Chapter Text
What the fuck is her problem?
Yunah and Minju were sending each other death glares every time they saw each other… which is almost every day.
It’s Monday, February 10th, and the week is focused on Valentine's Day, which was on Friday. Stringy heart decorations filled the hallways, along with students gushing about who their secret cupid admirer letter is, the idea pushed by the academic student body to enjoy the lovey-dovey event.
“What’s going on this time?” Wonhee whispers. Wonhee was putting her stuff away into her locker, but her attention was focused on the 2 girls who looked ready to start a fight, and classmates stayed away, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.
“They’re doing that glare thing again…” Iroha answers. Iroha had been watching their entire interaction ever since they saw each other.
“But they’ve been doing that every day though…” Wonhee sighs.
Yunah’s posture was such that the thought of someone even bumping into her wouldn't make her flinch. The way her shoulders stayed broad and her crossed arms made her look like a gangster waiting to collect money from someone. Her eyes stared at Minju, concentrating on what to do, highly anticipating that she might make a move.
Minju’s standoffish composure made her look like she put the phrase “if looks could kill” into action. For someone so poised, it was surprising she’d let a relationship change her personality into someone callous, her deadpan expression displayed in a cold elegance. A side eye from her could send a shiver throughout your body, leaving you trembling just trying to talk, let alone walk away “untouched”.
“You’d think they'd grow out of it by now, no?” Iroha arches her eyebrow.
Moka squeezes herself in between Wonhee and Iroha and opens her locker. They greeted each other before focusing back on the topic.
“You guys need to mind your business,” Moka whispered. “It’s like we’re in the trenches.”
Wonhee mimicked a tsss. “Moka, you work with Minju in the student body, surely you’d know.”
“Youngseo works with them too, but she’s not saying anything either.” Iroha pursed her lips.
“They broke up a month ago, and I don’t want any more of these rumors around," Moka adds, closing her locker. “Now let’s go before something… or someone happens.”
The trio makes their way to their class as the surrounding students file away to their respective classes, the bell ringing promptly that hurried the movement.
Leaving Yunah and Minju in their glaring contest.
Yunah leaned against the lockers, her arms kept crossed.
Minju gripped her bag’s straps until her knuckles turned white.
“Do you have something to say to me?” Yunah snapped.
“What would I possibly have to say to you?” Minju enunciated.
Yunah pulled her weight off the lockers, now standing up straight. “You’re the one who's been staring at me since I got here, so what’s up?”
“Don’t bullshit me, Yunah, you started it. Things don’t just happen randomly.”
“Randomly, my ass. You know what you did.” Yunah scoffed.
Minju’s cold front showed a slight frown. “Ooh, you’re one to talk. So what the hell do you mean by what I did?”
Yunah eyed her from head to toe as she slowly approached her, sizing her stance. Their distance was now at arm's length, not too close to cross an unsaid boundary but not too far to throw a slap.
To an up-close perspective, it was noticeable enough that neither one was going to back down. Yunah’s dark circles faded from the concealer as beyond Minju’s curtain bangs hid a red, eye-rimmed vision of spending weeks of nights crying.
From Minju’s perspective, she had observed Yunah from afar: watching her bubbly personality deflate into a slouched mess, her eyes as if they had turned into black holes that sucked every ounce of happiness and hope from whoever spoke to her, except only ever smiling around her friend group. Aside from that, Yunah had been getting into more trouble when it came to having conflicts with other classmates.
“Fuck you.” Yunah hissed.
In Yunah’s sense, she had heard about Minju’s life in the passing of their relationship falling apart through classmates and friends: Minju had buried herself in the work as the president of their high school's student body, never handing herself a sliver of help or time to think about the words that were passed around them. She surrounded herself with more papers and loneliness than she had interacted with classmates, making her untouchable in some way.
“Fuck off.” Minju spat.
A patrolling teacher cleared his throat. “Alright, that's enough. Go to class.”
