Work Text:
Don't look at me like that, yeah
You're confusing me, yeah
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“That’s the last of it,” Hyejoo said as she stacked the last two boxes onto the coffee table in the crowded living room. She rested her forearms on top of them and peered down at her best friend sprawled face down on the couch.
Chaewon lifted a hand in acknowledgment and flopped it back down almost immediately. Hyejoo could tell she was tired from all the moving they did today.
“Thanks for moving in with me,” Chaewon mumbled after a moment, the sound muffled by the couch, then she turned her head to look up at Hyejoo and continued, “There’s no way I would’ve been able to afford this place on my own.”
It was a modest two bedroom apartment where one of the bedrooms was barely big enough to count as one and was more than likely used as an office in most cases. It was cozy, but the price was higher since it was on the nicer side of town with easy access to shopping districts and commute areas, like the bus stop and train station.
Hyejoo maneuvered around all the boxes to the other side of the coffee table and sat on the edge of it in front of Chaewon. “Of course, I’m your best friend. I’ll always be there when you need me.”
“Mm.” Chaewon sighed contentedly as Hyejoo started running her fingers through her hair. “Your roomies weren’t mad when you left?”
Hyejoo laughed, it was an ongoing joke that Jiwoo lived with her and Sooyoung, despite her name not being on the lease. “Honestly, I think they’re glad I’m gone so they can have the place to themselves.”
“I know your cousin is gonna miss you.”
“Yeah, but now Jiwoo-unnie can actually move in instead of pretending she wants her own space by going month-to-month at her own apartment, all because Sooyoung-unnie is too much of a wuss to ask her to move in.”
“Hyejoo.”
Hyejoo rolled her eyes at the admonishment, “They’ve been dating for 3 years and Jiwoo-unnie is over at ours more than her own place. It doesn’t make any sense and it’s not economical. It’s just dumb as hell!”
“Well, I was over at your place a lot.”
“Yeah but that was a long time ago before-” Hyejoo cut herself off, her hand stilling in Chaewon’s hair. Chaewon didn’t seem to notice and began talking.
“And sometimes what you want just doesn’t work out.”
“I’m sorry, unnie.” Hyejoo ran her hand through the blonde’s hair once more before standing. “Just say the word and I’ll kill him.”
“Don’t do that.” Chaewon grabbed Hyejoo’s hand. “It just didn’t work out. If he thought that a job was more important than our relationship, then I don’t want to waste any more time thinking about him.” Chaewon had spent the past several days either crying or lamenting about the loss of her relationship. She wanted to be over it. Just like he was.
“But he left a week before you-”
“Hyejoo, please.”
“Okay.”
Chaewon stared at her, not believing for a second that Hyejoo dropped it.
“Okay.” Hyejoo repeated and squeezed Chaewon’s hand. “But he’s still an ass and I will punch him in the face the next time I see him. Maybe I’ll even rip out his perfect hair he cares so much about.”
Chaewon rolled her eyes, she heard everything even if the last part was mumbled. She knew there was no use arguing about this, Hyejoo had made a similar promise in the past and she had seen her follow through with it firsthand. Besides, he did deserve it. She opened her mouth to respond but stopped when there was a knock to the door.
Chaewon frowned, she hadn’t told any of their friends the address yet, especially given the initial circumstances of her living situation. “Are you expecting any company?”
“No, are you?” Hyejoo retorted with a raise of her eyebrow, before releasing Chaewon’s hand and walking to the door.
The brunette on the other side of the door was excitable to say the least. She spoke rapidly, and had Hyejoo not known Jiwoo for so long, she might’ve thought the woman was crazy, because there’s no way anyone should have that much energy this late in the evening.
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch that.” Unfortunately, being around Chaewon’s leisurely nature (and not having to deal with Jiwoo for so long) made her brain too relaxed to pick up the brunette’s speech.
“Oh, excuse me! I’m just happy to see new faces. I’m Haseul, the landlord, I live above in 3C. I just wanted to drop by and introduce myself.”
“Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Hyejoo.” She paused and opened the door wider when she felt a presence at her back. “And this is Chaewon.” Chaewon took her place to Hyejoo’s right and grabbed her bicep with her left hand. She smiled at the introduction with the friendly brunette.
Haseul shook both of their hands with a solid grip. “Hm, the application was for a married couple. Are you two...?” She looked between Hyejoo and Chaewon. The smile that had been on Chaewon’s face fell and she looked to the floor. “Oh, maybe I read that wrong.”
Hyejoo glanced down at Chaewon and put a hand around her waist to bring them closer together—Chaewon reflexively adjusted her hold to move from Hyejoo’s bicep to her waist as well—before turning back to Haseul. “Yes, that’s us.” Hyejoo saw Chaewon’s head snap up from the corner of her eye but ignored her to continue. “Is that going to be a problem?” Hyejoo raised an eyebrow challengingly.
Haseul was quiet for a moment, before she clapped her hands once loudly. The sudden noise scared the two women.
