Chapter Text
Minji flew out the front door at top speed, not bothering to close it, one of her parents would be leaving seconds later, she had one hand clutching her bookbag and the other holding half a piece of her favourite food in this well. She pounded down the driveway after her best friend, SuA who had been impatiently waiting in the car at the road.
"SuA!" she yelled, but all that came out was an unintelligible shout and a couple crumbs, because the other half of the macaron had been shoved in her mouth with all the grace of a slapstick comedian from one of her favourite variety shows. She caught up with the car just as it reached the end of the driveway, opening up the passenger door and pausing upon seeing Siyeon in the passenger seat – Minji’s unofficial designated seat for the past two years.
Minji rolled her eyes before closing the door and opening the back passenger door and ungraciously throwing all her belongings in then herself; in the process managing to awkwardly bang her elbow in the process of buckling up safely.
Once she was settled, Minji gave an annoyed look to her best friend who was driving; meeting her eyes in the rear-view mirror and giving a playful glare to the short but savage girl.
“Thanks for waiting so patiently for me, bestie.”
SuA laughed heartily before stepping on the gas and hauling ass out of the street.
“You’re welcome! Sorry, but we were already running late, and I am one more late caution from being suspended from the dance team. So patience is not a virtue today. Anyway, I already wasted time going to Yooh’s before we got to you. You improved on your sprint, by the way. Nice!”
Minji rolled her eyes before giving a double take and seeing the empty seat next to her.
“Wait, where is Yooh?”
SuA entered traffic smoothly, so Siyeon turned in her seat to face Minji.
“Didn’t she text you?” Upon seeing Minji’s blank stare, Siyeon gave a small shrug before continuing, “Well, she wasn’t there when we got there. We waited for like five minutes, knocked on the door, called her, the works. But no answer.”
Minji furrowed her brows.
That wasn’t like Yooh. But she was super active and in a bunch of sport clubs. Maybe she had an early start and forgot to tell them?
Siyeon, sensing Minji’s mind working overtime, gave a small smile.
“I’m sure we will catch up to her in class. If she’s not in History then I will let you know, okay?”
Minji received a text from Siyeon thirty minutes later that Yoohyeon wasn't in first period.
Looking up, Minji could see that her Geography teacher was completely engrossed in the video he was playing to the class. To be honest, the only one paying attention apart from him was SuA and she was enough for any teacher to be happy with.
With certainty that she wouldn’t get her cellphone confiscated she whipped her smartphone out of her pocket and opened her messages.
She fired off a quick text to Yooh; Hey, where r u?
Ten minutes passed before she got a response:
Home sick. Been passing in n out of consciousness all night n day
Minji kept expecting her to walk through the door, and she glanced at it in between using the mirror on her compact to unobtrusively check out the new guy Jinyoung, who sat three seats behind her and joined their school at the beginning of the year.
The next bell rang and Minji started to get a prepared for the social sciences while packing up her Geography materials.
Minji put the compact away and pulled out her mobile phone, firing off a quick text to Yoohyeon. Hey r u feeling better? Can I get you anything? I can drop stuff off after skool
She collected her books and made her way out of the classroom. She had just made it to the next classroom, where she sat down quickly in the desk over from Jinyoung. God, Minji was so glad there were unassigned seats so far in this class.
Minji had completely forgotten about Yooh until she felt her phone buzz in her pocket a few moments later.
Oh, you are the most beautiful person ever! I think I’ll b home sick all day. get assgn 4 me?
Minji frowned. Poor Yoohyeon. Her thumbs moved rapidly over the keypad to type out a reply.
:( srry ur sick puppy. how bad is it?
A moment later she had her answer.
Oh, it is NASTY. been throwing up since last nite. u could tell what i had 4 dinner!! … Jajangmyeon btw
Ew, Minji thought, wrinkling her nose. Yooh… so GROSS!! Worse than Sua on a bad day.
The final bell rang and Minji quickly read the last text as the students around her scrambled into their seats and Mr Lee walked in the door.
