Sooyoung's lost count of the months she's been hanging around with her. They've grown as best friends, to the point where they've already been to each other's houses, and she even met Jiwoo's family.
Yeah, that part still hasn't sunk in her mind to this day.
She even remembers Jiwoo's initial reaction to entering her house.
"You only have a couch." She points at it, looking at Sooyoung, as if she was expecting some sort of explanation.
"Yeah...? Is there anything wrong with that?" She has no clue on what this woman is trying to imply.
"Not even a TELEVISION?"
"I have a laptop. I can watch the news there."
"That's different! A TV isn't only for news!" Jiwoo immediately shakes Sooyoung's shoulders, moving her hands to cup the tallers face.
"I don't- I'm not into shows, Jiwoo!"
Jiwoo's so focused on her lack of furniture and fun that she doesn't notice how the tips of Sooyoung's ears are turning red.
She knows it's not her business to question other people's lives but Sooyoung is different. She doesn't even have any decorations on her walls, it even looked like she just moved in here despite the years she had already stayed in this house.
"How do you even live here..." Jiwoo pouts, plopping herself onto the couch, "I bet you took the word 'bedroom' literally and only have a bed sitting there."
"Why are you so pressed over my living conditions anyway?" She giggles, finding her so odd.
"So I'm right?!" Jiwoo frowns even more.
"Answer me first!" Sooyoung laughs at her face.
(Jiwoo isn't wrong. Sooyoung's bedroom indeed only has a closet and a bed sitting there.)
"It's so sad to see you like this, having to wake up in a cold, empty room, and it's like you don't even care, like you're just living for the purpose of staying alive...aren't you sad here? always alone?"
Sooyoung's teasing smile turns into one of fondness, she softly taps Jiwoo's cheek, the girl quickly looking back at her.
"Always alone indeed, but I'm never lonely."
Sooyoung didn't really care about anything, but it was never mentioned that she didn't care about anyone .
She's human, being human means you have emotions.
Being too caught up in living the same life wondering about how others live better than her, she forgets about herself. Sooyoung forgets that she's human, that she cares. She forgets that she's capable of understanding everyone else despite the differences in their lives. She forgets that she can change too, that she can slowly adapt to new things.
She never felt lonely, and someone in the name of Jiwoo made her realize this, she always made her Saturdays different. Now, she's one step closer to making her entire life change.
Yet this still doesn't change the fact that Sooyoung was completely in fear.
They both knew it, they both understood each other without having to say it, but none of them was even trying to make a move.
Sooyoung doesn't want them to stay like this, but she also doesn't want to hurt her either.
"Well then, what do you say about helping me re-decorate my house?" She asks, and Jiwoo panics as she turns her head to look at her.
"No! I mean- you don't have to change anything if you're comfortable living like this. It's just that I'm not used to it and it's so different from my house and-"
"You are going with me to turn my house into a home." Sooyoung completely interrupts Jiwoo and quickly, yet gently, takes her hand and leads her to her car.
"Sooyoung, aren't you doing this so suddenly?" Jiwoo questions her every move but still willingly sits in the passenger's seat herself.
"Yeah, and? Besides, I too, think my interior needs a makeover." Sooyoung's already driving.
"That's not what I meant! How are you gonna buy it all?"
She softly brakes the car on the side of the street.
"You little- I'm not doing all of that in one day! I'm obviously gonna plan it out first, and with that, I'm gonna need your help."
"I'm just an artist, not an interior designer!" Jiwoo exclaims, though the smile on her face still remains.
"As if I'm an interior designer myself!" Sooyoung chuckles.
"I'm too broke to hire a professional, and it's more fun this way, I want to do this with you."
When Jiwoo finally can't retaliate, Sooyoung shifts the gear to drive again.
"Alright then, BUT if I destroy something in your house, that's not gonna be my problem anymore!"
"Don't even try." Sooyoung jokingly glares at her and notices Jiwoo blushing as she laughs.
