Chapter Text
Chaewon quite preferred waking up early and taking morning walks. She preferred when the air was still quite chilly from the night before and the morning fog was just setting in. She preferred being alone on these walks, nothing but the music in her airpods accompanying her.
It didn’t occur to her, however, that other people shared the same ideas.
Chaewon got ready for her morning walk, grabbing her airpods and putting on a sweater and some sweatpants before heading out of her dorm. She’d been exhausted last night, staying up and finishing up a project that had been embarrassingly overdue by two weeks for her art professor.
Before she started that project, though, she had found herself in Sakura’s appartment. They were celebrating Kazuha, Sakura’s girlfriend of about 7 months, coming out. Chaewon applauded her and Sakura for their bravery in such a matter.
She thought about this on her morning walk. She thought about the dangers the pair would eventually have to face; the hate comments, threats, and other such things. She worried for them.
Chaewon walked along the concrete path slowly. She had been scrolling through her phone, completing her routine ‘check Kazuha’s Instagram comments for hate’ check. Fortunately, when she opened the comments, she found nothing of the sort. Well, maybe Kazuha’s management team deleted most of them.
She had her eyes glued to her phone and she quickened her pace. Her first class started in about an hour and a half, and she wanted this walk done within 15 minutes.
Suddenly, she felt her shoulder bump into another. She quickly looked up to apologize to the stranger.
Chaewon was met with bright orange hair, which she thought was an interesting colour choice. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry—“
She got a closer look at her face and cursed inwardly because, apparently, Chaewon was stupid enough to think not putting on makeup this morning was okay. Now she stood awkwardly in front of this very, very pretty girl looking like she just got out of bed (she did).
The girl’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “No, I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going!”
The redhead stared at Chaewon, expecting a reply. Hell, even a noise. But Chaewon was stupid and simply awestruck by this stranger she had the chance of meeting on her weekly morning walk. So she bowed a full 90 degrees, muttered another sorry, turned around, and started speed-walking back to her dorm.
But Chaewon couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she’s seen that same face before. That she’s seen that same face everywhere .
She couldn’t have, right?
After handing in her art assignment to her professor, who was very disappointed in her rushed and shallow work, she made her way to Sakura’s apartment. The girl had texted her just a few hours before, telling her that Kazuha was finally free and that she was inviting someone over to potentially help Chaewon’s miserable love life. That meant that Chaewon had to come over, or Sakura would leave her on read for the next few days.
( “I simply cannot understand why the only student to never have had a late assignment, which I was thoroughly impressed by, chose this one to slack off on.” After she heard that, Chaewon knew she was fucked.)
Chaewon was perfectly fine being single and Sakura just wouldn’t accept that.
She knocked on Sakura’s door hesitantly, fully expecting someone who wasn’t Sakura answer for her. Maybe it was the person she had set her best friend up with. Maybe it was Kazuha. Maybe, for once, it would be Sakura.
Sakura opened the door a few second after Chaewon’s second knock. They greeted each other, walked in, and sat themselves at Sakura’s marble kitchen island.
“Kazuha’s coming with her friend.”
Chaewon scoffed. “That’s why you finally answered the door?”
Sakura laughed and shook her head. “So…”
“So? Who’d you invite this time?” Chaewon got straight to the point.
Sakura frowned. “Don’t act like it’s such a bad thing! Something needs to happen to put an end to this—“ Sakura motioned her hands towards Chaewon, “—this horrendous single era of yours.”
“Horrendous? Being single is not that bad. Just because you got with Kazuha, like, a year ago doesn’t mean you get to talk to me like this,” Chaewon shot back, irritated.
“Chaewon, the closest you’ve ever come to a relationship was that homoerotic friendship you had with Minju your junior year.”
“And when me and this guy—“
“That round of seven minutes in heaven does not count!”
Chaewon sighed, defeated. “Whatever, It’s fine. It just better not be another one of your stupid idol friends. Yeonjun was already—“
Chaewon was cut off by the doorbell.
Sakura shot her a mischievous grin. “No, you’ll love her.”
The brown-haired girl followed her best friend towards the door to greet Kazuha and this mystery girl. Sakura turned the doorknob and swung open the door.
And Chaewon was immediately met with same redhead from her walk earlier this morning.
“Aren’t you…”
The three girls turned towards her.
“Aren’t you the girl from this morning?” The girl finished Chaewon’s sentence.
Chaewon stared before Sakura interrupted her. “You’ve met before?! Chaewon, why didn’t you tell me?”
Chaewon was confused. “Why would I tell you?”
“Why? Are you joking?” Sakura was in disbelief while Kazuha watched, trying to hold in her laugh. “This is Yunjin. Huh Yunjin.”
