The party had been going on for hours, the day shifting from morning, to noon, to afternoon, all the while the reunion kept going strong; Yu's were party people, and they never seemed to tire.
Thankfully for Jimin, the dancing had slowed down, more and more people leaving the dance floor in search of refreshments, until there was no one left, most people settling down on picnic blankets or on garden chairs. Tiffany had turned the music down, and now it was a gentle hum in the background, mixing in and out of the sounds of different conversations.
Jimin and Minjeong had been some of the last to the leave the dance floor. Their limbs ached, but there were smiles on their faces, as the two of them headed off to find some shade, still holding onto each other. Jimin's clothes were significantly more rumpled now, her collar sticking up in the air and trousers wrinkled. Minjeong had grinned affectionately and fixed her hair before they found their own little space in the grass to sit.
"I hope you realise how much of an impression you've made," Jimin said, looking at her fondly while she fiddled with her thumbs. "Everyone loves you."
"You're gonna have to run everyone's names through with me," Minjeong said, kicking her sandals off and dropping onto the ground, letting out a sigh as she stretched her legs out, her bare toes wiggling between the blades of grass. "I'm never going to get all of these names right."
Jimin grinned, joining her on the floor and lying on her back, her eyes squinting up at the sun.
"So there's my father Siwon," she explained, shifting one arm back to support her head.
"Then there's my mother - Tiffany" Jimin said. "There's Yuqi, my cousin"
Jimin kept going. "My uncle Minho, we've been close for as long as I can remember. Then Mr. Lee."
Jimin shuddered inwardly as she said the name. Lee had long since disappeared from the party, but she could still see his face in her mind's eye - the dark glint in the man's eye and the twisted smirk. It still worried her a little bit that Lee knew their secret; that man was trouble, and Jimin didn't trust him as far as she could spit.
She moved on. "You met the twins, right?"
"Oh yeah," Minjeong said, raising her eyebrows and staring up at the sky. "I met them."
Earlier, while she'd been getting a drink, a girl had sidled up to her. She was tall, with smooth straight hair, and she'd come up a little too close and narrowed her eyes at Minjeong, looking her over closely.
"So, you're Minjeong?" she'd said, her voice a long drawl.
"...Yeah?" Minjeong had said, backing away a few steps.
"No, she doesn't look big enough," a voice came from behind her, and Minjeong jumped, turning to see a boy who looked similarly like the girl: he had the same black hair, only shorter. "Wouldn't make a big enough splash."
"I'm sorry?" Minjeong said, blinking.
The boy ran a hand through his hair, before reaching out for her to shake. "Donghyuck Lee Yu. Future entrepreneur, man, myth and legend." Minjeong shook his hand tentatively. "We're looking for a test subject to test our new, genius idea."
"Aeri Uchinaga Yu," his twin said, also shaking her hand. "It's my idea too."
"So get this," Donghyuck said, "A new range of swimming pool accessories. Catapults!"
"Yeah, you get in, you have someone to wind you up -" Aeri started.
"And then they let you go, and-"
"And you get launched into the pool!"
"Splooooosh!" Donghyuck puffed his cheeks out and made an elaborate gesture with his hands, stretching his arms out and wiggling his fingers.
"We were going to test it in the pool," Aeri said.
"But you're too small," Donghyuck said.
"You wouldn't make a big enough splash."
"We wouldn't have conclusive evidence."
The two of them nod at each other matter-of-factly, like they'd just said something that made complete and total sense to the outside world. Minjeong blinked, taking a moment to take in everything that this peculiar pair had just said.
"...There's no pool, is there?" was all she managed to say, her eyebrows raised.
"Ah, the lady speaks the truth!" Donghyuck said, his finger in the air as he spoke, before making a fist and slapping it into his other palm. "Back to the drawing board, sister."
"Aye, aye, captain!" Aeri cried, raising her hand in a salute.
Donghyuck hurried off into the crowd of people, while Aeri stayed behind a moment, her eyes still narrowed as she looked Minjeong up and down, and Minjeong felt uncomfortably like she was being sized up.
"It's a pity about Jimin," she said, glancing over to where she stood in the crowd. "That girl is fiiiiine. See you around, Minjeong."
Then she disappeared off after her brother, gone as quickly as she had been there, leaving Minjeong to wonder what on Earth had just happened.
Jimin snorted after she'd relayed the story.