:p luv u 2 Kim Minji haha!
Minji slipped the phone into her backpack – Mr Lee confiscated phones if he saw them – and shook her head. Her best friend was such a dork. It was the reason their group never let her breathe.
Yoohyeon’s usual seat next to her was empty. And now that Minji paid attention, Jinyoung’s friend Woo Dam wasn’t in either.
Minji gave a smirk at realising that this meant it was just a matter of time before they got paired together in this class.
First period crawled by without Yooh there to keep her entertained. Minji kept a watchful eye on the clock at the front of the classroom, because this was the first time in the history of social sciences that they nearly had the whole class and no task was paired up yet, it was all solo work.
Was this her fate? Poor timing for life. This is just like the time she was late for that all you can eat pork belly buffet by five minutes. That wasn’t really her fault as Yoohyeon had a track meet that ran over and she promised her best friend she would be there to support her. Still… that was one of the saddest days of her life. Paying full price because she was seven minutes late non-stop pork belly. She cried a lot into her snack mountain that night.
The clock told her she had just under ten minutes left when Mr Lee cleared his throat and announced that they would be picking partners for their project. Minji sat up a little straighter.
Minji was about to ask when Handong spoke up. She was so glad someone else from her group was in this class too.
“Project? What project sunbaenim?” Minji smirked, Handong really hadn't been paying attention but she always said as Korean wasn’t her first language she got confused and needed things repeated sometimes.
A well-placed wink from Handong to Minji before the Chinese girl raised her eyebrows and gave her a knowing look made Minji note down a solid mental reminder to buy Handong snacks for saving her from looking silly in front of the class.
Then Mr Lee put a sack of sugar on his desk and she slumped back down. Oh no, she heard from her friend Ryujin that she had to do this last semester. It was so stupid but also the easiest A she ever got.
"Each of you will pair up and will be taking care of a sugar baby for a week." Mr Lee said. Minji bit her lip as she tried not to laugh. If Yooh was here she would have laughed with her. Man, this class was a drag!
"After that, you'll have another week to write up your report. That means it's due Monday week. I'll be handing out the requirements for that along with each sugar baby. Any questions?" He was met with complete silence. "All right, I think I'm going to let the girls pick this time, so when I call your name, tell me who you'd like for your partner. Lee Sun Jung."
Minji perked up again. Now this could be interesting. She looked over her shoulder at Jinyoung, who grinned and winked at her. Minji smiled and turned back to face front, hoping Mr Lee would call on her soon. This could be very interesting.
Everyone knew that she had a little thing for him and it was harmless. Admittedly, Jinyoung’s friend WooDam was a little keen for Yooh, hence why in this class she always sat with Yooh; to prevent Woodam and his affections for her escalating. Still, no Yooh or Woodam to stop her now!
Sunjung picked Tae Sob. Next, Momo took Heechul. "Kim Minji," Mr Lee called.
Yes! Minji opened her mouth, all set to say Jinyoung's name, when something stopped her. Yoohyeon was absent. That meant she wouldn't get to pick, which meant she'd get stuck with Woodam who was also absent. The rest of the class had even numbers. As much as Minji wanted this opportunity to be close with Jinyoung, she couldn’t let Woodam have that either. Yoohyeon would be so awkward, upset and well, she would be so sad. Minji couldn’t do that to her.
"Minji?" Mr Lee prompted. "Who is going to be your partner?"
Minji sighed and deflated a little. So much for this project being interesting. "Kim Yoohyeon," she said.
"Oooo," Kyung Mi said from her seat two rows away, making the rest of the class bust out laughing. Kyung Mi had never liked Minji, yet every school year they had to put up with each other. Minji couldn’t care less as long as Kyung Mi left her alone.
"Oh, grow up, Kyung Mi," Minji snapped, flushing a little. "There's more girls than boys in this class anyway, so some of us will have to work together."
"Whatever, Gaycatcher," Kyung Mi shot back. "I always knew you two were gay for each other."
