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The sunlight spilled through the thin curtains and landed across Jun-hee's bare shoulder, turning the soft hairs on her skin to gold. Min-ah stood in the kitchen, momentarily forgetting the sting of ramen water bubbling over on the stove.
"You're gonna set the bed on fire with that stare," Jun-hee mumbled, eyes still closed.
Min-ah snorted and turned back to the pot. "Maybe I should. Then we'd finally get that new mattress we keep talking about."
"The one that doesn't squeak like it's being murdered every time we breathe?"
"Exactly."
Jun-hee sat up, sleep-tousled and grinning, pulling one of Min-ah's oversized shirts over her head. It hung low off her collarbones, sleeves past her wrists, and for a second, Min-ah forgot the world entirely. That shirt had always looked better on Jun-hee — like it had been waiting to live on her skin.
They ate on the floor, cross-legged, knees knocking, chopsticks clinking. Jun-hee fed Min-ah bite after bite like she was teasing, smiling with her whole face. Min-ah rolled her eyes but opened her mouth anyway, pretending her heart wasn't racing like it always did when Jun-hee looked at her like that — like she was the whole damn sun.
"You're gonna be late for your shift," Jun-hee murmured, brushing a noodle off her cheek.
"I could quit."
"And then we'd starve."
"You'd survive off charm. I'd die bitter and dramatic."
Jun-hee leaned forward until their foreheads touched. "I'd find a way to keep you fed."
"You already do."
They kissed like they had time.
Like the world wasn't cracking around the edges.
Like love could be enough.
°°°
When they went grocery shopping, Min-ha walked a few steps behind.
When the landlord came by, Min-ha introduced her as her cousin from Busan.
When coworkers asked why Jun-hee brought her lunch every Friday, Min-ah said, "She's just a friend."
Jun-hee never corrected her. Never flinched.
But when the door clicked shut and the outside world disappeared, it was different.
Jun-hee would sit on the couch, gently working balm into the bruises on Min-ah's knuckles from deliveries and warehouse ladders. And afterward, she'd kiss just below Min-ah's ear, voice quiet and certain in the dark.
