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Kai felt like she could start skipping. It was Tuesday, which meant it was the best day of the week (besides Thursday), because Tuesdays and Thursdays they had double Potions with the Slytherins, which meant she got to sit and happily stare, uninterrupted, at the light of her life, Taehyun, for a little over an hour.
Actually, she barely knew Taehyun. They had been paired together during Potions for the past two years, but as Kai was a Hufflepuff and Taehyun a Slytherin, they didn’t have a lot of chances to interact.
Kai still thought Taehyun was pretty cool (and just straight up pretty. She had large, expressive eyes that Kai would have waxed poetic about if she were better with words, and her head was adorably round. Kai had to constantly fight the urge not to coo over Taehyun.). She wasn’t sure whether Taehyun liked her at all, though. Certainly Taehyun tolerated her, and had never snapped at her or said anything mean, but she’d never really engaged with Kai’s awkward attempts to make conversation (possibly she was focused on Potions- Kai couldn’t relate).
So she was spending significant amounts of time during the week (almost two and a half hours!) staring at Taehyun’s beautiful face. Taehyun was a diligent student and almost never looked up, and didn’t seem to notice. Kai didn’t understand Potions too well past Second-Year level, but that was okay. Time staring at Taehyun was time well spent (and she didn’t much like Slughorn anyway).
It was time well spent right up until Slughorn asked if she had a moment and she was pulled out of her Taehyun-staring. Kai looked longingly back at Taehyun, who was packing up her bags. Taehyun paused for a moment to adjust her glasses (Kai wanted to die at how cute it was) and then left.
Slughorn cleared his throat. His mustache trembled as he did so, and Kai wanted to gag. He had not done anything specifically wrong, but he irritated her immensely.
“Do you need something, Professor?” Kai asked politely. She was hoping to leave as soon as possible.
“Miss Huening, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but-” Slughorn broke off to clear his throat again (Kai hid her wince- it sounded awful). “Miss Huening, you’re currently failing Potions. If you can’t raise your grades within the next few weeks, before we start preparing for midterms, you’ll be in danger of failing this class. I’m also concerned about your O.W.L.s. At the level you’re at now, you won’t pass. I’ve already alerted your Head of House- she’ll meet with you after your next class with her- and I’ve arranged for you to be tutored.”
Kai swallowed. She didn’t really understand everything that was happening in class, but she hadn’t thought she was doing this badly.
“I understand, Professor,” she said, her mouth dry. “May I ask who my tutor is?”
She really hoped it wouldn’t be her sister Lea. That would have been unbearable. She was also hoping to avoid some of the creepier seventh-year boys that Lea occasionally complained about.
“You’ll be working with Miss Kang, your usual partner. If you’re amenable…”
“Yes, that would be fine,” Kai said gratefully, nodding. As an afterthought, she tacked on a, “sir.”
“I’ll meet with you in a few weeks to check on your progress,” said Slughorn. “Go enjoy your lunch.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Kai said. She couldn’t leave fast enough. She was going to be tutored by Taehyun. She could have started dancing right there, if not for the fact that Slughorn was there and she wanted to maintain at least a little bit of dignity.
Once she was far enough into the hall, she started to skip slightly. The other students were giving her strange looks, but she was giddy enough that she didn’t care. She skipped all the way to the Gryffindor table to sit down next to Yeonsoon and Beomgyu.
She wasn’t a Gryffindor, but Yeonsoon was so ridiculously friendly and nice that she made friends with everyone, and this included Kai. They’d taken an immediate liking to each other, especially with how similar they had been when they’d first met, after the initial awkwardness (Beomgyu and Yeonsoon had been kissing. They were friends, but Yeonsoon had kissed half the girls on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and probably most of the girls on the other teams, too. She’d even kissed Kai, when Kai had asked her to teach her. It was (mostly) friendly. Yeonsoon was just like that).
Beomgyu had already been friends with Yeonsoon, and had gotten “cuteness aggression” (in Beomgyu’s words) when she’d seen Kai, and then had taken to her immensely.
Beomgyu was very easy to tease, which was probably why she was pouting while Yeonsoon was laughing.
