Work Text
DISCLAIMER
This is purely a work of fiction that is in no way supposed to be taken as a factual representation of the members of Dreamcatcher or their lives. The other characters are not other idols, even if they share the same names. They are original characters that I created for the purpose of this story, any likeness is purely coincidental.This is not beta read. I edited this once so you may find grammatical errors and tense errors here and there. You can point them out in the comment section along with any constructive criticism or feedback you may have (I enjoy feedback so don’t be shy to leave a comment).A friend of mine came up with THFA (Tenants of Happy Face Apartments) as a shorter way of referring to the title of the fic. So you may see me use it instead of the long title lol.
UPDATE SCHEDULE
I will upload new chapters every Tuesday and Friday at 6 pm KST (I’m using KST because I think most of us can convert from that time zone).The entire fic is already complete and ready to be posted with 29 chapters (prologue, epilogue and 27 chapters) and roughly 47,000 words in total.
AGES
I decided to change the members’ ages to work better for the story.Minji: 26Bora: 25Siyeon: 25Handong: 24Yoohyeon: 21Yoobin: 21Gahyeon: 19
FINAL WORDS
I’m really nervous about THFA since this is the first multi-chapter work that I have ever completed, be it fanfiction or an original work, and I’m not 100% confident that I did the story justice. But I am proud of myself for actually finishing this fic, so yay.I learnt a lot in the process of writing this in terms of my writing and writing in general. Hopefully, I can improve as I write more.With that said, I hope you all enjoy THFA. You can leave comments to share your thoughts or criticisms, I’m all for healthy conversations in the comment section.Have a lovely day/night and look forward to the Prologue on 08/09/2020 ~
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Handong can feel her patience, and already minimal strength, running thin. Park Hyejin, the hyper but lovely and very kind, real estate agent had already shown her five apartments and she liked none of them. Well, to be more specific, her bank account didn’t like any of the choices. Which was why the moment Hyejin mentioned that the place they were on their way to see, was by far the cheapest out of the bunch, in a nice neighbourhood and incidentally managed to fall within her price range, Handong felt she was ready to sign some papers there and then.She should have known good things always come at a cost. This one? This one was a bedroom door that creaks no matter how carefully and cautiously you try to move it. The window in her living room, that overlooks a beautiful view of the nearby park to which Handong is thrilled, not only does it creak like crazy, worse than the bedroom door, but it also doesn’t fully close. When she asked Hyejin about this, she explained that the previous owners were a bit rowdy and that she can ask the building owner to fix it once she moves in, at an expense of course because according to Hyejin, “they aren’t running a charity and mouths need to be fed”.The lights may flicker from time to time and they’re a few cabinets that look like they’re about to fall apart, if not for being held together by the grace of some higher power, and the walls are paper thin because Handong could hear her soon-to-be next-door neighbours having a wild argument. Despite all this, Handong finds she quite likes the place with its simple layout with an open plan kitchen and living room which then leads to a small hallway with one bedroom and a small storage room on the right and another bedroom and the bathroom on the left.“I guess I’ll take it,” Handong says as she mentally convinces herself that this will be a good investment in the long run.“Great, let’s go pay the landlord a visit so that we can figure out when you can move in and all other minor details, like rent,” Hyejin states excitedly as she walks out the apartment with Handong close behind her with her white cat, Aiko.“I hope you’ll enjoy living here,” the real estate agent says with one of those forced smiles that scream, she would rather be elsewhere. Handong simply nods as she clutches Aiko closer to her chest and follows Hyejin out of the apartment.“I can also assure you, Happy Face Apartments has some very friendly tenants-”Hyejin’s statement is cut short when a frisbee whizzes past her face nearly knocking off her glasses. Soon after, the sound of an enthusiastic dog running after the frisbee fills the relatively narrow hallway. A blur of black and white fur dashes past the two to get the frisbee.“That must be-” Hyejin doesn’t get to finish her statement before another loud voice interrupts her.“I’m really sorry! Harley’s just excited to go out today and the frisbee slipped out of my hand.” The voice belongs to a young girl who seems to be in her early twenties and had dyed the ends of her hair pink. Handong notes the pink seems to be fading.“I’m guessing you convinced Minji to finally allow you to take Harley for a walk, Yoohyeon?” Hyejin asks in a casual manner that indicates to Handong that this isn’t a random occurrence.Yoohyeon nods her head frantically. “I bribed her with free breakfast this weekend.”While the two are talking, Handong is busy trying to calm down Aiko who got tense after seeing the dog. This draws the attention of the pink-haired girl.“Oh, what a cute cat,” Yoohyeon coos as she leans forward to pet it, “So white and fluffy.”Handong takes a step back since Yoohyeon had gotten in her personal space, something she wasn’t used to, which causes Yoohyeon to realize the dog has already disappeared.“Oh no! I have to catch up to Harley or Minji will skin me alive, bye!” Yoohyeon waves hurriedly as she runs down the hallway to catch up with Harley.Hyejin lets out a sigh as she turns to Handong.“Trust me, the people in this building will never leave you with a dull moment. Let’s go sign some papers, shall we?”Handong smiles half-heartedly as she follows Hyejin to the elevator, wondering if she’d made the right decision.*-*-*Lee Siyeon likes to think that she’s not a nosy person, she’s just a bit too curious for her own good. So curious that she climbed up two flights of stairs from her apartment on a Saturday morning, because elevators are the spawn of the devil, and is currently outside Apartment 61F. You know, just because she’s curious not because her roommate, Yoohyeon, implied that Yoobin’s roommate may or may not be a drug dealer.“This is dumb,” Siyeon tells herself, “Just because no one has ever seen her roommate doesn’t mean they’re sketchy.” She nods to herself. “Yeah, that’s right. You can’t claim someone’s a drug dealer with no evidence.”It seems to dawn on her what she needs to do. “I need evidence.” She raises her hand to knock on the door but freezes when she hears footsteps behind her.“Siyeon, what are doing?”Siyeon turns around slowly with the least suspicious smile she can muster and faces Lee Yoobin who is clutching a half-full bag of chips and a can of soda.“Um.” Siyeon looks around to make up an excuse. “I came to get the books you borrowed from Yoohyeon, she asked me to get them while she walks Minji’s dog.” She finishes with an even bigger smile to make her lie a bit more realistic.Yoobin stares at her for a while before manoeuvring the can into her other hand so that she could get the keys to her apartment from her back pocket.“Okay, just give me five minutes and I’ll get you the books,” Yoobin says as she unlocks her door, goes in and is about to shut it on Siyeon’s face.“I can wait in your living room.” Siyeon hopes her increasing desperation to get into Yoobin’s apartment doesn’t seep into her words.Yoobin shakes her head. “My roommate came late last night and is still asleep. You’ll probably wake them, so just wait out here, I won’t take too long.”“But!” Siyeon starts, ignoring the weird look Yoobin is giving her. “I’ve never been in your apartment, actually none of us has, but wouldn’t this be a perfect opportunity to change that?”Yoobin narrows her eyes slightly as she keeps her face blank, something Siyeon needs to learn to do because clearly, her true intentions are as clear as day on her face so much so that Yoobin’s blank expression turns into a fake smile.“Nice try, maybe next time you’ll get lucky,” Yoobin scoffs with her smile still intact as she slowly shuts the door on Siyeon’s face and Siyeon wonders if she should stop listening to Yoohyeon’s late-night ramblings.*-*-*“Get up! Get up! You promised I could get a sneak peek of your showcase performance, so get up!”Kim Bora groans before turning her back to Lee Gahyeon, who was using a pillow as a weapon to get her out of bed.“I’ll pour a bucket of water on you, I’m not kidding.” Bora shuts her eyes tighter knowing her roommate is too kind for such malicious actions.After a while of not hearing Gahyeon’s movements, Bora starts to remember that Gahyeon’s closest friends are Yoohyeon, Yoobin and Seochan, a very troublesome trio who have very interesting ways to annoy people and immediately senses she might be in for a painful situation if she doesn’t get up soon. She opens her eyes and rises from bed just as Gahyeon’s ready to throw a bucket of water on her.“Oh!” Gahyeon exclaims as she lowers the bucket, “You’re awake. Get ready and let’s go, I want to see your dance moves.”Bora narrows her eyes as she slowly grabs a pillow and makes her way threateningly towards Gahyeon.“Gahyeon,” she says in a tone that always scares anyone who hears it, “You just wanted to pour water on me, didn’t you?”“Um…Yoobin said it was the best method?” Gahyeon’s statement comes off like a question as she splashes a bit of water on Bora, leaves the bucket on the floor and flees Bora’s bedroom in record time.“You can’t run away forever!” Bora shouts as she follows her, “You’ll still have to come back and sleep!”“I’ll sleepover at Minji’s place, thank you very much!” Gahyeon shouts as she opens the front door, “She’s a better roommate than you!”“Be lucky I let you stay with me and not that old lady from the next floor,” Bora says jokingly as she throws the pillow that hits Gahyeon straight in her laughing face.“Enough games, get ready. I want to see your new choreography.”Bora lets out a sigh as she ruffles Gahyeon’s hair before makes her way to her bedroom to get ready.
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The morning is a bit chilly which causes Minji to instinctively wraps her scarf tighter around her neck and rub her hands together furiously to create some warmth.“Ms Kim, it’s a lovely day outside, don’t you think?”Minji turns her attention to the security booth situated just at the beginning of the lobby just in time to see the guard get slapped upside the head by the other guard present.“Mokjoon! Boochan!” Minji greets while waving enthusiastically as she walks closer to the booth with a smile on her face.Choi Mokjoon, the youngest of the security team at twenty-six years old, waves back with an equally huge smile while Kim Boochan, the head of the security team and the oldest in his early forties, gives a polite nod and promptly tells Mokjoon to get back to work, like the strict leader he is.“Don’t work Mokjoon too hard, he’s still a growing boy,” Minji teases which results in a very red-faced Mokjoon. She enjoys teasing him and seeing how much she can embarrass her age mate.“That must make you an infant then, you being younger than him,” Boochan replies with a sly smile of his own.“Just by a few months though.” Minji gives Mokjoon a smug grin as she leans closer to the booth and Mokjoon who seems to have gone into mild shock judging from his wide-eyed expression. Enjoying the moment, Minji decides to wink, not at all subtly, at Mokjoon who promptly rises from his seat and gives a flimsy excuse on needing to switch posts with Taerin immediately.“Okay that’s enough, you’ll give the poor boy a heart attack one of these days,” Boochan comments with a nonchalant tone that has a layer of amusement hiding underneath.Minji shrugs all while making sure to wave playfully at Mokjoon as he leaves the booth with a hand rubbing the back of his neck and eyes trying to avoid all eye contact with Minji.“Isn’t he just the cutest? He’s so fun to tease,” Minji says once Mokjoon is out of the building.“Indeed, which is why you shouldn’t do that to the poor boy, cut him some slack. Let him have a proper relationship first then you can tease him without giving him hopes.”Minji places her hand on her chest in an exaggerated manner and holds in a laugh at the blank expression Boochan gives her. “Are you implying, that I won’t at some point ever go out with him? I’m hurt Boochan, you should have more faith in me.”Boochan tries to keep his blank expression but Minji notices the corners of his mouth curve upwards, just a bit, and Minji drops her act to laugh. Today’s going to be a good day since she not only got Mokjoon all flustered but got a nice hearty banter from Boochan.“Anyway, mail just came in an hour ago, and you being unavailable half the time what with you going on all those business trips, you have mail.” Boochan points to the mailroom, a few feet from the security booth, as his attention goes back to his work.“Thank you and have a nice day. Tell Mokjoon I hope he has a wonderful day too.” Minji’s tone is hearty especially as she says the last statement to which Boochan just waves her off with a smile.Minji walks over to the empty mailroom and essentially her mailbox all while humming a happy tune that usually gets on everyone’s nerves because of how exaggeratedly she does it. She opens the first of her two mailboxes, two since she renovated 53E and 54E into one apartment, the landlord Choi Jangho, insisted she takes the two mailboxes instead of just having an extra unused mailbox.As she checks through her mail, mostly magazine subscriptions and one payment notice, she notices Yoobin walking in, too focused on her phone to notice Minji, and immediately goes to her mailbox to check her mail a few feet away from her.Thinking this is the perfect time to peek and see if maybe Yoobin’s roommate’s mail would be among the bunch and get to see the name. She walks over slowly and quietly towards Yoobin and peeks over Yoobin’s shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of Yoobin’s mysterious roommate’s name.While focusing her attention on the mail in Yoobin’s hands, she fails to notice a smile form on Yoobin’s face and before she knows it, Yoobin’s stepped sideways causing Minji to lose her balance. Luckily, her reflexes are fast enough to stop her from hitting the mailboxes face first.“What are you doing?” Yoobin asks with a cheeky smile as she hides the mail behind her back. Once she regains her balance, Minji gives her a sarcastic look.“You’re way too cheeky for your own good sometimes,” Minji says as she faces Yoobin and notices she’s still in pyjamas close to noon on a Monday morning. “Don’t you have class today, like right now?”Yoobin waves her hand while shaking her head. “My classes for today were cancelled due to an infestation in the building.”Minji winces, her mind already coming up with mental images of a room full of rats or even worse, bugs. A shudder runs through her and she shakes her head to hopefully get rid of the image. “I-Infestation?” Yoobin nods while stuffing some of the mail back in the mailbox.“Yup, so until Wednesday I’m free, which is good and bad. Good because free time and bad because I have an essay on famous composers and I chose Bach and Vivaldi because someone already took Beethoven and Mozart.”Minji couldn’t help but smile as she pulls Yoobin into a comforting hug and gives her a few pats on the back. “That sounds like it must be pretty hard.” She feels Yoobin nod into her shoulder, “Let’s hang out for today to ease your mind, then tomorrow you can write that essay. How does that sound?”Yoobin detaches herself slowly from the hug as she narrows her eyes and puffs out her cheeks, “Will you feed me?” Minji laughs as she nods while resisting the urge to pinch Yoobin’s cheeks. “Okay, I’m in.”Once inside the elevator, Minji presses the second-floor button which draws confusion from Yoobin.“Um?” Yoobin asks slowly, “I live on the sixth floor and you live on fifth, so why are we going to the second floor? Don’t tell me you want us to run up the stairs again because I am not in the right mentality for physical exertion.”“You’re never in the right mentality for physical exertion,” Minji scoffs. “We’re going to be good neighbours and visit the person who moved into apartment 25B a few days ago.”Yoobin gives her a weird look as she begins to complain, “But we’re nowhere close to being their neighbours, Bora and Gahyeon would be closer neighbours than us.”The elevator stops, and the doors open leading to the hallway of the second floor. Before Yoobin can voice any more complaints, Minji is already out the elevator and making her way towards apartment 25B, leaving Yoobin no choice but to follow.*-*-*Handong’s morning wasn’t going as she had planned. First off, she didn’t hear her morning alarm causing her to wake up an hour late with Aiko pawing at her face to feed her.Then she forgot to call her editor about the latest book she’s writing and got scolded when she managed to call. She also tripped a few times on some of her unpacked things that she still hadn’t dealt with. And now, she was busy looking for food to feed Aiko because the previous cat food got finished just the day before.Aiko was busy meowing and pawing at the hem of Handong’s jeans, basically asking for food, when the doorbell rings which startles Handong, since she isn’t expecting anyone. She carefully picks Aiko up and cradles her in her arms as she walks over to her door.“Don’t worry Aiko, I’ll go buy you some food soon after I talk to whoever’s come to see me,” Handong coos as she opens the door and faces two people.“Can I help you?” Handong asks as Aiko buries her head into Handong’s chest purring contentedly.“Well, I’m Kim Minji from apartment 53E, and this is my lovely friend, Yoobin from apartment 61F,” Minji says while gesturing towards Yoobin whose eyes were fixed on the fluffy white Persian cat in Handong’s arms.“Um, nice to meet you?” Handong says in an unsure tone as she sends a worried glance towards Yoobin who was now slowly moving closer towards her and Aiko.“We wanted to welcome you to the building. If you need anything just ask anyone for help, most people here are friendly,” Minji says with a smile as she pulls Yoobin back from getting in Handong’s personal space to pet Aiko.“I’m Handong, just moved in a few days ago. Nice to meet you both but um…I need to go buy some food for my cat, Aiko, so…” Handong says as she grabs a random pair of sneakers and her keys while still balancing a now sleeping Aiko on one arm.“We’ll go with you,” Yoobin says suddenly causing Minji’s eyebrows to scrunch up in confusion and amusement. “Minji knows good places to buy stuff for pets since she has a dog and all that…can I hold your cat while you wear your shoes?”Minji fakes a cough to hide her laughter while Handong reluctantly places Aiko into Yoobin’s waiting arms.As Handong puts on her sneakers, Minji reaches out to pet Aiko as she whispers to Yoobin, “I thought you weren’t in the right mentality for physical exertion, yet you want to go to town to buy cat food for someone you just met.”Yoobin shrugs as she holds Aiko closer, “What can I say, cats are more important.”Minji gasps exaggeratedly as she puts a palm to her chest, “Take that back. Dogs are better, Harley is an angel.”“Who’s Harley?” Handong asks as she looks between the two in amusement. She steps out of her apartment and locks the door behind her.“Only the best dog in the world,” Minji says as she drapes an arm around Handong’s shoulders and begins to list reasons why everyone in the world should love her dog, Harley.
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Despite what the others say, Bora does not consider herself that much of a mom, not at all. Yes, she may get a little bit concerned if she hears one of them so much as sniffle but doesn’t mean she’s a full-on mom.Yes, even as she stands in front of Apartment 42D with her right hand in a fist raised to knock on the door and her left hand clutching a bag, Bora still does not consider herself a mom. At least, she doesn’t want to be considered a mom in this situation, rather…a close friend?Bora shakes her head hoping to get rid of dangerous thoughts as she knocks on the door before she changes her mind and goes back to the dance studio to finish off the rest of her already short lunch break.Before she could properly mentally prepare herself, the door swings open to reveal a watery-eyed, red-faced, puffy-eyed Siyeon with a grey sheet draped loosely over her shoulders.“Yoohyeon? Did you forget your keys again?” Siyeon says offhandedly while rubbing her eyes slowly and sniffing constantly.“Uh…” Bora doesn’t know what to do but she does feel those motherly instincts that everyone claims she has, kick in.“Oh?” Siyeon drops her hand and tilts her head to the side in confusion. “Bora? What are you-” Her question is cut off by a series of sneezes and coughs which sets Bora into motion. She places both her hands on Siyeon’s shoulder, earning her a confused yelp from Siyeon, and turns her around and proceeds to march her back to the comfort of Siyeon’s bedroom right after she kicks the door shut.Once she’s managed to get Siyeon tucked in her bed, Bora begins to unpack the items she carried in her bag.“You didn’t have to get me medicine, I usually feel better after two days of sleep and water, trust me,” Siyeon says a bit groggily as she burrows herself deeper into her bed after feeling a sudden chill run through her body. “Plus, how did you even find out I was sick? Yoohyeon left in a hurry today because she was late for class, so I doubt she had time to tell you.”Bora’s hand, clutching a packet of banana flavoured lozenges, froze in mid-air as she suddenly took a keen interest in Siyeon’s music collection on the other side of her bed.“You didn’t walk me to work today like you usually do,” Bora mutters as she feels her neck getting a bit hotter by the second. She remembers how odd she found it that Siyeon hadn’t shown up that morning at her place, since Siyeon was the one to come up with the agreement that Siyeon would walk Bora to work every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to keep her company. She had wanted to go check on Siyeon, but she was already running late and didn’t want to keep the students of the morning class waiting too long. So she decided to check on her during her lunch break after buying all kinds of medicine at the local pharmacy.After a few awkward seconds of silence and Siyeon rubbing her eyes furiously, Siyeon breaks into light laughter as she pushes off some of her blankets to get some chilly air. Bora frowns at this and tries to cover Siyeon once more.“Oh, Bora,” Siyeon drawls as she kicks off all the blankets and plants her feet on the cold floor and sits up to be face-to-face with Bora trying to get her to lie down.“You’re so sweet to me,” Siyeon says in a saccharine tone as she stands up and wobbles a bit trying to gain a semblance of balance and Bora being the good neighbour she is, rises and gets a hold of Siyeon’s arms thus preventing her from face-planting onto the insanely huge teddy bear lying on the floor.“Easy there, just stay in bed as I make some tea for you, okay?” Bora says as she helps Siyeon back into bed. As Bora starts walking out to go make tea, Siyeon begins talking or rather mumbling incoherently about places and people that Bora can certainly say do not exist.“Of course you’re delirious,” Bora says to herself as she starts setting up to make tea. “You would never say I’m sweet to you if you we’re in your right state of mind.” Bora sighs as she waits for the tea to get ready and gets lost in her thoughts of what it would be like to live together with-“Bora, Bora, Bora, feed me,” Siyeon singsongs as she wraps her arms around Bora’s waist from the back and rests her head on her shoulders.“Woah,” Bora breathes out as she wonders how she never heard Siyeon sneak up on her. She carefully removes Siyeon’s arms from around her waist and turns to face a Siyeon. Bora clutches at her chest when she sees Siyeon’s cute little pout with her nose all scrunched up and her eyes wide and curious.“It’s cold, give me a hug,” Siyeon whines as she makes grabby hands at Bora who was trying her best to evade them and make sure the tea doesn’t spill over and burn them both. She secures the tea by placing it safely away from the edge of the counter.“It’s warmer in bed and I’m still making your tea,” Bora negotiates as she tries to usher a resisting Siyeon in the direction of the bedroom.“Bora is mean-”Siyeon’s statement is cut off as she sways a bit from side to side before she begins falling forward and if it wasn’t for Bora’s fast reflexes, the now unconscious Siyeon would be sporting a bruised and broken nose.“I should get an award for this,” Bora tells herself as she drags Siyeon to her bed.*-*-*The sun is setting, bathing the town with that ethereal orange glow that people seem to love so much. At least that’s what Yoohyeon hears people say, she’s with the few who prefer the sunrise. The beginning of a new day and new experiences make for an amazing subject for her photographs. She considers them the simplest yet most fulfilling thing she can take photos of. Yoohyeon’s thoughts are interrupted when Gahyeon strolls over to her and hands her a vanilla ice cream.“You didn’t get mint?” Yoohyeon asks as she scrunches her eyebrows for a second before beginning to devour the ice cream.“I chose not to get mint, who likes mint anyway?” Gahyeon replies as she begins licking her chocolate ice cream.“Um, mint is a sacred flavour that must be respected, how are you my friend and you don’t know that?” Yoohyeon retorts as she slows down her pace so that both of them could walk back home leisurely.“Well according to you it is, but to me, chocolate chip is the best ice cream flavour,” Gahyeon teases as they keep eating their ice cream.Yoohyeon had just finished her class and found Gahyeon waiting for her despite having her class end roughly four hours ago. It was sort of a usual occurrence by now. Every Monday, the two, including Yoobin, would wait for each other and have ice cream as the sun sets while walking home. Yoobin didn’t join them today and opted to stay home what with the infestation in the music department and that she wanted to take the newfound free time to, as she said, “chill”. Which is why Yoohyeon simultaneously gets a brain freeze and nearly chokes to death when she spots Yoobin calmly petting a white…fur ball? While laughing with a person she’s never seen before.“Who is she talking to?” Yoohyeon rasps after she manages to stop coughing and points in the direction of Yoobin and the unknown lady across the street.“Hmm?” Gahyeon hums as she thinks about it. “Maybe her girlfriend? Or her roommate? Hmm, but if it was her roommate we would have heard about the cat a billion times, so maybe a girlfriend.”“G-Girlfriend,” Yoohyeon stutters in mild shock as she shovels the remaining ice cream in one go, shakes her head to get rid of the impending brain freeze before continuing. “How can she get a girlfriend before me? It doesn’t make sense.”“Seeing how you just downed your ice cream, it makes a lot of sense,” Gahyeon scoffs as she continues eating her ice cream at a calm pace while carefully watching Yoobin laugh at something the other said while still stroking and petting the cat in her-“Is Yoobin still in her pyjamas?” Gahyeon asks in slight shock.“Oh my gosh, she is! I know she’s lazy but that’s next level laziness!” Yoohyeon exclaims as she checks to make sure no cars are passing before crossing the road to Yoobin.“Woah, slow down,” Gahyeon says, a bit of panic seeping into her voice, as she follows Yoohyeon, “Why are you doing this? Let’s just go home.”“Yoobin ditched our routine evening walk to hang out with her girlfriend, I just want to know how she got a girlfriend in the first place,” Yoohyeon shrugs as she keeps walking.“Glad to see you have your priorities in order,” Gahyeon says as they draw closer to Yoobin.“Yoobin! My best friend!” Yoohyeon shouts enthusiastically as she wraps Yoobin in a tight hug with the cat squished between them.“One, I’m not your best friend and you’re not mine,” Yoobin states as she pulls away from Yoohyeon. “Two, you almost killed Aiko, you monster. Shh, it’s okay, I won’t let the airhead hurt you.” Yoobin softly says the last part to Aiko while rubbing her face in Aiko’s snow-white fur.“I am your best friend!” Yoohyeon exclaims as she places a hand over a chest in feigned-offence.Gahyeon shakes her head saying to herself, “I’m not shocked you didn’t argue about being called an airhead.”“Oh, um hello there, I’m Handong, you must be friends of Yoobin,” Handong says politely as she stretches out her hand to give the two a handshake.Yoohyeon holds onto Handong’s hand a little bit longer than what is considered normal as she narrows her eyes slightly studying her face. It then finally dawns on her.“You’re the new tenant!” Handong nods slowly not expecting Yoohyeon’s outburst.“I saw you talking with Park Hyejin that day while I was chasing Harley. Nice to meet you, I’m Yoohyeon and this is Gahyeon.”After they all familiarized themselves with each other and after Yoohyeon confirmed that Handong was not Yoobin’s girlfriend, they decided to walk home together.“I hope you like it here Handong,” Gahyeon says warmheartedly as they step into the apartment building.“I’m slowly getting used to everything, everyone’s been more or less kind to me.”“That’s good,” Yoobin says absently while fixating her gaze on a figure going up the stairs. Yoohyeon notices but opts to keep quiet.“You should take each of our numbers in case you need anything or have any questions.” Yoohyeon pulls out her phone and motions for Handong to do the same so they can exchange numbers.“Yeah, sure. That’ll be helpful but expect a lot of questions since I just moved to Korea a few months back,” Handong explains as she saves her number in Yoohyeon’s phone before taking Gahyeon’s to do the same.“Well, you’re in luck, my friend.” Yoohyeon drapes a hand over Handong’s shoulders once she’s done giving out her number and gives her one of her widest smiles.“We’ll make sure you feel right at home here.”
