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“Then!” Zoey began, gesturing toward the giant corkboard as she pointed at all the pieces connected by red string. “I gathered all this information, and the most romantic way to do it is this. It’s absolutely the best idea I’ve had out of thirty-two options.” Zoey smiled proudly, her chest rising and falling from the effort.
Mira raised an eyebrow as she leaned forward. She was sitting on the edge of Zoey’s bed, her legs tucked up and used as armrests while she stared at her in disbelief.
She had finished listening to the extensive background explanation and was completely certain it wasn’t going to work.
“Mistletoe?”
“Yes!” Zoey replied, pointing at her with her index finger and flashing a wide grin. “We’ve been dating for a couple of weeks, and I’ve been overthinking everything… What could be more romantic for a first kiss than Christmas?” She hugged herself and lifted her chin proudly.
Mira sighed, shaking her head from side to side.
“I don’t know… wouldn’t a normal kiss be fine? Starting with something simple?” she tried. But seeing Zoey’s overly proud expression, she figured that might not be possible.
“Normal? Never!” Zoey hopped closer, sitting beside her for a moment and wrapping one arm around her. “Look closely at the plan… She walks in with her adorable just-woke-up face on one of our days off and sees mistletoe hanging on her door, smells breakfast already made, and finds her adorable girlfriend waiting just for her… Isn’t that romantic and perfect?” Zoey pointed at the photo of the small green plant in the middle of all her diagrams.
“Seriously? I think you’re forcing it way too much…” Mira sighed, trying to inject some common sense, though her resolve faltered a bit when she saw Zoey’s puppy-eyed expression. “Maybe something less planned would be better for both of you. Something natural.” She shrugged, looking away.
Zoey shook her head stubbornly as she stood back up.
“This is Rumi we’re talking about, and she plans everything. So if I want this relationship to work, I have to do my part and live up to her expectations.” Zoey bit her lower lip.
Mira brought her palms to her face.
“Yes, but at the same time she’s very nervous, and she might get overwhelmed if you suddenly try to force a romantic scenario. I don’t know…” Mira insisted again. “Why don’t you just wait for it to happen?”
Zoey let her shoulders slump forward.
“Because we’ve been dating for weeks, and I don’t think she’s going to take that step. So I thought that if I planned it well enough, she’d feel safe enough to go along with it and finally… kiss me.” Zoey spoke more slowly now, her gaze conflicted, with maybe a hint of fear. “I want it to be perfect for her.”
Mira stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You really are a lost cause,” Mira said with a gentle smile. Zoey looked up at her with a small pout.
“What else can I do?” Zoey whispered, her hands gripping her turtle shirt tightly.
“You’re not going to listen to me anyway, so just try it, okay?” Mira replied, her expression resigned but paired with a small smile that made Zoey smile too.
“Thanks… it’s just that I love her so much, you know?” Zoey felt her cheeks warm slightly. “And it’s not the kind of crush I used to have on an idol, it’s just… everything about her,” she murmured softly, her gaze drifting to the wall to avoid Mira’s eyes.
“She’s patient, but she’s also fun, and she shines with everything she has on stage… she cares so much about us, about me. And she might be a bit socially withdrawn, but…” Zoey felt the smile on her face soften. “My chest hurts knowing she agreed to be in a relationship with me,” she whispered, feeling literal warmth bloom in her chest.
Zoey had been completely captivated by Rumi from the moment they first met…the quiet, pretty girl who often went unnoticed like a shadow, but transformed entirely the moment she started to sing. Her voice… it silenced Zoey’s own thoughts and filled her with an indescribably gentle warmth. And during training she was so strong and so fast, her physique always made Zoey’s cheeks flush, and she couldn’t help it.
At first, she had decided it was just a small, harmless crush on her new groupmate.
Then it grew. Zoey felt a stronger spark once she started getting more involved with her… her shy but genuine laugh whenever Zoey tried to make her laugh, intentionally or not. The way she showed interest in her, the way she listened without interrupting and always stayed until the end of Zoey’s rambling thoughts. The way Rumi took care of her made her melt.
Zoey swore she died and reincarnated the moment they started having physical contact… small brushes, brief hugs that left her knees completely weak. She was getting worse by the day.
I would throw myself off a cliff if she asked me to.
The moment that thought registered, her cheeks burned, and she knew it. She was truly in love with Rumi. There was no going back.
And Rumi, apparently, felt something for her too.
