Work Text:
A nice breeze coupled with the budding summer sun, Yu Jimin and her best friend Aeri Uchinaga sat at a table underneath a large tree that provided the best shade in the campus courtyard.
“How long are you going to stare at them for?”
Jimin snaps out of her reverie, immediately taking defense. “Who? I wasn’t staring at anyone.”
Aeri looks up at her, deadpan, from her assortment of veggies in a Tupperware container she always used for lunch. “Thing One and Thing Two.”
“They have names you know.”
“Ah ha!” Aeri smacks the table before pointing an accusing finger towards Jimin. “I got you.”
Jimin petulantly crosses her arms, muttering her next words with a pout. “It’s not my fault they’re in my direct line of view.”
Aeri chomps on a carrot. “Did you know they used to date?” Jimin nods. News traveled fast around campus. Besides, she— “Imagine still being friends with an ex. Could never be me.” Jimin’s thoughts are interrupted as Aeri sighs, tossing another carrot into her mouth to chomp.
“Don’t people usually say that if exes are still friends, then that means they still love each other?”
Her best friend shrugs. “I assume it’s different for everybody.” After a beat, Aeri’s eyes narrow in curiosity. “What’s got you all nosy? Do you like one of them?”
Jimin would rather swim in a swamp full of crocodiles than reveal the pathetic, lifelong crush she had on Kim Minjeong.
“No.”
“Let me guess!” Aeri claps excitedly, obnoxiously. She swivels around and follows Jimin’s line of sight. She throws her hands up. “I should have known.”
“What?”
“Your sweet sixteen birthday party.“ Jimin gapes at the back of Aeri’s head in utter confusion. “Seven minutes in heaven. Your first kiss!”
Jimin pales.
“I never realized that was the same Kim Minjeong!”
Jimin’s life flashes before her eyes. This would be the most random and inopportune time for Aeri to finally find out her feelings for Minjeong, their childhood classmate. She had buried and hid it so well for so long, up until this very moment.
“It doesn’t matter.” Jimin rests her chin on the palm of her hand. “They still seem in love with each other.”
“To you, maybe.” She turns around to properly face Jimin again. “You’ll never know anything unless you give it a try.”
~
Everything comes crashing down the following night.
Jimin had finally chalked up the courage to say a simple hello to Minjeong at a frat party off campus, but the universe seemed to be very against that.
Minjeong’s ex, Ningning, was glued to her side the entire time. It zapped up every ounce of courage Jimin managed to muster up for this monumental occasion. But she never got to speak a word to her in the end.
As if the night couldn’t get any worse, Jimin had lost Aeri halfway through the party and spent a good chunk of time searching for her through the dirty frat house.
She resorts to checking all the rooms upstairs. Coming up empty, besides a few stray couples, Jimin stops on the last door at the end of the hallway.
Jimin pushes the door open to find Aeri wrapped up and entangled with an oddly familiar stranger.
Ningning.
Her jaw comically drops to the ground. “What the hell?!”
It eventually seemed to register in their brains that a presence had walked in on them. Aeri squeals in surprise, tumbling off the bed. “W-What are you doing here, Jimin?”
“Looking for your crazy ass!”
Amidst the chaos, Ningning had hidden herself under the bedsheets. “You haven’t told her?” Her question is muffled, but still loud and clear to Jimin’s ears.
Hands on her hips, Jimin’s eyes narrow at Aeri. “Haven’t told me what?”
“I can explain!”
~
Aeri and Ningning were hooking up. Friends with benefits. This had been flying right under Jimin’s nose for weeks now.
“Are you still mad at me?”
Jimin and Aeri were in line for popcorn and candy at their local theater. “I’m here, aren’t I?” She answers with zero emotion.
“Only because you bought these tickets ages ago and we literally bumped into each other in the ticketing line.”
Jimin says nothing, because everything was true. “Look, I’m not mad…” She starts. “…anymore. I’m just upset that you didn’t tell me.”
Aeri casually pays for their food and drinks. This was their tradition, going to the movies together every other week. Jimin would get the tickets, Aeri would get the snacks. Today, they would be seeing Barbie.
“I was going to tell you, I just didn’t know how.”
Jimin supposes they both kept big secrets from each other. “Let’s just call it even.”
A smile makes its way onto Aeri’s face. “That’s right! Your ginormous crush on Minjeong! How could you never tell me about that?!”
Jimin and Aeri are some of the earliest to arrive, quickly moving to their assigned seats in the very back row. They loved to watch through all the commercials and trailers that played before the movie.
As the theater lights dimmed, more people filed in and occupied the majority of the seats. “Think it’s going to be a full house?” Aeri asks.
“Duh, its Barbie.”
Their row slowly starts to fill up and soon enough, an old lady sits down in the seat to the right of Aeri. They exchange a funny look and resist the urge to laugh.
“Maybe if we’re lucky, these two seats next to me won’t fill up and you can move.” Jimin jokes. Not even a minute later, she notices two figures reaching the top of the stairs. “Dang it. I think they’re here for the seats.”
Jimin turns her attention back to the screen, moving closer to Aeri when she feels her stiffen. “Dude, what’s up?” Aeri lets out an incomprehensible squeak, completely frozen still.
Before she could question her friend’s extremely odd behavior, Jimin gets her answer in the form of an arm flying towards her face.
“Hey! Watch it—“
“Oh my God, I am so sorry!”
Now it’s Jimin’s turn to freeze.
Minjeong.
As if on cue, the movie begins and it’s like her mouth is glued shut. Jimin tells herself that Minjeong must not have recognized her since it was completely dark in the theater now.
