Mystic Radio

The Morning After Ep.18

While she's wiping down a window, I ask "Can we talk? About... Last night?".

She pauses her work before sighing. She drops the cloth onto a table and brings a chair up next to me. Her face is dusted pink, and I can feel my heartrate speed up.

She folds her hands in her lap, "Yes? MC? What, um, is it?".

I start, "So, about the kiss...".

"Do you regret it? I'm sorry if you felt pushed or weren't ready," she quickly speaks up, "I know you were the one that initiated it but I should have stopped you. You could just be overwhelmed by me dumping my emotions on you since you just got out of-"

"Jaehee!" I stop her. "Holy crap, calm down!".

"Sorry I... I just don't know what to do," she admits.

I take a deep breath, "No, I don't regret it. Do you?"

"I don't know..." she replies. "This... It isn't because of you!" she explains, "It's all just, a lot to take in and handle. But, I do know I like you...". Her face grows increasingly red, causing her to look to the floor.

I roll my chair over closer and tilt her chin up so she's looking right at me, "I like you too," I say, my heart racing, hands a bit unsteady from nervousness. I let go of her chin, but she doesn't look away. "Do... you want to see where this goes?" I ask, "What are we now?".

She pauses to consider my question. "I think that I would, um, like that rather much," she take's a deep breath, "I want to date. I haven't wanted to with anyone in a long time, and I don't want to let this feeling go.". She places her hand over her heart. "It's weird and confusing, but I like it.".

"Okay," I smile, unable to hide my excitement.

She said yes she said yes oh my gosh she said yes. I feel like a dumb teenager again with how much I'm letting my feelings affect me. But at least now, I actually have a chance. I have an opportunity, and I don't plan on ruining it.

.

.

Jaehee POV

.

I decide to try cooking dinner now that MC is back. Home cooked meals always taste better than take out, right? I decide to try and make some simple stir-fried chicken.

While I prepare the ingredients, my mind goes off on its own, and I suddenly become very conscious of my appearance and MC's presence on the couch. I straighten my back and focus more on not dropping the knife as I cut the chicken. It's been like this all day... Are feelings usually this distracting? Was I really like this back in college? I don't remember it being like this.

And now, not only am I living with the person I like, but now we're dating. I've never lived with the person I've liked. This is all new territory.

'Am I acting normal? Or should I act different? Maybe I should relax more... I'm starting to question if the way I do everything is completely wrong...'.

Kissing her... It was different than with a guy. Softer even. My face gets hot but quickly dies down as I distractedly cut my finger.

I flinch and drop the knife onto the counter. Noticing my finger is bleeding good bit, my face flushes red again but this time out of embarrassment.

"Are you okay?" MC asks, startled.

"Yeah," I say as I put pressure on it, "Just a little cut."

"Are you sure?" she asks. I nod as she gets up and stumbles to the bathroom. "This is why I usually cook, you know," she says, bandage in her hand.

"I could have gotten one. You didn't have to-"

She shifts her weight to her right leg, her good leg, and hands me the bandage with her left hand.

"I know," she says with a soft voice, "but you needed one. I just wish I didn't have these things.". She looks down at her crutches and cast.

"I'm so sorry MC, If I had just-"

"Nope!" she silences me with her finger. "It isn't your fault. I should have gotten that old doom box checked out months ago.".

I chuckle, wrapping the bandage onto my finger. "So it's called 'the old doom box' now, huh?"

"After that stunt it pulled? I couldn't hope to find a better name!" she jokes.

She stays in the kitchen as I cook and points out ways I could do things differently, and reminds me to focus when I'm cutting the garlic.

While we wait for the chicken to fry, she asks "Does your finger still hurt?"

"A little bit, why? I ask.

She hesitates at first, grabbing my hand with her free one. She then gains confidence, and looks me right in the eye, kissing the bandaged finger without blinking.

"We're dating now, right?" she asks, mostly wanting reassurance. She lowers my hand but still keeping it clasped in hers.

My entire body heats up and I'm sure even my ears are red. I cover my eyes with my hand, unable to look at her. 'Too hot, too hot.'. A sqeal noise escapes from my mouth and she laughs gently. It starts sinking in. We are dating! Me! And MC! I feel like such a child for getting thrown off so much by such a simple gesture. The fact she is also a woman makes it an even crazier idea.

"Y-Yeah," I manage.

Despite it's craziness, I can't help but get the feeling this is the beginning of something beautiful. I find myself smiling the rest of the night as MC supervises my cooking, talking about our hopes and dreams as the rest of the world seems to melt away...

.

.

.Chapter 18. End.

A/N: TL;DR I was taking a break when this was originally posted on fanfiction.net

The reason was a mix of holidays, personal/family matters, and frankly burnout. I had been stressing trying to figure out where I'm going with this story as well as trying to update frequently. Because of this, working on this fic has been less enjoyable. For the time being I'm going to take a step back and re-evaluate the plot and how I want to develop the story now that Jaehee and MC are dating. Hopefully this means better quality in chapters!

I hope you stick with the series till I can update again! Make sure to subscribe to the series so you know when I return.

Don't worry! The series isn't over yet. But now, there's going to be a lot more fluff. Think of it as a reward for making this far (I just realized how high the word count is...) So thank you for reading, and I hope you'll stick with the story through the last phase. ~ Des

*Yep, Jacob and Emma are not in this universe (this is sort of a hint at a possible future series) but it's still fun to cameo them! You can read more about their universe in my oneshot Halloween fic.

.

The spaceship's sensors have caught the RFA members meaningless thoughts...

Jaehee: "Dating... Dating! What a crazy idea."

MC: "I hope this doesn't turn out to be a dream and I just haven't woken up."

Thank you for reading this chapter of Mystic Radio! If you liked it, make sure to leave a like and subscribe so you know when the next update is! Now, go enjoy some Honey Buddha chips, and I'll see you next chapter, and sorry for the inconvenient wait!~Des