So, through awkward stammering and raw, overly sentimental words, they started dating.
And since then, Zoey had done nothing but crave more and more, being able to kiss her, to have even more intimacy… it felt like a phantom ache. She loved her so much that she could barely keep herself from touching her and showering her with affection.
Still, she knew Rumi was new to romantic relationships, so she tried to be patient and wait for her to show any sign of taking the first step… but she was genuinely getting desperate.
When Rumi hugged her at night as they fell asleep, Zoey could only long to lean in and press their lips together once or twice, just to feel closer.
Something only a lover could do.
Zoey heard a sigh and came back to reality, where Mira was looking at her with tenderness.
“She loves you too, okay?” Her words sounded exasperated, but sincere. “Don’t forget that.”
Zoey thought it had been a total disaster.
The only thing she had managed to do successfully was hang the mistletoe beneath Rumi’s door, and she had checked a hundred times to make sure that when the door opened, it wouldn’t fall, but instead… stay hanging.
Everything else had gone downhill.
She had tried to wake up two hours earlier than Rumi usually did. They had slept in her girlfriend’s room, and the moment Zoey opened her eyes, she stayed there watching Rumi’s sleeping face… playing with her hair, admiring the way her patterns seemed to glow when she kissed her forehead or gently brushed her cheeks.
Then she tried to get out of bed. So Hard.
But the moment she moved, Rumi pulled her back against her body, wrapping an arm around her waist, and in a voice that should have been illegal at that hour of the morning, asked Zoey to stay.
Zoey had promised herself just half an hour…
That half hour stretched on uncontrollably when she fell asleep again, and by the time she woke up, there were only thirty minutes left before Rumi’s usual wake-up time.
So, Zoey had run out of time.
The first thing she did was grab the mistletoe she had bought the day before, tie it up, and sprint down the hall to see if she could still manage to make breakfast.
She rushed to her room to grab the cooking magazine page she’d stolen from Mira and checked the recipe… unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time for it to be a surprise, and she definitely wasn’t about to risk leaving the stove on unattended.
She didn’t trust her attention span enough…especially not when it came to Rumi. Time simply slipped through her fingers when she was around her, her entire being focused on her wonderful girl.
Her girlfriend.
So she did the best thing she could think of.
She ordered delivery and prayed they’d hurry.
It wasn’t homemade, but it looked good on the menu.
There were about ten minutes left before Rumi woke up and noticed the mistletoe, so Zoey thought she still had some time.
Naturally, she rushed back to her room and into her private bathroom. She knew Rumi always went straight to the bathroom when she woke up to start her morning routine, so Zoey wanted to imitate her…anything to make sure her breath didn’t taste like morning.
Moving quickly and glancing repeatedly at the clock on her phone, she did everything she could to look presentable and maintain perfect hygiene.
She didn’t want Rumi to be grossed out by kissing her.
She squeezed out a generous amount of toothpaste and brushed carefully, taking her time, smiling once she was satisfied and left with fresh minty breath.
Still, she narrowed her eyes at her reflection when she noticed her lips were just… pink.
She probably needed a flavored lip balm to improve the experience. Obviously. But she was sure she’d bought one the last time they’d gone shopping at the mall.
So she searched… and searched…
And she couldn’t find it anywhere. Where the hell was it?
She frowned and started rummaging through every drawer, the higher ones she had to strain to reach, then the usual lower ones, but nothing. Nothing at all.
“Um… good morning?” a voice came from behind her, making her jolt violently and snap her head upward, hitting it against one of the drawers she’d left open.
She groaned in pain.
“A-Are you okay?” Rumi asked, and within seconds Zoey felt her hands on her shoulders and back, checking to make sure she was alright.
“Y-Yeah… yes!” Zoey ignored the uncomfortable throbbing in her head as she straightened up, pretending she wasn’t devastated that she’d lost track of time and completely ruined her plan.
She just smiled.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Rumi’s awkward smile instantly erased Zoey’s sense of failure, replacing it with a warm, comfortable heat in her stomach. The way Rumi looked at her with such concern, hesitating over whether to pull her hands away from Zoey’s shoulders or not…
“You didn’t scare me!” Zoey placed one hand over Rumi’s, only for Rumi to raise an accusatory eyebrow. “Okay, maybe a little, but I wasn’t expecting someone to walk into my bathroom at this hour,” Zoey explained in her most solemn voice.
