pretty pleated skirts , 이바다

005

it was the weekend, and the weather had gotten warmer. bada and dahee decided it would be a great day to start filming for the project. they sat beside each other on the bus, staring out the window as they approached the beach.

     bada who sat in the seat farthest from the window, moved her eyes towards dahee. she reached out to gently tuck dahee's hair behind her ear. dahee turned her head around to face the girl. "your hair was in your face," bada explained.

     "oh—" dahee said as she fixed her hair.

     "do you think it'll be crowded?" bada asked, attempting to change the subject before they became awkward again. bada hadn't tried to make dahee feel uncomfortable or anything, maybe she needed to tone the physical contact down with her.

     "it shouldn't be. i live right by this beach, so i visit often. usually it isn't crowded at all."

     "you live near here?" bada asked, realizing she had never been to dahee's place.

     "yeah, my parents and i always loved the beach, so they decided to move closer to one even though their work is farther in seoul," she explained, pressing the button to let the bus driver know to stop. "we're here."

     the two girls exited the bus and stood on the sidewalk as they watched the bus disappear from in front of them, being met by the waves of the ocean.

     "whoa..." bada said in awe. "i haven't been to a beach in years."

     "your mom doesn't take you?" dahee looked at her, a bit sad.

     "i don't see my mom often. let's go, shall we?" bada said before running off near the ocean. dahee almost tripped and fell into the sand trying to keep up.

     "hey! wait up!"

     "not my fault you have short legs!" bada yelled back as she ran into the water, soaking her pants, and almost losing one of her sandals.

     "bada get out of the water. we came here to work on the project, remember?" dahee said as she stood right where the tide washed up.

     "i was hoping we could forget about that and just have fun," bada replied still standing in the water.

     dahee gave bada a glare that she wasn't so sure bada could even see because of the sun.

     bada trudged out of the water slowly, holding up her pants that were already fully soaked, "okay, let's get to work then," she jokingly sighed.

     —

     "okay. are you ready?" bada sat on the chair, facing the camera. she nodded in response to dahee. "okay... the camera is rolling."

     bada sat patiently as dahee figured out what question to ask her first. "what's your favorite hobby?"

     "dancing. it's been my favorite since i was little."

—

     for a while, dahee went on with questions that bada steadily answered. though, the sun had became hotter as time passed, so they both wanted to wrap things up. "okay, last question of the day. how do you express your affection towards someone?"

     bada paused before answering the question. after giving it some thought, she replied, "through physical touch and eye contact, i guess. just small gestures, you know?"

     dahee suddenly was reminded of the time bada hugged her, and just then, when bada touched her hair.  she was also reminded of all the times they had stared into one another's eyes. dahee so desperately tried to keep her composure while turning off the camera. she felt as if she was going to topple over.

     "was that okay? i feel like my answers were too vague," bada said getting up from off the chair.

     "no, you did great," was all dahee could say. she tried to avoid eye contact with bada or else she would melt into the sand, and wash away in the tide.

    —

after filming, they stayed at the beach for a while, taking in the sun. bada stayed in the water as dahee watched her, carefully. her mind only kept replaying all those times her and bada touched or all those times her and bada looked into each other's eyes. dahee knew that there was no way bada could ever have romantic feelings for her. it just wasn't possible. plus, bada was straight. she had a boyfriend. dahee just believed that she was overthinking it too much. she must have been.

"hey! dahee!" bada yelled as she ran towards the girl. "do you think it would be okay if i stopped by your place? you've seen mine, so it's only fair," bada pleaded as she stood over dahee, protecting dahee's eyes from the sun.

     dahee looked up at bada, "sure... yeah."

     "if you don't want me to, it's okay," bada reassured as she sat down next to dahee.

     "no, no, it's okay. i want you to," dahee could feel her heart beating out of her chest then.

edited