Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I - 물(MUL)

Zoey sat. She sat, laid, reclined, restlessly rolled back and forth and up and down until she found herself half-leaned off the side of her bed, the refurbished bed platform (Mira had been proud of that particular project) barely keeping her upside-down head off of the ground. Two unblinking, thoughtless yellow eyes stared back at her. Zoey sighed, gave her preciously dumb cat Derpy a pat on the head, and pulled her body back up to a seated position with an extended, exaggerated groan.

“Ugh, I just can’t figure this hook out, Derps! It’s not coming to me, not just appearing out of thin air, you know? Should it be in Korean? English? A bit of both?” Zoey peeked an eye over her shoulder and was met with a singular, slow blink from the cat. She sighed again, turning to lay her head where one’s feet were supposed to go but avoiding getting her feet on Mira's pillow. Zoey didn’t believe in a lot of supposed to’s, or shoulds, but pissing off Mira was generally and historically considered a bad move. She chuckled as she thumbed in a pair of earbuds from her hoodie pocket, murmuring through loose rhyming pairs as she looked for a song: tool, mul, party(yeah!), jagi-ya…

The last one brought a small blush to Zoey's face. They still didn't really address each other with aeching in the achingly sweet way the leads of the k-dramas they watched sometimes would, and didn't bother with any dumb Americanized pet names either. Just the occasional, cute shortening of their names; Zoey kinda craved more but didn't know how to ask. Honestly, at this point, she was just too scared to. She felt she was already a lot; Mira was working her second job right now to help pay their rent, and she wouldn't be home for another few hours, late on a Saturday. 

Zoey pouted; she missed her, and got her best lyrical thinking done when she got to word vomit in her roommate's general direction when they cooked (Mira would say "I cooked, you actively didn't help) for the evening, but she supposed pining for her "roommate" would be a fruitless endeavor. Zoey settled on the idea that a little inspo from one of her favorites couldn't hurt, at least to pass the time, and pressed play.

“Oh holy muse where you may be, guide me, take me safely through the valley of the shadow of empty hooks and floppy basslines…” Zoey closed her eyes and disappeared into a deep ocean of music.

"Zo, I'm home." The door slammed as Mira called out half-heartedly, knowing if Zoey had her headphones on it didn't matter how loud she was being. She rubbed her eyes for a second, throwing her keys without looking onto the shelf by the door they'd built out of reclaimed wood. Zoey had mentioned seeing the idea off a Pinterest board and moved onto the next thing like she always did, but Mira hadn't forgotten. She ran a hand along the smooth surface and smirked; if they didn't tell, nobody could have ever guessed the piece was made out of the pallets the restaurant chunked out back every week after shipment day.

Speaking of, Mira thought, groaning with the feeling in her back as she knelt and reached to untie her shoes. The old couple that ran the very descriptively named "Korean Soup Restaurant" were too frail to unload all the boxes of goods every time they came in, especially after the old man pulled his back a week before they hired Mira. They just needed help on weekends, Mira had free weekends. They needed someone who spoke Korean, Mira spoke Korean. Oh, and did they mention their wholesale orders came in on Saturdays? They didn't? Mira pinched her nose at the memory.

Coincidence? Mira didn't think so, but the job paid decently, and she always got to take home leftovers for her and Zoey. The old lady always cooked a bunch of extra rice on shipment days, claiming to have made a mistake each time, and Mira politely chose to say nothing and nod and accept the extra to-go containers. Their food was good, even if their menu was restricted to three kinds of soups, rice, and gimbap. Mira had always admired restaurants that stuck to their niche and rocked it; all the fusion joints that had rapidly opened and closed over the past few years had all been trying too hard.

Mira kicked her shoes into the pile below the shelf and picked up the cardboard box she'd set down, padding her way into the kitchen. The apartment was quaint despite the location; Mira slept with earplugs in most nights to drown out the yelling through thin walls, stomping neighbors, screaming traffic, occasional fireworks that definitely weren't fireworks… Mira shrugged the box onto the kitchen counter, unpacking the cylindrical containers of rice and kimchi-jjigae and setting most of it into an unfortunately empty fridge. Opening the door to nothing but a faint white glow and a water filter pitcher had grown familiar in a way that a scar on the top of your hand might; you got used to it, but sometimes, you held out your hand in front of you and remembered how you got it, what your skin looked like without it.

Mira pushed the fridge shut with a little more force than she'd wanted to, sighing the frustration out of her shoulders as she pulled down two bowls from the cabinet. As she portioned dinner, she found her thoughts wandering to how she got here; not just the States, but here, right here in this cramped, love-filled apartment, standing beneath a flickering kitchen light, scooping soup into a bowl for a girl who she was hopelessly in love with. They existed like a couple in most everything but name, and honestly, Mira was cool with it. Labels were whatever, in any case, but sometimes Mira wasn't sure if she held back because Zoey couldn't say no, or if she was actually scared of rejection. Mira wasn't afraid of too much in life, but losing this, whatever it was? Nah, she thought; this was good enough. Why be greedy? Greed smacked of them, and Mira wasn't about to go down that rabbit hole tonight. She spent enough time in her own head already, and she didn't want Zoey worrying about her.

"Zoey, food!" Mira rolled her eyes as a faint thud of body parts onto wood clattered into the hallway along with the bang of a thrown open door.

"C-coming!" Zoey's head peeked out from the floor; Mira just raised an eyebrow, unimpressed but amused, and slid one bowl across the counter. Zoey scrambled over, hopping up onto the stool (her stool, Zoey had said) that made up one of their only furniture pieces. After they'd moved in and scored a free couch off an online marketplace listing, Mira had made it a point to make as much of their furniture as possible. She wasn't particularly pleased with how nice the stool looked, but it was functional and was mostly topple-proof; Zoey had grown particularly adept at maneuvering her balance with her ankles gripped around the corners of the legs. She looked a little worn out around the edges as she sat down, but perked up as she looked Mira in the eyes like she was trying to peer past her soul.

"How was work?" Zoey ran a finger over the knuckles of Mira's hand that was curled around her soup bowl, and she had to suppress a shiver as she shrugged.

"Eh. Order day, you know how it is. Tired, but soup ajumma made us extra rice as usual." Zoey nodded, her eyes not leaving Mira's face for a moment. She wasn't even eating yet; sometimes, Mira felt herself moments from melting beneath Zoey's complete and total adoring gazes. She kept talking just to attempt to work away the blush.

"Yeah, so, if you wanna make some fried rice for your lunches this week, we can do that tomorrow after I get off work?" Zoey nodded again, smiling earnestly but still not really talking, and Mira finally broke, blushing as she turned away mumbling.

"Gonna turn on some music… eat before the food gets cold." Zoey giggled this time, and Mira walked away to the faint clinks of metal on polished melamine. She peeked her head into their bedroom, sighed at comforter's crumpled state, and grabbed their small speaker from the dock on their dresser. Clothes peeked out from the doorway of their closet and Mira chose to ignore it as she turned around.

Our room, our dresser, our closet… should I just jump to marrying her instead? 

Mira chuckled as she strode out, turning on a slow, Korean-ballad playlist at low volume and setting it on their couch, returning to her soup bowl to see Zoey eating while leaning sideways on the stool, spoon in one hand, phone haphazardly tilted in the other. This little… An idea crossed Mira's mind, and she smiled wide; the grin Zoey always called her "shark attack" smile. Zoey looked up, back down at her soup, then back up with a double take, dropping her spoon and phone as she grabbed the edge of the counter, stabilizing the chair. 

"Mir…" Zoey's voice dipped lower, wary as her eyes followed Mira walking around to stand behind her, just to have her head gently forced forward as Mira wrapped her arms around exposed shoulders. Zoey's muscles were still tense, unsure where she was going; Mira just let her arms fall, crossing as she lightly grabbed Zoey's waist. Zoey's shoulders slowly relaxed as Mira didn't move or say anything, just hummed from where she'd propped her chin in the crook of Zoey's neck. As Zoey's hand reached out for her spoon, Mira struck, whispering right into Zoey's ear.

"Were you even going to eat at all tonight, jagiya?" Zoey stiffened in the seat, and Mira's hands pressed down, stopping her from moving.

"You better not lie." From how close she was, Mira could hear Zoey gulp heavily; she thought it perhaps the most satisfying sound she'd heard in all her life.

"N-no. I just… forgot." Zoey deflated in her arms, and Mira stood up straighter, crossing her arms around Zoey's collarbone. Her voice softened a little.

"That's okay, jagi, I just worry about you when you're by yourself – I'm not even sure if you're drinking enough water. Sometimes I feel like I'm turning into Soup ajumma, rounding every corner with mul isso? or "eat some more!" when we're on lunch break. Like, please, woman; I'm actively putting food in my mouth, you don- ...what?" Zoey's hands were twitching, a sure and imminent sign of inbound Zoey Zoomies. Mira reached past her to grab a cup of water to place in her hand, only to watch the water vibrate inside the cup when Zoey's fingers closed around it.

"Can you… say that again?" Zoey croaked out, just staring at the glass of water offered instead of drinking it. Mira frowned.

"Say what again? Putting… food in my mouth?" Zoey shook her head.

"...Lunch? Eat some more? I'm worried?" Zoey kept shaking for negative until Mira looked down at the blue plastic cup in her hand. 

"Mul isso? Please, Zoey, can you tell m-" Zoey slammed the cup down and shrieked; joyful humming followed, and Mira had all of half a second to wince before reaching to hold down Zoey as she tried to fly off the seat. 

"Ah! Nuh uh, you sit right there and finish your soup before you disappear into the closet for the rest of the night, murmuring and scribbling in your journals like a demon. Ah! No." Zoey tried to plead with the puppy-dog eyes to no avail, then huffed and began mechanically shoveling soup and rice into her mouth. She stopped a few seconds later with a whine.