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“Here you go,” Minji says carefully as she hands over a small red and blue gift-wrapped package to Lee Taerin, a few years older than Minji and the only female in the security team who seems to hate everyone in the building.Taerin takes the package with one eyebrow arched into her jet black fringe. She begins to shake it a little bit too vigorously all while giving Minji the coldest glare she’s ever seen since that one time it was directed at Yoohyeon who thought it would be a good idea to ring the fire alarm at three in the morning.“Could you…maybe…not shake it?” Minji asks in an uncharacteristically soft voice that sounds foreign to her ears and stills when Taerin’s glare intensifies if that’s even possible.“Um…please?” Minji asks, caution seeping into her tone while studying Taerin’s facial expression that doesn’t shift from the dead and cold expression that it’s normally set on.Taerin rolls her eyes slightly before shoving the package gently, much to Minji’s relief, into her security jacket and huffing out a mumbled thank you before going back to her post beside Mokjoon who’s giving her a sympathetic smile that earns him a light slap on the back of his head from Taerin.“Well that went better than expected,” Minji whispers to herself as she walks into the elevator and presses the third-floor button to go and stop by Bora and Gahyeon’s place first.Minji looks into her shopping bag that contains gifts for her friends and neighbours. Gifts that she bought while on her weekend business trip to Osaka, Japan and she felt like splurging a bit since the client, her company sent her to, finally signed the contracts. A smile forms on her face as she wonders how all of the girls were without her once again but, then again, she goes on so many random business trips they must be used to it by now.She lets out a deflated sigh as she remembers she missed movie night with the rest. It’s not that important but the fact that it would have been Handong’s first movie night with the rest of them made it more important and she missed it. Maybe that’s why she bought gifts to act as a sort of consolation gift for Handong especially. She made sure to take extra time when picking out Handong’s gift, gifts to be specific, one as a consolation gift and the other as a housewarming gift.The ding of the elevator brings her out of her thoughts and makes her realize something.“I should have gone to Handong’s place first since it’s on the second floor,” Minji mutters as she walks towards Apartment 34C. “Oh well, I’ll go when I’ll be coming back down from Binnie’s apartment.”Minji lets a fond smile settle on her face as she remembers how she misread Yoobin’s name on some documents in the landlord’s office and thought her name was ‘Bin’. She thought it would be nice to call her Binnie to kick start their friendship since Yoobin had just moved in at that point. She chuckles at how Yoobin tried so hard and still does, to get her to just call her by her proper name. Now she calls her by that name when she’s teasing her or wants a favour from her.Once in front of Bora and Gahyeon’s apartment, she sets the shopping bag down gently onto the black tiled floor of the hallway to avoid breaking some of the fragile gifts and searches carefully for their gifts. She doesn’t hear the purple wooden door open so when she stands up again with the gifts in hand she nearly drops them in shock when she’s met with a Cheshire grin.Gahyeon.“Do you want to see me get a heart attack?” Minji scolds jokingly as she closes her eyes momentarily to gather herself.“Not really,” Gahyeon chirps excitedly while eyeing the gifts in Minji’s hands, “I just missed you so much…and I also heard you put the bag on the floor, so I knew you had gifts.”Minji’s eyes narrow as she takes in Gahyeon’s words, “You heard me? How? No, wait, I remember. You have that super sharp hearing you’re always bragging about.” Gahyeon nods furiously as she makes grabby hands for the gifts which Minji pulls away from her reach playfully before handing them over.“Where’s Bora?” Minji asks while peering over Gahyeon’s shoulder to see if she’s in the apartment.“She left like half an hour ago, muttering something along the lines of,” Gahyeon changes her facial expression and voice to mimic Bora, “She needs rest, she’s not completely cured, I’ll buy her more lozenges, make tea. Oh yeah, also, why am I trying so hard.”Minji bites her lip thoughtfully as she watches Gahyeon squeal and jump for joy when she opens her gift to find the limited edition plushie she wanted all of a sudden.“So Bora’s at Siyeon’s place, right?” Minji starts picking up her shopping bag and makes to leave.Gahyeon nods as she holds the plushie close to her chest. “Thank you for the gift, I’m glad someone listens to my ramblings once in a while.”Minji chuckles and shakes her head as she ruffles Gahyeon’s brunette locks and starts walking towards the elevator.“Make sure you give Bora her gift, don’t keep it for yourself.” Minji ignores Gahyeon’s whines of complaints as she steps into the elevator.*-*-*Minji then finds herself in the doorway of Apartment 42D standing in front of Kim Bora rather than the actual owners of the apartment, Lee Siyeon and Kim Yoohyeon.“Um…” Minji starts as she takes a few steps back to look at the apartment number to the right of the doorway just above the doorbell. Yup. Apartment 42D.“Stop acting like it’s such a huge shock, I know for sure you were expecting to find me here, don’t even lie,” Bora scoffs playfully as she folds her arms across her chest and just as her roommate Gahyeon did, begins to eye the gifts in Minji’s hands.“Fine, you got me, I knew you would be here but why are you answering the door? Where’s Siyeon or Yoohyeon?”“Yoohyeon left in a hurry holding this overly suspicious duffel bag.” Minji raised her eyebrows upon hearing that. “Don’t ask because I didn’t and I also don’t want to know. Siyeon is resting in bed so that I can look after her until she can be able to properly pronounce her words without them sounding like she’s stuffed rocks in her nose.”Minji just shakes her head and gives Yoohyeon’s and Siyeon’s gifts to Bora and instructs her to give them the gifts when both parties are healthy and not doing potentially illegal things.“Your gift is with Gahyeon and if I were you I would go make sure it hasn’t been unwrapped.”Bora nods absently before turning to face the apartment when she hears Siyeon call out weakly from her bedroom.“Siyeon, don’t move! I’ll be right there!” Bora turns back to face Minji before she pulls her into a hug. “Thanks for the gift, we’ll have movie night this Tuesday instead, so don’t worry too much about it.”Before Bora can pull away Minji tightens her arms around her and buries her head into Bora’s woollen turtleneck clad neck to mumble a few words.“I’m here to listen whenever you need someone to talk to.”Bora doesn’t say anything in response, instead, she nods her head slightly and slowly disentangles herself from Minji giving her a small smile before mouthing a thank you and turning around to deal with a sick Siyeon cocooned in layers of blankets, attempting to shuffle to the kitchen like a caterpillar.“Siyeon! No! Are you hallucinating again? I told you, you’re not turning into a butterfly any time soon!” Bora shouts as she shuts the door hurriedly to go prevent Siyeon from climbing the kitchen counter and try to actually fly like a butterfly.*-*-*Minji bumps into a rather hyper Yoohyeon on the sixth and top floor of the apartment building, her eyes darting left and right, here and there and her hand clutching the duffel bag that Bora was talking about.“Yoohyeon?” Minji asks in a concerned tone as she notices Yoohyeon’s hair is a mess with strands going in every direction and her breathing kind of ragged as if she’d been running up ten flights of stairs.“Oh, Minji,” Yoohyeon says in a shocked tone as her eyes widen slightly in what seems to be…guilt?“When did you get back? I thought you’d be back like at midnight or something. Not, now.” Yoohyeon stresses the last part as she gives Minji a quick hug and looks over her shoulder in the direction of Apartment 61F momentarily before she gives Minji a quick kiss on the cheek and dashes down the staircase, completely disregarding the empty elevator, while shouting that Minji will always be her favourite.Minji stands dumbfounded in the middle of the empty hallway for a few minutes before one of the tenants cracks open their door and peeks to see what the commotion was about, to which Minji just gives him a winning smile and a half-hearted thumbs up but gets a slammed door in return.She begins to move to her next destination, Apartment 61F, but before she can even raise her hand to ring the doorbell, the door is swung wide open to reveal Yoobin. Her eyes are the size of slits with irritation present on her face.“I told you for the last time-” Yoobin’s eyes widen in an almost cartoonish fashion at the sight of Minji which elicits a chuckle from Minji.“Oh! I thought it was Yoohyeon coming to get Harley again,” Yoobin says animatedly as she pries the shopping bag from Minji’s hand and sets it down on the floor next to two pairs of shoes, Minji notices.“Aren’t you going to invite your favourite friend inside?” Minji says with a pout in an overly sweet voice that she knows everyone secretly loves despite their constant denial.“Yoohyeon’s the one who says you’re her favourite,” Yoobin scoffs as she gently removes Minji’s sling bag from her shoulder and deposits it next to the shopping bag. “And I refuse to have something in common with her ever since she decided she’s not going to re-dye her hair and just let it fade out.”Minji laughs heartily as she rolls her slightly stiff shoulders. “The colour isn’t so bad, you’re just exaggerating.”“The pink went from a healthy pink to a flamingo’s pink, I’m not even exaggerating.” Yoobin leans on the doorway and looks up to meet Minji’s wandering gaze.“My roommate’s not around,” Yoobin states in a slight monotone that causes Minji to wince slightly. “And no, I’m not letting you inside. The place is a literal mess and it’s thanks to Harley, he gets way too jumpy way too easily. I expect adequate compensation for taking care of him.”“Well, he is a growing boy,” Minji says as she reaches into her coat pocket to pull out a slim white envelope and hands it over to Yoobin with a grateful smile. “This is a thank you gift for taking care of Harley and in that shopping bag you should be able to find your gift I bought from Osaka.”At the mention of Osaka, Yoobin’s intense gaze settles on Minji as her hands freeze comically mid-air as she was reaching out for the envelope. “Is it One Piece related?” Minji nods as she pushes the envelope into Yoobin’s hands. Yoobin lets a smile rest on her face when she opens the envelope and checks its contents.“You kept talking about how you wanted to see that musical since it would help with that one class and I thought-” Minji’s rambling is interrupted by Yoobin’s laugh. It’s not her usual sarcastic laugh when she’s messing with someone or her half-hearted laugh that she does just to keep the conversation going or when she’d rather be elsewhere. Instead, it’s her genuine light laugh that not only makes Minji smile but everyone else who hears it immediately warm up inside.“Thank you,” Yoobin says softly as she reaches into the shopping bag to pull out her gift. “I see two tickets, are you going to join me?”Minji reaches out for her bags all while ignoring Yoobin’s knowing grin. “Obviously, I’m going with you. I need to make sure the musical’s appropriate for you to watch.”“I’m twenty-one years old, I think I can handle a little bit of inappropriateness,” Yoobin jokes as she glances back into the apartment. “Let me get Harley, I’m sure he misses you like crazy.”As Yoobin disappears into her apartment to get Harley, Minji’s curiosity to see the interior of Yoobin’s apartment increases as she tentatively steps into the house, toes off her sneakers and lets her socked feet pad on the carpeted floor and into the messy living room.Before she can take in the foreign interior (it really is odd that none of them has been in Yoobin’s apartment despite knowing her for over a year), a loud bark rings through the apartment and a big ball of fur darts past Minji, out the apartment and into the sixth floor’s hallway. It takes Yoobin’s yelling to make her realize that the ball of black and white fur was indeed her dog, Harley, and said ball of fur ran right past her and into the hallway.With the help of pure adrenaline, Minji wears her shoes, grabs her bags and dashes for the staircase in point five seconds forgetting her previous exhaustion.“Go to Yoohyeon’s place! I’m a hundred per cent sure she’s trying to dognap Harley!”Minji barely hears Yoobin shout this vital information to her but she does and she sets off to Apartment 42D.*-*-*Handong would like to think that her life is pretty boring and her being an author, that poses an issue of limited inspiration. It’s why she moved from China to South Korea, to get that sense of adventure to help her in her writing and, most especially, to give herself a fresh change of pace.Moving to Happy Face Apartments did wonders for her inspiration. Within the first two weeks of having moved in, she had managed to finish that short story that her editor, Choi Daewon, kept bugging her about. How? Well, it’s simply because of the fire alarm incident caused by a certain happy-go-lucky Kim Yoohyeon.Funnily enough, it seems to be that Yoohyeon triggers her creative streaks which is why she’s ringing the doorbell to Apartment 42D to watch a movie that Yoohyeon begged her to watch with her.“It’ll be an eye-opening experience trust me,” she had said with that huge smile that Handong was slowly beginning to be unable to say no to.She’s about to ring the doorbell again when she hears the faint sound of footsteps padding heavily down the staircase at the end of the hallway. She also hears the distant sound of barking and screaming and at that point, Handong thinks she’s finally going insane like her cousin used to tell her whenever she would spend hours on end writing with little to no breaks.She doesn’t have much time to react when Yoohyeon appears and runs to her door and promptly begins to bang on it repeatedly demanding Siyeon open it since she had forgotten her keys and there’s a dog to be smuggled in before Minji finds her.A few seconds later, the dog she saw the day she moved in, in all its black and white fur glory basically jumps on Yoohyeon and goes straight for the duffel bag, prying the zip open with its snout and digging into the bag for a few minutes.Handong takes this time to watch Yoohyeon, who still hasn’t noticed her standing right beside her, stand up and dust herself off before pulling at the duffel bag carefully in a bid to lure Harley into the now open apartment courtesy of an irritated Bora.“Yoohyeon! Stop stealing my dog!” The voice is heard first before a breathless Minji appears from the staircase and marches towards the four of them (Harley included, of course).“I’m just treating him to some dog bones! Yoobin wouldn’t allow me near him the entire time you were gone,” Yoohyeon whines as she moves to hide behind Handong who is sporting an amused smile at the entire situation.“She didn’t allow you because you always want to make Harley do weird tricks,” Minji says a bit resigned with the situation as she coos at Harley to draw his attention from the duffel bag filled with dog bones.“Can you guys take this commotion elsewhere, I finally got Siyeon to sleep. I don’t want her waking up and thinking she’s a bird this time,” Bora states authoritatively as she holds out her right arm in the direction of the staircase and elevator in a gesture for them to leave.Handong observes how desperately Minji is trying to get Harley to ditch the bones, observes Bora basically kicking them out from a place that wasn’t even her own and observes Yoohyeon shaking from either fear or excitement or both, and she laughs.Handong gives all of them a once-over and begins to laugh and as she laughs the others eventually join with Bora telling them to do it in low tones and Handong feels a particular warmth spread within her, a warmth she’s only ever described in her books.Handong feels like this place could be her new home and these crazy tenants could be her new family.
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Gahyeon likes minding her own business because she finds it troublesome to find out bits and pieces of information that would otherwise change her whole perspective of a person thus forcing her to restructure her relationships. Honestly, that’s just too much work that she doesn’t need aside from already being swamped with assignments from her various classes in her Computer Science course.Gahyeon likes minding her own business, except when she overhears her friend whom she’s known for a good amount of time now, having a shady phone conversation.“No…no...You don’t get it…fine…I’ll drop it off tomorrow or something…I’ll figure something out. Yeah, sure.”Gahyeon makes sure she’s hidden within the shadows of the corner of the auditorium hall where she originally hid when she walked in looking for her friend and fellow tenant.“You’ve always sucked at finding good hiding spots. It’s probably why you never win at hide-and-seek,” Yoobin drawls while scrolling through her phone lazily and ignoring the cluster of papers on the floor where she sits cross-legged.“I can hear you trying not to breathe.” Yoobin fixes an equally lazy gaze in Gahyeon’s direction which causes her heart to momentarily stop before beating as usual. “Stop hiding Gahyeon, it doesn’t suit you.”Gahyeon reluctantly moves out of the shadows and drags her feet dejectedly towards Yoobin who is sporting a smirk while holding out her palm as if waiting to be handed something.“Are you ready to go?” Gahyeon settles down beside Yoobin on the floor and winces slightly at the cold floor instantly regretting wearing shorts to school that morning.Yoobin raises her eyebrows while shoving her hand in Gahyeon’s personal space and Gahyeon places three lollipops in her hand with a huff.“Thank you and yes, I’m ready to go,” Yoobin says as she starts shoving the papers into her backpack. “I still need to do some more research before tomorrow’s deadline.”Gahyeon snorts as she unwraps the cherry lollipop she swiped from Yoobin’s hand. “You should have spent the time you were at home during the infestation doing that work, instead you decided to be a smart-” She’s cut off by the cherry flavoured lollipop being shoved into her mouth by a slightly irritated Yoobin.“There, much better.” Yoobin stands up and looks down at Gahyeon with a smug expression that forces Gahyeon to instinctively punch Yoobin’s knee. “Ouch! Don’t punch my knee!”“Then don’t give me reasons to punch your knee, it’s pretty obvious,” Gahyeon scoffs and holds onto Yoobin’s leg to lift herself off the ground. “Let’s go home.”Yoobin gives her a look, a look that Gahyeon usually finds slightly threatening in some scenarios and this was one of them.“You’re not going to ask me who I was talking to,” Yoobin asks as the two leave the auditorium and finally the Music and Arts wing of the university.“What’s the point?” Gahyeon shrugs nonchalantly as she makes a mental checklist of assignments she needs to get done by next week. “It’s not like you’ll tell me.” It’s true, Yoobin isn’t an open person. She thrives on some sort of mischievous secrecy but still manages to let everyone know just enough so as not to worry.“Well,” Yoobin lowers her tone as she lightly tugs at Gahyeon’s jacket. “If you must know, it was my…lover.” Gahyeon trips, mostly out of shock, and has to stop momentarily to regain her balance and not get a face full of concrete. She shoots Yoobin a sharp glare when she hears her annoying laughter a few feet ahead of her.“You should have seen your face, I wish I took a picture. Yoohyeon would certify it as meme-worthy.” Yoobin continues to laugh drawing attention from other students filtering in and out of campus.“I hate you, I should have just gone home after my class. Waiting for you was a mistake,” Gahyeon huffs as she walks past Yoobin only to feel an arm loop through her own.“Don’t be like that, let’s go buy fried chicken, my treat.”Gahyeon gives Yoobin a sceptical look but eventually gives in when she remembers that she didn’t have lunch.Fried chicken always wins.*-*-*It’s a hectic night at the Sphinx nightclub as per usual on Wednesdays when the night is dedicated to a flurry of varied musical performances. The club’s low blue and red lighting give off the intended seductive ambience, and Siyeon is impatiently waiting for her waitressing shift to end so that she can switch to bartending which is relatively easier since it doesn’t require her to move all around the nightclub.She lets out a long sigh when she surveys the fully packed nightclub and counts down the minutes to the end of the waitressing shift.“Siyeon! Siyeon! There you are!”Siyeon turns around to see the owner, and her boss, squeezing his way through the crowds of people to get to her.“You’re going on stage in five minutes,” he says as he pulls out a small cloth to wipe the sweat off his round face from the breast pocket of his finely pressed black suit that looks like it’s a size too small for the short plump man.“What? But, I’m switching posts in five minutes and-”He waves his hand dismissively and gives her a sheepish grin. “An artist cancelled last minute and we can’t make the other performers take her slot because they aren’t ready.”Siyeon tugs at her apron nervously as she gives her boss, Jung Yongsoo, an equally nervous look. “I’m not prepared enough to sing today.”“I know, I know. But hear me out,” Yongsoo pleads as he starts leading her towards the back of the club and essentially backstage. “The song is a rock ballad and your voice is unique and just what’s needed.”Siyeon is still a bit sceptical until Yongsoo offers, “You can leave an hour earlier for the rest of the week and I’ll still give you full pay.”Siyeon’s face lights up at the offer and she agrees not only because of the free time she’ll get but also the fact that Yongsoo is such a kind boss, who she considers like her older brother, that she feels she owes him that much.She takes a few deep breaths and does some vocal warm-up exercises (that she roughly remembers from her high school theatre days) before going up on stage. Despite her nervousness, she enjoys the feeling that hits her like a tidal wave when she comes face to face with an audience.When she hits the first few notes and she hears the crowd go silent, she feels euphoric and lets the music flow through her and take over all her senses throughout the song. It’s only when she finishes the song, bows and stands for a while on stage as the audience applauds her performance that she spots something seriously wrong.Once off the stage, she makes her way to the entrance to her new emerging problem. It’s Yoobin and Gahyeon currently trying their best to convince the bouncer to let them in. Siyeon would laugh at the sight of the two trying their best to convince the stoic bouncer to let them in if it wasn’t for the fact that she’s too tired and wants to go home and sleep. She lets out another one of her long sighs as she taps the bouncer and assures him they’re good to come in.“I don’t know if you guys are idiots or just trying to test my patience,” Siyeon shouts over the loud music as she situates herself behind the bar counter ready to start her bartending shift while giving the two an almost withering look.“We just wanted to see where you work since you never let us come,” Gahyeon complains as she shifts slightly in the bar stool.“Plus we brought fried chicken,” Yoobin declares as she shakes the bag containing the chicken enthusiastically before setting it on the counter.“Minji would kill me if she found out I let you into Sphinx. You guys are like her kids and also let’s not forget the fact that you’re underage.” Siyeon rubs her forehead as she tries to come up with a solution.“We’re twenty-one,” Yoobin mentions offhandedly as she glances around the club.“You, sure,” Siyeon says as she points at Yoobin. “But last I checked Gahyeon is nineteen and underage. You’re lucky my boss is being nice right now.” Siyeon signals one of her co-workers, Yunhee, over to the counter.“Yunhee, can you take these guys to the back? If the boss asks just say I sent them, I’ll deal with him if he has an issue,” Siyeon says as she pulls out some cola and fills up two glasses and hands them to the two.“Cola? Really? You’re no fun.” Yoobin pouts as she takes her glass.“Well, I want to keep my job by not selling alcohol to minors, now go, I’ll be there in an hour after my shift.” Siyeon shoos them away and watches them follow Yunhee to the back.Siyeon’s shift ends with little to no excitement except a man who claimed his future wife, that he hadn’t met yet, was already out to get him and trying to kill him. Apart from that, her shift was more or less like any other Wednesday when the club is packed.She leaves her post to the next incoming worker and heads to the locker room to change out of her uniform and into her comfortable clothes before heading to the worker’s lounge where the workers chill and hang out during their breaks.Siyeon finds Gahyeon sprawled on one of the couches sound asleep and Yoobin reading a novel.“I see your obsession with baggy pants isn’t over yet,” Yoobin taunts as she shuts her book and gestures at the remaining chicken. “We left some for you.”Siyeon smiles as she settles beside Yoobin on the comfy peach-coloured couch sized for at most four people and takes a piece of chicken.“You sang amazingly well today,” Yoobin comments as she opens up her book once more, “I’m shocked.”Siyeon swats her arm in retaliation. “Why would you be shocked? I have the voice of an angel, I thought we had already established that.”“Clearly, you haven’t established the art of humility-ow! Ow! I’m sorry!” Yoobin rushes out her apologies once Siyeon begins pinching her arm. They pause when Gahyeon sniffs before turning to face the back of the couch and continue sleeping.Siyeon forgoes her attack on Yoobin and settles back into the couch while studying Gahyeon’s sleeping form. “She seems exhausted.” She gestures at Gahyeon when Yoobin asks who she’s talking about.“Yeah, she had a late-night class today plus she has a ton of assignments due soon,” Yoobin states. “I worry about her sometimes.”“Oh?” Siyeon asks in genuine curiosity since Yoobin isn’t one to speak so openly.“Yeah, I wonder if it’s worth all the effort if she’s not a hundred per cent happy with her course. I mean, she told me she’s not too sure she wants to keep doing it but she hasn’t found what she truly wants to do. So yeah, I worry about her stressing herself out like this.”Siyeon hums in agreement as she finishes off the last piece of chicken. “We’ll just have to wait and see how she handles it all.”Their conversation is cut short when Gahyeon lets out a sound equivalent to a war cry and shoots up into a sitting position with her back straight and her face still groggy.Siyeon is clutching her chest trying to tame her rapidly beating heart while Yoobin makes sure she records everything.“What’s going on?” Gahyeon asks slowly as she looks around the room before her eyes land on Yoobin and Siyeon. “Am I in hell?”Siyeon immediately hurls one of the throw pillows in the direction of Gahyeon’s face but it misses horribly. “Why would you be in hell when I have the voice of an angel?”“Tsk tsk, humility is a trait that is admired-” Siyeon cuts Yoobin off by smothering her face with another of the throw pillows.Gahyeon takes in the scene of Siyeon trying to smother Yoobin to death and lets out a small laugh before throwing back the throw pillow Siyeon threw at her.“This is why I asked if I was in hell, you guys are too violent for heaven.”
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“Gross.” Yoobin groans, for what has to be the hundredth time that morning, as she dumps a bag of unfinished food into the black trash bag she’s been carrying around her apartment in the hopes of making the apartment cleaner and more hygienic. Scratch that, she’s making sure things don’t start growing or living in her roommate’s room.“I ought to get paid for this.” Yoobin picks up a black sock with her gloved hand and she swears it wiggles. “Nope, no thank you,” Yoobin states to herself and the sock as she throws it into the almost overflowing bag.She decides that’s enough spring cleaning of her half-cleaned half-breeding ground of filth roommate’s room when she notices a shiny black box set on the bedside table. Curiosity getting the better of her, she ties up the trash bag, sets it aside and ungloves her hands and moves towards the black box to see its contents.The box is shiny and sleek black and a bit heavy but most importantly it has a lock. Yoobin shrugs and tries out her luck.“Well, what are the odds, today must be my lucky day.” Yoobin opens the box slowly and cautiously as if expecting her roommate to walk in through the door and catch her in the act.Once the box is fully open, and Yoobin finally takes in exactly what its contents are, is when she finally lets out a nervous breath.“You have got to be kidding me right now,” Yoobin mutters to herself as she stares at the box’s contents. “Of all the things in the world, this is what I have to find, a-” Yoobin’s mini-rant is interrupted by three sharp knocks followed by two more on her door then a pause before the sequence is repeated. Yoobin rolls her eyes, knowing Yoohyeon is at the door. She shuts the box and returns it to its rightful position with her hand trembling and her mind made up to confront her roommates later on in the day once they get back from their vacation.Picking up her gloves and the trash bag, she makes her way to the door, slips on a pair of shoes and opens the door fast enough to find Yoohyeon’s fist raised mid-knock.“The answer is no,” Yoobin states bluntly before turning to close the door which is promptly stopped by an ankle boot-clad foot.“Just hear me out Yoo, I need your help desperately!” There’s an underlying tone of franticness in Yoohyeon’s voice that sparks curiosity in Yoobin. She rips the door open, startling Yoohyeon in the process, and narrows her eyes suspiciously at her.“You seem odd today,” Yoobin says then adds, “Well, more than usual.” Yoobin steps out of her apartment to circle Yoohyeon slowly while observing her which causes Yoohyeon to squirm and shift her feet nervously. Yoobin notes this along with the fact that Yoohyeon is looking a bit dressed up in her leather jacket, white tee and ripped black skinny jeans…on an inhumanely early Saturday morning.Yoobin stops in front of Yoohyeon and looks up at her face intently and spots faint hints of make-up and an obvious lack of eye contact, something Yoohyeon deems to be a trait for the weak. Satisfied with her observations, Yoobin moves back to her earlier position by the door and gives Yoohyeon her smuggest face.“Who are you trying to impress?” Yoobin asks, barely managing to muffle her laughter to which Yoohyeon huffs and folds her arms apprehensively.“No one, I’ll have you know I can dress well from time to time.”“Sure, at seven on a Saturday morning Miss Kim Yoohyeon is awake and dressed in something that’s not a huge shirt and sweat pants,” Yoobin drawls as she drops her gloves into the trash bag with a look of disgust at how dirty they were. “So forgive me for not believing your lousy excuse. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have trash to take out.”Yoobin runs to close off her roommate’s room before Yoohyeon gets the bright idea to follow her inside and sure enough, when she goes back towards the front door she finds Yoohyeon in the process of taking off her boots.“Aren’t you the considerate one?” Yoobin taunts while motioning towards Yoohyeon taking off her shoes.“Come on Yoo, aren’t we best friends? Soul partners?” Yoohyeon says as she finally takes off her boot and meets Yoobin halfway.Yoobin raises her eyebrows in slight confusion at the term to which Yoohyeon rolls her eyes before tugging on the hem of Yoobin black tank top that she opted for to make cleaning easier and less sweaty.“Yeah, soul partners. We’ll always have a special bond no matter how far apart we may be.” Yoohyeon smiles looking very proud of herself and her explanation.“That was cheesy, even for you. Just call it platonic soulmates instead.”“So you agree? No take-backs! We’re officially platonic soulmates, it’s taken a couple of years but we’ve finally made it!” Yoobin can’t help the small smile that forms on her face as she watches Yoohyeon’s excitement that she could only compare to a happy puppy.“Okay, that’s enough of that, don’t you have a date or something?” Yoobin declares as she drags both Yoohyeon, who was adamantly denying the fact that she was dressed up for someone, let alone a date and the trash bag out of the relatively clean apartment and into the almost deserted hallway. Almost.“Yoobin, it’s pretty early for you, isn’t it?” Woo Seochan, her next-door neighbour and childhood best friend, asks as he waves at both her and Yoohyeon. “Same goes for you Yoohyeon.”Yoobin observes that Seochan is wearing last night’s clothes, probably from working the late-night shift at The Mockingbird Garden Restaurant. She thinks he works too hard what with his waiting job at the restaurant during weekdays, helping at the bakery down the street during the weekends and, not to forget, the lessons he gets from the two places so he can get experience to finally open his own chain of restaurants.Yoobin shakes her head in concern at Seochan’s never changing habits of working himself too hard since they were in high school. Though, Yoobin usually chalks most of it up to him trying to live up to his brother’s amazing standards of being a top-notch lawyer who graduated top of his class. Yeah, that would make any younger sibling want to try their best to avoid comparisons.Amidst her wandering thoughts, Yoobin quickly remembers that Seochan is waiting for her response. “I was doing some cleaning. You could help me, actually scratch that you should help me.” Yoobin points an accusing finger at Seochan. “Don’t think I forgot how I let you crash on the couch at three in the morning just because you were drunk and forgot how to open your door.”“Friends let friends crash at their place when their drunk,” Seochan states with a grin to which Yoobin rolls her eyes at as she smacks him upside the back of his head.“Your brother was home!” Yoobin complains. “Also, why is your hair wet? Did you just dye your hair? Why is my hand an awful shade of blue?” Yoobin exaggeratedly wipes her wet hand on the back of his white shirt leaving a smudge of navy blue.“Dude! This is a new shirt!” Seochan tries craning his neck back to see the damage inflicted by Yoobin. Yoobin just shrugs while Yoohyeon snickers. Seochan’s eyes narrow when he seemingly hears Yoohyeon’s snickers and Yoobin can immediately tell Seochan has decided to focus his efforts on teasing Yoohyeon as a way to get rid of his embarrassment.“So…Yoohyeon…who are you trying to impress?” Seochan casually asks to shift the topic as he unlocks his front door. Yoobin bursts out in obnoxious laughter at his question and also at Yoohyeon’s scandalized expression. She pats Yoohyeon’s shoulder in time with her laughter while Seochan tries and fails to keep a straight face.“Ugh! I hate both of you! Ever since we were younger the both of you liked ganging up on me like some sadistic duo!” Yoohyeon stomps her foot almost childishly as she hurriedly strides to the elevator at the end of the hallway away from Yoobin, who’s dying of laughter and Seochan, who is also laughing but still giving her an apologetic gaze.She punches the down button repeatedly before she finally decides the stairs would be faster.“You guys really are birds of a feather, you both suck!” Yoohyeon shouts at the two earning her a glare from an elderly woman climbing up the stairs and more laughter from Yoobin and Seochan.“You wound me Yoohyeon! I thought we were soul partners!” Yoobin shouts tauntingly after Yoohyeon, who’s already going down the stairs, as she cackles in laughter with a smiley Seochan nudging her to keep it down since people are still asleep.Once they’ve both calmed down, with the old lady grumbling about noisy kids these days and giving the two of them dirty glances, Yoobin bids Seochan farewell as she grabs the trash bag and walks to the elevator with a smirk.As the doors open and she walks in, she sighs contentedly feeling happier after seeing her two closest friends.
