It’s a celebrated occasion for sure – the long-awaited engagement party of Yu Jimin and Kim Minjeong. No expenses were spared; that much was evident from the glorious spread of charcuterie cheeses and wines on the table as guests milled around. An icy tower of champagne in crystal glasses stood magnificently in the centre of the room. People were busy catching up with old friends, meeting new faces. The alcohol flowed freely, and as the night wore on, so did people’s emotions.
Especially the bride-to-be.
“I just can’t believe how lucky we are,” Minjeong blubbers into the microphone through a mouthful of cake, tears welling up in her eyes, “I mean, we weren’t even doing the same course!”
Only a smattering of guests were around now – most had already left once the dinner reception was over, leaving only a handful of close personal friends; probably another reason why Minjeong felt comfortable letting her stream of consciousness flow uninhibited like this.
“In a campus made up of thousands of students, we found each other, you guys,” Minjeong whines the last bit of her sentence, emphasising each word as if she’s afraid the audience might not quite grasp just how significant it was. She sighs, pouting into her half filled glass of champagne, “if that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is.”
From a few feet away, two girls sit whispering to each other as they listen to the words from the girl of the hour.
“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Aeri dramatically feigns wiping away a fake tear.
“So sweet and so wrong,” snickers Yizhuo.
“Man, Jimin really went all out selling this fairytale idea to Minjeong, huh?” Aeri remarked with a hint of disbelief in her voice.
“Why are you surprised? This is Yu Jimin we’re talking about, that girl would eat a sock if it meant making Minjeong like her.”
“She’s down so bad for her, it makes the 2008 stock market look stable,” Yizhuo makes a snide remark.
They’re still tittering amongst themselves when they feel an ominous presence approach them from the back.
“You two better keep your mouths shut or I’m kicking you off the guest list,” Yu Jimin, the subject of discussion, threatens the duo wielding a cream-smudged plastic cake knife – evidently, she had overheard her best friends’ gossiping over her fiancée’s emotional speech.
“Why? Afraid we’ll tell on your future wife that you secretly engineered every meeting before you started officially dating?” Aeri teases her best friend.
“I did NO such thing!” Jimin defends herself, “yes, okay, maybe I tried to set things up so we could meet, but it’s not like I was masterminding a puppet show to get her to date me!” she sputters, waving the plastic knife in her hand around erratically. Bits of cream flick off and splatter on Aeri’s cheek. She glares at Jimin.
“Who are you lying to, really?” Yizhuo raises an eyebrow as she exchanges glances with Aeri, “we were there for every single one of your half-cooked hare-brained schemes before you managed to score a date with Minjeong.”
Jimin flushes red, the onslaught of memories that she’s worked hard to repress all those years ago now flooding her brain again. To be honest, it’s not like the stuff she did were that bad; or at least, they weren’t illegal. (She thinks.) But the thought of Minjeong finding out all the dumb shit she’d done in the past sends alarm bells through her brain and scrambles to repress the two threats in front of her.
“I’m serious, you guys!” spittle flies everywhere as Jimin doesn’t realise she’s growing increasingly agitated. “If you tell Minjeong about this, I’ll—”
“Tell me what?”
Pure ice cold fear runs down Jimin’s spine as she recognises her fiancée’s voice, her sweet love of her life, Minjeong. A brief moment of eye contact with Aeri is all she needs to confirm that Minjeong is indeed behind her, and by the way Yizhuo shifts guiltily on the spot, had probably overheard everything.
Jimin takes in a deep breath before turning around, plastering on a big smile. “Baby! Oh, it’s nothing, I—“
“Cut the crap, Jimin,” Minjeong’s voice trembles ever so slightly as she clenches her fist. “What exactly were you hoping to not tell me?”
Jimin.
Minjeong never calls her Jimin. Oh, she’s in deep shit, alright.
The other couple also catch on at the same time that Minjeong might have assumed the worst from listening to their drivel out of context.
“Oh, honey, no- it’s not like that—, we were just—” Yizhuo flounders for a bit trying to fix the situation, before looking helplessly at Aeri.
Aeri immediately wallops Jimin over the back of her head with her hefty palm, nearly knocking her over entirely. “Tell her the truth, dumbass,” she commands before turning to Minjeong and smiling reassuringly, “don’t worry, dear, it’s nothing serious. Jimin just needs to fess up to you about how much of a lovesick idiot she used to be.”
“Still am,” Jimin clarifies, glaring at Aeri as she nurses the sore spot on her occiput. “I’ll explain everything, baby, please, I’m sorry for worrying you like that,” she apologises to Minjeong, who’s still looking slightly unconvinced. “It’s just— well, you know, what you said back there- it’s not exactly true—” Jimin appears to be at a loss for words herself, so Aeri swiftly interjects.
“Babe, we were just saying that your love story isn’t bound by fate so much as it was just Jimin beating the shit out of the universe and bending it to her will so she’d get the girl of her dreams. Aka, you.”
Perhaps it was all that bubbly froth that was messing with her mind, but Minjeong seems to have difficulty processing the words, so she stares at them with her mouth agape instead.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
”You know all those chance encounters and random coincidences leading you guys to meet up?” Aeri pushes away a hand from Jimin that was now desperately trying to cover her mouth, “yeah, she set them up. All of them.”
“I swear I’ll tell you everything,” she promises before turning to frown at Aeri and Yizhuo, who have yet to budge from their seats, “do you guys mind?”.
“Nah, I think we’ll stay here to fact-check the truth,” Aeri says resolutely, “if it’s okay with you?” she confirms with a nod from Minjeong.
Jimin shoots her a dirty look. Aeri responds by sticking her tongue out.
Trying to ignore the gleeful looks on her friends’ faces, Jimin draws in a deep breath before explaining, “okay, remember when I found your number by accident? I was actually—“
She’s interrupted almost immediately by protests from Aeri and Yizhuo.
”That’s not how it went down.” Aeri wags her finger at her like she’s been a naughty child.