Chaewon immediately connected the dots. Huh Yunjin . The same girl she saw on the sides of buses, on the billboards she saw on her way to school, the girl she saw while she was shopping for makeup, the same girl she saw on her morning walk. Huh Yunjin, the soloist.
Chaewon had read a few things about her online. She knew that Yunjin had publicly came out about a year ago. What surprised Chaewon, though, was the fact that her fanbase only really grew after that. That gave Chaewon hope for whatever the hell was going on with their society.
Someone who liked girls exclusively, still somehow garnering over 12 million listeners on Spotify, getting played on radios, and consistently releasing within the top 10 on the music charts. It was surprising.
But that was all Chaewon really knew about her. She didn’t really listen to her songs and wasn’t up to date with her music show appearances, interviews, and others of the sort.
Kazuha guffawed and Chaewon turned a shade of red darker, embarrassed.
The four of them made their way to the dining table, Yunjin telling the whole story. Sakura told Kazuha to sit beside her, leaving Chaewon, (un)fortunately, stuck with Yunjin on the other side of the table.
“I bumped into her this morning, while I was taking a walk,” she explained while setting down the wine bottle she had brought. “It was still kinda dark, so I couldn’t see very well. I’m sorry.”
“No, I bumped into you ,” Chaewon corrected, apologetically.
She was still in disbelief at the turn of events. Never would she have expected that she would meet Huh Yunjin in Sakura’s apartment. Then again, she’s met practically every single idol Sakura has produced a song for. In her apartment.
Yunjin laughed. “Don’t lie, Chaewon.”
Was it bad that she loved the way she said her name?
The two argued back and forth on whether Chaewon bumped into Yunjin or Yunjin bumped into Chaewon, while the couple in front of them just laughed.
Chaewon could’ve sworn she heard Kazuha whisper, “ You really outdid yourself with this matchmaking job ” to Sakura, but brushed it off, not wanting to embarrass herself again.
It took ten minutes to finally convince Yunjin that it was Chaewon who bumped into her, not the other way around. Chaewon had tried maintaining her composure during the whole conversation, but ultimately failed every time she got a look at Yunjin. Every time they made eye contact, Chaewon was the first to break it. She tried to talk normally, but her words often felt clunky or out of place.
She blamed it on the fact that was talking to none other than Huh Yunjin .
Eventually, the group popped open the bottle of wine, Yunjin raising a toast to the couple.
“To Sakura and Kazuha, who pined over each other for 3 months before finally getting their shit together! Look at where they are now!”
Chaewon giggled. Sakura shot her smirk and Chaewon immediately turned to a straight face.
Kazuha smiled at Yunjin teasingly. “Better not happen to you.”
Chaewon saw Yunjin blush. “W-What?”
Chaewon also saw Kazuha sneak a glance at her before clearing her throat moving onto another topic. Sakura stifled a laugh.
The group made their way towards the living room after practically finishing the bottle of wine.
They sat on the floor, Sakura and Kazuha inseparable and Chaewon trying her best to keep somewhat of a distance away from Yunjin.
The four of them continued talking and Chaewon learned that Kazuha was working on a new single.
“Hey, Chaewon, you better not tell anyone. Especially Yena,” Sakura chided. “You out of all people should know never to trust with these things.”
The last time Chaewon was stupid enough to tell her friend the things that happened in Sakura’s apartment, she was branded as Choi Yeonjun’s girlfriend, which was definitely not true. It even got to the point where practically everyone on campus knew her as Yeonjun’s girlfriend.
Everyone had asked her the same question repeatedly, even though she had explicitly stated to everyone she met that she was, in fact, not Yeonjun’s girlfriend.
( “Hey, not to be rude, but are you Yeonjun’s girlfriend? Y’know, the one from that boy group?” )
After that, Chaewon learned her lesson.
“I won’t. God, I’ll never tell her anything again after what happened with Yeonjun.”
Yunjin’s eyes widened. “Wait, that was you? His supposed girlfriend who was still in university? That was everywhere!”
Chaewon laughed nervously. “Yeah…”
They kept conversing about whatever came up before Sakura suddenly asked Chaewon to fulfill a strange request.
“Can you put our glasses by the sink? You don’t have to wash them.”
Chaewon scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Only ‘cause you’ve finally stopped talking about Kazuha every time you see me.”
Sakura blushed and urged her to hurry up.
Once she had gotten to the kitchen, Chaewon heard Yunjin tell the couple that she was just going to go get a glass of water and cursed under her breath. She really didn’t want to talk to Yunjin alone.
“You know, Kazuha wasn’t wrong,” Yunjin started.
Chaewon tilted her head slightly in confusion. “About what?”
The redhead took a sip from her glass of water before smiling at the girl beside her. “Sakura’s matchmaking job.”
Chaewon shied away from Yunjin. She hummed and looked down at the wine glasses in front of her, embarrassed. She feigned a cough. “Um, we should probably get back to the living room.”
