Jennie doesn't notice she's curling her fingers until Kuma makes an unhappy noise. Jennie apologizes and pats his head, trying to calm down.
Y/n knocks on her open bedroom door a moment later, wearing Jennie's clothes. A pair of sweat pants and a white shirt. Both look a little bit snall on her because Y/n is taller than her.
"I put my clothes on the hanger," Y/n quietly says. "They're really wet."
Jennie nods her head. "I know, Y/n."
Y/n gulps, looking lost, unable to meet Jennie's eyes.
A bolt of lightning paints the world around them blue for a few seconds, and suddenly the lights go out.
Great. Electricity's gone, too.
This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?
"Come here," Jennie says, her chest aching at how small Y/n looks, watching the older girl walk closer and sit down on the edge of the mattress, her head lowered, hands twisted together on her lap. It's hard to see her in this light, but it's sill early in the evening so it's not completely dark outside yet. "Are you okay?"
Y/n nods her head. "It's nothing."
"Your ribs-"
"I said it's nothing."
Jennie shuts her mouth and Y/n squeezes her eyes shut like she's in pain, cursing under her breath before she finally lifts her head and meets Jennie's gaze. Her eyes are red rimmed. "Your nose stopped bleeding."
Y/n just stares at her. "Jennie."
Jennie shuffles closer until she can feel Y/n's body heat, lifts her hand and touches the bruise on Y/n's cheek. "I don't know where grandma keeps her first-aid stuff."
A shuddering sigh leaves Y/n's lips, her hand coming up to grip Jennie's wrist, pulling it away from her face, and before Jennie can feel hurt at the rejection, Y/n's trembling fingers push between her own, holding on so tightly Jennie feels it like a grip around her heart.
"How long-" Jennie decides to break the silence after a minute. "How long have Joohyun and Seulgi been together?"
"Three years," Y/n answers, sniffling. "They've been best friends since childhood, though."
"Y/n, how can you be sure that guy won't tell anyone?"
Y/n tenses up next to her, her grip on Jennie's hand slacking until Jennie tightens her hold on her and feels Y/n squeeze back gently.
She doesn't speak for a while, and Jennie gives her that time, gently patting Kuma whenever the dog whines at every crack of thunder.
"He used to be my dad's business partner," Y/n finally says.
Jennie's head snaps up at that; she knows how much of a touchy subject her father is to Y/n, and she didn't expect the older girl to bring the man up willingly.
"They opened up that car repair shop together. It was, like, seven years ago." Y/n's tongue darts out to wet her lips, her nose twitching when the muscle runs over the cut on her bottom lip. "Things weren't going well, you know that by now. There was this old man who'd been running his own car repair service for years prior, so he had a bunch of loyal customers. Kwangsun and my dad they-" Y/n stops and shakes her head, her eyes fluttering closed and Jennie curses out all those people that did this to her. No one this young should be as burdened as Y/n is. "They committed arson. Burned down that poor man's entire store. Made it look like a pressurized cylinder exploded inside."
"Fucking cowards," Jennie mutters, snapping her mouth shut when Y/n glances at her. "Sorry."
Y/n smiles. "You're right. That's all they are."
Jennie smiles back weakly, pulling Y/n's hand into her lap to rub her thumb over Y/n's knuckles. She feels her heart flutter when she looks up and finds Y/n staring at her with a fond look in her eyes. "What happened, then?"
"The police around here don't do shit, so they closed the case there. I used to help out at my dad's shop when he was still around. I was bored, so I went through some of our CCTV footage. I saw them entering the shop the night of the fire, wearing masks, with gasoline cans in their hands. I never told anyone, because I- I should've told the police, but I couldn't-" Y/n's eyebrows knit together and Jennie squeezes her hand in silent comfort.
"It's okay." Jennie gulps and wants nothing more than to hug the girl.
"My dad was already dealing with a bunch of crap. My mom was crying every night. I didn't want to make things worse. I also didn't want to drag Joohyun into this. Her family was dependant on Kwangsun's money back then. So I kept my mouth shut, until now. Kwangsun will go to jail if I hand over that footage, he knows that. If he tells anyone, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I don't care what happens to my dad. He can die for all I care-"
"Y/n, you don't mean that-"
"I do!" Y/n snaps at her, tugging her hand out of Jennie's hold. "Don't you fucking dare tell me it's wrong for me to say that! He was a terrible person and an even worse father."