"That's enough," Mr. Lee said sternly as the rest of the class giggled again. "Kyung Mi, we don't tolerate derogatory terms like that at this school and if I hear any more you'll be making a trip to the principal's office." Minji smirked at Kyung Mi and Kyung Mi narrowed her eyes back, letting Minji know this wasn't over.
"Kim Ahreum?" Mr Lee continued. Ahreum immediately picked Jinyoung and Minji sank down in her seat.
Why did Yoohyeon have to be absent today of all days?
The only good thing to come out of first period was that Kyung Mi ended up paired with Woodam. Mr Lee had picked her last – purposefully, Minji thought with satisfaction – and Woodam was the only boy left.
"Why didn't you pick me?" Kyung Mi was whining to her best friend Ae-Cha after they had all gotten their bags of sugar and were crowding out the classroom door.
"I thought you'd get mad if I picked you!" Ae-Cha said. "I thought you thought it was gay. Gaycatcher, remember?"
"There were only girls left, you pabo!" Kyung Mi snapped at her.
"No! There was Woodam. I was saving him for you! So, you’d be happy working with a boy, Kyung!"
Minji tried to hide her snicker but was only marginally successful. Kyung Mi heard the poorly concealed laugh and turned around and glared at her in the hallway. Minji cleared her throat and did her best to keep a straight face.
"Have fun with your partner, Kyung Mi. Really hope this works out for you. Hwaiting!”
Kyung Mi leaned in closer to her, fury sparking in her eyes. "Yeah, well, at least I'm not a les-bi-an." She turned the last word into a three syllable insult and Minji felt a slight burn in her chest and lightly on her cheeks.
"Yeah, at least we're not lesbians. You’re a lesbian because you’re working with a girl." Ae-cha piped in, as the minion she had been since birth.
"You're working with a girl, too." Minji pointed out this tidbit, trying not to laugh.
"Only because she had to," Kyung Mi retorted with pure venom in her ton. "Not because she wanted to make out with her girlfriend over a bag of sugar." She didn't wait to hear Minji's comeback, turning on her heel and flouncing away. Ashley flipped her hair over her shoulder and followed her after giving Minji a slightly remorseful look.
Minji peered down at the smiling cartoon face that had been pasted onto her bag of granulated sugar. "See?" she told it. "Things could be worse. You could be going home with Kyung Mi."
She didn't have any classes with the other girls until lunch. Minji plopped the flour bag down on the lunch table next to her tray. "Meet Minji Jr. JiU." she said when SuA looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"Minji Junior?" Dami asked. "Are you okay? You’ve hit your head, haven’t you?”
"I haven’t!" Minji said, scowling. She sat down and picked up her fork, eating her school lunch with an anger none of them had seen since she dropped her macarons on the floor three weeks previous.
The reason for her weird mood was that Kyung Mi had spent the last three periods telling everyone she saw that Minji was gay. It had gone past mildly amusing halfway through second period and was now just deeply annoying.
"Um, I don't know if you've heard," Handong said. "But – "
"Yoohyeon and I are engaged in a heated, secretive lesbian sex affair?" Minji asked before deciding to add more dried anchovies to her rice.
Siyeon nodded. "That about sums it up."
"Yeah, I heard," Minji said. "I picked Yooh for my partner for this stupid project because she's absent and I didn't want her to get stuck with Woodam, and Kyung Mi decided she wanted to use that to make my life miserable."
"Wow," Gahyeon said, eyes wide. "It must be a Monday. That really sucks. Are you okay?"
Minji shrugged and dropped her fork back on the tray, deciding that she wasn’t that hungry. "Whatever. It's Kyung, you know? This is hardly the worst thing she's done to me. And, look – "
"Kyung got stuck with Ae-Cha?" SuA asked, laughing. "Oh, that is so awesome."
