Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The airport, even with the said shade, was beating down on Emily’s back.

She petted on the hurricane wheeling between her legs. Axel let out a large bark before plummeting to the ground.

Emily sighed. Sometimes the zoomies would never cease. She could sometimes hear the tap dancing from outside.

Ari walked over and took the leash from her. “Say your goodbyes.”

Emily, only pouting further, leaned down to lock her arms around Axel. “Fuck no.”

“Who works out between the two of us?” She asked, raising her eyebrows.

Emily stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend. “Fine.” She handed the doberman over to Ari’s parents.

“Call us,” her dad called. Ari rolled her eyes. God, they were embarrassing her even to this day.

“We will.” She turned towards Emily and dragged her by the arm. Emily cheerfully waved to them.

“I think your parents like me more than you.” She whispered.

Ari looked annoyed. “I fucking hope not.” She lightly nudged the blonde with her shoe. “Know your place, asshole.”

“Bitch.”

Ari snorted. Even one year later they still acted like the squabbling middle schoolers when they first met. They both raced each other towards the security check in.

—

It was a pretty long process. Now that summer was on the horizon, both girls-or rather women, took a long time in the waiting line just to make sure their luggage was on the way.

Emily nervously laughed as a bottle of soda was found in her backpack. The security guard glared at her.

“Ma’am, what is this?”

Ari took the soda from him, downing it in one shot. She handed it back over to the officer, wiping off the liquid from her lips.
“Are we good?”

Ari noticed that Emily was staring at her from the corner of her eye. The officer huffed and ordered them to move along.

Emily bonked her head against her arm. “My hero.”

“You’re so mushy.”

—-

The two were waiting at the entrance gate. At this point Ari knew that if she sat her ass down, Emily would follow soon after in that designated position.

Emily’s hair, tangled in the buttons of Ari’s jeans, were wrapped tightly around her like some sort of tight corset. Ari came to know that physical touch was Emily’s love language. She’d gotten stronger as she got older-people underestimated Emily’s strength when she actually tried, and they were often for the sole purpose of holding Ari.

Honestly, that was just proof that she was getting more healthy compared to her previous home condition. It was a nice sort of routine they fell in-Ari would be reading or doing something as simple as filing out taxes, and Emily would sidle right up to her helping her out, or locking her in that comfortably suffocating position.

Which was an interesting choice of words, but Ari meant it in a good sense.

“You’re not hungry?” Ari asked her, gesturing towards the other stands.

Emily yawned. “No.”

Ari let out a tch. “Just imagine what’s going to happen when you get jet lagged.”

“Woop woop.” Emily responded sarcastically.

Guess ‘Unnies’ were annoying after all.

Emily poked her nose lightly. “I think we should be asking ‘you’ a certain something.”

Ari snorted. “Oh, I’m fine.”

“It must feel weird, coming back.”

“Only for a week.” Ari said playing it off. She stopped to turn towards Emily.

“Do you miss it?”

“...A little, sometimes. Despite the annoying parts.” She laughed. “Mostly the weather.”

It felt really strange. She knew she wasn’t going to fit in once she got back-she had a whole outfit change, a hair job and overall looked like someone dunked her into a giant American salad.

Looking at Emily, though, she realized that was going to be perfectly fine. She was never the type to fit into Korean societal standards anyway. Mom and dad had given her the opportunity to give her money for plastic surgery, but after mulling over it, she declined.

Emily was already nestled deep into Ari’s lap. “Fine, so if I’m not supposed to be jet lagged, I’ll spam call Nicole or someone.”

Nicole was probably working. Recently she took up a job at Five Guys to somehow save up for college debt.

After a couple rings, a familiar grumpy brunette answered at the tone. “Hi.” She groggled.

Emily waved slightly. “Dude, hey~!”

“Of course you are glued to Ari-woah, never wanted to see an airport in my life ever again.”

Ari chuckled. Nicole at reunions often complained about how much she moved in her childhood.

“Stop being so negative.” A more higher pitched voice took the phone. Jecka’s face appeared. “Hey you two! Are you guys traveling?”

“I had to kick her ass up at 4 AM in the morning just for this.” Ari said.

