i won't share you / purinz

two percent milk

On Monday, Yunjin strides into class with her hand tucked into her letterman jacket. She stops in front of Chaewon and dramatically reveals a little pink bottle of strawberry milk, setting it onto Chaewon's desk.

"Get it?" Yunjin points at the label with a grin, "I made you lose 2% on the test, so I'm giving it back to you." When Chaewon doesn't respond, Yunjin explains further, "Get it 'cause it's 2% milk?"

"Ha ha," Chaewon smiles thinly, "I appreciate the gesture, Yunjin, but I can't accept that."

Yunjin shrugs, plucking the bottle back up and sitting down behind Chaewon, "More for me."

Chaewon twists around, "No, no, no, please, you shouldn't drink it either."

Yunjin raises her eyebrows "Why?"

Chaewon snatches the bottle out of her hands, turning it until she finds the ingredients list, "See this?"

"Red dye 40," Yunjin reads, "Relax, ChaeChae, that's just to make it pink."

"I know what it's for," Chaewon rolls her eyes, "It's dangerous. It contains carcinogens and it's been linked to an increase in hyperactive behavior."

Yunjin frowns, "But I drink this all the time."

"Whoa, really?" Chaewon deadpans, standing up to toss the bottle in the trash. By the time she returns, class has thankfully started. Yunjin is still her loud self behind her, but now the drumming and shaking is interrupted by murmured apologies and then a few minutes of silence before inevitably starting up again. It's annoying as all hell, but she's trying, and that alone makes Chaewon's heart soften a little.

"Thanks for telling me about the, uh, collagens," Yunjin says after class, walking with her usual annoying jauntiness.

"Carcinogens," Chaewon corrects her, "And no problem. I'm doing us both a favor."

"Um, so, I was going to ask you if, um, maybe you wanted to hang out after school?" Yunjin's voice cracks slightly as she ends the question and she clears her throat, "I mean, like, now, I guess."

Chaewon raises her eyebrows, "Don't you have practice?"

"I do but, um, it's not a big deal if I miss a day," Yunjin says quickly, "I mean, they can't really kick me off. They'd lose without me."

"Right," says Chaewon, "Anyways, I can't. I have a mathletes meeting."

"Mathletes?" Yunjin repeats, "I think I'd be good at that. Actually, I did my times tables while deadlifting 200 pounds. I got it on video, one second." Yunjin pulls her phone out of her pocket but Chaewon lays a hand on her arm, making the younger girl freeze in place.

"It's not like that," Chaewon smiles in spite of herself, "There's no weight lifting, it's just math."

"Oh," Yunjin tucks her phone away, blushing, "Can I still come? I'm not the best at math but I can learn."

"Yunjin," Chaewon runs her hands through her hair, "I think it's great that you want to work on math, but no you can't come to the meeting. I don't want my team to get distracted by you."

"I won't make a scene," Yunjin promises, "Come on, ChaeChae, let me hang out with you."

"You're kind of distracting just by existing, to be honest," Chaewon says gently. Then, knowing Yunjin, she adds, "Lots of the girls on the team think you're cute."

"I guess I am pretty cute," Yunjin puffs up, her usual grin returning to her face, "Okay, I get it, I'm not a mathlete. Can I see you after practice though? Maybe we can meet up?"

"No," says Chaewon, not bothering to think up another excuse, "Focus on practice, okay? It's my senior year so the Wildcats better win." She adds that last part just to be nice, feeling guilty about Yunjin's kindness towards her, but the younger girl's ridiculous swagger as she turns to head for the baseball field makes Chaewon wish she'd never said it.