espresso shot ; njm ✔️

33

"should i go with dramatic cat eye, or no liner at all?" haneul pondered, holding up her eyeliner in consideration.

"whatever you think make you look beautiful, princess, because i'm not going to see a difference," mark replied, his tone half-joking but sincere.

the three best friends were at haneul's place, getting ready. aera and jeongha were focused on their outfits while haneul relentlessly sought mark's opinion on every detail.

"can i go?" mark whined, desperate to get back to his literature essay. 

"once jeongha comes back," haneul replied. "now help me pick between this coat and this coat." 

"they're the same fucking coat."

right on cue, jeongha walked in after getting changed, having mark rush right out of the room before haneul could introduce him to anything else.

"does this look good?" jeongha asked, looking down at her outfit. 

haneul and aera both made the same weird face, knowing jeongha wasn't one to care about how she looked, especially if it was a day she was only spending with her friends.

jeongha must have noticed their reactions because she quickly added, "well, we're taking pictures today right? and haneul, you have so many subscribers."

"no," haneul said, shaking her head rather vigorously. "no, you just want to look for jeno," she sang, teasing her. 

"you guys would want to look good for your boyfriends back when you were in your crush phases!" jeongha argued, trying to reason with them. 

"well, aera never had a crush on donghyuck," haneul said, earning a slap on the arm from jeongha. 

"the exact point of this day is to take aera's mind off of...things," she hissed, glaring at haneul and giving aera an apologetic look.

haneul quickly apologized and took out her vlog camera, ready to start filming their amazing day.

-

"how did you know mark was the one?" 

the girls were strolling around downtown seoul, window shopping from the stores on either side. haneul pulled the other two under a little café rooftop.

"to be honest aera, i don't know if he is the one," she admitted.

"why'd you move in with him then?" aera asked, wondering why anyone would take such a huge step without being sure of the relationship in the first place.

haneul shrugged, but she knew how to answer aera's question. "you have to be willing to try new things and jump to new heights," she explained.

"what if you and mark were to break up?" jeongha asked, now engaged in the conversation, and perhaps asking for her own benefit.

"well." haneul seemed to think about it before responding. "i'd be be heartbroken and cry for a couple of months before trying to get over him. that's when i'll know if he wasn't the one. my point is, you'll never know if your partner is the one, you only know when they're not."

aera could only nod in response, taking in haneul's words. deep down, she knew her friend was correct. it made sense. no one can predict what can come, but you can always infer from past experiences.

that meant aera had to take a chance when it came to jaemin, but to do that, she had to take a higher jump and break up with donghyuck. that was something she couldn't barely find the heart to do.

it was silent for a bit, until jeongha broke it. "i think heartbreak is inevitable. i know you don't want to break donghyuck's heart, but it's either yours or his."

aera then looked up at the two. "so you think i should break up with donghyuck?"

haneul and jeongha both gave each other a look before haneul replied. she took aera' hand and put it over her heart, telling her, "let your heart make that decision for you."

the words hung in the air, their weight sinking into aera's mind. she knew her friends were right, but the path ahead still seemed daunting.