Yunjin laughed.
Chaewon was absolutely, utterly fucked.
When she got home later that night, Chaewon got a text from Sakura.
kkura
so did you kiss in the kitchen
chaewon
???
why would we kiss in the kitchen i literally just met her
kkura
so was she hot
did you guys flirt
what did she say
personally if huh yunjin showed interest in me i would go for that!!
chaewon
im telling kazuha
why do you want me to get with her so bad
good god
go fuck ur gf
kkura
she would go for her too
and i just did 😛😛
chaewon
you did NOT need to tell me that
Chaewon laid down on her bed a few nights after, her blanket covering her entire body. She was scrolling through her phone, the screen lighting up the otherwise dark room.
She was scrolling through Yunjin’s Instagram page out of pure curiosity. She wondered what had happened after she came out.
Apparently, the whole thing started with a fan asking her whether or not a song on her sophomore album was about a girl at a fan meeting. Yunjin had replied with an “I don’t know, is it?” before laughing it off a few seconds later. The fan, of course, posted about it on social media and it blew up everywhere.
Her fans got to work and started decoding every single lyric in that song. Even though the song was a few years old at the time, it went viral. Chaewon even heard it playing in public.
A few weeks later, during an interview in America for her newest release, Yunjin was asked to confirm whether or not the suspicions were true.
She had only responded with a single sentence, staring straight into the camera: “Was that song the most obvious one?”
Although she lost some fans back home, her international fanbase only really grew after that.
Chaewon scrolled past her newest posts and got to her posts just over a year ago, around the time Yunjin had announced her sexuality to the public. She clicked on a post and started scrolling through the comments.
@number1huhdefender omg yunjin is gay everyone act surprised 3 2 1 go!!
7649 likes • liked by @jenaissante
119 replies ↓
@number1huhdefender GIRL SHE LIKED THE CLOSET IS WIDE OPEN!!
83 likes
@p0rtbilkix LMFAOO talking bout some “was that song the most obvious” no YOU were the most obvious 🤣🫵🫵
247 likes
@1pezlily She just gained a new fan! It’s nice to see an openly gay korean artist ❤️
519 likes
17 replies
@marci_.kk it’s amazing that she was brave enough to come out like this despite how korea treats gay ppl in general 💔💔 sending love xx
216 likes
3 replies
Chaewon’s heart warmed at the comments. Seeing her fans being so supportive really healed something in her, considering the hate other gay artists and idols have received in the past.
She took a few more minutes to scroll through Yunjin’s Instagram account. She stopped at a post playing on of her songs, and decided to take a listen to at least a few others.
She fell sleep to Huh Yunjin singing in her ear. She woke up the next morning, Huh Yunjin singing in her ear.
“Chaewon, meet me after class.”
Yena snickered beside her and whispered, “Good luck, Wonnie.”
Chaewon promptly told her to shut up as the class was dismissed. Yena got up to leave, but was stopped by Chaewon’s hand on her arm. “Wait for me outside.”
She nodded.
Chaewon made her way to her teacher’s desk, thinking about what could’ve possibly led her here. Well, she has a small hunch as to what it is. Just a small hunch.
Once she stood in front of the desk, her professor spoke up. “Chaewon.”
She gulped.
“I am, to say, disappointed,” he started.
Chaewon was sure she tuned out after that.
After about ten minutes of vigorous nodding and half-assed apologies, Chaewon finally left the prison that was the art room. She stomped out of the door, almost bumping into Yena on the way out.
“Woah, calm your tits,” she joked. “Was it seriously that bad?”
Chaewon groaned and threw her head back after the pair had walked a safe distance away from the room. “He always has some shit to say about my technique! If he hates it that much, why hasn’t he failed me?”
“Mm, maybe because you’re his favourite student?”
“No I’m not.”
“No one has ever gotten over 95 on any of their assignments,” Yena said. “Except you . What’d you get anyway? Couldn’t have been that bad.”
“67.”
“67?! That’s… impressive.”
Chaewon stared incredulously at her friend. “Impressive? Are you fucking joking?”
“I mean, for you it is, since you’ve never—“
“Stop talking.”
Chaewon thought it was a good idea to text Sakura about her problems. Yena would just laugh at her.
chaewon
are you free
wanna go out
kkura
that’s surprising
we just saw each other last week
where??
chaewon
idk
the bar near the grocery store
and maybe i just miss my best friend
kkura
the one that sells those soy chips??
you never miss me don’t lie
chaewon
yes
do you wanna go or not
kkura
are you gonna drink
chaewon
stop asking questions oh my god
yes im gonna drink
kkura
want me to invite yunjin??
chaewon
no??
kkura
ok but seriously why do you wanna go out
chaewon
my art teacher pissed me off
kkura
LMAO
ill pick you up
At approximately 11 at night, Chaewon found herself sitting at a bar, Sakura beside her. She had already tried getting Chaewon to stop, but all her attempts proved useless.
