Chapter Text
Minji’s thing about attending parties is that she doesn’t really care where she’s going if Bora is tagging along. Wherever Bora goes, Minji is almost certain that she’ll have a decent time with a few drinks and maybe a girl’s number that she’ll forget about the day after.
Key words: almost certain.
The party they attended last night was actually a last minute invitation from a mutual friend, Yubin, who wanted them to see her band, Endless Night, play. Minji has heard a few songs from Yubin’s band, and she really liked the music. Pressuring Bora was hard, but eventually her best friend couldn’t say no to her. That said, it was obvious that Bora and Minji were going into unfamiliar territory without much to go off of.
She actually doesn’t remember much after arriving at the party. Next thing she knows, she’s waking up still dressed in last night’s outfit, greasy dark hair all over her face, and 64 text messages and 12 missed calls from Bora for the past 30 minutes. To add the cherry on top, she has a pounding headache from her obvious alcohol adventures.
How she manages to drag herself off bed, take a shower, dress up, and arrive at class on time today, she still doesn’t know.
The headache is persistent, but luckily, she took an aspirin right before leaving for class. She could now at least tolerate the fluorescent white light in the lecture hall. Unfortunately, she’s not gonna be able to comprehend anything from the professor’s monotone droning, and she doesn’t even have her tablet out to write notes because she forgot to bring it in class today. She might as well have stayed back in her apartment and caught up on her sleep.
Or maybe it’s worth all the trouble after all when, in her peripheral vision, she sees a peer sneaking into the class a couple of minutes late and slinking down next to the last empty seat of the hall, the seat right next to Minji. Looking away from the professor, Minji blinks at the sight of the new person getting comfortable with their seat. She can somehow recognize the long, thick silver hair, though she can’t recall where she’s seen this person before.
For the rest of the lecture, she spends the time wondering about what she can’t recall the night before. She swears she can recognize this person, though she’s a little scared to turn around and look closer because she doesn’t look presentable with her damp, semi tangled hair and baggy clothes that she randomly picked out. She could ask, write a message on a sticky note like a high schooler or speak to them in a low voice. When she does take a glance, she sees that her peer is already deep into the lecture, scribbling notes on a battered spiral notebook.
Once class finishes, Minji waits until a good portion of the crowd pours out of the hall before she can stand up herself. The silver haired stranger next to her seems to have the same idea. Minji debates to herself for a few seconds about starting a mindless conversation with them, but her curiosity gets the best of her.
“Do I recognize you from somewhere?”
The stranger looks up to Minji with an unreadable expression. Minji mildly panics and curses internally for the sudden question.
“I’m sorry, that was rude of me, I didn’t even introduce myself and—”
“I recognize you .”
“Oh, you do?”
“Yeah, from last night. You were staring at me for a while.”
Minji blushes, turning her head slightly away.
“Was I? I’m sorry for that as well, I can’t remember anything that happened last night.”
The stranger flashes a smile, and Minji’s heart skips a beat.
“It’s alright, you’re not the first to stare whenever I’m playing,” the stranger reassures, winking. “I’m Gahyeon, my band was in charge of the music last night.”
Minji finally recalls seeing this stranger, Gahyeon, up on the stage with a charismatic smile. She finally recalls staring at the bass player and feeling starstruck. She finally recalls forgetting about her missing best friend, ignoring the texts asking where she was.
“Ahhhh,” Minji hums, “I remember your band playing wonderfully.”
“Thanks.” Gahyeon raises a hand and runs it through their silver hair smoothly. They have a low chuckle that Minji thinks doesn’t match their surprisingly dainty face. “By the way, do you want to be partners for this project?”
Minji blinks in confusion. “Wait, what project?”
“The one Dr. Jung was rambling about today?” Gahyeon swipes her hair back again, this time laughing more playfully.
Minji’s face burns red, embarrassment painting her cheeks.
“Don’t feel bad, I almost fell asleep listening to his boring ass too,” Gahyeon says. “So, partners?”
“Yeah,” Minji replies, “partners.”
“Cool.”
Minji doesn’t know how she manages to be calm when Gahyeon adds her number in her phone’s contacts. It’s like her whole body went autopilot after she hands the bassist her phone and 10 seconds after, Lee Gahyeon pops up in her notifications with a hey ;) and then a selfie taken recently for a contact picture.
Gahyeon’s hands felt strangely cold.
The bass player leaves soon after. There is another class that she has to attend in 30 minutes, and it’s going to take a 15 minute walk to the other side of campus where the classroom is. Minji is too dumbfounded to wave goodbye, but Gahyeon doesn’t wait for her greeting.
So Minji is now left with a text from possibly the hottest person that she has ever met and she still has no idea how she held a conversation with them in a span of 3 minutes.