The 2 girls looked at the teacher and nodded before glancing back at each other, then, instinctively, diverted their attention away from each other. They broke off from their stance and walked in opposite directions.
Only a few seconds passed before Minju paused her footing and turned 180 degrees.
“You always think you're right, don't you?” Minju said as she felt a prick in her throat.
Yunah stopped in her tracks and turned. “I can't believe you would even consider that.”
The hallways felt like a cage in that instant, the hum of the lights was the only sound that vibrated off of the walls, as breathing felt too loud.
“You must've thought I was being ridiculous.” A saddened smile tugged at Minju’s lips.
“You're being ridiculous right now.” Yunah could feel her face starting to get hot as her eyes started to blur.
“I guess it takes one to know one.” Minju huffed, hiding her sullen eyes.
“Hey! Knock it off, get to class. Both of you, now.” The teacher’s voice boomed through the hallway, startling both girls, who then turned and sprinted to their designated rooms.
— lunchtime
The courtyard filled with the noise of students conversing with each other. In the sun, Yunah sat with her group: Iroha and Moka, talking about whether you would rather have your friend narrate your entire life or choose your outfit and hairstyle for a year.
“If you think about it, having a narrator sounds better than going around like a walking mess for a year,” Iroha says while chewing on chips.
“Are you saying we don’t have a sense of style, Roha-yah?” Moka pretends to be offended, stealing a chip from her hand.
“No, of course not! It’d just be nice having you guys talk about my day in life since I’m my own main character!” Iroha tilted her head while grinning.
“It’ll only be for a year,” Moka insisted. “Having one of you guys narrate my life just sounds like I’ll be judged and teased for anything I’ll do.”
“Moka does make a good point…” Yunah chimes in, sipping her water bottle. “You’d both be making everything weird, but I would trust her when it comes to outfit styling.”
“See?” Moka flashes a winning grin. “My sense of fashion is–” chef’s kiss.
“Yunah only says that because she’s going through a crisis!” Iroha teased.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Yunah playfully took Iroha in a headlock.
“Yah! Let me go!” Iroha chokes out as she tries to pry herself out of Yunah’s arm.
“Iroha and Wonhee were talking about your… Dumpling, this morning.” Moka twists Yunah’s head to face her. “Open to talking this time?”
“Are you really calling her that?” Yunah protested as she unhooked Iroha, having let her pretend to cough from the choke.
“I’ve seen the way you act when someone mentions her name,” Moka answered, raising an eyebrow. “It’s like you were Pavlov’d to react on her behalf.”
Yunah scratched the back of her neck, swallowing the truth of the comment. She and Minju had been dating since last year, and only having broken up last month, the wound was still a sensitive topic.
“It’s just that… this morning she looked at me and…” Yunah attempted to find the words, biting her lip until it bled as she thought about Minju’s expression: the faint redness at the rim of her eyes and the pinch she felt seeing her.
“She said things don’t happen randomly,” Yunah slammed her hands on the table, making it rattle. “And she said that I was bullshitting her! Like, what is her deal?”
“Seriously, people are looking at me like I did something wrong! And on top of that, I forgot to charge my camera last night, so now it’s charging in the club room.”
“Wonhee and I are just worried,” Iroha agreed, patting Yunah’s arm.
“And nosy.” Moka nudged Iroha’s shoulder, earning a sarcastic smile.
“And for the record, Dumpling sounds like a pet name,” Yunah furrowed her eyebrows. “So no, I won't be talking about it or her.”
“You can let it out when you’re ready,” Moka showed a small smile. “You kind of already did talk about it, I’m sure… Dumpling won’t be much of an ass to you later today,” she said carefully.
“Don’t push it, Moka, I have no issue kicking the Vice President of the student body!” Yunah grumbled. “I don’t want to think about her, let alone see her.”
“She does look like a dumpling,” Iroha said, looking across the courtyard.
Yunah’s eyes followed her direction, landing on the darker side of the area. Without an announcement or grand look, Minju still caught her eye unintentionally.
