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jet black hair that cascades over her bare shoulders, the wind blowing her blue sleeveless sundress to the right. her shadow casted on the sand beneath her feet, arms raised in position as she looks through the viewfinder of her camera.
yoohyeon gazes at her from afar for the seventh time this week. she’s been counting the days since she first saw her. her with the long, wavy hair and her camera strapped around her neck. her who yoohyeon does not even know the name of, nor does she know what she looks like up close. yoohyeon only manages to catch sight of her back view, and occasionally her side profile when she finally turns away from the dizzying shade of sunset hues. still, she’s had yoohyeon mesmerised since the very beginning.
the blonde girl can never begin to explain why the woman interests her so. she thinks it would take hours to even attempt to figure out her own thoughts. it’s easier to not think about the why’s and just allow herself to (respectfully) admire the woman.
perhaps it’s the way she only frequents the beach when the sun sets over the horizon in the distance. perhaps it’s the way she simply stops at a particular spot along the sandy coast washed up by the waves to admire the sky every evening. perhaps it’s the way she never fails to take a picture (or multiple pictures — yoohyeon wouldn’t know) of the coloured sky.
maybe it’s because yoohyeon has never seen her before this week. maybe it’s because even without seeing her face, she’s the prettiest person yoohyeon has ever set her eyes upon. she carries an air of elegance and grace that is oh so attractive to yoohyeon. and her presence — it is ever so regal, demanding the attention of those nearby even though she is simply walking past. even from all the way back here, where yoohyeon watches her from the window of her souvenir shop, she longs to be near her.
yoohyeon is absolutely enamoured — she has been for the past week. yubin says she’s out of her mind to like a stranger this much. she’s right, yoohyeon thinks. but she can’t possibly control how she feels, and even if she could, yoohyeon doesn’t think she wants to stop liking her. it’s beautiful in the scariest of ways, because she longs to be beside her on the sand, watching the sky turn dark with her. yoohyeon likes photography, too. they have that much in common, at least.
she considers approaching the woman on multiple days, wanting to walk up and stand next to her with her own camera in hand. she never does work up the courage to do it, though. how could she, when the woman looks like a goddess from out of this world, and yoohyeon is just yoohyeon? yoohyeon, who works at the souvenir shop because she likes all the little overpriced trinkets sold here, because she likes looking at the pictures printed on the back of postcards that are put on display. and although business is slow on most days except during holiday seasons, yoohyeon actually enjoys her job here.
she supposes one day the woman will simply stop visiting the beach, and yoohyeon will be forced to forget about her and her tall, lean frame against the dimming light cast by the setting sun. she’ll just be another pretty lady whom yoohyeon let go of too easily.
but weeks pass and her lone figure still has yoohyeon looking at her, absolutely lovestruck. from all the way in her souvenir shop, the woman is just barely a shadow against the orange skies that turn pink. yoohyeon can do nothing more but stare longingly at her and hope she returns to the beach tomorrow, too.
weeks that turn into months of yearning gazes, until she walks into the souvenir shop. yoohyeon is in the back room, tallying this month’s average income. the bell rings, signalling that someone has entered.
she pushes the door open, and enters in all her wavy, jet-black hair glory, with her blue sundress and her camera slung around her neck. yoohyeon has never seen her from more than a distance away, but she thinks she could recognise her even if she were just a shadow.
yoohyeon nearly stumbles over — well, over nothing, really (because she’s just that clumsy) — while making her way out of the back room.
the woman strolls around the shop, picking up things that seem to interest her and looking at them intently before putting them back down. in a desperate attempt to stop herself from staring creepily, yoohyeon picks up her phone from the countertop, frantically firing off a series of texts to yubin.
the replies she gets almost instantly range from very yubin-like things to say to borderline she could slap yubin because she was not being helpful in the slightest bit. because really?
idk yoohyeon maybe just try not to pass out in front of her?? or at least try not to embarrass yourself? god knows you would do at least one of those two but good luck i guess,, tell me how it went later if you’re still alive and breathing lmaooo
if yoohyeon wasn’t so busy panicking about having a pretty lady in her shop, she would’ve spammed yubin with more texts to defend her honour (dramatic, yes, but yoohyeon likes to think she can function just fine around pretty ladies).
