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Valentine’s Day
Of all the days.
It is a night that is supposed to have Dahyun get over her douchebag of an ex, a night where she is finally gonna check out some single ladies and/or gentlemen around the bar. Good thing Momo’s there to check up on her. Yet, Momo has some issues she needs to deal with regarding her still unofficial girlfriend so Dahyun was left with Nayeon.
Well, Nayeon is one of the people she met when she moved into apartment 4D. Nayeon, a full-time marketer and a full-time flirt, together with her best friend since highschool Momo, the bartender, has been living in the loft for years, sharing food, watching weekly movies, and the occasional True Korean (which, up to this day, only they could play). Just a few months back too, Jeongyeon also came back from her international trip after being an import player in the Latvian Basketball league. And a week before Jeongyeon came back, Dahyun came into view after seeing a craigslist ad looking for a new tenant in the apartment.
The unit itself is huge. Probably the biggest in the building. Originally built for only three people, Nayeon, Momo, and Jeongyeon were able to hide the fact that there is another tenant in there now. It has a kitchen, three small rooms, with one room originally designed to be a library, yet Nayeon has chosen it as her own. Dahyun’s and Momo’s room are in front of each other across the hallway and Jeongyeon’s room adjacent to theirs. Nayeon’s room on the other hand is near the kitchen area.
It’s not perfect. But it’s what they call home.
From time to time, Dahyun’s best friend, Jihyo, drops by to check up on her after the break-up, and basically because she’s the closest to a family she has in this city. The first time Jihyo visited, all three girls ogled at the beautiful woman in front of them, particularly Nayeon who had her bad puns and lame pick-up lines obviously trashed by Jihyo.
-
“Is it hot in here or what? Maybe you wanna take that dress off baby. I’ll help you,” Nayeon says with a wink.
Jihyo plainly looks at her, not even bothered about the words she just heard. “Please don’t say that again. Please don’t embarrass yourself in front of your friends.”
-
Jihyo is definitely no slob herself in comparison to the inhabitants of the apartment. Travelling to the state after finishing high school, she found a way to make ends meet. Eventually, she was discovered by a manager looking for a freelance model, usually for car shows and clothing brands. She lives a few minutes away from the apartment, together with her other model friends.
Meanwhile, ever since Dahyun moved in, she became real close with the others, with Nayeon being her wingwoman most of the time. Nayeon was the first to teach her how to move on, and how to flirt again, to learn the basics of being a real sexy mofo (Nayeon’s words. She had to put $50 in the Douchebag Jar because of that), and is also her primary emotional support. It’s as plain as that. Though Nayeon attempted to flirt with Dahyun once, it didn’t progress because, well, they just aren’t that type of people.
And so with that level of friendship, and with Dahyun needing a lift for her and her date (for what Dahyun believes is a one-night stand that will help her move on better) she picked up from the bar, Nayeon is left in the car in front of Dahyun’s date’s place, cautious as hell as she believes in the concept of “stranger danger.”.
Her phone buzzes as she hums to Defying Gravity.
“What the hell are you doing there? Dahyun told you to go home. She’ll be fine,” Jihyo scolds her over the phone.
“You have no idea which part of the city we are right now and I’d rather stay here than decide to ride out and get myself mugged. I’ll stay for the night. Probably,” she plainly replies. “Also, Dahyun does not have a ride home and, well, this place does not seem to be one frequented by cabs late at night.”
Jihyo sighs out loud, obviously frustrated at the answer she heard. “Come on. Don’t be a doofus. Leave the car with Dahyun and I’ll pick you up, sounds good?”
-
Dahyun gets home at 2 in the morning, with Jeongyeon opening the door for her. Both of them looked oddly surprised at the sight of each other.
“I thought you went home with that guy earlier?” Jeongyeon asks the smaller woman who frowned as she planted her bag on the side of the door.
“Oh well. He had some issues. Totally not in my taste. We just watched Planet of the Apes, ate tacos, and, well, his ex showed up. I even helped him get back with her! Can you believe it?” Dahyun is obviously frustrated. “You? What are YOU doing here, little miss? Aren’t you supposed to be out on a date with Mina?”
“Oh, well.. Uhh, how am I gonna put this? Uhh. We were supposed to go out but her boss called her in for some extra hours at work so we decided to just have it some other time. It’s cool though. More time for me to just chill in the loft. There’s leftover pizza in the fridge if you’re hungry,” Jeongyeon says as she turns her back towards her room, leaving Dahyun to close the door.
She makes her way to the kitchen to get something to drink when Nayeon bursts out of her room, top obviously disheveled and her bottom lip a bit swollen.
“Oh, Dahyun!” Nayeon says out of surprise, posing an awkward smile. “Uhm.. you’re home early! I thought you’re gonna sleep over at that guy’s house?”