Since their split, Yunah had noticed she wasn’t eating properly, and today’s lunch was no different, with another missing tray. Minju’s posture had stayed composed as if nothing had happened, talking like nothing was wrong, and it only made Yunah feel more guilty about this morning.
At the same time in the shaded part of the courtyard, Minju sat with her group: Wonhee and Youngseo. They were the heartthrob trio of the school. It's no surprise that this week's Valentine's event has flooded the morning announcements with anonymous love letters confessing how they feel about them.
Minju was the school’s president princess, living up to her reputation with her calm, soothing personality as she ran events and glowing features that almost all the newspapers had printed about her, which had students flocking to her locker to drop off their gifts.
Youngseo, known for her charismatic presence, took on the role of the main host for the school events, making each event feel special and engaging. Conversations with her often felt like a valuable opportunity, as if you were genuinely paying for a moment of her time.
Wonhee, the sweetheart of the school, made the other 2 seem more approachable when she was around, she could usually be found by the windows, sharing her lunch with the birds outside. She also had a knack for sweet-talking, so even someone as innocent was sneaky.
“Ah… Monday’s checklist is done,” Wonhee sighed as she stretched her arms in the air. “We’ve set up the decorations, and hopefully the students don’t manage to destroy them until Friday.”
“I have a feeling we’ll be getting a lot of attention with what we have planned,” Minju said. “I can’t believe the couples dance activity won over the painting activity.”
“It was foretold, people dancing together makes things interesting,” Youngseo said amusingly.
“Ugh, this week is going to be so annoying.” Minju groaned as she caved in her arms.
“Relax, we have bowling night tonight. If you want, for tomorrow, I’ll take over handling the couples dance activity.” Youngseo chuckled.
“Ah… I need to save face, Youngseo.” Minju muffled. “I’ll handle it like I always do.”
“Give it a chance, Minju,” Wonhee chirped, gently shaking her.
“Maybe it’ll take your mind off things. Want a gummy?”
Wonhee offered her pack of gummies to Minju, her head slowly lifting before digging her hand into the bag.
“Thanks, Wonhee… I think this morning just gave me a bad start to the day.”
“Let me guess… that Quail egg girl?” Youngseo speculated, poking her finger at Minju’s head.
“I don’t need any names to know it’s her, but… yes, Yunah happened.”
Wonhee let out a low whistle. “What happened?”
“I don’t really want to talk about it. Thinking about her already drives me insane.”
Youngseo gave Minju a side hug and stayed there. “In a good or bad way?”
“Don’t start.” Minju glared at her. “She drives me insane in a bad way! She just looks at me like I’m the repulsive one. She sends no text, and then talks to me like I personally shamed her!”
As Minju rambled, Youngseo and Wonhee started gathering snacks and listening intently to the animated conversation.
“And then this morning–she–, gosh, she had the audacity to say I did something wrong?” Minju rattled on, then slowly realized the conversations around her sounded too quiet to not notice. Her cold persona melted too vulnerable.
The surrounding students near the trio had eavesdropped on their conversation, fueling the fire of the talk that would follow Minju and Yunah would suffer throughout the week.
The school bell rang shortly, putting an end to it.
“I’ll just see you guys later…” Minju stood up, stealing a glance towards the sunny area of the courtyard where Yunah’s group sat.
Yunah’s smile that once brightened Minju’s day turned into a sour taste. Perhaps a bittersweet resentment. She was holding Iroha in a headlock… and she didn’t look as miserable as nowadays whenever she was with Moka and Iroha.
Minju had noticed that Yunah hadn’t been carrying her camera, she knew Yunah loved taking photos, so naturally she joined the photography club of the school. She wasn’t sure why the camera was missing nor why she was thinking about Yunah, but Minju shook her thoughts away as she fled to her class.
It wouldn’t be realized that later on the photography club would soon merge with the student body in working to publish papers about the events of the coming.
— afterschool
“What do you mean we have to work with them?” Yunah’s voice echoed in the gym.
