a/n: any mistakes are mine :)

//

if ever sakura wanted to list down the most astounding things she has ever experienced in her whole life, this moment would, without a doubt, take the winning spot.

she can't exactly recall how it happened, it just... did. in the blink of eye.

maybe it was the sudden sensation of hyewon's soft, cold lips against her own that made her brain stutter and forget. she struggled to process the situation and thus, couldn't recall how it happened.

sakura vividly remembers her eyes widening and her eyebrows raising in pure astonishment. her muscles turned rigid and literally her entire being froze as if she was a statue.

upon realising that she kissed sakura out of the blue, hyewon instantly pulls away and staggers back. she covers her mouth with the back of her now trembling hand, her eyebrows crease in sudden concern as fear and anxiety starts to overwhelm her whole being.

sakura remains speechless, standing rooted to the ground. seeing the look of horror on hyewon's face, she blinks back to reality. she doesn't even get a chance to speak when hyewon starts to backtrack in panic.

with a clenched fist, hyewon gives her an apologetic look. her eyes dart aimlessly around the area, almost as if she is at the brink of tears.

"shit... i-i gotta go-"

just like that, hyewon sprints off without another word, without looking back.

"k-kangchan! wait-" sakura tries to stop her but hyewon is already too far ahead.

soon, her figure disappears into the distance.

sakura's lips pressed into a thin line, she retracts her hand slowly as her eyebrows furrow in worry. she inhales deeply before exhaling a shaky breath. she turns back to the bench where they were just sitting at earlier, hyewon's cup of melted ice cream left forgotten.

'what just happened?'

that question left her mouth like a whisper. confused and still robbed off her speech, sakura runs a hand through her short brown locks and releases a small sigh.

the image of hyewon's lips against hers abruptly flashed in her mind. she doesn't realise her own pink tinted cheeks as she slowly presses a finger to her lips. the sensation still lingers and she remembers the taste of hyewon's lips.

vanilla, the ice cream she had earlier.

it isn't until she places a hand over her chest then her breath hitches.

it's ridiculous how fast her heart is palpitating (practically threatening to leap out) without her even realising it.

--

that night, sakura lay sprawled on her bed gazing at the dull white ceiling blankly as she was immersed in her sea of thoughts. she could barely sleep a wink, it was all too overwhelming.

in her right hand, she clutches her phone tightly as she awaits a response that she knew isn't bound to come. not with the current situation, no.

her mind starts to fill with a myriad of questions. what's hyewon feeling right now? judging from her terrified expression earlier, she probably isn't feeling well. she seemed stupefied of her own actions too.

did she not kiss sakura on purpose? no that can't be it, she wouldn't have panicked and ran away.

and the question that lingered at the back of her mind was; why did she kiss sakura?

before it all happened, sakura was rambling excitedly about how dazzling the stars that hung in the nightsky were. at that point in time, there was a surreal blanket of stars strung above them. the sight was enchanting that sakura was engrossed as she spoke on and on about them.

yet, she failed to realise that the dazzling star hyewon preferred to gaze at was sakura.

sakura bites her lower lip, could it be that hyewon likes her? in a way that's more than friends? if so, then the girl did a great job at hiding it before. hyewon is a clingy person in general so sakura doesn't think much about the amount of skinship since hyewon acts the same around other people.

right?

if hyewon really did have romantic feelings for her, sakura wonders for how long. maybe she's liked sakura for too long that she wasn't able to hold back. maybe her feelings got the better of her so her body acted on its own.

sakura turns her body to lay on her side, eyes fixed on her phone which displayed their chat. the bundles of messages she had sent hasn't been replied to or even seen by hyewon yet.

kangchan...

can we talk?

about what happened earlier...

please?

i'm not mad if you're wondering

kangchan, i'm worried

can i call you?

hey...