"Can you at least let me text it to myself? I'm gonna lose it, Mira, I can feel it slipping through my mind's fingers, I swear!" Zoey pulled on the 'r' while craning her neck to look back at Mira. She had been moving back to lean her chin on Zoey's shoulder again, and the two found themselves face to face, noses touching. Zoey's warm breath tickled Mira's nose as she spoke.

"Please?" Mira narrowed her eyes in a stare before letting a puff of air out through her nose and shifting up to give Zoey's cute one a kiss. She watched with satisfaction as Zoey spun back around adorned with bright cheeks and walked back to eat her own food. Zoey's fingers flew as she murmured what she was typing.

"Mul… isso? Water, maybe a please… asking for water, dripping… dripping like water? Drip like style? Drip that, drop that, cool drip, cool whip, meotjida, cool but also temperature…" Mira tapped on Zoey's bowl with her own spoon and Zoey made a little eep sound as she wrapped it up.

"Note: try different combinations of Konglish, maybe split syllables." Zoey tapped send and looked up with the biggest smile on her lips; how could Mira ever be properly mad at that face? Mira did raise an eyebrow while remembering the last few times Zoey had become completely unintelligible after finding inspiration; bringing her back down to the realm of mortals was a skill Mira was proud of picking up.

"Does this mean you'll be up all night again?" Zoey blushed again, muttering a maybe before turning her whole face down into her soup bowl. They ate for a few soft moments in comfort before Zoey's back shot upright like she'd been electrocuted. Mira had to stop herself from gasping out loud as Zoey spoke in Korean, eyes faraway like she could see into the notebooks back in their room.

"자기야, 물 좀 주세요?" Mira blushed fiercely as she handed Zoey her water cup; when it hit her hand, Zoey just flinched and looked at Mira like she'd surprised a wounded animal. Mira just threw her empty hand up in exasperation; had Zoey even heard herself? Mira set the water down again, trying her best to ignore her overactive imagination. 

Did she actually mean… all of what she said?

"You asked, Zo. Whatever; just finish up so I can clean up and just stand under the shower for half an hour. Zoey's eyes glazed over a little, murmuring shower, hour, drip, whip to herself as she finished her portion off. With her last bite still in her mouth, she stacked her bowls together, grabbed Mira's hand and gave it a kiss, then scooped up her phone and ran off yelling.

"Thanks for dinner, Mir! Love you~" Zoey's voice warbled away as she rounded the corner into their room and Mira just shook her head and slowly finished her own food. Their food hadn't really started hot given how long it'd taken her to get home, but even though the soup was cold on her spoon, Mira's heart felt warmer than it'd been in a long time.

Love you too, jagiya.

The shower ran as background noise for Zoey's scribbles; Derpy had leapt away when Zoey went crashing into the closet, looking for her emptiest notebook. Within minutes, her page was stuffed with ideas, overlapping everywhere, some crossed out, romanizations separated to catch any spots where the meter change could make it rhyme:

drip" (드립)  shower 샤워, drip like the shower, make it rain, all the power…

clothes are "cool" (멋지다 –  "stylish" (스타일리시하다 - seutailisihada)

meot-ji-da, cool, me-otji-da, but cool like cold, ice, wrists icy, fresh out the freez(er)ah, all the money원 in the world couldn't please ya (her?) freezer? freeze you, freeza/ya, locked up, closed off, hard as ice? Like a… hard to reach ya(?)you're so 멀리,meo-li(meo-ri?) //먼 곳에('gos-eh'), see,

//distance shap'n(1syll) up to be//the final boss in this bitch, yo demons tough like Frieza//

Zoey found herself gulping in a deep breath, deciding to make her way back to the top of the page where she'd left a little section. She traced what she'd started with, what she'd blurted out at Mira, but kinda not at her, but sorta at her because she heard, and she handed you the water, so she heard! Zoey focused on the words on the page.

자기야(^) 물 좀 주세요? (all kr?no eng?some?)

Zoey's pen had traced over the first three characters then dug into the comma so hard she thought she was going to stab through to the bed. No wonder Mira had reacted; she was normally so good about keeping herself composed, much to Zoey's chagrin. All the effort over the years to get her to crack, just to do it best on accident? Zoey added some notes below the greeting.

^insert/should be 저기요? or 'excuse me?' (should it? stay casual or affectionate?)

Zoey sounded out the difference in letters, letting their unfamiliar combinations settle on her tongue.

Jeuh-gi-yo. Ja-gi-ya. She'd casually mixed them up because her brain was still fried from Mira's sneak attack; it was unfair that she could still light Zoey up like a Christmas tree anytime she wanted to. And to practically read her mind from earlier that day, too; Zoey kicked her feet back and forth on the bed while giggling, slipping her pen behind her ear and twirling some of the loose hair around her finger. 

I should complain into an empty room more often! Wait… had it been..?

Zoey looked over at Derpy who was sitting in front of the bathroom door, waiting for a chance to lick up the water from the floor like the weirdo cat that he was. He looked over his shoulder like he could hear Zoey looking at him, blinked in that same slow way he always did, then pulled back to face forward. 

Fine, don't tell me if you're a wish-granting mysterious spirit, I guess. Be that way.

Zoey just shook her head laughing and looked down again, circling the word she'd traced, giving it little hearts around the corners. Something in her felt compelled to scream, so she did; a happy scream, she thought, only to hear the water in the bathroom abruptly shut off and see Mira's head pop out through a crack, steam rushing out past her panicked face.

"What? What happened?" Zoey just stared for a moment before giggling, opening her mouth to speak, then failing to talk, giggling herself into a fit back and forth on the comforter. Mira just rolled her eyes and shut the door again.

"You're so weird!" Mira's voice, despite being muffled through the door, couldn't hide the mirth, the warmth. Zoey closed her journal and clutched it close to her chest, rolling over to her side of the bed. She smiled as she turned over to catch Mira walking into the room, hair tied up under a huge shower cap, clad in nothing but a gigantic bath sheet. Zoey hadn't even known they had made towels that size before moving in with Mira. Zoey exaggerated a pretend pout through her smile.

"But you still love me?" Zoey hadn't realized how needy that might sound coming out of her mouth; she sat up, journal falling to the floor as she tried to laugh it off, make a joke. Mira just stepped right up to her and pinched her lips shut, gently pulling Zoey to her and moving her fingers under Zoey's chin.

"Of course I do, Zo. For you, I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it. I." Mira leaned down and kissed Zoey's forehead; tears were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes, and Mira noticed. She always noticed.

"Love." Mira kissed her nose and wiped her tears away with each thumb, holding Zoey's face between steam-warmed hands. Zoey briefly thought she'd fallen asleep and this was all a dream, until Mira's breath washed over her; she always brushed her teeth before a shower, such a weird quirk, maybe they were both weird, weird for each oth-

"You." Mira kissed her on the lips, softly at first, then hungrily for a moment before pushing Zoey onto the bed. Zoey could only breathe heavily, staring up at Mira's widening pupils, the smudge of her own lip gloss perched on Mira's upper lip. Mira grabbed the remote for their lamp and paused, holding it out at the corner as she looked back at Zoey.

"You don't wanna work on the lyrics?" Zoey smiled at the gesture before throwing her pen behind her. Mira's eyes widened and followed it as the plastic clattered against the wall, then looked back down on Zoey who had leaned back on the bed, lounging on her elbows.

"The lyrics can wait, jagi." Zoey offered, and Mira's smile grew big; the kind of smile only Zoey got to see, the one that meant Mira felt loved, and in those moments, Zoey felt that maybe she deserved this life. Then Mira clicked the lamp off, and her smile shifted, teeth twinkling from the faintest bit of light that made it in through their tiny, almost-ceiling height window. Zoey gulped as Mira's towel hit the floor.

"Don't blame me if you're too hoarse to work on them tomorrow." Mira growled before she pounced.

Chapter Text

II - COMPLEX

Zoey came to with a gasp, only to have her airway choked off by a tight grip when she tried to sit up. Blinking slowly, Zoey took in her surroundings; sheets ruffled, pink hair obscuring half her view, clothes on the floor in the other half. A soft morning light filtered in and sleepy murmuring filled her ear as Zoey moved to try and pry the rollercoaster safety bar off her neck. 

"Five more minutes, please…" Zoey gave up and relaxed backwards; Mira added a second bar when Zoey quit moving, wrapping her other arm around Zoey's waist and pulling her in tight. Zoey couldn't really complain; Mira was never this clingy unless they Zoey woke up first. She thought it nice to have small reassurances of Mira's reciprocation, even if they were somewhat subconscious. Instead, Zoey let her mind go over the day before, thoughts whirling as she tapped a little beat onto Mira's forearm. 

All of that was real, not a dream, very glad about that, but that means… Zoey's eyes flicked over towards the closet. She was too far from the edge to see the ground, but…somewhere over there, nestled between ruffled pages, written gold existed on the floor. Zoey started involuntarily shaking in place, thinking of the components to putting the song together. Mira's arms tightened, distracting her, but eventually they relented alongside a long groan. Zoey slid out and flew to her feet, jumping off the bed to look for the notebook as Mira rustled behind her.

"Good morning to you too, Zo." Zoey popped her head back up to see Mira looking at her, chest half-twisted over her waist with her feet on the ground, blinking sleep away. Her hair poked askew at all angles, their light sheet draped across her shoulders like she'd fallen asleep in a photoshoot, and her voice, deepened from sleep, hummed somewhere between Zoey's core and her memories from last night. All she could do was squeak and drop back to the floor, scrambling more furiously as her face heated. Mira's chuckle didn't help matters, although as her hand closed around the book tucked beneath a dirty sweatshirt(how did it get there? who cares, put it on), music started playing from Mira's side.

