THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT US. winrina

16: Half a Heart

Minjeong doesn't know why she's seeing Yizhuo at this concert but she is. And it's worse now that they're literally — practically — in the same room, breathing the same air, even after the concert has ended.

So here's the thing. Yizhuo's on a scholarship, right. Scholar students are provided an allowance every semester (or that's what Minjeong believes. She can't really say. She's not that smart to be a scholar so what does she know, right?). And she's wondering what the hell Yizhuo's been eating at college to be able to save up to pay for a plane ticket and a concert ticket and not even for a trip back to her own country. Next level dedication, damn, Minjeong thinks to herself.

But honestly, Minjeong should've seen it coming. Yizhuo's only ever expressed her want for home once or twice — if she's lucky, four times — in the four years they've known one another and has only acted on it maybe once. And the girl said it herself; unless there's an emergency, she won't be returning. It's admirable to Minjeong, who often visits her hometown, to not make a short trip to your country even if you were on semester break. Although Minjeong understands that she's living as a student and saving money rather than to spend it every year going back is one of the smarter decisions, to travel to another country and attend a concert of your favorite artist instead of going home is a new kind of dedication (which she respects).

Even better, Yizhuo purchased a VIP ticket. Hold on, she did what? The realization finally dawns on Minjeong that Yizhuo didn't just travel to Japan and go to a concert but she also bought a VIP ticket for the concert that grants her a backstage meet-and-greet with Karina and, by default, Shotaro. (The man made a special appearance in one of the performances. Minjeong literally almost launched out of her seat when she saw him standing on the lift instead of Karina. As much as she loathed to admit it, she felt a tad bit jealous. Yes, just a tad.) Oh, this girl..

Now, backstage with the artist, Minjeong does her best to blend in with Karina's crew to avoid being caught. (They had an encounter in the bathroom and she's traumatized. She was just lucky enough that Aeri — she'd sat next to her during the concert — was kind enough to lend her a cap and that Yizhuo was too distracted by the smell of her own, um, excrement to notice it was her.)

Yizhuo is currently second in line and Minjeong can tell even from a distance that she's vibrating from excitement. She is restlessly bouncing on the balls of her feet and her fingers grip at the seam of her jeans. She's both excited and nervous, Minjeong assumes. She's probably debating with herself between screaming her love for Karina and behaving like a normal person. (Minjeong bets she's going to lose both of those battles and just stand there like an idiot when her turn comes.)

Well, moment of truth. Yizhuo's turn comes after the previous fanboy shyly bids goodbye to Karina and she timidly steps forward. Minjeong's focus zeroes in on her, wanting to absorb any embarrassing moments to bring up later in their lives — once she tells Yizhuo about her and Karina, of course. To Minjeong's disappointment however, Yizhuo does win one of those battles.

“Hi! Oh my gosh, I love your top.” Karina leisurely, outright does a once-over on Yizhuo, comments as she takes her album from her to sign.

Yizhuo covers her face in response, cheeks burning up and glowing a bright red. “Thank you.. I actually stole it from my roommate's closet; fun fact.” From where she's standing, Minjeong hears her confession and tenses. She glares at the top that Yizhuo's sporting. A turtleneck, ink black in color, a messy ‘MJ’ sewn on the hem with white thread. She stitched her initials on that specific garment because Yizhuo has a similar piece of clothing but of fucking course Yizhuo took hers, anyway. Minjeong makes a mental note to confront her about it later when they're both back at the dorm. (Also, since when did Yizhuo wear turtlenecks? She literally claimed she hated them!)