A/N: ^ I want to remember my previous profile pic. Maybe listen to Dancing With The Devil and Spell both by NIKI? I'm kinda in my NIKI phase rn :)
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Yeji's Perspective
Yeji didn't want this moment to end, so she decided to stay awake the whole night. Ryujin lent her some pajamas earlier, and although her pants are slightly short, she was pleased with the scent of Ryujin. She smiles as she stares at the girl snuggled on her body, head laying on her chest. Her heart thumped like crazy, who knew Ryujin could look so cute sleeping in Yeji's arms?
Well, Yeji does.
Their legs are tangled and her arms are wrapped around the smaller girl. After hearing the details of Ryujin's past earlier today, she couldn't help but notice how fragile this girl is. Although she won't show it by hiding in this cool and popular facade, Yeji could see the struggles in Ryujin's eyes. Gosh, she could look at them forever, those swirls of deep dark honey brown can pull her down to the pits of a ravine. Because although smiles and expressions could be fake and hidden, eyes will never lie. And Ryujin's eyes? Nobody could help but be drawn to them, Yeji included. But can they analyze them as much as Yeji can?
Nope.
Everyone thinks the pink-haired girl has everything and is perfect. She's the star soccer forward. She's popular. She's cool and toned, but pretty and funny. She's caring and loving. But does everyone else know that she's also self-deprecating, humble, compliant, and unpretentious? That she tackles and endures all her worries and hardships by herself? Based on the time Yeji has been with Ryujin, she can tell how the latter never wants to get anyone included in her problems. She doesn't want to feel like a burden and selflessly gives her heart out for everyone.
How can Yeji convince Ryujin that she's worth all the things she's been awarded, if not the whole world? Yeji has made up her mind, that she'll always remind Ryujin that she's loved, that she'll never be alone, and that Yeji will always be there for when need be. Yeji's main goal is to protect and help this wonderful and beautiful girl on all her obstacles and oppressions. Nobody is going to hurt her on Yeji's watch.
"I can feel your stare. And it doesn't feel like those romantic ones in those dramas," the younger girl whispers out loud before opening her eyes.
"H—huh? Oh, you're still awake?"
"Well, I am now. But that aside, what's got my angel thinking so hard this late at night? Or should I say early in the morning?" Ryujin's eyes spark in worry and care for the older one.
"O—oh, nothing. Just, you know. How we're together like this. I'm just happy."
"Hmm... you really struck gold this time, am I right?" Ryujin smugly says but gets pushed away.
"Geez! You're so egotistical, you're the lucky one here," Yeji playfully says as she tries to wink.
The two laugh as Yeji welcomes the younger one back into her arms. Once they settle down, Yeji uses her hand and places it underneath Ryujin's chin to tilt her head up.
"Ryujin, you know I'll always be there for you, right? When you're down or sad, you can always talk to me. You're the most amazing and sweet person I've ever met and I lo—"
Ryujin places her index finger on Yeji's lips, "Shhh. Save that for another time." Then she gives a small peck to the older.
"B—but, you already said it earlier. I feel like I should too," Yeji stares at the younger with an uncertain look.
"Hmm? Yeah, I did. But I just don't want you to feel forced to say it just because I did."
"You're not force—"
"And! I want to ensure that we will be together later on. We have plenty of time, Yeji unnie. There'll be more memorable moments in the future. Ok?"
"... ok. Well, then I promise you that we will still be together in the future," Yeji says in a determined way as she holds up her pinky finger.
"Haha, I hope you don't break your promise then," Ryujin lightheartedly says as she hooks her own pinky with Yeji's.
They both smile and seal it with a kiss before they decided to finally go to sleep.
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The next morning, Yeji wakes up to a sweet aroma in the house. Her eyes crack open to see no one beside her, which she's sad to see, but she quickly shakes her head as she gets up from the pillow fort. Her feet pad along the cherry wood floors. When feet touch marble, she looks up to see Ryujin mixing something up in a big glass bowl, with her back facing the older. A white and light blue checkered apron was tied around the younger and her hair is up in a low messy bun.
