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Laundromats are clean, sterile places. People go there, dump their laundry, and generally hang around silently waiting for their load to finish, eyes fixated on their phone in the meantime. You don’t generally go there to socialize.
Particularly not at 3am on a weekday night, when only the drunk and homeless tend to wander in for a comfortable place to hang out in. But everyone there at the time, regardless of their reasons, were generally minding their own business, which was perfectly up Jung Yerin’s alley. She could use a little peace.
Jung Yerin. YouTube star, part time model, popular enough to have fans but thankfully no paparazzi (yet). Also not yet popular or rich enough to have staff doing her chores for her, so like any normal person, she has laundry. Which she has to do, since she was living alone and it wasn’t like her mom could just pop in to handle things for her.
She’s an adult now. She can handle these things.
Just don’t ask her why she was there at 3am. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her body clock is all over the place and the only time she had the peace of mind to do chores was in the dead of night when the sounds of humanity had receded. Funny how that works.
It was just her in thick glasses, hair bunned up, and two weeks worth of laundry. Nothing to look at here. She has strong arms. It wasn’t that heavy. Maybe she shouldn’t have waited two weeks.
The laundromat was empty save for someone slumped in a corner, foot twitching occasionally to reassure Yerin that they were at least still alive, and the young woman felt a strange relief to have the place to herself. She liked people well enough, and her career choices placed her in high energy roles most of the time, but sometimes, she just wanted a little peace.
3am laundry nights were a good choice for that. Yerin chose a reasonable looking machine and started loading her clothes in -- she had already sorted them prior to this trip. Her former roommates tended to laugh at her obsessive compulsive behaviors, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with paying attention to details. None.
Never mind that she color codes her socks in the drawer. It looks nice okay.
There’s something therapeutic about finally getting her chores done, she was maybe a little bit of a clean freak, but sometimes work catches up to her, and some things fall behind. Hence the sudden 3am trip to the laundromat. Some things just can’t wait.
The soft flap flap of someone else’s flip flops echo not too far off from behind her. Yerin tenses a little, involuntarily, and cautiously peeks over her shoulder. A girl could never be too careful in the big city.
A pretty girl enters her sight. Granted, a messy pretty girl, but it’s 3am and no one looks glamorous on little sleep and a grungy t-shirt and short cutoffs. No makeup too, the professional in Yerin notes, then chides herself internally. Why would any sane person put on makeup to go to the laundromat at 3am?
(Her. She did. A little foundation hurts no one. Also, what if she ran into someone who knows her. She has a reputation to keep.)
The pretty stranger looked like she was half asleep and shuffling aimlessly, almost drifting into a wall at one point. Yerin almost reached out to rescue her, but the girl seemed to correct herself at the last second with a sleepy half shake of her head, ambling like a lost puppy to her destination.
Next to her. When there were at least half a dozen other open machines. Not that Yerin was complaining. She liked girls, especially pretty ones. Bless her gay heart, she hadn’t dated in over a year. Things have been busy.
Not that she was going to hit on some random stranger at 3am in a laundromat. Would she do something like that?
“You should probably separate the whites from the colors,” Yerin blurted out before she could stop herself. Damn that OCD. But she couldn’t help it. What if the colors ran? She has a responsibility to rescue the cute girl from herself!
Cute Girl paused. Yerin could see her almost audibly stop to think. It was kind of adorable really. Yerin had to resist the urge to reach out and pat the girl on the head. Never mind that the other girl was taller than her even while wearing flip flops. There was a bumbling sort of confusion in her general demeanour, probably caused by the lack of sleep. The dark circles were fairly obvious at this distance, especially with no makeup to cover the signs.
“You’re right,” the girl blinked slowly, then squinted down at her laundry bag like she was faced with a complicated math equation. Her nose scrunches into a frown, and Yerin could swear from here to next year that she was normally not a busybody and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she has a weakness for pretty girls.
“Let me help you with that,” Yerin breathes out a tiny sigh, unable to keep herself from meddling. She was just a naturally helpful person. Of course. Why would anyone doubt that.
Cute Girl blinked at her owlishly, and Yerin was briefly distracted by the shimmer in those slightly unfocused eyes. How many hours has this girl been up? Yerin recognized the look of sleep deprivation. She was no stranger to the phenomenon.
“I...thank you.” Cute Girl smiled, and Yerin felt her heart stutter a little. Okay get a grip Jung Yerin it’s not your first rodeo she’s not even dolled up but wow her lips look really nice GET A GRIP.
It has been too long since she last dated. Yerin decided she needed a girlfriend soon. This cute girl had potential. Maybe she should make a pass, since they were both already here. Fortune favors the bold, after all.
“I just moved in around the area a few months ago, but I’ve never seen you around. I usually notice cute girls like you.” Yerin comments idly, all while efficiently sorting the laundry. At least Cute Girl had separated her underwear into a separate hamper. Was that black lace? Mm, interesting.
Yerin liked a girl who knew how to dress. Never mind that Cute Girl was not at her best now. No one comes to a laundromat looking like a superstar anyway. And even then, she was still attractive even without assistance. That took some natural talent.