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Yoohyeon mutters profanities as she miscalculates one of her steps down the apartment building’s numerous flight of steps, and almost tumbles to her death.“It’s that devilish duo’s fault,” Yoohyeon complains to no one in particular as she regains her balance and proceeds down the stairs to the ground floor. Once in the lobby, she spots Taerin in the security booth and accidentally makes eye contact. Her wave, hesitant and awkward, is not received well by Taerin who decides to roll her eyes before going back to scrolling on her phone.Yoohyeon sighs in relief at not having to have a conversation with Taerin at the time. She is in no state to try and talk to an ice wall. Shaking her head, she decides it’s time to go and do what she woke up so early on a Saturday morning to do.“Yoohyeon!”Minji steps out of the elevator with a smile and a pink suitcase. Yoohyeon smiles in return and points at the suitcase.“Where to this time?” Yoohyeon asks as she walks up to Minji.“Oh?” Minji looks down at the suitcase with a chuckle. “I’m headed to Hawaii. I’ll be back in a week, hopefully.”Yoohyeon furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “Hopefully?”Minji nods as she pulls out her vibrating phone from her purse and distractedly replies, “Yup, things could go wrong with the client and whatnot…sorry, I have to take this otherwise I won’t be flying anywhere.”“Sure thing, travel safe and buy me lots of stuff,” Yoohyeon says as she waves off Minji who gives her a thumbs-up as she walks towards the entrance.“Tell Gahyeon to stop stealing food from my apartment when I’m gone!” Minji shouts as she covers her phone with one hand. “Also, don’t have sleepovers in my apartment. I’m warning you Yoohyeon!”Yoohyeon chuckles nervously as she avoids the curious gazes of the other tenants leaving and entering the building. She makes her way to wait for the elevator once Minji hails a taxi and is away from the building’s vicinity.Now, Yoohyeon is no stranger to weird happenings considering she’s exceptionally clumsy. She’s run into her fair share of weird situations, but this…this takes the cake after the incident where she was mistaken for a burglar. Yoohyeon shivers as she remembers how close one of the tenants was to calling the police on her just because she was stuck on the building’s fire escape and happened to have a black ski mask on.“I must be hallucinating because there is no way there’s a cat in the elevator.” Yoohyeon lowers herself into a squat to get a closer look at the white cat laying leisurely on the cold elevator floor licking its paw lethargically with its tail thumping the floor lightly.After a few seconds of staring, it hits her. It’s the newbie’s cat. She stares at the cat for a few more seconds before coming up with a plan that she was sure even Gahyeon would agree is genius.With a chuckle of triumph, she gets into the elevator and picks up the cat and cradles it in her arm as she presses the second-floor button and smiles at Taerin as the elevator door closes. She’s pretty sure Taerin just flipped her off but her newfound good mood would not be ruined that easily.-*-*-*-Handong’s not having a good day so far, as it seems to be the case recently. Her publishing company pushed the deadline, for a new story idea, forward by a whole week and her editor was on his way to check on her non-existent progress. Her bedroom door, the one that creaks, is well on its way to completely falling off its hinges.Handong’s ready to go pull out her hair on the rooftop while shouting every profanity she knows into the sky.She really is about to do so, what with her hand already halfway through the process of turning her doorknob, until it dawns on her.“Aiko is missing,” Handong mutters to herself with her eyes closed and her free hand clutching tighter at her dripping brown almost waist-length hair from her interrupted shower.“Aiko...is...missing...” She punctuates each word until the gravity of the statement finally sinks in. Her eyes widen almost comically as she turns full circle in the same spot hoping to catch a glimpse of white fur in her vision.Just as she’s about to go into full panic mode, Handong's eyes narrow to slits when someone knocks on her door in an odd sequence. Three sharp knocks followed by two more, a pause then the sequence is repeated.It must be her five-hundred-words-per-second-neighbour, Kang Daejung (bless his soul), with the enthusiasm of a never-ending firecracker. She doesn’t want to put on a smile and pretend like she cares whether or not him and Ahn Sohyun, his girlfriend, have broken up or got back together for the fifteenth time in the past month. She isn’t in the mental capacity to care about that when her cat is missing.She rips the door open ready to politely get rid of her neighbour but the probably scathing words die at the tip of her tongue when a purring ball of fur is shoved in her face. Before she can fully comprehend what’s happening, the ball of fur is pulled back into the arms of the odd-sequence-doorbell-ringer.“Good day miss,” Yoohyeon greets in a much too chipper tone that Handong would find annoying if Aiko wasn’t in her arms. “I reckon this must be your cat?” Handong simply nods in slight confusion at Yoohyeon's poorly done medieval accent.They stand at Handong’s doorstep for what feels like a few minutes dragged on into hours before Handong coughs awkwardly, holding out her arms to take Aiko. Yoohyeon must have other plans because she ignores Handong’s outstretched arms, sidesteps her and makes her way into Handong’s apartment all while cooing and whispering gibberish to Aiko right before she leaps out of her arms and dashes to the bedroom.Handong blinks a few times before slowly closing the door and turning to face Yoohyeon who has made herself at home at her kitchen counter with a smile to rival that of an eager child.“This is the part you say, ‘thank you Yoohyeon, you’re amazing’,” Yoohyeon says with the eager smile still on her face and not knowing how to deal with Yoohyeon’s interesting behaviour, to say the least, she parrots what Yoohyeon told her to.“Then say, ‘I will dedicate my life to serve you, o great mas-’” Handong holds up her hand which stops Yoohyeon midsentence with a quizzical expression. She then grabs one of her pillows off the couch and tosses it in her confused face.“I’m not dumb,” Handong says as she makes her way to the kitchen counter and moves around Yoohyeon to get two mugs and pours them some of the coffee she made before her day spiralled into a mess. “But.” She sets one of the mugs, now filled with lukewarm coffee, in front of Yoohyeon. “I am polite and grateful,” she finishes as she sits on the opposite side of the counter with her mug of coffee and flashes Yoohyeon a thankful smile.“Thank you for bringing back Aiko, most people would have tried selling her in the black market.”Yoohyeon chuckles. “I don’t think the black market would be too keen on selling house cats.”“Trust me, I talk from experience.” Handong laughs lowly when she watches Yoohyeon’s expression shift from amusement to shock and intrigue. “Aiko can fetch a hefty price on the black market, I would know, I almost had to buy her back if my cousin hadn’t found her in time.”“How would your cousin find her in time…unless…oh…” Yoohyeon’s words drift off as she busies herself with drinking her coffee.“I’m not part of a gang or anything shady, so don’t worry, I won’t send guys to kill you in an alleyway,” Handong teases as she watches, in amusement, the colour drain from Yoohyeon’s face.Yoohyeon sets her mug on the coffee table slowly before pointedly avoiding Handong’s gaze. “You say the darkest things with the most relaxed expression I’ve ever seen,” Yoohyeon states as she finally turns to face Handong. “You and Yoobin would get along just fine.”Handong raises an eyebrow in curiosity since she’s only met Yoobin once when she and her tall black-haired friend, Minu? Minwa? Minji, that’s her name, offered to help her buy cat food for Aiko. This prompts Yoohyeon to explain.“Yoobin is blunt and sometimes says the most morbid of things at times,” Yoohyeon says with a slight shudder. “Since I now know you can tell some dark jokes with a smile, you two will get along like two peas in a pod.”Handong laughs as she leans forward and rests her elbows on the counter with her head in her palms. She wants to know more about this group of friends she noticed around Yoohyeon. “Tell me more about your friends.”Yoohyeon looks up momentarily at the cream coloured ceiling before meeting Handong’s curious gaze. “Minji’s the oldest, you’ve already met her. She’s like the mom of the group, she always asks if we’ve eaten even when she’s on one of her business trips in a weird time zone.”“Business trips? What does she do?” Handong asks curiously pushing aside her quarter empty mug to pay more attention to Yoohyeon.“Honestly, none of us really knows.” Yoohyeon chuckles as she leans back in the chair. “All we do know is that she works for this big company and that she makes enough money to rent two apartments and make them into basically a penthouse minus the additional floor.”“Wait…so her apartment was originally…”“53E on the fifth floor then she got 54E next door and renovated them into one huge apartment. The landlords allowed it because they consider her the daughter they never had.”Handong feels her mouth slide open in amazement at Minji’s supposed wealth all while Yoohyeon takes both their mugs to the sink and starts washing them.“Bora is also like our other mom,” Yoohyeon continues after she kindly refuses Handong’s request to help with the washing. “She’s the strict parent between her and Minji. I remember when she had to tackle Gahyeon when she tried going to school with a bad case of the flu. Good times.” Yoohyeon shakes her head as she chuckles at the memory.“Oh yeah, Gahyeon,” Yoohyeon continues heartily as she settles herself back in her seat opposite Handong. “She’s the baby of the group but is like, the smartest of us all. Fun fact, Siyeon thinks Gahyeon is a part of some mafia or at least knows people who know people who know stuff.”Handong almost didn’t understand the last part of Yoohyeon’s sentence and had to repeat it at least five times before she got it. “Why would that be a fun fact? If anything, I’m now concerned and worried for my life because I may have almost accidentally pushed Gahyeon down the staircase.”“How did I not know about this? I’m her best friend and I noticed no injuries?” Yoohyeon squawks as she fishes out her phone from her jeans’ back pocket and begins furiously typing what Handong believes to be a long worded text to her “best friend”, Gahyeon.“You didn’t know about the injuries because she barely had any, your other friend, Siyeon? I think that’s her name, she has intense eyes,” Handong explains as she points at her own eyes and tries to mimic Siyeon’s intense gaze. “She helped her out before I could even realize what happened.”Yoohyeon laughs as she forgets all about texting Gahyeon and focuses her attention back on Handong. “I hope someone told you that you do horrible impressions.” Handong pouts before giving in and smiling along with Yoohyeon.“But don’t mind Siyeon, her eyes may be scary but she’s a huge softie. I can guarantee that, scout’s honour.” Handong laughs as Yoohyeon raises her right hand with the most serious expression she’s seen on her face. “Oh, and she has the voice of an angel, I’m not even exaggerating. I’ll take you to the Sphinx one night so you can hear her for yourself and be blessed.”“Just us two?” Handong asks, almost cheekily, for a reason she can’t explain, all she knows is that a part of her hopes Yoohyeon says yes. She, however, finds the deer-in-headlights expression on Yoohyeon’s face highly amusing and can’t help but continue to tease her. “Like a date?”She laughs when Yoohyeon tries and fails to form a coherent sentence that she decides to spare her. “I’m just joking but not about the first part. I really would like it if it’s just us so that you can show me around town and tell me all the wild stories that I’m almost certain you have.”Yoohyeon lets out a puff of breath, before nodding so vigorously that Handong is reminded of bobblehead dolls and stifles a laugh. Yoohyeon notices this, puffs out her chest, raises her nose and points her thumb at her chest.“I’ll be the best tour guide in the history of tour guides, trust me.”“I will, not like I have much of a choice.”They talk for a few more minutes before Handong remembers that her editor is on his way and will give her that look he does when he wants to scold her without words. Since they’re almost the same age, with him being two years older, he makes sure to add that seniority into the look. She hates that look, it annoys her to no end.Look or not, Handong has to, begrudgingly, send Yoohyeon away so that she can write a few paragraphs and avoid Daewon’s wrath.“It’s cool,” Yoohyeon reassures her for the fifth time as she wears her leather jacket and walks out the now open door courtesy of Handong. “Inspiration is hard to get, trust me I know the feeling. I struggle to get good subjects for my pictures.”Handong takes in this new piece of information. “You do photography?”“Yeah, at the local university, I mean, I try but it’s not like I’m any good so I equally try my best at literature, which I also take and I’m rambling.” Yoohyeon rubs the back of her neck nervously and Handong finds it endearing.“Can you show me some of your work?” Handong gauges Yoohyeon’s reaction, knowing how hard it can be to show someone your work. Noticing Yoohyeon’s expression hasn’t changed from its original nervous one, she backtracks. “I mean if it’s okay. You don’t have to.”After a while, Yoohyeon looks like she’s just had an epiphany. “I’ll show you my pictures next week, Friday. It’ll also be game night. It’ll be fun and you can properly meet and get to know the others. What do you say?”Handong doesn’t need to think twice about her answer, not when Yoohyeon is giving her a bad case of puppy dog eyes.“I’d like that a lot.”
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“I’m telling you, I saw it with my own two eyes. Gahyeon dressed in a hoodie in a dark alleyway looking very sketchy, might I add, talking to some equally sketchy guy right before exchanging two suspicious-looking bags!” Siyeon narrates excitedly as she opens the door to the apartment building and lets Bora walk in first.“If this alleyway is as dark as you claim, how can you be so sure it was her? Did you even see her face what with the hoodie covering half of it as you claim?” Bora asks as she and Siyeon wave at Taerin, who ignores them, and Mokjoon, who waves back fervently before returning to his one-sided conversation with Taerin.“I mean I didn’t see much, but it had to be her. My gut tells me so,” Siyeon insists as they step into the elevator and she presses the third-floor button.“Well, my gut tells me you just witnessed a random drug deal,” Bora says with her hands stuffed into the oversized red hoodie she borrowed from Siyeon (she knows she won’t be getting it back anytime soon as per Bora’s tendencies of never returning clothing she borrows). Currently, she now owns three of Siyeon’s hoodies and two pairs of her favourite sneakers. She doesn’t mind because she, in turn, has five of Bora’s oversized shirts and a pair of her baggy pants that Bora is yet to realize are missing from her closet.“My gut also tells me that Yoobin’s roommate has done some pretty questionable things.” Bora’s words take Siyeon out of her thoughts and back to their random conversation about their friends’ supposed dark secrets.“What kind of questionable things? Purposely eating spoilt food?” Siyeon laughs at the annoyed look Bora sports after hearing her question.“Ew, what? No,” Bora complains as they step out the elevator onto the third floor and keep their leisurely walking pace as they head towards Bora’s apartment. “What I meant is that Yoobin’s roommate has done illegal stuff and is still doing illegal stuff. It’s why we’ve never seen them before.”“What’s your source for this information?” Siyeon shoves her hands idly into her back pants pocket as she waits for Bora to locate her keys and unlock the door. The distinct sound of jingling keys abruptly stops which forces Siyeon to acknowledge Bora’s sheepish gaze and lack of eye contact.“My sources are very…credible.” Bora unlocks the door and hurriedly walks in, tossing her red duffel bag on the floor next to her now removed shoes along with the other pairs of shoes that Siyeon knew were both hers and Gahyeon’s.“Your sources are your dumb gut instincts,” Siyeon deadpans as she plops herself on the small plush purple couch, a gift from Gahyeon’s parents. “So your accusation is invalid, as Yoohyeon would say.”“How about this?” Bora makes herself comfortable on the couch besides Siyeon and drapes her legs over Siyeon’s lap. “Whoever’s right gets the power to make the loser do whatever they want.”Siyeon fixes Bora with a suspicious look. “Anything?” Siyeon won’t lie, her hopes are sky high at this new prospect.“Anything,” Bora affirms, nodding her head furiously before slowing down in uncertainty. “Well, anything within reason.” Siyeon accepts this but can’t help but wonder if what she has in mind would be deemed “within reason”. She would have to ask Minji when she gets back from Hawaii. Alternatively, she could call her but that would mean comparing time zones and whatnot, something Siyeon does not have the energy to do.She finds herself playing with the material of Bora’s dancing pants as Bora rattles on about a girl nearly breaking both her kneecaps during dance class. She laughs in the appropriate places to prevent Bora from realizing that she’s just staring at her. The way the light from the window hits her face just perfectly to emphasize her strong yet delicate features or the way her hands get animated and move all over the place when she’s telling a bizarre story.“Oh.” A new voice quickly breaks Siyeon’s train of thought and when she turns to see who it is, just as Bora did, she pulls up her red turtleneck right up to her nose to hide any evidence of her probably flaming red cheeks.It’s Yoohyeon, standing at the doorway with a knowing look on her face as if she just found out a secret that no one else could figure out. The way her eyes meet Siyeon’s, she could safely assume that Yoohyeon put two and two together and is going to blackmail her until she’s an old woman, knitting sweaters for her fifteen cats.“I always thought knocking wasn’t a foreign concept to you, guess I was wrong,” Bora comments as she points disapprovingly at Yoohyeon.“I knocked and rang the doorbell like ten times but since the both of you were so deep in conversation, especially Siyeon, might I add, I just let myself in,” Yoohyeon explains as she ignores the glares Siyeon is sure she’s giving her.“Well? What do you want?” Bora asks, oblivious to the silent exchange between Siyeon and Yoohyeon. “I’m not feeding you again until you restock my fridge and buy me a new mug.”“Oh, I’m not here for food, though I will pass by later. I’m here to tell you Handong, the new tenant, she’ll be at game night next week Friday. Be nice to her. I’ll be playing video games at Seochan’s if anyone needs me.” Yoohyeon waves and gives Siyeon a mock salute before turning to leave.The two are left in a weird silence with Siyeon hoping and praying Bora didn’t catch on to what Yoohyeon was implying. Before she could even ask her anything, another voice fills the apartment.“Bora,” Gahyeon drawls as she walks into the apartment with her eyes closed, facing the ceiling and her hands clutching her hair in what Siyeon assumes to be frustration.“I just met the worst…person…” Gahyeon’s voice trails off as both her eyes shift between Siyeon and Bora an obnoxious amount of times that Siyeon feels like she might as well slap a neon sign on her forehead declaring her undying crush on Bora. Crush? Was that what it was? Siyeon frowns as she recalls all her previous crushes and notes none of them felt as strong as this before.“Well…” Gahyeon starts, her tone a bit unsure, as she backs out of the apartment. “I’m just going to stop by Yoobin’s and see if she wants to talk about…the possible effects of an impending apocalyptic world…bye!” With that, Gahyeon turns and quickly shuts the door behind her. The only indication of her leaving is the sound of her footsteps padding down the hallway hurriedly.The silence was proving too uncomfortable for her so Siyeon does what she does best. Distract.“Ha…ha…ha…” She cringes at how high pitched her voice sounds as she suddenly finds the random science magazines (obviously Gahyeon’s, Siyeon would never forget Bora’s rant on how the arts are just as important) on the small wooden coffee table very interesting.“Those two were acting weirder than usual, and that’s saying a lot. Are you okay?”Siyeon freezes at Bora’s sudden question before she decides that if she wants to keep her flaming, tomato coloured cheeks a secret, she should create some distance between the both of them and move out of Bora’s direct line of sight.Her mind works on autopilot as she shoves Bora’s legs as gently as she can (she just wants to avoid embarrassment not ruin Bora’s career) and speed-walks around the counter separating the tiny kitchen and the living room and starts randomly opening cabinets.From the corner of her eye, she sees Bora shift on the couch to rest her elbows on the top part of the couch’s back all while seeming confused.“I’m just making us a sandwich,” Siyeon shouts over her shoulder as she pulls out random ingredients that she hopes will be able to make an edible sandwich.“We just ate, like a lot.” Siyeon doesn’t miss the amusement in Bora’s voice and at that point she realizes, she might be screwed. She turns to give Bora a believable excuse but the moment she realizes the confused expression she thought Bora had was instead a smug and knowing one, her words disappear but her thoughts remain.Her thoughts tell her she’s definitely screwed.
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The moment Gahyeon steps out of the elevator and onto the sixth floor of the apartment building, the sound of two familiar complaining voices greets her and alerts her that Yoohyeon is probably playing video games at Seochan’s place. She stands at his door ready to knock but that seems like a bad idea once the voices get even louder with one (definitely Yoohyeon judging from how close her voice is to cracking from all the shouting) swearing up and down that the other had cheated and the other (obviously Seochan because of how obnoxiously deep his voice gets when defending himself) claiming he’s just an awesome player and Yoohyeon is a sore loser as always.Knocking isn’t the best idea so she slowly pushes the door open in a way that would allow her to use it for cover if the two decided to start throwing objects around.“You’re just in time Gahyeon, I need someone to keep me from killing these two idiots.” Yoobin pats at the empty spot beside her on the couch and she obliges. The two “idiots” barely notice her presence as they finally decide to have a rematch of whatever fighting game they were playing. Gahyeon didn’t pay much attention as she was still trying to recover from the newfound information she’d just discovered at her apartment.“Hey,” Gahyeon starts, trying to think of a way to word her sentence without giving out too much detail. Yoobin raises her eyebrows, indicating that she’s listening to her even though her eyes are glued onto the screen watching Yoohyeon’s and Seochan’s rematch.“Hypothetically speaking, hypothetically.” Gahyeon tries to inject some nonchalance into her voice. “What would you do if you saw two of your friends talking and one of them had this spaced-out gaze and was like, admiring the other’s every move and-”“That’s not a hypothetical scenario, you’re talking about Siyeon and Bora, aren’t you?” Yoobin casually shoves a handful of popcorn into her mouth and Gahyeon has to wonder, how would she know?“If you’re wondering how I know, blame Idiot Number One over there,” Yoobin says as she tosses popcorn at Yoohyeon’s hair which does not, surprisingly, break her concentration from the game. “She came in here talking about how she finally has blackmail material to use against Siyeon, to which I told her it would be pointless since everyone and their mother knows Siyeon likes Bora…well, except Bora but Bora’s dumb like that since she also likes Siyeon but hasn’t told her.”It takes a few seconds before it properly hits home exactly what Yoobin just said. “Bora likes Siyeon!” Gahyeon all but shouts which, unfortunately (or fortunately, because honestly, Gahyeon was not in the mood of hearing Yoohyeon and Seochan talk shit to each other for the sake of demoralizing the other, with some of the weakest insults she’s ever heard) causes Seochan to get freaked out and kick out his leg which, by some weird physics, hits Yoohyeon in the knee which causes their rematch to end prematurely.“Yeah, I thought you, of all people, would know that considering you live with her.” Gahyeon does not fail to hear the playful condescending undertone in Yoobin’s voice but she ignores it in favour of trying to think up scenarios that would indicate Bora’s feelings. She suddenly has a brand new perspective of every time Bora would go on and on complimenting Siyeon’s voice saying, it’s like ‘silk butter’ and how she would always come to her defence whenever the others would make fun of Siyeon in some way or just recently, how she nurtured Siyeon back to health from her flu.It all kind of made sense, except-“Bora has an immense crush on someone else that she goes on and on about when she’s done talking about how amazing Siyeon is.” From the corner of her eye, Gahyeon notices Yoohyeon repeatedly hit Seochan with one of the couch pillows and she decides it’s better than them arguing while playing their game. She also notices the deadpan look Yoobin is giving her while still shoving popcorn in her mouth.A few more seconds of Yoobin’s silence and deadpan look and she finally gets it. “Siyeon is the immense crush…right, got it,” Gahyeon says sheepishly as pillows are launched in their general direction with Yoobin expertly dodging the first one. The second one, however, hits Gahyeon right in the eye and she swears she’s going to kill both of them if she goes blind.“Sorry about that.” Gahyeon recognizes Yoohyeon’s voice going an octave higher like it always does when she’s about to laugh and she’s sure Yoohyeon is struggling to keep that dumb smile off her face, even though she can’t see because she closed her eyes once the left one began to water and hurt like hell.“Yeah, sorry,” Seochan says. She recognizes his deep voice wavering, trying to hold in laughter as well. “But you should have dodged that.”Gahyeon was going to kill them both, especially Yoohyeon when she finally bursts out laughing. So she grabs the first thing in her vicinity and throws it in the direction she assumes the two are.“No! My popcorn! What did it ever do to you?” Yoobin wails right next to her ear and Gahyeon curses her bad luck because now her ear hurts too.Gahyeon flails her arms around in hopes to inflict some pain onto Yoobin but obviously misses because she. Can’t. See. A. Thing.Throwing her arms up in defeat, she opens her eyes slowly and tries to adjust to her watery and blurry vision. “I hate all of you, I’m going to ruin your lives!” She stands and shuffles out of the apartment but not before hitting her knee on Seochan’s coffee table which elicits a round of laughter from the other three and at this point Gahyeon doesn’t hold back when she starts cursing at the world.
