Chapter Text
This is a story about their first dance. It was a challenge to write a story inspired by song lyrics. Points to anyone who can guess it.
SANA:
“Hey.” Sana smiled at her. She already knew who she was and what her name was, but she looked so nervous to be talking to her that she didn’t want to take that away from her. Even the loudest voice could get lost in here, music blaring out from slightly over-the-hill speakers.
“I’m-” The girl started to introduce herself, but was cut off.
“Jihyo.” Sana giggled at her. A little sip of the drink, to look nonchalant, but in truth, Sana was also a little… worked up. It was probably a bit mean to make her this flustered, but Sana couldn’t help herself. Her rosy cheeks and sheepish smile was too much for her to handle, despite her heart still being on the mend from…
“Yes. You know me?” Jihyo wondered, fidgeting with her hands. An annoyingly large table separated them. Jihyo looked even prettier in here, with all of the dance floor lights lighting her up from behind. Sana hid in a corner and had no intention of going anywhere until her friends abandoned her to be ‘ambushed’.
“Everyone knows you. I’m Sana.” Sana just waited for the words, egging her on to say them. The bar they were in wasn’t perfect, the music they played was about 20 years too late to be relevant, but still… Who would say 'no' to dance with Park Jihyo?
“What?” Jihyo turned her head and tried to listen in closer. Sana rolled her eyes and smiled.
“I SAID. EVERYONE KNOWS YOU. SANA” She did her best to speak over the music and pointed at herself. Jihyo immediately got red and looked straight down. It got quiet. When was she going to ask? Sana realized it was up to her “Aren’t you going to ask?”
“What?” The same question again, but this time it seemed like she was more curious than hard-of-hearing. Her eyes were really pretty. Sana wondered how they would look up close in the dark.
“Dancing?” Sana pointed to the floor behind her.
“I… don’t dance.” She admitted. “I actually wanted to talk to you. Thought I could buy you a drink.” Jihyo looked over at the bar, it was busy. The line alone would take minutes. Sana forged a devious plan and folded her arms. Her fake-annoyed look was directed at the girl who was making a move on her.
“I buy my own drinks.” She huffed. Jihyo stood there in silence for a bit.
“Oh, I… I get it.” A nod, trying desperately to save face and hide the disappointment. Sana laughed out loud at her, then scooted sideways to get out of this miserable trap of a bar table. Jihyo stared at her in confusion as she approached her. It was time for her secret trick, getting up real close before taking the girl’s hand. Her suitor looked down at their now entwined fingers.
“I’d rather dance with you.” Sana giggled again, then dragged Jihyo off onto the dance floor. It was very obvious this was not her element. The first few seconds was spent by Sana feeling like she had to actually puppeteer the girl with strings in order to get any movement at all. She did her best, and so Sana did too.
Without any fear at all, she did her best impersonation of the vocalist of a band she didn’t know and a song she hadn’t heard before. It was the first time Sana saw Jihyo laugh and it almost knocked her off her feet. Now, with maximal effort, Sana managed to at least get her dance partner to sway along with the music. Not only did she sway, but she also swatted away any meddlesome proxy dancers who tried to encroach on their time.
It was them vs. the crowd. And it was fun.
To some, it might look like Sana was doing all the work. But she knew how hard it was for a person like her to sacrifice so much of her imagined dignity just to humor a pretty girl. It was endearing enough for Sana to forget all about her drink, her friends and even the time. Long past her last bus had gone, the two of them were still there. One toilet break and two shots later, they still clung onto their safe space under the flashing neon lights. Sana held her and Jihyo held her back.
Sana loved talking, more than anything really. This night, however, it wasn’t necessary. Suddenly, she took a step back and let go of Jihyo. What had begun as a defeated compromise had now become a groove. The groove of an old man with back pains, but still. Jihyo had forgotten where she was and what she was doing. It made her laugh as heat rose up her chest and spread to her face.
She wasn’t going home alone tonight.
This is a story about a first kiss.
SANA:
First date.
Date?
Was it a date or had Jihyo just coaxed her into joining a night-class for a coupon deal or something? The theme of the day was something or other about ‘The War’. Not that it didn’t interest Sana - the issue was rather that:
- She wasn’t sure what ‘The War’ referred to anymore.
- She had just written an essay about the flaws of expert witnesses in court cases, so spending an hour or two listening to a man telling them what it would feel like to live under *insert hostile occupying force* without him even living the decade it transpired felt a bit rich.
Sana made sure to tread lightly. Outside of that night they danced together, she really didn’t know that much about Jihyo. Maybe her family was affected by ‘The War’? Maybe she had a morbid curiosity? Maybe it gave her free college credits? In any case, Sana had promised Mina not to sabotage things because she got impatient. Usually it was Sana lecturing Mina on things she was curious about, but last month, her cousin had sat her down with a full PowerPoint explaining that people usually don’t fall madly in love on their first date and then eloped.