“No, no! Definitely not.” Haseul smiled widely. “I’ll have to introduce you to my wife. She loves to cook and would be glad to have you over for dinner some time!”
“Ah,” Hyejoo forced a smile. She wasn’t sure what kind of response she was expecting, but this was very unexpected. Her arm tightened on Chaewon’s waist. “We look forward to it, right, babe?”
“Yes, of course.” Chaewon squeaked.
“Oh, to be newlyweds.”
“How do you know we’re newlyweds?” Hyejoo questioned.
“Well, you’re not wearing rings.”
Hyejoo looked down at her hands as if she was expecting something to actually be there despite her coming up with the lie a mere minute before. “Ah, we took them off in case they got caught in something while we were moving.”
“Makes sense.” Haseul chuckled at her response. “But it was really because the application required you to put the month you got married in, if it was less than a year, I mean. And yours said this month, so congrats!”
Hyejoo scratched the back of her head with her free hand as she gave a sheepish thanks in reply.
Haseul nodded with a smile and looked past the two women into the open door of the apartment. “Well it looks like you were getting settled in and have quite a bit of unpacking to do. I won’t interrupt you anymore.”
“Thanks for stopping by.” Hyejoo replied, because Chaewon seemed to have completely lost the ability to speak.
“It’s no problem. Please let me know if you need anything.” Haseul handed an envelope to Hyejoo. “There’s the keycards to the gym located on the first floor, as well as the gate to the pool out back. A few key numbers are also listed in there including number to maintenance and my own if you’re having issues. I’ll see you ladies later!” She waved and went down the hallway to the elevator on the far side.
Hyejoo and Chaewon stood in the empty hallway for a moment before Hyejoo led Chaewon inside. The blonde stayed silent the entire time until she was sat on the couch, with Hyejoo on the edge of the coffee table in front of her once more.
“Why’d you do that?” Chaewon finally broke the silence.
“I’m not sure. You didn’t say anything and I didn’t know what to do.” Hyejoo paused. Despite Chaewon being a year older, Hyejoo often felt the need to protect the other woman. She couldn’t stand the look Chaewon had, so she acted. “Honestly, I figured you didn’t want to explain what was going on and this was easier.”
“Easier for whom?”
“You, I guess-ACK” Hyejoo was hit in the face by one of the couch pillows.
“You dummy!” Chaewon smacked her again.
“What?” Hyejoo asked as she leaned back to avoid getting hit again. She eyed the pillow on Chaewon’s lap warily; it was soft, but getting hit in the face wasn’t fun.
“Can’t you see what you got yourself into?”
“What do you mean?” Hyejoo couldn’t see the problem.
“Our landlord thinks we’re married.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah.”
It was quiet for a few moments, before Hyejoo spoke again. “Well, out of the 10 worst things that have ever happened to me, I can at least say this isn’t the top of the list.”
“You-”
“Maybe top 5,” Hyejoo interrupted, holding back a grin. “So you better treat me to dinner to make up for me going through this.”
“Right, of course.” Chaewon rolled her eyes. “It’s the least I could do.”
“Exactly,” Hyejoo nodded and stood with a hand out. “So let’s go.”
“Wait, now?” Chaewon looked up at Hyejoo in confusion.
“Why not? I’m hungry.” The statement was punctuated with a growl of Hyejoo’s stomach.
“Well, I’m not really dressed.”
“You don’t have anyone you need to impress, I’m your wife, remember? And I think you’re beautiful, so let’s go.” She quickly turned around and made her way to the door to hide the blush that was creeping up her cheeks.
“Dummy.” Chaewon repeated once more, despite Hyejoo being too far to hear her, but got up to follow the other woman out the apartment anyway.
“Where are we going?” Chaewon asked once Hyejoo locked the door behind them.
Hyejoo took a moment to think of what was nearby and remembered a ramen shop Sooyoung had taken her a few weeks prior.
“How about ramen?”
“That’s perfect!” Chaewon’s face lit up. Ramen was one of her favorite meals.
“I know just the place.” She linked their hands together and gently pulled Chaewon towards the elevator.
They walked the five minutes to the restaurant like that, hands clasped the entire way. It was crazy how holding hands with the other woman felt like second nature, but it truly was. If Hyejoo wasn’t seeking Chaewon’s hand, Chaewon was seeking hers.
Simple fact.
It was like their hands were made for each other, but Hyejoo didn’t want to give that too much thought. It was too soon and she didn’t want to start down that path only to get heartbroken again.
But then Chaewon looked at her over the top of her bowl, smiling so sincerely her eyes were tiny crescents, Hyejoo knew it was too late. She was still in too deep and there was no stopping her heart.
And even much later, after the two had finished their meals and were in a hidden arcade they discovered down the street, Hyejoo had slipped a plastic ring she won onto Chaewon’s finger to keep up the ruse. She stopped caring that she was too far gone.
She only vowed to one day make it real.