through the already pre-opened door (courtesy of Shuhua) unbeknownst to her that Yuqi just zoomed in on their older friend’s ears that were painted in red while smirking devilishly at the sight. 

“You’re evil.” Soojin scoffed seeing the return in the camera.

“It’s for documentation purposes.” Yuqi shrugged it off with an overly sweet voice that dripped with mischief. 

XXXXXXXX

The Yontararak had sponsored some water sport events to the delight of all. That all did not include the Taiwanese vet who wanted nothing to do with that greenish big ass lake. She did pertain in a few rides like the flying squirrel and the turning disk-float but it was as far as she was willing to go. Her stomach has been uneasy ever since and the seasickness made her nauseous beyond return. She watched the group that was Minnie’s crew having fun around the rides or that huge inflated playground, her friends mingling in with that bunch just fine as she was waiting for them in her seat at the cafe overseeing the lake. Her glass of water was half empty, or half filled, with perspiration dripping down onto the wooden table that turned a shade darker upon contact with the liquid. 

“Having fun ?” A voice reverberated close to her and a woman she didn’t recognise took the seat in front. Her pale skin, large doe eyes and pointy nose made her speechless for a second. 

“As much as one could have on the sideline.” Shuhua managed to reply before taking a sip of her cold water, now more on the empty side than the filled one. 

“Minnie told me you had a phobia of deep waters. So I thought I could keep you company until everyone is done playing in the lake.” The stranger said which earned a quizzical look from the dark haired maiden. With a chuckle she answered the apparent question floating just above Shuhua’s head. “My name is Wang Yiren. I was the actress for Minnie’s movie and also Yuqi’s friend.” 

“Oooh I see…” Shuhua drily returned, unable to think of anything much to say to that beautiful actress in front of her.

“So, who’s the one running inside that pretty head of yours ?” Yiren asked with a little smile.

“What do you mean ?” The university student demanded in confusion.

“The one you have a crush on.” The Chinese beauty clarified as if she was blurting an universal truth, making Shuhua cough in disbelief, cheeks turning a little red.

“A crush ?!” The slightly older one uttered louder than she intended with a trembling voice, the younger actress laughed heartily at the sight.

“If not, maybe a love interest. You sure had the face of someone lost in her feelings a few minutes ago. So tell me, who is it ?” Yiren pressed on, a faint wiggle of her eyebrows and playful expression adorning her beautiful features.

“W-what… I don’t have a crush on anyone. More so a love interest. What is the difference between the two anyway?” Shuhua stuttered, eyes involuntarily drifting to the lake, spotting a certain someone amidst the greenish water.

“Well… a crush is just momentary, an intense passing infatuation over someone. It comes like thunder and disappears after. Your attention is on someone without control over it, small details become blushing cheeks and tremble in the heart. Love is much deeper, a strong feeling of affection that lasts in time. No matter the other’s imperfections you are just bound to love them unconditionally. You just can’t stop the butterflies.” The explanation was promptly given to her, calm voice and posed intonation. Yiren provided her a short and coherent distinction between the two but it all turned into mush inside Shuhua’s brain. Just the word love made her malfunction and her throat ran dry as if a doctor just listed several symptoms she was experiencing. 

The diagnosis was unpromising and heavy to hear, she was ready to grieve that stubborn pump inside her chest.

“So, what do you feel ?” The chattier one of the two asked, seeing that her words might have struck closer to home than she thought. 

“I.. don’t know.” Shuhua gulped down the words at the tip of her tongue, uncooperative to this unwanted consultation at the feelings and heart ache hospital.

“Do you think of them on a regular basis ? More than any other ?” Yiren took an alternate approach.

The admission was almost painful but she couldn’t deny the obvious in the eyes of truth. She just had to accept it now.  “No.. I don’t.”

Screw it she couldn’t.

“Any small things they do that you overthink so much but you can’t help it.” She proceeded unbothered by the negative reply.

“No.. nothing.” Touches upon her skin and perfume in her lungs grazed her neurons but it was just her brain being an idiot. Not her. 

“You grow hot, blush on your face and sometimes your stomach does flips and turns in their presence.” Yiren carried on, a sly smirk on her face.

“Never. I’m completely sound and fine.” Shuhua added with a shake of her head, becoming more adamant on refuting those accusations the closer it hits to home. 

“Well, congratulations.” The actress grabbed the blushing maiden’s hand in hers in a means of comfort for what she was about to unveil to that poor future vet. “You are in denial.” 

“What ?” Was all that left the dumbfounded Shuhua who’s system had shut down upon hearing the final diagnosis. 

“For someone who has no special feelings for anyone, you sure do answer my precise questions just fine instead of simply saying that there is no special person to begin with.” Yiren smiled in compassion, feeling bad for the terminally-ill patient she was sharing a moment with. Denial is a disease that is hard to overcome, especially in its most acute forms. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” She reassured again, giving a squeeze on the clammy hand she was holding, its owner unable to say anything, shaken to the core and taking the news on the more negative end of the spectrum.

A single image popped inside her head, hearty laugh ringing inside her ears, the familiar scent already filling her lungs, soft touch and warm hugs. A wide smile, honey brown eyes along with the oh so sweet voice. 

“Shit.” 

(

“Who is she ?” The older woman asked amidst the chaos around her. An unrestrained shriek falling deaf to her ears.

Yuqi just glanced in the overall direction of where Miyeon was looking. Only meeting the eyes of a playful and competitive Soyeon. “Who ?” She distractedly demanded, still carefully keeping her eyes on the small menace.

“The girl with Shu.” The businesswoman answered. 

At that the Chinese influencer broke her staring contest she was holding with their captain and finally saw what Miyeon was referring to. “Oh her ? She’s a friend of mine, I introduced her to Minnie and she was casted as the actress for her movie. I guess she finally met Shuhua. I've been meaning to introduce the two of them for a while now.” 

“They do look like they hit it off.” Miyeon zeroed in that beautiful actress holding  

Shuhua’s hand. She might not have an eagle vision but she could swear that the latter grew red at the touch. 

She felt cold and her heart dropped inside her chest, falling into the pit of jealousy water that Yuqi had just pushed her in, a high pitched strained yell leaving her throat as she was now floating in the lake and glaring at the Chinese influencer that was laughing at her from her place on the floating platform.

Miyeon only smirked and offered a smug smile as she watched the said offender falling in the water just like she did with an angry and loud scream of terror.

“Eyes on me, Woogs.” Soyeon simply said after she had mercilessly dumped Yuqi inside the lake, now joining the rest of their group who were floating in defeat. 

“I won so y’all owe me an ice cream later.” Soyeon gave a sarcastic flying kiss to the 4 drenched and still floating women in the water, reminding them of the terms of the silly game. The last one standing gets free ice cream later. 

“Girls… let’s bring that loser down, shall we ?” Soojin was heard not too far and as if on a cue all of them rushed to climb the platform again, animated by the urge to sink their captain down in the cold lake. ) 

_____________

Dinner came around as the sun settled far in the horizon, sunlight dimming into warm orange and pink hues. They had spent the whole day at the lake and hunger had infected the whole crew with a grumbling stomach . As expected, for their last night in the mountains a mandatory barbecue has taken place. The long picnic table was full with plates of side dishes and various cuts of meats all cooked to perfection. 

The 6 friends occupied the far end of that long table, Shuhua being sandwiched between Yuqi and her newfound friend Yiren. In front of her was Soojin, Miyeon and Minnie who was delivering a speech. 

“-so I would like to raise a toast to all of you for the hard work we did the past 6 months. Cheers !!!” And with that loud screams were heard followed by clinking glasses filled with soju. 

The three mandarin speakers were engaged in a heated debate that Miyeon could only dream of understanding. Instead she watched the way Yiren left her hand on Shuhua’s arm for a second too long while the both of them laughed maniacally as Yuqi grew two shades of red. Probably being on the receiving end of the teasing. Taking a sip of her small soju glass, she made a face at the unpleasant taste. Was this drink always this bitter before ? Her angry glaring at her half-empty glass was cut short by Minnie’s loud booming laughter. 

“A song ! A song ! A song !” A group of tipsy men chanted, urging their dear Thai  producer to sing for them. 

“Come on guys ~” she waved off the demands with a hand.

“Minnie is actually a very good singer !” Miyeon didn’t waste her time to throw her dearest friend under the rails. Meeting drunken panicked eyes with her vengeful ones. Serves that dork right, she shouldnt have teased her this much lately. 

“Okay, okay just a song…” Minnie resigned her faith and placed a spoon inside an empty soju bottle that was lying among the several empty plates on the table. She cleared her throat a few times as everyone grew quiet in anticipation. 

“AhahAHhhahHHAhaA~” the sound akin to a screaming goat reverberated across the table making everyone speechless but it didn’t stop the movie producer from belting a ridiculous improvised song with made on spot lyrics. Once over she received a flurry of applause and laughter.

“Damn, I’m in the mood for karaoke now.” Yuqi mumbled loudly.

“You’re always in the mood for it, let’s be real.” Soyeon interjected with a painless jab in Yuqi’s ribs eliciting an overdramatic yell from the latter.

“No but like, hasn't it been a long time since we last sang together ?” The Chinese influencer rebuked.

“We’ve been busy lately that’s why.” Minnie replied with an acknowledging nod.

“I mean we were jaded-“ before Yuqi could finish she received a garlic clove straight in the face from the very pissed Minnie.

“I will fuckin kill you-“ The Thai woman threatened with another clove in her hand that she aimed at Yuqi again. 

This prompted Yuqi to escape the garlic attack and run for her life, a furious Minnie in tow and Miyeon following them to make sure that if one of them dies, they’ll dispose of the body properly at the very least. 

“I guess that’s the cue to call it a night.” Soojin said from her place, having witnessed everything with an unfazed expression on her face. 

“It was nice meeting you all.” Yiren exclaimed sincerely, giving a meaningful squeeze to Shuhua’s shoulder. “Think about what I said earlier okay and you’ll be fine Mrs. Denial.” 

“I’m not in denial.” Shuhua huffed back in her mother tongue only to soften up and return a shy smile to her new friend. “It was my pleasure meeting you too.”

“Let’s go girls, time for bed.” Soyeon clapped her hand, already begging to go back home and slip under the cozy covers of her duvet.

The walk to their bungalow was relatively short as the crew’s rented houses were just down the path. The cold air was refreshing, stars in the sky and the sound of the forest being the only melody accompanying them along the way. Perfect for Shuhua who had a lot in her mind, still trying to figure heads or tails of whatever mess and zoo was inside her chest. She felt a hand in hers and shot a grateful smile to Soojin who could tell that something was running inside that pretty head of hers. (She’ll have to investigate the matter when they come back home tomorrow)

The thought of it made her nauseous again. A crush ? Love ? Those were such foreign concepts to the fair skin maiden. Infatuation, affection, trust and adoration were all making her head spin. It was worse than understanding organic chemistry and dear lord did she hate studying that in the past. 

The lights of their rented house could be seen from afar and Soyeon could only shake her head at the sight of the still open front door and the faint sound of music and screams emanating from the place.

“Guess they got their karaoke…” Soojin snorted as they got closer. Even from a dozen meters away they could hear the sound of Gee’s instrumental and Yuqi’s voice butchering the song in her intoxicated splendor. Completely messing the rhythm of it as Miyeon belted the last few lines of the song in the background. 

Next time they’ll have to hide the karaoke set if they all go traveling again. Upon entering Yuqi screamed and pulled Soyeon by the arm like she was dragging a rag doll, the latter shooting a distressed hand towards the two others who only could pity her. So much for being the most adamant to sleep.

Soojin excused herself to go shower and prepare for bed leaving Shuhua to only take a seat on the couch, watching as Soyeon rapped along 'I’m the best' like she was possessed by a drunken spirit. The low table in front of her had plenty of snacks and she grabbed an untouched bottle of water in the middle of opened canned of beers and even more bottles of soju to quench her thirst. 

The sound of Minnie singing the chorus fell into the background as she went back to the matters at hand : Her heart.

She watched from her spot on the side how Miyeon seemed to glow, the light from the screen showcasing the lyrics bright upon her face as she sang along. The way her eyes disappeared into a thin line in joy and sheer excitement. She was shining and absolutely beautiful. The sight rendered her speechless, even her overwhelming thoughts were put to a stop just to admire her. A microphone shoved to her face shook her from that trance and she did what she thought was best…

“AaaAAaAHHHHHHHHHhhhhHHCK” she released all the agony that was trapped in the confine of her skull right into the mic as her scream was heard bouncing off the wall from the speakers of the tv. 

Soyeon, Yuqi and Minnie only fell to the ground in a fit of laughter but Shuhua could only hear Miyeon’s blooming giggles along with the ending song. She couldn’t stop the grin up her face at the sight. 

“Oh my god Shuhua !” Yuqi exclaimed while clutching her stomach that started hurting by now. 

“Next song !” Minnie said while reaching for the controller.

“Yahhhh you stay here.” The Chinese influencer sprang up to grab a very much tired Soyeon who had attempted to escape yet again. Much to her displeasure, Yuqi will be and remain her one and only demise.

As the piano sound played, the dip on the sofa made Shuhua remember her earlier existential crisis. Sitting just in front of her was the cause of it all. Rosy cheeks, delicate smile and adoration twinkling in her eyes. Cho (fuckin) Miyeon right there and then, a comfortable arm resting around the youngest’s shoulders unaware that it simply sent Shuhua closer to hell or heaven, she couldn’t quite tell. 

Out of reflex the young maiden handed her bottle of water to the girl that had busted her vocal cords a few minutes ago. “Thanks.” Was what left the older girl’s mouth and Shuhua could not keep her eyes off the lips that touched the bottle she had drank from a few minutes prior. It was a stupid thought, a supposedly meaningless detail and an even more absurd act to feel bothered by. But nothing could stop the little earthquake inside, nor the hot steam building up under her oh so pale skin. Dear lord what is she supposed to do now. Her brain couldn't keep up with her heart and she was barely keeping it together...

She was fucked. 

___________

“Home sweet home.” Soojin softly muttered, accompanied by the heavy thuds of a stomping Shuhua who was as happy today as a fish on a line. “Come on, Yuqi will come over and give your luggage back soon.” She tried to comfort the Taiwanese girl who had sulked ever since she came back home empty handed.

“I swear to god ! That idiot has so many suitcases that she even took mine !!!” Shuhua angrily retorted, voice high pitched and words almost unintelligible. 

“You should have looked after your stuff better, Shu.” The older tried to reason lightly, earning a very much upset groan from the said girl.

“UNNIE-“ Before she could get mad, Soojin simply patted the couch next to her and calmly prompted Shuhua to come closer.

“Come on, didn’t you say you wanted to talk ?” The bar owner slash dance instructor smiled softly.

Right, Shuhua had told her that she wanted to talk over something after having spent the whole night and the 2 hours car ride pondering over it. The very same thing that kept her awake at night and restless in the backseat. She needed some advice and someone to rant about whatever was going on inside her stubborn heart. And Soojin was her one and only confident in that matter, the one she trusted more than anything. Her stomps have reduced to small shy and borderline anxious steps, as much as she wanted to talk about it, she also feared confronting… all of this. 

“So…..” She trailed off when her butt met the soft fabric of the couch next to the tenant of the duplex. 

“So ?” Soojin carefully prompted her.

“I’ve been… feeling weird lately… Like you know… My chest feels tight and I just have weird mood swings. My head is also… so full of-“ Shuhua tried to explain but putting her thoughts into words turned out to be an even harder task even if she somewhat already had come to a conclusion. But it seemed like the universe was against her as Soojin excused herself after receiving a sudden call and retreated to her room to answer it. 

Left to her own devices, she could only question herself and again and again. Why, how and when. Out of all the things that could happen it just had to be that. She was barely managing simple feelings and stress but this was beyond her capabilities. And that left her powerless. Her chest was painful and she couldn’t wait to finally let it all out.

The thundering steps rushing down the stairs barely made her move, lost in her own thoughts. That was until a tear stained Soojin appeared in her line of sight with her unpacked luggage in hand and a distressed look upon her usually calm and stoic face. 

“I need to go, my cousin had an accident and I need to help them !” She said in a rush, her breathing a little erratic and just like that she disappeared down the other flight of stairs without sparring Shuhua but a glance. 

It’s only a few minutes or perhaps hours later that it downed her. She was alone.

‘What would you do without me, geez.’ The sentence echoed inside the silent and deserted apartment and a tightness around her heart made the future vet topple over with a strained gasp leaving her mouth.

Powerless, loneliness…

The young maiden envied the handcarrier that Soojin had taken along with her because now she was on her own in yet another fight with her mind and she was on the losing end. Admission was a painful process and her denial syndrome didn’t make it all the easier. The pill was very, very hard to swallow. 

Even her own suitcase left her to rot by herself. 

Her, her mind and her heart topped with an unwanted crush on her so-called precious friend and largeif not astronomical amounts of denials. 

This crush was a step forward into understanding her feelings but the sheer amount of fear and anxiety creeping up on her was worth two steps back to the starting line. What was she supposed to do now that she knew… it was all so easy to remain in the dark, oblivious and blind. 

“Fuck you, useless thing.” She said to no one and she didn’t know whether she was cursing that suitcase, her feelings or the painful organ in her chest that she hit once, twice, as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

Luggage 2 - 1 Shuhua 

(

Bonus :

“Hop in losers, we’re going to the mall.” Yuqi said with the most obnoxious tone she could muster, comfortably sitting in the driver’s seat with her elbow poking out of the rolled down window.

Minnie scoffed at that before proceeding to put her things in the trunk along with Miyeon’s only to realise the lack of space there. “Yah Song Yuqi ! Did you bring your whole house or something !?” The Thai woman exclaimed.

“If it doesn’t fit just put the rest in the backseat.” Yuqi barked back.

Miyeon made a move to put her stuff there since Minnie had somehow managed to shove her luggage in the little space Yuqi’s trunk had left to offer but couldn’t help the scandalised gasp that escaped her mouth when she saw Minnie abandoning her to go in the shotgun.

“Yaaaah !” The oldest whined, feeling tricked by her two friends.

“Sit behind, noodle.” Was Minnie’s only response to her complaints.

“I’m driving then.” Miyeon huffed with her arms crossed against her chest.

“Miyeon, no.” She heard the two others scold her in a stern voice which made her begrudgingly take her place behind. She whispered a few profanities under her breath, something about respecting elders and stuff while boring holes in the back of the two younger’s heads. 

30 minutes later it was just as she expected the ride to be: noisy. 

Miyeon took her sweet time sulking behind the other two, not even caring about the quarrel unfolding just in front of her. 

“I’m telling you, jaded is the only word to describe how I feel.” Yuqi repeated, which made Minnie grunt in annoyance.

“For the life of god, if you repeat that word one more time I’m going to kill you with my bare hands.” The Thai producer threatened.

“How am I supposed not to when this is the only word in the whole glossary that can explain my feelings. Jaded is the best word, period.” Yuqi retorted matter of factly which didn’t put out the fire and instead ignited a spark of murderous intent emanating from the sit next to hers.

“You’ve been saying this word for 30 minutes now ! I got it, you're jaded and what about it? Do you want me to pat your back and tell you ‘oh poor Yuqi.’ Hell no.” Minnie argued with a scowl on her face trying her best to not just downright tape the driver’s mouth.

“And what if I want to !? What I was trying to say is that this is the best word I learnt this year. It even sounds nice, jaded.” The Chinese influencer said, eyes still on the road completely ignoring the way Minnie looked like she was 2 seconds away from strangling her.

“Anyway, how are you feeling ? You wrapped the filming two days ago, right ? Yuqi redirected the conversation to everyone’s relief. 

“Tired from the workload-” Minnie replied while pushing her back into the leather seat, suddenly a lot more relaxed when the driver stopped repeating the same word again and again but she may have let her guard down a little too fast it seems. 

“You mean you are jaded.” Yuqi interrupted and tried hard to keep her growing smile at bay when she saw her friend’s face slowly getting redder in pure frustration.

“You’re lucky that you are driving, Song Yuqi.” Minnie let out a long sigh, internalising her growing annoyance, but still accentuated each and every syllable of her friend’s name through gritted teeth. 

After that it all calmed down again as if nothing ever happened but it wasn’t bound to last for long. Especially with this trio left alone in a single confined place. From her place in the shotgun the movie producer tried playing with the radio but her hand was swatted by none other than the Chinese woman. “My car, my songs.” She hissed and Minnie was really holding back the urge to punch that smug smile away for fear of sending them all to the hospital after a car crash. But darn was it so tempting.

When they reached a red light, Yuqi took her phone out and immediately searched for a song to play before putting the device back to its original place. The first few notes were okay-ish though they all knew that this was a little far from Yuqi’s usual taste in music.

“What’s the name of the song ?” Minnie asked curiously. 

The growing smirk on Yuqi’s face went unnoticed by the other two but she wasted no time answering back. “Jaded by PLVTINUM.” and as if on a cue the said words were sung by the artist. 

Only the song could be heard for perhaps the two longest seconds in existence before Minnie jumped from her seat and directly aimed at Yuqi’s throat with purpose. It was like something snapped in her head and she was suddenly possessed by a vengeful spirit, murder clear in her eyes. The Chinese woman struggled to save herself from the incoming attack and yelled curses when she felt the grip around her neck tightening and threatening to cut her airway. 

