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Juliana and Praveena
"Min Ho!"
Juliana and Praveena paused their conversation at the familiar cheery voice. They turned and spotted Katherine Song Covey immediately. She was kind of hard to miss dragging that bright yellow suitcase across the street, her red hair catching in the sunlight, her pace determined.
"Hey, look. It's Kitty. Let's go say hi," Juliana's fingers laced through her girlfriend's, tugging her forward only to be pulled back.
"Hold on," Praveena held up a hand when the other girl glanced back at her with raised eyebrows. She jerked her chin in Kitty's direction. "Look at that."
The that in question turned out to be a very well dressed Min Ho whose head swivelled in Kitty's direction at the sound of his name. Whatever expression he had been wearing instantly melted away, making way for a large grin as he shoved his phone into his coat pocket and held out his arms in time to catch the red head who'd launched herself at him. His entire body rocked backward from the force with which she had hit him. Her feet left the ground, giggles filling the air as he spun her round, his arms tight around her back, his eyes crinkled from his massive grin.
Both girls watched, intrigued by the sight as he placed Kitty back on her feet but instead of releasing her, he pulled her closer, his face disappearing into the crook of her neck.
"Oh," Praveena breathed. "But doesn't she like girls?"
Juliana shrugged. "She's bi. Definitely didn't see this match up happening though," she sucked in a breath. "That has to be messy though."
Praveena didn't take her eyes off the embracing couple, her eyebrows hitting her hairline when Min Ho said something, his lips moving so close to Kitty that they almost touched her ear. His words must have been a compliment or flirting because the girl went a pretty shade of red, shoved his chest and bashfully tucked a lock of hair behind her ear while Min Ho chuckled.
"Why would it be messy?" Praveena asked. They looked pretty much in love to her. Or at least getting there.
"Oh, I forgot you don't know. Her ex is his best friend."
"What?" Praveena sucked her teeth. "Yikes."
"I know."
"Is that girl ever not involved in some kind of drama?"
"Drama is her middle name at this point."Juliana shrugged then linked her arm through her girlfriend's. "Let's go."
Kitty and Min Ho finally stopped staring at each other long enough to notice the other girls' presense.
"Hey guys!" She waved at them as they crossed the street while Min Ho casually took her suitcase from her.
"Kitty!"
"Hey girl!"
Quincy
"Q, get the door would you?"
Q groaned at Min Ho's voice calling at him from his room, his voice muffled by the closed door. Another rapid knock on the door had him kicking his feet in annoyance before climbing off the couch and dragging his feet toward the door.
A frazzled Kitty stood on the other side, bouncing in what seemed to be excitement.
"Hey Q," she grinned up at him making his foul mood melt away as his own lips curved upwards.
"Hey, Queen. What's —"
"Is Min Ho here?"
He stopped. Blinked. Nodded. "Yeah. He's in his—"
But she was already pushing past him, practically running toward the closed door of the room Min Ho shared with his new roommate, Marcus. She disappeared into the room and Q turned, closing the door slowly. Confusedly. Because what the hell was that? Had Kitty just ditched him for Min Ho?
He needed to get to the bottom of this new development immediately. Steps sure, he made his way to Min Ho's room, stopping short in the doorway at the sight he found.
Kitty, sitting on the edge of his Min Ho's bed, her back to his chest as he watched over her shoulder at whatever she was excitedly showing him on her phone. His legs bracketing hers. One hand casually resting on her thigh.
What the-?
Kitty raised her hand higher, pointing to something on the screen, her smile full of pride as she turned her head, checking Min Ho's reaction. Their eyes met, smiles slowly falling away. Min Ho's fingers flexed against her thigh and the heat that suddenly filled the room had Q tugging on his collar.
Nope. He couldn't watch this.
"Uh. So did you guys...?"
The couple flinched, their heads whipping up in clear surprise at Q's presence. He leaned a shoulder against the door frame.
"Did you two finally get together over the summer?" He finished and watched in wicked delight as Kitty's cheeks went a violent shade of red. She instantly scrambled from between Min Ho's legs, putting a good two feet of space between them, a denial rising to her lips.
"What? No! We're friends!"
"What on earth are you on about?" Min Ho said at the same time.
Friends? I think not.
Q hummed. "Oh nothing," he nonchalantly inspected his nails. "Just trying to figure out why my bestie suddenly prefers your presence over mine is all."
Kitty had the decency to look positively mortified while Min Ho just scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Well, obviously because of my wit and charming demeanor."
"Obviously," Q mumbled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"And besides," Min Ho continued in his very posh accent, all crisp sounds and sharp consonants. "Who wouldn't prefer to ditch a Neanderthal such as yourself to be in close quarters with the hottest guy in school?"
