Though I get hurt and tired sometimes, it's alright,
because I'm next to you
The house was quiet. Grandma Min had gone over to Chaerin's house to visit her grandmother. It was certain that the two women were sitting in a couple of old arm chairs, drinking tea, and discussing things like the news or their pesky teenage grandchildren.
Meanwhile, the house was silent. But standing in the sitting room, Chaerin knew it wasn't empty. Looking around the room she noticed that the piano cover was down and there was a layer of dust on the surface. Yoongi still wasn't playing piano. She had really hoped he would pick it up again but unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck convincing him.
Chaerin spun on her fuzzy-sock-covered heels and sprinted up the steps. She had left her boots and heavy coat by the door when she came in, it was only polite. She took the steps two at a time, tripping a couple times because her legs weren't as long as she would like them to be. By the time Chaerin made it to the second floor she was panting and silently reminding herself how out of shape she was.
Once she managed to catch her breath, she walked over to the plain white door and knocked briefly before opening it and letting herself into Yoongi's bedroom. She found him in the same position he was usually in: curled up beneath the covers, sleeping. Chaerin sighed. She just didn't know how to dig him out of this depression. Some days it wasn't so bad, but other days—like today—he refused to even get out of bed.
"Yoongiii," she dragged out his name, calling him as she crept closer to the bed. He was burrowed securely beneath the covers, hiding everything but his nose and forehead from sight.
"Wake up," she whisper softly, so as not to startle him. Chaerin had learned that lesson the hard way. And though he didn't do it on purpose, Chaerin quickly figured out that pouncing on a sleeping Yoongi always ended with a bloody nose.
She sunk down beside him on the bed and slowly peeled the covers off his face.
"Yoongi wake up." No response.
Frowning, Chaerin took to gently poking Yoongi's cheeks, all the while calling for him to get up and do stuff. Eventually, he stirred a bit and grumbled a string of unintelligible swear words.
Peeling open one eye, Yoongi glared at the girl on his bed. "What?" He grunted, making Chaerin grin at him.
"Wake up, sleepy head, there's snow outside!" She cheered a bit too loudly for his taste. But then again she was always a bit too loud.
"Chae, I don't care about the snow, goodnight," he grumbled and pulled the covers back over his head, turning his back to Chaerin.
"Actually," she yanked the blankets back down, "It's good morning—well more like good noon, but that sounds weird so let's stick with good morning," she chattered aimlessly, knowing that if she bugged him enough Yoongi would have to get up.
"Oh alright!" Yoongi threw off the covers completely and slid off the bed. "I'm up now, are you happy?"
"Ecstatic," Chaerin beamed in victory and sprung up from the bed as well. "Now get dressed, we're going outside!"
Yoongi hung his head back and sighed in defeat. Some mornings he really wondered why he kept Chaerin around when she jabbered and poked him incessantly, his world would be so much more peaceful without her. Yoongi rifled through his dresser and pulled on a pair of jeans. There was a gentle tap on his shoulder. He spun around to find Chaerin smiling at him and holding out his favorite sweater.
That's why.
He kept her around because no matter how cold he was to her, she always smiled at him. When he started to fall deeper into his own depression she was the one to grab his hand and pull him back up. Maybe his world would be more peaceful without her, but it would be a world not worth living in. He needed her.
Yoongi grabbed the sweater and gave her a small smile—a rarity this early in the morning. But Chaerin grinned back regardless, she always did.
Once Yoongi was all bundled up in several layers of winter clothing Chaerin grabbed his hand and dragged him outside, stopping briefly to put on her own coat and shoes. As soon as her feet hit the snowy backyard a massive grin lit up Chaerin's face. It was the kind of smile that made people stop and stare for a moment. It was that smile that made adult fawn over her when they were little kids. It made boys fall in love with her, although she was too blind to notice it. That smile made Yoongi love her even more. It made him happy.
Yoongi's head whipped to the side. The force of impact from the snowball that hit his head broke him abruptly out of his thoughts. He slowly narrowed his eyes at Chaerin. She stood with her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels, looking perfectly innocent. But Yoongi knew better.
"Oh you're gonna get it," he teased and started towards her, scooping up snow on his way. Chaerin shrieked and sprinted away, with Yoongi giving chase.
ㄴㅇㄱ
Cherin sprinted inside the house, Yoongi following right on her heels. Their cheeks and the tips of their noses were red from the cold and their clothes were soaked from hours of playing in the snow but they were both laughing.
"You know, you didn't have to shove snow down the back of my shirt," Chaerin chuckled as she hastily shed her coat and boots.
"Well you didn't have to push me face-first into that snow pile," he countered. "I was only getting even."
Chaerin threw her head back and laughed, "Well I did that just because I wanted to, so I guess we're even now!"
Yoongi's eyes narrowed. "Uh huh, we're even, but that doesn't mean that I won't kick your ass at Monopoly."
