Work Text:
When Yuqi’s eyes flutter open, she is met with what she swears is the most beautiful sight on earth. Her girlfriend, Soyeon, lies asleep on her back, a sliver of morning sunlight casting a heavenly golden glow on her tranquil visage. Even unconscious, Soyeon still manages to look like a goddess. Yuqi treasures mornings like these, since Soyeon is usually the first to wake. She takes a few seconds to etch the radiant divinity into her brain before slipping out of bed to readjust the curtains so that Soyeon would not be disturbed by the light shining directly in her eyes. She reassumes her previous position of lying on her side and tucks a stray piece of hair behind the shorter girl’s ear before loosely draping an arm over her waist. Yuqi spends the next few minutes silently drinking in the way Soyeon looks when she actually rests for once. The way her forehead is free of focus-creases. The way her jaw is unclenched and relaxed, letting her mouth hang slightly agape. The way her chest and stomach rise and fall unhurriedly with every deep breath. It’s always her breathing that alerts Yuqi when she’s about to wake up. Soyeon doesn’t quite stir when she’s coming out of slumber but she stops breathing with her stomach, leaving only her chest to rise and fall to the rhythm of her breaths. So when she feels the older girl’s stomach still under her touch, Yuqi slips her hand up Soyeon’s shirt just enough to trace mindless patterns on her toned abs, hoping to make her transition from sleep to wakefulness a tad smoother.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Yuqi greets softly, her raspy morning voice making it difficult to maintain the slightly-above-a-whisper volume, resulting in a few breaks in her voice. Soyeon finds it endearing, along with the nickname and Yuqi’s bedhead, cracking a dopey smile.
“What time is it?” Soyeon asks groggily, not quite ready to leave the comfort of their bed.
“Don’t worry about that, it’s the weekend.”
The blonde scoots closer to Soyeon, laying her head on the shorter girl’s chest and draping half her body on top of her: a go-to cuddling position for the couple. Soyeon lets out a pained yelp, and Yuqi shoots off of her like a dart.
“Oh shit! I’m sorry! Are you okay? Did I hurt you? What’s wrong?” Yuqi bombards, brown doe eyes wide with worry.
“I’m okay, just really sore. Miyeon dragged me into working out with her yesterday and the day before while you were busy with your schedules.” Soyeon throws her arms over her head and stretches, groans of pain escaping her lips.
“Ah,” Yuqi recalls how their eldest member bragged about finally starting to work out after continually swearing she would ever since their debut. “What did you do?”
“Yesterday, we did arms. The day before, we did legs.”
“What exercises?”
“Well, we started with squats.” Yuqi’s hands land on Soyeon’s thighs, first with a featherlight touch, but gradually adding pressure, kneading her firm quads. “And then w- AH! Yuqi! That hurts!” Soyeon bats at her hands in vain. It feels as though Yuqi has not only stabbed her in the legs but also decided to twist the knife while she’s at it. I swear, I’m gonna kill that girl.
“Shhh, just wait a little,” the blonde croons, continuing her ministrations as her girlfriend writhes under her touch.
“What do you mean ‘wait a little?!’ What are you… oh. This actually feels kinda nice.” Soyeon drops her flailing hands to her sides as needles of pain morph into a sensation of relief. A slight stiffness that she didn’t even notice washes away, leaving her thighs feeling looser than they were even before the workout.
“It feels good, right?” Yuqi shoots her a smug smile which the other girl misses since her eyes have fallen shut.
Unable to form words, Soyeon hums, half in agreement and half in satisfaction. The overwhelming feeling of bliss eventually dulls to a level that allows Soyeon’s brain to function properly again. She is acutely aware of the feeling of Yuqi’s rough guitar calluses rubbing against her skin as she glides her hands up and down between squeezes. It elicits a shiver from her, as she lies savoring her lover’s touch.
“Keep talking to me, what did you do after squats?” Yuqi asks, noticing the change in responsiveness to the pressure she’s applying.
“Lunges. Explosive lunges. God, I hate those.”
Yuqi maneuvers to sit between Soyeon’s legs, sitting on her own heels. She cups Soyeon’s calves, which aren’t as sore as her thighs, but the kneading is still pleasant.
