✮ ꜰᴀɪʀʏ ᴛᴀʟᴇ ✮

03: ʟᴏɢɪᴄᴀʟ

ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ ᴘᴀɪʀ - ʙᴇᴀʙᴀᴅᴏᴏʙᴇᴇ

♡₊˚ 🦢・₊ ♪ ✧

ᴊᴜɴɢᴡᴏɴ ᴘᴏᴠ:

There's a knock at my door. I quickly ran downstairs and fling it open. It's Hae-Young. "See? I told you you didn't need ten minutes." She rolls her eyes at me, and I give her a quick once-over. She's wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, and no makeup. I had almost forgotten about her huge gold glasses. This is probably the most dressed down I've ever seen her. She's almost always in heels and dresses, with her usual heavy makeup perfectly applied.

"Stop staring at me, freak." I sigh, quickly snapping back to reality. "Well, come on, Lee, we have a lot of work to do." She takes off her shoes and steps inside. As I lead the way upstairs to my room, I catch a whiff of her vanilla scent again, now mixed with the freshness of the evening air. She flings her bag onto the floor and jumps onto my bed, making herself at home. I can't help but scowl at her. "No, please, lay on my bed, why don't you." She smiles widely, looking completely smug. "Thanks."

I sit down at my desk, feeling the weight of the task ahead. "Let's start. I need to know everything about you." Hae-Young sits up and faces me, her expression a mix of skepticism and curiosity. "What does that even entail? I don't think this'll work, Yang. There's no way you can learn everything. My brother will totally be suspicious."

I bang my head on the desk, the cool surface grounding me for a moment. She's right. We've never even had a normal conversation. "Look, we can call this off. Maybe I'm better off without Yeonjun anyway. You can be the debate captain next year or something." No. I need this now. "No, we can't quit. We can do this, I'm sure." Hae-Young looks at me with a strange expression on her face, a mix of worry and disappointment.

"Okay fine, let's do this." I can feel the relief wash over me. We can do this. "So um...what's your favorite color?" Hae-Young laughs at my very serious question. "Sorry, it's just that I've known you forever, but I guess not really. But it's blue, by the way." I smile at this. "I like blue too."

As the night progresses, we dive into each other's lives. Never once did I think I'd know so much about Lee Hae-Young of all people. It's getting to the point where I feel I know too much about her. I learned how she used to eat dirt in the first grade, how she would put sand in Heeseung's food without his knowledge when she was mad at him—actually, that feels illegal. Maybe I should tell Heeseung...

"Yang, I'm sleepy, how much longer?" Hae-Young rubs her eyes, and I can tell I'm not the only one suffering from exhaustion. The clock reads 2 AM, and I stifle a yawn. Her face, usually so composed, looks softer and more vulnerable in the dim light of my room.

"Just a bit more, Lee. We're almost done." I jot down the last few notes, trying to stay focused. The room is quiet except for the soft scratching of my pen and the occasional rustle of papers.

We continue to share stories, and gradually, it feels like the wall I put up with her has started to crumble. I find myself laughing at her dumb stories, feeling a strange sense of comfort. Despite the fatigue, there's a warmth in the room, a growing sense of understanding that neither of us expected.

"Alright, I think we've got enough for tonight." I finally say, closing my notebook. "We'll be fine tomorrow."

"Good, because I'm about to pass out." Hae-Young mumbles, already half-asleep. I watch her for a moment, realizing that maybe, just maybe, Hae-Young isn't as bad as I thought.