“I do not,” Beomgyu said sulkily. She spotted Kai and roped her in. “Kai, tell Yeonsoon I’m amazing at Quidditch. I’m probably way better as a Chaser and even as a Beater.”
"I’m not really much of a Quidditch player…” said Kai. She didn’t really want to take sides.
“But you play Quidditch sometimes,” insisted Beomgyu. “Come on. Tell Yeonsoon who’s better.”
“Beomgyu can’t catch at all,” said Yeonsoon. “She totally just flails her arms.”
“I’m only an alternate Beater and I’m not that good at it,” said Kai, ignoring both of their appeals to get her on their side. “I’m not good with ball games, really.”
“Ha, ball games,” said Yeonsoon. “No wonder.”
“Yeonsoon, you’re the worst,” said Beomgyu. “But is it true that you only make friends with lesbians?”
“No, I only make friends with people who eventually come out as queer,” corrected Yeonsoon. “Most of them are lesbians.”
“I was basically right,” said Beomgyu. “Kai, did something in Potions. You haven’t stopped smiling.”
“I’m failing Potions,” Kai announced, grinning widely.
“Why are you so happy about that?” asked Beomgyu. She put a piece of bread into her mouth. Beomgyu was a picky eater (unnecessarily picky, Yeonsoon sometimes said. Yeonsoon was the exact opposite of a picky eater) and didn’t like things to be too strongly flavored, so she sometimes just ate bread.
“Because Taehyun’s tutoring me,” Kai sighed happily. “Isn’t that great?”
“Taehyun?” Yeonsoon paused for a moment. “The girl you’ve had a crush on for two years? That Taehyun?”
“Yup,” confirmed Kai. “It’s that Taehyun. Look, over there. She’s sitting at the end of the Slytherin table.”
“Isn’t Taehyun dating the girl next to her? Soobin, or something?” Yeonsoon looked interested. She was starting to get invested.
“Who?” asked Beomgyu, who didn’t know or talk to anyone outside of Quidditch. “How do you know her?”
“I know everyone,” Yeonsoon said dismissively. She popped something in her mouth (Kai couldn’t see it clearly with how fast it disappeared into Yeonsoon’s mouth) and chewed for a while.
“I don’t think so,” Kai said. She watched as the other girl (Soobin?) ruffled Taehyun’s hair. Taehyun seemed to lean into it as she talked excitedly. Even across the room, Kai was certain that Taehyun’s eyes were sparkling.
“How do you know that?” asked Yeonsoon, who usually had more information due to her numerous connections. She stole a chunk of potato from Kai’s plate, and when Kai made sad eyes at her, reached across the table to get a hard-boiled egg for her to make up for it.
“I asked Taehyun if she was single once.” It had been during one of her many attempts to talk to Taehyun.
“Really?” Beomgyu’s eyebrows shot up, and her eyes were so wide that her eyelashes were practically vertical, stark against her skin. “I thought you were too scared to talk to her.”
Kai had shoved the entire egg into her mouth and chewed exactly three times before swallowing so she could answer.
“Not scared,” she said. “It’s just hard to talk to her. She’s pretty focused, you know. Taehyun’s super smart. And, like, pretty and cool.”
“Yeah, we’ve all heard all about your huge, embarrassing crush on Taehyun,” said Yeonsoon, ignoring Kai’s pout at her words. “So when does the tutoring start? Are you going to start wooing her?”
“Ew, don’t say that, Yeonsoon,” said Beomgyu.
“What?” asked Yeonsoon.
“Wooing,” scoffed Beomgyu. “It’s so cringe. It’s probably because you’re old.”
“I’m six months older than you, Beomgyu.”
“Still.”
“I’ll start tomorrow, I think,” Kai said, interrupting them. “And I’m not going to be wooing her, Yeonsoon.”
“Wha-ever,” said Yeonsoon through a mouthful of food.
_
“So,” said Taehyun, folding her hands primly on top of her Potions textbook. She and Kai had met in the library for tutoring. “You’re failing Potions.”
