You awkwardly shifted in your seat as she chuckled at your awkward state.
FLASHBACK:
YESTERDAY
Jiwon nearly shrieked as she watched you collapse in front of the table. She immediately stood up from her seat, followed by the other members, rounded the table, and was by your side. She carefully lifted your head and rested it in her lap as she lightly tapped your cheeks, grinning in relief when she saw your eyes flutter open. A few moments later, a standby medic was also by your side, helping you to your feet alongside Jiwon.
FLASHBACK END.
‧₊˚ ♥︎ Present Time
"How about... Ooh, how about we play twenty-one questions?" Jiwon asked enthusiastically.
With the adorable look of excitement on her face, it was impossible not to smile, and it was even more impossible to say no. Also, it was a great opportunity to learn more about her on a more personal level, seeing as, although you've been talking to her over the phone for a few weeks, you know almost nothing about her. You mean, besides what you know about her as Liz. You want to know about her as Kim Jiwon.
So you nodded your head.
"Okay, I'll go first," she stated, "my first question is..."
And the game continued on like that as the two of you talked and giggled together and got to know each other in the quiet café.
📱
"Y/N~" Jiwon sang as she jogged up to you. You held up the cup of coffee that you bought for her. She smiled and took it from you, thanking you as she pulled you into a friendly embrace.
It's two months later, and it was early in the afternoon and the girls were getting prepped to film a video, and you decided to stop by to see how things were going. At this point, the staff were familiar with you, and you sometimes even brought them coffee too.
After pulling away from Jiwon, you greeted some more staff members as she led you to where the girls were sitting. Over the course of time that you and Jiwon became close, you also befriended the girls, so you smiled brightly when you saw how excited they were to see you as you held up the drinks you got for them as well. They cheered as you passed them out, and you also bent down to give them hugs as you did so, giggling quietly when Wonyoung kissed your cheek in thanks, something she did often. You failed to notice a certain look given to you by one of the members.
Something you should also mention; over the last two months, you've started to see Jiwon in a different light. A friendly one. Your crush on her has become practically nonexistent ever since you truly got to know her. But you know that deep down, you do still have some underlying feelings for her. But you made a habit of pushing them away so that you could focus on your friendship with her instead.
"Y/N-unnie! Jiwon-unnie told us that you have a competition soon!" Hyunseo exclaimed, looking at you with excitement in her eyes. Ever since you told them that you do competitive dance, they've always been super interested whenever you told them stories about it.
"Yes," you started, "it's this weekend! I got a bunch of tickets from our seonsaengnim! Are you guys going to be busy?" You asked.
"I won't be! Can I come?" Wonyoung asked. She had a wide smile on her face, making you smile back as you nodded.
"Of course. What about the rest of you?" In response, all of them enthusiastically gave the same answer as Wonyoung. All of them except for Jiwon. You looked over at her and saw that she had a frown on her face as she stared at you.
"Ji?" You questioned quietly, poking her arm.
It seems as though she might've been caught up in her thoughts, seeing as when you poked her, she blinked a few times and then looked back at you, dumbfounded.
"Is everything okay? Can you not come?" You asked, subtle concern washing over you. The girls looked at the two of you curiously.
Jiwon shook her head gently, smiling warmly at you. "I'm fine. Of course I'll go to your competition. I wouldn't miss it for the world!" She giggled.
Something bloomed in your heart at that moment, but you ignored it and pushed it deep down.
≡
LIZ POV.
She huffed quietly as she watched you and Wonyoung joke around with each other, giggling to yourselves as you whispered to one another. The girls were all lounging around in the dorm, as their schedule was completely clear for the day.
Over the last few months, Jiwon has come to realize one thing. She has a big, fat, undeniable crush on you. It all started about a week after she started getting to know you, and from there, it progressed into what she could only describe as love (which she realized after a very eye-opening chat with Gaeul). It took her a while to come to terms with her feelings, due to all of the obstacles she felt were in the way, such as her job, but eventually she did, and she honestly couldn't be happier.
And she loved the feeling she got whenever she simply looked at you, or took notice of your small habits that went unnoticed by others, or when she heard your laughter or saw your smile. She loved to enjoy all of the little things, because she knew that those were the only things she could enjoy. After all, there was practically a snowball's chance in hell that you liked her back, in her mind. She was convinced that you like Wonyoung.