:(

please reply

hyewon...

i'm sorry

sakura apologises because she feels the need to. she apologises because of her own stupidity and obliviousness.

her thumb hovers over the image display of the call button at the top right hand corner of the chat, feeling hesitant. even if she tries calling, hyewon wouldn't pick up would she?

her eyes trail over to hyewon's contact name. her nickname with a bunch of heart and food emojis. sakura's chat wallpaper is a selfie of her and hyewon grinning widely.

anyone who sees her wallpaper could tell that they're both ecstatically happy, that they obviously enjoy each other's company.

the thought of hyewon liking her romantically made sakura ponder about her own feelings for the latter. she isn't really sure how it feels like to fall for someone.

sakura's never given a shot at love but lately, around hyewon, she feels a magnetic feeling which you wouldn't normally feel towards a friend.

does it feel like your whole day is much more brighter with them around? like that one time when hyewon's presence cheered her up tremendously when sakura thought she flopped a paper? she couldn't care less about the paper after that.

do they always make you comfortable like hyewon always does no matter the situation?

does it feel like you can be more like yourself regardless with them around like sakura had always felt free around hyewon?

do they make your stomach all ticklish as if there were butterflies in your stomach or the sudden jolting and tingling feeling whenever their skin brushes against yours? like those other times sakura had felt before... albeit she shrugged the 'weird' feeling away after.

do they make your heart thump a hundred times faster than usual? like the situation earlier... when hyewon kissed her.

'ah...'

and before she knows it, sakura is out the door.

--

with ragged breaths, sakura has her hands on her knees for support as she catches her breath. when she ran out of her house, she didn't even spare a glance at the clock. she isn't even sure if hyewon is awake at this time.

but sakura couldn't possibly wait another day to talk to hyewon. for all she knows, the brunette would intentionally avoid her like a plaque after the incident. worse, they wouldn't talk ever again. and sakura really doesn't want that. not after only musing deeply and finally admitting her own feelings for hyewon.

she reconciled her feelings for a long time tonight, she isn't about to back out now.

with her whole body feeling like jelly, she takes a deep, well-deserved breath before standing up properly. there she stands in front of hyewon's door with her bangs sticking to her sweaty forehead, clad in her light pink sleepwear which is decorated with cartoon-ish strawberry characters everywhere.

she really didn't have the time to be worrying about her attire then.

bringing a hand up slowly, sakura's knuckles rap on the door before quickly retracting back to grip on the hem of her shirt anxiously.

if hyewon doesn't answer the door within ten seconds, sakura has made a decision to turn back.

barely ten seconds passed and the sound of the door clicking open made sakura instantly whip her head to the said brunette whom had occupied her mind for the whole night.

"s-sakura?" hyewon's voice is weak and fragile.

sakura feels her heart clench seeing the state of the brunette in front of her. hyewon's hair is slightly disheveled, she hasn't changed out of her clothes from earlier and her eyes are puffy.

the corner of her eyes are red, there are obvious tear stains on her rosy cheeks and her nose is a light shade of red.

the thought of hyewon crying the entire night broke something inside sakura. suddenly, sakura feels a lump in her throat. she swallows nervously.

without hesitation, she abruptly engulfs hyewon in a tight embrace. her arms wrap around hyewon's neck as if clinging to her life. she shuts her eyes tightly.

her actions left hyewon stunned, the latter remains stiff with her hands hanging by sakura's sides, uncertain whether to return the gesture or not.

"you had me worried kangchan," sakura mutters.

hyewon presses her lips into a thin line, unable to respond in sakura's warm embrace.

"why didn't you reply to my texts and calls?" sakura quizzes but she doesn't expect an answer.

"i'm not mad kangchan,"

hyewon's hands drop to her sides, gulping.

"why not? i did something i wasn't supposed to... my body reacted on its own. it was in the spur of the moment thing... after all the times i tried so hard to be subtle, i really thought i messed up." hyewon's voice cracked again, indicating that she's about to have another breakdown.

sakura pulls away from the embrace and smiles softly with a huff when hyewon starts sobbing silently again. sakura cups her cheeks, using her thumbs to wipe away her tears gently.

she feels the sudden urge to kiss them all away.

