***
Lisa was minding her own business, reading her favourite book on a bench near the playground.
Her mother had long given up on encouraging her to join her brothers Bam and Ten on the monkey bars or in the sand pit. The only thing she liked on the playground were the swings. They made her feel free and the constant back and forth movement soothed her always thinking mind.
But the swing was currently occupied by a girl with blonde hair, and she seemed to love it equally as much as Lisa. So, she was on the bench reading her book, but not without sneaking glances at the swing set to see if the girl had moved on to do something else.
She had given up on waiting for the swing and was just about to go find her mom to ask her to go home when a shy "Hey" startled her. The blonde haired girl stood in front of her.
Lisa took a closer look at the person who denied her, her daily swinging session. They were about the same hight the girl’s blonde hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing a dress. Lisa would never in her life wear a dress and her black curls always were in braids, she liked it best that way.
Her lips were curved in a nervous looking smile, that reminded Lisa that she had yet to respond
Lisa not knowing what the girl could possibly want from her replied with a confused and equally as shy "Hi".
Apparently, she did the right thing, because now the blonde didn't look quite as nervous anymore. "I saw you looking at me on the swing quite a lot and I have to go home now, so I thought I'd tell you that the swing is free now."
Lisa was speechless and even more confused, kids didn’t usually come to talk to her and the few times they did, they never had anything nice to say to her.
The girl must have sensed Lisa’s confusion, because she smiled at her and said "Well, I have to go now, be quick or the swing is taken by someone else" and she turned around to walk to a man standing by the swing. When the girl reached him, she turned around again and waved.
Lisa was in shock. She didn't know what to do so she snaped her eyes to her book and pretended to be reading. This girl had no reason to talk to her. If she had really seen Lisa looking at the swing, why hadn’t she just assumed that she would notice when the swing was free for her to use?
Lisa wasn't a very approachable looking child. She always had something in her hands to fidget with, she didn't like to look people in the eyes, and she also didn't like being interrupted while reading. All that made her “the weird kid” where ever she went.
But for some reason the blonde interrupting her was okay. For some reason she was intrigued by her and for the first time in her life she regretted not being able to look at people’s eyes because she desperately wanted to know what colour they were.
By the time she looked up from her book again the girl and the man, probably her father, were gone. She stood up slowly and made her way over to the swing. She gently laid the book on the grass and sat down on the swing. It felt nice to sit there, the same swing the girl had sat on, knowing she came to her only to tell Lisa that she had to go now. It made Lisa’s stomach flutter and when her mother called to tell her it was time to go, she almost wanted to protest because it felt like the swing was a gift to her from the blonde and leaving would be like abandoning and not appreciating it.
Lisa couldn't stop thinking about the girl and she didn't know what to make of it. She didn't usually get attached to other people so easily, but she desperately wanted to see her again. She thought about her during dinner and while her mother read her and her brothers a bedtime story. She was too old for the bedtime stories her brothers wanted. But it felt like a ritual she didn't want to let go of just yet. Her older sister Jisoo teased her about it but what harm was done if she listened to the stories her mom read anyway.
When she entered her room, still thinking about the blonde, the words "And... what did the caterpillar eat today?" were thrown into her face and interrupted her thoughts.
"Nothing, we didn't read that today." Lisa replied a little thankful for the distraction. Sharing a room with her older sister could be a blessing and a curse at the same time.
"Oh, did Ten finally get bored of it?" Jisoo asked hopefully.
"I guess." Lisa shrugged, but truth be told she didn't even really know which book was chosen by Bambam today, because she didn't listen at all.
She crawled under the covers of her bed and hoped Jisoo wouldn't ask which story was read tonight.
But of course, you could always count on Jisoo, who claimed to be far too old to listen to bedtime stories at fourteen but still questioned Lisa every evening about today’s book. So, "Which book did you read?" sounded from her side of the room over to her bed only a couple of seconds later.
"To be honest, I don't know." Lisa admitted turning over so she could see her sister, debating if she should tell her about the girl from the playground today. Jisoo was probably the only person she could talk to about her, her mom would most likely look for the blonde every time they went to the playground and then thank her that she talked to her daughter who was apparently incapable of making friends on her own. And that was something Lisa didn't want to happen under any circumstances.