"Aeri and Donghyuck, the children of some family friends," she explained. "Donghyuck usually go by Haechan"
Lisa laughed. "Have they always been like that?"
"Oh yeah," Jimin mumbled, her eyes widening like she was remembering some terrible things. "Always."
"Any other people I should know about?"
"That's all from here," Jimin said, leaning on her elbows as she scanned the crowd of people. "But trust me, there are more back in my hometown"
Minjeong smiled. "And yet, somehow, among all your relatives, you're still one of the shorte-cutest."
Jimin groaned and buried her head back in the grass, her hands covering her face. "I will literally pay you all the money in the world to stop making fun of my height."
She just laughed. "Never, Jimin-shi. Never."
"You're the absolute worst person on this Earth and I don't know why we're friends," Jimin grumbled, turning her back to her, and pouting into the grass
That wasn't true. The whole day she'd actually been thinking about how much she enjoyed having Minjeong as a friend and throughout the party she'd been musing on how lucky she was to have a friend like her - someone she could joke around and have fun with. Someone who could make her smile. Yes, Minjeong was the best friend she had ever had, and today was only reinforcing that.
The day drew on steadily, and Jimin and Minjeong were taking the moment to let themselves relax, just lying in the grass next to each other, passing the occasional word while they enjoyed the sun. As much fun as they had been having, it had been tiring to jump between family member and family member and repeat conversations over and over, and it was nice to have a quiet moment.
Their peace was interrupted, though, when shadow passed across them. Jimin blinked, put a hand over her forehead, and found herself looking up at a young woman.
"Minju!" Jimin said, her voice full of delight, and she allowed herself to be pulled up off the floor.
"It's been too long," Minju said, dark rimmed eyes sparkling as she pulled the girl into a hug. "Where's this girlfriend I've been hearing all about?"
She offered a hand to Minjeong's and helped her up off the floor. "This is Minjeong," she said, wrapping an arm around her waist.
Jimin was starting to feel a little like she should record the introduction on her phone, and have it ready to play whenever a different family member or friend came over to talk to them. She was beginning to tire a little of the routine; it was the same every time: say her name, keep her arm around her waist and force a smile while they were interrogated on every aspect of their relationship.
But she owed Minju this - they were old friends, but even old friends found it difficult to keep up contact with life in the way and time passing as it did
Minju's eyebrows shot into the air when she looked at Minjeong properly. "My God, you're pretty," she said, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, her eyes twinkling. "Did Jimin pay you to come here?"
Jimin and Minjeong shot each other look, their mouths parted slightly, frozen for a moment, before Jimin faked a coughing fit and Minjeong banged a hand on her back.
"I can assure you I'm here of my own accord," Minjeong said, after a few moments of dithering.
...Well, it wasn't quite a lie.
"Pity," Minju said, still smiling. She took Minjeong's hand in hers. "It was wonderful to meet you, Minju."
Jimin's voice took on a firmer tone as she said: "Minju, no."
Minjeong's eyes flickered up at her. "No, what?"
"She's being possessive," Minju said, a grin on her face.
Jennie rolled her eyes. "She's a terrible flirt," she grumbled.
Minju still had Minjeong's hand in hers. "If you ever get bored of this one," she said, her eyes glittering in the sunshine, "come and find me."
Minjeong's mouth opened, a delighted smile spreading across her face. "Oh, I'm sure I will," she said.
Minju winked, and then with a wave of her hand, sped off towards the house. Minjeong watched her go, her smile still stretched from ear to ear.
"I like her," she said.
"Don't you start."
Minjeong shot Jimin an amused smile, as she prodded her in the side. "Are you jealous?"
"Not even in the slightest," Jimin grumbled, wrapping her arm around Minjeong's waist. "Come on, there are more people we have to talk to."
"Ha, you're so jealous!"
Jimin ignored Minjeong's cackles as she dragged her across the garden and back into the fray. She wasn't really mad. Minju had always been one for teasing, and she'd known the moment she'd seen her standing over her that she'd be in for it when she and Minjeong inevitably teamed up. Actually, for the most part she was enjoying herself – she'd almost forgotten that she and Minjeong were faking it; it hadn't taken long for the casual touching to start to seem normal to her. Introducing Minjeong as her girlfriend was getting easier too – the word had stopped catching in her throat; the more that she said it, the more natural it felt.
