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She got set to work, anticipation reeling through her veins as she stared at the subject at hand.
Laid back, open, Sol stared back.
“I told you to close your eyes,” Ji Wan sighed. “I don’t want you looking at me while I watch you.”
Sol laughed quietly and complied, eyes fluttering shut.
Ji Wan realized how long her hair had gotten as she saw it draped over the pillow, finally freed from the near-constant restraint of hair ties. The stark contrast between her caramel strands and the light sheets made Ji Wan a little dizzy. It could be the proximity, though.
If she were to stretch her right finger a bit, it would connect with Sol’s thigh. If she moved just a little, her fingertip would meet the tenderness of skin usually hidden from the sun; hidden to everyone’s eyes except hers.
Instead, Ji Wan took a lock between her fingers and marveled at how soft it was even though she’s known that for a long time. She's ruffled Sol’s hair numerous times and has always fixed it afterwards; she’s begged her to let it down, to braid it, to change it with a crazy color. Everything feels different now.
She’s been inhabiting that intersection lately, that small space where someone she’d known all her life turned into a discovery, unexplored territory for her to examine. Sol’s familiar face became one she’s never quite seen before. The hands that used to tend her scraped knees and wipe her tears, now softly pressed to the back of her neck and caressed her hips.
Just like when she was a child and took a restoration course at her hometown’s library, when she could make old paintings come back to life with many patient strokes, Ji Wan had seen Sol turn into a more vibrant, livelier version of herself. Wider smile, brighter eyes. Her laughter flooded every room they shared and then found its place in Jiwan's heart, the delicate sound kept inside like a musical box.
“I feel ridiculous,” Sol protested, a small dent between her eyebrows. Ji Wan wanted to smooth it down, so she did. “Do I look as ridiculous as I feel?”
“No,” Ji Wan answered sincerely. “You always feel ridiculous, but you never are.”
Sol snorted. By the slight curve alongside her mouth, it was the right thing to say. “Hurry up. I’m falling asleep.”