"why do you talk as if kissing me is a crime, hyewon?"

hyewon averts her eyes as she snifles, lips pursing.

"maybe it is..." she mumbles but sakura hears her.

the japanese girl laughs lightly.

"then it's a crime i don't mind you committing over and over again." sakura says ever so softly as her eyes automatically trail down to hyewon's calamine pink lips.

her thumb grazes gently over hyewon's lower lip, plump and soft. she meets hyewon's holding gaze and for a moment, she's captivated. sakura notices how tense she is so she uses her other hand and slides it down hyewon's arm before finally slipping her hand inside the brunette's warm one. she intertwines their fingers as a form of reassurance and comfort.

then she smiles softly, causing hyewon's breath to hitch at the sight.

"may i?" sakura knows she doesn't have to ask but she does anyway.

hyewon merely nods and remains still, unconsciously gulping. sakura leans in slowly and tilts her head slightly. hyewon closes her eyes just as their lips met in a gentle crash.

when they kiss, hyewon feels if all her doubts and worries are washed away almost immediately. her tense muscles soon relaxes. all she feels is sakura's lips against her own.

the kiss is soft and chaste, the gentle friction causes warmth to surge through sakura's whole being, filling her up. her heart palpitates faster than usual, a familiar feeling. she feels a militia of chills crawl down her spine.

she wonders if hyewon feels the same thing.

they pull away in need of air, faces only an inch away as their breaths mingled. their eyes traveled to and fro between each other's eyes and lips. sakura squeezes their intertwined hands, the corner of her lips tugged up in a shy smile.

hyewon's lips mirrored hers before they both burst into giggles. hyewon looks past sakura and cringes.

"i can't believe we did that in front of an open door." she states, moving towards the said door and closing it.

sakura covers her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"i guess we got too carried away,"

with their hands still interlaced, hyewon turns back to sakura, unable to meet her gaze. she feels her cheeks burn as she unconsciously touches her lips. hyewon feels a slight tug at their joint hands, earning her attention.

mustering all her courage, hyewon moves her eyes to meet sakura's enchanting ones. one of her ears (the usual right one) poked out cutely like an elephant's. the tip of her ears are visibly red. hyewon gushes internally at the adorable sight.

"look, i know tonight has been a rollercoaster for the both of us but i... want to establish our relationship."

seeing the look of determination in sakura's eyes, hyewon's unsure of how to respond. her mouth opened and closed like fish out of water. her heart is doing it again for the umpteenth time. it's pounding so hard against her ribcage, almost impossible to calm down.

"i always thought i'm not ready for commitments but you really changed me, kangchan. i want to give us a shot, so... how about it? be my girlfriend maybe?" sakura ends her question with a cute tilt of her head, a shy smile plastered on her lips.

upon her confession, hyewon's heart swells in pure bliss. she's grinning so widely that her cheeks hurt. the back of her eyes are burning again and this time, it wouldn't be tears of melancholy, but tears of happiness. the immense, inexplicable sense of euphoria engulfed her entirely that her eyes once again releases a waterfall of emotions.

"y-yes please,"

--

"so... this whole time you felt the same?"

"yeah, but i guess i was too dumb and slow to realise that earlier."

"i just can't believe it... i thought for sure i messed up."

"well it was kinda like a wake up call for me. don't worry, you didn't mess up kangchan. in fact, you brought us together."

"you... really love me too?"

"silly if i didn't, i wouldn't be knocking on your door at three in the morning just to return your feelings."

"i-i um-"

"shut up and sleep, kangchan."

"ᶦ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ʸᵒᵘ,"

"what was that, hyewon-ah?"

"nothing."

"...kkura loves you too, kangchan."

///

end.

hyekura makes me: