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Sullin waves goodbye at the signal camera. Chaeyeon watches as she bows and thanks the staff before picking up her gift and walking towards her.
“Hm?” The older girl hums inquisitively as Sullin presses the pajama set between them.
“Soft,” she says, pushing the fabric into Chaeyeon’s grasp, urging her to feel it.
“Woah… that's softer than I thought it'd be!”
Sullin nods enthusiastically, humming in agreement. “I wanna try them when we get home!”
“Kim Sullin, what did I say? You have to wash them first.”
“Oh, yeah,” Sullin stands silent for a few seconds before her eyes light up again. “Tomorrow?”
Chaeyeon pats her head, “Yeah, you can try them on tomorrow.” Sullin scrunches her nose, a gesture that Chaeyeon returns. Something about the girl never fails to tug at her chest.
Of all the people who could've captured Chaeyeon’s heart, it had to be her, didn't it?
It's a thing she ponders all the way home. She smiles to herself as she zips up Sullin’s padded coat; studies the swaying of her hair as they walk to the car; gazes through lidded eyes as the streetlights spill onto her face, sparkles dancing across her eyes, shadows hugging her lips.
“Hungry?” Chaeyeon says, resting a hand on Sullin’s shoulder. The younger girl hums and furrows her brows - Chaeyeon has learned this means “yes”.
“Tired, though,” Sullin mumbles, stretching her neck and rubbing at its nape. The shadows still as the manager pulls up to the Haus, a pool of warm yellow light settling on her cheek.
“Okay, let's get inside, then.”
They thank the manager and step into the cold December night, clinging to each other’s arms as they shiver in unison. Chaeyeon’s cold, so she can only imagine how Sullin must feel, this being her first Korean winter.
As if to answer her thoughts, Sullin tightly wraps both arms around Chaeyeon's right, hooking her chin onto the Korean girl’s shoulder as she sucks her teeth.
“So cold…”
Chaeyeon allows herself one selfish look. Eyes almost squeezed shut, pouty lips, brows knitted together. She can only hope she looks a fraction as cute as she tugs them forward to the lobby entrance.
“I think winter suits you. Should I call you snow princess, too?” Chaeyeon’s voice lilts.
Sullin chuckles, breath tickling Chaeyeon’s ear. “Inside, unnie.”
They hobble inside, soaking in the warmth once the automatic doors shut behind them. Sullin’s grip loosens, hands returning to her coat pockets, but still she rests her head next to Chaeyeon’s as they wait for the elevator, cheeks pressed together.
“You’re warm. If I'm a snow princess, you're the sun.”
Chaeyeon’s breath hitches, and Sullin chuckles again. The elevator dings.
Both girls pretend not to see their reflections in the mirror as the doors slide open.
~
The next evening, Sullin tries on the pajamas (after washing them, just like Chaeyeon told her to). They’re soft, comfy, warm… it’s almost perfect. But when she curls up under the covers and tries to get an early night, she just can’t. Despite the countless layers, each one a perfect insulator on paper, Sullin still shivers.
Then she remembers she hasn’t shown Chaeyeon yet.
Chaeyeon wakes up from her nap as the door to her Haus beeps and clicks, signalling a member’s entrance. She sits up slightly from the couch as Chaewon checks the doorbell monitor, bringing her bowl of strawberries with her from the kitchen.
“You wanna get that, unnie?” she says through a mouthful. Before Chaeyeon can respond (with what would have been a grunt), Chaewon leaves for her room.
It’s been a rare day where Chaeyeon has no schedule, so she's a little irritated at the interruption, but she chooses not to judge until she sees who it is.
All of it goes away when she does.
“I washed them!” Sullin’s eyes curve slightly as she smiles, bright and excited.
Chaeyeon blinks, eyes still dusted. “What?”
“Pajamas!” Sullin unzips her padded coat. It's a different one from yesterday, a cool white instead of black. It also confuses Chaeyeon - yes it’s winter, but the Haus has heating. Maybe Sullin wanted to make it a little reveal. Shit, she's too cute.
Especially in gray, fluffy PJs and panda slippers.
“They’re so cute! Did you really come here just to show me?”
To her surprise, Sullin shakes her head and steps in, closing the door behind her. The grin on her face coaxed out by Chaeyeon’s praise dissolves slightly. Her eyes wander, as if considering something. Chaeyeon picks up on the way her hands clench and unclench - she's trying to hide them behind her back, but her sleeves are shifting on her forearms.
“Cold?”
Sullin nods, the smallest pout tracing her lips. Chaeyeon steps closer, delicately pinching and smoothing out Sullin’s pajamas.
“These aren't warm enough?”
“They're warm, but…” Sullin trails off, fiddling with the hem of her top.
Chaeyeon’s gaze flickers to Sullin’s hands, back up to her glistening brown eyes, then back down to her hands. A soft chuckle escapes her.
Sullin is stunned into silence by the sudden sensation of Chaeyeon’s hands enveloping hers. She does it briskly, like she's crossing some sort of threshold after which there is no turning back. A door that, once opened, she can no longer close.
She can’t, really. On several occasions, Chaeyeon’s thought of herself as foolish - isn't it, to keep pining for someone who has seemingly named everyone except you as her favourite member? It's always been enough for her, though. She’s memorised those adorable squeaky giggles better than many lyrics, meerkat smiles cradling her to sleep. Chaeyeon could never need anything else.
But tonight, Sullin’s hands are cold, and no one else is here to warm them.
“C’mon, I was just taking a nap,” Chaeyeon releases one of her hands to lead Sullin to her room, “You’ll be warmer in here.”
Yeonji’s at a fansign (as are most of this Haus’ members), so it’s eerily quiet. It's peaceful with Sullin, though. Even the padding of her slippers against the floor is soothing.
“Nap? Did I wake you up?” Sullin stops following as they enter the room, the door slowly closing behind her.
“No, no,” Chaeyeon stifles a yawn, “It’s okay.” She pulls back her comforter and sits on her bed, shuffling so she’s against the wall. Then she pats the spot she’s created next to her.
The mattress dips slightly as Sullin sits, careful not to brush against any of Chaeyeon’s exposed skin. How she’s wearing just a loose sweater and shorts in this weather, Sullin has no clue. She eyes Chaeyeon, who’s busy rearranging her plushies, and isn’t even shivering. Are all Koreans like this?
“Still cold, Sullin-ah?” Chaeyeon asks once satisfied, turning to adjust Sullin’s hair, brushing strands she didn’t even realise were there out of her face.
In all honesty, the cold had been noticeably more bearable since stepping into Chaeyeon’s room. Maybe that wasn’t so much to do with the temperature, and more to do with… whatever this was. Sullin wasn’t about to stop it, but she wasn’t going to lie, either. The moment Chaeyeon held her hands in hers, warmth seeping into her skin and the seams between her bones, any residual intent to do that had all but abandoned her.
“No,” Sullin mutters, “But you feel nice, unnie. Warmer than me.”
Chaeyeon chuckles under her breath. “Like the sun?” She says, recalling the exchange from last night.
“Mhm.”
Before Chaeyeon can even register how Sullin’s mumbles send a different heat crawling up her cheeks, Sullin shuffles Chaeyeon forward so she can lock her in a bear hug from behind. This sends the heat sprawling across Chaeyeon’s body in a flash, down to the very ends of her fingertips. Her ears are burning, her throat is dry; she did not sign up for this. Electricity shoots up her spine as Sullin hugs tighter, thumb dipping beneath the band of her sweater and brushing against her bare waist. She hooks her chin on Chaeyeon’s shoulder, the most familiar part of the scenario - the only familiar part.
“You’re really warm now, unnie.”
Chaeyeon sighs, resting her head against Sullin’s and sinking into the embrace. “So long as you’re not cold, princess.”
They sit in silence for what could be minutes or hours. Sullin keeps her eyes on Chaeyeon, watching as the rise and fall of her chest slows, and her eyelids seem to grow heavier. Their bodies melt together the longer they stay like this, just the two of them in the quiet, clinging to each other like they’re the only people in the world. Chaeyeon’s full weight presses Sullin against the backboard of the bed, and her arms find their way beneath Chaeyeon’s sweater, holding her impossibly closer.
Chaeyeon finds her eyes fluttering shut again as she starts to doze off, head clouded by the moment and still unruined by the embarrassment that will surely come in the morning, or later tonight. Right now, it’s only peace in her mind, a small smile subconsciously tugging at her lips.
It’s a sight that has Sullin thanking herself for staying awake: for coming here and finally seeking what she wants. Chaeyeon has always loved her tenfold, only because Sullin’s been intimidated by the idea of trying to match her. Now she knows she doesn’t need to; Chaeyeon has endless love to give Sullin. It’s in her reassuring back rubs, her endless nicknames, her unspoken seat next to Sullin during group meals. It was even in yesterday’s signal filming, watching from behind the camera but speaking as if it wasn’t there. Chaeyeon knows Sullin isn't one to give without receiving, perhaps fearing a misread of atmosphere; and she's seemingly very eager to give.
Sullin’s head dips as she grows drowsy, but when her nose brushes the crook of Chaeyeon’s neck, the older girl twitches ever so slightly. She tries again, moving Chaeyeon’s hair out of the way and lightly brushing her lips against her skin. She twitches again, this time letting out a small hum as one eye squeezes tightly.
“Unnie,” Sullin whispers. “Chaeyeon-unnie.”
“Sullin…” Chaeyeon’s voice comes out hoarse. She opens her eyes and squints at the girl staring at her, cheek pressed against her shoulder. “I was almost asleep.”
“Sorry.” Sullin softly strokes Chaeyeon’s waist, and the latter is far too sleepy to stop the grin that spreads across her face. After a few seconds of silence, the Korean girl wrestles her eyelids fully open, and her breath gets caught in her throat. She draws in a shaky breath.
Sullin won’t stop looking at her lips. Her gaze flickers to her neck, to their hands that have somehow become laced together at her midsection, then back to her lips again. Neither of them notice the gap between them closing until their noses touch. Sullin freezes and swallows.
Chaeyeon presses her index finger to Sullin’s lips, leaning away to get a view of her whole face.
“I think…”
No turning back now.
“I think I love y–”
“I love you too.”
Chaeyeon must look like an idiot right now. She doesn’t care. She traces circles on Sullin’s forearm.
“How long have you been waiting for me to say that?”
“Can I kiss you now?”
Chaeyeon chuckles and cards a hand through Sullin’s hair, shuffling to face her. “You really are straightforward.”
Sullin hums to admit it as she stops resisting the gravity that, as she succumbs to it, relentlessly pulls her back into Chaeyeon's orbit so their lips can meet.
No chapstick. No candy. Yet Chaeyeon's lips taste as sweet as the words that leave them. Tantalisingly soft and slow, Sullin brings a hand to cup Chaeyeon’s neck and trace a thumb along her jawline, the other hand resting on her hip. Chaeyeon gasps, and Sullin quickly recaptures her lips. She smiles when she feels the other girl draw in another shallow breath as her thumb runs down her jugular.
Chaeyeon pulls away to straddle Sullin, tucking her hair behind her ears, saccharine love painted across her face. She stares for a second, stars in her eyes, affection swelling in her chest.
“You're beautiful.”
Sullin rolls up her sleeves and rubs light circles into Chaeyeon's thighs. “You too.”
Chaeyeon leans down to peck Sullin on the lips. One becomes two, and two becomes a deeper third, hands gripping tighter and lungs starting to heave as counting becomes futile. Their lips brush and press against each other over and over, and it's almost like this was fated to happen - as if mountains and seas themselves would move to make it so.
Chaeyeon’s fingertips dance on Sullin’s collarbone as the latter’s hand slips beneath Chaeyeon's sweater again, mindlessly drawing patterns upon her belly. The older girl gasps almost comically, her muscles flexing involuntarily under Sullin’s touch, to which the younger can only giggle into the kiss. Soon enough they're both laughing, breaking apart as Chaeyeon nuzzles into Sullin’s neck out of embarrassment.
“You're cute,” Sullin says, still chuckling as she strokes Chaeyeon’s back.
Chaeyeon whines. “Shut up.” She removes herself from Sullin’s lap, curling into her side and draping an arm across her midsection, pulling her to shuffle onto her back and under the covers.
Sullin’s hand rests firmly on Chaeyeon's side, thumb rubbing circles again. Chaeyeon immediately makes note of this new habit: how exciting, to get to learn more.
“That was great.”
“Shut up!”
Sullin laughs silently, and Chaeyeon bites back a smile.
“Goodnight, Chaeyeon-unnie.”
“...Goodnight, my princess.”