"Yo, new Ryu-Rumi drop. No video yet, but check it." Zoey scrambled up from underneath the frame, sweatshirt blinding her into bumping her head into the edge on her way up, then her shin in the same spot as she finally pulled the cotton down and launched herself across the mattress, tossing her book to the edge of the bed. 

Songwriting could wait; new Rumi single!

"Ooh, is it one of her new style? Or maybe a return to the slow vibes, maybe a throwback ballad? Or i-" Mira's fingers wrapped around her mouth and she had to resist the very strong urge to immediately lick them.

"Shh. Listen; here, I'll restart it. Apparently its with Baby Dragon, too." Zoey squeaked beneath Mira's hand, jumping up to sprint into the other room for their speaker. Rumi track and its a collab with bbdrgn? Korea's hottest rapper right nowwww– Zoey's thoughts blurred out into an audible squeak as she flew back from the living room, barely skidding to a stop before slamming into their dresser, thankful that her socks had come off last night. She turned it on with a sheepish smile and Mira just laughed, shuffling into the bathroom as she threw her phone behind her.

"Go wild." Zoey cradled the phone with mock reverence as she set the speaker on Mira's nightstand and pressed play. The tiniest hint of bristles moving joined the array of ambient sounds making up the song's intro, and Zoey set the phone next to the speaker, laying her head on Mira's pillow as the sound of a…was that a cup hitting a counter? abruptly cut to Rumi's airy lead-in.

"살이 좀 쪘으면 좋겠어,..."

Zoey moved her fingers in the air above her face, playing along with the bouncy chords riding the harmony, but her hands stopped abruptly at the chorus. Her head snapped over to Mira who had stuck her head out past the doorway, toothbrush still sticking out of her mouth. 

"Yo." Mira nodded, bobbing her head to the little vocalised top line.

"Yo!" Zoey looked up at the ceiling again as the second verse swooped in; it cut it off early, Rumi fading into a couplet of rap-speed verse before the main rapper came in, Baby's voice contrasting heavily from Rumi's smooth tone. Zoey lacked conscious thought: she just let her hands continue to sway back in forth as the bridge came in.

"Ninety-nine com/plex/es but you can't/be/me…" 

Zoey shivered as she mouthed the lyrics through, inspired, and looked over at Mira leaning against the bathroom door. She stood, glasses loose in her hand, nodding along through the song until it ended with faint background laughter. Zoey sprang up to her feet and pressed play again before either of them could blink, setting it on repeat before running to the closet for a special notebook. Mira laughed and followed her, flipping the light on for the small space and stepping up onto the stool Zoey had built so she could more effectively use their weird, super-high closet shelf. Zoey had been proud of that one; she knew she wasn't going to ever reach up there, and Mira liked practical things, so it had been perfect for her birthday gift last year. Well, that and…

"Aha!" Zoey's hands closed around the notebook with a huge, bright yellow "COVERS" written on the front surrounded by doodles of sunflowers. Mira looked down from her perch atop the stool, shirt flapping as she balanced one hand on the closet bar, the other pulling her acoustic guitar from far in the back of the shelf. Whose idea it had been to build a shelf that far up that was also that deep, Zoey would never know.

"You read my mind!" Zoey stood up and kissed Mira's exposed abs, resulting in a strangled sound from far above her as Mira's free leg pushed Zoey out of the closet before she jumped down, barely saving the guitar from smashing into the wall. Zoey just smiled up at Mira from the ground, her head propped against the bed and notebook held against her chest as Mira looked at her. That face framed in a curtain of pink went from flushed and surprised through annoyed and angry, then settled on an eyeroll with exasperation. Mira set the guitar on the ground in the closet and hoisted Zoey up off the floor before throwing her on the bed; Zoey laughed as she bounced to a stop.

"You're lucky you're so cute. What's the plan, superstar?" Zoey's face scrunched up in concentration as she opened the journal to the back, flipping through the cover ideas she'd had for all the previous Ryu-Rumi tracks in the past. A couple had just been for Mira; Zoey loved some of the quieter acoustic covers they'd done, performed for no one but themselves but uploaded just in case. She was particularly proud of one where she'd messed with the grayscale of the video to give a much older track a modern take. "Eat" hadn't started out as one of Rumi's most popular, but grew as she performed it, usually as an encore. Zoey had thought it perfect for Mira after she messed with the register a little; she'd given Mira the chords for the piece on her own birthday, grinning ear to ear as she'd flipped the normal script of gift-giving.

Back then, they hadn't even moved in together yet; Zoey thought she had been so clever, handing Mira a song she thought was perfect for her range, only to burst into flames when Mira held up the lyrics sheet with a wry smile, pointing her finger at the chorus.

"If you wanted me to call you beautiful, you didn't need to make me tabs for it, you know?"

That smile was the same one she had on her face as she leaned against the closet sill, guitar in hand, waiting for Zoey to figure it out. Mira was always so patient, had sat next to her for hours with love and care as frantic fingers edited that cover, wanting it to be perfect; the software hadn't cooperated with the grayscale very well for the portion they filmed inside, but outside came out great, had looked…

That was it!

Zoey's eyes grew big as she flipped to next open page and moved to write, only to find her hand empty. Looking up, Mira was already holding out the pen she'd thrown to the floor yesterday with a warm smile. Zoey grabbed it and babbled as she wrote plans on one side, saving the other side for the lyrics.

"Thanks, Mir, you're the best as always, so, like, when do you go into work today? Do you work tomorrow? Do we still have that selfie stick? How much gas do you have in the scooter? Ooh, do you think I can wrap my legs around you as you drive and lean off the back?" The rap from Baby's part came back on, and Zoey pointed over at the speaker without a pause.

"I wanna do that part with a couple takes, maybe record inside but try the rap while hanging off, my hair will be up, don't worry, and we can drive down to Santa Monica, get a couple of beachy shots at sunset or sunrise, ooh, maybe find a fire…" Mira's fingers wrapped around Zoey's empty hand and she stilled, looked up at the very picture of love and caring embodied in a human bieng, and swooned. She swore her bones liquified in that moment as she slowly careened off to the side, landing on the bed with a little puff of air from the comforter. Mira pulled Zoey's hand to her lips, kissed each knuckle, and set the guitar next to Zoey's pillow on the ground.

"When you figure out the plan, let me know. Since we're going out, I'll go make us a lunch; I'm free until three-thirty when the Soups prep for dinner." Zoey's face started to curl into a small pout, face scrunching without her permission, and Mira leaned in to kiss between her eyebrows, pressing them back up with her thumbs.

"I don't work tomorrow, we can do the sunrise or sunset shots then. Are you needed at the store?" Zoey wrapped her arms around her and whined a little when Mira laughed instead of hugging her back.

"Zo, do they need you at the store?" Zoey didn't want to think about her dumb job at the family beauty supply store, but her family wasn't the stupid part of it; her halmeoni was actually pretty cool to her given their generational gap, and her nephew, Zoey's sachon, Joonho (Mira liked to call him 'cuzzo' but he preferred John, and Zoey understood completely) often helped her out if she needed to go do something.

She usually gave him a better heads up than a day, though… Usually. Zoey slunk down Mira's front and collapsed back onto the bed.

"Fiiine, I'll text 'em." Mira frowned down at her.

"Fine! I'll text John, then call him and pray he says yes. I'll beg, if I have to." Mira ruffled her hair and walked away, grabbing her phone and bobbing her head to the music on the way out. The chorus played again as she got to the door and she stopped, looking back to find Zoey had followed her with her eyes the whole way. She leaned on the wall and smirked; out came that low-registered, free-spirited laugh Zoey thrived on. Lived for. Thanked the universe she got the opportunity to hear.

"That chorus is smooth, Zo; how does she do it?" Mira said, shaking her head as Zoey propped her chin up on her hands, kicking her feet as she posed a rhetorical question.

"Do you think Rumi knows how hot she is?" They shared a laugh and Zoey blew a kiss that Mira snatched out of the air and walked away with. Zoey collapsed on the bed, pulling her notebook open and holding it above her face, seeing only Mira, imagining how her hair might flow in the wind as they drove, how that classic, sassy smirk turned over a shoulder might melt hearts… She jumped up into a seated position and scratched away at various scenes, slowly filling in the lyrics as the song repeated over and over in the background. At some point, Derpy brushed up against her slightly raised leg and curled up underneath it; Zoey absently pet his fur as she wrote, thinking about how best to show the world (or at least, whoever would watch) how beautiful and elegant and majestic and glorious her… roommate… was. 

She frowned, realizing she'd wanted to substitute "girlfriend" but hadn't thought it sufficient enough, while roommate, despite it being her default public answer, definitely wasn't enough either… 

Had she seriously never given this any active thought?

The outro played again and Zoey imagined the scene Rumi quietly sang to life, imagined walking hand-in-hand with Mira through the park on a sunny day. Her heart swelled, and she let herself fantasize that she'd been able to (even think about being able to afford to) hire Rumi to sing live as they strolled down a path, just the two of them guided along by Rumi's voice. The path shifted to a flower-lined aisle in her mind and she squeaked at the idea of Mira in a suit waiting for her as Rumi played Canon in D off at a grand piano instead; she waved the thoughts away furiously. Too much!

Zoey flipped to a page just before the end, etching words in a mostly-blank corner as she pondered: roommate, girlfriend, partner, significant other, wife, part of my soul, entire world…

Zoey looked at all of them and circled partner, underlined "part of my soul", put a little carrot between the 's' and the 'o' and added a tiny 'e' with a smile. She could work with partner; that was good enough for now…although Zoey felt mostly comfortable admitting (to herself, at least) that Mira was a very hot, very important part of her soul. Big step to consider admitting out loud, but she was definitely considering it. Mira's rhythmic knife-on-wood echoed from the kitchen and Zoey smiled, circling partner again before flipping back to the page she'd been working on.  

…wonder if Mira knows just how amazing she is?