Minji isn’t shy . She’s a social butterfly, in fact. Plenty of people know her on campus. While Bora is famous for her knack of parties, Minji is known for her approachable personality. Just like back in high school, people are drawn to her like a magnet. She doesn’t need to do much to grab attention, she’s just naturally a people person.
But when it comes to having crushes, Minji reverts back into a middle schooler with no clue how to speak a word.
And Bora? She’s the nosy rat who will sniff her best friend out just to get all the information she desperately wants.
Which is why Minji texts Bora to meet up in half an hour and why Minji is now nursing her now dull headache with an iced caramel latté and a side of pistachio macarons.
“So who’s the lucky girl this time?” Bora sits down on the empty seat across from Minji and sips her iced americano.
“You know Yubin’s band?” Bora nods, so Minji continues, “I didn’t actually meet them last night, but today I ran into the bassist and now we’re partners for a college project.”
Bora sets down the iced americano on the mini table. “The silver haired hottie? Damn.”
“She is hot, but it’s a problem. I was literally frozen for a couple of seconds when she added her number to my phone!”
“Then ask her out, you’re more than hot enough yourself!”
God , it takes some willpower out of Minji not to hit her best friend. “You know I’m not going to do that right after meeting them!”
“It’s just too fun not to tease you, bestie,” Bora giggles, then tilts her head slightly in a more considerate way. “Seriously, Minji, I know you can’t deal with crushes well, but relax. Ask her out when you’re sure you want this.”
“I know that!” Minji pouts, taking a sip of her latté. “I’m just freaking out, I guess. I’ve never gotten a crush this quickly before.”
Bora takes a deep sigh and leans in closer to Minji’s face. “With all due respect, Kim Minji, stop whining like a bitch and just go after her if you want her that badly!”
“Like you and that drummer girl?” Minji counters with a small giggle.
“That’s—that’s completely different from this! Quit changing the subject here!”
“Sure, alright, Bora.”
“Kim Minji, don’t forget I can beat your ass anytime!”
Bora balls her tiny hand into a fist, threatening to connect it to her best friend’s cheek. Minji doesn’t even flinch, however.
It’s just impossible for Bora to ever hurt Minji like that.
“You’re right, you’re right,” Minji finally admits. “I need to get my shit together and ask her out, I guess.”
“I guess? Of course you’re asking her out! Have you looked at yourself? Like, at all?!”
Yes, Minji is aware that she is hot, that people find her insanely attractive, though it never stops her from getting nervous at all. Besides, Gahyeon herself is quite the hottie like Bora says a few minutes prior. She’s a hot bassist, for fuck’s sake! Minji’s pretty sure she’s not the only one in a long list of names of women who want to be run over by Lee Gahyeon.
Bora’s exasperated faces are comical at least. Bless her heart for encouraging her like this because Minji doesn’t have a damn clue what her life would have looked like if her best friend wasn’t by her side to straighten her up and force her to have a backbone or something.
Like right now, when she’s finally mustering up the courage to do something about her new crush. She feels a buzz in her head just thinking about all the ways she could court the bassist, and all kinds of responses they could make. Maybe a lot of these fantasies are a little too self-deprecating—like, a lot —but Minji promises herself that this time, she’s not going to be a pussy and run the other direction.
This time, she’s going to run directly towards Lee Gahyeon.
“Well, that went by quicker than I expected.”
The project partners are finishing their outline for their piece—a collaborative essay about the effects of ADHD in a multitude of workplaces. Minji’s finishing her contributions in finding all the citations needed while Gahyeon is pulling out the last of the data and evidence that could possibly be used efficiently.
They work well together, Minji notices. For the most part, they were completely silent while busying themselves in their project. Minji sometimes looks up from her laptop and takes the occasional stolen glance at Gahyeon, whose laser focus on the textbook at hand is probably one of the hottest things Minji has seen.
“Yeah, that was incredibly quick,” Minji replies when she looks at the time on her laptop screen, seeing that only 45 minutes has passed since they met up.
Gahyeon, after flipping her hair back once more, puts the airpods in her ears back into its case. She closes the sticky note-filled textbook, sets it aside, and turns their armchair around to face Minji. Their project partner is lying comfortably on the bed on her stomach.
“I have to ask you something, Minji.”
“Hm?” Minji tilts her head up at the sound of her name.
“I’m not sure if I’m reading the signals right, correct me if I’m wrong here,” the bassist says hesitantly, “but after this project is finished, can I take you out somewhere?”
Minji freezes, her mind replaying the words to make sure she digested them correctly. “Oh, as in a date?”
“A pretty lady like you… why else would I ask?”
Gahyeon winks, and Minji’s pretty sure she felt something knot in her stomach.
Did their eyes just flash red for a split second?
“Wow.”
“Yeah, that sounded way better in my head.”
Minji lightly laughs at that. She feels less flustered afterwards.