”No, tell her about the real first time you tried to talk to her—“ Yizhuo tries to chip in.
Jimin lets out a prolonged frustrated groan. “Okay, how about YOU guys tell the story then, if your memories are so impeccable.”
Aeri gives her the biggest shit-eating grin.
”Don’t regret this.”
===
“You WHAT?”
Jimin dodges the shoe that comes flying in her face, quickly ducking under the big sofa in the middle of the student lounge. She takes a peek from the side only to find that Aeri has already crossed the room right to where she was. Jimin puts up both of her hands in defeat, but Aeri still grabs her by the front collar. Jimin lets out a defeated ‘meep’ as she lets herself get yoinked up like a ragdoll, hoping her lack of resistance will help calm her down.
“Look— I’m sorry, okay! I didn’t realise we had practice then or I’d never have—”
“Don’t lie,” Aeri growls, “you always know your practices. How dare you put some stupid climbing camp over your team like this. Do you have no shame?” she huffs. She only visibly relaxes a little when Yizhuo lightly touches her arm and pulls her back until Aeri releases Jimin.
Jimin shoots her a grateful smile. Aeri interjects immediately, bringing her body forward to block Yizhuo from Jimin’s sight.
“Stop smiling. You have no right to smile right now, especially at my girlfriend.”
“Listen, I had no choice, okay? I swear, I have a good reason for doing this.”
“And what exactly is that?”
Jimin smacks her lips and sucks in a breath, looking around as her mind is clearly searching for an excuse to conjure up.
”I can hear you thinking. Don’t do that, your brain’s not used to it,” Aeri folds her arms.
“Wait, unnie. Aren’t you afraid of heights? Why did you sign up for something like this?” Yizhuo asks curiously.
Jimin looks down as she mumbles out an answer.
”I… wanted to talk to one of the climbers…” she tells the floor.
”What?” Aeri and Yizhuo both say at the same time.
“I wanted to meet one of the climbers,” she repeats, a little more loudly this time.
“Who?” Aeri asks sharply. A smirk starts creeping up her face. “Don’t tell me it’s Kim Min—”
The way Jimin looks up immediately at the sound of the name with that shocked expression on her face is all Aeri needs for confirmation.
“Oh my GOD,” Aeri cackles, “you want to date Kim Minjeong?” she doubles over, laughing. “Bro, she is so out of your league that you can’t even see the field she plays in.”
The idea that her best friend could ever think for even one second that she could date Kim Minjeong was apparently so funny that her anger appears to have vanished entirely. Jimin wasn’t sure if she should be feeling grateful or offended.
”Well, why not?” Jimin says defensively. “We both do sports, and we have a lot of similar interests.”
”Now how do you know that?” Yizhuo asks with a raised eyebrow. Jimin deftly chooses to pretend not to hear her.
“Y’know what, I should be supportive,” Aeri concedes finally. “After all, you did help me when I was trying to win this girl over, and she’s way out of my league, too,” she smiles as she pulls Yizhuo onto her lap, who squeals and covers her face that was now rapidly turning red.
Relief floods Jimin’s face. “Thanks so much, Aeri. I swear, I’ll owe you a big one for covering me.”
Aeri waves her hand. “Yeah, yeah, just make sure you actually get the girl, alright? If it turns out that my efforts were in vain, I’m going to string you up on the net and offer you as the sacrifice for our next championship.”
===
Yizhuo is in a fit of silent giggles as Aeri finishes recounting the story. Jimin lets out a weak laugh. “God, you were pathetic,” Aeri wheezes.
“As if you’re any better,” Jimin points at Aeri accusingly, needing some way to redirect her growing embarrassment. “You spent all of first year concocting cartoon villain level plans just to be within a hundred feet of Yizhuo.”
Aeri just shoots her a wide shit-eating grin as she possessively pulls Yizhuo closer to her. “Yeah, but I owned it, dude,” Aeri replies coolly. “Made sure the whole school knew what was mine, didn’t I?”
Jimin snorts. “That’s not how I remembered it. If I recall correctly, Yizhuo rejected your advances for a whole six months before she even let you escort her to classes.”
“Actually, while we’re on the topic of confessions,” Yizhuo announces (Jimin mutters a low “you guys started it first” under her breath), “I have one to make myself too,” she giggles, shooting a flirty glance at her girlfriend. “I actually liked you way earlier, even before you started approaching me.”
“Wait, really?” Aeri’s face lights up as she turns to her girlfriend with a look of surprise, all pseudo badassery gone within a second.
“Well, yeah, of course, you were so cool,” Yizhuo giggles. “But I had to make you work for it, didn’t I?”
Aeri flashes the biggest, cockiest smirk Jimin has ever had the misfortune to see with her own two eyes. “And I’d do it again any time, baby girl,” she purrs, clutching a possessive arm around her waist.
Jimin makes a face at the disgusting display of PDA in front of her.
”Wait, but I don’t remember this,” Minjeong says slowly with a look of confusion as she tries to recall memories of the event. She was in the climbing club, but she had no recollection of attending any camps, let alone meeting Jimin there.
“That’s because you broke your ankle a couple days before it was set to take place,” Yizhuo explains. “And along with it, Jimin’s heart,” Aeri adds unnecessarily. Jimin glares at her.
Minjeong’s mouth falls into an ‘O’ shape as the memories start rushing in, gasping, “I remember now! Yeah, I was so sad about it too,” she pouts. “What a bummer. It would’ve been nice watching Jimin conquer her fear of heights.”
“I think we should just be glad she didn’t break any bones too. It was hilarious, though. We have loads of photos from that time if you want to see,” Aeri offers cheerfully.
Jimin makes a noise that sounded like a wounded animal. Minjeong laughs and rubs her fiancée’s biceps assuringly.
“I don’t know guys, I think it’s kind of cute, actually,” she smiles shyly. “It makes me feel so loved, even if it is a little weird.”
