Chapter Text
Their first time was innocent.
It was more like a conversation rather than a physical act, one that she didn't remember really well either because of how much it took her by surprise. She was out of her mind, incoherent, confessing her heart out with no filter whatsoever. She didn’t even budge to hide the tears that were already pooling at the corner of her eyes as she spoke, although, in retrospect, the tears maybe had helped her more than it harmed her. Because the way Jeongwon looked at her—if only she was brave enough to tilt her head up—was soft and full of longing and it only intensified when he saw how her tears pooled and heard how her voice trembled. And then he decided that the Korean vocabulary was so limited in its capability to describe how she made him feel, so he discarded the words for a kiss—or maybe two or three. The kisses were slow, unsure, a little bit awkward—but it was them, together at last…
“...and everything just clicked.” Gyeoul answered with a textbook description of a happy ending kiss and Chu Minha, who had waited breathlessly for Gyeoul’s Christmas story to reach its climax, just groaned. She shouldn’t have expected so much from her friend whose favorite movie genre is slasher instead of romcom like hers. Minha then mildly sulked that Gyeoul is so unimaginative as a storyteller and she should have watched more romcom in order to tell the story more vividly, to which Gyeoul just replied with an apologetic smile; and then their conversation finally moved on to Minha’s own Christmas which was anything BUT romcom.
The truth is, maybe Gyeoul didn’t so much forget as much as wanting to keep the story to herself. It was the one thing only the two of them know—well now there’s Minha, and maybe his friends as well, Gyeoul shuddered at this thought—but at least they’re the only one who knows how it really feels. It was surreal, and although Gyeoul was out of her body most of the time, it was magical. She had always admired his mouth—not the shape or how it fit perfectly in between hers—but how he can always say the most reassuring thing to worried parents at just the right amount: not too sweet of an empty promise, but not too harsh of a reality either—and that night his mouth was just one breath away from her. She has liked him for the longest time and that night was the first time that it dawned on her that he liked her as well… maybe. Honestly, Gyeoul didn’t know for sure yet.
Truthfully, similar to the way Minha felt about her story, everything after the kiss was anticlimactic—at least to Gyeoul. Because when her soul finally returned to her body and she finally comprehend that the lips that coaxed hers open just seconds ago were of Ahn Jeongwon gyosunim—her impossible crush and also supposedly a priest—and about to ask him “What? How? Why?” and the rest of the 5W1H, her phone rang.
They reluctantly broke apart and for a moment she just stood there, dumbstruck. It was not until Ahn Jeongwon—her maybe now very possible crush and most definitely not a priest—gave her an encouraging smile and uttered a very soft “It’s okay, pick it up,” that she finally realized what’s going on. Right. Her patient. She picked up the call and she was instantly transported to her previous reality, the reality where she was a never-been-kissed GS resident. She didn’t even remember whether she had said “goodbye” or “sorry” to him before she dashed out in a hurry, and just like that… the night ended. The spell was broken. Cinderella rode a pumpkin home.
Until tonight.
Tonight they’re finally going to have that long overdue date. In precisely 5 minutes Ahn Jeongwon gyosunim will ring at her door and take her out to dinner, and the thought of this made Gyeoul’s stomach churns in the most pleasant way. This is also why Minha came over to teach her how to use contact lenses, and how to blow her hair, and basically everything that a girl supposedly does before a date—because she had never been to one. For a chance, Gyeoul actually cares about the lipstick Minha applied on her lips because Jeongwon will see them… and maybe kiss them. Gyeoul felt something warm pooling in her belly, and she gulped.
Ding dong!
Minha’s eyes bulged exponentially, which Gyeoul can only decipher as “It’s him!”, and they both turned out to be right, because not a second later Gyeoul’s phone lit up.
Ahn Jeongwon gyosunim: Gyeoulah
Her breath hitched because never in a million year would she get used to Ahn gyosunim calling her ‘Gyeoulah’—
Ahn Jeongwon gyosunim: I’m in front of your apartment
Of course he is—Gyeoul looked at the watch on her phone and it’s 7 PM sharp—he’s punctual, perfect, and good at everything he does, she always thought.
Minha made Gyeoul turn for her, inspecting her “makeover” result, and she smiled satisfiedly. Gyeoul checked her reflection in the mirror and she had to agree. She’s still in her denim shirt and straight pants—Minha did put up a good fight before she begrudgingly lost to Gyeoul—but her eyes were for once not behind a spectacle, and her hair lusciously fell down to her shoulder. She smiled sheepishly at her reflection.
“Remember to reapply the lipstick when you have the chance, it’s unfortunately not smudge-proof,” Minha snuck in the lipstick inside Gyeoul’s sling bag, “Or kiss-proof.” She winked, and Gyeoul is positive that she blushed. Thankfully Minha applied blush-on on her cheeks as well, so hopefully it wasn’t that obvious.
Gyeoul hesitated on what to say before she settled for an impish, “Thank you, unnie,” and hugged Minha tightly.
“Shush, keep it. You would’ve done the same for me,” Minha rubbed the small of Gyeoul’s back, before yanking Gyeoul away from her, “Actually, no. Please don’t. Please don’t try to dress me up for a date.” She looked at Gyeoul’s denim with a disapproving look and Gyeoul just laughed.
“Okay, go now before he changes his mind and boards the next plane to Italy. I will leave after you guys did, just pretend i’m not here,” Minha pushed Gyeoul out of her own bedroom, “Although, I will definitely peek from the door’s peephole,” She whispered to Gyeoul’s ear before sneakily running back toward the bedroom again, her giggle echoed.
Gyeoul just shook her head absentmindedly because she’s sure Minha won’t find them interesting to watch. They were awkward, still, and that is precisely why Gyeoul’s heart drummed out of her ear because this is… this is their first time. First date, first kiss, first everything. She was bound to be awkward but this didn’t make her nervous as much as giddy because she knew that he would be awkward as well. And she wouldn’t mind. She hoped he wouldn’t mind either.
Her steps towards the door were almost spring, and the widest smile was plastered on her face as she put on her coat. There’s a minute of futile attempt to steady her breath, until Gyeoul finally dared herself to open her front door.
And then, there he was: tall, wide-shouldered, and... frozen. It was winter but not cold enough to turn a human into a block of ice, and yet, Ahn Jeongwon just stood there like a statue. The expression on his face was blank, like he was shocked. Like he just saw Gyeoul for the first time. Gyeoul didn’t know what to make of it so she thought there was something wrong in her face so she touched it, and then her hair, and her eyes… oh. This is his first time to see her not in her glasses.
“I—” she tried to explain, but—
“You—” he did too. Then a teeny, tiny sheepish smile escaped his lips, because the first thing he thought of was “you look beautiful” but then he decided it would be wrong, because she has always been beautiful, glasses or no glasses. So he settled on the second truth, which was, “It’s good to see you,” and that tiny smile cracked open to a boyish grin.
And then Gyeoul could no longer pursed her lips together because she felt so happy like she could fly, so she grinned, all teeth bare, and biting her bottom lips before she finally replied, “It’s good to see you too.”