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Dahyun could feel herself sinking into the couch further and further with each roll of thunder. It was storming hard outside, and the rain had soaked her to the bone on the way home from work. She knew she would eventually have to get up and make dinner, but it was Friday night and right now all she wanted was to relax from her hard week. She planned on accomplishing this by becoming one with her couch. She closed her eyes and focused on the sound of the rain pattering against the window, feeling herself drift off in the darkness.
A shrill scream jolts her awake, and the pitch blackness of her apartment catches her off guard. She looks at the digital clock hanging on the wall next to her tv, it's completely off. The storm must've caused a power outage. Dahyun grabs a flashlight from the drawer next to her, getting up and heading to the kitchen. She tries the light switches on the wall, nothing happens, so she moves on to the sink and tries the tap.
“At least the water’s running.” She mutters, squatting down to grab some candles from the bottom drawer. It's when she's dropping them onto the countertop to sort through that she hears a persistent banging coming from her front door.
“Dahyun! Are you home?! Can I come in?! Hello?!” It’s her cute but slightly annoying neighbor, Sana. Dahyun walks towards the door with her flashlight in hand as her neighbor continues banging and begging to be let in. Dahyun unlocks the door and is almost knocked off her feet as it slams open. She’s lifted into the air and arms squeeze themselves around her, tightening as the thunder roars above them. “Thank God you’re home, I was worried you wouldn’t be here. I was so scared when the lights went out, can I please stay here until the power comes back on?”
Dahyun squirms a little in the embrace and gently pushes against Sana. “Let go of me first, I can't breathe.” When she's placed back on the ground she takes a deep breath. “Alright you can, but just until the power comes back on. Then I’m kicking you to the curb.” She looks up at Sana to see the puppy-dog eyed girl nodding in agreement to her terms. “Good, now help me put up candles. It’s too dark in here.”
“Hey Dahyun,” Sana says as soon as Dahyun turns her back. She looks back at the older girl, a ‘what’ look on her face. “Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I knock on your door again?” Sana smiles brighter than the sun, and Dahyun feels her heart twist so she turns away.
“Tonight isn’t the first time I've seen you.” She says under her breath, just loud enough for Sana to hear, walking back to the candles with said girl trailing behind.
“But it is the first time you’ve seen me today, so you never know. Maybe love at first sight takes time to kick in.” Sana grabs the lighter from the counter along with a few candles before walking off. Dahyun just softly laughs and starts placing candles around the apartment.
They each take a side of the apartment, Dahyun moving candles about in the kitchen and her room while Sana arranges the other half through the living room and bathroom. It’s a calming silence, the sound of rain filling the apartment as they work in harmony. Dahyun wouldn’t have noticed the next roll of thunder if it hadn’t been for a squeak coming from Sana’s direction. She turns to check and makes eye contact with the other girl. Freezing, for a moment, to admire Sana in the dim glow of the candlelight, lost in her thoughts.
“Dahyun,” Sana starts, snapping the girl back to reality. “Are you wi-fi? Cause I’m feeling a connection.” She smiles at Dahyun, and Dahyun just shakes her head in response.
“The power’s out, there’s no wi-fi or connections.” She turns her back again, her heart beating a little faster than before. It must be the thunder's fault. They work in silence for another minute or two until Dahyun feels her stomach rumble. “Hey, do you want anything to eat?”
She heads into the kitchen when Sana doesn't respond fast enough, and is looking through the pantry for anything easy that doesn’t require power. One hand resting on the door frame and the other on her hip as she looks through the mess of items. She feels arms snake around her waist and tries not to jump five feet in the air or breathe too hard.
“I'm in the mood for pizza.” Sana says over her shoulder. “A pizza you, that is.” Dahyun turns to see Sana wink at her, and immediately ducks out of Sana’s embrace to walk a far enough distance away that ensures the reddening of her cheeks won’t be visible.
“Pizza sounds good, let me see if I can order any.” She says trying not to let the nerves show in her voice.