“The door was open. Both your bedroom door and the bathroom,” Rumi said, knitting her brows with a kind of curiosity that clearly meant she didn’t understand what Zoey was getting at.
“Oh…” Zoey opened her mouth like a fish, realizing her mistake. Well… one of many.
“Did you get hurt?” Rumi insisted anyway, softening her expression as her free hand gently caressed Zoey’s cheek. Zoey leaned into the touch, feeling like she might simply melt if Rumi kept stroking her like that.
She was distracted, but she could swear Rumi’s eyes dipped for a second, down to her lips.
Then Zoey suddenly remembered her original intention.
“N-No! Really, I’m fine!” Zoey insisted, nodding a couple of times and stepping forward, which made Rumi take a step back, eyes widened slightly, confusion written all over her face.
“O-Okay…” Rumi relented as Zoey ushered them both out into the hallway. Then Zoey tried to push forward with her now-foolproof plan.
Her heart threatened to overflow at the thought that she might finally get to kiss her. Just thinking about it made her feel faint.
“You know, since it’s our day off, I ordered breakfast,” Zoey said, her voice echoing slightly down the hallway.
Rumi’s expression brightened immediately. “Really?”
Zoey felt her heart pound as she smiled, the pain at the back of her head fading into the background.
“Yeah! The place I like had a promotion, so I figured you might want to try it… I ordered three.” Zoey tightened her grip on Rumi’s hand and tugged her along toward Rumi’s room, which was now fully in view.
“We could watch some movies while we eat,” Rumi nodded with a pleased, relaxed smile, even though she clearly didn’t quite understand the route her girlfriend was taking.
“Yeah, the order shouldn’t take too long…” Zoey nodded, then anxiously peeked past the doorframe…only to find a empty string.
Damn it.
The damn thing had fallen to the floor.
Zoey followed the string with her eyes, tracing it down to the branch lying on the ground between the hallway and Rumi’s room.
It didn’t take long for Rumi to notice both.
“What’s that?” she asked with mild curiosity, crouching down to examine the small plant with red berries.
“Mistletoe…” Zoey bit her lip as her cheeks flushed, her eyes lifting to Rumi’s, who was still focused entirely on the plant.
“Oh…”
Oh.
“Do you know who hung it?” Rumi asked. “I don’t remember seeing it when I stepped out earlier. I was in a bit of a hurry because you weren’t in bed, and well…” She trailed off after inspecting the little plant for far too long, then looked at Zoey expectantly.
Zoey took a breath and let go of Rumi’s hands, stepping back. Her heart was completely out of control, pounding violently in her chest. For the first time all week, she could feel sweat on her palms… she never sweated, not even before live performances.
Never.
“I hung it,” she said nervously, like an animal caught in a flashlight beam.
Rumi barely blinked.
“Okay…” Rumi seemed a little puzzled, but she simply walked into her room and placed the curious plant on her desk, where she usually wrote.
Zoey’s mouth fell open.
Had Rumi just… ignored it? Just like that?
Zoey stared insistently at the little sprig of mistletoe, then back at Rumi.
“It’s part of the tower’s Christmas decorations, right?” Rumi said lightly as she passed by her, completely ignoring Zoey’s shocked, almost indignant expression.
Her plan had failed.
“Y-Yeah, totally,” Zoey said, smiling…or more like grimacing as she fiddled with her fingers and shrugged.
The elevator chimed.
“Oh, I think breakfast is here. I’ll go get it, go wake Mira up,” Rumi said cheerfully, brushing past her and gently caressing her cheek, leaving a trail of ticklish warmth on her skin before leaning down to kiss her forehead.
A good morning kiss.
On the forehead.
Zoey wasn’t sure whether she wanted to faint, scream, or cry.
But the battle wasn’t over yet.
The food had been good. All three bowls were empty as Mira put on some silly series on the TV, and they lounged there with a shared, lazy gaze.
Mira claimed the entire couch, while Rumi and Zoey were comfortably lying on the floor. It wasn’t unusual, they had a padded rug, so they could stretch out there for quite a while.
Zoey rested her head on Rumi’s shoulder, pretending to pay attention to the cooking show Mira had chosen now. Her mind was definitely elsewhere, but she couldn’t say out loud how frustrated she felt.
Well, Mira was glancing at her from the corner of her eye anyway, with a small, amused grimace, barely hiding her entertainment. Zoey sighed, assuming she hadn’t done a very good job masking her mood.
Zoey couldn’t believe Rumi had so openly ignored her invitation to take the next step.