The light had turned green and they could hear cars honking at them to move but neither stopped the on-going fight. One too eager to choke the driver and the other too busy trying to survive. Her life was on the line there and driving them was the least of her worries when she might just die today. The incessant honking created an atmosphere similar to the ones of a fight club. Reality was forgotten except for the silent one who could only hope that they wouldn't get arrested for road blockage and (attempted) murder. 

“Can I drive ?” Miyeon innocently asked, trying to remind the two girl’s of the more pressing matters at hand. Her hope turned into prayers when she saw a man exiting his car, face red in anger, and approaching their own engine at a very threatening pace. 

At that innocent question Yuqi and Minnie froze in their spot just to turn their head towards the oldest in the backseat who had stayed quiet during the ride so far. The idea of being a nuisance to public order didn’t even cross their mind. They were both red and definitely weren’t done with the whole being at each other’s throat agenda but that didn’t stop them from yelling back at the poor businesswoman.

“MIYEON, NO.” 

)

Chapter Text

The week couldn’t have been more excruciating, between classes and taking care of the bar that Soojin had entrusted in her, Shuhua couldn’t find heads or tails of what she was supposed to do to survive. In a span of an afternoon, her initial crisis that had already plagued her previous weeks and increasingly worsened overtime just decided to grow two fold in the form of a missing piece in her everyday life: Soojin. 

On Monday, 3:57pm to be precise, she had walked all the way to Soojin’s dance academy to inform everyone of their precious teacher’s sudden leave. The dejected face on the young pupils that her friend loved so much made her snicker in irony, believe her, she was having it worse than those teenagers. 

Surely the bar owner could have maybe taken care of that matter herself but being a few thousands meters above sea level inside an aircraft zooming across the globe at a speed of 800km/h may have complicated the ordeal if not making it impossible. Moreover the pale vet student always wore her heart on her sleeve so she was feeling less anxious to know that even if she couldn’t do much, she still has somehow helped out someone she cherished dearly. 

Talking of heart, the still fresh and unfinished conversation that she had with the aforementioned traveling person made that stupid organ squeeze uncomfortably inside her chest. Shuhua might have barely grazed the surface of the problem that she was already backpedaling at lightning speed. What was a crush even helping her with right now considering her pretty pitiful situation at the moment. A small voice inside her head wished that Soojin had stayed back to hear her out and maybe guide her like she had always done so far but the far more stubborn and dominant part of her wanted to take the matter in her own hands. She was before all an independent adult and didn’t need to rely on others to sort the matters of her heart, emotions and whatnot. Her best friend needed to be close to her family as of now, she couldn’t act like a child and be selfish because she may have developed a silly if not imaginary crush on her just as silly older friend. 

So her thick head had found a solution to all of that stressful nonsense: to simply ignore it.

What isn’t a matter in her mind can’t possibly hinder her in her tracks. That flawless -not so flawless- philosophy will somehow carry her through everything until it eventually disappears. It was bound to happen anyway since the not-crush (she will never admit it from now on as it doesn’t remotely even exist anymore if we were to apply her newfound theory) is just that, volatile, fragile and more importantly temporary. So, all she has to do now, is to wait it out and ignore it in its every form and shape until it's eventually gone for good. 

In its essence, the root of her recent distress was that stupid tug of war she was having against her own feelings. Take it out of the equation and she was as fresh as new. 

Good riddance. She’ll have to admit that this almost brought her to the brink of insanity if not for this new foolproof strategy (not so foolproof considering the high level fool it was up against). She had other things to worry about, like that one lab report that was currently being a searing pain in the bottom.

It was now Thursday and she had completed a head dissection the day prior, which was inherently gross but she was passionate enough to ignore the slight disgust she could feel as she peered down on the smelly already cut off canine head. Her partner had excused herself to go to the bathroom leaving her to do most of the dissection herself. She couldn’t really blame her lab partner on that one, it was really quite horrific in hindsight. Now she was left with a lab sketch to complete and a short paragraph on her findings which she admitted was 10 times scarier than butchering a dog’s head for the sake of science. But alas, here she was at the bar watching over the three staff members and the few customers enjoying their beers while trying to place the lingual frenulum on the meticulously drawn tongue of her frightening sketch. 

She sure was having a great time. 

It was maybe around 8pm when two of the employees went home. While she had barely made any progress on her lab report, she had no choice but to help out with the business. She heaved a long drawn out sigh as even if she was currently cleaning a few glasses, the only thing running inside her head was all the unfinished homework she had to do. She had a genetic paper to turn in next week, and a quiz on immunology tomorrow that she had yet to study for. Then there was the ethics exam next Monday in addition to the things she wanted to review and the notes she wanted to reorganize to prepare for the finals that are still far away but better now than late. 

All that thinking made her head throb painfully, dropping the cloth used to wipe the table as her hand traveled to her temple while the other gripped down on the wooden piece of furniture, her knee faltering just a little. 

“You’re okay boss ?” The only remaining worker asked her in worry. He was a fine boy and she had known him for a bit now, having worked together for the past year or so. 

“Yeah… I’m good. You can head home, I’ll close the bar.” Shuhua straightened herself and gulped down the migraine plaguing her last few days. Glancing at the clock hanging in a corner she took note of how late it was, the emptiness of the bar and her own exhaustion. It was a safer choice to close now even if on paper it was only bound to close in another 40 minutes. Moreover she really wanted to clock in early today, as kind hearted her coworker was, she wished he would just leave her be. Her usual unfiltered sentence was replaced with a political smile, the one reserved for those situations where no matter how rude she would sound, her true feelings were probably harsher. 

“Are you sure about that ? I can help you out with the closing.” He worriedly said. 

Shuhua shook her head at that with a strained smile. “You’re already doing extra hours right now, thank you for the help. Don’t worry too much, I’ll just finish with the tables and turn off the lights before closing. I can do this myself.” She assured him. He was a law student and she knew that the poor guy was in the same study frenzy situation as her. He was already trying his best to help out in Soojin’s absence despite being busy on his own. Too bad that she wasn't feeling like entertaining him longer today. As a silent apology she’ll be sure to put in some good words for him to the bar owner, with some luck he’ll get a bonus. 

After a few more minutes Shuhua quickly ushered him out the door herself with a relieved sigh. When she was alone she dropped her sore body down on a random couch, recollecting herself for 5 minutes, eyes closed and her hands massaging her forehead. Her back hurt as if her spine had been rolled over by a truck but it truly was because of her bad posture whenever she was caught up in her study materials. That one unhealthy bend over her desk as she scribbled down notes upon notes for hours on end which any student could relate to. She focused on her breathing, inhaling deeply each time in hope of chasing the headache with each gush of air. It was just that, her breathing and the light noise coming from the night city just outside these four walls. 

That short moment of tranquility was shattered when the front door opened and Shuhua was two seconds away from barking at the intruder to get the hell out of here but couldn’t find the strength to. Instead, she winced at the sudden sound of a speeding motorcycle echoing unfiltered in her ears from the wide open entrance. 

“We’re closed.” She sternly said, not even looking up, still feeling the pounding in her brain like loud drums inside her skull. 

“I can see that.” A familiar voice rang through the empty space, it brought shivers down the pale maiden’s spine and her chest constricted for a split second. For a moment she thought she might have imagined it but the familiar pit-a-pat of heels clicking against the newly cleaned floor was too real. Either that or she reached a new level of crazy, madness, insanity, you name it. 

She took a discreet glance up to confirm her suspicions. Great… just amazing. Her snarky side wanted to curse out loud at this unforeseen turn of event but her softer, more mellow and tired self found comfort in the presence looming just over her. Her muscles involuntarily relaxed while her insides contracted unwarned, almost painfully if her brain wasn’t already winning the competition of most uncooperative body parts.

“Good evening Shu.” Miyeon said, standing two steps away from the hunched figure pitifully sitting at a table. It sounded soft and bright, like usual, but it almost felt strict and commanding. Like an unspoken order, she looked up to see eye to eye with the oh so pretty businesswoman. Just like that her thought through, failproof, perfect plan was slowly dropping down the gutter. Her carefully crafted, armor plated philosophy was vanishing already. 

“Isn’t it late ? What are you doing here” Suddenly a little more self conscious, Shuhua straightened up and put on her infamous resting bitch face. She couldn’t crumble now, not even in a 100 years will she ever admit defeat. 

“Just wanting to check in on my favourite person.” The older woman casually said with her sweet smile, unknowing of how her words were rocking Shuhua’s universe into shambles and pieces. Her resolve to somehow get over that infatuation was shrinking in no time and all she wanted to do is to hide and never come back. Was reincarnating into a turtle too late ? She dreamt of having that protective shell to hide herself into whenever it was needed. 

The needed time being now, immediately, in this exact minute. 

Silence surrounded the pair, Miyeon patiently waiting for something while Shuhua seemed to be dazed. The gears inside her mind weren’t at their peak performance by far, they even seemed to be encountering a technical issue that was translated by a sharp throb. An unmistakable reminder to quickly finish up here so she could take a shower and grab a painkiller or two upstairs.

“Whatever I’m closing, so shoo.” The black haired beauty stood up rapidly trying to hide the rosiness on her pale cheeks from the earlier comment, pushing Miyeon out of the way only to feel the world spin out of its axis and around her. She really hoped that she had masked her dizziness well enough by scrambling to the counter as fast as she could without tumbling. She meekly turned around to check on the woman in a formal attire, not noticing the scarlet red trickling to the floor in the process. 

“Yah, are you okay ?” Miyeon almost flew to her with how big her strides were. It seemed like the Taiwanese was far from quick enough because in no time she was back to the dangerous zone near the older girl who immediately grabbed Shuhua’s face in between her two cold hands.

Now she couldn’t tell what made her the most dizzy, the headache or the soft touch upon her clammy skin. The feeling of an index finger grazing just above her upper lip made her knee buckle a little. 

“I know I’m pretty and amazing but getting a nosebleed is too much of a reaction to my presence, silly.” Miyeon joked though she frowned at the distant look in the familiar brown eyes. 

No answer came from the foreigner, she could barely hear anything, feeling faint and completely drained. That alone was worrying in itself, just now noticing how sickly pale yet warm and slightly sweaty the skin felt in between her hands.

One moment Miyeon was there getting some tissue for her nose, the long veiny hands stained dark scarlet red holding her close, and the other, it seemed like someone killed the lights. 

From white to red and everything went black.

____

The chirpings of the birds was what greeted her when she regained consciousness. It was like a slow increase of volume in her ears and as more time went by the more complete the ambient cacophony was to her. Her head felt heavy just like the blanket of sound coming back crescendo and Shuhua almost wished she didn’t wake up at all. 

A slight itch in her right arm was the only thing that made her open her eyes to the unfamiliar scenery of a tidy, if not, emptied room. The blinds did a poor job at hiding the sun from passing through but were effective enough to dim the light to a comforting level of luminosity that wasn’t too intense to her retina. The other detail that bothered her was how recognisable it felt here. As much as waking up to an unknown place and room should sound an alarm in her mind, the said room felt too intimate, almost domestic. Everything about the surrounding noise, the smell and the decor was comforting in an odd manner that she couldn't quite pinpoint in the morning daze. 

When she finally found the force to even stand up, she staggered her way outside to be greeted by her living room. From the familiar blue couch and the white low table upon a gray fluffy carpet to the open bar kitchen with that basket of fake fruit on top a counter made of granite. It only dawned on her that she was in the guest room on the first floor of the duplex: Miyeon’s old room. That explained the residual hint of her perfume lingering in the beddings, the warmth of familiarity that made her feel safe. 

Talking of which, there was her dear Miyeon sitting on the floor with her laptop propped up on the small table, leaning against the couch looking so focused on a few documents flashing by the device's bright screen. That same focus was soon diverted to her though as her arrival didn’t go unnoticed.

“Oh, already awake ?” Miyeon scrambled to her feet and approached her. Shuhua noticed how casual and comfy the latter looked in a pair of sweatpants with a large black jacket probably covering one of her oversized shirts. 

“Hmm.” The younger woman just hummed with a discreet nod of her head, still a little confused by the situation. Was she still dreaming ? How come she woke up to such a domestic scene ? It felt a little too good, too unreal or just too perfect to be true.

“How are you feeling ?” Miyeon immediately asked while gently pulling Shuhua to the large couch. 

“Weird.” Shuhua truthfully answered, taking a look around and starting to pick up on odd details. On her left arm was a plain dark beige band aid that she didn’t remember having, she was still in her work outfit from yesterday and her phone was missing.

“Wait… it’s Friday ?” The realisation was like the calm before the storm. 

Everything about that surreal scenery was shattered to pieces in a fraction of seconds. Shuhua bolted out of her seat and immediately ran to her room to get dressed, almost colliding knee first on the wooden stairs in the process. The remaining questions about what the hell happened were pushed back into the back of her mind as the only thing that flashed before her eyes was that she was probably late to class. It was like a cloud of madness overtook her common sense, she no longer felt the pain in her head, the way her whole body felt sore in the worst ways nor the dizziness as she moved too quickly, matching the erratic pace of her heart.

She was already back downstairs with her bag on her shoulder, heaving deeply as panic flashed in her eyes. “Shu-“

“Unnie ! Have you seen my phone ?!” The pale woman demanded in a hurry. Her voice dripped with stress, eyes unfocused and lost to crippling anxiety. 

“Shu-“ 

“I’m late crap, crap,crap-“

“Shuhua !” Miyeon forcefully grabbed the vet student by the arm, making her stop in her tracks. Before the latter could say anything she dropped the news that Shuhua dreaded hearing. She refused to admit it. “It’s almost 2pm.”

A moment of pause overtook them and Miyeon gulped down nervously as she could vividly see thousands of emotions flashing through the brown orbs in front of hers. Not so good emotions she might add. 

“I… I can make it to the last class… maybe I can ask the teachers- or my classmates… I have a quiz too, I-“ The low mutter coming out of Shuhua as she tried to regain herself broke Miyeon’s heart. She knew how seriously the girl took her studies and how disciplined she was regarding them. The only thing Shuhua wasn’t joking about was the very same thing everyone admired: her dedication to pursue her dreams despite the lack of support from her family, her drive to prove them wrong and the passion to succeed. Miyeon envied Shuhua for that.

Yet, no matter how supportive Miyeon was, her worries were ten times greater. Right now her number one worry was about the exact same person she encouraged to strive forward. But every step forward sometimes requires a well deserved pause. With a bitter heart she just had to say it. “Shu.. Listen to me. Even if you could make it to your last class, I won’t let you go.” 

“Uh ..?” Shuhua uttered, cutting off her panicked ramble. It was like half of her refused to acknowledge what she just heard. It took some more time to even register  what Miyeon had said but the latter had already repeated herself again, like a bucket of cold water being dumped on her as the hand squeezed her arm tighter. “I won’t let you go to school today.” 

“What ? Wha- Why ?!” Confusion was seeping down her mouth at this point as anger slowly filled her chest like a heavy tumor of negativity. She couldn’t believe it. Miyeon couldn’t possibly stop her, it was impossible. 

“For one, you literally passed out on me yesterday.” Miyeon started off, even saying it out loud made her heart clench painfully as she remembered the whirlwind of emotions she went through.

“But-“ 

“No buts. You have no idea how scared I was. I had to hail a cab and get you to the hospital, you’re lucky my uncle worked there and helped me out because I had NO idea of what to even do !” Miyeon raised her voice, trying to shake some sense into Shuhua who now looked down ashamed.

“The doctor said you were overworked, stressed and exhausted, you needed to be put on rest for at least a few days. He said you’re lucky the weekend is coming because you could’ve hurt yourself badly if you went on working like that.” Miyeon calmed down while explaining the rest of the story. She went on about how the passed out cold Shuhua was given an IV drip, laying down like a corpse on that bleak hospital bed. Explaining how her uncle helped them on the way back and eventually dropped them to the duplex before somehow getting the sick girl to bed.

Snippets and hazed memories of the chemical smell, hospital corridors and them tumbling while trying to get up the stairs to access the apartment above the bar flashed in Shuhua’s mind like a broken record and everything clicked better in her mind. She felt guilty for putting Miyeon in such a stressful situation, parts of her wanted to apologise but she didn't know how to even phrase it, let alone express herself correctly. It was mostly her inability to communicate that was at fault but a small part of her was feeling extremely butt hurt by the girl in front of her for not letting her go to class. This made the guiltiness three times heavier in her chest, she just couldn’t help it. Shuhua gnawed at her bottom lip watching Miyeon sigh while pulling out her phone out of her pocket and handing it back to its rightful owner. 

“You should ask your classmates to send you the things you missed.” The businesswoman gently suggested. “Don’t forget to contact your professors about your condition and explain why you’re going to miss a few days of class.”

“A few days..?” Shuhua whispered under her breath. The guiltiness turned into rancor and ugly spite. 

“Hmm ? What did you say ?” The other woman however didn’t quite catch it. Confused at the sudden change of demeanor.

Shuhua only scoffed but one look into the worried eyes made her swallow the bitterness threatening to spill out. She had to get away before she said something she will deeply regret later. “I have homework to finish.” The student sternly announced and made her way back upstairs where her room was, forcefully pulling her arm away from the now loosened grip and leaving poor Miyeon dumbfounded.

It didn’t take long before she caught up to Shuhua who was already at her desk with her laptop open and a few papers around her. “Yah ! I told you to rest.!” 

When the latter ignored her and just continued pulling more and more papers out of her binder, the older woman stomped toward the desk and landed a heavy hand on the tensed shoulder of the black haired maiden.

“I was talking to you.” She scolded with a mature and almost domineering voice making the girl tremble involuntarily. 

“Unnie…. You won’t let me go there, please let me just finish my deadlines… at least.” Shuhua finally looked at her, her voice fragile and her eyes brimming with unshed tears. 

It melted Miyeon on the spot. What could she do ? Shuhua looked two seconds away from breaking down which was a first in history. The younger woman always had a tough and aloof exterior and no matter what she always tried to hide her inner turmoil. It was just how she grew up, she had to be the best and no matter the situation, her heart had to be guarded by high walls. Feelings were always too complicated, too much of a weakness. 

“Please… just let me.” Shuhua repeated almost like she was begging. She tried to contain everything inside but the older girl was making it hard to even breathe properly. 

“Fine… just… I’ll be working downstairs if you need anything.” Miyeon said in defeat. She didn’t want to argue and even less to confront Shuhua in that state. She had only briefly heard of her childhood and from the looks of it, the vulnerability she could see in Shuhua’s eyes was something rooted far deeper in than simple school anxiety. “You still have snacks here, eat up before you start and come down for dinner, I’ll order something for us.”

XXXXXXXX

Working has never been an issue. Shuhua was naturally smart and had no difficulties grasping complexe concepts. The only thing that came as a bummer to her parents was Shuhua’s tendency of having very uncommon dreams and hobbies she wanted to pursue. It was easy to deal with at first, setting unrealistic standards, pressuring her into being the best study machine and offering half empty promises. But they weren’t prepared to swallow back their meaningless words. What seemed unreachable couldn’t compare to the sheer amount of willpower their small bodied midnight haired 12 years old had. That’s how she somehow made it to her dream theatre on the whole other side of the city. 

That happiness however was hanging on a thin thread she soon learnt, at the first mistake she would be out of there like it never happened in the first place. That compromise mostly worked out because she lived with her grandma at that time but it didn’t mean she was off the hook so easy. The deal consisted of being able to join the theatre troupe as a hobby while attending the most prestigious academy in the country. She had to place first in everything with a speckless attendance record no matter how sick she was. 

Shuhua will always remember the day her pristine perfect school record was tainted, a school fight she didn’t think would get her into such big troubles later on. Yet, never in a billion years did she regret standing up for her classmate but lord did she almost shit her pants when the school called her parents. By a twist of fate it was her grandmother that came in their stead and even though she got her ear pulled all the way back home, her grandma still came inside her room with a plate of freshly cut fruits while telling her to not study too much as it was nearing bedtime. 

The next family dinner was something to be dreaded and it even managed to exceed her expectations. From arguing to screaming, she could only hang her head low in shame, it was true that she broke the deal first and no matter how she wished she could explain what happened she never dared talking back to her father. Her grandfather was the one who spoke up for her and she ultimately got a second chance though she will never forget the disappointment and fury in both her parents’ eyes. She still dreams about it on bad nights. 

Her dreams to become an actress didn’t quite bloom as her parents pressured her into becoming a doctor and by an unfortunate turn of event she got sick and had to miss school for a few days. This had forever traumatised her and she couldn’t even find the tears to cry when she received a mail from the theatre saying that her parents had filled in a permanent leave form for her. She didn’t know what was the most ironic part of that absurd story, her parents pushing her to study medicine while laying on a hospital bed or them forcing their own dreams after shattering hers into dust.

Being 17, full of spite and teenager-rebelling tendencies, she for the first time said that she wanted to be a veterinarian against her parents wishes. Acting was just one of her many dreams and an opportunity to leave the house. She didn’t let herself cry for broken empty vases and instead redirected her ambition toward the next. She had countless ideas but she chose that one in particular to irk her parents. What could be better than another form of medicine deemed useless by them to oppose their glorified human-saving dream career. Moreover her love for animals was something she could see as her happy-ever-after, unlike her limited interest in human beings. She definitely wasn’t to blame for that, having ice cubes of parents made her confide all her untold worries of the time in the neighbor’s dog more often than she ever did with her mother. Let’s just say that the sable ball of fur and affection was a better company than her. Unconditional love, no questions asked, no matter what she wanted to be. That’s what she liked about the goofy four legged happy pill named Fido.