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The distinct ding of the elevator fills Minji with both joy and relief as it indicates she’s a few steps away from her apartment. It’s something she’s been looking forward to since the beginning of her long flight from her business trip in Hawaii. Her client had made her run in circles because he “didn’t think what her company was offering was the right feel for him”.“Right feel, my foot,” Minji scoffs as she drags her suitcase sluggishly while carrying a bag full of groceries and snacks for game night later that night. “What does that even mean?” She asks no one in particular as she stops in front of her apartment door and fishes out her keys.All Minji wants is to take a nice relaxing shower and a nap before setting up for game night. What she doesn’t want is to find her door already unlocked. She sighs in annoyance when she remembers she gave Bora her spare key for emergencies.Pushing open the door, she shouts into her apartment, “Bora! You better be on your deathbed! I gave you that key for emergencies not to use my place as your resort!”Silence is all that greets Minji and for the first time since she found her door unlocked, she wonders if she had either been robbed or a serial killer was hiding in her shower waiting to stab her violently. Minji curses her stupidity for shouting before assessing the situation and does what she thinks is best. She slowly places her luggage and groceries on the floor next to the closest couch and starts to tiptoe out of her apartment to call the police in the safety of the hallway away from the killer and in a place likely to have another human being present.She carefully opens the door trying to avoid the creaking sound that it makes when it’s opened too fast. Unfortunately, Minji learns that the door still creaks no matter how slow you open it. A grimace finds its way to her face when the creak sounds ten times louder than usual and she holds her breath hoping and praying that the killer didn’t hear it.“Where are you going?”Minji flings the door shut in shock at the sudden voice right behind her and almost loses her balance. In the process of getting back her balance, she spots shoulder-length black hair and she almost kicks the offender in the shin for merely scaring her.“Yoobin!” Minji exclaims as she pats the left side of her chest repeatedly hoping to calm down her racing heart from going into cardiac arrest. “You scared me half to death, I thought you were a serial killer!”Yoobin shrugs as she trudges back to Minji’s living room and throws herself face-first onto her couch. Minji has to take a few deep breaths because she doesn’t have the capacity or strength to deal with all this. So she starts small.“How did you even get in? Bora’s the only one with the spare key apart from the landlord and I highly doubt you went to ask him for the keys since you two have a weird rivalry going on.” Minji plops herself on an adjacent armchair and relishes in the comfort of finally sitting down.Yoobin turns her head away from the couch and gives Minji a side glance which is all she’s able to do in her current position and replies in the simplest tone, “I picked the lock.”There’s a weird silence that sets in, with Yoobin giving Minji a smug smile and Minji rubbing her forehead in fatigue, displacing a few strands of her hair. The wheels in her head turning until she finally concludes.“Please tell me your roommate didn’t teach you how to do that.” She doesn’t fail to hear the groan that was slightly muffled by the couch before Yoobin’s response filled the air.“Your suspicion of my innocent roommate is getting out of hand.” Yoobin sits upright and fixes Minji a glare that Minji knows how to ignore.“You not telling anyone who your innocent roommate is, is what’s getting out of hand.” Minji makes sure to stress the ‘innocent’ to annoy Yoobin and she internally celebrates when she notices Yoobin’s forehead crease in definite annoyance.“You guys need to let that go, my roommate is a regular law-abiding citizen, who wakes up every day and lives a normal and chill life.” Yoobin rises from the couch and starts to leave.“Yoobin, come back,” Minji calls out without turning or standing from the armchair. “Let’s have cake, I bought cake.” She hears Yoobin’s shuffling cease momentarily.“Chocolate?”“Vanilla.”Minji doesn’t miss the sound of the doorknob turning.“That’s good, I can leave without regrets.”Minji chuckles at Yoobin’s love of chocolate cake before she notes the door open and shut and open again a few seconds later.“Minji?”“Mhm?”“You know I love you, right?”“Always.”A momentary silence settles that causes Minji to look back at the door to find Yoobin’s head poked through the slight opening from the door, with a sheepish expression.Minji finds it endearing and hilarious at the same time, considering Yoobin rarely has such expressions of uncertainty as she’s almost always one step ahead of everyone in knowing stuff. Not this time, it seems, judging by how she’s now squinting her eyes in a tell-tale fashion that Minji came to find out is Yoobin trying to find the most polite and inoffensive words to bring her point across.Minji decides to put her out of her misery.“I’ll save you some cake, don’t worry.” Minji can’t help but laugh when relief floods Yoobin’s features almost immediately. “Now go before I change my mind.”“Don’t you want my help prepping for game night later on?”Minji almost takes Yoobin’s offer of help but remembers that the two of them working together would take three times longer than it should and honestly, Minji just wants her solitude before it’s taken away by five of her friends trying to kill each other over a game. That reminds her of her sixth guest, Handong, who is going to be the highlight of her night.She snaps out of her thoughts when she remembers Yoobin is waiting for her reply, eyebrows raised in a way that means her patience is running thin.“I’ll be fine,” Minji assures as she makes shooing gestures with her hands at Yoobin. “I just need a nice shower, a nap and about three glasses of wine, then I’ll be ready and set to go for game night.”“Okay but maybe avoid the wine,” Yoobin says and Minji has to turn around to face her when she hears the concern laced underneath her words.“You’re a terrible lightweight with wine, but it works in my favour because I can ask you for favours and learn your deepest darkest secrets.”Minji just points at the door, to which Yoobin chuckles, shrugs and leaves.“I think I’ll just change my schedule a bit,” Minji says to herself as she rises from the chair and walks over to her kitchen to grab a wine glass. She then makes her way slowly to her wine rack and chooses one at random and pours herself a glass.Minji sighs contentedly after downing the entire glass in one go, already feeling a light buzz.“Yup, this is far more relaxing than a shower.”*-*-*Handong isn’t sure exactly what one brings to a game night. She didn’t have many, try any, of those back home in China, so she has no experience to go on. Her old friends would just randomly invite themselves either to her place or any of the others’ place and drink cheap wine and watch cheesy movies till the sun came up.Hence, why Handong settled on a bottle of wine, not cheap since Yoohyeon’s told her basically how rich Minji is and she didn’t want to…disappoint? For lack of a better term. Apart from the whole wine issue, Handong’s nervousness was getting the better of her to the point she’s just staring at Minji’s door all while hearing the muffled sound of laughter and music from the apartment.A few deep breaths to calm herself. In. Out. In-“Trust me, the inside is much better than out here.”Handong all but curses and nearly drops the bottle of wine from her vice grip when she hears the voice a little too close for comfort near her ear. She turns around a bit too fast (she thinks she’s a bit dizzy now) and comes face to face with the intense-eyed Siyeon she met briefly when almost pushing Gahyeon to her death down the staircase.She’s blonde now, she notices. It suits her, makes her look almost ethereal the way it cascades loosely down her shoulders and back, she thinks.“Are you okay? If you’re not feeling well you can just go get some rest back at your place, no one would mind.” Handong shakes her head vigorously at the thought of going back and missing this opportunity to socialise and make new friends in this new country where she barely knows anyone and her Korean is almost trash.She must have shaken her head a little bit too much because Siyeon is laughing as she tries to comfort her. “Hey, hey, get some rest if you aren’t feeling well otherwise you’ll just suffer in our hands. We get pretty wild during game night, almost burnt down the whole building once.”Handong still can’t find proper words to give as a reply and instead kind of just stares at Siyeon, who’s still laughing. Her mind brings her back to earth when Siyeon reaches over her shoulder and knocks on Minji’s door. The door rips open and a loud voice startles Handong into turning around in a weird sort of jump.“Welcome! Welcome to our queen’s humble abode!” Bora, Handong assumes that’s her name, she can’t be too sure since she’s probably met her once in the hallways, shouts in a giddy manner that indicates she’s already tipsy.“Jeez, you’re already drunk?” Siyeon asks rhetorically as she moves past an unmoving and slightly confused Handong, and pushes Bora by the shoulders into the apartment.“Are you going to stand there the whole night?” Siyeon asks over her shoulder, as she’s too busy trying to stop Bora’s sudden squirming. Handong feels like she’s having an out of body experience at this point as she enters the apartment and witnesses what she considers a somewhat controlled type of chaos.Siyeon is desperately trying to get Bora to put down a bottle of wine which is, in turn, resulting in a lot of spillages onto the plush white carpet they happen to be stepping on. Handong feels herself wince every time a drop of the deep red wine lands on the carpet and stains it. Minji’s going to have a lot of trouble cleaning it up.Speaking of Minji, Handong spots her at her kitchen island counter across the room, talking animatedly while waving a spatula in her hand and Yoobin trying to expertly avoid getting slapped in the face by it. A laugh escapes her before she can muffle it which draws the attention of Yoohyeon, currently lounging on one of the couches with a glass of something almost green in her right hand and a fan in the other that she uses to wave over Handong to join her.The softness of the couch causes her to instinctively shut her eyes as she slowly sinks further into its soft white clutches. After a while, she feels a cool breeze on her face, to which she squints open her eyes and turns to find Yoohyeon absentmindedly fanning her as she downs the remaining contents of her glass.“Ah! That’s good. Make sure to get a drink from Yoobin at some point tonight, she mixes the best stuff, sure you could get alcohol poisoning if you’re not careful but hey, you only live once right?” Yoohyeon follows up her rambling with a string of high pitched giggles that Handong believes could resemble screeching if she gets anymore intoxicated.“Great, I’m not even that late and you guys are almost wasted.” Almost everyone (Bora is too busy doing spins and Yoohyeon can barely lift her head from the couch and resides facing the ceiling with her mouth wide open waiting for a bug to land in it) turns to face Gahyeon who just walked in, a bit late, with a couple of board games in her arms.“Let’s get this party started!” Bora screeches as she breaks from Siyeon’s grasp and all but jumps into Gahyeon’s occupied arms. The result is a huge mess, and Handong wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Opening her eyes was not one of the brightest decisions Handong’s ever made. The moment she cracks open her eyes, she shuts them instantaneously from the pain of the burning sun and settles on applying pressure onto her shut eyes with the heels of her hand. Once she sees the colourful complex patterns begin to form, she opens her eyes and stares at what she believes (she’s not entirely sure where she is since everything is a post drunken blur) is Minji’s stark white ceiling.Staring at the ceiling is no longer a decent choice when she feels a foot hit her right ear before it unceremoniously lands between her shoulder and the couch she slept on. Handong cranes her neck to find Yoohyeon curled on the opposite side of the couch into a tiny ball minus her left leg that’s currently painfully digging into Handong’s shoulder. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, which serves as a painful reminder of her hangover, she pushes Yoohyeon’s leg off her shoulder and tries to sit up. This doesn’t work out well for either one of them as Yoohyeon tumbles to the carpeted floor with a thud and Handong’s world spins for a few seconds before she can see the floor as a non-moving entity.“You’re finally up, come get some of my famous hangover cure juice.” Handong squints at the direction she thinks the loud, and slightly grating, voice is coming from.“Oh right, my voice must sound like a megaphone in your ear. Come, don’t be shy.” The voice, she realizes is Minji after her vision stops being so blurry, calls out to her. With a grunt, she pushes herself off the couch and walks cautiously towards Minji in the kitchen all while trying not to trip on Gahyeon sleeping soundly on Minji’s rug.“Here, drink this and you’ll feel less horrible in no time.” Minji hands her a glass filled with a questionable brown liquid. She takes a slow sip and immediately blanches the moment the taste hits her tongue. She almost spits it out but remembers the basic decency her mother taught her. That is to not spit out food or drinks given to her by the host, no matter how nasty.“It’s disgusting, isn’t it?” Minji smiles at her knowingly as she offers her a glass of water. “I still haven’t found a way to make it taste halfway decent, I tried adding sugar but that just ruined the whole purpose of it being a hangover drink. So instead, I’ve just settled on washing down the taste with as much water as possible.”“Have you tried adding cinnamon?” Handong asks once she’s downed the whole glass of water, she could still feel that bitter awful taste at the back of her throat which was not doing her any favours for her nausea. “My mom says it can make the most horrible stuff taste decent.”“Cinnamon?” Minji gives Handong a thoughtful look before checking her pantry. “Of course, cinnamon is the one thing I never tried out because I hate the stuff. I’ll go buy some later today.” Handong hums in response as she tries another sip of the juice and instantly regrets her decision once again. She shakes her head as she decides to get over her headache her usual way, through painkillers and minimal noise.“So, what brought you all the way here, you’re a long way from home, aren’t you?” Minji asks as she sits on one of the kitchen stools and Handong, out of pure instinct, follows suit.“A change of pace, I guess.” Handong shrugs, she’s not sure she wants to go in-depth into why she moved all the way here. She gives a sheepish smile when Minji simply raises an eyebrow that she translates as ‘we have a lot of time and everyone’s still passed out’.“It’s not that interesting really. I felt suffocated back there and couldn’t do much writing. I took a trip here like a year ago.” Handong remembers her spontaneous trip sparked by the words of her cousin when she needed inspiration. “I visited Jeju for a week and I was able to get over my writer’s block.”“Hmm, makes sense, sometimes you just need a change of scenery to get those creative juices flowing.” Minji looks fondly towards Yoohyeon, Gahyeon and Yoobin, all sleeping in various odd positions in her living room before Minji turns back to smile at Handong. “Luckily for me, my job does exactly that.”Handong is just about to ask Minji what exactly her job is so that she can finally satisfy her growing curiosity when Siyeon runs into the room from the hallway, and what Handong presumes is one of Minji’s rooms, with an appearance that leaves Handong feeling conflicted if she should laugh or sympathise because she assumes she looks just as bad. Siyeon’s hair looks like a complete bird's nest and her eyes are blown wide, in shock or something of that manner judging by how she momentarily glances at Minji and Handong and shakes her head profusely. She mumbles something that Handong barely registers.“You’re going to have to speak louder than that.” Minji smiles knowingly leaving Handong to think there’s something she’s missing completely, especially when the top of Siyeon’s ears turn an alarming shade of red.“I have stuff to do, so…I’m leaving. Thanks for game night and it was nice hanging out with you Handong. Bye,” Siyeon says in a rushed tone as she rushes out of the apartment but not before she trips on Gahyeon.“What the-Siyeon?” Gahyeon blinks repeatedly trying to make sense of her surroundings and the sudden added weight of Siyeon. Handong laughs as Siyeon, without saying a word, rises almost as if on autopilot and bolts out of the apartment without any eye contact whatsoever.“What just happened and why does everything hurt, especially my neck?” Gahyeon grimaces as she sits up slowly while rolling her neck.“That’s because you said and I quote, that the rug is softer and comfier than any mattress out there.” Minji gets another glass and pours Gahyeon some of the hangover juice waving her over to the kitchen island.“As for what just happened,” Minji continues, “Well let’s just say we just had another episode of panicked Siyeon to which I must say was very entertaining, wasn’t it Handong?”Handong nods in amusement out of both the incident and the disgusted face Gahyeon makes as she sips the brown liquid.“Well, it wasn’t entertaining when my ribs were getting crushed,” Gahyeon complains before completely downing the liquid in one go much to Handong’s shock. “Also, can’t you add like a whole jar of sugar in this stuff? It tastes like death.”“And yet it helps keep you alive,” Minji fires back and takes the glass away. Gahyeon sits opposite Handong on one of the stools on the kitchen island.“Barely,” Gahyeon remarks, a lightness filling her voice, as she takes an apple from the fruit basket on the counter and takes a bite out of it. Handong spots Minji shaking her head as she takes out a pan.“You need any help?” Handong offers, it’s the least she can do after all the kindness she’s been shown so far. Minji politely declines, stating how she couldn’t let her cook her first time over at her place.As Minji fries some eggs and bacon for everyone, the three settle into a casual conversation where Handong learns that Gahyeon studies Computer Science, not because it’s her passion or anything, but mostly because she didn’t have much thought while picking the course. Sort of a last-minute decision.“I was like, I like math and I do pretty well in science-related stuff, so I just chose it in a weird spur of the moment and also to appease my parents who were constantly asking me what I was going to do.” Gahyeon shrugs looking thoughtfully towards the side of the kitchen leading to the hallway.“It worked out semi-okay, I guess. I met an amazing bunch of people, like Minji.” Gahyeon smiles gratefully as Minji hands her a plate of eggs and bacon.Handong can’t help but think how lucky Gahyeon is to move from home to an unfamiliar city to study something she wasn’t completely sure she would enjoy but still manage to find a group of people that she, from what Handong gathered from her short time in the building, considers as a second family.A plate of eggs and bacon is placed in front of her and Handong smiles and hopes she’ll be able to find the same kind of thing and maybe a huge bout of inspiration.The sound of feet shuffling on the floor fills the air and momentarily stops the trio’s conversation. Bora walks in with a sleepy yet confused face and starts to look around in search of something.“Has anyone seen-”“Siyeon?” Everyone turns to face Yoohyeon who finally decided to wake up. “She left in a hurry a while ago, she tripped and fell and everything. It was funny.”“You were awake the whole time and didn’t help me?” Gahyeon asks, eyes narrowed and posture looking like she’s ready to fight. Yoohyeon shrugs as she rises from the couch a bit shakily, almost losing her balance in the process, and makes her way towards the kitchen.She pats Bora on the head in a way that Handong assumes was meant to be comforting but instead turned out as if she was making fun of Bora’s short height, this, in turn, led to a mini-playful fight between the two with Bora constantly attacking Yoohyeon’s shins.Handong laughs, something she finds herself doing more and more each day, at the two. Their drunken states and sober states seem way too similar to the point there’s not much difference except that the two get louder and touchier. With a smile, Handong settles to eat her breakfast with the rest of her fellow tenants’ activities serving as background noise.After a quick headcount, Handong notes there’s one missing tenant in all the post-game night commotion besides Siyeon. She spots Yoobin laying awkwardly on one of Minji’s bean bags staring absently at the ceiling while tapping her fingers in a certain rhythm on the floor. Before she can figure out the rhythm, she watches Minji walk towards Yoobin with a glass of hangover juice and crouch beside her all while managing not to spill the liquid.Handong finds herself unconsciously blocking out Yoohyeon’s declarations that have Bora and Gahyeon in hysterics, as she instead focuses her attention on Minji running her free hand through Yoobin’s hair slowly and soothingly. Minji’s mouth moves slowly and Handong imagines she’s giving Yoobin a sort of pep talk to get off the bean bag and drink the juice.Yoobin sits upright, well as upright as she can manage while being on a bean bag, and carefully takes the glass in both hands. She turns to Minji and the two share a few words coupled with a short laugh before Yoobin gulps the juice. Her reaction is exactly what Handong expected, pure disgust. Handong can’t help but laugh, a bit too loudly, which draws the attention of Yoobin who gives her a tentative wave and a goofy smile. Minji notices this and turns towards Handong’s direction and a wide smile breaks out on her face as she also gives her a wave.Before Handong can properly register getting caught in the act of watching the two, Yoohyeon notices and immediately drapes an arm around Handong’s shoulder and waves back at Yoobin and Minji.“Good morning Yoobin, my best friend ever!” Handong winces and at this point is sure that if Yoohyeon keeps shouting while in close proximity, she’ll be one step closer to getting hearing problems. Soon Gahyeon and Bora join in yelling greetings to Yoobin, and Handong feels sorry for Minji’s neighbours whose quiet Saturday morning is most definitely being ruined.Bora decides to up the ante on the shenanigans by running towards Minji and Yoobin and throwing herself full force onto Yoobin who barely manages to catch her. The two land on the floor with a painful thud and a loud shriek from Minji, who Yoobin managed to somehow grab onto her shirt and drag her along to the ground. Gahyeon follows shortly after all while letting out a high pitched laugh.Handong simply watches in wonder and amusement at the giggling mess of her fellow tenants currently in a heap. A light pat on her back brings her face to face with Yoohyeon.“This is just a casual Saturday morning for us,” Yoohyeon says calmly as she looks to the others with a sheepish smile.As she’s about to ask several questions, like how haven’t they been evicted yet because of the sheer amount of noise they create, when a yell emanates from the pile to which she thinks sounds suspiciously like Yoobin, followed by a hand reaching out to grasp frantically at anything.Handong breathes out a laugh at the sight. “Casual, huh?”“More or less.” Yoohyeon shrugs as she abandons her breakfast and runs towards the others with her arms wide open.
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Bora feels an odd sense of déjà vu as she stands in front of Siyeon’s apartment. Just like last time, she’s there because Siyeon didn’t show up for their usual morning walks to the dance studio Bora works at. It’s been a few days since game night and she hasn’t seen Siyeon since they passed out drunk in Minji’s guest bedroom that night.She’s sure Siyeon is avoiding her. The apartment building isn’t that huge that you wouldn’t run into someone in three days. You see everyone every day, multiple times if you’re unlucky or lucky. Bora cracks her knuckles, a bad habit she picked up from Gahyeon, as she stares at the number 42D on the door. She kind of has a rough idea of why Siyeon’s avoiding her, and if her thoughts are right then she’s going to feel a lot less confident about herself.With her thoughts running a mile a minute, Bora finds herself pacing in front of the door not paying any mind to the fact that her boots, with every step that she makes, make an awful loud sound that then echoes throughout the hallway. It’s for this reason she also doesn’t hear the door being ripped open by a grumpy tenant.“Please stop pacing, I can hear you all the way from my room,” Yoohyeon says with enormous bags under her eyes and locks of her recently dyed silver-coloured hair straying everywhere. “I haven’t slept in two days and now that I’m finally done with that annoying assignment, I’m just trying to get some sleep. Instead, the sound of your boots accompanied by your nervous fidgeting aren’t exactly doing me any favours in letting me sleep.”Bora immediately feels more guilty than worried about Siyeon, the more she looks at Yoohyeon’s sleep-deprived face. However, before she can even voice her apologies, Yoohyeon continues on her sleep-deprived rant.“If you’re here for Siyeon she left like an hour or so ago, I’m not exactly sure since I was already getting my much-needed sleep until you started pacing like a-”“Okay,” Bora cuts Yoohyeon off before she says things she’ll forget and regret later on. “I’ll be on my way then.” Bora starts backing away slowly to which Yoohyeon nods furiously.“When Siyeon gets back…tell her I dropped by or that I was looking for her. Or just tell her to stop by my place. Honestly, whichever works well,” Bora rambles as she walks away with her back facing the staircase. Yoohyeon simply gives her a thumbs up and shuts the door a little bit too fast and too hard.Bora stares at the door before trudging back to her apartment to seek comfort from her roommate.“Gahyeon! I need you!” Bora laments as she takes off her boots and rushes to throw herself beside Gahyeon on the couch.“I told you to stop launching yourself everywhere, I almost spilt my cereal all over the couch.” Bora ignores Gahyeon statement, that doesn’t have any bite to it, and leans her head on Gahyeon’s shoulder while wrapping her arms around Gahyeon’s left arm.“Where’s the fun in that?” Bora asks, a playful tone in her voice, as she shifts closer to Gahyeon to get her head comfortable on Gahyeon’s shoulder. “Plus how would you know I need advice if I don’t launch myself at you?”Bora feels Gahyeon’s shoulders rise in laughter and she smiles, proud of her little joke and ability to make Gahyeon laugh. It almost makes her forget about her current predicament.“So what’s up? I thought you’d be at Siyeon’s place or on your way to work with her,” Gahyeon starts as she carefully manages to place her bowl of cereal on the coffee table without spilling it and with Bora still latched onto her arm.“I was, but she wasn’t home. Yoohyeon said she left an hour or so ago.” Bora sighs as she shuts her eyes to take in the soft sound of the YouTube playlist Gahyeon loves listening to on mornings when she doesn’t have class. “She’s avoiding me.”“That is highly possible since she has the night shift today she should be asleep or just relaxing, not going out at nearly seven in the morning.” Gahyeon hums thoughtfully before she shifts on the couch, in the process pulling Bora away from her, and sits with her legs crossed facing Bora.“So who did what to whom?” The simple way in which Gahyeon asks almost throws Bora into a state of shock and panic.“We kind of both did something to the other,” Bora mumbles as she looks off to the side where an array of picture frames of both her and Gahyeon, including friends and family, stand on the console table that was a gift from Minji from her trip to London. A pricey gift judging from the gold lining and Bora was getting side-tracked.“Gross, that sounds gross and since you’re blushing it makes it even worse. I’m going to eat my cereal in my room, this was a nice chat. Bye.” Bora has to grab onto Gahyeon’s arm to prevent her from leaving even though she can see the amusement in Gahyeon’s expression.“We just…maybe…kissed.” Bora’s sure her last words were inaudible but trust Gahyeon’s super sharp hearing to hear exactly what she said and proceed to have a mini freak out involving her squealing inaudibly and punching a pillow before calming down and putting on a blank expression. Bora holds in her laugh at the sight not wanting to rain on Gahyeon’s parade.“Details. When did this happen? Who started it? Are you guys dating? Man, I can’t wait to rub it in that dumb trio’s face that I found out about this before them.”“Dumb trio? Ah.” Realization dawns on Bora that she’s referring to Yoobin, Yoohyeon and Seochan and how they like ganging up on anyone and everyone, except Taerin because everyone’s terrified of Taerin.“Anyway, don’t get too excited.” Gahyeon gives her a quizzical look at her statement and she continues. “We were drunk off our faces during game night, next thing we know we’re in Minji’s guest bedroom kissing.”“Kissing,” Gahyeon deadpans.“Kissing,” Bora repeats.“You guys were making out in Minji’s guest bedroom, ew. Please tell me that’s all you did. Oh my gosh, don’t answer that. A horrible mental image just popped up. It’s like imagining my relatives…” Gahyeon stops her statement and shakes her head furiously as if trying to shake out the images.“It doesn’t matter if we kissed or made out or more, because the next morning Siyeon was gone and I haven’t seen her since then.” Bora slumps on the couch and faces the ceiling as she lets that awful insecure feeling she’s been having since that morning settle down in her gut.“What if she doesn’t like me and I got my hopes up for nothing? I know we were both drunk but I thought there was something…something between us.” Bora drapes her arm over her eyes, she doesn’t want Gahyeon to see her like this. She doesn’t want her to see her cry and fall apart.She had so much hope, from the morning walks, the way they both have articles of each other’s clothing, the lingering stares they both share with hers being more pining than ever, the almost borderline flirting they had and so much more. She thought she had all the signs right but turns out she didn’t and now she may even lose one of her closest friends because of a drunken moment of bravery.“Bora.” Gahyeon’s soft voice is all she hears before she’s tugged into a warm hug. “I may not know the scope of your feelings or Siyeon’s, but one thing I do know is that your friendship with Siyeon is too strong to be ruined by one drunk moment. So give it some time. It won’t be the most pleasant waiting time but in the end, it’ll be better and if not, I’ll be here to cheer you up.”Bora doesn’t reply on account of the tears that start streaming down her face. She instead hugs Gahyeon tighter and buries her face into Gahyeon’s shoulder. She hopes that it’s enough of a response that she knows Gahyeon will be there for her through tough times. The small circles Gahyeon rubs on her back assure her of this and she cries even harder.Bora’s thankful she has someone to cry to when things get tough.*-*-*Gahyeon lets her fingers run through Yoohyeon’s smooth hair as Yoohyeon snuggles her head on her lap while trying to find a comfortable position on her bed. Gahyeon is already settled with her back resting on the headboard and her feet beneath Yoohyeon’s warm covers.“This is nice and all but it’s just going to make me sleep faster instead of keeping me awake to talk to you,” Yoohyeon mumbles.“It’s actually to soothe you because you look like you’ll drop dead any second. When did you last eat?”“Maybe yesterday, I don’t know, I’m too tired to think.” Yoohyeon shrugs as she shifts her head upwards at the ceiling before facing Gahyeon. “Why won’t you let me sleep?”Gahyeon ignores her saccharine tone that has an underlying layer of slight malice, which Gahyeon understands no doubt. She’s also had her fair share of all-nighters that make her constantly question why she chose her course.“I’ll let you sleep once you tell me what’s going on with Siyeon and Bora.” Gahyeon goes straight to the point as Yoohyeon bites her lip thoughtfully probably debating whether or not she should reveal whatever information she has.“And don’t start with the whole, Roommate Code or whatever. Bora was in tears today and she rarely cries, she only cries when her favourite character on some show is constantly dying. So, I think that trumps over your Roommate Code.”“First off, stop using air quotes, the Roommate Code is a legit thing and second,” Yoohyeon says as she lifts her head off of Gahyeon’s lap to sit beside her, mirroring her sitting position against the headboard.“Siyeon didn’t tell me as much but she looked pretty distraught and kind of frantic. She kept saying how she’s messed it all up.” Yoohyeon then proceeds to recount the kiss during game night and how Siyeon also thought she misread the signs and left early in the morning because she couldn’t deal with what she assumed would be Bora’s rejection and potential ending of their friendship.Gahyeon drags her hand down her face in exasperation at how the two are alike and meant for each other.“Ever since then, Siyeon’s been avoiding Bora because she can’t deal with the situation and asked me not to tell Bora because she wants to be the one to do it.”“Do what?”“Actually talk to Bora and make things right, especially the avoiding part.”Gahyeon hums in response as she internalizes the situation. Both Bora and Siyeon like each other but don’t think the other likes them. They’ve also been avoiding each other but still want to talk things through.“I hope they settle things soon, Siyeon seems so out of it and from what I saw earlier, Bora seems just as worse.” Yoohyeon sighs as she slides down the headboard until she’s flat on her bed with her eyes closed.“Hopefully my good vibes can rub off on them,” Yoohyeon drawls in a drowsy tone.“What good vibes?” Gahyeon asks, rising from the bed to stretch out her limbs.“I’m taking Handong to the university later today to show her some of my work, so I’m pretty excited and I’ll come back home with good vibes.” Gahyeon studies the closed eyes and blissful smile on Yoohyeon before smiling to herself, albeit more mischievously.“Oh? What’s this? You have a date?” Gahyeon teases as she pokes Yoohyeon’s cheek repeatedly. “Who would have thought you had it in you to ask someone out? But a date at school is boring. Are you trying to bore her?”Yoohyeon playfully slaps Gahyeon’s hand away, eyes still closed. “It’s not a date. I was supposed to show her my work on game night but we all got drunk so we postponed it to today afternoon. So please let me sleep before then.”“Okay, okay, I’ll leave you to your beauty sleep.” Gahyeon walks out of her room but pokes her head through the opening of the door to say one last thing.“Have fun on your date!” Gahyeon says sweetly before expertly dodging a pillow Yoohyeon throws in retaliation.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Yes…that’s fine…”Yoobin does a double-take as she’s on her way to the university library. She spots Handong on the pathway talking animatedly on the phone. She decides to approach her fellow tenant and stir up some conversation. Yoobin finds she very much enjoys Handong’s company. They both have a weird and kind of dry deadpan sense of humour, which is all Yoobin needs to know they will be good friends.“Daewon, I said the time is fine. I’ll be done before you even realize it…I mean, have I ever failed you?”Yoobin draws closer and stops a good distance away from her to avoid eavesdropping on her phone call. Handong spots her and gives her a tiny wave before continuing her call.“That was one time and you swore never to bring it up again…Yeah, fine. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” Handong smiles at Yoobin as she tucks her phone into her back pocket.“Hey, didn’t think I would ever see you here,” Yoobin comments casually.“Neither did I but Yoohyeon promised to show me some of her work, so here I am.” Handong spreads out her arms to gesture at the university.“What? Unfair.” Handong raises an eyebrow at Yoobin’s comment to which Yoobin explains. “No matter how much I’ve asked, Yoohyeon won’t let me see any of her work for this semester’s project. I almost had to bribe her but Gahyeon talked me out of it just in time.”Handong smiles at the revelation. “Well, I guess it’s because I’m the new tenant or she just favours me.” The tone and way in which Handong says the last set of words informs Yoobin that she’s cheekier than she lets on…and she likes that.“You’re soon going to be my favourite person but don’t tell Minji or Yoohyeon I said that. They’ll be devastated.”“Sure, my lips are sealed though I don’t know how we got to this topic,” Handong says as she shifts a bit where she’s standing and it hits Yoobin that she probably doesn’t know exactly where to find Yoohyeon.“Since I’m going to the library, I’ll walk you to the photography room. It’s on the way to the library and that’s where you’ll find her especially if she’s going to show you her stuff,” Yoobin says as she motions Handong to follow her as she starts walking.“Thanks, this place looks like the perfect place to get lost.” Handong catches up to Yoobin and walks beside her with a matching pace.