Aeri shakes her head. “We aren’t even halfway there yet, Minjeong. I’d reserve judgment till we get to the end of it if I were you.”
===
“Could your luck be any worse? I think this is a sign from the universe, dude,” Yizhuo comments. “You went through all that just for her to not even be there.”
They’re in the locker room, Jimin nursing a large bruise over her right temple with a pack of ice and plugging a bloody nose with a massive wad of tissue in her left hand. The biggest thing that needed healing right now, though, was her ego. It would be an understatement to say that Jimin was not having the best week in her college life so far. First, she humiliated herself in front of the climbing team when she got too afraid to descend the wall herself and had to be rescued by the instructors like a cat stuck on the tree. Now she had gone and fumbled the game when it should’ve been an easy win for their college. She wants to say she’s not that much of a loser that she’d let the disappointment of not being able to talk to a girl who didn’t even know of her existence affect her this much, but.
“She’s right,” Aeri nods her head as she pats Jimin’s shoulder understandingly.
“Just give up and you’ll be alright,” she gives her a thumbs up with a grin.
Aeri is such a hater. Jimin makes an incomprehensible noise of disgruntlement. “Never.” She turns her head up obstinately. “If the universe doesn’t want us together, then the universe is homophobic and I ain’t taking advice from a prehistoric old geezer. Get with the times, bitch!” Jimin finishes her sentence as she waves a bloody tissue-clenched fist in the sky.
“She’s so damn stubborn every time a pretty girl is involved,” Yizhuo mutters under her breath.
“Well, what’s your next plan, genius? You guys don’t have anything in common, none of your classes are the same, and you have no mutual friends,” Aeri points out.
Jimin’s shoulders slump further and further with every valid point she makes. “I don’t know,” she whines, “she’s Kim Minjeong! Surely there’s someone we know who would be connected to her, right?”
“I highly doubt that—”
”Kim Minjeong? Isn’t that Chaewon’s cousin?” a tall lanky girl interrupts them mid-conversation.
Jimin’s eyes nearly bug out at this new information. She shoots out of her seat, bruise and bloody nose long forgotten.
“Chaewon? Since when?” she demands as she shakes Kazuha urgently.
“Since she was born, I suppose,” Kazuha replies, confused.
“Well, that’s your in, I guess,” Aeri admits. “Although,” she taps her chin thoughtfully, “I’m not sure how you’re going to get that maltese with anger management issues to agree to help you with anything.”
Jimin pushes her hair back in slow motion before breathing in deeply. “Don’t worry, Aeri,” she puts a firm hand on her shoulder resolutely (Aeri mutters ‘I was never worried’), “I’ll charm my way through, like I always do.”
Silence stretches along the hallways as Jimin prowls past rows and rows of bookshelves, navigating the maze-like place.
Honestly, she hadn’t stepped foot in the school library since the orientation tour at the very beginning of the year. She walks over to the central area where the study tables were. Light poured generously through the large windows that yawned across the space.
She brightens up when she finally spots her target — a petite girl sitting in the furthest corner, neat black bob framing the side of her face nicely. She appeared to be engrossed in her books.
“Chaewon, my good buddy pal!” Jimin exclaims.
Chaewon jumps a little in her seat, startled, before her expression falls into a frown when she sees Jimin’s face. “What are you doing here?”
Jimin pouts. “Is that any way to greet your good friend?”
Chaewon raises a dubious eyebrow.
“I have never seen your himbo ass in the library before, much less during off-exam periods.”
“I just wanted to see you. You know, my very good, very nice, kind, inspiring friend.”
“Get to the point,” Chaewon said flatly, already turning back to her books. “What do you want?”
Jimin invites herself to the empty chair across, propping her head up on her hands.
“Your birthday is coming up. Thoughts?”
“What the fuck are you on about? Also, since when have you cared about my birthday?”
Jimin lets out an exaggerated gasp of shock.
“I care DEEPLY.”
She puts on an affronted face, but Chaewon doesn’t even look up at her. She clears her throat.
“So, I wanted to throw you a birthday party.”
“Uh-huh, and since when did you need permission to throw someone a birthday party?”
Jimin puts her hands together and points it towards her with the air of a sleazy salesperson trying to make a quick buck. “Obviously, I want to make it the best birthday party for you, so I was thinking I should ask someone who would know you well… like maybe your cousin?”
“AHAH!” Chaewon points an accusing finger at her. “I knew you had something up your sleeve,” she rolls her eyes, “forget it, dude. I’m not selling my family members out to the likes of playgirls like you.”
“No, no! I seriously—” Jimin stops talking as she realises her flimsy excuse was not going to fool anyone.
”Alright fine, you got me,” she admits, “but I just want to get to know her, please? I swear, I really like Minjeong, and I’m not just looking to play around, I promise.”
“Why should I believe you?” Chaewon demands, and then a look of realisation dawns on her. “Also, hang on, you like my cousin?” she makes a face. “People always say we look alike— wait,” she gasps, “do you secretly have a thing for me? That’s so gross!”
”What— no!” Jimin protests, shaking her head vehemently. “I would never like you, don’t worry.”
Chaewon gives her a highly affronted look. “Well, okay, I mean, I’m glad you don’t but you didn’t have to emphasise it like that,” she huffs indignantly, “what’s so wrong with me, huh?”
Jimin blinks at her. “Well, for one, you have the disposition and temper of a sleep-deprived chihuahua,” she points out with a cadence that suggests that this is a matter of pure fact, not opinion. “Also, you’re impatient, prone to violence, and—”
Jimin has to dodge a flying pencil case hurtling in the direction of her face before she can finish her sentence. It hits some poor freshman who happened to be walking by at the same time.
“Case in point,” Jimin gestures towards it with her head.
Chaewon growls. “You won’t receive even a single digit from me, Yu Jimin.”
