Chapter Text
Songhwa groans the second she hears the familiar ringtone piercing the otherwise quiet night.
Groggily, she reaches out an arm in second nature, fingers fumbling around in the dark before finding the source of the sound. Songhwa shifts in her bed, propping herself up with her elbow as she switches on the bedside lamp.
She barely registers the name of Kim Junwan flashing on the screen, but Songhwa answers anyway.
“Yah, Kim Junwan,” Songhwa says sharply, a little too irritable for her usual demeanour considering that there’s a headache pounding on her head at being rudely awakened at — she pries her eyes towards the clock on her bedside table, and groans — 4.05AM. "You better have a solid reason as to why you're calling me at such an ungodly hour."
There’s a long pause from the other line, and Songhwa groans. “Hello? Are you there?”
She hears an exhale of breath from the other end. And then, a much confused tone comes in; “...Songhwa? Is...that you?"
“Who else would it be?” She persists, annoyance surging through her as something flits into her mind. “Yah, did you just drunk dial me at 4 in the morning? Because if you did, I swear to God—”
Junwan interrupts her softly, as if still trying to process everything.
Songhwa blinks.
“Sorry?” The crease on her forehead deepens, not quite registering what he’d just said to her. “Come again?”
Junwan repeats in confusion. “...I called Ikjun, though.”
One second passes, then two, then three...and finally Songhwa’s eyes bulge open widely as she promptly withdraws the phone from her ear, gasping in utter horror as a rather ugly photo of Junwan with half of his eyes closed stares right back at her. A photo she is absolutely sure was not taken by her nor saved in her phone.
She squeaks in awful realisation, nearly dropping the phone after a closer inspection.
The device she is holding in her hand...it isn’t hers.
It’s Ikjun's.
Songhwa smacks a hand onto her forehead in reflex, horror etched on her face.
Oh god.
Oh my god.
“Yah, Chae Songhwa. Is this a prank?”
She feels the man beside her shifting in his position right there and then, and Songhwa doesn’t think, just reacts as she quickly jabs her elbow into his ribs. “Yah! ” Songhwa hisses in a low whisper. “Wake up!”
Ikjun jolts awake in a flash, blinking away sleep from his eyes as he quickly sits up on the bed. “Huh? What? What happened?”
He slowly registers the look of utter horror across Songhwa’s face as she stares blankly at the phone in her hand. Then, she swallows the lump lodged in her throat before thrusting the phone into his hand in one swift motion.
"Hello??? Songhwa??? Are you still there? You owe me an explanation!"
Songhwa whispers rather dejectedly, her face bright red even under the warm lights. “It’s...Junwan.”
“Huh?” Ikjun blinks in confusion, finally registering the time on the digital clock. And from the way Songhwa had laid on the bed and covered the blanket over her head, as if hiding from embarrassment, everything slowly pieces together in his mind.
He finally speaks into the receiver. “Uh...Junwan?”
“Ikjun? Lee Ikjun?”
Somehow, this strange turn of events nearly makes Ikjun burst into laughter; everything is starting to make sense now. Junwan had called his phone at an ungodly hour, and Songhwa had probably answered on reflex thinking it was her phone...and....
Junwan is surprisingly calm when he continues, clearly having forgotten what was the main reason he’d even called Ikjun in the first place; “Songhwa is there with you at 4 in the morning,”
Ikjun knows there is no point in denying so he states curtly. “Yes.”
"Why would she be there with you at 4 in the morning?”
"Why else?" Ikjun fights the urge to smirk because honestly he would give anything to see that priceless look on Junwan's face at that moment.
"Is this some kind of joke?" He hears Junwan laughing nervously over the phone. "Because if it is then bravo, you really got me this time— "
"It's not a joke." Ikjun interjects gently, knowing the probable million of questions fleeting across his best friend's mind at that moment.
The longest of silence stretches between them as Ikjun waits patiently for him to say something.
"It's not a joke." Junwan repeats his answer again.
"No, it's not." Ikjun replies without a pause.
