Work Text:
점심을 함께 먹어야지
Let’s eat lunch together
새로 연 그 가게에서
In that place that just opened
새 샴푸를 사러 가야지
I need to buy new shampoo
아침 하늘빛의 민트향이면 어떨까
How about a mint scent like the morning sky?
-Secret Garden (IU)
The door creaks as she swings it open gently. She raises the towel thrown over her shoulder to lazily dry the back of her head. A sweet tune plays from the record player on the tabletop by the bed. Curtains sway with the gentle breeze, dancing into the room to brush against her skin.
She sees Aya standing by the window. Arms pushing the windows open further and sticking her head out. It pulls a smile to her lips, to see Aya bathed in sunlight. Although she cannot see her face, she can picture Aya’s face scrunched up trying to stare right into the sun.
She watches a few waterdrops roll down the pink strands onto the floor behind Aya’s feet. A chuckle leaves her lips as Aya squeals at a bird flying too close. It’s then that the latter notices her.
“Did you see how close it flew by me?” The bewildered girl asks, one hand clutching her tank top and the other pointing behind her.
She nods with a full smile on her lips.
The biggest surprise for Mitsuki after moving in with Aya has been these tiny moments. The seemingly unamused girl turns out to be squeamish and jumpy. Although she has seen this side of Aya in small glimpses, a homey Aya is growing more adorable in her eyes.
When she wakes up to Aya being playful with their not-so-little kitten. The little ball of fluff must also see Aya the same way she does. Almost always staying unbothered as the pink-haired girl pokes the little calico relentlessly. Happy to oblige in the banter with a soft gentle kick towards the girl’s hand occasionally to continue their play fight.
Sometimes she thinks she can see the little being sigh and look towards Mitsuki as if to say-
“All the things I do just to see that smile” and Mitsuki can only chuckle. She too would do just about anything to see that smile.
It’s in the way Aya picks up a broom and runs around the whole house down when she feels unmotivated. Happily singing along to whatever tune plays in her earphones while she dusts the worries away. When she sits by Mitsuki, resting her head on her shoulder tiredly. Mitsuki can only place a small kiss on the top of her head. But it would be enough of a recharge for Aya to get up and continue to finish her tasks.
It’s in the way Aya pulls the curtains aside to watch the raindrops patter against the window. She would pull on one of Mitsuki’s hoodies to stay warm. Often Mitsuki would find her on the bed asleep with their little munchkins cuddled up to her. The soft beat of the rain and the quiet melody of Aya’s soft sleepy sighs singing a song that she’d later write down. But first, cuddles of course.
Aya pulls her out of her reminiscing by pulling on her towel.
She stands on her tip-toes to help Mitsuki dry her hair. She moves the towel along her hair gently, this way and that. Mitsuki bents a little to help the girl out. And eventually, they sway together with Aya’s arms around her shoulder and her own around lithe waist.
She doesn’t fight the urge and simply leans down to take Aya’s lips between hers.
Aya strains once again on her toes, trying to blend into Mitsuki. Lips locked in a lazy unhurried kiss. She raises a hand to thread itself in Aya’s hair and rests on her nape to pull the girl closer still. It is then that she remembers that Aya’s hair is still wet.
The kiss comes to a halt after a series of small sweet pecks. Her hand reaches down to take Aya’s own and tugs the girl towards the bed. She points to the floor and grabs the hair dryer that Aya had left on the bed.
The girl complies, coming to sit between Mitsuki’s legs. She runs a hand through Aya’s strands. She remembers feeling it in her hand, during their first few meetings. It feels just as soft as it did then. A familiar sweet mint scent permeates the air when a breeze wheezes through the pink curls. Mitsuki feels her heart thud a little at the realization that her hair smells the same. Her fingers thread through curls after curls, in between strands to lightly itch her scalp. She can see Aya close her eyes and lean back closer towards her.
The calm in the air settles on both of them. Immersing themselves in the simple joy of being together, in one space.
The sun sets a bit, the sky painting itself in pinks, purples and the pastels that Aya loves so much. It feels a bit ethereal. The window rattles as it moves to close but stops when the wind loses its will halfway. But the shadow cast on their face does nothing to reduce the glimmer in her eyes and the radiance of Aya’s smile.
They have been through a lot since their early days of stumbling towards each other. Desperate to fall and even more so to catch the other. No matter how far apart they seemingly were, their hands always seemed to have a habit of pulling them back toward each other.
Mitsuki has grown from the timid girl she once was. And it was with the help of none other than the girl now cutely massaging her leg as a thank you.
Aya herself has come a long way from keeping her worries to herself. She spills her thoughts in fast but short words that Mitsuki has long learned to catch and piece together. It always ends with one or both shedding tears, fingers intertwined.
On bad days she thinks to excuse herself to the couch. But Aya only lets her go as far as out of their door before following her. They would sit on the couch and the feelings would roll along with the thoughts they’ve kept to themselves.
Of course, as time passes by, it gets easier for them to communicate the good, bad and the worst without words.
A tug on the shirt here, a hand on the waist there. A glass of Matcha on Aya’s desktop as she’s plugged in to finish her work. A carefully crafted lunch box on the dinner table on days when she’s locked herself in the studio room for hours past lunch. A hair band on Mitsuki’s wrist when the a/c in their car stops working and Aya wants to tie her hair up. That time Aya returned with a new set of rings (“It matches the new shirt you got!”) instead of the toilet paper rolls she was supposed to get from the store.
When a guy gets particularly close to Aya, she leans back just a bit but Mitsuki stands there for her to lean on. When a song is stuck in her head, Aya pulls it out with a weekend full of cuddles, watching sad rom-coms and unlimited soft kisses.
“It’ll come when it comes and it’ll be straight from here” She rests a hand on Mitsuki’s chest as she says it. Coral eyes light up the room, even the moon shies away and doesn’t show for the night.
Sure enough the next day there will be page after page of words and melodies.
It’s not a love that’s been easy, but it's theirs.
And damn it if it isn’t the most precious thing Mitsuki’s ever gotten to keep.