”Oh come on!” Jimin whines as she flails in her seat like a petulant child. “Please please please please please please please—”
“UGH. Fine. Just leave me alone and you better make this the best fucking birthday party or I’m snitching to Minjeong immediately,” Chaewon grumbles as she pulls out her phone. Jimin gives her the toothiest grin.
Jimin hurriedly rushes into her room after a quick brag to Yizhuo and Aeri in the living room (“See how far charisma can bring you,” she had smugly said as she waved the digits in their unimpressed faces). She punches in the numbers and her hand hovers the name. What should she type? It would be way too strong of a come on to just admit that she asked for her number from Chaewon like that. Maybe she could say she saw it on a community board.
No, that would be even weirder.
Think, Jimin, think.
In her nervousness, her thumb accidentally slips and lands on the bright green call button.
Calling
Kim Minjeong
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!
She scrambles to send a message, all thoughts of crafting an elaborate message gone out the window for fear that Minjeong will see the missed call and think her a stalker. (She really isn’t one!!!)
Jimin: Hi there, it’s Jimin. I hope it’s okay to text you like this (I’m so sorry I accidentally hit the call button just now…) You don’t know me but I’m Chaewon’s very good friend. I heard you were her cousin and I was wondering if I could ask for your help in organising her birthday party. Again, so sorry for disturbing, if you’re busy or not interested I totally get it as well and I apologise again for bothering you.
She hits send, biting her nails nervously.
To her surprise and absolute relief, a message returns almost immediately.
Kim Minjeong: Hi! Aw, that’s so sweet, Chaewonnie is so lucky to have a friend like you!
Jimin punches the air victoriously as she leaps in the air. She swears her feet left the ground.
Another message pops up.
Kim Minjeong: Chaewon likes a lot of things, but she definitely has a picky taste, so I think it’s a good idea. Should we brainstorm together?
Jimin can’t believe her luck.
Play it cool, Jimin.
Jimin: Yes, sure! Maybe we could talk about it over a cup of coffee? My treat :)
She bites her nails nervously. Did she go too far?
The phone lights up again and Jimin grabs it so fast it nearly slips out of her sweaty fingers again.
Kim Minjeong: I would love to!
Jimin plops onto the bed, twirling her hair as she wiggles from side to side, giddy with happiness. Was this all going to work out? It sounds schizophrenic to admit that she can actually hear wedding bells in the distance right now.
The next two weeks were what Jimin would describe as pure bliss. She was texting Kim Minjeong, planning things together, sharing little jokes and meeting up. Jimin would go to bed dreaming of becoming friends with her, and then maybe, finally, progressing to something more.
In actuality, they only texted to discuss details of the party and presents, and really only properly met once before the event to finalise the logistics of everything. They had decided to go with a nice night at the local bar that had an event space. Minjeong, bless her heart, was really taking this birthday mission seriously.
At least this meant that Chaewon wouldn’t have an excuse to murder her. Jimin’s pretty sure if she had to actually set up the party on her own, it would’ve constituted of maybe five pizzas and two full bottles of jaegermeister.
Reality only truly hit her when Aeri asked how the ‘dates’ were going, and it dawned on her that she couldn’t actually name a single personal detail about Minjeong.
”How the fuck are you guys dating if you don’t even know if she has siblings?” Aeri asked incredulously.
Jimin shrugs, trying to look nonchalant. “I don’t know, it just never came up,” she waves her hand dismissively, “I can still talk to her at the party, anyway.” It was probably a good setting to get to know someone better anyway, right?
On the awaited day, she gets to the bar early to help Minjeong set things up.
She’s dressed in a simple white dress that flows to her knees while it cinches nicely at the waist, showing her figure nicely while her milky white legs peek out under the frills. Jimin does her best not to stare.
The private room is nice and spacious – Jimin knew that Minjeong’s family came from wealth, even though she never flaunted it, but it seems like she isn’t hesitant to spend when it came to her loved ones. Jimin had initially protested at the idea of booking a venue instead of holding it at someone’s birthday, knowing she wouldn’t be able to split the costs without having to go hungry for a whole month. She swears she loves her buddy; just not as much as maintaining her gains. But Minjeong had insisted, saying she didn’t mind paying for it in its entirety, and well, Jimin couldn’t say no to that face. She watches as Minjeong fusses over the little details, like where the decorative flowers should go, and a serene smile can’t help but blossom on her face.
Chaewon would not have given a single fuck about any of this.
Still, it was endearing watching Minjeong so focused, so Jimin kept her mouth shut, only offering to help carry things here and there when Minjeong wanted them shifted. Slowly, the guests trickle in. It’s a bit chaotic, because they had frat bros in one corner shooting shots, and some older family members crowding around the birthday girl on the other side of the room. Jimin spends most of the first 45 minutes smoothing over issues like missing purses and spilt drinks. She finally catches a lull and settles in a dark quiet corner, relaxing with a drink in her hand. As she takes a breather, she suddenly locks eyes with Minjeong, who was standing across the room. Under the dim lighting and the influence of alcohol flowing through her veins right now, she thinks Minjeong looks prettier than ever. She flashes her the prettiest smile, and before Jimin can mentally prepare herself, Minjeong’s happily skipping over to her.
A breath catches in her throat as her delicate features come into view, soft hazel eyes turning into crescents as she bounds up to greet her. Her short auburn bob hair bounces up and down, making her look like a puppy with floppy ears.
“Looks like everything’s going well, huh?” Minjeong beams at her. Jimin can only return a nod and a weak chuckle. She’d like to stand up and greet her, but she feels like her legs are jelly. “Great job, partner!” Minjeong raises her fist expectantly. Jimin wipes her hands nervously before raising her own fist and politely bumping it against hers.
“Thanks— for your help. You really went the extra mile with this,” Jimin says sincerely.
“Not at all,” Minjeong beams as she settles down next to Jimin, accidentally bumping into her thigh. Jimin’s breath hitches. “A friend like you is so rare to have, I’m going to remind Chaewon to appreciate what she has,” Minjeong giggles.
