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"I swear to god, if I get run into one more time..."
Hyunwoo peers around, attempting to locate the source of the noise. There's nothing around but school hallways, friends walking and chattering, and students placing and retrieving things into and from their lockers. She's confused when she doesn't see anyone and begins to think that, maybe, she's slowly going insane, voices in her head and all.
"Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
The voice sounds real enough and Hyunwoo takes another look around, dark brown ponytail swishing behind her. There's still nothing; she makes a mental note to maybe go see a psychiatrist.
"Down here!"
When Hyunwoo looks down, she's met with a very short, very frustrated looking girl. (Granted, Hyunwoo herself is quite tall so most people seem short, but this girl really was exceptionally short.) Anger emanating from her features aside, Hyunwoo thinks the girl actually looks quite pretty, from her soft light brown hair cut into a bob right down to the indent between her bottom lip and chin. When Hyunwoo offers no response to having bumped into the girl (mostly because she's too awkward to know what to do to diffuse the situation), the girl rolls her eyes.
"Honestly, this is getting fucking ridiculous. Watch where you're going."
Cute angry midget storms off, leaving Hyunwoo wondering how the hell she's never seen this girl around before. Sure, perhaps her height renders her out of Hyunwoo's usual line of sight, but her big personality should've more than made up for it by now.
—
A few weeks pass and Hyunwoo learns that attractive short girl's name is Kihyun, and that they actually share quite a few classes together. In and out of class, Kihyun is quiet and focused, intent on doing well and earning the top marks she possibly can. She generally doesn't draw a lot of attention to herself, but is known to be easily irritated and have a bit of a temper. However, Hyunwoo's found, through, uh, various methods (like stalking), that Kihyun's a great musician and tends to put herself out there more outside of school. She knows she's talented, she's confident, and she's not afraid to showcase her abilities.
Every week, Hyunwoo will go to the cafe across the street that has a open mic every Thursday afternoon to listen to Kihyun play the guitar and sing. Hyunwoo thinks it's cute, the way Kihyun's feet dangle from the tall stool like she's a toddler sitting in a chair much too big for her, but more than that, the shorter girl's voice is absolutely mesmerizing and Hyunwoo can't get enough of it.
All this only has Hyunwoo falling for Kihyun more and more, though she's much too shy to do anything about it.
—
One weekend, Hyunwoo's grabbing a few snacks from the grocery store when she sees Kihyun in the cereal aisle. The shorter girl is reaching up in attempts to get cereal from the top of the shelf, but is much too short to reach the box she wants. Hyunwoo watches the way Kihyun's arm stretches up, brows furrowed in concentration and light pink oversized sweater riding up her side slightly to reveal a small patch of skin right above her white skirt.
Hyunwoo watches as an entire shelf's worth of cereal topples over onto Kihyun.
Without hesitation, Hyunwoo rushes over to help Kihyun pick up the boxes. She makes sure to pick up the boxes that are situated up higher so that Kihyun doesn't strain herself and knock everything over again.
When they're done placing the cereals back where they belong, Kihyun looks at Hyunwoo in confusion, unsure why some girl from school is randomly helping her in the grocery store when most people would've left her to fend for herself. Hyunwoo looks sheepishly back and rubs the back of her neck in an embarrassed manner before remembering the cereal Kihyun wanted to get in the first place. She reaches up with ease to grab a box and hands it to Kihyun.
"Thanks."
When Kihyun's paying for her cereal, she notices Hyunwoo staring at her and can't help but stare back.
—
It crushes Hyunwoo when Kihyun gets girlfriend and it's not her.
Changkyun is a lot of things Hyunwoo isn't; she's observant and intuitive when it comes to people, she's goofy and hilarious, and she's a lot closer to Kihyun's height.
Hyunwoo supposes they're a good match and she finds comfort in knowing that, at least, Kihyun is happy and Changkyun's a good person. She just can't help but feel jealous when Changkyun steals laughs and kisses from Kihyun's lips, laughs and kisses that Hyunwoo feels should be hers.
—
After a bone fracture hinders Hyunwoo from competing on the swim team for the rest of the season, Hyunwoo decides to make banners and posters to support her teammates while they're competing. With large rolls of paper in her arms, she heads determinedly towards an empty art room for supplies.
When Hyunwoo opens the cupboard, what she expects to find is paintbrushes and jars of paint; what she doesn't expect to find is Kihyun squished inside, sobbing. The swing of the cupboard door and light shining in makes Kihyun turn her head to assess what caused the disturbance. Upon seeing Hyunwoo, Kihyun quickly wipes her tears and puts on a neutral expression.
