While some people come into our lives for a hot second to be temporary, there are friends that come along that imprint themselves into our souls forever—such is the case of your friendly neighborhood duo, bound together by their maarte tendencies and mutual understanding of each other’s trashy personas!
What started as a simple freshman year acquaintanceship based off of a mutual love of canned goods and instant noodles eventually grew into the laughter-induced-stomach-cramping, beauty enabling, K-Pop obsessing, adventure-seeking companionship it is today! Through shared classes and internships and slumber parties and drunken fiascos that encompassed the eight (or so) years we’ve known each other, we—as the collective JaJu you’ve come to know and love—couldn’t help but look back at our stupidity this International Friendship Day and reminisce the best moments of our friendship where we knew we were meant to be soul sisters.
Hopefully, our stories crack a smile on your face and inspire you to give your besties some extra love today, too!
When we could enter each other’s homes without knocking or announcing ourselves because our families are so used to us being a packaged deal. Our families have gotten so used to having each other around that they have foregone all decorum around the both of us. Jazz’s mom, for example, was once walking around in just loungewear and Jazz had asked her to wear something proper because they had a guest: Julia. Upon seeing who the guest was, Jazz’s mom remained unflinching and pointed out to her child, “That’s not a guest; that’s Julia,” and continued about on her way, flipping through Netflix in her loungewear with her feet up on a chair—thanks, Tita 😂
When we’re comfortable hitting each other up for a crying stress sesh or a drunken adventure and we know the other would be down either way because no matter what life throws at us, we can only take so much and we need a shoulder to hold us up. At the end of a stressful day, when all the sh*t hits the fan, and we’re in need of a little venting, all it takes is a simple text to hit up a drive or a call so that we could let all the feelings out. Alexa, play Charlie Puth’s “One Call Away” because it rings so true.
We’re trying to make the most of our youth given the fact that we would never know what happens tomorrow (hello pandemic, we see you), which is why we’re usually down and ready to go for any random adventure we cook up in the moment—a pre-COVID bar hop? Yes! Maybe pizza and wine? Always! A little Grey’s Anatomy binge session? Sis, we’re already at each other’s doorstep with wine bottles in hand—sometimes already half empty. Because being within residential proximity of each other definitely has so many perks, we borderline abuse it.
These b*tches graduated together 😎 
Paying our respects to entertainment agency, Pledis
This down-for-anything mentality started even way before we graduated, when we’d exit class with our stomachs gurgling only to randomly look at each other with knowing expressions that could only mean one thing: Chowking. Regardless of the fact the nearest establishment was a good 1.5km aways (and that we were too stingy to use our baon money for a pedicab), we’d use our lunch breaks to walk all the way there, no complaints in the slightest, and only happy to have someone to make damay.
When we could have 5 different chats running simultaneously on different platforms and in different tones but could still keep up with each other with ease. Besides the obvious “finishing each other’s sentences” best friend trope, our wavelengths are so in sync we’ve literally got a handful of chats which are labeled categorized in different tones and topics so that we’re able to talk about a million things at once without missing a beat: Kakao is for work related matters, Instagram is meant for scrolling and sharing the pretty ~aesthetic~ things, Telegram is for quick file sends, and Facebook is for our general life talks (i.e. memes and daily trashiness). While it’s such a foreign concept to many (mostly our parents), we’ve got it down with such practiced hands.
When we don’t have to think twice about the dumb shit we want to kwento because we know they’re just as stupid and won’t judge. Aside from the fact that we’re usually bursting with dumb b*tch energy (because thinking up all the ways we can contribute to the world and be sustainable in this economy takes a lot), we’ve stopped acting surprised at what stupid things we get up to on our own. The first one to know, besides the obvious eyewitnesses, is definitely each other. Random marriage proposals? Funny Bumble convo? Really weird experience with random older men at a bar? Unsolicited advances from cute Tinder boys? Receipts, or it didn’t happen.
When we could thirst over pretty boys and cry over personal matters and not feel ashamed about either of them. Believe us: this has bit us in the butt IRL a couple of times via all the weird looks people throw our way, but we regret nothing! One of our favorite examples of thirsting over pretty boys is our encounter of spotting a cute guy in the SM Entertainment’s Sum Cafe. We didn’t have the balls to go and dine in so we just stood outside (like complete losers) and looked in through the large floor-to-ceiling windows. Jazz had offhandedly pointed out to Julia that there was a cute boy sitting by the window having coffee with someone—in such a very K-Drama scene style with his casual way of sitting and his legs crossed, soft filtered morning light shining on his hair. Julia had doubled back and emitted a squeal so unconsciously loud that the old grandpa who was walking past us had shot us a surprised dirty look. We had to scurry away because we were a tiny bit scared that he would report us and we’d have to be deported for disturbance of public peace (lol).
