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[moonlitofmuse]

my crush hates me... or does she? || WONYUNA

summary/context: jang wonyoung might've been the most popular and wanted girl in her high school, but she was never really interested in romantic things or being someone's girlfriend, until shin yuna joined her high school. she fell head over heels for her and was eventually convinced by her friends to confess to her, but things don't go well... or do they?

pairing: jang wonyoung (ive) × shin yuna (itzy)

trope(s): an actual love triangle (w/ huening kai)

warning/topics: un(requited) love, pining, light angst, eventual fluff

a/n: how's nobody writing about them? lol. i've been loving this crack ship/love triangle since it was a thing in 2019 and i think we all remember that one clip of them at mama and everyone just ended up shipping the girls (i love gay ppl sm). and, recently, my tiktok fyp showed me a wonyuna slideshow so i had to write something about them, and here we are :)

wc: 2,654

• • •

"Come on, Wonnie, I'm sure you can do this."

And there was Jang Wonyoung, the most popular and romantically solicited girl in the entire high school, shaking on her feet in front of her best friend, Ahn Yujin, who was currently trying to encourage her to confess to her crush... anonymously.

She was holding an envelope, very similar to the too many ones she had received today from her admirers, but compared to the others, hers was pink—her crush's favorite color—and it had some crayon hearts as decorations that she drew herself. Wonyoung ran her thumb over it, feeling the fiber texture under her fingertip as she, unconsciously, bit her lip, feeling anxious.

Her high school had this corny tradition of putting anonymous confession letters inside their crush's locker once every year, and just like in past years, she received a lot of them. Last year, she had recognized some handwriting on the letters, mostly from guys, but she wasn't interested in them, or anyone, to be fair. Until she happened this year.

Shin Yuna, the girl from her art class. She knew Yuna was a year older than her; she was repeating a year. She knew Yuna was friends with some seniors: Hwang Yeji, Lia Choi, Shin Ryujin, and Chaeyeon's little sister, Lee Chaeryeong. She also knew that Yuna was an excellent artist, who had a burning passion for it, and Wonyoung realized it when one day she observed caught Yuna drawing under a tree that was far from the other students during one of their breaks. Yuna was also part of the dance club where Yujin was too, and in Yujin's words, she was great, better than great.

Wonyoung knew her favorite color, her favorite food, her favorite music, her favorite piece of clothing, her hobbies, her friends, and her favorite places to hang out.

Wonyoung knew too much about Yuna, but had never talked to her, not even said hello to her. But she wasn't a creep, was she?

She received a lot of attention in the past, a lot of validation and praise from men and women equally, and she was confident in herself, but now, she wasn't. Not about this.

Could I really do it? No, she didn't think so.

"But I can't! I really can't!" she cried in defeat, her arms dropping, looking at Yujin hopelessly.

"Look, Wonyoung," Yujin grabbed her shoulders, making Wonyoung look her in the eyes as she spoke, "You can do this, I know you can, I've known you since we were kids, so I know what I'm talking about. You've been pining and drooling over this girl for way too long, and you need to confess now, or you're going to regret it after not doing it, and it's anonymous anyway! How would she know it was you who wrote that?"

Wonyoung frowned. "I don't know how that last part is supposed to make me feel better, but I'll take it, I guess."

Yujin let go of her shoulders and sighed loudly, almost grunting. "This is her first time experiencing this tradition, she'll probably be curious to know who wrote this for her, especially if it's from a girl,” she said with a smirk on her lips and then winked at her best friend. “You did specify that, right?"

Wonyoung rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I think I did. Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right." Yujin spoke with a cocky smile. This made Wonyoung roll her eyes again, but this time she was smiling, clearly amused by her best friend's behavior. "Now go leave her the letter, she's out of sight. See you at the cafeteria, Wonnie! You got this!" Yujin chanted as she started to go in a different direction from Wonyoung, leaving for the place where their other friends were.

Wonyoung was left alone in the lockers, with no one there. She took a few breaths in and out to keep her anxiety down, and then she walked towards a locker. A locker, that if you were a fool or new, you wouldn't recognize, but who wouldn't recognize Shin Yuna’s locker with the sparkly hot pink hearts and adorable bunny and cat stickers all over its door?

She took another breath once she was in front of it, making a “whoo” sound when she exhaled, and then, she took the courage to slide the letter through the vent of Yuna's locker, making a soft sound as the paper fell on metal.

It was done. She actually did it. Her heart was drumming against her ear, but she felt it in her throat, her eyes widened as she stared at the locker of her crush, she was freaking out now.