“Lower your voice, Noh Yunah.” Mrs. Kim dulled. “And yes, you will work together. What’s wrong with that arrangement?”
“Don’t they have another team for this?” Yunah ran her hand through her hair. “I don’t even remember having any conversation about any affiliation with them.”
“I have decided to make use of your club to be in partnership with the ASB, you will be partaking in the events in the acts of taking pictures and videos for the week.”
“But–”
“–And.” Mrs. Kim held up a finger, interrupting her.
“You and your team will be under Park Minju’s watch. I have already forwarded everything to her, and she will give you your placements and anything she requires.”
Yunah stared at her, her stomach starting to churn.
“Under Minju’s watch?”
Mrs. Kim nodded, already walking away. “She’s student body president. She'll be coordinating tonight's event along with the participants.”
“Of course she is,” Yunah mutters.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Mrs. Kim gave her a knowing look, clicking her tongue as she assessed the comment. “Whatever personal issues you have with Park Minju, leave them outside the gym and as this event goes on. I don’t want to have to keep seeing you in my office.”
Yunah scoffed. “I don't have personal issues with her.”
Iroha coughed behind her. “You definitely do.”
Yunah turned around. “I heard that.”
“Good.” Iroha rolled her eyes.
Iroha and a few other students on the team quietly giggled amongst themselves at the exchange.
“Alright, get to it,” Mrs. Kim said, walking towards the gym exit. “You have 2 hours to set up before the event starts.”
“Damn, we have to stay longer at school.” Iroha sighed dramatically as she sat on the benches.
“We’ll be heading out for snacks, do you guys want anything?” The team member asked.
“If that’s code for skipping, then count me in.” Iroha jolted up from her seat.
Yunah took off her camera bag and set it down on the bench. 2 hours. Under Minju. Great, she thought to herself.
“I would skip, but I’m not trying to get another ticket to the office.” Yunah sighed as she checked inside her bag: extra power bank and batteries, chargers, fully charged camera, storage is empty, and now all she has to do is check if the lenses operate well.
“Then I’ll be keeping you company then.” Iroha stretched her arms before settling the rest of her stuff down. “Hopefully this goes smoothly...”
The members conversed before leaving shortly, leaving Iroha and Yunah on their own.
Yunah fixed the sling of her camera around her neck and positioned herself standing, peeking into the viewfinder and scanning the gym.
“I guess I’ll take a nap to pass the time, wake me up when I’m needed,” Iroha said as she lay down and covered herself with her jacket.
Yunah grunted in reply as she played and adjusted her camera settings.
She propped the camera to scan and fixate on something, without realizing it, she had found Minju. The sight almost made Yunah drop the camera.
Minju and her team were on the far side of the benches, going over the arrangement of stalls for tonight's bowling activity. A large handwritten map was spread across Minju’s lap, surrounded by color-coded sticky notes and a clipboard.
Should I approach?... Yunah thought. I really don’t want to… She looked back at the sleeping Iroha and pressed her lips into a straight line, accepting her fate.
Yunah took a couple of steps until she stopped a few feet away, the regret washing entirely over her body. The feeling of seeing Minju made her feel like there were pins and needles in her heart, and her muscles ached from having to restrain herself from making a fool of herself and running away.
It’s just a conversation about placements, don’t make this weird… that’s my ex, but we can be cordial about it… right? Fuckfuckfuck, who am I kidding. She really is playing in my face, acting like we’re not this way because of her. Yunah’s thoughts raced.
Minju’s team started to disperse, talking amongst themselves and running to wherever they were supposed to be.
Yunah stayed still until a clearing where Minju was still sitting down was in view.
Minju looked up. Her posture stayed frozen.
Their eyes met. Yunah could feel the hair on the back of her neck start to stand. Minju could feel her spine stiffen at the shock of seeing her.
There was a brief pause. The surrounding sounds of students clamoring amongst each other seemed to drown out.
Then Minju smiled.
Not warmly.
That annoyed little smile.
“Nice of you to show up.”