“Yes,” said Kai, smiling at Taehyun. She hadn’t realized how blunt Taehyun was. She found it cute.
“Why are you smiling about this?” asked Taehyun. She blinked at Kai with giant eyes.
Kai didn’t answer for several seconds, distracted by Taehyun’s face.
“Oh, sorry,” said Kai. “I don’t know. I can stop, if you want.”
“No, it’s fine,” Taehyun said. She made eye contact with Kai for half a second, and Kai was convinced her gaze was a little warmer, before her eyes darted away. Taehyun didn’t seem to like eye contact too much- which was fine! Kai just thought Taehyun had pretty eyes.
“You’re so pretty,” said Kai, and she immediately wished she could take it back. Taehyun was staring at her like she was an alien (actually she was looking at Kai’s eyebrows).
“Thank you.” Taehyun blinked again, and the light reflected off of her glasses. “What exactly do you need help with?”
“Oh, you know,” said Kai.
“I don’t, actually,” Taehyun corrected. “You have to tell me.”
“Oh, well, um, I don’t really know Potions too well after, like, Second Year,” Kai said, as quickly as possible. Best to simply get it over with.
Taehyun’s expression flickered visibly for the first time. Her eyebrows crept up and in, furrowing, and her lips pursed slightly as her cheek scrunched. She looked like she was judging Kai.
“Why exactly do you not know Potions past the Second Year?” asked Taehyun.
“I was distracted,” said Kai. “By you. Sorry.”
“No, I…” Taehyun seemed to struggle with her words. Her mouth became smaller, and she looked away from the table. “Moving on. How much theory do you remember?”
“Not much,” confessed Kai. “I could probably learn it if I reviewed it. I don’t have my notes, though?”
“You didn’t save them?”
“I didn’t take them.” Kai knew she was probably not endearing herself to Taehyun the more she went on, but she couldn’t help it. It was just so easy to say anything to Taehyun.
“Why not?” asked Taehyun.
“I was busy looking at you. You’ve been my partner the whole time since Third Year.”
Taehyun blinked faster than ever. She swallowed before taking a deep breath.
“Are you… are you flirting with me?” Taehyun seemed a little incredulous. She also looked like she was trying to keep a straight face, but it wasn’t working. Her mouth wasn’t smiling but a trace of her dimple was still popping out (adorable, Kai thought).
Kai intentionally rounded her eyes to look cuter, smiled sweetly, and tilted her head towards Taehyun.
“Is it working?”
Taehyun looked away again. She still looked like she was trying not to smile.
“I’m supposed to be tutoring you,” she muttered. It wasn’t clear whether she was talking to Kai, herself, or the floor.
“You are!” Kai said. “I’m getting tuted right now.”
“Tutored,” Taehyun corrected, seemingly automatically.
“See? Even now you’re helping me.”
“I’ll just pull out my old notes,” Taehyun sighed, pulling out a roll of parchment and tapping it with her wand.
“Wow, you still have all of your old notes?” Kai asked, impressed.
“Don’t judge me,” Taehyun grumbled. She tapped a few more times, and the writing on the parchment changed.
“Not judging,” said Kai. “Did you charm that yourself? You’re so cool, Taehyun.”
“Thanks.” Taehyun kept her tone even, and she sounded as composed as ever, but she was smiling properly now. “It’s all of my notes from every year, and from all of my classes. I transferred them to catalogue them.”
“That’s so cool,” said Kai again. “You’re really smart.”
“Thank you,” said Taehyun, finally turning her sparkling eyes towards Kai. “Okay, here’s my notes from Third Year. Specifically, the basic theory. Read through it and tell me how much you understand, and I’ll go from there.”
Kai skimmed over it. Surprisingly, it made sense to her.
“I think I get all of it,” she said, “I just didn’t memorize it.”
“Hm,” said Taehyun, looking at Kai a little more intently. She pulled back the parchment and tapped her wand against it again before pushing it back towards Kai. “Fourth Year level theory. Try this.”
“I know all of this too,” said Kai. “I know I must seem pretty dumb to you, failing Potions…”
“No, not at all,” said Taehyun quickly. “I think you’re pretty. Smart, I mean. Pretty smart.”