Jennie closes her eyes and takes a calming breath, her palm feeling cold where Y/n's own was resting just a moment ago. She knows Y/n's bursts of anger aren't directed at her, but see, she has this stupid problem where she just wants to cry whenever she gets yelled at.
It took Roseanne some getting used back when Lisa and her first started dating. She'd snap at Jennie for small things; when Jennie kept letting her food plates sit around for days, when Jennie didn't clean up after herself in general, when Jennie listened to her music too loud, when Jennie forgot to replace the milk in the fridge.
And it always ended with Jennie tearing up and Roseanne looking absolutely crestfallen until Lisa pulled her girlfriend aside one day and told her to "Stop fucking yelling at my best friend!"
Roseanne hasn't really raised her voice at Jennie ever since, and even if it happens again, the younger girl will just pull Jennie into a hug and mutter under her breath how Jennie is like a toddler stuck in a grown woman's body.
So, Jennie sucks her tears up and swallows past the lump in her throat. Y/n didn't yell at her because she's upset with her; she's just upset with the whole situation.
But there are still tears in Jennie's eyes and she feels really damn stupid when she fails to hold them back.
Y/n grits her teeth together before she shakes her head again, not looking at Jennie. Lightning strikes outside, painting Y/n's face blue for a second before it's shadowed by darkness again. When Y/n glances at her, Jennie wants to laugh at the immediate change happening on the older girl's face.
The anger immediately melts away and Y/n's lips droop when her eyes take in Jennie's own watery ones. "Jennie- Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice. Jennie-"
"It's okay," Jennie interrupts her, giving her a bright smile. "I swear! I'm okay. I always cry about stupid things, so don't worry."
"I shouldn't have yelled at you," Y/n mumbles and turns to face her properly. She reaches for Jennie's hand, pulls it up to her lips and presses a kiss against her knuckles. The whole action takes Jennie by such surprise she nearly chokes on her breath and Y/n blushes a tiny bit after realizing what she just did. "Was that too much?"
Jennie's heart seriously threatens to burst in her chest. The only thing that is too much is Y/n, her pretty smile, her selflessness, her cute nose scrunch, her intriguing eyes, the way she makes Jennie feel all over. "No! No, that was- I mean. Uhm. Good. Okay. Yeah, that."
Y/n smiles. It reaches her eyes despite the exhaustion creeping into her features. "So cute."
"Please don't."
"Don't what?"
"Stop saying those things if you don't want me to pass out."
Y/n's smile only widens, and they stare at each other like that, with the thunderstorm rattling against the windows outside and Kuma practically draped all over their laps at this point, trying to hide from the thunder and lightning.
"I'll stop," Y/n says. "Don't want you passing out."
"Good." Jennie clears her throat, suddenly glad about the lack of light inside the room. It's easier to hide the stupid flush of her cheeks that way. "Are you okay, though? Do you think we should get your ribs checked at the hospital?"
"It's okay," Y/n quickly says. "It's not that bad."
"He punched you really bad," Jennie mutters. "Fucking asshole."
Y/n shakes her head. "Don't talk about him. I still want to rip him a new one for what he did to Joohyun."
Jennie thinks about her, wants nothing more to go and check up on her, but she knows she's with Seulgi so she should be fine. And anyway, she couldn't just waltz into her home, being a girl, a stranger from the city.
"Are you hungry?" Jennie asks, trying to change the subject, even though she still has so many questions. "I can warm you up some leftovers, or cook something, but I'm not really good. Grandma told me to stay away from the kitchen cause I burned some rice the other night and I- "
"Jennie," Y/n interrupts, her eyes so gentle Jennie feels a bit breathless. "I'm not hungry."
"Okay," Jennie dumbly says.
"Can you... distract me?" Y/n licks her lips and Jennie needs her to stop doing that because it makes her want to do things that aren't appropriate right now, given their situation. "Can you tell me about yourself?"