Yeji's heart swells in gushiness at this homely and domestic scene. She silently tiptoes behind the younger and quickly envelops her into a back hug. She simultaneously rests her head on Ryujin's left shoulder, face shoved on the younger's neck.
"What's cooking, good looking?" Yeji mutters, lips tickling the younger's neck.
"Waffles." (A/N: I am a waffles over pancakes type of person! Don't judge!)
Yeji chuckles at Ryujin's nonchalant way of speaking. I mean, what did she expect? This girl is very hard to scare and doesn't get surprised that often.
"Ooooh, chocolate chip?"
Ryujin stops mixing and raises her eyebrows at the latter, "Do you want high blood sugar levels?"
"Dark chocolate?" Yeji cheekily smiles, eyes forming crescents. She's not giving up!
Ryujin stares at her for a second before blushing. She quickly pecks her mouth before saying, "fine. Now, go brush your teeth, you smell."
"Amazingly awesome!" Yeji laughs as she walks away to the bathroom.
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Yeji sets up the dining table as Ryujin finishes the waffles. The older grabs onto the plates to place them down on the table as they settle in the chairs.
"Mmm! Yummy!" Yeji exclaims as she quickly cuts another piece of her waffles.
"Haha, I told you I was a good cook!" Ryujin giggles as she calmly eats her own.
"I never said you weren't," Yeji laughs as she continues to dig into her breakfast.
They eat and talk about random things. Yeji got to learn more about Ryujin, and vice versa. Apparently, Ryujin is a cat lover and has two at her parent's place. Although Yeji prefers dogs, she doesn't mind cats either. They get into more lighthearted conversations as they finish their food.
"I'll wash the dishes!" Yeji proclaims as she rapidly stands up from her seat.
"No, it's ok! You're the guest, I'll wash the dishes," Ryujin also gets up from her seat and starts to stack the dishes.
"But you cooked, so according to the rule book, I should clean."
"Haha, it's really ok, I can—"
"I insist!"
"No, no, I insist."
"Ryujinnie!"
"Yeji unnie!"
Yeji glares at the younger girl and crosses her arms. She sees Ryujin shiver at her look. She has been told that her cat eyes can be really fierce after all.
"Fine, fine. How about we clean together? I'll put the soap, you rinse?"
"Ok!" Yeji smiles and pumps her hand up in victory.
Once they gathered up the plates, they stand in their stations. Ryujin at the right side and Yeji on the left. They get into a routine and start working at a quick pace, as if they've done this many times before. All was well until hell broke out.
Yeji was grabbing onto another soaped plate while turning on the water. What she didn't expect was for the water to explode out of the tap. The water splashes everywhere, actually, to be more precise, everywhere meant Ryujin. And with her luck, Yeji was safe and dry.
"S—sorry, I didn't think the sink would—" Yeji starts when she sees the glare pointed her way.
But before she could finish, Ryujin gets her soaped hands and grabs onto Yeji's face. Palms on each cheek. Yeji stares at the younger in horror as the latter smirks and runs away, giggling. Yeji stays astonished for a minute, soap running down her face before smirking.
"Oh, you're gonna wish you never started this war!" Yeji shouts as she grabs onto a bowl of water.
She immediately turns on her heel to start running after the girl but was attacked instead. Turns out, Ryujin crept back behind her and was waiting for the right moment. Once Yeji turned around, Ryujin poured a handful of flour onto the older's face. The flour went everywhere as it poofed the surroundings. Ryujin's hand quickly covers her mouth and tries hard to not laugh, she wasn't expecting it to be that successful. Breaking out into a burst of laughter at Yeji's powdered face, the older quickly uses this opportunity to pour her water on top of Ryujin's head. Yeji laughs as Ryujin's mouth widens in shock as the water runs down her face and onto her neck.
"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!" Ryujin yells and chases her.
Yeji shrieks as she swiftly runs around the house, laughing wholeheartedly. Both their laughs fill the house as Ryujin finally catches Yeji in the living room.