Hyunwoo figures she should do something to try to help Kihyun and musters up the courage to ask:
"What's wrong?"
Kihyun's lower lip trembles, but she holds back the tears threatening to spill over again. Taking a deep breath, she answers:
"I found out that Changkyun's been cheating on me. I don't want to see her right now, but I share too many classes and extracurriculars with her. Hell, I even bump into her in the bathroom entirely too often. Plus she keeps calling and trying to find me to ‘talk this through', but I don't want to talk it through. So I'm hiding."
Hyunwoo isn't completely sure what to do, so she slowly strokes Kihyun's back in what she hopes to be a reassuring manner.
"I'll stay to keep you company." Hyunwoo hopes her words don't come off as creepy.
They stay that way for a while, with Kihyun in the cupboard and Hyunwoo sitting on the floor beside her, until Hyunwoo finally manages to coax Kihyun out of the cupboard, promising to keep Changkyun away if the two happen to bump into her.
They bump into Changkyun once, and while seeing Kihyun upset doesn't make Hyunwoo happy, Kihyun screaming "it's over!" at Changkyun gives some small part of Hyunwoo a sick kind of joy.
—
Over time, Kihyun and Hyunwoo grow closer and become good friends.
On Hyunwoo's birthday, she holds a small celebration at her house. Her mom insists on getting pictures of Hyunwoo with all her friends, but when it's Kihyun's turn to get a shot with just her and Hyunwoo, their height difference renders one of them out of the frame at all times.
Hyunwoo pulls over a box.
"Here, stand on this."
Kihyun glares at Hyunwoo scathingly before huffing and stepping onto the box.
"Aw, you're still shorter than me." Hyunwoo says with a smile, pinching Kihyun's cheek.
"Fuck you."
Hyunwoo's mom snaps the picture.
—
"I need to tell you something."
Kihyun looks at Hyunwoo expectantly, waiting for whatever the taller girl's about to say.
"Until about a year ago, I didn't know you existed."
Kihyun gasps in mock offense.
"You were just too short to be in my line of sight."
"Fuck you, I don't need this right now." Kihyun turns and is about to walk away, but Hyunwoo grabs her wrist.
"Wait, I'm not done."
Kihyun rolls her eyes and turns around, folding her arms over her chest. Hyunwoo takes a deep breath.
"When I finally saw you, I couldn't believe I'd never noticed you before. I asked around to find out your name, I checked through schedules and class lists to find out what classes we shared, I went to that open mic every week - "
"So basically you stalked me." Kihyun says, her voice containing no hints of being disturbed whatsoever and her face slowly growing pinker.
"I... Okay, yes. But I couldn't help it. What I'm trying to say is... What I want to tell you... I need you to know that - "
"Just spit it out!"
"I've had a massive crush on you for about a year. Yoo Kihyun, on top of possibly being the shortest person I've ever met - "
"It's not my fault you're a fucking giant!"
"- you're also one of the best people I've had the pleasure of getting acquainted with. Will you go out with me?"
"Of course I will, you dumbass! Pick me up on Friday at six."
And with that, it was a date.
—
For whatever reason, Hyunwoo decides it'd be a great idea to go ice skating. It's Kihyun's first time, and it shows. At the rink, Hyunwoo is clearly the more graceful skater, while Kihyun fumbles and falls in her attempts to learn. Hyunwoo finds it adorable, but Kihyun's not having any of it.
"Help me up!" Immediately, Hyunwoo skates over and offers a hand to Kihyun, pulling her up to her feet. "I can't do this, I don't think I've got the coordination." Kihyun says with a frown. Hyunwoo chuckles.
"Here, hold my hand so I can keep you steady." Kihyun's cheeks redden, but she does what Hyunwoo suggests.
Despite the slightly rocky start, the two end up having a great time. As always when people have fun, time flies by far too quickly and before they know it, it's time for Hyunwoo and Kihyun to head home.
Hyunwoo drops Kihyun off and walks her to the front door. The two simply stand there for a while, staring at each other. Hyunwoo feels incredibly fortunate; she studies the curves of Kihyun's face and memorizes every shade of brown in Kihyun's eyes. In the end, it's Kihyun who breaks the silence.
Tiptoeing with a frown, Kihyun says in an exasperated tone:
"You're too god damn tall. Lean down so I can kiss you, you idiot."
Hyunwoo raises an eyebrow and smiles, teasing Kihyun and watching her crane her neck in an attempt to reach Hyunwoo's lips without success. She enjoys the moment for just a little longer, reveling in the sight of Kihyun trying so hard.
"You're tiny."
"Shut up!"
Hyunwoo chuckles before bending down and pressing her lips to Kihyun's.