It seemed like Wonyoung was waiting for the bell to ring just so she could be picked up by her new friend. It did, just as she thought about it, and the class was dismissed. Wonyoung collected her books messily and shoved them into her desk before joining the sea of students out into the hallways.
"Jang Wonyoung!" Yujin called out loudly, bounding up the stairs and waving embarassingly vividly towards Wonyoung. "Hi, best friend!"
"Best friend?" a much shorter girl with cropped hair said. She followed right next to Yujin.
"Yeah! She's new. She transferred yesterday," Yujin said, taking Wonyoung's hand and dragging her away. She was so dizzyingly bombastic, it made Wonyoung dizzy.
"Hi," she said, hesitantly, "I'm-"
"Wonyoung, I know. Yujin wouldn't shut up about you," the shorter girl said. "I'm Gaeul."
Wonyoung greeted her formally, unsure of what to do. She hunched over, insecure of her taller frame.
"AWH-" she sputtered as a force knocked into her back and set her posture straight.
"Wonyoung-ah, you'll shrivel up and shrink to Gaeul's height. Stand straight," Yujin chuckled.
Wonyoung stammered intelligibly, Yujin and Gaeul herding her into the canteen line.
"So. What do you like?" Yujin asked, letting go of her hand to pick up a canteen tray and hand it to her.
Wonyoung eyed braised beef from behind the window. She let the lunch lady deliver a generous scoop of it onto a section of the tray, along with some rice and a bowl of clear broth.
"I see," Yujin remarked, getting a carton of milk.
.
"You don't talk a lot, do you?" Gaeul said, trying to break the ice as they ate.
"Hm, no," Yujin answered without giving her a chance to talk.
"Shut up Yujin," Gaeul said. Yujin shrugged and shoved rice into her mouth.
Wonyoung gave her a thin smile. "Not really. Sorry. I met Yujin yesterday." She took a sip of water. "She was drawing."
"Oh, you were?" Gaeul said, turning to Yujin, surprised. "How come you didn't let me see?"
Yujin continued eating.
"This punk," Gaeul said, jabbing her chopsticks towards Yujin, "she always lets me see her drawings, whether they're a work in progress or not."
"It was ugly," Yujin groaned, finally answering. "I don't like ugly drawings."
"I thought it was really nice though..."
"That's an offense, babe. You know my art is trash."
Wonyoung looked at the two of them from across the table. "Babe"?
She cleared her throat politely. "Sorry to ask, um, I hope it doesn't offend you, but-"
"Spit it out, Wonyoung," Gaeul said curiously.
"Are you guys... dating? I mean I know two girls can date, I'm not against it, I actually-" Wonyoung was cut off, surprised by Yujin and Gaeul's abrupt laughing.
"Oh, she's so cute," Gaeul sighed, coming down from the clouds. "You're such a gem. Yujin is into girls, but I'm too pretty for her."
"You got an ugly mug, you troll," Yujin giggled, snatching a slice of beef brisket off Gaeul's tray.
"That's cool!" Wonyoung said, feeling a little more answered. She took the last bite of her meal and set her chopsticks down.
"We should probably head back to class. I have cram school after this," she said softly.
