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the second wonhee stepped foot into moka and iroha’s shared apartment for their latest study session, a pleasant sight greeted her. yunah and minju were sprawled out on the couch — probably watching some new k-drama that yunah had been raving about. moka was in the kitchen making ramyeon, while iroha waited patiently beside her.
“i brought snacks!” wonhee cheered, dumping the bag of chips onto the coffee table and effectively covering their study materials. “and guess what, there was a buy two get one free offer at the convenience store today!”
minju shot her a lazy smile and nodded in acknowledgement, muttering a small thank you. reacting to the sudden noise, iroha quickly whipped her head around, looking flustered. of course, wonhee didn’t notice. moka quickly drew her attention away from her ramyeon, looking at iroha with a knowing smile.
“nice wonnie!” yunah quipped, rising from her lazed stance to grab a bag. “thanks for getting us fuel for…” she glances at the papers and various stationery covered by the bags, “right… studying.”
apparently, yunah said that loud enough for moka to hear, to which she responds, “well, we all know nobody planned on studying.” she shoots a look to no one in particular. “this was just an excuse for us to all get together,” with iroha nodding in agreement.
i mean — she wasn’t wrong — but god forbid girls want to have a little get together! especially during the most stressful time of the year: college exams. knowing they couldn’t argue back, wonhee and yunah quickly retreated to the couch.
—
things were calm for a while, with four girls on the couch watching “queen of tears,” the drama that yunah begged them to watch. minju, yunah, and moka were now huddled together, immersed in talking about the plot, while wonhee was covered with a blanket on the opposite side, scrolling on her phone. iroha was still in the kitchen finishing up their ramyeon. the apartment was filled with laughter, conversation (in which iroha chimed in from the kitchen), and the sounds from the tv. at some point, wonhee heard beeping — most likely from the ramyeon being done cooking. she heard the microwave open and close, and then quiet footsteps padding towards her.
without a second thought, wonhee quickly shifted over to make space. glancing up, she spots iroha, holding a cup of their favorite buldak noodles. she quickly sits down next to wonhee, and the girl tosses the blanket over both of them.
“i made your favorite,” iroha shrugs with a smile on her face.
wonhee gasps, moving her hands to cover her mouth — like iroha just proposed to her. “are you serious roha? i literally love you!” she exclaims — not knowing the effect it just had on the younger girl. wonhee misses the way iroha’s ears turn pink and how she suddenly couldn’t make eye contact anymore
-
what? did she just say — she loved me? love…
lovelovelove!!
iroha’s brain starts moving at 300 miles per hour, and she swears that wonhee could hear the cogs in her brain turning. was she a middle school boy? why was she getting worked up over the word love? obviously friends say that to each other all the time — platonically, of course. she quickly tried to divert her attention elsewhere, but her gaze stopped at wonhee — seemingly asking iroha to feed her.
wait… when did their faces get this close?
iroha quickly shoves the noodles into wonhee’s mouth to stop her from talking more, eyes darting around the room. this series of events didn’t go unnoticed by their unnies.
-
it had been a couple hours into their hangout. they’d all finished watching queen of tears, and at some point, they actually started studying, until all of a sudden — every device in their vicinity disconnected.
“are you kidding me?” minju seethed. “i swear, if my essay didn’t save, i’m going to throw a riot.”
this woke iroha up from her catnap, where she had dozed off on wonhee’s shoulder. wonhee had cuddled right back into her.
yunah nodded in agreement, “i know right! i just finished making my slides look pretty too!”
moka finally looks up from her assignment, hand cramping from all the equations she’s done. “guys, it’s fine,” she assured, “just use my hotspot for now and i can call our landlord in a bit.” she quickly toggled on her hotspot and shared the password, to which minju and yunah began praising her and calling moka “their savior.”
“hey! why didn’t you share the password with me?” wonhee whines.
moka looks at her with a teasing smile. “because, you finished studying a while ago, and you’ve just been doomscrolling for the past thirty minutes,” she says while sticking her tongue out. “and besides, i have to pay for that, and i’m a broke college student,” moka states factually.
“this is blasphemy!” wonhee protests, until suddenly, she had an idea — a lightbulb above her head and everything. she turns to iroha. “roha-ya, will you do me a favor and give me the password to your hotspot?” she begs with her best puppy-dog eyes.
iroha immediately stiffens up at the nickname — or the question — who knows!
“no,” iroha states bluntly, to which she sees wonhee start to pout and tears her gaze away.
“pleaseee! i’ll do anything you want!” wonhee keeps begging, “my firstborn, my soul, my everything! if i can’t scroll any longer i’ll literally perish. do you want that?” she exclaims dramatically, attempting to guilt her (iroha only thinks it's cute).