Mira hummed that little ba-ba-ba-ba sequence from the chorus as she chopped some spam into little strips, trying it pitched it down an octave so that last measure would fit within her register. Zoey had taught her a lot about music without even trying to, really; a lot of it came from her rambles during late night edit sessions, and Mira would bet Zoey didn't even remember telling her half of the things she did.

Mira did remember, though; she always did her best to listen unless she was actively falling asleep, and even then, Zoey's voice was usually the most comfortable tether to hang onto as she drifted off. Were there occasions when Zoey accidentally let out noises that sounded more like fighting squirrels or dying dolphins and woke her up from a dead sleep? Maybe, but Mira had learned to deal, especially when they usually came alongside Zoey in her purest, most genuine form; face ninety-percent freckles and smile, nine-percent beautifully earnest eyes, entire existence bubbling with creativity.

Mira swept the strips of spam into the oil and shook her head as she wiped the knife to the sound of popping and sizzling. When did she fall this hard? Mira struggled to rack her brain as she replaced the knife and walked to the pantry, pulling out the container that held one last sheet of teriyaki gim. She dropped the nearly-empty package on the counter with a sigh, allowing herself a few seconds of self-pity; a memory of spitting out a snack of flavored seaweed-crunchies her nanny had tried to feed her flit across her mind. She'd been so picky as a kid; probably when she'd developed the beginnings of her attitude, all things considered.

Ah, what she wouldn't give for ten seconds in her childhood home's pantry with a grocery bag right now; she looked around and remembered it being larger than the whole kitchen space, countertops, and appliances combined. If she closed her eyes, she could see the stocked shelves, the stuffed cabinets, she could see…

Zoey. Zoey permanently took up residence in her mind now, Zoey was what she wouldn't give up to go back to that life. Mira pushed the frying strips around in the pan with a wooden spatula as she manuevered the package with her other hand, splitting the sheet into halves, then into neat quarters. Mira let the memories float away before they could latch on, but not before seeing a little shiny package at the bottom of the pantry in her child mind's eye. 

Have I had a Choco Pie since I've moved to the States?

Mira smiled; she wondered when the last time Zoey had eaten one was, realizing she was always looking to spoil her little chaos gremlin first, figured she'd shoot John a text to try and coordinate a little surprise box of snacks. Zoey always came back from the shop happier those days, sharing small pieces with Mira, but mostly scarfing down everything that her halmeoni came back from the mart with, "just for her little Jiwon." Mira still found it cute, even if Zoey looked all embarrassed every time. She'd bribed John to sneak pictures of those moments, too. 

When she'd first slipped John a bit of extra money to spoil Zoey with, it had taken a bit of convincing to pull him on board. They'd argued about it while Zoey was doing inventory in the back, but that day that Mira happened to come by and hang out, old lady Choi came back from the store. She'd returned with nothing special; just their groceries and a single bag of spicy shrimp crackers, yelling to get Zoey to come out front. They'd watched from the raised register as Zoey positively lost her mind over the bag, politely offering one to her (their, at this point) smiling halmeoni before sprinting around to offer a few to Mira (and one to John; Mira had felt extra special). She'd waited, watching them eat their crackers with enthusiasm before letting out an excited noise and skipping to the back to eat, yelling about how she'd work extra fast with spicy 'fuel' as the door slammed behind her.

Mira and John had chuckled as they walked to help with the groceries, but paused at the tears in the eyes of an old lady lost in time. They'd run up to her, taking the bags, asking what was wrong, only to eventually just get a soft, defeated reply.

"She used to smile and skip like that a whole lot more, before…" Her weathered hand had gone to her chest where her ever-present heart pendant rested, and John slowly guided her to the back, murmuring to her as Mira reached down and took all the bags. After that day, John agreed to let Mira help and let Zoey think it was coming from her sweet little grandmother, and Mira told him to slip her cash into the till on the weekends to avoid guilting either of them any further. 

Her phone lit up in her peripheral with two notifications; John, asking if they needed anything, probably prompted by Zoey, and one of her co-instructors, Seohyun, asking if their big, two-hour workshop was still on-time for Wednesday night and if Mira wanted her or Jojo in early.

Mira turned off the stove and flipped the crispy bits around in the pan as she clicked a thumbs up on the latter message, adding a both on the quick send, and an okay symbol on the former, adding get zo choco pies as a follow-up. Crashing noises came from somewhere in the bedroom, followed by a very quiet, I'm okay, and Mira just sighed as she flattened some of last night's rice into the quartered sheets, turning on the tap and wetting her fingers on one hand. Wrapping up their lunches fell to a subconscious activity as she let her mind wander to the month of the year. Zoey's birthday was only a few weeks away, and unless she spontaneously handed Mira another song to cover, she'd probably have to go bug her woodworker friend again. She'd traded a lot of her free meals to him for help with the last project (the stool) but Mira felt a little ambitious this year. The studio was doing better; more classes were available for her to pickup to teach, and the summers were always busier anyway…

Mira hummed thoughtfully as she wrapped the bundled wanna-be gimbap into paper towels, then tucked them inside the empty plastic of the seaweed packaging, wrapping it tight and slipping one of her hair ties around the whole thing to keep it shut. She turned around to look for one of their reusable bags they'd left out; her eyes roamed the apartment, only to snap back to the couch when the blue plastic of the box they'd been using as an ottoman, coffee-table hybrid stuck out. They'd kept saying they were going to look for a nice second-hand one, but nothing ever looked good enough.

She ignored the hunt for a bag and grabbed the plastic to-go container she'd washed last night, stuffing the makeshift plastic-wrapped food in and barely managing to close the lid down on it. They had dozens of the damn things by now anyway; one awkwardly shaped one could just get used for a doorstop or cut up to fix the mismatched height of their wobbly dresser, in any case.

"Mir, I need your brain!" Zoey never failed to pull a smile onto her face, even while yelling across the apartment on a Sunday morning. Mira grabbed her phone, texting herself coffee table, z bday? and walking past their room to set the food by their keys. 

"Mira, where ya goin…" Zoey called as she passed. Mira smiled, jingling her keys for good measure before turning around; Zoey had damn near teleported into the hallway, eyes wide, journal flapping in her hand. Mira just held her arms out as Zoey pouted before jumping into her arms, launching straight into their itinerary for the day, complete with a traced map and doodles by various timestamps. Mira kissed Zoey on the temple as she carried her into the bedroom, dipping Zoey down so she could grab the speaker, then turning to walk them into the living room. Zoey had reacted to Mira's cue without breaking stride, sliding the speaker into one of Mira's hands and continuing to circle little bits of the map as she talked, finally taking a breath as they sat..

"...so, like, where first?" Zoey asked. Mira nodded, setting the speaker on the bin as she plopped down on the couch, Zoey bouncing on her legs and jabbing a knee into her ribcage as they sat. Mira pulled Zoey closer and took the pen out of her fingers, tapping the cute drawing of the two of them riding Mira's moped in the corner. Zoey had spent minimal time on herself or the bike but had given a ton of care to Mira's face; Mira noticed her raised eyebrow was traced over repeatedly, and her one visible eye, while detailed, consumed most of her face. 

"You want this shot in there? We can start with some casual daytime scenes, capture a few angles like this one, ride around while you memorize the lyrics, then get your verse in after a lunch break. Sound good to try?" Mira underlined a few of the scheduled timings Zoey had already planned, adding in LUNCH in all caps beneath a scribbled mira? eyebrow? and adjusted the times one by one as Zoey snuggled in closer to her shoulder.

"This is why you're in charge." Zoey whispered; Mira snorted and crossed a line through night-time bonfire shot, build one? after booping Zoey's nose with the pen.

"Someone has to make sure you remember to eat, Zo; can't fuel genius on just air, hopes, and dreams." Zoey hummed quietly, fidgeting her fingers in their shared lap space as Mira starred head back by three and replaced the three with a two to build in the inevitable lost time they'd spend chasing a perfect shot in the park Zoey figured she had to have. Her own fingers slowed as the nervous movements sped up; Mira stuck the pen between Zoey's fingers and closed the book, tossing the yellow cover to contrast with blue plastic (yep, that's gotta go) and maneuvering them down into a longways stack, pulling Zoey close with both arms. Mira stared at the ceiling as she rubbed circles onto Zoey's back, speaking softly.

"You don't have to say anything, jagi. I…" Mira paused as she felt Zoey try to burrow her face deeper into her arm and sighed, sliding a hand under Zoey's sweatshirt and gently raking her nails up and down her back. Zoey relaxed a little as Mira searched for her words for a few minutes, feeling Zoey's hand tap along with the beat of the song across her ribs.

"We help each other, you know; I keep you grounded when you need it, and… you show me what it's like to fly sometimes, too. Even if it's just the little things sometimes…" She trailed off and Zoey huffed, turning in Mira's arms to face the ceiling right beneath her chin. Zoey's hands floundered around a bit before finding one of Mira's and she squeezed it tight before speaking in that serious tone Mira tried her best to keep out of that precious, bright voice.

"It's not just the little things, Mir. Sometimes I just feel so…" Zoey's free hand gestured in a squiggle at the ceiling and Mira hummed an affirmative. Zoey let her arm flop down onto the couch cushions and curled her knees up into Mira's lap as she continued.

"Sometimes I just don't believe it all, you know?" Mira hummed again; she knew it exactly, precisely, had it etched into her bones.

"Brain's especially just a lot, sometimes, and if even I find it hard to deal with, it's hard to believe you can?" Mira suppressed a laugh and Zoey swiftly rotated to sit on her waist, frowning down at her.

"What." She laughed in earnest this time, catching Zoey's pout change into confusion as Mira couldn't stop laughing, finally slapping a hand over her own mouth.

"What?" Mira took a laugh-shaken deep breath and grabbed Zoey's hand, propping her back up with an elbow and leaning to the side.

