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The pale white light barely illuminates the street as the trees slowly dance with the wind.
The 24-hour laundromat shows no sign of life except for the lone woman sitting on one of the benches, the two machines spinning relentlessly in front of her.
The chimes taped to the door interrupts the white noise as it slides open.
Nayeon looks up. As far as she knows, nobody goes here during this ungodly hour except for her. A shiver runs down her spine as she imagines what she hates the most. I don't need your company, stupid ghost.
She slowly turns towards the entrance as the sliding door noisily gets shut. I'm not scared I'm not scared I'm not-
"Uh, hey?" The pair of eyes she makes eye contacts with definitely aren't what she imagined. She expected bloodshot ones covered by some sort of messy bangs and pale skin, not the bright mesmerizing ones staring back at her.
"I'm not a ghost." The figure towering her lets out a soft chuckle.
Nayeon, completely taken aback by the stranger, blinks her eyes a few times before finally looking at her.
“I’m sorry for startling you.” The woman gently puts down two duffel bags before the washer next to Nayeon’s. She glances at her, casting Nayeon a small smile- her blonde locks making the gesture even more radiant.
Nayeon watches the girl in front of her. For starters, she completely finds the company strange. She has been living in one of the apartments above the laundromat for months but never has she encountered anyone do the same chore at 2 AM.
Most college students are probably already asleep or busy burning their eyebrows off to keep up with their classes at this hour.
The woman proceeds to take out her clothes from the bags and into the washer. That’s a lot of plaid.
“Ah, dang it. I’m out of coins.” She searches her pockets for more coins to run the second machine.
“I-I’ve got some here.” Nayeon’s raspy voice causes her to wince. She fishes a couple of coins from her pouch and offers them.
“Really?” A cute scrunch appears between the woman’s eyebrows. Nayeon doesn’t know if she had something bad earlier in the day but she feels her stomach buzzing as she stares at her.
“Yeah, it’s no biggie.”
“Alright, I can send it back to you online.” The jingling of coins rings throughout the room as Nayeon hands them in.
“Thank you, kind and pretty stranger.” Again, the grin she receives almost makes Nayeon swoon.
The humming coming from the woman happily inserting the coins into the machine makes it hard for Nayeon to put her earphones back on. Surely, she’d rather hear the soft melody than some song she has heard a thousand times.
Nayeon gets sent back to reality when the other washers start whirring back to life. She subtly watches the other person take the seat beside her.
“Here, just type in your number so I can return you the money.” A phone appears in front of her.
Nayeon reluctantly accepts it and inputs her details, pressing the send button herself just in case.
“Smart.” She hears from her left.
She feels her own phone vibrate on her lap, indicating that a Jeongyeon had sent her money.
“Jeongyeon,” she reads softly.
“Mhm, and you are?”
“Nayeon.”
“Hmm, Nayeon. I like the sound of it.” Jeongyeon gives her a thumbs up before focusing back on her phone. Cute.
Nayeon returns her attention to absently scrolling through posts she no longer finds as interesting as the stranger beside her. She glances at the time. It hasn’t been 10 minutes since she loaded her own laundry. Given that she still has a couple of postlab papers to submit, she might as well use the time to start working on it.
Alright, General Mycology it is.
The dwindling fire of productivity gets completely put out when she hears shuffling beside her. Out of instinct, she glances at Jeongyeon standing.
“I’m gonna go to 7-11 for some snacks. I’m a bit hungry. Wanna join?” Jeongyeon slides her phone inside her pocket, also checking her wallet for some cash. Nayeon can almost see Jeongyeon’s eyes twinkle as the latter also returns it to her pocket.
Already distracted, Nayeon gets up as well. "Okay." She hopes to whoever is out there that she's not cluelessly being dragged towards her own end. I did not study my ass off only for me to not get that degree.
Nayeon grabs her small pouch, making sure not to leave anything aside from her laundry still inside the washer.
Again, the ringing of chimes echoes throughout the room as Jeongyeon slides the glass door open. A gush of cold autumn wind greets them instantly.