So with the support of Fido, the freshly 18 years old Shuhua dared her two progenitors into a risky bet: if she placed first amongst her whole school for the national exam she would go abroad and choose her own field of study. Blame her parents for never learning from their past mistakes, they agreed with a scoff thinking she would never make it. 

All of that only to be where she is now. 

Her hand was clutching her mouth in a poor attempt at muffling the sobs that threatened to escape. Her mind was replaying all the things she had heard in the past, the disappointed gaze on her. Her achievements never being recognized for what they really were, just another way of angering her parents. Her breathing was erratic and uncontrolled, as if someone was squeezing her throat in a deadly grasp. She didn’t even know when it started, she was typing her short paragraph on her computer after being done with that demonic looking sketch when her hands suddenly started to shake violently. One thing led to another and she lost control of everything. She was shaking and crying before she could even try to calm down. It was just like in the past, each exam and each lesson she couldn’t quite understand always filled her with something that seemed to tear her from the inside. 

No one helped her through that. She still remembers everything and the memory ripped her heart into pieces. Only one person knew about these panic attacks. Just one person knew that she wasn’t as perfect as she tried to be. Just one person could have seen her for what she was really.

“Shu dinner is here.” The door opened and if she wasn’t already trembling like a leaf in autumn, she would have visibly flinched. Her eyes shut at that unfortunate timing. Was escaping from the third floor an option ? Dunking her head in pure shame she just closed her eyes. 

Miyeon could just leave her there. She could simply turn a blind eye. She could mock her- “Shhh, hey I’m here. I’m right here.” Two strong arms engulfed the crying girl in a tight embrace and it made her lose it all. 

Shuhua’s hands came gripping the arms holding her, her head dropping to the side as a wail left her mouth unrestrained. It felt like she lost her mind, she was swimming in insanity. But Miyeon was here, not leaving her to drown. 

She was there for her, in her ugliest forms, in all her weakest shapes. 

“Don’t worry… you’re good. You’ll be fine.” The words of reassurance weren’t necessarily helping, Shuhua couldn’t comprehend anything in her current state anyway, but the voice itself was enough to pull her back from whatever dark place she was in. She could finally cry everything out, something she couldn’t do so many times in the past. 

It took another good 5 minutes before Miyeon could attempt to move them away from the desk, navigating a boneless Shuhua onto the bed so the latter could lie down in her arms. The Taiwanese was reduced to a sniffing mess with a few occasional sobs that broke Miyeon into pieces. She busied herself with wiping every tear rolling down the reddened damp cheeks, each one coming more and more sporadically. Each stroke of her thumb was like magic touch and fairy dust and what once looked so dark and scary seemed to be getting farther and further away in the depth of never to be seen again. Eventually the crying stopped and all was just ragged breathing and a few hiccups from poorly timed inhales.

“I’m so tired.” Shuhua finally uttered something coherent and Miyeon glanced down at the girl that had her head lying down on her chest. Shuhua didn’t say anything else, she didn’t want to develop on it further, preferring the loud and clear beatings of the pump underneath the prison of flesh and bones, steady and comforting against her ear. This just accentuated her statement better. She was so darn tired of her studies, of being always so stressed out and of her feelings she wished weren’t there to begin with. 

“I know you are.” Miyeon nodded, patting the younger’s head with a hand while the other was playing and threading slender fingers through long midnight locks.

Shuhua wanted to scoff lightly, if only Miyeon knew that she was also part of her unimaginable amount of stress lately. Sure, her studies were the biggest part of it but the silly businesswoman wasn’t that innocent either. But she would never blame the latter for that, she'd rather vilify her own stupid brain for developing those feelings. 

Her train of unspoken thoughts was interrupted by the very same voice she loved listening to. “Do you want to stay at my place ?” 

This made Shuhua look up, shifting so her arms were propped on either side of the other woman, finally pulling herself away as her knees planted themselves on the mattress and body rested in the space between Miyeon’s legs. The distance wasn’t that great with the younger one now hovering above the businesswoman, just enough to not be inside her embrace as she chose to trap Miyeon between her two arms instead. Not that it bothered the latter anyway. From that position Shuhua could see Miyeon’s features in all their glory, her face lit by the moonlight coming from her window. A dainty hand came up to fix her curtain of black hair behind her ear, it was all so natural. 

Certainty and seriousness were filling the little space in between them, Miyeon looked at her right back in the eyes, none of them relenting. 

“A change of scenery. I think you need that.” Silence followed. The younger woman however was still following the beat of the heart she longed for, the one that made the rest of her mind come to a halt only to focus on the rhythmic tempo. 

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Okay.. let’s go.”

XXXXXXXXXX

Reaching Miyeon’s place wasn’t a hard task, after all she was only living three streets away from their old workplace. The oldest had helped Shuhua pack enough necessities before they both made their way into the late night streets. The blue heavens had retreated down the horizon to let midnight hues take over their place and cast their shadows now covering their world, the air was cool and the half moon followed all throughout. 

Their arms were linked, a few minutes prior hands were intertwined before Miyeon had to urgently reply to a text on her phone effectively letting her go. Usually Shuhua would be less enthusiastic about them being this close physically unless it was to fight each other but tonight she had no mind in pulling herself away, she didn’t have the strength to. It wasn’t like Miyeon wanted to either, she was more than glad to be able to hold her like that even if it was just looping her elbow around Shuhua’s own. Just for today the burnt out student will indulge in the natural clinginess her older friend was so well-known for.

The area was open to the larger road near the MRT station, her building right next to the aforementioned underground facility. She had heard Miyeon complaining about how rowdy and noisy this place could be during peak hours, or how much of an ordeal it could be to navigate through masses of employees alike just to make it to work on time. It was only then that Shuhua realised that she never visited the girl’s apartment ever since the latter moved out a couple years ago. This street was not unfamiliar, in fact she always took that exact path whenever she had to take public transports. 

Miyeon was strangely quiet now and it didn’t bother Shuhua that much, to be fair she wasn’t really in the mood for small talk. As drained as she was, that short walk was revitalizing in a way. No thoughts about work running wild like a hamster in a wheel, no dwelling on how to achieve a perfect score in the next test to come and no tug of war with herself regarding the very same person she will live with for the next few days. 

Upon entering the apartment, the owner made a fair warning about the very simple decoration, stating that most of it was stored inside boxes in the guest room ever since the flooding happened. She only got her apartment fixed a handful of days ago and even proudly pointed at the newly renovated parquet replacing the old rotting wooden floor as well as the novel muted beige -which the apartment owner insisted on calling champagne colour- paint covering the walls that took over the chipping gray one. 

It was amazing how this week turned out to be. Like a balloon being filled with air until it eventually exploded, now she felt completely empty again. From eating the reheated takeout to just finding peace under the flowing hot water as she showered in that unknown place that held such a comforting aura. It was funny how life had decided to play with her. Who knew that she’d be here despite all her internal fighting, right inside the wolf’s lair that smelled a mix of expensive perfume and freshly dried paint. Even more ironic was how she felt now, in other circumstances she would have already lost her shit a long time ago to be here alone with her dear source of emotional turmoil. But now she was gladly delving into that warmth and who knows what. 

She found the wolf inside her own room, already showered and sporting comfy pairs of shorts with a loose white t-shirt, eyes strained on her phone. She looked like the white innocent lamb more than the big black wolf in the fairytales. 

Wolf in sheep clothing perhaps. 

“What are you doing standing there like this? If I didn’t know better I’d think you want to bite me down, puppy.” A laugh broke Shuhua’s internal monologue. The nickname wasn’t new but it wasn’t the one she heard the most either, it was just a silly thing but oh so appropriate for the situation. She did really feel like a lost puppy in a new home while leaning against the door frame of the room. So she made no move and just stayed there, herself wearing a matching set of makeshift pajamas. Same smell, same looks, same place. “Come here.” The command was accompanied with a soft tap on the empty side of the comically humongous bed. She complied with no resistance.

“What are you thinking about?” Miyeon asked while setting her phone aside. It was well in the late hours of the night now and the more time they stayed in bed the more tired they discovered themselves to be.

“It’s funny. I wear your things, I smell like you, I even sleep on your bed. It’s like you own me in a way.” Shuhua didn’t really want to lie, she was too exhausted to care about her word filter. She was raw and bare but who cared anymore. Yet she admits that saying this outloud felt silly and it made her crack a small smile. 

“Are you complaining ?” The oldest said with an unserious raise of an eyebrow, not denying it. Shuhua was known to say some of the weirdest things and usually they didn’t mean much, the phrasing was just off mostly. Yet, more often than not, no matter the way she says something, the meaning remains clear to understand. 

“No… I’m not. It’s quite homey here. Too bad I have to share a bed with you though. I hope you don’t snore.” Shuhua shrugged before playfully looking sideways to stick her tongue out. She was rewarded by a hearty chuckle and a few slaps on her bare arm. 

“I should be the one saying that !” Miyeon retorted, faking offense. “The guest room is a mess though so you and I will have to bear with it.” She added as her eyelids felt heavier.

“Also… remember that you’re always welcomed here. This is your home too Shu.” The words were barely above a whisper and at any moment Miyeon could drift away in the currents of dreamlands. 

Despite how quiet the next words were and how loud the beating of her own heart was inside her ears, she heard her loud and clear. 

Thump. Thump. Thump. 

“It’s our home.”

___________

The first moment of consciousness felt great and not so much of a torture for once. Shuhua had few bits and scraps of her dreams growing foggier and distant the more she laid there half awake, the beddings were soft silk and the duvet was of a perfect weight that brought her comfort. If anything, she just didn’t want to get up and face the world today. Her hand reached further and the empty space was still warm to the touch. 

Right, this was Miyeon’s bed.

It seems like the latter had just gotten out of bed herself which was probably why Shuhua even woke up in the first place. Her eyes locked themselves to the white ceiling and she inhaled the scent of soft and freshly out of the laundry fabric. It was a different detergent than the one she used with Soojin but she liked it nonetheless, maybe she’ll ask her which brand it was so can buy it herself. 

She could faintly hear the sound of clatters characteristic of cutlery from somewhere in the living room. The apartment was significantly smaller than the duplex or even Minnie’s house. It was perhaps even smaller than Yuqi’s own place. Yet, it had its own charms and appeal, the comfort and coziness just like its owner. 

She tried to make her way towards the noise as quietly as possible, for some reason she didn’t feel like making her presence known even though she was bound to run into Miyeon one way or another. 

Shuhua found the said woman sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall opposite of the TV, with a bowl of cereal and its box placed just next to her. Miyeon looked like nothing of her usual corporate donned formal attire, she was just there with her oversized white shirt and sport shorts munching on her breakfast like a ‘loser’ but a cute one. The sight was heartwarming in a manner that was hard to explain, the early hours of the day all alone together, the morning sun illuminating the place with its soft light and just that odd sense of tranquility that would always put her at peace.

“Morning Shu~” The cheery voice broke her out of her trance and she just now realised that she was staring right back at Miyeon who was already smiling at her.

“Morning.” She curtly replied while looking at her feet, unable to look at Miyeon’s blinding grin so early in the morning. The girl only motioned Shuhua to go get herself something inside the kitchen for breakfast. 

In no time she was sitting next to the businesswoman, nursing her own bowl of plain  yogurt and muesli from whatever miscellaneous things she had found in the poorly organized drawers and fridge. “I was waiting for you to wake up to turn on the TV… didn’t want to wake you up.” The older of the two said it like it was something to be proud of. Perhaps it was, considering how loud the latter could be. 

They stayed there in silence as the tv showcased the news followed by the weather forecast. It was not the most agreeable place to be for sure, the floor was cold and the wall unpleasantly hard but it was great nonetheless. Generic voice paired with eventual crunchy sounds filled the space, Miyeon was quiet for once but not out of something bothering her. The oldest simply wanted to enjoy this moment, no need of small talk when all they really needed now was each other’s presence, the cold floor and hard wall. 

The weather forecast ended and ads were now polluting the ambient air, some kind of miracle cream for wrinkles, a popular snack, random sport drinks… by the fifth one they both had already filled their stomachs and Miyeon had gone inside her kitchen to drop the dirty bowls in the dishwasher while making herself a cup of coffee. 

“How are you today ?” Miyeon gently asked, her body leaning against the kitchen’s door frame before taking a tentative sip out of her piping hot drink. Oops. She burnt her tongue but tried to mask it as brown eyes fell on her.

‘Play it cool, play it cool…..’

Shuhua just looked at her and glanced away back to the tv as a cartoon started playing. “My butt is cold.” She bluntly said and it took a few seconds for Miyeon to register her words.

“Ah yeah… my couch is in the guest room, I had to remove it for the renovation to take place here. It’s heavy and I just didn’t find the will to move it back here.” The brunette admitted, truth to be told, she had been pathetically sitting on the floor for the past few days and despite how unappealing it sounded, she just lacked the arm power to move her couch back here. It wasn't the only piece of furniture missing, apart from her tv that was also unapologetically placed on the floor and a lamp standing tall in a corner, the whole living room was bare. Last night, with the darkness covering every nook and cranny of the room, Shuhua didn’t get to really notice the emptiness of it all but now in a new light, the decoration warning from yesterday made all the more sense. Or more accurately the lack thereof decoration.

“Do you need help… setting everything?” Shuhua hesitantly suggested. Little did she know, she got herself into a week worth of workout with that single statement she made.

________

When opening the guest room, she didn’t expect so many objects and furniture to be haphazardly put and stacked upon each other like some messed up game of Tetris. It started with a little transparent cabinet holding some of Miyeon’s treasured belongings; her collection of expensive perfume, a few luxury bags, picture frames, a diploma of graduation and other random objects that looked either expensive or aesthetic. They had to get everything that was inside somewhere else before proceeding to the moving lest they break something worth a daily payment.

Once that was set, a table with chairs piled up high on it was next on the list followed by the tv stand. While it might be colder day by day, the beads of sweat forming on their forehead was the least of the worries as their arms were starting to burn from the extensive physical work. After these came the dreaded brown couch. Now Shuhua understood why Miyeon didn’t feel like moving it back herself, if everything before wasn't enough, that couch weirdly weighed a tonne. Grunts mixed with heavy groans was all that could be heard for a good 10 minutes of pure struggle.

The last few pieces were a breeze compared to the previous hassles; a coat hanger, a soft and fluffy rug and a light glass low table completed the once bare of anything place. Now less empty and more like its owner: cozy and full of life.

Both could be found breathing heavily, sat on the soft carpet and back leaning against the brown couch. Stark contrasts from how it started, from nothing to complete. In both they were there as a duo, from the first piece to the last of this grand puzzle. 

“Hey Shu.” Miyeon started after a beat of silence, she waited until a small hum of acknowledgement was made, sure that the younger maiden was listening. “- I have some work to do…don’t worry my company doesn’t require me to be there physically as long as I do my work on time. I already notified the office that I won’t come today anyway. I have a few meetings later in the afternoon and just some stuff to look at right now… you can watch tv or, I don’t know, Netflix if you want.” Miyeon’s worried face flashed for a split second overtaking the apologetic expression she was sporting.

“It’s okay Unnie… just work. I don’t mind it.” Shuhua answered in a posed tone, not really knowing what she was supposed to say or even feel about that.

“I’m sorry wolfie, I’ll make it up to you I promise.” As she said that, the business woman went to fetch her laptop with a stack of paper from the bedroom. 

She used that time to catch up on her social media, what popular drama she had missed on and briefly texting a few friends from high school. But it was just a matter of time before she grew bored, nothing appealed to her on Netflix and no hot tea about her favourite celebrities seemed to quench her boredom. 

Stealing a glance at the girl sitting near her on the floor, eyes strained on the awfully bright white screen with a cute frown made of pure focus… an idea popped inside the black haired maiden’s head.

“What are you doing ?” Miyeon blurted out in confusion as she felt a warm body next to hers, more paper being scattered across her low table along with her own. 

“Work ?” Shuhua simply said, taking a pen from her pencil case and pulling out the monstrosity that was her dissection sketch.

“Shu-“ the immediate scold was countered just as quickly. “Don’t worry Unnie, I’m taking it slow and I’m with you. My teacher gave me an extension until before the holidays but seeing you work makes me also want to be productive.” She explained, after shooting a few texts to her classmates and urgent mails to her professors. The TA she had befriended took care of compiling what she had missed after seeing her unusual absence. The lecturers also assured her that she hasn’t missed much and that the quiz she had missed could always be done again online at a later date when she felt better. 

“What is … that thing ?” Somewhere along writing an overly complex anatomical name and trying to type out a report, Miyeon had taken a curious interest in one of her tabs. 

“Oh, it’s a picture of a dissected dog head.” Shuhua stated the obvious, missing the way Miyeon’s face went a weird shade of white and her mouth turned upside down in disgust.

“A what ?!” The shriek nearly exploded Shuhua’s eardrums as her hand came up to soothe the pain.

“Ouch ! Don’t be so loud for lord’s sake.” The youngest scolded.

“Sorry… but what in the world ?!” Miyeon could only point vaguely at the terrifying image on Shuhua’s screen. 

“Anatomy class. The teacher made us dissect a canid’s head -a dog- and now I have to make a sketch and write a lab report for it. I’m done with the sketch though.” Shuhua took her time explaining, showing Miyeon her drawing while swiftly switching her tab to the assignment’s guidelines instead in hope of saving the latter from graphic nightmares tonight.

The businesswoman paused her work just to listen to her friend, nodding along to the provided explanations and questioning a few things here and there with how the latter took her time making it easy for her anti-scientific subjects brain. It was indeed easier to understand when it came from the Taiwanese beauty next to her compared to whatever she was looking at, putting her previous biology teachers to shame. If they could phrase it nearly as easily to her then maybe she wouldn’t have almost failed the said subject for several years in a row.

A small routine took place, Miyeon would work a little then ask something about Shuhua’s work, the latter would just answer as a way of making sure she was understanding the topic herself. It served as dynamic revisions in a way and it helped correct a few mistakes she hadn’t seen previously.

Just like that the day rolled and night had slowly overtaken the skies. Miyeon had walked away to prepare lunch earlier in the day, sure she wasn't a great cook but she made good Kimchi fried rice with spam, it might be her only recipe that she had mastered but a meal remains a meal.

Now it was Shuhua’s turn to return the favour. In the late afternoon Miyeon was swindled in online meetings and whatnot, making her unable to interact with Shuhua for the past few hours. From what she could hear, the businesswoman was dealing with a Japanese client. It was impressive in a way, Miyeon never really showcased her foreign languages prowess unlike Minnie and Yuqi so it came as a pleasant surprise to hear the older speak Japanese so fluently. It was cute in a way, her intonation was quite adorable even though Shuhua had no idea what the latter was saying at all.

From her spot behind the stove she could faintly hear ‘hai’-s and ‘sou’-s being thrown around. She was preparing something easy (but hard in the apartment’s owner standard’s), braised chicken and seaweed soup. It was a wonder how Miyeon’s fridge was full of random ingredients considering that the girl rarely cooked anything.

The meal was done just as the said girl was wishing farewell to that Japanese man, taking out her earphones while watching Shuhua place the dishes one by one. Miyeon wordlessly put her laptop away on the empty seat next to her and gaped in awe at the sight of this hearty meal.

“Whoaaa, you’re treating me so well.” Miyeon exclaimed as the last bowl was set.

“You worked hard today.” Shuhua commented instead, not waiting a second more before digging in. 

While Shuhua just contented herself with wolfing down her portion, Miyeon kept squealing at each bite, emphasizing how good it tasted with a bright smile that made rose appear on the cook’s pale cheeks. “It’s sooo good, you’re making my poor fried rice from this lunch look vile now.” 

The maiden had a mouthful but she held her stare with the businesswoman twinkling eyes. Gulping down everything including her fluttery heartbeat, she nonchalantly formulated a reply. “I like your fried rice though.” 

“Hehe… I should kidnap you here so you can stay with me forever. I’ll be the wallet and you do the cooking !” Miyeon cheerfully added, feeling all giddy at the usually stoic girl’s compliment.

‘Sounds like a dream’ the unwanted thoughts made a return and she hoped that her blushing cheeks weren’t that obvious or she might have to lie her way out with a half assed excuse.

“What do you think ? Sounds nice right ?” Miyeon prodded, hoping for an answer from the woman sitting just in front.

‘More than nice yeah…’ screw her mind really. Shuhua looked up to face the bright shining eyes and just took a second to enjoy how giddy the older woman was feeling. The atmosphere was light and pleasant and she had to agree with her inner thoughts, it indeed sounded amazing.

“Hm ?” 

She stared a little too long, forgetting that she was even asked a question in the first place. Clearing her throat and looking in honey eyes once again she hid her smirk under a stoic tone and unreadable face. “Soojin might murder you for it.”

“I’d gladly fight her for you though.”

_________________

The next day was somewhat similar. The morning started with Shuhua being the first one up this time around and leaving a snoozing brown haired lady in bed. She made herself a bowl of cereal and sat down on the gray carpet while looking through her phone and to-do list. It didn’t take long before the apartment owner showed up with half opened eyes and remnants of dreamland all across her face.