Minji laughed too. "Nope, she got stuck with Woodam who dumped her last year. The best, right? I should probably be more upset about this whole thing, but, honestly, Kyung Mi spread rumours about people at least twice a week. Probably by Monday no one would ever remember this one. Remember when she said that Jihyo and Daniel were dating? Wait… that was true. Wait, okay remember when she said that Handong was Chinese mafia?”
Another silence as Handong quietly ate her fruit cup and gave a smirk. Minji sighed.
“I hate you sometimes DongDong.”
"Hey, Minji," Kim ChiJoo, a big, hulking twelfth grader on the baseball team – for the third year running – called from the next table over. "If I bring some snacks in next week, can I get some footage of you and Yoohyeon making out?" Laughter, catcalls, and a few wolf whistles greeted his remark.
Ah adolescent boys were just so funny.
“YAH. ASSHOLE. Wanna make fun of my friend? How about you make out with your own ass? Pucker up, dipshit!”
Chijoo always did secretly thank SuA for helping improve his lap time. And it was being improved again now as the short dancer stood up, flipped her food tray and started charging for him.
Minji groaned and put her head down on the table, banging her forehead against it repeatedly while Siyeon, Handong, Dami and Gahyeon watched in sympathy. She just had to get through today first then she could do damage control on dating scandal rumours later.
The hallways was empty as Minji piled in her mathematics and history books into her bookbag before she closed her locker and moved onto Yooh’s. She muttering a list of all the classes they had homework in under her breath. She spun the combination on the lock and then glared at the contents inside, hands on her hips. Hadn't Yoohyeon taken any of her books home over the weekend? Now she was going to have to carry all of them. Yooh was going to owe her big time.
With relief, she spotted Dami rushing down the hall towards her. "Hey, Dami, want to come to Yooh's with me? I have to take over her homework."
"Sorry, Minji, but my mum's picking me up today but we can give you a ride? My mum insists on family time on Monday night’s to calm us the rest of the week.”
Minji gave an understanding smile before nodding.
“A ride would be great. These books are so heavy. You’re the best!”
Somehow, she managed to get most of Yooh’s books, but she still ended up having to carry three of them, plus Minji Junior, which Dami kindly offered to carry to the car.
As Dami and her mum dropped her off as close to Yoohyeon’s place as they could.
The walk to Yooh's apartment wasn't long from the car drop off area but it took time due to having to wait for the elevator and the awkwardness of being in a development not near the road.
Minji’s back was screaming at her by the time she got there and the straps on her bookbag were digging painfully into her shoulders. Minji was surprised to see that Yoohyeon's mum's car was in the drive to exit, and she opened her window once she saw the girl.
"Oh, Minji, good," she said, trying to shrug into her suit jacket and hold her keys and briefcase at the same time. "I just called to work. I have to go to Japan for a week. Her father is working shifts but she’s on her own now. Do you think you could stay for a bit? I think she's going a little crazy having to stay in bed all day, you know how she hates being sick."
"Sure," Minji said easily. She had a couple hours before she had to go home. "How is she?"
"She's doing better," Her mother said. "We think it was a bug, or maybe she ate something that didn't agree with her."
"At least she didn’t fall over and hurt herself for once." Minji and Yoohyeon’s mother shared a laugh before Yooh’s mother ignited the car and Minji made her way to the apartment.
Minji made it to the apartment a few minutes later. She entered the passcode, went inside and shut the door with her foot, then hauled herself and her heavy bag down the hall to Yoohyeon's room. The door was open and Minji paused in the doorway. "Are you contagious? Because SuA wants me to do a dance for Taki Taki with her tomorrow and if I show up ill then she will kill both of us.”
"Hey," Yoohyeon said from her bed, looking up from the Switch where she was currently playing Mario Kart and brightening the room with her smile when she saw Minji. "It's okay, I don't think I'm contagious. But maybe don't get too close just in case. I would never forgive myself if you got ill."
"Yeah, I think I'll just stay on this side of the room, SuA’s very violent, ya know." Minji decided. She walked over and dumped her armload of books and the sugar baby on Yooh's desk, then slid her bookbag off onto the floor with a sigh of relief. "Are you feeling any better? Your mum said it seemed like a twenty four hour thing."