Faint guilt creeps in Jimin hearing the praise Minjeong gives her, knowing she had no intention of ever doing something like this for her friend without an ulterior motive.
”Nahhh,” is all she can manage as heat spreads across her cheeks. She’s thankful for the low lighting in the bar right now, because she’s sure her face is turning crimson right now.
“Oh? Jimin unnie, you shouldn’t drink too much. You look really red right now,” Minjeong looks over her with a concerned expression.
So much for the god damn lighting. Jimin curses in her head as she blushes even more furiously, feeling exposed. She just nods as she quickly sets her cup down, inadvertently bringing her face closer to Minjeong.
Minjeong maintains eye contact with her. Her heart thumps wildly, synchronous with the loud bass booming through the room.
This is her opportunity. To ask Minjeong out properly, to a real date.
“So,” Jimin tries to speak, but for some reason, her mouth has gone bone dry. “I-I was thinking that maybe after this, we could—”
”Minjeong!” a foreign voice interrupts them as someone grabs Minjeong by the shoulder.
“Aunt Stella!” Minjeong exclaims. ‘Aunt Stella’ reaches over and pulls Minjeong into a hug. “It’s so good to see you, darling. You’ve grown so much,” she beams, as she pulls back to take a better look. “We must have you meet the rest of the family while we’re all here,” she says with an air of finality that suggests she’s not allowing refusal to be an option. Minjeong is pulled to her feet, nearly knocking her over. Jimin instinctively reaches out to steady her, but the other lady holds her first before shooting her a look that she imagines was akin to one she would give a wet stray dog walking on her carpet.
“I’ll see you around, unnie,” Minjeong taps her shoulder lightly, giving her an apologetic look as she’s pulled and vanishes into the crowd.
Jimin lets out the exhale she didn’t know she was holding in. Her shoulders remain tense, frozen as her skin burns where Minjeong had touched her.
===
“For those two weeks, Jimin was insufferable. She was acting like you guys were actually going to go out and start dating, until the birthday party came and went and her cowardly ass chickened out and never contacted you again,” Aeri reports to Minjeong, who now just has an look of amusement on her face. Jimin, on the other hand, was looking constipated at the thought of those painful memories.
“Man, fuck that aunt,” she grumbles, “she was such a hater even when we started dating.” Minjeong reaches out to rub soothing circles with her thumb over Jimin’s hand. “It’s alright, we didn’t invite her to the wedding anyway.”
“I’ll admit though, babe, at that point I kind of forgot about everything, wasn’t really that aware of your existence all that much yet,” Minjeong says honestly.
”It’s okay babe, I wouldn’t even expect you to,” Jimin rushes to answer. “I was lucky to even have you look my way those couple times at all.”
“She was too scared to ask you on a date, but the lengths she went to just to see you for a moment was so insane that it was funny. Remember the puking incident?”
Jimin gaped, putting her finger to her lips as she tries to signal to Aeri to shut the fuck up. She really didn’t want to taint Minjeong’s memory of this one. But it was too late. To her dismay, Aeri was already opening her big fat mouth.
===
They’re standing in front of a large poster advertising some for charity.
“Stair marathon - one tree for every floor climbed. Join now!” Yizhuo reads it out loud animatedly.
“You going?” Aeri asks.
“Hell no,” Jimin dismisses the idea immediately, “my knee’s still recovering, the stairmaster is basically a torture device made by Satan himself, and—“
“Alright dude, geez you could’ve just said no—“
“Hi there! Are you guys interested in signing up for the marathon?”
A familiar voice has Jimin whipping her head around like an owl on coke.
Minjeong.
Jimin swears a spotlight is shining on her face and that there must be a fan set up specifically to blow in her direction at all times because why is her hair flowing like that and why does this lowkey look like a shampoo commercial and also is she moving in slow motion right now?
“Hey- uh, hey, yea,” Jimin’s tongue seems to have gone completely dry. “Yes, yes, I would love to sign up.” She clumsily reaches out for the clipboard in Minjeong’s already outstretched hand, as she gives her a blindingly radiant smile. Jimin can’t help but return her trademark goofy ass grin.
“Oh, good! I was beginning to worry no one was interested in this,” Minjeong pouts.
“Oh yeah, no I love climbing stairs, it’s so good for the heart, you know? Way better than jogging.” Jimin rambles as she scribbles down her contact details, missing the skeptical frowns on Aeri and Yizhuo’s faces. When she’s done writing, she turns to face her friends with a wide grin, holding out the pen. “Anyone else keen to sign up? No?”
Aeri shakes her head. “Doing too much,” she mouths at her silently.
“That’s okay, unnie!” Minjeong grazes her hand over Jimin’s arm and her brain almost short-circuits right then and there. “Thank you anyway, for signing up,” she ends softly.
The trio watch in silence as Minjeong skips away happily.
Jimin is the first to speak. “She asked for my number,” the smugness in her voice is palpable.
“You are delusional,” Aeri smacks her forehead before walking off without her.
“Are you sure you’re going to survive this?” Yizhuo asks uncertainly. “I know you’re fit and all, but didn’t you just say you were recovering from your knee injury?”
Aeri, on the other hand, had other priorities. “Wait. If you let this get in the way of our training again, Yu Jimin, I swear to God—”
“It won’t!” Jimin quickly puts her hands to cover her head as an instinctive defence mechanism. “It won’t, I swear, I checked the date before I applied, alright.”
“Don’t lie. You would’ve put your name down even if it clashed with your grandmother’s death anniversary.”
Jimin can only shrug at this statement with a grin. “Ya got me.”
The day of the event comes a lot faster than anticipated, what with all the deadlines and competitions and socials, and Jimin hadn’t put in an ounce of proper practice into it. Frankly, she knew she had always been lacking in the cardio department of fitness, and her cranky knees were not helping. She gazed up at the daunting skyscraper that stretched into the sky – 60 storeys. She didn’t even know there was a building with 60 floors in this city, god damn. She glances around – there’s only a smattering of people from her college, most of them appear to be from sports clubs around the area instead.