“So, can I assume you’re going?”
“Yes, Gahyeon, I'll go on this date with you.”
Minji doesn’t know how she’s still this calm, but at least she hasn’t done anything to embarrass herself in front of Gahyeon.
God, she’s so pathetic sometimes.
(It doesn’t fully sink in until she leaves the apartment and she’s entering her car. She screams, bumps her forehead on the steering wheel, which causes her car to honk a few times, and an old man curses her out for it.
She texts Bora the news immediately, and a 4.5 hour long FaceTime call about date plans and uhauling lesbians ensues between the two of them.)
Date night takes too long to come.
Then again, when you’re about to go out with someone like Lee Gahyeon, who wouldn’t be that impatient for this date?
“Are you ready to go?”
Decked out in an oversized black leather jacket, tennis skirt, and a white graphic tee of some western band, Gahyeon leans on the doorway with a bouquet of red roses on hand.
Minji has to swallow a moan and she lodges it in her throat. She makes out a cough instead, continuing to pretend she’s choking out a dust particle or something.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Then let’s go!”
As they spend more time together working on their psychology project, Minji realizes how completely different Gahyeon is than what she assumed about them at first. Despite their cool, mysterious exterior, the silver haired bassist is actually friendly and very endearing. They have this child-like wonder charm, which can be a bit jarring but amusing at the same time because of the way she dresses.
Especially now when Gahyeon takes her to a beautiful art museum in her black Mercedes-Benz that probably costs more than Minji’s entire tuition.
Then Minji’s heart melts when she realizes that Gahyeon isn’t just taking her to any kind of art gallery. They are going to The Page Gallery, a museum that Minji had been gushing about since she found out that one of her favourite artists held an art exhibition there.
Every step that she takes into the large 45 story building housing the gallery feels surreal to Minji. Galleria Forêt is huge ; it’s a luxurious apartment complex where only the richest people can reside. Never in Minji’s wildest dreams did she think that she’ll step foot in such a building.
Minji would have stared in wonder at the massive interior of the building if it wasn't for the fact that Gahyeon entwines their hand with her own. The hand is cold yet again, but Minji doesn’t think much about it and clasps the hand as a response.
The art exhibition shown in the gallery is dedicated to disabled contemporary artists from around the world. Minji can’t help but feel exhilarated while gazing at all the artistic pieces. She’s basically dragging Gahyeon around the forest of white walls and the amazingly done art plastered on them, and all the while she is also talking about her interpretations of the art.
“...because of the way this artist blends the colours and draws the lines in specific ways, I think he’s just… screaming in pain, actually,” Minji says, her tone falling flat suddenly when the realization is upon her. “No one can understand him, really. His disability limits him, but art frees him from that disability, and he’s telling all of us that he’s in so much pain.”
“It’s hauntingly beautiful when you put it that way, huh?” Gahyeon replies. “He creates this work of art and it’s a wonder to see, but the true meaning behind it is actually saddening.”
“Yeah, like that.”
Minji looks back at Gahyeon. Their eyes are still glued to the painting, entranced by its story and beauty. Minji feels like a puddle next to them, finding the short bassist so endearing with their oversized jacket and her big eyes tinted by red contacts.
Just so pretty. So beautiful.
So breathtaking that she snatches her attention away from the magnificent painting.
“Is there something on my face?”
Minji blinks back to reality and Gahyeon is facing her with a confused expression on their face.
“Oh, there’s nothing, I just… maybe the art museum was a bad idea.”
“Wait, why?” Gahyeon asks, panicked. “Did I say something wrong?”
Minji shakes her head. “No, I just think you bringing us here is a bad idea because you’re already a work of art yourself…”
“Oh my God, that was terrible.”
“But you’re gonna eat it up anyways.”
“You’re so right,” Gahyeon sighs, pouting as they wrap their arms around the taller girl’s neck.
Minji giggles, out of the blue confidence written on her face. This time, Gahyeon blushes, shying away from the painting knowing that Minji saw them being completely dumbfounded and enamoured by the art. She hides her face in the arch of Minji’s neck.
This isn’t the first time that Minji has caught Gahyeon off guard with the sudden flirting. The art student isn’t that bad of a disaster gay, but her pickup lines aren’t the best. At first, she was scared by the way her lines were delivered, but Gahyeon found them funny and sometimes hot enough.
There are too many times to count where Minji and Gahyeon have gotten so close to each other that their breaths touch each other’s lips.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Where do you wanna go?” Gahyeon asks.
Minji pouts.
“Anywhere, but I’m also hungry.”
Gahyeon’s eyes light up. “I know just the place for that!”
One elevator ride and several blocks through the city later, Gahyeon drags Minji into a noodle shop hidden in an obscure part of the city. It’s quite a small space, but the atmosphere of the restaurant is cozy and warm. Gahyeon is obviously in her element when they enter the shop, her gummy smile and her tiny hopping as evidence.