“Chaewon, that’s, like, your 15th shot. God, calm down.”
Chaewon downed another and laughed. “Sakura, I’m 22 and you’re 23. Live a little!”
Sakura sighed. “I’d rather not, I have to be up early tomorrow. Zuha’s recording.”
“Just take a shot!” Chaewon slid a shot glass towards her.
Sakura pushed it away. “You’re being a bad influence right now, Chaewon.”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself.”
Chaewon had only gotten a few more shots in when Sakura suddenly spoke up. “I’m calling Yunjin to come pick you up.”
Chaewon heart dropped. “Yunjin?! Huh Yunjin?!”
Her best friend winced at the sheer volume of her voice. “Keep it down! There’s no one else to pick you up, and I don’t trust Yena one bit.”
She groaned. She did not want to see Huh Yunjin right now. “Isn’t she busy with, like, singing? Or writing? Or whatever artists do at home?”
“No, she’s probably watching some random rom-com on Netflix.”
Chaewon looked around. “Wouldn’t it be bad if she was spotted here? In a bar, of all places?”
“She can put something on to cover her face. Do you really not want to see her?”
“Oh, you couldn’t tell?”
“Was she really that bad?”
Chaewon cursed under her breath. Yunjin wasn’t even that bad. Chaewon was just scared of malfunctioning whenever she was near. “Don’t call her. Just call Yena, she has my location.”
Sakura sighed and took her phone out of her pocket. Chaewon saw her friend call someone out of the corner of her eye.
“Hello? Yunjin?”
Chaewon perked up at her name and clenched her jaw. “Sakura don’t even think—“
“Yeah, sorry. Are you doing anything right now?”
“Sakura,” Chaewon warned.
“Great! Can you come pick Chaewon up?”
For the next 10 minutes, Chaewon had to endure her friend giving possibly the biggest soloist right now directions to pick her up. To pick Chaewon up. She wanted to die.
“You’ve never been here?” Sakura asked in disbelief. “Okay, um, I’ll try to find you outside. Hurry up. I don’t wanna leave Chaewon here alone.”
“I’m fine, by the way!” Chaewon practically yelled, trying to reach Yunjin through Sakura’s phone.
Sakura got off of the stool she had been sitting on and looked at Chaewon sternly. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”
Chaewon shrugged her off.
Chaewon felt like an hour had passed by while Sakura was gone. Soon enough, a guy sat beside her. Chaewon was sure this was the ‘ don’t do something stupid ’ part that Sakura had warned her against.
Still, she found it in herself to entertain him.
“That girl was sitting here with you the whole time, I was about to think she was your girlfriend,” the guy started. “When she left, I knew it was the perfect time.”
“Oh really? The perfect time to do what?”
“Come up to you. Buy you a drink.” He smirked. He called out to the bartender and in the blink of an eye, Chaewon had a drink sitting in front of her.
She reached out to it to take it, but another hand gripped the glass before she got to it. The hand lifted it and Chaewon looked up to see Huh Yunjin downing the drink that was in front of her just seconds ago.
She swallowed the last bit and Chaewon watched as her throat bobbed. Yunjin wiped her mouth with the back of her free hand before grabbing Chaewon’s wrist and lifting her up from her seat. “Let’s go.”
She heard the guy call out after them as they weaved through the crowd, but Chaewon couldn’t care less. She literally just saw Huh Yunjin drink. For her. Huh Yunjin drank for her .
Chaewon felt Yunjin drag her outside by the wrist. The chilly, autumn air hit her cheeks and she shivered.
“Where’d Sakura go?”
“She left. She told me she didn’t trust your friend with you, so—“
Chaewon laughed. “She left? That—“
“—I’m here to bring you home. How much did you drink?”
Chaewon wiggled her arm out of Yunjin’s grasp and giggled. “Why? Are you worried?”
“So what if I am?” Yunjin challenged.
“Mm, I don’t know. What do you want me to do about that?” Chaewon gave the girl a lazy smirk and backed up to return to the bar. “Just let me go back.”
The redhead grabbed her arm. “Listen, Sakura called me here to get you home. So just— Let me take you home, okay?”
“Asking to take me home after meeting me just a week before? I didn’t expect you to be so bold!” Chaewon teased, a slight lilt in her voice. “Or is it the alcohol talking?”
“We’re going back to wherever you live. And that glass doesn’t count, Chaewon.”
“Doesn’t count, huh?” Chaewon smirked and continued. “Just say I’m hot, Huh Yunjin.”
“ Oookay . Let’s get you home. Get on.” Yunjin turned around and tried hauling Chaewon onto her back, but the shorter girl fought back, stumbling backwards. Yunjin sighed and grabbed her arm to support her. “Chaewon, just get on.”
