Lia
The buzz of my phone wakes me up.
I feel for it on the nightstand and bring it to my face. It's a video call request from Chloe. Rubbing my eyes, I accept the call.
"Hey, Chloe."
"Good morning, Lia! Oh, you're still sleeping? Sorry ah!"
I squint at the time above Chloe's bright expression. Eleven a.m. I groan. "Oh my god, how did I oversleep so much?"
"Aiya, you had a midterm yesterday mah!" Chloe giggles. Unlike RJ, Chloe makes no attempt at hiding her Singaporean accent, and I appreciate it. "How did it go?"
"I think it went well..." I trail off as I stretch my arms. My left hand hits something soft and warm. What?
"Lia!" Chloe's mouth drops. "Is that... Are you sleeping with someone?"
That jolts me up. My blanket falls off, and the abnormally cool breeze on my body shocks me—I'm naked. Fully naked. What?
I yank the blanket back up, and my elbow hits the soft, warm thing next to me again. No, not thing. It's a person, and she's groaning at my accidental assault.
Yeju.
"What? Lia Choi is sleeping with someone?" I hear RJ's voice, followed by loud footsteps as she rushes to the phone.
"Ah, goodbye, talk to you next time!" I yell before closing the call. My phone proceeds to explode with messages from the group chat.
Heat crawls up my face as I glance to my side. Sure enough, Yeju is next to me, as naked as I am, rubbing her face and wincing in pain.
"You didn't have to punch me in the face to wake me up, you know," she grumbles.
"S- Sorry, Yeju, I forgot you were here. I wouldn't have picked up the call..."
Yeju frowns as she turns toward me. Her brown hair sprawls over her arms, embellishing her flower tattoos with branches and twigs.
"Is that why you have been calling them from inside your room?" she asks softly. "Because of me?"
Ever since that fateful burger-kicking day, I have been avoiding RJ's and Chloe's calls in the common area, and I guess Yeju must have noticed that.
I slump back down to the bed. "Well, yeah, you kinda blew up at me the last time you saw me talking to Chloe."
Her eyes flicker. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again. She's your friend. You shouldn't have to keep your friendship a secret or anything."
"So, do you not hate her anymore?"
"I've never hated her. I was just..." She slides a hand over her face. "Well, I'm over it, and I won't blow up at you ever again, I promise." Reaching towards me, she swipes at my cheek with her fingers. "I'll treat you right from now on, like I promised yesterday."
The tenderness in her voice melts my heart, and I find myself snuggling into her. Her arm drapes across my shoulders, and I trace her tattoos with my fingers while she plants kisses into my hair. Her biceps are so toned; I never realized how fit she is.
Memories of the night flood my mind. I had sex for the first time, and then the second, and the third. And Yeju was both gentle and wild, in all the best ways possible. My body begins to warm from more than just Yeju's body heat.
"Last night was... nice," I whisper.
"Just nice?"
"Shut up... You know what I mean."
Yeju laughs before she resumes kissing my head again.
"What did you think about last night?" I probe.
"Best. Night. Ever," she says, giving me a kiss between every word.
My lips curl with pride. "Really?"
"Really. Do you know how good you sound, by the way?"
I can't help but chuckle at that. "What?"
"You have the cutest voice I've ever heard. You can be a singer, or a podcaster, or an ASMR artist, you know."
"Well, I used to sing in my church's choir."
"Ah, I knew you're a singer. Your voice probably worked more miracles than the church itself."
"Gosh, Yeju, you're so cheesy." I giggle. My eyes scan the flower tattoos I have been drawing over. "Is there a meaning to your tattoos?"
She shifts her arm to give me a better view. "Yep. They're chrysanthemums. My name means wild chrysanthemums in Mandarin, so I've always quite liked the flower."
"Oh, that's what your name means? That's beautiful."
I lift my head to smile at her. It turns out she has been staring at me as well, and we lock eyes. Her dark brown irises are as mesmerizing as ever. The air thickens between us, and I am taken back to that moment before our first kiss.
Yeju breaks the tension by sitting up. "Do you want breakfast in bed?"
"Nope, no eating in bed," I chide. "I hate the mess."
"Aw, seriously?" She scoops me back into her arms. "But I ate you out all night."
My face reddens, drawing a chuckle and a peck on the lips from Yeju. She hops out of the bed to put on a tank top and leaves the room.
As I try to find the rest of my clothes, I hear some commotion out in the living room—and Yuna's frantic voice pierces through.
"Oh my god, did you have sex with Lia?"
Flustered, I quickly open my wardrobe and hide behind the door. Yeju and Yuna's voices are hushed now, but I can tell that they're fighting. Why is Yuna here? Does she still have the spare keys or something? I take my time wearing my clothes and tidying my hair, trying my best to ignore the fact that they are quarreling about me.
When I inch out of the room, the both of them are still whisper-shouting at each other.