"Let's play a game called 'what would you say' for a sec, okay?" Zoey's brow creased as her head tilted in confusion, mouthing out the words.

"Oh.. kay?" Confusion faded, shifting into suspicion; Mira squeezed Zoey's hand and let go, sliding both of her hands behind her neck and falling with a thud onto her back.

"I say something I might do, and you say how you would react. Easy game, right?" Zoey's eyes narrowed down at her, apparent there was a trap somewhere but unable to spot it. She sighed and shifted to slide off Mira's waist, sitting between her legs and imitating Mira's pose, resting her elbows across Mira's shins.

"Okay, I'll bite. What's first?" Mira snorted.

"Yeah, you do."

"Hey!" 

"What, it's true." Mira shrugged a little and moved her elbows ontop of Zoey's shins in return, keeping her legs from moving too much. Zoey peeked up with a cute little frown and Mira laughed again; she'd really gotten a whole ab workout today and the morning had barely begun.

"Okay, side-tracked. Anyway, first example; I've gotten home from work late, I'm grumpy and don't wanna talk even though you're excited to show me a new turtle video, and I fall face first onto the bed after getting out of a quick shower. What do you do?" Mira looked over to see Zoey's brow scrunched up; she supposed she might not remember this one, but Mira had done this, and she did feel bad about blowing off Zoey's excitement for a while thereafter. 

"Um, well, you've clear-"

"Hypothetical me." Zoey nodded.

"Right, hypothetical you has clearly had a bad day, and you probably don't wanna talk about it and you probably haven't eaten much, so I… go into the kitchen and make some quick microwave quesadillas and get you a big glass of water and feed you with your favorite Rumi song playing softly next to us." Close; Zoey had burned the quesadillas, but Mira had eaten them anyway, and she'd cried silently into the water cup when the sentiment of the gesture overwhelmed her, but she wasn't sure if Zoey remembered that part.

"Then I'd pull you into my lap and give you scalp scritchies until you fell asleep or wanted to talk, I guess. Hypothetically, of course." Zoey giggled; also accurate. Mira struggled to keep a straight face remembering how, when they'd eventually talked about the rude guests that came in right before closing, Zoey's incredulous additions of things like what a jerk! and no way?! had made Mira laugh so hard water had gone up her nose.

"Okay, second example; hypoth-" 

"Wait, did I get it right?" As a reply, Mira flicked the top of Zoey's head with her foot.

"Hey!"

"There's no getting it right, Zo. It's all hypothetical, remember?" Zoey rubbed her head with another pout before nodding slowly.

"Fine, what's hypothetical, magical, mystical Mira gonna do now?" Mira smiled at the ceiling; Zoey's fingers had gone back to tapping the song out, this time, on the bottoms of Mira's feet.

"This time, hypothetical Mira and hypothetical Zoey planned movie night that they were excited for, but after hypothetical Zoey goes to the kitchen and makes popcorn, she comes back to a closed door, raised voices from what she probably assumes is a phone call growing louder behind it. The call ends, the door swings open, and hypothetical Mira bumps into her and everyone falls, including most of the popcorn. Then that Mira scoots up against the wall, puts her head in her knees, and doesn't move for a while." Zoey was perfectly still as she finished, and neither said anything for a few seconds.

She definitely remembers this one… not my finest hour. Zoey kept quiet, so Mira went to execute one of her many (she'd never tell just how many) secret make-Zoey-laugh moves.

"What does hypothetical Zoey do?" Mira scooped a finger on the edge of Zoey's foot, instantly drawing a flinch and a giggle, albeit too-quickly followed by a sigh. Contemplative Zoey made an re-appearance as she swung her feet off the couch and onto the floor.

"Mir, I know what you're doing." Mira got up and slid behind her spot on the couch, smoothly performing her best Zoey-backpack impression, squeezing her thighs around Zoey's waist, wrapping her arms around Zoey's neck.

"So? Humor me." Zoey pushed to slowly fall back into Mira's hold with another sigh. She moved her head slowly to the music despite her silence, and Mira just let her be, pressing her cheek onto Zoey's back.

Mira would've set the world on fire to never hear another sigh pass those lips.

"After realizing what happened, Zoey would probably be confused but go to hug Mira anyway. They'd sit there on the floor, surrounded by popcorn, shoulder to shoulder against the wall, Zoey rubbing Mira's shin until she was ready to talk." She huffed and tried to sit up, but Mira let her weight go slack while holding her arms locked, keeping Zoey prisoner.

"Continue." Mira chose not to correct the lack of hypotheticals.

"If Mira decided not to talk, for however long, Zoey would… try her best to fill the space and take care of her, even if that was until the next day." Mira hummed into her back; not her finest hours, plural.

"And when hypothetical Mira finally talks?" She could almost feel Zoey's eyeroll through her back.

"Zoey would make sure she was doing okay and help her get ready for work and not let her leave without a promise that she'd call if it got worse."

"And when she tries to apologize?" Zoey sighed deeply; Mira knew she didn't have to be this obtuse, but, aside from the effectiveness, it was fun to mess with Zoey: doubly so if it also helped.

"When she tried to apologize, Zoey reassured her that it wasn't her fault and that she still loved her, and that she'd be here when Mira got home. She promised."

"And would she?" A pause. "Be home, when hypothetical Mira got back?"

"Yeah, she was."

"Even though she'd already made plans to go skate with John and his lame friends?" Zoey chuckled.

"Yeah, even still."

"And when Mira found out about that and felt even worse later, blaming herself again, what did Zoey say?" Mira let go of the hypotheticals, detached herself from Zoey, and moved to the ground, kneeling in front of her and trying to look up into her eyes. Zoey dodged eye contact as she mumbled.

"That I'd always be here, even when… even… when…" Zoey trailed off. She found Mira's eyes and slumped a little, but didn't look away as Mira channeled as much see? into a smile and eyebrow raise that she could muster. Light from their kitchen window was finally filtering in at the right angle to reach the couch, and Zoey raised a hand into the little beam of light getting closer to their spot on the couch. 

"Even when things get tough for one of us, and especially if its both of us. That you'd be my sun." Zoey finished confidently and looked back down as Mira took that outstretched hand and held it palm up, tracing a circle in it between two thumbs.

"And you my moon, jagi." Mira breathed out, then paused; her hands twitched and her lip curled as she heard their words again in her head, and she couldn't help but let out a tiny snort.

"God; Zo, we're so gay." Zoey blinked once before cracking up, falling off the couch and down on top of Mira as she laughed too, her back pushing the bin out of the way as Zoey laughed in her arms. Their joy relaxed slowly and they laid there on the floor for a bit: long enough for that ray of sunlight to reflect off of Zoey's outstretched calf, leg still half-stuck on the couch.

"That's why I laughed earlier, by the way." Mira caught a puzzled look and kept going after pinching Zoey's cheek.

"Besides the fact that you're the single most adorable entity on the planet, I laughed because it's so incredibly absurd to me to even consider the idea of not 'dealing with your brain' or whatever. I love your brain, you know? I…" Mira pointed over their heads at the speaker as she continued.

"Watching you sing or rap, listening to your fantastic ideas, reading your plans for becoming a great in the scene; all of that comes from your brain. I wouldn't have thought my singing voice was worth anything or tried to use it much if it weren't for you and your brain." She pressed a kiss to Zoey's forehead.

"Your brain is wonderful and I'll fight about it with anyone that says otherwise. Even if that's you." Mira gave her another kiss, then another, then another before Zoey squirmed up to eye level in her arms. Despite having spent the morning pouring her heart out in a way she'd never have imagined possible years ago, the intense look of admiration waiting in Zoey's eyes took her breath away. She felt a physical hitch break her inhaled breath as Zoey got close enough to touch their noses together.

"I love you so much, Mira." Mira had incessant lips on her own before she could reply, and before she could react, they trailed down her jaw and to her ear, nipping once before ghosting a whisper across her soul.

"Jagiya, saranghae." Zoey swiftly moved to her other ear, and Mira laid helpless, tense with excited apprehension, comfortably uncertain at what might come next. Zoey planted a soft, tiny kiss between each echo of a name.

"My light, my sunshine, neoneun naeun-myeongiya, neoneun naekkoya." Mira felt Zoey place one last kiss on her temple, then lay down on her side. Mira drew her unimpeded hand over her eyes and thought there was a good chance the water might boil if she ran the sink over her cheeks. She attempted to deflect with humor; the audible glee coming off of Zoey in waves rang in her ears as she spoke.

"Your brain comes up with ways to reduce me to a puddle in four different ways across two languages and it's still the problem? The two of us need to have words without you in the room." Mira blushed harder as Zoey laughed and sat up onto her knees, pulling Mira's hand off her eyes and kissing each cheek as she did.

"You like?" Zoey waggled her eyebrows in Mira's face and got shoved away as a result. Mira pulled on her knee to roll to her feet to chase after Zoey.

"We were having a moment." Mira strode forward; Zoey popped up, bouncing back a step.

"And now we're not!" Zoey smiled, just a little satisfied with herself; Mira rolled her eyes and lunged forward, pulling Zoey into a half-turn, lowering her by the back of the head and reaching down to kiss her nose.

"Love you more." Mira kissed the smug right off of her lips before lowering her over the side of the couch and letting go. Zoey flailed as Mira walked to put their unique 'coffee table' back, grabbing the speaker, powering it off, and opening the bin lid as Zoey spluttered.

"H-hey! You can't just do that; that was nice, and I wa-" Mira cut her off as she whipped around with a blanket thrown over her shoulder and a hand on her hip.

"And now it's not!" Zoey just groaned at the imitation and sprawled wide in a stretch. Mira strode into the kitchen, pulling a bag out of the bottom of the closet and wrapping the thin blanket in the bottom before walking it to the door.
"Where are you going?" Zoey called out, falling off the couch as she reached too far. Mira continued unbothered, throwing the food into the bag, tucking the speaker next to it, then sliding both of their pairs of flip flops into the outside pocket. Mira looked back to see a journal-topped Zoey crawling across the floor into the hallway.