“No way! What’ll people say when they see Huh Yunjin carrying some random girl on her back? The media’s gonna get you,” Chaewon drawled out her last few words. “And I can walk perfectly fine.”
“Oh really?” Yunjin let go of Chaewon’s arm. “Go on. Walk to that lamppost. I won’t help you.”
Chaewon was never one to back away from a challenge. At least, drunk Chaewon wasn’t. So she fixed her posture and started shuffling slowly towards the lamppost, her blurred vision making it seem closer than it really was.
Once she had gotten somewhat of a distance away from Yunjin, she heard the girl behind her laugh. “You doing okay? Doesn’t seem like you can walk in a straight line.”
Chaewon pushed through. But, eventually, she tripped on what seemed to be a fault in the sidewalk. She tried reaching out for Yunjin, only to find herself fisting for air.
Yunjin rushed to her side a few seconds too late, just as Chaewon was about to fall to her death (the sidewalk). She shook her head and moved to let Chaewon onto her back. “Just get on, It’s easier. I’m wearing things to cover my face, It’ll be fine.”
Chaewon reluctantly agreed. She couldn’t believe she was about to get carried back to her dorm by Huh Yunjin. What if someone random girl was awake and roaming the hallways? What if a rumour started? What if the rumour turned out to be worse than whatever happened with Yeonjun? Was she even allowed in the building?
But then again, she was getting carried back to her dorm by Huh Yunjin.
The girl’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “How far away do you live?”
“Mm, not far. Just till the grocery store up there, I can walk all the way on my own. Dunno if you’re allowed in.”
“Allowed in?”
“I live on campus,” Chaewon mumbled, breathing softly on Yunjin’s neck.
“Ah.”
Yunjin carried Chaewon silently to the grocery store just a block or two away. Chaewon tried her best to keep herself awake, blinking away the exhaustion. She took a peek at their surroundings once she felt Yunjin stop.
She saw the bright sign above them. “You can put me down now.”
Chaewon moved to get off her back, but was immediately stopped by Yunjin’s tight grip on her thighs. “I don’t think… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“What?” Chaewon turned to look at her from her spot on her shoulder.
Yunjin looked away. “…I’d rather bring you to my apartment. It’s safer that way.”
Chaewon had no more energy to argue, so she closed her eyes and buried her face into Yunjin’s neck. “…Okay.”
The girl laughed nervously. “Okay, good, I thought you were gonna— Chaewon?”
That was the last thing she heard before she completely fell asleep on her back.
The first thing she heard when she woke up was Yunjin opening the door to her apartment. Chaewon had no idea where she was and she had no idea where Yunjin had taken her. For all she knew, Yunjin could’ve taken her to an abandoned warehouse and had planned on leaving her there to die from hypothermia.
But the faint scent of lavender and the sight of a comfy-looking leather couch dismissed all her fears. She closed her eyes again, fully expecting to be set down on the couch, given a glass of water, and told “ I’ll be in the room at the end of the hall if you need anything .”
What Chaewon didn’t expect, however, was to be carried to the room at the end of the hall. She felt herself get put down gently onto the mattress and her head hit the pillow. She wanted to sleep, but she sat up, wanting to thank Yunjin for letting her stay over.
She looked up and was met with the sight of Yunjin, the bun she had put her hair up in all messed up, her clothes were in slight disarray, and the girl herself taking laboured breaths.
Chaewon didn’t know what had possessed her that night. She didn’t know what had taken over when she grabbed Yunjin by the collar and smashed their lips together. She didn’t know what had taken over when she stood up slightly to match Yunjin’s height. She didn’t know what had taken over when she felt Yunjin’s hands ghost the back of her neck before eventually reaching her waist. She didn’t know what had taken over when she whimpered at the feeling of Yunjin kissing back.
It was all cut short, though, by Yunjin pulling back. She panted and breathed out, “We should stop.”
Chaewon placed her hand on Yunjin’s cheek and whispered, “Do you want to?”
The way Yunjin’s eyes flickered back down to her lips was enough to tell Chaewon that Yunjin didn't want to stop.
Chaewon sat and pulled the taller girl down with her. She fell on her back and kissed Yunjin, who was now on top of her, feverishly. Her hands snaked down to play with the waistband of Yunjin’s sweats as Yunjin reached down to caress Chaewon’s waist, now bare from her shirt riding up due to all the movement. Chaewon bit Yunjin’s lower lip softly, earning a moan from the redhead.
God, she’s wanted this since last week.
But Yunjin annoyingly pulled back again , lifting Chaewon’s arm away from her waist, getting up, and sighing. “I— Chaewon, I really, really want this. But not when you’re drunk. We shouldn’t— I shouldn’t be doing this to you while you’re drunk.”