It was hard enough with traffic. They had been saving up since last year.

Jecka smiled. “Oh, I see. Well, have a nice flight!”

Nicole muttered from the back. “Yeah, I hope you two better bring back some fries from there to me.”

Jecka looked at her. “How the hell are these two going to bring back literal fries as souvenirs?”

“Something about over there having better food than the expired cafeteria food from here or whatever.”

“Ignore Nicole, she pulled an all-nighter playing Guitar Hero.” Jecka scrunched up her perfect nose. “We’ll have to leave for work soon, but it was nice calling you!” Blowing them a short ‘mwah’, the camera closed.

“Korea has better food there?” Emily asked.

“...it’s not expired.”

Emily stretched. “Good. I get to fucking eat till my stomach hurts.”

The buzzer screeched, announcing their time to leave. Emily extended her hand. “Ready?”

“Always.”

—

Crowding into the cramped narrow aisle, Ari set up the bags, then plopped down next to Emi.

Emily was already listening to music, her earbuds in. She didn’t really do well with sitting still, which was exactly why Ari handed over her own spare. Emily’s head was turned towards the window.

“First time?” Ari smirked.

Emily looked up. “Yeah, I would assume so.” She tried to sound nonchalant, but the excitement was evident in her tone.

As the plane beneath them vibrated, Emily looked out, slowly watching the wheels leave the ground.

“...Never mind, that was anticlimactic."

Ari laughed. “You’ll find more ‘climatic’ things when we get there.”

—

Arriving at their destination was contrary to the airport that Ari had used when she had left. Gimbo airport had been replaced with Incheon in 2001, and if rumors were true, it was delivering a total of 300 million passengers by 2009.

Emily stepped out. It was nighttime, and there were several streetlights dancing in front of her. The traffic was…immense. A lot more immense than back home. She realized what Ari meant whenever she was driving and she complained about how dark it was outside-Korea really was a glowing lightstick.
HOONKKKKKKKKKK. Emily flinched hearing a couple cars zoom out.

Ari approached from behind. “It was never this bad,” she mumbled. She dragged her luggage, walking confidently though the crowd.

Emily shrugged, then trotted after her.

“Does it look the same?” She asked.

Ari looked around. “It sure feels a lot more populated.” Yanking on her luggage, she motioned Emily to come close to her.

“These people have one goal and it’s to do everything quickly and perfectly. Don’t bother them and you’ll be fine.”

That wouldn’t be a problem from her gang life. Ari pointed towards a nearby metro.

“That’s what I used to get to school.” She giggled. “One time we were both running late and Subin’s foot got caught in the hook of the metro. She screamed as the metro went away yelling that she needed her shoe back.”

“Sounds eventful.” Emily walked outside. It wasn’t until she realized she stood out with the alt girl look.

Teens dress pretty baggy here, she thought. Maybe that was why people were staring at her. Leaning on her carrier, she watched a young boy point towards her.

“AVRIL LAVIGNE!” He shrieked in that accent of his. His mother pulled him away.

“AVRIL LAVIGNE!” His distant cries shot off.

“Wrong guy.” Emily shot after him.

Ari examined her fingernails. “You do kind of look like her.”

“Wonderful. I’m a celebrity here.”

They waited outside, Emily lounging an arm around Ari’s shoulder.

“And before you warn me about homophobia, this is the bare minimum. I’ve seen girls hold hands as they walk into the bathroom here.” Emily shrugged.

“I feel like the vibes from us would be slightly different.”

“Just shut it and put your straight girl persona on, jackass.”

“Unnie, I fucking hate you.”

Inwardly, Emily was cackling. Who knew nicknames in one’s native language could be so helpful? The one Ari gave her was more subtle than one of ‘babe’ or ‘hon’ but intimate enough to show that they were at least close.

Unfortunately, though, since ‘Unnie’ also had an ulterior meaning other than ‘two girls that are close to each other’ and it was ‘sisters’.

It was really annoying whenever someone called the two of them stepsisters during that one time they stopped by Koreatown. Emily was looking at Ari with a giant ‘kill me’ expression while some elder was pinching her cheeks.

