I gave you everything I could...

06: FIRST GIFT

It's been a few weeks since Kazuha and Eunchae arrived at the same high school on the same day, and things have been going quite well. Chaewon and Yunjin's help has served them both very well. Even though sometimes, in Kazuha's -and sometimes Eunchae's- case, it was she who was helping Chaewon, and even Yunjin, which made both of them rethink the idea of helping her.

Right now they were at the huge gates of the institute, talking about anything, mostly Yunjin and Chaewon, both of whom seemed to be very focused on their conversation.

Chaewon and Yunjin were deep in conversation, their voices carried through the hustle and bustle of the school gates. Chaewon, with her hands on her hips, let out a dramatic sigh.

"I just can't believe you still think strawberry ice cream is better than mint chocolate." Chaewon said, rolling her eyes. "It's such a crime."

Yunjin, with a smirk on her face, couldn't help but tease a little. "Mint chocolate taste like toothpaste, why would anyone prefer it over strawberry?" She retorted, crossing her arms.

Chaewon gasped, acting offended. "How dare you compare the heavenly minty freshness to mere toothpaste?" She shook her head dramatically. "You just don't know elegance, clearly."

Yunjin chuckled, rolling her eyes at Chaewon's exaggerated response. "Elegance? More like an adventurous palate gone wrong. Strawberry is obviously superior. It's a classic for a reason."

Chaewon dramatically clutched her chest. "Classic? Sure, if you want to be basic. But mint chocolate is for those who dare to be different. It's unique and adventurous."

Kazuha, meanwhile, was on her phone as she leaned against one of the walls, not caring much about what the others were doing. And, on the other side, there was Eunchae, fangirling over Kazuha, as she kept looking at her.

When the bell rang, the four of them grabbed their backpacks and walked inside the school, the people who were already inside shushing at the sight of them.

Ever since Kazuha came, the little group of friends had become popular - not that they weren't, but, now, they were much more. Why? Easy. Because of Kazuha's beauty. From the first day, everyone had been struck by her Japanese features and her good body.

Eunchae smiled cheerfully and broadly while looking at all the people, Chaewon smiled a little, just looking straight ahead, Yunjin, just looked at the people, loving how she was loved, and, Kazuha, as usual, was with a cold expression and attitude, not giving importance to anyone or anything.

When they arrived at their classroom, they opened the door and sat down in their seats, putting their chairs together and making a circle to be able to talk better.

Eunchae was a little quieter than usual, looking down at her backpack and into it every ten seconds. Why? No one knows, only herself.

Chaewon noticed this, and, as the two neighbors talked among themselves - mostly Yunjin making the japanese laugh easily-, she pulled her chair a little closer to the younger girl's, trying to gain her attention.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked as she rested one of her hands on one of Eunchae's legs.

Eunchae turned to her and smiled, nodding many times. "Yeah, just a little nervous." She reassured her, closing the backpack so the brunette girl couldn't see what was inside.

Chaewon shook her head to the side, a little confused, but decided to ignore it. She had a lot of things she wanted to ask, at the moment.

Why was she nervous? What was inside her backpack? Why was she looking at Kazuha so much? Why was she biting her nails so much all of a sudden? And it goes on and on.

But she decided to ignore those thoughts and not ask anything about it so as not to make her uncomfortable.

Later that day, the group of four friends met at a large and accommodating café in the center of the city, a little far from where they lived.

They sat at a small round table by the large window. "Okay, so, did you hear about what happened at school yesterday?" Yunjin said, a serious yet playful face plastered on her face. She seemed very excited about the story.

Meanwhile, Kazuha was on her phone, until her stomach growled. She closed her eyes for a moment and placed her phone on her thighs, face down. "Can we order now? I'm hungry." She sighed looking at her friends, who were still gossiping.

The older ones - and the younger one -, fell silent and turned their heads to look at her, as if they were holding in laughter for some reason. "Yeah, right." Chaewon nodded as she got up from the wooden chair and grabbed her bag. "Anything specific?" She asked.

The others shook their heads and, with that, Chaewon disappeared from their sights.

Apparently, there was a long line, as Chaewon still hadn't shown up and it had already been almost 10 minutes. And that's enough to get 4 drinks and something else, isn't it?

While they were waiting, Yunjin went to the restroom, which made it Kazuha and Eunchae alone. "Ugh..." Kazuha grumbled quietly, leaning on the back of the chair. "How long is she going to take?" she asked herself.

Seeing this, all the younger girl could do was giggle. "You're very exaggerated, Zuha. You know that, don't you?" She said in a teasing tone, even though inside, she was dying of embarrassment for talking like that to Kazuha, her 'crush', if one could say so.

The Japanese girl sighed and tried to sit down. "I'm just hungry, nothing more." She replied, trying to see even a little of the counter.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Eunchae rolled her eyes playfully, looking around. Seeing that neither Yunjin nor Chaewon were coming, he turned to Kazuha with a more serious expression on his face.

He proceeded to grab his bag and took a deep breath. "Kazuha, I got something for you." She suddenly muttered without being able to make eye contact. She then looked at the bag and pulled out a Swan plushie.

She gave it to her, but Kazuha's face suddenly changed from one of impatience to one of surprise and... Disgust? 'A stuffed animal? What does she think I am, a 5 year old?'

"Eunchae-" She tried to speak, but was immediately interrupted by the girl sitting across from her.

"What's wrong? You don't like it? You don't like swans? I can give you another one if you want." Eunchae said hastily, a little disappointed that she didn't like it. Not from Kazuha, but from herself. Why hadn't she asked her?

"I-It's not that, Eunchae. It's just that I don't" she paused, thinking about how to say what to say next. "... It's not like stuffed animals are my favorite thing, so to speak. Thanks, though." She mumbled

The black-haired girl's face fell, and she felt her eyes become a bit moist, probably because she was going to cry. She swallowed the lumpin her throat and nodded sadly. "Oh, okay. I'm sorry..." She whispered, putting the plush inside her bag.

• • •

Is this cringe? 😭 I feel like It is.
No, but, seriously, I'm asking this with a straight face. I didn't know how to continue It, so- yeah.