”Morning.” The youngest gave a simple greeting which was returned with a similar one with the addition of an empty bowl onto the low table. “Good morning… Can you pass me the milk.”

Just like the previous day, they sat there in almost silence. The tv showing the news like usual and light crunching noises filling in the blanks. It was funny how they have worked so hard to put up the entire living room and yet they still sat on the ground instead of the actual table a few steps away. Shoulders touching due to the lack of space and awkwardly looking up to meet the flashing screen with a picture perfect man explaining the drops in market prices or something along those lines. 

“My butt hurts.” Shuhua said in thin air, not really giving any context to her sudden words. 

“Sounds like a ‘you’ problem.” Miyeon replied immediately, sounding a little more awake than before.

“I was about to say at least it’s warm but nevermind that, you cold hearted corporate.” The Taiwanese bit back with snark.

“Wow, wow… First of all, ouch. Secondly, what is my job having anything to do with this?” Miyeon stopped her munching, placing down the silver spoon she was holding next to her bowl to look at the defiant look next to her breakfast companion.

“Got an issue boomer ?” Shuhua barked while holding her smile at bay, purposely bumping their shoulder lightly for the sole reason of being annoying.

“Yah, YAH-“ hearing these familiar exclamations out of the businesswoman, it was her cue to get her pretty and hurting butt out of here with a giggle leaving her mouth. 

XXXXXX

It was in the later hours of the afternoon and they both returned to their spot on the floor. The exact same one from yesterday and this morning. The low table was still filled with hazardous papers and two laptops running. This time around it was more of Shuhua’s material than Miyeon’s reports taking the spotlight. The older one was just putting up some proposals together and writing a few mails in advance. Taking a glance on her left, she could see the focused frown on the younger’s face, typing a string of words in an organised manner with words Miyeon wouldn’t dare trying to pronounce. 

Shuhua had mentioned before that she had somehow made lots of progress since yesterday and would probably be done by today. Something about how productive she was and not worrying about her work at the bar she had explained. Either way, Miyeon could only look at her fondly. It was impressive how much hard work Shuhua could provide despite everything going on. She might be a brat and a part-time prankster, no one could deny her willpower. On the contrary, people including Miyeon envy such quality. 

“Shu..” Miyeon called out lightly, her eyes not leaving the pale maiden.

”Hm.” Shuhua acknowledged quietly, her fingers typing on the keyboard and eyes strained on her screen.

”Tomorrow is Monday… you have afternoon class… Do you want to go ?” Miyeon formulated slowly. After some thinking, she came to the conclusion that it was better to communicate this matter directly instead of dumping a decision onto Shuhua. 

The latter paused her work and sighed. A hand came to rub her slightly tired eyes before turning to meet the businesswoman’s gaze. ”Do I have a choice ?” She asked a little somberly.

”Of course you do… but I want you to listen to my opinion and consider everything.” Miyeon softly explained with a very faint smile upon her lips. She waited for the worldless nod of acknowledgement before continuing. “Personally, I would appreciate it if you could take the day off tomorrow and rest some more. The doctor did say that you should rest around 4 days. On the other hand, I also know you. I know that you want to attend class no matter what… That’s why I think we should make a compromise between both.” 

It took a few silent minutes before Shuhua finally opened her mouth. “What are you thinking of?”

“I was thinking, tomorrow you can attend… actually you can go to class this week. I am no one to stop you from it. However, I want to know if you feel sick. I also want to be the one to fetch you from classes.” Miyeon suggested, pulling a finger out at each of her requests. “I may sound a little overbearing or too much but really I’m just very worried about you.” She finished with a hopeful tone. 

It was easy to see gears turning inside Shuhua’s head for lack of better imagery. The girl was really considering everything being put down in front of her. Miyeon did have a point that she would have gone to classes no matter what, after all, she never actually considered skipping. In a way, she found it endearing how the older woman could have guessed it so easily. Yet, this slightly warm feeling was replaced by apprehension as quick as it came. She, for nothing in this world, wanted to bother Miyeon. This whole proposal felt just like this. Her being a huge bother to the already busy woman. 

”Don’t you finish working late ? I have days where I end classes early.” Shuhua demanded a little shyer this time. 

“I do… but from my memory those days you actually start early. So instead of fetching you I would walk you to class. Sounds like a good compromise.” Miyeon nodded slowly, she had already thought of it and this was the best she could think of at the moment. Her sweet and soft voice was long gone and Shuhua could tell that the girl had entered business mode and the business was her. 

The Taiwanese just stared a bit longer into the brown eyes holding no sign of weaknesses. She scoffed with a smile as she finally understood the situation she was in. “You lied to me… I actually have no choice in that matter, do I ?” 

Miyeon’s face relaxed a little seeing that there was no real argument being made. She had imagined Shuhua exploding in a mess of incoherent, almost rap-like rant about this but it seemed that she had underestimated the latter on that one.  “I technically leave you a choice here. Either to attend or not.” She answered.

”But the whole you fetching me ordeal ?” The Taiwanese pointed out with a raised eyebrow knowing well that Miyeon had already understood what she was referring to.

“Hmmm that… I admit, It wasn’t a proposal per say. More like a notice for the coming week.” Miyeon finally gave her the real deal. 

“Like I said, I don’t have a choice.” Shuhua repeated before looking back at the laptop and refocusing on her paper.

”Glad to do business with you ma’am. Just don’t forget to text me that you are okay or I barge in your lecture.” Miyeon faked a serious voice before returning her attention to the half finished mail on her screen.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. You are one hell of a businesswoman, noodle.” 

________

If the daytime coziness was anything, the duo’s evening was another. The night was just settling itself, the air wasn’t any colder though as the humid winter air stilled around the pair. 

Walking in Hongdae at night on a Sunday was not part of Shuhua’s plan for her weekend, especially before classes the next day. To be more accurate, nothing of her weekend was planned. If anything she was just drifting atop a series of whimsical ideas and spontaneity. She knew that it was for her own good though, after all, Miyeon only wanted her to let her breathe a little before starting yet another week of pure hell. So when Miyeon simply pulled Shuhua up from her seat and told her to get dressed, she didn’t question it though she made it clear that she was a little displeased by the interruption with a grumble and heavy feet dragging across the floor. Even so, she could still feel the warmth in her stomach knowing that they were in for another adventure together. 

The older woman went through great lengths, to the moon and back, the universe and around the stars just for the sake of Shuhua’s mental well-being although also having loads of pressure on her sturdy shoulders from work and whatnot. This could be in the form of sweet words and acts of affection. Or like now, dragging her on the other side of the city in the frigid air for yet another impromptu dinner. This was not something new but she always liked it when the older would just take her somewhere to eat and chat, even at ungodly hours in the night. Shuhua felt grateful and absolutely blessed to have Miyeon with her when she needed it the most, to have someone that would cherish her more than anyone would when she felt like the world was closing itself on her with loneliness eating her alive. Though, she’ll never say it out loud, Miyeon already had a big ego and it was unnecessary to make it any bigger, or else, she’ll not be able to pass through the entrance of her apartment with such a huge ego.

Instead, Shuhua allowed Miyeon to drag her in the dead of the night, a twisted ankle and through her exhaustion to who knows where, and that was because she was Miyeon, only she could do that. 

The small restaurant was good, a little overpriced, but delicious nonetheless. The best part was that the older woman was the one paying for their meal even if it left a slightly bitter taste in Shuhua’s mouth. 

“How is your foot ?” Miyeon asked from her spot across the large table. 

“Better.” Shuhua answered through a grumble. Just remembering her fall earlier made her all the more upset. It was quite embarrassing in itself already and having Miyeon witnessing it all was not something she appreciated. 

“I told you we could have just gone back home instead of going this far.” Miyeon said though she had to restrain the laugh threatening to spill at the cute sight of a sulking maiden. 

“You already made me change my clothes. Screw going back.” Shuhua reasoned through gritted teeth. In all honesty, the ankle was not the thing that hurt the most. If anything, that pain couldn’t compare with her bruised ego from tripping in front of the very same woman she kept teasing for being unable to walk properly. 

“Comeeee on~. Just eat and forget about it, okay ? Let’s just enjoy tonight.” Miyeon cooed while placing a juicy piece of meat in the pouty gremlin’s plate. 

With that, the diner continued with light banter and laughter as if the events of the previous week didn’t happen. It was like pushing all the negativity out the window and going forward chasing happiness. 

Admiring the night time in a city different from her usual one was in hindsight very relaxing. It has been so long since she last took the time to actually observe the world with the stress-free goggles of freedom.The streets were animated, typical of Hongdae one would say. It was amazing how night life could be this hectic when Monday was only a few hours ahead of everyone. And with Monday, the beginning of the week follows in tow. She was usually the one serving everyone the brew to forget and laugh, sob and smile or dance and rejoice. Working in a bar situated in another night-life city, she was in a way, very familiar to all of that. Yet, it also felt so much different now that she was in the shoes of the person having fun instead of behind the counters. 

The Taiwanese didn’t have any idea where they were heading. The businesswoman strolled through the streets and it wasn’t clear if she knew where she was going or not. Either way, they lost themselves in the crowd of people alike, their hands linked and breath fogging up in the winter air. Miyeon led them towards a store selling over 20 cm tall ice cream cones, by accident or not no one could tell, but Shuhua brightened at the sight nonetheless. 

“Unnie~, let’s get one !” She had happily barked while pointing at the treat. The older one was more reluctant considering the weather and the weirdly cheap pricing for the big dessert. 

“Come on ~, my treat. Ice cream in winter ALWAYS tastes best, trust me.” And with that there was no refusal on the horizon. Miyeon could just shake her head in fondness while ordering a strawberry for herself and a chocolate one for the younger.

True to her words, Shuhua was the one paying for it with a proud smile. Somewhat alleviating the slight discomfort at the thought of making Miyeon pay for her again. It might not be much but at least she has been able to treat her friend to something and she will hold onto that satisfaction for now. 

“Come with me.” Miyeon said before leading the two of them through the sea of people and the small yet lively street. This time, she seemed more sure of her destination as she grabbed the warm and pale hand into her own.

To Shuhua’s surprise, they got to the busking area and managed to find a bench not too far with just enough space to accommodate the both of them. By the time they arrived half their ice cream was eaten and the rest was slowly melting and dripping down their hands, the cones softening a little and threatening to break apart as well. For a 3000 won ice cream this was to be expected. 

A nameless singer with a guitar stood there, strumming the instrument and letting his voice accompany the wind and grace the ears of the dozens of passersby stopping to watch. 

“He has a nice voice” Miyeon commented quietly, her eyes watching the young man smiling as the song picked up its pace.

“He does… Have you been here often ?” Shuhua replied as something crossed her mind, her eyes unable to leave the sight. The man and his guitar was just background to the defined side profile, sharp nose and tidied brown hair framing the gorgeous face. The bright lights coming from the spaced lamppost around the streets gave perfect contrast to the veil of darkness coming from the cloudy night sky. The moon shining its pale glow as an after touch onto blushing skin from the cold. 

“When I was his age… or maybe even younger, I used to come here very often.” The businesswoman answered in her relaxed voice, still looking at the young artist in a semblance of longing mixed with nostalgia.

They both were lost in thoughts. One in memories of the past and unending possibilities while the other was entranced in what could be her future and infinite scenarios. The gooey and cold feeling upon her skin woke Shuhua out of her daze and  made her remember the ice cream they had yet to finish. Maybe 20 cm of ice cream was a bit of an overkill. A silly idea popped in her head and she gave a small poke to Miyeon’s arm.“Let’s bet, whoever finishes first wins.” Shuhua explained suddenly, her previous gloom replaced by her natural excited self. 

The nostalgia on the older woman’s face was chased away and glimmered in interest instead. “Alright, what does the winner get ?” Miyeon asked before her eyes glowed in a hint of competitiveness.

“I don’t know-“ Shuhua quickly answered before wolfing down her ice cream and leaving Miyeon protesting at the obvious cheating. 

“Yah! That’s cheating!” And just like that she followed suit with a mouthful of icy and sugary strawberry dessert.

To Shuhua’s dismay her older partner had won the bet and had even gotten the time to wash her hand in a nearby water fountain. Seems like the latter had a better cold resistance than the Taiwanese. Next time she throws a bet, she might also want to consider her chances of winning. When Miyeon came back only the soggy ice cream cone and the remaining icy treat inside were left in Shuhua’s hand.

The sight of a proud Miyeon was enough to spark another idea that she might regret sooner than later. “I have a stupid idea.” Shuhua said while eyeing Miyeon then her cone. Before Miyeon could even utter anything else, Shuhua had bitten down half the soggy cone and got herself the meanest brain freeze possible, opening her mouth to somehow warm it only to wail at the coldness.

On the other hand Miyeon was laughing at the scene unfolding in front of her, she had missed her silly partner.

XXXXX

After Shuhua had recovered from her ice burn, they stayed there and enjoyed the rest of the performances going on. 

“Does anyone want to join me and sing with me ?” The young singer asked into the mic and to his dismay no one in the public seemed interested in the proposal. 

A beat passed of pure silence and it was getting slightly awkward for the young artist.

“Oh, you? Thank you for helping me out.” He suddenly beamed and extended the microphone to the unfortunate sacrificial lamb.

As a matter of fact, the said lamb was already glaring at the perpetrator who only offered a kind smile and encouraging ‘Fighting’ to show her support. Always count on Yeh Shuhua to throw you into the lion pit. Or more accurately, push a certain brunette from the bench right into the spotlight. 

“Please introduce yourself.” The teenager demanded with glee.

”I am.. Miyeon. Nice to meet you all.” Miyeon greeted a little shyly, not knowing what to do with this unforeseen mini concert.

“Is there a song you are familiar with ?” The man whispered to her and pointed at his guitar.

”Oh.. uh actually…” She hesitated but her eyes met the excited one of the black haired maiden. The same bright orbs that held a glint of pride and anticipation. A stark contrast from the dark and exhausted ones she kept seeing lately. Miyeon was more than relieved to see her best friend back, the silly and goofy with a sprinkle of idiocy that pairs well with her own set of stupidity. 

Right, no more worries from today onward. 

She whispered something back to the expectant ears and readied herself, placing the mic back in its stand. “I’m going to sing I love you 3000.” 

Just like that a few notes of guitar cut through the silence and her voice followed suit. Shuhua could only listen in amazement at the steady voice while gaping in awe at how Miyeon’s eyes were glowing in another sort of light. Not the one when she was excited, not the one when she was handling work related matters. It was very different but warmer than everything. It gleamed even brighter as she held her gaze and continued singing, outshining the stars, the moon and the lights. She was radiant and Shuhua could not stop the way butterflies seemed to dance a tango inside her stomach along each strum of the guitar and each line of the love song. 

The song ended way too quickly despite feeling like the world had stopped in its course around her. Miyeon shyly bowed at the audience after the last sentence of the chorus and quickly fled the scene to run back to the unmoving Shuhua. 

“Whoa, that’s some talent here. Everyone, cheer for Miyeon and her performance-“ The words of the teenager fell deaf into Shuhua’s ears as she let Miyeon simply grab her by the elbow and pull her away from the scene.

They reached a place further down the street and the Taiwanese seemed to have regained her senses. “You sing … great.” 

“Thank you.” Miyeon said as she was calming her racing heart. It’s been so long since she last sang there and it was thrilling and exhilarating but oh so nerve wracking. The simple answer didn’t bother Shuhua much as she just enjoyed how for once, she could admire the red ears poking out the neatly brushed chestnut hair. A little voice in her head told her that this was not because of the cold.

They had regained the main streets filled with bars and drunk people stumbling out of doors. Brightly lit stores and loud music blasted onto speakers that made everything feel like a fever dream. They were laughing loudly at something the other said while singing the popular songs of the moment as they passed by, the sea of people drowning their voice into the cacophony that was the streets. 

It was a fine night, close to midnight but yet Monday felt so far away to them. Wait-

“Shit, it’s almost midnight.” Miyeon exclaimed when the time downed on her. She didn’t plan for them to stay for this long considering that the next day she had work and Shuhua had class. 

“When is the last train ?” Shuhua demanded as her eyes bulged at the realisation. 

“In 10 minutes, hurry, we need to get there quickly.” Miyeon replied as she pulled them into a jog across the street. Avoiding people left and right and laughing at how ridiculous they must look. Miyeon stirred them closer to the less rowdy part of the city that was a little more recognisable for the foreigner.

“It’s green, hurry.” Shuhua had said and pulled Miyeon to sprint across the road before the light turned red again, all the while giggling childishly as she passed by questioning passersby. Hopefully, no police officers would question their sobriety. 

As she continued straight ahead, she saw Miyeon turn on the left sidewalk, still jogging and cackling as she turned her head and stuck her tongue out to Shuhua while uttering the nastiest “Blehhh” she could.

“Wrong way ~” Miyeon said knowing that the Taiwanese was right behind her.

“Yah ! Come here, Pabo-unnie !” 

And with that Miyeon only accelerated her steps enough to escape from the hands of her younger partner as they ran through the illuminated streets of Hongdae.

The empty train offered the quietness that didn’t seem to exist in the city. The two were slouched onto the uncomfortable seats and breathing heavily with silly grins up their faces as the adrenaline rush slowly faded away.

“Next time… We… put an alarm…” Miyeon managed to say in between ragged breath and with her eyes closed. Her lips were frozen into that content faint smile and her red cheeks complimented the now disheveled and tousled brown strands across her face. Her chest heaving up and down in hope of regaining her breath.

Shuhua took this opportunity to look at Miyeon’s face and it was her breath that seemed to have been caught away. The train’s lights were off for some odd reason but she could still discern the long dark lashes, the slope of her nose leading to her red plump lips. The lights of the city flashing by the window were of no use. She knew that familiar face like the back of her hand, and yet, it always managed to blow her mind at how beautiful she was. 

Not the just that. Miyeon was perfect inside out.

She’s loud, clumsy and too clingy for her life. Not to mention narcissistic and bad at waking up on time. She’s good at distracting her in dire situations and can whine like a child to match her energy. She’s caring, pretty and gentle, goofy and attentive and- fuck…. 

She could write an entire research paper about everything that has to do about Miyeon despite the research being far from completion. Tomorrow another set of things to be added to the list, the next day more additions, and yet she still hasn’t found anything to hate. 

No matter how much she tries to find something to dislike, a fault or that pebble amongst jewels… she just loved miyeon as a whole. Weird, overwhelming and annoying unnie included. Right… She loved her.

“It was funny, don’t you think so? I liked it.” Unbeknownst to the tired businesswoman, Shuhua could not shake the heavy truth she came to finally acknowledge. There was no fighting it anymore. She couldn’t deny the obvious no matter what and had no mind doing so. It was impossible to ignore it when Miyeon is part of her everyday and everywhere, it was bound to come to this. She can finally face the elephant in the room and the whole zoo in her stomach -one might say that her whole body was finally coming to an agreement-.

Two wrongs make one right, they say. Well, from denial to denials she can safely admit with a heavy heart that maybe… just maybe this crush might be more like she fell in love with Miyeon. 

‘I like you.’

And that shit was three times scarier, if losing her shit could ever be quantified.

(Bonus: 

“Come on. Move your pretty bum and get ready.” Miyeon said while pushing Shuhua from her spot on the carpet. It was already close to 6pm and the sun was barely holding on its last few rays. 

“Don’t wanna.” Shuhua grumbled as she just finished typing the last sentence of her paper. She just wanted to close her eyes and recover from the retina burn paired with a fried brain. Her stomach, however, had different plans it seemed. 

“I can hear the black hole roaring already. Now come on, let’s try a nice restaurant.” Miyeon urged as she pulled Shuhua up.

”Unnieeee~” Shuhua whined.

”Shuhuaaa-yaaah~” Two can whine together and Shuhua learnt it the hard way. It was no use crying when Miyeon could cry harder. “Let’s go, we are going to a Korean bbq.” Though she can always count on her to say the right things at the right moment.

Despite not feeling like going out in the cold, she had to comply with the idea and her demanding stomach. Entering the room, she picked a pair of pants before going straight to the wardrobe and pulling out a black hoodie. Miyeon sure wouldn’t mind lending it to her. As she was about to take off her pajamas her eyes fell on the dusty guitar on its stand. It was placed in a way that was hard to notice right in between the wardrobe and the wall. What an odd piece of decoration.

XXXXX

It didn’t take long before the two made it to the streets and going down the MRT station just round the corner. The black haired woman walked down the stairs followed by a brown haired one, only to trip over her own feet and land in a pretty inconspicuous position, twisting her ankle in the process of it all.

“Omo, Shuhua-yah !” Miyeon had yeeped at the now struggling woman who had teary eyes while maintaining a strong expression on her face. She never liked to show her weaknesses and pain was included in the mix. Most of all, she hated looking like a dummy and her face flushed in pure embarrassment. 

Guess that karma got her. She should stop laughing at Miyeon tripping over thin air.

“Are you okay ?” Miyeon gently asked when she finally reached the fuming girl who, if she didn’t know better, had a somewhat constipated look over her venus-like features. 

“I am not. It hurts.” Shuhua stated as a matter of fact though she couldn’t tell if it hurt more than her ego, the ‘duh’ almost rolled out of her mouth but stopped at the sight of Miyeon’s overly worried face.

