Chapter 2
Chaeyoung first discovers the wonders of fanfiction during the summer vacation of her freshman year.
(Conversely, her conscious sexual awakening arrives the very same July, in the form of Twice’s cover of So Hot, and suddenly everything makes sense. It’s a truth Chaeyoung doesn’t want to accept at first, but begrudgingly learns to over the next year or so.
She guesses those rumors from middle school were true, after all.)
From then on, Chaeyoung abandons her relationship with a certain bulletproof boy band to pursue a career as a girl group stan, and the majority of her sophomore year is spent crying over MiChaeng moments and improving her porn-writing skills.
It’s also the year that Chaeyoung grows tired of Joohyun’s relentless mockery.
Chaeyoung’s already having a positively shitty day - she’s overslept, causing her to skip breakfast and miss the bus, and then proceed to step on a freshly-spit wad of fluorescent bubblegum with her brand-new, blindingly white shoes - when Joohyun sidles up to her with her usual smirk on her face.
It’s almost summer. Chaeyoung does not want to deal with Joohyun's Shit™.
So she turns the fuck around and starts walking in the other direction.
Joohyun, of course, is aghast. “Chaeyoung! Come back here!”
Chaeyoung pauses for a heartbeat, deliberating, and on whim, spins on her heel, her eyebrows raised. “What do you want?”
Joohyun places a hand on her hip. “You know.”
“Do I?” Chaeyoung questions.
Joohyun rolls her eyes. “Just hand it over, make it easier for all of us.”
Tilting her head to the side, Chaeyoung clicks her tongue. “You really don’t have anything better to do, do you?”
“W-What?” Joohyun sputters. "I- wh-"
Chaeyoung smirks. “Didn’t think so. I’ll see you around, then?”
And just like that, with a swiftly-formulated expression of contempt, Chaeyoung ends Joohyun’s regime once and for all.
Chaeyoung thinks she can safely say that things are starting to look up.
⭒🌹⭒
Yeah, that’s a lie.
It’s currently Hell Week™ - otherwise known as pre-Homecoming week of her junior year - and Chaeyoung isn’t at all ready for Jennie’s big proclamation.
She’s just minding her own business, reading some kinky MiChaeng filth from 2016, when Jennie calls for her attention.
“Yo, Chaeng,” Jennie taps a pencil in front of Chaeyoung’s phone. Chaeyoung, irritated from being rudely interrupted from her aforementioned kinky MiChaeng filth, shoots Jennie her Death Glare™. Jennie, much to her annoyance, only smiles sweetly in response.
“What do you want?” Chaeyoung grumbles. “You interrupted right as my namesake was thrus-”
“Please don’t tell me,” Jennie begs. “I’d like to retain whatever innocence I have left.”
“Whatever.”
“Anyway,” Jennie emphasizes, “I have something to tell you.”
Chaeyoung raises an eyebrow. “Go on.”
Jennie bites her lip. “Please don’t be mad.”
“Just spit it out, Jendeukie.”
Jennie inhales deeply, composing herself, and announces it without much pomp.
“I have a boyfriend.”
Jennie hides her flushed face in her hands, and all Chaeyoung can do is stare in shock, because-
“What the fuck, Jennie.”
Jennie peeks between her fingers. “Are you mad?”
Yes. Yes, she absolutely is mad, because how the fuck-
“No.”
Jennie sighs in relief, slumping back in her chair. “Thank goodness.”
“Okay, but who is it?” Chaeyoung questions, an eyebrow quirking up skeptically.
Jennie blushes to the roots of her hair, averting her gaze from Chaeyoung’s exceedingly unimpressed one. “Jongin.”
Jongin? As in Kim Jongin, leader of the football meatheads, Certified Fuckboy™, and most of all, the most disgustingly homophobic person in the known universe?
Oh hell no.
“How exciting,” Chaeyoung states, her voice utterly devoid of emotion.
