Chapter Text
It’s Bonnie and Emi’s wedding reception.
The fairy lights are warm, the music is soft, and the wine dangerously good.
The drink in View’s hand is mostly ice and regret.
She’s still by the bar cart, jaw slightly unhinged, smile stuck halfway like her thoughts are buffering on bad Wi-Fi.
Around her, people are laughing, dancing, spilling cake and secrets.
The whole evening hums with post-wedding warmth.
But View? She’s gone silently inside like stuck hitting mental rewind.
“You from around here or just here to ruin me?”
It was said so casually.
Like it wasn’t a heat-seeking missile aimed directly at the softest part of View’s brain.
“What the hell..” she mutters under her breath, finally taking a shaky sip of her drink.
She’s not even sure if it's meant to be flirtatious or if it was just a regular brand of chaos.
The worst part? View had just laughed.
Like a total dork.
Like it was the first time a hot woman had ever acknowledged her existence.
She pulls herself together.
She rolled her shoulders back and put her chin up into that classic View mode.
The loud chaos queen.
But her brain is still glitching and heart racing on some unhinged mix of panic and thrill.
“You good?” Pansa appears beside her, already grinning like she knows exactly what’s happening.
“Great. Fantastic. Totally normal,” View says too fast.
She sips again, then faking casual adds, “You know that girl?”
Pansa snorts.
“Apparently, not as well as you do now.”
“Shut up.” View’s ears are on fire.
Loveruk walks over with two champagne flutes.
“Heard a girl totally roasted you and you still can’t get over it. True or nah?”
“She didn’t roast me,” View cuts in quickly.
“She just…spoke. Like, normally.”
“Oh no,” Pansa whispers dramatically. “She spoke to you?”
“I will leave both of you in the sea.” View squints at them.
Across the reception, that girl is laughing at something Bonnie said.
Completely unaffected and unbothered.
Like View is still the only one glitching.
View turns back to her drink and mutters.
“I don’t even remember what I said before she said that.”
Loveruk raises an eyebrow. “What did she say?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Means it was good,” Pansa says, eyes gleaming.
And it was. Too good.
View knows she’s doomed when her brain replays the exact tone.
The voice low, a little curious, just dangerous enough to stick.
The line is tattooed on the inside of her skull now.
And so is the girl who said it.
*
In the quieter corner near the snack table, Mim picks at a slice of cake with the side of her fork.
Laughter bubbling behind her.
Music playing soft and distant.
The cake frosting is fine.
The sponge is better.
She didn’t come here for the cake, but it's a solid bonus.
She has tucked herself in near the corner of the venue.
Close to the snack table and away from the crowd dancing and speeches.
Her dress still carries the faint scent of steamed fabric and someone else’s perfume from the dressing room Bonnie had pulled her through earlier.
Her eyes scan the crowd of mostly unfamiliar faces.
She doesn’t mind anyways.
Parties are easier when she doesn’t have to care too much.
“Figured I’d find you hiding out over here.”
Bonnie slides into the spot beside her, stealing a bite of her cake without shame.
Mim doesn’t even flinch.
“Aren’t brides supposed to be glowing in the middle of the chaos? Not lurking behind the cheese board?”
Bonnie grins unapologetically. “I am glowing. I’m just on break.”
She looks radiant and glowing, of course.
She is in lace, satin, and a bit of glitter dusting her collarbone like confidence.
There is a new calmness to her that Mim hasn’t seen since their uni days.
The wild and messy Bonnie who used to pull all-nighters is still in there, just quieter and more settled.
It suits her, actually.
“I didn’t know you and Emi were still in touch,” Mim says, tone even.
“We weren’t. Not really.” Bonnie leans against the table.
“Then I saw her again after years and boom.. feelings. Wild, right?”
Mim hums. “Sounds like a fanfic plot.”
Bonnie laughs. “Exactly. Now it’s canon.”
Mim gives her a rare smile.
She’s genuinely happy for her.
There’s a warm sort of ache in seeing someone you once knew in pieces finally fit together.