Chaewon lay still on the bed sprawled out, staring up at Yunjin, feeling her eyelids start to get heavy. She was still somewhat taken aback at the turn of events. She let her heard fall back. “It’s fine… I’m not that drunk…”
Chaewon felt the exhaustion creep up to her as she spoke. She closed her eyes and finally let sleep take her over, ignoring the way Yunjin called her name softly.
Chaewon woke up to a blanket draped over the lower half of her body and surroundings that were unfamiliar to her.
She opened her eyes slowly and yawned. She felt the sheets under her. She looked up and saw that the ceiling above was clearly not hers.
“What the fuck?”
She looked around and saw her phone sitting on the nightstand beside her. She picked it up and read her notifications. She had a few messages from Yena.
Chaewon sat up immediately, feeling a headache come through. She caught a whiff of a delicious scent through the door and spotted her coat wrapped around a chair near the corner of the room through her peripheral vision. She tried to get up, only to stumble forward, using the wall to support her weight. She heard footsteps come closer as she tried to fight off the incoming migraine.
“Are you okay?”
She met eyes with Yunjin and everything came back to her.
She had kissed Yunjin last night. She had kissed Yunjin and Yunjin had kissed back.
“What?” She squeaked as she avoided Yunjin’s gaze.
The redhead put her arm around Chaewon’s waist to help her walk. “I’m making pancakes. Does your head hurt?”
She winced and furrowed her eyebrows at the sudden pain in her head. “No, I’m fine.”
Chaewon sat at Yunjin’s dining table and waited patiently for her to make breakfast.
Huh. She was waiting for Yunjin to make breakfast.
The taller girl set the plate of pancakes down in front of her and sat in the chair across from her. She took a pancake and started eating.
“Are you gonna…? You can take some.”
Chaewon gulped. She wasn’t one to deny free food. So she picked her fork up and started eating.
When the plate of pancakes was halfway done, Yunjin spoke up. “Do you want to—“
Chaewon looked up at her as she cut herself off.
“Do you remember anything from last night?”
Chaewon swallowed a piece of a pancake. She hummed as quietly as she could.
She saw Yunjin exhale shakily. “Do you wanna talk about it…? It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
Right. Talk about it? Yunjin was funny.
Chaewon didn’t reply and went back to eating her pancakes. She heard her sigh quietly.
Once Chaewon had finished her plate, she got up. “I should go.”
She studied Yunjin’s expression. The girl stared at her intensely, almost as if she was asking her to stay. After a few seconds, Yunjin let out a defeated breath. “…Okay.”
Chaewon felt her eyes staring at her behind her back as she made her way to the door. She opened it and stepped out.
“Wait, you forgot your—“
Chaewon shut the door behind her and started pacing to find the exit. She found the elevator and pressed the button to go down repeatedly, not wanting to spend another minute inside the building.
The elevator doors finally slid open and—
“Chaewon?” Kazuha stared at her, eyes wide open, half of her face covered by a mask. “What’re you doing here?”
Chaewon stepped into the elevator and sighed. “Don’t even ask.”
Kazuha gave Chaewon an awkward wave as she stepped out. She waited anxiously she descended down to the lowest floor of the building. Once she had finally made her way out, the cold air hit her like a truck.
“Fuck.”
She had forgotten her coat in Huh Yunjin’s apartment.
“So you’re saying you kissed her, in her bed, while you were drunk?”
Chaewon groaned and took the glass of water Sakura had slid her way. “ Yes , Sakura, I kissed Huh Yunjin, in her bed, while I was drunk.”
“Well, that certainly much better than what I expected—“
“What you expected ?”
Sakura just laughed.
“Don’t laugh at me! What do I do? I just— I left her there without talking to her about it! Do you think she hates me?”
“Why would she hate you? Did she ask you to stay?”
Chaewon thought back to that moment in time. “No, but she stared at me like she wanted me to and—“
“There’s your answer! Huh Yunjin never lies with her eyes!” Her best friend practically shot out of her chair. “You, however, need to learn how to open them. This girl is clearly showing interest in you. She literally kissed you back.”
“You don’t get it,” Chaewon said with a sigh, burying her head into her arms on the table. “She’s never gonna want to see me again.”
Sakura scoffed. “You literally kissed the third time you met.”
“You’re no help!”
Her best friend leaned back in her chair. “One day, you’re gonna thank me for all I’ve done for your relationship with Yunjin.”
Chaewon gulped and lifted her head to her at her friend.
“God, I’ve needed a taste of my own medicine. Is this how you felt when I talked about Kazuha?”
“That doesn’t count! It was obvious she liked you back.”
Sakura groaned. “You’re fucking stupid.”
Chaewon felt a vibration in the pocket of her hoodie. She took it out and stared at the screen before answering.
“Yena?” Sakura looked at her suspiciously and Chaewon shrugged her off, taking a sip of water from her glass.
