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Byulyi was 7 when she first met Yongsun.
She remembered going out the back door to play in the yard when she heard sniffling coming from behind the tall fence that separated her from her neighbor.
She remembered running inside and dragging one of the chairs from the dining room out to stand on. Still struggling to peak over the fence on her toes.
She remembered seeing a girl around her age, curled up against one of the pillars holding the patio's roof up.
"Hey," she called out softly, "are you okay?"
She remembered the girl looking up at her with wide eyes. Her black hair had been a little longer than Byulyi's, she didn't have bangs either. Her chubby little cheeks were stained with tears.
The girl sniffled again.
"No."
"Oh," to be fair Byulyi hadn't been a smart 7 year old, of course the girl was sad, "uh...you wanna see something cool?"
That seemed to pique the girl's interest.
"How cool is it?"
"It's very cool!"
She remembered past Byulyi being slightly offended at the skepticism of her coolness.
The girl took a moment to think before looking back to her and nodding lightly.
Byulyi had grinned brightly back at her.
"Meet me in the front!"
With that she had jumped off of the chair and ran to the living room where her parents had been watching TV.
"Can I have my bike?"
Her dad lifted himself off of the couch and started making his way towards the garage with Byulyi practically skipping behind him.
"Are you gonna go around the neighborhood?"
She shook her head.
"There's a sad girl in the house beside us. I'm gonna show her the hideout."
He glanced at the clock on the living room wall.
"Ok, just come back before it gets dark."
Byulyi nodded her head and whooped in excitement.
Her dad helped bring her bike to the driveway where the girl had been waiting.
"Hello there," she remembered her dad saying, "do you have a bike you can use?"
The girl had shook her head.
"I don't know how to ride one."
"I can go get the wagon."
It was a decently sized plastic wagon that Byulyi usually used to carry toys and cool sticks and rocks she found. Sometimes she even strapped it to her bike if she and her little sister wanted to go around the neighborhood or her parents sent her to the store to get a carton of milk.
Byulyi rushed back inside while her dad started securing the wagon to the bike with zip ties and grabbed a couple of chocolate milk boxes and her secret bag of gummy bears from the cupboard and ran back outside.
"Alright, that should be ok." her dad leaned back to inspect his handiwork, "Be safe, ok?"
"We will dad!" Byulyi said and dumped the snacks into the wagon.
She turned to the girl and gestured for her to get in.
The girl looked extremely skeptical and very gingerly climbed in, once the wagon seemed safe she relaxed.
"Don't forget your helmet kiddo!"
"I won't!"
She ran off again to the garage and got her blue helmet and after a little consideration got Seulgi's glittery purple helmet.
"Here, this is my little sister's helmet but I don't know if it'll fit."
It was a snug fit but it worked.
"Alright, let's go!"
Their take-off had been a bit wobbly but eventually they were cruising down the street. The girl was a little heavier than Seulgi but Byulyi made due and pushed forward.
It was a quiet ride, only broken by the muffled rattling of the wagon and Byulyi's heavy breaths.
"Am I too heavy?" The girl asked, a little worried.
"It's ok!" Byulyi answered back, panting, "We'll be there soon!"
‘Soon’ turned out to be after 7 minutes and ‘there’ turned out to be the edge of the woods.
"Here...here we are!" Byulyi flopped over a large rock and tried to catch her breath.
The girl climbed out of the wagon, clutching the snacks.
"Are you ok?" The girl's brow is furrowed in concern and a small part of Byulyi's brain finds it strangely adorable.
"Yeah, I'm ok." She stood up from the rock and brushed the dust off her shorts.
"C'mon, we still have to climb the hill."
She holds out her hand for the other girl to take, which she does after a little bit. Her own hand is a little sweaty but their tiny fingers curl around each other almost naturally.
"What about the snacks?"
"You can put them in the helmet, then it's like a little basket!"
This was also the point when Byulyi realized that in her excitement she forgot to ask the girl for her name.
"What's your name by the way?"
"I'm Yongsun."
As they both trudge up the hill, Byulyi continued her line of questions.
"Where are you from?"
"My parents are from Korea."
"You're Korean too? Cool!"
"What about you? What's your name?"
"My name is Byulyi!"
Yongsun looked at her a little curiously.
"Byulyi? Like ‘star’?"
Byulyi's grin somehow widened even more.
"Yup! My dad said that it was a really starry night when I was born so that's why."
"That's really cool. I have a stuffed bunny named Byul, it's purple and has a bunch of stars on it."
"I have a dog toy named Daebakkie, mom and dad said that we'll get a real one when Seulgi's older!"
"Is Seulgi your sister?"
"Yeah, she's 3 years old. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"I have an older sister, her name is Yonghee. She's a meanie."
Yongsun's face scrunched up into a pout and Byulyi was filled with a sudden need to squish her cheeks, which she didn't do.
"Why?"
"She took Byul."
"Yeah, that's not nice." Byulyi nodded in sympathy, "Is that why you were sad?"
Yongsun nodded, the pout still on her face.
The questions continued until they got to the top of the hill.
"We're here!"