The woman's thoughts get interrupted when she feels the subject of her memories slightly shift on top of her.
No matter how much Sooyoung tried to convince her to go back home, the girl still insisted on staying with her, wanting to help Sooyoung assemble two cabinets she bought, as well as to apply the newly bought wallpaper on her walls.
It took them 5 hours with little breaks in between to do all of the work, and as soon as they finished, Jiwoo immediately jumped into her arms in complete exhaustion. They ended up sitting down on her couch for a while, and the older woman didn't realize that Jiwoo had already fallen asleep.
Now, they were both lying down on the same couch, with her on top of Sooyoung, clinging to her like a koala, and her head resting on the taller's chest.
Jiwoo shifts to stretch her legs a bit, then Sooyoung feels her freeze.
"Don't panic, it's just me." She giggles.
"Mhm..." Jiwoo hums, her voice scratchy from just waking up.
She finally lifts her head off from Sooyoung's chest, her eyes still droopy, slowly blinking them to see her clearly.
"I'll be going home now, sorry for keeping you awake. I must've been heavy." Jiwoo rubs Sooyoung's arm in gratitude.
"It's fine, but I think you should stay, Jiwoo. It's 2am." She replies, fixing the girl's bangs.
Jiwoo's sleepiness suddenly disappears, her eyes widening in shock.
"Oh my god, Sooyoung. You really didn't even think of waking me up?! My family probably thinks I've been kidnapped or-"
"Kidnapped? Calm down! I already texted your dad that you're still here with me. I even sent him a picture of you sleeping with your mouth open."
"Why would you do that?!" She whines, and the other snorts.
"Proof for your family, a reaction meme for myself." Her tone is mischievous, and Jiwoo playfully smacks her shoulder.
"Get up, I'll start the car now." She tries to lift Jiwoo off her but the girl only pushes them back down.
"And where are you going at this hour?"
"I thought you said you wanted to go home- ow!"
Jiwoo nuzzles into her neck, her head bumping a little too hard into Sooyoung's chin.
"I'm staying, idiot. Sorry for this..." She quickly glances to see where she hit her, kissing her chin in apology. This time, she finally notices Sooyoung's ears turning red.
"Does your head not hurt?" Sooyoung is successful in prying the attention off her, and Jiwoo shakes her head.
"Well then, I guess it makes sense that you're...hard-headed."
Complete silence envelops the thin air.
"God, that was so corny. You're lame." Jiwoo playfully rolls her eyes, nuzzling back into the crook of Sooyoung's neck to hide her grin. She is not letting that horrible joke get to her at all.
"I can practically feel your smile on my neck."
"No." Jiwoo replies, still smiling
—————————————————————
Sooyoung is lying on her bed, staring blankly through the window. She had nothing to do on a Sunday. Her doorbell rings, and she quickly gets up to go downstairs, not even bothering to fix herself, wondering who would be visiting her. She isn't expecting Jiwoo, since the girl said she had a painting she was working on.
She opens her door to see someone she did not expect to see.
"Hi!"
Sooyoung blinks once, twice, and it's really her. The owner of the ice hockey varsity jacket her ex wore years ago is standing on her front porch.
"Jin..." She couldn't even finish her statement, so many questions were clouding her entire brain.
"...soul." The ice hockey player completes it for her.
Sooyoung already knew what Jinsoul looked like, due to the athlete's hockey matches always being broadcasted in sports channels. They studied in the same school, talked a few times, had a few projects where they had to work together, but were never really considered as close. The Jinsoul now drastically changed. She grew taller, even taller than Sooyoung and it shocks her since the woman used to be a few inches shorter than her, which also explains why she had to do a double take to convince herself that it was her fellow schoolmate herself. She even seemed paler, and Sooyoung guessed that it was probably from staying indoors a lot for practice.
'Wait- what is she even doing in front of my house?'
Sooyoung remembers, she was on her way out of the building, walking home when she caught a glimpse of Jinsoul in one of the hockey games on the television stores of the mall she worked at. That game was last week, and it was in the United States.
"W-why are you here? How- didn't you just finish a match?"
Sooyoung was already aware that Jinsoul knew where she lived, they both had to work together in a math project back then while Sooyoung was already moving out of her apartment to her home now, but that was already years ago.
"Our division is finished with the first round of playoffs, so I'm on vacation for a week now! I arrived at the airport yesterday and I wanted to come by to say hi to my friends. It's been a while since I last visited my hometown, and I passed by the subdivision and wondered if you still lived here, which obviously answers my question! So I decided to give boxes of donuts as gifts, and you're included!"
Right, this city is Jinsoul's hometown.
"O-oh wow, that's nice of you, really." Jinsoul was always a kind person, Sooyoung considered her too kind for a face that looked so intimidating. She was unlike some of her former school teammates who were extremely cocky and full of themselves. It obviously makes sense almost everyone in university fell for her charms, even Ju-
"Hey, Sooyoung? The donuts..." She doesn't notice how Jinsoul was already reaching the box out to her waiting for her to carry it.
"Oh right, right. You should come in, you seem exhausted from what you're doing."
Jinsoul hesitates for a while, but ends up entering Sooyoung's home because she's correct. She was definitely worn-out from giving out boxes of donuts like a delivery woman, but that didn't matter because at least she saw her friends smile.
Sooyoung prepares her a cup of tea and after multiple tries, successfully convinces Jinsoul to eat one of the donuts the athlete herself gifted. She seemed really hungry, you can't blame her.
They're both catching up on their lives, Sooyoung congratulating Jinsoul for winning the said game she played in just a week ago, Jinsoul asking about her basketball career, finding out that she had already quit immediately after graduating.
"Why though? You were a star player in the school."
" Were , Jinsoul. Besides, I only got to study there because of the scholarship it gave me, it isn't really my dream. Maybe I was just really good at it."
"You were great at it. A kind of great that would've gotten you to be drafted in the WNBA." Jinsoul enunciates.
"I guess you could call it that. But really, it wasn't something I envisioned myself doing 'til I turned 40 or something." Sooyoung chuckles.
To be completely honest, Sooyoung never even had a dream of what she wanted her career to be. Her path in life was unpredictable, and to this day, it still is.
"I see."
"How are you and Jungeun by the way?" Sooyoung takes up all her inner courage to ask that question, already expecting the look of surprise on Jinsoul's face.
"Wow, uh-," Jinsoul coughs, "We're still the same." She relaxes and the smile comes back to her face again, "She's doing really well."
"That's nice." Sooyoung was really glad to know that Jungeun was doing great, she deserved Jinsoul, and Jinsoul deserved her.
"How about you? Anyone stealing your heart lately?" The athlete swiftly shifts the topic to Sooyoung, and teases through wiggling eyebrows.
She laughs, "No. I'm too busy for that." She sips her coffee to avoid more conversation.
"Your wall over there says otherwise." Jinsoul points her head to the metal grid rack behind Sooyoung, standing up to take a closer look.
"Wha- hey, don't- mind that..." Despite her words, Sooyoung makes zero effort to block Jinsoul off.
"You're even more suspicious trying to hide it." Jinsoul points out, narrowing her eyes.
"She gave it to me as a friendship gift."
By the look on Jinsoul's face, she was nowhere even near half-convinced.
"These polaroids are filled with only the BOTH of you, Sooyoung. And to mention the fact there are numerous hearts and lip stickers pasted here-"
"I swear, we're not what you think you are."
"But do you like her?" She jokingly smirks, but it seems that Sooyoung was too seriously invested in the question to notice.
She opens and closes her mouth like a fish, unable to answer. She was somewhat glitching, and Jinsoul giggled.
"Relax! I was joking, you don't have to answer that. You're taking this too seriously, and your ears are red." If Jinsoul can't get the answer from Sooyoung's mouth, she gets them from her ears.
And Sooyoung hates it. They always expose her when she forces herself to stay quiet. Everyone of her former schoolmates knew about this, so it's pretty obvious that Jinsoul was aware of it as well.
Jinsoul slightly adjusts one of the tilted pictures on the rack, "If I were you, I'd make a move before it's too late."
'I wish I could.' She thinks.
"I can't do that, even as much as I wanted to." Sooyoung bittersweetly chuckles, scratching her nape, confessing in the end.
"Why not? She obviously likes you back." Jinsoul points to one polaroid where Jiwoo was kissing Sooyoung's cheek.
"Yeah right, such really close friends." Jinsoul jests once more, and Sooyoung laughs but it quickly fades this time.
"Don't tell me...Sooyoung!" After a short pause, Jinsoul's smile fades, turning into sadness.
"What?" Sooyoung questions, yet absolutely knows what she's talking about.
"You won't hurt her, don't overthink. You aren't the person from 3 years ago anymore. Don't be afraid to try again."
How would anyone even know that she won't make the same mistake again? Even Sooyoung herself is unsure, and Jinsoul? Her ex's girlfriend? How is she supposed to believe her?
"I don't- I can't, hurt her. You know me, Jinsoul. I'm not letting that happen again, especially to Jiwoo."
"Then don't hurt her. Standing still would torture you more than trying to change. How are you going to achieve that when you always choose to hide?"
Jinsoul gives her a reassuring smile, pats her shoulder, then makes her way back to the table to take a seat and finish her donut.
Sooyoung takes a last look at the metal rack filled with their polaroids before following Jinsoul.
'Maybe she's right.'
—————————————————————
Standing on the Kims' veranda in the late afternoon, she hastily loosens the tied strings on her hoodie that were somehow suffocating her all of a sudden when she was just alright a couple of hours ago before arriving at the house. She thinks it's just her unnecessary overthinking making her act like this.
Patiently waiting for Jiwoo to come out of the door, what visits her is Jiwoo's younger brother instead, Jongho. He's looking all comfortable in his pajamas, as if he had just woken up from a nap minutes ago.
"Hey, miss Sooyoung. It seems like this little hang out with my older sister is going to be casual?" He eyes her hoodie and points out the sweatpants she's wearing.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to wear something formal to the arcade." They both laugh, although Sooyoung's smile softly disappears due to nervousness. Jiwoo's brother notices this, and he playfully slaps her arm.
"Hey! You shouldn't be scared, even if she looks like it, my sister doesn't bite at all! I'm sure she'll love your company." He tries to cheer her up, Sooyoung smiles back.
The door opened once again and Jiwoo finally arrived, wearing a simple white shirt with gray sweatpants, carrying a jacket on her shoulders.
And of course, Jiwoo never forgets to bring her favorite strawberry tote bag.
"You both look like you're going out for a jog." A female voice is heard through the same door, then a man speaks in reply, "...or a gym." Jiwoo's parents were standing by its frames.
"Now go and shoo away before the malls close on you." Jiwoo's father jokingly swats his hands, all of them laughing in unison. The two girls bid their goodbyes to Jiwoo's family as they make their way to Sooyoung's vehicle.
"You both, have a great time!" Her mother says.
"Jiwoo, don't annoy miss Sooyoung too much or she'll ditch you within the first ten minutes!" Jongho shouts, earning a light smack on the head from their mother. Jiwoo playfully gestures a fist at him as she rolls up the window.
The car finally moves, and Jiwoo turns to look at Sooyoung,
"Now where are you taking me because I've been trying to figure out why we're dressed like this, but I unfortunately cannot think of an answer." She points at Sooyoung accusingly in a playful manner. Sooyoung giggles and takes Jiwoo's hand to interlace their fingers, resting them on the car's center console.
" I will be taking you to the arcade, and we will do those tournaments that you have been rambling about to me in the park since last week."
Jiwoo squeals in excitement, squeezing Sooyoung's hand tighter, "Oh my god Sooyoungie, you're the best!" Sooyoung smiles at her in adoration.
They're braked on a red stoplight, the both of them speaking at the same time,
"Winner gets to eat dinner for free."
"Whoever loses must pay for dinner then!"
The two laugh after seconds of staring at each other in silence, Jiwoo finding the whole coincidence hilarious, while Sooyoung's laughing more on the fact how contagious the girl's laugh sounds.
—————————————————————
The date was a mess.
In a good way, though.
The two were so incredibly competitive that it was almost too intense to be considered as a date. They both had their own ways to stay focused on the games, with Sooyoung staying silent and determined to win, while Jiwoo kept screaming and providing herself pep talk because the other woman was absolutely beating her ass in arcade hoops.
Sooyoung still ends up paying for dinner. Their scores were 12-13, Jiwoo won the last game, which was air hockey. She's more of an arcade addict than Sooyoung after all, and the older woman isn't bothered in the slightest bit.
She's staring at Jiwoo angrily munching her burger and shoving a huge bunch of fries into her already food-filled mouth.
"You look pissed." Sooyoung giggles when Jiwoo's fully scrunched eyebrows manage to frown even deeper.
"Because I just realized that you lost the game on purpose." Jiwoo speaks, taking a sip of her cola.
"What? Why would I do that?" Sooyoung fails to act like she's shocked, ending up laughing while fully knowing that she did lose to Jiwoo on purpose, her statement coming off as comedically sarcastic instead.
(Sooyoung let Jiwoo win air hockey by 'accidentally' hitting the puck into her own goal.)
"See! You're underestimating my skills! You lack sportsmanship! This is completely ironic of you." Jiwoo pouts, playfully poking her long nails on Sooyoung's rested palm across the table.
"At least you got dinner for free!" Sooyoung bites back, catching one of Jiwoo's fingers poking her and grabbing them to hold her hand.
Jiwoo rolls her eyes, "You have a point."
They continue to stay like this, Sooyoung watching Jiwoo finish her meal since she was already done with hers. The girl was eating with one hand since the other was busy holding onto Sooyoungs'.
She still cannot fathom the fact that she asked her out on a date. It was just a normal Saturday, in their usual spot. Jiwoo was drawing digitally this time, and Sooyoung was sitting down, physically looking in peace, while her brain was malfunctioning as she internally attempted to muster up her courage to talk to Jiwoo beside her.
"Can I take you out...on a date?"
Jiwoo immediately looks at her, Sooyoung dared not to look back. She notices her fingers nervously fiddling with each other, and her eyes roam to the taller's ears, burning red. Jiwoo, who was coloring her drawing, now frees the stylus pen from her grip to gently hold Sooyoung's hands.
Sooyoung calms down slightly. She managed to look at her, yet her eyes were roaming around elsewhere, desperately trying to avoid Jiwoo's gaze. Jiwoo notices and laughs as she leans on Sooyoung's shoulder to avoid making her panic even more, tightening the hold on her hands,
"Please do. I like you a lot."
Sooyoung's glad Jiwoo couldn't see her face right now, as she was tightly shutting her eyes, stopping herself from freaking out too much,
"I like you too."
She thinks she's stupid for that, asking her out on a date technically meant that she just confessed to Jiwoo, but nevertheless, saying it directly felt like she was finally free from hiding in the corner all the time.
Sooyoung mentally thanks Jinsoul for snapping her senses out of her hazy mind.
She feels Jiwoo lightly tugging her hand, indicating that the girl has already finished eating. They both decided to call it a day, too tired from all of the arcade games they've played.
When Sooyoung parks in front of Jiwoo's gate, she only notices how the girl was sleeping soundly, her head tilted in an uncomfortable position. Sooyoung opens the passenger seat, leaning down to wake her up.
"Jiwoo, Jiwoo. Kim Jiwoo."
The said name shuffles around, turning her head away. She wanted to sleep more.
"Jiwoo Kim, we're here." Sooyoung giggles as Jiwoo finally sits up, aggressively shaking her head to get rid of the sleepiness. She coughs dryly.
"Thank you for today, Sooyoung. It's really nice having fun with you."
"Thank you for accepting me, Jiwoo."
"Our next date should be in the amusement park. Let's see who survives the rollercoaster."
"I don't think I would enjoy that." Sooyoung grimaces at the thought of the ride, she hates roller coasters with all her heart.
Jiwoo laughs, clinging to her arm as they walk to her front door, and she sees her father come out of it, smiling brightly.
"Jiwooming, looks like you spent too much energy, huh?" They all giggle, Jiwoo letting go of Sooyoung's arm to embrace her dad. The others were probably asleep by now. Jiwoo waves goodbye to Sooyoung, entering the home and going up the stairs to rest.
"Thank you for taking care of my daughter, Sooyoung." Her dad smiles, Sooyoung bowing in gratitude. The two talk more about the date earlier, Jiwoo's father laughing when she expresses her shock at how insanely competitive his daughter was. After a good 10 minutes, Jiwoo's dad eventually decides that Sooyoung should rest too.
"Thank you for trusting me, sir. I'll be going home now, have a good night."
The father greets her goodbye in return, only going back inside the house once Sooyoung gets in her car. She was about to shift the gear on drive mode, but a movement on her left side caused her to look back in curiosity.
It was Jiwoo opening their front door and quickly walking to her car, already wearing her pajamas. Sooyoung immediately gets out of her vehicle, meeting Jiwoo's direction.
The shorter girl pulls her waist and embraces her tightly, looking up to speak, "I saw that you were still here talking to my dad when I looked out the window so..."
"You missed me already?" Sooyoung teases and Jiwoo scoffs, earning a soft slap on her back, but the obvious tint of pink on Jiwoo's cheeks contrasts her.
They stayed like that for a while, Jiwoo's arms wrapped around Sooyoung's torso, while Sooyoung's hands were gently cradling her cheeks, staring at each other in silence. It felt so comfortable.
Jiwoo sees Sooyoung lower her head, her face getting closer and closer, so she shuts her eyes, and feels Sooyoung's lips gently touch her bare forehead, her bangs swept to the side after quickly washing her face just to see Sooyoung again.
"You should really go and sleep now, Jiwoo. It's getting late." Sooyoung reaches for Jiwoo's hands that were hugging her, attempting to remove her grip.
"Wait! You have something on your face." Jiwoo holds her back, removing one of her arms around Sooyoung's waist to use her hand and remove whatever was on her cheek.
"What is it?" Sooyoung asks.
"Nothing." Jiwoo giggles.
"Huh-"
Jiwoo's hands on her cheek slide past her, Sooyoung feels the girl's fingers wrap around the back of her neck, swiftly pulling her in for a deep kiss, and who was Sooyoung to stop her?
The both of them laugh once they finally pull away.
"You're absolutely witty for that." She peppers gentle kisses all over Jiwoo's cheeks, the girl giggling in happiness as she holds her closer.
"I don't think we need a second date anymore..." Jiwoo blushes, looking everywhere at the street but Sooyoung.
"You just bravely stole a kiss from me and now you can't even look straight into my eyes?" The older one mocks her and Jiwoo hides herself in the crook of Sooyoung's neck.
"Be my girlfriend?" Sooyoung finally asks, resting her chin atop Jiwoo's head.
"So I kissed you for what?!" Jiwoo whines, softly punching Sooyoung's sides, the both of them laughing.
"Yes of course..." She still answers, and Sooyoung thinks she just wore the biggest smile in her entire life.
Little did the two lovebirds know, Jiwoo's entire family was watching them from afar through their window, her brother quietly punching his fists in the air in celebration, while her father laughed as he comforted his wife filled with tears of joy.
That day, Sooyoung drives home with a lovesick smile plastered on her face.
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A/N:
future updates and stories will be posted on my twitter!
I hope you all loved this chapter :DD