“I don’t like them either. Minnie and I always use the machines. You should join us some time.”
Suddenly, Yuqi hoists the older girl’s legs so that the backs of her knees were resting on her shoulders. Soyeon’s eyes go wide as she recalls the last time they were in this position. Let’s just say, the Chinese girl made Soyeon feel a different kind of pleasure.
“W-what? Right now?” Soyeon panics, not sure if her fatigued body was feeling up for it.
“No! You pervert!” Yuqi playfully rolls her eyes.
“Okay, good, I think I’m still too sore for- AH!”
Soyeon squeaks, caught off guard by Yuqi digging her thumbs into the backs of Soyeon’s thighs. She whacks her fists against the mattress, doing what she can to endure the sharp pain. Just as the pain starts to fade into something bearable, Yuqi changes her grip, supporting Soyeon’s leg from the back with one hand while pushing and rolling her knuckles from pinky to pointer against her hamstring with the other. The entwinement of pain and pleasure coaxes a string of sounds from her mouth. It’s music to Yuqi’s ears. She smiles, happy to be able to relieve her favorite person’s pain. The Korean bites her lip to stifle her noises.
“Don’t hold yourself back, babe.” Yuqi shifts her attention to the other hamstring, giving it the same treatment. “Let me hear how good I make you feel.”
She normally wouldn’t consider herself a people pleaser, but when it comes to Soyeon, boy, is Yuqi eager to please. Each contented sigh and pleasured moan is a stroke to the Beijing Puppy’s ego. This, Soyeon knows well, so she lets out some awfully lewd noises while soaking up the younger’s heavenly touch. The house is soundproof anyway. Soyeon’s sounds start to taper off, signaling to the other girl that it’s time to move on from the legs.
“What did you do for arms?”
“We did uh…” at this point, Soyeon begins to have some trouble responding, mind befuddled from the wonderful sensation in her thighs. “Shoulder raises. And… bicep curls. Yeah. Those.”
Yuqi chuckles with that deep voice of hers and slings a leg over the shorter girl’s waist, straddling her.
“You're cute when your brain isn’t working properly, you know that?” She leans over until they boop noses and their warm breaths make home on each other’s lips.
A few tantalizing seconds pass, and Soyeon can’t stand the distance. They are literally touching noses, but Yuqi is still too far away for her liking. As soon as she makes a move to capture the blonde’s plush lips with hers, she plants her hands firmly on Soyeon’s biceps, foiling her plans to steal a kiss from her girlfriend.
Once again, Soyeon falls apart under the Chinese’s deft hands. What’s different about this time is that she is close enough to whisper in Soyeon’s ear.
“Just breathe through it. You’re holding up great, Soyeon.” She nuzzles her lips and nose against the other’s cheek as a distraction.
This time, the pain fades a little quicker. Whether it’s because biceps are smaller than leg muscles or Yuqi’s just good at distracting her, Soyeon doesn’t know, nor does she question it. Not when all she can focus on is the relief in her arms. A breathy moan escapes Soyeon’s mouth, and Yuqi catches it with her own. The sound vibrates against their connected lips, and Yuqi smiles into the kiss. They separate often, as Soyeon gasps for air every time Yuqi digs her fingers into a particularly sensitive spot, but like magnets, their lips always reattach.
“You do anything else for arms?” Yuqi must have done her shoulders while they were busy liplocking, as they now feel looser and don’t cry out in protest with every little movement.
“What’s the one where you lay down and push the bar up?” Soyeon asks, out of breath. She mimed a closed-fist pushing motion.
“Ah, bench press.” Yuqi’s eyebrows furrow. “Hmm, this one’s gonna be a little more difficult to get to.”
Soyeon doesn’t understand what she means. Miyeon said the bench press works the triceps which are on the back of the upper arm. Her arms are right here. Reaching the triceps would be easier than what Yuqi had to do to reach her hamstrings. Suddenly, there’s hands on her chest. Yuqi’s fingers start right above the upper curve of her breasts, but her wrists swivel against her quickly hardening nipples through the thin fabric of her shirt as Yuqi’s fingers encircle the outer curve of her breasts in a slow semicircle, kneading soft flesh with a rhythm that matches the shorter girl’s fast heartbeat. Oh. That’s why she said that.