“ Did you have fun last night? ”
Chaewon’s thoughts immediately went back to her kissing Yunjin. She choked on her water. “W-What?”
“ Yeah, didn’t you go to the bar? I checked your location. I was gonna come and check up on you, but I decided to leave you alone after what happened earlier with Mr. Lee. ”
Oh. “I— Yeah, I had fun.”
Sakura looked at her and laughed quietly. Chaewon flipped her off.
“ Mm, I called to make sure you were doing fine. Sakura must’ve let you stay over, right? ”
“Yeah. I’m in her apartment right now.”
After about ten minutes of Yena repeatedly checking up on Chaewon’s wellbeing, she finally hung up.
Sakura spoke up. “I take it you’re not gonna tell her?”
“No shit.”
After much consideration and thought, Chaewon begrudgingly decided that Sakura was right. She replayed Yunjin kissing her back over and over again.
Why would she kiss her back if she didn’t like her back, right? That was the question she asked herself about a million times over the course of the past week.
So, Chaewon thought it’d be best to try and get in contact with her. Through none other than her best friend, Miyawaki Sakura.
She dialled her number and put the phone up to her ear.
“ Hello? Chaewon? ”
“Um, hi.”
“ Do you need something? ”
Chaewon heard someone mumble and something rustle on the other side.
“Yeah, do you—“
“ Who’s that? ” She heard Kazuha’s voice and she fought back a groan. “ Just Chaewon .”
She heard Sakura sigh. “ Sorry, what was that? ”
Chaewon took a deep breath. “Do you have… Do you have Yunjin’s number?”
Chaewon heard something fall. “ Holy shit. Did you finally come to your senses? ”
“Just give me her number, Sakura.”
A few questions later, Chaewon had hung up the phone and acquired Yunjin’s number. All that was left was to text her.
“Fuck.”
Chaewon opened her messages and prepared to send Yunjin a message.
She switched between hey ’s and hi ’s and can we talk? before ultimately deciding on a simple message.
chaewon
hi
can we talk?
To her surprise, Yunjin responded immediately.
yunjin
who is this?
how did you get my number??
chaewon
its chaewon
yunjin
oh
She saw the message bubble appear and disappear a few times.
yunjin
is my apartment okay??
Chaewon wanted to cheer.
chaewon
yeah thats fine
now?
She got left on read and assumed it was a sign that Yunjin wanted her over. Now. Yunjin wasn’t one to talk with words, after all.
So she got ready, locked the door to her dorm, and went well on her way to Yunjin’s apartment.
Half an hour later, Chaewon found herself at Yunjin’s door. She rung the doorbell and waited anxiously for Yunjin to answer. In half a minute, she was met with a door wide open and Yunjin staring at her, motioning for her to come in.
Chaewon walked in and Yunjin closed the door behind her before leading her into the living room. Chaewon stopped and let Yunjin in front of her.
“I’m sorry I…“ Chaewon gulped. “I’m sorry I left.”
Yunjin stopped walking and turned around at the sound of her voice. Her eyes softened. “That’s alright.”
“No, Yunjin, it’s—“
“It’s okay, Chaewon, really. If you don’t want to start anything, that’s fine.” Chaewon looked up and saw Yunjin tearing up as she let out a watery laugh. “It might be too much for you, I mean, I get it. I don’t think— I’m not a very private person.”
Chaewon was confused. “That’s—“
“Isn’t that why you left?” Yunjin looked at her and Chaewon felt her heart ache.
“No.” Chaewon breathed. “That’s not— I was scared, Yunjin. I was scared of what you thought of me. Everything might’ve moved too quickly for you and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. I—“
“I wanted you to stay,” Yunjin whispered as she took a step closer to the girl in front of her, their faces only a few centimetres apart. “Really, really badly.”
Chaewon’s breath hitched at the close proximity. “I would’ve stayed if you told me to.”
Yunjin’s gaze glanced down to Chaewon’s lips before she looked back up into her eyes. “Stay.”
Chaewon felt herself get pushed against the door before registering the feeling on her lips as Yunjin kissing her . She wrapped her arms around the taller girl’s neck and kissed back slowly, gently.
Yunjin wrapped an arm around Chaewon’s waist and pulled her away from the door, sighing into her lips.
And Yunjin, once again, led them to the room at the end of the hallway.
She fumbled with the doorknob as their kisses got more aggressive and needy. They stumbled into the room once she had finally gotten the door open.
Chaewon turned them around so that Yunjin’s back was facing the bed and pushed her down, pulling back to catch her breath. She dove back in almost immediately and climbed onto Yunjin lap, straddling her.
Yunjin moved to place kisses onto her jawline before she slowly made her way down to Chaewon chest, smirking.
She pulled back a bit. “We couldn’t do this last time.”