Jennie’s eyebrows furrow. “Are you sure you’re not mad?”
“Jen, I said I wasn’t mad,” Chaeyoung nearly snaps.
Jennie has the decency to look abashed. “Sorry, I just- I-”
Chaeyoung sighs, extending her arms. “C’mere, Jennie.”
Jennie happily obliges, enveloping Chaeyoung in a warm hug that unfortunately smells of artificial rose - it’s that godawful perfume Jongin had gifted Jennie for her birthday - and while she squeezes back just as hard, Chaeyoung can’t help but feel a sickening sense of betrayal.
It’s a feeling that builds inside of her slowly - each negative thought congealing into a brick of irritation, constructing a wall around her heart - and while Chaeyoung can smile politely for now, she doesn’t know how long she’ll be able to hold out. She hasn’t quite mastered the art of concealing her emotions quite yet - and Jennie can read her like a book anyway, they’re not best friends for no reason - but Chaeyoung knows she can’t let her facade slip. More now than ever.
Chaeyoung nearly breaks, however, when Jennie touches on the topic at the end of lunch.
“Do you want me to set you up with one of Jongin’s friends? I think you’d like Chanyeol.”
Chaeyoung doesn’t know how to tell her best friend that one, she still has PTSD from seeing Chanyeol’s tongue down her nemesis’s throat two years ago, and two, she likes girls.
“Oh Chaengie, I can already imagine the double dates we could have together,” Jennie sighs contentedly. “So, what do you think?”
Chaeyoung desperately tries not to grimace. “Well…”
“Oh, come on,” Jennie persuades. “Wouldn’t it be so much fun?”
No, it would most certainly not.
“I guess?”
“So that’s a yes, then?” Jennie squeals excitedly.
“I mean…” Chaeyoung can’t bring herself to say no, not when Jennie is pulling her infamous puppy eyes on her.
“Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to tell Jongin,” Jennie claps her hands in delight. “Chanyeol always liked you, you know? He’d always send fleeting glances your way.”
Chaeyoung cringes internally, but somehow manages to keep her exterior bright for Jennie. “I can’t wait for Homecoming.”
Jennie’s lips spread into her trademark gummy smile. “It’ll be perfect, just you wait.”
The only problem is, Chaeyoung believes her.
⭒🌹⭒
Chaeyoung goes out on a date that weekend with Chanyeol at Jennie’s prompting, and turns out, he’s not half bad. He’s got a good sense of humor, and is incredibly respectful of her space. He’s a bit clumsy, sure, but Chaeyoung supposes that it’s endearing.
“So how long have you known Jennie?” Chanyeol asks Chaeyoung, sipping at his mango Gong Cha.
“It has been many moons, since the dark ages of the seventh grade,” Chaeyoung replies dramatically, garnering a chuckle from Chanyeol.
“You both certainly seem very close,” he says, not unkindly. “It’s really sweet how supportive you are of each other.”
“Same could be said of you and Jongin.”
Chanyeol smiles. “Very true. I honestly don’t think I’d have survived all the Yoda jokes if not for his standing up for me back in fifth grade.”
“Yoda jokes?” Chaeyoung inquires.
A light blush dusts Chanyeol’s cheeks. “Y’know, ‘cause my ears stick out a little? People used to call me Yoda.”
Chaeyoung leans in conspiratorially. “Between the two of us, I think your ears are your best feature.”
And the blinding smile that Chanyeol gives her in return makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s almost nice.
“Really?”
“Absolutely,” Chaeyoung reassures, taking a sip from her own bubble tea.
“Thank you,” Chanyeol responds, a lopsided grin flashing across his face, and for a moment, a twinge of guilt resonates through Chaeyoung. She really does enjoy Chanyeol’s companionship, and she’s sure they would have had a great friendship if not for all her pretending.
But for now, Chaeyoung just smiles back at Chanyeol, and says nothing.