"Ashley… Ashley! Earth to Ashley!"
I blinked awake, Yeji’s voice cutting through my half-asleep haze. Wait, did I fall asleep?
"It’s lunch break, babe. Wake up—your brother’s waiting," Marcy said coolly, her tone as laid-back as always. She’s definitely my best girl.
"He’s with his friend group, isn’t he?" I asked, groaning.
"Hey, that means Yunnie is gonna be there!" Helen exclaimed, practically bouncing in place. She’s Heeseung’s sister and, unfortunately, Jake’s biggest fan.
"Helen, please stop. You literally drool over his existence, and he’s not even that handsome," I muttered, annoyed.
They all stared at me like I’d just insulted a god.
"You on your period or something?" Marcy asked, her brow furrowed with concern. "I’ve got pads if you need one."
"What the—no! I’m just a little pissed off today, that’s all."
"You coming or nah? Niki’s waiting by the door and drilling holes into the floor with his glare," Yeji cut in, clearly impatient.
We turned to see Nishimura Riki leaning against the doorframe, one hand shoved into his pocket, waiting semi-patiently. Marcy forced a smile his way, but he just rolled his eyes.
The four of us followed him to the cafeteria, laughing and chatting about random things. Well, all of us except Niki—he walked ahead, looking like he wanted nothing to do with our nonsense.
"Finally! You made it," Jungwon drawled as we arrived, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"We weren’t that late, were we?" I shot back, sitting down beside Sunoo—my best boy. Who wouldn’t love Sunoo?
"Hey, Helen…" Jake called out.
"Yeah?" Helen answered quickly, fiddling with her food.
"Could you, like, let me finish my sentence before answering? It’s really annoying."
Helen smirked. "Whatever. What do you want?"
Jake stared at her in disbelief before scoffing and shaking his head.
While they bickered, I paid more attention to my phone, scrolling through TikTok. Sunoo wrapped his arm around my shoulder—a habit of his that I didn’t mind.
"What are you watching?" Heeseung asked, leaning in to peek at my screen.
"Just scrolling," I replied with a small smile. Honestly, Jungwon’s friend group is nice, but they can be a lot sometimes.
"You’re unusually quiet today. Something wrong?" Heeseung asked, his gaze more serious now.
I froze. How does he know me this well? "I’m fine, Hee. Don’t worry."
"Whatever you say, princess," he teased, ruffling my hair.
"Stop calling me that!" I protested, chuckling despite myself. It’s not that I hate the nickname, but people might get the wrong idea.
Heeseung’s like an older brother to me—honestly, more than Jungwon sometimes. He’s been there for me through everything. Sometimes, I wonder if Jungwon even cares as much as Heeseung does.
We kept bickering until the bell rang, and somehow, Heeseung managed to get me laughing again by the end of lunch.
---
Later that evening, I was lying in bed, chatting with the girls in our group chat:
4 girls 1 brain cell
@yeji4life: Wth, Sunghoon is grumpy for no reason.
@HelensbeautifulToe: Ask him what’s wrong then.
@gardenssister: Oh, Sunghoon? I didn’t even see him today.
@marcy143hateyou: Girl, you blind. He was right next to Hee.
@yeji4life: She was too busy talking to @HelensbeautifulToe’s brother to notice my brother, ouch.
@gardenssister: Your brother is invisible half the time.
@yeji4life: True, but still… ouch.
@gardenssister: Whatever.
@HelensbeautifulToe: Wanna hang at my place?
@marcy143hateyou: When?
@HelensbeautifulToe: Right now, of course.
-
--
Fifteen minutes later, we were all in Helen’s room, laughing and chatting about everything and nothing.
"My brother’s handsome. Y’all can’t disagree," Yeji said with a smug smile.
"He is, but something about him is just… off, you know?" Marcy replied.
"He’s strangely perfect," Helen shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.
We all nodded in agreement.
"Yunnie is prettier!" Helen chirped, her eyes lighting up.
"Not again," we groaned collectively, throwing our heads back in mock exasperation.
"You don’t understand! He’s pure, cute, smart, a walking green flag… and so pretty!" Helen gushed.
"Yeah, yeah. He’s amazing. The man that’s not your man, but is somehow yours," I teased, earning a chuckle from everyone and a blush from Helen.
"Just wait until you have a boyfriend," she shot back. "We’ll see how you act then."
"Not like this—no offense," I said, raising my hands in mock surrender.
"We all know you’ve got something going on with Heeseung," Marcy added with a smirk.
I choked on my drink. "What the—no! Me and Heeseung? Are you nuts? He’s like a brother to me!"
"Whatever floats your boat," Marcy replied, smirking knowingly.
"Do you think your brother would let you date one of his friends? Wouldn’t that be… weird?" Yeji asked, looking at Helen curiously.
"It’s none of his business. He’d be mad for a while, but he’d get over it," Helen said with a small, sad smile.
"Do you think Jake feels the same way about you?" I asked gently.
Her smile faltered for a moment before she shrugged. "Probably not. But it’s fine."
"Okay, okay, new topic!" Marcy clapped her hands to break the tension. "Who finished Mr. Choi’s history homework?"
We all exchanged glances.
"Not me."
"Same."
"Definitely not."
"Well," Helen sighed. "We’re screwed."
---
I know it's too short sorry but I ran out of thoughts hehe