"Yeah," Yooh said, tossing the Switch to one side. "I drank some ginseng tea two hours ago and I’ve managed to keep it down! Success for the puppy!"
Minji flopped down to sit in the desk chair and swiveled it around to face the taller girl. "I'll alert Dispatch." Minji replied dryly.
"God, I'm so glad you're here," Yoohyeon said, ignoring Miley's teasing. "I have been so bored today! You don't even know the half of it. You have to tell me everything that happened at school today, okay? Everything. I messaged the others and they just sent back smirking faces. Except Dami. She started talking about the fragile adolescent psyche and then when I beat her at Mario Stadium she told me I was the worst."
"Okay stop. Breathe. Maybe first you can tell me why I just had to drag all of your books here from school? Do you know how much homework you have?" Minji asked.
"Really? All of them?" Yooh laughed nervously and looked around the room away from the older girl. "You know, I really meant to bring my geography book home on Friady. And my history book. And my Korean book. And science. And – "
"All right already," Minji said, waving a hand gesturing for the other girl to shut up. "Just know that you me owe for this. Big time."
Yoohyeon scrunched up her face. "For bringing me homework? I owe you?!" she demanded. "You need to see a doctor if you think that’s a favour!"
Minji growled warningly. Today has not been a good day for her and the jokes were going to be skating on thin ice with her.
"Joking! Unnie, I am joking!" Yoohyeon said quickly. "Geez, someone's grouchy today." She had that look on her face, the one that made it seem like you'd just tried to kick a puppy. Minji hated that look. It always made her feel like, well, like she'd just tried to kick a puppy. Because Yooh was her puppy.
"Um, Minji unnie? What the heck is that?" She pointed at the bag of sugar, placed on top of Yooh's Mandarin book. "You know I'm not in any cooking class, right? SuA had me banned from those."
Minji turned the bag so that Yoohyeon could see the side with the face on it. "We started that fake parent baby project in Mr Lee's class toda." she explained.
"Oh," Yoohyeon said, and then her face fell. "Oh, no. Please, please, please tell me I didn't get stuck with someone horrible because I was absent."
"You didn't get stuck with someone horrible." Minji said obediently.
Yoohyeon covered her face with her hands and peeked out between her fingers. "It's okay. You can tell me the truth. I'm strong, I can take it. I mean, my body's been weakened by illness, but – "
"Jesus, Yoohyeon." Minji said.
" – I'm sure this won't be the thing that pushes me over the edge – "
"YOO. HYEON."
" – leading me to spiral downwards, getting sicker and sicker, until I waste away to nothing, just a former shell of myself wandering the landscape of Seoul, lost in a sea of – "
"PUPPY!"
"Okay, just tell me." Yoohyeon said. “Who'd I get stuck with?" She placed her hands in her lap and took a deep breath, her shoulders low and slumped like her body had already given into defeat.
"Kim. Minji.” Minji said with a satisfied smirk.
Yoohyeon dropped her hands. "Seriously?"
"Yes." Minji said.
"You?"
"The one and only!"
"Oh, thank the gods old and new! I thought for sure you were going to say Woodam! I mean, he is a nice guy but I just can’t handle him around me, you know?”
Minji laughed. "I do know. Come on, you know I wouldn't let that happen. Oh, but guess who did get stuck with him?"
"Who?"
Minji paused a minute to build up the suspense. "Kyung Mi."
"NO WAY! Oh my god," the taller girl said. "Oh my god, and I missed it? Aw, man! I hate being sick! She always pines for his friend. She must have been devastated! Haha."
Minji gave a weak chuckle, she understood pining for Jinyoung after all.
"I know," Minji said. "But don't worry, the project lasts two weeks, so you'll have plenty of time to watch her suffer.”