But it felt great; fear and anxiety started to get overshadowed by joy and pride. She smiled proudly at herself, with surprise still drawn on her face, and then she started to walk to the cafeteria where her friends were waiting for her. She tried to muffle the happy sounds that wanted to come out of her mouth; her steps were fast-paced as she knew she had some good news for her friends.

She did it.

• • •

“I did it!” she exclaimed, almost screaming, as she stopped in front of the table her friends were currently having lunch at. “I fucking did it, guys!”

“Did what?” Yena asked, visibly confused, with her mouth full as she was munching on a french fry.

“Did you leave her the letter?” Yujin asked this time, watching excitedly at her best friend.

Wonyoung sat beside her where there was a space for her, and nodded to answer Yujin's question. “I did it, Jinnie!” she whispered-screamed at Yujin, making them both giggle like little kids.

“Did you leave Shin Yuna a letter?”

“Wait, Shin Yuna?” Yuri said, her frown contrasting with Nako’s excitement. “You like and confessed to Shin Yuna?”

“Yes, don't you feel good for me?” Wonyoung was confused, she couldn't figure out why Yuri was looking at her like that.

“No, yes, I do feel good for you, and I'm proud of you, Wonyoung, but I didn't know you liked her and if I knew…” Yuri sighed. “Did you at least put something in the letter, like a clue or something, to give away that it was from you?”

“Yes, I did specify that I was…” her words were cut off by a sight far away from her but so clear in her vision. A sight of Yuna, with Wonyoung's letter in her hand, walking towards someone else: a guy, who she recognized very well, Huening Kai. She was sure that everyone in the place could perfectly hear her heart shattering like fragile glass as she watched that moment, when her crush hugged someone else, “... a girl,” she finished her sentence weakly, her lips feeling heavy, her whole body feeling heavy as the news presented in front of her.

She liked Yuna, but Yuna didn't like her back.

“Wonyoung…” She could hear Yuri’s voice saying her name with worry, with pity. Wonyoung didn't need that; she needed to get out of there.

She got up from her seat feeling numb, carrying her heavy bleeding heart with her. She could hear someone calling her name and felt their presence following her, but she didn't care. She kept running.

Wonyoung got out of the place successfully but failed at holding back a sob that she didn't know she was fighting to hide the whole way through the cafeteria.

“Wonyoung, wait!” Yujin's voice was clearer now. Way too clear, too much noise. She had to keep running.

But then, she felt her best friend's hand stopping her by pulling her by her arm, and like a habit, she found shelter in Yujin's arms as she let herself cry on her shoulder. “Shh, it'll be okay, Wonnie, I'm here for you.”

Wonyoung let her tears fall as she felt them burn the skin of her cheeks, her sobs making their way out not caring if anyone heard her. Yujin patted her head and held her shaking body tightly, trying to calm her down, as Wonyoung continued to unleash the pain in her heart for a few more minutes. Then, she felt the broken-hearted girl let go of her embrace. Yujin's heart squeezed empathetically when she finally saw Wonyoung’s puffy red eyes staring into hers, still shining with tears that didn't come out and her cheeks just as damp as the fabric covering Yujin's shoulder.

“Hey, it's okay,” Yujin spoke softly to her best friend as she tried to wipe her cheeks, but the tears that had been strained in her eyes finally fell without any effort, undoing Yujin's work.

“It's not! How could I be so stupid? I was so nervous and so distracted when I wrote it that I forgot to specify it was a letter from a girl,” Wonyoung's voice came out weak and shaky, but nasally and whiny, she felt defeated and dumb. “And now, she thinks her actual crush wrote that for her. She likes that Kai guy and he probably likes her back; you saw how they hugged.”

“You sure? ‘Cause I think he likes someone else, and he didn't write that letter, did he?” Yujin was still holding her by her arms, she squeezed them as an attempt to comfort her as she asked her question with a raised eyebrow.

Wonyoung shook her head weakly. “No.”

Yujin smiled at the short response. “Come on, let's get your face washed, can't let the people see the Jang Wonyoung like this.”

And Wonyoung smiled back.

• • •

The next day, Wonyoung was standing in front of her locker. She opened it, being welcomed by a bunch of letters she had received yesterday but didn't have the energy to read, so she left them there on purpose. She wasn't in the mood to read them all today either, but who knows, maybe some unrequited attention would cheer her up.

She took a crimson red envelope. It was plain without any striking decorations, but the color was pretty at least. She opened it and started reading it. Wonyoung found herself with words that she had read many times before in other letters from different people—the same sweet and lame words—and every time, it bored her. They didn't cheer her up, but instead made her more miserable than she was today. Just to pay some cordial respect to the anonymous sender, she sped up her reading, not really focusing on getting full words or sentences, just to get to the end of the letter.