"I didn't bully her into anything!"
"You really want me to believe that, Yeju? You wanted to evict her the first day she—"
Yeju notices me and taps Yuna's shoulder. The pink-haired woman spins around, and the two of them stare at me in silence. It's a short pause, but awkward enough to make me want to shrivel up into a ball.
"Uh, hey, Yuna," I greet.
"Lia! Hello!" Yuna breaks into her usual cheery smile. "Okay, first of all, I can't believe you made this. It's so, so good." She gestures at the dining table. An empty bowl sits next to a wooden jewelry box, both of which I do not remember leaving on the table.
"Do you mean the kimchi fried rice?" I perk up. "Thank you! It's one of the few things I know how to make. You tried it?"
"Yeah! I hope you don't mind it. I saw the container in the fridge and I thought Yeju made it, so I helped myself to some of it."
"It's alright," I say with a shrug. Yeju and I ate our share last night between the multiple rounds of sex. Yeju liked it too, and it's a great feeling to have the chef of the house praise the food I made.
"No, it's not alright to barge into someone else's apartment and steal their food," Yeju snaps through clenched teeth.
Yuna scoffs. "It's not as if you haven't stolen my food before." She grabs the jewelry box and winks at me. "Anyway, I was just here to take this! Harvey is taking me out to a fancy restaurant tonight."
"Is it a date?" Yeju asks.
"Depends on your definition of a date."
"With Harvey, huh?" I raise my eyebrows. "Have fun!"
"Thank you!" Yuna beams. "See you!" She gives me a quick hug before dashing off. Why does every visitor seem to always run out of the apartment?
When the door shuts, silence envelopes the room. Yeju leans back against the kitchen counter, her eyes downcast. Within just a few minutes, the mood between us shifted drastically.
"You... didn't bully me into this, you know," I say.
"Oh." She glances at me. "You heard that."
I take a few steps toward her. "I'm not sure what you two were fighting about, but if it's about last night... Well, if I didn't want you kissing me, I would've slapped you the moment you did it."
The ends of her lips twist up a little. "I don't doubt that. But no, it's not about that, not really."
"What is it about, then?"
The smile, however small it is, fades away.
I inch closer when she does not reply. "If it's about our, uh, early interactions," I continue, trying my best to cheer her up, "I mean, yeah, you were terrible the first time we met, but it wasn't... that bad. You were just annoying, I guess? And yeah, you were pretty mean to me in the lab at first, but not for long. I was going to report you to Professor Song myself if you kept it up."
Yeju finally smiles. "You're not helping the case at all, Lia."
I pout. "I don't know how to help the case if you don't tell me what the case is."
She reaches out for my hands and pulls me close. I lean into her, embracing the warmth.
"It's me," she mutters. "It's me and my... history with relationships."
"What do you mean?"
She sighs. "Relationships never end well for me. I don't know if it's me, if I'm just incapable of being in a relationship or something. And I don't know... I might accidentally break your heart if we continue this, Lia."
I search her eyes. Behind the deep brown, there is a solemnness that tells me stories that I do not know about. Stories that she is not revealing to me. Stories about the countless heartbreaks she suffered through. Whereas I am the complete opposite—utterly inexperienced in the realm of relationships.
But isn't a relationship worth the possible heartache? It must be. After all, it's what I've wanted for the longest time. It's what I've longed for as I grew up in this hetero-normative society. It's what I've dreamed of with Eunice—until she snuffed it out so cruelly.
And now, I can't think of a better person to try a relationship with.
"Then don't break my heart," I whisper. "I'm willing to give this a shot as long as you are willing to try."
Yeju's eyes widen. She reaches her hands out and cups my face. "Lia, you have no idea how long it has been since I feel like this, like getting into a relationship is possible again. Thank you for giving me this feeling again. Thank you for... being you."
A cozy flutter ignites in my stomach. "So we're in a relationship now? What should we call ourselves? Girlfriends? Partners? Roommates with benefits?"
She laughs. "Whatever you want to call it. I guess I gotta step it up soon and bring you out to a fancy restaurant too."
"Nah, don't burn a hole in your wallet," I tease before leaning forward to kiss her.
Her lips spread into a wide smile as we kiss a few more times. When she pulls away though, unease paints her expression. "Hey, by the way, can we, uh, keep this a secret from the lab? Uh, just in case Victoria doesn't allow this."
My heart drops at that request. A secret.
"Oh. Sure." Looking away, I fold my arms back over my chest. A strange feeling coils in my gut, but I shove the feeling away. "So, breakfast?"
"Yep." Yeju clears her throat. "Breakfast. Coming right up."
***
A/N: As mentioned in a previous chapter, Yeju is a romanization of the Chinese word, 野菊 (yě jǘ), meaning wild chrysanthemums. Her full Chinese name is 黄野菊 (húang yě jǘ).