The owner of the restaurant is a small, kind lady who probably looks too young for her age. She looks like a college student but has the attitude of someone who has probably seen the beginning and end of the Korean War.
“Hey, is this your new girl?” she asks, scratching her black hair that’s tied up in a messy bun as she stares deeply into Minji’s eyes.
Minji suddenly feels a spike of discomfort down her spine.
Gahyeon steps in front of Minji, glaring at the restaurant owner. “Stop! You’re creeping her out with your freaky staring.”
“Okay, okay! I was just curious.”
“And stop making me sound like I’m a whore!” Gahyeon pouts.
The owner simply sticks her tongue out in response.
After finding their seating of choice, Minji learns that Taeyeon, the owner of the shop, is a close friend of Gahyeon and that she had helped the silver bassist get back on their feet. Gahyeon doesn’t contact Taeyeon often, but they can always find solace in this little noodle shop whenever they feel lost. It’s her safe haven, and it’s a magnificent safe haven because the noodles here are…
“...a godsend, aren’t they?” Gahyeon says confidently.
Minji can’t even deny it if she wanted to when she’s already halfway through her bowl and lets out a moan when the seasoned egg and the savoury broth hit her tongue.
“I know. I don’t know what that old hag puts in her noodles, but it’s fucking delicious!”
“Hey, I heard that!” Taeyeon shouts from the kitchen.
Aside from the lighthearted bantering between the close friends, Gahyeon and Minji indulge themselves in the rest of the noodles, the free pork belly that Taeyeon insisted on giving, and the mandatory soju shots. Gahyeon watches impressed as Minji elbows the soju bottle, twists it open and hits the neck of it with her hand. She continuously pours shots for both of them until the bottle is finished, or when Minji gets a little too greedy and drinks the rest of it straight from the bottle instead.
Having been to many parties for being Bora’s best friend and roommate, Minji’s learned a few tricks over the years.
Once they’re finished (and after another more soju bottle that lands on their table courtesy of Taeyeon), the pair say their goodbyes. Gahyeon wishes her close friend the best of luck, hugging the restaurant owner. Minji sees Taeyeon whisper something in Gahyeon’s ear, and the silver haired bassist playfully smacks her in response, blushing heavily.
Seoul is chilly tonight. Minji tightens her hold on her hoodie, shivering until she feels the familiar touch of leather wrapping around her waist. Gahyeon nests their head on Minji’s shoulder, sighing with content.
“Thanks for going out with me tonight,” they say.
Minji smiles and turns around, forgets the cold weather to face the endearing bassist’s cute face once more.
“Thank you for taking me out, and for sharing a piece of you that you normally don’t share,” Minji says, looking back at the entrance of the noodle shop.
“Taeyeon’s noodles can’t be beaten,” Gahyeon says smiling, “I just had to take you here.”
They both giggle content as another chilly wind breezes past them. Minji gasps as her skirt flies, and then she laughs larder this time along with Gahyeon until they’re so close to each other that their breaths touch each other’s lips .
They fall silent in a split second.
Gahyeon’s lips are touching hers. Minji’s mind explodes.
Minji is kissing Gahyeon.
Then, everything stops. And then everything happens too quickly.
Minji loses herself at that moment; that moment she has daydreamed about many times over, that moment she has been longing for.
Lee Gahyeon kissing her . Not just once, not just twice, but enough times to know that Minji’s imagination could never live up to the real thing.
She knows she’ll get addicted if she’s not already intoxicated by the feeling of Gahyeon’s lips against hers.
Perhaps this feeling of euphoria can be blamed on the buzz of the soju in her system. Minji doesn’t know and doesn’t care. All she knows is that she is kissing Lee Gahyeon, the silver haired bassist of favourite rock band Endless Night, and Lee Gahyeon damn well knows what she’s doing.
Then she lets go when her breath cannot keep up. Everything falls back into their place. Time moves normally again as Minji looks at Gahyeon in a happy daze.
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
They stand still together. Unmoving, silent. Their eyes locked on each other’s. Nothing needs to be spoken. Just the look on their faces speaks enough volume for the both of them.
Another breeze passes by. It’s as if the wind was watching them both in such a passionate, vulnerable moment.
They clumsily bump their foreheads against each other. Minji giggles again and Gahyeon follows soon after.
“Wanna race me to your car?”
“Wait—”
Minji runs fast and disregards Gahyeon’s response. She’s happy, floating on cloud nine, and nothing can seemingly stop her now.
She hears Gahyeon’s scream.
Then she registers the pain.
The last thing she sees is a blurred vision of Gahyeon running towards her, and she sees her eyes flicker in a deep crimson hue.
Then everything goes black.