Maybe it had been too much. Maybe it wasn’t the right moment.
Zoey shook her head. She felt they’d waited long enough, and if it weren’t for that stupid lip balm, the plan probably would’ve worked.
She frowned, thinking more deeply.
“Ugh, I’m going to the bathroom… I won’t be long,” Mira stretched as she stood up, giving the couple a sideways look before leaving the remote within reach of their heads, just in case they needed it.
Zoey barely noticed. But as soon as Mira left the room, her focus snapped back to Rumi.
She felt Rumi’s finger under her chin, just the tip of her index finger.
Zoey glanced at her with curiosity, then caught the concentrated look on her girlfriend’s face as she traced her finger across Zoey’s, drawing patterns along her cheeks and cheekbones, then down the bridge of her nose and across her forehead.
It was dangerously relaxing.
“I love your freckles…” Rumi whispered suddenly, sending Zoey’s heart into three full backflips on a unicycle.
“R-Really? You do?” Zoey managed, feeling herself lean back slightly. Maybe she was imagining it, but she could’ve sworn Rumi was getting closer…probably to see her better.
“Yes… they’re really pretty. They make you look adorable.” Rumi’s voice was soft, instantly putting Zoey into a trance and causing her own brain to shut down completely.
And of course she noticed, Rumi was getting too close. Way too close.
Zoey felt the corners of her lips curl into a nervous smile, and overcome with nerves, she leaned back, pulling away from the touch.
Rumi watched her for another second before her expression shifted. Her eyes widened slightly, looking a little lost. Then, just as quickly, it vanished, leaving her with a neutral face.
Zoey sighed in relief, realizing her heart wasn’t pounding quite as hard anymore, before she could fully process what had just happened.
She offered her hand more calmly, and Rumi took it carefully before intertwining their fingers.
Zoey thought it was a little strange that Rumi wanted to see her so closely, she was pretty sure she had good eyesight. After all, as hunters, they needed sharp senses to stay alert.
Well… except for Mira. She was basically a mole.
Zoey yawned and shifted closer against Rumi’s slightly stiff shoulder. Her mind returned to the matter of mistletoe.
There would probably be more opportunities later in the day. After all, she had studied her girlfriend and knew her habits and routines perfectly.
Mira returned a little while later.
“So, what did I miss?” she asked as she climbed back over the couch to sprawl across it again.
“Nothing…” Rumi drawled with little enthusiasm.
“I swear, this won’t fail,” Zoey muttered as her skilled fingers aggressively taped a sprig of mistletoe to Rumi’s microphone with tape.
They had agreed to do a bit of training to stay up to date with the choreography and dust off their vocals. So Zoey had dragged Mira into their personal studio half an hour before rehearsal and told her everything that had happened. Mira had simply listened… until Zoey showed her what she was planning to do.
“So this plan involves me watching the two of you kiss right in front of me?” Mira crossed her arms over her chest. “If it works, of course.”
Zoey nodded frantically.
“First, yes. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make,” Zoey raised an index finger. “And second, of course it’s going to work!” she added with a threatening, slightly irritated glare.
Mira just rolled her eyes.
“I don’t know why I still live with you two. I should be charging for this kind of thing,” Mira grumbled as she leaned in to inspect Zoey’s trap, clearly taped far too aggressively to Rumi’s microphone.
“You love us and want us to be happy!” Zoey clasped her hands together and looked at her like a puppy.
“Yes, but I’m already very happy not watching you two shove your tongues down each other’s throats,” Mira frowned with mild disgust.
“Hey!! We’re not going to-… not yet, at least,” Zoey was hit with a wave of embarrassment at the thought. Still, the idea of doing that on their first kiss felt a bit excessive.
Besides… she had never kissed anyone before.
Once, a guy had tried to kiss her, and in her attempt to seem bold, he’d headbutted her. Their noses collided, and she’d ended up sneezing uncontrollably.
Yeah. That wasn’t a kiss.
But this time, it had to work.
“Ugh, you’re disgusting,” Mira complained, though there was a faint smile on her face.
Zoey checked the microphone one last time, making sure it was secure. “Yeah, I mean… last time I think she didn’t fully get it because it fell to the floor, so she thought I put it there just for fun. Like a joke?” she explained while putting the microphone back in place.
“A joke?” Mira stared at her in disbelief.
“Yeah, like that time I put a fake rubber snake over the door so it would fall on her…” Zoey added, while Mira shook her head in disapproval.