“It is. I got lost a few times in my first year. One time, Yoohyeon and I had a late class well into the night and our phones died and we barely knew anyone and we were lost. We ended up spending the night in some random lecture hall until early morning and then spending half an hour convincing one of the security guards that we weren’t trespassing. It was an interesting experience, to say the least.” Yoobin laughs at the memory of the two of them being scared of every little sound that night.“I can imagine,” Handong says with a laugh which takes Yoobin out of her trip down memory lane and back to the present situation that Yoohyeon has taken a liking to Handong and is doing a poor job of being subtle.Yoobin’s about to ask Handong what she thinks of Yoohyeon but decides to leave that topic for another day, instead, she asks what she’s been meaning to ask for a while now.“How are you liking it here so far?”“It’s good, everyone’s nice to me except for one lady on my floor. She always glares at me whenever she sees me like I offended her or something.”“I know exactly who you’re talking about and the best solution is to maintain eye contact and show no signs of fear.” Yoobin narrows her eyes in a demonstration to which Handong laughs. “Learnt it from Siyeon, works like a charm.”“I bet. She has one of the most intense gazes I’ve seen in a while,” Handong says before they lapse into a comfortable silence as they enter the Arts’ Building.“But I like it here, in general. It's doing wonders for my writing and creativity, so I can’t complain.”Yoobin perks up at Handong’s words. “Oh yeah, Yoohyeon told me about that. So how’s the book going? When can I see it and have you already published a book before?”“Wow, okay. Calm down.” Handong’s tone is laced with amusement. “To answer your questions, the book’s going kind of okay and kind of not okay. Two, you’ll see it like everyone else, when it’s done and on bookshelves. Finally, yes I have published a book before but that’s a whole other can of worms that I don’t want to open.”“Wait, you’ve published before? What’s the title? I just need the title and we won’t need to open the can of worms-” Yoobin’s excited rambling is cut off by Handong’s voice which is suddenly a pitch higher than usual.“I think that’s the photography room, at least according to the sign. Thank you for showing me the way Yoobin, have a nice day.” Handong’s words are rushed and Yoobin’s too focused trying to grasp all that she said that she almost misses Handong leaving for the photography room with not only her face flushed but also the tips of her ears a colourful shade of red.“That makes me even more curious about the book,” Yoobin says to herself before she shrugs and starts towards the library, her initial destination. She needs to do some research and start writing her report that’s due in less than twenty-four hours.Just as she’s about to enter the library, she feels her phone vibrate. She stops abruptly which causes a fellow student to bump into her. After a flurry of sheepish apologies, she finally checks her phone. It’s a simple text message from Minji with two vague words, ‘come outside’.Her curiosity getting the better of her, she turns around thinking the report can wait a few minutes. What she finds waiting for her outside makes her even gladder that she’s skipping out on doing her report.Parked outside is a flashy sleek blue sports car. Yoobin’s mouth falls open as she slowly walks closer to the car just as the tinted window on the driver’s side rolls down smoothly to reveal Minji with a pair of huge sunglasses.“Yoobin, honey! Hop in, we’re going for a ride!” Minji exclaims with a wide smile. Yoobin raises her eyebrows at the entire situation and the closer she gets to the car she realises that Siyeon is in the passenger seat with a pair of equally huge sunglasses and an embarrassed smile.“Where’d you get the car?” Yoobin asks once she’s standing next to the car in awe of how amazing and expensive it looks up close.“Borrowed it from a friend from work to cheer up this sad girl.” Minji points a thumb in Siyeon’s direction. “And thought I could use some help in cheering her up and instantly thought of you, so hop in.”Yoobin stares at Minji for a few seconds in mild amusement mixed with wonder before she turns to face the school building thinking about her report.“Whatever it is, I’ll promise to help you out later on.” Minji’s voice breaks through her thoughts and she faces her once more which proves to be a mistake because Minji is sporting that endearing expression on her face that could rival that of a cute child’s.“You’re writing my report for me, that’s the deal,” Yoobin declares.“You know I can’t do that,” Minji says smoothly as she takes off the sunglasses and tucks them above her forehead and into her jet black hair. “I’ll help you write it.”Minji gives her a smile that makes her agree instantly.With a defeated but slightly pleased sigh, Yoobin opens the backseat door and throws in her backpack before getting in the car.*-*-*The photography room is empty save for Yoohyeon and her professor, who’s going through her first batch of photographs.“Hmm, Yoohyeon, it’s not that I find the work terrible, on the contrary, it’s really good.” Yoohyeon’s professor sifts through her photographs with an expression that tells Yoohyeon he’s partly concerned.“But…” Yoohyeon starts.“But I think you seem to be having trouble in the inspiration department,” he finishes with a small smile that causes crinkles at the corner of his eyes. “I feel like I’m looking at the same pictures from last semester.”Yoohyeon rubs the back of her neck as she tries to come up with something, anything, to explain her lack of motivation lately. Luckily, she’s saved by the ringing of the professor’s phone. He checks the caller id and decides to call it a day.“I’ll see you next week and hopefully we can see a way forward for this inspiration thing. Okay?” His tone is kind and gentle as he packs up his things and leaves to take the phone call outside.Yoohyeon exhales slowly as she slumps into the nearest seat with her head on the backrest facing the old wooden ceiling. She holds her photographs upwards and stares at them.She understands what he meant when he said it felt like he was looking at her last semester’s work. It was the same uninspired landscape shots of the city and a few parks that she had also taken last time. All she changed was making them black and white. She hadn’t meant to choose the same subject matter, it’s just that she chose it last minute because she ended up procrastinating and being uninspired.“Wow, those look good.” Yoohyeon almost drops the photos at the voice that was suddenly a little too close to her ear. She whips her head around too fast and spots Handong standing behind her with a look of admiration.“Can I see?”“Uh, yeah.” Yoohyeon places the photos onto Handong’s outstretched hand. She sits in the chair beside her and suddenly Yoohyeon feels a bit self-conscious showing her work, work that, a few minutes ago, was considered uninspired.Handong looks through the photos slowly with a concentrated pout that makes her look cute and Yoohyeon has the sudden urge to ruffle her brunette locks. Her hand seems to be working faster than her brain because she finds herself ruffling Handong’s hair.“I seem to have soft hair, Minji’s ruffled my hair a few times now,” Handong jokes as she hands the photos back to Yoohyeon, who pulls back her hand as if it was burned. Handong smiles at this.“Don’t be embarrassed, I don’t mind you ruffling my hair.” Handong leans back in the chair with her elbow on the armrest and her cheek resting on the palm of her hand as she turns to Yoohyeon. “Don’t think I could turn down such an offer.”Yoohyeon doesn’t know what to say in response to Handong’s last statement that was filled with a tone that would make her jump to all sorts of conclusions, so instead, she changes the subject.“Well, about my photographs…” Yoohyeon’s voice trails off right before Handong swiftly replies.“They’re really good.”“Thanks…but…I mean….” Yoohyeon struggles over her words in hopes to find a clear way to express herself. Clearly, she can’t, so she just says it. “Of course you would think they’re amazing, you haven’t seen my other work. If you had, you’d call it uninspired just like my professor.”Yoohyeon sighs as she assumes her initial position of slumping in the chair in defeat.“That’s true but since I haven’t seen your other works I’m giving you an unbiased opinion. That being said, what I’m gathering is that you have some kind of block? Like the equivalent of writer’s block?”Yoohyeon nods in response.Handong hums in thought. “Well, when I get writer's block I try to write about random stuff I’m enjoying at the moment.” Yoohyeon perks up at Handong’s words.“Well in your case that may not work out, since you have assignments due and all that. So how about we help each other out?”“How so?” Yoohyeon asks curiously.“I’m not sure of the details but how about we have like a brainstorming session together? We get together and just throw ideas to help get us out of our slump.”“That sounds like a decent idea,” Yoohyeon says, the thought of hanging out with Handong makes the idea ten times better.“For now though, let’s go get some food and cheer you up,” Handong declares as she rises from the chair.“But I was going to show you my work,” Yoohyeon reminds Handong as she follows suit by rising from her chair as well and begins to gather the photos.“You can show them to me once we both have full stomachs and pleasant moods, come on it’ll be my treat.” Handong’s already on her way towards the door and Yoohyeon stares at her for a while in awe. A feeling she’s felt before when faced with her previous crushes, it blossoms within her and Yoohyeon grimaces at the thought. She doesn’t want to ruin things with Handong, so far she seems like she’ll be a great friend first and foremost.“Are you coming?” Handong’s voice stops her rambling thoughts. She assures Handong that she is indeed coming and finishes packing up her photos and takes her bag.“You have to pick the place though, seeing as how I’m still new to the area,” Handong says as they walk out the photography room and into the slightly busy hallway.“I know just the place,” Yoohyeon says as she decides to ignore the blossoming feeling and focus on the present, which is some alone time with Handong.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Minji hums along to the song playing on the car radio. She smiles to herself as she thinks of the numerous ways she’s going to spend her free weekend and the subsequent week off work. Her mood is sky high and nothing could bring it down. She switches from humming to trying to sing along to the song, her voice might be a bit off-pitch here and there but she doesn’t mind.The sports car she borrowed from one of her colleagues comes to a smooth halt at the red light and she leans back in the soft leather seat, relishing the amazing feel of the car. The sleek black interior with simple blue linings to match the car’s exterior paint job, and the overall expensive feeling the car gave her.Minji’s drumming on the steering wheel to the beat of the song, when she notices a familiar head of blonde hair. It’s Siyeon walking by. Minji rolls down the window, ready to call out to Siyeon when she spots the downcast expression on her face and her hunched shoulders.Siyeon’s trudging slowly through the busy sidewalk, bumping into a few people here and there, who were either on their way to a quick lunch or back to the office. Minji notes the red light is still on and makes a decision to change her afternoon plans of eating at her favourite restaurant. She’s going to cheer up her friend instead.“Siyeon! Lee Siyeon!” Siyeon’s head perks up and Minji immediately starts frantically waving her over to the car.“The light’s about to change, just come over!” Minji shouts, ignoring the stares from passers-by. Siyeon eventually walks over to the car after a few moments of reluctance. She stops short at the sight of the car and Minji has to assume she’s just realised what type of car Minji is in.“Yes, yes, I’m in a fancy sports car. I’ll tell you all about it later, for now, just get in the car before the light changes.” Siyeon snaps out of her daze and quickly gets into the car and settles slowly, almost cautiously, into the passenger seat.The light finally changes to green and Minji drives off a bit uncertainly now that her objective has changed from a relaxing lunch to cheering Siyeon up. First things first.“You’re probably wondering why I’m driving this nice car.” Siyeon nods. “Simple, a friend from work owed me a favour and I asked if I could take her car for a spin.”“What kind of friends do you have who just lend you their expensive cars and why haven’t I met any of them?” Siyeon’s voice is filled with amazement as she looks around the car while lightly touching everything.“Interesting friends,” Minji replies with her eyes flitting between the road and Siyeon. “You and the rest haven’t met them because I rarely talk about work so they don’t come up as often. Plus, they’re rarely in town so meeting them would be hard.”“Hmm, okay,” Siyeon hums as her exploration of the car comes to an end. She slumps into the seat and her head turns to watch the passing scenery. She has that melancholic look on her face again, Minji notes.“So, what going on with you?”“Not much, I took the night shift off, so I’m just trying to relax,” Siyeon replies almost robotically with little to no emotion in her voice.Minji nods as they fall into silence, silence filled with something unsaid.“Siyeon what’s wrong?” From the corner of her eye, Minji spots the quizzical look Siyeon gives her. “You’re all gloomy and sad. When I saw you walking down the street you looked like you might as well have had a rain cloud over your head.”No response. Minji sighs quietly, she doesn’t want to come off as meddlesome but she’s really worried about Siyeon. The last time she saw her this down in the dumps was when she almost cost someone else their job through an honest mistake.“Siyeon-”“I…I really don’t want to talk about it…at least not right now.” Siyeon’s sombre tone of voice is enough to get Minji to stop asking. They sit in silence for a while with Minji driving aimlessly. She considers taking Siyeon to the restaurant to get some lunch but concludes she wouldn’t be able to eat much if not at all.“Where exactly are we going?” Siyeon asks out of the blue and Minji is about to confess that she has no idea when she spots the name of a familiar street on one of the street signs.Jackpot.“We’re going to pick up someone and then we’re going to have fun the rest of the afternoon,” Minji says as she takes a turn.“What fun?”“I’m thinking anything from shopping to watching a movie to getting ice cream. We’ll just wing it.”XX University comes into view and Minji hopes one of their younger friends is free.“Are we picking up those three? Is that why we’re here?” Siyeon asks as she curiously looks out the window.“Yeah, if anyone can help in cheering you up, it’s them or one of them. Depends on who’s free really.” Minji parks the car and fishes out a pair of comically huge sunglasses. She hands one pair to Siyeon.“We need to look like we own this car, the glasses help with that,” Minji says when she notices the scepticism in Siyeon’s expression. She fishes out her phone and texts Yoobin to come outside.“Thank you.” Siyeon’s voice is barely above a whisper and she has a small smile on her face.Minji smiles in return and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s no problem.”Minji spots Yoobin coming out of one of the university’s building and she calls out to her, “Yoobin, honey! Hop in, we’re going for a ride!”After some back and forth, and a promise to help Yoobin with a report, the three set off for a fun afternoon with the main goal of making Siyeon feel a little bit better.*-*-*“That was fun and all but you better help me write my report.” Yoobin slams the backseat door, with a little bit too much force, making Siyeon flinch in discomfort at the thought of the expensive borrowed car getting damaged in some form.“I’ll bring you your favourite snacks once I return the car, okay?” Minji’s reply is swift, to which Yoobin wholeheartedly agrees as she walks up to the apartment building. Siyeon’s gaze is focused on the newly acquired hoodie that Yoobin insisted she wear promptly after buying it. She tries to read all the weird and random lettering on the back of the hoodie, a way to keep her mind off her prevailing issues all revolving around Bora.Siyeon’s just about to make out one of the words that suspiciously has the same amount of words as a certain “colourful” word when Yoobin turns around and gives her a thumbs up.“I hope you feel better soon, Siyeon!” Yoobin shouts earning a few stares from passers-by who then direct sympathetic eyes her way and she just wants to go home and curl up in bed and ignore the world. Luckily, Minji seems to sense her discomfort as she rolls up the tinted windows.Siyeon takes this time to further admire the sleek black and blue design of the car’s interior, the soft leather of the car seats, the smell of pure wealth and extravagance, and so on. As Siyeon takes in the car in its entirety, Minji finally addresses what Siyeon’s been avoiding since they met up earlier in the afternoon.“What happened between you and Bora?” Siyeon doesn’t immediately reply, instead, she focuses her gaze ahead at people walking up and down the street in a hurry, to go home and rest, to go work a night shift, to go hang out with friends, the possibilities were endless.“I…we…” Siyeon sighs sinking further into the soft seat. She isn’t sure exactly where to start. When she got drunk? When she kissed Bora? Or when she realized she liked Bora way before Handong even moved into the building?So she starts at the very beginning when the realization that she may like her friend and fellow tenant hit her as she watched Bora perform an intricate dance routine with such grace and discipline that her respect for her doubled. She keeps recounting her emotions in situations she didn’t even realize applied and she’s probably rambling but Minji listens patiently and she can’t thank her enough for that.When Siyeon finally narrates the happenings of that fateful game night that was filled with variants of alcohol and clumsy decisions, she feels a sense of relief fill her. Relief of finally being able to pour out all her feelings to someone without fear of judgement or being reprimanded.Her relief doesn’t last long when she spots Bora walking up to the apartment building with her duffel bag held tightly in a white-knuckled fist.“Siyeon.” She feels Minji’s hand on her shoulder squeeze reassuringly. “Go talk to her.” Siyeon breaks her gaze away from Bora who’s disappeared into the building through the main door, and faces Minji and hopes her expression doesn’t show the worry building up in her.Minji gives her a warm smile as she rubs her hand soothingly up and down her arm. “This has been eating you up for quite a long time and the two of you not speaking and having this awkward tension for three days isn’t helping. Go talk to her and hear how she feels about everything instead of coming up with wild scenarios.” Siyeon tries to argue but Minji shakes her head as she continues.“The more you keep avoiding each other the wilder your scenarios get and then your friendship will end up suffering. Now I know it’s not easy, it’s scary. Rejection is scary and it sucks but you know what, you’ll feel better after all the awful feelings pass and I’ll be here to make sure of that. On a different note, things could go well and the both of you could start a nice relationship, and that’s fine, but you’ll never know until you go talk to her and hear her side of things.”Siyeon feels comfort in Minji’s words and she can’t help but smile, a smile that has hints of sadness but also hope.“Thank you…for everything,” Siyeon chokes out as she pulls Minji into a tight hug and when they part, Minji gives her cheek a few light pats and begins shoving her out of the car.“Go talk to her now before she locks herself in her apartment,” Minji says all while unceremoniously dumping her bag into waiting arms. Siyeon laughs as the bag slips but she manages to catch it before it hits the ground.With a final string of ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you’, Siyeon all but dashes into the apartment building to catch up to Bora. The wind is cold against her skin but it serves to make her more aware of her surroundings so much so that she avoids running into a young girl walking out the building.Siyeon forgoes greeting the guards (she’ll have to explain to Mokjoon the situation especially after seeing the look of disappointment on his face at being ignored) and responding to Yoobin and instead dashes towards the now closing elevator doors. She manages to slip into the elevator in the last minute. She pumps her fist in celebration as a way to ignore her fear of being in elevators creeping up her throat.A cough from the other person in the elevator aside from herself and Bora brings her back to the present and an embarrassed flush settles on her cheeks. She gives the man, who looks to be around their age, an awkward smile and a small bow before sidling up to Bora at the back of the elevator.Siyeon feels Bora shift away from her and she won’t lie, it hurt, but that served as a reminder as to why Siyeon ran all the way.“Can we talk?” Siyeon waits for Bora to acknowledge her and when she does, Siyeon can’t help but notice that Bora’s also sporting a similar pair of bags under her eyes.“About everything,” Siyeon finishes, her hands now wringing the strap of her bag nervously.“Here?” Bora asks, her voice low to avoid the other person eavesdropping (which he already was, Siyeon had noticed his blatant side glances).“I was thinking my place since Yoohyeon’s hanging out with Handong, so we’ll have some privacy at least,” Siyeon emphasizes the last bit of her suggestion with her eyes making contact with the man. He looks away pretty quickly which earns a laugh from Bora and Siyeon takes that as a small win and a step in the right direction.The elevator finally stops at their floor (Siyeon notes, later on, that it was slower than usual and she’ll probably have to tell the landlord about it) and all three leave the elevator in silence. They all walk in the same direction until the man stops at the door on the opposite side of the hallway from hers. It’s her neighbour that she’s never seen since he moved in around the same time Handong moved into the building.After a bit of searching, she finally finds her keys and opens up the door for Bora. She steps aside to let her in and before she can follow her, the man speaks up.“Good luck,” he says, fists up in support, before he gets into his apartment and shuts his door leaving Siyeon a bit confused but thankful nonetheless for the added support. She decides she’ll bake him some cookies or something as a late ‘welcome to the building’ gift.“You can do this Siyeon,” Siyeon tells herself. “You’ve been through worse situations, the possibility of rejection shouldn’t scare you.” So why did she feel so scared? She shakes her head to get rid of any pessimistic thoughts, takes a deep breath and gets into her apartment with determination to sort this situation out.Bora’s already on the couch in what looks to be the most awkward position. Her back is tensed up and straight as can be, her hands are folded perfectly (all prim and proper like in those old historical shows Yoohyeon sometimes watches) and her legs, well her leg, was bouncing up and down at a speed that would probably wear out the carpet.Siyeon decides to apply Minji’s advice to first ease the tension in the room before getting into the heavy stuff.“So, how was your day?” Siyeon hopes Bora doesn’t notice the slight wavering in her voice.“Siyeon,” Bora starts with a tone that causes Siyeon to hesitate for a few seconds before finally sitting beside her on the couch. “I had to teach two extra classes today, I’m tired, and I’m pretty sure my ankle shouldn’t hurt the way it does when I walk. So Siyeon, please, if we’re not going to talk about why you’ve been avoiding me, then I’ll just be on my way to bed.”“Do you need some ice for your ankle? I can get some.” Siyeon instinctively stands up to get the ice but Bora holds onto to her arm before she can go anywhere.“Siyeon, let’s talk first.” Bora’s voice is slow and calm and Siyeon flops back onto the couch with a sigh.“First off, I never meant to ignore you…I just…panicked. I woke up with a huge hangover that day and vague memories and recollections of what happened that night. So many thoughts were running through my head and I freaked out, I freaked out and the first instinct I had was to run.” Siyeon runs a hand down her face before meeting Bora’s eyes.“In hindsight, that was probably the worst course of action and I’m sorry that it made you think that I hate you or something because I don’t, I don’t hate you, and I don’t think I ever could.”“I don’t remember all of what happened that night but I do remember most of what went down between us and it felt…amazing. Not having to hide what I was feeling, still feeling for you, was amazing and nice and kissing you is something that I don’t regret.” Siyeon sucks in a nervous breath when she sees Bora’s eyes widen. She’s not sure if it’s a good sign or not but she decides to keep going while she still has her confidence.“I will apologize if you didn’t want that to happen and I will understand if you never want to see me again. I just wanted you to know how I feel and that I don’t hate you.” Bora is now looking intently at the coffee table and Siyeon isn’t sure what to make of that.“So, Kim Bora, I like you and I’ve liked you for a long while now. I understand if you don’t feel the same way and it’ll probably be awkward for a while, granted you don’t cut me out of your life completely, but I do hope, at the very least, we can still be friends. You’re one of my best friends who’s been with me through the worst of times and I don’t want to lose your friendship for anything.”Siyeon exhales as she leans back into the couch. Her shoulders feel lighter now that she’s taken the weight off of them. She relishes in the feeling of finally being able to tell the one person that mattered, how she feels. It feels good.Siyeon notes that Bora, in her silence, has taken to pacing on the opposite side of the coffee table. Her face is scrunched up in a way that only happens when she’s thinking too hard and Siyeon almost laughs at how cute she looks before it dawns on her that the reason Bora is thinking so hard is because of her confession.Siyeon decides that picking at the loose thread on one of her pants’ leg is the best way to distract her mind from going into a less optimistic direction. She tries winding it around her finger to pull it out but it only results in it getting longer and her pants getting bunched up. She winds it tighter and starts to pull. She feels a tiny prick where the thread meets her skin. She stops pulling because she realises she’ll needlessly end up cutting her finger and also because Bora stopped pacing.Bora’s eyes are unreadable as they face Siyeon and her smile is small.“Siyeon,” Bora starts while wringing her hands, “You’re not going to lose our friendship. I value our friendship too much and these last few days of us not talking and avoiding each other were horrible. I thought our friendship was fading.” Bora moves around the coffee table before she settles in her original position on the couch this time in a more relaxed manner.“You’re also not entirely to blame for this whole thing. I kissed you back and more. I also didn’t make much of an effort to talk to you, I mean, phones are a thing and I didn’t even send a text asking what was going on. I’m sorry about that.”Siyeon tries to hold back the look of surprise on her face when Bora takes her hands into her own. Siyeon’s eyes focus on the small motions of Bora’s thumbs on the back of her hands.“This wasn’t how I envisioned ever confessing, after an argument and through apologies, but life is funny like that I guess,” Bora says in a light tone and Siyeon looks up from their hands to Bora’s face that had a shy smile that she’s sure she’s seen once or twice in her time knowing Bora.“Siyeon, I like you too. Would you like to go on a date sometime?” Siyeon doesn’t respond immediately to Bora’s question, her mind is still trying to wrap around the fact that her feelings are reciprocated and she’s not getting rejected.“Or not? We could just chill or do something else, we don’t have to-”Siyeon stops Bora’s ramblings by nodding vigorously in agreement to the date.“Yes, let’s go on a date sometime.” Siyeon feels giddy and rises from the couch, pulling Bora up along with her. Her instincts tell her to move, to get rid of the adrenaline building up, and so she jumps. She keeps hold of Bora’s hands and makes her jump too. Soon the apartment is filled with hearty laughter.Bora stops with a yelp and Siyeon remembers her ankle’s hurt. She immediately stops jumping and moves Bora back to sit on the couch. She crouches to get a better look at Bora’s ankle and notices a swelling.“You should lie down while I get you some ice,” Siyeon says before going to the freezer. She comes back with a bag full of ice and finds Bora lying on the couch staring up at the ceiling.“Got ice.” Siyeon shakes the bag before sitting on the coffee table (she hopes it won’t break) and gently placing the bag on Bora’s ankle.“Thank you.” Bora’s voice is a low whisper and Siyeon turns to give her a reassuring smile.“So…when did you start liking me? I want all the details, I might be here for a while because of my ankle,” Bora says as she gestures at the armchair beside the couch. Siyeon almost disagrees until Bora gives her a look that means she’s not going to argue with her on the matter.With an exaggerated sigh of feigned annoyance, Siyeon sits on the armchair and pulls her legs up. She folds her arms over her knees and rests her head on her arms and begins to recount the moment she realized she liked Kim Bora.They spend most of the night talking about anything and everything regarding their feelings before shifting to more mundane topics involving their friends and jobs.
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“I hope you know exactly what’s written on that hoodie.” Yoobin shrugs at Mokjoon’s comment as she takes a step back from the security booth and twirls to properly show off the hoodie she bought a few hours ago while shopping with Siyeon and Minji.“Is it bad? Cause if it is, don’t tell me,” Yoobin says as she settles back into her original position of leaning on the security booth while watching people walk in and out of the building.“I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t tell you.” Mokjoon leans back in his chair as he tosses a ball of paper through the booth’s opening to hit Yoobin on the side of her face. Yoobin throws it back, with a little bit more force and horrible aim, and of course, it hits Taerin right in the face.“I’m so sorry.” Yoobin’s apology is immediate while Taerin’s cold eyes meet her own. She takes to repeatedly apologising to avoid Taerin’s wrath while Mokjoon snickers.Her apologies die off for two reasons. One, when she realises Taerin isn’t even listening anymore (she’s reading a book that Yoobin’s been eyeing for a while now) and two, when she spots Siyeon rushing into the building making a beeline for the elevator. She calls out to her to ask what’s wrong but gets ignored.“She’s in a hurry.” Yoobin nods in agreement to Mokjoon as she squints and spots Bora in the elevator right as it shuts. Well, that makes sense, she’s probably off to try and work things out with Bora. Yoobin isn’t a hundred per cent sure of what happened between the two but what she does know, is that seeing Siyeon trying to work things out is a good sign especially after how bummed out she was for most of the afternoon.“I’ve procrastinated long enough.” Yoobin pushes herself off the booth and waves at Mokjoon and Taerin. Mokjoon waves back enthusiastically which is a contrast of Taerin’s small wave with her eyes never leaving the book. At least she wasn’t ignored, Yoobin thinks to herself as she walks off towards the elevator. From the corner of her eye, she spots Gahyeon walking out the mailroom with a stack of mail in her hand.“Hey there,” Yoobin says when Gahyeon’s close enough. “Going up?”“Sure, yeah. Also, hey,” Gahyeon replies as they get into the empty elevator. “What you up to?”“I need to write a report before tomorrow,” Yoobin groans out and punctuates her words by banging her head on the elevator wall.“Hmm, I have some work due too, want to do it together?” Gahyeon offers as she sifts through her mail.“Yes, please. I need all the motivation I can get.”“Your place?” Gahyeon asks and Yoobin doesn’t miss the hope in her voice. She knows exactly why and she’s not about to let her get any satisfaction.“Nope, my roommates are home and would end up distracting us,” Yoobin says as she gets off the elevator on Gahyeon’s floor.Gahyeon sighs and seemingly deflates as she leads the way to her apartment. “My place it is.”Yoobin thanks Gahyeon with a smile as she walks into the apartment and makes a beeline for the couch the moment her shoes are off. She pulls out her laptop from her bag and notices how quiet the apartment it.“Bora isn’t here? She was in a hurry earlier, I thought she would be here already,” Yoobin comments as she shifts into a comfortable cross-legged position.“I guess not,” Gahyeon calls out from the fridge. “There’s only milk and some cereal left. You want some?”Yoobin agrees to it mostly because she wasn’t sure when Minji would be back with the snacks she promised. Speaking of which, Yoobin texts Minji to come to Gahyeon’s place instead.They work on their respective assignments while starting random topics while soft music plays in the background. They go on like this for a while before Gahyeon speaks up in a tone that automatically fills Yoobin with worry.“Yoobin…how did you end up choosing your course? What made you sure it was what you wanted?” Gahyeon’s voice is hushed in a way that Yoobin is accustomed to hearing when Gahyeon has a lot running through her mind.Yoobin thinks to her first year of university. “Hmm, I don’t think I was ever sure of what I wanted, I mean, I still don’t know if what I’m doing is exactly what I want.”“I just decided to follow my passion because, at the end of it all, I don’t want my degree to be something I hate or feel lukewarm about. Now, this is an idealistic way of thinking and that’s why I also had to think realistically like jobs and stuff. It took a while but I made my decision with the help of my family and friends.” Yoobin’s not good with sentimental talks or giving words of advice, so she hopes that she’s somehow helped Gahyeon, even a little.“So what exactly is bothering you?” Yoobin asks when Gahyeon’s eyes remain focused on her notepad. She’s rolling her pencil to and fro on the coffee table with her fingers and with her eyebrows furrowed.“University, my course, life, everything really.” Gahyeon sighs as she stops playing with her pencil and meets Yoobin’s gaze. “But I guess the major thing right now is my course, I’m not sure it’s what I want. I just don’t feel anything for it except obligation and I don’t like that feeling when it’s related to my future.”Yoobin knows exactly how Gahyeon feels. She moves off the couch and sits beside Gahyeon on the floor. “I can’t give you a perfect answer because we’re all different with different circumstances but I will say, follow your heart and instincts but don’t forget your brain.”Yoobin pulls Gahyeon into a hug. Gahyeon’s head rests on her shoulder and she soothingly runs a hand through her hair.“I’ll be here for you, and so will Yoohyeon and Seochan, and Bora and everyone else. We’ll always be here for you whenever you need our support,” Yoobin assures Gahyeon. She pulls back and holds Gahyeon at arm’s length. She brushes the stray black locks of hair from Gahyeon’s face before she pulls her in for a final hug.“Don’t keep it all to yourself, okay?” Yoobin feels Gahyeon nod against her shoulder and she smiles. She hopes Gahyeon feels a bit better, she’s not good at this stuff like Minji is. They stay in the same position for a while with the playlist switching to a more upbeat retro song that they both know too well.“Gahyeon, do you know what song is playing?” Yoobin asks cheekily as Gahyeon pulls away with a small smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.“Of course, it’s only the best dance track ever,” Gahyeon replies, laughter dancing in her words.“And the song that played when we first met each other,” Yoobin says as she stands up and offers her hand to Gahyeon who takes it lifting herself off the floor.“I remember, you were drunk and threw up on some guy’s shoes.” Gahyeon laughs as she starts moving to the beat, a bit randomly but to the beat nonetheless.Yoobin laughs at the memory as she also starts moving a bit more fluidly than Gahyeon. It was after a campus party of her second year and she had lost sight of Yoohyeon so she decided to wait at the closest park bench beside some old man.“Then I had to pay the cleaning bill because you latched onto me and claimed I was your sister.” Gahyeon’s peals of laughter fill the room.“You say it as if I was some parasite or something,” Yoobin retorts as she twirls Gahyeon in a clean circle. “I made your night eventful and even taught you a dance move.” In her drunken haze at the time, she had managed to get her phone, open the music app and play the first song that came on shuffle.It’s their song at this point.“You didn’t teach me anything!” Gahyeon exclaims as she starts jumping to the beat. “You just mumbled stuff and moved my arms up and down.”Yoobin thinks back to that time and vaguely remembers something similar. She cackles and shrugs before jumping along with Gahyeon.They dance until the end of the song with random cheesy moves. They don’t notice that Minji’s standing at the doorway with a smile on her face, a bag full of snacks in one hand and a phone, in her other hand, recording the two dancing.