“You look stunning as your stepsister!” She cheerfully stated.

Bitch if you refer to us as ‘related’ one more time I will poke your eyes out.

Ari was looking between her girlfriend and the shopowner glowering at Emily to not do anything stupid.

—

The taxi had approached, the driver stepping out. “Money?”

Ari handed him a couple cash, the two stepping in. Emily barely had time to put in her seatbelt before the car was taking off.

“Rude.” She whispered.

“That’s just life here.” Ari said.

Emily deadpanned her. “Oh really? Like that one time you didn’t bother to tip the driver just now?”

She expected Ari to argue with her back. Instead she just blinked rapidly.

“What’s a tip?”

“Wha-” The car maneuvered through traffic. “You’re telling me you don’t know what that means? After all your years living here?”

“...am I supposed to know?”

“You worked at Hot Topic!”

“I don’t get it.”

“You-what-” Emily groaned. “Okay, consider it this way. A tip is when you pay someone extra for their services. Like at a restaurant or something.”

“...oh. Well that’s just stupid.”

“Wha-how-”

“If I’m going to thank you for your service, I’m going to thank you with my kindness.” Ari stated bluntly.

Well this was a new level of culture shock. Emily sat back down, stunned.

The car slowly approached a hotel. Ari thanked the driver, then with Emily’s help, hefted it into the room.

Flicking her lights on once they were inside, Ari wrapped her into a hug. “Welcome to Korea!” She beamed.

Emily smiled. “It looks a lot brighter than I expected it to be.”

Ari pulled back the curtain. Outside, the city was in lights, all glinting in hues of red and blue and colorful shapes.

“You weren’t joking about the glowing lightstick part.” She looked at the trucks zooming by.

Ari scooped her up. Emily’s hair dangled over Ari’s shoulders, tickling her skin.

“How jet lagged do you feel yourself being for tomorrow?”

Emily leaned against Ari. “Honestly, with the depression that I still have, this will be no biggie.”

Ari shifted back which allowed Emily to wrap her arms around her neck. She touched her hair, which at this rate was hanging past her shoulders.

“I think a wolfcut would look hot on you.” She said, her tone growing softer.

“Yeah?” Ari’s breath hitched.

Emily gave her a quick peck, before moving towards a more languid kiss. She kicked Ari’s thigh, a silent order to get to the bed.

Ari shifted over towards the mattress, looking up from her laid down position to see Emily above her with some sort of triumphant smirk on her face.

“Still blushing after all these years? Wow.” She huffed. “How embarrassing for you.”

“Shut it.” Ari practically yanked on Emily’s shirt, pushing her down with a shriek. They giggled, the sheets falling to the floor.

Ari flipped Emily over. “Oh, well, since you are so persistent.” Indigo eyes met ice blue ones.

“If you want to use your jet laggedness as an excuse to make out, you could have just asked me.”

Chapter Text

Dahae straightened out her hair. The rock song playing on her dad’s cd paused. She slammed open the door, looking at herself.

Seoul University was open and spacious. She’d probably stop by a nearby convenience store to snag a drink or two.

Pedaling on her bike, she zoomed across the busy streets of Korea. The summer made the days slightly longer, and she stooped at the nearby bicycle rack.

Opening it, hissing at the water that squelched the skirt of her uniform, she dusted it off just to find a familiar face.

“Ugh. You again.”

Subin was sitting on the counter, as if she was expecting Dahae to be there.

Oh, how she wanted to wipe that sadistic look off her face.

Subin smirked at her. “You say that like you’re shocked.” The ‘Yonsei University’ logo on her shirt jacket made Dahae want to rip it off and toss it in the bonfire.

Of course, you still managed to get into SKY.

Subin sniffed, pulling out her makeup. “No need to rub it in your face that you graduated at the top of the school.” She dabbed the blush on her, taking out a batch of strawberry milk. She placed it into the cart. “What is this, some sort of ‘avenging Ari’ plot?”

“What revenge? I was easily able to catch up.”

Subin turned towards her and scoffed. “Are you serious? I left that Ari girl behind.” She crossed her arms. “And honestly, I don’t get why you are so concerned with meddling with someone who’s essentially a foreigner at this rate.”