“I don’t think you’re going to scare her with a piece of plant,” Mira said, lowering her arms. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to assume Rumi just doesn’t know that tradition?”
“I mean…how could she not? We watched those Christmas movies… remember?” Zoey turned to her with hopeful eyes.
“Again, I think you should just be direct,” Mira insisted as she moved to grab her things and change into more appropriate clothes to warm up.
“And where’s the romance in that?” Zoey immediately followed her, grabbing her own clothes and changing in a corner of the room, assuming she was alone. She had her pants halfway down when the studio door opened, and her eyes met Rumi’s…who immediately turned bright red.
“Zoey!!” Rumi shouted in embarrassment, while Zoey hurriedly finished changing, pulling on her loose athletic pants, her own cheeks blazing.
Rumi had turned her face away completely. It was humiliating.
“How are you still getting embarrassed by that?! We’ve all gone to the bathrooms together!” Zoey complained, fighting the overwhelming urge to take a picture of her shy, flustered girlfriend. Not that she was in any better shape herself.
“It’s different!” Rumi insisted, still refusing to look at her. Zoey took the chance to finish changing quickly, then stepped in front of her.
“I’m decent now…” Zoey said with a small, amused smile.
“Thank god…” Rumi murmured, peeking at her from the corner of her eye. “You can’t just do that. Not when I-I…”
Zoey narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, confused.
“When you… what?”
Rumi stepped closer, way too close. Her breath tickled Zoey’s skin, leaving her completely frozen.
“I might not be able to control myself if you’re like that,” Rumi whispered, embarrassed.
Both of their cheeks were burning. Zoey felt dizzy, hollow…like a body with nothing inside. Just the imitation of someone who used to be human.
The universe exploded and stitched itself back together. Zoey could feel the blood rushing to her overheated cheeks, and for no reason at all, she didn’t dare move.
She didn’t even hear Mira arrive and briefly talk to Rumi about some choreography adjustments and a lyric change.
They sounded impossibly far away.
“Another mistletoe, Zoey?” Rumi asked with mild disbelief as she struggled to remove it from her microphone.
Zoey very clearly did not get a kiss after that.
Rumi asked Mira for help removing the tape and the mess Zoey had created, while Zoey stood there like a statue, waiting for the servers in her brain to reboot and start working again.
Maybe that tongue kiss Mira mentioned wasn’t as far off as Zoey had thought after all.
“Be. Direct. With. Her.” Mira punctuated each word, emphasizing them with her hands as she stared Zoey down.
“No!” Zoey yelped as she flopped back onto her bed. “There’s nothing romantic about that!” she complained, burying her head in the nearest pillow.
“Then suffer more failed plans,” Mira frowned as she sat on the edge of Zoey’s bed, pulling out her phone and glancing at it every few seconds. She had just finished cleaning up after practice and had dragged Zoey back to her room to talk.
The kicked-puppy, flushed look was something she couldn’t handle for too long.
“Mira!!” Zoey shouted as she crawled over, wrapping her arms around her and burying her face against Mira’s lower back.
“No ‘Mira’ with me,” Mira said, setting her phone aside and rubbing her temples. “You just have to go. You have to try talking to her and tell her what your intentions are in a minimally intimate way so this can actually work between you two.”
Zoey felt dread curl in her stomach at the thought…but she nodded anyway.
“I wanted the mistletoe… I swear, out of everything I researched, it seemed like the most romantic option,” Zoey complained, feeling Mira shudder and abruptly stand up. Her voice had tickled through the fabric of her clothes.
“Decorating the penthouse while you two looked at each other like lovesick puppies and cuddled under blankets because of the cold…that was romantic,” Mira said, watching her with disapproval. “Forcing a kiss with mistletoe? Maybe not so much.”
Zoey huffed and shook her head again, filling herself with determination. Or stubbornness. Either worked.
“Ugh… I’ll think about your idea while I figure out my next mistletoe placement,” Zoey groaned as she rolled onto the center of the bed, stretching out her arm to grab a random turtle plush.
Mira sighed, then grabbed a nearby pillow and threw it straight at her face.
Zoey screamed.
It was already afternoon. They had gotten together for lunch, and now everyone was enjoying their free time. Zoey knew Mira and Rumi had gone off to talk for a while… and maybe practice a bit more. With those two, you never really knew.
