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Ji-Yeong wants to cry. Her head feels light and the pen clutched between her fingers feel as if it were to float away at any moment.
How much longer would she need to endure this endless lecture?
Ji-Yeong stares at the clock hung up on the furthest corner of the room, it’s quiet ticks barely to be heard over the professor’s voice. All she wanted to do was go back to her apartment where, she hoped, Sae-Byeok would be waiting for her. The girls on either side of Ji-Yeong seem to be in a similar situation. Both were tapping away on their phones, most likely posing as a distraction to avoid falling asleep in case the professor catches them slacking off. As strict as he was, he seemed to be uncaring of whether his students were on their devices. In his eyes, they were just making their own future harder for themselves.
This speech really would never end. By now, a quarter of the class had drifted off into a peaceful nap, and the rest were close to doing so, too. Ji-Yeong slumps over the desk and let her hands dangle off of it, attempting to avoid touching the person that was sitting in front of her when doing so. She huffs quietly and wrinkles her nose, upon doing so when looking at the clock yet again. How had it been only three minutes since she’d last laid her eyes on it? Surely it had to have been far more than that.
Countless minutes passed. Or rather, Ji-Yeong did succeed to count every minute of the lecture— so would it really be classified as countless? Redirecting her thoughts to another place in time, she opens her eyes when the surrounding people begin to get up from their seats, groans and sighs of relief echoing around the spacious room. When did she close her eyes in the first place? Following their lead, Ji-Yeong swipes up her books and scurries out of there as quickly as possible.
Saying Ji-Yeong was tired is an understatement. Taking a step forwards felt like it required the most effort, a lot more effort than Ji-Yeong could manage on her own. All she wanted was to be in the nice, warm comfort of her own and the presence of her beloved. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t playing fair today. Ji-Yeong stuffs her books and pens into her bag carelessly, swinging it around her shoulder and weaving her way through the swarm of people chatting around her. She spends quite some time searching through her bag for her car keys, eventually wrapping her fingers around a piece of cold metal and unlocking the car with a swipe of her thumb.
The car ride was eventless and peaceful. Ji-Yeong appreciates the change in atmosphere and her almost-silent surroundings. After flicking her eyes to the GPS, Ji-Yeong’s heart began to hammer with both impatience and nerves. It would be her first time seeing Sae-Byeok in what, months? Her girlfriend had been overseas for three months to pursue a once in a lifetime modelling offer, one that would take place far away from Ji-Yeong. Nevertheless, they both agreed to weekly video-chats and voice-calls. It had worked out fine in the beginning, although Ji-Yeong was known to lose her patience easily, ending in the both of them having bad moods for the rest of the day.
It wasn’t as fun as it seemed.
Ji-Yeong swings the door open and kicks her shoes off in excitement.
“I’m home!” she calls out, slamming the door behind her while stumbling into the living room.
“Sae-Byeok?”
She receives no answer. Determined, Ji-Yeong waltzes into every room they own until she reaches the last room. Even with all the searching, Sae-Byeok was still nowhere to be seen. Was she late? Ji-Yeong was sure she had spotted Sae-Byeok’s car parked on the side of the road, so maybe she went out? She walks out of the room to flop on the couch, defeated.
“What the fuck?”
There’s a hoarse voice beneath Ji-Yeong. Lifting the blanket she kept on the couch for warmth during late nights of watching television, Ji-Yeong pokes her head underneath and blinks.
“Oh. It’s you,” she says slowly, “hi there.”
“Hi back.”
Without a second to spare, Ji-Yeong finds herself straddling Sae-Byeok and squeezing her tightly, pulling away to pepper light kisses all over her face. Sae-Byeok blinks up at the other girl sleepily, eventually wrapping her arms around her waist and grinning up at her. The taller of the two gives Ji-Yeong a chaste kiss on the lips before collapsing back onto the couch, closing her eyes and groaning quietly.
“You woke me up from my nap,” she reprimands.
“Don’t act like you’d prefer your beauty sleep over me.”
Ji-Yeong rolls over so she’s squished between Sae-Byeok and the back of the couch, tangling their legs together and pressing a light kiss to Sae-Byeok’s arm.
When Sae-Byeok shuts her eyes, Ji-Yeong takes her time to admire her girlfriend’s facial features. It had been awhile since she last did so, after all. She scans her eyes over the light freckles dotting Sae-Byeok’s skin and her calm expression. Ji-Yeong doesn’t believe that this moment is real. Come to think of it, is it real? Or is Ji-Yeong just dreaming? Either way, she relishes this moment and wedges her face into Sae-Byeok’s neck, shutting her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
Ji-Yeong wakes up with her limbs tangled with Sae-Byeok’s and a strand of hair in her mouth. Flicking her tongue to remove it, she sighs softly and leans her head on Sae-Byeok’s chest, bringing the blanket tighter around them and letting her eyelids cover her vision.
The second time she wakes up, she’s alone. Ji-Yeong looks up to see Sae-Byeok standing over her with a cup of coffee in one hand and a plate of donuts in the other.
“Are you hungry?” she asks, bending down to place both of the items on the coffee table. Ji-Yeong nods quickly and grabs a donut hastily, wasting no time in shoving it into her mouth and swallowing loudly. Sae-Byeok glances at her fondly before taking a small bite out of her own donut, chewing slowly before swallowing. Unlike a certain someone.
“Thank you,” Ji-Yeong mumbles, her mouth full of food. Sae-Byeok wrinkles her nose but gives her a head pat, ruffling the brown hair and smirking when Ji-Yeong looks at her disapprovingly.
Ji-Yeong realises that she’s the happiest in this small apartment of theirs, with no other people around and in their own little personal bubble where nobody can interrupt. She loves the feeling of being next to Sae-Byeok and the nice moments they have together, regardless of where they are on the planet and how far apart they are from each other. Ji-Yeong felt as if she were floating- floating with the amount of sheer happiness and love that was oozing out of her. Moreover, she feels as if she never wants this moment to end. How could a single person make someone so happy?
Then, Ji-Yeong settles on something.
She’s happy, and she hopes that the happiness will last for as long as she lives.