Dahae tossed the bowl of ramen back and forth between her hands. “I was going to talk about if you didn’t spend your time on useless accessories, you would have stayed on top.”

Subin’s voice cracked with her heated temper. “She did you a FAVOR by leaving without a word.” She shoved Dahae backwards. Dahae stood up, Subin glowering at her. She leaned in close. “Your social status has significantly improved since.”

Dahae smiled without any hint of genuine expression. “How did you expect you to mature?”

Subin huffed. “I built my reputation based on my family’s fortune while you scrabbled your way to the top based on nothing.” Her nails slammed down against the table, scratching across the surface.

Dahae remained quiet. At this rate, she knew Subin’s game-a petty rat that was scrabbling for approval. She numbed herself down, recalling every insult her ragtag gang of scumbags hurled at her.

She let out a chuckle. ‘These people,’ she thought.

Subin, her hair slightly dishelved, stood up. “Fine.” She spat. “Be that way. But get down on your knees like the dog that you are, that the thing you call your…friend doesn’t ruin your reputation any more than she did already.”

She opened the door. “I heard they don’t take kindly to filth.”

—

Ari woke up, slowly peeling away the blonde mop which was in her face. She tucked that away, then sat up. She blinked out the sleep from her eyes.

…three AM in the morning? Sheesh…

Ari flopped back down. At one point they kicked away the covers-it was sweltering, a fan in the distance blaring insistently.
It hurt inwardly to do so, but she detached Emily from herself and slowly clamoured over to the bathroom, careful as to tiptoe around-it was the 77th floor, after all.

Adjusting her hair, she pulled out her phone, squatting down against the floor.

TotallyNotAri: Hey
Dahae: Told you before and told you again but some of us are fucking sleeping
TotallyNotAri: I’m fucking home bitch
Dahae: Wait by that you mean…
TotallyNotAri: Schedule a date, we here for a week

She shut the phone, then looked over the windowsill. The city felt so old, yet so new.

—

Emily yawned, stepping into the kitchen. “Morning,” She responded, butting her head against Ari’s. “How do you even wake up so early?”

Ari scoffed. “How do you manage to wake up so late?”

Emily looked at the clock, then at her. “Don’t we take naps together nearly everyday?”

Ari slowly sipped on her Milkis. “You do. I just get the covers stolen.”

How the blonde brat managed to kick in her sleep she had no idea.

They were a fucking FedEx package, so not like she had any say anyway.

Emily had already snagged onto Ari’s Milkis and was drinking half the can. Rule number one of being Emily’s girlfriend was that stealing food was a requirement.

She was still staring at Ari with that wide-eyed stare. It made Ari inwardly chuckle knowing how much of a dork she could be sometimes. “So. Are we going to the amusement park or what?”

—-

The streets were bustling outdoors, plenty of students from a field trip out, along with families. The two hopped on the nearby metro, which set off with a loud ding.

Emily’s ears buzzed, the loudspeakers speaking in words that were too foreign to her ears.

She picked up enough Korean from Ari just talking to her family members. And mainly just Ari going on her long tangents whenever she got pissed. The sudden language switch up was often hard to keep up with-with just one year of spending time with her Emily had at that point gotten used to the basics, like how to say hi and the basic ‘thank yous’.

Ari was a fucking menace when she was pissed, Emily would just say that. Whenever she wanted to talk shit behind people’s backs even in high school, she would mutter some pretty nasty shit under her breath.

“You do know I understand what you’re saying, right?” Emily asked one day. Ari looked up.

Then-highschooler Emily looked at her. “If you’re going to call Megan a bitch at least let me join in.”

That innocent-looking smile slid in a sly smirk. “You…picked up on some of it?”

Emily huffed. “I think I picked up on plenty of your cuss words.”

Ari hid her smile under her sleeve. “Guess I didn’t have to wait to make a Korean friend here after all.”

—

The metro, though crowded, was silent. Normally the buses back home would be loud and obnoxious.

It felt weird. Emily turned towards Ari, who seemed to show no change in demeanor.

