Archive of Our Own

A soft knock draws Yushi’s attention away from her essay to the source of the sound.

“Hey, pretty,” Sion sing-songs, leaning against Yushi’s door frame with the ease of someone who’s done it a million times before. “Whatcha doing?”

Yushi looks down at her screen, the blank word document staring back at her, making Sion roll her eyes. 

“Ushiii,” Sion whines and throws herself on Yushi’s bed. Yushi has stopped trying to correct Sion after she realized it’s just her own sweet way of saying her name. If anything, she likes that Sion’s the only one who calls her that.

Yushi lets herself stare at Sion, the way one does when a beautiful woman is lying on their bed. She’s wearing her favorite shirt, the collar stretched and the words on the front side have faded so much they’re barely readable. Her hair is in a messy bun, thin strands visibly damp, a telltale sign that she’s fresh out of the shower. This close, Yushi can smell her body wash. Yushi wonders if her bed also smells like Sion now.

“It’s literally Friday night,” Sion yawns. “Don’t you want to, like, go out or something? Meet people, maybe?”

Yushi takes a little offense to that. Yushi meets people, thankyouverymuch. She has two people in her class she likes enough to call friends and grab lunch together. Yushi also talks to Sion every day, even when she’s too tired to talk and lets Sion do all the talking instead.

“I don’t count,” Sion chuckles, as if she can read Yushi’s mind. “And I mean real people, in real life, face to face. Not the people on your phone.”

Yushi groans inwardly. It’s been almost three months since they became roommates, and Yushi’s still getting used to how extroverted Sion is when she is the complete opposite.

“Wanna go out?” Sion paws at Yushi’s legs and Yushi offers her hand, letting the older absentmindedly play with her fingers.

“Um,” Yushi winces. “I don’t… no.”

​“Or, we can hang out here.” Sion shrugs, turning onto her stomach, propping herself up on her arms while her feet sway left and right. “We can order in and watch something.”

“You can go out if you want, you know,” Yushi snorts. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“But I want to hang out with you, silly!” Sion groans, pushing Yushi’s chair hard enough for it to spin. “Besides, we’re roommates. We take care of each other.”

“Oh,” Yushi replies dumbly, immediately feeling bad about telling Sion to go out by herself.

“You’re so,” Sion says slowly, then stops herself. She shakes her head, an amused smile on her pretty face. “Nevermind. So, about that sleepover?”

The thing is, Yushi’s been in several sleepovers before, but never with someone she has a small, miniscule crush on. 

So far, it’s not that much different from a regular night in their little apartment: dinner while watching Sion’s current favorite show that Yushi doesn’t really understand the plot of. Yushi prefers to watch Sion anyways. Noting the way her face twitches at certain scenes, the small huffs of laughter when she finds something funny, or her little commentaries on the character’s choices she doesn’t agree with. Yushi thinks it’s a hundred percent more interesting than the show.

It isn’t until they’re full and bored of sitting around doing nothing that Sion suggests if she can dress Yushi up. Yushi’s knee jerk reaction is to say no, then she sees Sion’s pleading eyes and knows she doesn’t stand a chance. Her essay can wait another night.

Yushi can hear Sion talking to herself as she skims through Yushi’s closet, frowning at each article of clothing like it personally offends her. Seemingly disappointed with what she finds (or doesn’t find), Sion sighs and is already halfway out the door before Yushi even gets to get a word in. It doesn’t take long before Yushi hears her squeal echoing through the apartment. 

“Wear this. I think it’ll fit you like a dream.”

In Sion’s hand is a pretty, light blue, ankle length dress that for sure isn’t going to fit her like a dream. 

“I don’t think this will fit me. I don’t have the…” boobs, Yushi wants to say but doesn’t, shying around from saying the word out loud.

Sion rolls her eyes, shoving the dress in Yushi’s hands. “Try it. You’ll see that I’m right.”

“What? Now?”

“Yes, now!”

“With you here?”

“Oh. I mean, yeah? Unless you’re uncomfortable with that, then I can leave and come back.” 

Again, Sion’s already halfway out the door before Yushi gets to say anything. Yushi looks at the dress, and with a sigh, she takes off her comfortable pajamas and carefully steps into it. Though not as comfortable, Sion is right, of course, because the dress fits her effortlessly.