It was beginning to dawn on her that she really might not survive this. She’d skipped breakfast so that she wouldn’t feel too heavy, but her insides were still starting to feel queasy nonetheless. Maybe she’ll just skip out on this—
“Jimin!”
She turns her head to the sound.
“I’m so glad you’re here. A lot of people withdrew last-minute, and I was worried you would, too,” Minjeong pouts.
“Whaaat? That’s crazy,” Jimin puts on a fake air of surprise. “Why would anyone do that? Buncha lazy dogs,” she shakes her head as if to show disapproval. “Don’t worry, I’m here,” she puffs her chest out slightly. Minjeong giggles, “I knew I could count on you, unnie. All the best!” Minjeong briefly appears to reach out for Jimin, only to retract her arm suddenly, as if she was hesitating to touch her.
“Heh, thank you.”
When the whistle blows, Jimin charges up the stairs with all her might, shoving middle-aged balding men to the side as she sprints as fast as she can.
The sixty floors go by like a blur. Jimin can only remember taking treacherous step after treacherous step by the 40-something-th floor, knees just about ready to give out. Going down was even worse. Somehow, all the stairs had given her vertigo, and she started taking one step down at a time for fear that she would trip and fall down the stairs, until the granny from two blocks down the street yells at her from behind for being too slow.
She had never been happier to see grass. Grass meant she was on the ground floor. She lets out a cry of relief as she wobbles over to the finish line at the school field.
Was she about to go to heaven? Why was there an angel in front of her right now? The angel held out a bottle of water to her. Oh, what a kind-hearted angel.
“How are you feeling?” Minjeong asks brightly. The tenderness in her voice makes Jimin feel like all her wounds were healing.
“So good!” Jimin flails her arms around with a thumbs up, goofy smile returning on her adrenaline-numbed face. She’s so tired it hurts to use her facial muscles right now. “Great, even,” she manages to eke out as she tries to hold in the growing nausea brewing from the bottom of her stomach.
“You’re so amazing, Jiminie!” Minjeong giggles. The sound of her laughter is melodious, like the world’s sweetest symphony playing a private orchestra just for her ears. She waves her hands like it’s nothing.
But she can’t keep up the façade for much longer. “I…I’m sorry, Minjeong, I really gotta go. Uh…” she glances at her empty, no-notification phone screen, “my cat puked.”
She turns and limps away, unable to even check if Minjeong bought her sorry excuse and missing her confused head tilt.
Jimin manages to drag herself around the corner before she immediately throws up in a nearby bush. She plops herself down on the grass, 3 feet away from her puddle of puke, as her vision blurs and a wave of giddiness overcomes her. “She called me Jiminie…” she smiles faintly as she stares up at the bright blue sky.
So worth it.
===
“It wasn’t that bad,” Jimin protested, “you guys are making me out to sound like a total wimp. I handled it just fine.”
“Did you forget that you literally passed out?” Yizhuo quips.
“Yeah, because of how powerful my love was for her,” Jimin argued, ignoring her friends’ shaking heads of disbelief. “That’s how I knew she was the one,” she finished with a self-satisfied nod.
“You idiot,“ Giselle huffed emphatically as Ning Ning from behind her let out an involuntary snort, “you passed out because you had low blood sugar. I had to shove two KitKat bars down your throat before you woke up.”
Jimin scratched her head, trying to recall the memory again.
“Wait, is this why I became stupider in final year?”
“It might explain some of it,” Ning Ning nodded helpfully.
Aeri shakes her head vehemently, “no no, you’ve always been dumb.”
“Okay, honestly, it’s not that bad, guys!” Minjeong laughs, hitting Aeri’s shoulder lightly. “The way you were putting it, I almost thought she stalked me the time we coincidentally met on my solo trip to France when she ended up first asking me out on a date. That would’ve been really craz—” her voice falters when she catches the collective expressions on her friends’ faces. “No way,” she whispers.
She wheels over to Jimin, who’s looking as guilty as pie. “You STALKED me all the way to EUROPE?” Minjeong demanded.
“Well, not exactly,” starts out Jimin delicately. Aeri clamps a heavy hand on her friend’s shoulder.
”I think you should just tell her the story.”
===
Han Minhyuk is planning to ask her out.
Minhyuk, the 6’ 5” tall star quarterback of their college Div A team, sole heir to the multi-conglomerate Han Corporation and basically the most eligible bachelor on campus.
“I can’t let this happen,” Jimin repeats for the thousandth time as she throws the basketball distractedly, missing the hoop yet again. Her couch yells something at her, but she can’t even hear anything amidst the cacophonous chaos in her brain right now. “Do they even know each other?”
Aeri gives her a sympathetic look. “Look dude, I’m sorry but I hear it’s kinda been approved by both families – you know how chaebols are. They’ve probably been planning this from the start.”
“Apparently he’s going to ask her out with a really grand gesture,” Aeri continues gossiping, even though every word coming out of her mouth right now feels like it’s piercing Jimin’s soul, “I wonder if he’s going to pull out a drone show, or maybe fireworks?”
Jimin groans, putting her head in her hands in despair. She feels ready to claw her heart out of her chest at this moment. Ignoring the confused looks on everyone’s face, she walks out to the hallway, lost in deep thought.
Aeri was right. Jimin hated to admit it (she’d never admit Aeri was ever right out loud anyway — it’d only inflate her already ginormous ego), but Minjeong was out of her league. She’s nothing to scoff at herself, mind you, but Jimin simply didn’t come from an influential background like Minjeong did. Her family was ordinary, a working middle class family. It would be naive of her to think it wouldn’t affect her chances with Minjeong, especially the approval of her family.
“Jimin unnie? Are you okay?”