Taehyun dropped her hands to the chair, seemingly getting shy.
“Aww,” Kai cooed. “So cute!”
“I’m not cute,” said Taehyun (cutely). “I’m like a tiger. I’m ice-cold.”
“You’re like a kitty-cat,” giggled Kai.
“Am not,” Taehyun said. A hint of a whine crept into her voice. “We’re supposed to be working on Potions anyway!”
“You just don’t want to admit you’re cute!” laughed Kai. “Okay, okay.”
They went over the theory for Third and Fourth Year, and what they had done so far in Fifth, and Taehyun quizzed her on it several times. She reassured Kai that they’d have it in the next few sessions, and then Taehyun would go through practical applications. If that went well, they’d do some brewing a week ahead of Slughorn’s deadline.
Kai left the library just as happy as she had been when she’d walked in. Taehyun, who hadn’t seemed extroverted in Potions, was far more social than Kai was, and was even more cool than Kai had thought (Yeonsoon had told her before that her definition of cool was a little shaky. Beomgyu, who Yeonsoon hadn’t even been addressing, had added that Yeonsoon was also not a reliable source for coolness, being a massive dork herself. Kai had butted in before it became a (friendly) argument that Taehyun was cool regardless of Kai’s questionable standards of coolness).
_
“Sooo,” said Yeonsoon, intentionally dragging out the vowel, “how did your date- ahem- tutoring session with Taehyun go?”
Yeonsoon leaned over the table and put her chin in her hand. She tried to casually put a piece of chicken into her mouth while waiting for Kai’s response but missed.
“Pretty well,” said Kai, trying not to laugh at Yeonsoon, who had sauce on her cheek. “She called me pretty by accident and tried to cover it up.”
“Tried to cover it up?” asked Yeonsoon. “She’s totally into you.”
“Who’s totally into Kai?” said Beomgyu, setting her bag down and squishing in between them, forcing both Kai and Yeonsoon to move sideways. “Who’d like Kai, anyway?”
“Beomgyu,” whined Kai, “don’t be mean.”
“Well? Who is it?” demanded Beomgyu. She stared at Kai and tried to look intimidating, furrowing her eyebrows at her. It was not especially effective.
“Taehyun,” said Yeonsoon. “Oh, oops.”
“What did you do?” said Beomgyu.
“Why do you always assume I did something?” Yeonsoon said, her lips forming a pout. “Fine, I got sauce in my hair.”
Beomgyu snickered. Yeonsoon’s hair, long a point of irritation for McGonagall, was Glamoured a soft pink, and sometimes she paired it with an outrageous, stereotypically American cowboy hat, which was expressly forbidden by the dress code (it had been altered just to accommodate Yeonsoon’s nonsense, but Yeonsoon persevered and wore whatever she wanted). Currently there was a patch of brown at the end of it.
“Here, let me,” said Kai, raising her wand.
“No!” said Yeonsoon, covering her hair protectively. “Beomgyu, you do it.”
Beomgyu had learned the Glamour Charm, which was advanced and difficult magic, purely so she could add white parts to her hair in a color she called “Beomgyu oreo”, and had experience with it.
“Okay,” said Beomgyu, making no move to reach for her wand. She continued to chew her food placidly.
“Fine,” huffed Yeonsoon, retrieving her own wand and flicking it to remove the stain and also to darken it to a brighter, more saturated pink.
“You look like bubblegum,” said Kai.
“Thanks,” replied Yeonsoon. “Hey, I learned about food Transfiguration today. Watch this.”
Yeonsoon pointed her wand at a random dessert, and it turned into an egg tart.
“Egg tart!” cheered Kai happily. “I love you, Yeonsoonie.”
She popped it in her mouth whole after kissing Yeonsoon’s cheek messily. She gave Beomgyu a kiss, too, after Beomgyu made a sad-puppy face at her (Kai was such a sucker for cute things- she couldn’t help but kiss them when they looked like that!). Yeonsoon pretended to wince, but she was smiling.