Our parents’ number one fear when they sent us abroad together for the first time was that we’d be vulnerable to all the pretty boys we’d find 😅; it was the one thing they kept emphasizing during the lead up to our Seoul graduation trip. Lo and behold, not even a couple days into our little jaunt, we found ourselves trying to navigate an underground maze of a subway station when a cute oppa could obviously tell we were out-of-our-wits lost and took pity on us. He looked to be on his way to work with his preppy casual suit but had the kind heart to offer us help and find our way out by following him out of an exit he was bound for (stranger danger guys, don’t follow anyone unknowingly)—thank you muddled brain and slow loading Google Maps for gracing us with that encounter. In the end, he was kind enough to point out the correct exit for us when we declined the following him out option.
When being in each other’s presence automatically increases our innate stupidity so much that we both gain confidence to do dumber and dumber shit. If you’ve read our article on concerts, all the antics we get up to on con day is really just a beautiful prime example of our integrated stupidity being enhanced more than threefold. From nearly falling down railing just to get a glass of beer or sweet-talking some guards for pabebe photoshoots in off-limits areas or practically foaming at the mouth when our fave idols get within ten feet of us, our capacities for idiocy knows no bounds when it has the both of us to bounce off of.
Honestly, what do you do you’re decked out in traditional Korean hanbok at Gyeongbokgung Palace and fellow tourists ask to take a photo with them for “authenticity” feels? The answer: shrug, smile, and pose for a photo! (They said we were cute and adorable, so we rolled with it 😅).
When we could spend 7 days straight in a foreign country and not want to strangle each other by the time we got back home, despite the many reassurances that our RBFs did not mean we were pissed at each other, but just that the walking around activity was tiring for our stamina-deficient selves. If anything, our first trip abroad reaffirmed our friendship by proving to us that despite the initial five (5) years we’ve known each other, we were meant to be friends for longer.
When they are the first person you ask an opinion from for almost anything and everything, because they’re basically half of the braincell you share and your best hype-person. Shopping trips have never been the same since. If we’re not trying to talk ourselves out of impulsively buying pretty things (ehem, Jazz), we’re turning to our bestie to help us out to do just that. Unfortunately for us, 9/10 times that barely works out and it ends up with somehow finding ourselves enabling each other leading up to us both purchasing items in our signature JaJu colors (rose quartz and serenity blue; hello fellow Carats). Either way, we walk out of stores with some percentage of buyer’s remorse.
Sometimes, when we despair to each other about it (without revealing that we had purchased something) it’s so instinctive to ask: what did you buy now?
This show of solidarity has even gone so far as Jazz asking Julia to accompany her for moral support to a photoshoot she would take part in, only for Julia to dance around and scream “YAS, HOE!” behind the cameraman to help make sure Jazz loosened up and projected. If your friends don’t make absolute fools of themselves to help ease your nerves, are they even really your friends?
When you know enough dirt on each other to possibly ruin each other but won’t because you love them. There have been countless rants and experiences and secrets that we’ve shared in the seven-ish years we’ve spent together as friends, it’s inevitable to have learned and uncovered some skeletons in our closet. It’s a gamble to even let ANYONE crack open a peek at said metaphorical closet, but we’ve proven to each other (and our respective trust issues) that we’ve got nothing to worry about and we’ve got each other’s backs always. All secrets will die with us, especially since we firmly believe that someone else’s dirty laundry isn’t ours to air out.
When all it takes is one look or a quirk of a brow, and you know automatically what they’re thinking of. Whether one of us has noticed a cute boy had pass by or overheard a tidbit of someone’s conversation that had caused the signature JaJu silent-yet-judgmental sass to manifest, a simple side-eye or an eye roll to one another (even from opposite corners of the room) have us exchanging full-blown conversations without a single word.
When, despite not seeing each other for months thanks to quarantine protocols, your uterus (uteri?) still syncs and you still get your periods at the same time. Myth or legend, based on evidence blood sisters do exist. Although we’re not quite sure what science (or mystical forces of nature) causes this, it’s happened to us too many times for it to be just a mere coincidence.
These are just some of the stories and kalokohan we’ve gotten up to during the course of less-than-a-decade old friendship! We’re telling you, there’s so much more we’ve yet to tell (maybe soon!)
If we’ve put a smile on your face this International Friendship Day (or if you can somehow explain how the innate female reproductive system’s apparent bluetooth connectivity works), please like or comment on this post! And don’t forget to follow us on our Instagram!
Let us know some of your favorite stories with your own besties; we’d love to read all about them!
Wishing you and your besties all our love 💖
✨ jazz
A 24-year-old writer, producer, and stylist who’s got the starry-eyes of a shopaholic with an irrefutable love-hate relationship with carbs and wine.
💋 julia
A 25-year-old writer with an obsession for beauty and an ineffable love for all things sharp—from cacti to hedgehogs to intense winged liner.
talk t á• y o! 