Ah. So this is where she got her reserved mannerisms from.

Emily didn’t know what to do with her whole body. Already she was missing her Ari dosage of cuddles.

Ugh, the homophobia here sucked.

So she did the next best thing-text Ari aggressively.

Znarky1itt13zhit: this is hell
TotallyNotAri: -_- seriously-
Znarky1itt13zhit: The stars
Znarky1itt13zhit: they are trying 2 pull us apart
TotallyNotAri: touch starved bitch-
Znarky1itt13zhit: are they trying to kill me
TotallyNotAri: we are literally sitting right next to each other
Znarky1itt13zhit: I feel like I’m walking through a desert
TotallyNotAri: will you please fucking calm down-
Znarky1itt13zhit: they are trying 2 murder me
TotallyNotAri: EMILY. I’ll MAKE OUT WITH YOU LATER. BITCH CHILL.
Znarky1itt13zhit: why thank you bitch
TotallyNotAri: your welcome bitch
Znarky1itt13zhit: I want 2 watch a movie later today bitch
TotallyNotAri: WE WILL BITCH

The loudspeakers arrived over the ringtone. Ari hauled Emily up to her feet, guiding her out of the metro.

Ari walked with purpose, her long hair swishing behind her. Emily trotted after. Within each metro station was a small store with merchandise. Emily glanced over a sign which had the words ‘IN DEVELOPMENT’. Below was a small yellow logo with a chatbox icon.

“The fuck is that?” Emily asked.

Ari turned towards the sign. “I’ve heard rumors…I think that’s the Kakaotalk kickstarter.”

“You guys have your own MySpace. Go figure.”

Ari looked towards it. “...not yet. It’s said to launch in March.”

Emily looked at the more retro looking shops. They never had time to stop and observe-she picked it up quickly if she needed to pick up the pace. A couple locals gave her stares, which slightly gave her the ick.

Ugh, no matter, she said, walking down the aisles. A sharp ring was heard in the distance. I’ve gotten worse looks from Ms. Lynn.

The two stopped in front of a map. Ari pointed towards where some of the lines-oh my god why were there so many lines-which led to some other questionable line, where Ari dragged her finger across to a horrendously long line to a dot.

“We’ll go this route.” Ari remarked with enthusiasm, Emily’s brain cells on the verge of exploding. She grabbed Ari’s hand, the two traveling through the station.

“Your maps are too complicated.” Emily huffed.

Ari turned towards her with a broad smile. “Didn’t you want to hop on the viking?”

Emily smiled to show her canines. “Well Nicole was always a bit of a wuss on the coasters.”

“Nicole? Scared? I find that hard to believe.”

Emily rolled her eyes with humor as the two walked. “You’d be shocked at how much she hides.”

In the years that passed after both women had been clean Nicole and Emily had started becoming close again. It was odd to see Ari walk in and the two having a normal conversation. No drugs, no alcohol, just Emily leaning on Nicole’s shoulder mid laugh from a funny recount of an event she was telling.

It was nice to see them reconcile. It was better from when Ari had first found Emily back in the hospital room.

…if the old Ari ever found out the two were actually dating? She would probably get into cardiac arrest.

Emily was adjusting a lot more easily than she expected her to be. Despite the complaints, she minimized the contact, her eyes filled with an almost childlike wonder looking at all the shops. Ari pressed her card against the toll area, pushing the poles aside allowing them to get through.

At last they had stopped in front of a large gate. The woman in front stopped the two of them.

Ari handed her the tickets, then the two quickly stepped in. It was a bright day that morning, and the clouds parted above the horizon. There was a short escalator that the two bolted down the stairs towards.

The fair was buzzing with excitement. People were holding up their phones to take pictures of some of the rides, balloons floating up steadily. There was a small cotton candy machine in the corner.

Ari laughed. “Come on!”

The two raced towards the aisles, moreso Emily leading Ari now that she could barely contain her excitement.

“Dibs on the biggest ride.” She said, pointing towards the large roller coaster that seemed to disappear down a cave. She gave Ari a teasing glance. “Unless you are too afraid to do so?”