Another sigh escaped her as she stood up from her seat on the couch. After ten minutes of her just watching you, in her mind, flirt with Wonyoung, she was finally starting to get fed up to the point where she feels as though she can't even be in the same room as you two. Deep down, she knew that she really had no right to feel this amount of jealousy, but she just couldn't help it. It felt as if her heart was on fire, and not the kind of burning in her chest that she feels when she's around you, but the kind that physically pains her when she sees you smiling with someone else like you do with her. Sounds selfish, huh? That's what she hates about the feeling.
Without a single word to you and the others, who were sitting there beyond confused, Jiwon walked out of the living room and headed to her bedroom, unintentionally slamming the door behind her.
After a few seconds of silence between you and the girls, you heard her door open once more, followed by her voice, which sounded apologetic. "Mianhae!" And then the door shut again.
You all looked at each other. Then Yujin spoke up, starting off her statement with a heavy sigh. "I knew this was going to happen," she mumbled. You quirked an eyebrow at her words, but before you could question it, she spoke up again.
"Y/N," she said.
"Yes?" You responded.
She looked you dead in the eye as a serious look took over her features. "You need to go check on her," she stated firmly.
You looked around at all of the girls, seeing that Wonyoung looked just as confused as you, Hyunseo and Gaeul were nodding enthusiastically in agreement to Yujin, and Rei was biting her lip as she looked back and forth between you and Yujin.
With slight uncertainty in your voice, you gave her a response that admittedly sounded more like a question. "O...kay?"
With that, you stood from your seat next to Wonyoung, whose eyes followed you, and you made your way down the short hallway and to Jiwon's room.
Your knuckles gently rapped against the door, and you waited a few moments until she opened it. When she did, you examined her appearance. She seemed on edge and almost timid, which was very unusual to you. Her eyes appeared to be red and glassy, which immediately gave away that she must've been in the midst of crying before you knocked.
Concern flashed in your eyes. "Ji... What's wrong?" You asked as she opened the door wider for you to come in. She closed the door after you, and then the two of you sat down on her bed.
She stared down at her fingers, shyly avoiding your gaze. You sighed softly and stood up. You moved to stand in front of her, and then used your fingers to tilt her head up, which is when you proceeded to cup her cheeks. You had to stop yourself from blushing profusely due to your own actions, but you blinked and tried your best to push the feeling away and focus on her.
"Please tell me what's wrong," you murmured, shyly looking into her eyes. Even though the two of you are really close, the way she was looking at you caused an explosion of butterflies-a frenzy, really-in the pit of your stomach. Now was not the time, though.
Jiwon sighed and lifted her hands up to gently remove yours from her face. She let your hands drop, but continued to hold them in her own. You enjoyed the warmth of her hands over yours. It felt safe, like home.
"Nothing's wrong, Y/N, I just... I'm feeling a way I'm not supposed to," she admitted. Her voice seemed hesitant.
Your heartbeat sped up. What could she possibly be feeling? Could it be that... she likes you back? "What- What are you feeling?" You asked curiously, absentmindedly stroking the back of her hand with your thumb.
She bit her lip as she looked back up at you, a certain glint in her eyes that you just couldn't decipher.
"I- I l-love someone," she admitted quietly. Your breath hitched as hope filled your heart, practically digging up the feelings for her that you thought you could keep down. "Someone close to me that I see often. I'm so head over heels for her, but she's too blind to see that. I want... I want to be able to hold her, kiss her, show her off-I want to do all of that. But... I think she likes Wonyoung," she finished, looking down solemnly.
You bit your lip as tears pricked your eyes. But you blinked them away. Of course she doesn't like you. You scolded yourself. It was obvious who she liked. There was only one person who you could think of that could possibly like Wonyoung in the way that Jiwon is speaking of. Yujin. It all makes sense. The way Jiwon sometimes clings to the older, the loving smiles the younger sends Yujin's way, the way she's always the first one by her side. It all was starting to make sense in your mind. It was always Yujin. Never you. Deep down, you knew you never had a chance, which is one of the many reasons that you pushed your feelings away and buried them deep in your heart in the first place.
Carefully, you pulled your hands out of her grasp. You looked down at her with hurt in your eyes. You didn't even bother to hide it. What was the point?
