The next night found Jeongyeon running around like a maniac, cleaning and organizing as if royalty were coming. Most of her team was already at her house, blasting music in the living room by the time 7PM rolled around.
Seungyeon had planned to make herself scarce and go see a movie. But when she walked into the kitchen and saw Jeongyeon sorting pizza boxes and snacks, she ended up staying to help.
"Thanks for helping unnie," Jeongyeon said. "You didn't have to stay."
"Well, someone has to help you organize this mess," Seungyeon said while sorting through the piles of chips and candy. "Where's Jihyo?"
"She's laying down some ground rules in the living room."
"Does she ever take a night off from being the team captain?"
"Not really. I think she just likes bossing people around," Jeongyeon grinned.
"So.... is your "friend" here yet?" Seungyeon asked. She even used air quotes for emphasis.
"Nayeon's not here yet. And don't do that again. That's so weird."
Jeongyeon made a face at her sister. Seungyeon threw her hands up in surrender.
"Fine. I'll stop." Seungyeon seriously looked at Jeongyeon. "You really like this girl, don't you?"
"Yeah, I really do," Jeongyeon admitted. "I've never liked someone as much as I like her. I'm just worried she only sees me as a friend though."
"You never know. Maybe she feels the same way."
"Yeah. Maybe."
"Unnie, come on," Tzuyu said as she entered the kitchen and went straight to Jeongyeon. "Ryujin and Chaeyoung are gonna have a rap battle!"
"I've gotta see this," Jeongyeon said eagerly. "Do you need anything else unnie?"
"No, go ahead. I'm going to call Soyeon."
Seungyeon waved her sister and Tzuyu away.
Both girls joined the rest of their team in the living room. Everyone was engrossed in the battle between their two teammates, meanwhile Jeongyeon couldn't help but check her phone every few minutes to see if Nayeon had texted her. She hadn't sent anything for a few hours now which wasn't like her at all.
When the doorbell rang, Jeongyeon eagerly went to open the door, but was disappointed to find Yuna and Yeji waiting for her.
"Wow unnie, don't look so happy to see us," Yeji joked.
"Sorry, I'm just waiting for a friend," Jeongyeon explained. "Come in. There's pizza and snacks in the kitchen."
"Thanks unnie," Yuna said with a sweet smile.
The girls walked past Jeongyeon, making their way inside. Jeongyeon stuck her head out the door, checking to see if there was any sign of Nayeon, but she wasn't here yet.
Where was she? Was she okay? Jeongyeon resisted the urge to text her again. She didn't want to seem clingy. With a final glance at the street, she reluctantly closed the door and headed back to sit by Jihyo.
"What's up?" Jihyo asked.
"Nothing," Jeongyeon sighed.
"Quit worrying, she'll get here when she gets here," Jihyo said knowingly.
"It's just not like her to ghost me like this. She always texts me. I'm worried something happened."
"You're overthinking again Jeong. She's probably really nervous so she's taking her time to get ready. She doesn't want to make a bad first impression."
"Like she could do that, she's perfect," Jeongyeon said.
Jihyo gave her a knowing grin as she wrapped her arm around Jeongyeon's waist.
"Look who's in love already," Jihyo cooed. "My little Jeongyeon is growing up."
"Get off of me, idiot," Jeongyeon said as she pushed Jihyo away.
"I can't wait to see little 2yeons running around."
"2yeons?" Jeongyeon questioned. "What the hell is a 2yeon?"
"You and Nayeon. That's your ship name," Dahyun said as she plopped herself down next to Jeongyeon and stuffed a handful of chocolates into her mouth.
"Your names both end in 'yeon' so we went with 2yeon. Dahyun wanted NaJeong but me and Tzuyu liked 2yeon better," Jihyo explained.
"I still prefer NaJeong," Dahyun said.
"Nah, 2yeon is way better," Tzuyu said as she suddenly popped up behind Jihyo.
"I hate all of you," Jeongyeon groaned. "Please don't be weird like this in front of Nayeon. I'm begging you!"
"Quit being so dramatic unnie. We'll be on our best behavior when she gets here," Tzuyu said.
"Yeah right," Jeongyeon mumbled.
The doorbell rang again and Jeongyeon wasted no time in jumping up. She shot a final glance back at her friends, and drug her thumb across her neck in a threatening motion before opening the door.
"Jeongyeon!"
Sana attacked her immediately, enveloping her in a warm hug.
"Hi Sana," Jeongyeon said. "Uh, where's Nayeon?"
The girl was noticeably absent behind Sana. Jeongyeon tried to angle her head to get a better look but Sana pushed her back and covered her eyes.
"No peeking Jeongie, it's a surprise," Sana giggled.
"Um, okay. What's the surprise?"
"This!"
Sana dropped her hands away and Jeongyeon couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Nayeon was standing on her own. Well, with the help of two forearm crutches, but she was standing. There was no wheelchair in sight.
"Surprise," Nayeon said with the biggest smile Jeongyeon had ever seen from her.
"Nayeon, you're standing," Jeongyeon said in awe.
"Yep. Remember that new exercise Momo was talking about? It was this," Nayeon said proudly.
"She's been practicing all week," Sana added. "She wanted to show off in front of you."
Jeongyeon couldn't help but smirk.
"Trying to impress me huh?"
"Oh shut up. Are you gonna invite us in or keep me standing all night on your doorstep?"
"Come in," Jeongyeon said as she opened the door wide. She stood ready and waiting in case Nayeon needed help.
But the older girl had no trouble at all getting over the threshold and making her way inside. Sana followed close behind her.
Jeongyeon's teammates were too absorbed in setting up the karaoke machine to notice the newcomers. The same couldn't be said for her trio of crackheads. All three girls made their way to Jeongyeon's guests.