A voice rings out through the hallway, startling Jimin with its familiarity – and a warmth blooms in her chest before her mind can even register it properly. She quickly brushes a nervous hand down her hair as she forces herself to smile. It comes out more like a grimace.
”Huh? Oh, yeah, I–uh, I was just thinking about my competition.” Well, she’s technically not lying.
“I’m sure you’ll do well, unnie,” Minjeong says, rubbing the side of her arm comfortingly. Jimin feels herself drastically calming down with every stroke on her bicep. “Y-yeah, I’m just overthinking,” she tries to say assuringly, “nothing serious.” Minjeong’s so nice, being this caring to someone she barely knows, she thinks. She shouldn’t worry her unnecessarily. “Okay, well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” Minjeong says uncertainly. She doesn’t look totally convinced, but she doesn’t press further. Jimin nods.
They part ways, and Jimin decides to head back to the gymnasium. Her couch is probably already waiting to hit her with a punishment of 50 rounds around the court for running out of practice like that. Before she can even take ten steps, though, someone pulls her back by the shoulder.
“Listen.” Jimin whirls around to an angry little spite-filled Chaewon. “I’m only telling you this because I don’t want that annoying arrogant little shit as my cousin-in-law, but Minhyuk is planning to ask Minjeong out in Europe.”
“W-what?” Jimin’s brain takes a while to process this information that just came out of nowhere.
“Minjeong was planning to go on a solo trip to Europe over the holidays, and Minhyuk’s going to follow her there and ask her out,” she growls, “you need to stop him. I hate to admit it, but you’re the best shot right now.” She pulls out her phone and shoves the screen in her face, text messages illuminating from the phone.
“Oh, this sick son of a bitch,” Jimin growls, grip subconsciously tightening around the phone as she reads the messages.
What a fucking creep. How dare this man, this weirdo, follow her to a foreign country like this? She didn’t need to be told twice. “Thanks for letting me know, Chae,” she breathes out, pulling her into a hug. Chaewon screams at the sudden contact, shoving her back. “Get off me, God, since when were you so sentimental? Let’s just treat this as a mutual act, since it’s beneficial to both of us. Well, if you succeed, anyway.”
Jimin gives her a determined nod like she’s about to embark on a spy mission and Chaewon was her handler, before sprinting back to her dorm, basketball practice be damned.
Without hesitation, she drains the last bit of her bank balance and purchases last-minute tickets to Europe. Thanks to Chaewon’s intel, she knows the exact dates and cities Minjeong will be visiting. She’s not a stalker – she’s just looking out for her well-being, right?
In a week, she touches down in France. It’s kind of surreal; Jimin’s never even been out of Asia before, let alone Europe. She trudges along the cobbled streets of Paris with her backpack, having only packed a couple sets of clothes.
Paris is a bit of a letdown. She thought it was supposed to be the city of love, but in reality the streets was grimy and littered with trash. Somehow, it makes her feel a little better this way.
Still, her mood gets more glum with every couple that strolls by. Her phone lights up suddenly, and she quickly pulls it out to see that it’s a message from Chaewon.
Chaewon: He’s going to meet her along the Seine river!!!!! Intercept them NOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!
Her phone dings again.
Chaewon: What a cliche fucking loser, by the way. Lol
She sprints along the river to the coordinates of the location that Chaewon sends her. Panting, she desperately looks around for them, but doesn’t see anyone familiar. They must not have arrived yet.
“Yu Jimin?”
Jimin whips around to see fuck-ass Han Minhyuk standing there, with a look of confusion on his face. Evidently, he had not expected someone else to be there.
Jimin wonders if she should pretend not to know who he was. She puts aside the petty rage quickly bubbling inside her as she forces herself to greet him with an air of surprise so as to not blow her cover.
“Han Minhyuk? What are you doing here?”
”I could ask you the same thing. Don’t you have a tournament coming up?”
Was this fucker keeping tabs on her or something?
Jimin quickly makes up a lie. ”Uh.. I’ve got some… family matters to handle.”
Minhyuk gives her an appraising look as he takes in her appearance. She shifts uncomfortably in her position, shielding her body partially as he looks her up and down.
“Riiight… well, me too, I guess.” An unmistakeable undertone of condescension descends upon his voice. Jimin resists the urge to roll her eyes.
Of course you wouldn’t tell me the real reason you’re here, because you know how much of a creep it would make you sound, Jimin thinks, suppressing a sneer.
She can’t help but notice that Minhyuk keeps glancing at his watch, as if he’s waiting for someone. He must be expecting Minjeong to show up soon. As she looks down, she can’t help but notice how close the both of them are standing to the edge of the water.
When she looks up, her eyes widen as she spots Minjeong walking towards them, wearing the most adorable trench coat that swallows her whole body and a white scarf wrapped around her little head, only her eyes barely peeking out. She hasn’t noticed either of them yet, as she seems to be engrossed in her phone.
What should she do? How could she possibly explain herself? Was she going to let Minhyuk ask him out right in front of her?
Jimin imagines Aeri mocking her for the rest of her life. Then she imagines Minhyuk.
It was like her body moved on its own. In a split second, she ‘stumbles’ forward, and her arm stretches out and pushes Minhyuk to the side. She sees his face contort with outrage and fear as he loses balance and falls into the water with a loud splash.
Just in time, too.
”Jimin unnie?”
Jimin thinks she can never tire of the way Minjeong says her name. Minjeong waves at her excitedly like a little kid, running up to her. “Oh my god, this is such a coincidence!” she exclaims. “What are the odds?”
Jimin glances to the side, eyes widening as Han Minhyuk slowly emerges from the water, splashing and screaming.
“Oh my god, yeah,” Jimin rambles as she quickly pulls Minjeong by her hand, “hang on, there’s a weirdo that jumped into the river, let’s get outta there before he does something stranger.”
“What… what were you doing here?” Jimin asks. She’s not really sure if she wants to hear the answer.
