off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ thirty two

Several days had passed since the festival, and yet, Yujin still found himself reminiscing about the dance he'd shared with Irang. He knew now, that he wanted to tell her how he felt. All that was left to figure out was: how?! He'd ruminated about it every waking hour of every day, and still hadn’t found a satisfactory answer. Worse, he'd even discreetly stolen one of Jiyeon's favorite novels, just to see how the guy would confess. Turns out, a lot of novel and movie confessions happened in an airport, when the girl is about to leave and the guy runs after her. Irang wasn’t leaving the country anytime soon. Back to the drawing board.

Maybe it was time to finally jump the fence and gather up some courage. All he could really do now, was ask Jiyeon for advice. He knew it would be embarrassing, humiliating, and probably the worst moment of his life. And he couldn’t even be sure she would have any valuable input. But at this point, who was there left to ask? Even Google had failed him — after all, it knew nothing about Irang.

Sighing desperately, Yujin jumped off his bed and dragged his feet to his bedroom door. He creaked it open slightly, and was immediately hit with the sweet smell of pastries fresh out the oven. Well, if he couldn’t get good advice, he would at least get some good snacks from Jiyeon.

Equal parts hungry and in need of help, Yujin hurried down the stairs. Jiyeon was taking a tray of delicious looking cookies out of the oven, oversized oven mitts on her hands. Seeing him come down, she set it down on the counter, giving him a wave. From here, they smelled even tastier than they had upstairs. Yujin's stomach growled, and Jiyeon chuckled.

"Sorry, but you’ll have to wait for them to cool down a bit."

A pout on his lips, Yujin took a seat at the dining table. "Alright, I'll wait. That's not why I'm here anyway."

An inquisitive look on her face, she slipped her oven mitts off. "Really? Why are you here then?"

"Well, um..." He took a deep breath, already feeling his stomach twisting and turning. "I wanted to know if we could talk. A little bit."

There was the slightest hint of worry on Jiyeon's face as she pulled the chair next to him and sat down. Yujin imagined his expression wasn’t too far from hers. He'd rarely been as nervous as he was right now, at the thought of opening his heart to the first girl he'd ever liked. There were so many ways it could go wrong, and a part of him tried to convince him it was better not to take risks at all. But he'd made his decision, and he wouldn’t go back on his word.

"Is it about Jiwoong?" Jiyeon asked, one eyebrow raised. "You didn’t tell me how your talk went."

Yujin shook his head slowly. "It went fine, but this isn't about him. It's about..." He pinched his lips together, heat rising to his face. "Irang."

He watched as his sister's lips slowly turned into a teasing grin, the exact one he'd expected when he'd decided to talk to her about this. She really was having fun watching him flounder, wasn't she? He heaved an annoyed sigh, averting his eyes.

"Ooh, finally the time has come!" she exclaimed, exaggeratedly cheerful. "What do you need help with, exactly?"

"You obviously already know," he started hesitantly, "but I like Irang. Like, really like her."

She blew air out her nose. "Figured. I have eyes."

He opted to ignore her remark. "I don't know what to do. I wasn’t sure whether to tell her or not, because I was afraid it would ruin our friendship if she didn't like me back. But I have to tell her, you know? I feel like I have to."

"I agree," she said with a nod. "No matter the outcome, I think she’ll appreciate your honesty. And it'll be a weight off your shoulders."

Yujin wondered if that was true. Maybe Irang, if she knew how he felt, would rather he keep it to himself so they could stay friends without complications. Maybe she would be mad at him, for even putting their friendship at risk. But he was willing to face the consequences. Indeed, he needed to be honest with himself. He couldn’t keep those feelings locked inside forever.