There were a small cluster of decently sized trees and maybe around 2 or 3 meters up there was half a tree house.
"Woah!" Yongsun's eyes widened at the structure, "Did you make that?"
"Nah, me and my dad were walking around and found it a few weeks ago. Wanna go up?"
"Yeah!
The ladder was a bunch of planks loosely nailed into two trees, thinking back on it that ladder was a hazard and it was a miracle that no one was hurt climbing it.
The actual “tree house” was a large wooden platform with a railing along the edges but with enough spacing between the balusters to dangle their legs over the edge.
The view they had of their neighborhood was amazing, beyond the crests of a dozen or so trees they could see the convenience store, the diner that she liked getting milkshakes from after school and even Bae Irene’s house which was on the edge of town.
For a moment they just stood there, basking in the summer air.
“Woah!” Yongsun’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she drank the sight in.
“I know right?” Byulyi knew that Yongsun was talking about the view but she was fixated on the way Yongsun’s hair curled like a princess, “It’s pretty.”
---oOo---
Byulyi was 13 when she first got an inkling for what her feelings meant.
She remembered that it was at Im Nayeon’s birthday party. She didn’t even know Nayeon but one of her friends was friends with Kang Seulgi who Byulyi was actually friends with. From what she knew, Nayeon was a big believer in the “the more, the merrier” principle so she had asked Yongsun to go with her.
Of course since they were a group of 25 or so pre-teens it had devolved into a game of truth or dare. Everyone was strewn across the living room, on the carpeted floor, the sofas or chairs they had brought in from other areas of the house.
She remembered that Eric Nam was there. Byulyi didn’t really like him but Yongsun did so she supposed that he was fine. It was pretty obvious that he had a crush on Yongsun to literally everyone, except Yongsun apparently.
“Eric!” Yeri exclaimed after a few seconds of thinking, “truth or dare?”
“Dare.” he had answered back without much thought.
Yeri giggled as she came up with her dare, or maybe cackle was a better descriptor.
“I dare you to kiss Yong.”
His face had become extremely red at the dare and laughter had broken across the room.
“I...uh,” his eyes flitted erratically between Yeri and Yongsun whose face was also red from being thrust into the spotlight, “I can’t-can’t do that.”
“Just kiss her on the cheek.”
“Yeah!”
“No I-I-”
Byulyi rolled her eyes.
“It isn’t that hard you big baby.”
Then she leaned over to her left and pressed a soft kiss to Yongsun’s soft cheek.
She remembered Minatozaki Sana and Hirai Momo’s high pitched squeals on her right and some whooping from Kim Seokjin and a few of his friends who she didn’t know the names of.
The kiss lasted less than 3 seconds but something sparked in Byulyi. It wasn’t any epiphany by any means but it was a clue. A small raise in her heart rate, a slight hitch in her breaths.
She remembered pulling away and Yongsun smacking her arm with her screeching laugh.
Why didn’t that feel weird to do?
Why had that felt so natural of an action?
Why did she want to do it again?
There were quite a few thoughts running through her mind but she kept her face as straight as she could and turned back to Eric.
“See?”
Everything was a little blurry after that.
She vaguely remembered Eric leaning over and planting a tentative kiss to Yongsun’s other cheek.
She vaguely remembered Yongsun handing her a plate with a slice of chocolate cake to share with her.
She vaguely remembered Eric shuffling up to them later, red faced and stuttering. Asking Yongsun if they could talk privately. Like it wasn’t obvious that he wasn’t going to ask her out.
She remembered leaving the party later with Yongsun at her side though.
“So...” Yong said “Eric asked me out.”
Predictable.
“Yeah?” Byulyi really wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn’t, for Yongsun’s sake, “What’d you say?”
“I said yes.”
That had surprised Byulyi a little, not that much though. She supposed that it was inevitable that she’d go out with him.
“Do you like him?”
She didn’t know why she was invested in Yongsun’s answer but she felt herself lean in slightly.
Yongsun gave her a non-committal shrug.
“I don’t know, he’s nice I guess.”
Ok, that was a good answer.
Why?
Byulyi let out a hum of acknowledgement.
“You wanna get some sodas and head over to the hideout?”
“Sure.”
Nayeon’s house was closer to the forest than Yongsun and Byulyi, and the convenience store.
She remembered that she considered moving to that street, but then she wouldn’t live next to Yong.
“Byul?” the next thing she remembered was sitting in the tree house, “Are you ok? You’ve been a little spaced out today.”
She shook herself out of her thoughts and attempted a smile.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
They had built on the hideout as best they could (with their parents' help) and made it a bit more comfortable with a roof, cheap heater, fairy lights and most importantly, a safer ladder. It had taken a few month’s allowance but it had been worth it.
Yongsun had fixed her with a quizzical look, like she didn’t believe her but she wasn’t going to push.
“Sure.”
There was a small pause broken by the pop of a soda can opening.
“Tell me how the date goes.”
From Yong’s account he had taken her to the diner for an awkward lunch with stiff conversation. There hadn’t been a second date.
---oOo---
Byul was 17 when she realized what it all meant.
