Jinsol said "We'll talk at school." She did not say "I'll say hi to you and be weird about literally everything else."
Jungeun sits miserably in her first period class. She was all ready for Jinsol to apologize for her outburst like she usually does and then things would at least look okay but no, she didn't quite do that. Jungeun said hello to her while the girl looked like she might shatter from any sudden movements, and all Jinsol said was "Hi. Sorry for yesterday... I'm not really in the mood to talk, sorry." And then look awkwardly back to their assigned book for class, of which Jinsol never opens before class. Yeah, that's not giving Jungeun good vibes. Well, at least Jinsol apologized this time. That's a step.
After class, still nothing. Jungeun is embarrassed to admit that for once, her attention wasn't on Sister Elizabeth's fantastic reading of whatever book they're going over at the time. And she means it, that woman is damn good at her job. But no, Jungeun was too focused on stupid, beautiful, terribly moody Jung Jinsol looking like she wants to invoke God's wrath on the world itself. Jinsol looked melancholic at the start of the first period, and Jungeun watched it turn into barely concealed anger. At who? Jungeun figures it's herself but... Jinsol wouldn't apologize or even text her beforehand if that were the case. For now, Jungeun is stuck wondering what's going on inside that beautiful blonde head of her enigma of a classmate as the blonde silently leaves class after packing up.. Friend? Not quite...Acquaintance, that works better for now.
-
While she isn't grateful for the universe giving her a terribly confusing attractive acquaintance, Jungeun is grateful for being gifted with many things to distract from said acquaintance.
Currently she's engaging in a favorite distraction and hobby: swimming.
In their gym classes, their teachers give them free roam of what they want to do, since the students are surprisingly well behaved and eager to do athletic activity. Jungeun's glad she's not alone in that eagerness. She's liked to swim since she was a kid, some of her most fond memories revolving around her and her mom driving out twenty minutes to the nearest public pool. When she was around 9, Jungeun's christmas present one year was a pool out in their yard. Not the brightest idea, seeing as baby Jungie almost froze to death after doing a cannonball in freezing weather. Still, best present ever. She was in the swim club in middle school, though Jungeun has a hesitation to join now. Lack of commitment she guesses. I'd rather hang with Jiwoo and Sooyoung after school. Or Jinsol... which seems impossible now.
Jungeun shakes her thoughts away, diving back into the water after a short break. She's trying to best her own record: 500m in 9 minutes, she thinks she'll go for 8 this time. The length of the school's pool is much longer than hers at home, it serves as the perfect place to improve on her skills. Her limbs glide seamlessly through the water, head tilting to the side every so often to take a breath as she powers through, muscles straining. There's no unnecessary thoughts here; only Jungeun and the water. It's the most freeing she can feel, and that's created a great love in her heart for the activity. After the laps are completed, Jungeun hoists herself out of the pool and sits on the edge, peering at her thankfully waterproof stopwatch. 8:26, damn it.
Usually, Jungeun finds herself with one or two other classmates in the pool at gym time. She suspects it's because most of her peers don't want the drama of getting changed, getting wet, drying off, and going back to school like there isn't a wet towel shoved in their locker. They're just weak. However, Jungeun perks up at the sound of footsteps hitting the wet tile next to her.
-
Haseul has found herself at the pool this time around in gym class, eyes immediately locking onto the person she wants to see. Kim Jungeun is hard at work, tearing through the water with the grace of a dolphin. Sure that's corny, but it's true. Haseul knows little to nothing about swimming, but she's sure that Jungeun's form is excellent. As Jungeun then rises out of the pool, Haseul's eyes rake over the younger girl's soaked body appreciatively, watching as Jungeun pants, her now dark brown hair clinging to her skin. She's awfully fit, how did I not notice before?
Haseul has always known of Jungeun, but never known her personally. The two have always shared a class here and there, said cordial hellos. But nothing else, really. They've always been friendly and that's about it. But she, like Jinsol, has observed her for the far. Jungeun honestly seemed like a boring character at first, but there's something about her. Of course, there's that sincerity and gentleness when she talks. Haseul would shamelessly eavesdrop on conversations between Jungeun and whatever nun is teaching at the time, as Jungeun is very polite and just... nice. She's felt like Jungeun has the comfort of a warm cup of coffee, even if they're not close. There's just a radiance to her. Jungeun is confident in her actions yet reserved in nature, so she's often more of a "speak when spoken to" person, Haseul has noticed. She never wants to bother the girl but... she may have to. It's been long enough.