but maybe yubin is right, and yoohyeon might have to admit that flirting isn’t her strongest suit. because the pretty woman walks up to the counter and places a stack of postcards down, and yoohyeon’s mind goes blank. it’s the first time she sees her up close, as more than just a figure on the beach. yoohyeon can’t possibly put together words to describe her beauty. she doesn’t look any older than yoohyeon — maybe by a few years, but that was about it. but her face — yoohyeon thinks it must’ve been sculpted by the gods above. soft features that complement the gentle yet graceful aura around her, yoohyeon decides that maybe she doesn’t function well around pretty ladies after all. she stares at the postcards, unmoving, until she’s reminded that she has to actually do her job instead of spacing out like an idiot! and so her hands move on autopilot, even if they do tremble a little.
“do you- do you need a bag?” her throat is dry and her voice is uneven, but she manages to stutter out a sentence anyway.
“oh, no thank you.” oh, god. yoohyeon swears she swoons just a little. her voice — so sultry and sweet and confident. it matches the vibe she gives off perfectly, and yoohyeon is pretty sure this woman right here is the girl of her dreams and everything more. if only yubin could be here to see how starry-eyed yoohyeon looks as she watches the woman tap her card against the card reader to pay for the postcards. it’s only now that yoohyeon notices her hands — and why do even her hands look gorgeous? this must be some kind of sick joke, because there is no way a woman this perfect exists. her hands are pretty, too. rather big, if the way her credit card looks small when held in them is any indication of how big they are. her fingers are long and slender; yoohyeon briefly wonders if they’re as soft to the touch as they look. and the veins on the back of her hand that lead up to her forearm? yoohyeon never understood why people liked veiny hands, but she thinks she might have an inkling as to why now.
it’s unfair, really. it’s completely unfair for such a woman to exist, and it’s even more unfair that the universe seems to like watching yoohyeon struggle in front of a lady this refined and elegant and ethereal. so it was only a matter of time until yoohyeon eventually managed to embarrass herself in front of the girl of her dreams. yubin was right; yoohyeon does embarrass herself in front of pretty girls often.
“here you go, thank you for visiting!” yoohyeon hands the stack of postcards to the lady’s waiting hands. she tries to ignore the way her hands are clammy with sweat. the woman says her thanks as well and turns to leave. this is it — the one chance yoohyeon had to talk to her and it’s already over. she’s about to push the door open and step outside when yoohyeon’s mouth — her stupid, impulsive, no-filter mouth — calls after her.
“you’re- you’re very pretty, by the way!”
the woman turns to face yoohyeon, and she smiles. and yoohyeon kind of feels like there’s a whole herd of butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, like there are flowers blooming somewhere in her heart and everything else in between. she quite literally beams at yoohyeon, eyes forming crescents as her nose scrunches a little. it’s adorable, and also possibly the prettiest smile yoohyeon has ever seen. hell, she’s adorable, and the prettiest woman yoohyeon has ever seen. the stupid butterflies in her stomach won’t stop fluttering their stupid wings, and it makes yoohyeon a little light-headed and dizzy, but she doesn’t care. not when she is grinning at yoohyeon ever so brightly — the setting sun in the distance could never shine as bright as she does in this moment. yoohyeon especially does not care for the dizzying feeling at the back of her mind at the woman’s next words.
“thank you,” it might just be the pinkish sky from outside, but yoohyeon thinks her cheeks look slightly pink. “you’re very pretty, too.” she giggles. like, actually giggles. as if yoohyeon wasn’t already having a hard time trying not to look like a dying fish with the way she has to inhale large breaths of air when she compliments her. double whammy, yoohyeon thinks.
the woman leaves with a bow, still smiling warmly as yoohyeon is left to process what exactly just happened. she stands there for a good few seconds, mind reeling from the past few minutes. her conclusion? the girl of her dreams called her pretty — her!! yoohyeon can barely believe it, so she does what anyone would do in a situation like this — she spams yubin’s phone with non-stop messages. messages that range from incoherent keyboard smashes and screaming in capital letters to a bunch of emojis and gifs — it’s the only way yoohyeon knows how to communicate her feelings.
