Crave
Heejin tapped lightly at her screen, brushing the stylus in her tired hands against the screen before her. Her third and last class of the day was nearly over, her professor beginning to pack up his own clutter to attend a meeting.
"All right, that'll be all for today. Continue to work on these portraits, they're due next week." And with that the lanky man vanished, the weight of work crumbling off his shoulders as he exited the room.
Heejin stared at her work in frustration. Her reference picture (chosen by her ass wad of a professor, by the way) was of a dark haired girl damp with sweat, running a hand through her hair as she bit her lip and scowled. The face belonged to none other than the basketball team's captain, Son Hyejoo, as the girl had volunteered to be a muse for their class.
Her face was odd. Undeniably beautiful, even to the greatest enemies of the basketball captain. But Heejin couldn't capture her face quite right and just didn't have the energy to figure out what had gone wrong.
The twenty-one year old began to pack her things, tablet last, as she had promised to have lunch with Ryujin, and didn't have time to spare.
"Aww, you're drawing me, princess?" Heejin shivers at the proximity of a warm body, skin slick with perspiration, only a few inches from hers, hovering over her seat. "One, don't call me that. And two, not by choice, but yes. What do you want, Olivia?" Her tone was dismissive and annoyed. This was Hyejoo's third time trying to initiate a romantically charged conversation, the art student was having none of it. "To take you out to dinner," the athlete replied with no hesitation, smirking at Heejin's eye roll. "This is fun for you, isn't it?" "Incredibly." With a small scoff, the shorter girl stood up from her chair and exited swiftly.
The dark haired girl managed to wipe any trace of irritation from her face, now sporting a neutral smile. She hummed to herself, entering the café and spotting her friend immediately. Hyunjin sat next to Ryujin, a content smile being shot in the direction of the door. “Hey,” Ryujin said, Hyunjin following suit. “Didn't know you were coming,” Heejin regarded Hyunjin as she sat down, breathing a sigh of relief as she sank into the seat cushion ever so slightly, tension in her back releasing itself. “I wasn't planning on it, but where there's bread, there's a Hyunjin.” Which was true: the girl would much rather eat the croissant that came with Heejin’s salad off her plate than hang around in a library.
The waiter came by to take their orders, Heejin settling for Alfredo pasta, despite not being all that hungry. “So, scale of one to ten, ten being ‘I just won the fucking lottery and got proposed to all on my birthday,’ and one being ‘I thought about killing my professor and every one of my classmates, then myself in the span of an hour’, how were classes today?” Heejin laughed at the extremity of Ryujin’s examples before sipping on her water, thinking. “A four and a half. I ran into Olivia. Again.”
Hyunjin turned her attention away from her appetizer at the mention of her teammate. “Hyejoo? What did she want,” she inquired, bread crumbs falling from her mouth. The two laughed, Heejin jokingly scolding her as she brought a napkin to her roommate’s mouth. “Swear to god, it's like you don't have any home training,” she giggled. “Anyway, she wanted what she always does. To break another vulnerable UCLA student’s heart. I passed.” Hyunjin nodded wordlessly, like she was trying to shed some light on the matter, but decided to leave Heejin in the dark. “She's not...she isn’t that bad, you know,” she finished, her mouth finally empty enough to speak coherent words.
The older of the two didn't reply, making sure to switch topics to talk about the new girl Ryujin is seeing and how Hyunjin passed her test with the highest marks without studying again , all to drown out the words that had been said all but a few minutes ago. She isn't that bad.
#
Heejin shuffled sleepily through the apartment, tired from her work shift. She'd changed into a comfortable hoodie that was much too big for her frame and black Nikes shorts, her legs exposed to the light breeze that drifted in through the window. Her socks slid across the hardwood ss she grabbed a glass of water for the night. Just as she made her way to her bed, Heejin’s phone lit up with notifications, earning a distasteful hiss from the girl’s lips.
OLIVIAHYE is now following you on Twitter!
Olivia: So, about that date.
Heejin scoffed, laying her phone to rest, lips curling over the edge of the cold glass. ‘Not that bad’ my ass.
#
In the coming days, Hyejoo didn't pursue Heejin openly, as every line or gesture was met with a pure look of disgust. She'd also turned her attention to other girls, sometimes even guys, just for fun. Heejin didn't mind much, it allowed her to work in the solitude she needed to get Hyejoo’s triangular lips just right in her portrait. Though if she dared to look for a moment too long and Hyejoo caught her, she'd get a pet name and a smirk tossed her way.
Heejin exited her creative writing class quickly, a meeting with the editor for her online comic coming up in less than twenty minutes. As she jogged to her car, she felt the cool breeze against her skin, and the sting of a pair of eyes boring a hole in her scalp.
“Heejin!” She turned at the sound of Yeojin’s voice. “I knew you would get out of class late, so I figured I'd just come here instead.” Im Yeojin was the editor and advisor of Heejin’s webcomic, ‘Gardenia’, and probably her most straightforward friend. Though the girl was the size of her pinkie finger, she always gave great advice and made sure that the artist’s panels hadn't a single typo.