“Well, it didn’t work out so I just went home,” Dahyun says as she fishes the car keys from her pocket. “Thanks for the ride though. I pumped some gas on it on my way.”
“O-Oh! No worries! Glad to be of help. But anyway, if it didn’t work with that guy tonight, maybe it’s just not it,” Nayeon straightens herself up as she opens her arms for her friend. “Come on. It’s okay.”
Dahyun happily obliges the hug and accidentally takes a full whiff of Nayeon’s shoulder.
“Wow. You smell good!”
“Ahh! The essence of ilang-ilang flower and some chamomile. Really a perfect combination,” Nayeon responds. As she lets go of Dahyun, she gently bumps the girl’s arm, the way she does whenever she gives her signature words of advice.
“Don’t overthink it.”
“Thank you, Yeonnie. Now go back in there. Looks like someone’s waiting for you.” Dahyun says, dismissing the other girl as she grabs a glass from the pantry. Nayeon only chuckles as she gets back to her room as quickly as she went out.
-
“What a crazy night, Jihyo,” Dahyun tells Jihyo as she munches on some M&Ms she got from the fridge. This is probably Momo’s stash but she’ll just have it replaced tomorrow morning. “Imagine! I helped him get over his ex! Who does that?”
“Hella crazy, babe,” Jihyo responds lazily. “I mean didn’t you even think of just driving away and meeting someone else for tonight? That would’ve been crazier, right?”
Dahyun pops another piece in her mouth before agreeing. “Right! I mean, at least it would work for you beautiful people! I mean Nayeon got herself a date on her way home! What would stop us from doing that too?”
“Right.. Right. Listen, Dahyun, I’d love to talk to you more but I gotta hit the sheets now. I’m sleepy and tired from tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow, alright? Love you.” Jihyo says before ending the phone call.
Jihyo stares at the ceiling for a bit, oddly entranced at the unfamiliar sight before her.
“Crazy,” she whispers. Just then, the warm body wrapped around her shifts as she feels two pecks on her neck and her jaw.
“Too loud..” Nayeon sleepily mutters.
-
It was the first time it happened. But it definitely was not the last.
Definitely not the last.
Ever since the Valentine’s Day thing happened, Nayeon and Jihyo have been doing it more times than they could actually count (not that it even matters). However, the thing about their situation is: NO ONE MUST KNOW. Especially Dahyun. Sweet, naive Dahyun. She’ll curse Nayeon for sure, and will most likely berate Jihyo on her choices in life like the mom friend that she is, like she always has. And so Nayeon and Jihyo are stuck in a loop of secret entrances and exits in the loft, mostly late at night where everyone is in their own rooms.
The digital clock on Nayeon’s side table blinked at 2:34AM. Nayeon was still panting from another one of their late night rituals, while Jihyo is at a loss for words, contemplating on what just occurred.
“I… can’t believe it,” Jihyo breathlessly muttered as she laid on the bed beside Nayeon. “Oh my goodness that was… intense.”
Nayeon coyly smiles and looks at Jihyo. “I’m that good, right? Come on. You don’t have to be shy about it.”
Jihyo rolls her eyes and scoffs as she lightly punches the other woman’s arm. “That’s the last one. Definitely the last one!” She exclaims as she dresses herself quickly. Nayeon just sat up, observing the other woman standing before her, taking a mental image of this goddess before her eyes.
“Isn’t that what you said the other night? And the night before that?” the bunny-toothed woman grins as Jihyo only shot her daggers, exhaling as loud as she could possibly do at the very moment.
“Just get me out of here.”
In a flash, Nayeon is already wearing her robe as she slowly opens the door. She looked for any indication of another soul still up and awake, and when she confirms it, she signals Jihyo to follow her as the two of them nimbly tiptoed their way towards the door. Just when Jihyo was already at the door, Dahyun’s door swung open and Nayeon had to slam the door down.
“Who was that?” Dahyun calmly asked.
“No one,” was the only answer Nayeon said as she smiled shyly, stepping back towards her room. Dahyun had a sparkle in her eyes, the same thing she has whenever an idea pops in that brilliant mind of hers.
“Is it the same girl from the other night? Momo! I owe you 10 dollars!” Dahyun shouted behind her. Suddenly, Jeongyeon and Momo were out of their rooms, snickering to themselves as the two of them stood by the sofa.
Nayeon paced back, doing her best to observe what was going on with her roommates.
“That is the sound of true love!” Momo jokingly declares as she walks past Nayeon towards the fridge. “So! When are we going to meet her?”
Three pairs of eyes stare back at Nayeon who began her retreat back to her room.
“Come on girls,” she smiles coolly. “You know I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Oh please. You’re one to talk,” Jeongyeon retorts, remembering multiple instances of different women casually walking in on her as she watched TV in the living room. “What’s the matter? Is she too cute?”
“I bet she’s overrated,” Momo adds.
“Or just plain ugly,” Dahyun sums up that had the others stare at her. “Sorry. I thought we’re all insulting her.”
Nayeon cuts it with a quick laugh as she opens her room once more. “No, you don’t wanna meet her. Not yet, probably.”
Back inside her room, Nayeon’s phone beeps as a text from Jihyo just came in.
Hyo [2:40 AM]: Did they see me?
Im [2:42 AM]: Nahh. We got lucky. I think they’re having a bet on who you are. ;)
Hyo [2:45 AM]: *eye roll emoji* oh please. It’s the last time I swear.
Nayeon smiles at this as she ponders on her next reply.
Im [2:48 AM]: Oh you’ll come back. I know you can’t get enough of Mommy ;)
Hyo [2:50AM]: SHUT UP! I’m going to sleep!
Nayeon didn’t bother replying because she already knew that those words meant Jihyo found it hard to deny. She smiles to herself, thinking of the things they did, the sneaking, and the messages. Nayeon couldn’t stop thinking about Jihyo.
With one last look at the clock, she decides to call it a night.
-
The secret meetings and hidden set-up the two women had went on and on, even if the others did not mind who Nayeon's mystery person that comes in every night. After all, they did not want to upset Dahyun most of all.
Hyo [6:41PM]: Where are you?
Im [6:42PM]: In the loft. Working. Y?
Hyo [6:43PM]: I need you.
Nayeon didn’t bother to reply as she is indeed in the middle of finalizing a presentation which she’ll use for the following day. Sitting on her bed, she hears a knock on her door.
“Come in!” She responds without looking at who it is. Probably just Dahyun asking her where she kept the flour for pasta making. “‘Sup?”
“You really had to make me come here, do you?” The low, looming voice of Jihyo was all she heard and Nayeon’s eyes quickly looked up. “I can’t believe you didn’t even bother replying.”
Nayeon exhaled loudly before typing once again. “Look, sorry I really can’t. I’m stumped at work and I need to finalize this or else my ass will be chewed by my boss.”
“Maybe I’ll chew your ass first, hm?” Jihyo provokingly asks as she grins sexily at the woman sitting in front of her. “Come on. Just a few minutes and then I’ll be gone. I promise I won’t bother you for the night. Try not to!”
Nayeon just shrugs as her deft fingers continue to tap on the keyboard. Just then, Dahyun knocked on the door.
“Hey Jihyo? Is Nayeon bothering you?”
“Oh no hun! Just asking her how she’s going!” Jihyo cheerily replied. Before turning back to meet Dahyun, she gave a stern warning at Nayeon. “This is not over!”
Nayeon ignored her as she continued typing, intent on actually finishing her work by the end of the night. An hour passes and she takes a quick breather, stretching her arms and back when she hears another knock on her door.
“Come in,” she tiredly answers. As she rubbed her eyes and temples, she did not see who it was but was utterly surprised by the sudden figure standing right in front of her.
“Here you go, ma’am. A cup of tea and some snacks,” Jihyo flirtily says, putting down the tray by Nayeon’s side table. The other girl is surprised at this and is taken aback by Jihyo still in the loft.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be out with Dahyun?” Nayeon is quick to respond, looking behind to see the door is closed. “She’ll kill me if she finds out!”
Jihyo casually waves her off as she slowly walks towards Nayeon, one knee already on the soft mattress. “No one’s here. Jeongyeon went out with Mina and Dahyun agreed to join Momo in the bar. They won’t be back for at least an hour so maybe we can have a little fun..?”
Nayeon sighed at this as she stopped Jihyo from moving further. “Look, Jihyo. I really can’t right now. Not tonight. I really need to finish this report.” Jihyo looked at her as she looked for any tell in her words that she was lying, yet she could not find it.
“Fine. I just thought we could do something different tonight,” she says as she stood back up and walked towards the door. “I was willing to try anything.”
The last word caught Nayeon’s attention as her head quickly looked up at Jihyo and imitated her. “Anything?” Jihyo didn’t bother answering as Nayeon went on.
“Even Fantasy Place.. Number 4?”
-
As the elevator door opened, Jeongyeon came rushing towards the apartment door. She quickly opened and looked around for the others, quickly grabbing Nayeon’s car keys.
“Hey Yeonnie! Can I borrow your car for a bit? I just need to drop Mina off the airport!” She waits for a second for any reply, knowing all too well of two definite answers: one, that Nayeon is too busy to respond since she’s slumped at work, and two, that Nayeon would not even think twice about lending her car. Even with that, Jeongyeon still went on to Nayeon’s room to tell her about it.
“Nayeon! I’ll borrow your car for a bit! I promise I’ll fill it up when I return it. Thanks!”
Jeongyeon hurriedly went down to the garage and revved the machine up, driving towards Mina’s apartment.
At the back of the AUV, two pairs of eyes are in shock as they stare at each other while the car is being driven away by Jeongyeon.