Romantic Feelings?! (Hye-Rin + Arisu)

Though her friend's hands landing on her shoulders was meant to bring comfort, Hye-Rin couldn't help but flinch just before. Old habits die hard, and though her mind knew that Arisu wasn't there to hurt her in any way... It would take a long time for her to trust people completely again, and it would take her body even longer to grow out of it's old routines of numbing limbs to shield the beatings.

The Korean's friend would shut the door behind them, turning to face her after with a tender look on her face. Each time Arisu had climbed the tower up to the princesses solitary room on the fifth floor, her spirits were always high and she'd joke without a care. Yet, as she looked at the same girl now, a much more supportive and refreshing Arisu looked back. As Hye-Rin listened to her friend's attempt to lift her spirits, the forced smile that had curved her lips so falsely had begun to droop down to reveal her true feelings. Her lip was quivering at the end of the blackette's words, and she had melted into a puddle of emotions.

Letting the dam loose, tears streamed down her cheeks,"Arisu-chaaaaaan~!" Practically wailing out her friend's name a tad too melodramatically, the Korean would lift her arms to wrap them around her friend in an embrace. It didn't last long for her to break away, holding onto Arisu's upper arms with a small and gentle grasp,"Jack-kun said he liked me a-and now every-everything is going to be awkward!" She looked quite foolish right now- her mouth warped into a childish-looking pout while flowers began to sprout where her tears hit. The moisture beckoned them out like it was lunch time, and the Korean didn't even realize how silly she must have looked,"A-And he asked if I liked Saito-kun in the same way! I-I said no!" Hye-Rin would bring a hand to her face to wipe away the tears, barely paying the flowers any mind as she rubbed fairly aggressively. Some petals would fall to the ground, but she didn't notice. They were, after all, constantly on her face,"And I-I said if it made him uncomfortable that I'd stop talk-talking to Saito-kun as much because I didn't want to hurt his feelings but I like spending time with Saito-kun!" She'd take a short pause to sniff all of the snot, and there was a lot, back into her nose. It had built up throughout the day because of her cold, and she had to now resort to breathing through her mouth,"I don't know what to do! He logged off before I could say anything to him. But, what could I say?!" 

After that was all out of her system, she'd take the remaining hand off of Arisu's arm. It fell to her side, along with the other one, and she wilted like a flower without sunlight. 

Hye-Rin nodded solemnly to Arisu scolding her, looking back now at how badly she treated herself so that Jack could be lifted up instead. It was something she'd done often in all sorts of areas of her life, but she had never done the same for herself. Though she hid it well behind a cheery demeanor and bright smile, Hye-Rin had never thought highly of herself. So, when Arisu had come up so selflessly to make sure she was alright, her heart swelled in her chest.

Saito-kun was dear to her. And Arisu telling her that it was wrong for her to even think of throwing away something she cherished so that Jack wouldn't be jealous made her happy. No, it was more than that. A smile would creep onto her face as she wiped away more tears, perking up just a bit with the last of her many nods. 

Being guided back to her bed, her friend sat her down and asked her a bombardment of questions. Most of which, she didn't know the answer to. Shifting to sit cross-legged on her bed, Hye-Rin tried her best to sift through the thoughts in her head to find answers,"I don't think I like Jack-kun back, but I haven't really had many crushes on boys in the past, so I wouldn't really know..." She'd pat a vacant spot on her bed littered with plush toys for Arisu to sit next to her, not wanting an anchor in that moment but an equal,"But... I've watched a lot K-Dramas! And when I watch the romantic scenes, my heart doesn't flutter in the same way when I see Jack-kun." Nodding confidently at this strange but Hye-Rin answer, she'd continue,"I do want to be his friend, and I want to think that I can let him down easy but..." Instead of a bitter frown, her mouth had turned into a perplexed pout as she thought more about the words that came out. Her amber eyes were still quite glossy from the onslaught of tears, but just being with a friend in her time of need helped greatly,"I don't want him to hate me. And he always says that he trusts me in the chatroom, so it feels like I should owe him something. I don't know, Arisu-chan." She'd grab the nearest plush toy to her- a white bunny with a cute face that was half her size- and clutched it tightly to her chest. It was just the right size that her eyes could gaze over it's soft head at her friend.