Haseul struts over to Jungeun, her white adidas thudding against the tile. It's a little weird to be fully clothed in the gym area, though Haseul is only here for a quick visit.
"Afternoon, Jungeun." Haseul catches the younger girl's attention as she sits on the edge of the pool, soft cinnamon eyes looking at Haseul curiously through wet strands of hair. Cute.
"Hey, Haseul. Didn't expect to see you here... you're usually chillin' with your friends, yeah?" Jungeun slicks her hair back out of her face, rising to her feet. There goes that brilliant smile that Jinsol is too afraid to admit that she loves. It really is beautiful, Haseul thinks. Definitely something you'd fall in love with. Haseul returns her smile back, straightening out her shirt.
"Yeah, usually. But I wanted a change of pace and remembered that you and I share the same gym period so there we go." Haseul blushes a light pink after hearing a soft giggle from Jungeun.
"Fair enough. Hey uh, let's continue this talk after I'm dried off. I feel like a prune."
-
After Gym, Haseul and Jungeun find themselves outside during their free period. They sit on the bleachers near the school's biggest track, chatting as they watch people do their laps. Jungeun has an oversized maroon hoodie over her uniform blazer, looking as cute as a button to Haseul. The older girl has been listening to Jungeun's history with swimming, admiring the way the girl's eyes light up.
"You sure like to talk with your hands." Haseul's sudden observation catches Jungeun off guard, the younger girl's ears going crimson as she tries to explain herself.
"Well you know it just helps a story flow better-" Jungeun is overheating trying to explain herself, her hands now frantically moving as the girl becomes progressively embarrassed for no reason. Haseul laughs gently, and it stops Jungeun in her tracks. The older girl's laugh is so melodic, like the chime of a bell. It's pretty, to say the least.
"It wasn't an accusation, Jungeun. It's cute." Haseul reassures, grinning at the younger girl. Jungeun's heart stops. Man, I'm horrible with pretty girls. Jungeun exhales through her nose. Now's not the time to be a dork, pour on the charm!
"My hands and I thank you!" Jungeun pulls out the finger guns again. While she isn't in any way, shape or form as religious as Jinsol, Jungeun thinks she hears an angel when Haseul laughs wholeheartedly at the dorky display. Jungeun can't help but laugh too. After it dies down, Jungeun decides she's tired of just hearing herself talk. "Hey so uh, you wanna study law right? I think I remember you mentioning it in a class." Jungeun watches as Haseul's eyes shine. The older girl notes how well Jungeun pays attention to details.
"I do," Haseul beams, eyes then looking over the track in front of them as she continues. "Ever since I was a kid, I was attracted to the concept of justice, sticking up for others." As Haseul is talking, Jungeun admires the older girl. As opposed to Jinsol, her faith appears on her body in the form of small, cross shaped earrings. More subtle, and they compliment her strong jawline. Seriously, this girl has to be carved from the greek gods themselves, she's gorgeous. Jungeun watches as Haseul's eyebrows furrow, the older girl turning her head back to Jungeun suddenly. "This world needs more people seeking out what's right, don't you think?"
"Of course, yeah." Jungeun tries to play off her awkward staring. Haseul is smiling at her, that's a good sign that she wasn't caught. Or maybe she was, and Haseul is gracious enough to not point it out.
"What do you want to do after graduation, Jungeun?" Haseul asks, hand on her palm as she looks to the younger girl with rapt attention.
"That's a great question, I don't have a clue!" Jungeun impulsively says the first thought that comes to her head, followed by nervous laughter. Good one, idiot! Haseul is laughing with her though, and comes to her aid.
"I don't believe that. You're very smart, Jungeun," Jungeun blushes at the praise as Haseul continues, "You could definitely go off of a swim scholarship if you joined the team. Is there anything else you're really into?" Jungeun ponders for a moment as she responds.
"I think I'll keep swimming as a hobby," she wrings her hands as she continues. "But I'd be interested in studying psychology, maybe sociology or even philosophy." Haseul raises an eyebrow at Jungeun's answer.
"You want to know why people behave as they do, I assume." Haseul muses, Jungeun nodding soon after. "Why, planning to be a serial killer? Learn what makes people tick?" Haseul's odd joke earns a punch on the shoulder from Jungeun. The older girl keeps her surprise under wraps. I didn't know we were at that level yet, but I'll take it.
"Maybe I do, and you're first on the list." Jungeun fires back with a fake-menacing glare, soon deflating as Haseul coos about how cute she is. "Whatever," Jungeun mumbles, pink cheeks becoming a permanent part of her appearance. "But yeah, I would like to be a social worker or something, maybe. Helping people in that way." Haseul hums, nodding.
"You'd definitely be the best in the business." The two share more of their personal lives. Haseul is very easy to talk to, Jungeun finds. The older girl is very cool and collected, and a great listener. Haseul is your typical suburban church going kid, as her parents have a lot of money and she happily attends church every sunday. But as a twist, her parents know she's gay and are fully accepting of her. Well, that's not too uncommon where they're from, but it's still great to hear. Haseul is an only child like Jungeun, and as a result she's extremely spoiled, she admits. Jungeun muses that Haseul's parents must own one of the bigger houses on the other end of the neighborhood, probably not too far from Jinsol's. "So, your mom is religious and you aren't, but you still are okay with attending school here?" Haseul questions Jungeun's unique situation.
"Yeah, it's weird, I know. She's completely fine with me being gay and all but wants me to understand religion more. It's not a problem with me though, I'm open to it." Jungeun takes her hands out of her hoodie pocket, smoothing her hair back. Haseul notices she does that at certain points if attention has been on her for a while. Haseul's good at studying people, too.
"I respect you for that," Haseul admits honestly. "Even if you aren't Catholic, it's pretty admirable for you to be open and willing to listen to and read scripture." Fine, I'll bite the bullet, Haseul thinks. "But how did you get roped into Jinsol's Bible study? I heard she hasn't been the most persuasive." Haseul has been there a few times, walking down the hallway or looking from afar as Jungeun rejects Jinsol's offer. She can't really blame her though, as Jinsol has been straight up annoying in her asking. It's kind of pathetic to her, but Haseul would never admit that.
"Sooyoung," Jungeun replies. Haseul lets out a small 'ah' as the younger girl keeps going. "You know she's a lot better at convincing people to do things." Haseul grimaces. All the times that Sooyoung has swindled her out of money for food and false promises of paying her back come to mind.
"Oh trust me, I know. She'd make a great cult-leader." That joke definitely catches Jungeun off guard, causing her to yell out a 'whoa!' Haseul giggles at Jungeun's surprise. "Yeah I can make that joke, I know what you're thinking."
"Damn, mind-reader." Fuck, I should'nt have said damn. Jungeun looks to haseul nervously. The older girl's soft smile melts her worry away.
"Your emotions are plain as day on your face, you're adorable. I don't care if you say that word, even if I refuse to use it. I'm not the most uptight bible-thumper around here, we both know that." There's then a pause as Jungeun digests Haseul's words. The older girl's tone ended with a little bite to it under Haseul's melodic voice, she notes. What exactly is Haseul and Jinsol's relationship? "Come on," Haseul ushers as she checks her phone, their free period coming to a close. "Let's head back inside."
The two girls walk to the school building in tow, chatting about their upcoming classes. Before they part ways, Haseul gives Jungeun her phone number.
"Let's hang sometimes, alright?" Haseul shoots Jungeun a wink.
"Guess I'm not the only cornball around here, huh?" Jungeun dodges Haseul's shoulder punch, only for it to be a fake-out and she gets jabbed in the ribs instead. She doubles over and screams dramatically in fake-anguish.
"Nope, it's still just you. See you later, drama queen!" Haseul waves her junior goodbye as she walks off. Jungeun pouts as the older girl leaves, but she then smiles to herself, feeling satisfied as she walks to her next class. At least there's a new friend she knows she has for sure.
-
"So, are you going to admit that you've been watching Haseul and Jungeun like a creep the whole period?" Sooyoung asks as she packs up her things, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Usually Jungeun spends her free period in the library with Sooyoung these days, but it seems that she opted to chill with Haseul today. That's fine by Sooyoung, it means they can all hang together at some point. It's obviously not fine with Jinsol, who looks like she's giving herself a headache from minding someone else's business that hard.
"I was not being a creep," the blonde mumbles, eyes downcast as she shoves her books into her bag. "I just happened to look out of the window and they happened to be there."