"But I missed seeing her face when she first found out! And she’s always trying to make your life hell!" Yoohyeon pouted. "And I'm going to have to miss the gaming tournament tonight. This totally sucks. You know what?" She threw back the blankets covering her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I'm not sick anymore, I just decided." She stood up, wobbling a little.
"Yoohyeon, I'm not sure that's such a good – " All the colour drained out of the younger girl's face and her knees buckled; Minji shot out of the desk chair and across the room, grabbing her dongsaeng before she could hit the floor. " – idea," she finished, frowning down at the accident-prone girl, who looked back at her sheepishly.
Minji straightened, lifting the younger girl and sliding her back into bed. "Ugh, you're heavy, how are you so heavy but so thin?" she complained, pulling the blankets over her friend and then sitting on the bed next to her.
Yoohyeon sunk lifelessly into her pillows, her eyes half shut. "You know if I don’t eat too late then I don’t gain weight. Anyway, it’s all muscle," she mumbled.
"Yeah, I know," Minji said. She'd seen her friend in the changing room plenty enough times to know that. "You might want to try waiting until you can eat something before you get up again, pabo." She gently brushed hair off of Yooh's forehead, then combed it a little with her fingers, straightening it around the younger girl’s face.
Yooh opened her eyes, her crescent eyes were in a gaze focusing on the other girl. "You might be right."
"As unofficial leader of our group of friends… I usually am," Minji said smugly, causing Yoohyeon to laugh in amusement. "Hey, do you want some water?" Yoohyeon nodded.
Minji went to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water and a glass before returning to Yooh’s bedroom. She walked over to her best friend, poured the liquid in the cup and held it to the taller girl’s mouth, tilting it a bit so Yoohyeon could take a sip.
Yooh's eyes stayed locked with her the whole time, and for the first time in forever Minji suddenly felt uncomfortable.
From nowhere, Kyung Mi and her stupid rumors from school started running through her head about Yoohyeon and her being involved in that way.
"You uh… you should try some more ginseng tea? Maybe if you keep it down you can graduate to seaweed soup.”
"Yeah, good idea, unnie. You always look after me so well." Yooh said, closing her eyes again. "Could you make me some please, Minji unnie?”
Minji gave a beaming smile. "Your wish is my command," she said sincerely, her awkwardness vanishing the more she thought her genuine friendship and love with Yoohyeon. Those rumors were absurd. She needed to just forget about them. "I'll be right back, little Yooh."
"Thank you!" Lilly said with pure sweetness.
Minji waited as the kettle boiled to make the ginseng tea. She looked in the fridge and saw there was already seaweed soup, ready for Yoohyeon whenever she had the energy. Minji was pleased to notice that there was also some ice cream for Yoohyeon in the freezer when she checked too. She'd make sure the sick girl would have a bowl of the soup by her bed before she left.
She carried the drink and soup back to Yoohyeon’s room and watched with joy as she saw some of the colour return to Yoohyeon’s cheeks and her friend reigniting with life on every sip. Minji placed the soup on the bedside table.
Minji sat on the edge of the bed again, slowly rubbing her shoulders, the discomfort from earlier being a thing of the past.
Yoohyeon slowly sipped the hot tea as her friend looked around the room. After a moment Minji spoke, catching Yoohyeon’s attention as usual.
"I'm going to leave Minji Jr, well, JiU, here tonight if that's okay," she said, catching sight of the bag of sugar. "I don't want to have to deal with it during the practice with SuA."
"Minji Jr.?" Yoohyeon said. "No way. I think you meant Yooh Jr. YuJu."
"Uh, no way." Minji said. "I had to ensure the class, then drag it around for nine thankless hours. After all that, I’m not letting you name it. The privilege is real! God, I sound like my mother… Anyway, it is Minji Junior for us both or it’s gonna be from a single parent home."
Yoohyeon opened her mouth to argue, stopped, blinked, then chuckled.
"How about we reach a compromise. Just Junior?" she suggested, putting her tea down and grabbing the seaweed soup Minji brought her.
"Deal." Minji said.
