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"Dayeon-ah, is the popcorn ready yet?"
"Hold your horses, I'm trying to figure out your microwave!"
"Well, if you keep me waiting any longer, I'm just gonna start without you!"
"I know you still haven't chosen a movie ye— Ah, crap!"
Chaehyun chuckled in amusement by the sounds of a microwave door being pulled open and shut abruptly, followed by multiple yelps and a flurry of, "Hot, hot, hot!"
Dayeon in the kitchen doing anything which resembled cooking was bound to be a disaster-in-the-making. Usually, it was Chaehyun who was in charge of preparing their usual combo of butter and cheese popcorn, but she couldn't resist her friend's insistence on being the popcorn-maker this time around. From the lack of smoke wafting in the air, it was safe to say that Dayeon didn't burn her entire kitchen down.
After another minute of mindless scrolling on Netflix to find something decent to watch, Chaehyun looked up to see her dear friend emerging into the living room, haphazardly balancing a large bowl of popcorn along with two cans of sodas.
"Ding-dong," Dayeon blurted out. "I didn't break anything."
Chaehyun rolled her eyes and patted the empty side of the couch invitingly. "Just get over here, cutie."
"You still haven't decided on a movie," Dayeon deadpanned after placing the beverages on the coffee table, unimpressed over the amount of scrolling the older girl was doing. "Just pick something, unnie. I'm gonna have motion sickness at this rate."
Chaehyun proceeded to scroll at maximum speed.
"Yah, stop that!" Dayeon swatted at her snickering friend.
"Okay, okay, let's watch this then."
She finally landed on a Japanese animated movie they both never watched before, but had seen rave reviews from all over when it was first released. With little to no context on what it was about other than the vague description and word of mouth, they just rolled with it lest Chaehyun would go on for another hour trying to decide which show to watch.
Not even a minute into the movie and Dayeon already went to town on the almost burnt popcorn. If not for Chaehyun’s equal eagerness to dig into the freshly-cooked kernels and tugging the bowl nearer to her side, Dayeon would have finished the whole thing well within ten minutes.
“Stop hogging it all to yourself.”
The younger girl replied by blowing a raspberry.
Chaehyun raised a brow. “Do that again and I might do more than finish the entire bowl.”
Dayeon knew better than to go against her…
…so she stuck out her tongue again.
Only to be met with a handful of popcorn shoved into her mouth.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop!” Dayeon yelped, swatting the hand out of the way. A small pile of the popcorns landed ungraciously on her lap, a few spilling over onto the floor. “You’re wasting it!”
“That’s what you get for disrespecting your unnie,” Chaehyun smiled triumphantly before popping one into her own mouth.
Midnight inched its way closer on the clock overlooking the living room. It had been almost an hour into the movie, and things were picking up to reach the ending. The bowl lay empty on the table with not a single kernel left uneaten. The open can of sodas were half-full and sweating dews, leaving puddles underneath them.
Chaehyun’s eyes glazed over; neither from boredom nor drowsiness, but by how comfy everything was. Having this small apartment to herself always felt a little empty. She used to look forward to the days where she could get the keys to her first home as an adult and just live her life independently. She used to enjoy sleeping in and let the days go by if she didn’t have any work to do.
She used to like the solo life.
Until she didn’t.
Several months went by since she first moved into her new apartment. Every time she comes home from work or a day out with friends, she is greeted by no one and that left her thinking if whether this really was the life she wanted to live through. At night, she started noticing that sleep didn’t come to her easy. Then, the nightmares came when she did eventually fall asleep.
It didn’t seem so bad. They just happened. But once in a while, the nightmares would grow intense and disturbingly more vivid.
On some nights, Chaehyun wakes up crying.
She tried to shake it off but tells herself that it was just a dream. Sometimes it worked, other times it was just too much to handle.
On one of those nights when it was too much to bear, she called Dayeon.
And the rest was history.
Chaehyun turned her head towards her friend who was lounging lazily next to her, propping her head up on the pillow she was hugging. She couldn’t help the pleased smile inching its way up her face as she gazed softly at Dayeon.
As if she knew that Chaehyun was blatantly staring at her, Dayeon spoke up. "Have you been sleeping well?"