Q scoffed and opened his mouth to tell his friend exactly what kind of Neanderthal he really was but Kitty lurched off the bed and grabbed his arm.
"Okay," she shoved him out the room, "That's enough out of both of you! I will see you later, Min Ho," she called before closing the door. He just saluted her with two fingers and fell back against his pillows.
As soon as the door closed Kitty rounded on Q, her eyes wide, accusing.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Q rest his hands on his hips. "You expect me to believe that nothing is going on between you two? You've been all over each other since the semester started."
Kitty shushed him viciously. "Would you keep your voice down?!" She hissed. "And nothing happened! We're just friends."
He scoffed. "Just friends? Friends don't act the way you two were just acting in there. All cozy and giving each other heart eyes," he took a step closer to her and whined, "Come on, Kitty, when are you just going to tell him already? You know he won't make the first move after being rejected twice, don't you? Just put us all out of our misery and ask him out already!"
"I..." she sighed softly. "I don't want to rush this."
"It's been four months! Trust me, you aren't rushing anything."
She bit down on her lip, her gaze sliding away from his. "But what if he doesn't...you know...feel the same way anymore?"
Q flung an arm toward the door. "Did we just see the same thing in there? If I had turned up a minute later the both of you might've been making out on the bed. I swear to God!"
Kitty blushed. "You think so?"
He shook his head a fond smile tugging his lips upward. "Kitty," he rest his hands on her shoulders, giving her a little shake. "You’re so hopeless." He pushed past her, his smile growing on his face. Maybe it was time for a little matchmaking of his own.
Yuri
"The dresses? Yes, I have them. I'll bring them over in fifteen. Yes. Of course, Ma'am, I won't be late this time."
Yuri hung up the phone with a groan. She couldn't do this anymore. How did people live their entire lives working like slaves for someone else? This was torture. True, soul sucking, barely livable wage paying torture.
She made her way around the shelves in the library, heading for the exit when a familiar voice caught her ear.
Kitty.
The closer she got to the seating area the more she was able to make out what sounded like the other girl attempting Hangul. Key word being attempting because that noise that assaulted her ears definitely could not be her native language.
A deep chuckle followed Kitty's absolute butchering of the words.
Yuri paused, then peeked around a shelf to find Kitty sitting beside Min Ho on one of the couches. Books open on the table before them and one in her lap. Their bodies turned toward each other.
Close.
Intimately close. Like knees almost touching, Min Ho's hand resting beside Kitty's thigh, leaned toward her as if being pulled in by her body's gravity kind of close.
"Almost," he said. "Now try again but this time try to speak the words in Hangul. Not whatever that was."
"But you just said I almost had it!" Kitty complained.
"Close to summoning a demon maybe," he snorted and laughed when she shoved his shoulder.
Yuri's mouth twisted at the exchange. When did this happen? Had they always been this close without her realizing it? And was this a date? They were sitting much too close for this just to be a casual study date.
And why did her heart twist in her chest at the sight of them?
Her gaze fell to her feet, annoyance washing over her. She shouldn't be upset. She had been the one to push Kitty away after everything in the first place. But...
She glanced back at the couple, at the way Min Ho's hand seemed to unconsciously tuck Kitty's hair behind her ear as he leaned closer, his mouth shaping the word slowly for Kitty to repeat after him.
Yuri's fist clenched.
Then she flinched when her phone vibrated in her other hand. She glanced at it, sighed at the caller ID then spared one last glance at the couple on the couch, her heart mourning something she didn't quite understand, before turning away and heading toward out the library.
Madison
Madison walked out of her room in time to see Kitty open the front door, dressed in a little black dress and boots, a khaki coat over her shoulders, hair perfectly done.
She laughed lightly, her back still facing the room and it took Madison a moment to notice that Kitty wasn't alone. A familiar shape stood just outside the door, a hand resting on the frame, just above Kitty's head.
Min Ho.
Their voices were low murmurs but she caught a few stray words.
Fun. Again? Covey.
Madison crossed her arms over her chest, an intrigued smile on her lips as she watched Kitty push up unto her toes and press her lips to Min Ho's cheek. Watched as they both seemed to linger in each other's air for a moment too long, Min Ho's eyes dark, flitting downward then back up.
Madison wanted to laugh. Or yell at them to just kiss already.
A throat cleared. Whispers of goodnight. The soft click of the door.
And then Kitty's surprised yelp when she turned and found the other girl lurking in the semi darkness.
"Madison!"
Madison dropped herself unto the couch. "Hot date?" She hedged, fishing for juicy details. Life got so boring at this school sometimes.