YUBIN YUBIN YUBIN COME BACK
SHE CALLED ME PRETTY AAAAAAA
ME!!!! SHE CALLED ME PRETTY !!????
i think i might die
pls call an ambulance to the shop if i stop screaming in the next few minutes
i totally panicked in front of her lol what a loser
i told her she’s very pretty just as she was leaving the shop was that stupid of me?? actually don’t answer i don’t wanna know
yoohyeon feels a little bad for the amount of notifications yubin is about to receive, but then again, they’ve been best friends for years, and surely yubin has already gotten used to yoohyeon’s texting style. she never sends a long message to get her point across, always does it in short messages one after another, and a lot of those messages are followed by emojis she deems fitting.
yoohyeon spends the rest of the day staring out the window of the shop. replays the short and sweet yet extremely embarrassing interaction they had in her mind. she wonders if she’ll be at the beach tomorrow, too. she silently hopes the woman visits the shop again.
her prayers are answered within the next few days. another few days of watching her from inside the shop, until she pushes the door of the shop open. yoohyeon is standing beside the rack where the postcards are kept, arranging them to ensure they’re all lined up nicely. unluckily for her (or maybe it was luckily), the woman doesn’t browse around the shop for much longer this time. she heads towards the postcards where yoohyeon pauses her actions with the intent of greeting her, but ends up stumbling over her words again. it’s embarrassing, and yoohyeon’s cheeks flush, but that may also be due to the fact that the woman smiles warmly at her again, saying hello with her voice that for some reason is so soothing to yoohyeon’s ears.
her hands reach for the postcards with pictures of the beach and the sunset on them, sifting through and picking out the ones she likes. yoohyeon simply watches. as if she had felt yoohyeon’s gaze on her, she says,
“i already used the ones i bought the other day. apparently, i have more people to write to than i thought i did.” she chuckles softly.
“are you here on vacation, then?” yoohyeon thanks the gods that she doesn’t stutter again.
“actually, i just moved here recently. all my friends and family are back home, and i promised i would write to them frequently.”
“why not just text them?”
“well, i guess you could call me old-fashioned, but i much prefer writing letters than texting. of course, it’s less convenient, but if it’s not an urgent matter then i’d think a hand-written letter holds more sincerity. besides, i like the pictures on the back of these postcards. they’re very pretty,” she says, flipping over one postcard and bringing it up to show yoohyeon the picture. “see? the sunsets here are gorgeous. almost as gorgeous as you.”
oh my god. yoohyeon just barely manages to avoid choking on her own saliva at the sudden flirtatious tone. she opens her mouth to say something, anything, really, that could both accept the compliment and at the same time direct the same compliment back to the pretty lady. but all that comes out is a squeak, so she clears her throat and tries again, desperately trying to ignore the thumping of her heart.
“ah, yes. the sunsets are indeed pretty here. and um, thank you. for saying that i’m pretty. and gorgeous,” she replies awkwardly. “you are too! i mean, i already knew you were pretty just seeing you from afar, but-,” she slaps a hand over her mouth. oh, no. she’s said too much. the girl of her dreams probably thinks she’s some creepy stalker or something — god, yoohyeon really hates the way she panics in front of pretty girls. but the woman just tilts her head slightly, still smiling at her, and nods, as if to tell yoohyeon that it’s okay, and that she should keep talking. so she does, but only because she desperately wants to explain herself so she doesn’t look like a creep.
“um. i promise i’m not a creep, okay? but i just couldn’t help but notice that you only come here when the sun sets, and i don’t know why, but i just think that you look really pretty from here with your figure against the sunset. i’m sorry, this must be so weird to hear, but i swear i’m not some stalker or whatever!” yoohyeon’s eyes dart around the shop, looking at anywhere except at the lady in front of her. suddenly the floorboards seem interesting — was this piece of wood always this shade of brown?
the woman laughs, light and angelic and the most beautiful melody yoohyeon has ever heard.