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Seochan’s going on about the time Yoohyeon embarrassed herself in front of the entire high school population as Handong looks through her mail which consists of a suspicious amount from her editor. It’s a ploy to annoy her into finishing her first draft, a ploy that was honestly starting to work because Handong doesn’t know how much more she can take before she sends a strongly worded letter in reply.She takes her neighbour’s mail (Daejung had insisted on crafting a “system” that had them getting each other’s mail on different days of the week) and one pristine white envelope with blue waves painted on it falls to the ground. She reaches for it but Seochan beats her to the punch and picks it up just as he finishes his story.“Going on vacation soon?” He asks as he hands her the letter with an amused expression.“Maybe Daejung,” Handong says as she takes the letter and puts it back to Daejung’s pile of mail. She turns her attention back to the elevator that the two of them have been waiting to come down for a good amount of time.“I’m guessing something’s wrong, or about to go wrong with it. We should just take the stairs,” Seochan suggests as he starts walking towards the staircase.Handong follows reluctantly because she’s not a fan of stairs, it’s too much exertion for her liking, especially in the morning. She grumbles as she takes her first steps and Seochan laughs.“I should be the one complaining, I have to go all the way up to the top floor.” Handong shrugs in response and Seochan takes it as a cue to delve into another one of his high school adventures with Yoobin and Yoohyeon, this one involving the trio almost getting expelled.The story’s just getting interesting when Handong hears a familiar voice raised to an oddly higher level than she’s used to hearing. She parts ways with Seochan (she’ll follow up later on the story, it’s too good for her to not get a conclusion) and rounds the corner into the second-floor hallway.The sight before her would have had her laughing if she wasn’t so concerned for the safety of the parties involved. Just outside her apartment, looking ready to fight, is her neighbour, Daejung, and her editor, Daewon.“You seem pretty suspicious, if you ask me,” Daejung declares with his voice deeper than usual and his chest puffed out as a way of intimidating Daewon, a feat that isn’t working out in his favour as Daewon stands there with his arms folded while sporting an unimpressed look on his face.“Good thing no one asked,” Daewon fires back before his eyes meet Handong’s. “Finally, you’re here. Please tell your neighbour that I’m not trying to rob and kidnap you.”Handong rolls her eyes at the entire situation before unlocking her door and formally introducing the two to each other. Once her door is unlocked, she motions Daewon to get in and turns to hand Daejung his mail.“Thanks and sorry about all that. In my defence, he looked suspicious when he was trying to open your door,” Daejung explains with a sheepish expression.“It’s okay, at least the two of you didn’t end up fighting. Anyway, I need to go because he’s waiting for a status report. So, I’ll see you-”“Wait! I have something important to tell you, not now though,” he says hurriedly.“You can just tell me right now.”“No, the mood right now isn’t right.” Handong smiles at this as Daejung continues. “How about I invite you to brunch with Sohyun and me?”Handong’s first thought is that the two were breaking up again, as they’re prone to, and for some reason, wanted to make it official. She’s not sure if she wants to have a front-row seat to their usual back and forth but the expectant look and wide eyes that Daejung’s sporting makes her agree.“I’ll text you when. See you later.” Daejung is beaming as he walks to his apartment and Handong has to wonder what she just got herself into.She walks into her apartment to find Daewon playing with Aiko. He’s moving his hand in rapid and jerky movements to keep Aiko’s attention. She watches as Aiko, after a lot of darting around, manages to catch his hand in her tiny white paws and proceed to immediately munch on it.“Ow! Stop!” Daewon yelps as he tries to pry his hand out of Aiko’s mouth. In his desperation, he seems to notice Handong leaning against the door. “Why is your cat trying to bite my hand off?”Handong walks over and carefully diverts Aiko’s attention from his hand. She picks up and places Aiko on the floor once she’s distracted enough to stop biting Daewon’s hand.“Didn’t know you liked cats, you always seemed more of a dog person,” Handong comments as they both sit down on opposite seats of her dining table.“I’m more of both. Now,” Daewon starts as he folds his arms over the table and fixes Handong with an expectant look. “Where’s that first draft you promised?”Handong looks off to the side as she carefully begins to craft an excuse that wouldn’t upset him too much. No such luck, she doesn’t know what to tell him other than it’s coming along. Aiko seems to somehow sense her discomfort (Handong realises it’s something more prevalent of late) and rubs against her feet until Handong picks her up and places her on her lap.“I’m not done with the first draft but I am making progress and it should be done soon. I just need more time.” Handong softly strokes Aiko’s soft white fur which leads to her purring and getting drowsy.“Handong, you’re not making my life easier. I’ve already extended your deadline, the publishing house is getting a bit impatient.”“I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll owe you one if you just give me a month. I’ve been having amazing bursts of creativity and my brainstorming sessions are paying off. So, give me a month and you’ll have a wonderful first draft.”Daewon gives her a look that Handong isn’t sure exactly what it means. His eyes are narrowed as if he’s suspicious of whether or not she’ll have the draft ready in a month, and he’s biting his lip as if contemplating the offer.“Two weeks.” He says with a now blank stare.“Three,” Handong says immediately, not letting her controlled expression break.“Fine, three weeks and an extra three days in case anything goes wrong.” He stands up and extends a hand to Handong. She frees her right hand from petting Aiko, who’s fast asleep, and shakes his hand.“Thank you, I’ll buy you a huge lunch one day.”Daewon laughs. “That and you owe me one. I’ll cash in on my favour one day, mark my words.”“Obviously, within reason.”“Obviously.” He repeats as he gathers his things. “No need to walk me out or anything.”Handong points to Aiko sleeping. “I can’t disrupt her sleeping, that would be evil.”“Of course it would.” Daewon looks at her for a few moments with an unreadable expression before he speaks up. “You seem…more lively than usual.” Handong gives him a quizzical look in response to his statement.“Yeah, you do, at least much livelier than when you moved here,” he says as he walks away to put on his shoes.“Is that a good thing or bad,” Handong yells loud enough for Daewon to hear (but not loud enough to wake up Aiko) from her seat on the dining table.“It’s good, trust me.” She hears him say before she hears the door click indicating he’s left. She thinks of his words as she looks down at Aiko.Is she that different from how she was when she first moved in? She thinks maybe it’s true especially when she remembers how closed off she was when she moved into her first apartment before moving to Happy Face Apartments. She thinks of how her previous apartment building tenants never made her feel as welcome as the ones she has now.“I guess I have changed, haven’t I Aiko?” she whispers as Aiko snuggles further into her lap seeking more warmth. She laughs lightly at this before it dawns on her that she doesn’t have much time before Daewon wants the first draft.Handong’s at a particularly tough spot in her writing. She knows what she wants to write, she’s outlined and everything, but for some reason, she just can’t seem to turn the outline into words on her page.Aiko lets out a soft meow and Handong looks to find wide blue eyes staring back at her. Aiko meows once more before hopping off her lap and disappearing down the hallway and probably into her bedroom to sleep on her bed.Handong knows what she needs to do. Call Yoohyeon. She used to be a bit more reserved when asking Yoohyeon to join her for a brainstorming session but over the past few weeks since they first made the arrangement, she’s become more comfortable asking Yoohyeon for sessions. Sometimes she just enjoys Yoohyeon’s company and uses it as an excuse for the two of them to spend time together.Before Handong can change her mind, she calls Yoohyeon. The phone rings a few times before Yoohyeon picks up.“Hello?”“Hey Yoohyeon, how’s your morning going?” Handong asks as she draws vague patterns on the table with her fingers.“Gross,” Yoohyeon scoffs.“Gross? That’s a new way of defining a morning. How is it gross?”“Siyeon and Bora woke me up with all their giggling while they were making breakfast.”“Shouldn’t that be considered cute rather than gross?”“It would be if they weren’t so kissy-kissy and touchy-touchy. Also, they barely made breakfast, they broke a couple of eggs, badly I might add, there were eggshells everywhere, and called it a day. I had to make breakfast in the end.”“That sounds tough. If you want to escape the grossness you could come over,” Handong offers, a hopeful tone lacing her voice.“Oh?”“Yeah, we can brainstorm while you’re here.”“Yeah?” There’s something in Yoohyeon’s voice that Handong can’t place. She thinks it’s eagerness but she doesn’t want to get her hopes up.“Yeah, and I’ll make you toast and a cup of coffee. How does that sound?”“Sounds great, I’ll be there in five minutes.”“Okay.”Handong hangs up the phone with a smile forming slowly on her face. She does a quick spin before she decides to make the toast and coffee she promised Yoohyeon. She turns to leave for her kitchen when she spots Aiko giving her a strange look and a meow that almost sounds like she was making fun of Handong.Handong just waves her off. She doesn’t mind, not at all.
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It’s been a few weeks since Siyeon and Bora more or less confessed their feelings for each other and they still haven’t gone on a date. Bora’s tried, on multiple occasions, to set up a proper first date for them but something always gets in the way. Extended shifts, other prior engagements, exhaustion, the list goes on and on.Bora sighs as she internally curses at the local weatherman who claimed it would be sunny all day with no signs of rain. Well, it’s raining, hard. She looks at the drenched picnic basket in Siyeon’s hand and feels even worse. She had the perfect date planned, a late afternoon picnic followed by a stroll through the park upon nightfall since she knows how much Siyeon loves looking at the night sky (she says it helps in coming up with song lyrics).“Well, this is inconvenient.” Siyeon flashes her an encouraging smile and she groans in response. All Bora wanted was to have a memorable first date that the two of them would remember for, hopefully, years to come.“Don’t be too hard on yourself, the weather channel got it wrong. Nothing you could do about that.”“Except maybe look at the sky.” Bora points up at the grey gloomy sky. “I should have just followed my instincts when I saw that stray grey cloud.” Siyeon laughs at this and Bora feels her grumpiness at the situation decrease.“How about we get some food first then you can vent about your rage against the weather and the weatherman after.” Bora agrees to her idea especially when she feels her stomach rumble. She hasn’t eaten anything since she woke up. She was too busy making sure the food for the picnic was just right.“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I think there’s a small restaurant nearby we can run to without getting too wet,” Bora says as she eyes the rain with wary eyes. It’s not as much as before but still enough to get someone without an umbrella wet in mere seconds.Bora’s thinking about the shortest route when she feels Siyeon’s hand slip into hers before dragging her into the rain.“Which way do we go?” Siyeon shouts over the rain with a laugh and Bora gets the indescribable urge to kiss Siyeon, and she almost does but the rain starts getting heavier. So she saves the thought for another time and pulls Siyeon in the direction of the restaurant.After a few minutes of convincing the receptionist to let them in, even though they were dripping wet, they finally get into the restaurant and find a table. One of the waiters was nice enough to get them towels to try and dry themselves off.Bora takes in the restaurant’s simple, yet romantic, ambience as she dries off. She notes that though the gloominess outside might ruin the atmosphere, the restaurant makes up for that with added low lighting and individual tiny lamps on tables. Her eyes continue roaming the restaurant and the other customers until she lands on a particular table and lets out an audible gasp.“Bora?” Siyeon’s eyebrows furrow and before Bora can stop her, she’s already following Bora’s line of sight to the table in question.“It’s Minji and Yoobin.” Siyeon waves both arms at them trying to get their attention. A couple of stares later from other customers, Minji and Yoobin finally take note of Siyeon and wave back.“We should join them,” Siyeon says as she turns back to face Bora. Bora grimaces at Siyeon’s words. The last thing she wants is their first date to comprise of two extra people who would make it the most unromantic experience ever.“I think not.” Bora’s not going to let this potentially ruin their already struggling first date.“Why?”“Cause we’re dripping wet, for one?”“They’ll understand, come on, the more the merrier. Also, you need cheering up, you’re gloomier than the weather.” Siyeon drags Bora out of her chair and to Minji’s and Yoobin’s corner table next to the window.“You guys have room for two more?” Siyeon asks while already dragging two chairs from a nearby table.“I guess we do now.” There’s an odd underlying tone to Minji’s words that Bora isn’t sure what to make of, especially when she says them with her usual easy smile.They settle down as the waiter takes their order and Minji and Yoobin keep eating. As they wait for their order, Bora asks the question that’s been itching at the back of her mind for a while.“What are the two of you doing here? It’s pretty far from the apartment building and the university.” Bora notes the slight pause in Minji’s eating before she resumes.“I felt bad that Yoobin ended up handing in her report late a few weeks back, so I decided to treat her to a nice late lunch.”“Oh, was that when we rode in your friend’s sports car?” Siyeon asks after thanking the waiter for her food.“Yes, it was but I kept telling Minji it wasn’t her fault. I just underestimated how long the report would take even with me staying up all night.”Bora looks around the table in mild confusion. “Sports car? Minji, you have a sports car?”“Not me, my colleague does. They lent it to me as a part of a favour.”“You used your favour from your rich colleague to drive a sports car? Once?” Bora asks incredulously at the missed opportunity from Minji.“It was worth it because I was cheering Siyeon up.” Minji points her fork at Siyeon who looks away with an embarrassed flush on her cheeks. Then it dawns on Bora that she’s referring to the day they talked about their feelings. She knew that both of them weren’t doing well in the happiness department for those couple of days prior but she didn’t think it was that bad for Siyeon.“Thank you,” Bora says simply, earning an understanding look from Minji. She takes Siyeon’s hand into her own under the table and gives it a light squeeze before digging into her food.The four eat in relative silence while occasionally bringing up topics from their daily lives to talk about. By the time they’re done eating, the rain has stopped and dusk was upon them.They leave the restaurant with full stomachs and Bora in a better mood than before. Bora decides she can still make the most out of the date with Siyeon.“You guys go ahead, Siyeon and I have something to do.” Minji and Yoobin give her conspiratorial looks and Bora already knows she’s in for some teasing. Siyeon, on the other hand, gives her a lost look at her comment and opens her mouth to probably refute Bora’s statement but Yoobin interrupts her instead.“Are you guys finally dating? Or are you still in the weird phase of tiptoeing around each other?”The awkwardness after Yoobin’s question only lasts a few moments before Siyeon looks at Bora, with so much emotion in her eyes that catches Bora off-guard for a second, and says her next words in a low whisper just for the four of them to hear.“Yes. Yes, we are.”Bora gets that urge again, the one she had when they were in the rain. She wants to kiss Siyeon.“Well, it’s about time.” Minji gives them a thumbs up before looping her arm with Yoobin’s. “The two of us will leave you to your business then.” Yoobin waves, a gleeful smile on her face, as Minji directs them onto the path leading them home.“So, what exactly is this thing we have to do?” Siyeon asks.Bora looks up at the sky before she replies, “You’ll see, come on.” With a nod of her head, the two set off with Bora in the lead.*-*-*The grass is still damp from the rain and the sky is clearing out as the night sets in, much to Bora’s delight. She casts a glance at Siyeon strolling beside her and finds she’s already gazing at the sky with a faraway look, almost as if lyrics are already being written in her mind.Bora turns her gaze to the young couple walking ahead of them, hands entwined and swinging between them as they chat and giggle as if they’re the only two people present in the world. Bora looks back at Siyeon before settling her gaze once again on the couple.“I’m sorry about today,” Bora says, her voice sounding a bit foreign to her ears. “It was supposed to be a wonderful first date instead we got rained on and got soggy food as a consolation.” Bora sighs as she watches the couple stop to sit at a nearby park bench.“Bora,” Siyeon starts in a calm voice. “You need to stop being so hard on yourself. Was it a perfect date? No. Was it memorable? Definitely. Did we enjoy ourselves? I did. What about you?”Bora thinks back to the running in the rain while having the urge to kiss Siyeon, to the late lunch they had with Minji and Yoobin which she did enjoy when she wasn’t thinking about her failed plans and the walk they’re currently having.“I did, I enjoyed myself.”“Then as far as I’m concerned it was a memorable first date and that makes it all kinds of perfect in my books,” Siyeon declares as she drapes an arm over Bora’s shoulder.“Then stop sulking and enjoy this beautiful but cold night with me.”Bora nods in response before she decides to finally give in to her urge. With a quick scan of the near-empty park, she makes sure no one watches as she plants a quick kiss on Siyeon’s cheek.Bora feels her entire face heat up before Siyeon comes to a complete halt. She’s too embarrassed to meet Siyeon’s gaze.“You missed,” Siyeon says softly while carefully dragging Bora behind one of the trees. Bora feels the light touch of Siyeon’s hand on her chin lifting her face to meet Siyeon’s eyes.Bora instinctively leans forward and pulls Siyeon lower by the back of her neck. It’s short yet sweet when their lips meet for the briefest of kisses and when they break apart, Bora can hear the thundering of her heart in her ears.“Now, it’s perfect,” Bora whispers as she lets Siyeon pull her in for another kiss.
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Gahyeon’s been staring at the sky for a while now. She stares at the few grey clouds moving slowly across the sky while letting her eyes follow the occasional bird or plane.“This is just what I needed,” Yoohyeon says from the lawn chair beside her while sipping Coke from a straw in a wine glass. When Gahyeon had asked about her mode of drinking, Yoohyeon simply shrugged and she didn’t ask any further questions.“Especially after climbing up all those stairs,” Yoohyeon complains. Gahyeon winces as she remembers how they had to climb up from the ground floor and through six floors to get to the rooftop because the elevator is under maintenance.“That was torture,” Gahyeon agrees as she fans herself remembering how drenched in sweat they were by the time they got to the rooftop.“How are things with you?” Yoohyeon asks. Gahyeon’s not sure how to respond and, honestly, she doesn’t want to think about her life right now, not with the gnawing feeling deep within her chest pulsating.“Fine, I guess. How are things with you and Handong?” Gahyeon asks, hoping that Yoohyeon won’t notice how fast she changed the subject.“They’re fine and weird, really weird.” Yoohyeon turns to lie on her side and face Gahyeon. Gahyeon does the same, thankful that she won’t have to delve into her issues just yet.“Why weird?”“It’s mostly me. It’s definitely a ‘me’ problem,” Yoohyeon huffs. “Whenever we hang out things are usually okay and fun. We enjoy each other’s company and everything but sometimes we’ll have these moments where one of us says something which leads to unresolved tension.”Gahyeon stifles the smile that threatens to form as she hears Yoohyeon’s words. “What exactly is said?”“I don’t know, just random things like how we should go out more or go have lunch or hang out just the two of us in a setting that doesn’t involve our brainstorming sessions. I can’t pinpoint exactly what’s said because by then my brain’s short-circuited trying to figure out the deeper meaning.” Yoohyeon turns to lie on her back with a sigh.“The worst part is that Handong seems to not have the same issue as I do. She just bounces back from the tension and acts as if it’s business as usual.”Gahyeon hums as she also resumes her earlier position lying on her back. “I don’t think you’re overthinking but I do think you need to get out of your head.” Gahyeon scoffs internally at how hypocritical her advice sounds but she presses on because helping her friend is more important.“Enjoy your time with her, try not to think too hard and everything should eventually fall into place,” Gahyeon says encouragingly.“Fall into place? What exactly?” Yoohyeon asks a hint of confusion in her voice and Gahyeon hopes with all her being that she’s not that dense.“The product of your brainstorming sessions,” Gahyeon says emphasizing her last words with air quotes.“Why did you use air quotes? They’re actual legit sessions,” Yoohyeon exclaims as she sits up on the lawn chair.“Aren’t they code for dates or dare I say, hook-ups,” Gahyeon whispers out in a scandalous tone that has Yoohyeon flushing pink and standing up from the lawn chair ready to attack Gahyeon.“No, they’re not! They’re legitimate sessions where we help each other out creatively!” Yoohyeon explains punctuating every word with a pinch on Gahyeon’s exposed skin.“Sure, help each other creatively,” Gahyeon raises her tone to a high pitch to make Yoohyeon even more embarrassed. She’s enjoying this, she needs some time away from her thoughts.“I’ll call Handong and she’ll tell you herself,” Yoohyeon declares as she pulls out her phone and dials Handong’s number.“Her telling me isn’t going to change my mind, she’s a biased party.” Gahyeon laughs as Yoohyeon tells Handong to come over claiming it’s urgent. Gahyeon continues teasing Yoohyeon once she hangs up and as they wait for Handong’s arrival.Handong arrives just as Gahyeon’s making exaggerated kissy faces at Yoohyeon. She comes carrying a bag full of cold juices, as Gahyeon soon finds out.“Now, what exactly do I need to clarify to Gahyeon?” Handong asks as she sits beside Yoohyeon on the lawn chair.“That your brainstorming sessions aren’t special scandalous dates,” Gahyeon says in amusement as she watches Handong’s cheeks turn pink with the tips of her ears turning a bright shade of red.“That’s…that’s not true!” Handong sputters as she turns to glare at Yoohyeon. She punches her arm lightly before turning back to Gahyeon.“Nothing happens, okay?”Gahyeon holds up both her arms. “Okay. If you say so.”“I’m being serious,” Handong says as she begins to shift on the chair in a way that has Gahyeon ready to run.“So am I.” Gahyeon laughs as Handong’s eyes narrow and Yoohyeon’s shift between the two in concern.“Gahyeon, it would be in your best interest to run,” Yoohyeon says carefully as she takes the juice out of Handong’s hand and places it safely on the nearby plastic table.“I think it would,” Gahyeon chokes out as she rises out of her chair in record speed, narrowly missing Handong’s grasp.“When I catch you, it’s all over for you,” Handong shouts as she runs after Gahyeon. Gahyeon simply laughs as she runs and relishes in the light feeling in her chest.
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Yoohyeon places the last bowl of popcorn on the coffee table next to the other three large bowls filled with popcorn. She looks around Handong’s living room in satisfaction. She came earlier to help Handong setup up for movie night, later on, as a way to thank her for her help in trying to get inspiration and, essentially, as a way to spend a bit more time with Handong.Movie night would usually be held at Minji’s place because of the amazing sound system she has and the fact that her place is bigger but Minji’s having some repairs done so her place is a mess and they had to find another place. Yoohyeon being the quick thinker (and schemer, on a good day), innocently suggested they go to Yoobin’s place. Yoobin declined almost instantaneously with a smug smile and a kick to Yoohyeon’s shin.Safe to say, Yoohyeon wasn’t making much progress in finding out about Yoobin’s roommates.“I decided to take your advice and switch to plastic cups,” Handong says as she places the tray of cups on the remaining space on the coffee table. “I can’t afford to lose any more glasses, Aiko breaks them way too often.” At the mention of her name, Aiko strolls into the living room and circles Yoohyeon’s legs.“She probably wants your undivided attention,” Yoohyeon says as she picks up Aiko and cradles her. “I’ve seen you when you write, you get so immersed that I doubt you would notice if a fire broke out right beside you.” Yoohyeon rocks Aiko before she abruptly leaps out of her arms and runs away down the hallway into what Yoohyeon assumes is Handong’s room.“I think you’re exaggerating.” Handong fluffs one of the large pillows on the floor before sitting on it and giving Yoohyeon a look that was inviting her to join her.“Maybe,” Yoohyeon says as she takes one of the pillows and sits on it next to Handong. Their shoulders brush against each other and for some reason, Yoohyeon feels her heart beat just a tiny bit faster. This isn’t the first time Yoohyeon’s felt odd around Handong. Moments when Handong would tease Yoohyeon always led to her feeling weird. Her heartbeat would be weird. Her thoughts would be weird. She would just feel odd.Yoohyeon thinks she’s overanalysing and making a mountain out of a molehill, but she feels there’s some justification in her wild thoughts. Handong would say something, knowingly or unknowingly, that would lead Yoohyeon to question whether her feelings towards Handong were those of pure friendship or something more.“Don’t think too hard. You look like you’re about to pop a vein.” Handong’s finger on her temple accompanied by her voice right next to her startles Yoohyeon out of her confusing thoughts. She feels the warmth of Handong’s light touch on her temple and her eyes shut slowly.Handong rubs small circles on her temple and Yoohyeon can’t help but hum in approval.“This usually helps when I feel a headache coming on.” Handong chuckles and Yoohyeon opens her eyes to find an amused expression on her face. She feels words on the tip of her tongue as Handong smiles at her with bright eyes. Words she doesn’t know yet but feels she’ll never be able to say them if she doesn’t say them now.So, she tries. She tries to say them but doesn’t get far as a loud knock on the door causes the words to disappear along with the warmth of Handong’s touch as she goes to open the door. Yoohyeon stares at where Handong was seated a few seconds ago as their friends file into the apartment with excited chatter.“Where’s Aiko?” Bora’s nervous voice brings Yoohyeon back to the present reality. She turns to greet her friends with a smile that she hopes doesn’t look forced. It’s not that she’s not happy to see them, it’s just that she felt she was so close to figuring out what’s going on within her mind.“I swear I saw her in my place in the middle of the night last week,” Bora whines as Handong tries to assure her that Aiko is harmless.They all pile the movies they each brought next to the television as they all settle into comfortable positions. Yoohyeon assumes her original position and hopes Handong sits beside her. To her satisfaction, she does.Just as the lights are dimmed and the first movie is popped into the CD player, Bora and Siyeon stand and move in front of the television.“We have an announcement,” Siyeon says as she takes Bora’s hand into her own.“We’re officially a couple and dating,” Bora declares with a sense of pride in her voice.Yoohyeon breaks out in a taunting cheer which sparks off jokes and taunts and overall congratulations from the rest of the group.“Thank you, thank-” Bora’s words are cut off by her own shrieking as she jumps away from Siyeon and stumbles onto the ground.“I told all of you!” Bora shouts as she points in Yoohyeon’s direction. “Aiko is out to get me! She just zoomed through my feet!”In the darkness, Yoohyeon feels Aiko jump on her lap before curling up. She’s purring and Yoohyeon has to wonder if maybe Bora’s right.“Let’s go sit and watch the movie, okay?” Siyeon takes Bora’s arm and pulls her up from the ground before leading her back to their spot on the couch.Yoohyeon laughs as Bora complains a bit more and Aiko just continues purring with her eyes shut in contentment. As the movie starts, she forgets all about her confusing thoughts as her focus is divided between the movie, Aiko and Handong’s warm presence next to her.*-*-*They’re on their third movie of the night. It’s a calm movie with emphasis on beautiful cinematography rather than the plot. It was Gahyeon’s pick and she had picked it randomly from the video store.It’s boring, to say the least. Gahyeon finds herself watching her friends rather than the movie. She watches Yoohyeon and Handong sitting in closer proximity than she’s used to seeing them. They look like a happy couple especially with Aiko sleeping in Yoohyeon’s lap and Handong occasionally petting her.Siyeon and Bora are playing with each other and not watching the movie (Gahyeon, for some reason, doesn’t feel so bad anymore for picking the movie). The two are busy playing an odd rendition of rock-paper-scissors that always ends up with their hands entwined and Gahyeon has to look away because of how disgustingly sweet they are. She is, however, happy that they’re more comfortable with each other and their relationship. She smiles at their happiness as her gaze wanders again.Lastly, Minji is busy chuckling at Yoobin dozing off with her head dropping forward repeatedly. Minji eventually directs Yoobin’s head to rest on her shoulder. Minji notices her watching them and she gives her a wink. Gahyeon shrugs before she turns back to the movie.She watches the movie display ethereal shots of the night sky juxtaposed next to the carnival by the beach before one of the characters (she doesn’t know any of their names and hasn’t paid enough attention to know if they’re the main character or not) goes to the shore to vent out his frustrations, it seems. He kicks at the sand before letting out a guttural scream as he drops to the sand in defeat and for the first time during the movie, Gahyeon feels she relates to the man. She just wants to scream out all her worries and doubts and be done with it.She does. Well, she just starts venting about her problems and hopes her friends can hear her over the volume of the movie (it’s not that hard since the volume of the movie was mysteriously turned down at some point). Yoobin startles awake the moment Gahyeon starts speaking and she would laugh if she wasn’t so frustrated.Soon, everyone’s listening to her pour out all her doubts and fears. Her frustrations about her university situation and her life in general. She also vents about the gnawing feeling that’s been growing within her for the past few weeks and she feels that it’s about to get worse and just explode and leave her an anxiety-ridden mess.At some point, the movie is turned off and the only sound filling the room is Gahyeon’s voice. She can’t see their faces since the lights were still off but she’s glad she can’t. She doesn’t want to see looks of disappointment or lack of understanding and even though she knows her friends would never judge her harshly, she still can’t help but be afraid of their reactions.Yoobin’s the first to join her on the small armchair and pull her into a hug. The others swarm around her with goodwill and comfort her. They give her hugs and tell her it’s okay to be a bit worried.Warmth swells in her chest as they take turns in giving her advice and talk about their own experiences with finding their paths in life. Movie night changes into a sharing session and Gahyeon can’t help the tears that run down her face. Not tears of frustration but this time tears of joy. Joy because of the amazing friends she has.As the night goes on, Gahyeon feels less alone and for the first time in a while, the gnawing feeling within her dies down to a muted feeling. It’s not entirely gone but she thinks maybe, one day it will.