“Aigooo… my poor baby. Are you sure you want to go ? We can go home instead. You want me to kiss it better-“ Miyeon tried her best to help but she got quite the opposite reaction.

”N-No, let’s go.” 

Now it was hard to tell if her face was red from falling in front of Miyeon, from the pain, or internally wishing that she did kiss it better.)

Chapter Text

Monday morning was just setting off the rest of the week. The brunette managed to get up after much struggle, a jab in the ribs and her 4th alarm ringing loudly signaled the return of her consciousness. As Miyeon sat up, she threw an offended look at the perpetrator of her now painful side only to let out a sigh as she watched Shuhua still very much asleep. Seems like even unconscious, the gremlin still had the innate reflex to pose a threat to her life. 

Remembering the events of the previous night, she couldn’t help the slight raise of the corner of her lips. The way they both were laughing like cackling geese, not quite caring if they looked like asylum escapees. On that warm note, it was much easier to proceed with her morning routine. 

The shower helped a little in terms of getting her brain kickstarted, slowly planning out her day in her head and mentally preparing for the few meetings she will have to face later on. The way her living room was now back to its original decor before the catastrophe that was the great flood was yet another source of her happiness. Miyeon was like any other person, she had her moments of stress and sadness though she always tries to not let it affect her and move on as soon as humanly possible. Her mindset was set on not dwelling on stormy negativity and always striving for the rainbows and clear skies. Yet, it was sometimes hard to just be all giggles and sparkles. 

With the recent changes in her company and everything else, despite having an out of worldly determination, she just felt no strength in herself to complete some of her tasks. Putting back her living room was one of the few examples of things she had indefinitely pushed back for lack of will to proceed with them. She had had her apartment fixed for approximately a week and she hasn’t even found the power to start filling the empty interior. It’s not not like she spent a lot of time home anyway, or so she convinced herself. Even the memory of the first day she obtained this place was no match compared to her weariness. Her overjoyed past self, meticulously choosing each and every piece of furniture to make her new home as comfortable as possible would probably be disappointed in her recent lack of motivation. 

Which is why now, she is finally making amends with herself. Quietly sipping on her piping hot cup of coffee while leaning against the frame of her kitchen door and taking in the sight for the sheer amount of warmth that was her place. It was homey like the very first day and still able to give her some of this peculiar inner peace. It was not just the lonely lamp in a corner and a TV put on the cold floor anymore. It was in the way the brown couch was snuggly placed on top of her fluffy white rug, the wooden TV stand, the transparent cabinet holding some of her precious items and unforgettable memories or the low glass table still holding remnants of yesterday. A dirty cup of what she assumed would be water and a turned off laptop being the product of someone else. She could still hear the echoes of their mixed grunts and the slight ache in her shoulders when they had to move all of this back to their original place.

It’s funny how having Shuhua here made this room so much more like home than it was a few days ago. Sure, she was the one leaving used mugs and forgetting to put them in the sink. Or also the one letting her papers just fall everywhere around the makeshift working area. But Miyeon wouldn’t have it any other way. 

She was simply glad that now, not only Shuhua had a place to call home, but as strangely as it sounds, Miyeon too, could proudly say that her apartment was home. It was their home.

So when she arrived at her office 10 minutes later than usual (not really that uncommon), she could only give a sheepish apology paired with her infamous embarrassed lopsided smile. Screw her generosity for running back home after buying a breakfast set from the 7/11 next door because she remembered that her fridge was dead empty and that Shuhua would be staying the morning before heading to class. She had sworn to herself to never let her younger friend starve in the past and she gives herself a few pats on her back for keeping that resolution alive even after years. If only she was as diligent with her new year resolutions then maybe she’ll have less unnecessary expensive but cute bags in her cabinet and more money in her bank account. 

XXXXXXXX

“Cho Miyeon-ssi, I need to remind you that you cannot make decisions on your own. You might be the leader of the department but you aren’t the CEO anymore.” A bitter old sack of bones remarked after leaving a familiar pile of papers to be revised again and leaving with a haughty strut out of her office.

”If you weren’t the current boss's aunt, I would so fire you at first sight.” The young businesswoman mumbled under her breath as she glared at her recently shut door.

One might say that opening her own business was not a smooth sail but it wasn’t that terrible in Miyeon’s opinion. She had first started her company with a group of old classmates and friends alike which worked out fairly well in introspective. However, no one could predict the changes in market trends and personal situations leading to most of her friends resigning in less than a year. It wasn’t really their fault but Miyeon had expected that this was not going to be easy and she couldn’t blame them for preferring a more stable job in bigger and sturdier agencies over her risky newly opened one. 

It might be luck or sheer coincidence but after 6 months a larger group has taken an interest in her company and after lots of consideration they have decided to merge the two together. Though in reality, it was more like they bought hers and she just got eaten alive into the bigger industry. In all technicalities, she was still the highest rank… but only in her department that was just essentially the remnants of her once own business. It was not bad per say, it did save her from a prickly situation following the loss of most of her employees. She had a more than reasonable income, flexible work schedules and quite some freedom in her endeavours. Basically having the same type of job as before except that now she had to report to higher ups. That and the few encounters with the old vultures plaguing the inside of this huge building. 

Her office was on the 15th floor and her team was occupying this and the two lower ones though it was also shared with other divisions due to a lack of proper organisation. Looking out to the large bay window overlooking the rest of the floor, she had to admit that she had succeeded in her dream with a tall building, countless employees and successful projects. Sure, it was not part of her original dream but she had her own company within a larger one in a sense and that was enough of an accomplishment. Behind her, another large set of window panels showed the city view from up there. The cars looked like tiny ants and the people moved in a formless mass across the streets and into other glass behemoths reaching up towards the sky. A stark contrast from her previous shabby two story building lost in a suspicious passageway that always smelled like a mixture of piss and bad liquor.

Right, she had made it this far already. It was great and more than enough. She had found herself repeating these exact same words more often than not. Miyeon still couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact that this was not all hers but someone else’s who just happened to like her small and barely holding on company and buy it with the money she definitely still wouldn’t even have in the far future. 

It felt like yesterday when her friends would suggest a silly product or pitch in some ridiculous ideas. Now, it was papers and reports with the regular meetings followed by deadlines to be met and the never ending mails being sent to faceless associates. 

Her moments of nostalgia were interrupted by the low vibrations of her phone against her spacious ebony wooden desk. 

Wolfie: I’m on my way to university. Breakfast was delicious btw.

Myeon: Be careful on the wayyyyyy ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

Wolfie: Also, pls dont stick a post it on my forehead again

Wolfie: the glu was stuck on my forehead it was hrd to wash

Myeon: Awwww but you looked soooo cute sleeping ( ︶｡︶✽)

Myeon: especially the drool down the corner of your lips

Myeon: so sexy ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

Wolfie: I’m blocking you

Myeon: Nooooo my cuteee babyyy T-T

Wolfie: th customerr is unavailable

Myeon: Yahhhh don’t pretend to block me ! (seen)

Myeon: Yahhhh 

Myeon: Text me when you eat lunch cutie <3 (seen)

The two knocks on her door managed to return her to the world of corporates and office workers as she uttered a soft but loud “Come in”.

She simply watched how the door opened and in came a, in all honesty, drop-dead gorgeous slender figure of a woman with perfectly styled long and straight raven hair. Her tall nose, small face and sharp features just complimented her all black and luxurious outfit, from the designer top to the glossy high heels. The little dot at the corner of her lips was the only noticeable feature of her otherwise pristine pale skin. 

“Good morning, Miyeon-ssi.” The low and somewhat sultry voice greeted her and she returned it with a short nod.

”Good morning, Karina-ssi. I already told you that it was fine to speak less formally when there are only the two of us. Anyway, what owes me this visit ?” Miyeon said with her usual professionalism but it was not enough to fool her visitor.

”Ah but this only works if you also address me normally. You seem cheery today, I passed by after hearing from my secretary that my aunt came around to return your report back. Believe me, I was not expecting this smile on your face when I entered.” Yu Karina said with a slight apologetic tone.

”Nothing much, I received a text from a friend and it made me laugh.” Miyeon answered while putting her phone away to refocus on the work related matters at hand. She glanced at the stack of paper that she and her teams worked hard on for the past few days and sighed. It looked untouched.

”You can say it, my aunt is a grumpy old hag.” Karina said as she took the papers in her hand and out of the older woman’s sight before quickly giving them a short but efficient scan. 

“Ah, I never said that-“ the brunette quickly defended herself and waved her hand in denial but a sharp, pointed and knowing gaze made her swallow back everything “-she isn’t the most… amiable person… I would say.” 

“I feel you. She’s been very upset that I took over this subsidiary branch of my family’s company. She was the one supposed to be at the head of everything and unfortunately I just happened to have finished my studies and refused to work directly under my father.” Karina said in her casual tone which was reserved for these one on one meetings. Just like herself, the young Yu had perfected the switch to professional voice used in important matters.

”I’m still not used to having someone just shamelessly hating my work.” Miyeon expressed with a drawn out sigh.

”I can relate to that… which is why I didn’t work for the bigger company. I’m sorry for her attitude towards you though. My very first entrepreneurial action when I became acting CEO here was to buy your company which she obviously objected to.” The young boss explained while still carefully going through the hefty amounts of pages in her hold.

”Not that I am not grateful for your offer back then but… why my company ?” Miyeon asked, she had questioned her several times before and she had yet to understand the reasoning behind it.

”Like I said I’m, as simply put, just a big fan of yours and your products. The piece you came up with for the issue starring the actress Winter blew my mind. Just imagine my shock when I found out that it wasn’t from any big or luxury brand but an independent enterprise slowly piercing through the industry. So, I decided that our fashion and clothing company needed you and your team. Which, seeing the huge success with the latest designs, worked perfectly well.” Karina looked up from the papers to shoot her a grateful smile but she soon returned to her serious expression.

“The proposal and report is well put but I need more details about the models wearing our pieces and I need to know if the factory is ready for production. You need to ask your outreach team to also contact movie and series producers to see if our samples interest them for their actresses.” She expressed while pointing at the papers in her hand.

”For the models, since we are making this collection on the beauty of Japanese winter and the first snow mixed with Korean female high-end fashion, Ms. Minatozaki suggested having Myoui Mina and Miyawaki Sakura as our primary models. They have the type of beauty that would compliment this theme perfectly. We are still discussing who else could fit the concept amongst her models and acquaintances. I have a meeting with her on Wednesday to discuss this subject further.” Miyeon explained, returning to her more formal self and pulling a portfolio from one of the few binders on her desk before handing it to her direct superior. 

Karina opened the new piece of documentation and took her time inspecting each picture with care, appreciating the way images of the pieces they were going to associate to each of these models were attached together. She wasn’t around the building often and had missed the pitch meeting regarding this project, so despite having her secretary reporting everything, it was the first time she actually saw the final products with her own two eyes. Miyeon must have considered her lack of knowledge on the project while making this proposal portfolio as she couldn’t ignore the little extra details here and there making it easier to visualise the overall products with just a glance. “While I do support the idea of having mostly Japanese celebrities that have succeeded in the Korean industry as our models, I think that having Korean models would also complement the concept. Since it’s a mix between Japanese and Korean fashion, someone like the actress Winter would probably do great considering her last project was partly filmed in Okinawa. Moreover since it is our winter’s project, don’t you think it would fit in perfectly name wise.” 

“I… can ask Sana- I meant Ms. Minatozaki if she can contact Winter’s agency.” Miyeon nodded, a little taken aback by that suggestion. Her brain was so focused on taking into account each feedback that she couldn’t stop that little slip of tongue. 

“No need for that. Just ask for her agreement on that idea and I will personally take care of casting Winter for your project. Since I’m the one doing this last minute suggestion, I should be the one responsible for it. I would also like to meet Ms. Minatozaki in person to sign the last few papers by next week if possible.” Karina added promptly as she closed the portfolio with a pleased smile. “Oh and do ask the promotion team to start thinking of advertising this collection. Make them work with the content developers downstairs to make a pitch by Friday, latest deadline. Marketing should also start preparing their side as well.” 

“Alright noted, I will finalise the talking with Ms. Minatozaki and write you a report by Friday on the progress.” The brunette said as she scribbled a few things onto a green post-it note in a hurry.

“Oh shoot. Was I too bossy just now ? I apologise, that was a force of habit.” The sudden panicked voice managed to stop Miyeon from jotting down more details only to look at the embarrassed expression upon the usually stoic face.

”Not at all. You were just fine.” She replied with a more caring tone.

”I really want to address you as an equal but I always end up ordering you around, ain’t I? Or maybe, me being casual would be disrespectful? You are my senior after all.” The youngest of the two rambled in shame as if the strict persona had left her body like exorcised away.

”Please, don’t fret over this. I have a very close friend of around your age and let me tell you, that girl would not hesitate to slap the back of my head if given the opportunity. She also barely uses honorifics with me or anything. You are more than fine, trust me.” Miyeon reassured, as the image of her favourite gremlin appeared in her mind. From the way she would look up with an adorable grin or with her smug smirk when she successfully said something that rendered her speechless. The girl’s sharp teasing words could be piercing sometimes but the way she would smile in pride just after always made her look so much cuter that, no matter what, Miyeon just finds herself fawning over her. She couldn’t wait to see her again tonight.

“That friend must be a great one seeing how widely you are smiling right now haha.” Karina pointed out and it was then that Miyeon noticed how she was unknowingly grinning at the image in her mind. 

“Yeah, she’s my stress relief.” Miyeon truthfully said with a more bashful expression.

”That’s great to hear. I won’t take up more of your time then. I wish you a good day and don’t work too much, take a rest if you need it, just don’t tell my aunt. Alright, I’ll be taking this with me. See you around Miyeon.” Karina laughed a little at the way her senior was looking so lovesick all of a sudden. With a polite bow she excused herself with the documents under her arm and a content smile. 

XXXXXXXX

Here comes another week worth of work and another set of headaches. Hopefully she would be dealt favourable cards this time around because she was not ready to run after each division to do their work properly and most importantly on time. Especially when the order came from the young and friendly CEO who took the time to actually ask her these in person instead of the regular visits of her secretary that always just came in her office to drop a few papers in exchange of her own and place another deadline for a meeting or proposal. 

Her job wasn’t that hard in all honesty. It was mostly asking and telling each team to do a specific job and report it back to her so she could turn them into a neat document. She was essentially just compiling everything and making sure that it was done properly before submitting it to Karina. She was also in charge of contacting every external associate and verifying that all of that was well organised between the company and the exterior world. In a way she was the machinery oil to the intricate tower of gears to ensure that each cog fit perfectly into one another. Though, one thing for sure, is that this was so much harder now that she was managing at least 7 different teams of numerous employees which for most either didn’t quite appreciate her (all thanks to that old hag bad mouthing her everywhere she goes) or didn’t know her well. Being bought by Karina didn’t just improve the quality but also the quantity of employees and to her dismay it was hard to please so many people despite all her efforts. To be fair, it wasn’t really her fault that when she gets a deadline by the end of the week everyone in return needed to be done at least 2 days before said limit. Sure, it meant that everything was tight but so was the reality of big corporations and office working. 

So here she was paying a visit to the three different floors her department occupied and explaining what needed to be done. They, for most part, were very responsive to her demands and inquired further to make everything run as smoothly as a newborn’s bottom -or whatever the saying was- but some others took it more as a drag than anything (namely ugly hag’s former employees). By the time she finished her rounds across the several levels of the building it was already time for lunch which she got reminded of thanks to the ‘ding’ of her phone and a familiar number showing a cafeteria meal with a short text reading ‘happy now ? Don’t starve.’

So with a cheerful twist to her steps she skipped her way to the elevator to get her own fix for her stomach. She really couldn’t wait to see Shuhua later and just pinch her cheeks until they turned red. 

XXXXXXX

Much more like her usual routine, Miyeon found herself walking out of the MRT station and up the street, passing by her apartment building to make her way toward the familiar bar she had spent months working at in the past. She really wanted to fetch the younger woman from university but she had a little issue with the marketing team and had to stay back to monitor everything. Sadly, it was a duty call and she could only try to make the whole thing as fast as possible. Shuhua didn’t seem to mind, saying that she was heading straight to the bar to do the opening and take care of everything she couldn’t do due to its unexpected closure since Friday for obvious reasons. 

However, she didn’t expect to find the whole crew already sitting at a table and animatedly talking to one another, a few beers placed in front of them and Yuqi doing grand gestures with her loud voice coming through like an airhorn. Sometimes she wished she could hire Yuqi just to make announcements across the whole building more efficient. For sure, her voice would still be heard from her office up to the highest floors and to the bottom ground level. 

“Ohhhh here is our super noodle !” Minnie exclaimed as she noticed Miyeon coming closer though her face strangely looked like some sort of creature in between a grumpy cat and a salty llama. 

“Oh Miyeon-Unnie !!” Yuqi greeted and rest assured, her voice was louder than just two exclamation marks on blank paper.

”Hi everyone. I wasn’t… expecting you all here tonight. Did we plan a visit that I forgot about?” Miyeon took the seat next to her Thai friend and faced the familiar figure of her captain and the human form of a megaphone.

”Me and Yuqi were at my place doing something but decided to drop by when Shu texted Woogs that she was doing the opening tonight.” Soyeon explained, which was accompanied with eager nods from the YouTuber. 

“For me, I was in the area and got surprised when I saw the bar open. So I just came in and found these two here.” Minnie told as she passed one of the beer bottles towards Miyeon.

”I see..” The office worker took everything in and swallowed it with a large gulp of the dry lager. It wasn’t that she disliked seeing her friends considering they haven’t gathered all together like that since their trip almost two weeks ago. She just had.. other plans in her mind for today. 

“By the way, how sick was Shuhua exactly for us to cancel our weekly reunion.” The Chinese celebrity enquired. 

Miyeon now remembered how she had texted them that Shuhua was sick and therefore wouldn’t open up the bar last Friday. She had also added that it was better if they didn’t meet up and rain checked it for later on. Though, she didn’t give any details on what had happened which explained why everyone was still curious about what had happened. “Pretty sick.” She simply answered as she knew that unless the younger girl wanted to say it herself, it was better to keep the visit to the hospital secret. 

“You must have had it hard, poor noodle. She is one thing to take care of healthy, but when sick it’s a whole other story.” Minnie gave a supportive pat on her friend’s shoulder.

”When we asked Shu, she said that you had to babysit her the whole weekend. Sorry we didn’t help you out.” Soyeon added with an appreciative smile.

Talking of which, Miyeon’s gaze instantly went to search for the person she was looking forward to seeing today more than anything else. It didn’t take long to find her appear out of the staff room and rush toward the beer tap to draw one full glass for someone sitting at the counter. 

She didn’t quite listen to the on going talk amongst her friends, something along the lines of movie, blah blah, video and more blah blah followed by ducks. Her focus was comparable to her 14 years old self in the middle of a history lesson. Her attention was diverted and she could only look at the familiar faces with blank eyes and head emptied of any proactive thoughts. She dearly loved her friends for sure but she also liked sticking to her plans. She had already prepared everything while on the way here. Watching Shuhua working until it was a reasonable hour in the night to kidnap her away for a well deserved dinner sounded like the perfect evening in her head. Sadly, none of that seemed to be happening tonight and so her agenda was diving straight into a puddle of misery and gloom. To put it simply, she was butt hurt because of her friends without them even knowing why.

Her oh so anticipated dinner was replaced with Minnie ordering them take out as they waited for Shuhua to close up. They did try to offer their help but the stubborn younger girl shrugged them off and told them to simply stay sited at their place while she finished everything with the other staff members stating that they were paid for this. 

“So, how is life going ladies ?” Minnie asked once Shuhua finally plopped herself next to Yuqi after locking the front door and waving goodbye to the 3 workers. A comically loud sigh left her mouth and the bunch couldn’t stop themselves from laughing at the exaggerated show of tiredness from Shuhua. “I am hungry as hell.” 

“Then dig in you stinky raccoon.” The Chinese internet celebrity slapped her best friend’s arm before pointing at the untouched meal on the table. Out of compassion none of them started eating and opted to wait for their favorite Taiwanese girl to end her shift. 

“Oh my god who is my good lord savior.” The youngest exclaimed as she reached for a plastic container filled to the brim with luscious meat that smelled like heaven on earth for her empty stomach. Her eyes had grown twice their original size and Soyeon could swear that drool would be gushing out like a fountain if there were a hole in her cheek.

“It’s my treat tonight Nong Shu ~ eat up and recover quickly okay ? Or else Soojin will murder us all.” Minnie laughed lightly because there was no denying that the midnight haired maiden was being adorable.

Like stung by a bug, Shuhua jumped onto her two feet and ran around the table to reach Minnie and throw herself with all her weight onto the unsuspecting movie producer. “Ooof, did you lose some weight ?” Despite the low groan leaving her mouth after catching a wild Shuhua into her arms, Minnie did notice the slight change compared to the more healthy gremlin from the past. 

“I worked soooo hard latelyyyy! I couldn’t eat properly tooo~” Shuhua whined while wriggling in Minnie’s hold for emphasis prompting the latter to sooth her like she would for a baby. 

“Aww you worked hard, you need to eat so dig up now Shushu~.” Minnie said and managed to get Shuhua off of her who beamed so hard before returning to her seat and unapologetically devouring whatever was in sight like her life depended on it. The others joined in while shaking their heads at their dramatic youngest.