Zoey, meanwhile, was in her room, sitting at her desk with her lyric notebooks spread out in front of her, ready to write her next masterpiece.
She felt inspired, and all the chaos and sensations swirling in her head could finally be put to good use. That was one of the great things about songwriting when you overthought everything…you always had feelings or thoughts that needed somewhere to go.
She managed to focus and sink into her work. She still had plenty of time before the day ended to make a third (and final) attempt at kissing her girlfriend.
But for now, she let instinct guide her and wrote calmly, pouring everything out onto the page.
She started with good posture, but over time one leg came up onto the chair, she began rocking slightly, and eventually ended up curled like a shrimp, earning herself a dull ache in her neck.
She wasn’t even writing lyrics yet… just random thoughts she might turn into lyrics later, so she didn’t mind when she heard a knock at her door.
“Come in,” she murmured, pulling the pencil out of her mouth and setting it on the notebook before closing it so she wouldn’t lose the page she’d been writing on.
Rumi stepped into her room, wearing an expression that was dangerously determined. Her walk was casual, but just stiff enough to be noticeable… nothing unusual for her, really, except it always meant she had something specific on her mind.
“Rumi! What can I do for my favorite girlfriend?” Zoey leaned back slightly in her chair, lowering her feet to the floor and trying to fix her posture.
She noticed Rumi smile faintly and raise an eyebrow.
“Favorite? Does that mean you have more than one?” Rumi said, putting on a mock offended expression.
Zoey laughed and rolled her eyes fondly.
“Not at all!”
Rumi took a step forward, stopping close to Zoey’s rolling chair before glancing at what she’d been working on.
“You’d better make sure I’m the only one,” Rumi added in a calmer, playful tone. Zoey reached out, took her hand, and brought it to her lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it.
“A lady’s promise,” she swore, wiggling her eyebrows.
Rumi shook her head, pulling her hand free before lifting it to gently fix Zoey’s hair, smoothing it into place. Then she stepped back slightly, recomposing herself.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything…” she whispered, suddenly more timid. Zoey felt a warm flutter spread through her chest at the genuine concern, Rumi being so considerate of her space and time.
“Not at all. Just free writing,” Zoey shrugged, then pulled both legs up and crossed them easily, settling into a lotus position. “Do you need me?” she asked, tilting her head slightly.
Rumi stood there, looking at her. She seemed tense, opening and closing her mouth a couple of times.
Zoey waited patiently. She knew Rumi would speak eventually.
And she did.
“You know… in the studio earlier… what I said was completely inappropriate, and I thought maybe I crossed a line. I swear I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything like that- I just wanted to apologize properly…” Rumi rushed out all at once, leaving Zoey staring at her in disbelief.
“Really, I said it without thinking… you just looked so good in that black underwear that the words came out before I could stop them and-”
“Wait a second!” Zoey raised both hands, stopping the flood of words. Rumi looked flushed and shy at the same time, and it was twisting Zoey’s heart in all kinds of ways. “Are you apologizing for what happened earlier in the studio?” Zoey asked carefully, just to be sure.
Rumi dropped her gaze to the floor, completely flustered.
“…Yeah. I think that’s what I’m doing.”
“Do you realize how adorable you are for doing that?” Zoey huffed as she stood up, gently pushing her chair back. The movement drew Rumi’s nervous gaze back to her.
“I’m not supposed to be adorable. I mean… I shouldn’t say things like that when we haven’t even kissed yet,” Rumi clenched her fists at her sides, her eyes torn between holding Zoey’s gaze and looking away again.
Zoey bit her lip, restraining everything in her to keep her impulsive body from throwing itself at Rumi and fixing that immediately.
Instead, she leaned in gently and kissed her cheek, soft and lingering, just enough to feel the warmth of her skin.
“My brain short-circuited, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing…” Zoey pulled back to give her a bit of space, only to see the shocked look on Rumi’s face before it melted into a huge, toothy smile.
“So it didn’t bother you?” Rumi asked hopefully as she stepped closer, following Zoey with her eyes. Her expression had shifted into something more longing…like the look she got when she truly wanted a plushie or a specific food. She wanted more.
“Not at all. You can relax… I swear I would’ve done the same, actually,” Zoey admitted, her eyes locked on Rumi’s. That hypnotic hesitation, she was definitely looking at her lips now, wasn’t she?
The admission left space for a silence that settled between them as they moved closer, drawn by an undeniable pull. Rumi approached carefully, afraid of startling her with sudden movements, while Zoey felt that familiar dizziness that came with being this close to her.