Ryujin quickly back hugs Yeji and carries her up. Yeji squeals as she's dropped onto the couch. She quickly turns around as Ryujin straddles the older and starts tickling her. Yeji cackles in her vulnerable state, desperately trying to stop Ryujin's hands but to no avail.
"Hahahaha! S—stop! Hahaha!"
"Nope! You started it!" Ryujin taunts the older.
"Hahhhaha! I—I didn't m—mean it!"
Ryujin dismisses Yeji's pleas as she continues to tickle the girl she absolutely adores.
It was a very eventful morning indeed.
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They spent the rest of the day lazing around and watching random shows they find on the tv. By the time evening arrives, Yeji receives a text message from her volleyball team group chat.
SERVING LOOKS & ACES 🏐
Heejin
YO YO YO! Party at coach's in an hour!
Don't be late u dodos!
Yuqi
Says the one who can't ask her crush out :P
Joy
Gasp! Burnnn
Chanmi
She rlly went there!
Heejin
Shaddup!
Hyunjin
Crush?
Sowon
👀
Yeri
👀
Joy
👀
Yuqi
👀
Minjee
👀
Yuna
👀
Minnie
👀
Chanmi
👀
Hyunjin
👀
Joy
I—
Yuqi
😵🤧
Yuna
I guess we ArE dodos
Ryujin laughs as Yeji reads the text messages out loud. The older shakes her head at her teammates' dumb banters when someone finally informs everyone that they can bring their friends or, wink wink, S.O.
Minjee
S.O? Could not be me but someone else on the other hand...
Heejin
And I oop
Yuna
Y'alls! 😳🤫
Yuqi
O? I smell tea
Joy
🍵
Chanmi
🍵
Yeri
🍵
Hyunjin
?
Yuna
N eee ways I heard coach has a bae!
Minnie
O? Do tell
Chanmi
Ehhh?
Yeri
About time! Coach needs to get laid
Joy
Lol
Yuna
I don't actually kno
Kinda hoping y'all might kno the deets
Yeji quickly exits the conversation, not wanting to read all the tea and gossip from her teammates.
"Haha, your team is so funny! I understand, my team are literal crackheads," Ryujin chuckles.
Yeji rolls her eyes before asking, "so you're gonna come with me, right?"
"Are you asking me to be your plus one?"
"And if I am?"
"Hmm, I'll think about it."
"Ryujin!"
"Hahaha, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Of course I'll be your plus one," Ryujin smiles.
"Yay!" Yeji cheers and hugs the younger.
"Ok, ok. Don't get too excited now, save that for tonight. Which, by the way, shouldn't you go home and get ready?"
"Awww, but I wanna stay here with youuuu!" Yeji pouts.
"Hahaha, you'll see me at the party, ok?" Ryujin compromises and kisses her pout away.
"Mmm, ok! I'll see you at the party then!" Yeji excitedly shouts as she leaves.
"See you, my angel!"
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Yeji got there earlier than Ryujin did, but there were already a lot of people at the party. Emphasize the word a lot because oh my gosh, as big as coach Kang's house is, which is a mansion by the way, students filled the building to the brim. It's like the entire senior class showed up, with many other lower classmen speckled about. The parking lot and streets were filled with so many cars, that there were some people walking into the party far away from where their car is parked. As Yeji walks into the party, her team greets her ecstatically.
"Yo Yeji! You made it!" Heejin yells as she bro hugs her.
"Captain!"
"Yeji unnie!"
"Hey!"
The team gathers around and gives her a group hug.
"Dude, you're literally the last one to show up!" Yuna says as she passes Yeji a drink.
"Haha oops! I didn't know this party was going to be this big!" Yeji shouts to be heard over the loud music and noise from all the people.
"Ya bro! It's lit!" Yeri laughs as she turns around in circles and runs to the backyard patio.
"Oh, boy. Someone go get her, she's drunk," Chanmi chuckles.
"On it," Joy says as she chases the girl.
"D—drunk?" Yeji stutters.
"It's just for one night, don't worry!" Yuqi laughs and chugs her drink.
"Aren't we all underage though? Won't we get caught? What does coach think?" Yeji nervously asks.