"I'm trying," Chaehyun shrugged. "I haven't had a bad dream lately so that's a good sign."
"Guess the dreamcatcher I bought for you did its job."
"I wouldn't put all the credit on that but I appreciate it," Chaehyun lightly chuckled.
If she was being honest, the skeptic in her doubted that something like that would actually work. But it was a precious gift she received from Dayeon and that meant that it must be hung proudly above her bed.
The duo fell silent again, returning their attention back to the movie.
Well, one of them, at least.
Chaehyun eventually scooted closer, closing the gap between the two without any hesitation. Smoothly, she wrapped her arm around the other girl for a one-sided hug. Her head then rested gently on Dayeon's shoulder.
"Have I ever told you…"
Chaehyun hummed in acknowledgement, nuzzling a little closer into her warmth.
"...that you're borderline suffocating me every time you wanna cuddle?"
"Way to ruin the mood, Dayeon-ah."
"On one hand, I'm flattered, but on the other hand, I fear for my life."
The honest statement did not loosen her hold. In fact, it made Chaehyun grow bolder. She raised her head and leaned in close to Dayeon's ear.
"Have I ever told you, " she whispered, sweet honey coating her voice, "that this movie night is just an excuse for us to cuddle?"
"Us?" Dayeon blurted out, her ears and cheeks going redder by the second. "You're the one that insists on getting up close and personal. I never agreed to this."
"And yet, you're not even trying to move away from me."
Dayeon went quiet and leaned away from her as much as humanly possible, a strained grimace on her face.
"Come here, Kongsuni," Chaehyun whined, trying to pull her back. “You're not going anywhere unless I’ve gotten what I want.”
The tug of war between the two ended when Chaehyun decided that enough was enough. She was going to do this the hard way. With some agile maneuvering and a bit of strength (Dayeon wasn’t that strong anyway), she successfully pulled the pillow out of Dayeon’s desperate grip and pinned her down on the couch like a trapped squirrel.
“Yah, unnie!” Dayeon yelled, struggling to escape from her friend’s slightly bigger form, much to her utter dismay. She tried tapping her body non-stop but that didn’t do much for Chaehyun to release her. The constant struggle for the past few minutes was more than enough to force Dayeon to surrender.
Chaehyun’s unrestrained laughter filled the room as she clung onto the younger girl, snuggling into the crook of her neck.
In the midst of all the chaos, the screen in front of them continued with not a care in the world.
“Ugh, I just wanted to finish the movie…” Dayeon groaned defeatedly.
“We can still watch it like this.”
“Says the one who is literally squashing me.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine,” Chaehyun casually said as she patted Dayeon’s head affectionately. “It’s part of the experience.”
With a final groan, Dayeon got to shifting their positions a little to make herself more comfortable. Being ever so observant, Chaehyun didn’t miss out the way her friend helped to pull down her pyjama top which rode up while they were tussling. She smiled into Dayeon’s neck, adding a small squeeze to her smaller frame as she rested above her.
This might have been the comfiest she had ever been in a long time.
The credits finally rolled.
Chaehyun didn’t really care, though.
For the past thirty minutes, she was far too busy trying to focus on the way Dayeon breathed; how if she timed it right, she could synchronise with her friend’s breathing too. How her heartbeats were so erratic at first, but gradually calmed to an oddly soothing rhythm that Chaehyun wouldn’t have known about if they hadn’t been this physically close. How, at some moments, she could feel Dayeon drawing random patterns on the small of her back with her finger which were done without much thought. Chaehyun wished that Dayeon had noticed the way she discreetly drew small hearts on her clavicle.
The body underneath her shifted and Chaehyun knew all too well that this cuddle session was over.
“I think I might have a twisted neck because of you,” Dayeon winced as she patted her companion on top of her. “Have mercy and let me up.”
Chaehyun giggled and with a small, parting squeeze, she finally got off of her. "I could always massage it for you, if you want."
Dayeon immediately hugged herself. "And let you have your way with me again? No thanks. I’m good."
Rolling her eyes playfully, Chaehyun backed off and went to clean up the coffee table, leaving Dayeon to do some stretches and rid herself of the kink in her muscles.