Then something clicked inside Zoey’s head.
She didn’t want her first kiss to happen in her bedroom, with energy drink cans and turtle plushies as the audience.
She remembered the stupid mistletoe, and instinctively pulled her head away from Rumi’s. Of course, Rumi took it as rejection.
She stepped back, her expression falling, and Zoey bit her lip hard enough to sting. She couldn’t stand the sad look on her girlfriend’s face.
She didn’t know what she’d done wrong…
“I-I…” Rumi searched for words. Zoey was sure she was about to apologize again… for trying, for pushing, for not waiting.
But Zoey had thought the same of Rumi. She’d believed Rumi was the one afraid to take the next step, but after everything that had happened that day, she just felt foolish.
Still, she wanted their first kiss to be memorable. And with the holidays, she truly wanted it to involve that stupid piece of mistletoe.
That didn’t mean she wanted Rumi to think she wanted this any less than she did. She understood that now.
“Can you meet me at dusk in the living room?” Zoey asked, staring fixedly at the floor, fully focused on choosing the right words.
Rumi’s response came quickly.
“Is it something bad?” Her voice was low and stiff, like she was bracing herself for a blow.
Zoey’s eyes widened immediately, and she grabbed Rumi’s hand, squeezing it gently.
“No! No, you didn’t do anything wrong- seriously, it’s not going to be anything bad,” Zoey reassured her as she stepped closer, releasing her hand to rest her own around Rumi’s waist, trying to calm her.
Rumi collapsed into her shoulder instantly, hugging her tightly, as if all her strength had suddenly drained away.
“I’m glad… I think it would be kind of sad if you broke up with me on Christmas,” she murmured, her hands tracing patterns along Zoey’s back as Zoey returned the touch. She felt a little guilty for having scared her like that.
“No, I just want to do things right…” Zoey whispered, tilting her head just enough to kiss the side of Rumi’s head. Zoey was shorter, so Rumi practically resting against her… but Zoey didn’t mind at all.
“Do things right?” Rumi asked softly.
“Yes. And don’t worry…if you let me, I want to make it all the way to marriage with you,” Zoey said, her cheeks flushed but her voice completely sincere. It was the truth.
Rumi simply hugged her tighter, burying her face against Zoey’s neck, clearly not bothered by the idea, in fact, quite the opposite.
“…Okay.”
“I swear! If I’d known she wasn’t that shy about those kinds of things, I would’ve kissed her a long time ago!” Zoey buried her face in her arms and plopped a turtle plush right on top of her head. Being unable to see didn’t stop her from hearing Mira’s exasperated snort.
“I wasn’t going to say anything because it’s not my place, but Rumi is worse than you. She looks at you like you’re a bottle of coke in the middle of a goddamn desert,” Mira drawled reproachfully. She was sitting on Zoey’s desk, a magazine in hand.
“No, but now that I’m sure, my plan can’t possibly fail. I know exactly what to do, Mira!” Zoey cheered, sitting up on the bed and hugging the turtle tightly to her chest.
“Are you finally going to be direct and less complicated about all this, so you’ll stop dragging me into your room every half hour to explain the latest revision of your plan?” Mira shot her a sideways look as Zoey narrowed her eyes.
“Shut up. Actually, I wanted to ask if you’d come with me to buy something big for tonight,” Zoey lifted her chin, grinning at her own cleverness.
Mira hid her face behind the magazine and swore she was going to smother Zoey with a turtle plush the next time she had one of her existential gay crises.
This was going to be the one. She could feel it. She had spent all her bad luck throughout the day, so this moment had to be the right one.
She was carrying an entire potted mistletoe plant in her hands, a proud smile stretched across her face.
She didn’t expect Rumi to realize what she was planning… but she wanted to add a special touch while asking her directly.
She had seen it. Rumi had leaned in. She wanted her just as much. And never, ever, did Zoey want to see that look of sadness on her face because of her again.
Rumi deserved all the love in the world.
So they stepped out of the elevator, and after barely a few steps, both of them realized that Rumi was actually coming from the hallway.
Mira let out a sharp sigh and smacked her forehead.
Rumi was holding a decorative plastic mistletoe flowerpot in her hands, looking at them with mild curiosity.
“I can’t do this with you two. I quit Huntrix. I’m going back to my parents’ house and becoming a businesswoman,” Mira said flatly, just before Zoey leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Mira flushed, scowled, and then bolted out of the scene as fast as she could.
