tongue of a fox, tongue of a cat || aespa || ningselle

4

"So, how's your throat feeling?"

Lia takes a bite of kimbap straight from the uncut roll in her hands. "S'fine, why do you ask?"

"I wanted to duet with someone," Yizhuo says, jabbing at a piece of chicken with her fork.

Lia tilts her head. "But we're already partners in class?"

"No, stupid, I want you to busk with me. At least just for today. I'm kinda sick of playing for myself," Yizhuo explains.

"Hm, sure. To what do I owe the pleasure of accompanying our star singer?"

"Our wonderful companionship and inseperable bond."

Lia snorts. "Alright, when?"

"Right after class!" Yizhuo lights up immediately. "I'll get Jimin to bring my guitar."

"Deal."

"...Are you sure you don't want to get it cut up?" Yizhuo asks. Lia's messy bites result in long strips of ingredients being pulled out of the roll so only rice and seaweed are left behind.

She slurps up a whole ribbon of spring onion. "Absolutely not," she protests through a mouthful of rice. "This is the authentic Korean way of consuming it."

"Don't bullshit me," Yizhuo laughs. She stabs another piece of fried chicken. It crunches as her fork impales it, breading crumbling off, more so as she bites into it.

Between them, they ordered a dish of rice cakes. Lia pushes it towards Yizhuo, who gratefully accepts and takes a fishcake drenched in sauce. As she chews, she dials Jimin's number.

"Chi-min-ah, can you get my guitar and the mic from home? I'm gonna bring Lia to busk with me. Yeah, in main square, where else do I busk? Thanks girl, love you. Do you want anything to eat? Does Minjeong want anything to eat? Okay, I'll get it after I'm done. Fuck, uh, you wanna watch anything after? Alright. Sure, just bring an extra blanket in case you get cold. Bye."

Lia stares and cooes. "Ningningie is all soft for her friends, isn't she?"

"I got a fork with four perfectly sharp prongs in my hand and a very short temper," Yizhuo says as she puts her phone back in her pocket.

"I don't get why you get so shy whenever someone points out you're being anything else than a complete bitch with a guitar stuck up her ass," Lia sighs.

Yizhuo eats a rice cake, rolls her eyes. Lia helps her clean off the dish.

"What time is it?"

Yizhuo checks her phone. "It's 2:55. We have five minutes."

"Eh, just enough time to get to the classroom. Race you there?"

"Race me?" Yizhuo places the empty dish in the bin for dirty cutlery and plates. Lia stands behind her, tinfoil-wrapped kimbap still in hand. "What are we, ten?"

Lia scoffs and takes another bite of her roll. "You think you have a phD in maturity for not wanting to race me, don't you?"

"Didn't you brag about not eating candy during finals last year? Little Miss Ultra Healthy?"

"That was one time!"

...

Aeri discovers very quickly lunch in university does not work how it did in high school - everyone has varying mealtimes depending on their schedules.

The canteen is bigger than she expected. There are stalls to get Western and Korean and even Chinese food from.

Nerves still make her jittery, so she goes straight to the drinks stall and orders an iced coffee.