A pause, and Yerin wondered if she had missed her shot. Well, not everyone was gay, unfortunately, but she learned to roll with it. Plus, who doesn’t love compliments? She could be friends with a pretty girl even if they couldn’t date.
“Funny, I was thinking the same,” Cute Girl said slowly, a tiny smile creeping across her lips. “I usually notice when a pretty girl moves in.”
Okay, not straight after all. Excellent. Yerin congratulated herself, a tiny flush reaching her ears at the compliment. She knew she was pretty, but it was always nice to hear a confirmation. The cute girl seemed a little less groggy after being addressed, and moved in a bit closer into Yerin’s personal space, hands brushing over hers as she took her laundry back.
Yerin was fairly sure it was not necessary to run a thumb across the back of her hand in the process. Okay, so she’s flirting back. Cool. What now.
Well she certainly wasn’t going to back down from a challenge. Yerin smirked and moved to help Cute Girl load her laundry. There may have been more not so accidental contact as they made small talk.
She found out Yuna was still in college and living with a roommate off campus, really liked dogs, and was in the middle of her thesis for the past few weeks, hence the accumulated laundry. Yerin shared a few inconsequential details about herself as well, grinning a little when Yuna made a little ‘wow’ sound about her modelling gigs.
There was something earnestly charming about this girl. Yerin had been used to having a public face (work hazards, really), and some of it tended to spill over to the rest of her life. Consciously or not, Yerin was used to projecting a larger than life version of herself in front of others. It was only in the rare moments, left to the minutiae of life, away from the eyes of others, that she could relax into herself.
Not so with this girl. Yuna seemed so settled in herself, albeit a little lost in her own world. There was something reassuring about that, as if Yerin could simply just be herself without having to pretend to be someone more interesting around her. The lack of judgement was almost palpable, and Yerin found herself smiling more loosely as her laundry entered its final cycle.
Which meant that their interaction had to end soon. Yerin felt a surprising reluctance about that. She was enjoying this stranger’s company, and didn’t quite want it to end so soon.
It was odd how quickly they had taken to each other, even if they barely knew anything more than each other’s names and some basic facts that came up in conversation. How could you talk about nothing at all but feel like you’ve known each other for years?
Perhaps it was how she felt so comfortable being around Yuna, Yerin concluded. The fact that Yuna was easy on the eyes helped, but more than that, it was just the way they clicked on first contact. Not everyone could match Yerin’s energy right away, and the fact that she found someone like that at 3am in some random laundromat was a miracle in itself.
Her body moves mechanically as the machine loudly announces that it is done with its load, moving to collect her clean laundry while wondering if she should just ask for Yuna’s number or give her own. Would it be too sudden? They had barely known each other for more than half an hour.
Yerin was hesitating, a rare emotion for her. She was well known for being forward and taking the initiative on most things, but somehow, right here, she was uncertain. Her illusion of confidence was usually just that, an illusion. She was brave because she was expected to be. The real her...wasn’t always so.
But sometimes one doesn’t always need to be brave, not all the time. Yerin startles for a moment when a warm hand touches her wrist, and her eyes flick upwards to meet Yuna’s slightly apologetic ones.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to surprise you but,” Yuna pauses, taking a small, quick breath in between, before continuing, phone held up in one hand.
“You wanna grab some coffee together some time? I really liked talking to you.”
Yerin blinked in surprise for a moment, watching Yuna fidget from one foot to another, a shy but determined expression on her face. Oh the girl was cute. It almost made her want to tease her, but it was almost 4am and she was too tired for silly games. Yerin beamed.
“Of course.”
They exchange numbers, and Yerin hefts her bag of now clean laundry, wondering if she should just hang out until Yuna was done too. Or would that be too creepy? She rubs at her eyes with one hand, suppressing a yawn, and then hears Yuna chuckle next to her.
“Go get some rest, beautiful. I’ll see you around sometime.”
There was an indulgent note in Yuna’s tone, and Yerin finds her heart skipping a beat at it. Not one to be outdone so easily, Yerin smirks back, taking Yuna’s hand in her free one, lifting it to her lips like a knight greeting her lady, her breath hot on the back of Yuna’s hand. She feels Yuna shiver slightly, and grins, pressing a fleeting kiss to Yuna’s fingers before letting go and blowing yet another air kiss on her way out.
She may have caught Yuna blushing at that, but Yerin wasn’t sure that she wasn’t a little flushed herself. She felt almost giddy at the thought of being interested in a cute girl who was also interested in her. How often did that happen? Not often enough.
Her fingers slip back to her phone in her pocket. Yuna’s number was in there. She thumbs the screen restlessly, before shoving it back into her pocket. She didn’t want to seem desperate, for all that she wanted to hear the pretty girl’s voice again.
“It’s going to be a good day~”
Yerin hums to herself as she skips back to her apartment. What would the next day bring? She doesn’t know, but at least she had something else to look forward to.
It was going to be a good day after all.