"You must be Nayeon," Jihyo said. "I'm Jihyo. This is Dahyun and Tzuyu."
"Nice to finally meet you," Nayeon said. "Jeongie talks about you guys all the time."
"Well, Jeongie talks about you all the time so we know the feeling," Tzuyu said, smiling a little too much for Jeongyeon's liking.
She was already murdering Tzuyu in her mind.
"This is my friend Sana," Nayeon introduced the other girl.
"Hi! Nice to meet all of you," Sana said warmly.
"Nice to meet you too," Dahyun greeted.
"Did you two eat yet? We have pizza in the kitchen," Jeongyeon said.
"I'm starving Jeongie! This girl took forever to get ready," Sana whined as she nodded at Nayeon. "She tried on eight different outfits."
"It was only five. And I kept telling you to eat something if you were hungry," Nayeon shot back.
"Come on Sana, we'll take you to the kitchen," Jihyo said. She subtly looked at Dahyun and Tzuyu and they got the message. They followed after Jihyo, leaving Nayeon and Jeongyeon alone.
"Do you want something to eat?" Jeongyeon asked the other girl.
"I'm fine right now. Thanks." Nayeon smiled. "I wouldn't mind a tour of your room though."
The thought of Nayeon in her room was a little overwhelming, but definitely welcome.
"Sure, it's this way," Jeongyeon said as she pointed down the hall.
She led Nayeon to her door, making sure to match her pace with the other girl. Jeongyeon opened it and stepped back, allowing Nayeon to enter first. The older girl went straight to her wall of lego sets.
"You weren't kidding when you said you liked legos," she teased the baseball player.
"Putting them together relaxes me," Jeongyeon said.
Nayeon looked over her collection before eyeing her bookcase full of trophies.
"Wah, I didn't know you were this good at baseball! How come you never told me about this?" Nayeon asked.
"I figured it would be better if you saw me play instead. I was going to invite you to a game so you could see me in action once I got done with therapy."
Nayeon just hummed in response. She continued looking at everything in Jeongyeon's room, slowly going from one thing to the next: her photo collage, her albums, her sneaker collection, even her guitar that had sat forgotten after a few lessons with Dahyun.
"I like your room," Nayeon said. "It's cozy."
"Thanks."
"Do you mind if I sit?" Nayeon motioned to her desk chair. "These crutches kill my arms."
"I don't mind. Here." Jeongyeon pulled the chair out and positioned it for Nayeon.
"Thank you Jeongie."
There was that baby voice again that Nayeon was so fond of using around her. The funny thing was, she didn't find it as cringe inducing as it used to be. It was almost kind of cute.
Jeongyeon sat on the edge of her bed, facing Nayeon, and almost regretted it. There wasn't that much space separating her and the other girl. If she wanted to, she could easily lean over and kiss Nayeon like she'd been wanting to for a while now.
"Jeongyeon, thanks for inviting me and Sana," Nayeon said.
"Oh, uh, you're welcome," Jeongyeon replied.
"I really don't have that many friends actually," Nayeon confessed. She looked down and fidgeted with the hem of her jacket. "Ever since the accident, I haven't gone out much except for therapy and doctor's appointments. Sana, Momo, and Mina are pretty much my only friends."
"Well, it's a good thing you have me now," Jeongyeon said. "And I'm pretty sure you'll like my friends too. Even if they're a bunch of crackheads when they're together."
They both laughed.
"Do you think they'll like me?"
"Of course they will. What's not to like? You're fun to be around, you like cheesy jokes, you like all the same foods we do. They're crazy if they don't like you Nayeon."
"What about you? Do you like me?" Nayeon asked softly.
Jeongyeon could have made a cheesy joke. She could have teased Nayeon and they'd have laughed it off, keeping things the same between them.
She could have done all of that.
But she didn't. She didn't want to keep things the same.
"Yeah, I do. I like you a lot," Jeongyeon said. "As in more than a friend."
Jeongyeon felt like her heart was in her throat. She'd just confessed her feelings, and there was no taking it back. Nayeon didn't say anything. Each second that ticked by in silence increased Jeongyeon's urge to run from the room in embarrassment.
Then finally, after what felt like hours of awkward silence to the baseball player, Nayeon spoke.
"I like you too," Nayeon said shyly. The older girl kept her eyes pinned on her hands as she nervously pulled at her jacket.
"You do?"
Jeongyeon was shocked. She hadn't really expected Nayeon to like her back. Well, she had hoped for it but was totally prepared for rejection.
"Yeah, I do," Nayeon smiled. "I like your corny jokes, and your lame pickup lines, and how you take care of me. It helps that you're really cute too."
"So you do like my corny jokes," Jeongyeon grinned.
"I don't know why." Nayeon rolled her eyes fondly.
It felt like they were the only two people in the world right now, safely nestled away in her room. Nayeon was shyly looking at her, smiling so prettily, that Jeongyeon couldn't help herself.
"Nayeon, can I kiss you?"
The older girl's eyes widened in surprise, and her cheeks turned a pinkish hue. But then she gave the tiniest nod of her head, giving Jeongyeon permission.
Jeongyeon leaned forward and slowly, carefully, closed the gap between them. She gently grabbed Nayeon's hand to keep the older girl from being so nervous. Nayeon closed her eyes as their lips met.
The kiss was soft. It wasn't meant to be anything passionate or lustful. It was simple and perfect and exactly what Jeongyeon had been wanting to do for weeks now. When she pulled away, she was happy to see Nayeon blushing.
"Im Nayeon, will you go out with me?" Jeongyeon asked.
"Yes, I'd love to go out with you Jeongie," Nayeon said cutely.
Jeongyeon didn't even mind the aeygo this time; she was too busy leaning in for another kiss.
Author's note: 2yeon nation rise 🫡