Her eyes drift again over the crowd, the clinking glasses, the dance floor, and then.. there she is, the flirty one.
Still at the bar, talking to two people Mim vaguely remembers from earlier.
Her suit is a little undone now.. her tie loose and sleeves rolled up with wine glass in hand.
Loud and shiny and a bit off-balance, but not in a bad way.
Like she’s always halfway into a story.
Like she doesn’t land anywhere unless she’s crashing into something or someone.
Mim watches her for a second longer.
Bonnie follows her gaze and catches it.
“You good? I mean View and you?”
Mim blinks. “Hmm?”
“You said something to her earlier. She’s been looking like she just got hit by a truck full of feelings ever since.”
Mim thinks back.
Tilts her head.
“I just asked if she was from around here or just here to ruin me.”
Bonnie chokes. “Mim.”
“What?”
“That’s smooth, girl.”
“It’s a question.”
“It’s a flirtation.”
Mim frowns, genuinely confused. “Is it?”
Bonnie squints at her. “You didn’t mean to flirt?”
“I was just making conversation.”
Bonnie groans into her palm. “You’re unreal.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
Still, her eyes go back to her. View.
She repeats the name in her head.
She is laughing too loud at something someone said, then covers her mouth like she didn’t mean to.
There’s something about her that feels unfiltered.
Not trying so hard.
Mim usually wouldn’t think twice, but this time, she does.
“Should I go apologize?” she asks, half-mocking, half-curious.
Bonnie snorts. “No, please. Let her go through it.”
Mim quirks a brow. “That your version of being a supportive friend now?”
“Oh, she’ll be fine. Just… try not to accidentally destroy her.”
Mim’s mouth lifts at the corner. “No promises.”
And with that, she returns to her cake, like she didn’t just casually ruin someone’s evening without even realizing it.
*
The bass is thumping and lights are flickering in that warm too-many-wine-glasses kind of way.
View is jumping with Cam, yelling some old pop song at full volume while their hands are in the air like they’ve never known shame.
Outwardly?
She’s golden.
She laughs big. Dances bigger.
She steal sips of Cam’s drink like she’s not holding her own.
She compliments the DJ and winks at the bartender.
Internally?
She’s kinda losing it.
Because across the floor, just beneath the fairy lights and past the snack table, there she is.
Dancing barefoot with someone’s aunt. Effortless.
Like she doesn’t even know she’s the moment.
It’s almost rude actually.
She is not even looking at View's direction.
Which, for some reason, only makes it worse.
“You’re staring again,” Cam sing-songs into her ear.
“I’m not,” View lies.
Cam does a half spin with her eyebrows raised.
“Okay. So the girl in black? The one dancing with Bonnie's Aunt? Totally not on your mind?”
“I don’t even know her name.”
“Okay, well—” Cam pauses. “Actually, same. But the gay panic is loud.”
“I’m not panicking.”
“Uh-huh.”
View turns on her heel as if she’s in a movie and heads straight for the bar, where Emi is chilling with a citrus drink and zero stress.
“Please tell me you know your wife’s guest.”
Emi raises a brow. “Mim?”
View stares at her. “That’s her name?”
Emi nods slowly, amusement slowly showing in her eyes.
“Bonnie mentioned she was coming.”
“That’s all you got?”
“She’s kinda quiet. Bookish. They were roommates in uni. I think she did writing or journalism or some English thingy. I don’t know. We barely talked about her.”
View groans. “She hit me with one line and now I’m losing it. I haven’t freaked out like this since... you know.”
Emi takes a sip. “Girl, that’s just your weekly meltdown.”
“This is different, Em.”
Emi watches Mim for a moment. “You're dramatic. But yeah she's pretty... not gonna lie."
“No, like, she’s actually annoying.” View throws her hands up.
“She says one thing, ruins my whole vibe, then just walks off like nothing happened.”
Emi sips her drink, half-smirking.