“Are you done?” Sion yells from the hallway and immediately runs back inside when Yushi answers yes, carrying her makeup bags and almost dropping them when she says, “Oh. My. God.”

“Does it look okay?”

“Okay?!” Sion screeches. “Ushi, you look fucking hot!”

Yushi tries not to squirm from the compliment. It feels especially hard when paired with The Nickname.

“Are you sure?” Yushi quietly asks.

“Yes, listen to your unnie,” Sion chides softly, clicking her tongue in faux annoyance. That gets her to actually squirm. Great. “Turn around, I’ll zip it up for you.”

Turning around, Yushi finally gets to see herself and a small gasp escapes her lips. She won’t say she looks fucking hot, but she does look really nice. Yushi catches Sion’s eyes in the mirror and feels herself flush at the smirk on her face. Sion looks away first, focusing back on her task, her lithe fingers working with the zipper. Yushi feels one of Sion’s hands rest on her waist, a gentle touch that she has gotten quite used to lately. 

What Yushi isn’t used to, however, is the way Sion’s cold fingers occasionally brush against the bare skin of her back, making her shiver. Maybe Yushi’s thinking too much about it, but this feels different. More intimate than Yushi’s ever been with anyone.

It’s not like Yushi hates skinship, she’s just not used to being touched by people she barely knows. But with Sion, by the end of her first week in the small apartment, the older has laid her gentle hands on Yushi’s shoulders multiple times, pulled Yushi’s hands away from her assignments to eat dinner together, and scooched over towards Yushi’s side of the sofa close enough for their thighs to brush against one another.

Each of her touches feels nice because Yushi can tell it comes naturally to Sion. There’s something genuine in her affection, like it’s a necessity to always seek warmth from others. Yushi finds she doesn’t mind it that much. 

The loss of warmth against her back signals that Sion is done. When Yushi turns around, Sion’s already halfway through stripping her clothes. Panicking, Yushi averts her eyes to anywhere but the half naked Sion in front of her. Apparently, Sion doesn’t share the same sentiment of shame in changing in front of other people. Yushi only dares to look back when she’s sure Sion is done, her mouth immediately feeling dry at the sight that greets her. 

Sion’s wearing an all-white two piece that makes her red hair pop even more. The skirt stops exactly a palm above her perfectly pink knees. But Yushi can’t take her eyes off the teardrop-shaped cutout that opens up around her chest area, where Sion’s breasts sit perfectly plump. Even with her hair not done and no makeup on, Sion looks, in her own words, fucking hot.

“You like it?” Sion twirls around, the movement lifting her skirt up and showing Yushi more of her milky pale thighs. Yushi gulps down and almost chokes on nothing.

“You look very pretty, unnie,” Yushi confesses, though the word pretty feels a lot like an understatement.

“You flatter me.” Sion bats her eyelashes at Yushi, giggling and visibly satisfied with the compliment. She takes Yushi’s hand and sits her down in front of the vanity. “Now, for makeup. What do you like?”

“I don’t know…”

“That’s fine. We’ll figure something out.”

Without a warning, Sion sits on her lap and immediately gets to work. Yushi should probably tell her to calm down or at least ask for a mirror to see what Sion’s doing to her face, but her mind is full of the feeling of Sion on her lap, skirt riding up her thighs and her face so close to Yushi’s. This close, she can smell the vanilla on Sion’s skin, a scent Yushi has come to associate with Sion.

It’s impossible not to stare at Sion when she’s inches away from Yushi. She traces the concentration on Sion’s face, scrunched up forehead and bitten lip, until her eyes traitorously drop lower. Every time Sion reaches forward to fix or add something, her weight on Yushi’s lap shifts, bringing her chest dangerously close to Yushi’s face. Yushi feels her throat drying up, and this time she does choke on nothing as she scrambles for a safer, more appropriate place to look.

When Sion’s finally satisfied with her work, she continues to do her own makeup, all while still sitting on Yushi’s lap, completely oblivious to Yushi’s inner turmoil. Yushi tries her best to not do anything and busies herself with deciding what to do with her hands. 