“fine,” wonhee’s face lights up, “but only under one condition… you have to guess it,” states iroha.
wonhee groans, already clicking on the connection. “okay… sure,” she stares at the password prompt like she's trying to explode it with her mind. “is it 02042008? rohalovesturtles?”
iroha hums, “mmm, a little close.”
wonhee’s lips twitch, “...04zlovetriangle?”
moka, minju, and yunah gasp in sync.
“huh?”
“what-”
iroha cuts them off. “you’re getting further from the answer,” she teases.
wonhee sighs, and has another great idea. what if the password is her name? she thought that the chances were slim, but it was better than nothing at all. besides, even if it wasn't, she finds it fun to mess with iroha and get cute reactions out of her anyways.
wonhee bites her lip, holding in a laugh, and starts sounding out her name. “lee…..” iroha’s face drops, while the other three are curiously peeking over at them, “wonhee.”
connected.
“wait… what?”
-
across from them, minju nearly spits out her drink all over her laptop, moka’s hands move so fast to her mouth that she left a pencil mark across her paper, and yunah lets out the loudest gasp ever. they all start doubling over in laughter.
and iroha?
she looks like she wants to jump out of the balcony.
“oh my…” wonhee teases, trying to hide her disbelief. “roha. iroha,” she says, trying to get the girl's attention. “hokazono iroha. why is my name your hotspot password?”
iroha grabs her shared blanket and hides under it, her entire body burning red. “be quiet.”
“there is nothing to be quiet about,” yunah practically snorts.
moka and minju are already taking their phones out, capturing every angle possible. “this is so going into the group chat,” moka laughs.
“maybe into their wedding collage as well,” minju adds.
wonhee leans closer to the blanket, and pulls it off iroha slowly. “so,” she whispers, “am i like… special? or the favorite?” iroha can’t believe her ears, and wonhee can’t believe she’s saying this either. she feels herself turning equally as red.
“so,” minju drags, “are you ever going to explain?”
iroha somehow turns even redder. “it- it’s just easy to remember!”
“uh-huh,” moka says, “just like how you always remember how to give wonhee the last bite of food?”
“or how you always remember her favorite songs, colors, and hobbies? no matter how much they change?” yunah adds.
iroha lets out a noise — one sounding adjacent to a frog caught in her throat, and tries to hide under the covers once again.
wonhee has been silent the whole time, thinking. and finally —
“hey,” wonhee is sure iroha can hear her heart pounding. “is my name your password for your computer too?
iroha short circuits and lets out a squeak, hands shaking, unsure how to respond. the answer was clear anyway.
the room explodes into shouting, laughing, and other things — their studying long forgotten.
-
the apartment fell unsettlingly quiet after moka dragged minju and yunah to talk to the landlord with her, leaving wonhee and iroha alone.
wonhee scoots closer.
“so… my name?” she whispers, like it was a sacred code for the two of them.
iroha sharply exhales and looks away, cheeks still flushed and eyes brimming with tears. “yeah.”
wonhee notices how embarrassed she looks and — wait? was iroha always this cute? the gears in her head start turning, and everything starts making sense.
-
a week ago, at a restaurant
iroha slides her plate towards wonhee without a word, the last piece of chicken still warm and untouched.
“you’re not finishing it?” wonhee questions, already reaching for it.
“mhm,” she shrugs, “i’m full.”
wonhee didn’t think much of it then, and just happily finished the last piece of chicken while iroha pretended not to watch, a warm smile growing on her face.
-
a month ago, after wonhee mentioned a guy
“what?” iroha’s voice cracks, “some random from your class asked you out?”
“first of all, he’s not random,” wonhee responds, “he was in my group project for that one art class i was required to take.”
iroha freezes, “well, i don’t trust him… what if he’s weird?”
“don’t worry roha,” wonhee giggled, i’ll be okay.”
at the time, wonhee laughed it off as being protective. but now, she remembers the way roha stiffened, the way her voice subtly shook, the way she went oddly quiet, and the way her eyes welled with tears before she left.
-
was she always this dense? what was wrong with her, how did she not see the signs? but most importantly — how did she not recognize she felt the same way? her gaze moved slowly towards iroha, studying her. the mole underneath her eye, her trembling lips, her eyes full of tears threatening to spill.
after a long pause, wonhee speaks. “i guess you could say…” iroha’s ears perk up, “that im the key to your heart.”
iroha turns to her with wide eyes. “gosh,” she giggles, shaking her head. “but.. i guess you could say that.”
wonhee lets out a sigh of relief and laughs with her. “don’t worry, you’re the key to my heart as well.”
their phones stayed disconnected for a while after that.