The older girl smiled sheepishly at her own predictability; Yeojin was always three steps ahead of her, whether it be in scheduling, or the fact that this would be Yeojin’s last year of college while being only nineteen. The blonde smoothed down the front of her hair, the rest being pulled into a neat ponytail that fell down her back in a sharp fashion. “I took an Uber here, so we can drive in your car back to your place to review the panels, okay?” Heejin nodded before walking to her car, opening the door for Yeojin.
“This thing is disgusting ,” Yeojin stated. She shifted uncomfortably as her eyes flitted across the mountains of shit in her friend’s car. The older of the two simply hummed in response, driving back to her living space.
Heejin swiftly opened her apartment door, knowing that Hyunjin had probably left it open (she was right). Instantly, she was surprised by the pleasantly savory aroma in the room. She expected Hyunjin to emerge from the kitchen, but instead, a purple head of hair whisked past them to crack a window. “Hello?” Yerim whips her head around so hard, Heejin could've sworn she heard a snap. “Hello,” she says back, acknowledging the entities in the room. “Oh, it's just you, Yerim. Where's Hyunjin?” “Well Hyun invited me over for advice and we talked for like three hours and then we both got really hungry so I said ‘Hey let's cook!’ and she said ‘OKAY LET’S DO THIS!’ And we started to cook but then we realized that we didn't have enough onions or pepper so she went to go get those.”
Heejin has to blink a few times to process that long winded explanation, but nods nonetheless as Yerim turns her attention to the tiny business mogul. “Hi, I'm Yerim! I haven't seen you before. Also, your bracelet is gorgeous,” she smiles, holding out her hand for Yeojin to shake, though Yeojin doesn't seem to notice. She looks absolutely floored, stunned into silence. Heejin has to elbow her in the ribs to jumpstart her brain. “Oh. Uh, hi. I'm Yeojin. Im Yeojin. Editor in Chief at Tek Literature, and Heejin's advisor for her Webtoon.” She shook Yerim’s hand weakly before the ray of sunshine skipped back into the kitchen, determined to not burn the meat.
“Yeojin, are you okay?” Heejin asked, doing a once over of her editor and analyzing the unfamiliar look she was displaying. “G-girls. Pretty girl. She. I just,” Yeojin stammered, looking for the right words before heavily sighing. “Who is she? ” Heejin laughed, seeing as she'd never witnessed Yeojin take romantic interest in anyone. “That's Choi Yerim. She's a UCLA student like us.” “Oh my god I want her more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my entire life,” she breathed, captivated by Yerim’s every movement. “Get in line. She's one of the most popular basketball players, plus she's unavailable. She's straight. She's been seeing this guy–” “She's HET? IN THIS DAY AND AGE?” Yeojin cut her off, disappointment flooding her features. They were lucky that the sizzle of the skillet was loud enough to drown out their conversation, Yeojin's crush falling deaf upon Yerim's ears.
“I can't believe a man gets to enjoy someone as beautiful and energetic as her and I don't. Life is so unfair.” Yeojin trudged to Heejin’s room and slumped into her desk chair, ready to review Heejin's work side by side, as they had a million and one times before. The older girl followed, ignoring the groan that escaped Yeojin's mouth.
#
Hyunjin happily dumped spices of all kinds into her shopping cart, busy as ever. So busy that she missed a tiny blonde wandering and weaving through the same aisle as her. “Excuse me,” the small girl said with a frown. Hyunjin opted to apologize, but was quickly shut up by her own thoughts as she looked down at the fellow customer. Not that she was checking her out, so to speak (though her heart shaped lips and gleaming brown eyes were definitely a topic of interest), but more than anything, inspecting her basket. A random assortment of snacks and meal components lay in the red plastic, and Hyunjin couldn't possibly understand how all those things fit into one person’s palate.
“What are you staring at?” The girl’s voice was high and cute, but carried ice and an annoyed tone. “Your basket,” Hyunjin answered bluntly, still staring. “Do you plan to use that all in one meal…?” The blonde seemed to bite back an insult before answering. “Yes. Why do you care?”
“Well it's just that whatever you're making is gonna be freaking disgusting.”
Grocery Girl (as Hyunjin had decided to call her, for lack of a name) became visibly offended, yanking her basket back and swiftly recovering. “And that's not your concern, now is it?”
“As long as you're in my path, it definitely is. I refuse to let you put that into your body.”
“Oh yeah? Fine, since you're such an expert, what do you recommend?”
Hyunjin bypassed the smaller girl and started to load the stranger’s basket with her favorite and “better” brand of rice noodles, vegetables, and a discounted rotisserie chicken. Grocery Girl followed behind, a little less upset with every new item. “ That’s what I would recommend,” Hyunjin said, handing the basket back. “Oh. Thanks. I guess.”
Hyunjin nodded thoughtfully before taking off to self checkout, only to have a small hand tug at her oversized sweatshirt. “My name is Chaewon, by the way.” Hyunjin turned around, eyes wide. “Cute. Bye!” The taller of the two picked up her bags and left, leaving Chaewon dumbfounded. “Wait, what's your n-”
The twenty two year old’s question was left unfinished and unanswered as the stranger who'd helped her with her bags bolted out of the store, gaining speed in a matter of seconds.