“Okay! We should get something to drink too. You grab something from the pantry and I’ll get the cups.” Sana starts rummaging through the kitchen cabinets looking for the cups. Dahyun’s not calm enough to point out where they are without risking a voice crack, so she just chooses the first soda she sees in the pantry. When she turns back to Sana she watches in slow motion as one of the glass cups slips out of the older girl's grasp and begins its descent to the floor. Dahyun moves without thinking and dives for it, eyes closed and praying she catches it in time. Sana gasps as the glass hits Dahyun’s palms, landing safely without shattering. When Dahyun looks up, she sees something in Sana’s eyes that catches her off guard.
“Dahyun,” Sana starts seriously, almost scaring her. “I hope you know CPR.” When Dahyun gives a puzzled look in return, Sana speaks again. “Because you just took my breath away.”
Immediately she rolls her eyes, feeling the heat rise off her face as she stands. “If you can’t breathe, you should be going to the hospital.” Heading into the living room she debates whether or not she should say something more, but it’s out before she can stop herself. “You better stop with the cheesy pick up lines or I’m gonna kick you out before the power comes back on.” As soon as the words roll off her tongue she regrets them, coming to the realization she might’ve been too harsh. She looks back at Sana, expecting to see puppy-dog eyes and is instead met with a blur of motion, pulling her into a hug and knocking them both on the floor.
Despite the wind getting knocked out of her from the fall, she’s actually rather comfortable. She can feel Sana’s head bury itself into her shoulder, and the girl's mumbling burns her skin. Sana said something about needing CPR earlier but if Dahyun doesn’t find a way out of this fast, she’s going to be the one needing a hospital.
“What?” Dahyun manages to choke out. Sana lifts her head to glare at her.
“I said no. You can’t. If you kick me out then I’m taking you with me.” She places her head on Dahyun’s chest. It’s silent for another few moments before Sana whispers, “It’s scary being in the dark by myself. I feel safe here.”
Dahyun lies still at first, confused and very red in the face, but eventually decides to put a hand on Sana’s back and another on one of Sana’s hands. “Okay, I won’t.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dahyun furrows her brows, trying to figure out how to connect her phone’s data to the TV so they can watch something while they eat.
“Dahyun, let me try. You should eat something, and maybe find some blankets? It’s a little cold. If we have to share one I don't mind though.” Sana teases at her. Dahyun rolls her eyes and hands her phone and the tv remote to Sana. She goes into her room and searches for good blankets to use. After a few minutes she hears Sana quietly cheer, “Yes! I did it!”
Dahyun grabs the blankets and peeks her head out into the living room. Sana makes eye contact with her and smiles, “I’d like to take you to the movies, but they don’t let you bring your own snacks.”
“There’s nothing good in theaters right now anyways, I’d rather watch movies from home.” Dahyun throws one of the blankets at Sana as she heads to the couch. She settles in, and watches as Sana makes her way over and practically falls on top of Dahyun.
“It’s still storming out, plus it's getting a little cold so we should sit closer together. Don’t you think?” Sana said, trying to cover them both up with her blanket. Dahyun tries to calm herself as she fights Sana over sharing the blankets. She’s losing.
Dahyun abruptly stands, “Why don’t I get us some sweets while you pick a movie.” And practically runs to the kitchen. She pretends to rummage through the pantry, waiting until Sana picks something to watch to return to the couch. In the meantime she grabs some hershey's kisses and other chocolates. When she thinks it's safe she peeks around the corner to see that Sana’s chosen something.
“Here, I figured we could share them.” She hands Sana some of the sweets, and wraps one of the blankets around herself before sitting down.
“That's so sweet of you, you could put Hershey’s out of business.” Sana says as she cuddles up to Dahyun and starts the movie.
“Just eat your chocolate or I will.” Dahyun replies, not stopping Sana from cuddling next to her. They stay like that peacefully for half of the movie when Dahyun lets out a yawn, and then almost smacks herself with the speed she covers her mouth. She turns to Sana and sees the girl giggling at her, making Dahyun’s stomach twist with butterflies.
