The car hits a pothole and Jennie stirs, bangs her head against the window from where she was trying to take a nap.
She sighs as she blinks her eyes open. She was just about to fall asleep.
"Sorry."
Jennie turns her head to look at her girlfriend's profile, framed by the background of trees and mountains rushing past them.
The sun is blinding, but the AC is on, blowing against Jennie's matted bangs. Her mouth's a little too dry, too.
She whines. "I feel gross, Y/n."
Y/n glances at her for a second, before focusing on the road again, then moving her hand without taking her eyes off the road. The streets are dangerous around here, steep with a sharp drop, so Jennie appreciates that Y/n's being extra careful.
"Here." Y/n hands her a bottle of water.
Jennie thanks her and takes a big gulp, handing the bottle to the older, who drinks half of it in one go. "How are you? Want to switch?"
Y/n shakes her head. "I'm okay. We're almost there, anyway."
Jennie hums and leans her head back, turning to stare out the window. It must be somewhere around twenty-eight degrees out. Flowers are blooming in all their glory, violets, pinks and blues blending together to form fields of colors that seem almost unreal.
They pass an old man ushering her sheep over the street and Y/n honks once, the man waving at them as they drive by.
It makes Jennie smile.
She's missed this.
They stop at Cheumsan to do some last-minute grocery shopping. They mostly buy rice in bulks, canisters of sunflower oil, toilet paper, all things would be too heavy to carry if you don't have a car.
The cashier recognizes Y/n immediately, makes small talk with her, and while Jennie watches her girlfriend interact with these people, all smiles and charming words, she's reminded of the first time she met Y/n.
It makes her heart ache in a strange way. A part of her fears that Y/n looks almost... happier here. Like she's in her element. She seems carefree, not as guarded.
"You okay?" Y/n suddenly asks, having finished her conversation. Jennie wants to hold her hand, needs the reassurance, but she can't forget where they are.
They can't be doing these things here, but it's hard, after having been together for half a year, she's used to walking around holding Y/n's hand. Her hand just feels awkward and empty otherwise.
"Yeah, let's go?"
Y/n smiles, her eyes lingering, and Jennie wants to tell her to be careful, but heck, if Y/n isn't worried, why should Jennie be?
They pack the stuff into the car, and then it's another thirty minutes until they get to their destination.
Jennie scrolls through her music and stops at a playlist she made. One that she hasn't listened to in a while, but that still makes her chest constrict, cause she remembers how much she cried the first time she heard it.
She pouts a little and plays a song from it.
Y/n tenses up next to her when she hears the first few tunes, and then she lets out a groan. "Stop, Jennie."
"What?" Jennie asks. "It's cute, Y/n/n. I like this song. Am I still driving you wild?"
Y/n grunts and shakes her head. "Yeah, cause you're an annoying little shit."
"Alright. I see how it is. So you make mixtapes for all your flings, huh? And here I was, feeling special."
"Oh shut up." Y/n chuckles and reaches for her hand. "I just... don't really like thinking about that time."
Jennie laces their fingers together and nods. "I like this song, though."
Y/n smiles at her. "I like it too, Jen."
And just a few minutes later, they pass that sign again, the one Jennie hasn't seen in a year.
Welcome to Gungsan
"Where it all started," Jennie mindlessly mutters.
Y/n smiles and squeezes her hand.
A strange feeling spreads in Jennie's chest when she spots the first few houses that belong to the village.
Nostalgia, maybe.
Sadness, happiness, anger.
It all blends together, and suddenly Jennie feels like crying.
"Shh." Y/n brings her hand up to kiss her knuckles. "It's okay, Jen."
Jennie manages to hold back her tears, enough to get out of the car and open the gates to the house, that one house in this village Jennie is happy to see.
What feels like coming back home.
She opens the gates so Y/n can drive the car through and park it inside, and follows her after closing the gates again.
The sunflowers that greet her have grown high as ever, facing the sun, soaking up the warmth in their bright yellow and orange petals. Birds are chirping, and Jennie has to smile at the sound of cow bells in the distance.
She wonders how this must feel to Y/n, if Jennie feels like this, she can only imagine how it must be for her.
This was her home for twenty-four years. She grew up here. She has so much more memories here than Jennie does.
As Jennie approaches the house, she sees Y/n get out of the car, and hears her laugh, and she already knows what about.
Once she's close enough, she sees her girlfriend crouching on the ground, a fluffy, dark brown dog trying to climb into her lap.
"Kuma!"
Said dog looks at her and immediately lets go of Y/n, running towards Jennie. His tail's wagging wildly, and he's breathing so fast because of how excited he is, Jennie thinks the dog might pass out. Jennie crouches down on the grass and hugs the dog, smiling widely as she pets him everywhere she can.