"Just a study date."
Her eyebrows rose. "This is how we dress for study dates now?"
Kitty pulled off her boots, one hand braced on the wall. "There's nothing wrong with dressing cute."
"There's a difference between cute and pure eye candy. So you two aren't dating then?"
Kitty paused, casting her a wary glance. "No."
Madison laughed. "Don't worry, I don't want him for myself. What we had is long over, trust me."
"I wasn't worried. We're just friends."
"Sure you are," she drummed her fingers against her thigh. "Is that his jacket?"
The red head hugged the coat tighter against her. "It was cold," she mumbled then stalked toward her room. "I'm going to get ready for bed."
Madison watched her walk away, a smile playing on her lips. And because she couldn't help herself, she called out, "Try not to get high from sniffing it too long!"
She shook her head as the door slammed, cutting off Kitty's groan.
Friends? That had to be the biggest lie she'd ever heard.
Dae and Eunice
"Hey."
Dae leaned down to Q's ear, having to yell to be heard over the music pounding through the speakers.
"Have you seen Kitty?"
Q shook his head, most of his attention still on his boyfriend. "She went to the bathroom earlier but I haven't seen her since. Maybe she's with..." He trailed off and Dae could see he was fighting back words that his inebriated brain clearly wanted him to spill.
"With who?" Dae pushed.
Q shook his head again. "No one. The line to the bathroom is probably just really long. I'm sure she'll be back soon."
Maybe he might've believed his friend if he hadn't already noticed it for himself over the past couple months. That Kitty had been distracted a lot. Happier. Glowing even. And spending a ridiculous amount of time with a certain someone.
His fingers dug into his palms, an irrational dark feeling rising in him.
"I'm going to go look for her," he announced and didn't wait for Q's reply as he pushed through the crowd, the anger in him burning hotter with each step he took, each beat of the music. It was uncalled for really. They were broken up. She could date whoever she wanted.
But just why did that person have to be him?.
He found her within minutes. Found them. Because of course she was with Min Ho. They had been attached at the hip ever since returning from their shared summer when Min Ho had stolen her away on tour with him without even a word about it to Dae.
They were off to one corner. One dark, intimate corner and seemingly lost in their own world. Or each other. Her arms around his neck. His hands on her waist. Bodies swaying gently to the music. Eyes locked. Smiles soft.
He felt sick.
Watching them like this. Seeing the way Min Ho looked at her. He knew the look. He used to wear the same one when he was allowed to be in her presense that much. Adoration. Want. Love. But he was certain that she...she never looked at him like this. Not the way she was staring at his best friend. Like he'd hung the moon for her. Like she'd found some profound treasure. Like she couldn't look anywhere else.
His chest squeezed painfully.
And when Kitty's lips moved, murmuring something and Min Ho leaned in just a bit to hear suddenly he couldn't watch this anymore. He couldn't allow this to continue.
He took a step forward.
A small warm hand intertwined with his, the soft touch causing the envious rage in his brain to come to a screeching halt.
He turned, blinking at the pair of dark eyes that met his.
"Eunice?"
She gently tugged his hand. "Leave them."
His eyelashes fluttered, confusion dispelling his previous anger. "What?"
She tilted her head toward Kitty and Min Ho. "Look at them. Is that something you really want to get between right now?"
He didn't look. Didn't want to see anymore.
"He's your friend, isn't he?"
His shoulders dropped. "They both are."
"Then you should want them to be happy. And right now, they are."
His mouth opened. Closed. Fists clenched.
But what about him? What about respect and principle? What about their friendship? How could Min Ho still put himself with Kitty after everything? After knowing how Dae had felt about her? Probably still felt about her even though it was clear—had been clear for a while that she didn't feel the same way.
But out of everyone, why did it have to be Min Ho?
And why did it have to be her?
"Hey," Eunice's voice pulled his attention back to her. "Dance with me?"
He shook his head. "I don't really want to—"
"What? You prefer to stand here and wallow over your ex who's already moved on then? Because that sounds so much better than dancing with me, one of the hottest girls in school?"
His mouth quirked. "You sound like Min Ho."
"And he's your best friend so I'll take that as a compliment. Come on," she urged, pulling him toward the crowd.
This time, he found himself not resisting. He didn't look back either. Maybe...
Maybe Eunice was right. Maybe it would hurt like hell but he needed to fully move on from Kitty and he needed to let his friends be happy, even if they found that happiness in each other. Maybe it was only a betrayal if he allowed it to be.
So he let himself be pulled away from the couple behind him. Didn't allow himself to see anymore. Because maybe it was time for him to take that first step into a new normal just like his friends had.