“Oh, uh,” her face reddens at the question, and Jimin’s heart sinks a little. “I was supposed to meet someone, but—” she pauses for a few seconds before she seems to think better of it. “You know what, it doesn’t even matter. We should hang out!”
”Yeah?” Jimin’s face lights up like a Christmas tree on Christmas day. She grins. “Do you wanna eat something?”
Minjeong nods. Jimin’s relieved, thinking about all the pastas she’s about to have when Minjeong suddenly pulls her to a gelato shop nearby. Oh, she just wants dessert, Jimin thinks weakly. She ignores her neglected stomach that had been empty since the measly economy meal she had on her 14-hour flight from Seoul as she follows Minjeong who excitedly picks out a couple flavours of ice cream.
“Just one cone?” Jimin asks, surprised, when Minjeong offers her the same one she had been licking.
Minjeong nods shyly. “Yeah! Uh, it’s cheaper that way. If you don’t mind?”
Jimin shakes her head vehemently. “No, of course not!” she beams as she takes it delicately from Minjeong.
They spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around. Minjeong insisted on showing her all the iconic landmarks of the city when she finds out it’s Jimin’s first time there.
As the evening dwindles and the sun begins to set, they’re called by a middle-aged man sitting by the street with a typewriter. “May I interest you two in a personalised poem?” Minjeong immediately nods in earnest, dragging Jimin along with her to sit on the stools in front of him.
He punches in a few lines and rips off a small piece of paper.
“Free-of-charge, for a lovely young couple such as yourselves,” the man hands Jimin the paper as he gives them a nostalgic smile.
“Oh, we’re not—”
”Thank you,” Minjeong interrupts her cheerfully as she pulls them both up to leave.
Jimin holds up the paper under the dim streetlight to read the letters with Minjeong.
a love that demands eternal devotion
and aches, begs, for a remedy
spirits call for fervent incantations
the selfish keeper of my destiny
a mirage where lost lovers lie
image put forth by yielding eyes
i lay my soul to rest
in a field of roses she lies
Jimin’s breath hitches. Minjeong says nothing. She steals a glance at her face, but it’s expressionless. Does she find it weird? Should she crack a joke to make things less awkward? Anxiety swirls in her chest with every beat of silence.
After a long pause, Minjeong finally says,
“Have you watched the movie Before Sunrise?”
“Uh, yeah,” Jimin replies after taking a moment to recall the familiar title. She saw it once, during her film class. Realisation dawns on her when she recalls the plot was about two strangers meeting in a chance encounter in Paris that turns into a whirlwind romance, but is short-lived because they were from different countries.
“It feels a lot like we’re in that film right now,” Minjeong chuckles lightly.
Jimin looks at Minjeong, whose gaze is still fixed on the little piece of paper.
This is my chance.
“Well, the difference is, we’re from the same place, right?” Jimin tries to say as casually as possible.
“Mhm,” Minjeong nods before finally looking up with a smile as she shares eye contact with her.
Jimin isn’t even sure when, but they’ve drawn the distance between them even further. Their bodies feel impossibly close now; she can practically feel the heat emanating from Minjeong’s body. Her eyes take in every feature, every freckle on her face, her pupils blown wide as her eyes seem to search Jimin just as thoroughly.
”And what a good difference that makes.”
Jimin allows herself to be pulled by the front of her shirt as Minjeong seals the gap between them.
Her lips are soft, a little hesitant, and they fit against Jimin’s like they were made to be there. Jimin melts into the feeling, body leaning into Minjeong as she wraps her hand around the back of Minjeong’s head. She tugs lightly on her bottom lip with her teeth, and when her mouth parts slightly, Jimin slips in a tentative swipe of her tongue. Minjeong moans ever so faintly into her mouth, and Jimin’s legs practically buckle at the sound of it. The streetlights glow in the dark, casting shadows on the sides of their faces when they pull apart as the both of them smile softly at each other. Minjeong laughs softly, her nose crinkling adorably. Jimin feels like her heart is about to explode.
“Can I keep this?” Minjeong suddenly points to the piece of paper Jimin was still clutching, now scrunched up and a little wet from all the sweat pouring out of her glands despite the cool breeze around them.
Jimin nods eagerly, immediately reaching out to give it to her. Minjeong has no idea that she would promise her the world if she could.
“You can have anything you want.”
===
“I can’t believe you let me spend YEARS telling everyone that we met in Paris through fate!” Minjeong exclaims, letting out a tiny scream as she covers her face, ears reddening with embarrassment.
“I’m sorry! I swear, I wanted to tell you the truth once we started dating for real, but you seemed so happy that I couldn’t bear to crush you with the truth.”
Minjeong pouts.
“Also, no wonder the Han family cut ties with us after that. He must’ve thought I was in on it, too.”
“Well, good riddance,” Aeri says through a mouthful of cake.
“What else have you lied to me about, Yu Jimin?” Minjeong’s voice is stern as she folds her arms, and how big an effect it has on Jimin is almost humorous.
“N-nothing, I swear, baby!” Jimin waves both her hands in protest. “That was it, afterwards I was always upfront with you about everything. Please, don’t be mad at me,” she pleads.
Minjeong laughs. “Why would I be mad? I think I fell in love with you even more now,” she grins as she leans closer into her fiancée’s embrace.
Aeri and Yizhuo seem to have noticed the energy shift in the air and silently take off with platefuls of cake.
Minjeong wraps her arms around Jimin’s neck as they both get up as well, tiptoeing slightly to give her a peck on the lips.
“Really?” Jimin stands there, so baffled that she almost forgets to kiss her back. “You don’t think it was weird and creepy?”
“Well, maybe if I’d found out at the start, then yeah,” Minjeong concedes, giggling. Hot breath tickles Jimin’s ear as she leans in to whisper, “but now, I think I’d let you do anything to me.
A shiver goes up Jimin’s spine. “Anything?”
Minjeong peels herself back to look at her with a semi-bashful look, fluttering her eyelids up at her and nodding with a pout.
“Anything.”