"Aw, Kuma, baby I missed you so much. You remember me, right? Remember Jennie?"
Maybe not, maybe Kuma's just this excited with everyone he meets, but he's licking Jennie's cheek and ear and can barely control himself with how excited he is, so Jennie likes to think he recognizes Jennie.
"Silly dog," Y/n mumbles fondly as she watches them both with a smile. "Look at him. Got a new collar and everything."
"You do, don't you? Looking so handsome? I bet every misses dog in this village is all over, yeah?"
Y/n laughs at that. "Please shut up."
Jennie smiles up at her and kisses Kuma's head before reluctantly pulling away and standing up, Kuma staying close between them.
There's someone else she's dying to see, someone-
She hears the door of the house open, and both her and Y/n look up just in time to see her grandmother rounding the corner.
She's smiling brightly, and Jennie starts tearing up at the sight. She approaches her and before she can say anything, Jennie throws her arms around her to hug her tightly.
"Oh girl," Her grandmother says with a chuckle, patting her back and her hair. "Oh, Jennie, are you crying?"
"I missed you."
She sighs and cards her fingers through Jennie's hair. "I missed you too, my sweet girl."
Jennie cries some more at the fond tone of her voice, the loving words, the gentle touch. It reminds her of her mom, whom she hasn't seen in quite a while.
She hugs Y/n next, like she's her own granddaughter, too, and she says "Look at you. Beautiful as ever. We all miss you here. I'm so... proud of you, Y/n."
And see, the thing is.
Y/n knows.
She knows Jennie's grandmother knows.
About Jennie liking girls.
About Jennie liking Y/n.
And she's an intelligent woman. She saw how distressed Y/n was when Jennie left.
She knows about them.
So that, in relation to her words, makes Y/n tear up.
And that in return, makes Jennie tear up. Because if there's one thing her heart can't take, it's Y/n's tears.
"Shh," Her grandmother shushes her. "It's okay."
Y/n's shoulders shake with how much she tries to stay calm. "I'm sorry."
Jennie isn't sure what she's sorry for.
For who she is, for leaving, for crying?
She can't handle it, Jennie can't, because Y/n's went through so much shit and Jennie wasn't really there for her. She thought Y/n was okay because when Y/n is upset, she's upset about work, or her family, but not about herself. Her own feelings. Her fears, her angers. She never talks about those things, unless it gets the best of her, which is mainly when it comes to Jennie, when she gets jealous or insecure, but herself?
No. Never.
Jennie steps away and walks to the car so she can start unloading their things. Her mind is troubled, and her heart hurts, but they're there for a week, and Jennie just wants to enjoy their time together, their time off, before school starts again and Y/n starts her first semester at university.
Because she's going to become a police detective.
And Jennie is proud for her, just like her grandmother is. She's so incredibly proud sometimes it feels like her heart's just going to overflow with all the emotions it holds for Y/n.
Y/n appears on her side a moment later, smiles at her with red rimmed eyes, and helps her carry their stuff upstairs. Jennie wants to talk to her. Wants to hold her.
But they're here to visit her grandmother, to catch up with her, so it has to wait for later.
Her grandma has prepared a lot of food as always, and they talk to her for hours, about everything and nothing, updating her on their lives, school, work.
Y/n and her sit close together on the couch and Jennie doesn't miss the gentle look on her grandmother's face whenever she glances at them.
She doesn't ask.
Just asks if they're happy, and they both say they are, and really, that's that.
She doesn't care to know anything else, but that's all that matters to her. That they are happy, whoever they may be with. Even if it's with another girl.
She shows them her new garden; the expanded version. Grows even more vegetables than before, and she says the she couldn't handle the amount of food it gave, so she started selling some on the weekly market down in Cheumsan.
Nothing much seems to have changed in the village, except for the fact that aside from Y/n, Joohyun's family seems to have moved to another village, too.
To start new, wipe the state clean, pretend they never had a daughter to begin with.
A bunch of cowards, really. Joohyun is living her best life together with Seulgi, and she has people who actually have her back, and who love her for who she is, and she's better off without that sorry excuse of a family, anyway.
Seokmin and Nayeon are apparently supposed to arrive in a few days, and both Y/n and Jennie are looking forward to that. Few more night at the school, drinking that nasty beer and telling fake ghost stories that will freak Nayeon out.
She missed them a lot, too.
By the time they are done talking and sorting things out at the house, the sun is starting to set. They're in Jennie's childhood bedroom, putting their clothes away, and Y/n is being strangely quiet.
The same nagging feeling from before comes back, that dull pain in her chest when she saw Y/n cry.
Y/n seems to sense something off, and she looks up at her with a pout. "Everything okay?"
Jennie averts her eyes and looks at the shirt she's holding, before letting out a sigh and placing it on the bed. "Do you want to go for a walk?"