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Handong takes a sip of her tea as she watches Daejung and Sohyun, his girlfriend, practically bounce in their chairs in excitement. She’s having brunch at Daejung’s place as he had insisted a while back. He wants to tell her something important but keeps telling her to eat the assortment of food they prepared instead.Handong studies Sohyun’s freshly dyed wine red hair that’s cut into a bob. She finds it odd since in the few encounters she’s had with Sohyun, she always mentioned how she’s growing out her hair. So seeing it cut came as a surprise to Handong but then again, Handong hasn’t interacted with Sohyun beyond a few select occasions. For instance, the time Daejung and Sohyun came home drunk and treated the entire floor to an off-key rendition of a trot song or the time Handong found Daejung sitting on the floor outside his apartment because Sohyun locked him out. She also remembers the time Sohyun came knocking on her door after a fight with Daejung with dried up tear tracks on her face and asked if she could use her bathroom to freshen up before she goes home. By the time Handong officially met Sohyun when Daejung introduced her as his three-year girlfriend, she already had a rough idea of their on-and-off relationship.Just as Handong’s about to dig into more of the food, the two break the news with so much excitement that has Handong worried. She looks back at them, not sure what expression is on her face (she hopes it’s not one that would discourage them), and wonders if she’s heard them right.“The wedding’s in three weeks,” Daejung says with happiness dripping from his voice as he slides the envelope across the table. Handong notices that the envelope looks the same as the one she saw when getting his mail a few days back. It has the same blue waves painted on a clean white envelope but the difference is the little glitters added to the waves.Handong’s not sure exactly what to say, she had initially thought they wanted to officially announce their break up or something along those lines. She wasn’t expecting them to announce their wedding.She opens the envelope and pulls out the invitation designed to reflect what she assumed to be a beach themed wedding. She congratulates them despite her shock as she studies the invitation.“How did you guys decide marriage is the best conclusion,” Handong asks once her shock dies down. She’s happy for them and despite her doubts, they’re one of the few couples in her life she can see lasting a long time. They’re always there for each other even when they’re taking a break from their relationship.“We just thought it was the right time,” Sohyun answers as she turns to look at Daejung.“After three years of dating, we thought it was time,” Daejung says as he looks back at Sohyun. The two share a look that makes Handong’s blood sugar level rise. It’s filled with such love and care and Handong can’t help but wonder if she’ll ever reach such a point in her life where she’s hopelessly in love with someone else.They proceed to give her a rundown of how they made the decision and it involved lots of talks between them and their families. They did meet some opposition from their families, especially Sohyun’s because they were worried about her undefined future, but eventually, they came around.Handong smiles at the two as they seem so mature and sure of their future together. It’s what they both want and Handong can’t argue with that.“I wish the both of you the best,” Handong says before they convince her to keep eating. They enjoy the rest of their brunch while the two exchange more stories of their love life and Handong listens with rapt attention.*-*-*Yoobin’s about ready to fight Seochan for dragging her out of bed. It wasn’t early morning (it was way past noon) but Yoobin hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, so she needed to sleep. However, Seochan decided he couldn’t let her sleep the day away and he needed company to deal with Daejung’s high energy. Hence, why Yoobin stands beside Seochan in front of Daejung’s door to pick up a “package”.“I don’t know why you think me being here will make him any less energetic.” Yoobin leans on the wall next to the door as she lets out a yawn.“You being here will make him divide his energy between both of us.” Seochan knocks on the door as he gives Yoobin an unimpressed look. “You really need to stop pulling so many all-nighters.”Yoobin shrugs as she lets her eyes fall shut. “I’m used to it by now. Also, what exactly is this package you’re getting? I hope it’s food because I’m hungry.”“I doubt it’s food but you can come over to my place for lunch. My brother’s cooking today,” Seochan says as he knocks on the door. Yoobin perks up at his words. Seochan’s brother makes the best food, right after Seochan, further proving her theory that their entire family is blessed with culinary skills.Yoobin’s about to agree when the door rips open to reveal a happy Daejung and a red-haired woman who Yoobin’s probably seen once or twice.“Seochan! You’re here!” Daejung yells and Yoobin cringes at the volume of his voice and pushes herself off the wall to stand beside Seochan.“Yes I am and I’m here for the package.”Yoobin watches with fascination as Daejung and Sohyun (she finally remembers her name) share looks of eagerness before turning to her and Seochan.“We’re getting married!” Yoobin takes a step back at the sheer loudness of both their voices. Seochan, on the other hand, is speechless and Yoobin can’t blame him.Daejung and Sohyun hand them invitations to the wedding and as Seochan starts questioning them about how serious they are, she spots Handong slip past the door and try to sneak to her apartment. She looks back at the three deep in their conversation and decides to take it as an opportunity to escape. She pushes Seochan into the apartment and with a quick goodbye to Seochan and congratulations to the soon-to-be-married couple, she dashes into Handong’s apartment before she shuts the door.“Hi,” Yoobin breathes out as she moves past Handong to pet Aiko who’s laying leisurely on the couch.“What are you doing?” Handong asks. She folds her arms as she waits for a response.“Petting your cat. Also, I could ask you the same thing. What were you doing sneaking out of Daejung’s apartment like a thief?” Yoobin asks as she sits on the couch and places Aiko on her lap. Aiko struggles for a while but Yoobin manages to convince her to stay on her lap by petting her soothingly.“I wanted to give Seochan the opportunity to have more time to talk to the two of them.” Handong shrugs as she sits down cross-legged beside Yoobin. Yoobin laughs at Handong’s response while still brushing through Aiko’s fur.“Well, then I’m glad I dodged that bullet. I’m too sleepy to deal with their hyper selves. I just want to pet Aiko then go back to bed.” Yoobin coos at Aiko once she hears her purring.“Why would you be sleeping when it’s almost lunchtime?” Handong asks.“I pulled an all-nighter and when I tried to get some sleep my roommates were too loud to let me sleep.”“On that note,” Handong starts with an odd tone to her voice. “I’ve never once met your roommates.”“That’s because they’re barely around,” Yoobin says in a casual tone that she hopes will get Handong to leave the topic.“But you just said they were too loud, meaning they’re around.”Yoobin looks up from Aiko and narrows her eyes at Handong. She tilts her head as she studies Handong’s curious expression.“How are those dates with Yoohyeon coming along?” Yoobin asks innocently and mentally gives herself a high five when she sees Handong’s face flush as her eyes look everywhere but at her.“They’re not dates,” Handong says in an exasperated tone. “Why does everyone seem to think they’re dates?”“I don’t know.” Yoobin shrugs. “Maybe it’s because brainstorming sessions sounds like code for dates or something more…scandalous.” Yoobin waggles her eyebrows at Handong as she says the last words which result in Handong shoving her face. Aiko jumps off Yoobin’s lap as Yoobin breaks into a fit of laughter.“Your face,” Yoobin says between laughs. “You should see your face you’re as red as a tomato.”“I thought you were leaving soon,” Handong says in a tone that Yoobin guesses is supposed to intimidate her but it makes her more amused.“Don’t be like that.” Yoobin’s laughter dies down as she observes that Handong still seems flustered. Her curiosity rises as Handong stands to tidy up her already tidy living room.“You really like her, don’t you?” Yoobin asks with more seriousness in her tone. Handong visibly freezes before she slowly turns to face Yoobin and gives her a small nod.Yoobin nods, mostly to herself. She can’t say she’s surprised, she saw it coming from all the interactions the two of them have. The light brushes of hands when they think no one is looking, subconsciously seeking each other when they all hang out, the list is endless.“Can I give you some advice?” Yoobin stands from the couch. She thinks her lack of sleep is catching up to her since she’s about to do something she rarely does. Handong looks at her with a confused expression so Yoobin decides to do it anyway.“Yoohyeon’s not as well versed with things related to romance as you would think. You may have to be as direct and clear as possible when conveying your feelings to her or she might misunderstand everything.” Yoobin pats Handong on the shoulder before walking to the door.Handong seems to want to respond but Yoobin stops her once she has her shoes on. “Be good to her, she’s my closest friend so I’ll defend her no matter what and I really don’t want a situation where I’ll have to fight you Handong.”Yoobin opens the door and looks back at Handong to find her already smiling and nodding and that’s all Yoobin can hope for. She’s sure the two of them will be fine.
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Minji flips the wedding invitation in her hands, over and over. Her mind wanders to earlier in the day when Yoobin dropped off the invitation. Yoobin was all smiles as she handed her the invitation asking her to be her plus one for the wedding.Minji, at the time, hadn’t known what to say. Her mind was scrambling trying to find a proper response until Yoobin burst out laughing at her confusion. She had gone on to explain that it was a joke and that the invitation was Minji’s. Minji gave Yoobin her signature smile in return as she tried to weakly laugh along to Yoobin’s “joke”.It’s been a few hours since then and Minji still has a weird feeling in her chest from the exchange. It’s a tightening feeling around her whole chest.“This won’t do,” Minji tells herself as she pats her chest repeatedly. She drops the invitation on her nightstand before she throws herself onto her bed, face-first. A few moments and groans later, she shifts onto her back and stares at her ceiling.She thinks of her relationship with Yoobin. How she automatically thinks of Yoobin first whenever she’s buying gifts for everyone. How she now knows exactly what gifts appeal to Yoobin after much trial and error. Her mind thinks of how she knows what makes Yoobin tick and how to distract her long enough to calm her down.Minji thinks of the instinctive feeling she gets to watch over her when they go drinking and make sure she gets home safe because Yoobin is a terrible lightweight.Minji always chalked it up to her being like an older sister to Yoobin considering their five year age difference but she always felt like that label was too stifling and not at all indicative of her relationship with Yoobin.Before her thoughts can go any further, Harley jumps onto the bed and curls up beside her. She cranes her head to find him yawning and already falling asleep, probably tired from the afternoon they spent at the park.Minji resumes her original position staring at the ceiling with the addition of running a soothing hand through his soft black and white fur to lull him to sleep.She finds herself thinking once again. She toys with the idea that she may have romantic feelings for Yoobin. She circles around that thought for a while, examining it, breaking it down and considering it.“That’s not it,” Minji says aloud. It just doesn’t feel right because Minji hasn’t ever seen Yoobin in any sort of romantic light before. She has strong feelings for Yoobin but she’s sure they’re not of the romantic kind.Yoobin’s special to her, no doubt, but she still can’t place or name whatever it is. What she does know, is that being around Yoobin and generally just the thought of her does put her at ease more so than the others.A feeling of ease and calm.Harley nudges her arm, probably sensing her racing thoughts, and Minji laughs at the action and the situation in general. She decides that she’s had enough thinking for one day and that sleep is the best option for her.Minji turns to her side as Harley repositions himself beside her, as close as possible, and decides she can figure everything out when she’s got a good night’s rest.
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Siyeon manoeuvres the foil-wrapped tray of homemade cookies that Bora had convinced her to bake and give to her neighbour (the one they met in the elevator the day they confessed to each other and proceeded to later wish Siyeon luck), onto one hand as she knocks twice on her neighbour’s door. The cookies seemed decent enough when she pulled them out of the oven (much to Yoohyeon’s annoyance since she had spent the entire time trying to remind Siyeon that her cooking skills were abysmal and that she would end up poisoning their neighbour).The door opens to reveal her neighbour standing at a good six feet tall. She notices his hair is a dark shade of blue (midnight blue as he explains to her a few days later when they run into each other at the convenience store) as opposed to the soft brown he had when she first saw him. His eyes widen in, what Siyeon has to assume, surprise.“I’m late but welcome to the building. Here are some cookies I baked but eat with caution because my roommate claims my cooking skills are dangerous.” Siyeon holds out the tray for her neighbour to take, which he does albeit a bit hesitantly.“Thanks,” he says as his original look of surprise turns into a more neutral and pleasant expression. Siyeon, not knowing what to do next, looks around the hallway and peeks slightly into his apartment. He seems to notice because he takes a step back and invites her in.“Thanks,” Siyeon says politely as she walks in. She takes in the interior of the apartment to figure out what kind of guy her neighbour is. Her eyes are immediately drawn to the hiking and rock-climbing gear arranged in a careful orderly fashion on a wall display cabinet. She moves to get a closer look when she notices the bike leaning against the wall behind one of his couches.“I’m pretty athletic as you can tell,” he says as he hands her a cup of tea. “I also like gaming, as seen over there by my elaborate PC setup.” He points to an open door that reveals the PC. Siyeon stares in awe as she knows Yoohyeon would kill for such a setup. She decides she’ll need to convince Yoohyeon to come to meet their neighbour some time, whose name she still doesn’t know.She opens her mouth to introduce herself formally when he offers her a seat on one of his plush navy blue couches as he sits down on the armchair beside her.“I’m Siyeon,” Siyeon starts as she gets comfortable on the couch. “I live with my friend Yoohyeon, she’s into gaming so I’m sure the two of you would get along.”“Is she the one with silver hair? I think I ran into her one day having a sort of weird wrestling match with some old lady in the hallway. Also, I’m Hwanwon and I don’t have a roommate.”Siyeon shakes his outstretched hand as she tries to imagine Yoohyeon fighting an old lady. “Did the old lady happen to have blue streaks in her hair?”Hwanwon hums in response. “Actually, yes.”“She lives down the hall,” Siyeon explains as she remembers an encounter with the lady. The old lady had stared at her from the door of her apartment as Siyeon walked from the elevator to her place. Siyeon had stared back in retaliation but she shudders as she remembers the creepy feeling and general intimidation from the lady’s beady eyes.“She doesn’t talk much, at least I’ve never seen her talk to anyone. She just stares like she either wants to creep you out or challenge you to a fight. It’s always one of the two, never both.”Hwanwon laughs, the corners of his eyes crinkling just a tiny bit (Siyeon’s sure that girls, even guys, would go crazy for that especially since he looks like a ball of sunshine when he smiles). “Well, thanks for the heads up. I’ll make sure to avoid any eye contact with her. I don’t want to get beat up by an old lady, your friend was losing horribly by the way.”“I don’t doubt that. Yoohyeon’s not a fighter.” Siyeon remembers all the times Yoohyeon’s come up with bizarre excuses to avoid any type of altercation.“And you?”Siyeon shakes her head. “Oh no, I’d also rather not fight but if the need arose I could hold my own.” She raises her fists in a mimicry of a fighting stance which earns a laugh from Hwanwon.Their topics of conversation end up varying from normal topics involving the apartment and its tenants to more out of pocket experiences they’ve both had (Hwanwon explaining how he inadvertently got roped into a heist and managed to make money, not that much but enough to buy him a cup of coffee).“So, I’m hoping things went well,” he says as he places his now empty cup of tea onto the glass coffee table. Siyeon makes a noise of confusion as he takes a bite out of one of the cookies Siyeon brought.“That day in the elevator,” he says simply.Siyeon nods as realization dawns on her. “Things went well and are still well.” Siyeon’s a bit hesitant to divulge further information and he seems to notice.“I’m more open-minded than you would expect but I’ll understand if you don’t want to explain, this is our first proper conversation after all.”Siyeon studies Hwanwon’s expression trying to find anything that would give away any possible ulterior motives but finds none. He raises his eyebrows at her scrutiny and she makes a choice.Siyeon tells him pretty much everything that went down between her and Bora. The words just tumble right out of her mouth with little to no filter. She should be concerned with revealing all this information to someone she’s just officially met but she finds how oddly easy it is to talk to Hwanwon. To talk to someone with no pre-existing bias against or for her and her life.“I really like her,” Siyeon says after explaining the events leading up to the day they met on the elevator. “We’re going to one of the tenant’s wedding as a couple and I’m scared that it could put a lot of pressure. Being in a wedding environment and all that.”Hwanwon doesn’t immediately respond and Siyeon worries she might be overthinking things. She explains as such and his reaction is to give her a small sympathetic smile.“I can’t tell you you’re overthinking things since I’m not in your shoes and I don’t fully know your dynamics with Bora. What I will tell you is to try telling Bora all the things you’re telling me, it’ll help settle your worries.”“That always seems to be the consensus from my friends when I have weird thoughts running through my head.”“Well, your friends seem to have your best interests at heart,” Hwanwon says in a tone that gives Siyeon a familiar feeling, one she can almost pinpoint. As he takes away their cups and the half-eaten plate of cookies to the kitchen, Siyeon finds herself watching his movements while her mind wanders. She finds that she feels less conflicted than when she knocked on his door and it dawns on her that Hwanwon gives her a chill older brother vibe. It’s a pleasant feeling and she hopes they can spend more time in future.“Hey, how old are you?” Siyeon asks as he rinses the cups.“Older than you, that’s for sure,” he calls out in reply. Siyeon resists the urge to throw one of the throw pillows at him.“You’re probably pushing forty,” Siyeon scoffs knowing all too well he looks nothing like a guy in his thirties but rather in his mid-twenties give or take.“Then you’re pushing fifty cause you look older than me, by far,” he replies with a laugh as Siyeon actually throws the pillow and misses horribly.Their banter continues until Siyeon finally finds out that he’s twenty-eight, three years older than her. He tries to get her to call him ‘older bro’ but Siyeon dismisses him with immediate effect.“If you ever need someone to talk to, your older bro is always here,” he says with a smug expression as Siyeon leaves his apartment to go back to her place.“I’ll never call you that, Hwanwon.” She stresses his name as she gives him a wave over her shoulder as she unlocks her apartment door.“We’ll see. See you later.” He exaggeratedly salutes her before shutting his door. Siyeon shakes her head as she shuts the door behind her with a smile.Later, when she’s telling Yoohyeon about her afternoon with Hwanwon she realizes that she hopes that he sticks around long enough for them to become good friends.
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Gahyeon comes to a solution or a compromise of sorts for her predicament. A way to gain some sort of control over her life. A way to enjoy her youth in a sense. At the time, she just wasn’t sure how to go about it. Now, she does.She paces back and forth across her bedroom (she hopes she’s not too loud because Bora’s asleep after a long day at work) while staring holes into her phone on her desk. She’s not sure how everyone around her will react to her decision. Will they be happy for her? (Of course they will, they always support her ideas even the crazy ones.) Will they feel sad, betrayed, frustrated?Her thoughts veer off into self-doubt territory. Is she making the right choice? Is she being hasty? What if she makes everything worse for herself?“This is pointless,” Gahyeon says to herself to get rid of her spiralling thoughts and before she knows it, she’s grabbed her phone and dialled the number she’s been trying to build confidence to call the whole night.The phone rings and rings and Gahyeon’s sudden confidence boost deflates. She almost decides to hang up and call another time (probably when she regains some of that earlier confidence) when her call is answered.“It’s about time you called, I thought I would die of old age waiting for your call.”Gahyeon finds herself laughing. “Hello to you too, Yujung.” She sits on the edge of her bed as a wave of comfort washes over her at hearing her sister’s voice. It’s been a while since they last talked due to Gahyeon’s growing amount of schoolwork and basic life responsibilities.“Hello my foot, what have you been up to over there? You should call more often, especially mom and dad. They keep calling me asking about you and I tell them to call you but they always use the excuse that they don’t want to bother you while you’re studying,” Yujung complains but Gahyeon can tell there’s not much bite or malice to her words.“I’ll call them soon but how are things over there at the tea shop?” Gahyeon asks as she takes one of her plushies to hold. Yujung, seven years older than her, moved to a small town away from the city about a year back when she decided to follow her dream of opening up a small shop. She always wanted a sense of community hence why she chose a small town.“Don’t think I’m not noticing you trying to change the topic, but the tea shop might actually pan out,” Yujung says. Yujung wasn’t sure what kind of shop she had wanted to do open initially. So, she worked at the town’s various shops (while still working her online job because, as she told Gahyeon, just cause she’s following her dream doesn’t mean she should starve) until she found one that clicked with her.“So, you might want to open a tea shop?” Gahyeon asks incredulously. The thought of her sister being careful and polite while making tea is a concept Gahyeon is not familiar with. Her sister is the definition of loud and clumsy.“Yes, as wild as that sounds. I’ve learnt a lot these past few months like various types of tea and how to make new flavours and so on,” Yujung says with a sense of pride in her tone that Gahyeon is happy to hear. “I think it’s something I can enjoy, so I’m going to stick with it.”“That’s good to hear, I’m happy for you,” Gahyeon says, her voice drifting off as she remembers her situation.“What’s wrong, Gahyeon?” Yujung asks without beating around the bush, a trait Gahyeon both loves and hates.“It’s everything, school mostly, but everything in general,” Gahyeon tells her everything, from the overwhelming feeling she gets when she thinks about it all to the gnawing feeling she gets in her throat and chest when she thinks of school. She tells her about her worries and increasing doubts and her sister just listens to it all without interrupting her. She lets her get everything out of her system and Gahyeon appreciates the sentiment.Once she feels like she’s said all she could say, her sister speaks up. “Gahyeon.” Her soft voice makes Gahyeon hug the plushie tighter.“It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, I did. There’s nothing wrong with it and I’m glad you called me about it. It’s too early in life for you to get this stressed, you’re too young. You should be having fun, making friends, making dumb mistakes and learning from them. Occasionally, you will get stressed, sometimes overwhelmed, it’s not weird or wrong, it’s human.”Gahyeon blinks back a few tears at Yujung’s words. She promised herself that she wouldn’t cry but here she is about to burst out in tears from words said to her by her sister.“But judging from your general tone, you seem to already have a solution, don’t you?”Gahyeon wonders how her sister could tell and asks as such.“You’re an open book, your tone tells me all I need to know. I basically raised you, not knowing how to read you would be absurd,” Yujung says and Gahyeon finds herself laughing, her tears almost forgotten.“So? What’s your plan?”Gahyeon explains her decision with as much detail and precision she can muster. She needs her sister’s support for a part of her plan to work. Once she’s done detailing her plan her sister sighs after what seems to be a long time.“You’re lucky I love you so much,” Yujung says in feigned annoyance and Gahyeon smiles knowing she has her sister’s support. “I’ll talk to mom and dad first, and you should do the same, but otherwise, I don’t have a problem with your plan.”“Thank you so much Yujung, you won’t regret this.” Gahyeon will be eternally grateful to her sister.She thanks her a few more times as Yujung tells her she needs to get to bed. It’s just as she’s about to hang up that Gahyeon remembers something vital.“How’s Hyeongju doing?” Gahyeon doesn’t miss the hitch in her sister’s breath upon hearing her question, so she continues because that’s what siblings do. They tease each other endlessly.“Have you asked him out yet or are you still pining over him from afar?”Yujung sputters a bunch of incoherent words before responding, “Stop being a smart mouth and go to bed.”“Okay, okay,” Gahyeon says as she tries, and fails, to hide her laugh. “I’ll go to bed but I’ll ask you about him later. Goodnight, love you.” Gahyeon hangs up before Yujung can go off on a rant.Gahyeon hugs her plushie tighter, this time in relief, as a smile forms on her face. She feels like she’s finally coming to a moment of peace.Her eyes shift to the wedding invitation on her table and her smile grows wider because she’ll be able to enjoy it fully with her friends.
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They’re at one of the local libraries closer to their apartment building, sitting at the back. Yoohyeon had suggested the library but Handong had told her that they wouldn’t be able to do much talking as was a common factor in their brainstorming sessions. Yoohyeon had insisted with the explanation that the ambience of the library would inspire them greatly. Hence, why they’re currently whispering their ideas (with their voices occasionally getting louder than recommended) and constantly avoiding the scathing gaze of another person (a high school student as evidenced by her uniform) trying to study something math-related judging by the numerous papers of calculations and formulas strewn across her table, a calculator and the constant rubbing of circles on her temple.Handong looks at the three pages worth of ideas jotted down on her worn-out notebook and concludes maybe Yoohyeon had a point about the whole ambience thing. She happily notes that Yoohyeon seems a bit more confident in her project and is willing to explore inspirations out of her comfort zone.The brainstorming sessions were truly doing wonders for the both of them, in Handong’s case, the random and well thought out ideas from Yoohyeon made her writing more expressive than ever (Daewon’s words, not hers). She’s managed to get a good amount of chapters done for her first draft and she thinks she might be able to meet Daewon’s deadline which is a day before Daejung’s wedding.Things are going well for Handong and for the first time in a long while, she’s almost fully content. Almost. There’s the current issue of Yoohyeon.Handong is inclined to believe that Yoobin wasn’t exaggerating when she said Yoohyeon was as dense as a rock when it comes to matters involving relationships and romance in general. She’s been trying to subtly flirt with Yoohyeon whenever she can, mostly, during their brainstorming sessions since it’s just the two of them with no interruptions. Alas, Yoohyeon never seems to get the gist of Handong’s actions. Sometimes it seems like Yoohyeon may understand her intentions after Handong has delivered a compliment laced with flirtations but then she’ll go on and thank Handong in that friendly tone she’s come to despise over time. Well, that’s not entirely true. She doesn’t think she can despise Yoohyeon’s friendly tone no matter how much she wishes the tone would shift into something more romantic.That’s why, in the back of the poorly lit library, Handong decides to take the bull by the horns, strike the iron while it’s still hot and all that jazz by being direct and blunt with Yoohyeon.“Do you want to go to Daejung’s wedding as my date?” Handong asks with the clearest voice she can manage while whispering. She finally moves her gaze from her notebook to watch for Yoohyeon’s reaction. Yoohyeon’s frozen midway through turning the pages of one of the photography books she’d picked off of the shelf and Handong, in any other situation, would laugh but instead, she’s wracked with fear and a foreboding sense of dread.“What?” Yoohyeon asks once she seems to have gotten her motor functions to work. She looks at Handong with wide eyes, making Handong recoil slightly at her gaze.Handong doesn’t reply. She’s not sure she can, her tongue seems heavy and her mind’s screaming that she’s an idiot and, honestly, she may as well be, judging from how Yoohyeon hasn’t said a single word in reply.However, Handong is nothing if not a fighter and she’s not going to back down. She’s come this far so she might as well be proud of herself for taking the initiative one of the few times in her life.Her heart pounds furiously as her tongue becomes lighter and she repeats her question. Then she waits.*-*-*Yoohyeon’s brain is turning, the cogs in her mind are turning at an alarming rate. She’s not sure she’s heard Handong right. For all she knows, this is like another one of her recent numerous dreams involving her and Handong being a couple in some capacity. Even so, that thought process doesn’t make sense to Yoohyeon since she’s sure she’s not dreaming. She quickly counts her fingers. Five. She’s awake which makes her even more shocked.Her shock only gets worse when Handong decides to ask the same question with more conviction. This isn’t a dream or some warped reality, it’s real and her first instinct is to drop her head onto the table with a resounding thud that elicits a chorus of shushes from the other people in the library. She’s sure the girl doing math wants to hurt her for ruining her concentration.Yoohyeon can’t believe how dumb she is and how right Siyeon was. She’s inept as can be when it comes to these things and not just failing to notice someone blatantly hitting on her (she’s now realizing some situations with Handong were her being flirty and Yoohyeon not noticing), but also failing to realize her own feelings. She thought her feelings for Handong were those of a strong friendship and tried to ignore the feelings that went beyond that. She has a habit of pushing down any romantic feelings that form within her as a way of avoiding awkwardness and rejection.Handong just asked her to be her date to the wedding. Saying the words in her head makes everything clear to Yoohyeon. All the new emotions and clarity of her situation bubble within her and eventually come bubbling out in the form of laughter.She laughs, with her head still on the table, and it drowns out the people shushing her. She raises her head once the laughter dies down and ignores the glares in favour of focusing on Handong’s carefully blank face. She realizes that Handong must be terrified because the whole scenario looks like Yoohyeon just laughed at her whole confession.Yoohyeon takes Handong’s hands in her own and hopes the expression on her face gives her encouragement.“I’m so dumb,” Yoohyeon says as she gives Handong’s hands a light squeeze. It takes a while but an expression of relief settles on Handong’s face.“Yes, you are.” Handong sighs as she throws her head back before laughing. Yoohyeon joins her as her laugh is infectious as always.The atmosphere of the library is getting angrier the longer they laugh and Yoohyeon doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of their wrath. She tells Handong to start packing before they’re physically kicked out. They leave in record time with a warning from the librarian and giddiness in their veins.It only dawns on Yoohyeon when their laughter dies down that she hasn’t given Handong a proper reply.“Yes, I’ll go as your date to the wedding even though I also got an invitation,” Yoohyeon says in earnest.“Jeez, did they invite the whole building?” Handong asks rhetorically as she rolls her eyes.“Maybe.”They laugh as Yoohyeon declares that they should get lunch since she’s starving. Handong agrees and Yoohyeon can’t help the small skip in her step as they leave for the closest restaurant.