"Pshhh, coach is the one that's supplying us, haha! Plus it's a once in a lifetime type of party! We gotta celebrate!" Minnie shouts and the others cheer. (A/N: I do not support underage drinking, this is a fictional story!)
Then, the team separate into little groups and mingle with the hundreds of other students partying around. There's a loud whooping and hollering coming from the outside patio as a junior or something jumped into the pool because of a dare. Yup, this was a typical high school party in those classic typical high school movies.
"Heyyy, where's your loverrrr?" Lila slurs her words as she zigzags over to Yeji, trying not to trip over her own legs.
"H—huh? Oh, Ryujinnie? She said she's coming in ten a few minutes ago. She'll be arriving soon."
"Arrreee y'all still keeping it a secrrrrret?" Lila continues.
"L—Lila, you're drunk. You should sit down," Yeji says as she leads the girl to find an available chair.
They pass by many couples making out on the couches and along the walls. Some were in fact, strangers, and the party just made everyone courageous. And others were definitely not being PG so Yeji quickly diverts her eyes. Once she finally finds an empty chair, she sits Lila down.
"I just wannaaaa make sure y'all arrrrre happy. Ryujin's like a little sisterrrrr to me, and she's beeeeen through soooo much. You'll take careee of herrrr, won't youuu?" Lila garbles out.
"O—of course! I really care for her. You can count on me."
"Gooooood. Then whyyy rrrrr you keeping it a seeeeecret?"
"I—I dunno. I just need a little more time, I guess?"
"Hmmm, hopefully, you willll be quick. HEY! ARE THEY PLAYING BEER PONG OVER THERE?" Lila shouts as she swiftly runs over to the group of people and stumbles on her way there.
Yeji shakes her head at her drunken friend but she couldn't help but wonder about her words. After all, it's said that drunk people tend to speak the truth, right? She wasn't able to think more about it as someone comes up to her.
"Heyy! Yeji! Congrats on winning your last game!" A tall guy cheers as he gives Yeji a side hug.
"Yeonjun! Haha, thanks!"
"Of course! I wanted to congratulate you after the game but I couldn't find you! I'm glad I was able to spot you in the midst of this crazy party."
"Oh yeah, this party is really something, huh?" Yeji smiles as she looks at all the people having fun.
"Hmm, I was worried that there would be too many people crowded around you. Since, you know, this party is dedicated to you and your team."
"Haha, well, I'm not much of a party person but my team, however. They're a totally different story. I let them run off to have fun."
"Aww, well they shouldn't have left you by your lonesome," Yeonjun says.
"Oh, no, I'm fine blending in with the crowd in the background."
"Hmm, I guess so. Well, now I can keep you company!" Yeonjun smiles as he takes a sip of his cup.
It's then that Yeji realizes that the boy never put his hand down from the side hug. His arm is still wrapped around her waist, and she feels uncomfortable at the contact. She carefully tries to get out of his hold, but he only comes closer and closer each time. Her face turns red as she tries to get out of this awkward position.
"H—hey, Yeonjun—"
"Wanna drink?" Yeonjun brings his cup closer to Yeji's face.
"A—actually, no I'm ok—"
"Oh, I'll get you another cup if you don't wanna drink from mine. Haha, I get it, boys have cooties, yeah."
He leaves the girl as he heads over to the table with drinks. Yeji quickly tries to run away without being noticed but she bumps into a random junior.
"S—Sorry—" Yeji starts.
"HEy! WaTCh wHeRE yOU'rE goInG!" The guy shouts and was about to shove her when Yeonjun comes back.
He stops the boy from pushing Yeji and makes sure the girl is behind him.
"Hey! It was an accident, alright? Now scram, before this gets dirty," Yeonjun narrows his eyes at the shorter boy.
"Tshh," the junior says before walking away.
"You ok?" Yeonjun worriedly asks.
"I—I'm ok, thank you," Yeji replies.
"Hmm, good. I don't want anyone hurting you. Anytime that happens again, just call me ok?"
"U—uh, thanks, but why?"