Chaewon. She's kind of a bitch. I like her! Hyunjin engrained the look of the girl’s face in her mind as she thought of their conversation, biting into the hash brown she'd been munching on all the while. As for Chaewon, well, let's just say that she would be thinking of Hash Brown Girl as well.
#
Finally, Friday had arrived. The young girl wanted nothing more than to rest, as it was her day off work and she had had classes all throughout the chilly autumn day. But as usual, Heejin couldn't go a single day undisturbed.
The small girl felt the soft mattress beneath her back shift due to a new and foreign presence, the balance thrown off by its weight adding onto Heejin’s. “No,” Heejin groaned, not looking up from her pillow. Hyunjin frowned.”You don't even know if I was going to ask for something.”
“I do. And whatever it is, the answer is no. ” The former didn't move an inch, still disturbing her best friend's nap. “Let's go out tonight,” she proposed, now fully sitting on top of Heejin. “H-HY-HYUN. HYUNJIN GET. HYUNJIN GET OFF OF ME–” she stammered, air completely knocked from her lungs at the abrupt attack. “Let's go out tonight,” Hyunjin repeated, the smile going unseen but definitely not unnoticed by her suffocating victim. “FINE. JUST GET OFF OF ME!”
“Yes!” Hyunjin hopped off of Heejin’s back before bolting out of her bedroom. Jesus Christ. She better fork over some bread and the number to a chiropractor for this.
Heejin didn't feel out of place in the bar scene, exactly. It's just that she'd prefer to not smell like whiskey and despair. But alas, Ryujin and Hyunjin had once again dragged her to a drunk-infested cesspool against her will.
‘It’ll be fun!’
‘No it won't.’
The three were dressed appropriately for such a shabby place, in all honesty. Heejin wore a russet colored jacket over a white t-shirt and black jeans, Hyunjin sporting a pantsuit and heels, and Ryujin in a white mini-dress with a black leather jacket, strictly for draping over other women's shoulders to keep them warm.
By the time the trio had set foot in the brightly lit alehouse, Heejin found herself deserted; Ryujin already spotting someone she knew, and Hyunjin picking a place to slip and fall to get free food and drinks for her and Heejin. The latter sighed, biting the flesh of her cheek. She inhaled sharply through her nose before approaching the counter. If she was going to be here, she was at leasting going to get some alcohol in her system.
The university student was on her second shot when she appeared.
“Well, if it isn't the bunny herself, Jeon Heejin!” Heejin just about choked at the words being rolled out of the girl's mouth. “Bunny?” “You look just like one, so I think it's only fair that I call you that.” Heejin felt her blood boil. If she was a rabbit, then Hyejoo was far worse; an indescribably dangerous predator. Her eyes scanned women in the area like a hungry animal, a wolf getting ready to hunt its prey. And by all the laws of nature, that metaphor would place Heejin in a position she wanted to get out of at all costs: Hyejoo’s newest endeavor.
Heejin stilled, unsure of what to say that would get her out of this the quickest. “Wow, no ‘hey’? No ‘hi’? No ‘hello’? I thought we were friends, bunnygirl,” Hyejoo pouted, leaning closer to Heejin. “Now who the hell told you that?” Hyejoo laughed at the remark instantly, though the chuckle ended too quickly to have been authentic.
“Listen, Olivia, I don't know who told you that you were the shit, but they lied, okay? Not everyone wants to date you, including me. Get lost.”
Hyejoo blinked before doing another laugh coated in guile, any trace of genuine amusement stemming straight from a point of nonexistence. “Oh, I see.”
“Finally–”
“You're jealous that I get more bitches than you!”
Heejin blinked, her jaw dropping ever so slightly. “ Excuse me? ”
“You heard me, Jeon.”
“I am not jealous of you, and quite frankly that assumption is so insulting that I just might throw up my tequila.”
“Oh please . You obviously are! You're upset that I attract so many women because I'm–”
“Infuriating. Annoying. Brainless. Pathetic. Desperate. A woman who belongs to the streets.”
“–so awesome. You couldn't get half as many girls as I do in a week, I guarantee that.”
It was now Heejin's turn to laugh, genuine amusement filling in her throat.
“Wanna bet?”
Hyejoo turned her head back towards the smaller girl, curious. “I'm listening.”
Heejin swallowed another shot, the drink coursing down her esophagus. “Okay. If I can pick up as many girls as you do in a week, if not more, I win, and you leave me alone. If I lose, you get to choose the conditions that constitute and signify your win.”
Hyejoo shifted her eyes to her own drink in thought before promptly accepting.
“Alright, bunnygirl. Let's see what you got.”
Though Heejin was too tipsy to fully understand the implications of this challenge, she was able to make out a cohesive conversation. What she couldn't foresee was the insane journey she'd unintentionally began to walk, only on the first brick of the wall that was Son Hyejoo. But Heejin was no poor sport, and she never backed down from a challenge.