Ari rolled her eyes playfully. “Are you sure? You always were one to sit in the middle.”
Emily smirked. “Alright. What if we both sat in the front?”

“Do you really, asshole.”

“Yes really.” Emily had that stupid cocky grin on her face, swinging one hip around to saunter up the stairs towards the line. “I’m fucking sweating, so hurry up if you don’t want us to get separate.”

Ari watched Emily already at the front of the line.

“You-okay, fine, whatever.”

After dropping off their bags, Emily adjusted her seat buckle.

“I regret not dragging Nicole into this.” She huffed.

Ari leaned against her resting seat. "For the record, knowing you-Nicole probably would save herself plenty of grace not involving herself in another one of your ideas.”

The coaster started, the rails clacking as it accelerated upwards. CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK. Ari boredly examined her nails in an exaggerated fashion.

Ari gave her a look. “By the way, how did you know Nicole was such a wimp in the first place?”

Emily shrugged. “Oh, you know, it’s whatever. You know how she used to shoplift with Jecka for that one MCR belt buckle.”

The coaster slowly went up. Ari gripped the railing. “Well, at least you’re handling it well enough.”

“What enough?”

Ari innocently pointed down. “That I let the fall creep up on you.”

Before Emily could even have time to speak, the coaster lurched forward. It slammed down with just enough force that Emily’s heart nearly fell out of her stomach. She closed her eyes shut so that she wouldn’t see.

—

“Fuck you, honestly.”
Ari was crouched down laughing, Emily sitting down on a bench.

“Sorry, Unnie.” Ari handed Emily a bottle of water, her face turned from the fact that she was trying to hold in her smile.

Emily flicked her forehead. “If you weren’t cute I would have murdered you.”

Emily’s face, still pale as a ghost, shakily stood up. Brushing that off, she huffed and marched towards the nearest shop. “I’m going to the merch store, jackass.”

Ari hummed. “Sure, whatever you say.”

—

“Are you done?” Emily asked with her arms crossed.

Ari hovered in front of the claw machine. “Just be patient.”

Emily had just this look on her face watching the toy fall over and over again in her grip.

“...how persistent.” She said sarcastically.

Ari looked up. “You wanted to come to the merch store!”

Emily’s jar of cotton candy which covered up her whole chest as she was slowly eating tucked that away. “Yeah, and I got what I needed.”

Really all she had to do was walk up to the cash register, see the giant container and bribe him with the lie that she met Avril Lavigne at a concert.

Then she wandered around wreaking havoc while Grape Eyes got addicted to a bunch of caged animal plushies-she swapped the tag price signs, blew bubbles indoors and managed to steal a key chain.

It was for Ari anyway, so who cared?

“If you are so stubborn, then you have a go.”

Emily took Ari’s place, placing a coin in to start. The machine whirred slightly (she assumed it was pretty old from it’s condition) and hovered it below a stuffed bear. She hefted it up, and slowly began moving it towards the end.

It dropped in the bin.

Emily looked at her girlfriend. “See?”

Ari snorted. “It would have worked if it didn’t come out.”

Emily gave her a deadpan stare, kicking the machine a few times for it to come out. She waved the bear in front of Ari’s face, pecking her nose with it.

“Have I won yet?”

Ari giggled. “Yes, yes you did.”

—

The two were sitting near the Vekoma, the rush of wind as the screams rolled past rolling by.

Emily’s motive was already to get on every single ride as much as possible-midway they had stopped for a short break.

Ari held up the key chain in the midst of the crowd. “How did you get this?”

Emily smirked. “Some of us have our ways.”

“Wait, but I have the money so that means-” she narrowed her eyes. “You did not.”

Emily’s grin only widened. Using Ari’s shoulder as an armrest she stated, “chill out, princess, it was only one thing.”

Ari looked back, then forward. “Did you get caught?”

“No.” Emily said innocently.

Ari groaned into her hair. “We’ve been here for only one night. A night.”

“I expect my smooches soon.”

Ari tilted her head up. Emily blushed.

Ari rested one hand on her cheek. “Honestly, what would I do without you.”

They both didn’t need to say the next words.

Because honestly, Ari would choose to move to America again if ever given the chance.