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Hyejin crosses her arms over her chest and rests her head against the cold car window. Her head hurts and her eyes feel heavy from lack of sleep, a big contrast to her annoying girlfriend sitting next to her, who’s as energetic as ever.
Wheein is animatedly talking to Byulyi about some video she saw on the internet, her constant fits of laughter making the story almost completely incoherent. Her knees bump into Hyejin’s every now and then, waking her up each time she’s about to doze off.
Of course. Wheein was the cause of her lack of sleep in the first place, so this continuation of that seems only fitting.
It had all started the previous night when Wheein had come over to Hyejin’s house where they had prepared for a date night. It started off romantic and fun, but soon enough their plans for the night diverged, with Wheein suggesting a romantic walk through the nearby park, and Hyejin refusing at all costs.
That little disagreement (which Hyejin won, because there really was no moving her), was the start of a chain of small discords: what tv channel to watch, who got to eat the last of the chicken, who cleared the table, who cleaned the kitchen, and so on.
Having known each other for over ten years and dating for three of those, it’s safe to say they know each other better than anyone else. Usually when small arguments like this happen between them, it’s because they easily sense the other’s emotions. When arguments stem from undeserved annoyance, it… annoys the other.
So when they had taken a shower together later that night and Wheein used the last of Hyejin’s shampoo, all hell suddenly broke loose. They used each other’s shampoos all the time, but this time Hyejin couldn’t stop herself from muttering how inconsiderate the other girl was being.
Wheein, who had been rather calm throughout the previous useless arguments and annoyances, now irritably stamped her foot in the water.
“Yah! What is wrong with you,” she said angrily. “You’ve been annoying all night.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Hyejin retorted, Wheein’s anger spiking the same emotion in herself. “I’m not the one who just finished a bottle of expensive shampoo that doesn’t belong to her.”
Wheein had angrily washed out her hair before stepping out of the shower, leaving Hyejin to sulk by herself. She had wordlessly grabbed a new bottle of shampoo from a cabinet and held it up for the other girl to dramatically snatch away with an angry pout on her face.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Wheein said while wrapping herself in a towel.
“You’re being mean,” Hyejin replied. She could easily imagine Wheein rolling her eyes when she heard her scoff.
When Hyejin had finally finished her nightly routine, Wheein was already vast asleep in her bed. Unfortunately, sleep didn’t come as easy for her. She was still grumpy, and that combined with thoughts of their schedule the next day kept her up for hours. She felt like she had only just fallen asleep when Wheein’s alarm went off next to her.
So that brings them to the car ride to Incheon Airport from where they’ll be flying to Thailand. Hyejin and Wheein hadn’t talked much in the morning morning. Wheein because she was too busy detangling her hair after having slept with it wet. Hyejin because she simply didn’t have the energy.
When Wheein takes a roll of crackers from her bag and offers one to everyone in the car except her, Hyejin’s annoyance spikes higher. She knows Wheein is acting petty on purpose, probably to get a reaction out of her. She stays mute for the entirety of the car ride.
She smiles for the first time that day when she sees the fans who have gathered at the airport to wave them off. They greet everyone they pass, waving at pictures for paparazzi every now and then while their staff escorts them to the departures hall.
Wheein is extraordinarily bright and energetic on this early morning. Normally that elation would rub off on her own demeanor, but right now Hyejin is just too tired and sensitive. She’s already having trouble keeping her eyes open while standing in line to drop their baggage off.
Seoyeon, the staff member who always films for Mamamoo TV, ends up standing in line next to the four of them. When Wheein first sees her she immediately hugs the girl, all smiles and touches. When she pulls away from the hug and takes Seoyeon’s face in between her hands, Hyejin can’t help but feel a slight pang of jealousy.
She knows her feeling that way is ridiculous considering the strength of their relationship and the fact that this interaction is completely innocent, but she feels like Wheein’s actions have a purpose. As if her touches are intentionally drawing out this jealousy in her.
Once they’ve scanned their boarding passes and are out of sight of the paparazzi, Hyejin lets her eyes rest for a moment while waiting in line for customs. She holds on to the strap of Yongsun’s bag, letting herself be pulled forward every time the line moves.
She only notices Wheein waiting in line next to her when the other girl accidentally gets shoved into her side by a passing airport employee. Hyejin’s hands automatically move to steady her, peering at the employee in surprise, who stutters a sincere “s-sorry,” before he moves along.
Hyejin lets go of Wheein’s arm when she realizes she’s still holding it, grabbing onto the strap of Yongsun’s bag again instead. Once they reach customs — which doesn’t take long with their priority passes — Wheein takes another line than her to speed up the process.
It’s when Hyejin finishes putting her liquids back in her bag and spots Yongsun, Byulyi, their manager and other staff members in the crowd, that a surge of panic suddenly washes over her. She looks over to the line Wheein had been in, but doesn’t recognize anyone there.
Sleepiness and annoyance suddenly forgotten, she keeps scanning through the crowd, but no matter how many faces she sees, none of them are her girlfriend’s. She practically runs towards Yongsun, Byulyi and their manager who just joined the line for border control.
“Where’s Wheein?” she asks while tapping their manager’s shoulder, frantically looking around.
Their manager just looks at her in confusion, but Hyejin isn’t paying her much attention anyway. She looks back to the line Wheein had been in, but still no luck.
“Yah, you’re holding up the queue.” Someone gently pushes her forward.