She crossed paths with Rumi, and the two exchanged a nod… like there was some kind of unspoken understanding.
Then it was quiet.
Zoey and Rumi made eye contact, glanced down at what each of them was holding, then looked back at each other and let out a small, nervous laugh.
Rumi was the first to step closer. Her movements were measured, and Zoey could clearly see the nervousness in her eyes. She looked adorable holding that fake plant.
“Well… with how much mistletoe you’ve been hanging up today, I figured you might appreciate the detail. And I know you’d probably let a real plant die, so this one seemed safer,” Rumi shrugged, giving her one of her signature crooked smiles.
Zoey felt like an idiot. And then she laughed.
“Oh my god, I love you so much,” Zoey shook her head fondly, her eyes shining as she stepped closer too.
“Was it a good gift?” Rumi asked expectantly, and Zoey rolled her eyes affectionately at the slight hint of smugness.
“I’m going to ignore the fact that you just questioned my natural skills for taking care of plants… but overall, yes, I think this was a good gift,” Zoey said, her hands trembling slightly. She’d carried the pot from pretty far away and hadn’t let Mira help, so she carefully set it down.
Rumi did the same.
“Although I’m just going to ask once and for all,” Zoey smiled, giving her a playful look. “Do you remember the movies we watched the other day?”
Rumi looked away briefly, then back at her.
“The Christmas ones? Yeah.”
“Right.” Zoey watched as Rumi brushed dirt from her palms before resting one hand on her chin, thinking. “Do you remember how there’s always mistletoe during the kissing scenes?”
Rumi nodded slowly.
“It’s for decoration, right? Atmosphere,” she said with a hint of uncertainty, though she nodded again, as if convincing herself that was the answer.
Zoey felt even more foolish.
Rumi had grown up with a nontraditional upbringing. Of course she’d be unsure about certain American traditions and rituals. She didn’t even celebrate Christmas, at least not until she met them and started learning about those things. Neither she nor Mira had been fully familiar with them.
Zoey should’ve thought about that more.
“Uh… it’s supposed to mean that if people are standing under mistletoe, they kiss,” Zoey explained with an embarrassed smile, feeling pink spread across her cheeks.
She saw it then, the slow realization giving way to panic and embarrassment. Rumi’s eyes stayed locked on her brown ones, but now with new understanding that changed everything.
“S-So… what does that plant you’re holding mean, then?” Rumi carefully pointed at the plant Zoey had brought. Zoey frowned slightly, confused.
“Well… mistletoe?”
“That’s not mistletoe. That’s butcher’s broom.”
Zoey completely deflated at the revelation. Apparently, what she’d brought wasn’t mistletoe at all. She lowered her gaze, frustration from the entire day piling up. And to top it all off, her girlfriend hadn’t even realized what she’d been trying to do all day. She knew the stupid plant didn’t really matter…but not being able to find mistletoe and bringing the wrong one anyway… God.
“Well, I guess it’ll still look cute on your balcony,” Zoey said softly, her voice more subdued than she intended. It felt like she’d failed in every possible way to create the perfect moment-
Zoey didn’t even process it properly. She only felt hands lifting her chin, forcing her to meet Rumi’s eyes as her face moved closer at a steady pace…without hesitation.
Then she felt it.
She stopped breathing, completely frozen, as Rumi’s lips brushed timidly against hers. Exploratory, gentle…but enough to make her lose her mind when they pulled apart. She gasped softly, unconsciously licking her lips.
“Thanks for the gift, then,” Rumi murmured, her hands sliding over Zoey’s shoulders and around her neck, their faces just inches apart.
Zoey’s heart pounded as her eyes grew glassy.
“Damn it… I’ve been trying to do this all day, and you just come in and steal a kiss from me,” Zoey muttered, her cheeks darkening as she noticed how smug Rumi looked, though her own cheeks were just as red, all the way to her ears.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you all day, but you’re just so oblivious…” Rumi sighed, stroking the back of her neck.
“I was trying to make it perfect. I’m not that oblivious… at least not that much,” Zoey murmured, her gaze dropping back to Rumi’s lips, already missing the feeling.
“I don’t need us to be perfect,” Rumi said softly, her eyes lowering again. “I just like us being us.”
And so, beneath the fake mistletoe Rumi had brought, the two of them shared a second kiss. Then a third. And even a fourth.