"I assume you want to film this at some point today? It'll be tough to get footage without your ride or your lovely singer, you know; she's gotta eventually go to work today." Zoey sprang up off the floor, bobbling her journal as she rounded the corner into their room. 

"Five minutes! I'll have some fit choices for you, too." Out rushed the sound of hangers flying across the rod, and Mira just chuckled, pulling out her phone.

To John: zoey'll need tuesday off, too, hmu when you roll thru hmart

To Seohyun and Jojo: 2hr early on wed, i wanna upload us 3's group recording, lets sharpen up

To herself, set to send Wednesday night: surprise zo w/ boba at work tomorrow afternoon

Mira pocketed her phone and followed the cacophonic, beautiful sounds of Choi Jiwon Zoey: followed her moon wherever it would go to make sure it shined well enough for the world to see.

 For how could she do anything else?

Chapter Text

III - (내 사랑) MY LUV

It turned out that leaning off a scooter while holding a phone camera was a little harder than she'd thought; Zoey's abs burned after her fifth attempt, her mouth barely moving through the words of the verses as she attempted to get an angle with her phone that captured Mira's flowing hair behind her attempt at hiding a grimace. She hoped at least one take would come out looking like she was the smooth style and flow hanging on to Mira's effortless, casual vibe that drove them along.

They'd parked for a short break after the eighth attempt; Zoey had nearly dropped her phone onto the pavement and replacing the quintessential, magic, glowing rectangle everyone shoved into their pockets was way out of budget at the moment. Zoey munched on her odd gimbap triangle as Mira's arms squeezed gently alongside her neck; they sat in a little row beneath a tree, the scooter parked in a beach drop-off zone, the spot oddly empty for a Sunday. Maybe the abnormal, light chill was enough to keep people bundled in jackets and out of the less tourist-trapped spots for once.

Mira hummed as she scrubbed back a few seconds in the recording she held in front of them; Zoey shoved the last, rather large bite into her mouth and chewed as Mira spoke.

"This take actually looks usable; I bet you can cut together enough from what we've got, but we can get one more good one and then re-park by the pier for the chorus?" Zoey nodded, grabbing the phone and scooting backwards a little more, humming through seaweed and rice as Mira's chuckle reverberated through her back and warmed her chest beneath the squeeze of a hug.

"Love you too, jagiya. Ready to try again?" Zoey hummed and squeezed her hands up and over Mira's forearms, tucking her head back into Mira's chest.

"Five more minutes?" Mira just chuckled again, moving a hand to rub circles on the back of Zoey's hand. Zoey felt herself melting despite the relative cool and leaned into the feeling of Mira's voice resonating through their nearly-shared skin.

"Five more minutes."

"Zo, if you fall off the railing, I'm not jumping into the water to save you." A lie. Mira would've jumped out of a plane with no parachute if it would've helped to save Zoey. Said love worth saving was circling Mira's spot on the corner of the pier, trying to capture her from multiple angles as her hair blew gently in the breeze.

"Second half of the chorus this time, please." Mira fought the urge to roll her eyes and complied; they'd gotten plenty for Zoey to work with by now, and she was starting to get suspicious Zoey was just recording to get more footage of her in a nice outfit. She turned to look out past the camera's hypothetical shoulder, trying to sculpt her face into one of longing as she mouthed the words she'd long since memorized. It wasn't that hard, all things considered; somewhere far past her gaze lay her motherland, and looking out across the Pacific always gave her a level of pensive melancholy nothing else could quite manage.

"Perfect! Let's go do the bridge on a walk through the neighborhood near the soup shop?" Mira turned and caught Zoey's leaping form, grunting slightly and taking one step back as Zoey flung one arm around her neck and pointed back towards the beach with the other.

"Away we go!" Mira laughed and pivoted Zoey into a piggyback position before walking down the beach to the soundtrack of excited rambling and jumpy hand-waving in her peripheral.

Never change, Zo.

They traded the camera work, filming Mira performing the bridge as they walked away from her job, having already parked the scooter there for later. Mira had also insisted they get Zoey singing the chorus and bridge at least once, in case it looked better for at least a short angle of the second iteration. After, it was Zoey's turn to rap while stalking down the camera in the alleyway behind the shop, attempting multiple takes and only getting distracted once after some rats had scurried away from Mira kicking a box out of the way as she backpedaled.

"God, he sounds so cool and chill in this verse. You think I'll look cooler if we go slow and you film from, like, knee height?" Mira shrugged and knelt just above the ground, getting the angle ready, her joints thankful she'd been dancing religiously for years now.

 "Let's do it." Zoey's smile beamed before she schooled it into whatever her interpretation of cool was, and Mira smirked into the ground, making a mental note to get her to try something more aggressive and exciting in at least one take. It suited her better, in any case; Mira wasn't the biggest fan of them doing covers without their own spin on it, anyway. Her own voice being a little lower than the Rumi Ryu was enough of a deviation as it stood, but she liked Zoey best when she got to express herself naturally, and despite her seemingly permanent aegyo status, the diminutive woman sounded most alive when she was staring you down with murderous intent and lyrics to match.

Mira began slowly and awkwardly crab-walking backwards as Zoey counted them in, and laughed on the inside as she thought about how ridiculous they would look if any of the shop's neighbors came out back to throw their trash away.

I'd stand like this all day if it made her happy, though, ligaments be damned.

That night after work, Mira sat on the couch with her guitar as Zoey laid with her legs in Mira's lap, eyes blank and locked up towards the ceiling. She'd insisted that Mira play anything to cleanse her mental palate of the song for at least a few minutes before she dove back into editing; Zoey was desperate to have something together so they knew what else they might need to go shoot to add in. 

Mira was all too happy to oblige; she'd settled on one of her old favorites, My Luv, a track that lent itself well to plucking along with an acoustic cover while tapping her foot along for the rhythmic snare that ran throughout the piece. Zoey let out a sigh of contentment as Mira got to the chorus.

"My love, my love, neh sarang, ah-ahh, ahh…" Mira felt her voice filter out a little raspier than usual; Zoey wiggled her toes beneath Mira's elbow, and they locked eyes as she continued, imagining Rumi had written the song just for Mira's serenading, intentional-distraction purposes. 

Mira let the final chord echo out into the room, setting a hand on Zoey's ankle as she whispered out the last neh sarang; Zoey shot up like she'd been electrocuted and ran off to the bedroom, speaking as she sprinted.

"-that'sitofcoursewhydidn'tIthinkofthatearlierloveyouthanksbyeloveyo-" Zoey's voice trailed off like a wisp of smoke, and Mira just smiled and set her guitar on their dumb ottoman before turning off all the lights and making her way after her little inspired genius. She'd sleep every night with a blackout mask and industrial earplugs if it meant Zoey felt she could eagerly express herself whenever she wanted… even if that meant her very own chaos gremlin had to stay up deep into the night to chase her perpetually-evasive muse. 

Mira stopped in the doorway and peeked in to see Zoey's face scrunched in concentration, headphones askew on her head with one cup on an ear, fingers carefully dragging across the track pad. Mira stayed there for a little while, taking in the view she simultaneously wished more people could get to see while also wishing only those who were willing to give Zoey the world would earn the opportunity.

My love, indeed.   

Mira grinned, wiping sweat off her forehead as she read the pile of texts that bounced in, one frantic and often typo-filled message at a time. Zoey's chaotic text style had grown on her over the years, but she'd never admit it out loud.

[월야]:omg mir ull nevre guess

[월야]:ik ur at work and u prob wont even guess anyway (lame)

[월야]:but halmunee got me CHOCOPIES

[월야]:omg, mira, actual legit chocopies i forgot they existed did you?when ws the last time you had one, i remember when she told me not to have sweets, that fruit was all i needed, tf changed?

The memory of Mira and John in that beauty supply aisle flashed before her eyes as more messages popped up across her screen.

[월야]:fr fr she got me two whole boxes ill save u one ik you're all dancy dancy rn but ull still be hot even if you have a circle of choco n mrshmellw n vibes so actualyl ill save u 2, one frmo eahc box

[월야]:get it, save u 2? saved by chocopies! we're saved, mir, its gonna fuel me through the whole editing process

Mira's smile grew as she sent back a thumbs-up that lacked a read receipt, and she shook her head as she traded her phone for her water bottle, pulling deeply. She'd noticed Jojo and Seohyun had their own beginner courses scheduled for the two days before their big workshop, and she had signed up without telling them, hoping to keep them on their toes all the way through to Wednesday.

Zoey will probably reply when she notices her phone exists again.

"Alright, let's run it through two more times before we split into groups! Yes, that means you too, boss lady!" Jojo's voice echoed as the room chuckled over towels and water bottles. Mira turned to send her best glare but couldn't find any heat to temper it with when the image of Zoey scarfing down pre-packaged chocolate pastries filled her mind.

"You're the boss today, Jojo. Let's get it." Mira clapped her hands together and everyone groaned good-naturedly as they got to their feet, adjusting as Mira moved to a center position away from the corner she'd been pretending to hide in. Jojo held out a closed fist for Mira to bump as she looked around at the room settling themselves, then turned and stepped to the side a little as to not block Mira from the mirror, reaching for the music controls.

The familiar rhythm of one of Rumi's particularly popular tracks blared to life; Jojo liked to start songs from the beginning for run-throughs, letting people ease into the choreo'd section with freestyles or whatever they wanted, and Mira found herself looking around, nodding her head to the beat while trying to send approval through her eyes at some of the particularly motivated newcomers.