But as much fun as she was having, she couldn't help but feel a little sense of doom creeping up the back of her spine. There was a reason this whole silly situation had gone ahead - a person who'd set this facade in motion, and she hadn't shown up yet. It was all a matter of time.
Sure enough, as the clock struck four and Tiffany was doing her third round of handing out snacks and offering drinks, the clouds seemed to draw in, hiding the sun and covering the whole garden in shade, and someone appeared from around the back gate, talking loudly and scoffing down food.
Yuqi had arrived.
Jimin shifted around the side of the garden, keeping her head down low in an attempt to keep a low profile, hoping that with some luck, she might go unnoticed. Unfortunately, Jimin had never been particularly lucky, and Yuqi zeroed in on Jimin, pointing at her within the crowd and yelling her name.
"Jimin!" she said, a jeer on her face. "Just the cousin I was looking for."
She took a few steps closer, thundering across the garden while her mouth twisting into a grin as she looked this way and that. "Where's your girlfriend? Still imaginary, I see."
A few minutes before, Minjeong had slipped off into the house to use the toilet, leaving Jimin alone. Jimin cursed her perfect timing.
"She's here," Jimin said, folding her arms and leaning against the patio wall, hoping she looked nonchalant. "Where's your lady friend, then?"
Yuqi ignored the question. She made a show of looking this way and that, opening her arms out wide with huge grin when she didn't spot anybody. "Where, Jimin? I don't see her."
Then she tipped her head back and guffawed. "I knew you were making it up," she said, wiping tears out of her eyes. "I thought maybe you might weasel your way out of it or come up with an excuse, but I didn't think you'd try and keep pretending,"
"She's here," Jimin said again, a little more forcefully this time, but her face was burning, and she couldn't keep herself from ducking her head and staring at her feet. People were starting to look. What if they put two and two together? God, where on Earth was Minjeong?
"Where is she then, Jimim?" Yuqi said, her voice getting louder still. She was standing back, her arms stretched out again. "Where is this girlfriend of yours?"
Jimin's eyes flickered this way and that, searching for her, she must have come out by now, she must be somewhere... and then she spotted her – hovering just inside one of the French windows, half in and half out of the house. She was chatting to one of her family members, waylaid as she'd been coming back to join her.
Jimin breathed a sigh of relief. "That's her," she said, pointing her out to Yuqi, and the two of them watch as Minjeong tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
"Her?" Yuqi said, her voice incredulous. "There's no way on this Earth, not in a million years that that girl is your-"
Yuqi's voice faded into the background as Minjeong turned her head and began marching towards them, and a set of fingers curled around hers and pulled her towards her, another hand reaching out and pulling her face towards hers. Leaving her no time to think about what was about to happen, Minjeong's lips were on hers.
Time froze.
Jimin stilled.
Everyone around them seemed to melt away into nothing. In that moment, it was just them, their lips together, their fingers intertwining, Minjeong's hand in her hair, keeping her close to her.
She was kissing Minjeong.
Minjeong was kissing her.
Something in her chest roared. Her heart was thumping and her lips were buzzing.
After a few seconds of being frozen in space, Jimin came to her senses and kissed her back, her hand going to her cheek and tilting her face upward towards her. For those few seconds all her senses registered was her - the way her lips were soft, and that her hair smelled like flowers. Her mouth was stained with whatever she had been drinking before, something red and sweet and sugary. Her fingers curled tighter around hers, pulling her closer still, until she seemed to melt into her, no longer two different people but one being, one complete entity. Jimin could hear her heartbeat, thumping in time with Minjeong's, a loud drum beat in the background.
When she pulled away, Jimin was left dizzy, frozen in place once more. Her body whined at the separation, and she had to force herself not to remove the distance between them and pull her straight back into the kiss.
Minjeong turned to look at Yuqi. "Sorry," she said brightly, and held out her hand for Yuqi to shake. "Kim Minjeong, Jimin's girlfriend. Nice to meet you."
Yuqi looked like she'd just seen a pig dress up in a tuxedo, sprout wings and fly across the ocean. Her mouth was wide open as she gaped, and she shook Minjeong's hand without saying anything, too shocked to form sentences.
After the exchange was over, Yuqi scuttled off, still unable to talk properly after what she'd just witnessed.
Minjeong giggled. "Her face," she said, her grin stretching from ear to ear. "That was priceless."
