Chaewon stared at her phone, her eyebrows knitting together as she read Yunjin’s latest post. The screen illuminated her unimpressed expression, the caption standing out in bold against the bright display:
"When dreams come true, I love you @kkurang"
The photo attached was a candid shot of Yunjin and Sakura walking side by side in theme park.
With a sigh, Chaewon turned to the older girl sitting comfortably on the couch, completely unbothered as she focused on the soft rhythm of her crochet hook moving through the yarn.
“Kkura unnie,” she called out.
“Hm?” Sakura hummed, not looking up.
Chaewon scoffed before shoving her phone in front of Sakura’s face. “Yunjin just confessed to you, and all you said was ‘glad you enjoy it ^^’ ?"
"Seriously?” Her voice was laced with disbelief.
Sakura glanced at the post, barely sparing it a second before returning her attention to the project in her lap. She chuckled, a light, careless sound. “Don’t take it too far. When she says she loves me, she just means she adores me because I’m older than her.”
Chaewon narrowed her eyes. “She’s younger than me too, but she’s never said ‘I love you’ to me, just so you know.”
Sakura shrugged, the corners of her lips curling up slightly, though whether in amusement or denial is unclear. “Please, it’s nothing big… I know she’ll say that to you too when you have fun with her.”
Chaewon didn’t respond, choosing instead to let out a tired sigh. She wonder if Sakura was truly this oblivious, or she just pretending not to see what was right in front of her.
Sakura walked down the quiet corridor. She wasn’t expecting anything unusual—just another uneventful moment in her day. But as she turned a corner, she froze.
There, just a few steps ahead, was Yunjin. And she isn’t alone.
A girl stood before her, shifting nervously from foot to foot, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her sweater. The way she hesitated before speaking, the way her voice trembled—it didn’t take much to understand what was happening.
“I—I like you, Yunjin unnie.” The girl’s voice was barely above a whisper, yet the weight of her words echoed down the hallway. “Will you be my girlfriend?”
Sakura felt her breath catch.
Yunjin, as always, remained gentle with her kind gaze, but she didn’t falter.
“Thank you,” she said, “but I’m sorry. I can’t be your girlfriend.”
The girl’s shoulders slumped, disappointment settling in. “Ah… is there someone you like?”
A small pause. Then, Yunjin nodded.
Sakura’s fingers curled slightly, nails pressing into her palms.
The girl lowered her gaze, hesitating as if debating whether to push her luck just a little further. And then, in a voice tinged with both resignation and desperation, she asked, “If that’s the case… can you, just once, say ‘I love you’ to me? I know it’s fake… and I won’t ask again.”
Yunjin didn’t even hesitate this time. “Even if it’s fake, I can’t do that.” Her voice was soft yet firm. “I’m sorry.”
But they both knew. Yunjin wasn’t really sorry.
The girl swallowed hard before nodding, her dejection evident in the way she turned on her heels and walked away, shoulders slightly hunched.
Yunjin let out a small sigh, as if shaking off the weight of the moment. She was about to leave as well—until she noticed someone standing just a few feet away.
“Oh, Kkura Unnie!” Yunjin’s expression immediately brightened, her usual easy smile appearing as she took a step closer.
“What are you up to?” Yunjin asked, tilting her head slightly.
Sakura blinked, forcing herself to respond. “Oh, nothing much. Just passing through.”
“Ah, okay. Wanna go home together?” Yunjin asked with a smile.
Sakura didn’t answer right away. Her mind was still replaying the scene she had just witnessed—the confession, the rejection, the words Yunjin had refused to say.
And before she could even process why, the words slipped out.
“Yunjin,” Sakura called, her voice quieter than usual. Her fingers fidgeted at her sides, betraying her usually composed demeanor.
“Hm?” Yunjin tilted her head slightly, her eyes soft but questioning, sensing the shift in Sakura’s tone.
“Can you say ‘I love you’ to me?” Sakura finally asked, her lips barely parting, her gaze faltering for a split second before locking onto Yunjin’s. There was something uncertain in her expression, almost as if she wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the answer at all.
Stupid.
Stupid, stupid Sakura.
Why did she ask that? Why now? Of course, Yunjin would turn her down just like—
“I love you, Sakura.”
Her breath hitched.
Yunjin said it so effortlessly, with her sweet and familiar smile. It wasn’t forced and definetly not fake.
And suddenly, the words Yunjin had always casually thrown around before—words Sakura had never taken too seriously—felt different. It felt special.
Because she just realized that Yunjin had never said them to anyone else.
Only to her.