off limits | petalz

14

"Today we're gonna do what you want to do."

Sakura looked up from where she was perched at the island, a warm mug of green tea in her right hand and her phone in the other. She had one earphone in, and had been humming quietly before Kazuha bounded in the kitchen eagerly, bouncing over to the fridge. "Sorry?"

"What do you wanna do today, Kkura-chan?" Kazuha asked, opening the fridge and taking out a now-cold Ramune. Her crush on Sakura had been going strong for the past few days, and she was pretty sure that she now stood on the blurry line between liking someone and loving them. She wanted to spend the rest of her days with the older girl, and the actions of her older brother had only increased the protectiveness she felt towards her.

"I'm- I'm not really sure."

"Hmm," Kazuha mused, sitting at a stool next to the island and taking a swig of her drink. She was wearing sweatpants and a crop top- Kazuha rarely got cold- and her long hair was down, falling behind her back. "We saw Yun perform, visited Eunchae"- Kazuha winced, remembering the encounter -"and-"

"Sorry to interrupt you," Sakura cut off, taking out her earbud and pausing her music. "But, uh, does Yunjin like Chae?"

Kazuha's face contorted abruptly, and Sakura giggled softly. The younger's face had turned incredibly awkward, with her cheeks sucked in and her eyes darting around furtively. She chewed her bottom lips and puffed out her cheeks, thinking.

Should I tell her?

She might tell Chaewon.

She-

"I won't tell Chae, I swear," Sakura promised. "If that's what you're worried about. I wouldn't break your trust like that, Zu-chan, not after you've helped me so much."

Kazuha blew out the air in her cheeks and sighed. "Well... yeah, I guess so. Yes, she does like Chaewon. She's liked her for a while now. Eunchae supports it, and... I guess it kind of looked mutual from what I saw."

Sakura sighed as well, staring down into her mug of green tea and breathing in its soft scent. "I... yeah. Yeonjun... he's been after Chaewon for years, ever since high school. He'd always leave flowers in her locker, give her love notes, ask her out to dances and Valentine's Day. He never took no for an answer, but he's always respected her boundaries- which isn't really the best mix, honestly. I guess he's just more entitled to her now that they're dating."

Kazuha took another sip of her cold drink, leaning against her elbows on the island. "What do you think about them, Kkura-chan?"

Silence passed between them briefly, and Sakura pursed her lips, staring at the table. "Honestly?"

"Yeah. It's just us. Don't worry."

"I don't think he's good for her. He's been after her for so long that I think it's degraded the value she has of herself. That he's the only option, if you know what I mean? He's crazy about her, but not in the way he should be. He loves her, but he's doing too much. In a good relationship, the involved parties should both be in love with each other, enough to the point where they're mutually incredibly into each other. If it's just him overcompensating in the relationship, it'll make Chaewon feel like she's not doing enough. That she's not enough, and that she won't be enough for anyone."

Kazuha blinked, and Sakura laughed. "Sorry, you didn't ask for a professional analysis."

Waving her hands, Kazuha backpedaled. "No, no! It's good! I'm really impressed. And I agree. And Yun doesn't do that- she's totally in love with Chaewon, but she's an overthinker. Clearly Yeonjun isn't, because he doesn't realize what he's doing is wrong- so he's not second-guessing anything. But Yunjin will do that. She'll do everything she can to make Chaewon feel as loved as possible, while also not going overboard. She's an overthinker and a perfectionist."

Sakura tapped her chin, and more silence passed between them as they thought.

"Hey, Kkura-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Do you wanna set them up?"

Sakura blinked, once, twice, then gazed down at Kazuha, who was grinning almost evilly. She smirked and took another drink of her Ramune, while Sakura stared.

She then came to her senses, blinking again and laughing.

"I thought you'd never ask."

"Shhhh," Kazuha shushed, pressing a finger to Eunchae's lips as the younger girl squealed uncontrollably, practically bouncing out of her wheelchair.

"Sorry! But this is priceless! Unnie's a genius! Both of you are! Wow! Yes I love this! Let's do it! When do we start! Can we include Kyujin because she's really sneaky! How do we do this! What's the plan! Are we gonna be like spies! Are we-"

"Eunchae, half of your questions aren't questions anymore, you know that, right?" Sakura interjected softly, and the younger sighed grumpily.

"Yes, sorry, unnie."

Sakura and Eunchae had grown into an unnie-dongsaeng relationship in the few days that Kazuha had brought them to visit each other. Sakura was very sweet, trying to take as much care of Eunchae as possible and asking Chaewon about her constantly. Sakura and Yunjin had also quickly befriended each other, and Yunjin had spilled several details about her perception of Chaewon and her relationship to Sakura.

"Where's Yun?" Kazuha asked.

"Bathroom," Eunchae answered, then asked: "How do we start this?"

"Hmm," Sakura thought aloud, and Kazuha's eyes were drawn to her.

In that moment, Sakura looked thoughtful, her eyes soft, her lips pursed. Her hair flowed behind her, the harsh white lights of the hospital illuminating every blond strand as she absentmindedly tapped her leg from where she sat on a chair next to Eunchae's wheelchair. She leaned on the other arm as her eyes roved the room, her mind somewhere else.

Kazuha didn't realize she was staring, a love-struck expression on her face, until a cough echoed throughout the room and Yunjin walked in.

She was wearing high-waisted, black jeans with rips in them, a white band crop top exposing her slim waist and abs. She wore a black flannel jacket slung over her shoulders, with dark eyeliner and red lips. However, one thing about her looked the most different. It was-

"Oh my God!" Kazuha squealed (which she rarely did), jumping up to squeeze Yunjin tightly. "You dyed your hair red!"

It wasn't red, not really. It was more of a purplish-maroon color, sort of like magenta and wine. (think yj in the 'easy' mv) It looked extremely good, however, so Yunjin tossed back her locks and winked.

"Yup. AESSERA's recording a music video after this, so I have to be at least a little dolled up, you know?"

Kazuha nodded appreciatively and high-fived her- and then the door swung open and Chaewon walked in.

She stopped short at the sight of Yunjin, and her eyes then slid to Sakura and Kazuha, who were standing at the edge of the scene awkwardly.

"Hi, Eunchae," Chaewon addressed, and then turned to Yunjin, smiling awkwardly. "You look nice."

"Thanks," Yunjin said breezily, but Kazuha could clearly see how torn she was.

Sakura leaned up and whispered to Kazuha, "Have they always been like this?"

"Yup."

Sakura laughed gently, and the sound turned Kazuha's insides out with glee. She had made Sakura laugh. "I'm glad we're not like that."

The millions upon millions of implications of that sentence sent a fiery blush roaring down the back of Kazuha's neck, and she bobbed her head, her hair cascading down to hide her bright red face.

"Um- uh- yeah. Me too."

When Kazuha looked up, she was met with Sakura's soft smile.