"Yeah..." Jimin said, and swallowed, her mouth dry. "Priceless."
Yuqi wasn't the only one unable to make a coherent thought in that moment. Jimin's heart was still thumping out of control and her hands were shaking, her hands covered in a sheen of sweat, her head spinning. Something in her brain had gone completely fuzzy, and she couldn't remember how words worked.
She had just made out with her best friend, and every fibre of her being was itching for it to happen again.
**
They had never discussed kissing.
In all their preparations, in all their discussions, in all the military-style planning, they had never talked about kissing. They'd discussed their history, the backstory to their fake relationships, casual touching, the brush of each other's skin on one another, but they had never, not once, thought about kissing. Not proper kissing, anyway. Not your body on mine, pressed together, spit-swapping, holding on for dear life, never leave me, kissing.
God, why had they never thought about it? How that they managed to completely swerve past it in all of their plans?
Jimin could still feel Minjeong's lips buzzing against hers, like a constant imprint across her mouth, a tattoo inked into her lips in big blank ink: 'Minjeong was here.'
"Jimin, Minjeong!" Her mother called from up on the patio. The three of them turned to see her waving them over. "Bring Yuqi over here!"
Jimin was still in a little bit of a daze. Her limbs felt a little like they were working on autopilot as they wandered up towards Tiffany, working for her while her mind went astray. Her arm was around Minjeong's waist again, and all she could think about was the way her knuckles were brushing against the bare skin of her arm. She barely noticed Yuqi grumbling and slinking out from where she'd scuttled off, trailing behind them with her hands stuffed in her pockets.
"Yuqi!" Tiffany looked down at her with a wide smile. "It's so lovely to see you."
Yuqi's voice was gruff as she said hello, and her limbs were stiff while Jimin's mother pulled her into a hug. It was the first word she'd spoken since witnessing Jimin and Minjeong kiss, and it didn't look like she was up to saying much else. Her expression had gone from dumbstruck to sullen in the space of a few seconds, and she was scuffing her toes against the patio, the tips of her shoes covered in dirt. Tiffany pretended not to notice any of this, and turned her smile back to Jimin and Minjeong.
"Hey, you two!" she said. "How are you doing?"
"We're doing great, Mrs. Yu!" Minjeong said, smiling pleasantly. "It's a wonderful party."
How could she be so calm? Didn't she notice that the whole world was spinning uncontrollably?
Tiffany smiled. "Please, call me Tiffany, dear! And I'm so glad you're having a good time. What about you, Jimin?"
Did she know? Could she tell that the earth was shattering around her right now? It felt like it was written all over her face.
"Yeah," Jimin said. "Great. Good party."
She had no idea how she was supposed to form a coherent sentence right now. She could barely choke out a couple of words.
Tiffany led them to a set of empty lawn chairs, and they sat in semi-circle: Tiffany, then Minjeong, then Jimin, and finally Yuqi, who looked like she would rather be anywhere but here.
"So, how's university going for you, Yuqi?" Tiffany asked, after she'd offered everyone drinks.
"S'fine."
"Do you like your course?"
"Yeah."
"Find a job yet?"
"No."
It took a few more rounds of questioning and even more monosyllabic answers for Tiffany to realise that she wasn't going to get anything that could be construed as polite conversation out of Yuqi, so she turned her attention to Jimin and Minjeong.
"You never told me how the two of you met," Tiffany said, taking a sip from her drink and offering the two of them a genuine smile.
"At university?" Jimin mumbled, swallowing.
It had been a couple of minutes, and Jimin still couldn't string more than two words together. Her lips were still buzzing, set alight with the feel of Minjeong's on hers, and she couldn't really look at her properly. The less time she spent talking, the better.
Tiffany made a noise that sounded like 'pshaw' whilst waving a hand in front of her face. "Details, Jimin, I want details, you've just been so vague about this whole thing. Did she tell you anything, Yuqi?"
Yuqi was still glaring furiously at her feet. "Nope," she said, her voice popping on the 'p'.
Minjeong laughed, casually taking Minjeong's hand in hers, like she didn't somehow know that this would give her heart palpitations. "We took a few of the same classes together. She was always carrying too many books, and she never seemed to remember what the homework was - she was always asking me for it," she said, her voice light. "Later she told me it was just an excuse to talk to me."
Minjeong's eyes flickered over towards her, waiting for her to add to her statement. "Right?" she said, giving her a nudge.
