The World Is Cruel to Us 💎 yungi [▶]

4

Since Mingi apologized to Yuna, he never bothered her again.

Moreover, he never spoke to Yuna, not even a glance. They became awkward, and it persisted until they graduated from elementary school.

And until that graduation, Yuna never wanted to deal with boys. With Mingi's past actions towards her, she had labeled all boys negatively in her mind. Regardless of whether they could apologize like Mingi did, all she remembered was how they enjoyed harassing girls.

During those school years, she only befriended San. She disliked her other friends who, instead of helping her when Mingi bothered her, joined in mocking her as if Yuna were a puppet on a stage they could play with as they pleased.

San was the best, no, the only one good enough to make Yuna comfortable enough to share anything. And vice versa. Anything.

About their favorite foods—Yuna liked ribs even though she rarely ate them because they were expensive; San was a versatile eater, as long as the main dish wasn't just vegetables, it had to be accompanied by meat. However, for dessert, she loved mint chocolate ice cream. Yuna liked it too, just not as addicted as San.

Talking about their parents—Jung Ilwoo, Yunho's father, was just an ordinary office worker but would be promoted in a few years. He had fair skin. Now San knew where Yuna got her fair skin from because when she visited Yuna's house and saw her mother, the woman had dark and glossy skin. San even wondered if that woman had really given birth to Yuna. But Yuna got her mother's magnificent big round eyes. So, after San thought about it again, it all made sense. Choi Siwon, San's father, was a consultant at the South Korean embassy in San Francisco. The man had dimples when he smiled; San shared this information with enthusiasm—briefly silenced after that, remembering her father's profession that made him rarely come home—while San's smiling eyes came from her mother.

Even talking about when San and Yuna first got their periods. Turns out, both got it at the age of ten, precisely when they were in fourth grade. San was three months earlier than Yuna.

"You know, it was so dumb that I thought I had some kind of lethal disease that time, and I would die anytime soon. Until my mother said I was just in my flowery time." San burst into laughter with Yuna as they reminisced.

"Yeah, it's ridiculous and creepy how being innocent has no difference with being dumb, apparently," Yuna responded.

Early puberty brought their adult bodies sooner. Widening hips and enlarging breasts, though San's weren't as big as Yuna's. Especially Yuna, who had dieted to transform her O-line body into an S-line, proving that her big buttocks before weren't due to her being fat. After achieving her current fit body, the shape and volume of her buttocks hadn't changed. She wondered why her diet didn't immediately make her face slender. Her cheeks were still chubby like before.

Lastly, they faced parting ways. Not just because they would continue school in different junior high schools. San would be taken by her parents to live in San Francisco, her mother's hometown, and go to school there.

They hugged tightly. San kissed Yuna's cheek. Her lips sunk into that soft mound and bounced. She also kissed her lips. San said she had wanted to do it for a long time.

Yuna was surprised, of course. "Is it okay for a girl to kiss another girl's lips? Doesn't that look like..."

Yuna worried. If women had to marry men to be protected from crimes in this world, what if she liked kissing women? Women marrying women didn't seem to provide any additional accommodations or social status improvements needed for her to live a normal life in this world.

At least that's what her mother said every time she advised Yuna to clean her room better to please her future in-laws. Or to cook better if she didn't want her husband to run to another woman who could cook better.

Being a woman, Yuna thought, is far more complicated than doing arithmetic homework.

San called her, softly, as usual—sometimes Yuna daydreamed longer than the normal limit.

"Jung Yuna, I don't know when I'll meet you again, so I have to do it now. Or never. And just so you know, I only do it if I feel close and comfortable with someone."

"Thank you, Choi San." She genuinely hoped her friend wouldn't have to leave. Choi San was a warm blanket that protected her from many harassments by boys whenever they walked together. Yuna wanted Choi San to always be by her side.

They promised they would never lose contact even if separated by oceans and continents. Technology was advanced, so they wouldn't lose each other.

"But San, if you're not around, who will be my friend?"

"Don't worry, you'll find new friends."