She really did enjoy it whenever Dayeon comes over.
It made the void in her heart a little less painful to bear.
“Sleep with me.”
Dayeon stared blankly at her. Then, she blinked and everything seemed to be in working order again. It seemed that Chaehyun might have short-circuited her brain at that moment.
“Come again?”
“I said, sleep with me.”
“But I’m sleeping on the couch.”
It seemed that Dayeon was deflecting to keep her sanity intact.
Chaehyun double-downed.
“You’d rather sleep on the small, tight, couch instead of my soft, comfy double bed that’s big enough to fit two people in it?”
Dayeon looked at the sad couch and then back at her friend. “Yes.”
“You’re just being mean at this point,” Chaehyun frowned. Without a moment’s hesitation, she tugged on Dayeon’s hands and dragged her into the bedroom. “C’mon, you’ve never slept over at mine. At least let me be a good host…”
She heard Dayeon’s resigned grumbling from behind and internally cheered.
The bed was definitely more than big enough for two. And yet, the wide gap in between them left much to be desired.
Chaehyun propped her head up on her arm, watching her friend's back in amusement. "Why are you so far away? I don't bite," she said innocently.
"I'm just establishing my side of the bed."
"Hate to burst your bubble, Dayeon-ah, but there are no "sides" on this bed."
To further establish her point, Chaehyun closed the gap between them and wrapped an arm around her, perching her head on top of Dayeon's shoulder. A small doubt sprouted in her heart when Dayeon stiffened under her touch. Was she being too forward with all these physical affections? Was this too much? Before Chaehyun could even reconsider, the other girl started to relax and scooted backwards, even closer in her embrace. Chaehyun tried not to think too much about how easily the both of them just settled; how easy it was to feel like they could be something more if she just left her worries behind and took another brave step towards her.
She cared so much for Dayeon.
The line was never meant to be crossed.
She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she ruined this precious thing that they have just because she caught feelings.
All was peaceful in the dark bedroom, save for some moonlight peeking through the window. Laying in bed, Chaehyun did little to break the serenity of the moment. She fought the strong urge to tease her companion, but seeing as how Dayeon already got the brunt of it during the movie, she figured it’d be best to just leave her be.
“You still can’t sleep?” Dayeon suddenly asked in the dark.
Chaehyun pondered over this. “I’m…I’m trying.”
“You keep saying that every time I ask you about it,” Dayeon replied, a twinge of concern in her voice. “Did you get it checked? I mean, it’s been a while since you last called me up about your nightmare. I assumed it went away but you’re still…”
“I did go to the doctor about it,” Chaehyun sighed deeply. “But to be honest, I don’t really want to take more medications for it.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t wanna rely on it,” she simply shrugged. “Sometimes the nightmares do come back if I go to sleep after staying up for so long. They’re not as awful but…still bad.”
She hated talking about this; being reminded of that night when she desperately called up Dayeon still gave her the shudders.
Silence filled the air, save for the whirring of the air-conditioner above them. For a moment, Chaehyun thought that her friend finally fell asleep. A part of her wished that she did, all so that they wouldn’t have to continue with this conversation.
But of course, Dayeon would always come through to surprise her when she least expected it.
“You can rely on me, you know," Dayeon uttered. "You don’t have to put up a strong front whenever you're with me. There's nothing wrong with sharing your burdens with those that care about you."
Chaehyun said nothing. Her grip on the hem of Dayeon's tank top tightened.
"I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I've got your back. If you just let me…"
Damn it…
Why did she have to be like this? It just made it harder to not fall for her even more.
“There’s one thing you can do, Dayeon-ah.”
Dayeon turned her head slightly, peeking over just enough to see her friend. “What is it?”
Closing her eyes and burying her head into the crook of Dayeon’s neck, Chaehyun softly uttered in the dark, “Keep me safe.”
“Okay.”
She tried to lull herself to sleep after that. She took comfort in the way Dayeon entwined their hands together and kept her close. She wished it would be that easy to just fall asleep with the person she adored the most by her side.
At least for tonight, Chaehyun took solace in the fact that she wouldn't have to wake up alone.