"Oh you can try, mister, but we both know I'm the Monopoly Queen," Chaerin made a silly, mock-bow, her arms out as if holding up the skirts of an invisible dress.
"The game is on, my lady," Yoongi teased.
They both wriggled out of their outdoor wear and ran up the stairs to Yoongi's room. Chaerin belly flopped onto the bed while Yoongi dug through his closet for a change of clothes, his current outfit was freezing and the knees of his pants were soaked with melted snow. He changed quickly in the small space of the closet, using the door as a screen. Once he was warm, Yoongi grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants and tossed them at Chaerin, who got a face full of flannel just as she was sitting up.
"Change or you'll freeze," he told her while digging through his board games in search of Monopoly.
"Bossy," Chaerin mumbled as she walked to the bathroom to change.
After closing the bathroom door, Chaerin quickly peeled off her soaking clothes and replaced them with the pajamas Yoongi had given her. The pants were a bit big on her and they dragged on the floor, but overall the clothes were comfortable and they smelled like Yoongi, which made Chaerin smile.
"Alright!" Chaerin charged back into Yoongi's room and flopped down on his bed, nearly crushing him. "Bow down peasants, the Monopoly Queen is in the house!"
Yoongi snorted, "Well, pick a game piece, your highness."
They played Monopoly for hours, shouting and shoving each other while laughing like hyenas. Six hours and three games of Monopoly later, the winning move was finally made and a victor was crowned.
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Ha! I win!"
"That's not fair, I won the first round!"
"Yeah and I won the second! But we had the third round as a tie breaker, so I win!"
"Fine, fine, you win! I dub thee Monopoly King," Chaerin placed an invisible crown on Yoongi's head. "And as King, it is your sworn duty to rule the Monopoly Kingdom by my side and fetch me snacks whenever I decree!"
"Hey! How come you get to rule and I have to get the snacks," Yoongi whined. "That's not fair, I'm the King!"
"Yeah but everyone knows that it's the Queen that holds the real power," Chaerin spoke as if this was the most common knowledge in the world. "But you are my favorite person in the world, so as my King, I shall allow thee to have control of our financial systems," she decreed. "But if you screw up our economy I will divorce you so quick," Chaerin threatened, pointing a stern finger at Yoongi.
The corner of his mouth twitched up as he stared at Chaerin. Yoongi shook his head in amusement at his friends antics. She really was the strangest person he'd ever met.
"Are you sure you're not drunk?" He mused.
"How dare you!" Chaerin gasped in false hurt. "So this is how you treat your Queen, that's so rude of you," she shook her head, making Yoongi chuckle.
They joked around and teased each other until the sun set. After the long hours of shouting and Monopoly they ended up huddled beneath the covers, watching cheesy dramas together. It was late and they should have gone to sleep long ago but they were still up, although they were barely lucid and Chaerin kept mumbling incoherently.
"I want to do that," she sighed.
"Do what?" Yoongi mumbled, his eyes drooping.
"I want to be an actress. I know it's stupid but I've been thinking about it and I think it's something I want to do," her words slurred but Yoongi heard them.
He glanced down at her curiously. She already had her eyes closed, her head resting on the pillow beside Yoongi's shoulder.
"Well then," he began with a small smile creeping onto his lips. "I'll support you no matter what. That's what friends do." A tiny smile formed on Chaerin's lips as Yoongi watched.
"Using my own words on me, huh?" She teased him.
"Well you are the most eloquent person I know," Yoongi chuckled. He hadn't expected her to remember the words she had spoken to him when he told her about wanting to be a musician, but they were words he would never forget.
"Darn right I am." Chaerin shuffled closer to him, placed her head on his chest and draped her arm around his waist.
Yoongi stiffened. "What are you doing?"
"It's called cuddling," she teased with a tiny smile. "Just give into it. It's like hugging but longer, it's not a difficult concept to grasp."
Yoongi grunted in dismay at being teased but eventually his stiff arms rested gently on Chaerin's back. He lay there, rather awkwardly, until Chaerin nudged him in the ribs.
"Relax Yoongi, I promise I'm not trying to suffocate you or anything," she mumbled into the fabric of his t-shirt.
"Just shut up and sleep," he grumbled back.
The truth was that he didn't know how to do this. He didn't know how to cuddle. It was an easy enough concept to grasp, as Chaerin said, but he didn't want to wake up in the morning and find that he had accidentally smothered her or squished her completely. He didn't want to hurt her.
Eventually though, when sleep took over, Yoongi relaxed. And by the time the clock struck 2am, they were both fast asleep, their arms wrapped loosely around each other. A few hours later though, Yoongi was holding Chaerin in a vice-like grip, his face buried in her hair. Likewise, Chaerin had her face squished to his chest, and one leg thrown over his hips. Needless to say they were both a bit flustered when they woke up.
Authors Note:
The calm before the storm.
–A