"After you," Jeongyeon says. Nayeon mutters a 'thanks' as she walks past the taller woman.
They silently walk down the quiet street- both nervously treading the waters between them so as to not make the atmosphere more awkward
"Uh, did you really think I was a ghost earlier?" The girl beside Nayeon asks. She lets out a soft chuckle as she recounts how scared she was.
"Actually, yes. You really scared me there, just so you know."
"Ghosts can't be cute, right?" Jeongyeon's lips turn upwards into a smirk. Nayeon can't help but roll her eyes at the latter.
"Ghosts can be arrogant, I see." She retorts.
She hears the woman laugh, her ears tingling as the sound makes her feel giddy.
"I've always been alone whenever I go there."
"Well, it is a bit unsettling to see someone doing laundry at 2 AM but I can't judge you. I usually go there on Wednesdays but I was so busy yesterday so here we are."
Nayeon hums in response. "Another owl, hmm?"
They both make a turn and the red and green lines of the convenience store appear a few meters away.
Nayeon wraps her arms around herself to conserve more heat. She regrets walking out of her apartment in pyjamas. First, she didn't think it would be this cold already. Second, she didn't expect that she would meet a cute girl in the middle of the night.
She follows Jeongyeon inside the convenience store towards the chilled drinks. They stop in front of the canned ones.
“Beer, really?” She looks at the woman incredulously.
“Hey, no shame. It’s already Thursday and so far, this week fucking sucks.” Nayeon watches her get two beers from the fridge. “Want one?”
“I thought you’re getting a snack.” Nayeon shakes her head to answer Jeongyeon’s offer.
“I’m also getting a rice ball. What about you?” They proceed towards the small selection of ready-to-eat products.
“I’ll just buy this.” Nayeon grabs a cheese and pepperoni sandwich.
“Ah, good choice.”
“You seem familiar with convenience store goods, hmm?” Nayeon raises an eyebrow, earning her a laugh from the other woman.
“Yes, if you have professors who don’t care about your wellbeing, you’ll be familiar with 7-11 food.” She proceeds to point to the other products and reviews them.
“Their lasagna? Good shit.”
They walk past the shelves full of candies. “Ah, jellies!” Nayeon excitedly walks towards it. She squints at the price of a bag of Haribo and glances at her sandwich. “Okay nevermind.” She scurries towards the cashier. Unbeknownst to Nayeon, Jeongyeon’s eyes are on her while paying for her own purchases.
“I already spent a lot of money today,” She says, recalling the bingsoo and bibimbap she ordered earlier with Momo. “I’ll just buy this.” She responds to Jeongyeon sporting a questioning brow.
Nayeon can feel Jeongyeon’s eyes on her as she hands a bill to the cashier. “Let’s go.” The latter follows her out of the store.
They walk back to the laundromat in silence. Although it’s chilly, the warm presence of the woman beside her keeps Nayeon content.
“Wanna try?” The sound echoes throughout the room as Jeongyeon opens her beer.
Nayeon gingerly takes the beer and sips. She feels the cold liquid trickle down her throat and lets out a sigh.
Jeongyeon giggles softly as Nayeon hands it back. "Good, right?"
The two silently wait for the elevator to stop at their respective floors.
“For scaring you.” Jeongyeon timidly extends her hand- a pack of Haribo hangs in between them.
They finished doing their laundry pretty much at the same time. Nayeon witnessed the other woman fold her clothes to perfection- the right amount of pressure she needed just so she could fold hers properly too.
“Scare me again next time.” Nayeon takes the bag of candies waiting for her. She meets Jeongyeon’s smirk with a gummy smile.
“Oh, I can do so much more than that.”
"Dinner, then?" Jeongyeon follows Nayeon's gaze and traces it back to her top- a white t-shirt she bought at a Pride event.
"Sounds good, Nayeon. You already have my number so..." Nayeon watches Jeongyeon's face light up.
"Mhm. I'll text you." Jeongyeon nods at her and exits the elevator.
Nayeon remains smiling as she goes back to her own apartment.