"Are you sure you want to leave it here?" Yooh asked. "It might get sick."
"It is a bag of sugar it can’t get sick. Besides, you’re not getting out of this. I don’t care what cute face you pull." Minji said carelessly.
"On second thought, I think it’ll be fine, you’re right! So what else did I miss today? Did Dami finally ask out Handong? Any juicy dating scandals?” Yoohyeon shovelled in a spoonful of soup into her mouth.
"Y’know, it is funny you should ask." Minji said. For some reason, she didn't really want to tell Yoohyeon about the rumours, often when one of them had missed out school they never hesitated to share the tea that had been missed at school but this was the first time in years Minji wanted to hide it. Then she remembered that when Yooh came to school, the chances of Kyung Mi letting Yoohyeon not know what she thought of them paired up for the social science project were slim none.
"What is it? You’re doing your super serious face." Yoohyeon said eagerly. "What happened?" She sat up a little and reached behind herself to fluff up her pillows.
Minji instinctively leaned forward to help her, then realized that to reach the pillows she'd have to put her arms around Yoohyeon. She stopped in her tracks and leaned back. Yesterday she wouldn't have hesitated to do it. Today she blushed and didn't move. "Come on, come on, tell me, tell me, tell me, Minji. I am PARCHED for gossip."
"It's really not that good, Yooh," Minji said, then hastily added, "Not that it's really bad, or anything."
Minji had thought about it after lunch. If she was ever going to like a girl, it would be clumsy best friend. Not that she ever would, but like if she had to like a girl then why not Yoohyeon? She was smart, kind, pretty, funny, treated her well, her parents loved her. The list went on really…
"What is it, then? It must be serious." Yoohyeon asked, looking at her curiously.
"Um, since I picked you to work on the project, Kyung Mi decided to tell the whole school that we're gay. And then told everyone we’re having lots of lesbian sex." She blurted the explanation out in a rush, then clamped her mouth shut and cleared her throat to keep a nervous giggle from escaping her throat. "Funny, right? Need more tea? I think you need more tea. Tea is really, really good for you."
Yoohyeon's face went pale. "She...what?"
"I know, crazy, right?" Minji said. "I don't know where she comes up with this stuff. I mean, tons of other girls in class are working together, but of course she has to pick on us." Yoohyeon turned pale again, so Minji hurried to reassure her. "But don't worry, you know how she's always spreading rumours. By Thursday, she'll have a new one and no one will even remember this. And, anyway, who cares what people think, right? I mean, haha, we know it’s not true, amirite!"
Minji laughed heartily. She noticed after a second, she was the only one laughing heartily. She looked at Yooh as she calmed down to a chuckle.
“I mean, Yooh, could you imagine… you or me? Gay? Together? Haha! What a hoot right? How delusional!”
"Yeah, haha." Yooh said weakly, staring at the blankets covering her lap. "Um...in my case, yes, I guess I could imagine. Because, it's kind of true. Half true. There are hints of truth to the statement concerning me."
"What?" Minji croaked out.
"I think I kind of, um, like girls," Yoohyeon said softly, not looking up. "I still like boys, too," Yoohyeon spoke quickly. "Just... I guess to be more accurate, I like people."
"I – but – you," Minji stuttered. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I am telling you now!" Yooh said, glancing up and then back down. "Besides, I wasn't really sure before."
"But you're sure now?" Minji asked, feeling dizzy. She stood and looked solely at the bag of sugar on top of Yoohyeon’s books.
"Yeah, I mean, I’ve known for a bit. I told Siyeon and Dami that I thought I might be that way inclined… but I wasn’t sure how to tell you. You’re me best and closest friend… Minji, is that – is that okay? Is this okay? Am I okay?"
"What?" Minji tore her eyes away from the inanimate bag of sugar and saw the worry on her best friend’s face. "Of course! It's okay. It's totally okay, Yooh, you have to know that. I'm just a little surprised, that's all. I mean… yeah, all fine, just a bombshell is all. A good bombshell."