“I heard she’s always like that. Dry as hell. You can’t tell if she’s messing with you or accidentally being deep.”
“That’s exactly it.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a type.”
View flops onto the bar stool. “No. I have trauma.”
Emi pats her like she is sending her to war.
“May the odds be ever in your favor.”
View exhales loudly.
She looks again to where Mim is.
She is laughing now.
Her shoulders loose with one hand holding Bonnie’s aunt while the other waving off some compliment like it’s nothing.
Like she hasn’t had View emotionally wrecked for the past three hours.
"Girl, she makes me wanna scream into the void."
She is kind of magnetic.
But then makes you instantly regret it.
Cam reappears beside her with more wine and mischievous grin.
“Sooo.. You gonna go talk to her or just keep staring?"
“Nope,” View says, taking a long sip.
“I’m gonna suffer in silence like a well-adjusted adult.”
Mim finally looks over from across the room.
Just one glance.
And View? Usually smooth as hell?
Suddenly forgetting how to hold a cup.
*
It's post-wedding morning in the quiet apartment of the newly weds.
Mim and Bonnie are in the kitchen while soft music is still playing from the other room.
The sink is full of half-rinsed wine glasses.
Mim’s sleeves are rolled up, her hands wet, and there’s frosting on the counter she’s pretending not to see.
Bonnie leans against the counter, drying a glass with zero urgency.
“Sooo..” she says casually, “..saw how you look with my wife's bestie last night.. are you two flirting now or what?”
Mim doesn’t even flinch. “Was I?”
Bonnie laughs. “You’re just talking at this point. No clue what that even meant, right?”
“I mean…” Mim shrugs. “She was the one staring.”
“She is very good at that,” Bonnie mutters.
Then in a louder voice: “But she’s also a walking red flag. You’ve been warned. For legal reasons.”
Mim hums, placing another glass in the rack. “Noted.”
They pause then somewhere in the living room, someone laughs as the glasses clink.
Bonnie glances at her. “You curious?”
Mim doesn’t look up. “A little. Well.. she's kinda cute.”
Bonnie smirks. “Dangerous.”
“I’ve been bored lately.”
Another glass. Another pause.
Mim’s mouth twitches like she might smile.
But she doesn’t.
Mim sets down the last glass right as Emi walks in, a little out of breath, clutching her phone like it just changed her life.
“Baby! I freaking got it!” she shouts.
“The international one. The thing I wouldn’t shut up about.”
Bonnie and Mim both look up, startled.
Bonnie stares for a second, then breaks into a huge smile.
“No freaking way. You got the project?”
Emi nods, still in shock.
“Just got the email. It’s signed. It’s happening. We’re doing this.”
Bonnie lets out a soft happy laugh, crosses the room in two steps, and wraps her arms around Emi’s neck.
“Told you. You’ve got this.”
Emi leans her forehead against Bonnie’s.
“Sooo... wanna come back on board? I could really use a hot freelance consultant.”
Bonnie smirks. “You asking me professionally or personally?”
“Both,” Emi deadpans. “In that order.”
Mim makes a gagging sound from the sink.
“Hello? I exist. Thanks for the trauma.”
Bonnie just grins at her but still hugging her wife.
“Okay, fine. I’m in. For the check and the flirting.”
“I love it when you pretend you have standards,” Emi murmurs.
Mim was about to throw a sponge when Emi blinks like she just remembered.
“Wait. There’s one tiny thing. They’re asking for a multilingual team member.”
Bonnie doesn’t even blink and says casually.
“Mim speaks, like, four languages. No big deal.”
Mim raises an eyebrow.
“Five, technically. If you count business French.”
Emi’s eyes light up to Mim like she just found gold in her kitchen.
“Ohh... Do you want in?”
Mim wipes her hands on a dish towel, tilts her head.
“On your big international campaign team?”
“Yes. As our quiet, capable, terrifying secret weapon.”
Mim considers it, then shrugs.
“I don’t hate the idea.”
Bonnie nudges Emi.
“That’s Mim-speak for yes.”