tongue of a fox, tongue of a cat || aespa || ningselle

1

"Girl who crashed into me without explanation and kicked my ass into the dust," Yizhuo deadpans.

"You're Chinese?" Aeri asks.

"Great question to ask when you knock someone down a hill," Yizhuo says. Then, "Yes, from Harbin."

"I'm Korean-Japanese. Sorry again. But in my defense," Aeri turns around, then back to face Yizhuo, "another girl bumped into me and I tripped and rolled towards you."

"Was it a tall-ish girl with a super tall nose and brown wavy hair?" Minjeong asks.

Aeri nods.

Yizhuo sighs. She looks up. The sun isn't glaring anymore, rays buffered by a thick cloud. She sighs again, this time out of gratitude.

A second later, Jimin slides down the hill, sitting on her haunches, one hand at her back to balance her. Pebbles and grit roll under her shoes.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?!" she wails once she reaches Aeri. Then, she realises Minjeong and Yizhuo's presence.

"...Do you know each other?" Minjeong asks.

"Do you know each other?" Yizhuo presses.

Both Aeri and Jimin deny it.

"Why are you here alone?" Minjeong asks Aeri.

"I just like taking walks here," Aeri says simply.

Yizhuo blinks. She rubs her forehead with a palm, chuckling. "God, what a fucking psycho."

"Excuse me?"

"It's just, why would you want to do this on a weekend in this ass-frying heat?"

"It's a good way of staying fit," Aeri scoffs, looking up at the sky. She points to the clouds. "And what heat? It's about to rain."

"It's about to what?"

A raindrop plops onto Yizhuo's shoe.

"FUCK, JESUS!"

She grabs Aeri's wrist and tugs her behind Jimin and Minjeong as they bolt uphill, racing against the clouds and rain.

.

Yizhuo's face is gloomier than the sky outside as she scowls at Aeri.

They made it to a café at the outskirts of the city to grab some lunch. It's a nice place, lights hanging from the ceilings and a menu written neatly in chalk on blackboards on the walls.

"I'm really, really sorry," Aeri pleads beside Yizhuo, hands around her mug of tea. Her eyes are so big and round, God. "Is there any way I can make it up to you?

"There really isn't," Yizhuo sighs. She isn't even mad at Aeri, just mad that all this shit happened in a single afternoon.

Plus, her hair has forest dust in it, and maybe an unfortunate caterpillar. Her favourite zip-up is scuffed, but she can just chuck it in the washing machine after.

And in the end, this was kinda caused by Jimin bumping into Aeri.

Yizhuo grunts and flops her arms onto the table, head down. Silky silver hair reflects the lighting that flashes outside.

Minjeong and Jimin approach with their orders. Yizhuo looks up. They set the trays down.

There are four scones, two chocolate chip, two cranberry-and-banana. There's an iced chocolate in a tall glass - that must be Minjeong's - and two slices of cheesecake with a biscoff biscuit lodged into their centers. And finally, a heaping plate of carbonara, parmesan piled high.