“it’s alright, really. i’m flattered that you think i’m pretty enough to take notice of, even if i was just a figure. i just like to come here because it’s close enough to my apartment, and the view of the sky here is way better than it is from my window,” the corner of her lips quirk up into a small smirk. “though i’d say the sunset has a competitor for that title.”
good lord, were pretty girls always this confident and flirty? yoohyeon thinks it’s just this one pretty lady in front of her who’s like this. she ducks her head down again, fighting the urge to cover her face with the sleeves of her oversized sweatshirt.
“do you always flirt like this with girls you think are pretty?”
“not usually. just the ones i think are extremely cute when flustered,” she turns to look out the window of the shop. “oh, look! the sun is setting soon,”
yoohyeon lifts her head, and sure enough, the sky was slowly dimming.
“would you like to watch the sunset with me?”
yoohyeon is a little taken aback by how forward she is with her words, but then again, she should’ve known, considering the way she’s been flirting shamelessly with yoohyeon all this while. and even though she has a shop to run, yoohyeon nods with almost no hesitation. what can she say — her weakness is pretty girls who flirt with her.
she grabs her film camera from the countertop and the paper she usually sticks on the door when she goes out for her lunch break. on their way out, yoohyeon pauses to paste it on the door.
out for lunch, will be back at 2pm!
it’s six in the evening, but it’ll have to do for now. customers could wait (not that there were many of them during this time of the year), but currently there was a gorgeous lady who wanted to watch the sunset with her and yoohyeon can’t keep her waiting.
so they walk the short distance from yoohyeon’s shop to the edge of the water where the waves lick at their bare feet, their shoes thrown off haphazardly somewhere behind them. the woman raises her own camera, and yoohyeon hears the snap of the shutter. she does the same, mirroring her actions. it’s a little amusing that in all her time working here, yoohyeon has taken barely any pictures of the beach.
“watching sunsets with a pretty girl is much better than watching it alone,” her sweet, honey voice carries across the crash of the waves. yoohyeon’s cheeks flush as pink as the sky under the setting sun’s gentle warmth. “does the pretty girl have a name, or can i call you mine?”
yoohyeon kind of falls in love a little more. how could she not, when the woman in front of her is not only stunningly beautiful, but also charming in the cringiest of ways with her flirting (and admittedly quite terrible pick-up lines that have yoohyeon a stuttering, panicked mess).
“yoohyeon. my name is yoohyeon.” she manages to say after a few seconds of internal panicking. the woman hums in acknowledgment, a small smile playing on her lips.
“it’s nice to meet you, yoohyeon. i’m minji.” she offers her hand out to yoohyeon, who accepts the handshake. god, her hands are huge. and also very nice to hold. her hands are as soft as they look. they’re warm and tender and everything good — yoohyeon is down bad.
minji grins at her blindingly, and amidst all the jumbled thoughts in her head, yoohyeon can only think about how minji is everything she wants and more. minji minji minji. a pretty name that yoohyeon hopes she can say more often in the future.
“would you like to watch the sunset with me tomorrow, too?”
it’s a silly question, really. yoohyeon wants to tell minji that she would do anything for her in a heartbeat. but instead she nods, maybe a little too enthusiastically, because minji giggles at her afterwards. but then she calls yoohyeon cute, and suddenly yoohyeon doesn’t even care if she’s making a total fool out of herself. minji likes the way she flusters over compliments and cheesy pick-up lines, so yoohyeon decides that perhaps she doesn’t really hate it all that much when she panics in front of pretty girls like minji. especially in front of minji who smiles at her like she’s the sun and the moon and the stars all in one, who takes yoohyeon’s hand in hers gently and laces their fingers together as they watch the sky turn dark just like how yoohyeon had always wanted to do with her.
in between the months she spends pining over a figure on the beach, to the coming days she spends with her hand in minji’s while they watch fairy pink sunsets together, yoohyeon falls in love.
she thinks it was inevitable for her not to.