"Anti-ti-ti-tifragile, fragile…" Mira whistled over the music as the day's section approached; Jojo started in place before winking at her in the mirror and clearing her throat. Mira moved into a proper starting position to roll into the starting move and had to fight not to laugh as nearly the entire room shuffled to imitate her. 

"Five, six, seven eight!" Jojo's voice led Mira's steps into the closest earthly space to nirvana, one eight-count split at a time.

"Really, you're all done already?" Mira paused pulling on a jacket in surprise to look up at Zoey's grin-filled face. She was practically vibrating with excitement; Mira thought that if she moved any faster, her atoms might actually dissolve and send her right through the bed and into the floor.

"Yeah, powered by marshmallow-filled treats and sheer willpower to not force you to fall asleep beneath the laptop glow again." Mira chuckled as she pulled her jacket halves straight, checking her hair in the mirror. Zoey's face peeked out from over her shoulder in the reflective surface, a question perched on her way-too-kissable lips.

"Can we release it tonight?" Zoey's hopeful, puppy-dog pair of beggars stared at her over her shoulder. Mira flicked a loose piece of hair back behind her ear and turned to take two strides towards the bed. Zoey made a little eep of surprise as Mira pulled her into a deep kiss, holding her by the waist at a distance after pulling away. Zoey's eyelids lowered a little as her arms fell limp to the bed behind her, but she whined as Mira gently laid her on the bed and stepped back.

"Sure. The studio will probably put out our choreo tonight as soon as we wrap, anyway; I'll talk Seunghoon into putting the link in my section of the description if you've got it by then?" Zoey's pout turned into eager nodding as she rolled over to the laptop, tapping away in seconds. Mira just smiled at the sight before making her way out of the apartment.

"Love you, jagiya." Mira jangled the keys into her hand and turned back to catch a flash of messy black hair and a lopsided grin looking back at her.

"Love you more, unmyeongiya!" Zoey waved and disappeared back into the room. Mira lingered a second to hear murmuring and keystrokes again before opening the door, a content smile settling onto her face as she let her thoughs drift forward in time.

Our largest signup in months; the artist for the song choice is popular here in the States, after all.

Mira hummed as she locked the door, then turned and strode off purposefully. Climbing onto her trusty steed, she strapped on her helmet and rode off to the studio earlier than she normally did, the sun still hovering out over the ocean as she took off: wind in her face, smile on her lips.

Time to crush this routine. 

Her smile turned into more of a corner-mouthed smirk as she whipped a turn towards excitement.

As always.

"Bobby, the company your cousin runs put out a new routine; did you wanna watch it with me when you come by the house today?" Rumi asked; that timid voice called from somewhere in her chest. Her phone shook lightly in her hand as she held it to her ear. Bobby always thought her quiet inside voice was because she pushed herself too hard recording and practicing, and she chose not to correct him. 

"Sure, Rumi. Anything for my number one girl! Gonna put it on the projector? Want me to bring fresh hotteok; what fillings?" Rumi smiled as Bobby's voice stilled her hand, calmed her soul, warmed her stomach ahead of time.

 "The honey and red bean from that one spot near you, please. And maybe some Choco Pies with some mango sparkling water?" Bobby's laugh thundered out of the compressed speaker and Rumi chuckled as sounds of doors slamming echoed between dwindling notes.

"I did say anything, didn't I? Be there in an hour, Rumi." Rumi hummed and hung up, letting her body flop bonelessly over the side of her high-backed studio chair. She pressed off a foot into the ground and lazily spun, taking in the array of instruments and awards spread across the room and walls with a bit of haphazard style and sighed when her eyes fell on her first guitar. The simply-constructed acoustic instrument was enshrined in a glass case on the wall right by the entrance to her safe-haven (despite its convenient nature and location within her objectively safe, rather ostentatious penthouse; for crying out loud, Rumi) and had a bit of a smudge on the side where she always compulsively ran a finger along the side as she walked in.

"Things were so simple back then, weren't they? The time flies, now you see it, now you don't…" Rumi murmured before pausing and spinning back to face the switchboard. She pulled her phone into both hands, opening a notes app and typed furiously. She'd learned the hard way that lyrics might disappear if she didn't get them down the moment they appeared in her brain. She'd actually ruined a couple nicer phones from all the steam in her shower, and had to awkwardly ask her biggest sponsor to stop giving her the fancy folding phones for anything beyond promotional shoots and stick to the basic waterproofed models for her instead.

Now you see it… no, me? Now you see me, now you don't.

Rumi let her left hand drift over to the keyboard within arm's length, trying out a couple of melodies while mouthing the words out. A few times, the sequences sounded right, and Rumi flipped her recording switch while humming along, lyrics filling up the page as she recorded a harmony for the repeated chorus. Eventually, a tiny buzz of her phone pulled her out of the flow; after she got into the studio and set no contact mode, it would only buzz for texts or calls from the two most important (only, she winced) people in her life. Celine always preferred calls, in any case.

[bobbypin]: Headed up the elevator. Your cue to hide all the illicit women you've smuggled into the penthouse, superstar. 

Rumi chuckled at his overused joke and double-tapped the message with a heart, stretching her hands high above her head as she looked over at the analog clock on the wall. Celine hadn't approved of the antiquated piece of technology, but also hadn't voiced her direct displeasure, and, frankly, what did she actually approve of, anyway?

Certainly not the prospect of hiding illicit anyone in my house, let alone women.

Rumi rolled her eyes at her own thoughts, using her chair to twist left and right, popping her back in multiple places. She sighed in relief even as she realized how fast the hour Bobby had mentioned simply evaporated, leaving behind the healthy skeleton of something usable for a single Celine wanted her to release before touring. Their last meeting was full of her press team saying things like it'll be great extra buzz or Celine's incessant you can't let up for a second like Rumi hadn't been topping charts with every release after her very first. Rumi pocketed her phone with a tiny huff; she had promised the track in exchange for letting her release "Complex" in any case.

Oh well. Workaholic Rumi can wait a teensy bit. As for now?

The elevator dinged open as Rumi stepped out of her studio room, and she waved as Bobby held up a couple of to-go bags with a huge grin.

"Fresh, hot delivery! I won't tell if you don't." Rumi mimed a promise, holding up a flexed pinky that Bobby reciprocated as they made their way into her living room, Bobby plopping the food onto her coffee table as she collapsed onto the couch and fiddled with her remote.

"Wonder what genre they've published this time… Cuz's taste in what gets onto the main channel is so… discerning." Bobby stuffed a pastry into his mouth as he spoke and handed Rumi the paper bag with two more inside, gently wafting steam, warming her hands as she pulled them to her cheek.

"That's a polite way to say unpredictable." Rumi took a tentative bite and sighed with contentment as the flavors rolled around on her tongue.

"You're the best, Bobby. Have I said that today?" Bobby preened and shook his head, the effect slightly lessened by the flopping hotteok wedged in his mouth, smiling with his eyes as the video started up. Rumi settled in, taking another bite of her treat for the day and closing the window shades with a button as she turned the volume up with another.

What Celine doesn't know can't hurt her.

Mira sat up against the wall of the cramped studio; bodies surrounded her as various groups took their turn performing the routine after she, Seohyun, and Jojo had crushed the first run-through. Everyone had been eager for their chance to make it into the final cut, and it showed; Mira sipped at her water while a particularly talented group of three guys fell out of the improv bridge into the second half with impressive synchronicity and precise angles.

A flop of purple hair made its way into one side of her peripheral while cool skin pressed up against her other shoulder. The guys finished and everyone clapped as Seohyun whispered conspiratorily.

"Everyone's doing so great; this vid's gonna do well, don't you think, Jojo?" Mira's groupmates locked eyes across from her, and Seohyun reached for Mira's water greedily.

"Def. Hard to imagine our smokin' hot bods ain't gonna end up viral at some point, ya know?" She added a wink, and they all laughed as the next group set up. Mira's idea of the depth of her understanding of English had been sorely tested when she'd first met Jojo, a rowdy firecracker of a ballroom dancer from southeast Texas who'd wanted to push past (all of, apparently) her comfort zones. Mira felt proud to have at least faintly been responsible for shaping her talent out of all the raw energy she had, while another portion of her felt a different kind of warmth to have pulled the sociability out of Seohyun, a shy Korean-American local who had started timid and unsure of herself despite her superb body control and her knack for picking up new choreo by sight after just a few passes.

"I'd rather not expect anything, but if we do, I'll pay for our dinner at the shop afterwards." Mira winced as both of them punched her shoulders lightly.

"You'd only give us your employee meal even if we get famous, unnie? Rude." Seohyun pouted as Jojo wrapped an arm around the back of Mira's neck.

"Y'all're always talkin' 'bout that Korean BBQ; treat us sometime, wouldn't'cha, unnie?" Mira just rolled her eyes, annoyed that Seohyun had roped Jojo into this pretending-they-were-a-famous-kpop-group thing and shushed them both as the videographer called out from the mirror-side of the room.

"Live in one, two, three, four…" The tempo continued mouthed silently, and Mira pulled out her phone, texting their group while holding it out for them to see anyways.

[MC]: fine. but its gonna be a cheaper all-you-can-eat – even if we make it, i'm not paying for Jojo to disappear five orders of galbi into that black hole of a stomach

Mira pinched Jojo beneath her cut-off tee and Seohyun slapped a hand over Jojo's mouth, the two of them holding her in place and keeping her quiet, the group dancing completely unaware. After she stopped squirming, Jojo frowned and pulled out her own phone to text back, firing off two quick messages.

[JJ]: Like you two don't eat just as much as I do when the owner takes us out for meetings. 

[JJ]: Don't play like yall are those dancing/singing stick figures Seohyun sends me videos of that probably aren't allowed to eat anything but celery and carrots.

Mira suppressed a chuckle as the group before them finished up, then popped to her feet as a kid from the back corner shyly raised his hand when the videographer called for the next group. Mira met him in the center of the room as he shuffled over and set a hand on his shoulder.