Well, all except for one who was playing with her chopsticks feeling hunger being replaced by a more filling but unhealthy emotion. 

‘I can feed her too. I did take care of her this whole time so I should be the one getting a hug.’ A voice inside the businesswoman seemed to have nestled itself in her mind, the words making her feel something she couldn’t quite pinpoint but definitely disliked. She will have to agree with the dear little voice here though, because she indeed treated Shuhua for dinner yesterday. Heck, she even got her a breakfast set this morning so why didn’t she receive the hug nor the giant grin too ? She deserved just as much. Technically speaking, tonight was also supposed to be her treat to dinner if the circus didn’t decide to rain on her parade. 

Really her day was far from ideal. 

”Oh but tomorrow I’m finally going to upload the vlog for our trip together. Look forward to it, girls !” Yuqi announced which earned interested responses and even managed to get the brooding businesswoman’s attention. 

“Ahhh I also wanted to say that the song I worked on will be released in three days from now.” Soyeon added as well in a more nonchalant manner as she took a sip of her drink.

”Whoa ! Any other big announcements to be made here ?” Minnie asked while looking at Shuhua.

”I’m going to be on holiday starting next week. Otherwise nothing much.” The Taiwanese replied with a mouth full, keeping her answer as short as possible to munch away at the tender piece of beef instead.

”What about you noodle ? You’ve been awfully quiet today.” The question was redirected to the oldest of the gang who felt everyone’s gaze on her. Was she really that quiet today ? 

”Me ? Uh… our new collection is going to be out in two weeks or so with a photoshoot next Wednesday if all goes well. Following this our goal is to prepare for the winter fashion week. It’s going to be tiring but I look forward to the result.” Her voice didn’t seem to hold any kind of excitement though she did try to liven up at the end. To be completely honest, with the events of today and the upcoming hectic schedules she didn’t find it in herself to be all glee and joy. She was happy, yes, but not really looking forward to the unending amount of work behind all of this. 

Everyone seemed to not notice it though and just cheered her on. It was better this way. Miyeon was not really a fan of getting people worried, moreover, there wasn’t anything to worry about in the first place. Her being a little moody was better left overlooked than her explaining that she was just sour about her fairly bad day. She wouldn’t even be able to deliver a proper explanation for her sudden drop of tension because no one actively irritated her today. 

‘Maybe my periods are coming soon.’ She thought.

XXXXXXX

Yuqi and Soyeon had disappeared in the dark of the night, probably towards Yuqi’s apartment not far, while Minnie had ordered herself a ride which left the remaining two finally alone. Miyeon seemed to have regained a bit of her usual energy and smiled at Shuhua who was walking next to her in silence. The streets were empty and the moon was nowhere to be found. They could only rely on the street lamps guiding the way down to the MRT station. 

“How was your day ?” Miyeon broke the ongoing quietness and urged the maiden to answer her by grabbing the smaller hand in her own, pleased at how warm it was in her hold. 

Instinctively, Shuhua flinched away and retracted her hand with an offended look on her face. “Yahhh your hand is freezing cold !” She complained while shoving her 5 fingers into the pocket of her long gray coat for protection in a rather cute but exaggerated way. Like a flip of the switch, Miyeon’s eyes brightened and soon her voice followed.

”But you’re soooo toasty~ come here and help me warm up.” It was hard to believe that this brunette was so depleted of her characteristic playfulness merely a few minutes ago. Yet, here she was trying to get a hold of her favourite friend who had already prepared herself for the upcoming strike. Skilfully dodging the arms directed her way and catching them before she could even be trapped in the tight cage made of Miyeon and her unwavering clinginess. 

“N-no leave me alone you c-creep.” Shuhua’s words were muttered as she clenched her teeth trying her best to resist the flurry of attacks coming from Miyeon. Despite everything, the light smile could still be seen as the lamppost illuminated the wrestling pair like a spotlight on the two protagonists. 

“Comeee here shuuuu~ I won’t bite you I promise.” Miyeon said in a sing-song manner, a grin reaching up her ears and the problems of the day flying away in the distant nowhere to be seen again. 

“You will squeeze me like a snake instead, yeah !” Shuhua huffed and managed to laugh a little at the shocked face right in her line of sight. She had succeeded in shrugging off the two offending limbs she had been fighting against for the past hot minute and smugly smirked at the businesswoman in sweet victory. 

”What did you call me ?” Miyeon challenged with a fake serious tone.

”You’re even cold like a snake, Unnie.” Shuhua defiantly replied and maybe she shouldn’t have because a little fire could be seen ignited in the otherwise mellow honey orbs. 

”Oh I’m so going to catch you Yeh Shuhua.” Miyeon declared and it didn’t take a blue moon for her to jump at the source of her happiness, who could only try to survive for so long.

In the middle of the poorly illuminated streets two fools could be seen engaged in a messy valse to the music of delighted giggles and squeals. The stage was theirs just as much as the quiet world around. Hugging or fighting right under a lamppost, it was just them and Miyeon wouldn’t have it any other way. A warm person with a cold body and a cold individual with a warm one. They made the perfect pair as the scene went on in the hours of dark sky with just them to entertain the audience. Sure, her initial plan was ruined but as long as she got Shuhua all to herself in the end, she could deal with any impromptu inconveniences and the ugly vultures along the way. 

They were just bumps on the road ahead but now, Monday was not that bad after all. 

_______

By a stroke of luck Miyeon managed to get off the clock at a decent time or at least early enough to speed run her way to the opposite end of the city while unapologetically spamming a certain someone’s chat. Despite the progression towards the colder days of the year, the sky was still somewhat blue though a sheen of gray plagued the surrounding in a somber glow. The large patch of grass and the red brick building put a pause to the urban skyscraper landscape. Miyeon was not very accustomed to this area, as a matter of fact, she is an alumni from the rival university so it made sense that she rarely ever stepped foot here. However, one might think she was still a student as she confidently made her way towards the leftmost building, knowing exactly where to find her little bundle of grumpy joy. 

It wasn’t the first time she came to see Shuhua and while the rest of the university was still uncharted territory, she remembers the pathway to the library like it was burnt down in her brain as well as the few classes she knew the location of. It was pretty easy to spot her gremlin, after all, Shuhua just had that aura that seemed to stand out from the crowd. It was almost like she was a pristine paper cut out glued to this poorly luminous background. Miyeon had to raise an eyebrow at the scene in front of her, her steps stopping just a few bookshelves shy from the table where two girls sat and vividly chatted away. Miyeon had eyes, and while she might not pride herself to have the best vision in the world, she knew when someone was unfairly good looking when she met one. She had a hard time seeing in brightly illuminated places but the way the pair shone was to her dismay unable to trigger her squinting reflexes. So here she was seeing with two wide eyes a very tall girl standing next to a sitting Shuhua with books sprawled on the table but her focus solely on her companion. 

They looked very amicable, too much in Miyeon’s opinion considering all the ups and downs, twist and turns and fucking loopings she had to go through to befriend the youngest girl. Part of her wanted to walk in but another also found their ongoing conversation too intimate that she feared intruding if she did so.

Using her wits, she pulled out her phone and decided to shoot a text to the chatting gremlin. She only watched from her spot the way Shuhua immediately picked up her phone at the sound of the notification and raised her head to look for her around the large open space. Their eyes locked with Shuhua waving at her and Miyeon took it as her cue to walk closer to the pair. 

“Hello Shu.” The businesswoman greeted simply but her eyes were already on the third party.

”Hi Unnie, give me a minute to pack up.” Shuhua stood up and gathered her papers while also shutting off her laptop. 

The tall woman just awkwardly coughed, reminding the younger student that she was still there. “Oh right Tzuyu, I need to head to work. Sorry to leave so hurriedly when I was the one asking you to meet up. Thank you for your help and the notes.” Shuhua quickly thanked and smiled politely.

”It’s alright, you did say you needed to go soon after your friend picks you up. Just be sure to go through the material I gave you and complete whatever might be missing with the ppt the lecturer gave.” Tzuyu said and granted Shuhua a small pat on the shoulder. “I’ll go now. See you on campus.” 

Miyeon just nodded at the taller woman as she walked away silently. By then Shuhua had finished making her bag and placed the chair back to its original place before looking at Miyeon with her usual puppy eyes. 

“Ready ?” The businesswoman woman gulped down the slight discomfort she had earlier and redirected her attention to the black haired beauty.

”Hm ! Let’s go !” Shuhua acquiesced and Miyeon didn’t lose a second before grabbing the younger’s hand in hers and pulling them towards the exit. 

The campus ground suddenly appeared a little more gray than it previously was as if a poorly chosen filter had placed itself on top of her cornea. “Wanna grab a bite before doing the opening ? It’s still early.” The oldest suggested as they passed the tall gates into the bigger streets. While the world looked gloomy, she wasn’t going to let it hinder her plans for the day.

“Sure ! I can treat you this time.” Shuhua was oddly bubbly and for some reason Miyeon felt a little off by it. She just brushed it off by holding onto the warm and squishy hand a little tighter while stirring them toward a familiar coffee shop. 

As expected, Shuhua had ordered and paid for them even if Miyeon had tried to sneak her credit card to the cashier which was promptly swatted away with a resounding slap. 

The pair sat at a table at the back with two pieces of cake placed on the white rounded table. The youngest was just smiling softly as she took a spoonful and hummed happily at the sweet taste and the chocolate flavour filling her mouth. “You seem cheery right now.” Miyeon remarked.

”Yeah, I had a great day. I did a makeup quiz for the one I missed last week after talking with the prof. I also managed to get a hang of Tzuyu.” Shuhua answered and Miyeon almost laughed at the comical sight in front of her as the youngest was explaining everything with chocolate staining the corner of her lips. Yet, the mention of that girl made her giggles disappear a little and she instead silently used the napkin to get rid of the black patch staining the pale face in front of her. 

“Tzuyu… is she close to you ?” Miyeon asked, trying to hide the subtle bitterness while crumpling the paper napkin in a ball.

Shuhua’s cheeks seem to have gotten a little rosy at the question but she answered nonetheless. “Well, she’s two years above mine and I guess we are pretty close… You know, I don’t have that many friends in university.” She explained and Miyeon remembered Shuhua mentioning that she didn’t have that many friends in her class as she had a hard time communicating and socialising. Miyeon chose to silently acknowledge it, taking a sip of her coffee. 

“But.. actually, the reason I chose that university in Korea was because of her. When I was trying to find a veterinary school abroad I managed to get in contact with Tzuyu who facilitated the communication between me and the school. So ever since I’m here, she’s been helping me with administrative and other stuff. She kind of rescued me from my home country back then, she also guided me when I just arrived here and it helps that she’s the current top scorer and part of the international student council. So yesterday, I texted her saying that I missed a few classes last week because I was sick and she gave me her old notes today despite her being very busy.” Shuhua then explained, playing a little with the half eaten pastry in front of her, intently looking at the stains left on the porcelain white dish. 

Miyeon listened intently and her heart clenched a little when hearing this lengthy monologue from her usually reserved friend. Not only that, but Shuhua was willingly talking about her past which was as rare as witnessing a polar bear in the forest. Miyeon could only rely on a patchwork idea of whatever pieces of information Shuhua had told her and the gang about her family. Yet, hearing that she really wanted to escape back then managed to sadden Miyeon. She wished she had met her earlier, to be the one there for her when things were getting tough. Maybe then, Shuhua wouldn’t have that habit of bottling everything and pushing through the pain. 

The feeling of something cold pressed softly against her lips managed to bring Miyeon back from her short absence, the overwhelmingly rich aroma of cocoa invading her senses. “Hurry, I still have an opening to do later.” A small yet radiant smile greeted her eyes and she promptly took the bite that was handed to her. 

Miyeon would usually find dark chocolate a little too bitter but this time it was saccharine sweet. Her heart picking up its pace back to a joyful trot as she finally felt herself smiling a little. 

“The cake is yummy.” Miyeon commented, half hoping that it would miraculously make Shuhua feed her another bite. 

“I sure hope it is, I paid for it so you better like it.” Shuhua snarkily answered with a teasing grin.

With a series of light giggles Miyeon gave up on wishing for the moon and simply took the fork that she had left untouched. The pair continued eating the sweet treat while sharing more about their day. From the corner of her eyes, Miyeon could swear that there was a blinding sunshine gracing the world with its glow despite the weather forecast announcing clouds and grim days. 

XXXXXXXXX

They found themselves back at the apartment after an evening spent at the bar. Miyeon was mostly reviewing some papers she had gotten back from the public relation team, sitting quietly in a corner away from the crowd, while Shuhua tended to the customers until closure. To Miyeon’s relief, her younger friend’s glee was persistent throughout the rest of the day and even now she was happily scribbling some words like it was the best thing ever on this planet. Miyeon had just finished showering and curiosity got the best of her. She knew better than to bother a working Shuhua but seeing her so joyfully filling up papers made her want to be part of this seemingly gratifying activity. 

For once, instead of having her butt glued to her fluffy rug and back hunched over her low table, Shuhua was using the dining table for its appropriate usage. Her pen, however, came to a stop as an arm snaked across her collarbones, locking itself in a secure grip. 

“What got you so happy ?” She heard behind her and it didn’t take a genius to know that she was caught in the grasp of her ever so clingy friend. 

Against all odds though, Shuhua did not fight it. No, even more surprising, she raised one hand to hold onto Miyeon and turned her head slightly to show a beautiful smile that rendered the oldest of the two completely harmless. It was like a deactivation system that hijacked all the cuteness aggression Miyeon had in her -which is a damn lot if you asked anyone-. She just stayed there rooted, unable to process what was going on. 

“I’m looking through Tzuyu’s notes and wow, no wonder she is a top scorer. It’s so complete and a lot of side notes makes everything easier to follow.” Shuhua said with a look that would usually make Miyeon squeal and explode. But right now, she could barely process anything other than the thumb lightly caressing her bare arm and the warm palm against her skin. In normal times, her favourite captive prisoner would fight back her attempt at physical imprisonment, so this was by far the most unexpected turn of event Miyeon could have ever thought of.  

While Miyeon might have placed the cart before the horses, seeing Shuhua encouraging her urge to hold and squish her in between her arms just managed to stop her from doing just that. She just let her arm there, unmoving. One part of her feared that Shuhua has learnt a better diffuse mechanism to her attempt at squeezing her to death. Lord did Miyeon hate losing a fight but her guilty conscience was screaming happiness with this newfound development. The shock was so much for the businesswoman that she did not react to the name Shuhua so happily uttered in pure admiration even though that very same person made her so grumpy earlier at the library. 

“Oh I see.” Miyeon just barely remembered to reply as her eyes met the glittering puppy ones. 

A slight squeeze of her arm made her gaze revert back to the papers, ears finally listening to the soft ramble Shuhua was providing. “Like here, see the little annotation? It explains what this highlighted part means in more detail.” And Miyeon could just hum softly, still not over the fact that she is basically holding and almost back hugging -if it weren’t for the chair in between- Shuhua for more than 2 minutes without the latter screaming scandal and assault. What deserved to be scandalous though was that Shuhua seemed to be encouraging her, stopping her from letting go even though everyone and their mother’s knew that Miyeon never planned to in the first place. 

Caught in her little bubble, Miyeon only gasped a little when this almost surreal moment came to an end with a familiar tune playing. Shuhua released Miyeon’s arm and grabbed her phone only to squeal in a high pitch tone that could honestly rip one’s ear drum. 

“Soojin is calling !” Just like that, the gremlin stood up and effortlessly got rid of the slack arm around her just to dash to the couch and pick up what seemed to be a video call. 

Miyeon was left there with the now empty chair and the ever more present feeling of emptiness filling the space within and in between. She could only awkwardly cough to get her mind to work again while walking to the couch next to Shuhua. 

“Unnie !!! I misss youuuuuu!” Shuhua faked a sob at the end and Miyeon could hear Soojin coo a little. 

“Where are you Shu ? This is not our apartment?” Soojin questioned a little confused by the unfamiliar brown couch and the champagne pale walls. 

“Oh I’m with Miyeon-Unnie. I’m staying with her for now.” Shuhua answered and panned her phone to the oddly silent eldest who smiled at Soojin. 

“Hi Boss ~” Miyeon waved and internally heaved a sigh of relief to see Soojin looking well and fine. She had heard of Soojin’s reason to leave so urgently and had been worried about her former boss’ condition ever since. 

“Oh Unnie ~ I hope this Gremlin is not giving you too much of a hard time.” Soojin said.

”No, she's a great company though she could learn to wash the dishes once in a while.” Miyeon replied with a teasing tone which earned herself a light slap on the thigh. 

“Ohh that I’m sorry but she never really contributed to housework in the duplex before. Unless she gets paid you can’t expect this brat to even wash a plate. Let me tell you, in a few days you will have dirty clothes laying around. Guess what I found under her shelf once-“ Soojin was happily roasting her housemate and it didn’t take long to hear the latter’s complaints.

”Yah shush enough- Miyeon go to your bedroom to sleep ! It's my alone time with Soojin right now. You’re bothering !” The youngest whined and didn’t shy away from making a show out of it. Hiding her phone in her chest and using her free hand to push the businesswoman off the couch, she went as far as dragging the latter to the bedroom and closing the door behind just to leave a confused but slightly amused Miyeon standing there.  

She didn't find it in her to protest, more than satisfied from her moment shared with Shuhua earlier. Plus, she knew better than to disturb her time with Soojin. Unlike the others, Soojin was practically Shuhua’s guardian by now, an odd mix between best friend and sister from another vagina with a sprinkle of surrogate mother thrown in the mix. So Miyeon simply did as she was told, slipping under her heavy duvet and sighing in bliss at the feeling of her cloud soft mattress underneath her painful spine. 

Not quite feeling like sleeping yet, she took out her phone and scrolled through her social media aimlessly. A few pictures of models that she had worked with, one post of her university classmate’s wedding and more miscellaneous content flashed by her eyes and animated by the swipe of her thumb across her screen. 

[V-LOG Woogs adventure with her Avenger squad] 

The title caught her eyes and she could already hear Yuqi’s voice whining like a distressed walrus. Thankfully, Yuqi doesn’t know that she didn’t have her notifications on for her YouTube channel. To be fair, it’s not like she didn’t support her friend, she simply did but a few 7 hours late-ish kind of support. 

The new (not so new considering it has been almost 10 hours since its publication and had over 700k views already) video was starting off just fine with Yuqi doing an intro in front of the shared cottage they had. Miyeon smiled at the funny editing and she honestly couldn’t hold back a laugh at some of the dramatic cuts. Not only that but Yuqi’s video editor did a great job introducing every one of their group with a montage similar to Super smash bros introductions -visual, music and all-. She only frowned slightly when in her introduction she got the word ‘hag’ and ‘dense’ and made a mental note to complain to the internet celebrity next time they meet. 

The video progressed and it was that car ride with Soyeon driving, the banter went on but the camera suddenly switched to a focus on her face and Miyeon wanted to slap herself on the screen. She looked absolutely lost. The zoom in on her phone screen showcasing the sea was enough to paint her as a fool. The scenes in the water managed to diminish her embarrassment and she laughed at the images of them just downright plotting to drown each other for an ice cream. Yes, friendship was that fickle. 

A little burning flame ignited however at the zoom in on Shuhua. While throughout the entirety of the video she had smiled at the sight of her favourite vet student, this time, her company made it hard to enjoy. Said company being Yiren, a tad too close to Shuhua who she had only met for 20 minutes by then. She recalled how close they were and faced another drop of spirit. Her attention was brought back to the screen as a loud scream could be heard and indeed it was from their makeshift karaoke party. The video proceeds with Shuhua and her sharing the same water bottle which seemed to have slightly extinguished the fire. She remembered how stupidly happy she felt at that exact moment, regardless of everything, having Shuhua’s undivided attention was by far the best feeling in the world. 

Her eyes caught on the comments left by the viewers and she felt happy reading through the various compliments, ranging from praising their beauty, their natural comedy (they were just born clowns but she’ll take the praise either way) and their singing. 

xxcatxx : Miyeon’s voice is so pretty just like her <3 wish to see more of your friends on this channel Woogs.

yuqischair: whoa Soyeon is so lucky, i want a Woogs in my life too. 

meowfortiddies: Minnie is so talented, i loved her movie too omg 

rizzler: Soojin is the only sane one there, hang in there hottie

Yirensite: oh wow Yiren and Shuhua look good together

And now Miyeon had to physically stop herself from entering keyboard warrior mode or report the user for defamation. What did the person know anyway, they only met for a day. 

x-cells: Shuhua is backkkkk i love her so much she’s hilarious 

Now that caught her attention. Miyeon didn’t waste her time to do more digging and surely enough, it seems that Shuhua had already appeared in a handful of Yuqi’s videos in the past. Note to self, never tell Yuqi that she didn’t watch all her releases or she’ll die of strangulation. 

That’s how she spent the rest of her night just watching Shuhua playing around in Yuqi’s various posts until dear Morpheus came over to pull her into a daze and slowly but surely, she was snoozing away. 