Hyejin immediately whips around at the familiar voice, finding none other than her girlfriend standing there. She looks at her curiously when she sees the strange expression on Hyejin’s face.
Relief quickly washes over her, and she can’t help but smack Wheein’s shoulder for making her worry like that.
“Ow,” Wheein rubs her shoulder in surprise. “What the—”
Hyejin just sighs in relief and turns back around in the queue, her anger and annoyances from the previous night forgotten.
When they get on the plane and find their seats, Wheein switches with Byulyi and sits down next to Yongsun. Byulyi drops down next to Hyejin at the opposing window, two rows behind the other girls. Hyejin sighs in disappointment, earning a stern eye from the older girl.
“Your shoulder is boney,” Hyejin shrugs as an explanation. “It’s not a good pillow.”
“I thought you and Wheein were having one of your unexplainable and useless fights again,” Byulyi says while buckling her seatbelt.
“It’s not unexplainable; she’s being really annoying,” Hyejin groans. “Just look at her now.”
They look over to Yongsun and Wheein who are vigorously chatting away. They laugh loudly after every line, probably discussing lame jokes that don’t even make any sense to anyone other than them. When Byulyi just smiles at the other girls’ banter, Hyejin is once again reminded of how petty she’s being.
Shortly after the flight has taken off, she dozes off, but Yongsun’s chortling dolphin laugh wakes her up again. When she looks over at the other girls, her eyes meet Wheein’s, who’s turned around in her seat to look at her with a smug smile on her lips.
Alright, that’s enough of this.
Hyejin unbuckles her seatbelt and stalks over to the other girls, nearly tripping over Byulyi’s lanky legs in the process. She holds eye contact with Wheein the whole way there, whose smile only grows as she looks at her daringly.
Hyejin grabs her arm and pulls her out of her seat and towards the toilet in the back of the plane. Wheein wordlessly follows, sending Yongsun a short wave as she’s dragged away.
“Eh, you’re not allowed in there together,” a flight attendant tells them before Hyejin can drag her girlfriend into the toilet.
“I’m sorry,” she smiles sweetly, the attendant blankly blinking at her. “I just need to discuss a private matter with her, it won’t be long.”
Before the dazed man can respond, the two of them are already huddled inside of the small stall, Hyejin locking it behind her. They’re pressed closely together, Wheein having to hold on to Hyejin’s hips in order not to fall back onto the toilet.
Their faces are awfully close, and Wheein raises an eyebrow at her when the other girl doesn’t immediately speak.
“You’ve been doing this on purpose,” Hyejin accuses.
“Doing what?” Wheein asks innocently, gently pushing Hyejin’s hips back against the toilet door.
“Annoying me. First with the crackers, then with Seoyeon, and now with Yongsun.”
She’s aware she sounds petty, but she knows Wheein well enough to know that she was doing those things to get a reaction out of her. The looks, the touches, the slightly exaggerated laughter.
“Oh that,” Wheein smirks briefly before it turns into a frown. “Well that serves you for ignoring me all morning,” she says while poking her in the stomach.
“You were ignoring me too!” Hyejin complains, grabbing a hold of Wheein’s hand to stop her jabbing.
“No I wasn’t,” Wheein retorts, leaning further into the other girl.
“Yes you were,” Hyejin says as she pushes her body away from the door, flush against Wheein’s.
“No,” Wheein says again, looking daringly into Hyejin’s eyes that are only a few centimeters removed from her own. “I was—”
Hyejin cuts her off by closing the gap between them and pressing their lips together. Wheein’s hands immediately find her face, pulling her closer. She lets the shorter girl push her back against the door again — admittedly her legs still tend to get a bit wobbly every time they kiss.
She breaks the kiss when one of Wheein’s hands starts wandering over her chest.
“Nuh-uh, we’re not doing this in an airplane toilet,” Hyejin says, moving Wheein’s hand away.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Wheein smirks, leaning in for another kiss.
Right when Hyejin pushes her tongue past Wheein’s lips, a knock on the door startles them. Hyejin abruptly pushes away from the door while Wheein jumps back, nearly tripping and falling onto the toilet. Hyejin can catch her just in time, the other girl clinging to her waist in shock.
Hyejin carefully turns around to unlock the door. When she slowly opens it, they’re met by an annoyed Yongsun. Judging from the look on her face, their leader has already guessed what they had been up to. When she looks down at Wheein’s arms encircling Hyejin’s waist from behind, she rolls her eyes.
“You two are horrible,” she says as she pulls Hyejin out of the small stall, closely followed by Wheein.
They hold hands on their way back to their seats, Byulyi giving them a knowing look when they pass her. Hyejin is about to move Yongsun’s stuff to her own seat, but sees that her rainbow blanket is already draped over Byulyi’s legs.
When she sees that her own things have already been moved to Yongsun’s seat, her heart fills with gratitude for the older girls. She sits down next to Wheein, draping a blanket over the two of them. She snuggles up to her, leaning her head on her shoulder. Much better than Byulyi’s boney one.
Wheein rests her hand in her lap under the blanket, palm up, and Hyejin gladly intertwines their fingers. She receives a loving squeeze and knows last night’s annoyances were already forgotten.
“Sorry for yesterday,” she says softly, brushing her thumb over the back of Wheein’s hand.
“Me too,” Wheein sighs, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. She can't wait to get to the hotel.
When she closes her eyes, sleep finally washes over her.