“Finishing touch,” Sion exclaims, putting on one of her necklaces around Yushi, letting her hands stay on Yushi’s shoulder even after the clasp is secured.

There’s that weird feeling again, when Sion’s fingers meet the bare skin of her neck. Too close, too intimate. Sion is all up in her personal space and Yushi doesn’t even care. 

“Here, let’s roleplay. Pretend we’re at a party.”

“Okay, now what?” Yushi asks.

“We come in.” Sion climbs down her lap, pulling Yushi up with her. “I walk around and greet everyone, making small talks here and there.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

Sion laughs again, not unkindly, but judging by the pretty twinkle of amusement in her eyes that almost rivals the glitter on her eyelids, Yushi can tell Sion finds her question a little silly. Yushi wonders if it’s socially acceptable to put Made A Beautiful Woman Laugh in her resume.

“You,” Sion starts, tightening her hold on Yushi’s hand. “Stand pretty next to me as I introduce you to everyone.”

The thought of being Sion’s arm candy while she lets everyone know Yushi is with her sends a tingle through her entire body, even though she’s fully aware this is just pretend. In a brief moment of courage, Yushi finds herself asking, “What if other people talk to me first?”

“What do you mean?” Sion hums, stepping closer towards Yushi.

Yushi knows one should never poke the bear, yet she musters up the courage (or stupidity) to do it anyway. “What if they only want to talk to me?”

Sion smiles, amused. “Like flirting with you?”

Yushi nods again. “Yeah, like that.”

“Well, do you want them to flirt with you?”

“Not really,” Yushi admits. Unless it’s you, she almost adds, but knows better this time.

“Aw, do you need unnie to save you?” Sion coos, finally circling her arms around Yushi’s shoulders, pushing them closer together until their chests are fully pressed together. Yushi can only manage a nod in response, hoping that Sion can’t feel the way her heartbeat goes haywire in her chest.

Then, Sion’s lips are on Yushi’s, and she wonders if she’s dead and somehow finds herself in an alternate universe where she’s kissing Sion. Then, Yushi stumbles backwards as Sion pushes, pushes, and pushes her until her knees finally hit her bed, sending both of them backwards. Then, as the dull pain hits her, she realizes that it’s real. Her kissing Sion is real, and not just a trick her brain’s playing on her. 

Yushi knows this is uncharted territory for them, but the feeling of Sion’s lips against hers feels too good to care about anything else. When they finally part, Yushi doesn’t dare to open her eyes until Sion presses on them softly with her thumb, Yushi’s eyelids slowly opening under the touch.

“That’ll be enough for people to not bother you, don’t you think?” Sion pants into Yushi’s mouth, forehead dropping until it rests on top of Yushi’s. The warmth of Sion’s skin doesn’t help with how lightheaded she feels.

“W-what?” Yushi says, just as out of breath. It takes a few more seconds for her to realize what Sion means, then in an attempt to save face, she lets out a dumb, “Oh, um, yeah.”

Sion is laughing at her, a deep, hearty laughs, and Yushi doesn’t even care. Not when Yushi can feel it vibrating through her ribs, and wonder how many others have felt Sion this close. Or if she’s the only one to ever feel Sion’s happiness course through her body like it’s her own.

“Told you.” Sion smiles, saccharine sweet. Yushi can see her red lipstick smudging around the corner, and she knows she doesn’t look any better. “Roommates take care of each other.”

The air feels suffocating, especially with Sion crowding all her senses. Yushi’s eyes stay fixed on Sion, afraid that whatever this is between them will break if she looks away. She steals another chaste kiss, which seems to tickle Sion that she starts giggling, infecting Yushi with her happiness until they’re both laughing.

Then Sion’s phone begins to ring, and the moment shatters immediately.

“I, um… I’ll take that,” Sion clears her throat, and much to Yushi’s dismay, detaches herself from Yushi. 

Yushi’s voice cracks as she replies, “Sure.”

Yushi watches in silence as Sion walks away, a slight sway in her step as she fixes her skirt. When Sion fully disappears from sight and the adrenaline in Yushi’s body starts to dwindle, the gravity of what just happened finally crashes over her. 

What the actual fuck just happened?