Now, Soyeon is moaning for more than one reason. But to Yuqi, it’s all the same. Feel-good sounds are feel-good sounds. And feel-good sounds means Yuqi’s doing well. So the puppy continues without a single inkling of how turned on her lover is getting. Even as Soyeon arches her back to push her chest further into Yuqi’s touch. Even as Soyeon’s kissing becomes more aggressive – and sloppy since she’s too enraptured to have complete control over her tongue. Yuqi remains oblivious.
The younger presses her palms right over Soyeon’s firm nipples, and the latter can’t stand it anymore. She pushes Yuqi by her shoulders, until both girls are in a sitting position. She grabs the hem of the taller girl’s shirt, attempting to pull it over her head.
“Huh?” In her confusion, Yuqi removes her hands from Soyeon’s chest, allowing the girl to take her shirt off, revealing her toned abs and bare breasts, as neither of the two like to sleep with a bra on. Only after her head pops out of the neck hole does Yuqi recognize the lust written all over her girlfriend’s face as she makes eye contact with her boobs. “Oh. I thought you said you were too sore?”
“I feel better now, baby.” Soyeon throws the shirt into a random corner of the room and leans in to capture Yuqi’s lips, but the latter places her hands on Soyeon’s shoulders to stop her.
“It might feel better, but the soreness isn’t actually gone, is it?” Soyeon sighed and shook her head no. “Aish, you’re too horny for your own good. You’re gonna be mad at me and yourself in a few hours if we do it. Here, let’s do this instead.”
Yuqi pulls Soyeon’s shirt over her head, places it neatly at the foot of the bed, and guides the Korean back down into a lying position. She rests her head on Soyeon’s bare chest and half-koala hugs, half lies down right on top of her with one arm wrapped around her waist: the cuddling position she was trying to get into before the whole massage thing started. This time, the weight of Yuqi’s body on top of Soyeon’s is pleasantly comforting, like a heated, weighted blanket. It feels intimate being this close to her, skin to skin, with no barriers of fabric in between them.
“You only gave me a massage because you wanted me to cuddle you,” Soyeon teasingly accuses. She places a hand on Yuqi’s back, rubbing up and down slightly.
“Nooo, of course not… okay maybe.” Yuqi’s voice reverberates against Soyeon’s collarbone, making her shiver although she isn’t cold; she has the insulation of the mattress below her and Yuqi’s body heat on top of her. On the other hand, the younger’s bare back is exposed to the open air. Not wanting her to catch a cold, Soyeon uses her free hand to pull the blanket up over the two of them.
“I love you,” Soyeon proclaims, stroking Yuqi’s blonde locks.
“I love you too.” Yuqi plays with Soyeon’s fingers, brushing her thumb over her knuckles soothingly.
The two lull each other into a peaceful sleep.
******
“Best moment together outside of work,” Miyeon read from the purple slip of paper. “These days, Shuhua and I have been working out together. While on tour, in the hotel.”
“Does it make you happy?” Soyeon prompts.
“In that moment, it made me happy. Our friendship got stronger.”
Soyeon turns around to shoot her girlfriend a knowing look. Yuqi just barely manages to keep from bursting into laughter, playfully shoving Soyeon in the process. Similarly to Miyeon and Shuhua, something got stronger between these two after Soyeon started working out, but they wouldn’t exactly call that something “friendship.”
“And usually, I’m not really the type to concentrate on one thing but I think my focus got better.”
“We exercised together too,” Soyeon appealed with a cute tone to her voice, touching Miyeon’s arm.
“Yes, we did! But Soyeon did not seem happy at all.”
At this, both Soyeon and Yuqi double over for a second to stifle the laughter bubbling up in their throats
She sure was happy the day after, Yuqi thought to herself.
“I felt like I was dragging you,” Miyeon adds.
“Okay!” Yuqi says, signaling the other members to move on to the next question, lest she or Soyeon reveal something they’d regret later.