She looked up at you quickly, her eyes frantically meeting yours in the dim room. Her eyes widened at the sight of your tears, which had begun to stream down your face, leaving trails of heartbreak on your cheeks. Her heart broke.
"Y/N- Why are you crying? Was it something I said?" She asked, immediately reaching out to grab ahold of your hands. But you moved them far out of her reach, ignoring the pain you felt in your heart when you saw the look on her face caused by your actions. She slowly dropped her hands into her lap.
"You wouldn't understand," you said softly. "Or maybe you would, but it wouldn't matter. You love someone else, anyway."
You muttered the last part so quietly that you didn't think she would hear it, but you were proven wrong when, after turning on your heel to leave the room, your hand was abruptly grabbed and you were spun around. Jiwon was standing in front of you, her brows furrowed in confusion as an incredulous look was plastered on her face.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She questioned. You bit your lip and looked away. When you gave no response, she asked you again, but this time, her voice sounded more desperate than the last.
"Y/N, please, what did you mean? Tell me!" She pleaded.
You sniffled and looked her in the eyes, and, as gently as possible, you removed her hand from yours.
"What I meant to say was that I love you. But you don't love me in the same way. And that's fine. If you love Yujin, that's fine. I'll move on. I mean, we'll always be friends, right?" You laughed, yet there was little humor in your strained voice.
Jiwon appeared to be caught off-guard as she eyed you up and down in disbelief. Silence followed.
"Say it again," she suddenly demanded, gently grabbing you by the shoulders.
You looked up at her, confused. "Come again?"
"Say it again. That you love me."
Your eyes widened as your face slowly began to heat up, a bright red blush creeping up your neck and painting itself across your warm cheeks.
"I- Uh, I l-love you," you muttered bashfully. "Why?"
She said nothing, only letting go of what you could only make out to be a relieved sigh, before she suddenly dove forward. She wrapped her arms around your neck and pulled you into a tight hug, one that you reflexively returned by wrapping your arms around her waist. After a few tense moments filled with you hesitating, you reluctantly rested your head on her shoulder and slowly relaxed into her embrace, practically melting in her arms.
You only pulled away when you heard a sniffle. You examined her face worriedly, forgetting about your own tears as you worked to wipe away hers. "Don't cry. Why are you crying? Wae?" You cooed.
She removed one of her arms to dab at the tears with the back of her hand, as a smile won her lips. "I'm just- God, I'm so happy, you don't even understand, Y/NN. You make me so happy," she said sweetly.
You blushed and looked down. "Y-You shouldn't say stuff like that to me after I confessed something like that to you..." You trailed off, averting your gaze away from her eyes. "I might get the wrong idea."
She grinned. "That's okay. What you're thinking wouldn't be wrong, anyway," she said.
Your eyes widened at her statement. You looked at her incredulously. "Okay, wait, wait, wait! Now it's my turn to ask- what do you mean by that?"
Could this really be happening? Could she really be confessing her feelings for you to you? Do the two of you share the same feelings? Your mind was sent into a frenzy of a gay panic as you looked into her eyes, looking for any signs of jest in them. But there was none. This was really happening. Or maybe you're just reading too much into her words. God, you're just so confused at the moment.
"Oh my god, this is exactly what I meant. You're so blind. I like you, idiot," Jiwon mumbled, moving her hands to cup your cheeks. She looked at you with a certain hopefulness in her eyes that had you weak in the knees.
Your eyes watered once again, this time out of happiness, as you stepped closer to her and wrapped your arms around her waist again, burying your face in her shoulder. You hugged her tightly, like you never wanted to let go. And you didn't.
"I love you," you whispered in her ear. "I love you so much."
You pouted when she pulled away from you again, but it was instantly wiped from your face when you felt lips on yours. As soon as you registered what was happening, you allowed your eyes to flutter shut, and you let yourself get lost in the kiss as she moved her lips against yours fervently. You could feel the love and passion in every movement. It was pure euphoria for you.
When the two of you parted, Jiwon gently took your hands in hers and rested her forehead against yours, as a soft smile won her lips.
"I love you too."
***
QOTD: Favorite designer brand?
AOTD: Hard question, but I guess I'll have to saaaaay... Miu Miu !