Y/n seems taken aback for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Sure. Let's go."
-
It's not hot anymore. It's warm, the cool breeze of the approaching night offering some relief.
Y/n has picked up a stick from somewhere, both of them smiling when she uses it the way she used to do when they still had cows.
"Do you miss it?" Jennie asks after a while.
They're on the path to the waterfall, where no one can see them any longer.
Y/n finally reaches for her hand, lacers their fingers together tightly, and Jennie lets out a tense breath, relieved. "Miss the village?"
"Yeah just... everything. The life you had before."
Y/n is quiet for a while, kicks at the pebbles on the ground, and they listen to the birds, listen to the far away sounds of the rushing river, the leaves rustling in the wind.
Jennie brushes her fingers over the high grass, recognizing the field. This was were Y/n and her stole apples.
Where Jennie almost kissed Y/n.
"I guess I do," Y/n finally answers after a while. She takes a deep breath. "Mostly just miss the unpolluted air."
Jennie laughs. "Understandable." She squeezes Y/n's hand and lets the older pull her closer.
Is it weird that she misses her girlfriend even though they're together right now?
Yeah, it's probably weird, but sometimes... she doesn't really mean it physically. Like her heart misses Y/n.
Especially when they have to act like they're not in love.
"Is that all?"
Y/n shrugs. "I don't know, Jennie. Sometimes? People in the city are so obsessed... about weird shit. Like instagram and whatnot. How many followers they have. Like not to sound like an asshole but it's sad? People don't give a shit about those things here. You just live to fill your stomach, and you enjoy the nature."
Jennie hums and turns her head to press her lips against Y/n's shoulder. "I know what you mean."
"But when I feel that way, I remember all the crap that happened here. My dad, Joohyun and Seulgi, how judging people are, all the gossip and fakeness. Like it's really not all that different from the city, in that regard. I'm just- I'm trying to say, looking at it that way? Life for me is better now. Taehyung's so much happier, and he's getting proper education. Mom's got a good job. I'm not asking for more."
"But what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Are you happier? And I don't mean Taehyung or your mom, Y/n/n. I mean you."
Y/n frowns at that, and she stays quiet, for a long moment. The wind messes up her bangs, so Jennie reaches out to fix them, and then moves to cup Y/n's cheek. "I'm starting school soon... That was always my dream, yeah? And I have you."
Jennie's lower lip juts out, wobbling a little. "Y/n."
"I've never been this happy."
Y/n smiles, and laughs when Jennie starts tearing up again, pulling her into a hug and cooing. "Such a baby. My little baby."
"Stop." Jennie burrows into her arms and wraps her arms around her middle. "I just want you to be okay. Want you to be happy. I feel like you always take care of others but you never let them do the same for you. It's not fair."
Y/n shakes her head and pulls back to look at them. "That's not true. You take care of me all the time, Jen."
"Me cooking for you or giving you back massages don't count."
"Uh, yes, they do." Y/n snorts. "But I mean everything. You care about my happiness."
"Of course I do," Jennie mumbles. "I love you."
Y/n smiles fondly. "I love you more."
Jennie's heart flutters, even after hearing those words so many times. She points at the tree behind her after collecting herself. "Remember the apples?"
Y/n turns around to look at the tree. "Of course I do."
She waits for Y/n to turn back around to face her before she speaks again. "I really wanted to kiss you that day."
Y/n looks into her eyes before shyly lowering her gaze. "I really wanted you to too."
"Is that why you avoided me for so long after that?"
Y/n nods. "Yeah, yeah. I thought... I don't know. I was stupid. Thought staying away from you would get rid of my feelings but that... Obviously didn't work."
"I still got you in the end." Jennie grins at her, stepping closer.
"Looks like it." Y/n smiles and nudges their noses together. "Hey, are you sleepy?"
"Huh, why?"
"You blink a lot when you're tired," Y/n says. "Couldn't really sleep last night, hm?"
"I think I was just too excited. But I'm okay, really, we can go to the waterfall-"
"The waterfall isn't going anywhere, love," Y/n says. "But a nap on... the hammock sounds good?"
Jennie starts beaming at. "That sounds really good."
"Race you there?"
"That's not fair, I'm tired."
"I'll go easy on you."
"Okay... One."
"Two."
"Th-"
Y/n runs off before Jennie even finished speaking.
Alright, so Jennie loses, and Y/n is already lying in the hammock by the time she arrives.
But looking at her girlfriend, lying there, making grabby hands with the leaves from the trees casting pretty shadows over her even prettier face, Jennie doesn't really feel like that much of a loser.
Jennie jumps on top of Y/n, who groans and is quick to wrap her arms around her to steady her. She smiles down at her girlfriend, and leans in to peck her lips. "I win."
----
And this is the end of "Catch the stars" Hope y'all liked it.