“You can lay on me if you want, if you’re getting sleepy. I won’t mind, I promise.” Sana outstretches her arms, waiting for Dahyun to fill the space. Dahyun hesitates, is this too familiar? They’re just neighbors after all. But Sana’s been flirting with her all night, and she would be lying if she said it hadn’t affected her. She gives in, and lets herself rest in Sana’s arms.
“You should feel my shirt,” Sana says as soon as Dahyun is up against her. When Dahyun does, she notices it’s very soft. “It’s made out of girlfriend material.”
Dahyun sends a glare at Sana but is too tired to respond otherwise. She feels safe with the rain pattering in the background of the sweet romance Sana had chosen, and feels her eyelids grow heavier with every passing minute. Before she knows it, she’s fast asleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Ugh.” Dahyun mutters, wincing as she tries to open her eyes. Her ceiling light is blinding her, and her stupid alarm clock won’t stop ringing. She tries to sit up, but finds that she's almost pinned to the bed. Confused, she turns to look at what’s stopping her from getting up and is shocked to find her neighbor, Sana, cuddled up in her bed, lying halfway on top of her. She notices they’re both still in their clothes from yesterday and realizes Sana must've brought her to bed sometime after the movie and decided to sleep here. From the looks of it, she hadn’t even bothered to pull any blankets over them. Dahyun stretches as much as she can and reaches over to shut off the alarm, when she shifts her weight she hears Sana mumble a complaint into her side.
“Five more minutes.” The girl says, pulling herself even closer to Dahyun than she already was. For a moment, Dahyun actually thought she might’ve been awake, but when she hears light snoring she realizes Sana was never awake at all.
She debates what to do, it’s Saturday and she didn’t have any plans for today. But what if Sana did? Should she wake her up? She looks back down at her, and feels her heart swell. She brushes a hand through Sana’s hair and tucks some of it behind her ear. She takes a deep breath, and sits up just enough to grab the book on her nightstand. She tries to awkwardly prop herself up with some pillows, and puts a hand on Sana’s back as she settles in. At some point she puts on her glasses to help with the eye strain, and sits there for the better part of an hour, reading and occasionally admiring the sleeping beauty curled up against her.
Eventually, she feels Sana stirring against her and puts her book down to watch as she stretches with her eyes closed, raising her fists to the sky in that ‘good morning’ stretch. She waits for Sana to notice her, and makes no moves. When the girl finally opens her eyes, she can see the moment that her face registers in Sana’s brain. Watching her eyes widen and then dart from Dahyun, to her clothes, to the bed, to the room and the working light above then, and finally back to Dahyun.
“Good morning Sana, did you sleep well?” She nonchalantly asks, secretly enjoying this somewhat flustered reaction of Sana’s. She can almost see the gears turning in the other girl's head as she thinks up a clever response.
“Are you my eyeglasses? Because I can’t see my future without you.” Sana finally says, still sitting up and studying her. Dahyun smiles and pats the spot next to her, silently telling Sana she can lay back down if she wants. Without any additional prompting, Sana cuddles right back up to Dahyun.
“You’re pretty good at those, I’ve got one for you though.” Dahyun says, wrapping an arm around Sana as she shifts around to get comfortable again. “I think I need to get my eyes checked again, because all I can see is you.” That earns her a giggle from Sana, and she smiles satisfied. “It’s a little past nine, I don’t know if you have anywhere to be or anything. But if you wanted, we could hang out here together?”
“That sounds fantastic.” Sana says as Dahyun looks away, a little embarrassed. Then she feels lips on her cheek and turns, shocked. Only to see a tinged red Sana, looking away from her. Both of them stay silent as Dahyun opens her book again, she finds it's not a bad silence though. Sana moves up to have her head resting on Dahyun's shoulder as she scrolls on her phone. It’s peaceful, and Dahyun finds she’s actually a little grateful for last night's power outage.