“Mm, fuck—“
A gasp as she bit her neck.
“— Yunjin . I have art tomorrow.”
“Don’t care.”
“Oh my god.”
Chaewon spent the next few weeks at Yunjin’s apartment whenever she had free time. That is, her weekends.
They spent half of their time talking and the other half in the bedroom. Chaewon found herself sore every time she walked into the art room on Mondays.
Yunjin had asked her to be her girlfriend a few weeks into their… situationship. They had both been lying on their backs on her bed, panting after what they had just done.
Yunjin had turned towards her and locked her in a tight embrace before whispering into her neck, “Be my girlfriend.”
Chaewon, of course, was ecstatic. So much so that she barely spent any of her time back at her dorm.
One night, as they did dishes together, Yunjin brought something up.
“Chaewon?”
Chaewon scrubbed a plate. “Mhm?”
“How would you feel if…” Yunjin laughed nervously, wiping the bowl in her hands with a dishcloth. “Never mind.”
She looked up at her girlfriend. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
Chaewon eyed her suspiciously and handed her a plate to dry off. “You know you can tell me anything, right? It’s okay.”
“…Mhm.”
The two continued their work in silence before Yunjin spoke up as Chaewon was handing her the last dish to dry off.
“…you to them.” She placed the dish onto the rack.
Chaewon dried her hands on the apron she was wearing. “Hm?”
“How would you feel if I, um…” Yunjin took a breath before quietly saying, “Introduced you to my fans.”
Chaewon’s heart practically jumped out of her chest. “What?”
“It’s fine if you don’t want to—“
“Of course I’d want that!” Chaewon lunged out to hug her. She pulled back after a little, a worried look on her face. “But wouldn’t that… Wouldn’t that affect you? You might lose—“
“That’s fine.” Yunjin smiled softly at her. “I don’t care.”
Chaewon frowned. “Think about it first. I don’t want something to happen to you.”
Yunjin pressed a quick kiss onto her cheek. “Okay.”
Chaewon was having a bad day. She had walked into the art room with nothing but her phone, her sketchbook, a few pencils, and her laptop.
She sat down beside Yena and huffed. Yena looked at her. “Did something happen?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“Um, okay.” Her friend stared down at her things. “We’re painting today, you know that, right?”
Chaewon groaned as her head hit the desk. “I lost them all.”
“What?”
“All my brushes.” She sighed.
Yena snorted. “Of course you did.”
“Shut up .”
Chaewon saw Yena roll her eyes out of the corner of her eye. “Just borrow some of Mr. Lee’s.”
Chaewon glared at her. “Fuck no.”
Yena laughed. “Cheer up, Chaewon. It’s literally a Friday!”
Chaewon cursed inwardly.
A few hours later, she was back in Yunjin’s apartment, sitting on her couch as Yunjin grabbed them snacks from the kitchen.
She sat down beside Chaewon once she got back. “Is everything okay?”
Chaewon let out a breath. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
She pressed her face onto the side of Yunjin’s neck as she picked a movie for them to watch. She mumbled something about losing her paintbrushes, quietly enough so that Yunjin couldn’t quite catch what she said.
“Your brushes?” She asked, confused. “Did you lose them?”
“No.”
After seeing Chaewon’s condition, Yunjin handed her the remote to let her pick a movie out for them instead.
Chaewon gladly took it and scrolled through a few before stopping. “You’re in the soundtrack for this one, right?”
Yunjin gasped. “How did you know?”
“I—“
“You searched me up, didn’t you?” Chaewon could practically hear the smirk in her voice.
“Shut up.”
“How would you feel if I asked you to move in?”
“I’d say yes.”
“Move in with me?”
“Yeah.”
Yunjin and Chaewon helped each other haul the last few boxes into Yunjin’s apartment. Chaewon pulled out her phone and checked the time.
“Shit, I have to go.” Chaewon turned to kiss Yunjin on the cheek. “I hate art school.”
“Mm, okay,” Yunjin frowned and looked at Chaewon as she fumbled with the door. “Love you.”
Chaewon turned around and saw the look on Yunjin’s face. She took a few steps back to hug her girlfriend. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t wanna leave either.”
She walked back to the door to leave. “Love you too.”
Chaewon got home after spending an extra three hours of valuable time she could’ve spent cuddling her girlfriend on an art project.
It didn’t matter, though, because she was cuddled up beside her on her couch for 15th time this week.
Suddenly, Yunjin spoke up. “Hey, someone came by earlier looking for you. She said you haven’t been home in a few.”
“Really? Who?”
“I think… Wait…” Yunjin sat up to think. “I forgot her name… Yena, I think?”
Chaewon’s heart dropped. “Yena?”
“Yeah, that was her name.”
Chaewon gulped. “Did she know who you were?”
“No, but she said I looked familiar.”
“Fuck.”