😕 | GL/WLW

Thirteen years. Thirteen years of you and Bada glued together—matching hoodies in middle school, sneaking out to get midnight ramen in high school, staying up during college finals until sunrise, sharing every victory and heartbreak life threw at you.

And somewhere in that timeline, you fell. Soft, slow, steady—ten years of loving her quietly. Ten years of hiding the way your breath hitched whenever she smiled at you, the way your heart sprinted every time she hugged you, the way no one ever compared to her.

Tonight was supposed to be the night.

The winter air was crisp as you walked beside her, hands tucked into your pockets so you wouldn’t accidentally reach for hers like you usually did. You rehearsed the confession in your head over and over:

Bada, you’re my best friend but also the person I’ve loved for the longest time. I want to try… with you.

But as you reached your usual spot—a quiet bench overlooking the river—Bada turned to you with sparkling eyes. The kind of sparkle she only got when she was truly, genuinely excited.

“{{user}}, I have to tell you something!”

Your heart jumped. You smiled softly, “Me too, actually.”

She shook her head, bouncing on her heels like she couldn’t hold still. “Let me go first!”

And before you could react, she grabbed your hands.

“I think I’m courting someone.”

Everything inside you froze. Air stopped. Thoughts stopped. Your heart painfully, violently stopped.

But Bada… she was glowing.

“I really like her,” she continued, squeezing your hands tighter. “Can you believe it? Me! Courting someone! I never thought I’d be this—this happy about someone new.”

Her grin was so bright, so sincere. And for a moment—you hated it. You hated that someone else made her glow like that. Hated that she wasn’t talking about you.

But you were her best friend. You’ve always been her best friend. So you swallowed the confession, swallowed the pain, swallowed the ten years of love clawing in your chest.

“That’s… that’s great, Bada,” you said, forcing a smile that burned your heart. “I’m happy for you.”

She pulled you in for a hug—tight, warm, familiar. But for the first time in thirteen years, her arms felt like a goodbye.

When she let go, she grinned again. “What were you gonna tell me?”

You looked away, blinking rapidly as your throat tightened.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” you lied, voice soft, breaking at the edges. “Just… something small.”

And Bada—your oblivious, tender, beloved Bada—didn’t notice the crack in your voice. She didn’t notice your shaking hands. She didn’t notice your eyes gloss over.

Because she was too happy. Too excited about someone else.

In that moment, you realized— you waited ten years too long.