She wasn’t even with Yongsun when it happened, she was at the school’s gaming club teaching Myoui Mina how to play Overwatch.
Mina had joined the gaming club earlier that month and it had just taken her shyly opening her laptop and showing off the house she had made in Minecraft that she was clearly proud of for Byulyi to basically adopt her.
“Ah!” Mina whined quietly as she got shot and died again, “I keep dying!”
“Big oof.”
“You’re so mean.”
Byulyi chuckled and ruffled her hair.
“Let’s stop and cool down before we start fighting for real.”
The resulting conversation had led to Mina talking about her friends and their absolute hopelessness.
“I swear, Momo is so oblivious.”
“Hirai Momo?” Byul asked, “She’s Sana’s friend right?”
“Yeah, you know her?”
“I went on a date with her once.”
Mina looked at her, astounded.
“Is there any girl that you two haven’t dated at least once?”
“Well I haven’t dated you.” Byul said, giving her a wink and complimentary finger gun.
“Thankfully.”
“Ouch,” Mina giggled at Byulyi’s expression, “anyways, my point is that I don’t know her or Momo that well and I could tell that they’re into each other.”
“They’re both lead bricks coated in gold.”
Byulyi hummed in agreement.
“They sound like a plot from one of those dumb romcoms that Yong keeps making me watch.”
Now Mina looked at her with an indecipherable expression.
“This is at least the sixth time I’ve heard you complain about them, if you hate them so much why do you keep watching them?”
Byulyi shrugged indifferently.
“I don't know. I guess it’s because I lo-”
Oh.
---oOo---
Byulyi was 19 when she finally grew a pair.
She remembered that it was around midnight, she had woken up to the sound of her ringtone.
She remembered rolling over, groaning as she glanced at the screen of her phone.
Yeba <3 is calling
She remembered picking up the call without any thought.
“Do you know what time it is?” she croaked out, reaching for the lamp on her bedside table
“Well hi to you too.”
“Hi, what’s up?”
Yongsun let out a heavy sigh.
“Can’t sleep, wanna go to the hideout?”
“It’s too late.” Byul replied, already rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and making her way out of bed.
“I’ll see you outside in ten.”
She remembered Yong leaning on the hood of Byul’s shitty pickup truck, playing something on her phone.
“Hey.”
Yongsun looked up at her and flashed her that bright smile that always gave her a warm feeling when it was directed at her.
“Hey!”
Byulyi unlocked the truck and soon enough they were off.
“I was thinking we could get swing by Angelo’s for some pizza before we go.” Byulyi suggested.
“Sounds good.”
She remembered that they had ordered a large of Yongsun’s favorite (because Byulyi was just that whipped) and they were back on the road with Yongsun controlling the music.
“Stop playing ballads, it’s getting too depressing in here.” Byulyi said, reaching for the phone.
“Shhh!” Yongsun swatted her arm away, “I’m the DJ now.”
“I’m only accepting ballads if you sing along.”
“Oh, that’s what you’re trying to do?”
“Consider it payment for driving you around at midnight.”
They both knew that Byulyi would have taxied her around regardless.
“Fine, whatever.” Yongsun closed her eyes, feeling the music.
Her smooth voice resonated in Byulyi’s chest as she sang along to some sad love ballad by someone she didn’t know. She was almost tempted to close her eyes herself and lose herself into Yongsun’s voice but she wrestled them open and kept her eyes fixed on the road.
She remembered that it had been a beautiful starry night and from the tree house it felt like you were almost floating in space.
“It’s so pretty tonight!” Yongsun’s face was just as expressive as it had been when she was 8. Her eyes still wide, her cheeks still chubby.
“Yeah,” Byulyi’s eyes were fixated on her amazed expression, “it’s beautiful.”
There was a lull as they both took bites from their pizzas. Music was still playing from Yongsun’s phone but she had switched genres to cheesy indie rock.
Something about it all just clicked.
“Yong…” Byulyi’s voice was low, barely above a whisper, “I love you.”
She remembered that Yongsun had stopped chewing and given her another bright smile.
“I love you too dork.”
“No!” The raise in Byulyi’s voice surprised herself as well as Yongsun.
There was no turning back now.
“No,” her voice was softer now, “I-I mean that…”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and Yongsun was pulling her closer to her. It would be a miracle if she couldn’t hear Byulyi’s heart attempting to break itself out from inside her chest.
“Byul…” Yongsun’s eyes met hers with a quiet understanding, “You talk too much.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” she could feel herself subconsciously lick her lips at the sight of Yongsun’s gaze drifting down to hers.
“I’m gonna kiss you now.”
“Ok.”
“And I want you to kiss me back.”
“I-I can do that.”
“Good.”
That was the only warning Byulyi got before Yongsun leant in.
She remembered how her eyes had fluttered shut at the sensation of soft lips against hers, the feeling of Yongsun's warm body moving to press flush against her own, the lightheadedness she had felt once it had registered that Kim Yongsun was kissing her.
She remembered that, as cheesy as it sounded, the sensation bubbling in her chest felt a lot like fireworks.