Though, doing so made Arisu look a bit lonely, and she'd grab the next closest stuffed animal- a similarly-sized brown bear with a yellow bow-tie- and handed it to the blackette. 

The bunny, as too much of her face was covered, would nod often in response to Arisu's lengthy answer to show she was listening. It became obvious that there was much that Hye-Rin had to learn when it came to love, and even more so to friendship. Sheltered was a good way to describe her, and the curiosity in the world outside the shiny walls of her bubble always made her wonder about the 'what-ifs'. What if her destiny was around the corner? What if her soulmate was just a few feet away and she was too naive to believe it so? At the end of her lengthy monologue, she'd ask the Korean if all of it made sense. Which, she'd get a cheerful nod to,"Wah... Arisu-chan is so wise!" Hye-Rin would bring the bunny's arms up to it's cheeks to make it look in awe at it's bear brother.

Leaning forward towards Arisu, Hye-Rin would let the bunny's head fall a bit while her own looked at her friend in wonder,"You must have had a lot of encounters like this before, Arisu-chan! How else would you know so much?" The same blissful smile would appear on her face as it always did, now dug out of the hole she had dug herself thanks to the blackette. Truthfully, she hadn't had a close girl friend before- one she could pour her heart out to. They were all quite simple-minded like herself, though she never thought so, and Arisu looked incredibly intelligent to her in that moment. To think that they were the same age and she already knew so much about life and it's troubles!

Hye-Rin would lean back, the bunny now blocking the majority of her body once more,"Okay... I'll tell him all of this the next time I see him!" The arm of her furry friend would be brought up to salute, and she's giggle to herself,"Well, if we're in private, of course!" Scooting closer to Arisu, bringing the bunny's arm up once more to place it next to it's mouth as if it was cupping it's hand over it to whisper a secret. Though, in order to be heard, the Korean had to lift her head to rest her chin on the top of it's soft head,"I know I said I haven't had many crushes, but I really like anime and K-Dramas, so I have crushes on characters instead! And I know that Jack-kun isn't my type!" Along with the flower buds that still dotted along her tear-stained cheeks, rose buds began to sprout across her cheeks as a blush joined them,"I like when they're tall and mysterious. But, on top of that, they're snarky and always shield their feelings with humor! So, the protagonist has to keep trying to get to know them and break through their shell! And sometimes she fails, but that's all part of their love story!" She was describing boys in the shows she watched too much of, but it all sounded like someone much too familiar...

"Someone like that...", Looking off through the window of her room dreamily, her smile would turn into a melted mess of emotions as she held the bunny closer to her chest. Her heart beat against it's back, and she breathed out a love-sick sigh.

"...Is like a prince to me."

The smile that spread across her face when Arisu-chan spoke of her mother was genuine, but it also held some sadness behind it. The only motherly figure that had been in the girl's life had been from a time she'd rather not remember, but not having one had taken it's toll on the girl. There was no one in her life to teach her all the things a mother should, and had to stumble through life with far too much trial and error. Her father had raised her well enough, but there were so many life lessons she had to struggle through herself. 

Having Arisu appear in her life was a little late, but worth the wait.

Hye-Rin nodded,"I'll be careful! It's not like my prince exists anywhere but my mind, anyway." She'd smile and laugh awkwardly at herself, the bunny scratching the back of it's head as she wanted to. Even when it came time for her to find her 'prince charming', she was going to have her heart saved just for that moment. No premature infatuation with anyone else! The Korean was going to save her gentle and sweet first love for him! They'd go to karaoke together and belt out ballads without a care as to who heard their love. They'd cook together, enjoying her traditional Korean cooking-

An idea came to her mind suddenly, and her eyes lit up,"You mentioned gimbap before, right?" The bunny would be placed at it's original seat on her council of plush toys, bouncing out of bed with newfound energy. The defeated girl that had opened the door for Arisu was no more, replaced with the bubbly and familiar Hye-Rin from the chatroom. Practically skipping to her small container of pantry groceries, she'd grab the white rice that sat on top and the dried seaweed sheets to show Arisu.

Holding the key ingredients in her arms, she'd nod up towards the short, two shelved bookshelf just beside her bed,"I'm going to teach you how to make it! Grab that portable stove from the shelf there and let's get cooking!"