So Jisoo was her best option. "There was this girl today.", she admitted.
"A girl?" Jisoo asked suddenly sounding a little too interested.
"At the playground", Lisa added, "She was on the swing and when she had to go she came over to tell me, so I could swing. Because she apparently saw me looking at the swing."
"Are you shocked that someone actually talked to you?" Jisoo teased, “Or what’s the problem here?”
"I can't stop thinking about her."
"Oh, you mean you have a crush on her?" Jisoo's smile only grew wider. She was enjoying this far too much for Lisa’s liking. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything after all.
"What? No. I don't have a crush on her." Lisa said. "I barely know her. All I said was hi. She probably thinks I'm incapable of speaking."
"Ah so you've thought about her a lot huh?"
"I already told you that. Stop teasing me, I'm serious."
At Lisa's annoyed tone, Jisoo's face grew a serious expression. "Wanna talk about it?"
When Lisa didn't immediately respond, she added, "Do you want to see her again?"
Yes! Lisa definitely wanted to see her again. She wanted to thank her for saving her the swing. But that would be weird, wouldn't it? She couldn't just go up to her and thank her, if she even saw her again that is. Lisa liked watching people on the playground and the blonde had never been there before. Maybe she just moved here or maybe she's just visiting. But she wanted to see her again, even if they didn't talk.
"Yes!" Lisa admitted quietly. "I want to see her again." She turned around so she was laying on her back, her eyes focused on the glow in the dark stars that were all over the ceiling above her bed.
Her dad had helped her put them up and they reminded her of him. She could have told him about the girl, he would have understood. But he wasn't here anymore, he died in a car crash only a couple of weeks before her mom found out that she was pregnant with Ten.
"It's okay if you like her, you know!"
"How am I supposed to know if I like her, I don't know her at all!"
"Well... ever thought about kissing her?" Jisoo asked with a smug grin on her face.
Lisa groaned. "Can you stop it please? I'm nine. I don't want to kiss anybody."
"Maybe she wants to kiss you."
"Jisoo!"
"Okay okay, no need to get loud. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it but know that you can always come to me if you have any questions. Okay?"
"Okay... good night." Lisa said hoping to have ended the conversation and closed her eyes, so Jisoo would think she was asleep in case she looked over.
Lisa fell asleep with a little smile on her face and Jisoo was pretty sure she knew why.
....
The next day at school Lisa's question as to why she hadn't seen the blonde girl before was answered.
She was a little late because Ten had thrown a tantrum because he didn't like that the milk was put into his bowl before the cheerios, which Lisa could totally understand, and when he didn't get a new one the bowl flew over the table and there was milk and cheerios everywhere. Especially in Lisa's hair which resulted in her having to take a quick shower.
So, she was a little irritated and stepped into her classroom with a grim expression on her face just before her teacher Miss Lee arrived. But she wasn't alone. Right beside her stood the girl from yesterday.
Lisa's heartbeat sped up and her palms got sweaty. The girl hadn't seen her yet and Lisa quickly turned around to go to her seat. Why was that happening now? There had never been a new student in their class. A new student meant that Lisa had to now share her desk. She liked sitting alone, there was no one distracting her or pushing their elbow into her side while writing.
"Good morning class!" Miss Lee said, to get the attention of 20 3rd graders. "We have a new student today; her name is Chaeyoung Park. Can you say hi?"
Chaeyoung. Her name was Chaeyoung. Lisa hadn't thought about what the girls name could be, but she definitely didn't expect Chaeyoung. She liked it though and really wanted to try saying it.
"Hi Chaeyoung!" The whole class roared more or less at the same time and Lisa's whispered greeting was swallowed by the sound. And Lisa was a bit disappointed that Chaeyoung probably didn't hear her at all. Would she even recognise Lisa? Their encounter on the playground didn't last longer than a minute at best, it was probably even shorter. Maybe she should just pretend not to know who Chaeyoung was, to not fully embarrass herself in front of the blonde.
"Hey! Miss Lee said I could sit here. Is that okay?"
Chaeyoung was standing right beside her.
"Ah... Yes of course." Lisa stuttered. Surprised by the fact that she would ask. There was nowhere else to sit and there was a reason for it. Lisa was the awkward nerdy girl who didn't have any friends. So she added "If you want to, I mean."
"Of course, I want to, you dummy." Was the response she got while Chaeyoung sat down beside her.
Realising she hadn't introduced herself to Chaeyoung she said, "I'm Lisa."
"Hi Lisa!"
....
When Lisa got home from school that day, she was sporting a big smile. Her mother asked her what got her so happy, but she just shrugged and said, "It was fun today."
And it had been fun. She had spent the entire day with Chaeyoung. She got to show her around the building, they had lunch together and took turns on the swing. Lisa never got to swing at school because Jungkook always occupied it and wouldn't let her have a turn. But today he let Chaeyoung on the swing, and she just gave it to Lisa.
"Can we go to the playground?" Lisa asked her mom after Ten woke up from his nap.
"Oh yes, playground!" Bambam cheered
And even Ten sleepily mumbled something like "pwaydround".
So, her mom agreed happy that Lisa had asked to go. Something she didn't do very often.
When they arrived she could already see Chaeyoung. She was on the swing again looking around like she was waiting for something... or someone.
Her face lit up when she spotted Lisa and waved her over.
Her heart started beating faster and she thought that maybe Jisoo was right. Did she have a crush on Chaeyoung? Could girls even have a crush on other girls? She had to ask Jisoo.
When she arrived at the swing set, Chaeyoung immediately stood up and said, "You can have a turn, I've been here for a while."
So Lisa sat down, thinking about if she should bring up yesterday as they hadn't talked about it at school when Chaeyoung, now sitting on the grass, asked "Where is your book today?"
So she did remember. "My mom has it. It's in my brother’s stroller, do you want me to get it?"
"Not necessary, I'm only on the first book you were reading part three, right?"
"Yep!" Lisa excitedly said. "It's my favourite."
"Have you read them all?" Chaeyoung asked in wonder. "They have so many pages."
"The fifth actually has the most pages, 800 to be exact. Also did you know that although the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book, it's the second shortest movie."
"That's weird." Chaeyoung said and her nose scrunched up really cute.
Talking to Chaeyoung was easy. She didn't make fun of Lisa when she didn't know what to say anymore and just started talking about anything that came to her mind and they talked for what felt like hours until Bambam came and told Lisa it was time to go.
....
The following months were the best of her life ever since her dad had died and Lisa wasn't the only one to notice. Her mom was wondering what got her in such a good mood until one afternoon, Lisa asked if she could go to visit a friend’s house.
Her mom was pleasantly surprised by that and allowed it on a whim.
So here she was waiting with Chaeyoung to be picked up from school by her dad. She was nervous parents were adults and she was usually good with adults but what if they didn't like her? Maybe Chaeyoung wouldn't be allowed to play with her again. And that was something Lisa was afraid of.
After talking to Jisoo, a couple of days ago, she now knew that girls could like girls and that she, Lisa Manoban, definitely had a crush on one. Chaeyoung to be exact.
So the thought of not beeing allowed to be friends with her was scary. But before she could worry even more an excited Chaeyoung was jumping up and down beside her pointing a finger at a car and almost screamed in Lisa's ear, "There he is. Come let's go!"
She turned to grab Lisa's hand to pull her along with her but stopped at the worried look on Lisa's face. Having Chaeyoung's hand in hers calmed her a little bit and her very sure sounding "Don't worry he'll love you. He loves everyone I love", made her heart jump in her chest. Chaeyoung loved her?
So she smiled a bit and nodded in confirmation to Chaeyoung's. "Good to go?"
And so they went to the waiting car.
"There's my little girl!" Chaeyoung's dad said as soon as they got in the car. "I'm not little anymore!" Was the response he got from a very embarrassed looking Chaeyoung.
Her dad, ignoring Chaeyoung, moved his gaze from his daughter. "And you must be the famous Lisa."
"Oh, I'm not famous. Did Chaeyoung tell you I was?" Lisa said a little confused. Why would Chaeyoung tell them that? Maybe she was only invited because the parents thought that she was famous. That would be a disaster.
"Ah, I see I think I confused you a bit there. Chaeyoung did not tell us you were famous. I said that because Chaeyoung can't stop talking about you." He explained very nice, and Lisa was reassured a little bit. "I'm Mason by the way."
The drive wasn't very long, and Chaeyoung talked to her the whole time.
"What do you want to do when we are home? We could go outside, or we could play in my room, or maybe draw, or you could read me Harry Potter, you read so much better than me. Dad did you know Lisa has already read all the Harry Potter books by herself?"
Her dad just chuckled to himself and said, "You might have mentioned it once or twice." Which she knew was some kind of code for, you can't shut up about it.
Lisa didn't know what to say. She hadn't actually read all the books by herself. Her father had read the first one to her. The second one they had read together taking turns reading to the other one and the third Lisa had read on her own. But shortly after finishing it, her father had died, and Lisa hadn't reread the first or the second book since then because it felt wrong to read them alone.
But reading them with Chaeyoung wouldn't be reading them alone, would it?
Chaeyoung who had noticed that Lisa didn't say anything said, "We can do something else if you want to. What do you like to do at home?"
"I... I... " she stuttered not knowing what to say. Maybe it was a bad idea to visit Chaeyoung. Lisa liked building Lego sets or puzzles or anything quiet that involved solving a riddle or some kind of problem. Chaeyoung didn't look like she would enjoy something like that.
"I like to do puzzles." She admitted quietly.
"Oh, what kind of puzzles?" Chaeyoung sounded genuinely interested and so Lisa felt a little reassured.
"All kinds of puzzles really. My favourite is this one though." And she reached down to open her backpack and took out the Rubiks Cube she always carried around with her and showed it to Chaeyoung. It was currently scrambled because she'd been playing with it at school and hastily put it away when Chaeyoung had entered the room.
"Oh my god! Can you actually solve it? I got one for Christmas and it's been messed up ever since."
Lisa nodded and took the cube back. "I can show you. It's not as hard as everyone thinks it is."
Chaeyoung nodded eagerly and so Lisa started solving the cube explaining what she did. They were so distracted that they didn't notice the car wasn't driving anymore until Mason told them they had arrived.
Once they were inside Chaeyoung immediately grabbed Lisa's hand and pulled her up the stairs to her room. She got her Rubiks Cube which sat on top of her desk and sat down on her bed looking at Chaeyoung expectantly. And so Lisa started really showing Chaeyoung how it worked first the white cross and then the first layer.
When Chaeyoung had finally managed to do the first layer without help for a couple of times Lisa's stomach started to make itself known.
She threw her cube to the side and got up from the bed, "Let's go downstairs dad will make us a snack."
While Mason made them something to eat Chaeyoung showed him how far she had gotten with the cube.
"Are you doing some kind of sport? We are trying to get Chaeyoung to at least look into one, but she is adamant that it's not necessary. But now seeing how you have gotten her to sit down for almost half an hour and show her how to solve this damn thing, I think you would also be successful in convincing her to try a sport."
"I do karate." Lisa said hesitantly not really wanting to talk about it and knowing that probably wasn't what Mason had expected when asking her.
"But if Chaeyoung doesn't like physical activity, you could always show her how to play chess. It's qualified as a sport did you know that?"
To her surprise Mason started laughing. "Oh, I knew I liked you when you got Chaeyoung to solve the cube, but this is even better."
"What got you into karate if I may ask?" He said suddenly very serious again and talking to her like she was an adult.
"My dad he... he was a black belt... he taught the adults. He used to bring me and my sister whenever our mom needed a break."
Sensing that the topic was a little difficult for Lisa he dropped it and asked, "Anything else?"
"Chess?" She said sheepishly. "But no one wants to play with me."
He set down a sandwich in front of them and said, "Be right back."
They had just finished the sandwiches when Mason returned with a chess set in his hand. "We can play, Chaeyoung and I against you. That way I can show her how it works and eventually you'll have someone to play with."
....
The next time Lisa went over to Chaeyoung it was a sleepover. They were laying in Chaeyoung's bed together holding hands when Chaeyoung asked her if she had ever wanted to kiss a boy.
"Ew no.... why would I want to kiss a boy?" Lisa said, a little afraid that maybe Chaeyoung wanted to kiss one.