“So you two are…" Junwan hesitates, before exhaling once and words start to stumble out of his mouth hurriedly, his tone suddenly a pitch higher than before. “Actually, you know what? I don’t want to know. Yeah. Don’t tell me. I think I gotta go. Sorry for disturbing both of you in uh...in...whatever it is you are doing."
Before Ikjun could even say anything else, the line goes dead. As Ikjun puts down his phone, still trying to digest everything, he is surprised when his phone pings again; a notification of a text message coming in.
It’s from Junwan.
You punk.
Ikjun chuckles before putting his phone away, eyes now on the unmoving lump on the bed. He prods it gently, pulling down the covers to reveal Songhwa’s wide awake expression. “He hung up.”
She lets out this other sound of helplessness, squeezing her eyes shut in partial regret before burying her face deeper into the pillow. Ikjun could only smile in amusement at her antics, knowing that Songhwa is worried over their best friend’s reaction to their newfound still secret relationship.
“He’ll get used to it, don’t worry.” Ikjun coaxes gently. “I mean...he has to…”
“This was not how I wanted him to know,” Songhwa whines, her voice muffled by the pillow. “Please put your phone away from my reach next time, especially in the middle of the night. ”
He laughs, then hugs her from the back. "Well...what's done is done,"
Songhwa doesn't say anything, but Ikjun knows that she is definitely not going to fall back to sleep anytime soon. "Songhwa-ya, you worry too much. Everything is going to be fine."
"I know but," She turns, eyes meeting his. "Junwan knowing is going to change everything in our group."
Ikjun doesn't reply at once, instead, he pushes strands of loose hair away from her eyes, tucking them behind her ear. "I'll tell him not to say anything to the others. At least, until we are ready to."
Songhwa nods, then huddles closer into his chest. The feeling of warmth and comfort radiating across every fibre of her being — she wonders if she will ever get used to this feeling of security, like everything will be alright if Ikjun is there with her. She sighs again. "Great, now I don't think I can fall back to sleep."
Even in the dark, masked only by the warm orange lights from her bedside lamp, Songhwa could see the hint of mischief in Ikjun's eyes. "I can think of something we can do if you can't sleep,"
Almost instantaneously, she draws her head back to give him a warning. "Do not say — "
"Who says I'm saying anything?" Ikjun murmurs, already leaning forward to seal their lips together, pushing Songhwa onto her back as he shifts.
She doesn't resist him. She couldn't even if she tried; Songhwa finds her arms naturally circling around his neck in an attempt to pull him closer. Heat starts to spread all over her body as their kiss becomes more fervent, more desperate — but before anything else could happen, Ikjun’s phone starts ringing again.
Ikjun has half the mind to ignore it, but the caller remains persistent.
“—who the hell,” Ikjun groans, finally pulling away to reach for his phone again. Songhwa follows his movement, sees the way he rolls his eyes in blatant disbelief.
“Who is it this time?” She asks, and watches as Ikjun contemplates switching his phone off. “Kim Junwan that saekki, I’m going to strangle him— ”
Somewhat exasperated, Songhwa snatches the phone from Ikjun’s hand swiftly. She has no idea what compels her sudden bravery — maybe it’s the ache that is starting to form between her legs, or maybe it’s just the annoyance of having been interrupted in the middle of the night, but Songhwa answers the call and quite nearly snaps into the receiver.
“Kim Junwan, this is not a joke and you are interrupting us. If you don’t stop calling I am going to tell you word by word what Ikjun and I are about to do at this very second—”
Wordlessly, Junwan hangs up in a flash.
Ikjun stares at his girlfriend, half impressed, half scared...and maybe even slightly turned on. He sees Songhwa chucking his phone into her bedside drawer before finding his gaze once again. For a moment, neither of them spoke, letting what transpired to sink in slowly...until they burst into a fit of laughter at the ridiculity of this entire situation.
Ikjun collapses into her, though not resting his entire weight on her petite body. They laugh, and laugh, and laugh. The more they think about Junwan, the more hysteric they become. When they finally regain their bearings, Ikjun has laid back onto his side of the bed as he comments loudly;
“I think you may have just traumatised him, Songhwa-ya.”
And Songhwa replies without hesitation; “Well, serves him right.”