(The door to the room opened when the clock hit close to midnight, eyes on the figure curled up on one side of the comically humongous bed. Pale hands came over to brush over a strand of hair and gently place it behind the sleeping beauty’s ear. Miyeon had her phone still in hand and Shuhua carefully took the device before placing it on the bedside table. The lights were out and she decided to finally join her older friend to sleep, a slight blush on her cheeks as she could still phantom the tall nose bridge and plump pink lips under the shadows of the night. She couldn’t resist it but her hand came to replace where the handphone once was, the open hand looked too empty and readily inviting. 

Shuhua could only lay down half awake as her heart drummed erratically from this intimate setting. It was almost nothing, they always held hands anyway. But hard to tell that to her stubborn heart that loved Miyeon too much for her sanity. She thanked all the gods above for blessing the brunette with a cadaver-like level of sleep. 

Ever since she acknowledged her feelings it was harder to contain herself from sudden thoughts and involuntary actions. 

“Gosh… at this rate you will find out that I like you faster than I did myself.” Shuhua mumbled in the dead silence of the moonlight as she attempted to close her eyes for good.

Oh! How ironic. )

_________

“So, any news in the love life journal ? Any juicy articles for your number one fan ?” The playful voice questioned with a teasing raise of her eyebrows.

Miyeon only glared at her for a second before shaking her head with a sigh. “I swear you are more interested in my nonexistent love life than my parents.” 

“Well, if your parents aren’t asking then I should be the one doing you this honor in life.” Sana joked as she took a bite of her cut steak.

It was supposed to be a formal meeting between them regarding their shared project. Yet, the world has it that even in a serious setting, her best friend had no intention of letting her breath for a second. Most of the formalities had already been discussed and they had laid down all of the necessary important information so it now was just a casual lunch between two friends. 

“Well, nothing. I barely meet anyone new nowadays. Or at least not anyone that is my age or unmarried.” Miyeon offered with a sip of her red wine to erase this bitterness with even more bitter ruby liquid. 

“I was about to say you always meet new old geezers that could be my dad’s age.” A look from Miyeon was a sign for her to change topics. “What about Shuhua ?” Sana inquired and the latter perked up at the familiar name.

”What about her ?” The businesswoman asked back slightly confused but she did a poor job at concealing her smile at the mention of her favourite person.

”Aren’t you so happy to hear her name ? Geez, if you didn’t insist on being so single Pringle, I would definitely think you are dating her.” Sana commented at the sight of her love sick friend.

”What do you mean ?! Can’t I just be happy that I can now have her to myself everyday ?” Miyeon replied as if she said something as obvious as having the floor underneath her foot.

”Now you sound like a simp.” Her friend remarked coldly, observing the way Miyeon gasped at the offense.

”I am not ! Like, can you believe that she chose to stay with me while Soojin is away? She also texts me daily for lunch and I get to go fetch her from uni whenever I can. I spend my evening at the bar with her as she works and we go home just after. Oh my god, yesterday I wanted to hold her and she grabbed my arm and kept it in place. Like… She grabbed me ! She didn’t want me to let her go ! We stayed like this for almost 5 minutes ! Can you believe that ?” Nothing prepared Sana for the onset of diabetes-inducing yapping Miyeon had in store for her. If her excited monologue was anything, her blinding smile could probably rip her face in half with how wide it was. Yet, her eyes dimmed ever so slightly and that toothpaste-ad worthy grin was slowly replaced by a subtle pout of her lips.

“Now what is it ?” Sana questioned, enjoying this a little too much.

”She’s too popular.” Miyeon deflated and took a larger gulp of her wine.

”What ?” That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear and the Japanese could only prod further to make sense of this.

”Like, her aura. She attracts people too easily. Yesterday she had a senior wrapped around her fingers. Back during our trip she got an actress totally at her mercy.” Miyeon might be exaggerating but to her, this was just how much she felt. It didn’t help that she spent the morning in her office scrolling through the comments in Yuqi’s videos featuring Shuhua. The amount of people melting for the adorable Taiwanese maiden was honestly impressive and while Miyeon mostly agreed and proudly nodded along, a smaller but darker part of herself would’ve liked it better if they stayed quiet.

“… and you’re jealous ?” Sana asked.

”I … think so ? I mean, remember how she made me go through hell and back to get her to warm up to me ?” Miyeon reasoned though a little voice told her this wasn’t all true either. 

“And you want her for yourself ?” Sana added, munching on a piece of potato, attention fully on her best friend.

“I know it’s stupid but I’m more and more selfish lately. I want her to spend time with me. I plan everything in advance so we can have a blast and I hate it when something unexpected comes in the way. I also find it so bothersome when she focuses so much on her studies and I try to get some time with her.” Miyeon admitted. She wasn’t one to hold secrets and she could easily confide these more perturbing feelings to her most trustworthy confidant. 

“Any ideas why you’re feeling this way ?” Sana asked, trying to hopefully prompt her best friend in the right direction after quickly figuring it out herself.

”I was thinking maybe my periods are coming ? But it’s weird because it never happened before. Oh my god, what if it’s menopause ?!” Miyeon gasped and covered her mouth at the sudden possibility. Nevermind the right direction, Miyeon liked to take the road looking like a bowl of spaghetti. Running straight the opposite way into a wall made of red brick. 

Sana could only sigh in disbelief at how dense her best friend was. “Girl, you’re like 20 years too young to worry about menopause.” 

“But it makes sense !” Miyeon claimed with fervent conviction. Don’t be harsh on her. She didn’t graduate in science for a reason. 

“Give me a second.” The Japanese woman stood up and rounded the table under the clueless gaze of the brown haired woman. “Haiyaa !” And with a swift motion of her hand, she delivered a clean smack at the back of her friend’s head who only yelled in pain at the sudden assault.

”I- What was that for !” Miyeon glared indignantly at Sana who looked like a murderous hamster boring lasers down her skull, hand still up in hair from her karate chop. 

“You love Shuhua.” Sana stated plainly, hoping that her smack made her best friend realise the obvious.

”Well yeah ?!” Miyeon bit back, a hand soothing the aching spot at the back of her head. “She’s my favourite person ! We’re best friends !” Miyeon added and Sana could swear that half of the restaurant staff shared a collective sigh with her.

”Miyeon… bestie… I meant love, love. Love you want to hug and kiss her and have her to yourself kinda love. Why do you think you were never interested in anyone before or that you are so damn possessive of her.” Sana had to hold herself back from giving her a second smack but the sight of the mechanical gears clicking together in Miyeon’s mind gave her the necessary patience to hold back, just barely. 

“Oh.” Was all Miyeon could say as she could only acknowledge the factual evidence and the glaring obvious laid in front of her on a silver platter. 

“Oh ?” Sana sarcastically repeated.

”Oh…” Miyeon uttered again as it now made sense. 

She loved Shuhua and she always knew it. She just never thought of how deeply she loved her or how far she had fallen for her. 

But guess what, Miyeon now sees that she had fallen down an abysmal trench if not in the hole to the center of earth. Skydiving should be her profession because she had dropped so far down without ever realising it and no parachute could ever save her from the imminent crash. 

Accepting the reality of it was not the issue… it was that it took her this long to realise the obvious elephant in the room.  

XXXXXXXXXX

The world has decided that she won’t have enough time to figure herself out. While yes, she got her answer to her existential crisis laid down prettily in front of her, she has yet to decide what to do with them. 

It was well past 9pm when she looked up from her screen, strained eyes closing for a second as they burnt under her heavy eyelids. The moment she came back with the necessary papers signed and parted ways with her best friend, Miyeon was greeted with utter chaos back on her floor. She had reported her progress to Karina, purposely avoiding the glaring set back they had regarding the production of the pieces. Something about a communication mishap leading to the designer not being prepared for the photoshoot deadline set just the following week. This also unraveled the actual issue as she found out not so happily that the public relation team had apparently contacted their partners the wrong deadlines all along. 

So, Miyeon had to take matters into her own hands and repair the mistakes her team made. She had concocted multiple apologetic emails in hope of reducing the backlash from this error and requested online meetings with the afflicted partners to think of a way to finish everything on due time. Which means that no, she won’t have her final finished by report tomorrow like she had expected unless she manages an Herculean feat. 

Miyeon had dozed on her way back, the train’s subtle and rhythmic thuds as they glided over the long railway leading her home. She dragged her tired feet through the paved road, thanking heaven that she lived a few steps away from the MRT station. Her head was painfully empty, drained of life and she even struggled to open her front door. 

The smell of her fragrant diffuser greeted her and she sighed a little. She barely heard the little “‘Sup” as she just made a beeline to her bathroom. The brunette desperately needed a shower and to change out of her corporate outfit that clung to her skin like an unwanted tattoo. 

It took almost 20 minutes before the businesswoman silently made her way to the living room, a towel over her shoulders sheltering her dry oversized shirt from her damp hair. Freshly out of the shower, she just approached the figure on her couch in search of her second source of desire now that she fulfilled her first. She could hear the familiar faint clicks of fingers against a keyboard as the muted buzz of the world was kept away from her abode. The soft almost orange glow of her tall lamp casted the room in a warm embrace. Wordlessly, she leaned against the back of the brown couch and placed her chin on the stiff shoulder of her newfound housemate. 

“What are you doing ?”  Miyeon questioned, her voice low as the hot shower exposed her tired bones to her sleepy mind, physically and mentally drained. Her bed was so damn tempting right now but she wanted to recharge herself the way she liked to. Here, with a certain Taiwanese between her grasp. 

“Just finishing up a paper. I’m almost done.” Shuhua replied, not tearing her eyes away from the screen of the laptop perched on top of her milky thighs. They stayed like this silently, just the rhythmic sound of fingers dancing as words sprung to life on the burning white glow of the document. Miyeon had stopped looking at the screen long ago, her eyes couldn’t take more of that after today’s incident so she opted to just close her eyes and let the warm atmosphere engulf her.

Amidst the long tirade of more clicks and tapping, Shuhua's head slightly leaned on the side and her ever so sensitive nose rejoiced in the familiar scent. “Smelling good.” Shuhua softly commented, her shoulders relaxing and Miyeon could only let a little satisfied hum of approval. Arms came to lace themselves around her soft frame and oh she was so warm. Miyeon might just fall asleep here and there. 

”Hmmm, come on, let’s go to bed. I'm sleepy.” Miyeon murmured, jaw a little slack and her consciousness fading against her will. 

The light giggles were followed by a gentle dismissive tap on the pair of arms around her “Just go to bed first. I still have quite a bit to type. I’ll join you later.” And just like that Shuhua continued with her typing. 

Miyeon could only dejectedly drag herself towards her bed as she couldn’t stubbornly defy her drowsiness anymore. She had an unimaginable amount of work tomorrow and she needed that sleep. Yet, a piece of her mind, restless and loud, was complaining about how she wished she had Shuhua here, warming her bed and lulling her to sleep instead of the cold beddings and the overwhelming silence. She wished that Shuhua would have closed her laptop and prioritised Miyeon’s silent plea to just join her. She wished that Shuhua showed signs of missing her after not seeing her the whole day and coming home late at night. 

She wished that Shuhua craved her as much as she did. 

Unbeknownst that while she was dozing off out of exhaustion, just a few rooms away, the girl occupying both her happiest and darkest thoughts was sporting a heavy blush. 

_________

There were only a handful of times Miyeon wanted to cry because of work. One time was when she accidentally mispronounced one of their important sponsor’s name in the middle of an equally important meeting. How was she supposed to know that Mr. Cocklest was pronounced ‘Coke least’ and not ‘Cock Lust’. Another time, she had spilled burning hot coffee on herself right when another set of Japanese associates walked in. She could hardly differentiate if her tears were of embarrassment or pain. Not so long ago she was walking down the floor and caught an employee of the finance team sniffling inside her cubicle. Next thing she knows, they were both inside her much more private office, ugly crying together as the girl told her a heart wrenching story about how her dog had died and her father was in the hospital paired with finding out that her boyfriend of 2 years was cheating on her. Being the empathetic soul that she is, Miyeon couldn’t help but cry alongside that nameless employee who she now knew was named Jisu. She had given that girl a week break from work and the next time they met Jisu profusely thanked her and informed Miyeon that her dad was getting better and that her ex-boyfriend got dumped by her side piece after she found out that she was well… a side piece. (This time it was happy tears forming in her eyes after hearing such good news.)

Long story short, Miyeon has actually never cried because of work itself. Yes, she had teared up inside her office and shared ugly sobs with her employee, but she hadn’t let paperwork get the best of her.

Well, there was a first for everything. 

She was seriously going insane as part of her morning was spent making sure that the issues from yesterday were all fixed. The afternoon came in and she just tried to urge all the teams to submit their progress to her after rectifying the errors while some just haven’t even started with said report. Now here she was, trying to form a neat document for her boss to be handed the next day, or rather today, as she glanced at the time displayed in the corner of her brightly lit screen.

It was past midnight and she had finally compiled everything she needed, not even done with the formatting. Jisu had dropped by earlier to give her a hot cup of instant noodles paired with an apologetic smile, seeing as her boss was going to work overtime. 

Her ginormous cup of iced americano was empty and she glanced at her phone as a notification popped up. Just an ad. She sighed pitifully.

Shuhua had asked about her whereabouts but in the rush of everything Miyeon just curtly replied that she was going to work overtime and not to wait for her. Since then radio silence. 

There was the catalyst to her messed up feelings as of late. In normal times, the stress of this deadline wouldn’t put her in such a state of disarray. For the past few days, Miyeon can’t help but feel a gaping hole form inside her chest. Shuhua was so close to her yet so far at the same time. As if, now that she had indulged in her overwhelming presence, Miyeon couldn’t go without. She needed her undivided attention and alone time together doing god knows what to fulfill her greedy desires.

But no, if it wasn’t their friends interrupting it would be a phone call from Soojin, if it wasn’t their respective work or classes it would be Shuhua’s friends and if it wasn’t for lack of time it would be studies and homework. 

Just like yesterday, a laptop won over late night chat in bed like they are used to. And Miyeon was just so frustrated. She could be home right now, pestering Shuhua and getting a laugh out of her but here she was stuck at work doing this stupid report that was messed up by her stupid teams over some stupid mistake. 

She lost count of how many times she rubbed her eyes nor the amount of sighs she had let out in the dead silent air of her office. She had barely finished formatting everything to the correct design and pressed the glorious ‘print’ button when her personal printer let out the most disgruntled groan it could possibly let out. Miyeon was not one to back down from a challenge and petulantly retorted with her own tearless broken cry of frustration. Seems like her darn printer accepted defeat and just shut off on its own, leaving miyeon with a half printed front page out of the 23 needed to construct the full document she had worked her ass off to complete for the past hours. 

The nearest printer she had access to would be the unused communal one on the hallway of the only upper floor. While any sane person would find the empty and dark office an actual through and through haunted house, Miyeon was not even close to sane, she could care less about a dead spirit jumping on her right now. If anything she’d gladly play ghostbusters and box that little shit to vent out her frustration. As they say, no better secret keeper than a dead person. Yes, she was that tired with nonsense filling her brain. 

Navigating the dark place and making a beeline to the elevator, she just marched  towards the lone printer which worked perfectly fine unlike her private one. Perhaps, it too was scared to mess with an upset Miyeon. The sound of perpetual electric tuts and beeps filled the air and Miyeon just stood by the machinery, glaring as if daring it to even just stop printing. The light emitted barely made her face discernible to the eye but it was apparently enough… because next thing she knew a piercing scream that was just a few decibels shy from actually puncturing her eardrum could be heard from the elevator. 

Well… here came her dead spirit ? 

But lord have mercy on poor Miyeon who was shocked beyond repair, she did not, in fact, box a ghost but instead jumped in surprise and accidentally kicked the printer out of service before receiving a painful blow to the cheek in the form of … car keys ?

The printing noises have stopped, the machine being the only real victim here. Instead broken sobs and incoherent blabber could be heard as Miyeon had to shake her head out of the sudden dizziness. A flashlight was shone on her and the pale figure on the floor was still shaking uncontrollably while muttering another string of gibberish followed by a sniff. Miyeon was just speechless trying to process everything. From the printer’s passing leaving only half of the necessary papers done, the pale ghost crying pitifully on the ground, the sting on her face and most importantly… Was her boss shining her phone at her ?

“What the fuck ?” Miyeon blurted… She wasn’t someone who would curse often, (Yuqi was the one with a sailor’s mouth) but maybe if she pinched herself hard enough she could wake up to her hard cold desk and her unfinished report. Because this… this was a nightmare.

“Itoldyouyourofficewasscaryatnightwhydidyouwannacomehere.” The long string of words could be heard from the ground in a high pitched wail. Next to her were a set of Porsche car keys, probably the weapon responsible for the unbearable sting on her face. 

But what stole the show was the comforting and worried coo that followed from the third party that crouched down next to the terribly sobbing ghost. “Oh my god Minjeong-ah, are you okay ? I heard that it was haunted here but I didn’t think it was real I-“ and here was Karina looking up only to see a livid Cho Miyeon rooted in place. 

“Miyeon-ssi !?!” She immediately stood up and unceremoniously dropped down the pale girl once more just to shine her phone straight to the older brunette’s face. 

“You’re kidding….” Miyeon just mumbled and giggled softly out of delirious exhaustion.. 

And that’s how she ended up inside Karina’s huge office that was taking the better half of the entire floor. Said Karina who had just inserted her flash drive to print that report she had been trying to get done for the past hours. Said Karina who had now pulled up a first-aid kit to tend to her cheek “Ouch !” Miyeon flinched. The pain brought her back to reality after having dissociated for the past 15 minutes and explained why she was on the highest floor at the ungodly hour of 2am. 

“Sorry…” Karina only could apologise as she pulled the cotton imbued with the disinfectant away and carefully plastered a Shin-Chan band aid on Miyeon’s throbbing cheek. 

“It’s fine ?” Miyeon answered when she finally regained her wits, internally cringing when she sounded more interrogative than affirmative. 

“I’ll have a word with my aunt. I heard some fleeting gossip from Aeri that she might be responsible for this mayhem you experienced. Didn’t think she’d actually mess with the whole planning of the project though.” Karina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in shame. 

“It’s fine.” Miyeon finally managed to say it properly. “I was able to settle everything and contacted all the parties affected by this incident with minimal backlash. Plus, well, at least the report is done by Friday as you said.” Miyeon reassured. 

“You could’ve told me and I would’ve extended your deadline considering this setback-“ Karina was on another tirade but Miyeon cut her off. “I’m really okay… shouldn’t you take care of…” the oldest pointed at the pitiful figure still hiccuping and sniffing on the opposite end of the long black leather couch. 

“I.. yeah.. I should…” The young CEO could only let out a small smile before taking long strides near the small blonde’s frame. 

Miyeon took a sip of the warm water she was offered while still in shock earlier and sighed to herself. This whole thing was ridiculous, she was half sure that she could actually snap out of this illusion and uttered a very unenthusiastic zimzalabim and some other chants. This was just a sick prank someone was pulling on her. 

Amidst her slow spiraling into madness, two pretty black shoes settled in front of her and the light sound of sniffs could be heard as she looked up to gaze at the pair of puffy red eyes. 

“I’m.. sniff.. sorry… for throwing.. keys at.. sniff.. you.” The pale blonde managed to utter with the help of a hand soothingly rubbing her back and the comforting presence of Karina stationed just next to her. 

“Miyeon-ssi… I will drive you home. It’s late and I doubt you can catch any transport now.” Her boss offered sweetly, which was received by a painful pinch (judging from the way Karina’s face contorted) from her friend (?) and Miyeon’s silent nod. 

Miyeon had no idea how she ended up in the backseat of a car that was probably way too expensive for her to drive. Yes, she was admittedly friends with some rich people but Karina was another breed of rich. Which also came with a set of questions as to why the acclaimed and renowned actress Kim Winter was currently the source of her boss’s distress by simply sulking at her. Miyeon never even imagined Karina whining but her begging ? That was unheard of. 

(Miyeon should see herself in a mirror because she wasn’t so far off.)

“Minjeong-ah, I’m sorry. Please stop sulkinggggg.” Only a disgruntled huff paired with the persistent sniffing could be heard. “I shouldn’t have dropped you earlier but hey, I really wanted to scold whoever was spooking you.” 

“Liar… you thought it was a ghost too. I heard you screaming prayers behind my back.” Winter only replied with a gruff. 

Miyeon was tempted to tell them how she thought that Winter was the ghost between them all, given her very pale complexion and platinum blonde hair. She opted to stay mum and just listen to the pair one-sidedly arguing (Winter largely winning that one despite staying mostly silent) and her boss reduced to nothing more than pathetic pleas of forgiveness. 

Somewhere along the nth “Shut it, Jimin-Unnie” and another “I won’t forget our house keys at the office again, I promise. Stop being mad Minjeongieeeee” Miyeon has found herself slowly disconnecting from reality. Something she should have done an eternity ago considering everything that has happened the past two days. She didn’t really know when she exactly closed her eyes and lost track of the traffic lights, probably at the fifth ‘i will slap you Jimin’ but a firm grip on her shoulder and a gentle shake brought her back to existence. 

“Miyeon-ssi, we reached your place…” Karina had said softly and gave Miyeon a good 20 seconds to regain consciousness. 

“Thank you for the ride.” Miyeon sat straighter and gathered her bag before looking back at Karina and the blonde. 

She heard her name being called again and looked to the driver’s seat in slight confusion. “I don't want to see you at work until next Monday. You get a day off for tomorrow. I’ll deal with my aunt and … the printer. In exchange keep this.. to yourself” Karina informed sheepishly and pointed at the grumpy occupant of the passenger’s seat. 