"You were looking the whole time, dumbass," Jinsol glares at Sooyoung's profanity, not that it ever stops Sooyoung. "you barely even touched your little notebook you scribble in. What's in it anyway, love letters to Jungeun?"
"Enough," Jinsol growls. Sooyoung puts her hands up in surrender. As the two leave the library, Sooyoung pipes back up.
"You know, if you're mad about Jungeun spending time with another one of your friends that isn't you, there's one thing to do-" Sooyoung stops walking and looks at Jinsol who's looking at her expectantly like she doesn't know the answer already. "Talk to her." Sooyoung deadpans. Jinsol sighs, agitated.
"I'm not sure if I-'' She shrinks under the scrutiny of Sooyung's knowing gaze. "Okay fine, I'll text her soon. Stop looking at me like that." Sooyoung cheers at her internal victory and Jinsol rolls her eyes. So obnoxious. But she wouldn't trade it for the world. Don't tell Sooyoung that.
-
It's 3:05 pm, and Sooyoung and Jungeun have left already. Jinsol grabs what she needs and shuts her locker, startling at who's standing next to it. "Haseul, don't scare me like that!" She scolds the brunette, who simply laughs at how jumpy Jinsol can get.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya." Haseul chuckles, standing there with her thumbs messing with her backpack straps. Haseul is always earnest in her emotions, Jinsol admires and envies her for it. She's perfect in the ways Jinsol isn't. She doesn't get irrationally angry, she doesn't hide from what scares her. Jinsol wishes she could be like that. And she's afraid that they both know that as a fact, as Haseul always looks at her in a way that she can only describe as pity. She never likes it.
"What are you still doing around?" Jinsol doesn't want that to come off too harshly, but unfortunately, she knows that her emotions can bleed into her words. It's been like that ever since she got tangled with Jungeun, the younger girl has made her stress more and not keep her emotions in check. She meant the question innocently, as Haseul is usually gone in a flash, be it with other friends or by herself. Haseul masks any negative emotion that may have come her way with a polite smile. How is she so good at that?
"Just figured I'd check in with you, see how you're doing. Is that so wrong?" Haseul's smile is coy as she teases, but there's something burning in her eyes that Jinsol isn't quite sure she likes.
"I suppose it isn't," Jinsol composes herself. As much as she can, anyway. "I'm doing... alright." Haseul doesn't look convinced, eyebrows raising as to coax the truth out of Jinsol. The blond hates how good her close friends are at prying it out of her. "Okay, I'm not the best. I... need to talk to Jungeun at some point soon. I'm nervous, I guess." Haseul motions for Jinsol to walk outside with her as they continue talking.
"Don't be nervous, just say what you need to. Jungeun is a great person after all, she'll hear you out." Haseul's steps come to a halt as she looks up at Jinsol. The other girl's hand is fidgeting with her newly-repaired necklace as she looks ahead with a blank stare. "Jinsol," She grabs the blonde's attention. She smiles softly to her, putting the taller girl at ease. "It'll be fine." Jinsol returns a timid smile back.
"Thanks, Seul. See you later." Haseul watches as Jinsol walks off alone, even though they live a few houses down from each other. That girl, Haseul can't begin to understand how her brain works. As Haseul begins walking herself, she thinks back to the most pleasant part of her school day: hanging out with Jungeun. The younger girl really is a gem, someone she'll have to hold close. But now that she knows her better, there's something gnawing at her. Out of all people, why Jinsol? Surely there's better options out there. Surely there's someone else that will accept themselves fully and not be detrimental to themselves and others. Surely, there's- well, Haseul won't entertain that thought any further for now. She made a deal with Sooyoung that they'll try to get the two blind "lovebirds" together. We'll see how successful that is.
-
After minutes of Jinsol rolling around her bed and Chaewon coming in to yell at her for mumbling to herself too loud, she does it.
To: Kim Jungeun: Hey, I'm ready to talk. Want to come over later? I understand if you don't.
Her heart almost leaps out of her chest when Jungeun responds not even five seconds later.
Kim Jungeun: of course I do :) Is 7 okay?
Jinsol texts a quick 'sure' back to her and almost screams directly afterwards. Okay, it'll be fine. Just be honest, Just tell her that- Jinsol grips her necklace. Okay, baby steps. An apology and a little explanation is good at first.
Jinsol and Jungeun both steel themselves for what's to come. Maybe a friendship is on the horizon, after all.