Chapter Text
Winter isn’t Nayoung’s favorite season. She is fragile bones and sensitive skin; she notices the tiniest drop in temperature and she can feel the chill down her spine at a moment’s notice. Winter means she has to layer clothes, as comfy as it feels, but most days she doesn’t want to bother with so many extra shirts and pants. Her one-room apartment doesn’t hold heat very well, either, and she can’t afford for the electric bill to go any higher, so her bed is more blankets than it is pillows or sheets.
And the most annoying thing, Nayoung thinks, is the fact that she needs to wear socks to bed even under all of those comforters. She’s doing her best to keep warm, but at what cost? Her friends think it’s strange that she’s so adverse to the cold when she’s a winter baby, but Nayoung can only roll her eyes and pay them no mind.
Her university is a hour long bus ride away, with a transfer forty minutes into her commute. Living away from the heart of the city means the rent is cheaper but she dislikes traveling the distance in wintertime. This would be a good time for a car, but alas, she cannot drive.
The bus stop is covered in frost by the time she climbs down the apartment stairs that morning. Nayoung keeps her face covered with her scarf, stuffing her hands into her jacket’s pockets as deep as they can go. The bus doesn’t come for another fifteen minutes. She wishes it could arrive early, just this once, so it’s less time spent out in frigid temperatures.
“Ya, I could see you shivering from a mile away.”
Nayoung hears a voice from down the road, a figure of similar stature approaching her side. Only turning her head enough to catch a glimpse of the face next to hear, Nayoung nods in greeting. She can’t spare the extra effort to pull her face up from behind the scarf; it’s much too cold for it.
“What are you doing here, Minkyung?” Nayoung asks, her voice muffled by the scarf. Her breath hits the fabric covering her face and creates condensation that presses against her skin. She scrunches her nose at the unpleasant feeling.
Minkyung laughs lightly as she nears, bringing mittened hands up to squish the shivering face and the move to adjust Nayoung’s scarf. “I figured you’d be lonely waiting by yourself in the cold,” she raises an eyebrow at Nayoung, a playful smile across red lips, “And what’s another warm body to keep you warm, right?”
“I’m fine.” Nayoung replies back stubbornly. Minkyung can’t see that she’s pouting, but it doesn’t take an expert to know that it’s exactly what Nayoung is doing.
“Don’t be such a baby, Narong. Come here,” Minkyung coos. She wraps her arms around Nayoung’s shoulders, pulling her flesh to her side and rests her cheek against the side of her head. With a little bit of meddling around, she manages to tangle her scarf with Nayoung’s in the middle.
“We look stupid.”
Minkyung holds a hand to her chest. “I’m offended. I’ll undo it, then.”
Nayoung sighs. She doesn’t have the energy to deal with Minkyung this early in the morning. And, admittedly, it does feel warmer...
”Wait. Don’t.”
She can feel Minkyung reveling in her smugness, can only imagine the wide grin across her face as she gives into her public display of affection. So as to not inflate her ego even further, Nayoung does not look at her; instead she leans in, pressing her side closer to Minkyung so they are cuddling.
Minkyung holds her. They stand there tangled up in each other, waiting for the bus.
“You know,” Nayoung chirps up after a moment of silence, “you don’t even have class today. You didn’t have to be here.”
“Oh, but Nayoung-ssi,” Minkyung nuzzles her face into Nayoung’s hair, and she’s sure she smells strawberries, “what kind of girlfriend would I be if I left you to freeze here to death?”
The look on Minkyung’s face reads ‘praise me, I did well, praise me!’ and Nayoung wants to roll her eyes. She doesn’t, because she actually falls for how sweet the sentiment is.
“Don’t do this again,” she chides, reaches her hand up to flick Minkyung’s nose, “I’d rather you not get sick because of me.”
“If I get sick, I’ll have you to take care of me~”
“If you get sick,” Nayoung pulls away from Minkyung as she hears the bus arriving to the stop, untangles their scarves, “I’m going to stay with Kyungwon upstairs, because there is no way I’m staying in the apartment with you contaminating it.”
As the bus stops in front of them, Nayoung hops on and turns her head over her shoulder. She smiles behind her scarf at the look of betrayal on Minkyung’s face. She tries not to laugh as she goes to take a seat.
“Ya, Im Nayoung!” she can faintly hear Minkyung’s incredulous laughter and Nayoung pretends not to notice.
It was for a little bit, but the wait for the bus wasn’t too bad today. Maybe there’s something good about winter, after all.