"You wanna try it with a group or by yourself, big guy?" Mira knelt down to meet his eye level, and he nodded while holding up a single finger; he'd been incredibly good for his age (hell, she'd have committed cold-blooded murder to have his iso skills before turning a double-digit age) and she secretly hoped he'd wanted to give it a try. He nodded, and Mira waved to the videographer before waving her hands in a palms-up, down and up motion.

"Give it up for this young man; let's cheer on his courage!" The room erupted, and Mira smiled as she walked back to her spot to claps on her shoulders.

"That's why we do it, you know." Seohyun whispered; Mira nodded back as Jojo squeezed their shoulders in encouragement. Seohyun was right; everyone knew Mira had a soft spot for the kids that came through, but she'd long since given up trying to hide it. She'd be damned if some kid thought they weren't enough just because she was trying to look cooler than she was. If anything, being given a chance to show kids their inherent and immense worth just by being themselves meant the world to Mira, and it never surprised nor frustrated her to find various children's workshops added to her schedules, even if they were last minute.

The room erupted as the little kid crushed the freestyle break, and Mira felt an honest, full-toothed smile make its way onto her face while Jojo shook her shoulder in an overly-excited way that reminded her of Zoey.

Speaking of…

Mira let the room swarm the kid with cheers and applause as his routine finished, placing an order at the shop near their apartment for a half-sweet coffee milk tea with brown sugar pearls and a full-sweet mango blended, no boba with extra mango and lychee toppings. Seohyun chuckled as she glanced down.

"Somehow I doubt that second one's for you or me." Jojo had the kid hoisted up on her shoulders as everyone was showing him the support Mira desired every child had, and she just smiled as she pressed order and pocketed her phone.

"Yeah. Zo finished editing the cover vid, so I figured we'd celebrate a little." Seohyun's eyes widened; she was far bigger a Ryu Rumi fan than either Mira or Zoey were by a margin Mira felt comfortable never fully understanding. If she learned Seohyun had a shrine somewhere in her room, she might grow violently ill.

"No way? You've gotta get me that link, I wanna see!" Mira snorted as the videographer attempted to wrangle any final group attempts, failing to get the room to settle down.

"Zoey emailed the link and what blurb she wanted earlier before we started; I just have to convince the videographer to include it in our learn more about me part, or whatever. Did you get permission to upload the short?" Seohyun shook her head and stretched, rolling to her feet as last calls went unheeded and people began to chat in small groups over water and towels. Mira took an outstretched hand to help her up and Seohyun wrapped a tight grip around Mira's arm once they were upright. Her face rapidly approached Zoey-levels of pout and Mira wrenched her gaze away, already knowing where this was going.

"Let's go chat with him now; maybe you'll forward me the vid early? Little sneak peek? Please?" Mira just grunted in response before waving back at one of the groups that had performed, talking under her breath.

"I'll think about it." Seohyun made a noise somewhere between a squeal and a cheer and Mira just shook her head as she towed her helpless not-maknae-because-they-weren't-a-real-group towards the videographer who was breaking down the camera rig alongside the owner, Seunghoon. He'd always insisted all the instructors call him by his American name, Joseph, but Mira had long discovered that twinkle he got in his eye when she or Seohyun gave him just enough deference for him to feel like he was back  home. He'd spoken of a cousin back in Korea on occasion, and she assumed they were close. As they drew nearer, he caught their eyes and gave the videographer a hearty clap on the back before meeting them in stride.

 "Ah! My leading lady superstars, just the people I was looking for!" They separated and bowed; he nodded ever so slightly back and looked between them.

"Yes to the question I assume you're going to ask; make sure you link the studio's page so we can repost it and share ours of that little kid; he was fantastic!" They nodded and followed as he gestured them towards where Jojo was waving the kid and his parents goodbye.

"Yes, now that I have you three here, I just wanted to check in, see if there's anything you girls need before I head out today; we're still on for that celebratory lunch tomorrow? This really is the busiest I've seen the studio in years!" Mira inclined her head down slightly, a tiny blush filling the topside of her cheekbones.

"Well, actually, sunbaenim, I was hoping you could take a look at something to include in my bio? Thought maybe we could consider doing some online tutorials, too, if there starts to be bigger demand than this…" Mira gestured her hands at the studio that was still slowly emptying; when she'd first started, this many people might have been the entire class size. Seunghoon's eyes widened at the honorific, and his lip quivered slightly before laughter spilled out of his soul.

"Mira, you've read my mind in return; I was considering asking you three to spearhead something like that tomorrow! You've beat me to it; send me your thoughts and whatever you want included, and we'll make it happen. Let's do the taco spot down the street at one?" The eager man grinned between all of them as they nodded, and clapped his hands together before turning towards the room and raising his voice.

"Thank you all for coming! It's been an honor to host you all, and I hope to see at least some of you again soon!" Pearly whites flashed and he was gone in a flash; the man was always in a hurry, yet simultaneously always felt as if he slowed down to cared about each of them individually. She hadn't been looking for much of anyone beyond Zoey once she'd found her, but having an accepting and comforting group of friends and coworkers with a boss who cared even a little? 

"Could be worse; he could've tried to get us to go back to that traditional Chinese spot we ate last time." Seohyun's quiet, shocked whisper mirrored Mira's thoughts, and Jojo seemingly gagged reflexively from the memory. Mira just grimaced instead, patting Jojo's back gently as she looked out where their boss had slipped out to. Through the glass door, Mira caught that post-sunset light over the parking lot, the remnants of the sun still just bright enough to not trigger the automatic streetlights quite yet.

"Yeah… Could be worse, indeed."

Mira ran her fingers through the chords of an older Rumi track about love as she stared at her love eagerly drinking the bubble tea she'd brought home, having only stopped for brain freezes and a quick detour to put the laptop on the ottoman, their video playing on repeat. Mira plucked as her wind-blown hair flitted across the screen; Zoey hadn't spoken a word since she'd gotten home, but her eyes and body language had said it all. She'd taken a kiss at the door and smiled and, despite Zoey having probably overworked herself, Mira knew all was right in the world; their couch, their music, and each other. 

What more could I really ask for?

Mira chuckled as her immediate gut reaction sounded a lot like Zoey's voice saying "a cool million dollars" in her mind. Zoey's head was on one of her legs, but at the laugh, her eyes flitted up to meet Mira's and she swung her phone up so Mira could see.

"Oh, yeah; Seohyun must've finally uploa- woah." Mira's hands stilled as she leaned closer to the phone and adjusted her glasses before pulling out her own phone. Her mouth dropped open at the "like" and comment count steadily growing on the post; a laugh ripped out of her unbidden as she double-tapped the routine she'd long since memorized, opening the comments to see one with almost as many likes as the video itself, and a reply with a similar count beneath it.

Guess I'll have to buy us that dinner after all…

Mira added to the likes of most of the comments she could see out of habit and reposted it with a humble, tiny "check me out!" in the corner before tossing it back onto the couch, going back to humming with the guitar. Zoey smiled up at her before turning on her side and settling into the crook of Mira's hip, leaning up her phone every once and a while to show Mira a post they'd quietly laugh at.

At some point, Zoey laughed a hearty, full, Zoey laugh that warmed Mira from the inside, and she echoed the sentiment as the post shown to her this time was from Rumi's latest interview where the host had prompted an absolutely undignified, full-bodied snort laugh out of her for all of half a second before she straightened up, blushing and covering her face, holding a hand out at the camera like it might hold back the entire internet. Zoey let her arms fall and huffed before whispering; Mira stopped playing so she could hear. 

"God… she's so hot, Mir." Mira hummed in response.

"I know."

"You think she knows?"

"Probably." Zoey hesitated a second before continuing.

"In the same… mystical, hypothetical world where we even get the chance to breath the same air as her…" Mira scoffed; the callback was funny, but unrealistic. Two poor Koreans in LA scoring, at best, some VIP tickets for a meet and greet?

"Yeah, right." Mira rolled her eyes when she could feel Zoey's pout through her leg.

"Sure, Zo. Let's go with hypothetically, yes, then what?" Zoey chuckled and let the silence hang for a bit before turning to look up, piercing Mira in place with those perfect, inquisitive brown eyes.

"Like, you... would, right?" Mira blinked down and laughed at the seemingly very serious question, as Zoey's gaze didn't flicker for a moment. Mira gave it some thought before reaching a free hand down to gently scratch at Zoey's scalp a few times.

"I mean, duh, yeah, but not without you." Zoey tensed up briefly before exhaling, dropping her phone on the floor and sliding her arms each under and over Mira's left leg, squeezing it with all her might before suddenly snorting like Rumi had in the video and sitting up slowly. Her face had filled with pink around her freckles, and she reached a warm hand to the side of Mira's cheek and pinched slightly before smirking.

"You big sap, you… that's why she has two hands!" They laughed, Mira almost losing her grip on the guitar, Zoey definitely falling off the couch, Mira hastily saving her half-consumed milk tea from spilling all over their new cackling, rolling, textured rug. Mira felt her concentration return and she resumed playing the chorus as she looked down at Zoey's barely-recovered, still-flustered, incredibly-cute self.

"Love you, nae sarang." Zoey changed her evening's impression of a rug into a bright tomato and curled up into a little ball, peeking her eyes out over her knees. Her voice played across Mira's heartstrings.

"Love you too, Mira. So… so much." Mira set down the guitar and moved to the floor, curling her legs and arms around Zoey's tucked-in form and pressing her forehead up against a warmer one.

"Bedtime?" Mira asked; Zoey shook her head gently.

"Five more minutes?" Mira smiled and tucked her arms beneath Zoey's calves, looking for and finding tightly-balled fists. She pried her hands into them and squeezed, feeling the body before her slowly loosen its tension.

"Five more minutes."

I'd stay for five eternities if you asked.