_
The next time Kai had a tutoring session, Taehyun wasn’t wearing her school robes. She was wearing (gasp) a skirt and a dark sweater vest, and an adorable, gigantic red bow on top of her head (she looked like Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service, except with slightly longer hair). Kai nearly cooed out loud.
Kai was wearing her usual fluffy sweater and pants. She watched as Taehyun’s big eyes lingered on her neck and shoulder before flicking back up to her face (her eyebrows).
“Hi,” Taehyun said. Kai noticed Taehyun’s hands tightening on her books. She seemed strangely nervous, which Kai thought was adorable (Kai thought everything about Taehyun was adorable.
“Hi, Taehyun,” Kai said chirpily. “More theory again? I think I almost have it. We might even be able to move on to practical applications!”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Taehyun skeptically.
She was proven wrong about ten minutes in- Kai already seemed to know it completely. Taehyun didn’t seem to want to admit it. Her mouth was set in a straight line- like she was trying not to pout.
“I think we can move on now, right?” suggested Kai. It was hard not to tease Taehyun, who (Kai had learned) really liked being right.
“... fine,” conceded Taehyun. She hesitated for several seconds before continuing. “You’re pretty good at this, you know. Did you intentionally fail Potions?”
“No,” Kai denied (she really hadn’t). “I just didn’t realize how badly I was doing. I wasn’t really doing a lot of work.”
“Oh.” Taehyun was looking at Kai again. Actually, she was staring at her eyebrows again- no, she’d shifted to Kai’s lips.
“Did you want me to?” Kai teased.
“No, I just thought…” Taehyun trailed off. “Let’s just get back to working. If we can get through practical applications faster we can move on to brewing faster.”
“Whatever you say,” said Kai cheekily. “I’ll remember this, though.”
“There’s nothing to remember,” Taehyun insisted.
Kai thought she could see the tiniest tinge of pink creeping up on her face. She was almost completely certain that Taehyun liked her, and didn’t want to admit it (or she was too shy to admit it. Taehyun had an air of confidence about her, and she was blunt and didn’t sugarcoat, but she couldn’t take it when Kai teased her or called her pretty).
“Okay,” Kai agreed. “Can we start on practical applications now?”
“Don’t pretend like you weren’t the one to derail me,” said Taehyun quietly, tapping at her roll of parchment. “Here. Look over this for me?”
Kai worked through practical applications over the next hour, and by the end, she was confident she knew the material.
Kai started to say, “I know this might seem kind of sudden, but-” at the same time as Taehyun said, “Um, this is really embarrassing-”
“No, you go ahead,” Taehyun said quickly. She looked mortified, and her shoulders had a hunch to them that showed she was uncomfortable.
“I really like you,” said Kai without hesitation. “I think you like me, too. It’s probably kind of sudden, but I want you to be my girlfriend.”
“Okay,” Taehyun whispered. Her face was practically glowing.
“What were you going to say?” asked Kai.
“Basically the same thing,” said Taehyun. Her voice (it was always so sweet, almost melodic, Kai mused) seemed to be shrinking away.
“Oh, good,” said Kai. “Can I kiss you?”
“Oh, um,” said Taehyun, and miraculously, she seemed to turn just the slightest bit redder. Kai had never seen her looking so flustered."I've never kissed anyone before. I might be bad.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kai said lightly. “It’s with you, so I don’t mind. Anyways I’ve only kissed Yeonsoon before, for practice.”
“It’s anyway,” said Taehyun. “Sorry. I picked it up from Soobin. She’s totally the grammar and spelling police.”
“Nerd,” said Kai affectionately, and added (after Taehyun pouted at her), “my nerd. My Taehyunnie is so smart. So cute.”
“Thanks,” said Taehyun, before blushing again (Kai was intrigued by how shy Taehyun seemed, since she was normally so composed). “Um, you can kiss me now. If you want.”
“Of course I want,” said Kai. She stepped forward and cradled Taehyun’s jaw in her hands, marveling at how soft her skin and hair was, and taking a moment to appreciate her beautiful eyes up close before kissing her very, very sweetly.