"Oh, thank God!" Yoohyeon exclaimed loudly and visibly relaxed against her pillows. "You don't know how happy I am. How scared I was to tell you. I always had images of it ruining our friendship. Thanks for – " Yoohyeon beamed that megawatt smile and reached out a hand, just making contact with Minji’s.
A tiny spark hit Minji and travelled up her arm; she pulled it away without thinking, recoiling at the sudden movement that caught her off guard.
The smile dropped from Yoohyeon's face like Minji herself had raised her hand and slapped it off.
"Oh no," the older girl said. "No, no, no, puppy, I didn't mean it, not like that. Please, you have to believe me, I didn't mean – " She grabbed her friend’s other hand with both of hers, clutching it tightly. "I didn't mean to do that. You know that, right?"
"Yeah.”
"Are we okay?" Minji asked. She loosened her grip a bit and without hesitation Yoohyeon placed her hands together in her own lap and looked down.
"Sure," she said. "We're great, unnie. Best friends. As always.”
Minji didn't believe her but Yoohyeon could be like this when she wanted to shield her emotions and feelings. She knew she should say something, but she didn't know what, and the longer they sat there in silence, the more awkward it got. "Okay, I should probably get going, you know, I have to get ready for tonight. Like I said, SuA won’t go easy on me.
Yoohyeon draped herself with her duvet in the bed and turned on her side away from her best friend. "Have fun." Minji frowned at the monotonous tone but decided to throw back with their usual banter.
"I'll try, but it's gonna be kinda hard without Rachel Kim there." Minji said. Yoohyeon didn't answer. Minji stood before looking at the cup and bowl on the side. "Do you need any more food or drink before I go?"
"No," Yoohyeon said, turning over in the bed so that her back was to her best friend. "My dad will be home soon anyway."
"Okay," Minji said before making her way to the threadhold of the door. She stopped in the doorway. "Yooh?"
"Hmm?"
Minji bit her lip before speaking with confidence. "Feel better, okay? I love ya."
"…Yeah. Thanks." The younger girl replied completely devoid of emotion.
It took Minji until she got to SuA’s house to realize she'd left Junior and her bookbag full of books sitting in her best friend’s room. There was no way she was getting anything done tonight or going back for it tonight.
As SuA got the speakers ready for the second attempt at the dance, Siyeon sat in the corner ready to ogle again. Minji sighed loudly catching the other two girls’ attention.
“Everything okay, unnie?”
Minji looked up at Siyeon and gave a soft, half-smile. She nodded. Siyeon and SuA shared a look; they weren’t buying it.
“Yah, Kim Minji, what’s wrong?”
Minji locked eyes with SuA. Even though she was the oldest, SuA could really test her. It was a good thing, it meant Minji was always on her toes.
“Nothing is wrong, SuA.”
“I call bullshit.”
Minji rolled her eyes as Siyeon widened her own. Siyeon looked around for popcorn and gave a big grin when her desired snack was on the chair next to her. She opened it and watched eagerly.
“I said I’m fine.”
SuA scoffed.
“Fine? You only had one boot on the first dance.”
“Minor setback.”
SuA clucked her tongue in annoyance. Usually, she would let this unnie have it but judging from the way Minji was being evasive and the fact she hadn’t mentioned Yoohyeon once since being here, she could only assume that Minji and the sick girl had an argument.
SuA decided to be saintly and go easy in Kim Minji today. She stepped away and turned to the phone and speaker system. Siyeon gave an “aww man”.
She pressed play and the music started. Thoughts of Yoohyeon flew through her mind; Yoohyeon telling her something so vulnerable and trusting her with it. Yoohyeon looking so utterly broken when Minji pulled her hand away. Yoohyeon looking so defeated before she couldn’t even stand to face Minji.
Minji was 12 beats in before she realised she was doing the Troublemaker dance from last semester to Taki Taki.
A well-aimed sneaker flew to her head but she managed to evade it.
Maybe she wasn’t fine after all.