“Oh.. you didn’t have to.. alright.” Miyeon decided to not argue anymore. She was tired beyond comprehension. “Thank you Karina-ssi… and it was a pleasure to meet you Winter-ssi.” 

“It’s Minjeong. You haven’t seen a Winter in that office. Also… sorry again for your face.” The blonde addressed her and while Miyeon might have thought that the actress despised her because of earlier ruckus, the soft and guilty smile on her face told her otherwise.

”Oh then, it’s not Karina ! Tonight, Jimin drove you home- Ouch!” Karina slash Jimin quipped back but was quickly shushed by another sharp slap, the ninth of the night. 

“Let Miyeon-unnie rest, you idiot.” Minjeong aggressively said and the older one took it as her cue to leave the car after bowing one last time to the odd pair and their expensive Porsche. 

Whatever happened after 3am was just a recollection of hazed memories, something along with getting inside her apartment, taking a quick shower and changing into her pjs. Sliding under the already warm sheets in her bed before snoring the remaining night away. If she slept hard enough maybe all of this would be a complete joke of a dream.

She hardly felt the body curling up against hers, a low mumble of “why you are so late” and the immediate coziness that invaded her senses. Her mind was all shuffled and she definitely can’t tell if she was the one who started nuzzling into the familiar black shirt or if it was the light touch on her face that made her sigh in relief.

“I was ghosting keys on my face and boxed a thrown printer with my report.” 

Yeah, she lost her mind and ability to think. 

___________

Miyeon woke up with a pretty bad headache. For once, it was not attributed to an overwhelming hangover from a late night spent with the boisterous duo that was Yuqi and Minnie chugging drinks like it was their last day on Earth. Her hand came up to rub her face only to hiss at the sharp pain on her cheek. The loud ringing in her ears was the next thing she registered and here she found out what woke her up. 

Her alarm. 

Work.

Work.

Work ?

(not the Rihanna kind)

”Shit !” Miyeon sat up and grabbed the offending loud device in her hands. It was around 10 am, she was very much late and crap her report-

A flash of memory from last night surged in her mind, from the stress, the printer and the car keys. Yeah, everything. She even had to slap her face to make sure it was real. Of course, it had to be on the bruised cheek which made her wince in pain and in embarrassment as it was all very real. The last few parts were a little hazy in her head but she remembered Karina’s words telling her that she didn’t need to come to work today. 

Leaning back into her mattress, she could almost feel the last traces of warmth onto the empty side of the bed, growing cold by the minute. Right, Shuhua… she hadn't seen her the whole day. Heck, she could barely even remember how she got up to her apartment last night. 

If there’s one thing Miyeon hated more than being woken up unprompted, it was the feeling of the distance between her and Shuhua. So close yet abysmally far away just like the warmth she was clinging onto fading slowly. Just like that… she let the drowsiness win over the unnecessary buzz in her mind.

She regained consciousness around an hour later. Her headache was still there somewhat and she just groaned into her pillow. Counting to ten she gathered her strength to walk towards her bathroom. The frigid air made her shiver a little and did little to rejoice her already grumpy self. A hot shower was in order and she didn’t waste time to let the steaming droplets fall onto her body. Once done, she just stood in front of her mirror and peeled the silly band aid off her face, finally taking a glance at the full extent of the injury. 

She could see a small cut, it had bled just barely. It was what was around it that made her jaw drop. Her cheekbone was an angry shade of red and purple and she could bet it would turn some kind of greenish yellow by the next few days. 

“Goddamn, Minjeong has a good throw…” Miyeon commented, admiring just how perfectly atrocious the bruise was. 

She rummaged through her few drawers and revealed an ointment, hopefully this would calm the angry redness. The tube was almost fully empty and she groaned at the effort it took to even squeeze the smallest dollop. Miyeon winced once more at the stinging feeling as her delicate finger massaged the cream in, her face contorting in pain. 

Just her luck… Just her freaking luck. 

“Great…” Miyeon muttered at herself with a disapproving glare. Her reflection was just as angry with a drop of blood forming on her lips. 

The recent drop of temperatures paired with her stress and lack of self care rendered her usually plush and well cared for lips, dry and almost brittle. Which now, crackled and left an open wound. 

She needs more ointment. She noted. 

The businesswoman looked for a new band aid through the same drawer but sighed and closed it just a tad too strongly for it to echo across the silent apartment. The sound was already triggering her headache. 

Bandages and painkillers were added to her shopping list.

XXXXXXXXX

Now, she wasn’t someone to dwell on a bad morning. Yes, so far it has been one hell of a week. But she knew how to make it better. 

Myeon: Shushu, when do you end class ? ₊✩₊˚•ᴗ•˚₊✩₊

Wolfie: probably befor you end work you workaholic

Myeon: well jokes on you i have a day off now .°˖✧

Wolfie: I have a group project, Im going to discuss and work on it during lunch break

Wolfie: I dont have class afte but I needa be at the bar at 10 for clsoing

Myeon: oh … (っ◞‸◟ c)

Myeon: i wanted to take you out for lunch

Wolfie: Actually, i forgot some papers at home. 

Wolfie: Do you mind bringing them

Myeon: On the way pup ! (•-•  )>

Miyeon sighed… guess she won’t be spending time with Shuhua. She’ll just be a delivery man. She had to refill her first aid cabinet anyway. 

Considering the cold day and grey clouds, Miyeon decided to wear a comfy grey hoodie and a thick pair of black baggy jeans. Her hair was on the messy side but if she was just going to run some errands, she decided to not bother and just wear a black cap to cover the mess. She quickly gathered her keys and phone before looking for Shuhua’s papers. 

The cafe she was headed to was not unfamiliar, it’s the same one Shuhua was doing her project alone last time. Just as expected she had spotted the younger girl in a corner and she smiled a little. 

‘Well.. at least I get to see her today’ 

“Hello Shushu~” Miyeon greeted, feeling  way lighter now.

”Oh Myeon-Unnie !” And here was a smile Miyeon missed seeing. 

Looking around, Miyeon took the empty seat in front of Shuhua and handed the papers she had asked for. A weird sense of deja vu overtaking her. “Shuuuu… Where are your friends ?” Miyeon gently asked. 

“Ordering food there…” Shuhua nodded her head towards the bunch at the counter, giggling loudly. The younger girl had redirected her focus on her laptop and Miyeon frowned slightly… These girls were not giving the vibes. 

“Unnie, you are free right ?” Shuhua grabbed her attention again. 

“Hmm yeah I am. Why ?” The older woman questioned.

”Just thinking we could-“

”Oh ? Shuhua-yah ? Did you finish the work already?” A voice interrupted from behind and here comes the obnoxious group. 

“Ah uh no… I asked my friend to give me some papers I forgot to bring.” Shuhua replied and Miyeon could barely believe it was the same bratty kid that would torment her. 

“You’re Shuhua’s friend ?” The tallest of the three asked and gave a little stare down at Miyeon who couldn’t return the gaze due to her cap. 

“S-she was about to leave actually. Right Miyeon-Unnie ?” Shuhua cut in and Miyeon could only nod and wordlessly walk out the cafe under the urgent pleading eyes Shuhua was shooting her way.

”Yeahhh we need to work now. Goodbye !” The one with bright orange hair added and took Miyeon’s seat. 

Just like that Miyeon was at the next door pharmacy, getting her well needed refill of ointment and other necessities. Something was gnawing at her though. She had managed to glance at the papers Shuhua asked her to bring, the same ones she had seen lounging around since two days prior. Miyeon was also certain that the paper Shuhua was looking at earlier was the one she was finishing up last time. 

The ringing of the bells from the front door did little to get Miyeon out of her train of thoughts and her feet instinctively moved back towards the cafe where she had left Shuhua. Her hunches were proven correct when Shuhua was still sitting alone typing away as the ugly trio sat together at the next table, laughing at something while showing something on their phones and eating their meal. 

Miyeon liked to think that she had patience in life but this won’t cut it. She could understand Shuhua not spending time with her because of her personal homework but she won’t accept Shuhua being taken away because of someone else’s work. 

So she’ll have to apologise to the cafe owner for almost unhinging the glass door and her angry stomps towards her best friend. 

She must have caught Shuhua off guard because she could hear a small gasp followed by her name being called questioningly. But Miyeon was fuming. So she simply and gently shut her laptop and gathered Shuhua’s paper like she’s done so many times in the past.Trying her best to keep her cool. Her cap must have fallen over when she bent down to retrieve the younger’s bag and arrange her stuff inside neatly, revealing her messy brown locks, her bruised up face and very much angry look in her eyes. 

”Yah ?! What are you doing ?” She could hear a shrill voice behind her as she hung Shuhua’s bag over her own shoulder. 

Oh lord she didn’t like the way a hand grabbed her and forcefully turned her around just to face Ms.Bright hair. 

“I am getting my girlfriend out of here.” Miyeon glared at the student. She knew that the younger generations were shameless but she expected better out of university students… even more out of vet students. 

“B-but Shuhua agreed to help us redact our report. W-we gave her the materials she had missed during the practical class.” The one with a vexing fluorescent nail polish added. 

“And do I look like I care ?” Miyeon retorted coldly, maintaining her very much pissed off attitude. “She was sick and missed her class. She doesn’t owe you anything for being a decent human.” 

“She’s the top scoring student, if she just helps us out we won’t be failing-“ Here was the third nasty mouth talking.

”And if I just report this to your faculty ? I know the law and plagiarism is punishable by expulsion. Though, I don’t need to go that far do I? I know how to take care of rotten apples like you.” The businesswoman sternly announced. She never liked bullies but this was so much more upsetting when her kind hearted friend was the target. 

Miyeon took a step closer and shrugged off the hand on her shoulder, bright haired girlie fell back onto her seat completely shell shocked and slightly trembling. But the brunette didn’t waste another breath their way and reached to grab her best friend’s hand before dragging them both outside. 

They achieved a good 200 meters before Miyeon finally stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the silent Shuhua. Well… not exactly silent because she was complaining while getting pulled away at first but her words fell onto deaf ears. She had eventually given up and let Miyeon blow off some steam. 

“Do they often make you do their work ?” Miyeon started off. 

“No.. not since last time at least. Though this time I just agreed out of guilt for making them hand their notes and give me my papers.” Shuhua replied a little set back by how cold Miyeon looked.

”This is the same bunch as the presentation thing I helped you with ?” Another question which was just answered by a nod this time around. 

“Yah ?! You let yourself get walked over by these birds of paradise looking idiots ? I swear, why do you have to be so kind like this ?! I can’t believe that you chose to waste your time for them when we could’ve watched a movie or something. Spend time with me and not with your nose in your books.” Miyeon rambled angrily.

”Unnie…”

”I can’t believe this, this is just ridiculous-“

”Unnie…”

“You’re driving me insane I swear, why can’t you just rely on me or just use me-“

”Miyeon-Unnie.” And a soft slap was enough for the said corporate to stop going off… mostly because it stung like a bitch in her face. 

“Ouch!” The brunette held her cheek and Shuhua gasped. 

“Oh shit sorry it was a reflex.” 

XXXXXXXXX

The restaurant was somewhere down the street, nothing too fancy though, as a plate of pasta and another of lasagna was placed on the neat white table. They weren’t sitting in front of each other, Shuhua was there right by Miyeon’s side and applying some more ointment to the angry bruise on the letter’s cheek that had resurfaced in swollen red hues from her slap.

”Who would have thought that the stupid Shin-Chan bandaid was hiding this big ass bruise.” Shuhua mumbled as she rubbed the slightly oily medicine onto the cold and colorful skin. 

“Hm ?” Miyeon wordlessly asked again, not quite hearing her clearly. 

“Nothing… How did you even get that ?” Shuhua questioned as she capped back the tube and looked for a band aid inside the plastic bag.

Miyeon was telling the story of how disastrous her day was yesterday, explaining the details of how crazy it was around her office and how late at night she finished that report. She glossed over how a staff mistook her for a ghost and threw their keys at her face. She omitted the whole Winter occurrence but still ended up recounting the events of her boss driving her home and giving her a day off. Obviously making a point of that darn beautiful Porsche. 

She was done with her story and the new bandaid was placed on her cheek, food half eaten, as Shuhua glanced at her with an unreadable look in her eyes. The silence took over the seemingly light hearted story telling but both of them knew they had to go over whatever happened earlier. Shuhua found it hard to explain to Miyeon that she was the one agreeing to help those three as guilt and pity took over. Maybe it was their unsubtle gaslighting that helped in such a stupid and rash decision too. Either way, she had no real hard feelings towards those three girls, unlike Miyeon. 

But the real issue wasn't that colorful trio of dumbassitude but what Miyeon had let transpire in her angry ramble. Shuhua can’t let this one go unnoticed. It didn’t take a genius (even if Shuhua was far from being one in the feelings department) to understand that Miyeon was even just slightly jealous or upset by Shuhua’s priorities. 

“Unnie… you know … I was about to get very mad at you earlier for barging in and suddenly packing my stuff.” Shuhua started and when Miyeon turned towards her the youngest just looked at her almost finished plate of lasagna as if it was the most important thing in the world. If she looked at the older girl right now, she might combust.

”But.. your face was so… angry. I couldn’t even say anything. The last time you looked this angry was when you stopped talking to me for a week. I was scared you would get mad at me again.” Shuhua continued, not daring to look at the bruised face. 

She remembered the cold glare she was sporting, it was frigid and almost violent in a way. She had seen that face a long time ago, when she was attacked by the rude customers back when they weren’t close. 

“I was mad.” Miyeon agreed softly though her voice held some bite to it, not quite over her messy frustration that plagued her whole week. “I thought you were purposefully avoiding me.” 

“I- I wasn’t avoiding you…I-“ Shuhua could only stutter like a deer caught in headlights. She will have to admit that any prolonged alone time spent with the brunette was sending her into a frenzy. Her feelings were just so hard to keep at bay and she always ended up brushing the older’s girl approach off for the sake of her poor rattling heart. 

“I like spending time with you… don’t ever think of avoiding me. Don’t even think you can get rid of me. Especially over some people not deserving of you. I will steal you away.” Miyeon interjected sternly before biting her lips at the words she unknowingly said in her sudden outburst. She could only look at Shuhua’s figure, one that refused to look back at her. 

Maybe she said too much. Maybe she was just too emotional right now. 

Unknowing that Shuhua’s silence was her way to cope with her heart tumbling inside her chest like a barrel down a slope. 

Miyeon had dejectedly returned to her empty plate of pasta when she felt something over her head. The meaning of a cap was to shield one’s face away from view or from light. Well it did great at hiding her growing hot flush taking over her face… but it did a terrible job at keeping the blinding smile Shuhua was giving her. Shuhua didn’t need words to make herself understood, Miyeon knew it the moment she felt the younger’s hands patting at the cap so it would be perfectly placed on top of her head. With Shuhua, she could always put two and two together. (Maybe not always but yeah, that’s what fools in love do)

A wordless ‘I also like spending time with you and I won’t avoid you’.

”How about movies ? At home.” Shuhua finally said something and Miyeon felt her soul drifting to some sort of heaven above. 

XXXXXXXXX

The movie credits rolled down and Miyeon was left in awe at the ending. Shuhua chose some thriller to watch and the older girl only guffawed from her spot on her comfy brown couch at the familiar face on the screen. She didn’t know Shuhua was a fan of Winter. 

“Wow I didn’t think she would pull off such a concept.” Miyeon commented, still not over whatever she had just seen. 

”Who ?” Shuhua asked, head comfortably resting on Miyeon’s shoulder.

”Winter.” Miyeon shortly answered, hand playing with the soft pale ones on her lap. “She looks so doll-like usually. Almost like a ghost.” Miyeon added, having to stop herself from giggling at her own joke.

”She’s a very good actress. Also very very hot. I watched all her movies and she manages to make any role come to life with perfection.” Shuhua agreed, admiration clear in her voice.

”I’m still surprised, she looked really strong and ferocious even. I’ll admit that it was hot.” Miyeon said, unable to erase the image of a messy brunette with bruised lips and cuts across her pale haggard face.

“Just like you.” Shuhua said and Miyeon had to turn her head to look at her and make sure that she wasn’t hearing stuff.

“What ?” Miyeon questioned.

“You have bruises on your doll-like tired face. Just like her. I bet that’s why my classmates were too scared to argue back with you.” Shuhua explained… 

‘though the other reason as to why I couldn’t be mad at you was because you looked just so hot standing there. Just like the day I decided I could let you in as a friend.’

(

Bonus : 

“Yeonie, when do you think Miyeon will realize her feelings for Shu ?” The loud influencer asked, head resting on top of the thin pair of thighs. 

“I think Shu will figure hers out before Miyeon does.” Soyeon replied, still typing lyrics on her phone notes.

”Shu ?! She’s a lost cause I tell you. That girl has a hard time differentiating between love and anger.” Yuqi argued back.

”That’s just how she loves someone. I would feel bad for Miyeon if I didn’t suspect her of having serious masochist tendencies.” Soyeon explained plainly, still not looking at Yuqi one bit.

”You’re not wrong but I still believe Miyeon is more… more attuned to her feelings than Shuhua.” Yuqi retorted. 

“Please, last time I told her that my heart skipped a beat and that I had butterflies in my stomach, she told me that I was hungry. Miyeon is as dumb as a shoe, do you really think she’ll realise that she likes Shuhua ?” The composer sighed, she had two hopelessly in love friends and none owned a functional brain cell. 

She was about to get worried about the sudden silence Yuqi was offering but soon her face paled at the realization. 

“Your heart skipped a beat uh?” Yuqi didn’t care about the rest when she heard this exquisitely interesting piece of information. Her head raised just to look at Soyeon who finally looked at her with a deep blush gracing her sharp features. 

“Shut it Woogs.” Soyeon threatened.

”You had butterflies in your stomach, uh ?” Oh her tone was infuriating.

”Woogs… Shut up.” Soyeon warned once more.

”Make me.” Yuqi dared, a sly smirk up her lips and Soyeon only raised an eyebrow at the challenge. She’s good at shutting Yuqi up. In more ways than just sharp and witty comebacks. 

“If Shuhua acknowledges her feelings first, you treat me to that one expensive steakhouse we talked about.” Soyeon finalized the deal, moving slightly so she could face the YouTuber and leaning closer, well into her personal space.

“You know I’ll win anyway… so why don't you use your talented mouth on something else.” Yuqi’s tone was so annoying but it held purpose as her eyes darted to the said mouth in question. She knew she’ll finally get the attention she’s been trying to get for the past hour.

“Oh … you bet.” In both ways of saying.

Oh if only they knew….

_______________

It was the sunlight that made Shuhua stir from her slumber. The cold morning was just so hard to confront when the bedsheets were so toasty and the warm breath on her face just felt so right in this exact moment. 

Her eyes fell onto the mess of brown locks with a tall nose tip poking out of the bird nest. Her pale fingers reached over to rearrange the brown hair onto their rightful place behind the pretty ear, finally clearing the view of the even more ethereal face underneath. 

Shuhua frowned slightly at the sight of a band aid she was sure wasn’t there before. Holding a laugh when she realised it was a Shin-Chan themed one. Miyeon was still fast asleep and Shuhua vaguely recalled her coming home sometime around 3am but not quite hearing why she was so late. Not that she was conscious enough anyway. 

She wished this would last longer, their legs tangled, the arm over her waist, fingertips over the skin of her back exposed by the shirt that had ridden up slightly. Her index tracing the outline of the bandaid, still wondering how the redness poking out underneath even came to be. She knew Miyeon was clumsy but still, she didn’t quite like it when her pretty face was hurt in such a way. 

The Taiwanese sighed, it was just so good like this and she could still remember how it felt to have the older girl nuzzling into her neck. 

But the clock on the bedside reminded her of the class just a few moments shy from now. She needs to get up soon or she’ll be late. So she begrudgingly moved out of the warm embrace, careful to not wake the person she liked so much. 

It was only when she was about to step out that she noticed Miyeon’s phone on the dining table. What was it doing here ? 

Placing down the papers she held, she made a quick walk over to the bedroom and plugged the device. Miyeon wouldn’t like a dead phone in the morning, especially if it didn’t offer its trusty alarm services. 

The said girl had shifted slightly, now laying on her back, breathing still slow and steady. Shuhua bent down to be at her level, Miyeon was undeniably a pretty human. She didn’t really know what took over her but she let herself indulge some more. Maybe this way she won’t say these words to Miyeon later today.

“I missed you yesterday unnie… stop working so late. The bed is cold.” Shuhua whispered. 

“Dinner alone was not funny either… not having you around is painful.” And she reached down. Lips barely grazing the silly band aid, in hope it would stop hurting. “I can return you this one though.” 

Ever since that day at Minnie’s house, the memory of Miyeon’s lips on her skin never left her. Miyeon kissing her was no new feeling, but in that context, where it wasn’t meant as a playful joke and purposeful teasing, it felt so much more intimate. And Shuhua’s head was overwhelmed, gushing with feelings she didn’t wanna assume.

”fuck-“ 

One look at the clock made her remember that she was running late already. With quick but quiet steps she made a run for the bus, leaving her papers on the dining table and her heart in Miyeon’s sleeping form under the duvet. 

)