Where there is Minjeong, there is Ningning and Jimin’s assumptions were proven to be correct when she moves her head just a centimeter to the left to check. Ningning was on the other side of Minjeong.
”Dude.” Jimin whispers into Aeri’s ears.
“Jimin, I might die from awkwardness. I don’t even think she saw me!”
Jimin begins to think of a million different escape plans. Then Margot Robbie shows up on the big screen and her mind goes completely blank.
Or was it from Minjeong’s arm accidentally brushing hers?
“Sorry again, my bad!” Minjeong whispers a little too close to Jimin’s ear. She tries her best not to flinch, but the other girl’s presence is overwhelming her.
The movie goes by in a mindless blur and when the lights come back on, it felt a lot like Jimin and Aeri were wanted criminals who were finally caught.
“Aeri?! Jimin?” Ningning exclaims once she notices their still frozen bodies. “Babe, how funny is that?” She was now addressing Minjeong.
Jimin turns towards Aeri, eye twitching at the casual pet name. Aeri shares the same skeptical look.
“Did you guys know it was us?” Minjeong questions. Jimin feels as if she could see right through her soul.
Thankfully, Aeri manages to recover and save their asses. “We were a little preoccupied since this was our first date, isn’t that right, honey?”
Jimin swivels her head around to give Aeri the most incredulous look ever. Her best friend urges her to play along. “Yeah! First date nerves made us all quiet and antsy.” She faces Minjeong and Ningning again. “Sorry for yelling at you earlier, by the way.”
Minjeong raises her hands. “That was my bad, I nearly took you out with that swing!”
The four of them laugh but even Jimin could tell that Ningning’s wasn’t her real laugh. She catches the younger girl’s sad gaze on Aeri.
“Well, I hope you two had fun on your date!” Minjeong gets up from her seat and pulls Ningning up with her, hands intertwining so naturally it throws Jimin off. How could they not be lovers?
“Thanks.” Jimin replies dumbly.
“See you guys around!” They wave goodbye, making their way down the stairs and out of Jimin’s line of sight.
She immediately smacks Aeri’s arm. “Why the hell would you say that?!”
“I panicked!”
Jimin facepalms, slumping further into her seat. “Now you’ve got me tied up in your mess with Ningning. You know, she sort of looked upset after you lied about this being a date.”
Aeri shrinks. “Did she really?”
She grips her best friend’s shoulders, giving a little encouraging shake. “Confront her and be honest. Seriously.”
“What about you and Minjeong?”
Good question, Jimin thinks. “That’s another problem for another day.”
~
Jimin makes it her life’s mission to avoid Minjeong at all costs after the movie theater fiasco. The embarrassment was far too much for her.
Aeri tells her that everything with Ningning is resolved, but that they agreed to no longer be friends with benefits. It stirs an ominous feeling in the pit of Jimin’s stomach, that Ningning is no longer involved and distracted by someone else.
Someone that could steer her away from Minjeong.
Jimin quickly shakes those thoughts from her head. She refused to become that type of person who would sabotage a relationship and meddle in the affairs of people’s love lives.
For now, she just had to sit back and let life take its course for a bit.
~
A few weeks go by and Aeri takes Jimin to the grand opening of this café near their campus. A little treat after exams. They talk about everything and anything on their walk there, catching up on life they missed while studying for midterms.
The new café is bustling with students and faculty. Jimin and Aeri get stuck behind a long line of people trying to order their drinks. “Do you think it’s worth it?” Jimin questions.
Aeri just shrugs. “We’re already here, we might as well just wait to find out.”
The line managed to thin out pretty quickly and Aeri had left midway to secure them a small table to sit at. She’s too busy scanning the menu hanging from the ceiling to notice who’s behind the counter.
“Fancy seeing you here, Yu Jimin.”
Minjeong.
Jimin’s head jerks down in surprise. “You work here?!”
“My family’s new shop actually.”
“Wow.” Jimin utters in genuine amazement. “It looks really great in here!”
Minjeong beams. “Thanks! What would you like? It’s on the house.”
Jimin starts to protest. “No, it’s alright! I’m actually here with Aeri.”
“It’s still on the house for you two lovebirds!”
“Actually, we—“
The customers behind her start to grumble.
Minjeong cackles, paying no mind to the customers waiting in line behind Jimin. She seemed so calm and collected and Jimin felt the complete opposite. “Relax, I’m just teasing. Ning told me everything.”
Jimin snaps out of her trance. “What?”
Minjeong opens her mouth to speak when an older lady comes bustling by, interrupting their conversation. “Sweetie, you can talk to your friend later. We have customers waiting!” She offers an apologetic smile.
Jimin ends up ordering two hot lattes. Minjeong shoos her and her ten dollars away, but she sticks it in the tip jar anyway.
“What was that about?” Aeri asks, a teasing smile plastered on her face the moment Jimin sits down.
A blush creeps up Jimin’s neck that settles onto her cheeks. She opts to stay silent, much to Aeri’s dismay.
Her name is called a few moments later, but it was from a gruff older man instead. Minjeong was no longer behind the counter.
Trying not to be bummed, Jimin grabs the drinks and returns to Aeri at their table. “These cup sleeves are so cute!” She exclaims once Jimin sets the coffees down. Aeri fidgets with one of them, smoothly pulling it off to reveal a little handwritten note on the otherwise plain white cup. “Um.”
Jimin’s eyebrows furrow in curiosity. “What?”
Aeri slowly spins the cup around.
Jimin, call me sometime :)
~M