Yeonjun stares at her with a look she couldn't pinpoint. "Well, I guess I should just say it now. I like you, Yeji. Since we were just freshmen."
"W—what?"
"Isn't it obvious? I thought you liked me too, weren't you passing off some signals?"
"Uhhhh um. It's not like that, I—"
"You don't like me?"
"N—no, I didn't mean it that way—"
"So you do like me!" Yeonjun cheerfully smiles as he leans closer to her face.
"Y—Yeonjun, you're d—drunk," Yeji says as her back hits the wall, trapping herself.
"Just a little buzzed, is all. But my feelings for you are true. It's our senior year, Yeji. We're popular, we're single, we like each other, even everyone thinks we're the 'it' couple. It's simple," Yeonjun says as his face is only a couple inches away from her own.
"N—no, I d—don't see you t—that way, p—please stop—" Yeji desperately tries to push his chest away but he was as sturdy as a tree stump.
His lips land onto hers and Yeji squeezes her eyes closed, not reciprocating the kiss at all. She doesn't want to look into his eyes, knowing that he's not the friend she expected him to be. How could he? All along, Yeji believed that he was just a nice and caring friend. Fortunately, it only lasts a few seconds before he's shoved away.
Yeonjun crashes onto the counter, plastic red cups tipping over and spilling all over the floor and countertop. A couple of glass bowls filled with snacks were broken because his body smashed them. His shirt gets drenched in the alcohol and he drowsily groans in pain.
Yeji's eyes widen at the boy, about to go over and help the boy up. What she failed to notice was exactly who the perpetrator was, until she felt a searing pain on her left cheek. Her hand immediately goes up to her face and turns around, about to yell at the person who just slapped her. But once her eyes lock with those swirls of deep dark brown pools of honey, oh, she knew she was in trouble.
Some people turned their heads to look at the commotion. A couple of them were their friends as they watch in horror. Ryujin's eyes were red as several tears ran down her cheek. Her arm was still in mid-air from slapping Yeji as she looks at her. But not with sadness or a broken heart, no, she looks at her with pure hatred. Yeji has never seen Ryujin so mad and never thought she would be on the receiving end of this stare. Yeji's eyes quickly water as she tries to reach out to the pink-haired girl.
Ryujin slaps her hands away and yells at the girl, "I texted you to ask where you were and when someone told you were in the kitchen, I didn't expect you to be sucking someone's face!"
"R—Ryujin, l—let me explain—"
"YOU LIAR! You said you'll always be there for me? HAH! What a pile of s—shit! I can't believe I trusted you! I put my heart in my sleeve for you!" Ryujin does a 180 and was about to run away but Yeji rapidly grabs onto her arm.
"N—no, wait, y—you're misunderstanding—" Yeji couldn't finish as Ryujin yanks her hand away.
"YEAH, I MISUNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING! NOW I KNOW WHY YOU WANTED TO KEEP IT A SECRET! BUT WHO KNEW I'D BE YOUR SIDE HOE!"
"T—that's not t—true, Ryujinnie! P—please, I love—"
"SAVE IT! TELL IT TO SOMEONE YOU'RE COMFORTABLE ENOUGH TO KISS IN PUBLIC! TO EVEN HOLD HANDS OR HANG OUT WITH IN PUBLIC! I'M DONE WITH THIS STUPID MESS," Ryujin cries as she manages to run away.
Yeji's heart shatters as she watches the love of her life run away. A couple of her friends who were scattered about immediately sobered up from the heated conversation between the two. Some people were confused and those that knew looked at her in disappointment. She sees Heejin, Chaeryeong, and Lila glare at her before chasing after Ryujin. Yeji was about to go follow but someone held her in place. She turns around and faces Lia. The shorter shakes her head as Yeji stares at her with a defeated look.
"Oh fuck, I dun goofed."
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A/N: I will now be hiding from my readers. 🙈
Also, I'm thinking of writing another au because I'm getting writer's block from both my other stories 🤭. But that's still in my thought process, and I do have a couple of chapters planned so don't worry! Stay safe and healthy, until next time! 💕