Jennie tilts her head. "About me?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Y/n shrugs, her eyes drifting down to their hands, her thumb rubbing over the patch of skin between Jennie's index finger and thumb. "I don't really know much about you."
"You want to know more about me?" Jennie asks, her voice wavering a little bit. She doesn't know why the thought scares her so much.
If this thing they have is really nothing more than an experiment to Y/n, a fleeting summer romance they will forget about once Jennie leaves the village, Y/n shouldn't really care about getting to know her better, right?
She shouldn't care about anything but getting to kiss Jennie and make out when they have enough time.
"Uh, yeah," Y/n mumbles, clearing her throat. "It's okay if you don't want to. I get it."
"No," Jennie says. "No, I want to."
Y/n gives her a careful look, the dimmed hope in her eyes making Jennie's heart flutter behind her ribs. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Jennie answers, suddenly feeling like she's agreeing to more than just opening up about herself to Y/n.
She doesn't mind at all even though she knows she should. This is just heartbreak waiting to happen, exactly like her best friend told her.
Lisa will so whoop her ass when she gets back.
"What do you want to know?"
Y/n tilts her head, leaning back on her palms. "What's your favorite color?"
"Black."
"You didn't even need to think?"
"Nope." Jennie grins at her. "Blafk all the way."
"I don't like black."
"What's wrong with black?"
"It's... just not what I really like."
"Why?" Jennie pouts and Y/n chuckles, wincing when it jostles her ribs, and Jennie wants to do something, like get her painkillers but she feels like the older girl really wouldn't appreciate her concern. "I happen to look really good in Black, you know."
"Yeah, but you'd look good in any color so that statement's invalid."
Jennie blushes, Y/n smiles at her, and Jennie feels like she's in love.
Well, fuck me.
"Next question."
"Favorite movie?"
"Ratatouille."
"Really?"
"Do you know Ratatouille?"
"Yes," Y/n scoffs. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
"Because you didn't know fucking Twilight?"
"Yes," Y/n deadpans. "Because it's a shitty fucking movie."
"Jesus," Jennie mutters. "Okay, next question."
"Favorite song."
"La vie en rose." Jennie pronounces that perfectly, thank you very much.
Y/n raises her eyebrows. "Is it french?"
"Nah, just that one sentence," Jennie answers. "I mean, I'm pretty sure the original version is in french?"
Y/n hums and is about to speak again when she's interrupted by Jennie yawning until her eyes water. "You okay there?" The older asks, eyes sparkling with amusement and warmth.
Jennie nods her head and rubs at her eyes. "Didn't have my daily afternoon nap. Clearly I'm a five year old that can't get through a day without her naps."
"Right, sorry," Y/n mumbles and before Jennie can tell her that she doesn't need to apologize, Y/n places her palm on Jennie's chest and gently pushes her to lie down on the bed.
"Y/n, wait-"
"You need a nap," Y/n says, moving slowly as to not jostle her sore limbs when she lies down next to Jennie on top of the sheets. Kuma huffs because he has to move again and ends up lying down on top of their feet at the bottom of the mattress.
"I don't want to spend the time we have left sleeping," Jennie tries to reason no matter how welcoming the idea of a nap sounds right now. With Y/n's warmth next to her, the sound of raindrops and the now distant thunder grasping at her arm and trying to pull her into a deep, sound sleep.
Y/n's expression falters a bit at that. They both know their time's limited but Y/n's probably been avoiding the issue as much as Jennie has. "I know. But I'd rather be with you while you sleep than have you be delirious from exhaustion when we're together."
"I'm sorry." Jennie sighs and shuffles a bit closer, until their knees brush. "Ask me more questions."
"Alright," Y/n quietly says, her cheek resting on her bent arm, eyes gazing into Jennie's. "What did you want to become when you were a kid?"
"A runner. You know, like Usain Bolt? I remember seeing him on TV once as a kid. I wanted to run just as fast as him."
Y/n smiles and okay, Jennie seriously can't handle the sight of it. Y/n's smile is so beautiful Jennie wants to cry a bit, instead she blushes like the idiot she is, and Y/n's smile grows even more, like she knows exactly what she's doing to Jennie. "Why didn't you become one, then?"
"I tried out for the team at my school when I was nine," Jennie explains. "I didn't get in."
Y/n laughs at that but tries to stop when Jennie glares at her. "I'm sorry. It's just- Okay, sorry. It's not funny. Why didn't you just try again?"
"I did." Jennie frowns when she remembers her nine year old self, coming back home and crying in her mothers' arms because her name wasn't on the list of the sport's team. "I tried three more times until they literally banned me from trying out again."
"That's really sad," Y/n mumbles even though she still looks mildly amused by the whole thing. "I'm sorry you didn't make it."
"I bet you are," Jennie huffs, smiling up at the older girl sleepily. Everything is so calm and warm, the only traces of what happened before being the ugly bruise on Y/n's cheek and her split lip. Jennie's mind drifts to Joohyun again, and she feels horrible for being here and acting like everything's okay, but she feels like it's what Y/n needs.
Y/n eventually moves her arm until it's draped over Jennie's waist. She doesn't pull her closer and her eyes are searching, like she's checking if Jennie is okay with her touch.
And Jennie confirms just how okay she is with it by shuffling closer until their faces are only inches apart. Y/n's breath audibly hitches when Jennie's hand comes up to rest on Y/n's side, over her sore ribs. Jennie carefully rubs her thumb over the fabric of Y/n's shirt (which is her shirt and Jennie shouldn't find that as hot as she does).
"Hurts?" She whispers when Y/n's eyebrow does a tick at Jennie's touch.
Y/n shakes her head. "No."
Jennie licks her lips. Y/n's eyes follow the movement.
And then Y/n leans in and pecks Jennie's lips. Jennie's eyes flutter shut, and Y/n kisses her again.
It's slow, almost dragging, and Jennie thinks she could get addicted to this feeling; Y/n's soft lips moving against her own, the taste of her mouth, the muted sighs Y/n lets out whenever Jennie parts her lips for her, Y/n's scent around her, the warmth and firmness of Y/n's body under Jennie's palm.
It's all too real and Jennie just wants to hold on to it all before she'll be ripped away from it in a few weeks.
Y/n's hand slides under Jennie's shirt, her palm pressing against the bare skin of Jennie's back and Jennie presses back into the touch. They pull away from the kiss, breaths mingling where their lips are still brushing, and Y/n just looks into her eyes, her hand burning where it's gently running over Jennie's skin.
"That feels good," Jennie whispers, her own hand shaking a little where it's still resting on Y/n's waist. It's all a bit too intimate, the way Y/n is staring at her, how she's touching her, how snug and hot the air between them has gotten.
She wants to reach inside Y/n's shirt, too. Touch her soft skin, feel the warmth of it without the barrier of clothing between them, but she stays put for now.
Y/n tilts her head, rubbing the tips of their noses together. "You feel good."
The words make warmth pool in Jennie's stomach, goosebumps prickle along her skin and her chest heaving a bit faster. "Yeah?"
Y/n nods, some sort of conflict flashing in her eyes before she lets out a sigh and leans in to kiss Jennie's lips again. "Let's sleep."
"Are you going to stay?"
"I'll probably leave once you're asleep," Y/n whispers. "Can't risk having your grandma finding us like this."
Jennie's heart drops at the thought of it. She doesn't even want to imagine her reaction. It's too much for her to bear, the harsh reality of her beloved grandma looking at her in confusion and disgust after finding her and Y/n sleeping together, all tangled up and faces inches apart.
Y/n sees the way Jennie's face falls and her arm tightens around her, her lips finding Jennie's cheek, kissing the soft skin there a few times until Jennie starts smiling again. "Go on, sleepyhead."
"Goodnight, Y/n," Jennie mumbles, fingers curled into Y/n's shirt like that'll get her to stay.
But when she wakes up in the middle of the night, Y/n is gone, and Jennie pretends it doesn't completely shatter her heart.
"Kuma," Jennie whispers when she feels the warmth of the dog on her feet. "Come here, buddy."
The dog shuffles up on the bed and lies down next to Jennie instead, lets Jennie cuddle up against him and keeps her company until the sun rises in the sky, bringing clear blue sky, chasing away the dark clouds from the thunderstorm before.