"Jungkook tried to kiss me at school yesterday. He said every girl wants to kiss a boy. But I really didn't want to, so I thought I'd ask you."
"Jisoo said girls can kiss girls too. I think I'd rather kiss a girl." She admitted quietly, not knowing how Chaeyoung would react to that.
"Really? I didn't know that. No one told me." Chaeyoung sounded outraged.
"Jisoo said it's okay but there are people who don't like it, so I have to be careful who I tell. Are you okay with it?"
"Okay with what?"
"That I want to kiss girls and not boys."
"Oh... yes of course. Why wouldn't I?"
Lisa was relieved to hear that and when Chaeyoung hugged her, they both fell asleep very quickly.
....
The kissing topic didn’t come up again and Lisa thought that maybe Chaeyoung had forgotten their conversation. Until a couple of weeks later on their first day of summer break they were at the playground again. This time they were alone. Their parents had allowed it because you could actually see Lisa's house from there. Chaeyoung was sitting on the swing and Lisa was laying on the grass looking up into the sky.
"You know, I thought about it." Chaeyoung said out of the blue.
"Thought about what?" Lisa asked a bit confused not knowing what Chaeyoung meant.
"Kissing... girls." She said a bit hesitantly. "I think, ... I think I'd like to try."
"Oh..." Lisa said her heart pounding in her chest. "Who... who do you want to kiss?"
I..., I thought... I thought maybe you?" She looked a little embarrassed and quickly added. "Only if you want to of course."
"Oh… Okay" was all Lisa could manage to answer and she thought back to the conversation she had with Jisoo three months ago on the day she first met Chaeyoung. Jisoo had asked if she wanted to kiss Chaeyoung or if Chaeyoung wanted to kiss her, and she would never have thought to be in a situation like this, so she didn't really know what to do. She hadn't expected it to happen or else she would have asked Jisoo about it. But now it was too late because Chaeyoung had already gotten up from the swing and sat down beside her.
Lisa sat up as well and now they both didn't know what to do. It was awkward but then Lisa just leaned forward and pressed her lips against Chaeyoung's.
It was weird and also kind of nice. She felt the same fluttering in her stomach like when she held hands with Chaeyoung. The kiss only lasted a couple of seconds but they both grinned and Chaeyoung whispered, "I think I like kissing girls too."
"Are we… girlfriends now? I heard Jisoo say that if you kiss someone, you are boyfriend and girlfriend." Lisa said a bit nervous.
"Well, I guess if Jisoo said that, it's true. She was also right about girls kissing girls." Chaeyoung shrugged.
She stood up held out her hand to Lisa and said, “Come on girlfriend let's go home so you can read Harry Potter to me.”
....
Nine years later they were laying on the same playground it was getting dark but that didn't bother them.
"It's crazy that high school is over now." Chaeyoung said with a sigh. "It makes growing up so real."
Lisa chuckled, "Remember the first time we kissed and then were convinced that we were a couple now? We thought we had figured out everything."
"Of course I remember. How could I forget, it's our nine year anniversary today." Chaeyoung said amused and snuggled into Lisa's side. It was a tradition that they would spend the evening of their first day of summer break on the playground.
"When we get married it's gonna be a really funny story to tell. We've literally been together since we were nine. Beat that." Lisa said pressing a kiss against Chaeyoung's head.
Chaeyoung looked up at her smiling, she pressed their foreheads together. "Was that a proposal?" She asked with her lips grazing Lisa's. "Don't you think we are a bit young to be engaged?"
Lisa just rose her eyebrows. "You forget that we've been together for nine years, love. I think a proposal is appropriate." And she closed the last centimetre between them.
Kissing Chaeyoung had never gotten boring if anything it had only gotten better. She felt the all too familiar fluttering in her stomach and her heart felt like if would explode any second. She pulled Chaeyoung impossibly closer. The kiss ended but they stayed in the position, Chaeyoung now completely on top of Lisa her head resting on her chest.
"I love you." Chaeyoung said her eyes closed, enjoying Lisa stroking her hair.
"I love you too and now come on girlfriend.", she said nudging Chaeyoung to get up. "It's your turn to read me Harry Potter."
....
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STREEEEEEEAAAAAAMMMMMM LALISA :)