She was the level head of the two.
Wait, am I?
Anyway, she was the level head of the two, but that presentation had taken her for a spin. Why wouldn’t people elope and grow old together immediately? Sana could always tell. Know. Okay, yes, she had been wrong a few times, but for Jihyo she was sure. So sure that she detected a small amount of worry on Jihyo’s face.
“Am I boring you?” She asked, a confused look combined with putting down her eating utensils. OH, right! They were at a restaurant together. Sana quickly got her bearings back, smiling at her maybe-date. Mina had given her a set of questions, one more outrageous than the other, to help her navigate the situation. At the top of the list reigned the best question:
“Is this a date, Miss Park?” Sana asked back, noting to herself that it was in poor taste to answer people’s questions with totally unrelated questions. “And no. Definitely not.” The latter part seemed to cheer Jihyo up, more than anticipated. Sana felt a little rumble in her chest.
“Do you want it to be a date, Miss Minatozaki?” Jihyo countered again. Her movements were big, confident, but not boastful. Sana smirked at her, it was good that she considered her feelings in this. That would come in handy when picking out wedding dre-
“Yes. I do.” She replied, accidentally slipping in those two words at the end. The girl sitting across the table from her didn’t notice. Suddenly, in front of Sana, the rest of the restaurant started to materialize. ‘Restaurant’ - it was a taco truck that had tables in the shade. She looked down at her hands, which were still doing their own thing in feeding her.
It’s okay mr. enchilada - I accept you.
“Cool. Then, it’s a date.” Jihyo had the prettiest smile Sana had seen in forever. It rivaled Mina’s gummy smile that one christmas. If there were any flaws to her, it was that she inexplicably ate finger food with a knife and fork. On the other hand, maybe she was trying to seem sophisticated, in that case she was one million times cuter than Sana had first suspected and she needed to buy a ri-
“Good. How do you usually do dates?” Sana interrupted herself mid-thought. Jihyo frowned and thought for a long time. Without paying attention to it, she picked up a piece of her food with her hands and fed herself. Confirmed.
“The thing is, since you asked formally.” Jihyo even chewed with ambition. “I’m not sure if I’ve ever been on one. Officially.”
“Oh. That is special.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Never.” Sana looked at her. Her smile was wide and she didn’t mind that she had a speck of dressing on her chin. It was one of the things that first had taken Sana’s interest, the fact that Jihyo performed each part of her life as if she was auditioning for a classical play. Project her voice, wide movements, clear expressions. Plus she was really hot, casting agents liked that.
“Maybe the lecture was a bad idea?” Jihyo asked, not a break in her bravado, merely self-reflection.
“I don’t think so. It’s… new.” Sana smiled. It was new , even to her.
“What if it’s really boring and our first date ends up being a bust?” She kept on eating and conversing, Sana searched her face for doubt, but only found a particular beauty mark. The particular nomenclature describing their arrangement today did not escape her, but she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to pull on that thread. To gain some of the confidence her date showed, she looked down at the note.
“It won’t.” She mumbled.
Ask if you have questions.
It was a statement her cousin had written down to help Sana. When it had been brought up that those types of notes were really more fit for Mina, Mina had countered with how very derogatory that was. And Sana would rather die than make her cousin feel uncomfortable.
“First? You’re expecting more dates?” She raised her eyebrow at Jihyo. Her date froze for a second before her face split open in a shy grin. While both her cheeks turned red, she tried to provide an answer. Sana struggled to see all the way across the table because of all the little sparkles.
“Not if I make my date fall asleep, that’s for sure.” Jihyo explained, emptying her bottle of ‘Sol’ before Sana was halfway into her own. A devilish plan formed. One made deep inside Sana’s head, far away from rhyme or reason, aided not by her cousin, but by ‘romance’.
“Hmm…” Sana started, her eyes flickered down to Jihyo’s lip. Greasy from tacos, chapped from stress and overwork - in short, irresistible. “There’s a movie, ‘Good Will Hunting’, where they do the date thing in reverse, so they kiss before the date can suck.”
Jihyo blinked at her, Sana had finally shut her up with her stupidities. She had already packed up her bags in her head to go home when her date spoke up again. “Isn’t that movie about a lonely genius who sabotages their own life?” The relief Sana felt was immeasurable.
“I thought maybe in this scenario, we could both be Minnie Driver.” It was her intent to play along and see where it went, even if it didn’t end up in a kiss.
“No way. You’re the only one pretty enough to be.” Jihyo knew what she was doing, she had to be. Now Sana was the one blinking. She was quietly observing all the way from when Jihyo got to her feet, walked around the table and bent down. With little effort she remained calm as their cumin-infused lips met for the first time, and then a shorter, but more intense second time. Jihyo sat back down and Sana cleared her throat. No words came out, only thoughts.
Please let there be a second date.