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The moment Yoobin steps into the wedding hall she’s left breathless. The hues of blue mixed with white in the various decorations, the white and blue lily flower arrangements scattered strategically around the hall and the blue petals littered across the white carpet aisle. As her eyes roam the beautiful interior and design of the venue, she’s fairly surprised they managed to pull off the beach theme without it looking like some low-budget school theatre performance. The guests’ dress code of a summery vibe also helped with elevating the indoor beach theme to ethereal levels. She notes the wedding party dressed in shades of blue that give Yoobin a longing for the beach. She also spots Seochan in the groom’s party in a clean-cut and well-tailored navy blue tuxedo just as he sticks his tongue out at her (she retaliates by mouthing a few choice words at him).She looks around the benches and hopes she can find a decent seat, despite being late, with someone she can talk to during the event. She spots Siyeon, Bora and Gahyeon sitting together on the right side of the aisle and the third row from the front but there’s no space for her to squeeze in. She sees Handong and Yoohyeon, a few benches behind the others, but once again there’s no space to squeeze in. She looks to the left side of the aisle and spots Minji sitting on the edge of the bench closer to the aisle. She also notes, with relief, that there’s room for one more on the bench.Yoobin walks as fast as she could in her heels, that Gahyeon insisted she wear, and her flowy seafoam green dress, to get to the bench. A middle-aged man is close on her heels and she all but sprints to get to the bench first. Luckily, she makes it to the bench in time and the only warning Minji gets is a shout of her name before Yoobin forces herself on the bench. The man sneers at her as he turns to go find another seat.“Sorry about pushing you,” Yoobin apologizes after exchanging greetings with Minji. She comments on the décor of the venue and Minji agrees with her for the most part.“I just think there’s too much blue for my liking,” Minji comments with a shake of her head.“There’s no such thing as too much blue, I refuse to believe it.”“They could have used another colour to tone down the blue.” Minji shrugs.“You just don’t like the colour blue, that’s what this is all about.”“Maybe,” Minji says as she absently plays with the strap of her handbag. Yoobin finds it odd. Minji would have defended her dislike for blue in a heartbeat but instead, she’s just given up. It’s when Yoobin notices her unreadable expression and how her words don’t have as much energy as Yoobin is used to, that she decides something is bothering Minji.Yoobin’s just about to ask what’s bothering her when the first notes of the ‘Wedding March’ on piano fills the wedding hall. Minji’s expression switches to a happier one and Yoobin has to think that maybe she was overthinking things. Maybe she was just tired, she tells herself as the excitement of the wedding fills her.Yoobin turns to face the lovely bride, Sohyun, at the entrance of the wedding hall. Her dress is absolutely stunning. It’s a snow-white sleeveless mermaid dress with the train and the veil having diamonds to give off a watery effect. She finds herself clapping along with the other guests and in her excitement asks Minji the first thing that comes to her mind at that moment.“Who do you think will be the first or last to get married amongst us?” Yoobin has to raise her voice above the music. She doesn’t have time to hear Minji’s response, not when Sohyun passes by their bench. She finds her gaze following her to the front where she stands beside Daejung, her soon-to-be husband.In all this excitement, she forgets all about her question.*-*-*Minji’s trying to focus on the officiant of the wedding reading the standard vows to Daejung and Sohyun. However, she’s failing terribly as her mind keeps drifting back to the question Yoobin asked a few moments ago. She thinks of their friends and their relationships and decides Bora and Siyeon are more likely to get married first but changes her mind as she remembers how long it took them to get together. She goes through all her friends and as she reaches Yoobin her thoughts get even more distracting.She thinks back to all her thoughts encompassing Yoobin. All the question marks surrounding their relationship and how she doesn’t want to label it but she can’t seem to stop thinking and obsessing over it.The officiant motions to Daejung to read his vows and Minji’s invested in the way he delivers the vows with a certain clarity and depth that Minji can only hope to have one day. Sohyun is no different when her turn comes around, she speaks with such love and affection that it astounds Minji. She’s not used to it but it makes sense.They finish their vows and put their rings on each other’s finger before they lean in for a quick chaste kiss. As the officiant pronounces the two, man and wife, it all starts coming together for Minji. She looks to Yoobin next to her, all excited and clapping as the newlyweds walk down the aisle, and she gets her answer.“Us.” It comes out as a whisper that Yoobin can’t hear over the cheering of the guests. She places her hand on Yoobin’s shoulder to get her attention. Yoobin gives her a confused smile and Minji repeats her words.“Us,” Minji starts her voice filled with an emotion she’s not sure what to call. “The question you asked earlier, I think it’ll be us.”Yoobin stares at her for a while before she finally speaks. “First or last to get married? Or both?"“Both.” Minji doesn’t hesitate. She can’t believe it took her this long to figure it out.“That’s good,” Yoobin says with a smile that reaches her eyes and warms her heart. “We would have the craziest wedding, wouldn’t we?”Minji laughs as the tension leaves her body. “We would and it would be amazing.” Yoobin laughs and Minji finds it all too simple. They don’t need a specific term for their relationship, all that matters is now and how at peace Minji is with Yoobin.“We should make one of those pacts,” Yoobin explains excitedly with humour laced in her tone. “If by forty we’re not married, we should just marry each other.”“So I’ll have to wait five years for you to turn forty before our pact kicks in?” Minji chuckles at the thought.Yoobin hums in thought. “No, because I’m sure by then, if I’m not married, then I’ll marry you in a heartbeat but honestly, I would marry you anytime in a heartbeat.”Yoobin gives her an earnest smile that makes Minji feel like this is the crowning moment of her life, not the time she managed to fight off three delinquents in high school.“I would too,” Minji whispers as she bumps Yoobin’s shoulder with her own. They don’t say much else after that, instead they enjoy the rest of the wedding and each other’s company just as always.
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Siyeon’s not sure how or why the decision was made but here she is on stage with a live band getting ready to sing the first song of the wedding reception to the first dance of the newlyweds, Daejung and Sohyun. Her clammy hands put the microphone that she was fiddling with for a while back on the stand as she watches the guests settle down in their designated seats and the married couple move to the centre of the dance floor.The MC starts with a short speech congratulating the couple before he introduces Siyeon and the song she’s about to sing. She shuts her eyes as she takes in a deep breath to get some semblance of calm. She opens her eyes as she takes the microphone in her hands and starts singing just as the band starts playing.Her voice comes off a bit shaky, she’s used to singing to drunk and inattentive people back at the Sphinx, not a wide-eyed and almost sober audience (half the champagne’s already gone). Her eyes follow Daejung and Sohyun moving so gracefully and in tune with each other across the floor that she finds herself gaining confidence in her singing and her voice gets clearer. The shakiness fades out of her voice when she realises that this moment will be a part of their memory for years to come and she decides she can’t ruin it for them.Siyeon’s eyes shift and land on Bora. She can’t seem to look away from the white lily tucked in Bora’s hair (Bora had picked it just as they were moving from the wedding hall to the reception hall). Her eyes move from the flower and meet Bora’s gaze and Siyeon can’t look away.Bora gives her an encouraging smile and Siyeon channels all her emotions and feelings of love, happiness and even fear into the song. She sings from the deepest parts of her heart, a song for Bora.She gets lost in her performance, her emotions and most of all Bora’s beautiful brown eyes that shine and twinkle as if they hold all the stars in the sky. The applause and cheers from the guests and the couple bring her back to reality. Siyeon feels heat creep up her neck as she looks around the hall at everyone applauding and her friends cheering with the occasional whistle.Siyeon bows to the audience before she turns to the band to thank them for their support. She leaves the stage as the applause dies down and the MC starts talking about how emotional her singing was and how good Daejung and Sohyun were at dancing.Siyeon makes her way to Bora and as she sits down on the chair beside her she feels a wave of calm wash over her. Her adrenaline from performing slows down once Bora’s hand finds hers under the table.*-*-*The reception’s getting livelier as time goes by. Everyone’s having a good time dancing, eating, drinking, and chatting, just an overall good time. Yoohyeon looks around the reception hall and acknowledges the effort Daejung and Sohyun put into making it look so breathtakingly pleasing. She thought the wedding hall was perfect but the reception hall takes the cake for perfect execution of an indoor beach wedding theme.As she admires the wedding cake (she’s suddenly hit with the thought that the wedding must have cost a pretty penny), she spots Handong getting a second plate of food from the buffet area and she finds her thoughts drifting to the new development in their relationship.Yoohyeon turns away from the table (her friends are getting into a heated debate of whether socks and sandals are appropriate for a wedding) and focuses all her attention on Handong. She realises how lucky she is that Handong was as blunt as she was because otherwise, she would have chalked her feelings up to friendship and gratitude.Yoohyeon stands abruptly from her chair (she ignores the concerned call from Gahyeon) and walks over to Handong with determination. This time she’s going to be the one to take the first step. Handong asked her out as her date to the wedding, now, Yoohyeon wants to ask her out on a proper date.She reaches Handong just as she’s finished serving her food and she carefully takes it out of her hand and places it on a nearby table. Handong gives her a bemused expression as she takes her hand and pulls her to the dance floor.“May I have this dance?” Yoohyeon bows formally as she hears a giggle from Handong.“Yes, you may.” Yoohyeon rises and takes Handong’s right hand in her own and places her left hand on Handong’s waist. She directs Handong to place her left hand on her shoulder. They don’t immediately get the same rhythm (Yoohyeon accidentally steps on Handong a couple of times) but after a while they do and it’s wonderful.They sway to the soft music and Yoohyeon forgets the world around them. Her focus is on Handong who looks stunning in her soft pink off-shoulder dress and her brown locks fall perfectly onto her shoulders.“Thank you,” Yoohyeon starts. “For everything especially helping me with my inspiration problems.”“I should also thank you. Thanks to you I was able to hand in my first draft yesterday. Daewon was so happy he gave me tickets to a concert. Would you like to go?” Handong asks.“Yes, but,” Yoohyeon laughs at Handong’s cute expression of confusion. “We have to go on a proper date first.”“Oh? I thought this was a date, did I read the signs all wrong?” Handong teases.“It’s a wedding date. It’s way different,” Yoohyeon elaborates.“So? Where will be having our proper date?”“I haven’t decided yet but I’ll let you know soon,” Yoohyeon says as she twirls Handong around a few times before resuming their original position.They dance in comfortable silence until the end of the song. As they walk back to the table (Handong had sprinted for her plate of food immediately they had stopped dancing) Handong gives her a thoughtful look.“You haven’t told me what your inspiration is,” Handong states as they approach their lively table courtesy of their friends.Yoohyeon toys with the idea of telling her but she feels words won’t do it justice. So she settles on the next best thing.“I’ll show you when the time is right,” Yoohyeon says as she takes Handong’s free hand in her own and pulls her to the table. She feels Handong squeeze her hand in response and she can’t help but break out in a smile which leads to their friends immediately teasing her upon arrival at the table.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The reception’s been going for a while and Bora feels a bit tipsy. She may have taken one too many glasses of champagne from an older woman detailing how marriage was the worst decision one could make before she turned to give Sohyun advice on how to make sure their marriage lasted. Bora didn’t think too much on that, instead, she’s more focused on getting Siyeon off the stage the moment she’s done singing her third song in a row.Bora pushes the singer, who was actually hired to perform, onto the stage before grabbing Siyeon’s arm and pulling her off the stage. Her action is met with a bit of protest from Siyeon to which Bora insists she needs a break.When Siyeon still resists, Bora simply says, “I miss my girlfriend.” It’s enough to get Siyeon to drop her protests and allow Bora to lead her outside. They sit on one of the outdoor benches and Bora looks up at the night sky, something she’s come to do more often than not.“I haven’t had this much fun singing in a while,” Siyeon’s voice breaks their comfortable silence. “At the Sphinx, people are too drunk or sad to listen so I don’t put much effort into my performances.” Bora watches as Siyeon rubs her hands together.“But here, it was different. People were listening. It felt nice.”Bora bumps her shoulder against Siyeon. “I could tell. You had this glow that I’ve never seen before and it was amazing.” Bora adds as she looks into Siyeon’s eyes, “You were amazing.”“Thank you,” Siyeon whispers before looking back at the sky and Bora follows suit.“We should go on vacation one day,” Bora says, the thought randomly coming to her mind.“That’s out of the blue.” Siyeon comments in an amused tone.“Yeah, but so was this wedding yet it turned out well.” Bora spreads out her arms at the outdoor décor that gave out a bonfire theme.“True, I never pictured them tying the knot so soon.”“On the contrary, I did.” Bora shrugs at Siyeon’s confusion. “Whenever I saw those two be it in an argument or being romantic, they just had this look on their face.”“What look?”“I can’t explain it, really, but it always seemed like they couldn’t picture doing whatever they were doing with someone else. It’s a look that said it has to be you,” Bora says fondly as she thinks how lucky Daejung and Sohyun are to have found each other.“They’re each other’s soulmates and that’s amazing,” Bora concludes. There’s something unsaid in her voice and she thinks Siyeon doesn’t notice. Probably for the best, she doesn’t want to put unnecessary pressure on her.“Would you want that?” Siyeon’s soft voice cuts through the chilly night. Bora feels herself freeze up at her question so much so that she doesn’t say anything for a while.“Between us, I mean.” Siyeon’s voice comes out unsure and Bora recoils at making her feel that way.“One day,” Bora starts as she locks eyes with Siyeon’s wavering ones. “One day in the future, I would but for now I’m happy with what we have. We can just take things slow and see where it takes us.”Siyeon nods with a smile as she scoots closer to Bora and lays her head on her shoulder. Bora chuckles knowing Siyeon’s neck is going to hurt later on.“Let’s go on that vacation, just us two,” Siyeon says and Bora silently agrees with a nudge to Siyeon.Bora turns her gaze back to the sky as Siyeon hums a soft melody into the night.*-*-*Handong’s enjoying her slice of the vanilla wedding cake (she’s a bit shocked at the simplicity of the flavour despite the intricate and elegant design of the cake) at the table with the rest of her friends. They’re all so lively that Handong decides to watch them rather than join in on their shenanigans. Gahyeon and Seochan are in a heated discussion about ideal cake flavours while Yoohyeon occasionally chimes in. Handong smiles as Yoohyeon’s hand entwines with hers underneath the table for a few seconds before disentangling and getting into the debate with more passion and gumption for a cake that Handong’s ever seen.Bora’s busy detailing a “full-proof” method of how to get an extra slice of cake and Yoobin seems to be paying close attention. Minji and Siyeon, on the other hand, are calmly enjoying their cake while throwing worrying glances at the excitement of Bora and Yoobin that could only spell trouble.Handong smiles to herself as she considers joining in the cake flavour debate but before she can, she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns around in her chair and comes face to face with Daejung’s smug face.He points over his shoulder to an empty table before he walks away. Handong follows after letting Yoohyeon know she’ll be back.“Congratulations,” Handong says as she sits on the chair beside him. “I don’t think I’ve told you that the whole day.”“Thanks,” Daejung says in a more subdued voice than Handong is accustomed to. “Also, thanks for putting up with my…loudness.” Handong laughs at his description.“It was no problem, you made my days lively,” Handong says, remembering the numerous mornings Daejung would text her to wake her up before knocking on her door insisting they go running. It only lasted two weeks but it was enough for Daejung to consider himself a friend of Handong’s and vice versa despite how annoying she found him sometimes.“Well, I’m glad,” Daejung says as he flashes Handong one of his usual high energy smiles.“So what’s next? Will the two of you move out after your honeymoon?” Handong asks. She watches Sohyun walk up to her friends, a few tables away, with a bounce to a step.“We couldn’t decide on which of our apartments to move in to, so we decided to find a new place and start the new chapter of our life there.” Daejung’s voice is filled with fondness that Handong is used to hearing whenever he talks about anything related to Sohyun.“How did you know that this was the right choice because, no offence, you guys don’t always have the best track record.”Handong watches as Daejung looks at his wife, laughing heartily with her friends before their eyes meet and she waves at him. In return, he blows her a kiss.“As cliché as it sounds, we just knew. We followed our gut instinct and here we are.” Daejung’s words strike a chord in Handong.She replays his words over and over as he leaves to go join Sohyun. She thinks of how their gut instinct hasn’t failed them as she watches the two hold each other with hushed whispers and laughter.A burst of loud cheers draws her attention from Daejung and Sohyun and to her friends’ table. They’re all hyping Bora and Yoobin up as they place plates of cake on the table and Handong laughs at the scene as her gut tells her that she’s found a special bunch of loyal friends and hopefully, something more in Yoohyeon.
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Gahyeon wraps her coat tighter around her figure to battle the cold wind of the night. The reception’s just ended with festivities and the newlyweds speeding off to enjoy their first official night as a married couple and now Gahyeon and her friends are on their way home. Due to the group’s varying degrees of drunkenness (Handong being the only one closest to being sober) they decided to walk back to the apartment building as it wasn’t too far from the reception venue and as a way to get sober.She’s walking a few steps behind the others and finds herself fondly observing them. Bora’s singing at the top of her lungs (while butchering the lyrics) and Minji alternates between trying to stop her and throwing in some adlibs for fun. Yoobin and Yoohyeon are involved in a clumsy game of rock-paper-scissors while Siyeon plays an eccentric referee. Handong, on the other hand, as the least drunk of the group is pulled from one person to the other with ease.Gahyeon feels overwhelmed with emotion the more she watches the others. She reminisces of all the time they’ve spent together and how she’s come to accept them as her second family, who gave her all the support and love she needed when in a new and foreign city.She remembers how Bora welcomed her into the apartment with open arms and helped her adjust to life in the city. She thinks back to how Yoobin, after their first encounter and multiple follow-up run-ins, introduced her to Yoohyeon and, by proxy, Siyeon, and how they eased her into the friend group. How Minji was kind to her and looked after her in a way that reminded her of her sister. How the trio included her, giving her a chance to vent and talk to people closer to her age. Finally, Handong who gives her massive inspiration of doing what’s right for you and following your dreams.Now.She decides to tell them her decision.Gahyeon’s footsteps slow down until she’s come to a halt.“Guys!” She shouts drawing their attention with delayed reactions from Bora, Yoohyeon and Yoobin. When she has all their attention she continues, “Let’s get some ramen and sober up. My treat.”“Oooh! Someone feels like splurging!” Yoohyeon shouts as she runs back to Gahyeon to put her in a headlock.“Don’t do that, she might change her mind.” Gahyeon hears Yoobin’s slurred voice before the sound of a resounding smack followed promptly by Yoohyeon letting go.“Stop hitting me!”The excitement spreads amongst the others as they change their destination from the apartment building to the convenience store nearby.Gahyeon smiles before joining Bora in shouting lyrics.*-*-*They’re all on their second cup of noodles, looking much sober than when they left the reception venue, sitting outside the convenience store on one of the plastic tables in their fancy dresses (Gahyeon’s sure they are a sight to behold). Gahyeon finishes off her ramen and lets out a satisfied sigh as she leans back in her chair.“So, what made you so generous today?” Handong asks, from the seat beside her, as she also finishes her ramen. Gahyeon rubs the back of her neck and tries to find a way to break the news. Handong gives her a weird look which draws the attention of the others to the two of them.“Here goes,” Gahyeon says under her breath before facing everyone. “I’m leaving.” She watches the varying degrees of shock and confusion appear on her friends’ faces and she would laugh if she wasn’t so nervous.“I’m taking a gap year and moving to my sister’s place. I’m also switching courses but I’m not sure exactly what I’ll switch to. I’ll decide during the year I’m away.” Gahyeon looks around the table trying to gauge their reactions.“That’s…a lot of information.” Yoohyeon’s the first to speak in an uncharacteristically low voice.“I guess…” Gahyeon laughs nervously as she feels her heartbeat get faster the longer she waits for their reaction.“You must have thought it through.” Minji’s hand finds Gahyeon’s and gives it a comforting squeeze.“I think it’s good,” Handong says as she drapes an arm around Gahyeon’s shoulder. “She’s doing what’s best for her.” Gahyeon nods bashfully.Soon, the others gather around her with bittersweet smiles and comforting hugs.“When do you leave?” Bora asks a slight waver in her tone that makes Gahyeon realize that she’ll be leaving her roommate behind, alone.“In a month, at the start of the summer break.” There’s a silence that falls over them that worries Gahyeon before they all start speaking simultaneously in excited tones. What she’s able to decipher is that they vow to make the remaining month the most memorable before she leaves.“We’ll go see all those tourist attractions we kept putting off!” Bora says excitedly as she bounces on her feet.“We can throw a huge rooftop party or rent out a stadium!” Yoohyeon exclaims with a pump of her fist.“Siyeon can put on a concert too!” Yoobin chimes in.“Who’s going to pay to rent out a stadium?” Minji asks with a crook of her brow.“You?” Yoobin asks innocently as she latches onto Minji’s arm.“I’m writing all this down, by the way,” Handong says while typing on her phone with an amused expression.“If you want me to sing, someone will have to pay me,” Siyeon says as she looks intently at what Handong’s typing.“Minji will pay for everything!” Yoobin shouts out.“I won’t!” Minji cries out and points at Handong and Siyeon typing away. “Don’t write that down! I won’t pay! Yoobin!” Minji chases after Yoobin who’s cackling and using Bora as a shield.Gahyeon laughs. She laughs the loudest and heartiest she’s ever laughed in a while. Her friends give her looks of mostly confusion before joining her in her laughter. She’ll realize later on when she’s not still slightly drunk, that the gnawing feeling she once had, has been replaced with a low thrum of warmth.They leave for their apartment in high spirits and a promise to enjoy their last month together.
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It’s been a month since Daejung and Sohyun’s wedding (they’re back from their honeymoon in Bali and have already insisted Handong join them for a day out). It’s also been a month since Gahyeon told them she was leaving. A month of them trying to make Gahyeon’s last month fun and memorable. They visited numerous tourist stops, which also allowed Handong to sightsee. They had more game nights, movie nights and general hangouts.They finally settled on a rooftop party, inviting the tenants of the building and other close friends (Yoohyeon had given up on the idea of renting out a stadium the moment she realized exactly how much it would cost). Siyeon did sing at the party but for free, as a gift to Gahyeon.“I think that’s everything, the rest is already being shipped,” Gahyeon says as she shuts the trunk of the rented car and walks over to the seven of them.“Then let’s get this show on the road.” Seochan gives an encouraging clap before saying his goodbyes to Handong, Siyeon, Bora and Minji. Gahyeon, Yoohyeon, Yoobin and Seochan were going on their heavily planned and anticipated road trip once they drop off Gahyeon’s things at her sister’s place. They had been planning it for months and decided, as a last-ditch effort to spend more time with Gahyeon, to go on the road trip.The goodbyes are filled with heart and emotion. Once Handong’s said her goodbyes to everyone except Yoohyeon, she lets her eyes take in the sight before her. She notes Yoobin and Minji in a hug whispering something to each other, Gahyeon rubbing Bora’s back trying to cheer her up and Seochan giving Siyeon a fist bump before proceeding to teach her an elaborate handshake.Yoohyeon walks up to Handong with her hands behind her back and a twinkle in her eye. She pulls her into a hug that seems to last forever before Seochan starts telling them that they have to leave. Yoohyeon pulls back and gives Handong a chaste kiss on the lips.“Here,” Yoohyeon says as she places a blue envelope in Handong’s hand. “I’ll see you in a few days.” With one last peck on her cheek, Yoohyeon joins the other three in the car.Handong, Siyeon, Bora and Minji wave as the car drives off with the four excitedly yelling their goodbyes. The four stand outside the building for a while before Siyeon and Bora decide to go back in. They leave as they chatter on about something along the lines of what to do now that both their roommates aren’t there. Handong sees them laugh as their hands find each other before disappearing into the building.“They’re already in high spirits,” Minji comments her hands jammed into her coat pockets and a faraway smile on her face.“They probably already have a bunch of ideas on what to do with their temporary empty apartments,” Handong replies as she turns the envelope in her hands and finds ‘My Inspiration’ scrawled on it in Yoohyeon’s messy handwriting.“Well, I’m going to rain on their parade and go join them. Want to join?” Minji asks in a voice that tells Handong that she has a plan prepared to make sure Siyeon and Bora don’t get as much alone time as they hoped.“Sure, why not. Let me read this first then I’ll join you,” Handong says with a shake of the envelope. Minji nods and waves over her shoulder as she walks away into the building.Handong opens the bulky envelope to reveal a bunch of photographs. She takes them out and sifts through them, taking her time. She finds her smile getting wider with each photograph she looks at. The photographs vary from their friends hanging out or laughing or doing more mundane activities like reading or cooking. Pictures of the exterior of the apartment building in various angles with highlights of people walking in and out of it.The last picture makes Handong’s heart skip a beat. It’s a simple picture of their table at the local library with her worn-out notebook and Yoohyeon’s camera sprawled on it. The table where she confessed to Yoohyeon. Not a particularly interesting shot but one with enough sentimental value to make Handong wish Yoohyeon was here so she could hug her.Handong puts the photographs back into the envelope and holds them close to her chest. She vows to keep them safe as they represent much more than she could ever have imagined.Family.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
FINAL THOUGHTS
Well guys, 48,200 words later and we’re done! I want to say thank you to everyone for reading, commenting, subscribing and giving kudos, it meant a lot to me ~I had a very weird time writing THFA. I started writing THFA in October/November 2017. I was so excited and outlined/world-built so much that I could tell you what the other tenants’ (who barely show up in the story) favourite food was. The only problem was that I focused so much on world-building that I neglected the plot. So after 5-ish chapters I hit a major writer’s block, took a break, wrote the next 5 chapters sporadically with decreasing excitement.During this time I genuinely considered dropping the story. I wasn’t enjoying myself, I found it tedious to write and that’s not a good thing, at least for me. The less enjoyment I have while doing something the less effort I put in, resulting in less than average results and I didn’t want to put out subpar content because that wouldn’t be fair to you guys. So, while I tried one last time to keep writing one of my friends on Amino basically told me they were still waiting for an update and they would wait for me to finish THFA. They kept mentioning it until I kinda got excited for THFA again. Knowing that someone actually liked what I had put out so far meant a lot to me at the time. Not wanting to disappoint them, I picked it up again and tried my best.At Chapter 13, I realized some of the reasons why struggled so much with THFA. One, I kept telling myself since it’s a slice of life I can just wing it plot-wise which worked for a while until I actually started forming character relationships and putting stuff for plot continuity that I realized I couldn’t just wing it anymore. So I made a detailed outline from Chapter 15 to the Epilogue so that I avoid any chance of writer’s block. The other reason, I suck at slice of life. Like, genuinely, even after detailing the remaining chapters I still had a rough time writing because the story wasn’t leading up to a huge climax. It’s just snippets of their day-to-day lives. I struggled. Chapter 13 took me 3 months to write lol.All in all, I’m thankful to all the readers who’ve stuck around since the earlier days, the readers who’ve read all the way to the epilogue, the readers who enjoyed even a small part of THFA, my Amino friend and everyone who gave me support to keep writing this.
SEQUEL?
I’m not sure about a sequel. I feel THFA ended at a suitable point, yes, a few characters and relationships and even side stories could be explored more but I’m not sure they warrant a whole sequel. Who knows, I may change my mind. I never thought I would write the Grim Reaper story but here I am writing it out (shameless plug, I’ll upload it soon).Alternatively, if people are really interested or really want closure, I could write a couple of extra/special chapters. For example:
How Yubin and Seochan became close friends.
How Yoohyeon, Yubin and Seochan became friends in high school and their high school lives.
Yubin’s roommates.
Minji’s and Yubin’s relationship and how they came to be so close.
Just to name a few lol. If that’s something you guys would be interested in, let me know in the comments and maybe even let me know what you would like to see.
THINGS THAT CHANGED
Thought I would share some of the few things that changed:
The initial ending I had in mind was Bora and Siyeon moving in together and out of the Happy Face building thus Yoohyeon would move in with Handong as a couple. Yubin would move in with Minji and Gahyeon would still go live with her sister for her gap year.
This obviously changed lol. I didn’t want any of the couples moving in together especially Handong and Yoohyeon because it’s a huge step to move in with someone you’re in a relationship with and I felt the two couples, BoraxSiyeon and HandongxYoohyeon, hadn’t reached that point in their relationship yet.
Yubin and Minji were to end up together romantically.
If you read the earlier chapters you can pick up on the romantic undertones in their interactions but after a while I didn’t see the need of them getting together. Their relationship was supposed to take the longest to form with Minji being very oblivious and thinking that she’s just being a good older sister to Yubin.
I decided to not make them romantically involved because I wanted them to have a bond/relationship that wasn’t romantic and also because I didn’t want the story to end with everyone in a relationship, I wanted more single pringles in the mix lol.
Yubin’s roommate(s).
No, I didn’t forget about them I just felt like any explanation I would give about her roommates would have been anticlimactic or forced. So, I decided to just leave it a mystery.
Bora & Siyeon’s relationship was more complicated than it needed to be.
Originally, they get together after Handong and Yoohyeon start dating and their relationship goes well until they get a “conflict” and they end up breaking up for a while and then eventually get back together. Now, add that to the fact that initially before they get together I was going to have them have a horrible misunderstanding due to miscommunication. Their relationship would have been harder than it needed to be so I just decided to keep it simple for the two of them. If maybe the story was focused on them, I would have been able to flesh out all the conflicts.
In an ideal world, THFA would have had a longer word count and actual character development.
I had planned out so much for THFA, like you would have got to see the members at work or at school, interacting with other fleshed characters and even see some of the members achieve their life goals or at least start to achieve them. Unfortunately, me underestimating how much I need to outline led to a much shorter and, honestly in my opinion, shallow finished product.
FINALLY
Despite all the shortcomings, I genuinely do treasure THFA. It’s my baby and my passion project. It’s taught me so much in terms of my personal writing process and just writing chaptered fics in general and for that, I’ll forever be proud of it.That said, once again thank you all for the support and for reading the story. I appreciate it greatly. To all those who commented, gave kudos and subscribed, thank you, you guys made me realize there are actually people who enjoy the fic and I should stop being so hard on myself:’)Stay safe, drink lots of water (not too much though) and have a lovely day/night ~
PS:
Look out for my next chaptered fic coming soon. It’s My Roommate, The Grim Reaper but slightly darker with a moodier aesthetic.I’m also finishing up the 30 Day SuYeon Challenge, so look forward to that too.