And something finally caught her attention.

“From: HK — just a tiny hint ;)” it read at the end.

Wonyoung's eyes widened as she recognized those initials.

“Oh my. fucking. God!” The other students in the hallway were now staring at her with confusion and curiosity, but Wonyoung didn't care. She couldn't believe this. She held the letter in her left hand and sighed heavily as she suppressed the urge to fold it into a ball and throw it far away from her.

For the first time in her high school years, someone finally made her feel something over a letter, but it wasn't what she expected.

Yuna's crush had a crush on her.

“Hey, you tall baby!”

“What do you want, Chaeyeon?” Wonyoung closed her locker, making a strong sound that made the girl behind her flinch. Then she turned around to meet her friend, who was looking at her with a frown.

“Not in the mood today?”

“No, not really. I just found out about the worst thing ever,” she answered Chaeyeon's inquiry and then handed her the letter.

Chaeyeon understood what she wanted her to do, so she took the letter in her hand and read the last sentence that made Wonyoung's day her worst day ever.

“HK? As in Huening Kai? I think he's the only guy I know with those initials and is around your age, but why do you feel like this?” Chaeyeon asked again, handing her the letter back. “You usually don't care about anyone's letter unless it's from Yuna,” she teased with a mocking smile.

Wonyoung groaned, rolling her eyes at her friend's teasing. Didn't she get that she was not in the mood? “Yesterday, I got the memo that Yuna doesn't like me but him. She hugged him after she thought my letter was from him.”

Chaeyeon’s whole face frowned in confusion. “And he likes you? What kind of weird love triangle are you in, girl?” She tried to suppress a laugh but ended up chuckling incredulously.

“I don't even know! Dramas didn't prepare me for this shit!”

“Well, and here I thought Yuna understood what I told her. I can see she's kinda dumb now.”

Wonyoung stopped in her tracks, now looking at the girl with a harsh stare. “What do you mean? What did you tell her?”

“Just told her she was getting a letter from you, but not actually told her that, just implied it.”

“What did you exactly tell her?”

“Well…”

“Hey, Yuna!” Chaeyeon said as she released her sister's shoulders from the grip of her arm, approaching the owner of the name.

“Yeah?”

“I heard you're getting a letter from someone tomorrow.”

Yuna’s eyes and smile widened, looking like an excited bunny. “Wait, what? Really? Who told you? Do you know them?”

“I can't tell you, I won't break the rules! But believe me when I say you will be happy and more than pleased when you know.”

“Are you dumb, Lee Chaeyeon?” Wonyoung almost screamed at her.

Chaeyeon frowned. “What?” She said, taken aback by the girl's strong reaction.

“What? That's what I'm asking you! What the fuck was that?”

“What I told her!”

“You literally did nothing more than mislead her into thinking her crush, who is clearly not me, likes her and gave her a letter!” Now, they were yelling at each other.

“How could I ever know she likes someone else?”

“Oh well, I don't know, you could've asked your sister about it since she's her friend!”

“Why would I ever ask my sister about Yuna's private life? That's weird!”

“You could've been weird once, for me!”

Wonyoung sighed as she brushed her hair back in an unconscious gesture to ease the stress and anxiety she was feeling; it did not work, of course. Realizing what she said, Wonyoung stayed silent, and so did Chaeyeon for a few short seconds until she spoke again.

“Now, you're crossing a line here,” Chaeyeon said, putting her index finger in front of her friend like she was scolding her, her voice tone more relaxed and serious now that she was slowly getting where Wonyoung’s anger was coming from. “You didn't write in the letter that you were a girl like you said you would, right?”

Wonyoung shook her head, defeated. “No, I didn't, so I'm mad at myself! I feel so dumb, Chaeyeon.”

“Hey, don't. It's okay. Mistakes happen,” Chaeyeon said as she put her hands on Wonyoung’s shoulders, squeezing them, trying to comfort her.

“I know, but I'm still kind of mad at you, though.”

Chaeyeon chuckled under her breath. “Yeah, I'm sorry,” she said, but then pursed her lips, seeming like she wasn’t convinced about her words. “... even though it wasn't fully my fault, to be honest, but I do recognize it was misleading. I could've done better or asked first.”

Wonyoung shook her head and sighed, feeling bad for lashing out at her friend. “No, don't apologize. You're right, it wasn't your fault, and I was just taking my anger out on you. I'm the one who's sorry.”

Chaeyeon smiled as she patted Wonyoung's shoulders. “It's okay, we're good. You know that I really don't care about those things, so no hard feelings.”

Wonyoung exhaled with relief. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome. Now come on, I think I know how you can fix this mess.”

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. . . want a part 2?