"Oh, yeah," Jimin said, blinking like she'd been snapped out of her reverie. "Right."
Get yourself together, Jimin, she scalded herself inside her head. She racked her brains for something that she could add to the conversation.
"We got to talking and we were good friends," she said, finally able to put a sentence together. She sent out a prayer to any God that was listening that her voice sounded normal. "We lost contact for a little while after university, but then we met again, and went from there."
It must have been good enough for Tiffany, who nodded and smiled at her answer, but Minjeong was narrowing her eyes at her. She knew something was up.
"And how did you know you liked each other?" Tiffany said, her elbows resting on the arms of the chair, her eyes glittering as a smile tugged at her lips.
Minjeong smiled, her eyes flickering up at Jimin. "She's so smart and kind," she said, her voice soft and her eyes shining. "And there's really no one I've ever met who's more caring than her."
It was like she'd delivered her a few blows to the chest. The tightness in her stomach came flooding back, her throat dry as she stared at her, unable to move. She'd rendered her speechless, again, and she didn't even know she'd done it.
It took her a few moments to realise that Tiffany was looking at her expectantly.
"Sorry?" Jimin mumbled, her voice barely there.
"I asked you what you liked about Minjeong," she said, still smiling like she didn't realise anything was wrong.
Jimin's eyes flickered towards her and she opened her mouth, still unsure if any words would come out. "I..." was all she managed to say before her voice trailed away. She swallowed and tried again, her voice soft and gentle as she said: "It just felt right."
There was a pause, while Tiffany smiled and Minjeong stared at her, her gaze like hot rays on her back, and she couldn't, just couldn't, keep sitting there anymore. She tore herself out of her seat, so suddenly that both Minjeong and Tiffany looked quite taken aback and the chair knocked backwards as Jimin got to her feet.
They were staring at her now, blinking up at her. Even Yuqi had taken her eyes off her shoes to look at her.
"Are you alright, dear?" Tiffany asked.
She blinked and composed herself just enough to say, "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I just- need the toilet. I'll be back."
Tiffany blinked, but nodded, and Jimin took it as her cue to get the hell out of there.
She sped off inside, wrenched the door off the downstairs bathroom, and locked the door shut, crashing into the toilet.
God.
Everything was hot. It felt like her clothes was choking her, so she ran the tap, splashing herself with water. She stared at her face in the mirror, expecting to see something different, something else, a sign that her whole world had just been shaken up, but all she saw was her normal self, staring right back.
Sh had to get over this stupid kiss. It was only to shut Yuqi up. There was nothing real behind it, just fake feelings and the need to get one obnoxious girl to close her mouth. She'd heard all the things her cousin had been saying, she must have - she'd been so loud, she'd practically been yelling, all she'd done was what she had to, to get her to eat her words. That's all it was.
They were friends, the two of them, best friends, and that was all it was between them. She'd just been taken by surprise, that's all. This would go away. This would all die down.
But then, the memory of Minjeong's lips on hers, their fingers interlocked, her hands running through her hair all comes flooding back, and Jimin's heart threatened to jump straight out of her chest.
No, she thought. This is wrong.
She didn't feel this way about her, she didn't feel any way about her, other than she was her friend
Her friend.
Someone banged on the door, and Jimin snapped out of her reverie, fixed her shirt, and left the bathroom, ready to fake composure.
"You alright?" Minjeong said in her ear, after she'd returned to the patio.
Her fingers brushed hers and she felt her chest go tight again.
"Yeah," she said, and she put on the best smile she could muster. "Just fine."
God, she was in so much trouble.
Now that she was back out here, and she was in her space again, with every second it became more and more clear. She couldn't help but focus on her, everyone else becoming a blur around, like there was a spotlight on Minjeong and she was all that she could see.
They'd always been friends, she'd only ever thought of her as a friend, nothing else. Of course, she'd always known that she was pretty, that was just a fact, she couldn't help but notice the way her hair parted perfectly and her eyes were always shining. And she'd known that she was smart and funny, anyone who had spent any time with her could see that. And she always knew what to say to her, always knew how to pull her out of a funk. And she was the first person she wanted to see when things went right because she knew that she would be thrilled for her, and she was the first person she wanted to see when things went wrong, because somehow she'd know how to fix it, and if she didn't, she'd be there to help her put the broken pieces back together.
Oh.
Oh